Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

582  River of Fate

The additional layer of runes that he added allowed his soul body to enter the Spirit World.

He believed that if he were to use the powers of the lotus in that mystical plane, then not only would he be able to overcome the interference that his target had set in place, but he would also be able to augment his divination capabilities.

After all, the School of Divination belonged to the spiritual aspect of magic. Capitalizing on the abilities of the white lotus, Adam shone the brightest when it came to magic, which belonged to this aspect of magic!

The youth weaved a series of hand signs so complex that it would cause an onlooker's head to spin. After about ten seconds or so, he weaved the final hand sign and activated the divination ritual.

The runic formation lit up with a resplendent light and so did the red worm at the center of it. Then, Adam felt a tug and before he knew it, his soul body was separated from his physical body.

Due to the effects of the ritual, his physical body remained standing, however, his eyes seemed vacant. Adam cast a brief glance at his body before he noticed a tear in the void right above him.

His eyes flashed with anticipation as he shot through the portal to the Spirit World.

The reason why Adam had even decided to visit this magical dimension was because firstly, all the information that one could glean from divination magic came from this dimension.

Anything and everything that happened in the material world left behind a trace in the Spirit World. Magus who were skilled in divination magic were able to get glimpses of these traces.

Secondly, and most importantly, legend had it that the mythical River of Fate flowed through the Spirit World. Magi of old believed that everything that has happened and will happen could be visible in the turbulent currents of this supernatural river.

Simply by making a divination in the Spirit World, the home of the River of Fate, the success rate of the Magus increased significantly.

However, none of that mattered if the person wasn't able to overcome the interference that most powerful organizations or Magi had against scrying.

But Adam didn't have to worry about that. His plan was to simply visit a nearby location in the Spirit World corresponding to his location in the material world.

Then, he could try to divine the origins of the red worm.

That was his plan. But like most things in life, things seldom went according to one's plans.

…

Adam, who had visited the Spirit World countless times in the past seven years, suddenly felt like something was amiss.

As the scenery in his vision continued to flash by and change, he wondered to himself, Why…

Why is it taking so long?

However, unlike the first few times when he was scared out of his wits while traveling through this realm, he was now very calm and composed.

The ability that he received from Valerian upon forming a familiar bond with him, Spirit World Traversal, had improved by leaps and bounds.

One could even argue that he was like a fish in water whenever he visited this place.

However, until he arrived at the coordinates that he had set in the runic formation, he wouldn't be able to move. It was similar to how when a knife was thrown by a person, it couldn't change direction mid-air.

Since he couldn't do anything now anyway, he decided to might as well enjoy the view.

He didn't know what went wrong with the coordinates that he had carved in the formation, but if he felt like he had arrived at a dangerous location, he would immediately activate his ability and return to the material world.

Adam looked to his sides and saw myriad wonderful yet anomalous things.

One moment he was passing through an ocean of honey where a war between funny-looking bees and winged bears was being waged.

The following moment, he was flying through clouds made of cotton where enormous rabbits were hopping around from one cloud to another.

Every trip to the Spirit World was filled with excitement and wonder. But at the same time, it was also dangerous and nerve-wracking.

Adam suddenly saw a mountain of humanoid corpses. At the summit of this mountain lay an ancient chair and a four-armed demon was sitting on it, feasting on one of the cold carcasses nearby.

A few seconds later, the youth passed through a sea of blood and flesh ruled by a grotesque monster with countless tentacles. Just a casual glance at this creature caused him to feel a terrible headache.

The scenes continued to change for an indefinite period of time. Although time had lost its meaning in this realm, Adam felt like he had been falling for several hours.

Finally, he slammed against something solid, eliciting a low grunt out of his mouth.

CRASH!

The mirror in front of him, or rather below him, broke into countless pieces as Adam's body smashed through it. These pieces of mirror swirled around him, completely enveloping him.

This feeling of nothingness lasted for only a moment before being followed by intense brightness and the sound of water splashing could be heard by him.

It took a moment for Adam to adjust to the sudden brightness. He slowly opened his eyes, warily trying to survey his surroundings.

For now, he didn't feel any danger from the place he had just arrived in. He figured he could look around a little—out of curiosity and whatnot.

He found himself standing on a verdant and flourishing patch of land. It was a mystical landscape where ancient trees rose to the sky, their leaves dyed with countless bright colors.

Exotic flowers bloomed all around him. He could identify none of them, a fact that caught him by surprise. After all, he considered himself a very learned Herbalist.

These flowers released delicate fragrances and were surrounded by a blanket of soft moss. The entire atmosphere here filled him with life and vibrancy.

Adam walked through this landscape, feeling full of hope. He had this strange feeling bubbling inside him allowing him to understand the vast richness of life.

It was a very novel experience for him, to say the least. After taking a few steps, he suddenly halted. The scene that greeted him caused his pupils to constrict and took his breath away.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

An ethereal and shimmering body of water lay before him. Its surface seemed to ripple with bright silver liquid.

But as he looked closer, he realized that this body of 'water' wasn't made of water at all. Instead, it was made of silver threads!

It was a river, but it didn't flow like an ordinary one. Its currents twisted in unpredictable patterns, sometimes speeding up, sometimes still as the surface of an old well.

Erratic and ever-changing!

One step after another, Adam found himself involuntarily walking toward this river. Soon, he could hear the soft, whispering voices rise from the river as though the spirits deep within the river were trying to speak to him.

Adam felt a hypnotic pull the closer he got to the river. He was slowly beginning to lose his sense of agency, feeling as though he was becoming a puppet, unable to control his own future.

Right at that moment, the white lotus patterns in his eyes shone brilliantly, waking him up from his reverie.

His back was drenched in a cold sweat when he realized what had just happened. He was but a few steps away from jumping into the river.

If he gave into the call of the river, he was sure that he would never be able to return to the material world.

The youth glanced at the river with an extremely solemn look on his face. Occasionally, he could see translucent threads connecting the river to far-off points on the horizon.

"I'm sure of it," he muttered in disbelief.

He was standing on the banks of the River of Fate!

Adam's heartbeat quickened as he took a few steps back, averting his gaze from the currents of this mystical river.

"H-How did I get here?" He blurted out in shock.

The coordinates that he had inscribed in the ritual formation were clearly aimed at a nearby location in the Spirit World that corresponded to his location at Saratoga Castle in the material world.

Yet, he had undoubtedly arrived at this magical domain that most people in the universe dismissed as mere legends!

I'm sure I didn't make a mistake while I was inscribing the coordinates.

This… this is too good to be a coincidence as well. There's no way I just happened to arrive by the River of Fate!

Is someone behind this? Who could it be?

No! I need to leave!

Several thoughts went through his mind in the span of a split second. Despite his great eagerness to study the mystical river before him, Adam knew that something had terribly gone wrong.

His eyes shone with resolve as the next moment he unhesitantly activated his Spirit World Traversal ability in order to return to the material world.

But once again he was given the shock of his life.

"W-What?!" He screamed in panic as he retreated a few more steps, almost falling to the patch of green moss beneath his feet.

"Why isn't it working?!"

Amidst his fear and hysteria, he noticed a familiar being flying from the other side of the River of Fate.

The strong and mystical pull of the river didn't affect this being one bit as it gracefully and effortlessly flew toward him.

Adam was first unable to identify this being due to the state of panic he was in, but when he finally did, he was rendered speechless.

It was the white butterfly!