Not A Single Trace

Before a single retort could make its way out of his lips, the old priest elegantly cut him off. "I have already said what I had to. The path is right in front of you. To go or not to go is up to you.” With an easy smile, the old priest pushed past Culver. His figure wavered, almost leaving behind an afterimage. Culver tried to grab him but only found his vision blurring for a moment. When he finally focused his gaze, the old priest had vanished without a trace... "He vanished so quickly..." Culver mumbled to himself. Realizing that the person he had sought with such difficulty had just slipped away, he was about to dash off in pursuit but was stopped by Joseph. “Come back, there's no need to chase after him." "Mr. Joseph, you can't seriously be considering the old priest's nonsense, can you? I believe he was just playing with us!” As Culver pouted, he continued, "The old priest already said that even if you climb all nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps, it might not neces