White

'Zal...'

Ian recited the name in his mind.

'Doesn't ring a bell.'

Such a powerful mage and he had no clue about him. How truly embarrassing. 

"Um..."

Gaze shifting between Ian and the white-haired man, Alaric hesitated, "Z-Zal...?" 

He inspected the man up and down, taking a step back towards Ian meanwhile.

The reaction appeared a bit strange to Ian. The man too, lifted up his head.

"Uh, sorry. The name was a bit unfamiliar so..." 

Was he making such a face because of that?

Indeed, it was an old name. Such a name belonging to a young man was somewhat peculiar. 

"The purer the mana, the longer the lifespan."

Zal's answer was brief and clear. At least for Ian.

'He doesn't belong to this era.'

One peek at his mana, and one could understand the depth, amount, and purity of it. Though he wasn't a mage and couldn't measure other's mana capacity, Ian was confident in his skills regarding sensing Aether. And knowing a small fact about Aether was enough for him to reach his conclusion. 

'All natural powers have slight effects on their bearers' appearance.'

Just as Doris had reddish hues on her eyes and hair, other powers could too, leave such trails on people. The color change depended on how pure the power was. 

'And this man is void of any Aether.'

Congenital pale color plate, a sign of low Aether capacity.

Instead, he was filled to the brim with mana. 

'Why didn't mana leave any traces on him? Because the lack of Aether prevented any colors from surfacing?'

That was probably the case. 

Zal. He was a young man probably older than the eldest humans. 

'So I finally met one... I thought I really was alone.'

One a tad akin to him, though in a different way, yet similar. A young man older than the eldest humans. 

Ian wasn't sure what the emotion whirling inside his chest was called, but it was definitely not an unpleasant one. He was as thrilled as a child who'd found a bunch of shiny pearls inside a pool of mud.

And at the same time that he noticed the similarity, his wariness against the man increased severalfold. There was no knowing what someone who's lived for centuries could or would want to do. 

Then their gazes met. 

"Completely opposite to Aether."

The purest mana holder lives the longest. Mana and Aether had always been two contrasting forces.

Zal was hinting at Ian with his words, which he perfectly understood. 

"Uhm... Erm... Um..."

But there was someone who, on top of not understanding a thing, by simply being there, ruined the atmosphere.

"...." "...."

The two did their best to ignore Alaric for the time being.

"So? What's your business?" 

He was afraid that by allowing the man to talk further, he'd expose things Ian wasn't willing for others to know yet, so he took it upon himself to cut to the chase.

"I believe you've been hiding somewhere for a long time since I've never heard of you before. Judging by your mana, it would be impossible for you to be unnoticed if you ever entered human society..." As he spoke, he flipped the pages of the notebook open, "But you suddenly show up to hand us an old notebook... then follow us around for days."

Someone so well concealed that Ian never even found a trace of his existence wouldn't leave his hideout for no reason. 

"I was ordered."

Zal too, didn't seem to have any intentions of beating around the bush. His answer came almost immediately.

"By?"

Zal paused for a brief second, scanning the two of them as if confirming whether they were worthy enough or not, but that didn't take him more than a second. 

"An esteemed creature, the Divine Bird."

"...."

The Devine Bird?

'Isn't that what Claus was ordered to find?'

That thing really existed?

Turning to the side, Ian found Alaric having a similar expression to his. So was it really what those elves were so desperate to find? As he thought of the Divine Bird, a question crossed his mind. 

"The Bird of Nature?"

"So you do know of it."

"To some extent. It would be great if I received more explanations."

Zal let out a sigh, not even slightly surprised. Then he flicked a finger. Before anyone could react, his figure disappeared, leaving behind a trail of floating leaves. Once he reappeared, he was right in front of Alaruc's face. 

"Eek-"

"A singularity." His deep gray eyes peered at the nobleman as if seeing the hidden depths of his soul. "A distinct existence, dissimilar to others."

ShaaaaaP

A golden flash burst between the two's faces, forcing them both to squint their eyes. The force of Aether burgeoned, creating a shield-like layer in front of Alaric.

