Following the not too complicated route in his memory, Ian walked into Axel Town's slightly remote magic item shop.
Pushing open the slightly old wooden door, the wind chime on the door made a crisp sound. Behind the counter, a gentle and melodious voice habitually sounded, "Welcome..."
However, this greeting stopped abruptly only halfway through. The shopkeeper's eyes widened, and his hands that were sorting out the account books froze in the air. His red lips were slightly opened, and he looked at the man in black robes who slowly walked into the store with a look of disbelief on his face.
"You... you actually exist?" Visha was stunned for a long time before he said these words dryly.
"Why am I not real?" Ian raised his eyebrows in confusion, a smile flashed in his deep eyes.
"Pheobe has been mumbling your name in my ears and telling stories of your deeds over the years, but you have never shown your face." Visha's cheeks turned red with embarrassment, "It's been so long that I even thought you didn't exist at all, just an illusory character they fabricated out of thin air."
"Why did they try so hard to fabricate a husband out of thin air?" Ian felt a little strange about the brain circuit of this former Demon King's Army cadre.
Visha smiled sheepishly, wringing his fingers and explained, "I thought at the time... they might be a fanatical cult organization similar to 'Axis Order', who created an all-powerful leader just to trick me into joining the cult."
Hearing this outrageous speculation, Ian couldn't help but shook his head, with a helpless curve at the corner of his mouth.
"Pheobe did mention it to me before, saying that you have been somewhat alienated from them recently. However, she has been busy with those complicated bloodline Fusion experiments and did not bother to delve into the reasons. Now it seems that everything is explained." Ian said in a calm tone, with a reassuring power, "As you can see, I am a living person, not a cult leader."
"Yes, I can see that." Visha looked at the man in front of him carefully, "Besides, you look much more handsome in person than those magic images Pheobe showed me."
"Thank you for the compliment. But frankly speaking, the feeling you gave me is somewhat different from my original idea." Ian walked to the reception table.
"Oh? In your imagination, what should I look like?"
"Maybe... should be more shy and reserved?"
"Haha, those youthful years are long gone from me." Visha chuckled, with a trace of the past flashing in his eyes.
"It should be so. Maturity is a unique gift given by time." Ian took over the conversation naturally.
"This is a wonderful way to explain aging. Please sit down and I'll make tea for you."
Ian nodded slightly and sat down at the table. When Visha came over with the steaming black tea, Ian's "Cosmic Perception" that had evolved to an extremely high dimension quietly swept over her body.
In Ian's field of vision, the energy circuit in Visha's body was clearly visible. He could accurately see that the lich store manager had already condensed his own Magic Core, whose strength has steadily stayed at the peak of "Sixth Tier". At the same time, Ian also saw at a glance the fatal reason why she could not break through to "Seventh Tier".
Empire is currently used to purify Potions that breaks through Seventh Tier. Its core catalytic component is "Holy Purification Magic" derived from Aqua. And The essence of Visha is a high-level undead. The power of undead and Holy Purification are absolutely mutually exclusive in terms of underlying laws. If she forcibly takes that Potions, she will not receive a breakthrough in strength, but will end up with her own existence being completely "purified" into nothingness.
Ian retracted his gaze, picked up the teacup and took a sip, then put down the teacup and looked at the other person calmly and straightforwardly.
"Now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, if you don't mind me getting straight to the point: Do you still have that interest in me now?"
Visha was stunned by this straightforward question, and then asked, "What if I say yes?"
"Then, I formally invite you for a date." Ian's tone was not frivolous or casual at all, but revealed a kind of calmness and sincerity unique to a superior person.
"It's a date..." Visha stared directly into Ian's eyes.
Counting her age, she has now entered the first half of her thirties. After experiencing those heavy changes in her teenage years, she has never had such interactions with anyone of the opposite sex. Although in the past ten years, she has firmly believed that this man was a figment of Pheobe, it is undeniable that under the subtle influence, deep down in her heart, she has been secretly looking forward to meeting him.
But now, this man was really sitting in front of her. At this moment, Visha felt a mixture of emotions: the joy of getting what she wanted, a trace of panic at a loss, and even a little bit of resentment caused by being concealed. All kinds of contradictory emotions were intertwined to form her truest state of mind at the moment.
"Okay, I accept your invitation." Visha finally smiled.
"Wise choice." Ian nodded slightly, "Do you want to know our destination in advance, or do you prefer to keep a sense of surprise?"
"Give me a surprise."
"No problem. I will pick you up on time at noon tomorrow."
"So early?" Visha was a little surprised.
"Because we have many places to go, the itinerary will be very fulfilling."
"Listening to what you said, my expectations have been maxed out."
"I never disappoint people." Ian drank all the black tea in the cup, then politely stood up and left.
At noon the next day, the sun was just right.
