Chapter 309: Eye of the Shifting Sands
"Regret?"
"They'll understand one day what they've missed..." Leon said, and with that, he offered no further explanation, simply lowering his head to continue his breakfast.
Yes, that little girl named Lana really did lack magical talent. Leon had seen it the moment he laid eyes on her. Unable to resonate with the elements from birth—an unsolvable flaw. Even Leon, who came from thirty thousand years in the future, could do nothing about it.
It meant the girl would never sense the presence of magical elements...
That's why William Merlin had said the girl couldn't even complete a single meditation. If she couldn't sense the magical elements, how could she possibly meditate?
On this point, the Merlin Family was right—the girl could never become a mage...
But Leon felt the Merlin Family was a bit too careless. In the whole Northend World, there were trillions of humans, and fewer than one in ten thousand could become a mage. If those who couldn't were to be cast aside, how many people in Northend would be abandoned?
Besides...
Not being able to become a mage didn't mean the girl's future was doomed...
In fact, as Leon saw it...
The achievements that girl could one day reach might far surpass most members of the Merlin Family.
Leon could already see it—a path to the Sky Rank was unfolding before her. All she needed was someone to guide her onto it.
From the first moment Leon saw the girl, he knew she possessed eyes that rivaled the Eyes of the Sky...
Even in the entire history of Northend World, such eyes had only appeared twice before.
One pair belonged to King Sarel Nightshade, the legendary Night Elf King of the Nather Era—the first Demon Hunter to surpass the Sky Rank. With his Crescent Sigil and Thirteen Moons, he left countless legends in Northend World. But what truly set Sarel apart were his amber Eyes of Shifting Sands. It was said those eyes could pierce the mists of time, move faster than time itself. In many tales, when Sarel unfurled the Crescent and the Thirteen Moons tore open space, witnesses felt as if time itself was reversing...
So fast it defied imagination; so fast it escaped description...
The other pair appeared at the height of magical civilization, beside Charles the Conqueror. Always silent, clad in black leather armor, the silver elf maiden rarely fought, but in the battle of the Undead Plane, one arrow slew three Undead Lords. That feat was spoken of across Northend World, and she too possessed those dreamlike amber eyes.
Now, the little girl in the kitchen, thin as a bean sprout and sallow-faced, was the third known bearer of the Eyes of Shifting Sands...
Of course...
Then again, it was only natural for the Merlin Family to give up on Lana. The family was massive—when you add up all three branches, there were countless young heirs. They couldn’t possibly uncover the potential of each one. The Merlin Family could only set a standard; those who met it would be nurtured, and those who didn’t were left to fend for themselves.
That’s the cruelty of a great family...
But for Leon, none of that really mattered. Even the girl with the Eyes of Shifting Sands only piqued his curiosity—a little. After all, this was the first time Leon had seen those eyes for himself.
Besides, in Northend World’s history, both previous bearers of the Eyes of Shifting Sands were elves—one a pure-blood Night Elf, the other a Silver Elf, both from the elven race.
But this time, they appeared in a human.
Leon was eager to see if a human with the Eyes of Shifting Sands could reach the heights of those two legendary elves...
Just like Hubert, the dragon-blooded orc...
He simply wanted to see how high they could climb.
"By the way, Cousin William..." Leon finished his last piece of bread, wiped his mouth, and finally drew his gaze away from the kitchen.
"Hmm?"
"The Blackhorn Auction should be in about a week, right?"
"Yes, yes, the Blackhorn Auction—it's just a week away..." Leon had only asked casually, but William Merlin suddenly grew excited. "Let me tell you, the Blackhorn Auction in Auckland is way livelier than the one in Thousand Sails City. We should go check it out..."
"You..." Leon was momentarily stunned, but then he understood.
William Merlin had followed Leon to the Four Seasons Gorge, and they'd gained plenty along the way. Especially in the final vault, where William got a pile of magical materials. Most he handed to Leon to craft alchemical items, but a small portion, he planned to trade for alchemical gear.
No doubt, William wanted to make a killing at this Blackhorn Auction.
"Bring out your magical materials later. I'll take a look for you..."
"Alright, alright..."
After breakfast, the two didn’t leave William’s sister’s house right away. Instead, they took out all the magical materials for a thorough sorting. Leon kept anything valuable, and only the ordinary stuff was allowed into the Blackhorn Auction.
Leon knew that truly powerful alchemical gear was never traded for mere gold coins.
Rather than tossing those rare magical materials into the Blackhorn Auction, it was better to hold onto them and wait for the right chance to barter for something truly powerful.
They stayed busy until afternoon before finally remembering they ought to go see Hoffland.
By now, the news of Stan Watson’s death had surely reached Hoffland’s ears. Leon was heading over to get Hoffland to open up the Merlin Family ancestral grounds.
But Leon hadn’t expected...
They had just left William’s sister’s house, and hadn’t even started toward Hoffland’s stone tower, when they saw someone waiting outside...
"William Merlin..." The one waiting was Ross.
Ross Merlin, the most outstanding talent of the Merlin Family’s younger generation, bearer of the Endless Spring sigil, looked like a different person today. He seemed haggard and lost—clearly, yesterday’s battle had hit him hard.
"What do you want?" William Merlin replied, barely bothering to look up.
Back then, William’s sister died in the Blazeforge Realm, and Ross wasn’t exactly blameless. If he hadn’t left the main group to attack the Crimson Fortress, William’s sister might not have died.
Of course, William knew it was all just speculation.
But precisely because of this, William never had much warmth for Ross when they met...
"Who killed Stan Watson?"