Kai stood there, stunned by her words.

For a moment, he wondered why, if such a method existed, every elf he had seen looked as though they had already lost the will to live. The thought barely had time to settle before he noticed the strain on her face. The pain she was trying to hide told him everything he needed to know.

Whatever this method was, it came at a terrible cost.

“What is it?” he asked quietly.

Elder V’aleirith let out a slow sigh and shifted on the bed, trying to raise herself slightly. She winced again, her breath hitching. Kai moved at once to help her, but she lifted her remaining arm, stopping him.

“It’s fine,” she said. “My body just isn’t what it used to be.” She paused, then added, “I am already old, and these injuries have only hastened things.”

Her gaze drifted to where her arm had once been. “A single wisp of the everlasting flame touched me there. I had to sever it immediately, or I would have died.” he noticed how her voice remained calm, but her fingers tightened slightly. “I lost a lot of blood because of it.”

She shifted again, then gestured weakly toward a chair set against the wall.

Kai picked it up and brought it closer, sitting beside her bed. His eyes met hers. Though her physical form looked like she could collapse at any moment, her gaze held an undeniable resolve.

“Tell me the method,” he said. “And the price.”

A faint smile touched her lips. “You are perceptive.” She took a breath before continuing. “The price is simple. It is the same price many pay when attempting what should be impossible.” Her eyes met his. “Their soul.”

“Their… soul?”

“Yes. Elves live for a very long time. Because of that, we have developed spells that other Mages have never seen, and never will.” She hesitated briefly. “One of them is called [Fëamelda]. It’s an elvish word for sacrifice. We hold the spell sacred. No one dares to use it.”

“Because it burns your soul.”

He immediately recognized part of the word—fëa. It meant soul in elvish. Though, he could only guess at the last part of the word since he still didn’t know the language well enough.

Elder V’aleirith nodded. “Yes. It consumes the caster’s own soul to give life to another.” Her voice softened. “It cannot bring back the dead. But with enough strong souls, it can perform miracles.”

Her gaze grew distant. “The true cost is this. The soul that is burned will never be born again. It will never return to the cycle of reincarnation. It ends completely. Once and for all.”

Kai’s thoughts raced as he heard that.

He knew spells like that existed. There were spells that forced a Mage’s mana heart past its limits, giving them one final surge of power before killing them. There were even spells that burned away your body itself. But burning the soul was something else entirely. That was not death followed by rebirth. That was the final end.

Now he understood.

He understood why every elf he had seen looked hollow. They had already made their decision. They were prepared to give up their souls to give the Elder Tree another chance. Some of them might still be struggling with it, still hesitating in silence, but in the end, all of them—including V’aleirith—saw it as the final option.

And Kai knew why.

In the future he remembered, the Elder Tree did not die now. Its death came hundreds of years later. But not like this. Not burning. Not screaming for help. And perhaps the elders had used the same spell back then.

“You should already know it will work,” she said quietly.

Kai swallowed. “The elves will go extinct without the elders to guide them,” he said in a low voice.

She looked at him calmly. “But now you are here. You could protect my people. You could guide them. Even bring them into your kingdom.” Her voice remained steady. “Some will resist, but it will give them time. A future.” She paused. “Our lives, mine or the other elders’, are not important if our people lose their way after their god is gone.”

“That’s not true, Elder V’aleirith” Kai said at once.

Elder V’aleirith smiled faintly. “I am not saying we will do it.” Her gaze softened. “This is only if you cannot save the Elder Tree.”

She continued before he could speak. “Fatebreaker, I am not putting pressure on you. You already carry enough.” She took a slow breath. “But I know you. You would try no matter what. That is why I convinced the other elders to wait. To not go through with it until you arrive.”

Kai said nothing.

The weight of it settled heavily in his chest. She was giving him a chance. A single chance to save them all.

And if he failed, the elders would choose to end themselves so that Sylvastra could live a little longer.

It was not something Kai wanted to imagine, but he knew the truth.

The Elder Tree did not have much time left. At the rate it was burning, even six months sounded generous. Two months felt more realistic. Perhaps even less. That was why the elders had allowed themselves to consider such a desperate method in the first place.

Kai let out a slow breath.

“I will save the Elder Tree,” he said. “I promise.”

