The Big Wizard Clark once said a very famous line:
"...If a wizard of high age and virtue says sothing is possible, he might be right; but if he says sothing is impossible, then he may be very wrong."
"...To discover the boundary of whether sothing is possible, the only way is to cross this boundary, moving from impossibility to possibility."
The Rat Immortal greatly revered this statent.
Because more than one ’wizard of high age and virtue’ had told him that certain things were impossible—
Your wife, who has already fallen into a Mi-go, is beyond salvation, and the best outco is for her to die of old age in the Black Prison. You can’t research a new, more exquisite magic ritual to transform her fall.
Your daughter lost in the world in the mirror is already dead, it’s been so long, you should let it go; even if you shuttle through the mirror a hundred tis a day, you won’t find a soul destined to disappear.
And the Mouse Clan you created by hand, it’s no longer like hundreds of years ago, when creatures suitable for surpassing creation—like foxes, bats, and wolves—have already been divided, making mice just a mundane species. It’s impossible for you to build your ’ancestral position’ like the ancestor of the Blood Race, then breakthrough to beco a legend.
Since so many ’wizards of high age and virtue’ have said it’s impossible, it instead proves that his choice is very likely to succeed. The Rat Immortal thought so, becoming increasingly determined, even discarding his previous true na and only displaying himself as ’Rat Immortal’.
Just like that.
He hid underground in the First University, tirelessly cultivating his Mouse Clan, while in his spare ti, shuttling through every mirror in the school, searching for traces of Juice.
Until one day, the Wandering Wizard visited, telling him of an old tree blooming in the Black Prison. The fruit of that tree could aid top Big Wizards in breaking through barriers and achieving legend status.
If it were just like this, it wouldn’t be worth the Rat Immortal taking the risk. He could fully continue his plan to cultivate the Mouse Clan. But the Wandering Wizard told him that the main force attacking the Black Prison was an alliance of Sea demons and Witch Demons, the Dark Council was only in the right place at the right ti, and wouldn’t cause great harm to the First University; more importantly, one Mi-go was imprisoned in a prison deep in the Black Prison, on the battlefield, where spells are blind, anything could happen.
The Rat Immortal would not allow such a thing to happen.
Thus, he chose to join the Dark Council.
...
...
One weekend.
In a private room on the second floor of the Wandering Bar.
The Wandering Wizard watched through the small window of the room, observing the custors and staff in D&K across the street—the Fox Clan Accountant nad Hank was skillfully tapping on an abacus, while Dangdang Ears wearing a green vest was dragging a feather duster longer than its body, diligently cleaning the corners of the shop.
Tiny dust particles shimred with colorful hues in the sunlight, and Dangdang Ears chased after them with the duster, inexplicably giving people a sense of ease and leisure.
"Your little mouse is working hard in the shop across the street." The Wandering Wizard, back to the room’s guests, carefully observed D&K’s business, clicking his tongue in admiration: "...That little fox at Greenhill Mansion is doing well too... Perhaps I should hire a Fox Clan accountant myself."
Then the tiline here showed a slight divergence.
The sound of gulping stopped.
The Rat Immortal curled up on the sofa, hugging a wine bottle, staring with red eyes at bubbles slowly rising in the bottle, muttering with a series of drunken hiccups in a low voice:
"...Is it wrong for a father to strive, wanting to provide a better life for his children? I stayed in the laboratory... We stayed in the lab, not for ourselves..."
The Wandering Wizard raised his glass.
He felt it necessary to help this ally adjust his mindset.
"The boundary between good and bad is very subtle." The Wandering Wizard was good at persuading others, especially when the other party was a drunken Big Mouse: "...If you want to provide more for your children, you can only give them less ti... This boundary will beco blurry and unsettling when compounded with ti."
"What is good will eventually beco bad."
"And then this boundary becos a noose, tightening around your neck until you finally exhale your last breath. You want to struggle, but you cannot bear the consequences of breaking the boundary."
"Is this father wrong? No."
"What is wrong is everything behind it... the school, the laboratory, and the rules set by those legends and ancient ones... Why does the father have to stay in the laboratory to provide a better life? Why hasn’t the world in the mirror completely detached from reality?"
Gulping sounds.
"If I were a legend..."
The Rat Immortal hugged the wine bottle, drinking large gulps of the murky liquid inside while muttering:
"It wouldn’t be, it wouldn’t be..."
"Regret is a poison, a kind of magical poison. It slowly kills the wizard." The Wandering Wizard raised a bottle and slowly poured the orange liquid into a cup: "Compared to smoking, drinking, indulging, etc., it is a more subtle and unnoticeable form of suicide. And this thing..."
He pushed the filled cup in front of the Rat Immortal.
"This thing is more straightforward." The Wandering Wizard clinked his cup with the one before the Rat Immortal, listening to the clinking sounds, smiled: "It won’t deceive you... it will only bring you closer to reality."
The Rat Immortal did not hesitate, raising the cup and drinking it all down.
The Wandering Wizard smiled with satisfaction.
"What are you thinking now?"
He refilled the Rat Immortal’s cup, then set down the bottle, propping his hands on the bar, staring with dark eyes at the Big Mouse on the sofa, like a cat poised to hunt:
"Are you still thinking about what you would do if you went back to the past, right? Are you thinking about how you should have done back then, right? Are you still looking at the past?"
The Rat Immortal’s trembling fingertips touched the glass cup.
But imdiately, as if touching a red-hot iron, he quickly withdrew his fingertips, letting out a painful whimper. Beneath him, that thick tail shook violently with the sound of the whimper, rippling like waves and rushing out of the narrow room. Following it, the whole bar shook like a box stuffed with a wild cat.
The bar’s servants hurried to the door, trying to warn the guests inside the room.
But the bar owner waved their hand, signaling them to leave quietly.
"No, I don’t want to stay in the past."
The Big Mouse’s eyes were filled with tears, voice hoarse and deep: "...I want to be in the future, treating her better where she hasn’t been."
The Wandering Wizard stood upright again, tugging at the brim of his pointed wizard hat, raising his glass to the Rat Immortal: "Then, I wish you luck, my friend."
"There’s no better opportunity than this."
"Join us, charge into the Black Prison. Snatch so fruits, then declare your existence to the world... Helping us is helping yourself."
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