Chapter 38: The So-Called Love

"In this world, there is a group of forgotten people, and I am just one of them."

Gamma, the teacher, once again draped himself in a large black cloak. Black clouds emerged beside him, enveloping his entire body. The mysterious Gamma, self-proclaimed as 'The Forgotten,' stared at Felix lost in thought, his voice raspy like the friction of metals: "Child, you are smart. Smarter than I had imagined..."

Felix humbly bowed his head, knowing that in front of his elder, silence and attentiveness were the best responses.

"I know you have many questions in your heart. A long, long time ago, I had the same questions," the mysterious Gamma continued as he lifted his hand. His fingers, crafted from mithril and a rare 'Golden Material,' gently caressed the worn-out holy scars on the crucifix. He rubbed the scars left by years of wear and tear, sighing, "Live a little longer, and then a little longer, and you will slowly understand all the answers..."

"'Eternity' requires a long life to find its answers." Gamma looked down at Felix, a ring made from blue crystal appearing in his palm, refracting a dazzling array of lights under the sunlight: "Child, it seems like you have lost your sight in the beauty of the moment."

"It is called 'Blue Crystal,' a unique epic space ring on this continent. It has been fought over for hundreds of years until finally, it fell into my hands."

Gamma placed the epic space ring, 'Blue Crystal,' into Felix's hands, continuing, "The creator of this ring was a legendary alchemist. He spent half of his life creating this ring, a ring that, besides storing some inanimate objects, is completely useless."

"He even gave up 'The True Eternity' in his pursuit of the so-called highest honor in alchemy..."

"When a spellcaster reaches 'Legend,' they only need a common wand to easily open a space in a different dimension. The ring will be lost, but magic won't..."

"For hundreds of years, countless people have lost their lives fighting over it. I've always been puzzled: why are they so crazily persistent in chasing after an inanimate object? Among them are many talented individuals. In a hundred years, or perhaps even less, they could have opened a space in a different dimension with their own strength."

Gamma fell into silence, observing the somewhat bewildered Felix. After a long while, he finally spoke, "Too long a silence seems to have made me forget how to weave words."

"Child, remember this.

"The so-called love is the greatest obstacle for a spellcaster seeking 'Eternity'..."

...

Felix finally understood what the mysterious Gamma was trying to convey. His fists clenched tightly, then slowly relaxed.

He handed back the dazzling 'Blue Crystal' to Gamma, his gaze falling to the mottled ground, a gleam in his dark brown eyes that Gamma had never understood.

With his head bowed, Felix spoke in a respectful voice, "I have always believed that truth is the answer one finds for oneself."

Gamma looked at him in astonishment, then fell into a silent contemplation.

In the end, the mysterious Gamma took back the epic space ring and slowly turned to leave. His raspy voice, however, still echoed in Felix's ears:

"Child. In three days, I will be setting off to hell. If you have time, you might want to visit the magic tower. There is something there that you seek..."

...

After confirming that the mysterious Gamma Master had truly left, Felix gave himself a smack, neither too light nor too heavy.

"Idiot! What a complete idiot! If I had just nodded along with his wishes, that epic-level space ring would have been mine! An epic-level space ring! Something even rarer than a divine artifact! All it would have taken was a nod, and a bit of a thicker skin, and surely that demi-god-level powerhouse wouldn't have had the heart to take the ring back from me!"

Felix didn't know what about him was so attractive to a demi-god-level Gamma Master, but what was undeniable was that the mysterious Gamma Master really did seem to be guiding him. Did he think Felix was stuck in the quagmire of so-called love? The first encounter might have been a coincidence, but the second? Impossible.

A demi-god-level powerhouse wouldn't just happen to let Felix run into him every time, and always at the Judgement Ground - Saint Elouan!

Felix racked his brains trying to recall the name of the mysterious Gamma Master from the depths of his memory, but unfortunately, there wasn't a single Gamma Master recorded in the epics who was crazy enough to transform themselves into an elemental being, caught between life and machinery. Could it be true, as he said? Was he a Forgotten One?

The words of the mysterious Gamma Master plunged Felix into deep thought. A Forgotten One? Forgotten by history, or by the gods? If it was the latter, then Felix could somewhat understand why he would go to hell.

There was a most overbearing way to ascend to godhood in this world - seizing divinity! A Gamma Master who dared to transform himself into an elemental lifeform and attempted to become a deity through seizing divinity - all of it was enough to make Felix look up to his existence!

This was no longer something that could be expressed with mere madness. If successful, the mysterious Gamma Master would become a formidable existence, not inferior to the Shadow Queen, Christie!

A deep sense of frustration welled up in Felix's heart. Compared to Mrs. Ireland, compared to the mysterious Gamma Master, his achievement of translating two level-65 Holy Light spells into instantaneous casting seemed too insignificant.

"Freaks are just ordinary people, and lunatics are everywhere..."

Felix suddenly burst into a rueful smile, then slowly headed towards the Marquis of Elizabeth's residence, muttering with a sigh, "Too freakish, just too freakish..."

Those far-off matters, those supreme existences, everything was just too absurd and unattainable for him at the moment.

For Felix, rather than looking up to those legendary beings, it was better to diligently practice the Holy Light spell right in front of him. Shadow Queen Christie had once said something before she became a deity, and Felix thought it made a lot of sense: "Power that belongs to oneself is the true power!"

...

When he stepped into the Marquis of Elizabeth's residence, Felix muttered to himself, "Maybe I should take the time to meet that mysterious Gamma Master again..."

Then, he revealed a sweet and innocent smile and, under the astonished gaze of the beautiful knight sister, plunged into her warm embrace.