Ayime sat proudly on the back of the pegasus, glancing smugly at her fellow students around her. She tugged at the reins, imitating the movements of the two elven riders, trying to make the pegasus take flight. The creature merely snorted, spreading its wings and flapping them twice, but even this simple display drew another round of exclamations from the surrounding magic apprentices. These mythical beasts, which lived exclusively alongside the elves, were a rare sight in the Eastern Continent. Upon learning that they hailed from the legendary, mysterious Whispering Forest, the students' amazement only grew.
Most of the admirers around Ayime were male apprentices, while many of the female students flocked to Yabin, her brother. His leather armor and longsword attracted considerable attention, with some girls even claiming they needed a swordsman companion for their upcoming internships. Yabin basked in the attention, cracking jokes that had the girls laughing and chattering excitedly.
The siblings had stumbled upon the Whispering Forest the previous day, drawn in by the massive spatial magic fluctuations emanating from within. Curious, they entered the forest but nearly ended up crushed by the guardian deadwood. Fortunately, Ruya had come out with her party to investigate and recognized the siblings.
The migration of the elves to the Whispering Forest had been kept secret, as per the instructions of Elder Lloyd. Naturally, the siblings knew nothing of it. However, since they had encountered them in the forest, Ruya decided to send the pair back to the Tooth Tower, escorted by two freshly summoned elven pegasus riders from Turalion.
The Whispering Forest had long been hidden from common knowledge. The combined divine power of the Sunwell and the World Tree Leaf subconsciously deterred ordinary people from approaching it. Only the elves themselves and a select few top-tier magicians knew of this ancient elven sanctuary from ancient texts. Now, with only one World Tree Leaf remaining, its deterrent power had significantly diminished. The elves' migration was bound to be discovered eventually, so Elder Lloyd advised Ruya to take the initiative and establish good relations with neighboring powers instead of hiding.
Elder Lloyd had gone directly to the imperial capital of Einfast to negotiate the details of the forest's relationship with the empire. Meanwhile, Ruya tasked the two elven pegasus riders with both escorting the siblings and greeting the renowned elemental magic sanctuary of the Tooth Tower.
In Ruya's mind, with the teleportation complete, the greatest challenge had already been resolved. The elven people were entirely out of Celeste's influence, and once the Ancient War Tree fully grew above the Sunwell, the resonance between its magic barrier and the Sunwell's would surpass even the power of three World Tree Leaves combined. With the elves' thousands of warriors and countless guardian deadwoods, they would fear no enemy.
In this seemingly settled situation, visiting the nearby magic guild to foster relations felt perfectly natural. To Ruya, who was still learning how to interact with humans, there was nothing wrong with this decision.
Yabin and Ayime certainly found nothing unusual about it. Riding on the elven pegasi, they quickly arrived at the Tooth Tower. While the elven riders ascended the tower at the invitation of the tower's masters, the siblings remained in the academy below.
"Are you still planning to study at the Tower of Water, Ayime?" a friendly female student asked.
"Grandmaster Granden mentioned last time that if I returned, I should study in the Tower of Earth. With his and Master Aiden's influence, my previous neglect of duties can be forgiven," Ayime replied with a playful smile, sticking out her tongue. Then, she gestured toward Yabin. "And this time, my brother is joining the Tooth Tower as well. Let me tell you, my brother's swordsmanship is incredible!"
"Wow, a magic-swordsman! That's so cool!" some girls exclaimed.
"How do you know the elves? And to be escorted by their pegasi? That's amazing!"
"Oh, that's a secret," Ayime teased, before reconsidering. Unable to resist showing off, she added in a mysterious tone, "But I can tell you that I have many secrets—big, exciting ones that would definitely blow your minds!"
"Ayime, stop spouting nonsense," Yabin interrupted, his tone stern and authoritative. He then turned to the girls with a playful grin, saying, "My sister just likes to make up stories to scare people. Sorry about that."
"Oh, what a protective brother! So, which element do you plan to study? Why not join us at the Tower of Fire?" A girl in a red robe, with fiery red hair to match, flirtatiously asked Yabin.
