His Wish

Miracles were called miracles precisely because, in most cases, they never happened. Reality proved no different. Long after Anbaixiu's figure completely vanished, the God of Alchemy still had not received the slightest response from the magic mirror. The clown mask showed not the slightest hint of impatience, still waiting calmly for Anbaixiu's answer. Oghma cared nothing for time, and the task given to the mask had no time limit. However, a final judgment could only be rendered once a genuine response was obtained from Anbaixiu. Growing somewhat impatient from the wait, the God of Alchemy could not help but say, "I am his teacher. Can't I answer for him?" The clown mask responded, "You cannot. You do not understand your student as well as you think you do. Any answer you provide cannot represent him." "I don't understand him?" The God of Alchemy longed to refute it, but he immediately remembered that the clown mask represented Oghma, the omniscient deity. If Oghma said he did not understand Anbaixiu well enough, he truly might not be able to answer this question on Anbaixiu's behalf. Wait, that didn't mean there was no way. "You mean that as long as I can find his true wish, I can answer this question for him." The clown mask let out a chuckle and replied, "Most people in this world do not even understand themselves, let alone others. The same holds true even for deities." Faced with what was practically a rejection, the God of Alchemy gritted his teeth. "Then I'll take that as a yes." The God of Alchemy began to ponder. He needed to find someone capable of answering this question for Anbaixiu. Yet gaining the clown mask's approval would not be easy. The clown mask could neither be deceived nor perfunctorily appeased; it was a manifestation of Oghma's divine authority, and no one could fool the Lord of Knowledge. Who, then, could answer this question in his student's stead? Searching through mortals one by one was out of the question for the God of Alchemy; he had to choose a far more efficient method. The God of Alchemy walked over to the magic mirror and pressed his hand against it. The magic mirror in the divine realm was the true central core. Regardless of the plane or whose hands crafted them, all magic mirrors were influenced by this master mirror. And at this moment, everyone in possession of a magic mirror received an unfamiliar message: "Based on your understanding of the Savior Lich, if a deity granted him a single wish, what would he choose?" Every person who possessed a magic mirror nowadays was more or less connected to Anbaixiu, and none failed to know who the Savior Lich referred to. However, nobody knew who had sent the question. Before long, the God of Alchemy received a flurry of replies, most of which were "Who are you?" and "Why are you asking such a question?" A small portion of the replies were filled with pleasant surprise, asking whether Anbaixiu had been resurrected and was playing a prank on them. The God of Alchemy realized he had been too hasty. He should have set the stage first; abruptly posing the question like this had made many people suspicious. There was no turning back now, so the God of Alchemy could only send a follow-up message, directly revealing his identity and announcing that this was a trial bestowed by the God of Alchemy upon all users. Anyone whose answer satisfied him would receive a divine reward. The God of Alchemy lacked Anbaixiu's talent for casually spinning seamless lies; asking so hastily was glaringly flawed in logic no matter how one looked at it. However, no one questioned it. Once the God of Alchemy's identity was confirmed, everyone turned deferential and reverent. This made the God of Alchemy breathe a sigh of relief. He had almost forgotten that there were very few mortals in this world capable of casually profaning a deity. The vast majority of mortals, upon receiving a divine oracle, lacked the courage to doubt or refute it, thinking only of how to fulfill the trial granted by God. Before long, the people holding magic mirrors sent in their answers one after another. "If it is that gentleman's wish, it is undoubtedly money! He would surely wish for boundless wealth!" This reply came from Gustavo Fring, President of the Alchemy Association. The God of Alchemy immediately displayed the answer before the clown mask. Since there was no limit on the number of guesses anyway, he decided to win through brute quantity. Unfortunately, the clown mask shook its head upon seeing this response. "He is no longer a lich. Now that he is freed from the shackles of his obsession, he would not wish purely for money." The God of Alchemy cursed them as useless trash. When stirring up trouble, those alchemists were capable of anything, but