Glimpse of Eternity [A Reincarnation Isekai Fantasy]

“Young Clover Salwyn? What’s wrong?”

“Ah…” Reivan suddenly realized that now wasn’t the best time to be sinking into his own thoughts, so he cleared his throat and sat back down. “I’m sorry for that. I just didn’t realize how foolish I’ve been.”

“It’s no big deal.” Aguru, the wise monkey who was also three meters tall, shook his head with a smile. “Sometimes, difficult questions have simple solutions. In this case, knowing too many things might prove detrimental.”

“That’s a good point. I was considering things from a wider perspective because I thought the answer was out of my reach… when it was right next to me all along.”

“That can happen sometimes, yes. I can relate very much.”

Reivan smiled, suddenly finding himself in an amazing mood. “Sorry, what were we talking about again, Mr. Aguru?”

“Forgetful as well, are we? Haha. We were discussing what kind of knowledge you seek, so I may exchange it for the knowledge you hold.”

“Right. Well, Mr. Aguru, rather than knowledge…” Reivan made a small circle with his thumb and forefinger. “I would like a few of those pearls instead.”

“The pearls?”

“Yes. At least three.”

“At least three…” Aguru muttered something to himself before his gaze returned to Reivan. “They aren’t as useful as you think though. When people other than me put knowledge inside, they forget it all. I’ve heard it’s not a pleasant experience.”

“What? That’s a little scary…” Rievan pretended to think about it for a bit more before reluctantly making a counteroffer. “Then I’d like at least five instead. Just to make it worth the drawback…”

“Hm. That makes sense.”

“Maybe even seven, depending on how much knowledge you want from me. Do you mind?”

Aguru raised a brow and shook his head, taking out eight pink pearls from what Reivan assumed was a hidden spatial storage artifact. “Not really. They’re not very useful to me if I’m being honest. I’d prefer to have one or two at hand so I can perform exchanges with interesting humans I find though. I can, at most, give you six.”

“That works for me. Let's go with that.”

‘Easy.’

No matter how “wise” Aguru was, being a hermit and staying away from society in general inevitably made him a bit gullible, it seemed. Scamming the guy for everything he had was easy since the monkey only ever valued knowledge and nothing else.

‘I feel dirty though…’

Reivan fought his guilt by telling himself that he didn't have the leeway to feel guilty about things like this. He was about to embark on a dangerous mission where he would have to use people to avoid being found out.

And at the end of it all, he would probably try to find a way to cripple the Tower. Or at least grab it by the balls so Aizen could get rid of one competitor whenever they wanted.

Doing so would affect the lives of millions.

Feeling bad about scamming some monkey he only just met was foolish considering how he had more horrors in store. And now that he found another personal reason to place more importance on his time in the republic. He had to get as much as he could.

“We have terms, then, Young Clover Salwyn.”

“Yes, Mr. Aguru.”

The monkey and the man shook hands and nodded with smiles.

Reivan let go of the large hand and cleared his throat. “You’ll have to forgive me though, since I have to consult a number of people first.”

“Oh? Why so?”

“You see, the knowledge I hold is not my sole responsibility… It could affect quite a few people, so I would like to have their permission first. It’s only polite to do so.”

“I see… That makes sense.” Aguru nodded repeatedly, understanding of Reivan’s circumstances.

“Yes. Part of why I want so many pearls is so I can smoothen the deal with them… I’m sure they’ll be less likely to agree if they have something nice to show for it, no?”

“Is that how it works?… Hm. Yes. Well, I’ll have to leave this matter to you then, Young Clover Salwyn.”

“Yes, Mr. Aguru. I will return as quickly as I can. But human correspondence can take a long time when we can’t just fly around like Ascendants can.”

Aguru smiled and nodded. “Take your time. Go slowly and safely if you have to. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Of course. I take my safety very seriously.”

“I have trouble believing that, considering what I saw earlier. In any case…” Aguru chuckled and held up a finger. “I won’t pay until I get what I want though. And if what you provide doesn’t satisfy me, then I’ll adjust my payment too. I've learned a few things about human transactions myself.”

‘Eh… guess he’s not as gullible as I thought.’

“Understandable.” Reivan shrugged and restrained the disappointment in his heart. “Then please await my return.”

“Yes, yes. I shall be waiting right here… unless I’m discovered.”

Reivan frowned. “That reminds me, the battlemages on my tail are following me through scrying, so won’t they discover you, Mr. Aguru? Are you going to…”

“Kill them?” Aguru finished for him, shaking his head. “No. As I said, I dislike violence. With a passion, at that. If I am discovered, I will peacefully leave without a fuss. I’d much prefer not to, of course. I quite like this place after all.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Hm…” Aguru pondered for a moment before shrugging. He then pulled out a wand. “I’ll be borrowing this for a moment.”

