Azzy couldn't believe his ears for a moment. He was told that time travel is a mystery and when he returns to his original timeline as a 12-year-old, he will either get to keep his earned soul power or might revert to the original state. There's even a high chance that he will forget all this past like everyone else.
But, now he was hearing that he can never go back to the time when he disappeared. And right now, he was missing for a year. "Wait a second…"
Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and he thought of the words that stated he will be missing. Wouldn't that mean he can just travel to that time and live there?
He can but there's a problem with his age. How will he explain his sudden growth to others?
Azzy can hide his soul power through the Decarune seal but not his age.
"Are there are any seals to temporarily reverse the age? Or maybe, it is better if I just stay away? I can return to grandpa's house. But, what's to say that he will stay there. I changed a lot of things here like requesting the Clan head to take off the ban from Grandpa Oakley. Then, he will be there at the Death clan, right? What about Aunt Affea? Will her death be averted perhaps? I wonder whether I saved my parents. What about Claire? Will she forget me like everyone else? Wait a second. Why should I care about that? Anyway, I think I should ask about my parents. They were the reason I'm still staying here…"
Now that his contract with Reaper was effectively being shut off for a while, Azzy's head was filled with numerous thoughts. He went from one to another without any sense of direction, heating up his brain until the older Azrael put his hands on Azzy's head, cooling him down. "You have a lot of time to think about this. So, take a deep breath, calm down and hear me out, first."
After a brief silence, as Azzy forced himself to calm down, clearing out his thoughts, the older Azrael continued, "Secondly, you have to understand how the timeline works. You must have already been informed about this. The timeline you are right now is called an interim timeline, which is volatile in nature. Every different action has a high probability to rapidly and unpredictably change the future.
However, the future can only be changed by the past. The past cannot be changed by the present.
Right now, you are in the present and your original timeline is your past. So, before your past becomes your new present and present becomes the past, the time-altering events triggered by your actions must be back to normal at all costs."
"Wait…" Azzy finally shouted and interrupted his older self in hurry. His brain was heating up in confusion because of complex explanations. "What do you mean, I'm in present and my original timeline is the past? I don't understand a thing."
The older Azrael explained in patience, "You are 13 years old. The past twelve years you spent from your birth, i.e. June 5th, 2007 to Jan 1st, 2020 is your past, just the same as from Jan 1st, 1993 to today. Understand, this much?"
Azzy nodded.
The older Azrael continued, "So, the actions done within this past timeline will affect the present. How?
For example, the improvement in your soul power. You were in the realm of upper Adept (rank-3) back then and now, you entered the Elite realm.
Back then, you were 12. Now, you are 13. Before traveling to the past, you were barely around 5'2" but now you are 5'6".
It's because even though those 12 years timeline was the future to the whole world, it is still your past and the past always affects your present and just as the present affects the future.
So, any actions you do here will not affect the timeline you came from. That would mean the timeline stays the same unless you return to the future. Because, then, your original timeline will become your present and this timeline will become your past. Then, all the events that occurred here will impact the future unless something is done about it."
Azzy once again looked at him in a daze.
"I remember I used to be so smart when I was a child. Looking at him, it doesn't appear so. Fuu… This must be how my future self must have felt back then," The older Azrael got frustrated by how his younger self couldn't get such a simple point just like when he was sitting in Azzy's place.
But, as the older Azrael knew what's going to happen next, he stayed silent, waiting for Azzy to analyze his words.
It took a whole minute for Azzy to completely understand the point. Looking straight into his future self's eyes, Azzy spoke, "Since the moment I arrived in this time until the time I will go back to the future, all of it is also my past. So, the events that triggered because of my actions here will change my new past, present, and future, right?"
A smile appeared on the older Azrael as he felt now the conversation is going somewhere. "That's right. Your one action of sparing the beast caused a massive time-altering event in creating a Celestial grade beast, gaining enmity against the Church, the Royal family, and so on…
So, it is necessary for the beast to die before the interim timeline changes into Prime Timeline on September 6th, 2007 where your soul will be sent to your mother's womb. After that…"
Azzy finished his sentence, "All the events triggered in this timeline will change the future and my identity will be replaced by someone else forever."
"Well, not exactly." The older Azrael firmly shook his head and corrected him. "It will not be replaced."
"What do you mean?" Azzy had an inkling that the Reaper hid another fact from him.
The Older Azrael explained to him. "If you don't return to your present timeline before the interim timeline ends, your existence will be erased forever, and then, you will start with your life again.
Just like in your past, you will awaken your Arcana, get to the Death clan village, attend the Awakening Ceremony, and travels to the past. You will go on like this until you break this time loop.
Honestly, we have had this conversation twenty-three times already. This is the twenty-fourth."
"Twenty-fourth?" Azzy's facial expression changed to that of a frown. After hearing a couple of surprising things about time travel, it no longer felt that surprising anymore but it is still a disturbing statement for him.
Even though the person sitting before him is himself, Azzy couldn't comprehend the fact that they were one. For him, it is like they are two different people with different personalities and different consciousness. So, being erased is the same as dying. He couldn't explain in words but it's just what he feels right now…
So, when heard the Reaper had once again lied to him, Azzy now realized why his future self told him that to not trust Reaper's words completely.
Azzy then analyzed his words carefully once again. He quickly understood a hidden meaning behind the sentence and asked for a confirmation, "so, all the twenty-three of me failed to get back to the present and got erased?"
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