N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 585
Siyan looked at Raon through the hole in the blanket and her mouth fell open.
"Ehh?"
She trembled, bewildered by what she was hearing.
"Wh-what do you mean, examining me?"
Siyan nervously glanced at her arms and legs hidden under the blanket.
"Am I giving off a bad smell? Or do you not want to be around me because I'm ugly?"
Suddenly, when Raon mentioned examining her, all sorts of thoughts crossed her mind.
Not knowing how to react, she just trembled, but Raon continued speaking.
"I can't say for sure, but I might be able to improve your condition a bit, Lady Siyan."
"My, my condition...?"
"You said your mana resonance isn't working, right?"
"Yes..."
Siyan nodded as she looked at Raon.
"I'd like to investigate why that is."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Siyan.
'The possibility is there.'
Siyan said her mother came here when pregnant with her, and Wrath mentioned that since Siyan's birth, something huge has been blocking the passage leading to the upper energy center.
It's not certain, but it's possible that the energy of the bead left by Zieghart’s ancestor has permeated her.
‘Because she's a High Elf.'
High elves are beings as close to nature as the World Tree. If Siyan is special among them, it wouldn't be strange for the energy that nurtured the World Tree to transfer to her.
"So, what should I do? Should I take off my clothes?"
"...No. Just give me your hand."
"Hup! Oh, I see."
After squirming in the blanket for a while, Siyan timidly reached out her trembling hand.
He has seen quite a few women's hands, but this is the first time he has seen such white arms that they look almost transparent. It was as if she had never seen the sun.
"Excuse me."
He took Siyan's hand to use the heat of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, but before he could infuse it, her arm trembled as if it were shocked.
"Lady Siyan? Are you hurt somewhere?"
"N, no!"
Siyan shook her head quickly.
'Don't say you're trembling!'
It was the first time she had held someone's hand other than her family, and the fact that it was Raon, her idol, made her heart race as if it would leap out of her chest.
Raon firmly held Siyan's hand to prevent her from trembling and simultaneously infused the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier's energy into her mana circuit.
He quickly identified her mana circuit. He figured out the elf's mana circuit swiftly because he had previously done it during Rimmer’s treatment.
'It's clean.'
Siyan's energy center was like a newborn baby, with no impurities whatsoever, and her mana circuit was as vast as a Grandmaster's.
It was no exaggeration to say that it was a blessing to have such a body from birth.
'It's strange that she can't use mana with this kind of body.'
Raon clicked his tongue briefly and looked at Siyan's middle energy center.
The Middle Energy center was just as clean as the Lower Energy center, but its level was so low that it had hardly developed.
As he finally passed through the middle energy center and moved towards where the upper energy center should be, a part of the mana circuit suddenly appeared to be blocked, like a massive rock standing in the way.
'It's solidly blocked.'
It was an important mana circuit that was blocked for both humans and elves from birth and could only be opened after becoming a Grandmaster. There was nothing strange about it.
Though it was a part that shouldn't be touched by others, Raon trusted Wrath’s words and infused two lines of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier’s energy into it.
Wooowoo!
While it should have been impossible for anyone other than the owner of the body to open the passage, strangely enough, the heat of Ten Tkousand Flames Cultivation and the coldness of Glacier penetrated the tightly blocked gap and seeped inside.
'Was it really not natural?'
Thinking that the hypothesis was correct, he was about to push in a little more concentrated energy, but then Rimmer's voice intervened.
"Raon! Siyan! Come over here. We're starting now."
"Hmm...."
Raon frowned and retracted the energy and let go of Siyan's arm.
"H-how was it?"
"I'm not sure yet. Can we try again after the purification ritual is over?"
"Ah, yes...."
Siyan nodded, her voice shaking as she covered herself with a blanket.
"Thank you."
Raon bowed his head and headed towards Rimmer and Sterin.
Siyan looked at Raon's back as he walked ahead and touched the top of her head.
'It's warm....'
And it was cool too.
She clasped her hands tightly as if she wanted to hold on to the warm feeling she hadn't felt in a long time, and followed Raon.
* * *
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As they approached the center of the World Tree, the elves exuded a sharp aura as if they were about to go to war.
"Come this way."
Sterin gestured for them to come closer.
"Yes."
Raon and Siyan approached Sterin.
"Listen carefully, both of you."
Sterin covered his ears as if it were an important conversation. He seemed genuinely intent on treating him like Seipia's benefactor.
"Resonance refers to merging one's soul with the world. However, if I integrate my soul with the world..."
His voice sank eerily cold.
"Eighty percent of the time you die."
"You die?"
"Yes. My soul is too small compared to the vast world, so it cannot become one. However, it becomes possible if the target of unification is reduced."
"Reduction of the target...."
"Isn't there a level that swordsmen like you can achieve?"
"Are you talking about the Sword and Soul Unification?"
"Yes."
Sterin nodded nonchalantly.
"High elves like me are born with the ability to resonate with the World Tree from birth."
He shook his head, saying that being able to resonate with the World Tree is not something that comes from training, but an ability that you are born with.
“I see.. However isn't a waste to use resonance only for the purification ritual?
