Ding!
[You have gained a piece of information regarding your true identity.]
"I'm a what now?" As a notification sound resounded in his mind once more, Valyr's expression turned serious once he was finished reading through it. After all, obtaining a notification from the system meant that there was truth to the words Mystia had spoken.
"You're a Harbinger." Mystia decided to repeat her earlier words. "You're a Herald of the Zeihardt clan, but you're also a Harbinger."
"And what's the difference between the two?" asked Valyr in response, feeling like obtaining information would give him more insight into his true identity.
"A lot," replied Mystia. "To be honest, if it were not for the fact that I usually read through the history of multiple clans as an imperial adviser, I probably wouldn't have even known of the existence of Harbingers."
"I probably wouldn't have even sent items like these to you, either."
"Well, moving that aside for now, what do you know about Heralds?" Hearing these words echo from the hovering crystal before him, the young man pondered over his response, recalling the information he had obtained from his visit to the Myriad Archive back then.
"Heralds are those that have inherited a greater amount of the bloodline of the Zeihardt clan's ancestor, allowing them to tap into his abnormal power from the past," said Valyr once he was finished thinking about his words. "Because of that, they boast a greater amount of strength, allowing the Zeihardt clan to be known as the clan that many people fear today."
"A very textbook answer," Mystia could not help but say. "However, you're not wrong."
"What you've mentioned are indeed what Heralds are," she continued. "Because of their abnormally high levels of strength, it is said that the birth of a Herald would cause a shift in the era of humanity, with the previous five Heralds having already done so to various degrees."
"Though your strength hasn't matured yet, you have already caused a great shift in the era of humanity from your existence alone, considering how the Zeihardt clan had been split into two factions because of you. That makes you befitting of the title of Herald."
"However, because you have already caused great changes to humanity even with your strength still not having reached its peak, it could be said that your strength in the future could possibly affect the future of the world itself, thus making you a Harbinger."
"...what kind of logic is that?" Though the woman's words made sense to him, from another perspective, Valyr could not help but feel Mystia was messing with him.
Sure, he had already affected the Zeihardt clan because he was born, and he was bound to change a great portion of Veldanyr with his plans to make sure his side wouldn't lose the final battle.n0velusb.c0m
But why did he feel like the woman was only operating on a hunch?
"Could you give me more proof as to why I'm a Harbinger?" Letting out a low sigh as his level of belief towards the woman's words gradually returned to how it was before, Valyr eventually decided to give Mystia one more chance to explain herself and her thought process, considering that her earlier words did cause a reaction from the system.
"Well, I have quite a few." Mulling over the words she had spoken to the young man earlier, Mystia eventually agreed with the young man's response, feeling that her explanation of him being a Harbinger did seem quite nonsensical. After all, even though she had predicted Valyr's future, she wasn't entirely sure if Valyr's level of strength at that time would rise to the level where it could affect the entire world.
With that, she approached her new explanation from a perspective that she was incredibly well-versed in.
"I mentioned earlier that I read through the history of multiple clans, right?" Saying these words, Mystia waited for the young man to respond back. Fortunately, it did not take long for Valyr to say yes, allowing her to continue with her explanation.
"Well, as an imperial adviser, it's pretty much recommended for us to read through the history of the clans that existed throughout the years, using them as a basis to make decisions for the future," said the woman, her voice echoing from the crystal. "After all, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
"In any case, out of all of the clan histories I've read through, the Zeihardt clan is among the ones I am most well-read in." At these words, she began to speak with more confidence. "My knowledge of the Zeihardt clan's history even goes far back to the Age of Uprising, when the Zeihardt clan was first established."
"While reading through its history, I've come across a few documents that talked about the predictions made by the ancestor of the Zeihardt clan, Otto Zeihardt himself."
"Oh?" Hearing those words, Valyr raised his eyebrow in interest, wondering what a man like Otto had predicted to happen.
"Though most of the predictions were related to the human race and how they would eventually prosper in the far future, Otto had also made a few predictions regarding the state of the Zeihardt clan by the time he wasn't around."
"Amidst the ebb and flow of the waves, a star shall twinkle once again, radiating a faint light that will show the way." Saying these words, Mystia took on a solemn tone, prompting Valyr to remain silent.
"After many people have made their attempts to decrypt this passage, we were eventually able to find out that he was talking about the Heralds, people who would be able to lead the Zeihardt clan and bring it to prosperity once more."
"However, that passage is only considered the first part of the prediction. Let me recite the passage that comes after," said Mystia not long after, to which Valyr perked up his ears.
"Once six stars have lit the way, only then shall the seventh star awaken. Once it awakens, its light shall blind the world, with everyone's focus on this blinding light. With this light in hand, this star shall change the world anew."
"Though it is similar to the prediction for the Heralds, it differs from it in multiple ways." After Mystia was done reciting the prediction, she then went ahead and explained the finer details of it. "For one, there is the mention of a seventh star. At first, many people thought that it talked about the number of generations that passed after a Herald was born."
"Then, there's the mention of a blinding light. To be honest, this part stumped people for many years, with many possible meanings behind it," she added, faintly chuckling. "Fortunately, with the help of a great number of skilled people, we were finally able to decrypt what Otto Zeihardt wanted to say through this prediction around a few months ago."
"What did he want to say?" With how invested he was in her explanation after reaching this point, it was no surprise that Valyr asked.
"If our decryption is correct, he said that there will eventually arrive a day where a member of the clan will be born with the same level of strength as him. To be more specific, that member would be the seventh Herald to be part of the clan."
"Wait... don't tell me..." Pondering over Mystia's words for a bit, a slight frown appeared on the young man's face. Though, as if a light bulb went on in his head, his eyes soon went wide open as an unbelievable thought came to mind.
"Yes, Valyr." Unexpectedly, Mystia confirmed his thoughts.
"According to his predictions, you are the seventh Herald he was talking about."
Ding!