"Of course, he should join the Tower of Earth! A brother should look after his sister," countered another girl in an earthy yellow robe, grabbing Yabin's hand. "By the way, where exactly is the Whispering Forest? I've never heard of an elven settlement in the Eastern Continent before. Those winged pegasi are stunning! Tell us about it…"
Yabin smiled wryly at the overwhelming attention. "You'll have to wait for the elves to come down before I can say anything…"
He didn't have to wait long. While chatting with the surrounding magic apprentices, news from the high tower arrived about the two elven knights.
However, this news came down in a wave of screams and commotion, shaking everyone, even the entire Tooth Tower: Master Granden had been gravely injured in a dispute with the elven knights, and the two elven knights had been struck down by Master Aiden in a fit of rage, reduced to two charred corpses.
"What?!" Ayime and Yabin were stunned, unable to believe what they heard. The surrounding students were equally shocked, their faces pale with disbelief.
Before the siblings could react, a dozen high-level magicians burst out from the tower, racing toward them.
"They're the ones who brought the elves here—capture them!" someone shouted.
Dozens of curses and auxiliary spells came down like a tidal wave. Slowing, weakening, aging, energy siphoning—all kinds of magic struck them from all directions.
The siblings collapsed without a sound, overwhelmed by the deluge. Even if the magic had only been water or mud, it would have been enough to drown or crush them.
"It's impossible, it must be a misunderstanding..." Ayime fell to the ground, struggling to muster all her energy to shout, but only the faintest sound escaped her lips. She felt as if what flowed through her veins was no longer blood, but a tangled mass of curses.
No one paid her any attention. The entire Tooth Tower was in an uproar, like a pot of thick porridge boiling over on a fierce fire.
Two grand mages specialized in water magic had already examined Master Granden's injuries and came to the conclusion that they might be beyond magical healing. The weapons of these two elves seemed to have a strange effect, causing irreparable damage to Master Granden's body. Although there were no practitioners of white magic within the Tower of Teeth, the grand mages' expertise was still sufficient for them to recognize that such injuries could only be healed by the intervention of a few Cardinals from Celeste, and even then, it seemed there was little hope for recovery.
Although several grand mages still harbored doubts about the notion that the typically graceful and peaceful elves would resort to violence over a disagreement—especially against a kind-hearted grand mage like Master Grandon, whose mastery of earth magic had long reached perfection—the problem was that two advanced mages and three apprentices had witnessed the entire incident firsthand. They could vividly and convincingly recount every detail of what had transpired.
According to Master Aiden, only the treasure known as the World Tree's Leaves, held by the elves, could possibly save Master Granden. However, Master Granden's injuries were clearly so severe that he wouldn't last much longer. Therefore, under Master Aiden's command, over a hundred mages were swiftly assembled to head toward the Whispering Forest as quickly as possible.
Among them were nearly ten top-tier air elemental grand mages, including Master Aiden himself, who summoned over twenty air elementals. Combined with magical scrolls, a total of more than fifty enormous cloud-like air giants carried the mages, soaring into the sky in a grand procession.
Using such rare and powerful air elemental giants as mounts, an extravagance that could only be afforded by the Tooth Tower, showcased their unparalleled magical prowess. Furthermore, those summoned by Master Aiden for this mission were all exceptional elites, with at least a third of them capable of casting high-level single-element spells.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this team of elite mages represented half of the continent's top-tier magic casters. Their combined magical power was unquestionably enough to flatten a small country. Because of this, those remaining in the Tooth Tower weren't overly worried—they had absolute confidence in this team's ability to bring back the remedy to save Master Granden.
As for the two siblings who had brought the elves to the tower, they were thrown into the dungeons. Master Aiden initially interrogated them, but Abin remained silent with a somber expression, while his younger sister, Aimee, merely sobbed and claimed she didn't know anything. Master Aiden originally intended to execute the siblings on the spot by electrocuting them into ashes, but several other grand mages intervened to stop him. After all, Aimee was still a student of the Tooth Tower, and from the looks of it, she seemed to bear no direct responsibility for the situation.
Pressed for time and with no energy to spare on these two, Master Aiden temporarily ordered the siblings to be imprisoned.