"Reach inside… but how?"
Azreath answered with a sigh fit for a dying emperor.
"Mana and Will brat. Not frantic poking."
Kael frowned. "But I barely have mana."
"Barely is still something."
Kael clicked his tongue. "I know."
He closed his eyes and pushed a thin thread of mana into the ring.
At first—nothing.
Then—
A faint ripple.
A subtle tug.
As if the ring acknowledged him.
Kael's breath caught.
"There… something's there."
"Then look," Azreath murmured, quiet and nonintrusive.
Kael focused deeper.
The forest dimmed.
Shapes softened.
And a new world blossomed behind his eyelids.
A storage space unfolded—warm, golden, impossibly orderly.
Not a pouch.
Not a small pocket.
But a space roughly the size of a small two-story home,
with shelves drifting in a gentle vertical stack,
tables arranged neatly,
and sections divided with meticulous care.
Kael inhaled sharply.
"…She made all this fit inside a ring."
Azreath gave no comment.
Kael stepped deeper with his mana-sense.
....
One entire section was filled with familiar things:
His hammer
His forging apron
His old boots
The wooden sword he'd carved at seven
Their patched winter blanket
The little bowl he used for porridge
His spare shirts
The scarf his mother knitted
His childhood gloves
Everything tied to him.
Everything that proved he lived there.
"She… hid every trace of me."
His voice trembled.
So the attackers would find nothing.
So they would never hunt a boy who left behind no belongings.
He swallowed hard.
"She really tried to erase me… to protect me."
...
Another shelf shimmered into focus:
Books.
Scrolls.
Handwritten notebooks.
Boxes of neatly rolled parchment.
Kael blinked.
"She wrote… all of these for me?"
Pages waiting for him.
Lessons she never got to teach.
He didn't pull any out yet.
He was almost afraid to disturb them.
Another area held small wooden boxes.
Inside each:
Monster cores.
A blue one pulsed softly like distant thunder under water.
A green one shimmered with a faint breath of life.
A thin pale core let out a tiny wind-whistle when his mana brushed it.
One dark core glinted with snake-scale patterns, shifting gently as if alive.
Kael swallowed.
These weren't village-level beasts.
He didn't recognize any of them.
Some of the monster cores have special containers signifying there high rank
He closed the boxes carefully — not daring to touch more.
….
As his mana moved, more shapes came into view—
objects he couldn't even name.
A dagger with runes carved so finely they seemed to tilt when he focused.
A talisman—cracked, yet still clinging to a faint stubborn glow.
Stones shot through with molten-like veins.
Ores that glimmered like cooling embers in a forge.
He drifted further—
formation compasses, slender brushes, metal rings marked with precise lines.
Bottles sealed tight containing liquids of shifting colors.
Jars of ink swirling even without light.
Folded cloth woven with faint sigils that glimmered when his mana touched them.
Kael swallowed hard.
"Mother… what were you hiding?"
Azreath did not answer.
For once, he gave Kael silence.
Two small pouches floated in a corner.
Kael tugged the first with his will.
Silver coins shimmered inside.
He stared.
"I've… never seen this much silver."
He reached for the second pouch—
and froze when gold coins tumbled into view.
"…Gold."
His heart pounded.
And she had an entire pouch of it..
Kael clenched his jaw.
"She really… she saved all of this. For me."
Then he sensed something different.
A soft glow.
A pure pulse of warmth.
He reached toward it carefully.
Small, clear crystals drifted into view—
each one glowing faintly from within.
Kael pulled the nearest one into his real hand.
Warmth tingled against his skin—
pure, vibrant mana swirling inside the crystal like gentle fire.
His eyes widened.
"This feeling…
These must be mana crystals."
He had only heard rumors.
Vague stories.
Never believed them.
Yet the energy in his hand was unmistakable.
He returned the crystal gently, fearful of breaking it.
At the very back of the space, glowing softly,
floated a small silver-gold cocoon.
It pulsed like a tired heartbeat.
Kael reached toward it with the lightest touch of mana.
Warmth brushed his mind—
gentle, familiar, comforting.
His breath cracked.
"…Mother."
Not her soul.
Not her voice.
But a fragment of her—
a trace she left inside the ring,
proof she still lived.
Suddenly his eyes stinging. He withdrew immediately.