Chapter 128: Too Late

Aurora frowned as she compared the information from Director Vincent and the one Urfin had sent her with the information her masters had given her.

Before coming to the academy, her two masters had given her the information as if it was insignificant, and what stood out was the accuracy and confidence in her masters’ information.

“Leslie just lost.”

A voice rang in her ears and she lifted her gaze to the front to see Leslie retreating from the stage.

“Weren’t you paying attention?” Edward asked and, without waiting for an answer, had the projectors replay Leslie’s finish.

It was a single match, and Leslie’s opponent was a speed-focused fighter.

At first, Leslie was winning thanks to having distance as an advantage, but after the fighter risked a few shots, he came closer and ended up pressuring Leslie.

Until in the end, Leslie had difficulty switching weapons and ended up losing her weapons to the fighter’s blows, leading to her defeat.

Since it was a one-on-one fight, the weapons were only for training, causing a disadvantage for Leslie, whose personal weapons could change shape.

“She was right. It’s hard to change weapons in a fight,” Aurora replied and when Edward turned his attention to her, she commented. “Leslie understood that she would have difficulty in the individual tournament because of the rules. For such a reason, she focused on the group part. And she is preparing to steal a spot for the international tournament.”

Leslie had mentioned that she was used to her weapons, finding the common training weapons ineffective.

The biggest reason was that to switch from a sniper rifle to a shotgun, she had to take it out and in close combat; it was slow.

Quite different from the way her personal weapons could be switched or merged, such as her pistols merged into a shotgun.

Also, the fighter took a chance and went for it all, regardless of the pain of Leslie’s gunfire.

In a close confrontation, Leslie, who was restrained, had trouble and could only resist her defeat.

That was why Aurora did not go to encourage her and let her be, as she understood that Leslie participated in this fight to learn her shortcomings.

She was clear about her goals.

“By the way, what were you reading?” Edward asked curiously.

Aurora, instead of answering, shared with him the information she had.

“Oh, about the abyssal portals,” Edward muttered and calmly read.

At first, he nodded, surely reading the information from his master, Director Vincent, but then his gaze gained a bit of understanding and, at the end, he became completely serious.

“Where did you get this from?” Edward asked in a completely serious and heavy tone.

His S-rank aura manifested distorted the surroundings because of the magical energy and his eyes flashed with some lightning twisting.

He was shocked enough that his emotions altered the surroundings without him noticing.

“Does it really matter? The point is, it’s about a reliable source,” Aurora replied, unfazed by Edward’s reaction.

That information came from her masters, and there was no way to tell that easily.

Her two masters were elders who, according to them, were in a white, limitless ‘dimension’... How could she say that?

It was already inconceivable to have a system if she talked about her old masters.

She was likely to end up in an insane asylum or be chased by any idiot who thought to get that ‘power’, believing it was possible.

At least that was better than ending up dissected... In the greed’s face and desire of some lunatics, ending up being dissected didn’t sound so strange.

Not to mention those religious fanatics who might assume anything crazy.

Perhaps she was exaggerating, but that was her guess.

Edward watched her carefully and, realizing that she showed no reaction, he lowered his gaze and sighed.

“So, you’re telling me that those abyssal portals may bring humanoid creatures with rationality?” Edward asked in the most serious yet ambiguous tone possible.

“What do you think?” Aurora asked with the same seriousness.

Director Vincent related the abyssal portals to ‘Chaos’, precisely with the representation of ‘Change’ not ‘Corruption’.

‘Chaos’ was a primordial energy from the beginning of time and some came to see it as ‘divinity’ and this ‘divinity’ not only represented the idea of ‘corrupting’, ‘consuming’ or ‘disturbing’, but an idea of things ‘changing’, ‘mutating’, ‘ceasing to be what they once were’.

An idea of constant change was added to the general idea of ‘Chaos’.

For such a reason was that the response of the God of Time and Space was, ‘Abyssal Portals are inevitable’.

It was because ‘Chaos’ at its finest was inevitable; after all, it was ‘change’.

Aurora knew that even though it was ‘change’, it was actually dangerous and unchecked change.

“Since it all started twenty years ago now, we have encountered none ‘magical races’ beyond what they came from Terra nova or the demons. Here we don’t have the monsters they have.” Aurora mentioned following her master’s analysis.

On Earth, there were no ‘monsters’ like the stories they heard from Terra nova.

Here there were no dangerous races like ogres, trolls, and all those fantasy creatures were.

The only creatures that appeared on earth started out as beasts and sometimes mutated or evolved, but they were not those monsters that were talked about in Terra nova.

That was one point for which mankind did not have such a ‘bad time’.

Some beasts and monsters were aggressive and were not intelligent or could not use weapons or specialized arts.

Her old master’s information was not precise but rather gave the details, along with a deep and slow analysis of what the abyss was, trying to get the reader to think about the lack of that type of creature on earth.

However, the old woman was direct.

She gave a precise and clear analysis about the lack of creatures on earth, about how this situation was not possible in a world where there was magical energy, and ended with complete confidence that it was likely that this type of creature would come to earth.

“We are children in the care of a supreme being,” Edward commented with a frown, and with a sigh, he muttered. “They can also see us as playthings before a terrifying being.”

His first comment was a way of thinking of some theologians.

They were based on the help of the God of Time and Space and the Goddess of Order.

While natural dungeons existed on Terra nova, temporal dungeons did not.

That meant that if a large amount of magical energy leaked out, they would suffer the devastation caused by many amount of creatures, very different from the land where they were contained.

