Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Those words rang like thunder inside Adam's ears. His eyes widened in shock, and he couldn't stop his body from trembling.

A long time later, he finally managed to muster a few words:

"What the hell did you just say?!"

"You heard me," The white-robed Adam said with a deadpan expression. The next moment, his eyebrows wrinkled into a frown, and he couldn't help but ask, "Don't tell me… you didn't know about this?"

Adam was so shocked that he didn't know what to even say. He just remained silent, staring at his fractured self with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Goodness arcana, you really don't know, do you? The white-robed Adam was equally dumbfounded.

"…S-should I be knowing… about this?" Adam asked, his voice barely a whisper.

The white-robed Adam's eye twitched. The next moment, he couldn't help but sneer in utter disdain, "You really are pathetic!"

"Yes, you've already made that clear!" Adam snapped. "Now, tell me how you know about this? No, wait! Why do you even know this in the first place?"

"After wielding this divine artifact for more than twenty years, after consuming the memories and experiences of those experts, you still can't connect the dots?" The white-robed Adam asked in disbelief.

Adam frowned, going into deep thought. He then shook his head. "I can't think straight. Are you going to tell me or not?"

"You really do have a penchant for taking things for granted, don't you?" The white-robed Adam scoffed.

"Just tell me already!" Adam roared. His fractured self really was starting to annoy him.

The white-robed Adam intently looked at Adam. A long time later, he heaved a helpless sigh, then began:

"You already know the white lotus has deep ties to the spiritual aspect of magic."

Adam nodded with a solemn expression.

The white-robed Adam continued, "The School of Divination, which aspect of magic does it belong to?"

"The spiritual aspect," Adam answered matter-of-factly.

The white-robed Adam gestured with his hands. "And? You still don't get it?"

Adam slipped into silence.

Seeing his reaction, the white-robed Adam had the intense urge to facepalm. He then asked, "Do you recall that blue-haired Magus from the Greater Universe? The woman whose memories you devoured right after the Blackshore Incident?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Adam frowned.

"Do you remember that she possessed a very valuable artifact from the School of Divination? It prevented others from scrying any information about her," the white-robed Adam stated with a solemn tone.

"Yes." Adam nodded. "Of course, I remember. It just… it feels like it was a lifetime ago. But yes, I remember her memories of complaining how that artifact subtly altered her fate just because she came… into… possession… of it…"

Towards the end, realization dawned upon Adam, and he couldn't help but be filled with utter disbelief.

"Now do you get it?" The white-robed Adam sneered. "Even after possessing the lotus for so many years, it's pathetic how you never realized this. As I said before, you have a penchant for taking things for granted—"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Adam interrupted him. "Just shut up for a moment! Just… let me think, alright?!"

"Heh, your insane little brain is capable of forming thoughts?" The white-robed Adam mocked.

But Adam ignored him. The more he thought about it, the more everything seemed to make sense. All the misfortune surrounding him, and also all the fortune, suddenly started to make perfect sense.

A long time later, the white-robed Adam finally spoke up:

"If even that lousy artifact wielded by that blue-haired woman could alter her fate, then tell me… what makes you think that the Eternal Soul Lotus, arguably the greatest artifact related to the spiritual aspect of magic, cannot alter yours?"

Adam remained silent for a long time. In the end, he heaved a helpless sigh. He looked at his fractured self and said, "It's still just a theory, though…"

"Is it, though?" The white-robed Adam pressed.

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"When Magus Stockholm got his hands on the white lotus, he was immediately beset by thousands of enemies. That was his misfortune, but that was also his test!

"After you got your hands on the lotus in that pond in the Southern Federation, you and the rest of those kids were attacked by a pack of wolves. That was your misfortune, but that was also a test!

"The laws of this universe are fair. Julian Stockholm was a mighty and powerful Magus, so his test was just as formidable. You, on the other hand, were but a mortal with no mana, yet your test was no less harsh.

"The white lotus bends the flow of fate around you. It is the reason why you come across so many fortuitous encounters in your life. Yet it is also the reason why calamity relentlessly follows you everywhere.

"Take the Battle of Ravenfell, for example. You, a mere Mana Vortex Magus, not only encountered a being at the Mana Seed Rank, but were also devoured by a Transcendent entity—a being three entire arcane ranks above you!

"And your arrival in Mabi? You faced off against hundreds of magical beasts led by dozens of Mana Vortex-level beasts. Not just that, you also encountered an indestructible golem with strength equivalent to a Mana Core Magus!

"And when you survived that ordeal, you got your hands on three Grade 4 Artifacts! Can you say the same for, literally, anyone else if they were in your shoes? Answer me! Can you?

"Magi would spend their entire lives without facing so many dangers or opportunities, but for you, it's a regular occurrence! Do you get it now? Do you still think it's just a theory?"

Finally, Adam couldn't take it anymore and roared in annoyance, "So what the fuck do you want me to do about it? Throw the lotus away? Just so I can live a normal life?"

The white-robed Adam looked Adam in the eyes, and flatly muttered:

"I want you to stop crying about it."

Adam was startled. He immediately looked away and muttered under his breath, "I never cried about it…"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" The white-robed Adam sneered. "Think you can really lie to me? I am you! Or did you forget about that already?"

Adam clicked his tongue in frustration and instead chose to observe this unfamiliar world around him. "Anyway, what is this place? If it is what I think it is, then goodness arcana, I've never felt so lucid inside one before."

The white-robed Adam's figure gradually dissipated, and he left behind his parting words:

"This is a dream. A fortuitous encounter, perhaps. Or just another calamity in the endless chain of misfortunes that await you…"