Assassin's Chronicle

"The hour grows late, yet you are still awake, Anfey," Saul said in a hushed voice.

"Master, you’re back," Anfey said, turning to face Saul. He needed the silence of the garden to aid him in his thought process, and by the time he noticed Saul, it was too late to hide. Today was not a good day to talk to Saul, who was smart enough to know how much his decision to attend Grandon’s party had impacted Christian. Anfey knew that talking too much could mean that he might accidentally show how angry he was about Saul’s decision.

"I’ve been back," Saul said. "Why aren’t you in bed?"

"I’m watching the stars," Anfey said. "I think it’s exceptionally beautiful today."

"Stars?" Saul asked, lifting an eyebrow. He glanced at the sky and said slowly, "I haven’t stargazed in a while. Do you know what the stars are made of?"

"Um, fire elements?" Anfey didn’t know if Saul knew what stars were really made of, so made up an answer.

"Fire elements?" Saul asked, amused.

"Am I wrong?" Anfey asked carefully.

"Well, according to the book of Genesis, God felt tired after creating the world and needed a rest, but he was worried about the world. So he cut his finger and his blood turned into stars. Of course, another theory was that God saw the violence and lies that permeated the society he had created and wept, his tears turning into stars."

"I don’t believe in gods," Anfey said with a shrug. "I don’t believe in those theories."

"I see. Did your teacher teach you that?"

Anfey nodded.

"I see," Saul said with a smile. "I felt a strange magic surge from the stars a few years ago. Of course, it was faint and insignificant."

"It’s faint because the stars are very far away," Anfey said. "The stars are very far from us. So far that the stars we see are only images of stars from thousands of years ago." Anfey was not afraid to tell Saul these things. He knew that it would not bring him any harm. The attitude towards strange scientific theories in this world was very accepting. In order to discover the secrets to reviving its ancient glory, the mages in this world would not oppress anyone with peculiar ideas. Magic labs were made to study things that did not have explanations. Religious people wanted the entire world to believe in their god and live in peace. Mages, on the other hand, needed to discover new things. If ancient records were to be believed, their path to rediscovering ancient magic had just begun.

Saul smiled and waved his hand. He formed two chairs out of earth elements, then draped two rugs over them. "Come," he said, "let’s talk more." If he did not know Anfey’s history, Saul might have dismissed his theory. However, Anfey must be talking about his teacher’s theory, and that should be taken more seriously.

"You first, Master," Anfey said politely.

Saul said down and gestured for Anfey to do the same. Anfey sat down across from him, keeping his back straight. "Tell me, Anfey," Saul said, "why do you say the stars we see now are images from thousands of years ago?"

"Light travels at a certain speed. We can see stars because light from the stars can reach us," Anfey said. He picked up a pebble and tossed it into a nearby bush. "Like this pebble, light has speed, as well."

"Light has speed?" Saul asked, curious.

"Yes. But light is very fast and we can hardly perceive it."

"So you’re saying that we can see the stars because the light of the stars has traveled to us?"

Anfey nodded.

"So you’re saying that light travels very fast? But you also said that it takes thousands of years to reach us. Isn’t that contradictory?"

"No," Anfey said, shaking his head. "If the universe is an ocean, then our world is merely a single pebble on the beach."

"Interesting," Saul said, scratching his chin. He found it hard to believe that his world was as insignificant as a pebble on a beach. "So we live on such an insignificant place, huh?"

"Yes. And stars are not as silly as we think they are, either. Some stars are hot, hot enough to melt secret silver."

Saul looked at the stars and frowned. Of course, it was almost unbelievable that the stars could melt something so strong. "I see your teacher taught you well. Let’s leave this topic for another day. Did he ever tell you what makes up the world?"

"This world?" Anfey repeated, hesitant. He knew the answer, but he did not know where to start.

Saul, seeing that Anfey did not say anything, decided to give him a hint. "This world is made up of elements."

"Elements?"

"Yes, elements! The earth, ocean, forests, animals, people, even, are all made out of elements. If the elements disappear, even the gods cannot survive."

Anfey smiled. He found Saul’s mind very impressive. Back in his old world, thousands of scientists researched the topic for years to prove the existence of atoms. It was very impressive that Saul would be able to come to a similar conclusion by himself.

Saul was very happy to see Anfey smile, because he knew he had stumbled onto something good. Anfey’s teacher must have talked to him about this. He leaned over and grabbed Anfey’s hand and asked, "Can you understand me?" It was easy to understand when he said that the earth and oceans were made of elements, but he had listed people and gods as well. This theory was almost blasphemous, and most people would never believe him.

That gods had created mankind was an indisputable truth. Anyone who questioned it would be isolated and looked down upon.

"This isn’t a matter of understanding," Anfey said. "It’s the truth."

"Did your teacher tell you this?"

"Yes."

"Then I am on the right path," Saul said with a long sigh. He leaned back and closed his eyes. It was good to have confirmation of something he had believed in for a long time. He was too old to suffer another mistake.

Anfey was distracted as well. He suddenly remembered a term: non-mainstream quantum physics. It was the name for a group of theorists that develop their strange theories based on existing theories. Physicists believe that the existence of atoms was because of waves. These non-mainstream physicists developed their theories based on this. Some even believed that a person’s mind was a wave and could affect a person’s surroundings if it was strong enough. Anfey had watched a movie about it but did not understand anything. However he found that this theory was very suitable in this world.

Saul opened his eyes and smiled at Anfey. "If you keep working hard, you are going to be something spectacular." Of course, Saul couldn’t know that Anfey was holding things back. If he knew everything Anfey did, his mind would have a hard time grasping it.

"I’m not even an intermediate mage yet, Master," Anfey said, shaking his head. "I’m far from great."

"You have time. You will be great."

"Oh, I just remembered, Master. I have some questions. When you use a meteor spell, does the rock appear out of thin air? And when Entos uses the teleportation spell, how is he teleporting?"

"It seems like you have a lot of questions," Saul said with a smile. "Don’t worry. Let’s take our time and go over one, shall we?"