Sea of Light (Continued 2)

Edward couldn't hold her back—Princess Andrea had already charged forward with her precious sword in hand.

Edward was about to jump out of the vehicle to chase after her when he suddenly noticed the crowd of onlookers packed all around. He shrugged helplessly, stashed the sidecar into his spatial ring, and drew gasps of amazement from the crowd. After all, few in this world had ever seen a spatial ring. Edward pulled a gleaming metal handle from his pocket. Atop the handle was set a smooth garnet red crystal.

"Too bad I'm not wearing a black suit." Edward thought about pulling sunglasses from his pocket too, but then realized he was already wearing the Eye of Truth glasses. He shook his head ruefully, figuring this attempt at looking cool wouldn't be perfect.

"Alright everyone, look here." Edward pointed at the red crystal on the handle in his hand. "Let me show you a magic trick."

The crowd's eyes followed his finger.

With a puff, a somewhat glaring purple-red light ray shot into everyone's eyes. The surroundings fell silent. The onlookers stood frozen like wooden chickens. But the light on the handle kept shining—not like the fleeting flash in the movies from Edward's previous life.

"Alright, you all saw nothing just now. Go back to whatever you were doing!"

The crowd paused for a few seconds, as if just waking from deep thought, then stirred into action. Those who needed to line up lined up; those who needed to leave left—as if nothing had happened at all.

Meanwhile, Princess Andrea, using the position she'd "seen" with her precious sword, estimated the distance and pushed through the startled crowd. She arrived at the spot she'd guessed, but there was nothing there.

She'd already heard Edward say that the beautiful girl mage and the baby-faced pastor were in an "invisible" state, but she fumbled around that small empty patch like a blind person, touching nothing at all. The surrounding crowd gathered, chattering and speculating whether this beauty had some mental illness...

"How can it not be here? I clearly saw them right here." Just as the knight princess was searching in confusion, the surroundings suddenly fell silent, and a purple-red light swept over. She looked up warily, momentarily dazed when she saw the red light, then nearly burst out laughing.

There stood Edward in a leather jacket and leather hat, with an exaggerated pair of large black-rimmed glasses on his face. One hand was in his pocket, the other raised high holding a handle emitting a glaring light. The people on the path seemed not to see him at all. No one paid him any attention. Even the crowd that had been watching the princess fell silent, as if nothing had happened.

But his brown leather hat and furry-collared leather jacket, paired with those huge black-rimmed glasses, made him look like an owl holding a torch.

"Pfft..." Andrea covered her mouth and laughed.

"Sharp as ever, Princess. Found me that quickly." Edward smiled.

"What's that in your hand?" Princess Andrea stopped laughing to ask.

"You know the Holy Light God's divine spell, Light's Blessing?"

"Of course I do. It's that 'you can't see me, you can't see me' spell, right? Alice told me about it. Pastor Elvin uses it all the time, and she always catches him." Princess Andrea's way of putting it was adorable.

"This item is very similar to that spell. It's a magic I found in the Ailande Royal Magic Academy library—the only mental-type spell with no side effects on ordinary people. I named it 'High-Profile Invisibility.' Its effect is to forcibly make people with low mental resistance ignore the caster."

As he spoke, Edward wandered back and forth through the crowd around the princess, as if searching for something.

"Why can't I find them? Did they enter some mysterious space?" Princess Andrea pressed on.

"No, they didn't go anywhere. They're right there." Edward organized his words and continued, "More accurately, they've entered a state. It's similar to Light's Blessing—it makes people ignore them, but at the same time, they ignore us too. So the two groups see and hear different things. Though we're in the same time and space, it's like we're in two separate worlds. What you 'saw' with that sword just now was their 'world.'"

"Then why can't I touch them? Even if I can't see them, shouldn't I be able to sense them?" Princess Andrea watched Edward, who was still wandering aimlessly.

"No. Your eyes are deceiving you. Your ears are deceiving you. Your fingers are deceiving you. Even your brain is deceiving you." Edward's words were startling.

"Wh-why is that?" The knight princess felt a chill run down her spine.

"Because this 'spell' was cast by the 'God.' It's like how the classics of every faith describe 'God': 'We are one, and He is the myriad. We all come from Him, we are all His children.'"

"What does that mean?" The princess seemed to understand something, yet nothing at all.

"It means the 'God' we perceive is actually made up of countless intelligent lives like you and me. We are a part of Him, and He is us. For Him to keep one part of His body from seeing another is very simple. Do you understand now?"

Princess Andrea finally understood, but an inexplicable fear settled in her heart.

Edward seemed to have found something. With one hand still holding the "torch" and the other stroking his chin, he was looking down at a little boy sleeping on his mother's shoulder.

"How old is Pastor Elvin?" he asked out of nowhere.

"Sixteen or seventeen? Anyway, he's half a year older than Alice."

"And how old is Her Highness the Princess?"

"Huh? Wh-why are you asking that? That's... that's very rude..." The princess suddenly grew shy.

