BXBX NOVEL Chapter 740: Fortis Has A Flair For Being Overly Dramatic
"I heard you call me earlier, but I was too busy to come," Lyle said. "So, why are you here? Don\'t tell me that you\'re looking for me because you want to have my treasures? I\'ll tell you now—they\'re only meant for Nicole and Alice."
"I did come here for treasures, but I am not interested in your treasures," Ethan replied. "Fortis Dud sent me."
"Did he now?"
"Yes."
Lyle smirked before circling the young man twice, looking at him from head to foot.
"Then what\'s the password?" Lyle asked. "If he really sent you then surely, you know the answer, right?"
"If it still rains no matter what we do, then we just have to get wet," Ethan answered.
Lyle clapped his hands together and chuckled. "Would you look at that? The stingy Fortis decided to part with one of his treasures. Unbelievable. He almost took literally everything to his grave.
"Fortunately, he was afraid that Agmundr would not hesitate to dig up his grave," Lyle said. "You see, our Dark Magician is a grave robber, but only a handful of people know that.
"He even advised all of us to not bury any of our treasures in our graves because he would only feel guilty for three seconds before he pried them away from our corpses.
"Oh, our dear friend Agmundr—always tinkering with cursed artifacts and making sure that we were the ones who got cursed in the process. I love and hate that guy, even to this day."
Lyle spoke of his friend fondly and looked at the distance as if reminiscing his memories.
However, Lyle\'s body stiffened when he saw Agmundr\'s ghost pass through the place he was looking at.
"What are you looking at, huh?" Agmundr asked.
"An ugly dog who eats his own poop," Lyle replied in an arrogant tone.
Ethan thought that Agmundr would get offended, but the ghost merely snorted before flying to the deeper area of the Forbidden Section of the Library.
"So childish," Agmundr commented before disappearing from sight.
Lyle clicked his tongue and muttered "killjoy" under his breath, but Ethan was able to hear it due to his exceptional hearing.
"Well, then. Let\'s ignore that grouch and return to treasure hunting!" Lyle tried to grab Ethan\'s hand, but since he was a ghost, his hands passed through harmlessly.
For a brief moment, a look of disappointment flashed through Lyle\'s face, but this disappeared the next second before he chuckled and scratched his head.
"I forgot that I am a ghost," Lyle said with a smile. "Well then, follow me."
The ghost of the young boy flew in the direction where Agmundr had flown earlier.
Ethan followed behind as fast as he could without endangering the rows of bookshelves in front of him.
Agmundr noticed the two passed him, but aside from a glance, he didn\'t bother to investigate what they were planning to do.
Since they knew that Ethan had received permission from the Headmaster to enter the Forbidden Section of the Library, the Will of the Four Founders didn\'t kick him out of one of their personal domains.
Lyle stopped in front of a painting and waited for Ethan to take a good look at it.
Under the frame, the words "Destiny\'s Chosen" were written in fancy lettering.
"Fortis is someone who likes to add flair to everything he does," Lyle said. "He believed that the person whom he would end up choosing as his successor would be one that Destiny prepared for him."
The painting was made from magical paint, and Ethan couldn\'t see much aside from the fact that it was raining inside the painting.
"His treasures are scattered all over the academy inside his commissioned paintings," Lyle explained. "Only those who know his password will be able to enter them.
"Since the password that Fortis gave you is the password for this rainy painting, it meant that he only wanted you to gain the treasure in this painting."
Ethan nodded in understanding before asking a question.
"How do I get the treasure?" Ethan inquired.
"Make a guess," Lyle answered with a mischievous smile on his face.
"… I need to enter the painting and get wet?" Ethan replied.
"Bingo!" Lyle gave Ethan a thumbs up. "Enter the painting and look for the treasure inside it. But like I said, Fortis has a flair for being overly dramatic, so you need to complete a quest once you are inside before getting the treasure hidden inside it."
Ethan frowned before poking the painting with his finger.
Immediately, his finger went through it.
When he took it back, there were droplets of water on it, which meant that it was hit by the rain.
"By the way, just like what the password said, you can try to use any spells to prevent the water from falling to your body, but I will tell you now that it will be useless," Lyle stated. "If it still rains no matter what we do, then we just have to get wet.
"This passage means that even if you have the power to manipulate rain, in the end, you will have no choice but to get wet. I\'ll give you one last clue before you enter—look for the Doppelbanger Tavern, and ask the Barkeeper if he has heard any rumors about treasures. Now, off you go~"
Lyle snapped his fingers and the Painting increased its size up to two meters.
Ethan took a deep breath before taking a step forward.
The moment he entered the painting, his senses were immediately assaulted by the sound of heavy rain and the coldness of the water droplets that were washing over his body.
The young man instinctively tried to manipulate the rainwater with his ability.
But just like what Lyle said, his powers didn\'t work in the rain.
Ethan then looked at his surroundings in order to get a better understanding of where he was. Currently, he was standing on an elevated piece of land, and in the distance, he could see a small town, where he believed he should be going next.
The first thing he decided to do was to run. However, it didn\'t take long for him to realize that the most he could do was jog.
For some reason, he couldn\'t run very fast, which was probably another restriction that the Founder of Brynhildr Academy had created for this particular mission.
"I don\'t know if Fortis Dud enjoyed the suffering of others," Ethan grumbled as he jogged towards the town as fast as he could, "but he sure likes to make things difficult for people."
But even though he had a mouthful of complaints to say, Ethan was wondering what kind of Magic was used to create such a world.
It felt as if he had stepped into some kind of Domain, and truth be told, he wanted to investigate it a bit so that he could better understand how something like this was created.
After nearly half an hour of jogging, he finally reached the gate of the small town, only to be stopped at the entrance by the soldiers, who were looking at him in a very suspicious manner.