"You know that this isn't a real answer, nowhere near one, even, so tell me the truth: what do you mean by all of this? What I want are answers, not more riddles and questions."
And because of that, Arthur was now feeling extremely frustrated by Chloe's constant riddles and evasiveness in response to his questions. Instead of providing direct answers, she resorted to cryptic language, posing new questions rather than offering solutions. As a result, the questions multiplied in his mind, leaving him without a clear answer or resolution.
Naturally, in response to Arthur's accusations, Chloe didn't hesitate for even a moment. On the contrary, she had simply laughed quietly before responding to him in a light tone, without any hesitation or change in her voice or tone whatsoever. "Fufufu, now, isn't this interesting, Mr. Detective? I told you before that I would answer your questions, and I have indeed done so. But this doesn't mean I'll give you the answers directly on a silver platter, because ultimately, my dear great detective, you still have to discover the matter yourself, otherwise, where would be the fun in it if you didn't?"
As soon as Chloe finished her words, her smile was still painted on her face, a mysterious smile carrying a mixture of amusement and challenge, as if she enjoyed watching Arthur sink deeper and deeper into a web of riddles she had woven with mastery.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere around them had grown heavier, and the gray void of the "Eternal Domain" rippled as if reflecting the turmoil of Arthur's tangled thoughts. He looked at her in silence, his eyes glowing with mysterious colors, revealing an intense internal struggle between the desire for knowledge and fear of what he might find in the end.
However, deep down, he fully realized that his path with her wouldn't be easy at all, and that each answer from her would perhaps only lead him to a new question, placing him in an endless loop!
Therefore, Arthur remained silent on the surface, while his mind was boiling with thoughts. He quickly realized there was no point in arguing with her; she was skilled at evasion, and every attempt to pressure her would only bring him more disguised riddles in the form of answers. "It's useless... her words are woven like a complex web, and every attempt to grasp their meaning only makes things more obscure and tangled."
However, he knew deep down that he truly couldn't force her to say anything she didn't want to say; Chloe was clearly not someone Arthur could deal with using conventional methods. "She's different... This is truly the first time I've met someone I can't easily push into a corner like I do with others. And even if I tried, I would only reap more mockery and evasion."
Besides that, there was the fact that his inner sense was telling him that this mysterious girl was his chance to discover more secrets of the mystical world he found himself trapped in, especially since he knew well that William and the others in the manor wouldn't tell him anything about the mystical world, continuing to treat him like a mere ignorant child who understood nothing.
"The truth is, yes... they see me as just a child, and they withhold the truth as if it were poison, because in my current state, I'm merely a child. But... this girl is different. Chloe might be the key for me to learn more about the mystical world, even if this key is placed inside a box of secrets."
His mind returned to recall all those long moments he had spent absorbed in reading his father's papers and old notes, trying to decode the hints they contained about the "mystical world," hints that were only enough to ignite his curiosity more, without providing him the complete picture. "I've read the lines my father left behind hundreds of times... references, incomplete sentences. All of them were just fragments insufficient to paint the complete picture. But now... the opportunity to know more was standing before me."
For Arthur now, Chloe wasn't just a mysterious girl who had appeared out of nowhere and was standing before him for some reason, but rather seemed like a living book full of secrets, a book that might be the key for him to unveil the mystery surrounding the mysterious and supernatural aspect of this world.
A rare opportunity that might not come again. Therefore, while his heart grew heavier with questions, he had restrained his impulse while thinking, "I can't waste such an opportunity... Even if she won't give me the complete truth, I will extract from her what I can, even if it's just a shadow of the truth. This would still be much better than continuing to move forward 'blindfolded' as is my case now."
"Hah, well then... let's set that aside, and let's begin with the next question, if you don't mind," Arthur said while exhaling a soft sigh, trying to hide his inner annoyance behind a calm tone.
Seeing this, Chloe smiled a small smile, her emerald eyes sparkling with hidden mirth as she replied, "Oh, interesting... I didn't expect you to give up so easily. How boring! But well, no matter... tell me, detective, what is your next question?" Her words came with the same cheerful tune that hadn't changed at all, not even for a moment, since the beginning of their encounter.
