Yes, to be honest, Kaelen didn't really care about it. His feelings were a mess right now, everything in his life was falling apart. And Kaelen wasn't sure if he could fix all this chaos on his own.
That's why, even as he passed several people near the pool, Kaelen kept walking straight. He didn't care about anyone, as if he had never seen anyone except Magnus, who had attacked him earlier.
As Kaelen walked for a long time, his feet eventually brought him to a dark corridor that had many rooms inside. For a moment Kaelen stood still, he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Not because of its luxury, but because it was too easy and quiet. And something that was too quiet always had chaos hidden within.
One of Kaelen's hands reached out to touch the cave wall and examine it, "This is too clean for a cave located in the middle of the forest. Even if many people also live here, I don't think they would choose to clean all of this while setting aside their actual purpose. No matter how peaceful this place seems, I can't afford to be careless. After all, this is a forbidden zone. Who knows if a huge explosion might erupt in the middle of the peace I'm feeling right now."
Honestly, Kaelen felt something was off at that moment. In front of him, there were now even many stairways connecting one room to another. He himself was now standing at the very top step, "But I'm too tired right now. My soul has been shattered into pieces, and I don't have any adhesive to put it back together at this moment. I'll find out more later. Only if I still have the ability to survive after everything that's happened."
With determination, Kaelen stepped inside. He chose one of the rooms and entered it. Yes, it looked comfortable with a bed made of stone, along with several other items usually found in someone's chamber.
Kaelen ignored it and immediately lay down on the bed. He tried to close his eyes and forget everything that had happened. Until he suddenly realized something and quickly sat back up.
"I must awaken my Elarith no later than tomorrow night. Or I'll have to accept the reality of dying without avenging myself, without uncovering the greatest secret of Zyretheil," he muttered firmly.
He then rose and sat cross-legged on the stone bed. His two hands rested neatly on his bent knees. His eyes closed, and a faint, transparent stream of energy—messy and scattered—swirled around his chest. It was chaotic and unfocused. But at least Kaelen knew he still had energy.
It took Kaelen several attempts to restore his energy. It was too weak, especially since he had no place to gather it all together.
"I know chaotic energy cannot be used. But at least it can help heal some of the lighter physical wounds."
---
That night, after he felt he had restored enough energy and some of his physical scratches had healed, Kaelen finally left his room. When he reached the pool, once again Kaelen saw people busy with their own activities. But he ignored it again and continued walking. Yes, he didn't know that Magnus was still watching Kaelen's every move with his gaze.
As soon as he exited the cave mouth, Kaelen stopped for a moment. He scanned his surroundings, "It's too dangerous to go alone and unarmed. Maybe I should make a weapon, it doesn't have to be expensive or fancy, just enough to protect myself."
Kaelen searched around the cave yard, which honestly looked dark. Tonight there was still no moonlight; they were still waiting for the Aelurnis Moon to appear.
After walking for a while, Kaelen found a piece of iron behind some bushes. He carried the piece and examined it in the darkness, "This is leftover from weapon forging," he muttered. He then brought the iron closer to his nose, "There's still residual fire energy here. That means this really is a fragment of a fire weapon. But why would they forge fire weapons inside Elyndor? Aren't the Drae'vanyth and Krixath races living in harmony? Or perhaps there was once a Vey'zareth who entered here and forged weapons to survive?"
It had to be admitted that even though he was only 14 years old, Kaelen had more mature thoughts than most his age. Or maybe not. Fourteen years in Zyretheil didn't necessarily mean it was truly 14 years, since one day in Zyretheil equaled ten days in the human world.
Combined with his life experiences so far, Kaelen's thinking had become more mature. After all, he wasn't raised with love, but on the battlefield, even since he was a baby.
After gathering several pieces of iron, Kaelen placed them all on a large stone. His mind kept spinning on how he would make a weapon, and what kind of weapon he would create.
"I don't have time to think. Time keeps moving forward, and I also have to start moving on," he muttered. The boy climbed onto the stone, then began forging the iron with another stone he had found.
Yes, even though it wasn't too complicated, Kaelen still needed quite some time to finish his task. Until a few hours later, Kaelen smiled while inspecting the weapon he had just made.
It was an iron claw. Its shape was almost like a glove, but at each tip, Kaelen had left it sharp and pointed. Before using it for real, Kaelen first tried it on a nearby tree. And sure enough, the slash it left was deep enough that the tree's sap gushed out in torrents.
Seeing that, Kaelen raised both of his hands now equipped with the iron claw, "This isn't bad. If I were to make a sword, I'd need more iron. For now, I can use this for self-defense. At least until I have a new Elarith."
Once his weapon was truly ready, Kaelen continued his journey to reach a certain place, the Land of Emptiness.
Meanwhile, behind a large tree that had a wide gap in its middle, two women and one man were watching Kaelen's movements, and had been for some time.
One of the women smiled triumphantly and glanced at the other two, "What did I tell you? That man is exactly the one we need."
But the man sighed softly at those words, "No, no! He's too weak! He doesn't even have a proper weapon, how could he possibly help us?"
"You need to learn to use your eyes, not just your mouth. The point is, I've already decided he will join us. If any of you disagree, I'm not forcing you to stay."
---
Kaelen kept walking eastward from the Alarys Cave. Honestly, he never knew the exact location of the Land of Emptiness that Vaerloch had mentioned. He wanted to ask again, but his memory replayed the time when he was still inside his own consciousness. When Kaelen recalled that Vaerloch's condition was not well at all right now.
At that time, he was facing Vaerloch. As soon as he heard that the time he had left to complete the mission was only ten more years, Kaelen immediately opened his mouth and spoke, "In Zyretheil's history, I've never heard of anyone succeeding in doing that. So it's not something I need to think about now. For the moment, I only want to reconstruct my Elarith and develop as much power as possible. Because if I become strong, it's not impossible to conquer the Forbidden Regions, even if it means conquering all of Zyretheil."
Hearing that, Vaerloch fell silent for a moment. His wings still beat proudly, until he finally spoke again, "But there's no way to regain an Elarith that has been destroyed. The only thing you can do is sit and wait for death. No matter how hard you try, it will all be in vain."
Instead of being afraid and giving up, Kaelen shook his head, "Even though I'm not sure either, I still need to try. At least if I die in the end, I won't die with regrets."
"I truly don't know how to obtain a new Elarith."
That statement made Kaelen fall silent. He didn't give up, he was simply thinking. Trying to piece together all the theories flowing through his head. Until after a while, his brow furrowed and his eyebrows knitted together, "There is one way," he said, staring toward Nyldorakh.
"What?"
"The Power of Void."