[Go read the auxiliary ch]*
"Hmm," Renan humd as he saw a white ball of energy coming out of the dead body of shadow Elf, which he didn't recognize. But being cautious, he made a distance between himself and the white ball of energy and asked,
"Elaris, what is that," he asked.
Just as Renan asked, the earring began to shine brightly, and in the next mont, Elaris transford into her human form. She appeared beside Renan, standing gracefully by his side while gazing intently at the white ball of energy that hovered above the lifeless body of the dead Shadow Elf.
"It's ti elent energy," Elaris said, her voice calm and composed, her expression steady as she kept her eyes fixed on the glowing white energy ball.
"Hmm, I see," Renan responded, slowly nodding his head as he thought about it. "Since it's ti elent energy and it's lingering in the shadow of the Elf progenitor, then that must an the Elf progenitor possessed the ti elent… interesting," he murmured thoughtfully, his gaze narrowing as he studied the radiant energy.
"Yes, husband, you are right," Elaris said with a proud smile, nodding happily, clearly pleased that her husband was able to piece it together so quickly. She continued in a slightly excited tone, "She was the very first one who awakened an affinity with the ti elent," Elaris explained, her voice taking on a hint of nostalgia.
'First one… so does that an there was a second one or maybe even more after her?' Renan thought, eyebrows slightly furrowed, but he didn't speak those thoughts aloud. Instead, he stayed silent and allowed Elaris to continue her explanation uninterrupted.
"And she awakened it when she was out there, exploring the vast oceans all alone. She stumbled upon sothing—sothing mysterious—sothing connected to the ti elent itself. Upon making contact with it, she awakened her affinity. But all of this occurred before I had even ford my will, so I can't say with certainty whether that's true or not," Elaris explained, her tone shifting to a more uncertain one.
"And now, what is affinity?" she continued, shifting gears like a teacher about to explain a complicated lesson. "Affinity is sothing different from the elental control of dragons. Dragons, when they awaken an elent, can control it freely—shaping it into whatever form they want, however they like, even if it's at a low level. But affinity… affinity is sothing else entirely. It ans you have a natural bond with that elent. When you co into contact with it, the elent responds to you, and won't harm you if ca in contact, and can be used by them Which is well under normal circumstances impossible because they're called affinities—for a reason."
She paused for breath, then resud speaking. "But since the Elves didn't have a way to control those elents through affinity, they began researching it. It took years—decades or even more ti but eventually, they found a solution. That solution was the creation of magic circles. These circles allowed them to harness the elents they had affinities with, though in a limited way. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing. Wouldn't you rather use sothing in a limited way than not at all?" she said.
"And after the long war between humans and dragons, the Elves eventually shared this knowledge with humans too. Now even humans have sothing similar. They also refer to it as affinity," Elaris concluded, smiling as if proud of her long, detailed explanation.
Renan, who had been listening intently, suddenly felt amused by her behavior. She really sounded like a teacher giving a lecture to a curious student. 'Hmm… I think we should try so role play soti… maybe a student and teacher scenario,' Renan thought mischievously. He imagined Elaris in tight, professional teacher clothes—glasses perched on her nose—and the thought alone made his 'little brother' twitch with excitent. But before his imagination could run wild, Elaris's voice pulled him out of his fantasy.
"So, Renan, do you have any more questions? If you do, go ahead and ask. If not, then you should move forward and touch the ti elent energy. Awaken it," Elaris said, looking at him innocently, completely oblivious to the naughty thoughts dancing through her husband's mind.
"I do," Renan said quickly, shaking off his dirty thoughts for now and choosing to focus on the important matter at hand. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "First question—are there any others who possess the ti elent and are able to use it? Second—does the awakening process of the ti elent differ from other elents? After all, this is the ti we're talking about. I'd be more surprised if nothing unusual happened."
"Hmmm," Elaris humd, thinking for a mont. "For your first question—yes, there is one other counting the Elf progenitor there are a total of two who possess the ti elent, and the other one is none other than the crown princess of the Elf Empire. The one we t at the Elf City," she answered, her response catching Renan off guard.
"She possesses the ti elent?" Renan asked, surprised.
"Yes, she does," Elaris confird. "And the reason you felt like she knew everything about you back then was because, just like you guessed, a strange phenonon does occur when soone awakens ti elent. They see two versions of their lives past and future—one where they possess the ti elent and one where they do not. It's like having access to two tilines. So, in a way, she does know everything about you. At least everything from both possibilities," she said thoughtfully.
"And the one where you possess the ti elent would be your tiline and the other one where you don't is a variation," she said.
"That's all the Elf progenitor ever told about it."
"I see," Renan muttered, stroking his chin, his mind once again drifting into deep thought. 'The feeling I got from her… it was really like she knew every single detail about . So then, in the future, are we close? Or are we enemies? Enemies so deeply involved in each other's fates that she knows everything about ?'
Thinking about it only stirred more questions than answers, but he quickly stopped himself. 'Well, if I awaken the ti elent myself, I guess I'll find out soon enough. No point in frying my brain over it now,' Renan thought, exhaling.
"Oh well, I'll know once I awaken my ti elent. No point in overthinking it," Renan said aloud as he stepped forward, walking confidently toward the white sphere of energy.
"Renan, be careful," Elaris called from behind, her voice filled with concern.
"Hm, I will," Renan replied with a small smile. He reached his hand out toward the glowing orb. The mont his fingers made contact with the energy, it began to flow slowly into his body. A warm, soothing feeling spread throughout him, like sothing long missing had finally returned. It was as if he had never been whole until now.
As that warmth enveloped him, Renan closed his eyes.
And when he opened them again, he was sowhere else entirely—a place of pitch-black nothingness. Darkness stretched endlessly in all directions, an infinite void with no end.
"Huh… where am I?" Renan whispered into the darkness.
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