"What can you tell me about the mystical world... about the Aether, and about what the six paths of destiny are?" Finally, Arthur's most important question came, the question that had been haunting him since his return to the present time, since he had discovered the truth of his family's involvement in the mystical side of this world, and since he had heard about the Aether and paths of destiny for the first time in the "Eternal Dream World," the question he wanted to get a clear answer to, without any beating around the bush.
"The mystical world... the Aether and the six paths of destiny, huh?"
Hearing Arthur's question, Chloe smiled a small smile while shaking her head lightly, before continuing in a cheerful tone mixed with subtle seriousness. "I must say, well done, Mr. Detective, it seems you truly deserve your great titles indeed; the Great Detective and King of Mysteries. To be able to reach even a little bit of knowledge about the Aether and the six paths of destiny is truly not an ordinary or easy matter, especially with all the deliberate obscuring by the Supreme Council and various organizations in the mystical world regarding the existence of the Aether and everything mystical. As for what they are... they can essentially and simply be said to have been the essence, and the pillars upon which the very foundation of this entire world rests."
"Of course, I'm aware that such a simple answer won't be satisfying at all for someone like you," Chloe said while caressing her platinum-gold hair strands, twirling them between her fingers gracefully. But her tone this time carried a different weight, a seriousness Arthur hadn't seen in her at all since the beginning of their encounter. "So... let me delve into more details."
"Now, my dear detective, let's begin with your question about what I can tell you about the mystical world. In truth, I can tell you a lot, but I'll content myself with telling you the following: this world is much deeper and more complex than you might imagine. Its waters are murky and extremely deep, full of deception, corruption, betrayal, and endless puzzles and mysteries. It's a world with no place for the weak-hearted, and what you'll witness if you try to dive deeper than that will distort your perception of the world, and even of the history you thought you knew."
Saying this, Chloe paused for a moment, as if she were weighing her words carefully, then continued, "The world, my dear detective, is much bigger and more complex than you imagine. The seven continents and five oceans, which humans saw as everything and called 'the world,' are in truth nothing more than a small grain of sand in the middle of a vast desert.
Our world is actually much wider, more complex, and larger than the ordinary human mind could ever begin to comprehend. It is composed of countless layers and textures, intertwined and interwoven as if they form an endless tapestry. These textures are the foundation that embraces what we humans call reality. As for the Aether... it is the thread that binds this entire fabric together, the force that stabilizes the layers and sustains the entire world. Simply put, the Aether is the essence, the energy that preserves the existence of everything."
Hearing this, Arthur remained silent for a moment, while his mind processed the deep and shocking meaning of Chloe's stunning words, before muttering in a low voice: "This... this is amazing... to believe that the world is this vast and that there are such secrets." He was trying to comprehend the magnitude of what he had heard. Chloe's words had actually opened before him an entirely new world of possibilities and secrets, a world he hadn't imagined existed, where he finally realized that everything he thought he knew about the world was nothing but a superficial shell, fragile before the greatness and complexity of true reality.
Thanks to this, his heart had begun beating rapidly, with a mixture of excitement and awe at the same time. Chloe, with her calm, ever-present smile, had immediately noticed such a clear change in Arthur's emotions, where it seemed as if she had expected his reaction before it even appeared on his features. Perhaps this was indeed the case, as her title as the 'Little Witch of time' wasn't just a passing name and title for jest, after all.
Thus, after Chloe paused briefly to give Arthur a chance to catch his breath and absorb everything he had heard so far, she continued in a deeper voice, "And then, there were the six paths of destiny or, as they are truly known among ascenders and practitioners of the mystical arts, the 'Six Aetherial Edicts of Destiny.' In the simplest of terms, they are the pillars that uphold and sustain all of creation, the supports that preserve and bind the countless textures and layers of our world's reality. Beyond that, they also serve as the path leading to the source… to the archives of original truth, the Akashic Records."
"These six edicts are: the Edict of Life, the Edict of Death, the Edict of Space, the Edict of Time, the Edict of Balance, and finally the Edict of Wisdom. Six aspects representing the supreme concepts and laws that govern our reality, from which the mystical arts were born, and even some of the most complex and profound forms of 'sciences' that the mind can imagine.
However, remember this well: don't confuse the six edicts and the mystical arts that emerged from them, which are essentially a form of research, knowledge, and science, with what is promoted as 'magic.' Magic is neither science nor art, but rather a great sin, a forbidden power sold to people in a shiny guise as miracles and supernatural abilities, while in reality it brings nothing but corruption and destruction."