Later that night.

Aria’s daily visit to Finn’s ward ended routinely. She stayed on the couch, munching on the snacks that Yvette had brought back while listening in on her friends’ random conversations. S-Rankers like them were usually really busy, so it was rare for them to take a step back to unwind. With Finn injured and all dungeon activities suspended, the trio had the freest time in ages. Only Aria, the busy bee that had to juggle research and questioning the ancient man, had a little less time to spare as compared to the others.

After she inhaled down the nachos and Diet Coke, Aria made Yvette drive her home to better rest for next morning’s interrogation. The fatigued Archmagus continuously read up on every single finding that the President and Yudonia’s scientists had unearthed, even when the pair had reached home in the middle of the night. Throughout the short drive and even when the Archmagus had changed into her pyjamas, Aria’s eyes had never left the screen of her smartphone.

Now seated across each other, Yvette was able to clearly see the shadows forming under Aria’s eyes. Yvette wasn’t all too impressed with her roommate’s lack of control. If nothing was done, the healer would be responsible for cleaning up after Aria, which was happening more often than not nowadays.

So, the blonde elf threw a little threat.

“Aria, do you want me to cast the same spell as I did before?”

“Spell?”

“Yeah. And this time I’ll be increasing the potency,” Yvette frowned. “I may not be an Archmagus, but I’m quite confident in my sleeping spell. How does sleeping for a week sound?”

“Yvette, stop joking. You know that I’m busy.” Aria didn’t take the beauty’s warning to heart and continued to scroll down the long pages on her smartphone. “The things that I’m working on are important.”

“I know that, but sleep is of paramount importance too!” The healer retorted. “Sleep impairs mental functions. You of all people should know that!” Yvette reminded Aria about the countless times that she collapsed after pulling back-to-back all-nighters and the many mornings that she complained about her lack of sleep. “I know that Yudonia is counting on you, but if you over exhaust yourself, you’ll be doing more harm than good!”

“I know, I know. Just one more minute and I’ll sleep.” Like a teenager glued to social media, Aria waved Yvette off and continued to tap on her phone.

Now, Yvette was no mother, but she could sympathize with the billions of mothers out there with rebellious children. Angered, the elf stomped her way onto the chair that Aria was. In a single movement that far exceeded that of a healer, Yvette slapped the phone out of Aria’s hands and slipped it into her own pockets.

“HEY!!! I was in the middle of something!”

“Your one minute has long passed you by,” Yvette sneered. Aria reached out, trying to retake her phone to continue on her endless binge, but Yvette was two steps ahead of her. The Archmagus leaned closer towards the elf, where a single finger was lying in wait.

A hypnotic aura wreathed Yvette’s index finger, and a familiar mana source was pulsating out of her fingers. Aria had felt that power before, back when Yvette used her sleeping spell to force Aria into a long slumber. And now… Aria was willingly falling into Yvette’s pointed finger.

Plop…

There was no avoiding it. Aria’s forehead landed squarely on Yvette’s finger, completing the spell. A ripple of mana expanded from the point of contact and Aria felt like the world had started closing in on her. First, her cheeks turned sore. Next, her lips and jaw became slack. Aria’s nose and ears were the next in line. They felt overwhelmingly heavy, and her face felt as if it weighed a thousand kilograms. Until finally…

“Y-you… you’ll… go to… jail...”

“Haha, if it gets you to sleep, I would be willing to do the time,” Yvette beamed and held Aria from her underarm. There were only a few moments of consciousness left in the Archmagus. It was best to get her into bed before her lights completely faded.

Escorting Aria to her room, Yvette tucked the woman into bed and lowered the nightlight. Taking out a candle, the elf brought the scent of the woodlands into Aria’s room through the incense burner. Yvette ensured that the room was as calming as can be, all while her best friend’s eyes turned heavier by the second.

“Yv-ette...”

“Yes, yes…” The blonde elf made her exit and gently closed the door. The last thing that Aria heard was the soft touch of the wooden door and the soothing voice of her treasured roommate.

“Sleep tight.”

❖❖❖

Aria ‘woke up’ once again, not in the material world where her comfy bed and happy-go-lucky friend was, but in the foreign land that she dreaded to visit. The fatigue spell that Yvette had cast on her seemed to have worn off, or rather, it didn’t affect Aria’s consciousness in this world. Opening her eyes, Aria was immediately treated to a gorgeous starry night sky with billions of milky white spots surrounding the ever-present full moon.

