RE: LORD OF TIME

Amid the darkness of the wilderness, a small campfire burned outside the cave, its flames swaying gently and casting flickering shadows across the rocky walls.

William and the other two children from Rosoc Barony, both of whom possessed middle-level Aether Affinity, sat around the fire, looking toward the distance with curious expressions.

’No Astral Rift appeared here in the original timeline...’ William stared at the glowing portal, his brows furrowing slightly.

’Why did this rift appear in this timeline?’

He shifted his attention toward Richard and the four coach drivers, who were talking not far from the portal, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

’Judging from the energy fluctuations, this seems to be a Rank Two Astral Rift. Richard has already reached the Star Lord Realm and can’t enter a Rank Two Rift, so the ones who will enter must be these four Star Commander-level drivers.’

While William was deep in thought, he saw the four drivers, along with Abel, who was at the middle stage of the Star Warrior Realm walk toward the entrance of the rift.

William’s eyes flickered slightly, but in the end, he decided not to do anything reckless.

’In Richard’s and the others’ eyes, I am just a normal boy who started cultivating two days ago. Even if I asked to enter as well, no one would agree. Especially Richard, who is looking forward to receiving a hefty commission after delivering me safely to the academy.’

Resting his chin on his palm, a curious look flashed through William’s eyes.

’I wonder which realm this Astral Rift is connected to?’

The Astral Rift William had entered in the Kolva Mountain Range was connected to the Abyss, which was why he had encountered the people of the Abyss there.

Since every Astral Rift was connected to another realm, this one was no exception, and William was genuinely curious about the realm it was connected to.

While he was lost in thought, Abel and the others had already entered the rift.

Richard also returned to the campfire and sat down on a stone not far away.

After thinking for a moment, William asked curiously.

"Lord Richard, are Senior Abel and the others going to explore this rift?"

Richard turned his head upon hearing the question and when he saw it was William asking, he replied calmly.

"They are only going to survey the area near the entrance. Sometimes, the entrance of a rift appears close to a monster habitat. In that case, the moment someone enters the rift, they will be surrounded by monsters. Before I report the discovery of this rift, I need to confirm whether it’s safe for lower-level Evolvers to enter."

"Oh." William nodded with an understanding expression and didn’t ask anything further.

He already knew that the entrance of a rift could sometimes appear near a monster habitat.

The reason he asked was because he wanted to confirm whether Abel and the others were going to explore the rift or were merely surveying the entrance area.

If they intended to explore the rift, it would take quite a long time since the area of a Rank Two Rift wasn’t small.

In most cases, it took several days for a team to completely explore one, and that was assuming nothing particularly dangerous existed inside.

If they encountered powerful monsters that were difficult to deal with, the exploration would take even longer.

’It’s good that they are only surveying the entrance. That should take only a few hours. If they were exploring the entire rift, we’d have to stay here for several extra days.’

Although William was curious about the rift, he had no desire to waste several days waiting here.

Because of Richard’s presence, he couldn’t cultivate normally as the Time Star Codex was simply too powerful.

Every time he cultivated, it drew an enormous amount of Aether Energy from the surroundings.

Even with the excuse of possessing a Legendary-grade trait, Richard would definitely notice something unusual.

After all, someone who hadn’t even condensed an Aether Core shouldn’t be capable of drawing in so much Aether Energy.

Fortunately, William had obtained several useful pills from Lucas. Even if he couldn’t absorb the surrounding Aether Energy, the energy contained within those pills was more than enough to sustain his cultivation for the time being.

After everyone finished eating, Richard instructed William and the other two children to go inside the cave and rest.

William glanced once more at the Astral Rift before following the other two into the cave.

After lying down, he didn’t fall asleep. Instead, he took out an azure-colored pill and placed it into his mouth.

As soon as he swallowed it, William felt a warm current spread throughout his stomach.

Using the Time Star Codex, he guided the medicinal energy toward his Aether Core, steadily pushing his cultivation closer to the middle stage of the Star Warrior Realm.

’Without these pills, it would have taken me around two weeks to reach the middle stage of the Star Warrior Realm. But with the pills Lucas left behind, I should be able to break through in about a week.’

William closed his eyes and continued refining the pill’s energy.

Several hours later, his ears twitched slightly as voices drifted in from outside the cave.

’They have returned from the Astral Rift...’

William listened quietly as he recognized the voices of Abel and the four others who had entered the rift.

"What’s the situation inside?" Richard asked eagerly.

Every Astral Rift represented an enormous amount of resources. Besides valuable herbs, artifact materials, and rare monsters, there was also the possibility of obtaining Treasure Orbs, skills, and many other precious resources by killing monsters within.

Once he reported the discovery of this newly found Astral Rift, he would undoubtedly receive a hefty reward.

Abel and the others explained what they had found.

According to them, after entering the rift, one would arrive inside a valley surrounded by towering mountain walls.

The entrance area appeared relatively safe, but they had spotted several Rock Golems in the distance.

Although those Rock Golems were only at the Star Warrior Realm, they couldn’t rule out the possibility that stronger Rock Golems lived deeper within the valley.

William couldn’t help but frown slightly after hearing their report.

’It seems this really is a completely new rift. In the original timeline, I entered nearly every Rank Two Rift under the academy’s control, yet I never came across one like the one they are describing.’

William shook his head and decided to pay close attention to any future news regarding this rift.

At the very least, he needed to know which realm it was connected to.

’If this rift is connected to the Abyss, then things might not be so simple.’

With that thought, he focused once again on his cultivation.

The next morning, they departed at daybreak.

After discovering the Astral Rift, Richard was even more eager to return to the City of Vance as quickly as possible and claim his reward.

By evening, they picked up the children from the villages where Richard had conducted the Aether Affinity Tests before arriving at Rosoc Barony.

Including William, there were now a total of fifteen children traveling with Richard to the City of Vance.

However, other than William, every one of them possessed only middle-level Aether Affinity.

They rested in the wilderness that night, and during the afternoon of the third day after leaving Rosoc Barony, the silhouette of a magnificent city finally appeared on the horizon.

They were about to reach the City of Vance.