Narashi walked slowly toward the room. They were at the gate of the Exil Tree, where the enormous branches stretched in every direction and the green glow of the tree covered everything around them. She was just about to enter when a thought suddenly crossed her mind. Did Princess Bell go to meet that Creator again? Narashi stopped for a moment and narrowed her eyes. ...I don't think so. She raised her hand and knocked on the door. A familiar voice came from inside.
"Come in."
It was Bell's voice. Nashira opened the door and stepped inside, expecting to find Bell doing something she normally did when she was alone. Instead, she froze. Bell was sitting at the table with several books spread out in front of her, actually studying.
"?!"
Shock appeared on Nashira's face. "W-What happened? I've never seen you studying before! And you're doing it on your own?"
Bell leaned back in her chair and stretched her posture. She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she slowly turned her head toward the window. Outside, the enormous Exil Tree could be seen through the glass, its countless branches and leaves stretching into the distance. After a moment, Bell finally spoke.
"We both want something. And he's working harder for it than I am. So I can't exactly let him do all the work, can I?"
Nashira stared at her, becoming even more confused. There was something different about Bell. She had noticed it ever since the announcement ceremony, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what had changed. Then, suddenly, she realized it.
"Wait a second... Ever since the announcement ceremony, you haven't been acting normally. Did you two talk?"
Bell looked at her for a moment before slowly raising one finger and placing it against her lips.
"Shhh. Even the roots surrounding us have ears."
"Huh?"
Bell suddenly laughed. "Hehe."
Then she simply returned to her studying as if she hadn't said anything strange at all. Narashi stared at her for another few seconds before finally giving up. She left the room after placing some food nearby for Bell to eat later, closing the door behind her and leaving Bell alone with her thoughts.
Once Nashira was gone, Bell's expression slowly changed. The playful look disappeared, and her eyes became serious. The goal had already been decided in her mind. He is going to win the tournament and ask Grand King to let me become his contractor. Bell lowered her gaze slightly. But that won't work. She knew the Grand King better than most people did. He was her grandfather, and he loved her far too much. Because of that very love, he would never willingly allow her to return to such a dangerous place again.
A worried expression appeared on Bell's face, but after a moment, a small smile followed. It wasn't a bright or excited smile. It was something quieter, almost relieved. He wants me to be his contractor. And without me... he's helpless. She remembered the plan they had already made inside his created world. After all, we already have a plan there. So if we want to set that plan into motion, we need to be together. Her smile softened. And, of course... I also want to spend a little more time with him.
Bell breathed slowly and placed the book on the table in front of her before closing it. Her eyes tightened as another thought surfaced. I also need to find the thing my father was searching for. She knew very little about it, but there was one memory she could never forget.
It was a memory from when she was still very young. Her father had been preparing to leave for the Imaginary World, and at that age, Bell couldn't understand the importance of what he was doing. She only knew that her father was leaving and that she wouldn't be able to see him for some time. Tears had gathered in her eyes as she looked up at him.
"Can't you stay...?"
She remembered how sad she had felt. Even now, she couldn't clearly remember her father's face. Time had taken much of that memory away, but she still remembered the warmth of his hand when he placed it gently on top of her head. He looked down at her with a faint smile.
"I've never seen you like this before. Where is my Bell who shakes me to my core whenever she wants something?"
Young Bell didn't answer. Her father slowly stood up and looked toward the sky. His expression became more serious as he spoke.
"I need to achieve something before I become King. And to fix things, I need to go to the Imaginary World."
Bell looked at him with confusion.
"Why do you need to go there? For... what reason?"
Her father's expression suddenly darkened. He looked toward the other side and began walking away. Then, without turning around, he gave her the answer that would remain inside her memory for years.
"To search for the miracle of Fate."
Those were the last words Bell heard from her father before he left.
The memory suddenly faded, bringing Bell back to reality. Even after all these years, that memory still shook her. She slowly walked toward the window and stood there, looking out at the enormous Exil Tree. Somewhere beyond those branches was Zaraf, fighting his way through the tournament. Bell's hand tightened slightly as she watched the tree.
Please be safe.
---
Meanwhile, I was on the First Branch, surrounded by a group of mysterious monsters. I looked at the wooden creatures crawling around me and sighed.