Being a researcher, Aria had been to numerous places where city lights were scarce. Furthermore, as someone who dove into the magical arts, it was natural for Aria to have some knowledge of the vast extraterrestrial field. She wasn’t an astronomer, but she at least had some idea of where the constellations were.

[At least the moon is the same…]

The last time Aria visited this memory, she was too overwhelmed with the suddenness of the event. She only observed the Lady of the Lake and the mana-rich environment that surrounded her. Did the dream take place on Earth millions of years ago? Or was the dream based on a whole different planet and the ancient man was a bona fide alien? With the limited data sets that Aria had, it was hard to tell.

[Thankfully Minerva gave me the suggestion to remember the stars… At least I can confirm that the memories took place on Earth.]

Through examining the stars, one could read the entire universe. It was a well-known saying within the star-watching community. In the past, sailors used the star map to navigate across the oceans to discover continents that were long forgotten by the Greater Humanoid Species. What Aria was doing was no different than that. By comparing the stars in the night sky in the dream and in real life, Aria could determine many things about the time period that the ancient man was from. That was the reason why Aria had been studiously studying thus far.

[There are far fewer stars than there is now... It must have been quite early on in the planet’s existence.] Aria deduced.

Earth has been around for about four billion years now, while the universe itself was approximately thirteen billion years. In the nascent age of the universe, there were far fewer galaxies and stars, making the night sky of Earth far less beautiful than it was now.

[Lesser stars, but still as beautiful… If Luke sees this, he’ll be thrilled.]

Aria thought about her friend that was obsessed with gazing at the heavens. Back when Finn, Luke and her were adventuring together, they would often be dragged by Luke to rural areas just to get away from the noise of the city. Luke loved stargazing, and he’d brought down plenty of beautiful women through his favourite hobby.

[Still, the ancient man stargazes just like Luke…]

Aria knew very little about the ancient man… about Aurum. For one, being mysterious about his past wasn’t going to help and more importantly. Aria feared the man.

Aurum was a real-life example of Pandora’s Box. Humanity had opened it, and there was no way to let him back into his box, or in this case, cell. Whichever entity sealed Aurum in the S-Class Dungeon did it for a good reason and not knowing why terrified the shit out of Aria. What if Aurum was a monster that was slated to destroy the world? What was Aria supposed to do then? However… what if he was just like any other human?

[Aren’t you just imprisoning him like a felon who had done nothing wrong?]

Finn’s words reverberated through Aria’s mind at that very moment. There was a chance that Aurum could destroy life as they knew it, but there was also a slim chance that… he was a just a regular life form that mirrored the same emotions that any ordinary human had.

From the offset, it looked like he could express emotions such as happiness, sadness and frustration. Furthermore, from the way that he looked at Aria, one could argue that he possessed the most human emotion of them all… love.

And if the man was truly a precursor to the Greater Humanoid Species, shouldn’t Yudonia at least give him some fundamental human rights?

[That’s a matter for another day…]

Aria had many questions about Aurum, but she’d decided to push them all aside for now. At heart, Aria was a researcher, one that delved into solving the mystery that was magic. She could worry about human rights later. Right now, she had a job to do.

[Since I’m here, where’s the Lady?]

The last time Aria had this dream, the ancient man was accompanied by the Lady of the Lake. They shared an extraordinary relationship, one that could only be described as a loving one. If Aria was having this dream, shouldn’t that mean that the Lady was nearby? And sure enough…

“Staring at the stars again?” A voice echoed out from the side, jolting the ancient man’s head to the side. Since Aria was living a memory from the point of view of the ancient man, she was limited in her understanding of the situation. However, there was one thing that shocked Aria greatly this time.

[I can understand them?!]

The last time Aria had the dream, the pair were speaking in a foreign language and not just any foreign language. It was an ancient tongue that no single linguist on the planet could decipher. Yet, Aria could understand them perfectly!

“You’re late!” The ancient man pouted.

“You know how it is with the village. I had to sneak out when everyone else was asleep.” The woman brushed her jet-black hair and shyly took her place next to the ancient man. “If they found out that I’m meeting you here...”

“Those idiots… I don’t understand how they could be against my plan. It’s for their own good.” The ancient man’s soft voice quickly turned harsh in a blink of an eye. His chest expanded, and his nostrils flared. Within the ancient man’s consciousness, Aria could feel the bubbling rage that rose from the pits of his stomach.

“Give them time… They’ll come to their senses. For now...” The Lady of the Lake’s body swayed a little bit, swinging like a pendulum with a restrained hesitance, but ultimately, her body found its final location.

In the arms of the ancient man.

“Let us enjoy this time together.”