It's Time

Slowly reading through the contents of the letter that looks like a scroll which is rapidly turning dry and crumpled as if the wood that the paper was made out of lost its final bits of life that it had retained.

The scroll finally turned so dry that even the ink started to fade away as the scroll can't even retain resemblance of what it used to be and finally turned to ashes which was carried away by the lake wind.

Disappearing as mysteriously as the scroll appeared like it was all an illusion, but if one paid attention without losing any focus one would notice a really faint magic array fading away really fast; 'DECAY MAGIC'.

The old man looked toward the tube casing from which he took out the scroll from and noticed exactly the same scene that the scroll went through replaying itself; cracking, losing luster and finally turned to ashes which were carried away by the lake wind; scattering till nothing is left.

The old man cracked a half cold smile while watching this scene playing out in front of him while softly saying under his breath, "Heh, you old legends haven't forgotten of me in times of needs, huh?"

Suddenly realizing that he was calling himself old too, as he too was considered as a legend nowadays among the living ordinary people and even a mythical folklore in the eyes of people that teach youths even when there is some evidence left of his existence, it is too old and very lacking thus it was concluded as exaggerated stuff to make kids work harder toward their goals.

As this realization dawned upon him, the old man narrowed his eyes into slits for a brief moment before sighing, while going back to pondering over what he just read from the letter and to do about it.

Time ticked by, as the dusk kept on going till the very last light from the horizon faded away and darkness slowly descended upon him, making his long shadow behind his back disappear into the dark and quiet night.

Even though the night was quiet and dark, on the lake with only the stars and moonlight to illuminate the surroundings, there was an eerie atmosphere that would deter any passersby and had the courage to dare come this deep into the forest if even they dared to enter the forest in the first place that is.

Strangely enough, even when the atmosphere in forest and its nearby areas had this extremely threatening feeling, the old man acted indifferent toward it and as if having made a pact among themselves, no beast made any noise during the night besides a couple of quick mournful shrieks before dying down to the tranquilness that suited the night.

Having been pondering over the letter and its content and context for a very long time, the old man went to pick up his staff while humming broken lines with a still half pondering expression seemingly making a decision, "hmm... I should... as a farewell... right?... for old times sake!".

As if coming to a decision his face eased up as the pondering expression was replaced by a solemn and a trace of an anticipating expression could be seen on the old mans face.

Actually the old man wasn't pondering over the letters content as there was really nothing to ponder over as it was very short and concise as if the scroll was sent in an emergency, well even the most useless person; an alcoholic, could come up with the idea that this might be an emergency as it is not normal for scrolls to be delivered through void and on to top it of the tube casing wasn't frozen or destroyed when it arrived but only disappeared after the letter was read.

The pulling forces in the void would stretch even an mountain much less a tube of glass casing while the absolute chilling temperature would freeze even an active and lively star albeit slowly and it might be stretched thin before it shut down due to loss of activity and heat.

The scrolls content were, "Greetings WeiZhe. This is a bit embarrassing to ask, since I know no one believed you when you were informing us about this, but we hope... No I hope you could come to the gathering and center place of all magic knowledge so we could discuss about the current problem. Your Go playing - Old Buddy."

That's right the old man's name is WeiZhe just WeiZhe.

It has been such a long time that the old man forgot his own and his family name while immersing himself in his studies. As time kept on doing its duty, people around him gradually also forgot his name and background as that became irrelevant and since no one knew what to call him by he took it upon himself and got named WeiZhe or otherwise known as The Great Sage.

Indeed it is quite an arrogant move to name oneself that and obnoxious too but everyone accepted it since it was quite fitting.

Although he should have some relatives alive as his genes did go to the next generation through his siblings hard work as he himself never got married much less have any interactions with women aside for seeking more knowledge.

But this does not mean he doesn't understand the relationship between a man and a woman, as he did his own extensive research on this topic with his own methods.

But then again WeiZhe never had any interest in the mundane worlds affairs so even if he saw his relatives alive and struggling he wouldn't care about them unless they had some new knowledge that could pique his interest and he would provide protection in return.

Although this world is not so brutal that you couldn't feel safe for even a minute as there are cities that protect its people but even then that only gives you protection from beasts, to truly feel safe it can be achieved if your parents have wealth and power or you have amazing talent which make someone appreciate you.

WeiZhe after reading the letter and making the decision of going, turns around to go inside the study room from the small balcony while his magic wand disappears just as mysteriously it first appeared.

It seems WeiZhe is capable of making objects disappear with his will.

But if you looked closely you would realize that there is a thin glowing bracelet which is actually hidden from sight as it is tucked behind the sleeves of the white robe with silver lining and azure glow on it that WeiZhe is wearing currently. And it actually fits him quite well with his white beard and hair.

Sauntering toward the handmade wooden working desk WeiZhe poured himself some water and drank it in one gulp.

After drinking his fill he opened the closest drawer in the wooden desk and some stuff vanished from inside it before anyone could see what was taken and it was closed also as fast as the stuff disappeared.

After doing the same thing on couple of other drawers and cupboards he finally stopped as the thin bracelet on his right arm stopped glowing and returned to its normal state of color - white tungsten.

Walking toward the small balcony again WeiZhe suddenly turned sad for a moment as he turned around to look at the tower in the disguise of a mansion, he said, "I will miss this place but alas time is not forgiving, nothing last forever and even the longest of happiest of times needs to come to an end. It's time."

Waving his hand as the window doors to the balcony starts closing, he disappears from the balcony right as the doors close with click sound.

Slowly, the mansion that has floated above the sea like lake for countless years, starts to sink as the enlightenment, knowledge and wisdom this tower has brought to mankind fades at the bottom of the sea like lake.

"PsFF BANgG"

After some time a loud eruption happens in the bottom of the lake sending water gushing towards the heaven looking like it is trying to pierce sky in one move.

This lasts for a long time and the gushing water keeps on going upward as if there's no end, some people far away lands or in the high above sky are able to see this phenomenon as they wonder.

'Has some esteemed mages experiment gone awry?'.

But this wonderful sight that was painted by painters and remembered by ordinary people as a miracle, slowly died down as the darkness of night blended this sight with itself.

Some startled and cautious beast roaming around the lake are conveying an astonished expression through their eyes as they wonder.

'How could that old monsters den disappear?'.