"Ah, shit."
I drew my sword and covered the blade with wind. I looked at the monsters for a moment, then decided to try something before fighting them.
"Can you talk?"
No answer.
I stared at them.
"Of course not."
Looks like these wooden monsters couldn't understand a damn thing. That made things easier. I had already fought knights in the dungeon that were made from the same general type of material, so I had a pretty good idea of how to deal with them. Instead of charging directly into the largest group, I rushed toward the side where there were fewer monsters. The creatures immediately noticed me and started moving after me.
I closed the distance and jumped into the air just before they could surround me. Several of the monsters leaped after me, but I twisted my body and let them pass beneath me. The ones following behind couldn't stop in time and crashed directly into each other. While I was still in the air, I gathered more wind around my sword. Strangely, ever since entering the Exil Tree, my wind element felt stronger. It was almost as if something within the tree was enhancing it.
"Wind's Way!"
I swung my sword, releasing a sharp wave of wind that tore through the wooden creatures. Several of them were cut cleanly in half, while the remaining monsters stopped moving and simply stared for a moment before wandering away. Maybe they were lazy. I honestly didn't care.
I landed on the branch and looked at my sword. Then I suddenly felt embarrassed.
Why did I shout the name like that?
Using some dramatic attack name was one thing when nobody was around, but shouting it out loud felt completely different. I definitely wasn't going to do that in front of other people. I looked around again and tried to figure out where I was.
I looked upward, but all I could see was green. It wasn't because the sky itself was green. I was underneath another enormous branch, and the upper branch was so far above me that it looked like it existed beyond the sky itself. Flying directly there wasn't even possible. First, I needed to find Alysa, and then I needed to locate the key parts. So I started moving toward the west, walking up and down the strange terrain of the branch. Some areas were covered in flowers and bushes that grew high above me, while other areas dropped deep into the branch itself.
It was honestly annoying.
"What kind of path is this?"
I stopped and looked around. Then an idea came to me. If I wanted to understand the surrounding area properly, the best way would be to look at it from above. I looked upward again, but there were too many enormous roots and tree bales blocking my vision. There was no way I could get a proper view from the ground.
Then I noticed something.
A leaf.
It was huge.
"Hmm... it's big. Like a...!"
I suddenly remembered the guy who had tried to kill me when I first arrived here. One of those lunatics. He had incredible control over wind and had managed to float a leaf even larger than the one I was looking at. He had actually used it to fly. If he could do it, then maybe I could figure it out too.
I picked up the leaf and carried it toward a slightly higher area nearby. I placed it down and looked at it with determination.
"Time to fly like a bird who conquered the sky."
I paused.
"Yeah... a little dramatic."
Maybe spending so much time around Gray was starting to affect me.
I stepped onto the leaf and tried to use my wind element. At first, nothing happened. I increased the amount of wind and tried to control it more carefully, but suddenly the leaf split directly beneath me.
"Sigh..."
I stared at the broken leaf for a moment. But instead of feeling disappointed, I saw something important in that failure. The leaf hadn't simply refused to move. It had broken because my control was too rough. That meant there was a possibility that it could actually work if I figured out the correct amount of force.
So I went looking for more.
Several minutes later, I had gathered fifty-four leaves.
I looked at the pile and grinned.
"Yes. It's time to create a smooth ride."
I started experimenting again. I used a small amount of wind control to make the leaf move, but whenever I tried to stand on it, the pressure became too much and the leaf broke apart. Some barely lifted from the ground before collapsing. Others managed to carry me for a short distance before breaking. I kept trying anyway.
Then some monsters appeared.
They attacked me.
"How dare you interrupt my research?!"
I kicked their asses and returned to my experiments.
More failures followed.
Eventually, I stopped and looked toward the sky.
Then I remembered what I was actually supposed to be doing.
What am I doing?
I needed to clear this branch with Alysa. I needed to find the key parts. I also needed to find a suitable team. And here I was, wasting my time trying to ride leaves.
I stood up.
"Time to go!"
I looked at the leaf one last time.
"I'll try later when I'm not in a hurry, buddy."
I turned around.
Then a natural breeze passed through the branch.
The leaf suddenly swayed.
I stopped.
Something about that movement caught my attention.