“What do you…” Reivan paused, suddenly realizing his lower body was a bit lighter than it was a few seconds ago. After giving himself a quick pat down, he discovered that his wand wasn’t where it usually was.

Obviously, the wand Aguru held was his wand.

‘Well, I didn’t need any more proof that resisting is idiotic. But here it is anyway.’

Unaware of the thoughts running through Reivan’s mind, Aguru closed his eyes and held up the wand he’d stolen. Numerous runes sequences suddenly flashed — a full twenty, Reivan counted, which meant it was a spell of the highest order — followed by a bright blast of radiance from the wand’s tip that blinded Reivan for a brief instance.

“That should do it.” Aguru opened his eyes and sighed. He then bent over and politely presented the wand to Reivan. “I’m sorry for suddenly borrowing the wand, Young Clover Salwyn.”

“It’s fine… But can I ask what you just did?”

“Oh, just a Magister-tier spell called Phantom Pocket,” Aguru replied, sitting back down with a bit of a sigh, looking surprisingly tired. “It’s a way to deceive scryers by leaving behind a fake record of events in a place, overwriting what really happened.”

“That’s…”

“Now, if any of the battlemages survive and follow your trail here, all they’ll see is how you impressively dealt with a monster attack and took a short rest before moving on. I was never here.”

Reivan failed to find the words and just gawked for a moment before asking. “Such a spell actually exists? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.”

“Why, yes. It’s quite hard to cast though. And one needs a greater energy than mana to cast it. A combination of qi and magic power would work though, I believe the human who gave me this spell said.”

“So… a battlemage gave you the spell?”

“No, he wasn’t a battlemage…” Aguru hummed in thought for a moment before shrugging. “Actually, I don’t know what he was. But he was most definitely not a battlemage. In fact, he hated them.”

“And where is that person now, if I may ask?”

“Buried in the dirt. If he's lucky, that is.”

“I…” Reivan awkwardly cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Aguru sighed, staring into the air as he spoke. “He was killed a thousand winters ago. By the battlemages he hated so much. I believe the Tower wanted his knowledge but he didn’t want to give it up.”

“So they killed him?”

“Yes. But I assume he did some bad things as well, so the Tower wasn’t being entirely tyrannic. In our time together he did not particularly strike me as a… peaceful individual, even though we did get along.”

“I see…”

“Still, it was truly a shame. He was a good man when he wasn’t angry or drunk. A seeker of knowledge, just like me. He must have seen something in me too — the same thirst he had, perhaps. For about a hundred years, we just kept sharing our knowledge while putting our heads together to come up with all sorts of things… and it was fun. I… I thought it was fun. I thought it would last forever.”

Reivan sensed the Ascendent’s gloomy thoughts and replied solemnly. “Did you watch it? How he died.”

“No… But when I discovered that the Tower got him, at that moment, I had thought that perhaps I had lived in peace for long enough. I’m glad I did though. Perhaps it was a good thing I didn’t watch his final battle.”

“I see…”

Reivan silently sat, unable to come up with anything to say. No words would heal a scar that had failed to heal for a thousand years. And if there was no scar at all, then he might reopen it by offering words of consolation.

So really, he thought silence was the best path forward here.

“Forgive me, Young Clover Salwyn.” Aguru suddenly broke the silence in a calm and emotionless voice. “But I wish to be alone for now.”

“Of course.” Reivan stood up, having no intention to dilly dally. “I will be back on another day. Hopefully, soon.”

“May the cold winds bring warm tidings.” Aguru waved his hand, causing something to fly into Reivan’s hand. “Take it. A gift and an advanced payment. Also, an apology for suddenly taking your wand.”

“This is…”

Reivan looked down and found a pink pearl in the middle of his palm. He hesitantly looked up to find that Aguru was slowly walking toward the spring. “What is this…?”

“As I said, it’s a gift, advanced payment, and an apology,” Aguru said, not turning around. He stopped before the spring’s edge before sitting down on the ground and looking up at the clouds. “Just return here safely for the other five pearls.”

“Ah… “ Reivan nodded. “Yes.”

“Don’t bother heading in the direction of the battlemages following you. It is dangerous. That monster is only a few years away from the next level, after all. All those battlemages can do is try to escape. They’re lucky none of them have suffered fatal wounds yet.”

“Thank you for your warning.”

