On Death Island, Lynn sought out Gregor, who was busy in the Grand Cathedral.
"Mentor, how much do you know about the Observatory of the Stars?"
Gregor's fingers paused.
"The Observatory of the Stars? Why are you asking about them?"
Lynn sat down in a chair nearby.
"When I was an apprentice, didn't an old apprentice from the Observatory of the Stars give me a Heart of the Starry Sky Behemoth?"
"That heart saved my life, in a way. I want to know why they paid such a steep price to help me."
Gregor turned to look at Lynn.
"That lot at the Observatory of the Stars spend all day stargazing and making prophecies, spouting cryptic nonsense and doing baffling things."
"They believe everyone has a fate line, and that the paths of the stars determine the course of all things."
Gregor pulled an old sheet of parchment from a drawer and spread it on the table.
A star chart was drawn on it, with several stars marked out. Those were the locations of the demiplanes belonging to the Observatory of the Stars.
Lynn nodded thoughtfully.
"Mentor, why do you think they saved me, then?"
Gregor's fingers paused.
"The Observatory of the Stars is divided into two factions: the Traditional Faction and the Fate-Reversal Sect."
"What's the difference?"
"The Traditional Faction believes destiny is predetermined." Gregor stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the grayish-white sky outside.
"From birth to death, every step a person takes is written in the River of Destiny."
"You think you're making choices, but you're really just following a predetermined path. Even if you briefly stray from that path, the River of Destiny will pull you back."
He turned to look at Lynn.
"So they don't interfere. They simply observe and record, watching