Mystical Journey

After travelling with the convoy for a few minutes, Garen found a silent, pitch-black forest.

Standing in the middle of the woodlands, he waited silently for a moment.

Very quickly, from deep within the forest as black as ink, came the sound of heavy footsteps. The sound came in bursts, carrying a rhythm.

A giant creature, almost eight meters in height spanning no shorter than ten meters, was squeezing between the trees as it headed here. It was a dual headed salamander. It raised its two heads in mid-air, and continuously protruded its black tongue.

The dual headed salamander stopped in front of Garen, with a distance of less than 10 meters between them.

"Let’s begin." Garen signaled his intention.

The pitch black dual headed salamander let out a soft growl, then suddenly thrusted its head fiercely at Garen.

Garen took off his gloves, slowly extended his left palm, then placed it on the salamander’s forehead.

Bang!!

As his palm met its forehead, a circle of air shock waves blasted out suddenly from the impact.

Both the man and the salamander were blown several meters back abruptly. Their bodies were left with numerous scratches from severe friction.

Garen widened his eyes. He had a sense of irresistible delight.

"Sure enough...Sure enough… hehehe.." He could not help but let out a faint laugh. In the midst of the dark forest, his eyes seemed unprecedentedly bright.

"That’s right, looking at the time, this is about it. I even came back a little earlier." He looked at the dual-headed salamander who was quickly digging a hole to leave. Its body disappeared in the distance, becoming a blur, as it headed towards the horse carriage.

********************

Hwaaa...

Waves of sounds could be heard in the broad, dark green forest. Leaves formed layers of waves as they were blown in the strong wind. From time to time, there were some dark green creatures flying out from the forest, while occasionally, a few strange birds came down from the sky to perch in the trees.

The midday sun was covered by grey clouds, only revealing a circle of golden light near the edges.

In the distant sky, three giant grey hawks were flapping their wings as they headed towards the depths of the vast forest.

Each grey hawk had a six to seven meters wingspan. On their backs, sat two men and a woman in grey robes.

Among the two men, one of them had a strong body. Beneath his grey robe was shimmering silver armor, while at the waist was a heavy broadsword. His most prominent attribute was the black beard on his chin.

The other man had a pale complexion, and seemingly lacked training. He had a pair of calm eyes, while beneath his grey robe was a tight black gown. The most eye-catching attribute was his pair of eyes, which had exceedingly rare silver-black pupils. His white retina with silver pupils left a cold, strange impression on others.

The only girl had flaming red leather armor beneath her grey robe, clearly revealing her slender waist. She had a beautiful face with a youthful aura. Her bust was abundant, but not excessive, and her legs were long and slender. It was evident she was showing off her proud assets. At one glance, she was not more than eighteen years of age. The wind ruffled her short, flaming red hair, revealing a dark-gold earing on her right ear.

"Darian! How long more until we arrive at Lush Forest District?" The girl yelled. She rode her grey hawk parallel to the strong man, and turned to look at both men.

"I don’t know. I only went there for a vacation many years ago. I know nothing other than that." The strong bearded man stroked his chin. "Ask Beckstone about these, he definitely knows."

The girl silently gazed at the man on a greyhawk in front of her. The pale-faced man in grey robes bowed his head, as he seemed to be focused on some calculations. Uncertain, silver flames continuously erupted from his fingertips.

"We still need half a day’s time to reach Trejon’s Territory. Viscount Vanderman hates people breaking his laws. At this time, his territory should have been armed with various air defense mechanisms. As courtesy, we have to land one kilometer away and journey by foot." The black-gowned man seemingly heard the girl’s question and answered without turning his head.

"Hopefully we can gather sufficient information this time. So happen Barr and Baphje, the two professors from the Royal Alliance will be there. I’ve read their thesis on Silver Glitter, and it was enlightening for the cultivation of Nias’ second evolution. This time we can meet them in person." The black-gowned man said, seemingly speaking to himself.

"Our trail previously ended at Vanderman’s Manor. Maybe Leanna came to Trejon’s Territory before. As we need Vanderman’s help to search, do not be rude Darian, to avoid leaving a bad impression. It would be troublesome if they refused to help." The red-armored girl reminded in advance.

"Yes yes…" The bearded man lifelessly leaned on the back of his giant hawk. "It’s so boring. Adiss, you no longer chat with me after your Spiritualization. I wonder why…" He murmured as he helplessly tugged at the hawk’s feathers.

"A male riding on another male, what do you want me to say to you?" The hawk looked stupefied.

"I have goosebumps at the thought of a male riding on me. You better not have wishful thinking, otherwise, there are many things I will do. Of course, if you are Berlina, I would be glad to discuss reproduction with you."

"Why would you think this way?" The bearded-man loudly refuted, "Am I like that?"