"Please tell me quickly." Edward walked over, his expression serious.

"Twenty. Wh-what's wrong?" Andrea was flustered.

"Look, this isn't turning out the way I imagined. Time might be short, so I'll make it brief.

Right now, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is in front of you. It's up to you to seize it." Edward placed his hand solemnly on the princess's shoulder.

"What do you mean...?" The princess felt shy at his sudden closeness.

"I want to 'send you inside.' That way, you might be able to grow to the 'Fifth Stage' like them. Are you willing?"

The power system of this world was roughly divided into five ranks: Apprentice Level, Beginner Level, Intermediate Level, Advanced Level, and Highest Level.

For mages, that meant: Magic Apprentice, Formal Mage, Great Mage, Magister, Great Magister.

For knights: Knight Attendant, Knight, Great Knight, Sky Knight, Sword Saint. The reason the highest rank for knights had a different name from the others was that all martial artists who used Battle Qi were collectively called "Sword Saint" at the highest level.

For pastors: Novice Priest, Pastor, Bishop, Sage, Great Sage (this setting differs from the Japanese-style system—not because someone was too lazy to think of names, hehe ^_^).

"Sword Saint?" The knight princess asked in disbelief.

"You've already gotten a semi-divine artifact. What's there to disbelieve? Hurry up—do you want to or not?" Edward still held the "torch" high. The eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses looked a bit fierce.

"Of... of course I do." The knight princess's gaze grew firm. Honestly, who would turn down a free, enormous windfall?

Edward glanced back at the child sleeping on his mother's shoulder, then said to the knight princess:

"Now listen to me. Draw that sword and give me the sheath." He took the sheath she handed over and continued.

"Same as before. Close your eyes and 'see.' Don't stop until you've clearly made out both of them."

"I can't help you right now, because that guy doesn't like me. My aura can't be on the sword, or else he'll leave the moment you go in."

"Once you see clearly, nod. Remember, don't speak before you 'go in.'"

A full minute passed before the Knight Princess nodded with difficulty.

"Good. Now don't focus on them. Look at that light. Do you feel it swaying like a wave?"

The Knight Princess nodded again.

"Good. Adjust your Mental Power and Battle Qi to that swaying frequency—like letting your Battle Qi dance to music. Don't tense up. Relax, relax. You can do it. You're the most talented warrior I've ever seen..."

At that moment, the Knight Princess's figure began to blur in Edward's eyes, flickering in and out like a wave.

'Now, step forward—both in your mind and with your body. Imagine you're sleepwalking. Just one step, just one step is enough...'

Edward saw the blurry Knight Princess struggle to move her long, graceful leg forward. Suddenly, her figure vanished, leaving only a faint shadow on the lens of the Eye of Truth.

Another five minutes passed. Edward looked down at his wristwatch, modified from a Pocket Watch, and decided the time was right. He walked over to the little boy sleeping on his mother's shoulder and gently poked the boy's collagen-rich cheek. The child slept soundly, pushing weakly outward with his little hand before drifting back to sleep. Meanwhile, his mother shuffled forward another step with the crowd.

Seeing no effect, Edward steeled himself, curled his finger, breathed on it, and gave the boy a light Knuckle Sandwich.

The boy woke, rubbing his sleepy eyes in a daze. But when he saw Edward's owl-like appearance, he burst into a loud wail. The mother quickly shifted positions to soothe him.

Edward, still holding up his "torch," wore an expression that said, So you can see me after all.

He turned to look elsewhere. It was as if an invisible bubble had burst; the surrounding light seemed refracted by scattered droplets. The figures of three people emerged as if washed out by rain—like they had always been in a painting, with only the outer layer of pigment scrubbed away to reveal them.

As soon as they appeared, Chang Wei was beating Laifu—no, wait, Alice was hitting Pastor Elvin. Princess Andrea stood by, sword in hand, watching the spectacle.

"You bad guy! Wiping your snot on my clothes—do you know how disgusting that is? I couldn't even use a cleaning spell in that awful place!"

The girl wasn't really hitting him, just letting off steam.

Edward walked over, holding his "torch" high, a playful look on his face as he eyed the Baby-faced Pastor crouching on the ground with his head in his hands.

The girl stopped. All three turned to look at him.

The Baby-faced Pastor wiped his tears, recognized the newcomer, and sobbed uncontrollably:

"Sir, the Oracle... famine... famine is coming."

Both women fell silent. Everyone who had heard any sect's sermons knew that the God would reveal future disasters to the Prophet. The news weighed heavily on both of them, especially Princess Andrea. As part of this nation's ruling body, she deeply understood the threat famine posed to a fledgling country. Several nations on the New Continent had already fallen to such calamities. The Highland Castle itself was built on the ruins of the first generation of immigrants.

Just then, they heard Edward's voice.

"Prophet, don't joke around," Edward said with an expression that said I knew it. "Have you ever heard of potatoes?"