CHAPTER 343: THE VEILED CHAMBER

The deeper parts of Deadroot Forest were thick with ethereal silence, the kind that pressed against one’s ears and heart like a phantom. Shadows danced unnaturally across the bark of the gnarled trees, and wisps of forgotten souls occasionally drifted through the wind—shadows of a time long passed.

Naena, flanked by two elite Nullcarvers—a tall, stoic man with twin sabers strapped to his back and a lean woman whose arms shimmered with spiritual inscriptions—led the way beneath a winding root arch. Behind them, Lila walked with her hood drawn, her expression unreadable, yet her eyes roved about, drinking in the ancient terrain around her.

They arrived at a slate-gray rock wall, indistinguishable from the rest of the forest cliffs... until Naena raised a single finger and channeled her Qi.

Seven sacred lines, carved long ago, ignited like veins of molten gold, and a low grating hum echoed from within. The cliff shuddered before a hidden doorway, wreathed in illusion, opened into a chamber veiled in protective formation arrays and concealment spells powerful enough to shield from even Celestial sight.

The chamber beyond was dimly lit, cast in silver glows that pulsed like a living heart. In its center lay a woven nest of spirit-silk, surrounded by countless spiritual scrolls, relics, and seals placed for both defense and rejuvenation. The air was saturated with potent, calming Qi—designed to reinforce the mind and nourish the soul.

Naena turned to Lila with an unreadable gaze, pausing just before the threshold.

"You’ll be safe here," she said, her voice steady. "No one will find you, not even Endless unless he tears the world open."

Lila hesitated before stepping forward. Her hands balled into small fists beneath her cloak. Her lips parted.

"Elder Naena... Is this really the best thing to do? To hide when everyone else is bleeding to protect me?"

Naena stared at her a long time. Her white hair rustled faintly in the mystical wind, and her voice came quiet—yet sharp as a blade’s edge.

"You misunderstand. This is not a retreat. This is a chrysalis."

"A... chrysalis?"

"Lila," Naena said, eyes glowing faintly with the light of wisdom earned through centuries. "This world does not forgive the unprepared. In Aetheris, peace is a lie. Strength reigns supreme—nothing more, nothing less."

Her voice grew harder.

"If you wish to protect those you care about... if you wish to make those responsible for your father’s death pay... then grow. Let your silence be the cocoon that forges power."

Lila looked down, her throat tightening. Her hands shook slightly, but she swallowed the emotion and simply gave a small, resolute nod.

Naena’s eyes softened, just for a moment, before she gestured to the two Nullcarvers.

"Fortify the chamber."

The man stepped forward, pressing his palms to the rock walls. Dozens of overlapping Qi runes ignited, intertwining with the ambient formation.

The woman took a knee beside the entrance and chanted softly, casting a second barrier—one that would suppress all mana fluctuations within.

A final glyph glowed over the door: a crest bearing a phoenix and dragon circling a black sun.

Naena turned back to Lila one last time.

"Survive this slumber, child. Themoment you leave this place... even the Celestials will feel your presence."

Without another word, Lila entered the chamber.

The stone door rumbled shut behind her, returning the cliff face to its original, unbroken visage.

Naena turned to leave, her steps slow and heavy with thoughts. The two Nullcarvers followed in silence.

As they disappeared into the forest mist, the chamber pulsed once.

Inside, Lila sat cross-legged beneath a softly glowing vine. Her breathing slowed. Her eyes closed.

As she has already resolved in mind a long time ago to be the strongest mage this world has ever seen.

––––

The sun had begun to dip behind the jagged outlines of Deadroot Forest’s canopy, casting elongated shadows across the sacred Hollow where the ancient Qi Juggernauts stood in eternal vigil.

Naena stepped around the Circle of Resonance, the forest mist curling around her robes like silent whispers. Behind her, the two Nullcarver elites followed with silent discipline, their expressions stern and unreadable. Yet Naena’s attention wasn’t on the statues, nor the fresh traces of swirling Qi that still lingered in the air like the aftermath of a divine storm—it was on the center of the Hollow, where the heartbeat of activity now thrived.

There, under the wide clearing of open sky, Guinevere and Ethan clashed.

Naena narrowed her eyes.

