Velin placed his right hand over his chest, bowed his head, and asked, "Respected Spirit of the Codex, I wish to know..."
Just as he prepared to ask where the treasure of the Zesita Kingdom was hidden, his uncle's face suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"I wish to know if there is a person cursed by time within the Zesita Kingdom."
Upon hearing this question, the phantom fell silent, not answering immediately.
A long while later, the phantom raised its head to look at Velin, and replied, "This question I cannot answer you. As compensation, you may ask another question, and I will answer it for you."
"Before you pose your question, I can tell you a story. As for the truth you seek, you must rely solely on yourself to understand it."
Velin instantly perked up: "Please speak."
"Three hundred years before the fall of the Zesita Kingdom, six hundred years after the last king, Balia Zerzita, ascended the throne, a strange legend entered the royal palace. His soul bore very deep traces of time; he might be a person cursed by time, or he might not be."
"That strange legend conversed with the last king, Balia Zerzita, for three days, and ultimately departed in anger."
"Upon leaving, he left behind a single sentence."
At that very moment, everyone perked up their ears and stared fixedly at the phantom, waiting for him to speak those words.
"The peril of destruction exists when awe is lost."
The Hall of Nothingness plunged into silence, and everyone began to ponder this sentence.
"Awe?"
Velin repeated the phrase, thinking of countless possibilities in his mind.
Awe for the world, awe for nature, awe for the gods, awe for everything that required reverence.
To hold awe in one's heart is to know restraint in