Staring at Faen for a moment, Ryze grew even more confused. Faen was very young; he didn't look like an accomplished Master—he wasn't old enough.
The only reason Ryze had been able to set foot on the Blessed Isles back then was thanks to his teacher's extensive connections and unique insights into the World Runes, which allowed them to pass the Blessed Isles Council's vetting process and granted them entry. But Faen...
As far as Ryze knew, Ionian Masters rarely set foot outside Ionia, even to the Blessed Isles of a century ago.
Noticing Ryze's confused gaze, Faen pointed to his own eyes and said, "I can always see fragments of the past and the future."
"Oh?" Hearing this, Ryze's interest was piqued, his eyes filling with curiosity.
"So, you're saying you are a prophet?" Ryze asked.
"You could say that," Faen nodded.
"I won't believe that so easily." Ryze gave Faen a preemptive warning before asking, "I don't know about the future yet, but can you tell me about my past?"
"Which part?" Faen asked. "How about when you were young and always felt your teacher, Tyrus, was hiding things from you and refusing to teach you real skills to unlock your potential? Or your experiences as a thief before you met Tyrus? Speaking of which, why did you decide to keep your experiences as a thief?"
It couldn't be because of some 'trench literature' tropes, could it?
Faen didn't say the last part out loud. Even so, upon hearing Faen's words, Ryze couldn't help but reveal a look of astonishment. "I've never told anyone about those things. Can a prophecy really know even that?"
"The methods of prophecy vary," Faen smiled, sensing Ryze's surprise. "Do you know of the Enlightened One, Karma?"
"Of course I do. My teacher has taken an interest in the ancient magic of the 'Eye of Ages' more than once," Ryze shrugged. A reminiscent, relaxed expression surfaced on the middle-aged man's face, proving that the current Ryze had not yet been numbed by endless disasters.
"It's just that the Enlightened One, Karma, rarely travels outside and rarely shows her power proactively, let alone in front of outsiders like us."
"There's actually nothing mysterious about it," Faen shook his head and said. "The 'Eye of Ages' observes the future through vast experience and the unique nature of the Spirit Realm. What it sees is a summary and calculation of a massive number of Spirit Realm worlds with similar structures and processes, resulting in the most probable future scenario.
Mine is different. Most of the time, mine is more like reading a comic book or a novel. While the process might not be as dynamic as the 'Eye of Ages,' the detailed descriptions and exaggerated art styles allow me to clearly perceive things that simple animation cannot intuitively express."
Smacking his lips, Faen pointed at Ryze and teased, "For example, the excitement in your heart the first time you awakened your runic magic in front of Jenda, or your little scuffle with Kalista, which ended with her casually pinning you to the ground and rubbing your face in the dirt."
"Good heavens, how do you know even that?"
Hearing this, Ryze rubbed his temples helplessly. Faen just chuckled softly and didn't elaborate further.
In truth, Faen's knowledge of Ryze's past wasn't fabricated out of thin air; it was the story from the novel Ruination. The novel unfolds from Kalista's perspective. Although the Ruination event in the game client was trashed by players as absolute garbage—where the so-called Sentinels of Light, aside from Irelia and Rengar, were mostly a bunch of random nobodies and mischaracterizations.
Vayne, for instance, whose established lore dictated a hatred for magic so intense she killed her own mentor without hesitation—a pathological rejection of magic—actively accepted a magical weapon in the event, completely breaking her character. Then there were Pyke and Graves; it was hard to imagine a drowned specter and a mercenary becoming Sentinels of Light. And let's not even mention the Ruination corrupting Karma or eroding the Sun Disc... Did Viego even know he was that overpowered?
It could be said that the in-game lore for the event was garbage, completely destroying the plot, characterization, and power scaling. Viego was consequently branded with nicknames like "The Clown King" and "Simp Sheep."
It was only later, with the release of the single-player prequel game Ruined King and the official publication of the Ruination novel, that Viego's reputation was somewhat salvaged—transforming from "The Clown King" into the "God of Pure Love." The biggest contributor to this was the Ruination novel. Its author was highly skilled; he was previously a writer for the Warhammer series before being invited to become one of Riot's lead writers, with his representative work in the LoL universe being the famous piece The First Shield.
It is also one of the few spin-off novels in the Runeterra universe truly worth reading repeatedly.
In that novel, the young Ryze was literally a whippersnapper, full of youthful arrogance, constantly feeling that his teacher's refusal to unlock his potential was his teacher's problem, not his own. Although it wasn't intentional, Ryze did bear undeniable responsibility for the disaster of the Great Ruination of Helia.
While Faen was lost in thought, Ryze, who had now accepted Faen's identity as a prophet, asked curiously, "Speaking of which, since you can see the future, what happens to me in the future, and what happens to Runeterra?"
Hearing Ryze's question, Faen didn't answer immediately. He stared at Ryze for a while. Sensing the vigorous vitality in the other man's eyes, Faen shook his head with a sigh. "Not great."
"How 'not great'?" Ryze's expression sobered slightly.
Faen shrugged and said, "As far as I know, the Rune Wars have only been going on for a little over a century now. It will take at least another thousand years or so before they gradually die down."
"...A thousand years? Well... that's alright." Hearing this, Ryze took a deep breath and said, "If peace can be restored after a thousand years... Hmm? What's with that expression?"
Noticing Faen's grinning expression, the corner of Ryze's mouth twitched involuntarily. He then said in utter disbelief, "Usually, after a massive war, there is a period of recuperation. If the Rune Wars last for over a thousand years, would anyone really start another war?"
"Haha, that's hard to say." Faen waved his hand. "I can only tell you that the end of the Rune Wars is merely the beginning of the Era of Strife. And the reason I am here is simply to find a way for Ionia to better face the arrival of this era..."
"This is an absolute nightmare..." Ryze rubbed his temples helplessly, the joy of taking a break completely vanishing without a trace.