all they could do was stir up trouble—when actually needed, they were all utterly useless. The God of Alchemy resolved to make the Alchemy Association suffer a bit, though that would have to wait until this matter was settled. Filtering through them, the God of Alchemy eliminated all similar responses. Soon, a second reply surfaced on the magic mirror. "Perhaps he would wish for world peace. After all, he was a lich recognized by His Majesty Arthur, possessing a soul as pure and noble as the Holy Light itself!" This reply came from Alan Watson, the current provisional consul of Ryan. Although it was high praise for Anbaixiu, the God of Alchemy felt Alan had been thoroughly duped by him. How could his student possess such lofty and noble ideals? Asking for money was more credible than this. Still, since the first answer had already been rejected, the God of Alchemy had no choice but to try this one. Sure enough, the clown mask shook its head again after reading this reply. "Though your student's moral compass is unique, he is not such a great figure. Every time he saved the world, it was either out of forced necessity or merely in passing; it never stemmed from his true desires." Though he had already guessed as much, the God of Alchemy was still slightly disappointed. With this second answer proven wrong, several similar replies had to be discarded as well. Left with no alternative, the God of Alchemy continued searching for new answers among everyone's replies. The members of the Elegy Poetry Society each held a magic mirror, and having received the question, each offered a different response: "I don't know what he would wish for, but if it were me, I'd wish for him to regain his emotions. It's about time things reached a conclusion between him and Rose. Dragging it out does no good." — Headless Horseman Gareth. "On the surface, he loves money, but in truth, what he loves is fame and fortune. He's never been stingy with money. So if he were granted a wish, he'd probably wish for endless wealth and the adoration of all people." — Dwarven Vampire Herki Stone. "He helped me find the path to freedom, but I know he has actually always felt lost. If he made a wish, he might wish to find his true path to godhood." — Ghost Ship Aige. "His wish? I don't know what he would wish for either, but no matter what he desires, I will do everything in my power to help him achieve it." — Rose of Decay. "Father's wish? He must want to escape from Hell, right? But don't worry, I'll rescue him soon!" — Melina. ... One reply after another was presented before the clown mask, yet none earned the envoy's approval. The God of Alchemy was at his wit's end. Enemies, friends, family... these people ought to have known Anbaixiu best. If even they couldn't guess it, who else could answer this question? With nothing left to lose, the God of Alchemy simply let all the replies scroll across the mirror, throwing his hopes to fate that one of them might win the clown mask's approval. The messages rolled past until the clown mask suddenly spoke: "Wait. This one is very interesting." The God of Alchemy looked at the reply paused on the magic mirror. Its content was indeed very intriguing: "If he were to make a wish, perhaps... it would simply be to live on forever?" — Divination Wizard William Harvey. Just longevity? What kind of wish was that? There were far too many ways to achieve longevity in this world. Did one really need a wish to accomplish it? The God of Alchemy found this implausible, but seeing that the clown mask had reacted, he quickly sent another message to Harvey: "Why do you think so?" Harvey replied swiftly, and in great detail: "I have been studying the notes Teacher left behind recently, and I discovered that Teacher had a bad habit: he always liked to jot down many bizarre reflections in his research notebooks. Especially before he transformed into a lich, he often wrote numerous thoughts regarding death. "'When you cannot see the future, you are actually seeing the future.' "'A path clearly leading toward death is instead called life.' "'Some do not fear death because their loved ones are on the other side, but I have none, so I dread death.' "'The last person to die in your life is always yourself.' "... "According to Teacher's notes, these reflections came from 'some brain-dead Anonymous.' But I suspect that was a lie—what brain-dead person could possess such wisdom?" The clown mask was evidently captivated by these philosophically rich musings, letting out exclamation after exclamation of admiration. Yet he was clearly not fully satisfied with just this answer, so he said to the God of Alchemy, "Ask this divination wizard: how does he view this lich?" Seeing a ray of hope, the God of Alchemy