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Ian repeated the title under his breath. He had heard the word "angel" before. As he thought about it, a faintly complicated expression flickered in his eyes.
"So, you can glimpse destiny. Of course, that's the most basic trait of time travelers." Ian lifted his gaze to the wolf, his voice filled with curiosity.
"Have you ever seen the Raven?"
He was probing deeper and deeper into the secrets of the Soul Hall, step by step.
How to put it...
Very cautious and resourceful, but perhaps too cautious. Right now, the gray wolf was revealing everything it knew. After shaking its head, it answered decisively:
"No, the Eternal Raven is the supreme existence of the Soul Hall. Almost no one has ever seen him. However, every member of the Soul Hall carries his brand in their mind. That is our 'proof of employment.' It's precisely because of this brand that I fear you."
"You are our Lord, aren't you?" The gray wolf carefully sought confirmation from Ian. His willingness to answer wasn't betrayal; he had already accepted Ian's identity.
"Perhaps." Ian blinked, giving an ambiguous reply.
That phrasing, "proof of employment" really did sound like his style.
But what puzzled him was why he would always appear as the Raven in the future. Had an accident occurred that prevented him from returning to his normal self, or was it something else entirely?
At that thought, Ian couldn't help recalling Medivh's identity, one of the alternate personas he had already confirmed. If Medivh and the Raven could exist simultaneously, then his Animagus form wouldn't be the issue.
"Then what about Medivh? How much do you know about him?" Ian quickly pressed on.
Playing two roles himself wasn't the problem. However, the strange way he had obtained his Animagus form felt rather inexplicable, as if something didn't quite add up.
"Uh... well..."
The gray wolf stuck out its tongue as if puzzled by Ian's questions.
Was he being tested?
As he imagined wildly, the wolf gave its answer:
"Medivh is the Great Protector of the Soul Hall. But his whereabouts are even more mysterious than what lies in your heart. They say he delights in burning, killing, and plundering. They say he particularly enjoys doing things that make it difficult to judge good from evil."
The wolf had clearly already accepted Ian as its Eternal Lord.
But, it obviously didn't know that Medivh was also Ian. Otherwise, it would never have spoken such judgment.
"..."
Hearing this, Ian became depressed again. If only the duke had said such things, Ian could have chalked them up to twisted rumors. But why were members of the Soul Hall saying the same thing?
He didn't like burning, killing, or plundering at all!
"You only heard about that, right?" Ian pressed, unwilling to let it go.
However, the gray wolf's reply gave him a measure of comfort.
"Hmm, perhaps only Cinderella and Cassandra have ever seen him. The Soul Hall members aren't close, each of us has our own quest. I'm still a novice, so I don't know much." It truly had never seen Medivh, nor had any interaction with him, and most Soul Hall members were likely the same.
Hearing this, Ian immediately felt less frustrated.
"Then it's just a rumor!"
His voice was firm and resolute.
"But... Soul Hall, all these quests... Perhaps that's why I acted the way I did..." Ian fell silent for a moment, his fingers unconsciously tapping the bottle.
His gaze drifted once again to the Mirror of Erised. The reflection in the glass remained blurred, but a perfectly clear image could be seen within his pupils.
Ian could see his own desire.
He saw himself seated at a desk, holding a book. On its pages, a single line of text stood out with crystalline clarity:
[I want all living beings to understand my will.]
It was the same vision he had once described to Dumbledore, himself quietly reading The Legend of Wukong.
But, unlike what he had told Dumbledore, the book in the mirror contained no other content. It showed only that one line:
[I want all living beings to understand my will.]
As if, Throughout the entire book, that single sentence was the only thing Ian truly cared about.
Of course, he himself might not think of it that way.
According to the nature of the Mirror of Erised, however, this was simply his deepest, most hidden desire, one that he had not yet realized consciously.
"To wish for no heavens to blind my eyes, no earth to bury my heart, nor to see gods and demons scattered to smoke and dust, but merely for all living beings to understand my will, is that truly my ultimate ideal?"
Ian stared into the Mirror of Erised for a long time in silence. He felt more and more that the Soul Hall and the mysterious legends about Medivh were perhaps puzzles he had to solve on his journey toward achieving his ultimate goal.
Yet, As for this desire, he didn't feel any stirrings just yet.
Staring into the mirror, Ian fell into deep thought.
The room was utterly silent, save for the faint crackling of the candles.
"There must be another way for this Magic Mirror to hide magic text," Ian mused. His mind circled back to his original intent: deciphering the secret words encoded within it.
He picked up a notebook from the desk and began carefully recording the arrangement and shapes of the text, hoping that by sorting and analyzing it, he could find the key to unraveling the mirror's mystery.
Meanwhile, the big gray wolf inside the bottle shrank back again, its soul body swaying slightly within the glass. It seemed as though it wanted to say something, but it stayed silent in the end.
Time ticked by, second after second.
Just as Ian became utterly absorbed in studying the inscriptions, a faint tapping sound came from the window, as if something were gently rapping against the glass.
"Bats?"
Ian snapped out of his reverie, frowning slightly as he turned toward the window.
Outside, the night was heavy, the world veiled in a thin mist. Moonlight filtered weakly through the clouds, illuminating a hazy silhouette.
The figure's disheveled hair made it look like a ghost crawling out of hell. Its face was pressed against the glass, and its fingers tapped lightly. Anyone faint of heart would have been scared half to death by the sight.
But, Ian's sharp eyes were as keen as daylight. Even through the murky window, he recognized who it was at once: his future teacher, still an apprentice, Miss Morgan.
Morgan pressed her face against the windowpane, her large eyes peering curiously inside. The night wind had whipped her hair into disarray, leaving a rosy flush on her cheeks.
"This scene is straight out of the Underworld..."
Ian laughed bitterly, feeling equal parts surprised and exasperated.
Young Morgan had climbed the castle's outer wall by hand, all the way up to Ian's tower window. The wall was dozens of meters high, one wrong step and she would have fallen with the force of a Reducto-level explosion.
Yet she showed not a shred of fear, dangling nonchalantly outside the window.
Her courage was truly remarkable.
Ian shook his head and gave a light wave. The window swung open without a sound, letting the night wind rush in. Pages fluttered on the desk, and the candlelight wavered.
Morgan leaned onto the windowsill, half her body already inside. She grinned brightly.
"Teacher, what are you doing? I saw your candle still burning, so I came over to take a look."
As she spoke, she tried to climb in. Since she was wearing a skirt, however, she couldn't exactly throw a leg over in front of Ian.
"Teacher, give me a hand."
She smiled sweetly as she asked for his help.
Ian gave no reply.
"Hm?"
Young Morgan thought Ian might be angry with her. When she lifted her head to look at him, however, she was surprised to find that his gaze wasn't on her at all.
He was looking past her, at something behind her.
"What's behind me?"
Morgan was brave, but she still felt a sudden chill run down her spine.
"Someone."
Ian's reply was short and precise.
Indeed, In the darkness outside the window, only a few meters away, a black figure floated silently. The figure was shrouded in shadow, as though it were one with the night itself.
But, it could not escape Ian's eyes.
His sharp gaze pierced straight through the veil of shadow, revealing what lay within.
It was the face of a strikingly beautiful woman, cold and exquisite, her skin pale as snow. Her long hair cascaded like a waterfall, the ends softly curled, a haunting beauty.
The woman had clearly noticed Ian's stare.
"Cinderella?"
Thus, Ian spoke tentatively.
(End of Chapter)