The ancient turtle's words rang like thunder inside Adam's ears. For a moment, he even thought that he might have heard wrong.

After slapping himself twice, he asked with a slightly stunned expression, "Lord Tebu, did I… hear you right? Wagner cast a spell on you? Why the hell would he do that?"

The colossus sighed. "His reasons elude me…"

Thinking of the past, a slightly dark expression shadowed the giant turtle's face. But Adam completely missed that since he had already begun talking to himself again.

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense at all," he muttered under his breath as he paced back and forth along the edge of the island.

"Cast a spell? To ensure the location of the inheritance is unknown? What? Just… what? Who in their right mind would do such a thing? Doesn't this defeat the whole purpose of leaving behind an inheritance?" He loudly muttered to himself.

Then, he stopped and spoke incoherent words, understood to perhaps only himself. Then, he shook his head and sighed. "No, that doesn't make sense either."

He suddenly looked up and asked, "What do you think? Does it make any sense to you? Before dying, a Magus should leave behind an inheritance, no? Otherwise, how else would their legacy survive? How else would they live on through future generations?"

Adam crossed his arms, then sat down on the ground. The wind brushed against his burnt face, bringing with it a calm and soothing feeling. Suddenly, he asked himself:

"Don't tell me… was the founder of the Twilight Brotherhood… stupid?"

He burst into laughter.

"A Magus from Myrrandor came here and… hahaha… what? He did what? It can't be… It can't be that he is this stupid!"

He laughed and laughed and laughed.

Suddenly, the ancient turtle's voice thundered in Adam's ears:

"It would appear that you know quite a lot about Wagner."

Hearing those words, Adam froze. He turned towards the giant turtle's head and forced an ugly smile. "Lord Tebu, this… this is fate, isn't it? You said so yourself."

For the first time, Adam realized just how disadvantageous it was for him to speak his thoughts out loud. And seeing the slightly suspicious look in those giant blue eyes, he couldn't help but nervously gulp.

"Fine, I'll tell you everything!" He raised his hands in surrender.

"Go on," said the ancient turtle.

"Well, the truth is…" Adam began, revealing that he was a part of the Twilight Brotherhood, a secret organization that Aldo Wagner had founded.

He spoke to the colossus about Wagner's journal and the fact that he also knew that Wagner was from Myrrandor. Adam revealed most of what he knew, though he kept a few details—those of greater importance—carefully to himself.

After listening to all Adam had to say, Tebu let out a long and heavy sigh, stirring the ocean itself, sending ripples across the waves.

"This is far too vast to be a mere coincidence. No, it bears the mark of fate itself…"

Adam tried his best not to let his thoughts slip.

Heh, coincidence? I know someone who dabbles in the magic of coincidences!

"Anyway, Lord Tebu, do you have any idea as to why Wagner would try to hide the location of his inheritance? It doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps, you may know something about it?" He asked in an eager voice.

After all, this was the inheritance of Aldo Wagner, the mysterious founder of the Brotherhood! Moreover, he was a resident of Myrrandor, the cradle of mankind!

Adam truly hoped that the man left behind something about his home world, considering that he would be visiting that place very soon in the near future.

After all, he didn't have any memories or detailed experiences relating to that planet. Knowing about it beforehand would help him a lot.

Tebu remained silent for a long time. At last, he said:

"Wagner came to me only twice in his lifetime. The first time, he found me in the blue expanse during his journey around the world. He was still young then, carrying an air of light and promise, a man of justice, honor, and knowledge. We spent many days together, and I learned much from him… especially about his home world in the Greater Universe."

Adam sat in silence, patiently listening to the ancient turtle. At the same time, he fought hard to drown out the insidious whispers of the Laughing God, forcing himself to focus on Tebu's words.

The ancient colossus continued:

"And the second time… he was a decrepit old man. How he aged so greatly in so short a span remains a mystery to me. The first time we met, he was a young Mana Core Magus. His lifespan should have stretched far ahead. But something befell him… something dark and insidious. He had fallen into madness much like you, Adam. No, worse. Far worse."

Adam's lips curled into a wide grin, twisting his hideous face unnaturally. "Mad, you say?"

Of course, he knew exactly what had happened to Aldo Wagner. The man had ventured into the Dark Valley and came in contact with an abominable entity that dwelled within.

That single encounter had unravelled his mind, plunging him into madness, and the warped flow of time in that accursed place consumed his lifespan, leaving him frail and broken.

"Lord Tebu," Adam called out in a low voice. "Did Wagner mention something about… The Beyond?"

The ancient turtle's eyes narrowed. "Tell me… did you learn of this from Wagner's journal?"

"Indeed." Adam nodded. "His final entries, written before his death, were nothing but the scribbles of a madman. I couldn't understand half the words and symbols he wrote down. But there was one phrase… one that kept repeating."

He paused, his lips curling upwards.

"…The Beyond," Tebu murmured. "For all the millennia I have wandered the seas, I have never once heard of such a thing. Not in the songs of the ancients, not in the whispers of the deep, not even in the tongues of the civilizations before Feypore. If it exists… it lies outside even my knowing."

"So even you don't know?" Adam was truly surprised.

"I do not," said the colossus. "Wagner rambled about it when he visited me the second time."

He paused for a moment, his gaze turning distant and... sorrowful.

"The second time he came to me, he was a husk of a man I once knew. No light shone in his eyes, only a shadow that clung to him like rot," said the ancient turtle.

"The air of promise was gone, replaced by despair and… corruption. Justice no longer guided his steps, only vengeance and bitterness. Honor had decayed into obsession, and knowledge into madness.

"He spoke of death as if it lingered just behind him, yet still he left his legacy here on the coral island. And strangely, he concealed it so well, as though he wished for no one to uncover it. His mind was fractured beyond repair. Perhaps, in truth, even he no longer knew what he desired."

"Yes, that is the only reason I can think of," Adam said with a strained smile.

"The man knew he was dying, so naturally, he should have made his legacy easier to find. But perhaps his madness twisted his intent? Turned his actions into contradictions?"

The youth rose to his feet, his smile turning deep and unnaturally wide.

"Well, well, well," he muttered with a crooked grin. "What irony… a madman chasing after the legacy of another madman!"

Adam found this all too funny, and so he laughed and laughed and laughed.

And out there, across the expanse of the sea and sky…

A vast shape rose upon the horizon.

The silhouette of jagged mountains piercing the heavens, and towering trees veiled in mist, appeared like a ghost from legends.

At long last…

The Land of the First Magi had revealed itself!

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