chapter10

 Gregorio and Aron had crept silently up to the second floor of the old castle.

　　There weren't many people in the entire castle, and Gregorio would have liked to go to the kitchen to check on Marvin, but the danger factor of having to walk through the entire hall from the larder to the kitchen, easily disturbing the dozing maids, and having a journeyman lizard carrying a bucket of something just inside, was too great.

　　On balance, he then went straight up to the second floor with little hesitation to find the flower-clad Pied Piper.

　　The old castle was so big that it was especially easy to get lost, but luckily it seemed to be the Piper's exclusive territory, and there were no servants around.

　　Behind the third door in the corridor on the right was the bathroom, and the two of them heard the sound of water inside as they passed by, so it was assumed that the Piper, who had just returned from the outside, was bathing.

　　According to the setting of almost all literary works where magicians would carry their spells with them at all times, the flute player would also certainly not let the flute leave him easily, after all, it was the most important thing to him.

　　As a script set up for novices, the difficulty of the box is ridiculously low; how could a wizard with high mana and a weak body not normally lay down heavy formations and restrictions in his lair, and be able to leave it to Marvin to kill the handyman and the sous-chef, and have a succession of awakened others begin to devise an escape from the dungeon, with Gregorio and Aron wandering around blindly on the second floor, and still try to steal it?

　　If Piper wanted to, with his powers, he could have these people dead in the blink of an eye.

　　The two listened outside with bated breath for a moment and decided to hurry up and search Piper's bedroom while they had the perfect opportunity to do so.

　　They searched the entire second floor, pushing and trying all the doors, the vast majority of which wouldn't open, before finally finding the master bedroom at the far left end of the hallway.

　　"My god, the master would live so far out of the way? Nuts?" Aron sputtered as he carefully pushed the door open.

　　Though he had only known Aron for two hours, there was the bond of birth and death, and Gregorio relaxed a little in his presence, "If I were that Piper I'd be sure to get back to you: it's my house, I can live wherever I want."

　　The bedroom is one's most private space, and its décor is a good indicator of its owner's personality. The bedroom was large, with a typical medieval bed in the center, layers of draped Aman tied to the bedposts and a silk-embroidered quilt neatly spread out. On the nightstand were silver candlesticks and goblets, and a window opened on the wall directly above.

　　A large closet leaned against the right-hand wall, but otherwise, the rest of the bedroom was occupied by books of various kinds. These books were piled up on the floor and in the corners of the walls so that the two people who entered the bedroom did not have a place to put their feet on for a while.

　　"I'll go, it's also too horrible, so many books." Aron casually took a book, the cover said "Alchemy Advanced III", the content ... well, he couldn't read it.

　　He flipped open another book, The Mystery of the Cerebral Lobe and Alchemy - The Origin of Black Magic.

　　... What's all this with ah.

　　"The castle is so big, he should have a dedicated study, chances are these books are just what he's going to read before bed." Gregorio stepped over several stacks of books and reached the bed, where parchment was pressed under a glass of water on the nightstand with a pattern he was very familiar with - the

　　The very same formation that was on the parchment scroll in the cellar.

　　Only it was an unfinished formation, with several of the most intricate parts left vacant compared to the one on the parchment scroll.

　　Gregorio had thought the information on the parchment scroll might be useful when he was in the cellar, had memorized the pattern by heart, and still remembered it.

　　There was a feather quill right next to it, making it easy to fill in anytime, but Gregorio did not move his pen right away, instead asking in his mind, [Do you know what this formation does?

　　The notes on the parchment scroll were in Latin, he didn't manage to understand them, and it would be bad if this formation would have any negative effects after it was patched up and activated.

　　It couldn't be done hastily.

　　The teenager in the Prisoner's Space was silent for a split second: [This formation can borrow power from the Time Controller, and if he is willing, you can briefly gain the ability to manipulate time, temporarily in your hand].

　　Gregorio hadn't expected Sylver to answer it, after all, this was just a low-level box, and Sylver couldn't possibly know about just any little formation even if he was powerful.

　　But he surprisingly really knew.

　　Since this was the case, Gregorio was also nonchalant and pursued, [What if he is unwilling?]

　　Then the person who activated the formation would be subject to a backlash, and the more powerful the formation was the more severe the backlash would be. Sylver said: [But now you can use it as you wish, the Time Master of the Pure White World is still trapped in Chaos, whoever borrows power from him now, he can only agree].

　　这样.Gregorio kept what Sylver said in his mind, he dipped his quill in the ink, and followed the pattern in his memory, completing the formation with a single stroke.

　　Being able to memorize complex patterns for a short period in that eerie environment of the cellar, while showing that Gregorio had a good memory, also reflected something else.

　　Sylver, who had originally been passively bound to him because of the blood contract, grew more and more satisfied.

　　It was only the first time the man had officially entered the box that he had performed like this, much better than even he had done in the first place.

　　Of course, there might be the issue of age and real-world experience playing a part, but there was no denying that Gregorio was a good seed.