hurriedly forwarded the question. This time, Harvey took a long time to reply. "My teacher is a very complex person. I used to think he was merely exceptionally greedy for money, but as I finished reading through the writings he left behind, I noticed many strange things. Teacher's life from birth through his youth must have been quite pleasant; between the lines of his notes, I could always see him reminiscing about the past, though I have never heard of things called 'amusement parks' or 'universities.' "In my eyes, my teacher is someone extraordinarily gifted, yet remarkably lazy. He could master any field of knowledge, but whenever he hit a bottleneck, he would choose to switch to another subject rather than endure loneliness to delve deeper. Thus, he seemed to know everything, yet never became the absolute best in any single field. Nor did he seem interested in pursuing perfection, content with having merely enough to get by. "Teacher is a pragmatist. He has a profound grasp of human nature, always able to easily see through others' lies and effortlessly deduce what they are thinking. Few might believe it if I say so, but my teacher believes in the goodness of human nature more than anyone, yet he also thoroughly enjoys exploiting that goodness. Often, the more innocent and righteous someone is, the more easily they are manipulated and used by Teacher. "I cannot describe my teacher with simple words. But as for his wish, I can only say this: he fears death so deeply because he is still filled with hope for the future. He has always believed that all problems can be left to time, and he wants to live on until the day those problems can be solved. Defying fate, transforming into a lich, amassing wealth on a grand scale—all these actions were merely for survival. "Therefore, if he were to make a wish, it would undoubtedly be to live forever, whether in the form of a lich or any other guise." Harvey's reply concluded, leaving the God of Alchemy in prolonged silence. No wonder the clown mask had said he did not understand his student. Everything Harvey recounted was indeed something the God of Alchemy had never heard. Perhaps Anbaixiu had never shown his dread of death to anyone; that vulnerability had only ever been piecemeal recorded throughout his research notes. Had Harvey not pieced these fragments together, no one would have ever known that the great Savior Lich, just like any ordinary person, was simply afraid of death. The God of Alchemy asked the clown mask, "Are you satisfied with this answer?" The clown mask's smile grew even more pronounced. It said to the God of Alchemy, "If he were granted a wish, he would wish for true immortality. Is this the answer you found for him?" When the God of Alchemy nodded, the clown mask transformed into a stream of light and plunged into the magic mirror. Anbaixiu's illusory figure began to resurface. The black-haired, dark-eyed youth reappeared once more, only now with a clown mask resting over his face. Anbaixiu wore a look of utter disbelief. In that fleeting instant, he had felt a surging vitality pour into his body—he had never experienced such vibrant life before, as though he had returned in a heartbeat to the days of his youth. This was the new life Oghma had bestowed upon Anbaixiu, allowing him, even as an artifact spirit, to possess complete senses and experiences just like a living person. All his desires had returned. Anbaixiu felt like an excited boy, eager to brandish the perfect stick and chop down weeds all across the hillside. Anbaixiu suddenly clenched his fists and cursed, "That punk Harvey! Blabbing about everything!" Just now, that kid had read out excerpts from his centuries of notes. As the artifact spirit of the magic mirror, Anbaixiu had seen it all plain as day. Back then, he hadn't felt much of anything, but remembering it now, he just wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. It was mortifying beyond belief—like the agonizing embarrassment of having one's adolescent diary read aloud before a crowd. The God of Alchemy finally broke into a relieved smile and said to Anbaixiu, "You brat, you scared me half to death. Completely reborn at last? Are there any hidden risks left this time?" Anbaixiu quickly replied, "Shouldn't be any. Right now, I just feel bursting with drive!" The God of Alchemy asked curiously, "Bursting with drive? What do you want to do?" Anbaixiu chuckled, answering as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "Need you even ask? Several fat sheep in Hell are still waiting for me to take a massive fleece out of them!" The God of Alchemy: "..." Harvey had been mistaken after all. This punk hadn't changed a bit—he still loved money to the absolute extreme, just as he always had.