“Head to the village instead. I will mark your path for you.”

Reivan wondered how the path would be marked when a vine suddenly growing out of the ground caught his eye. Within the next few seconds, it rose up to match his height and a very juicy-looking pink fruit grew on it, just asking for him to take a bite.

“You can eat those if you ever feel famished.”

“That’s amazing. Thank you.”

“Clover Salwyn.”

Aguru slowly turned around, his face solemn.

“Be careful in the Tower.”

Reivan stared into the monkey’s eyes for a few moments before nodding. “I will.”

“I know my acquaintance back then wasn’t the most law-abiding citizen. But the Spirit Tower is not full of only… good people. And by no means is it a place that only does good things.”

“I am aware.”

‘No place is like that… except maybe the Saintess Faction.’

Reivan was fully aware that few organizations were purely good. Not the Spirit Tower, not the empire, and not even the Aizen Kingdom’s royal family was like that.

There was only power.

And the consequences of not having enough of it to make your desires a reality.

Aizen was full of powerful people who just wanted the nation to excel, who wanted to protect it for eternity, and who wanted to see it stand at the top of the world.

But because they lacked the capability to realize such a vision, they had to resort to all sorts of violent and unsavory deeds.

Reivan was just one of them.

“Thank you for your warning, Mr. Aguru.” Reivan smiled and bowed, pocketing the priceless pearl. “I will keep your words in my mind at all times.”

Aguru nodded and turned his gaze back to the front in solemn silence as Reivan left without turning back.

 

---

 

‘Phew. Holy shit, I thought I was a goner.’

Once he had walked far enough away, Reivan leaned against a tree and sighed in relief as he tried to steady his slightly shaky knees. When a three-meter-tall Ascendant monkey snuck up behind him, Reivan had thought his time in the republic would come to an end then and there.

But somehow, he got out of it with significant gains.

‘I’m so lucky… Shit, maybe I am a cultivation novel protagonist.’

That wasn’t a promising discovery though, since that would mean a lot of meditating. It also probably meant he would be separated from his harem for ninety percent of the story just so the author could find an excuse to just keep throwing new girls at him.

‘I have enough ladies in my life, thank you very much.’

Just Helen and Elsamina were sufficient in his books. He was even supposed to marry and make babies with quite a few concubines so he truly, truly had more than enough women. Any more and he would have to fear for his balls.

‘Anyway, it’s time to check the loot! Loot, loot, loot~ I’m a little loot goblin and this is my little loot goblin song~!’

Smiling like an idiot, Reivan took out the pearl and placed it on a leaf in the middle of his palm. Seeing as the pearl didn’t enlighten Reivan despite being in his pocket for so long, it seemed one had to hold the pearl directly for it to take effect.

Because he didn’t know what kind of knowledge was inside, carelessly giving it access to his brain felt like a bad idea. That’s why he wanted to check it out first.

He used [Supreme Insight] on the pearl, confirmed that it was an “Activated” version, and then focused on the part that listed the knowledge contained inside.

 

 

‘Wow. He really included the Phantom Pocket thingy here! He’s so nice.’

Now Reivan really felt like a shitty person for trying to take advantage of Aguru’s lack of wariness. No actual harm was done, but he felt bad anyway.

‘This looks good. In you go…’

Seeing nothing wrong with the information listed, Reivan got rid of the leaf between the surface of the pearl and his skin. He resumed walking forward as he picked off a pink peach-like fruit, and a minute later, the pearl flashed with a soft light.

Just like that, Reivan knew all sorts of things.

It was a considerably stranger experience than the first time, considering how much more information was in this particular pearl. But there was still a conspicuous lack of headaches or anything negative to talk about.

Reivan just knew these things now, as if they were in his head from the start.

‘I don’t think I can cast Phantom Pocket… Or maybe I can, but just once. And I have to be at full capacity when I do it.’

Afterward, he would pass out without question.

It wasn’t a skill issue, but rather, simply because he was a mortal trying to do something that only Ascendants should be able to do.

‘Whoever that certain sorcerer was, he was a genius.’

There were all sorts of improved military-grade spells in the pearl, and all of them were incredibly outdated. But the neat part was how they were still better than what was currently being used by battlemages.

With twice as many runes in each sequence as modern spells though, each spell was considerably harder to cast. But they cost much less magic power and had far greater potency.

As well as lethality.

There were all sorts of other insights that Reivan found mildly useful too.

‘A great haul.’

Trying hard not to grin from ear to ear, Reivan donned his well-practiced stony expression as he continued heading for the nearest village.