　　Aron came over to look at it because it was impossible to scribble, Gregorio had to think for a while about every stroke he made, making sure that it was indeed the case before he drew it on, and it took nearly five minutes for the last line of the formation to finally tie everything together.

　　A faint yellow light emerges from the pattern and slowly rises, stalling in the air for a few seconds before flowing into Gregorio's palm, leaving the outline of the formation on it.

　　The moment the formation attached itself to his palm, Gregorio knew the proper way to use it.

　　[Kronos' Fingerprints]

　　Function: able to pause time for ten seconds for all (including but not limited to objects and spirits) except the user, can only be used once, and cannot be taken out of the box.

　　Usage: Intent to urge.

　　Note: Who stole one of the fingerprint marks left unintentionally by Kronos?

　　Time is one of the five basic elements of the Pure White World.

　　The power of time, firmly sealed in the Sea of Consciousness, had been drained of a trace of it, and although it was only tiny compared to the earth and gravel, as the nominal owner of this power, Sylver still felt it.

　　The teenager sat on the edge of the bed and raised his hand to stroke the wrist of his right hand, three seals faintly revealed.

　　Back then, at the last minute of the pilgrimage, the five members of their squad had been chosen by each of the five elements of Time, Space, Body, Dream, and Chaos, and had gained the ability to control them.

　　However, Hera set up a curse, so that they could not use them freely, but became the prisoners of these elements under the seal.

　　It is this curse that froze "Prisoner of Time" Sylver's time at the age of sixteen - the moment he left the Pure White World and returned to the real world. "Viktor, the Prisoner of the Body, was trapped forever in the body of a cat.

　　Eight years had left no trace on Sylver's body, as he watched his sister, who was five years younger than him, grow older than him, his parents' hair turn gray and the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes deepen, and he, alone, remained sixteen years old.

　　Because of this, the family had to move every two years to a place where no one knew them, and Sylver went from "older brother" to "younger brother", being introduced to the new neighbors.

　　Finally, Sylver no longer wants his family to run and hide because of him, and with Victor aging, he returns to this nightmare to escape a fate they should never have to endure and put an end to everything.

　　And ... to see what happened to his old friends Zoey, Amanda, and Madeline, who are still stuck here.

　　He finds a fragment of Zoey's lost soul, and it's not a good one; if he's not mistaken, it's a fragment of Zoey's "good intentions".

　　What Zoey would be like without his conscience, morals, and goodwill, Sylver couldn't imagine.

　　After acquiring the rune, the two searched the bedroom again, finding nothing of value other than a pile of books with curious contents.

　　Among the books on the floor was a cross-referenced translation of Latin, Hebrew, and English; according to the script, the participants were supposed to find the book and translate a little bit of the Latin text on the parchment before the Piper came back if they wanted to know what it said.

　　This would have required the visitor to find the parchment scroll in the cellar and memorize its contents, which is a great test of memory and the easiest method used to steal the flute. It's not impossible to just recklessly make up the formation regardless of the negative consequences, but it's all up to luck as to what the consequences of that would be.

　　If the formation was not obtained, the participants could still use other methods - such as fighting the piper hard on the strength of the amulet on their person that would keep them from being controlled by the magic flute.

　　But with Sylver's busy help opening the door, all that was waived.

　　Figuring that the Piper was about to return from washing, Gregorio and Aron hurried out of the bedroom, ready to find an opportune moment to activate the formation and use the pause to steal the flute. They waited at the corner of the second-floor gallery for a while and indeed saw the bathed Pied Piper emerge from the bathroom and walk with an even gait towards the bedroom.

　　The Piper had taken off the outermost colorful robes and had a hat on, which gave a clearer view of the face.

　　This was a clear-looking youth, quite an introverted look, slightly ordinary face but because of the two tear moles colored with a few demonic, people can instantly remember. At his waist was the flute that had to be used to cast the spell.

　　Gregorio skimmed through the Pure White World Survival Manual sent to him by the Guide Joker before entering this box, which stated that those who die in the Pure White World do not immediately disappear, but have the chance to become a prisoner, administrator, or NPC, or if they die again, they become the monster in the box.

　　Just like Henry did.

　　If the monster dies, it's dead.

　　So both the Joker, Sylver, and the flower-clad Pied Piper in front of him would have been among the Pilgrims in life.

　　The only difference might be that the only ones who can retain memories of their lives are the prisoners. Those who became administrators or NPCs after their deaths would forget everything about their past.

　　At this time Gregorio didn't know that Sylver was an anomaly among all the prisoners.

　　Hiding in the corner, the two were discussing how they would steal the flute when they heard the noise in the hall downstairs, and in what seemed like an instant, the crunching of short weapons, the muffled sounds of sharp instruments piercing flesh, and screams rose, all at once bringing the quiet castle to a boil.

　　"Quickly surrender its spears and swords!"

　　"Cut its tail!"

　　"Others are coming - KAM! Why are they all lizards? Where the hell is this!"

　　What's going on?

　　Glancing at Aron, who was all "WTF", Gregorio frowned and quietly peeked out from behind the railing.