Wallace and Slaine looked at the person behind them and saw an old man wearing a long gray robe.

The man looked clean and even seem that he just came fresh from a bath. He doesn't seem to be hostile but they still kept their guards up.

They were unsure who the man was but he seems to be familiar in this place based on his words.

"We're sorry to intrude your place..."

Wallace replied to the old man as he wanted to be polite as much as he can. After all, anything could happen here in this unpredictable land. It was better to get a positive impression from the unknown party.

The Celestial Being before taught him that.

However, Slaine seems to have different thoughts...

"So, you're really here..."

His master said softly as if he was meeting someone he knows.

'Eh? Who is this guy?'

Wallace was confused but it seems that Avalon read his thoughts as it tried to find an answer for him.

[ Commence Face Identification... ]

[ Identifying... ]

[ Showing results of the top three identities with similar features found in all resources stored in the database. ]

[ 88% - Aeolia Schien ]

[ 52% - Gram Troy ]

[ 46% - Myrtle Schien ]

'What?!'

Wallace did a double-take when he heard Avalon's report.

Looking at it closely, he truly resembles the man shown in those textbooks or online articles.

'How is he involved in this tower? What was he doing here? Wait, perhaps he's just a clone?'

The last part was due to Wallace's sensitivity to mana. His ability to sense mana can be said to be reaching the peak already due to the massive changes in his body.

He couldn't sense the mana that was supposedly hiding inside this man's body so he was thinking whether it was just a clone, hologram, automaton, or an ordinary guy, although unlikely.

If not that, this man probably has tools to block his senses or he was someone stronger than him who could easily hide his aura.

"Oh? Someone still recognizes me?"

The old man suspected to be Aeolia was a bit surprised that the people who intruded this place recognizes him. He didn't think that he was actually that popular especially the fact that many years had already passed before he became an inactive individual in his career.

"Yes, you can say that I'm one of your followers. I live up until today by following your ideals and continuously studied to realize the blueprints you've left behind..."

The Grand Arcanist said proudly to the old man. It looks like he was really happy to see him here.

"Blueprints?"

The old man seems to be confused for a moment before his eyes suddenly gleamed with realization.

"Oh? Yes... I really left behind some... Hoho~ It was a messy blueprint. Did someone manage to use that?"

"Some blueprints were made into realization. Some of them were being used today to send encrypted messages throughout the whole southern continent. It was truly impressive, Sir..."

Slaine was referring to the communication device used by Lucent Force stationed in various countries.

"Is that so? It seems that they are useful, huh. Right, what brought you and this young man here?"

The old man said as he looked at Wallace before he suddenly froze for a moment.

He squinted his eyes as if he wanted to find something from this man.

"You're not a Celestial but..."

He paused for a moment before he continued.

"It must've been tough, huh. Only a Secret Art that should've been buried in this land can accomplish that... I didn't think that someone manages to copy that..."

Slaine wasn't exactly sure what the old man was talking about but looking at his apprentice's reaction, it seems that he hit the nail.

Wallace, on the other hand, was surprised to hear the old man.

'He must be referring to the complete Secret Art, the Flowing Spirit.'

When he received it as a reward from the Pathfinder before, it turned out to be a stele filled with unknown texts engraved on it.

He was unable to understand the words written but as soon as he touches that stele, a burst of information came into his mind containing the complete knowledge about the Secret Art before the stele vanished.

'So they really originated in this northern continent...'

Sigh~

'It feels like this person can see through everything as long as he focused his mind.'

"I just got lucky..."

He replied.

The old man only smiled at his answer and said more words that surprised Wallace.

"Did you make that A.I. you have with you?"

"Urgh... You even noticed that..."

"Well, of course. I already learned that someone managed to bypass my security without using physical force. There was only one way to do it aside from that..."

The old man said matter of factly. It seems that he still has some effective methods to learn whether his system's security was bypassed or not. It may be through other mystical means or a program that even Avalon was not capable of detecting.

'So, he was trying to find the source of his system's failure. He really paid attention, huh.'

Wallace thought that the old man probably noticed Avalon reporting to him a moment ago...

'His senses were really sharp...'

"My A.I. came from somewhere else but anyway, my master here seems to have a business with you..."

"Oh, right. You don't look like natives of this continent or someone who has relatives here... Again, what brought you people in this dangerous land?"

"Sir, I need your help..."

The Grand Arcanist started to tell his story.

He started with Alpha's dream about the future, he was one of the finest magicians who joined and survived the first expedition here and was later called as an Oracle.

He revealed that in the future, they will be invaded by another race to take all their resources, their homes, and their families.

At first, he thought that it was the recently active sea creatures living at the southern part of Kazan's Sea.*

They were creatures with powerful physical strength as they started to slowly invade the lands.

However, an Adept Mage could take on a hundred of them even if they're alone so they realized that Alpha's prediction wasn't referring to them and it was probably something even more dangerous.

Then, the Grand Arcanist explained the Arcana he wanted to create for the sake of everyone's advancement. He also mentioned how he spoke with one of the Celestial Beings which brought him here...

"Ho~ Tell me more about it... Follow me."

The old man didn't bring them somewhere else and actually lead them to the 1 km long battleship.

Wallace gulped at the sight of it. It's exterior was definitely high class considering that this was a prince's ship. It was surely a top-class ship during its time.

However, Wallace was curious how did this old man learn to operate this thing.

Well, considering that he was aware of the A.I. and have access to the control system in this building, he must've found a way to control this after several years of staying here.

But there was another idea that came to his mind about this old man's identity. However, there was no proof and it seems to be better if the old man tells it himself.

'Anyway, I have a copy of the Prince's logbook with me... I can try showing it to both of them...'

Wallace thought as he followed their lead.