Murmurs started spreading through the group.
"No way."
"Is this a dream?"
"This is impossible!"
While the dwarfs continued to murmur in disbelief, the captain finally spoke.
"Go report to His Majesty that the dungeon has been cleared,"
While the dwarfs were panicking, seeing the dungeon crumbling down before their very eyes, Renan and Elaris were already at a completely different location, far away from the chaos and destruction that was rapidly unfolding behind them.
Renan, who had just appeared in so unfamiliar forest, blinked in surprise, his mind montarily thrown into confusion. He had expected a more turbulent teleportation process, yet this transition had been seamless, smooth, and without a single hint of resistance. As he tried to process everything that had just happened, he couldn't help but think to himself, 'She didn't use the teleportation door, but instead, she simply teleported us instantly. The entire process was incredibly fluid, without even the slightest bit of resistance or interference. Is it because the place she is teleporting to is actually her own body?' Renan wondered, still absentmindedly holding onto Elaris's hand.
Elaris, who had been patiently waiting for Renan to release her hand, was left confused when he didn't let go but instead continued to hold onto it, his grip unwavering.
'Huh? Why is he not letting go of my hand? Don't tell … he fell in love with after just holding my hand for a few monts?' she thought to herself. The thought alone made her feel sowhat flustered, and for a brief mont, the mature and composed act she had been maintaining slightly slipped. After all, despite being tens of thousands of years old, Elaris was still considered young in terms of a will's existence. Her will had only started forming a few thousand years ago, and her world—though it had existed for hundreds of thousands of years—was still classified as a 'teen' world when compared to other ancient realms. Given this perspective, Elaris, who had only started to form a will a few thousand years ago, was still relatively young.
'Also… he is not my child, so I suppose I wouldn't mind if he tried to confess his feelings to ,' she mused internally.
Yes, Elaris had never had any sort of relationship before. Every living being on this planet was, in a sense, her child. And what kind of parent would even think of their child as a potential partner? Definitely not Elaris. However, Renan was a different case. He had once been sowhat of her child, but after his rebirth, that connection had severed completely. Now, he was no longer her child but rather a complete stranger in terms of existence. Because of this, the idea of him becoming her partner didn't seem all that far-fetched to her. After all, even she felt lonely sotis, and having a companion might not be such a bad idea.
'But isn't he too easy?' she thought to herself, feeling strangely conflicted about the entire situation. 'How can soone fall in love with another person after just holding their hand once?' She felt a mix of emotions—confusion, amusent, and sothing else she wasn't entirely sure how to define.
Renan, who was completely lost in his own thoughts about sothing entirely different, couldn't even begin to imagine the strange ideas swirling in Elaris's mind at that very mont.
Elaris, who had finally decided that enough was enough and that Renan needed to let go of her hand already, let out a small but deliberate cough.
*COUGH*
Renan, who had been deeply engrossed in his thoughts, was abruptly pulled back into reality. His eyes snapped up to Elaris's face, only to find her wearing an awkward expression. However, her gaze wasn't directed at him but at sothing else. Curious, Renan followed her line of sight and soon realized what she was looking at—their interlocked hands, still holding onto each other.
'Ohh, right. I forgot to let go of her hand,' Renan thought to himself, feeling slightly embarrassed about the situation.
But instead of simply releasing it and apologizing, he looked up at her with feigned confusion and asked, "Huh? Are we stopping here?" He deliberately acted clueless, trying to maintain his composure and avoid any potential awkwardness.
"Yes," Elaris answered, her tone neutral but firm.
"Ohh, I see," Renan responded, pretending as if he had been under the impression that they were still heading sowhere else. "I thought we were still going to so kind of building or another location, not stopping here in this forest," he added, lying through his teeth as he finally let go of her hand.
'Saved,' Renan thought, ntally patting himself on the back for successfully dodging a potentially embarrassing situation.
"No problem," Elaris replied nonchalantly, though internally, she was thinking, 'Ugh, has loneliness really caught up to after all those years? And after finally finding soone who is not my child, my first thought was to make him my partner?'
Despite her internal musings, she maintained her usual deanor on the outside, her lips curling into a small smirk.
"Anyway, so where are we?" Renan asked, shifting the conversation as he glanced around the surrounding forest.
Just as he was surveying the area, sothing in the distance caught his attention. A particular tree stood out among the others, and while it might have seed ordinary to anyone else, to Renan, it was sothing entirely different.
"An illusion?" Renan questioned aloud.
Elaris, who was standing beside him, simply nodded in acknowledgnt before speaking. "As expected. All three of your bloodlines, after the fusion, have been strengthened trendously—to the point that you can now see through an illusion like this without requiring any additional effort or strength. You are a newborn, according to , as you have only just been reborn. And yet, your strength is already equal to that of a fourth-stage warrior and mage combined. What a terrifying yet fascinating thing," Elaris observed, her voice carrying both intrigue and admiration.
Renan nodded his head in understanding. "So anyway, what exactly is that?" he asked, his gaze fixed on the peculiar tree.
To the outside world, it appeared to be a completely ordinary and stable tree, standing tall and unmoving. But to Renan's enhanced perception, it was different—it rippled like water, shifting and waving like a curtain caught in a gentle breeze.
"Well, you could say it's a gate to my ho," Elaris answered simply.
"Your ho?" Renan repeated, slightly puzzled.
Before he could inquire further, Elaris spoke again. "Anyway, follow . I'll show you around," she said before walking ahead.
Renan, after hearing her words, followed closely behind. Soon, they reached the mysterious tree, and without saying anything more, Elaris simply walked through it, as if it were nothing but air.
Renan, slightly surprised by this, hesitated only briefly before stepping forward and following her. As he passed through the tree, he felt a slight resistance, but it lasted only for a fleeting mont before it completely vanished.
The mont he erged on the other side, he was t with a breathtaking sight.
It was beautiful.
"Beautiful," Renan murmured, his eyes scanning the landscape in awe.
All around him were vibrant flowers, their colors blending in a srizing display. Among them were multiple creatures, mostly small, adorable animals that seed completely harmless. The air itself carried a refreshing and pure quality. And in the center of it all stood Elaris, looking just as breathtaking as the scenery—perhaps even more so.
Elaris, noticing his reaction, simply smiled and spoke,
"Welco to my core, Renan."
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