"Hello there, Young Sage...or should I say, Cedric Stormrider? That's your name, right?"
"Well, I'm fairly confident that this thing will land in your hands, but in the off-chance that I'm wrong, which is very unlikely by the way, and that you're not Cedric Stormrider, then this message isn't for you. Kindly...I don't know, ignore this.
Or like, listen to the whole thing, I don't particularly mind, this isn't for you anyway and it's not like I can stop since I'm long dead by the time you get a hold of this."
Cedric felt chills running down his spine as he heard the phantom man's words. He had never seen this person before. It's only today that he learned of him and what he did so how can he not be shocked?
"I'm aware that this must feel strange...and freaky, to you. Fear not, I don't mean you any harm. I am doing this because I want to leave you a message. Oh, uh...I actually can't see or hear you. I've seen visions of you but your face has never been clear to me, only your actions and your name did, so if you're talking to me right now, sorry, I won't be able to answer you."
Cedric figured as much. It's already impressive that this person managed to leave a recorded message to him this way since technology in his era was extremely limited.
"If things went according to plan and my visions indeed come true, you should be hearing this message after receiving an invitation to the House of Light. An old man named Gabriel, who's also an Archbishop of this organization, should be the one handing you this crystal where this message is left."
'Were his predictions always been this accurate? That's scary.' Cedric muttered inwardly.
"I created the House of Light to commemorate the sun." The founder's voice turned solemn and somewhat dejected upon mentioning this. "By the time I'm recording this, it's been a decade since the sun was swallowed up by that Demon King. The scene still haunts me to this day."
Cedric heard Princeton's voice trembling slightly. It was clear that he was still shaken from the event even after it had long passed.
"The disappearance of the sun had a terrible effect on our world. Nature withered, the clouds disappeared, the sky darkened, and the seas were poisoned. During the past decade, we focused on our efforts securing necessities while waging war against the demons."
"Many have died without a grave. Some gave up and some even willingly embraced Demonhood. Our situation is grave, and I can tell that it's gonna get worse from here on out." MVLeMpYr-content
"I'm neither strong nor overly wise. My class only lets me do one thing, and that is to peer into the future. Nothing more, nothing less. I might be considered as a Superhuman but even with my increased strength and somewhat extended longevity, I'm just as vulnerable as a mortal in front of Demons."
"But even so, I want to help. I honed the skills that's been given to me extensively. As someone who lived when Demons weren't around, I am extremely unwilling to see the world and our kind fall like this. That's why even though I could only do a single thing, I'm still here."
"I believe in you...not because I've seen what you can do, but because I've seen your heart. Keep going forward, no matter what happens, I'm sure that you will do great things."
The phantom then pushed him back, somehow. Cedric then felt an irresistible force pulling him back.
His eyes snapped wide open to reality and saw Archbishop Gabriel and his two retainers still patiently waiting for his response.
Cedric remained silent for a bit. He digested everything he heard so far and took his time to decide. He knew he couldn't rush this, but he had to give it to Princeton, his words were certainly convincing.
Not even once did Cedric's innate lie detection ability ping, which means that Princeton never uttered a lie from start to finish. Cedric wouldn't be surprised if that guy also knew about this ability of his too.
Besides that, Cedric felt overwhelmed by Princeton's faith in him. Cedric was also stunned when he heard that Princeton saw the branching futures of his life.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he opened his eyes to look at the Archbishop and asked:
"Let's say I accept your offer, what do you expect from me?"
"We only ask for you to lead us to a brighter tomorrow, Young Sage," Gabriel replied instantly. "Whatever that might mean to you."
"We won't interfere with your plans, we might express our concerns but we won't stop you, we will even provide all help necessary for you to achieve your goals. Aside from remembering the Sun and providing some semblance of normalcy to our citizens, the main purpose of our abode's creation was to be of use to you." He added.
Cedric glanced at the people with him and asked: "All of you are fine with that? You don't even know who I am, your founder just told you about me and that's all the basis you have."
"It's actually because of that same reason that our family is small. But I assure you everyone who took an active position in our organization knows what they're getting themselves into and we are completely fine with this."
Sigh...
Cedric released a long sigh before removing his disguise, much to the surprise of Gabriel and his retainers.
"I'll be in your care, then."