CHAPTER 83: BRAVE PLANS

The queen’s windlike voice echoed louder, stronger.

"Tell me, is the cost of those potions worth more than my life?"

The grove fell still. Birds stopped chirping. Even the leaves seemed to pause.

"Was saving my life -and the lives of your leaders- not worth a few vials of liquid mana?"

Her voice was laced with thunder now.

"Is the Runewood itself worth less than your precious stockrooms?"

None dared answer.

Auren stood still, stunned. He hadn’t expected her to defend him so fiercely.

’Well damn,’ he thought, fighting a grin. ’They’re cooked.’

He could already imagine the complaints swirling in those elven heads. How they were probably hoping he’d work off his debt- maybe even become their little alchemy servant.

But Elarya’s declaration changed everything and in his mind were the words:

’Thank you!’

The Queen continued, her tone softening.

"Auren. Your intervention at Inferna Hollow turned the tide. Had you not arrived... we would have burned. Isn’t that right, Kardel? Rhiki?"

The two leaders stiffened.

Kardel wiped a bead of sweat from his temple. Rhiki’s eyes flickered with a hint of guilt.

"Y-yes, Queen Mother," Kardel stammered.

"We... owe him our lives," Rhiki muttered, averting his gaze.

The gathered elves, hearing such admissions, exchanged glances. Some looked at Auren with newfound respect. Others seemed begrudgingly accepting.

A single vine unfurled from the Grand Velzar, curling down in a gentle arc until it rested on Auren’s shoulder- warm, pulsing faintly, like a heartbeat from the Queen herself.

"I am glad you’re healing, Auren," Elarya said, her voice both serene and searching. "Have you... discovered a solution to your mana instability?"

"I have," Auren replied, giving a measured nod.

"Then speak."

Straightening from his bow, he took a breath to steady the tension rising in his chest.

I can’t reveal everything... he thought. If they find out the Phoenix bloodline is sealed, it’ll only make me vulnerable. I’ll give them just enough to understand.

"My current state is the aftermath- a backlash- from using a transformation," he began, his tone carefully chosen. "Specifically... the one you all witnessed during the Vulkris incident."

"Transformation?" Kardel leaned forward, his scholarly curiosity sparked. "You mean that golden form? The one with wings and radiant flame? I’ve studied hundreds of evolutions and battle morphs, but that... that was something entirely different."

"It’s a power tied to my lineage," Auren explained. "It manifests only in those who carry the Phoenix bloodline."

The mention of it shifted the room’s energy.

Rhiki’s arms tightened across his chest. He didn’t speak, but his silence said enough. He remembered how Auren moved in that form- weightless, blinding, untouchable. A being that felt more flame than flesh.

Even now, that memory lingered like smoke in the back of his mind.

There was no denying it anymore.

The boy sitting in front of them wasn’t just recovering.

He was evolving into something that could one day eclipse them all.

Auren nodded. "The form consumed more mana than I could afford. Now, my mana core is compensating. It’s been drawing in energy at an abnormal rate to replenish what I lost- which explains the apparent disappearance of mana around me."

Elarya’s branches rustled thoughtfully. "I see... Yes. It reminds me of a certain human who can do that as well." she meant to say King Aurelus but speaking his name might not be good for Auren sake.

She paused. "And then?"

Auren turned his gaze toward the elders- the very ones who had once scoffed at his presence, questioned his worth, and whispered behind closed doors. He saw their expressions shift as he spoke, no longer the frail outsider but someone who stood in full awareness of his place... and his power.

"To ease the burden I’ve placed on your stores," he began, "I’ve decided to craft my own mana potions moving forward."

He let the silence linger for a beat before continuing.

"I was trained by my father- Robert of Austerra- a master herbalist and one of the finest potion crafters the human kingdom has ever known. I may not have a Divine Frame, but I know how to brew miracles from roots and stone. I have faith in my skill."

The words landed clean and sharp.

For a heartbeat, no one responded.

Then came the inevitable ripple- a wave of murmurs that spread like wildfire through the circle.

"He’s finally going to stop draining our supplies?"

"About time he grew a spine."

"Did he just claim his potions are better than ours?"

"Cocky brat... but he’s not wrong. The kid lived."

Not all the whispers were hostile. Some carried grudging curiosity. Others, something bordering on reluctant admiration.

Above them, the branches of the Grand Velzar stirred- a gentle rustling that wasn’t quite wind. It was the Queen Mother’s signal.

Enough talk.

Her voice emerged once more- smooth as mist over glass, but with an edge of frost.

"And what do you intend to do now, child?"

Auren didn’t look away. He didn’t blink.

His spine straightened, and though his hands still bore the bandages of recovery, his presence filled the space like fire meeting dry leaves. His voice didn’t rise- it didn’t need to.

"I came to ask permission," he said.

"To use your crafting stations. To gather what herbs and minerals I need from the Runewood. And to prepare myself."

The grove quieted.

Elarya’s branches halted their motion- as if the forest itself held its breath.

"Prepare... for what?" she asked.

He stepped forward, the crunch of his boots against earth sharp in the stillness.

"For my return," he said simply. "Soon, I’ll be heading back to Austerra kingdom."

Gasps echoed like soft drumbeats. The name alone struck chords- home, betrayal, fire, and ruin- all laced into one word.

Auren kept speaking, undeterred.

"There are three people I must find. People tied to who I was... and who I have to become."

His eyes searched the faces around him — not in challenge, but in certainty. The boy who had arrived broken was gone. This was someone reforged.

Elarya’s voice dropped, almost reverent.

"And then?"

The air thickened.

Auren lifted his gaze to the pulsing heart of the Grand Velzar, that radiant core of amber light that beat like a living sun nestled in bark. It glowed with quiet power- and he met it without flinching.

His words landed with the weight of destiny.

"I will take over Austerra."