I looked at the leaf again.
The breeze moved around it naturally, carrying it without breaking it. I reached out with my wind element and gently touched that breeze. Instead of controlling the entire thing, I simply guided it.
The leaf moved.
My eyes widened.
Wait...
I suddenly remembered Master Ben's words from training.
"You need to be like the wind itself. That way, you can move more easily through the wind controlled by you. Let the breeze naturally move around you."
A natural breeze and controlled wind.
Both were needed.
I didn't need to force the wind to carry me. I only needed to create a path for it to flow through. I adjusted my control and allowed the natural breeze to move around me. Then I jumped onto the leaf.
For the first time, it didn't break.
I landed softly, almost as if I had become part of the wind itself.
"So that's how..."
I focused my wind around the leaf and my body. I wasn't literally flying. Instead, I was using the wind to control my movement. Up. Down. Left. Right. I could guide the leaf through the air, almost like I had a steering wheel in my hands.
I laughed.
"I can actually do it!"
For a few moments, I felt like I was skydiving through the branches of the Exil Tree. The sensation was incredible. The leaf moved beneath me while the wind carried us forward, and for the first time, I had discovered a completely different way to use my element.
Then—
CRASH!
I slammed directly into the roots of the tree.
I fell onto the branch and rubbed my head.
"...Okay."
I looked at the leaf.
"It still needs some work."
But it worked.
That was what mattered.
With enough practice, I could perfect the control. I had found a new way to move through the air.
"Wind's Breeze!"
A simple name.
And honestly, it sounded pretty good.
I climbed onto another leaf and continued toward the west. As I gained altitude, I realized I was moving through a huge section of the branch covered in bushes. The higher I went, the more of the area I could see. Eventually, I looked down and saw the branch where I had started. Huge roots surrounded the area like pillars, stretching upward toward the branches above.
But the higher I went, the more I noticed something strange.
The wind pressure changed.
I tried going farther upward, but the pressure became stronger. It didn't matter what I was riding. Leaf or not, I couldn't simply fly through that area and reach the upper branch.
So even this has a limit.
I lowered myself and focused on the ground instead. From above, I could see several participants moving through the branch. Some were running from place to place, while others were fighting each other. From this height, they looked incredibly small.
"They look like garbage from here."
Suddenly—
BOOM!
An attack struck me.
My control broke from the sudden shock.
"Whoa!"
I desperately tried to regain control of the leaf and managed to land safely on another section of the branch.
"Huff..."
I touched my chest.
"I'm safe."
Then I looked toward the direction the attack had come from.
"Who was it?"
Five fairies appeared from between the roots. All of them had strange grins on their faces. The long-faced man stood at the front, looking particularly pleased with himself.
"A degenerate scum, I guess?"
He smirked.
"Looks like we disturbed the trip you were having. Sorry for the delay."
I stared at him.
What a senile bastard.
"What do you want from me?"
Actually, that was a pretty good question. Right now, I didn't even have a key part. Fighting me without one was practically meaningless.
The long-faced man smiled.
"We know you don't have the key parts. So we came to check what you have."
I raised an eyebrow.
"What Creators have?"
Huh?
So he was an idiot on top of everything else.
Words clearly weren't going to work on these guys.
I pulled out my sword and pointed it toward them.
"Then let me let you meet the sword that's going to beat your shitty asses."
I raised the blade.
"Lesson time."
Of course, the lesson wasn't really for them.
It was for me.
Through them, I could learn how fairies fought. I had only learned a little about their magic so far, but I had never actually fought one. I didn't know what kind of battle strategies they used, what kind of abilities they possessed, or how their powers worked together.
The five fairies suddenly moved into formation. Two stepped several meters backward. Two positioned themselves in the middle, still keeping some distance from me, while the long-faced man remained at the front and pulled out his broad sword. His physique made it obvious that he was accustomed to swinging something that heavy.
I dashed forward.
But before I could reach him, the two fairies standing behind him raised their weapons.
"Bows!"
So those were the ones who had attacked me earlier.
I didn't stop.
They released their arrows.
I swung my sword to intercept one.
The moment the arrow touched my blade—
BOOM!
A shockwave exploded through my sword.
My hand shook violently, and I was forced to stop advancing.
"What the hell was that?"