“It seems you understand now.”
A faint smile appeared on Sterin’s lips.
“You cannot become one with the World Tree, but it may be possible for you to learn the flow of resonance.”
He nodded at him. It seemed like he wanted him to learn something from him, even if just one thing.
“Then let’s begin.”
Sterin leaned his back against the World Tree and closed his eyes. His steady breathing slowly sank, and his presence flared up like a fire spreading through the forest.
The moment Sterin’s aura, which seemed to have broken free from the limitations of his physical body, rose endlessly and became so vast that it covered the World Tree, his breathing stopped abruptly.
‘He’s dead… No, he’s not.’
The moment he thought Sterin was dead, a brilliant green light began to emanate from the World Tree, previously adorned with a faint blue glow.
Sterin’s dignified yet gentle soul aura was surging from the center of the World Tree.
Raon lowered his gaze and looked at Sterin, who was leaning against the World Tree.
His physical body remained in place, but the presence of his soul was nowhere to be felt.
“The purification ritual has begun! Everyone, be on guard!”
As the elder, who had recovered his complexion a little, gestured, the elves surrounded the World Tree with a cold aura.
The elder was a stubborn old man, but it seemed like he truly cared about the Elven tribe.
Raon looked up at the World Tree again, using the Ring of Fire.
‘So this is resonance.’
Like swordsman and their sword becoming one, Sterin had left his physical body and become one with the World Tree.
'A unity of soul and sword…'
Thinking of the Sword and Soul Unification, he was reminded of his sparring with Sterin two days ago.
At that time, as I threw the Blade of Requiem and thought, "I don't want to end the spar like this," the Blade of Requiem captured my will and followed the command to descend.
‘I get it now.’
It seemed that I was able to taste the slightest bit of the Sword and Soul Unification because the will of me, who didn't want to lose, and the Blade of Requiem, who didn't want to lose, were united.
As his gaze blurred, following the trace of Sterin's passing soul, he fell into a trance.
“Sir, Ra, Raon… Huh?”
Siyan tried to talk to Raon, but was stopped by Rimmer.
“Brother?”
“Don’t touch him now.”
Rimmer put his finger on his lips, pointing at Raon’s dreamy eyes.
“He’s in a state of trance.”
“T, trance?”
“Yeah. This damn guy enters a trance that others might experience once or twice in their lifetime as easily as taking a shit.”
He took Siyan to the side, telling her not to touch Raon.
Hwaaaaaaaa!
As if to protect Raon, the World Tree spread its branches and blocked the sunlight pouring down from the sky.
“......”
The elders, knowing Raon had entered trance, watched without intervening, their brows furrowed.
Rimmer smirked at the elders' reaction.
‘At least they're not completely rotten.’
He was planning to beat up anyone who tried to disturb Raon, but fortunately, they didn’t seem to have any plans to move.
As Rimmer smiled faintly at Raon again, there was one cotton candy who was crying alone without anyone knowing.
Damn it!
Wrath looked up at the sky and cursed.
Why does this guy get the love wherever he goes? The King of Essence suffers everywhere he goes, losing abilities left and right. Why is this guy the only one who gets to be so happy?
He waved his hands wildly in frustration with the world.
I want to be happy too! And…
Finally, he shouted the most important thing.
This guy didn't even eat breakfast before leaving again!
* * *
Siyan watched Raon, lost in a trance, and bit her lip hard.
'Sir Raon is truly remarkable.'
To gain enlightenment and entered trance as soon as he saw the resonance was something that she, who had no talent, could not even imagine.
‘The content in the book actually underestimated his abilities.’
She thought there was a bit of exaggeration while reading the biography of Raon Zieghart, but the real Raon was beyond that.
Just by looking at the fact that he was greeted by the World Tree and brought the Great Elder to his knees, he was a monster far beyond human.
‘I must protect him.’
As she was watching him from a distance to make sure he didn’t get hurt, she heard the voices of other elves.
“Why does that human gain enlightenment as soon as he saw the resonance, but Lady Siyan remains the same?”
“That’s right. Even though she participates in the purification ritual every time, she still hasn’t resonated…”
"If Sir Sterin were to pass away, wouldn't the World Tree be in danger as well?"
“Why did such a High Elf…”
The elders and elves spewed out blind accusations towards Siyan, as if it didn’t matter whether she could hear them or not.
“The future of the World Tree is bleak. It would be better to ask that human…”
“Will you shut up?”
Rimmer frowned as he glared at the elves.
“The ritual hasn’t even fully progressed yet, so why are you flapping your lips like that? Shut up and stand guard properly.”
“Ahem….”
“Hmm….”
The elves glanced away, looking at Rimmer’s expression. However, they still muttered that it wasn’t wrong.
“Those idiots.”
Rimmer was about to spit and approach the elves when Siyan grabbed his sleeve.
“Brother. I’m fine.”
“But….”
“I really am.”
Siyan shook her head, telling him not to.
“I’m used to it. And it’s not like they’re wrong.”
Although it was harsh, what they said wasn’t wrong. Because if Sterin left, there would be no elf who could perform the purification ritual.
‘I’m really useless.’
