RE: LORD OF TIME

’Only by disturbing the timeline can I safely draw power from the cracks in time and continue hiding your existence from the Time Devourers.’

William frowned inwardly when he heard the pearl’s words.

’What do you mean?’

The spirit of the pearl remained silent for a moment before speaking.

’I am a Soul Armament. From where do you think Soul Armaments draw their power?’

’From their owner...’ William answered without hesitation. ’Soul Armaments grow along with their owners and naturally draw their power from them.’

The spirit of the pearl nodded before asking another question.

’Then whose Soul Armament do you think I am?’

’The God of Time’s...’ William replied, before suddenly realizing something.

’You mean because the God of Time is already dead, you can’t draw your power from him anymore, right?’

’Yes,’ The spirit answered in a low voice. ’Since the moment I brought you to the past, I have been using the energy the God of Time left behind to keep you hidden. But that energy is not endless and will eventually run out. To keep you hidden from the Time Devourers, I have to constantly consume a large amount of energy. Since the God of Time is no longer here, I can only draw that energy from the Cracks in Time.’

The spirit paused for a moment before continuing.

’However, drawing power from the Cracks in Time is not easy. The Time Devourers keep every part of the Cracks in Time under their control. If I recklessly draw energy from there, they will immediately notice my presence.’

William wasn’t stupid and after hearing the spirit’s explanation, he immediately understood what it was trying to say.

’So you want me to change this timeline as much as possible compared to the original one so that the Cracks in Time become unstable. Then you can take advantage of that disturbance and secretly draw more power for our use.’

’Exactly.’ The spirit nodded. ’Whenever you cause a disturbance in the timeline, the Time Devourers are thrown into temporary chaos. I can use that brief window of opportunity to draw more energy without being discovered.’

"Hmm..." William fell into deep thought and after thinking for a moment, he asked.

’Earlier, you said that when I killed Lucas, it caused quite a disturbance in the Cracks in Time. Did you manage to draw any power from it then?’

The spirit of the pearl didn’t answer William’s question. But for some reason, William felt as though it was looking at him like he was an idiot.

Seeing his confused expression, the spirit sighed and finally spoke.

’Why do you think I am suddenly able to speak to you instead of only sending information directly into your mind? Surely you don’t think it’s because I was afraid I would forget how to talk if I stayed silent, right?’

’Ugh...’ William was left speechless by the remark and immediately realized that the reason the spirit could now communicate with him directly was because it had drawn a considerable amount of energy when the disturbance occurred.

’Well... I always thought you never spoke because you were simply too lazy. Who would have thought it was because you didn’t have enough energy?’

Clearing his thoughts, William asked the most important question.

’How much energy do you currently have?’

The pearl inside his Sea of Consciousness glowed faintly, and after a brief pause, the spirit replied.

’I managed to draw a large amount of energy when you killed Lucas. At the moment, it’s enough to keep you hidden from the Time Devourers for more than a year.’

William’s expression eased when he heard this.

If it had only been enough for a few months, he would have had to start planning immediately for ways to further disrupt the timeline.

But since the pearl had enough energy to keep him hidden for over a year, he could think about this matter at his own pace.

’Even though I currently have a good amount of energy, you should still cause some minor disturbances from time to time so I can draw even more.’

William raised an eyebrow upon hearing spirit’s words.

’Other than hiding my presence from the Time Devourers, does the energy you gather have any other uses?’

’There are many uses,’ The spirit replied. ’But for the time being, I can only utilize two of them. The first is hiding your presence from the Time Devourers. The second is issuing Trials.’

’Issuing Trials also consumes energy?’ William asked in confusion.

’Of course it does,’ The spirit replied without hesitation. ’To issue a Trial, I must peer into the future to determine what events are likely to occur and then formulate the most suitable path to help you grow stronger and change your destiny from the original timeline. Although the future is never fixed and what I see is only one of many possible futures, every Trial I issue is intended to guide you toward becoming stronger so that you can successfully inherit my master’s legacy.’

The spirit paused before adding.

’However, I suggest that when you complete a Trial, you should do so in the way you believe is best. Don’t blindly follow the Trial’s instructions just because I issued them. I can glimpse possible futures, but you possess memories of the future yourself. In many situations, you may understand what is best far better than I do.’

William fell into deep thought after hearing those words.

If the spirit had said that every Trial it issued was absolutely perfect for him, he would never have believed it as nothing in this world was absolute.

The future was never predetermined and could always be changed.

Just as the spirit had said, he should complete the Trials in the way he believed was most suitable for himself. If he ever felt that a Trial wasn’t worth pursuing, he shouldn’t force himself to complete it simply because the spirit had issued it.

’I understand...’ William took a deep breath, and his thoughts became much clearer.

At the same time, he suddenly remembered something and asked curiously.

’By the way, I have always been curious... Was it Liam who brought you to me? And if so, how did he manage to obtain you?’