Several days had passed since the explosion. Sol, now reunited with Amber and Thorwyn, had resumed traveling eastward through the Great Forest. Their pace was much slower than before, no longer having Thorwyn pull the carriage. Instead, they traveled on foot, moving with caution.
Sol had already explained what had happened: the confrontation with Jendar, the sudden reinforcements, and how he sealed one of their Law Techniques at the perfect moment to create an opening for escape. But he knew better than to assume that was the end of it. If those elves had survived, and he was fairly confident they had, it was only a matter of time before they returned. That was especially true of the wood elf, Jendar. Not only was he incredibly unreasonable, but he also struck Sol as the type who would rather die than fail.
Even if the other three gave up the pursuit, Sol knew Jendar wouldn't.
Sol also recognized that this situation was partially his fault. He'd been careless, too confident in the illusion created by the Deceiver's Earring. If he had simply stayed out of the elven town, rather than giving in to his curiosity about their different culture, he likely would never have encountered Jendar.
'What's happened, happened. No point in mulling over it. Now we need to be extra vigilant.' Sol thought to himself as he released more psychic energy.
Since the encounter, he'd kept [Seeker's Map] active almost constantly. The psychic skill gave him a clear sense of their surroundings, and through it, they had managed to avoid several groups of elves traveling or patrolling the woods. Using the skill nonstop gradually drained his energy, but the safety it offered was well worth the cost.
As the trio moved beneath the dense canopy, sunlight broke through the foliage in golden shafts. Birds chirped in the distance, and the scent of moss and wet leaves filled the air. The moment felt almost serene, until Sol suddenly came to a halt.
His eyes narrowed as sensed something far away.
'It's not a person… not a beast either… what is this feeling?'
It was a vibrant, radiant presence pulsing at the very edge of his scanning range. It didn't feel hostile, but it felt unbelievably massive.
"One second." Sol said curtly.
Before either of his companions could respond, he leapt up through the trees, vanishing into a blur of green above. The branches rustled briefly, then fell still.
Thorwyn tilted his head and asked, "Grrrw? (What's he doing now?)"
A moment later, Sol dropped back down with wide eyes and amazement etched across his face.
"You two have to see this."
He gestured excitedly, already turning to leap back up.
Amber was the first to follow, bounding silently from branch to branch as if weightless. The leaves barely stirred in her wake. She vanished into the canopy without a sound.
Thorwyn, unwilling to be left behind, crouched and leapt after them.
Snap.
The first branch cracked under his weight, sending him crashing back to the ground with a thud and a surprised grunt. He pulled himself up and glared at the innocent tree that had lost a branch.
"Grrr… (These trees are too small for me…)"
Grumbling, Thorwyn eyed the canopy above, considering a vertical leap. But he doubted any of the trees would support his weight, even if he managed to get up there.
Noticing Thorwyn's struggle, Sol smiled faintly and raised a hand, channeling mana into the ground.
The earth beneath Thorwyn rumbled and shifted, rising into a perfectly smooth platform of hardened soil and stone. Leaves brushed past him as he ascended, and within moments, the treetops fell away beneath his feet.
And then he saw it.
A sea of green stretched in all directions. The Great Forest continued endlessly to the horizon like an ocean made of emeralds, broken only by distant silhouettes of mountains, each one cloaked in thick trees like moss-covered stone. A light breeze stirred the upper canopy, making the leaves shimmer like waves.
But none of it compared to what stood in the distance.
Far, far away, a gargantuan tree towered above the landscape, easily dwarfing even the tallest mountains in the vicinity. Its trunk was so wide it resembled a natural fortress, and its colossal branches reached so high they disappeared into the clouds. Thorwyn craned his neck, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see where it ended.
Not being able to see the tree in its entirety, even though they were still so far away, gave such an incredible sense of scale that was indescribable.
His ears twitched in awe.
"Awoo? (What is that?)"
Sol, standing beside him, stared at the tree and answered as best he could.
"I've only heard about it in stories… but I'm sure of it. That's the World Tree. The Yggtree."
Now that he saw it, he understood the strange energy he'd sensed. It came from the Yggtree, or at least from something near it. His psychic scan hadn't come anywhere close to the tree, but it exuded such potent energy that it could still be felt faintly from many miles away.
