CHAPTER 1072: FASCINATING FOREST

Erend stepped back into the chamber of the Archmage tower, the familiar silver and red shimmer fading behind him as the portal sealed shut again.

The situation inside was quiet and filled with the faint smell of materials and spent Magic.

His gaze swept across the room, and he found Adrius and Lysander lying on their beds, both of them already deep in sleep.

Their breathing was steady but sounded long and heavy, showing the kind of exhaustion that only came after they poured everything into a task that demanded their Magic and their concentration of them.

Erend could tell it must have drained them completely. Shaping and stabilizing that device wasn’t something done lightly it seems. It needs two Archmage pouring their all into it.

He didn’t disturb them. Instead, his eyes drifted toward the object at the center of the chamber.

The device still rested upon the round table, its surface etched with countless runes that now visible seemed to writhe faintly under the dim glow of the chamber’s lamps.

It always pulsed but now it pulsed gently, like the rhythm of a heart as if the heart of the Fey were still alive, each beat releasing a faint thrum that rippled through the air.

Erend approached slowly, his footsteps muted, and stopped just in front of it.

The closer he stood, the more he felt a deep vibration of the pulsing heart. It was not sounded in his ears, but in his bones and in his blood.

The air around it seemed thicker, as if the device itself warped the flow of energy in the room and created fatamorgana.

He narrowed his eyes, studying its form. Orb with runes and silver rings around it, floating above the table with dark stone inside it that contained the Fey’s heart.

Restrained yet undeniable power radiated from it, like a storm trapped in a glass cage.

It wasn’t just raw Magic and organs of mysterious beings. It was something more refined, twisted, and focused into a core purpose. Erend was certain that this kind of thing could only be made possible by Mages in the level of Adrius and Lysander. Or maybe Saeldir.

His flesh prickled faintly beneath his skin, his instincts whispering of danger if he messes up but also potential in equal measure.

For a moment, he reached out a hand, hovering just above the runes, not daring to touch.

The energy flared at his nearness as if the device recognized him, or at least acknowledged his presence. It was made by his blood as one of the materials after all.

The sensation was sharp, like a low hum of fire and lightning and water threading through the marrow of his bones.

It was not hostile to him, but it reminded him of a power that was still in sheathed state waiting for the moment to be released.

Erend’s jaw tightened, his thoughts heavy.

This thing held incredible promise, but it was also dangerous.

He could feel it.

Something made with this much power would never remain neutral for long. He can only hope that they can control it well.

Because he could only bring back the device to his world tomorrow, Erend decided that he would also stay in the chamber for the night.

He turned from the humming artifact and crossed toward the reclining chair in the corner, he felt that the cushions was definitely worn but still comfortable enough to hold him.

Lowering himself onto it, he let his body sink into the support, his eyes lingering once more on the slow, steady pulse of the Fey heart device.

He closed his eyes, steadying his breath.

Instead of surrendering to simple sleep, he slipped into the practiced method of meditation he had long relied upon. He slowing his heart, quieting his mind, and letting the restless tides of his thoughts and power align into calm streams.

It wasn’t deep rest, but it restored him all the same, and tonight it was the only way to ease the pressure pressing on him.

The faint glow of the runes washed across his closed lids, and the hum of Magic energy thrummed gently in the background, becoming part of his rhythm.

—

On the other side of the world, far from the Archmage tower, the forest canopy shook with the drumming sound of heavy rainfall again.

Krono, Eccar, Aesa, Caelthar, and Lyrel finally emerged through the misty downpour onto the borderland path of the Elven kingdom.

The great rainforest stretched endlessly ahead, its towering trees crowned with dripping moss and glowing fungi that shimmered in the wet dark.

Droplets streamed down their cloaks and armor as they paused, the massive forest looming before them like a living wall of green.

Beyond it lay the heart of the Lyrel and Caelthar’s kingdom, veiled in shadows and warded by strong Magic.

They stood together in silence for a moment, their breaths misting in the chill night air.

The journey had been long, and the feeling of their next purpose hung heavy as Lyrel and Caelthar lead them back to crossed into Elven soil.

Lyrel and Caelthar, the native Elves of this kingdom, took the lead as they guided the group back through the winding routes they had once used to leave.

Their steps were sure and confident and they moving with the ease because they knew every hidden trail and ward woven into the depths of the forest.

Aesa, the Ice Dragon, walked behind them in her petite woman body, her long white hair damp from the rain.

She had only ever seen this vast woodland from the sky, soaring far above where the canopy stretched like an endless sea of green.

Now, beneath its towering boughs, she saw details she had never imagined, the intricate living bridges formed from vines, the glow of fungi that painted the darkness, and the faint shimmer of warding spells carved into the very bark of ancient trees.

"Fascinating, isn’t it?" Eccar said with a grin, his sharp eyes studying her reaction.

"Yes. I must admit," Aesa replied, her voice calm but tinged with honest awe.

Lyrel and Caelthar exchanged a glance at that. To hear such acknowledgment from the Ice Dragon herself stirred a quiet pride within them.

Their lips curved into small smiles.

The rain softened to a mist as they pressed deeper. Time and distance seemed to blur as Lyrel and Caelthar led them through hidden Magical shortcuts, passing from one warded glade to another in sudden shifts of space until at last the air grew lighter and brighter.

They stepped out into the heart of the kingdom.

Before them rose the great palace, its white stone and wooden walls interwoven with living trees that stretched high into the sky.

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