Elder V’aleirith smiled gently. “I will hold you to that.” Then her expression softened further. “But remember this. It is not your responsibility to save an entire race.”

Kai returned the smile. “I believe I took on that responsibility when I decided to save the entire world.”

She did not respond to that. Instead, she reached out and held his hand. Kai did not pull away. They sat there in silence for several minutes, the smell of herbs filling the room, the distant crackle of fire faintly audible even here.

Eventually, she spoke again.

“Raven told me about the civil war,” she said. “What happened to it? I would like to hear it from you.”

“I believe you already know parts of it. You must have foreseen some of it.”

“Only fragments,” she replied. “I want to know the whole story. It is better than lying here, waiting for death.”

Kai grimaced slightly, but he nodded.

He began to explain.

He spoke of the civil war from the beginning, of the shifting alliances and the growing chaos. He told her about the major battles, lingering longer on Hermil, where everything had nearly fallen apart. He described how he had fought Selenia, and what had happened to Regina, and how the clash had destroyed half of the capital. He spoke of the cost, the losses, and the choices he had been forced to make.

He also mentioned his engagement, and then the discoveries he had made from Hendricks’s diary.

Throughout it all, Elder V’aleirith listened quietly. Nothing he said seemed to surprise her. That, more than anything, made Kai wonder what truly could.

When he finally finished, she squeezed his hands gently.

“You went through a great deal,” she said. “And you still have much ahead of you. But know this. Both I and the Elder Tree believe that you will always succeed in what you set out to do.”

The words stayed with him long after she fell silent.

***

Kai was not sure about always being successful, the way Elder V’aleirith had said. Still, he hoped it was true.

He stayed with her for more than two hours, speaking quietly until her breathing grew heavier and she finally needed to rest. Only then did Kai leave the room.

The elders were still waiting outside when he stepped out. Kai did not waste time.

“Were you able to safeguard your books and tomes? I would like to take a look at them.” he asked immediately.

Elder Caelith nodded and motioned for him to follow. He led Kai to another treehouse nearby.

As it turned out, the elves had protected their knowledge before anything else. Books had been the first thing they moved away from the cultists and the flames. Most of them had survived the attack. They were now stacked carefully inside a single room.

The space had been built in haste and there was barely enough room to walk, let alone place furniture. Shelves were absent, so the books were piled against the walls and along the floor. Kai stepped inside and, after looking through the stacks, settled into a corner with his legs folded beneath him.

He was not searching for anything specific. He chose books about Sylvastra itself, its history, its land, and its connection to the world. He also picked up tomes that spoke of other major regions.

He could have asked Elder Caelith for guidance. The elf sat quietly near the doorway, watching him. But Kai wanted time to think on his own.

And so he read.

Hours passed as he turned page after page of the elven books. The language was familiar enough for him to follow without effort. Caelith did not interrupt. He said nothing, only occasionally reaching for a book of his own and reading in silence. Kai did not know if the elder stayed out of boredom, caution, or simple companionship, but he never left.

Slowly, the rest of the world faded away.

Kai’s focus narrowed to the words in front of him, even as his thoughts circled endlessly around the same things. The Elder Tree. The everlasting flame. The weight of what had been lost. And somewhere beneath it all, the question of how he could possibly undo a tragedy of this scale.

He did not find an answer yet. At least not a definitive one.

But he kept reading.

Even when Kai tried to set his emotions aside, logic alone told him the same thing. Letting the Elder Tree fall was the single worst outcome this world could face.

Its death would immediately reduce the amount of mana flowing through the world. That alone would be catastrophic. Worse still, without the Elder Tree, the prophecy would inevitably move toward its final phase which was Malefic’s rise.

Kai could not allow that to happen.

The Elder Tree was not just important. It was essential. If he wanted to save the world, it had to survive. And if he could not save it, even with all the knowledge he carried, then perhaps he was never meant to save the world at all.

So he kept reading.

The cramped room held more variety than he had expected, almost reminiscent of the library in Valkyrie’s tower. Unlike those books, however, many of these were written from the perspective of spirit trainers rather than Mages. It was a different way of seeing the world, a different philosophy of mana and life. Normally, Kai would have lingered on that.

This time, he did not.

He stayed focused, reading about regions across the world that held high mana density, ancient resources, or unusual natural phenomena. He moved from book to book without pause, chasing connections that might not even exist yet.