"Stay back!"

A hissing, warning tone rang out. Ian grabbed Alaric from behind and pulled him back. Exhaling a breath, Zal's body floated up again, distancing himself from them both. 

"As its guardian, the divine bird couldn't ignore such an entity being close to the World Tree, thus I was sent out to check the situation." Zal pointed at the notebook in Ian's hands. "And that was never meant to be yours."

The notebook. Yes. From the beginning, the trial of mana left lingering around the notebook was meant to attract a mage, not a saint, not Ian.

'He was sent to investigate Alaric, and used the diary as bait, but then his attention shifted to me once I interrupted his plan of luring Alaric to the notebook.'

Ian too, agreed that Alaric was a singularity. He didn't know what made him so different, but the fact that his sole existence brought many changes to the timeline could neither be ignored nor denied. This time too, he caused a series of events without himself even noticing. 

"But it is, now."

And Ian could even read its contents, thanks to someone. He gazed down at the pages filled with a now familiar language. 

"So this notebook is?"

Zal couldn't be the one mentioned in the notebook, since their appearance didn't match, and neither could he be the author, for clear reasons. So where did he get his hands on this old diary?

The floating body of the white-haired man lifted a bit more in the air as his figure shifted to a more comfortable one, akin to sitting in the air. 

"It was left behind and I picked it up. I searched through it. The contents were unfamiliar, unknown, not matching any language that had ever appeared in this world. So I kept it. Maybe it could be useful."

Alaric instantly stiffened up. He suddenly sat straight, swallowing his saliva. The noble's eyes secretly peeked at Ian, back covered in cold sweat. 

The man just said it.

'Not matching any language that had ever appeared in this world.'

Alaric thought back of the words, looked at Ian, then remembered his past actions.

'Didn't I literally just get exposed?'

It was over. He wanted to cry. 

He worriedly watched the bluehead, yet contrary to his expectations, the boy didn't show any expressions of surprise, nor did he even glance at him as if he was already aware of that fact. 

That couldn't be possible... Really...

"Who left it behind?"

Ian asked once again, more specifically, since the man seemed to answer only the exact thing asked of him. 

"A mage," Zal shook his head. "One with a very similar aura to that boy." He pointed at Alaric with a finger, eyes narrowed, keenly observing him. 

"The mana is peculiar. It's pure, natural... yet alien. But that's not the most interesting." His finger pointed at Ian, his head tilted to one side.

"What are you?"

What was he?

"Such a strange question." Ian shrugged his shoulders. "A human?"

"Yes, indeed."

As he nodded, Zal's figure descended down to the ground. He approached closer to Ian, an amused expression surfacing on his face. 

"A human. I know. I can see it. I can also see how you are not just a mere human." 

Ian's gaze shifted to his master who was attentively listening to them, eyes widened. He must find it hard to understand what was going on, but he kept his silence since the atmosphere was so serious. He was also making way for Lior to climb up his knees. The child too, had been watching them interact without interrupting them a bit.

Unlike Alaric, the two men understood what the other meant, to the point that there was no need for a further conversation. 

But they kept it up. 

"Deeply engrossed in this world, keenly familiar with the World Tree... A long, hidden trail of history, engraved everywhere yet erased from all... I can feel it. You faint, little mana tells it all."

Since it was interesting. Since the both of them had finally found someone of close similarity while they held no resemblance at all. Mana and Aether had always been two contrasting forces. Two people, two polar opposites. 

"I've seen someone like you before."

Zal inspected Ian up and down. His gaze lingered on his dark blue hair sticking out from the cloak and his deep sapphire eyes. The mage spat out the bits and parts of his thoughts that might seem interesting for the other one, to keep him engrossed in this conversation. Such was a rare chance, after all. To find such an interesting person. 

"I was a kid back then, but I remember it clear enough. Just like you, he was."

Tap

He tapped Ian's chest with a thin, slender finger. 

"A blessed of light."