A few minutes after Kelama separated from Akachi and the baby, she finally reached the area where she had sensed the battle. But despite arriving at the exact location, she saw no signs of the individuals she was searching for.
She wasted no time pondering the reasons; she immediately emitted her aura wave to try to locate the individuals again. This time, it only took a few seconds for the wave she sent out to detect the four presences she had sensed before.
And once again, she propelled herself forward, flying even faster towards the new location, leaving a shockwave in her wake as she passed. This time, she tried to be faster than before, but it took only seconds before she arrived at the destination.
Stopping just below cloud level, she observed the scene where three dragons were fighting violently and in a completely animalistic way. Scratches, bites, kicks, and various blows were being exchanged wildly.
It was as if they were blind, fighting shadows and everything within reach. But amidst the chaos, a small figure moved quickly around the dragons—a hooded figure that seemed to periodically distract them.
Seeing this small figure, Kelama, who was about to interrupt the horrifying scene of violence, issued a command that could be clearly heard by the figure.
"Leave…"
Immediately after hearing her voice, the figure ran toward the protection of the forest. Kelana then studied the battleground and identified the perfect spot to land. But contrary to what common sense would dictate, Kelama did not begin to descend smoothly or slowly. Instead, she dove toward the ground at an even greater speed than before.
Kelama's speed alone would have been fast enough to break the sound barrier several times, but with the added acceleration from free-falling toward the ground, she reached a terrifying velocity.
Even as the ground rushed up to meet her, she had no intention of slowing down. Defying common sense once again, she pushed herself to go even faster.
Continuing at that same speed, mere milliseconds before Kelama violently collided with the ground—just over 20 meters from the surface—she conjured a massive, translucent shield right in front of her. Then...
Booooommmmm
A massive impact followed. A shockwave traveled for hundreds of meters, and the tremor from the impact could be felt kilometers away, signaling the raw energy unleashed.
Fortunately, the surrounding forest absorbed much of the potential destruction. But everything within a 60-meter radius was leveled, leaving nothing but bare ground and a shallow, small crater at the point of impact.
And at the epicenter of the impact, Kelama stood completely unharmed in her human form, right in the middle of the crater. However, the bodies of the three dragons lay sprawled around her, seemingly intact but showing no signs of consciousness or life.
She then walked to the edge of the crater and dusted off her clothes.
"Tsk I should have worn the uniform. Tsk."
Clicking her tongue in frustration as her clothes began to stain, she glanced with disgust at the bodies of the dragons and clicked her tongue again.
She then made a gesture with her hands, and all the dirt on her clothes vanished. Still, her expression showed displeasure. However, it didn't last long, as she soon turned to look behind her.
"You, Frost Elf, come to me."
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"Well then, little human, now that you're properly fed—or so I hope—how about resting for a bit? I know humans need several hours of sleep at this stage of life, so you can take a nap whenever you want."
This guy must be joking… There's no way he thinks he fed me well when he only gave me a little milk, which I have no idea where he got. Fortunately, we're in a woman's house—otherwise, I would have refused to put that milk in my mouth.
I'm just not complaining more because it was tasty, making me even more suspicious of its origin. But anyway, after taking a relaxing bath and putting on some clean clothes, which I also have no idea where Akachi got, I'm lying comfortably in a luxurious bed.
But I don't want to sleep right now. I want to stay awake for when Kelama returns and find out what happened. I also want to learn more about this place, and this is an opportunity I might regret missing because of sleep and fatigue.
"You're very curious, little human, I like that, but I'm afraid it's really necessary for you to rest now. So... please, sleep."
Damn… He just raised his finger and did some kind of magic, and soon sleepiness took over me. I couldn't fight it anymore, and my eyelids closed, and soon I was in a deep sleep.
As soon as I fell into deep sleep, I had a strangely vivid dream, where I was back trapped in that nebula. The same vibrant colors filled my vision, and they corresponded to my emotions just like before.
So, as I did before, I tried again to stay calm and merge all the colors into one. And I succeeded, almost entirely uniting the colors into a shimmering green. But unlike last time, where I managed to escape the test, this time I felt only pain.
The same pain I experienced before when I tried to move and control the colorful smoke. It was as if something was telling me not to do it or that it was beyond my capability.
So, I started trying other emotions that were easy to simulate, like anger, sadness, and joy. But they all had the same result, no matter how much effort I put into simulating those emotions in my mind.
And the pain grew stronger and stronger, affecting my ability to control the emotions and interact actively with the colors of the nebula. With each attempt, my results worsened drastically.
After several tries, the best I could do was merge only half of the nebula into a single color. On the other hand, the pain I felt each time I reached my limit grew stronger and stronger.
It felt like my mind was about to explode, with my brain struggling to process things as simple as remembering moments of joy. I had no choice but to surrender and wait for it to end on its own.
Unfortunately, this place seemed like a penance for me… I couldn't help but stare at the colorful smoke moving erratically, as if it had some sort of attraction that affected me unconsciously.
It kept me fixated on its movements, drowning me in thoughts about how I could dominate it and control it at will…
I wanted to master it… My whole brain was consumed with thoughts of how I could achieve total control over this place, even if it tormented me.
Then I found myself trying again what felt like kicking a post.
But the more I looked, tried, and failed to find the key to control, the more I felt as if the post didn't even tremble, no matter how hard I kicked. It was like an adult weighing 150 pounds mocking a 2-year-old child trying to hurt him.
And I was that foolish child…
But that only made me more motivated. All my frustration and anger fueled my effort and determination.
However, while I tried to find the path to success, something different happened.
The pain that had been becoming bearable, as I started to get used to it, grew more and more intense. It didn't stop increasing; despite my best efforts to endure it, the pain surpassed my limit and kept escalating.
It felt like my skull was splitting, with shards of bone stabbing into my brain...
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... ... ..."
I woke up suddenly, and a scream of pain escaped my mouth so loudly that my vocal cords tore.
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"So you're a Socius in formation... Very interesting..."
Sitting in a kind of chair made of stone, clearly improvised but still functional and comfortable, was Kelama. She was holding a small notebook in her hands, writing something in its pages.
Before her stood a very peculiar figure, kneeling with her head bowed. He was a tall man with elongated ears, sharp eyes, and nearly as tall as Akachi. But his skin wasn't pale like Kelama's; on the contrary, a bright blue tone radiated from the man's skin.
His hair, short but neatly combed, was a snowy white, much like Kelama's, but unlike hers, his hair lacked the same radiant sheen.
"Great Dragon Lady Targus, this humble servant begs for your understanding... I am not yet capable of becoming a Consors, which is why I could not prevent this catastrophe. As I said, I was employed as an assistant to Dragon Lady Ferrete, but my training is still in its early stages... I'm sure that..."
Despite not looking directly at her, Kelama could clearly sense the despair and fear overwhelming him. He continued to pour out more and more meaningless words, seemingly unable to stop.
Sigh
Rising from her makeshift chair, Kelama let out a long sigh, which made the elf stop speaking immediately. Though he was accustomed to the cold, he suddenly felt as if his entire body had been frozen.
"You talk too much, boy. But your words are empty to this Lady; you cannot answer what I wish to know. Save your words for when they are truly necessary—perhaps they might help you regain some of what you've lost here today."