 

---

 

With the help of a new walking stick he’d found along the way, Reivan safely reached the destination.

He met a few more hostile woodland creatures along the way, but there wasn't anything too dangerous other than some snakes and very poisonous-looking frogs. There was a bit of an incident when a bird aimed a shit bomb on his head, but all was well since he managed to avoid everything that could have killed him in time.

Not the shit though. He had to stop for a few minutes to clean that off him.

'Okay, how do I approach this...'

Reivan hid behind some bushes and observed the edge of the village, where a few people were attending to cows and sheep grazing outside.

He didn't know what kind of people were in there, and he'd read a few novels where the main character walked into a town full of cannibals so he was just being careful not to follow in that guy's footsteps. It was a bit naive to expect everyone to be a good samaritan after all.

Other than that, he also had to admit that a man suddenly emerging in the direction of a non-populated forest where venomous and poisonous creatures abound was extremely suspicious.

He couldn't abandon the idea that kind people might just refuse to help him out of fear, thinking that he was some sort of psycho.

'Lying would be easier since it would ironically be more believable, but that's not a good look for Clover if someone found out. I’ve already received confirmation that people are on my tail too.'

Reivan was just about to walk out of the bushes and wing it when he heard movement behind him. He immediately drew his wand and came face to face with another wand, pointed straight at his face — the only difference between the two wands was that the other side already had a spell prepared and Reivan's didn't.

Almost reflexively, Reivan checked his adversary's stats through [Supreme Insight].

 

 

'Yikes. Being weak sure is scary. Even someone like this is a triple S plus threat.'

Reivan could deal with the man if needed though, but seeing as Bertus was more than likely to be a battlemage — or at least affiliated with them — there was no need for him to do so.

"What brings you here, stranger?" A middle-aged man with suspenders strapped to his pants slowly reached forward to take Reivan's wand away.

Reivan didn't resist, allowing Bertus to disarm him. "I mean nobody any harm, sir."

"That's what people who mean harm say."

"Well, I can't deny that..." Reivan chuckled despite the situation and raised his hands in surrender. "I'm Clover Salwyn, a battlemage trainee headed for Vel Ayala."

Bertus backed away to put more distance between them, his wand still trained on Reivan's heart. "This is a long way away from Vel Ayala, boy. Or any train stations, for that matter."

"The trains were suspended because of some issues with a monster infestation, so I traveled with a train privately owned by the Star of Fortune... only to be attacked. By a horde."

"A privately owned train...? Times are changing, I suppose," Bertus muttered to himself before speaking to Reivan once again. "And how'd you end up here?"

"I escaped by jumping into a ravine. Then I drifted over to a waterfall... where I fell."

"There is a waterfall nearby, so this story checks out. And how'd you survive the fall? That's no normal waterfall, after all."

"With a Whisperfall spell, sir."

"As you were falling?"

"Yes."

"Huh." Bertus raised a brow and looked at Reivan with an appraising gaze. "You're more impressive than you seem."

"Thank you...? Is that a compliment though?"

"Maybe. Anyway," Bertus snorted, but seemed less hostile now. "Say it then."

"Say what...?"

"Say what we are. You know what I mean. They shoulda told you after the oath."

'Oh. That.'

The real Clover had obviously mentioned what practitioners of sorcery were actually called, revealing to Reivan — and Aizen — that some words were actually cursed. It was a good thing too, since Reivan would have been utterly clueless about it if Clover hadn't told him.

"Kura—" Reivan abruptly found his mouth forced shut, unable to speak. This only lasted for a short moment though, since he gained back control shortly afterward.

"I believe you now, boy. " Bertus' wand vanished into thin air as he lowered his hand. He then tossed Reivan's wand back to him. “And I'd prefer not to lose my lunch.”

"Understood..."

“One last thing. I won’t ask you how you survived such a dangerous forest, but you must have your papers, right? A letter? Maybe a contract?”

“Actually, I lost it during the attack. It was in my bag, and… Well, I don’t have it anymore…” Reivan chuckled sheepishly before he realized something and genuinely blanched. “Ah, wait, is that going to be a problem? Am I not going to be accepted now?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Those things are just symbols. Your name’s already on the list and you can just have those reissued. The person who interviewed you can also just vouch for your identity.”

“Oh, is that so? That’s a relief. Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir. It gives me goosebumps. Like I'm some knight.”

“Then…?”

“Name’s Bertus Filbar. Ex-battlemage. People ‘round here call me Bert. You can do the same.”

“Yes, Mr. Bert.”

“Just Bert’s fine. You’re making me feel old. I mean, I am, but I don't wanna feel old. Now, walk with me.”

