This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 557 - 496: A Will

Chapter 557: Chapter 496: A Will

About fate, Amberser’s feelings had always been complex.

When Amberser had just become a Diviner Mage, he would have liked nothing more than to kneel in front of the Goddess of Fate and kiss her toes. Knowing the future was exhilarating, and modifying probabilities was incredibly powerful; it was like having the powers of a deity.

But every time Amberser was about to get carried away with pride, the Goddess of Fate would strike him with a metaphorical headbutt, leaving him dazed and confused.

Amberser still remembered the first time he failed to interpret a prophecy, resulting in the beheading of the noble lady he was protecting. As she died, she looked at Amberser with those innocent eyes, seemingly asking why things didn’t turn out as promised.

To be trusted and to ultimately let someone down.

That feeling had left Amberser in a state of depression for a long time, which changed his attitude towards fate.

In the time that followed, Amberser swayed back and forth, and each use of the Power of Destiny was like daubing various colors of paint onto a canvas. From white space to riotous color, until eventually, there were so many layers of paint that only a filthy darkness remained.

It was an inevitable consequence. When you fully invest in intelligence, developing towards becoming a Legendary Mage, your memory and comprehension keep improving. Amberser’s decision to transform into a Lich was so resolute partly because of financial necessity, but also related to these heavy memories.

It wasn’t until he discarded most of his emotions and everything about fate that he began to feel a sense of relief.

So even though Amberser knew many deities, because he never thought of asking them to restore his human body, and all human sensations could be simulated within the Connected Dream Realm, he never indulged in them.

The reason is simple: being human is too painful. Having finally escaped, why would he jump back in?

When you have cravings for food, sex, greed, the desire to impress, and other various desires, you need more than material pleasures; you yearn for the recognition of others, emotional resonance, various emotional values, and self-satisfaction. Then your troubles are all the things you yearn for but cannot obtain.

When you only like money, your only worry is poverty.

It sounds like avoidance, and indeed it is. Avoidance is shameful, but it is also effective.

Reincarnating as a Lich was the most carefree time in Amberser’s life; as long as he could earn money, he didn’t need to worry about anything else.

Yet fate still followed him like a shadow, as if it couldn’t stand to see him at ease.

The one called the Diviner Mage by Aldalian was quickly brought before Amberser—a young girl, very plain in appearance, the kind you couldn’t pick out in a crowd.

But the moment Amberser saw the girl, he suddenly remembered something. Before she could introduce herself, he asked, "Do you recognize the name Selwyn?"

The girl was taken aback for a moment and solemnly replied, "The unrevealed fate lies in the shadows, and I evade the death that fate dictates within the shadows. Hello, Master Ultraman, Selwyn was my teacher, and now I have inherited the name."

Amberser recalled a disheveled old man, looking like a beggar, whom he had encountered years ago in the wilderness.

He remembered that their wager at the time had been quite interesting—it involved flipping a coin.

Amberser bet the coin would stand on its edge, while the old man bet it wouldn’t.

In the end, after the coin was tossed into the air, it was snatched away by a crow.

The most interesting part of the wager was that Amberser had already thrown his Dice of Destiny, and he saw the future where the coin stood on edge. The old man, called Selwyn, was unable to change the future that Amberser had locked in, so he obscured it instead.

No one could see the coin standing on its edge, so no one could confirm whether fate had taken its course.

At the time, Amberser thought the old man was simply cheating, but later he understood that the man was more skilled than him.

Once fate is revealed, it cannot be changed. The old man’s method was to prevent this piece of fate from being unveiled, delaying the arrival of destiny indefinitely.

For a Diviner Mage who consorted with the Goddess of Fate, this tactic was almost like defiling the deities.

Perhaps there are countless ways to interpret destiny, and each Diviner Mage chooses a different path. The Goddess of Fate seems more forgiving than imagined.

The inconspicuous little girl standing before him was exactly like the old man from those years ago, clearly standing there yet as if she existed in a void. If Harvey were here, he would notice that the threads of destiny entangling this girl were much fewer than those around ordinary people, as if she were less connected to the world.

Amberser remarked, "Since you’ve said you’ve inherited the name Selwyn, it seems my old friend must no longer be with us."

The girl replied calmly, "Master Ultraman, according to my teacher, you only met once before, and you took all the money he had on him."

Amberser said, unabashed, "Your teacher lost and wouldn’t admit it, playing dirty naturally comes with a price."

Back then, when the crow flew away with the coin, Amberser beat up the old man and took his wallet. Since fate had granted Amberser his fists, he couldn’t just not use them!

The girl seemed to already know what kind of person Amberser was, showing no respect for this older predecessor, simply handing a scroll to Amberser with calmness.

"My teacher asked me to deliver this to you, my task is now complete."

Amberser took the scroll in his hand but didn’t open it; instead, he asked the girl, "How long have you been looking for me?"

"Thirty-seven years."

"Your teacher asked you to deliver this thirty-seven years ago? Then you are awfully slow."

Amberser even started to doubt whether the girl had ever used a teleportation circle, otherwise how could it take thirty-seven years to deliver a single scroll.

"Most of the time was wasted in confirming your identity. Master Ultraman, do you even know how many false names you have used?"

"As a diviner mage, if you can’t even find the correct direction, it seems you haven’t learned at all from Selwyn’s skills."

The girl who had inherited the name Selwyn didn’t get angry but instead told Amberser, "This is actually the second reason I came to find you. Master Ultraman, I want to become your student."

Amberser said with confusion, "The path I follow is completely different from your teacher’s."

The girl said with resignation, "Nor am I suited to the name Selwyn, even less to the path my teacher chose. However, my teacher only found me, a student capable of entering the door, before he passed away."

Amberser understood this sentiment very well; even after living for several hundred years, he only picked up Harvey as a student, and the kid wasn’t even that useful. Mr. Misfortune, Amberser’s senior brother, had it even worse—never encountering a successor in his lifetime, he ended up having to compete with Amberser for Harvey.

Being a diviner mage really demands talent; hard work, on the other hand, doesn’t mean that much.

Amberser neither agreed nor refused, simply weighing the scroll in his hand, saying, "I’m afraid I won’t have the chance to be your teacher, that scroll probably records my unfortunate future."

Good tidings don’t arrive like this; blessings from fate typically land directly in front of you, only hiding the price tag within. Something that took thirty-seven years to be delivered was, without a doubt, the cost Amberser had accumulated through his smooth-sailing past.

Presumably, it was time for his misfortune to begin.

The girl who had inherited Selwyn’s name shook her head and said, "I don’t know what’s inside, my teacher said only you are qualified to look at it. But that’s how we diviner mages are—you feel it’s not good, and it’s probably not good."

Amberser patted the girl on the shoulder, then said, "Not bad, it seems you have already come to a realization."

Having said that, Amberser no longer hesitated and unfolded the scroll in his hand.

Fate is irresistible, and if this girl had reached that awareness, Amberser should at least match the wisdom of a child.

He expected to see a prophecy left by Selwyn or perhaps a specific vision, maybe even his own death recorded therein.

Amberser thought he was prepared, but what he saw in the end was a letter.

It was a will, written by Selwyn to him, thirty-seven years ago.