"Very alike."

"Okay then.."

Berlina, who was beside them, instantly let out a shy laugh.

"Being looked down upon by his own core totem, Darian you can be considered the first in history."

"If i knew it earlier, I wouldn’t have Spiritualized him.." Garen uttered in dissatisfaction.

"Look out, there’s a creature in front." The black-gowned man closed his eyes, accurately reporting the numbers. "A second form acid bird and three first form black-billed geese entering attack range in one minute."

"Let me do it this time!" The red-armored woman was excited. "My flame sparks is the best for group combat."

*******************

In the distant jungle, a thick, brown, giant tree lifted its branches to the sky. Its diameter was tens of meters long, sustaining a huge shade of a few kilometers.

The lush leaves were like a blue blanket, growing furrily on the top of the tree. As the sunlight directly shot through the shade, only a glimmer of the golden rays remained.

At the bottom of the trunk, in the gaps of the roots, was a tree hole. The tree hole was about the height of three men, its width the length of two.

Inside the tree hole, there was a spacious brown wooden hall.

On both sides of the hall were three flower pots, with two flower pots directly above.

Hizzzz!

After a light sound, there was activity in six out of the eight pots. In the basin-sized circle, there was a green seed quickly emerging from the soil. After sprouting and emerging, small black flowers blossomed. Black fruits soon formed and dropped into the pot. The fruit then decayed and, once again, became growing and sprouting seeds..

Within 10 seconds, the pot was saturated with dense, green vines. The vines intertwined and grew upwards, forming a dark-green pillar of plants of about a man’s height.

There was a total of six flower pots forming six dark green pillars of plant material.

The vines constantly twisted and entangled.

On the top of pillar on the utmost left, a wrinkled old face was coming to sight. The face was actually formed by a dense combination of leaves and twigs; it had a nose, eyes and complete facial features.

"Two have yet to arrive?" The old face spoke with a dry, hoarse voice.

Different leafy faces emerged on the remaining five pillars.

"Davis, you are always the first." The second face from the right whispered.

"You are not too bad yourself, Leena." Davis didn’t utter much.

The other faces did not say a word but fixated their gaze on the two pots on the top.

Soon, a red seed emerged from the pot on the left, quickly growing into a red plant pillar.

A bearded, old face then appeared from the pillar.

"My apologies for the wait." The bearded man coughed twice. "I’ve already sent Beckstone off. According to the information he obtained and his current position, he should be quickly reaching Kovitan’s Lush forest District.

"Royal Luminarist Zikhar’s territory? One of my sons has a good relationship with him. Do you need a referral?" One of the elders asked.

"There is no need." Davis, the one who spoke first, muttered. "Let it be a test for Beckstone. If he can successfully activate his innate talent, we can find out the extent of his talent."

"This is just the first beginning… Vanderman’s ultimate totem - Green Vine Sphere, is the first key to perfecting Beckstone’s talent. Has the second been selected?" Leena asked.

"Count Eiskan of Bernarius. I will make the arrangements. His valor will be in display as Beckstone arrives." Davis answered.

"We have to grasp the opportunity. As Hellgate will be awakening soon, we do not have much time left." Leena nodded

"Beckstone will become the most perfect, strongest Luminarist in history. There will be no exception!" The bearded old man spoke in a low voice. "Currently he has already entered Spiritualization, but the Obscuro Society has also started making moves."

He swept his gaze across the hall.

"Friendship, family, love, despair, anger, sacrifice, glory...once Beckstone understands everything, his talent would develop thoroughly. When that day arrives, it would be the time to face the Obscuro Society head-on.

********************

Garen quietly focused on the vase of fresh flowers before him.

Red and white little flowers fully covered the branches of a rust-colored tree.

The white and red flower petals brought a sense of freshness towards the carriage. There was also a faint fragrance from the flowers in the air.

Piak!

Garen naturally plucked a pink flower and placed on the side of his plate.

He was using his right hand.

Piak!

It was another flower.

Lala who was sitting across him twitched her eyes, revealing a trace of frustration in her expression.

"The bonzai that I chose and pruned with much effort, can’t you let them be for a while more?" She said lightly.

After recovering from her illness, she wore a dark purple, one-piece short skirt, with a thick black belt at her waist. She wore pitch-black stockings, putting her slender legs on exhibit. She tied her blonde hair to her left side, allowing it to drape over.

After being empowered, she seemed to have healed completely. Her lips appeared to have a touch of pink, while her skin turned soft and fair, slightly glowing with pink.

Garen plucked another flower and raised his head to look at her. "Your dress is beautiful." He let out a satisfying smile.

Lala blushed at his smile.

"Leila got the clothes for me.." She whispered. "This, or even those that are more, and also many…"