The explorer was still dressed like a wanderer. He was covered in feathers and wore an eye patch embroidered with rose petals on his right eye. No one would be able to recognize that he was Thunder from his appearance. Roland could not figure out why, but his image was a stark contrast from the way he was at the banquet.

"When you're disguising to be another person, you need to devote your heart and soul to become that character, so that you can deceive even yourself. Only then would you be able to fool other people. This was the first thing that I learned when I was learning how to disguise myself." Thunder inhaled his cigarette, and the weak red light looked like a looming firefly in the dark walkway. "Your Majesty, I'm afraid I can't concentrate on disguising myself as Sander Flyingbird right now... She will certainly see through it."

So that sense of strangeness was due to this. Roland realized that because there were certain dangers in a witch's adulthood, Thunder could no longer pretend to be an outsider and be pay no attention to his daughter.

If he showed too much concern, then it would become obvious that he was not the real Sander Flyingbird.

"Don't tell me that you want to keep hiding your ident.i.ty?" Roland raised an eyebrow. "You should've heard what Lightning said just now. She's destined to become an explorer."

This question made Thunder silent for a long time.

Just as Roland thought that he would not reply, Thunder suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, do you believe in fate?"

At that moment, Roland had some doubts about the ident.i.ty of Thunder the Explorer.

Isn't this a cla.s.sic starting line when preaching? 

Of course, similar questions were also common in the love letters of high school students.

However, Thunder was certainly not seeking for an answer. "I've been told that geniuses will always die doing what they are best at, and G.o.d would make up for it by giving such people an unmatchable talent—This is fate. A road that's destined to be good will cause the one who walks on it to succ.u.mb to temptation because of one's extraordinary talent and eventually fall from grace. On the contrary, those ordinary people without much talent will tend to live longer."

"Who said that?" Roland could not help but ask.

"Sander, a person who introduced me to the path of an explorer." Thunder then breathed out a puff of smoke.

"Wait, there is such an explorer in the Fjords? Aren't you afraid that Lightning might've heard of his name?"

"He's been dead for a long time, and his ident.i.ty remained obscure until and even after his death... By the standards of the Fjords, he couldn't even be considered a true explorer." With the smoke swirling around, Thunder almost merged with the shadows on the walls. "Before he died, he still hadn't found a brand new island or an unmarked route on the map. Sander didn't care about reputation. He said that adventure itself was fun and that the lack of talent didn't matter. At least he wouldn't have to worry about having a short life."

Roland seemed to suddenly realize something. "How did he die?"

"He died trying to save me," Thunder said slowly. "The s.h.i.+p encountered an attack from the Sea Ghosts. When Sander dragged me back to the cabin, he got clawed by the Sea Ghost. Although the wound wasn't big, the herbs were useless in treating it. His flesh quickly rotted and stopped breathing three days later. At that time he said to me that he died anyway doing what he was best at—He had no other outstanding qualities in life, other than his kindness."

"..." Roland suddenly did not know what to say.

"After Lightning was born, she had shown outstanding talents as an explorer. Whether it was identifying routes or drawing charts, she learned much faster than the average person." When Thunder said these words, his face revealed his complicated emotions. "When I learned that she'd awakened and become a witch, I became extremely worried. You should understand what this ability means to an explorer."

Indeed, if courage, curiosity, and knowledge were the intrinsic natures of human beings, that meant anyone could acquire them, given time. But having magic power could be said to be a gift from the deities.

"That's why I made this decision," said Thunder said as he raised his head, and the light in his eyes seemed to reflect the red light in the pipe. "If fate is hard to avoid, I might be able to cut it off in another way—if I can uncover the veils of those mysterious places before LIghtning sets out to be an explorer, the chances of her encountering danger would be greatly reduced. Leaving aside the land occupied by the demons, no one has yet set foot in the east of the Sealine, and the bold cliff seen from the Shadow Seacity ruins. Once you defeat the demons, I should be able to draw a map of these two places. Before that, however, it would be the best if I traveled alone."

If there was no more need for expeditions, there would naturally be no risk. This logic made Roland dumbfounded for a moment.

Although the world might be much larger than even what Thunder had imagined, it was still amazing for him to have such thoughts. This took more than just courage.

Gravity firmly anch.o.r.ed everyone onto the ground, but it certainly could not limit the wild dreams of some people

Thunder was obviously amongst the most capable of those who dared to dream.

—Flying was not just a witch's privilege.

"In that case, I shall leave her in your hands, Your Majesty," Thunder said, grabbing his chest.

At this instant, a loud noise came from inside the room.

Roland nodded at Thunder before returning to the bedroom.

One side of the wall had already been pushed open, but he did not hear the Sigil of G.o.d's Will being triggered.

"Your Majesty," said Wendy excitedly. "Lightning her... her magic has consolidated!"

Here was another witch who was evolved on the Day of Adulthood. He saw a clear excitement in the eyes of Agatha and Wendy, as this meant that their research was indeed feasible.

"Really?" Roland walked over to the bedside and looked at the eager-looking girl. "Was there any discomfort?"

"Not at all," Lightning patted her chest and said, "I feel like I'm full of power! It's a pity that I couldn't release the Sigil. Lighting the fourth stone was already the limit."

"That's good to hear," Roland let out a deep breath and said, "then you should take a rest today, and tomorrow you can—"

"Your Majesty, I'd like to try it now. May I?!" Lightning jumped out of bed. "I feel like my something is calling me and I can't help but want to fly immediately!"

"Is she talking about the magic power within her?" Roland couldn't help but laugh. She was certainly the most energetic member of the Witch Union. Since she had already said that, he had no reason to refuse. "Take Maggie with you, and don't fly too far away."

"Yes!"

"Coo!"

One side of the wall was still half-open, and after Maggie became a pigeon, she landed on Lightning's head—Lightning then held the pigeon with both of her hands and swiftly flew out of the room and disappeared into the cold and windy night sky.

"I don't know what her ability will be like after her consolidation..." Wendy murmured as she stared into the night sky. "We'll be busy tomorrow."

"Please also let me observe with the Five-Colored Stone during the test," Phyllis said.

"Anyways, let's stop here for today, and the rest can wait until tomorrow—"

Just as Roland was in the middle of his sentence, a thunderous explosion sounded through the sky!

The force of the sound was so strong that it was if all those present could actually feel it! The snow on the roof was shaken and became white fog. Ice was falling like raindrops. The gla.s.s windows of the castle cracked as if they had been smashed by an invisible giant hand.

While the witches were looking at each other dumbfounded, the echoes caused by the thunder roared back and forth continuously in the Impa.s.sable Mountain Range and did not disappear after a long time.