After entering the Nexus that would send them back to their own timeline, Ethan and Lily found themselves standing in a plaza of a bustling city.
To their surprise, none of the people around them seemed to have noticed that they materialized out of thin air. Not even one gave the two of them a sidelong glance.
Suddenly, a boy who seemed to be around six to eight years old spoke happily.
“Look, mother! It’s the Tide Bringer and his wife!” the little boy said as he pointed in the direction of Ethan and Lily.
The two teenagers’ bodies stiffened, not expecting that someone would recognize them, but before they could do anything, the mother of the child lightly patted her son’s head.
“That’s right, Peter. That’s the Tide Bringer and his wife,” the mother stated.
The little boy’s smile widened as if he was very proud that he got something right.
Ethan and Lily followed the boy’s gaze and realized that he wasn’t looking at them but at something above them.
The two turned around and saw the bronze statue of a handsome young man with long hair, holding a trident in his hand.
Right beside the young man’s statue was another statue of a beautiful young lady, and she was holding a wand in her hand.
Ethan and Lily glanced at each other, surprise written on their faces.
If one were to look closely, the two statues had an uncanny resemblance to the two of them.
But people wouldn’t notice this right away because Ethan’s long blue hair was currently tied back into a ponytail with Lily’s ribbon.
The young lady, who had one of her ribbons taken from her, also had her hair tied up in a single ponytail.
Since their current hairstyles didn’t match the two statues, people didn’t recognize them at all.
“Um, excuse me, but can you please tell me what today’s date is?” Ethan asked the mother of the little boy with a smile on his face.
“Have you been traveling a lot, young man?” the pretty mother replied with a smile. “Most travelers tend to forget the date whenever they wander around the continent.”
“Yes, I’ve been traveling with my wif—friend for a while, and we kind of lost track of time after exploring a dungeon,” Ethan lied with a straight face.
Lily, who was standing beside him, only smiled after hearing Ethan’s reply.
Although she understood the reason why Ethan didn’t call her his wife, she had become used to being referred to in this manner by the members of the Allied Tribe.
Even so, she still felt a little uncomfortable because, by being referred to as a friend, she felt like a distance had opened up between them.
‘Maybe we should have married while we were in the past,’ Lily mused.
However, she tossed aside this thought just as soon as it appeared. She knew that if they did really get married in the past, it would just complicate things in the present.
Just as the beautiful young lady was thinking about these things, the mother of the little boy answered Ethan’s question.
“Today is the 14th day of the month of the Lovers,” the mother of the little boy replied.
“How about the year?” Ethan asked without batting an eye.
“Oh, dear. You even forgot what year it is? You’re so young, yet you’re already this forgetful.” The mother of the little boy giggled, which made Ethan scratch his cheek in a helpless manner.
“Big Brother, the year is 1825 of the Asgardian Calendar,” the little boy answered. “Am I right, Mother?”
“Yes, you are, dear.” The mother of the little boy patted her son’s head, making the latter smile happily.
“Thank you for answering my questions,” Ethan said. “But, can I ask two more questions?”
“Why not?” the mother of the little boy replied.
“What is the name of this place? And where are we located on the continent?” Ethan inquired.
After confirming that they had indeed returned to their own time, Ethan’s and Lily’s anxiety decreased drastically. However, they still didn’t know where they were, so this was a very important question for them.
“… Are the two of you perhaps lost?” the mother of the little boy looked at Ethan and Lily with a pitiful gaze. “You are currently in the Port City of Zentris. “I can see that you are wearing Wizard Robes. Are you perhaps students of one of the Magic Academies of the Magdar Kingdom?”
Ethan blinked once then twice before shifting his gaze to Lily.
Lily had a shocked expression on her face because she didn’t expect that they would appear in the Lands of Alastor in their current timeline.
Although they didn’t say anything, they had a feeling that the very city that they were standing on was exactly the City of Zentris that they had left in the past.
They didn’t recognize it right away because so many things had changed, which made the two of them wonder where they currently were in the world.
“Thank you for answering my questions,” Ethan bowed his head to the little boy’s mother. “Although it is not much, please accept this.”
