RE: LORD OF TIME

As soon as William came down from the platform, Elena hugged him, her eyes already moist as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Seeing this, William’s eyes went blank for a moment as memories from the original timeline resurfaced in his mind.

The same situation had occurred in the original timeline, and Elena had been so happy that she couldn’t stop crying after learning that he possessed such a high Aether Affinity.

The only difference from the original timeline was that, back then, he himself had almost cried with happiness, believing that he would finally be able to give his family a better future.

But reality had dealt him a harsh blow.

Although he had managed to improve his family’s living conditions to some extent, it was far from what he had anticipated.

Not to mention anything else, he couldn’t even keep them safe because of his own lack of strength.

Looking at Elena, who was still crying while hugging him, and Karl, who stood beside them with a proud smile on his weathered face, William took a deep breath, and the determination in his eyes grew even firmer.

’Even if it means being hunted down by the Time Devourers for the rest of my life, I will definitely change everything that went wrong in this timeline.’

He gently patted Elena’s back and spoke helplessly.

"Mom, if you continue crying like this, people will think you’re unhappy because of your son’s success."

"Nonsense." Elena pulled away and looked at him with wide eyes. "What mother would be unhappy because of her child’s success?"

William smiled when he heard that.

"Since that’s the case, how about you make something special today?"

Elena wiped away her tears and rolled her eyes.

"I would have made something special even if you hadn’t said anything."

William didn’t reply. Instead, he looked around, only to find that most of the people who had come to watch the Aether Affinity Test were staring at him with expressions filled with either awe or jealousy.

He simply ignored them and soon caught sight of Samuel.

At that moment, Samuel was standing beside a boy around his own age, talking with an excited expression on his face.

’It seems they are getting along well...’

William thought to himself as he watched Samuel and Ashura.

Since Ashura, whose real name was Cooper, was around Samuel’s age, William had told Samuel to befriend him.

Samuel had been confused when William suddenly asked him to make friends with someone, but since he didn’t have many friends because of his poor health, he agreed.

Over the past month, the two had gradually become good friends.

’Well, let’s see how things turn out in the future.’

After saying goodbye to his mother and father, who were already chatting happily with the neighbors, William quietly left.

As he walked back toward his home, another matter surfaced in his mind.

’It seems nothing significant happened because of the destruction of that Astral Rift.’

In the original timeline, Richard had discovered the Astral Rift on the night before the Aether Affinity Test.

But this time, because William had taken away the Rift Core, Richard never found it. Fortunately, that change didn’t seem to have affected anything for the time being.

’It’s good that nothing happened. I was worried that a Time Devourer might come looking for me because of it.’

He sighed in relief, silently thanking the white pearl once again for hiding his existence from the Time Devourers.

As he was about to reach his home, he couldn’t help but glance toward the area where he had tested the Seven Steps of Supreme around two weeks earlier.

’If everything goes according to plan, I should be able to get rid of that bastard tonight.’

After returning to his room, William finally focused on what had happened earlier during the test.

’My current Aether Affinity is stronger than it was in the original timeline...’

He frowned slightly, unable to understand what had caused this change.

He carefully went through everything that was different from the original timeline and could only think of one possibility.

He looked at the back of his left palm and the next moment, the symbol of a sword with a pupil engraved in the center of its blade slowly appeared on his skin.

A few days ago, William had discovered that he could hide this mark with just a single thought.

Since he didn’t want anyone else to see it, he kept it concealed all the time.

’The change in my Aether Affinity must be related to that supreme being.’

William took a deep breath, and the mark on the back of his hand disappeared once again.

Although he was surprised, he didn’t dwell on it.

Even if he spent several hours thinking about matters related to that supreme being, he wouldn’t gain any answers.

Instead of wasting his time on something he couldn’t understand, he might as well cultivate and increase his strength.

The Aether Affinity Test had taken less than three hours. As such, he still had plenty of time left.

As for Lucas, William was one hundred percent certain that even if that guy had taken the bait and become interested in the rumored treasure, he wouldn’t visit the crater until nighttime.

After all, William had deliberately mentioned that Baron Xing was suppressing the matter.

Thinking along those lines, Lucas would definitely avoid going there during the day, when his absence from Baron Xing’s manor could easily be noticed.

Although Lucas was the heir of a Count’s family, he was still only the heir.

He wasn’t a Count himself, nor was he the head of the Count family.

As such, he still had to show proper respect to Baron Xing, who officially held the title of Baron.

If he tried to do something suspicious here and got caught, Baron Xing would have every right to punish him.

Knowing the consequences of being discovered while secretly searching for something that Baron Xing was supposedly trying to conceal, Lucas would undoubtedly act as cautiously as possible.

Therefore, William was confident that he would only head to the crater after nightfall, when nobody would notice him.

That evening, Elena and Karl suggested inviting all the neighbors over for a large feast to celebrate William’s success.

However, William immediately rejected the idea and told them to hold the celebration another day.

If they hosted a celebration tonight and many people came over, it would become much more difficult for him to sneak out and kill Lucas.

Although disappointed, Karl and Elena didn’t insist after hearing William’s decision.

Dinner that evening was quite luxurious, with the main dish being Cry Chicken.

Cry Chicken was an unranked monster whose meat was considered quite delicious.

For ordinary farming families, it was a luxury usually reserved for special occasions.

After dinner, William spent some time chatting idly with his family before finally returning to his room.

As the night gradually deepened, a figure silently slipped out of William’s house and headed toward the outskirts of the barony.

The figure was dressed entirely in black from head to toe, with only a pair of cold green eyes visible through the narrow gap in the mask.

Soon, William arrived near the giant crater.

Without wasting any time, he dug a small hole and carefully buried something inside while muttering to himself.

"That bastard must still have that damn staff in his hands..."

After placing the item into the hole, he covered it back up.

Then, using Earth elemental energy, he carefully restored the ground so that it looked completely untouched before quietly walking away.

Hiding atop a tree some distance away, William activated Eyes of Insight and patiently waited for Lucas to appear.

Time continued to pass.

Finally, around midnight, William spotted a figure speeding toward the crater and a cold sneer slowly spread across his face.