Sparks of flame collided with wraith-like waves of mist. The air shimmered with intensity as Guinevere surged forward, her scarlet robes dancing like wildfire, both hands alight with blazing white-blue flames that roared with unnatural heat—the Amaterasu itself. Although it deviated in color to the one she experienced during the trial which was pitch black, it’s heat intensity were still the same.

’She’s really done it’, Naena mused internally, her eyes narrowing. ’She’s subjugated the eternal flames... and in such a short time.’

Guinevere’s face was a picture of unrelenting fury and graceful control, sweat beading on her forehead as she twisted and flipped midair, unleashing a spiraling blaze of condensed flame toward Ethan.

The forest rumbled with the heat.

But Ethan didn’t flinch.

Standing calmly in the center of a gathering mist, his body now had a different aura—an ethereal fluidity, as though the world itself breathed with him. His palms, once unsure and clumsy with spell structure, now moved with grace and precision, drawing sigils in the mist that pulled from the very essence of the earth beneath him.

With a snap of his fingers, the mist surged.

Boom!!

The wave of Amaterasu crashed into the barrier of mist—and sizzled. Not vanished, not countered—but gently turned, like a raging beast calmed and redirected. Ethan bent low, hands spread out, and whispered an incantation that echoed with deep earthen resonance.

The ground beneath them cracked—no, not cracked—breathed.

Naena’s eyes widened further. "No... he..."

Suddenly, the air shifted.

A deep, ancient pulse reverberated through the Hollow.

From Ethan’s feet, a wave of pressure burst out, shimmering violet and silver. The Hollow’s atmosphere thickened—no longer just a show of skill. Something had awakened.

A Mana Domain.

"Mana Domain: Decaying Breath" Ethan spoke with a quiet intensity

"...He’s awakened it..." one of the Nullcarvers beside Naena gasped.

"Indeed," she muttered.

Ethan’s mist, now emboldened by the domain, wrapped around Guinevere’s flames, constricting them like water dousing fire—not by force, but by sheer understanding of balance and counter.

Guinevere attempted a final eruption—her Inferno domain flaring with all its wrath—but the domain clash was clear now.

Ethan’s command of mist and Still Earth overwhelmed her chaotic flame.

Guinevere was sent flying backward, crashing gently onto a bed of mist Ethan had prepared in advance. She coughed once, chest rising and falling with exertion, but then gave a smile full of admiration and surprise.

"I... lost?"

Ethan gave a lopsided grin, equally breathless. "Guess the forest likes me more."

From the other end of the Hollow, Kaelen and Kelvin sat in deep meditation. Neither had flinched throughout the entire duel. Kaelen’s body shimmered faintly with both Qi and blue mana, strands of liquid-like essence spiraling slowly around him, his Eternal Guardian armor flickering softly as if absorbing everything.

Kelvin, on the other hand, was enveloped in a blood-red haze, his scythe floating vertically behind him like a reaper at rest. The Orb of Chaos embedded in his chest pulsed, but not violently—it rhythmically echoed the flow of his breath.

Naena moved forward, her eyes sweeping over all her charges.

They had changed—all of them.

The Hollow was no longer just a place of training. It had become a crucible, and her disciples were being reforged.

She reached Ethan and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you know what you’ve just done, child?"

He looked up, blinking.

"I... think I awakened a Mana Domain?"

She nodded slowly. "But not just any domain. Yours resonates with the Still Earth and the mist of your soul. That’s a rare alignment. Few ever find it. Even fewer can awaken it... especially at your age."

He flushed. "Wasn’t really planned."

Naena chuckled softly.

"Power rarely is. It is found... or it finds you."

She turned toward Guinevere, who was now sitting cross-legged as she caught her breath, her Amaterasu burning gently beside her like a quiet guardian flame.

"You too, Guinevere. You’ve already surpassed several elders of flame... but control, not power, will decide your fate."

The red-haired girl gave a small nod, swallowing her pride but not her spirit.

From the still-silent meditation circle, Kaelen’s eyes flicked open for a moment. For a breath, his gaze locked with Naena’s.

There was no doubt—he felt the shift too.

Naena turned toward her two Nullcarvers with a quiet smile as she joked.

"They’re readying themselves... and the world should start trembling."

But before she could recover from the joke she just said, Morris who has been silent for quite a while suddenly stepped up and spoke with a grim determination on his face.

"Am ready to take my trial"