Bertus turned around and headed for the village, gesturing for Reivan to follow.

Reivan stayed quiet and waited for the other man to ask some questions, but who would’ve known that no words would be exchanged at all? It was a bit awkward, so he decided to bring something up first.

“You were a battlemage, Bert?”

“Yes. Retired.”

“Can I ask since when?”

“Ehh… Well, I think it was ten years ago? Not too sure. You live long enough in the quiet countryside and you tend to not notice the years go by. It’s not too bad though, mind you.”

Reivan nodded, having heard similar things from other long-lived people. “Would it be prying if I asked why you retired? You still seem pretty healthy to me.”

“I don’t mind.” Bertus shrugged, surprisingly open to questions despite how they started out on the wrong foot. “It’s because I’ve got a bad leg.”

“A bad leg…?”

“Yeah.”

Reivan raised a brow and sent a glance at the man’s legs, only to discover that both of them looked perfectly fine.

Apparently, Bertus had expected his next question, since he stopped walking for a moment to pull up his left pant leg. “It’s well made, so not a lot of people notice.”

“A prosthetic…” Reivan bobbed his head in understanding, not staring at the steel bar that had replaced the man’s leg for too long. “Isn’t there a way to grow it back?”

“Not that I know of, no. Ascendants can regrow lost limbs naturally over time, but us ordinary folk have to settle with peg legs and ridiculous medical bills.”

Understanding the assignment, Reivan chuckled at the jest before asking something else he knew the answer to. “By the way, how’d you find me, Mr. Bertus? You just showed up from out of nowhere too.”

“My budd—Ehem, my spirit partner told me.” Bertus gestured toward the empty air above his head. There was nothing there, and even Reivan couldn’t see anything, but Reivan knew it was because said creature wasn’t in the material world yet.

“I see.” Reivan shrugged. ”I thought I tripped a wire or something.”

Bertus unexpectedly chuckled. “Good one. Tripping wires, he says.”

His curiosity was now fully sated, but it seemed the other side wasn’t keen on taking their turn to ask questions. As such, there was no talking until Reivan was escorted to the village head’s house.

Reivan was then asked for his name and a recounting of the events that led him there. Afterward, the elderly leader of the village left to send a message to the local government unit — only to return five minutes later, accompanied by a battlemage wearing bloodstained purple combat robes.

Once the elder left to give them space, the mage ducked into the room.

“Finally found you.” The blonde battlemage wearily spoke, walking toward a nearby seat. He roughly parked his ass on the chair before he continued. “You’re a hard man to meet, Brother Salwyn.”

“Brother... You're a battlemage?”

“Yes. Ah, let me prove it. Kuram.”

Reivan winced and so did the blonde battlemage, who seemed to be trying very hard not to barf.

“Ugh… They should just give us a badge we can flash or something… Anyway, I’m Garus Filbar. Just call me Brother Garus since my last name is already taken. I and part of my squad were tasked with tracking you down and escorting you to the tower safely.”

“I see.” Reivan stood up and dipped his head a little. “I'm sorry. You had to take the trouble to chase me all the way out here.”

“Eh, a bunch of us almost died, but I’m personally fine with it since I get to visit my birthplace while on the clock.” Garus shrugged with an airy smile. “Besides, you ended up making the right choice by getting away from the Star’s people. Anyway, let’s go. You’re lucky my father’s here, so we can borrow his hoverboard for you to use. Wouldn’t want to be carried for an hour, would you?”

“Yes, Brother Garus…”

Reivan didn’t miss the implications of the battlemage’s earlier words — it seemed something did happen to the ones he’d left behind in the cave. Now didn’t feel like the right time to ask though, since, despite the man’s friendliness, his exhaustion was clear.

When emerged from the elder's house, there were five other men and women — each with purple robes and varying degrees of injuries — waiting outside, their feet placed firmly atop a floating metal plate with glowing runes carved all over it.

Unlike Garus though, none of the other battlemages seemed to have the spare energy to talk too much, offering a curt nod and a short introduction to Reivan before withdrawing into themselves. Garus gave a short but very easy-to-understand crash course on using the hoverboard and even allowed Reivan to take a few minutes for a test run.

Reivan could have acted a bit more naturally by failing a couple of times, but he could vaguely sense the impatience in the other mages' demeanor, so he “got the hang of it” rather quickly.

After that, Garus — who was clearly the leader of their squad — arranged them in a formation that placed Reivan in the very middle before they all departed on their magical vehicles.

And just like that, Reivan’s little adventure came to an end.