Before Silas could curse this old fossil, another huge space channel appeared beside them.
Everyone looked at the space channel in confusion.
The snake on Silas's hand said in his head, "My lord, I can sense that old tree outside... but he couldn't open a space channel here without my permission. How could he do that?"
The wolf also said, "I heard his calling just now, master. Maybe those old ones want you to go there..."
Silas thought so too, and so did the others. Everyone stood up and entered the space channel with Silas.
But when they appeared outside, all of them became dumbfounded. This was not the Blackwood castle at all. It was in front of a huge door, beautiful as jade, carved with golden designs. Mythical beasts and many other unknown entities were carved on the door, but what attracted Silas was a dark being on the door.
He said suddenly, "Gashadokuro? Is it a Gashadokuro? What is it doing here? Is this the Blackwood family's castle door?"
But Archduke Varric shook his head, and his eyes went toward a giant black tree... that was facing away from them, looking at the huge door.
"No, it is..."
Lucian said while gritting his teeth, "Don't say its name!"
Selene and Nytheria also looked at the door in fear.
Silas came toward his parents, who were standing alongside the others.
Silas asked his father, "Father! Where are we?"
His father looked at him and said, "Ask them!" He pointed towards the guardian spirits.
The wolf and the snake also felt fear in their hearts. Silas didn't notice that their faces were grim right now.
Silas asked, "What is happening here? Can someone tell me!"
At this moment the giant tree moved. It turned around and looked at Silas.
Then, in front of everyone, it bowed. This tree actually had a face. It looked at Silas and said after bowing down,
"Welcome, Lord Silas. Argent Spirit Sovereign!"
Silas looked at the black tree and asked, "You were the one who opened this space channel... but where is it? Take me to Blackwood Castle. I want to take my test there."
The tree smiled at him, then pointed a branch at him. A black light came out of the branch and entered his body. Silas's hand burned, and the empty circle filled with a black tree.
Now Silas's symbol was complete — the triangle with three circles at each point, filled with a silver wolf, a black serpent, and a blackwood tree.
Silas was dumbfounded, and so was everyone else.
As if Silas could hear their questions, he asked, "Why? I don't have Blackwood blood in my body..."
The tree chuckled. "Master! It would be wrong to say that you don't have Blackwood blood in your body... the three ancient families have married each other since ancient times... and your blood already carries our traits too... so you are a pure Blackwood as well."
He continued, "As for the test! You've already passed the test. The First Ancestor of Blackwood has already sent something for you..."
Then Silas saw the tree take out a golden orb, like the last two he got from Ancestor Valerius and Sylveria.
The orb entered Silas's body without his knowledge, and even without using his Analyse skill, he got a notification from the system.
[ Ding! ]
[ Congratulations, host, for mastering the Blackwood assassination technique. ]
[ Congratulations, host, for gaining Dark elemental and Earth elemental divine affinity. ]
Silas was dumbfounded. Varric was also dumbfounded. He immediately came toward Silas when he felt the elements beside him and asked, "Did you just gain the affinity of Dark and Earth?"
Silas nodded and said, "Yes, and not just that. I also gained the Blackwood family's secret assassination technique."
Varric's eyes got bigger and bigger. "No... no way! Why would the ancestor give you those things without even meeting you..."
Cedric looked at his father in pity, while Isolde chuckled, looking at both of their faces.
The others had already started accepting that Silas was somewhat special, that even their ancestors respected him and gave him their own special techniques.
Before anyone could say anything more, the tree continued, "Actually! Someone wants to meet him."
Those words made everyone shudder. They looked at the Blackwood tree, and the tree nodded in response. Everyone understood instantly...
Lucian said, "How could it be? He is not at level 71 yet..."
Cassian also said, "Yes! Silas is only a child. How could he take the oath this fast..."
Nytheria, Selene, and Lysandra also came toward Silas. They also didn't want him to take the oath yet.
Silas understood now. They had a rule in the family: whenever a person reached level 71, they would need to take an oath before the entity that had protected their family since ancient times... even the ancestors of the three families respected that entity.
Silas looked at the door and got interested. Why did he feel so familiar with an entity on the door... was he somehow connected to what was inside...
The tree sighed then said again, "Actually, he doesn't need to take an oath at all! He is already chosen by it."
Now everyone was surprised, then looked at Silas in horror.