Ethan placed a pearl that was as big as an eyeball on the pretty woman’s hand. Before the mother of the little boy could even react to what the handsome young man had given her, the two teenagers had already walked away in haste and mingled with the crowd.
A few minutes later, the two entered an antique store that sold maps.
They needed to know where exactly they were in the world. Only then could they start searching for the shortest route that would bring them back to Brynhildr Academy.
Fortunately, the shop had the thing that they wanted, and the two teenagers looked at it with serious expressions on their faces.
The map they had was incomplete, but it showed them a place that they were familiar with.
“The Islands of Thetis,” Ethan muttered. “It’s so far away…”
The Old Man, who had sold them the map, looked at the two teenagers with a curious gaze.
“Are you two planning to go to the Islands of Thetis?” the Old Man asked. “That will be a very long journey on a flying broom. Those islands are at least 4,000 miles away from here.”
“… 4,000 miles.” Ethan could feel a headache about to come his way.
However, the old man’s next words made the handsome young man look at him as if he were an angel.
“Fortunately, you don’t have to travel that far using a broomstick,” the Old Man chuckled after seeing Ethan’s depressed expression. “I have been to the Island of Thetis in the past, and it took me nearly three weeks to get there by using the Teleportation Gates in the major cities.”
“The only difficult thing is that you will need to travel a few days in between by broomstick. You’ll have to go through other cities before reaching any city that has a Teleportation Gate connected to the Island of Thetis. If only I had the money, I could have cut the travel time by half, but alas, I was saving my money for marriage…”
The old man looked in the distance as if remembering something bittersweet. However, his journey towards memory lane was cut short with Ethan’s request.
“Sir, can you please tell us the places we need to visit in order to get to the Island of Thetis faster?”
The old man arched an eyebrow after hearing Ethan’s request.
“You want to know the shortcut?” the Old man asked. “Even if you use that shortcut, it will still take you ten days at most to reach the Island of Thetis.”
“Yes.” Ethan nodded. “We need to arrive at our destination as swiftly as possible.”
The old man played with his beard as he looked at Ethan and Lily, who were looking at him with a pleading gaze.
“Alright,” the Old Man replied.
He then took a scroll and picked his quill. After dipping it in ink, he wrote the places that they had to go to in order.
“The shortcut is not exactly a shortcut. In order to get to that place, you need to cross the sea. Only wizards and witches who are experienced in long-distance flights would dare to use this route, otherwise, it is not recommended.
“You need to cross the middle sea and land at the Island Kyprion. From there, you will take the teleportation gate and go to…”
The Old Man told Ethan and Lily everything he knew about the route that they should take, and the two listened with rapt attention.
When the old man finished writing his reminders, he gave the scroll to Ethan for safekeeping.
“I wish the two of you luck,” the Old Man said as he patted Ethan’s shoulder. “Godspeed on your travels.”
Similar to what Ethan gave to the mother of the little boy, he also gave a pearl to the Old Man, and the latter’s eyes widened in shock.
Ethan and Lily left the place before he could go after them to return the gift that the young man had given him.
What he didn’t know was that Ethan had hundreds of pearls that were even bigger than the one he gave the boy’s Mother and the Old Man.
After reaching a part of the docks where there weren’t any people around, Ethan and Lily removed their Wizard Robes and smiled at each other. 𝒪𝓋𝑙xt.𝒞𝐎𝔪
“Let’s race,” Lily said with a smile.
“You’re on.” Ethan grinned.
The two teenagers both jumped into the water at the same time.
As soon as Lily was a few meters deep underwater, her legs transformed into a mermaid’s tail, allowing her to swim at a very fast rate.
After drinking Ethan’s blood, as well as taking in his essence, Lily gained the ability to transform into a mermaid, allowing her to move unhindered in any body of water.
Ethan, on the other hand, simply pointed his trident forward, and he sped forward like a sailfish under the water.
With their current speed, it would only take them three to four hours to cross the Middle Sea and reach the Island of Kyprion. When that time came, they’d at least be a little closer to home.