Chapter 194: The Divine Heir’s Shadow

When Lannor stepped into the Conjunction of the Spheres Rift beneath the Lady of the Lake’s smile, the sun still stood high in the afternoon sky.

One step later, the world changed.

He lifted his head and judged the sunlight filtering through the dense canopy overhead. It looked closer to seven or eight in the morning.

Time flowed unpredictably between worlds. Even the sorcerers of Aretuza who devoted their lives to the study of space and time considered such questions hopelessly beyond their reach.

So far, their greatest achievement in the domains of Time and Space was Margarita’s oversized handbag.

Perhaps only someone like Gaunter O’Dimm, capable of truly freezing time itself, possessed any real understanding of such matters.

Lannor found himself standing in a silent mountain forest.

The slopes were covered primarily in bamboo.

A few steps away, a stone-paved path wound through the woods.

That meant this world contained sentient beings.

Which, in turn, meant the Lady of the Lake had brought him here to work.

Lannor wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or disappointed.

He gathered his supplies and watched until the shattered-glass distortion of the Conjunction disappeared completely before heading toward the path.

In worlds without intelligent life, survival was simple. He only needed to endure a limited stretch of wilderness. Beasts rarely wandered far from their territories.

Sentient beings were another matter entirely.

Their movements were unpredictable.

Better to investigate proactively than wait for trouble to find him.

People often claimed that mountains from different lands possessed different spirits.

Lannor felt uniquely qualified to judge.

Once he had traveled between nations.

Now he traveled between worlds.

In his experience, the mountains of Temeria, and those of Arya’s homeland as well, carried a distinctly religious atmosphere. Some felt gloomy, others majestic. Seen from afar, towering peaks and drifting cloud shadows resembled a vast cathedral crafted by nature itself.

The mountains of his own homeland felt different.

Empty.

Distant.