264 Leaving the Icy Cave
What the eye said made little sense. Was the universe dying? Well, if you think about it, everything would eventually end.
“What do you mean?” Arthur said, frowning his eyebrows after hearing such a sentence.
“Some threats that are unknown to even me are lurking around. I built this place to think about ways to prevent the collapse of everything we know and love!”
“This place? I see nothing special about this place, so how would it help you save the universe?”
Arthur did not believe it, even for a second. He now knew more about the ‘gods’ who controlled the galaxy. They were humans from Earth, just like him.
But the universe? He did not know how many galaxies there were in the first place, but he was sure Earth was not even close to the planet he was.
What bullshit was that about the entire universe ending? That would mean the end of everything. Who could have such power?
“You see nothing special about this place? Well, for starters, time is slowed down here, as this is the way I found to think about how to save the universe! If you spend one thousand years here, then it would probably pass around 10 seconds in the real world.”
“What? You are joking, right? This isn’t possible at all.”
Now Arthur was sure that the creature had just lost its mind after being trapped inside that place for a long time. That was the only explanation Arthur felt reasonable.
“Believe me, if you want to. Look, you and I meeting here is fate. I can send you back to where you came from if you like to, and even help the others from the tribe nearby.”
“And what will you want in exchange? I don’t believe in free lunch.”
“Wise one you are. All I ask is that you seek knowledge for me and uncover the truth about this threat to the universe. Here, take it.”
The eye tossed a book with a black cover toward Arthur. It had nothing written on it, and the pages were all blank.
“You can store the knowledge you find useful in this book. It will automatically enter my mind too, and we can even talk using the book.”
“So you want me to go out gathering information for you? Free information?”
“Free? No, not free at all. Like I said, you will leave this place. Isn’t that good enough? And I can answer you a few questions if you do your job properly. Mages would kill each other for a piece of my advice and knowledge.”
“But didn’t the other mages leave this place without your help? If they did it, I can do it too!”
“The others? Everyone that left this place had my help, and they are out there, seeking knowledge as we speak. You do not differ from them. Don’t think you are special just because you are from Earth, have a dragon bloodline or a strange system that helps you. You aren’t the only one.”
The eye knowing that Arthur had bloodlines or even came from Earth wasn’t that surprising, but he also knew about his system? That was something Arthur did not predict and made him fearful of the unknown.
“What do you mean? There are other people with systems?”
“Of course, or did you think you were the protagonist of some heroic book? Anyway, will you accept my offer?”
“I will think about it.”
~~~~
Arthur had no intentions on believing everything the strange creature said, so he tried everything he could go find a way out without its help.
He looked in every corner of that place and found nothing. No matter what he tried, it never worked. After one more month passed without a single clue, Arthur had no choice but to return to where the mysterious eye was.
“You are back already? I told you there is no way out of here.”
“Fine, I agree with your terms. What about the rest of the people inside this place?”
“I will send them to a random island. Or are you willing to take care of them?”
“No, I have a lot of things to deal with.”
“Okay. Now, remember the promise, and gather the knowledge.”
Everything around Arthur shattered, and he returned to the Icy Cave in an instant. He was not in the same spot where the portal was, but back at the surface area, which meant he was ready to leave that place without problems.
“He sent me back. That is good.”
Arthur glanced at his lost arm, which still needed time to recover, and also at the black book the eye gave him. He did not know what would happen if he did not gather the knowledge, but would do it anyway.
It would not take him a lot of effort to share the knowledge with that creature, and if there were other benefits, then Arthur would gladly help.
“I had no other choice or else I would be stuck inside that place forever. Also, the eye knew about the system and also about Earth. Could the universe be truly in danger?”
There was no way for Arthur to know if the universe was in danger or not, but considering that eye knew a lot of things, then maybe that was also a truth.
But he would not blindly believe in that, so seeking his own knowledge would be the best course of action.
“I will learn more along the way.”
Now that he was back, what Arthur needed to do was deal with the situation inside the One Hundred Thunder Academy.
These three teachers, who were the high ups of the school, tried to kill him. Arthur believed they did that to not share the prizes of the quest, but that could not be the only thing.
Maybe a conspiracy? It was the guess he had, but the only way to confirm it was returning with his life back to the school.
He left the cave using the same path as before, and when he was outside, Arthur noticed some mages.
“I remember some of them were here before I entered, but that should be months ago. Was the eye really speaking the truth about the time thing?”
All the mages were surprised to see Arthur. He did not look like a mage, but more like a barbarian. Most of them did not recognize him at all!
Well, the youth with the black-hair who Arthur believed it was someone dangerous was still there, and he remembered Arthur.
“Why is he wearing a fur clothing, and why is his arm gone? Did he find something inside the Icy Cave?”
Not a single one of them stopped Arthur from leaving. They were all from top ranked schools, but Arthur was as well! A fight between them had to have a good reason, at least when in an open field like that.
Arthur quickly left the area and made his way back to the school. During the entire journey, he kept thinking about all the things that happened inside that place.
Everything was so strange. He could not help but think about what the eye said.
“Others with systems? The end of the universe? Fuck, I need to train harder!”