Ian appeared at the door of the magic item shop on time. Today he took off the dark robe that symbolized Arcane Empire and the highest Authority, and put on a suit of well-tailored casual clothes, looking clean and approachable.
"Yesterday I actually forgot to ask, is there any dress code for today's date?" Visha looked at Ian, who was dressed in casual clothes, and looked at her daily skirt with a little embarrassment.
"We are Arcanist. There is no need to be bound by the red tape of the world. Just do whatever makes you feel comfortable." Ian said gently.
"That's right. So, where are we going? You know, as an adventurer back then, I traveled to almost every corner of the world. It's not easy to surprise me geographically."
Ian did not answer with words, but gracefully raised his right hand and made a light stroke in mid-air.
"Shua--"
A space portal emitting deep blue light suddenly opened behind him. The scene behind the door was blurry, but it exuded an aura of completely different laws.
"Ladies first." Ian turned sideways slightly.
Visha stepped into the portal with a hint of curiosity and apprehension, followed closely by Ian.
When the dizziness dissipated and Visha opened her eyes again, she was completely shocked by the sight before her.
There are no low wooden bungalows or muddy stone roads here. Instead, there are countless skyscrapers made of steel and glass. They are like sharp swords reaching into the sky, giving off a cold and technological sheen under the refraction of the sun Blink.
On the wide and flat black asphalt road, countless metal-shelled "chariots" were speeding, but Visha did not feel any aura of pulling Warcraft on them, and could not even catch a trace of magic fluctuation. On both sides of the street, bustling people wearing novel styles of clothing walked quickly, everyone seemed to be walking in a hurry, and most of them were staring at a small glowing rectangular board in their hands.
"This... this is the hometown of Kazuma? The world without magic?" Visha took a breath of cold air.
"That's right." Ian walked up to her, "I heard Pheobe mention that you felt lost for a long time after Kazuma left, and you often lamented that you hoped to have the opportunity to see what the world he lived in was like. I think there is no more suitable place for a date than here."
"It's been ten years..." Visha's voice was so soft that it could be blown away by a gust of wind.
Ten years ago, Filius led a crusade team and defeated Demon King's Castle with overwhelming force, completely ending the nightmare of that era. After the dust settled, Aqua returned to the Heaven Realm as he wished, Kazuma made a wish to the higher gods, and brought Megumin with her to reincarnate back into the modern society of the earth and continue her original life. As for Darkness, she chose to stay in her hometown and inherit her family's territory and responsibilities.
That weird team that once had a lot of fun but was full of joy on Axel Town has just come to an end.
"So how are they doing now?" Visha couldn't help but ask.
"Aqua is that restless guy who often ignores Heaven Realm's rules and sneaks down to earth to visit Kazuma and Megumin. She even He even used his own Divine Power to forcibly set up a communication channel between the two worlds, so that Darkness could occasionally contact them." Ian said eloquently.
"If she behaves so randomly, won't she be punished by the Heaven Realm's senior management?" Visha was a little worried.
"It might have happened before, but not now." Ian calmly stated a fact that could subvert the world view, "Because my Imperial Expeditionary Force has now completely taken over the control of the Heaven Realm and Hell in secret. It is no exaggeration to say that the rules of this multiverse are now written by us."
Visha was stunned for a moment, obviously it still takes time to digest this huge amount of information.
"Okay, don't think about those heavy grand narratives. Let's go, our schedule today is full." Ian naturally held Visha's hand.
In the following time, the two completely integrated into this modern steel jungle. Ian acted as the perfect guide, taking Visha through the cultural districts of different countries and tasting a variety of specialties on the earth; they sat in a dim cinema and watched the bizarre light and shadow stories projected on the huge screen; they also experienced rides in the amusement park that were thrilling to ordinary people but were like child's play to them.
Whenever the sun sets in the west and night is about to fall, but Visha still has more to say, Ian will start the Snap without any scruples. The tyrannical Law of Time instantly envelopes the entire block, forcefully set the time back a few hours to extend the day Infinity. In order to make this date perfect, Ian didn't care at all whether this high-intensity interference would disrupt the space-time continuum of this parallel universe.
With Divine Grade's physical strength far beyond that of ordinary people, the two of them did not feel tired at all during the continuous high-intensity play.
Finally, when the real night fell and the lights began to turn on, the two used a simple dressing up magic, put on extremely gorgeous evening gowns and suits, and walked into a Michelin-starred restaurant on the top floor of a skyscraper.
In order to take care of Visha, a high-level undead, who has different taste buds than ordinary people, Ian even entered the kitchen himself. He took out several extremely rare alien monster meats from Void Pocket, and used magic to guide the chef to complete the cooking.
Under the flickering candlelight, Visha gently swayed the red wine as rich as blood in the goblet, looking at Ian sitting across from him with somewhat blurred eyes.