He was so deeply absorbed that he did not hear Elder Caelith call his name.

Not until a book nearly smacked into his shoulder.

Kai looked up sharply to find Caelith standing over him, carefully balancing himself between two tall stacks of books. There was a flash of irritation on the elf’s face, but it faded just as quickly as it appeared. He took a breath and spoke more evenly.

“If you didn’t know,” Caelith said, “it’s already dark. Are you not going to eat?” He added, almost defensively, “Our food isn’t that bad.”

Kai followed his gaze to the wall, where a small hole served as a window. Night had fully fallen outside. From the darkness beyond, he guessed it was already close to midnight.

He had been reading for hours.

Kai looked back at Caelith and gave a small smile. “I know,” he said. “I tried your food last time. It was good.” He paused, then added honestly, “More than good.”

Elven food was nothing special. There were no rich sauces or rare spices, nothing that would impress a noble table. But it was made with care. It was practical, nourishing, and honest. That suited Kai far more than any expensive delicacy ever could.

Elder Caelith nodded. “Then let’s go,” he said. “You can return to your books afterward.” He glanced towards the pile of books Kai had already finished. “I still don’t understand why you are reading about volcanoes and the beasts of Sylvastra. We do not allow hunting them. We consider them sacred.” He paused. “Though you can do whatever you wish with a volcano.”

Kai smiled faintly at that. “It’s mostly because of magical materials,” he said. “Things I might need.”

Caelith frowned slightly. “And why would you need those?”

Kai hesitated. His thoughts slowed for a moment. His plan was still incomplete, still rough around the edges, but hiding it served no purpose. After a brief pause, he decided to speak.

“Do you remember the last time I was here?” Kai asked. “I spoke about two possible ways to save the Elder Tree.”

Caelith tilted his head. He seemed to search his memory, then nodded slowly. “Yes. You took the stumps. Do not tell me those are meant to heal the Elder Tree.”

Kai shook his head. “No. They do produce small amounts of mana, and they are vital for restoring places plagued by dead mana, but that is not what I mean.” He took a breath. “I am talking about the second method.”

“Which is?”

“Traveling to the Earth Plane,” Kai said. “To find another seed for the Elder Tree.”

Caelith froze.

For a moment, he simply stared at Kai. Then he rubbed at his chin, eyes narrowing in thought before looking him over again. “I did not realize you had become an Eighth Circle Mage,” he said slowly. “Last time, you said you had only read about such travel in old records and only those powerful Mages could attempt it. You certainly do not give off that kind of energy.”

Kai smiled. “Because I’m not.”

“Then how—”

“The Mage I read about, did not travel by a spell. He used a ritual.”

“A ritual?”

“Yes. A ritual. The man who recorded it was powerful enough to perform it alone. It helped that he was a Shadow Mage. The ritual used that aspect heavily.” He paused. “Travel becomes much easier when you wield an aspect that naturally forms portals. Unfortunately, I don’t have that option.”

Caelith tilted his head. “You are a fire and wind aspected Mage, if I remember correctly?”

“And ice,” Kai added. “Which is why I need to work around that limitation. The best way is through magical materials. Every ritual requires them anyway.”

As he said that, Kai’s thoughts drifted. He was certain there were other ways to travel between realms. Hendricks Klandel had clearly done so to form the soul inscription in Amyra. But that kind of knowledge was rare, guarded, or simply gone. The worst part of history was that some magic did not fade slowly. It vanished completely, lost to time, never to be recovered.

While Kai thought, Elder Caelith also fell silent. He moved to sit against a pile of books. One slipped loose and fell, hitting him on the shoulder. He groaned softly and rubbed his shoulder before speaking.

“But even if you reach the Earth Plane,” Caelith said, “do you know where to find a seed of the Elder Tree?”

Kai shook his head. “No. But once I am there, I won’t be constrained by time.” He looked down at the floor for a moment. “I would need to build another ritual to return, but I don’t think that part would be too difficult.”

“And what if it doesn’t work?”

Kai was silent for a while. He picked up another book, turning it over in his hands before answering.

“Then I’ll search more,” he said simply. “It’s not like I can give up.”

He opened the book, already beginning to read.

He did not see Caelith’s expression, but he heard a grunt. “Fair enough,” the elder said. “Forget food.” There was a brief pause before he added. “Give me some books to read.”

***

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