From those actions, they pointed out that ‘humanity’ to those almighty existences were only ‘children’ they were ‘educating’.

As for their murmuring, it was the other side of this perspective.

They were toys amusing a high-powered existence.

“Who knows this information?” Edward asked earnestly.

Aurora trusted the old woman because she, unlike the old man, did not like to keep things to herself and was straightforward.

And this time Aurora trusted the possibility that the old woman was right and now, from the seriousness Edward was showing, he believed in that possibility as well.

“Alice and Cithrel,” Aurora replied, and seeing that Edward was curious, she revealed. “Alice commented; ‘oh, I knew it would be interesting’ and Cithrel said; ‘it seemed odd to me not to see that kind of creature in this world, now it makes sense’.”

Aurora repeated verbatim what they had both said.

Revealing it to them didn’t have too much meaning; the first was her inseparable friend, and the second was an archmage of various types of magic and was the heir to a powerful empire.

She had believed that both of them discussed this information and, to her surprise, they responded that way, without thinking.

“Well... There’s not much to say in the face of this information,” Edward muttered and looking at Aurora, he pointed out. “The analysis is logical. The problem is the confidence of the conclusion.”

Aurora’s expression quivered subtly.

The old woman did not hold back with confidence in her conclusion; it was as if the entire process of analysis to get to that point was unnecessary, as the conclusion determined everything.

It was as if to say, ‘it would happen’.

Such an idea did not perturb Aurora and although she met her master during this year, for her, any issue that was related to her system was not normal.

And most importantly, both the old woman and the old man were extremely strong, and it was impossible for Aurora not to trust them.

“At this time, no one can say for sure what those portals are about. Adding that the gods don’t answer or don’t want to answer, the uncertainty is unquestionable,” Edward replied and observing her without hiding the solemnity on his face, he revealed. “Yes, this information is distributed and happens just as you mention here. Many eyes will be on you.”

Where did she get the confidence to declare that humanoid creatures could arrive through these portals?

When no one knew anything and everyone was looking for any clue to the answer, she had come up with an answer that carried unquestionable confidence.

“I know and so, I wanted to change the conclusion a bit to make it look more uncertain,” Aurora said, leading Edward to look at her for a few seconds before sighing.

The old woman had undoubtedly wanted to inform her about the situation and for that reason she gave a conclusion with complete confidence, not wanting the main idea to be lost.

That woman, unlike the old man, was direct and did not beat around the bush as the old man did, who this time, to her surprise, let it go, even though he liked to keep secrets.

However, it was a report and could be changed to keep out of trouble and not have people looking at her or questioning her to find out where she had drawn her conclusions from.

Edward stroked his hair in an odd mixture of relief that she realized what was going on and some concern.

In this world, for someone to gain knowledge by preempting the two Primordial churches was not relief, it was a concern.

The idea that she to get that information she had to make deals with dangerous entities was not that uncommon.

“Let me take care of modifying it. I’ll also send it to my master once changed to see if I can publish it using his name,” Edward said and, frowning, he overcame again and added. “I’ll take some of the credit, but I guess that’s why you gave me that information without modifying it first.”

Aurora smiled at her former partner’s insight.

She could change it and send it to Director Vincent, but if she were honest, a doubt of her sources of information or trust in her would follow.

By giving him the information without modifying it, she made it clear to Edward of her confidence in the sources and the possibility of it happening, as her report mentioned.

He just had to change it in such a way to make the conclusion seem logical, without that overwhelming confidence.

“Thank you. Just send me a copy so I can share it with the Zerzura authorities,” Aurora replied with a nod and with a smile, she added. “I owe you a favor.”

Her sources were unknown and while she could trust her masters, very few people would trust her.

In Zerzura, they would take seriously her thanks to her relationship with the higher-ups. However, on a global level, if her report was published, it would not have as much impact, and neither would it be trusted.

However, if the apprentice of a Grand Archmage reached that conclusion and published it in the different media using the name of his master, then most would consider the possibility of the report.

Such was the prestige and reputation of a Grand Archmage.

And although the possibility of the old woman erring was high, Edward, who was unaware of the sources, trusted her without too much hesitation.

“I’m going to check on the others,” Aurora said and got up to leave the room.

“Aurora...”

Before she reached the door, Edward’s voice sounded at her back.

A heavy, conflicted voice that carried a unique seriousness.

“I understand that the uncertainty can be overwhelming and I understand your desire to help, but... You don’t need to overdo it and you don’t need to do anything you’ll regret. You’ve already done too much.” Edward announced in a solemn, grave tone.

She had met him at some of the lowest points in her life, when acting recklessly and hiding her pain was a regular occurrence.

Edward’s words were both a warning and a concern.

In this world, some entities came around to whisper flowery words and pleasant promises.

To end up being seduced by those promises would lead anyone who heard them regret it.

The confidence in her teacher’s report was to the point that it seemed she had sold her soul to the most dangerous and terrifying entities for a certainty answer.

Aurora, however, turned and gave a charming, bright smile.

“Don’t worry. I have confidence in my abilities,” Aurora replied, and ignoring Edward’s surprised look, left the office.

Walking towards the direction of where the tournaments were, Aurora sighed.

—I guess having text messages in my head and a supposed system might be considered ‘too late’.—Aurora said in her mind as she smiled.

—...

Her system responded with three dots, clearly not at ease with her joke.

Aurora laughed at that response.

Now, with this issue settled, she was more encouraged than ever to help Akira.