"Ian, I have a very strange feeling. I feel like I already know you very well, and know your strength and power; but at the same time, I feel like I know nothing about you."
"What are you curious about? As long as you ask, I will tell you everything." Ian put down his knife and fork with a candid look.
"I want to know... what was the first opportunity for you to embark on the path of magic? What is it that supports you and makes you have such an almost crazy obsession with 'knowledge' and 'Truth'?" Visha's eyes became more serious than ever before, "Please give me the most authentic answer, don't use perfunctory clichés."
Ian was silent for a moment, a trace of vicissitudes of life and recollection flashed in his deep eyes.
"If we really want to trace the origin, we have to push the timeline back to my very long childhood."
"Now, you have completely piqued my curiosity." Visha held his chin with one hand, pretending to be listening attentively.
"My situation is actually very similar to Kazuma. I was originally born in an ordinary world without magic elements. After experiencing death, I got the opportunity to be reincarnated into Wizarding World."
Visha took a sip of red wine without interrupting.
"In my first life, when I was still a child, I showed an extremely strong curiosity about unknown things. Unlike my peers who liked to roll in the mud, I was a pure nerd. My room was filled with all kinds of obscure hard science fiction and history books. I was the kind of geek who could stand up anytime, anywhere and give you a long lecture on the evolution of dinosaurs or astrophysics if anyone asked."
"However, this pure joy was completely torn to pieces when I entered high school. Because of my unique 'nerdy' style, I became a perfect target for bullying and isolation on campus."
Visha sighed lightly. As someone who had lived in Kazuma's world for a period of time, she was very aware of the "anti-intellectualism" and rejection of aliens that were prevalent in that social environment.
"At first, I didn't take this to heart. Because I have a few close friends, parents who support me, and I even got a beautiful first girlfriend." Ian's lips curved up with a self-deprecating arc, "But the good times are good. It didn't take long. My girlfriend soon broke up with me because she couldn't stand me discussing the orbits of celestial bodies and quantum mechanics with her every day. She said being with me was too boring and depressing. That incident became the straw that broke the camel's back."
"What happened next?" Visha asked softly.
"Later..." The smile on Ian's face became a little cold, "I compromised, I changed myself. I forced myself into the 'perfect template' defined by society and the public. I stopped talking about the knowledge that I loved but was considered boring, and I started to exercise crazily and participate in sports."
"You've played rugby, right?" Visha remembered some common sense about modern society.
"Yes, I became a running back, and I excelled at it. I became the guy in school, the cool guy. I started dating the prettiest girls on the cheerleading team. In a sense, my playboy style started to take root during that ridiculous period."
Ian paused for a moment, looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the restaurant and looking at the deep night sky outside.
"But as you can imagine, I don't feel even a trace of happiness deep in my heart. During the day, I am the center of attention on the court; but in the dead of night, I often run to the roof alone, looking up at the vast starry sky, feeling the emptiness deep in my soul that is about to swallow me up. I have imagined countless times in my heart that it would be great if I could be born in the distant future, so that I can directly know all the ultimate mysteries in the universe and fill the hunger in my heart."
"So, you finally changed back to your original self? Picked up your passion for knowledge again?"
"It's not that fast. That was already in college. Although the last chaotic days of high school made my grades in cultural classes a mess, I still managed to get into a pretty good university with my football scholarship."
Ian's eyes became extremely soft, as if he had touched the softest place in his heart.
"Then, my first year in college, I met her."
"I knew it." Visha couldn't help but turn to the extremely elegant Byakugan, "What can make a prodigal son come back is definitely because of a woman."
"Although it's a little embarrassing to admit it, you are absolutely right." Ian did not deny it. "Her appearance completely saved my soul that was on the verge of drying up. She tolerated everything about me, and she allowed me to be my truest and weirdest self in front of her."
"I still remember that one time I suddenly pulled her nervously and talked endlessly about a lot of unpopular and even ridiculous topics like 'the profound influence of homosexual mystics in Eastern European religions in the 17th century on their teachings.'"
"If it were anyone else, she would have called me crazy and walked away. But she didn't. She didn't laugh at me, didn't think I was boring, and didn't make me feel ashamed for knowing these weird things."
"She just sat there quietly, listening attentively. She would ask very in-depth questions along my train of thought, actively participate in the discussion, and even regard this as an opportunity to learn new knowledge. What shocked me even more was that in the days that followed, she would actually take the time to go to the Library to check out relevant unpopular literature, just to resonate with me on this topic at a deeper level."
After listening to this fateful memory, Visha couldn't help but feel a little ripple in his heart.
"She sounds... really like a perfect soul mate like an angel." Visha sighed softly, and then she asked the most fatal question, "So, what happened next? After you died and was reincarnated into Wizarding World... would you often miss her crazily in the long late nights?"