He who Bends Time-Chapter 73 - widow in sorrow

"That is what anyone could call the main trump card," said Auran.

"Really? What does it do?" asked little Auran again.

"I just said it’s the trump card. What’s the point of a trump card if others know its ability? Maybe to others it looks like a normal thing, but not to me. I take seriously the things I consider valuable. And even for you—who I manifested out of boredom—the trump card is off-limits," said Auran.

"Fine then," said little Auran, shrugging. "Not like it matters even if I knew, anyway," he added.

"Yes, I think it’s about time you go. I’ve spent more than enough time building this place. I need to check the outside," said Auran.

"How much time has passed?" asked little Auran.

"I really don’t know. When you’re deeply focused on something while working, the flow of time becomes almost unnoticeable. But I don’t think it matters anymore since I’m inside of this thing," said Auran.

Both Auran and little Auran talked as they walked out from the second section of Access Finite, then gradually made their way back through the Lazy Domain until they reached the place where their journey began.

"Why doesn’t time matter once you inside this thing?" asked little Auran. At that moment, his body started to become transparent and slowly began fading away.

"Well, inside Access Finite, I cast an extremely concentrated time-delay spell that slows the flow of time significantly compared to the outside world. In comparison, one hour inside Access Finite equals about two hundred hours outside. But now that I think about it, I placed that spell only after completing the construction, so a pretty considerable amount of time must’ve passed in the outside world," Auran explained.

As he finished his sentence, he gazed upon his own creation with pride. Meanwhile, little Auran slowly faded out and vanished completely.

"Well, that should take care of my feelings for the past me who is depressed—showing myself what I’ve accomplished. It’s a pretty satisfying thing, actually," he muttered to himself in the lonely Access Finite.

"I should get back," he said, turning around. Auran prepared to step out from Access Finite, but suddenly, he paused for a moment, then continued forward.

However, instead of waking up in the real world, he appeared back in his mind space—where, right in front of him, a portal of unknown origin floated silently.

Auran didn’t rush in with reckless thoughts, as if to jump through. Instead, he first observed the portal carefully, then examined its surroundings.

"If there were a physical object, I could’ve used it to test more, but unfortunately, this kind of space only deals with consciousness-related things.

Access Finite was only recently created, so there isn’t much knowledge in it that could help me with something like this. A portal suddenly appearing in my mind space... to my knowledge, only someone very powerful could do something like this. And since I’m a time-related magician, my own mana resistance is very high—it’s hard for anyone to cast a spell on me.

The other possibility is... I’m in a territory ruled by someone else. If that’s the case, then that person could exert more authority over me than a typical magician and might be able to use a portal spell on me. But most importantly, the question is: what’s the purpose?"

After pondering for a moment, Auran sighed.

"The fact still remains—I’m weakened. Even if I’m at the Forge Stage, it’ll take time before I gain the strength that properly fits a time magician. But that doesn’t mean I’m completely powerless," he said as he extended his hand.

Then, he slowly moved one finger toward the portal. As soon as half his finger went through, Auran tried to pull it back—only to realize it was stuck and it was after a hard difficulty did he manage to pull it out.

"A one-way portal, I see. First, it’s totally unknown who cast this spell, and second—even if there’s danger, I can’t run away since it’s a one-way portal. I think I have enough clues to proceed ahead," Auran muttered, turning around and walking away, completely ignoring the portal that had appeared out of nowhere. fгeewebnovёl.com

However, in the very next moment, the portal twisted and surged forward, completely swallowing Auran in a single motion.

Then, Auran appeared on a land seemingly made entirely from crystals. There were crystal cliffs, crystal trees, and plants—and even flying animals—all around the space.

"I had a hunch," said Auran, looking at the figure standing under the shade of a crystal tree.

"Welcome, great magician," said the figure, which turned out to be a woman. She was dressed like a high noble, with an air of maturity despite her youthful appearance. Her attire was elegant, and the way she spoke reflected refined, noble manners.

"Thank you for inviting me to this place. If I’m correct, you’re the mother crystal," said Auran.

"I am indeed the one known as the Mother Crystal of the Inhabitants. But in truth, I belong to a specific race of beings known as the Gungu. And the reason I called you here, prestige magician, is to ask for your help," said the mother crystal, her voice tinged with sorrow.

"I cannot be sure of anything—it all depends on what the problem is," Auran responded.

"We Gungu’s are a peaceful entity that roam the universe freely. Unlike other races I’ve come across since becoming trapped in this place, our race does not interact much with others. To us, only our own kind matters. And once in a proper cycle, our race would split and soar through the universe. Once upon a time, I too was a being who soared across the cosmos with my beloved family.

But one day, an unknown being of foreign origin attacked us. Although we are powerful—powerful to the limit what this realm itself could bear—we were still defeated. At the last moment, my beloved used all his strength to ensure the safety of our children and me. Alas, the result is..." As the Mother Crystal spoke, the environment around her and Auran began to rapidly change. The previous crystal cliffs, trees, and animals gradually disappeared from view.

New crystals grew from the ground, swallowing the entire scenery. After a moment, few extremely large and distinctly colored crystals rose from the crytal floor.

The Mother Crystal’s natural color could be described as light blue, but the newly risen crystals displayed very different hues—one glowed an intense crimson red, another shimmered with a grayish violet tone, and the last radiated a warm gray light.

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