"Sorry, but I cannot become your disciple until I severe my karma with my late master." Azzy rejected the guardian god's help to search for the culprit.
He knew that it might not be an arduous task for someone like the guardian god to solve the mystery behind Barton's death.
However, the guardian god indirectly placed a condition that Azzy should become his disciple for him to act.
Once a master-disciple relationship forms between Azzy and the guardian god, the latter would be obliged to help out the former in any way he can.
Unfortunately, Azzy wasn't willing to do this. He was stubborn about his decision.
This forced the guardian god to slightly change his condition as he doesn't want to waste time in wait.
"How about this, Azrael? I will tell you his name and current location. In return, you will have to complete a certain mission for me, later on."
Azzy slightly hesitated at first but then as the Reaper told him to ask him to inquire about the quest, he followed the advice. "A man cannot make promises without knowing the situation. I want to hear the quest and make the decision."
The guardian god didn't take it as offense and put forth his proposition, right away, "Ten years from now, an avatar of Chione will be born on this planet. You will take her under your wing and protect her with your life until she reaches adulthood. Will you take this responsibility for the sake of giving quick justice to your former master?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAzzy fell into silence for a while. He was once again conversing with the Reaper for he doesn't know who the heck this Chione was in the first place.
From the Reaper, he learns that Chione is the goddess of snow, an elder god who is considered the first living being that was born with the element of ice. The Reaper also praised her by commenting that she was one of the most talented warriors among the gods of the Celestial Empire.
Azzy didn't know what sort of problems he might face if he do this mission. But, he knows for sure that Death Clan is one of the safest places on the planet and the guardian god will have to help him if he faced an enemy he cannot beat.
Those two things were enough for Azzy to assume that this mission isn't as dangerous as it appeared on the surface.
Hence, he agreed to the deal. "Alright, I will completely take responsibility to look after her. Now, please tell me the name of the bastard that killed my late master and his wife."
"Well, I will take you to him directly, although you will be on your own on how to deal with him," replied the guardian god with a satisfactory smile on his face. He was happy to see his plan is going through.
"Let's go…" Azzy urged him to leave for the location without wasting the time but the guardian god still has something left to say.
He said, "Don't be in a hurry, kid. Your opponent is not only strong but also possessed the genie. If you want to kill him today, then, you shouldn't go unprepared. Start with bonding with those three cosmic gems. The jewel of the earth will help you defend against superior opponents. The Jewel of lightning will help you summon the lightning and eradicate your enemies. And the jewel of life will make sure that you won't die that easily."
"You know that I have three of them?" Azzy didn't expect it.
The guardian god shrugged his shoulders, "Obviously, I know. Do you think I couldn't sense your presence when you time-traveled to the past? Even those mere 9-star realm Arcana Masters can sense the time breach. In fact, if not for me and Gaia working behind the scenes, even gods would have been alerted.
When I saw you the first time, I was actually quite surprised. You bore the exact resemblance of my most prized disciple, your death clan's founder. But then, as I continued to watch you, I realized that you appeared to be more talented than him. Talented? Hmm, no, that's not the exact word. How should I say…"
"I'm more blessed?" Azzy finished it for him. He always knew that his level of comprehension is on the level of ordinary genius but the fact that his progression is fast is because of a number of factors like the Reaper, Vajra, Protos energy, no limiters, getting lucky even in misfortune events, etc…
However, it never bothered him a bit because it doesn't matter to him at all. In fact, he actually never cared about his soul realm. Before, he followed Avia like a puppet, resigning to his fate. Then, after going to the past timeline, all he cared is about returning to his present timeline. And he needed a 7-star soul realm to achieve that.
Even now, he didn't want to get stronger for himself. It's just for the sake of fulfilling certain goals like solidifying his father's position in the clan and reuniting with his girlfriend.
The guardian god knew that too but he didn't want to depress Azzy by pointing it out.
Now that Azzy himself admitted it directly, the guardian god didn't try to sugarcoat his words as he continued, "Yes, that's right. You were incredibly blessed by the universe, perhaps, far more than any other mortal. But, it isn't a bad thing too. The world isn't fair, to begin with.
Not everyone is born into a wealthy household and neither were a majority of people even blessed with the talent of becoming an Arcana Master in the first place.
The only thing that matters is what you do with your present. Your current choices will decide your future. And I should warn you though. If you fool around and waste time with insignificant things like these, someone might surpass you too.
Uhhh…. We were going off-topic… Let's get back to our previous conversation. What I wanted to say earlier is that I was watching you all the time. So, I knew when you acquired those things one after another.
Anyways, if you were interested in listening to my advice, then, you can bond with them immediately. I'll be here to protect you until you finish with the process."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAzzy discussed with the Reaper for a while and gave a nod to the guardian god's suggestion after receiving an okay from the deity of time and death.
He sat down on the ground and took out the first object from his storage card.
The guardian god silently stared at his future disciple as the latter put the adamantine-made black crown on top of his head before pouring his soul energy into it.
The light green-colored jewel in the middle of the crown glowed brightly for a couple of seconds before it calmed down and the entire crown disappeared into his head.
"That fast?" The guardian god was taken aback. Even he didn't expect the bonding would be this quick because the comic gems weren't easy to tame. A normal mortal with an average soul would die just by trying to bond with them.
Only a powerful soul could hold them. To tame three of them, it would either need an extremely powerful soul or a being that reached the god realm. Being the holder of a divine grade Arcana like the Reaper, and two celestial grade Arcana like Vajra and Ruby, it goes without saying that Azzy had the qualifications to tame all three of them.
It's just that the guardian god never imagined that the bonding will be this quick. Across tens of thousands of years of history, he saw many powerful mortals in different worlds bonded with cosmic gems. And of all of them, Azzy's bonding was the fastest.
Looking at Azzy, he thought, "I guess I have really underestimated his soul. No wonder Chronos wanted me to teach Rael back then. If only I knew it before, perhaps, I would have given the jewel of water to Rael, instead of gifting it to Arthur. Nah, this must be the work of Protos energy. And… what…"
While he was busy thinking, Azzy already went on taking out the second one and then the third one.
Within ten seconds, the third one, the Pendant with the jewel of lightning, disappeared into his chest.
The guardian god went into a daze, this time, roaring in his head, "What the… Chronos, your successor is a freak. Not even the gods could bond with them this fast. How could a mortal soul be this much blessed by the heavens? Hmm… wait for a second…
Is his soul born from the cosmos and was secretly hidden by Chronos? Quite possible, considering how he selected him as the host three times until now and didn't give any opportunity for any other soul. Hmm…"