Cassian took a step back, his face pale as paper. Lysandra, on his side, almost fell over when Cassian caught her.
Lucian, the old sword saint, said, "No... no way! It never chose anyone before... it only needed us to take an oath!"
Nytheria continued, her hands shaking as she looked at Silas. "Silas! You should know this, but even the old ancestors were never chosen by it... their whole lives they tried and tried, but it was all for nothing."
Varric stayed tall, but his own heart was beating so loudly he couldn't suppress it at all. He said to his family spirit, "So this is the reason you brought us here?"
The tree nodded and looked at everyone. "A divine command was given to the ancestor just a few moments ago. That's why the ancestor told me to come here and wait for Lord Silas."
Silas asked, "So this is the secret place! That's why you were all so afraid..."
Lucian sighed and said, "We can tell you the name of this place — this place is called 'The Door to the Universe.'"
Selene continued, "But we took an oath, to not reveal a single sentence about it and its powers... so we can't tell you its name, Silas."
Silas nodded. Now he understood why his family and the other two families were acting like that.
The tree came toward Silas and turned into a small plant, like a sapling...
And jumped onto Silas's shoulder. The tree could talk normally, unlike the wolf and the serpent.
The tree said, "Master! Let's go inside..."
Silas nodded and looked toward the door. Everyone watched his back as he passed them and came to stand just before the door.
Silas touched the door, and all the beings carved on the door came to life and started moving across it... until a sound broke the silence.
Creak!
With a single creak the huge door opened slowly. A gentle ray of light fell upon everyone, and each and every person covered their eyes in pain. The next second the door closed again.
Silas had already disappeared from his spot, along with the three spirits of the ancient families.
***
Inside the Door,
Silas couldn't open his eyes because of the bright light inside. The three spirits were the same.
Suddenly the light dimmed a little and everyone opened their eyes. Silas saw an endless space covered with stars, nebulas, galaxies, and even universes — not just one, but countless universes. He saw them forming a multiverse, then he saw countless multiverses... layer upon layer forming an omniverse.He saw a scenery that he had never seen before....he saw chaos above it...covering over everything.
'Is it real?' This thought made his whole body shudder. 'How could this be possible?'
The blinding light returned, and with it the sky tore open...
This time Silas stood beneath a vast heaven covered in multicolor clouds, slow phenomena turning like wheels above him. He looked up in awe when the wolf, the tree, and the snake beside him whimpered in fear.
He felt their fear as his own and turned towards the place where they were watching. Far off in the void a point shone with golden-white light. He tried to walk toward it and realized he could fly here. He rose toward a lone high platform, golden light was forming around the platform.
He ascended the platform. As he neared the top he suddenly froze.
A figure stood before him. Its shape was clear, tall and still, but the person's face and skin were veiled in that same golden-white light. Silas could not make out any feature.
But looking beside the person, sials felt fear . Genuine fear from the first time he transmigrated here in this world...
Beside the figure lay the book. The same book his family on Earth had left him. The book he had clutched as he died.
The same book that had transmigrated him here. The same book that had given him his System.
Silas muttered a single word.
"ARCANUM UNIVERA!"
The book resonated with his soul, and from deep inside another identical book surfaced in his mind. His consciousness slipped inward. Now he could see both books at once, one on the platform, one enthroned in his chest.
"How is it possible! Even my soul contained a similar book as this one..."
The figure chuckled. Silas looked at him again. If he had not laughed, he might have forgotten it was there at all.
"Who are you? Are you the one the ancestors were talking about?" Silas asked, voice low.
"Yes, Silas. I'm the one they were talking about. I was waiting for you here all this time."
"So my family, and the people outside..."
The figure shook his head. "No. They don't even know I was waiting for you here. They can't see me. They only met the book."
Silas glanced at the book again, then at the figure.
"Actually this book is just a projection of the real one... you should know where the real one is, right?" the figure said, and chuckled again.
Silas pressed his hand to his chest without thinking. The figure nodded.
"Yes. You're right. The book chose you before you even came to this world."
The platform pulsed once. The book in Silas's soul opened itself and turned a page on its own, and the projection on the stone mirrored it exactly like the book inside the soul.
"You are looking at two mirrors," the figure said. "The one outside is just a projection. The one inside your soul is the real one. Your ancestors found the outer mirror and built rites around it. They don't even know about the existence of the real one, until they met me ..."