"Big." Even Amber made a comment, simple and brief it may be.
Taking in the sight a little longer, Sol couldn't help but wonder aloud.
"I wonder what's taller, the Yggtree or Orna's Reach? Both pierce the clouds…"
He compared it to the tallest structure he'd ever seen, but unfortunately, neither of his companions had seen Orna's Reach before, so neither could hazard a guess.
"Hyuu? (Are we going there?)" Thorwyn asked, noting that they were already heading in that direction.
Sol nodded. "If the map is right, we'll pass beneath the tree. But we'll have to stay far from the trunk. That's where the capital of Sylmasera is located. If we get spotted near there… I doubt it'll be just two or four A-Rankers after us."
"Awroo! (Don't worry, together we can take them!)" Thorwyn roared confidently.
Sol smiled wryly, not having the heart to tell Thorwyn he still couldn't quite match even one A-Ranker.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, okay?"
After taking in the view of the Yggtree for a little longer, the three descended and resumed their journey on foot.
"Ah, before I forget."
Sol waved his hand out behind them, causing the earth to shift slightly. Sol and Thornwyn's tracks disappeared as the ground settled back to normal. As for Amber's tracks… she didn't leave any so that wasn't an issue.
"Alright, now we can go."
...
A few hours later, Jendar and Reena arrived at the spot where the trio had made their brief stop.
Jendar crouched beside a broken branch, inspecting it closely. His expression was curious as he muttered to himself.
"Why would a large wolf-type beast try to climb this tree? It should've known it was too heavy. The branch snapped off too cleanly… Maybe it was chasing smaller prey?"
Reena leaned over to take a look for herself, but couldn't understand how he had deduced so much from a broken branch.
"So… was the human here?"
Jendar sighed, a hint of irritation in his voice. "Don't remind me. He covered his tracks well."
For the past few days, the two of them had done their best to track Sol, but no matter where they searched, they couldn't find any clear trace of him.
Sensing his frustration, Reena tried to lift his spirits. "It's okay, we'll find him—"
"No, we won't." Jendar fist slamed the ground, crushing the branch and creating an indent in the ground. "The trail's long gone cold, and we've wasted too many days searching in vain. But we're not out of options."
He stood up and turned his gaze toward the direction of the Yggtree. Though the dense forest blocked the view, he could still faintly feel the essence of life that the great tree radiated.
"If he intends to cross into the Sapphire Scale Alliance, he'll have to pass under the Yggtree's shade. Either that, or take the long way around the Great Forest. You know what that means."
Reena's eyes widened in realization. "The Speaker can find him!"
The Speaker was able to communicate directly with the Yggtree, and from that bond came many benefits. One of them was the ability to see anything that happened beneath the tree's branches. Anything within the Yggtree's domain was visible to it, and not even stealth type law techniques could hide someone from its omniscient gaze.
If Sol really went there, finding him would be easy. But as she thought it over more, her excitement gave way to hesitation.
"But… are you sure he'll go there? Didn't you say we can't trust what he said?"
Jendar's expression darkened, a flicker of rage rising in his eyes. "I will never trust a scumbag human. But it's the only lead we have right now if we want to find and eliminate him. I'd rather not let him anywhere near the Yggtree, but we don't have a choice. Open a portal to Yggmasera. We'll wait there until the Speaker locates him. You can also use the time to finish your preparations, since we won't be moving for a while."
"O-okay." Reena stammered, unconsciously avoiding his furious gaze.
'I've never seen this side of him before…'
Reena still wasn't used to seeing Jendar so riled up. Only recently had she begun to witness this side of him. Over the past few days, she had tried to suggest the possibility of talking things out with the human, of maybe finding some kind of understanding since he said it himself he didn't wish to fight. But each time, Jendar had shot the idea down, he even scolding her for even thinking it and went into tirades on how bad humans were.
She knew he hated humans. She knew humans were bad. But deep down, she couldn't shake the feeling that this didn't have to be this way.
Still, she did as he instructed.
A portal formed into existence, and the two stepped through it into Yggmasera, where they would gather their forces and prepare.