RE: LORD OF TIME

Looking at the symbol on the back of his palm, William’s breathing became uneven.

The symbol looked like a sword with a pupil engraved at the center of the sword’s blade.

Normally, William wouldn’t have been so flustered after seeing a symbol appear on his palm out of nowhere as his will wasn’t so fragile that something like this could shake him so easily.

However, this particular symbol was something he was very familiar with, which shocked him greatly.

When a person breaks through to the Star Warrior level, their Sea of Consciousness is also opened.

Although the Sea of Consciousness doesn’t play any significant role before a person reaches the Star King level, it is still extremely important.

Without opening the Sea of Consciousness, it is very difficult to increase one’s mental energy.

When a person awakens a Trait, an image corresponding to that Trait also appears within their Sea of Consciousness.

After all, Traits are related to a person’s soul, and the Sea of Consciousness is something that is closely connected to it.

In the original timeline, when William became a Star Warrior and awakened his first Trait—Sword Master, the image that had appeared in his Sea of Consciousness was a sword.

And that sword was almost identical to the symbol on the back of his hand.

Moreover, when he awakened his second Trait, Wisdom, the image that had appeared in his Sea of Consciousness was a pupil, exactly like the one engraved in the middle of the sword’s blade.

For a moment, countless thoughts flashed through William’s mind.

He sat down on his bed and closed his eyes.

Finally, after a few minutes, he opened them again and took a deep breath.

"Now it’s certain that this guy is closely related to my family." William looked at the small statue and narrowed his eyes.

The reason he was so certain was because he had just realized that it wasn’t a coincidence that he had awakened the Sword Master and Wisdom Traits in the original timeline.

The reason he had awakened those two Traits was because of the figure he had seen earlier.

Or, to be more precise, because of the Divinity in his blood that came from that figure.

The symbol on the back of his hand, that seemed to related to his traits, had appeared immediately after he saw that mysterious man.

So it could be confirmed that both of his Traits were most likely related to that figure.

And since he had awakened Traits connected to him, it was highly likely that William possessed something that also originated from him.

And the only thing William could think of was the Divinity flowing through his blood.

After seeing the symbol on his hand, William also came up with a guess as to why the statue had reacted to him but not to Karl or Samuel.

Karl was likely unaffected because he was just an ordinary person and hadn’t inherited any Divinity in his blood.

As for Samuel, whom William suspected also possessed Divinity, it was very likely that the concentration of Divinity in his blood was simply too low.

In the original timeline, even after becoming a Star Warrior, Samuel had never awakened a single Trait related to that man.

The reason he failed to awaken Traits like William was most likely because the concentration of Divinity in his blood was too low.

And because of that low concentration, even though he possessed Divinity related to that mysterious figure, the statue did not reacted to him.

Meanwhile, William guessed that the concentration of Divinity in his blood was much higher than Samuel’s.

That is why statue reacted to him.

’Now the biggest question is... Who is this guy, and what is his relationship with my family?’

As William recalled the overwhelming power that figure had displayed earlier, he couldn’t help but feel a little excited that he might be connected to such an unimaginably powerful being.

However, the moment he remembered what had happened in the original timeline, all of his excitement vanished and he raised his hand, slapping himself lightly.

’What are you getting excited for? You were related to that guy even in the original timeline, yet you still died like a dog.’

William took a deep breath to calm his surging emotions, and his eyes became sharp.

"It actually doesn’t matter whether I am related to that guy or not. The only thing I should focus on is becoming stronger. Only by becoming stronger myself will I have the strength to protect the people I care about..."

As he spoke, William glanced at the statue beside him.

"If I choose to depend on others to protect me and the people I care about, I will end up meeting the same fate I did in the original timeline."

William picked up the statue from the bed and placed it on the wooden table beside him.

At the same time, he carefully examined the symbol on the back of his hand to see if there was anything special about it.

To his surprise, when he focused his mental power on the symbol, he sensed that it was guiding him somewhere.

It was like a compass pointing toward a certain direction, urging him to go there.

However, the place the symbol was pointing to seemed to be very far away—so far away that William even felt as if it wasn’t in the Vermilion Realm, but somewhere else entirely.

’Could this symbol be some kind of guide, leading me to a place related to that guy?’

As that thought crossed his mind, William’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Although he had just decided not to place any expectations on that mysterious figure, it didn’t mean he wasn’t curious about who he was or what kind of relationship he had with him.

’Maybe I will be able to uncover his mystery once I reach the place indicated by this symbol.’

William’s eyes gleamed faintly as he rubbed the symbol on the back of his hand.

"William, come out and eat!"

Just then, Elena’s voice came from outside.

"Coming, Mom."

William immediately stopped thinking about those matters and left his room.

’I will think about all of this later. My main goal right now should be to break through to the Star Warrior level.’

Karl and Samuel also came in from outside, and the family of four ate dinner together.

Just like that, with nothing particularly significant happening, one week passed in the blink of an eye, and William was finally ready to break through to the Star Warrior level and complete his trial.