I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 94: The Hidden Pattern

He had never taken the time to study his sword, but the patterns he found upon it reminded him of those in the Merchant Mansion. A broader design connected them, yet they could be divided for an exact count without much trouble.

He counted a total of 101 inlays that formed a whole within the pattern; following the logic learned from watching Silas, he tried counting from different points.

He didn’t know if he would find anything here, but it wouldn’t kill him to try now that he was unjustly imprisoned.

But every time he tried to count the patterns, he got stuck in a position where it was impossible to advance.

’Ten downward is impossible. Ten toward the right side?’ ’It’s possible... Five down... No, there are only 3, and 7 toward the left...’

He counted the patterns repeatedly until, at some point, he managed to find a peculiarity.

Of the 101 inlays that made up the pattern, he was able to count... 103!

’Am I going crazy?’

Surely, he was. He counted again, more carefully, following the same pattern.

’103...’

He decided to count the way he had before and reached 101 inlays, but he did it again, and there were 103. He had found something. Either he was losing his mind, or there was a pattern that activated based on how he moved his fingers. Either way, it would be an astonishing revelation.

On his sixth attempt, he counted even more carefully, searching for a clue.

He found it at 101.

There was a peculiarity in that pattern; something glowed with a bluish tone that was easily lost against the sword. He noticed it only because he was staring directly at the spot.

The glowing number was: 101.

’Strange.’ He looked at inlays 102 and 103 to see if they had a description. There was none.

He immediately returned to the one with the numbers; he understood that something was hidden behind it. Perhaps this was the inlay that had "divided" to form 102 and 103. He struck it, tried to pry it off, even tried to scratch it, but nothing happened.

’Should I count again?’

He activated his chess player’s mind once more and began counting patterns. Following the same sequence in reverse, there was nothing. Then he used another counting pattern. To his chess-oriented mind, the number of patterns he could perform on such a small number of inlays was amazing, and he enjoyed the process.

A few seconds later, Edward smiled. The 101 inlay in reverse led back to the start, but counting it with a different strategy led him to 103 inlays again.

’I knew it.’

This time, he didn’t have to look carefully to see which one appeared; because he paid special attention, he saw it instantly. It was one of the inlays that divided into three pieces.

One was 101, the other two were the remainder. The 101 spot was slightly bulging; subconsciously, Edward pressed it.

Ding!

A metallic sound vibrated suddenly, and the sword seemed to split into pieces. Edward almost dropped it in surprise, but these pieces formed an entire set of magic tools.

There were tools for support, combat, assassination, maintenance, and even tools to create more tools.

One of these tools caught his attention above the rest. Among the support group, a small tool stood out because there were three identical versions.

He grabbed them, and as soon as he touched them, different scenes began to play before him like a hologram.

His eyes shined.

’Recording of Identities.’

The scenes on the three tools were part of his own journey, playing from the moment he first grabbed the sword in the small house where his father left it. Every time he held it, it played the scenes with impressive clarity. The playback soon reached a critical point that made him tremble.

In the scene where Lander died... there, he noticed something strange.

Lander... was he hit by magic?

’What magic is it?’ He tried to look again. He had no button to rewind; he had to deactivate the tool and reactivate it, then wait for it to reach the right spot.

When it appeared there again, it was clear that Lander had been hit by magic... But it didn’t come from Edward... nor from the Lich?

’What the hell?’

Edward considered using this tool to save himself, but having found this strange peculiarity, he had to think twice.

It wasn’t the Lich—the only mage capable of casting that type of magic besides Edward. It didn’t seem to be Edward either... but he held such an unusual tool in his hands. They would think it was him using a tool to do it!

It would reveal several of his secrets, as the way he killed the Lich was completely recorded, and he would achieve nothing but being framed with evidence!

Feeling he had found a great secret but couldn’t use it to save himself was a bittersweet sentence.

He shook his head, giving up on that. But he stared at the recording, over and over.

Who killed Lander?

Amidst thousands of questions in his mind, the occasional murmurs that escaped his lips, and the horrible, pungent smell of the dungeons, Edward closed his eyes and locked the secret of his sword deep within his mind.

Without leaving the dungeon, he had grown stronger. Now he had a variety of tools at his disposal, many of which he didn’t even know what they were for, but... those secrets would remain hidden in his mind for now.

-

"Edward Lux, come out. You will be processed before the Hall of Elders."

A man woke him very early in the morning; they didn’t even offer him a plate of food before taking him from the cell.

They only allowed him to wash his mouth and little else before leading him to the elders.

The room was the same. Lander’s parents were there, along with all his accusers.

The only difference was that Owen was present today, accompanied by Instructor Mervan.

"Today, Elder Owen is finally present, and both parties have been given a day to gather their evidence," the Director said. His words were practically a mockery against Edward, who hadn’t even been fed. "Before proceeding, the rules of an Academic Judgment are clear. The Elders and myself are the judges, and we need a unanimous vote to proceed to punishment. Each party has 2 hours to present their evidence."

"I remind you: this judgment will determine if Edward Lux is guilty of the murder of Lander Konan."

He explained and detailed every section carefully.

Finally, he allowed the accusers to proceed with their case and present their evidence.

Edward listened intently to everything they had to say. Many lies, many inventions, and a heap of nonsense.

From claiming he and Lander always held grudges against each other, to saying Lander considered approaching him to improve Edward’s relationship with John. The rumors about them being distant cousins were true.

But the rest of the nonsense they spoke was strange.

Something was wrong with this judgment.

’It feels as if I’m in the palm of someone’s hand,’ Edward roared in his heart. ’Who is the bastard?’

After they finished presenting the "evidence" against him, they returned to their seats. Finally, the Director looked at Edward.

"You were given several hours to gather evidence. Just like them. Proceed," the Director said.

Edward stared at him. "I was given hours to gather evidence? More like: you were given hours to prove your fate, right?" he mocked.

The Director shrugged. "I don’t have time for nonsense, student Edward."

Edward nodded. "True. The only evidence I have are my own words. They say they weren’t from a Cursed Land; I maintain that no cemetery holds more than 20 death knights and a Lich in its ranks. But since they are powerful and I am not, only what they say counts, right?" He smiled mockingly at himself.

"They say Lander’s body was eaten by the undead, but no undead from a Cursed Land eats corpses... But, it’s true, they are strong, I am not. I am a Lux, they are not, so only their senseless evidence counts, while mine does not." Edward ended by shrugging with an ironic smile.

"What do you want, then? Should I bring Lander here with divine magic to tell you what happened? Should I make the missing Lich speak for me? Aurora and Arnold said exactly the same as I did... But here you are, Director, blaming me based on the words of some idiots who were too afraid to take a mission that we chose because we understood the dangers involved."

"We took the mission because we wanted to pity the miners who were left to their fate... but now I, who exerted myself to the maximum to complete the mission and ended up gravely injured, am being blamed as a murderer."

He shook his head. "Just punish me, Director. I have no way to prove I wasn’t the murderer, even though I wasn’t. I’m not a god, you know. If I’m locked up, I can’t gather evidence."