Peculiar Mirror (4)

"So it's Carla. Certainly a young talent. Looks like the Golden Gate Academy would have another peerless genius in two years" the old man said with an approving nod as he looked at Carla.

"Anyway, do you know anything about this mirror, Guild master?" Lisa said as she pointed at the broken pieces of the mirror.

The old man approached the mirror and grabbed a piece as he closely inspected it.

"I assume a mage of your caliber was able to feel the wave of mana earlier? If I'm not wrong, this mirror should be the source. Mind telling me what you know about this?" the old man replied as he held his beard.

"Don't worry. You can trust him" Lisa assured Carla.

Carla then nodded and briefly explained the situation that happened earlier and how Rick and the thief disappeared.

"If I'm not wrong, this mansion used to belong to a man of the legends, the Paragon of Sealing Magic, Luric." The old man said with a solemn tone as his eyebrows furrowed.

Lisa and Carla were dumbfounded with their eyes widened when they heard the old man's words.

"This mirror should be a magical artifact belonging to Luric" the old man added as he pointed at the broken pieces.

'I didn't expect this mansion to be something so great. I knew something wasn't right when they gave me this mansion' Lisa thought to herself.

"But how can something legendary break so easily?" Lisa said as she raised an eyebrow.

"It's been a thousand years since then. Time is a terrifying force that can kill even the strongest beings. What more can be said about an artifact that lost its owner?" the old man replied.

Lisa mused about the old man's words for a while before she nodded.

"What about the mirror and what does it do?" Lisa asked.

"If I'm not wrong, this mirror should have something to do with Temporal magic, since this is Luric's artifact. However, judging by the young girl's explanation, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch if it's mixed with Light magic and Spatial magic." the old man explained.

"An artifact with two supreme elements and one advanced element!? If it's just Temporal magic, then I would believe it but Spatial magic and Light magic? How is that possible?" Lisa exclaimed.

"I know, it sounds unbelievable. But at this moment, this is the only plausible conclusion we can draw from the young girl's explanation" the old man replied.

"As for the thief and the young boy, they should have been swallowed in the space inside the mirror, which would explain how they mysteriously disappeared when the light died down." the old man added.

"Then how do we get Rick and the thief out?" Lisa asked.

"For now, we can try to gather all the pieces and glue them together. Leave the rest to me" the old man said as he grabbed a few pieces of the mirror on the ground.

Lisa and Carla joined the old man as they tried to glue the pieces like a puzzle.

About an hour later, they finally pieced everything together, including the wooden frames of the mirror. The mirror still looked broken but it was complete.

The old man touched the surface of the mirror and poured mana into it. The mirror glowed with white light, shocking both Lisa and Carla as they moved backwards in case the mirror swallowed them up like it did with Rick and the thief.

The corners of the old man's eyes lit up and poured even more mana into the artifact.

The mirror light brightened even more as the light illuminated the entire place with blinding light.

The old man closed his eyes as he gnashed his teeth while Lisa and Carla covered their eyes with their hands.

Shortly afterwards, the light died down, revealing two figures lying with their backs on the ground.

It was Rick and the thief, Gelnar.

Their bodies lay on the ground, lifeless and unmoving.

The old man inspected Gelnar's body. He held Gelnar's chest with his eyes closed, trying to sense a shred of lifeforce on his body.

Carla hurriedly approached Rick's figure and touched his neck. Her expression suddenly turned pale as her heart began to race.

"N-no way. This can't be real!" Carla exclaimed as her eyes widened in horror. She then hurriedly put his head on his chest to check his heartbeat.

Tears welled down from deep inside and coursed down from her cheeks as she sobbed with her hands on Rick's chest.

Lisa frowned as she inspected Rick's body as suspicions rose from her heart.

"Calm down. I can still feel mana on his body" Lisa said as she placed her left hand on Rick's head.

Carla wiped the tears from her face as she looked at Lisa with a hopeful gaze.

"Really?" Carla said with a hoarse voice.

"I can feel it. This one is still alive. Although his heartbeat stopped and his lungs are not beating, I can still feel a shred of lifeforce and mana on his body, which means he's still alive, somehow" the old man said as his brows knitted.

"How is that possible?" Lisa said as her eyes widened in shock.

"Remember, this artifact is already weird as it is and they just came out of it" the old man said as he pointed at the mirror.

Carla heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the old man's words but her face still showed a worried expression.

The old man inspected Rick and Gelnar's body as his eyebrows creased.

"I'm sure they're still alive. I can feel it. But for some reason, they're not breathing... It's as if there's something missing" the old man said as his frown deepened.

"Time... It's time. Time is missing" Carla suddenly muttered.

The corners of the old man's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to look at Carla.

"You're right. Their time is missing." the old man said as he nodded but he continued eyeing Carla's figure.

"Excuse me, young lady. But how did you know that?" the old man asked with a curious expression.

"I-I don't know. For some reason, it just came out in my head." Carla replied with a confused expression on her face.

The old man's eyelids narrowed for a while but he just shrugged it off and turned to look at Lisa.

"We have to find the time that belongs to them." the old man said with a solemn tone.