As the elves said, Raon gained enlightenment after seeing it once, but she didn’t gain anything even though she continued to participate in the purification ritual. It was clear that she didn’t have any talent, let alone anything she was born with.
‘But I won’t give up this time.’
Siyan didn't want to give up this time, because it was Raon who told her that she had come this far because she didn't give up.
Siyan went to the base of the World Tree where she had felt the wind with her mother and leaned against it.
She closed her eyes and exhaled the resonant breath that her grandfather had taught her.
'Hmm? Something seems a little different.'
Strangely, she felt as if her body and mind were lighter than usual.
'I hope it's not just my imagination.'
Siyan closed her eyes with a faint smile. A red and blue swirl fluttered over her forehead, slowly rising and falling.
* * *
Raon opened his eyelids and smiled faintly.
'I understand a little bit.'
Thanks to seeing Sterin's resonance firsthand, he had a little bit of an idea of what it meant to be one with the sword.
He hadn't achieved the Sword and Soul Unification yet, but he felt like he had laid a small foundation for walking that path.
When he looked up, the World Tree was still standing there, shaking its branches, just as it had been before he entered the trance, and Sterin was sitting there just like before.
'It wasn't as long as I thought.'
Not as long?
As he tilted his head in wonder, Wrath thrust his crumpled face forward.
You've been out of it for a whole day and you're saying it wasn't long? Are you really crazy!
Wrath grabbed his collar and shook him.
I'm starving to death!
'A day?'
According to him, 24 hours had passed, and it seemed like time had hardly passed at all.
'Then it was longer than I thought.'
As Raon smiled, Rimmer approached him, waving his hand.
"You really have no sense of timing."
Unlike his sigh, he had a smile on his lips.
"How do you enter a trance like it's nothing?"
"I was lucky."
"Oh, when will such luck come to me?"
Rimer grumbled irritably and waved his hand.
"So did you gain anything?"
"I got a rough idea of what unification is."
"That's enough."
He nodded, saying it was a great achievement.
"Then let's go."
"You mean leave?"
"A day has passed, so grandfather is now fully engaged in the purification ritual. He'll be like that for two weeks. No need to wait."
Rimmer gestured for them to leave, saying that the elders and other elves would be on guard.
"But..."
"You're a guest and a benefactor. You don't need to stand guard."
He patted him on the shoulder and pulled him away, telling him not to worry. Siyan, who was next to him, also stood up, stirring.
"Are you okay, Lady Siyan?"
"Oh, yes."
Siyan nodded slowly. Her voice was slightly weak, as if she had lost some strength.
Rimmer looked at Siyan for a moment and then placed his hand on the air, just as Sterin had done when he opened this space.
Woooooow!
Green light tore through the space, and Sterin's tree house, which they had passed by on the way in, appeared.
"I, I'll go first..."
As soon as Siyan left the space where the World Tree was, she bowed her head and ran to her own house.
She was still feeling weak, but she was able to move quite well even with the blanket wrapped around her.
"Why is she like that?"
"There was something to do."
Rimmer sighed briefly.
"I'll take care of her. You go back to the lodging. Let's have a meal later."
He made a gesture of picking up a fork and followed Siyan.
'What happened?'
When you were in trance, those other shitty-ears were harassing that elf woman.
Wrath nodded, frowning.
'Harassing?'
You went into trance right away after seeing the resonance once, but those bastard shitty-ears kept yapping about why the elf woman couldn't resonate even after witnessing the purification ritual countless times.
The guy pouted, saying he couldn't stand those pests.
'I see....'
Raon looked at Siyan's back and clicked his tongue.
'I wanted to check properly.'
He wanted to check if the wall blocking Siyan's upper energy center was a wall of the realm or a wall of protection from the World Tree, but it seemed like he had to postpone it.
That's enough, let's go eat quickly! Haven't you been starving all day?
'Yeah, I've been starving all day. How about some Nadine bread?'
Are you really trying to kill the King of Essence! If you eat that now, the King of Essence's intestines will twist!
Wrath shook his head, begging him to come to his senses.
'Alright, alright.'
Raon nodded with a smirk.
'This time, I'll eat the elven food you want.'
Oh? What's gotten into you!
Wrath hated Siyan for creating Nadine Bread, but when he learned that she was being bullied and harassed by the elves because she had no talent, he defended her. Seeing such a human side of him, he wanted to thank him a little bit.
As he walked, talking to Wrath, he soon arrived in front of the lodging.
There was no sign of Yua and Dorian yet, as she was probably still learning music.
As he was about to open the door handle to go in first, a small baby fox jumped out of the bushes on the right.
"A fox?"
How could there be a fox here?
Rimmer had said that only creatures invited by the elves could enter this place. In other words, that fox could not have been a wild animal.
'Could it be....'
Heeeiiik!
Wrath, who had been thinking about the food he was going to eat, stepped back in fear.
It's the mad woman! It's definitely the mad woman!
The moment Raon swallowed his dry saliva, thinking the same thing as Wrath, human language came out of the fox's mouth.
"Raon!"
As expected, the baby fox was Merlin, but her voice sounded urgent and trembling unlike usual.
"Get out of here right now!"