I stared at the arrow.
"What kind of arrows are they throwing at me?"
Before I could think any further, the other two fairies began chanting. A faint glow appeared around their hands before the energy traveled toward the long-faced man. The light surrounded his body, and I immediately noticed the change. His physique became sharper, his movements looked more controlled, and his presence became heavier.
So they fight using strategy.
Formation.
Support.
Damage dealer.
I understood.
The long-faced man suddenly charged at me.
Our swords collided.
CLANG!
I blocked his first strike and countered. He swung again, and I moved aside before returning another slash. We exchanged several attacks, testing each other's movements. Then, after a few clashes, he suddenly jumped backward.
An arrow flew toward me.
"Shit!"
I moved aside.
I didn't dare parry it this time. I still didn't understand what kind of energy was hidden inside those arrows, and I wasn't interested in finding out by taking another direct hit.
While I was busy dodging, the long-faced man suddenly rushed forward again. His sword came straight toward me, aimed directly at my heart.
"No easy going, are you?"
I immediately used the technique I had developed during my previous battle with the shadow. I pulled wind from within my body, generating it instead of simply gathering it from the surrounding air. The wind exploded outward and formed a protective field around me.
His sword struck the field.
It stopped.
For a moment, I thought I had him.
Then the long-faced man grinned.
A strange light began flowing around his hand.
The energy moved along his arm and gathered around his sword.
Then—
Slash!
His blade cut straight through my wind field.
My eyes widened.
It cut through it?!
I didn't have time to think.
I reached out and grabbed his sword with my bare hand. I concentrated the wind around my palm, protecting my skin from the blade as I stopped it.
The moment I touched the sword, I felt something different.
It wasn't an element.
At least, it wasn't any element I knew.
It was warm.
No.
Hot.
Burning.
A word suddenly appeared in my mind.
"...Aura?"
Did they have some kind of power-up like that?
The long-faced man grinned wickedly.
"Looks like you have some knowledge of it. But it doesn't matter."
He pulled against my grip.
"I am the swordsman of the greatest sword-teaching academy! And I stand at the Core Luminance!"
He laughed loudly.
"I am Quartz! [C-Rank]"
I stared at him.
"..."
I had absolutely no idea what he had just said.
Core Luminance?
Quartz?
What kind of words is he throwing at me now?
I tried to pull his sword away, but it didn't move. He had already covered his hand in the same aura.
Then he suddenly shouted toward his teammates.
"Now! Get ready for the show of shots!"
He twisted his body and threw me aside.
I stumbled backward.
And then I saw the arrows.
They were coming straight toward me.
"Damnit!"
I desperately tried to stabilize my landing, but the arrows were already almost in front of my face. This time, I could clearly see the strange energy covering them.
The aura again?
"So that's why the impact was different when I blocked them."
I raised my sword.
Whatever that energy was, I needed to block it somehow.
But just as I was about to move—
"Block the attack from behind!"
A voice suddenly came from beneath my feet.
I froze.
What?
I looked down.
A flower.
The flower was talking to me.
Plants can speak too?!
It was already confusing enough, but somehow the important part of its warning reached me.
Behind.
I immediately moved.
The long-faced man had already appeared behind me.
His sword came toward my back.
I twisted my body just in time, and his blade passed by me.
At the same time, I trusted the arrows to the flower.
"I'll trust you!"
The flower reacted immediately.
Roots burst from the ground.
Nearby branches and vines twisted together, forming a large wooden shield between me and the incoming arrows.
BOOM!
The arrows struck the wooden wall.
The shield shook but held.
The long-faced man immediately jumped backward.
For the first time since the battle began, confusion appeared on his face.
"How?"
He stared at the wooden shield.
"Creators possess only one element!"
His eyes moved toward me.
"And yours is wind!Then how did you use wood?"
I slowly raised my head.
A grin appeared on my face.
"Who said I'm the only Creator on this branch?"
I glanced toward the enormous roots farther away.
"Isn't that right, Alysa?"
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, from beneath the roots, a figure stepped forward.
Alysa.
She stood in the darkness beneath the enormous roots, her face partially hidden by the shadows.
But her smile was clear.
A dangerous, playful smile.
She looked toward the five fairies.Then toward me."Time to play with them."