"Huh?"
This was the Royal Palace, home to the Queen and the Elfin Realms governing body. To Shuyun's knowledge, the monarchy here was similar to that of earth. The building for the center of governing affairs hardly had anyone in it?
This was much like a car dealership that had no cars.
Ai viewed his shock with an indifferent expression.
"Who all resides here?"
This time, it was Ai's turn to be confused. A person seemingly in high regard with the Queen seemed to have not a clue about the Royal Palace. This continuously made Ai think of just who this person might truly be. She had already found it strange that she hadn't known of such a person, but the fact that the person in question was just clueless to all that revolved around the Royal Palace only served to puzzle her. Still, considering he was an esteemed guest of her Queen, she wouldn't mind entertaining his questions.
"Currently, besides the Royal Elfin Guards that are here for safety, the Valkyries of the Palace, which number in twelve, too reside here. They are both the Elfin Realms greatest defensive and our highest form of government. This, of course, is below the Queen."
Shuyun became interested in the topic of the Valkyries. A group of twelve that both governs and protects the Elfin Realm relatively single-handedly.
'They must be very powerful individuals'
Then, he recalled Ai's amazing abilities she displayed when they first met. It only made him wonder whether she was a Valkyrie, or as strong as one.
"Are you a Valkyrie?"
This confirmed her thoughts. This person knew nothing of the Elfin Realm.
"No"
"Are you as strong as one?"
"I am not"
Shuyun was inwardly surprised. Although he knew not of how this worlds abilities functioned, by instinct he could tell that Ai was strong. That's because when she had discovered them, the fear he had was much greater than when he was held at gunpoint. It only made him more curious as to the identities of the Valkyries but knew it was overstepping his bounds, as he wasn't no being of power, but just a temporary visitor. Still, he felt he had bombarded Ai enough today with his questions so he decided to lay the topic of conversation to rest.
Even though they had talked for quite some time, it was still several long minutes of walking in awkward silence did they come before a long hallway of evenly spaced doors.
Ai walked up to one of the doors and waved her hand in front of it. Several Runes lit up around the frame of the door, which in itself was huge compared to the norm he was used to, at least 3 times the size of an average door back at Earth. Following the color palette of the place, it seemed to be made with a dark green, beautiful wood with many stripes of gold. At the center of the door, the imprint of a hand. After the runes faded away, Ai turned to look at him.
"Place your hand upon the imprints on the and circulate your qi"
Circulate... qi?
He awkwardly smiled at Ai while rubbing his head.
"I don't know... how to do that..."
This almost made AI collapse on the floor. Had she really attacked someone... who didn't even know how to circulate qi?!?!?
It was common knowledge that even an 8 year old elf could do this bare minimum, which is why she thought she had to only explain the process of how to bind his imprint with the door. But now, she had to explain how to circulate qi? What was she, a teacher?
How does one even go about doing such a thing? Circulating Qi was more of a passive action, like breathing, that one learned on their own. Ai stood speechless as she viewed him. Though the look on her face remained indifferent, it couldn't help but make Shuyun feel further uncomfortable.
But just as he was about to speak, an unfathomable sight appeared before him. Gazing out the window behind Ai, a forest that spread to infinity, upside down within the sky.
"What's... that?"
Ai was brought out of her stunned state as she narrowed her eyes.
'What else do-"
Fully turning around, her eyes also met with the mystical forest. Her eyes widened in shock.
'What... is that?"
She had never heard of a formation or the like within the Elfin Realm with the imagery of a forest.
A lot of strange things seemed to be happening today