Read Novel Full Chapter 787 - 3: Leave the Choice of Path to Your Future Self
Chapter 787: Chapter 3: Leave the Choice of Path to Your Future Self
Lynch nodded slightly, acknowledging Alse’s judgment that was based on personal experience rather than external influence.
He then gestured to the muscular construct that had just been granted "life" in front of him and introduced it in a plain tone: "This is... Armstrong."
He casually used a name from the depths of his memory, inspired by the robust appearance of the figure, and continued: "He will protect you all the way to the Ramos Duchy, and after arriving, he will continue to take care of your daily life. He is a... trustworthy companion."
The boy Alse heard this, hurriedly got up from the ground, and with some restraint and gratitude, bowed to the man named Armstrong and greeted him. However, the latter just stood expressionlessly as if he were a statue, with no response to his greeting, his eyes empty, lacking the spirit living creatures should have.
Lynch saw this and calmly explained: "There’s no need for so many formalities in front of him. He is not truly a living being, just a shell I constructed through magic, a tool. His core directive is to ensure your personal safety and fend off external threats."
"But he cannot think, nor can he offer you advice or guidance in life. The road ahead will ultimately have to be walked by you alone."
Alse widened his eyes in surprise, and when he looked at Armstrong again, there was a sense of incredulity in his gaze. This was the first time he had so directly felt the power and... mystique of magic.
Lynch continued: "The Church should have started searching for you everywhere by now. You should rest here tonight, and set off early tomorrow morning. I will create some distractions to divert the pursuers’ attention."
Worry immediately appeared on the boy’s face: "Sir, what about you..."
Lynch waved a hand, his tone carrying an undeniable calm: "Don’t worry about me. Just those from the Church can’t do anything to me."
He paused, looked up at the sky, as twilight began to envelop the ruins. "It’s getting late, you should rest early and rejuvenate." Having said that, he turned and made a gesture to leave.
Alse, feeling an inexplicable tightness in his heart, hurried forward two steps and asked urgently: "Are you...you’re leaving?"
Lynch halted his steps and turned slightly: "Yes. If there’s anything to say, say it now."
Looking at the desolate ruins around him and recalling Lynch’s earlier peculiar reaction to the Tulip emblem, and his repeated inquiries about his surname and origin, Alse hesitated for a moment before summoning the courage to ask a question that had lingered in his heart for a long time: "Sir... do these ruins, this dilapidated castle, have anything to do with me?"
Lynch’s figure paused imperceptibly.
He was silent for a moment, a complex emotion flashing through his gray eyes—a mix of nostalgia, sighing, and perhaps a hint of pity. He indeed knew the answer, knew this was once the symbol of glory for the Stock family, knew that the child before him was the bloodline of an old friend.
But what good would telling him the truth do?
The Stock family was already annihilated, the Tulip Domain’s splendor long buried under the earth, an unchangeable fact.
The Alse in front of him was just an ordinary child struggling to survive in hardship, neither exceptionally talented nor born under some extraordinary fate. Knowing this heavy history would only plant seeds of pain in his tender heart, nurturing powerless hatred and burdening him with a weight he couldn’t bear.
Rather than letting him live in a mirage of revenge and revival, tormenting him with pain and resentment, it’s better to let him live as a normal person, plain but relatively stable.
With this thought, Lynch had made his decision. He didn’t answer Alse’s question, merely turned his back to him and said one last thing:
"You should set off soon."
Alse felt as if those final words were still echoing by his ears, yet when he looked again, Lynch’s figure had already vanished into the twilight like a phantom, disappearing without a trace, as if he had never appeared.
If not for the silent and solid Armstrong standing before him, he might almost think that everything he just went through was nothing but a bizarre and brief dream.
"Huh? This is..."
Just as Alse was lost in uncertainty, feeling a void in his heart, he suddenly noticed a rather hefty cloth package in his hands, of which he had no idea of its origin.
He opened it in curiosity, and inside lay a sheathed cross sword. The sheath was ancient, without excessive decoration, but when he slightly drew the sword, its cold blade reflected a chilling light in the dim sky, and on the sword guard, two ancient characters were clearly inscribed—
"Glory."
This was not the St. Croix family’s lost true heirloom, the "Glory Cross." Instead, it was created by Lynch before leaving, relying on his deeper understanding and mastery of the Time Law, invoking a new ability—
He let his consciousness travel back up the river of time, like a silent observer, "returning" to that memory of the flourishing Tulip Domain, and "seeing" the family sword that Yuri treasured.
He could not change what had already happened in the past, could not prevent the fall of the family and the ruin of the castle.
However, by leveraging this ability to glimpse the long river of time, combined with his transcendent magic knowledge and creation techniques, he could perfectly replicate and construct those items that existed in that "past time," reproducing their complete forms, structure, and even a faint trace of time, manifesting them in the "present."
Below the cold "Glory" cross sword lay two more things silently: a weighty, bulging leather pouch, and a small booklet bound with thick sheepskin parchment, its cover devoid of any text.
Alse curiously picked up the booklet, flipped through a few pages, and inside were clear common language and a series of corresponding human anatomical diagrams, detailing an exercise technique called the "Stock Knight Breathing Technique." This was not some earth-shattering Wizard Meditation Method, but rather a foundational knightly path his ancestors relied on to temper the body and will.
Although Lynch ultimately did not tell the child about the heavy history of the Tulip Domain and the Stock family, he didn’t want to see an innocent, naive soul crushed too early by the burdens of hatred and revival.
Yet, not telling the truth didn’t mean he could be completely indifferent.
Whether it was Yuri, Yuri’s father, or his flamboyant brother Jamie, all had left behind good memories in Lynch’s life journey, given him kindness, and existed vividly and vividly.
In memory of these people and things that had passed but were worth remembering, for those beautiful memories that once existed, Lynch felt that he needed to do something.
He wouldn’t forcibly alter Alse’s destiny, wouldn’t impose a mission of vengeance on him. But he could choose to return the things that rightfully belonged to the Stock family to the last descendant carrying the family’s bloodline.
The bag of gold coins was enough to give him a secure starting point in the Ramos Duchy, without having to exhaust himself for the most basic survival needs.
And that Knight Breathing Technique book was the foundational root of his family’s heritage, the key to another path of strength.
As for the future choices of Alse—
Would he, with these assets, struggle to carve out a piece of the world amidst the chaos, perhaps inadvertently uncovering dusty history one day, allowing the Tulip emblem to shine in another way?
Or would he silently put all this away, using the cross sword as a special keepsake, investing the bag of gold coins to acquire some property, marrying, and living a peaceful yet stable life in the relatively tranquil northern duchy?
Lynch left the power of choice entirely to the boy himself.
The future path would be determined by Alse Stock’s own will and encounters. Lynch could only reserve this opportunity for him, and nothing more.