[TWO WEEKS LATER]

  Lucien closed his eyes and spread his consciousness all throughout his body. He smiled inwardly.

  Finally… my foundation is consolidated now…

  Lucien observed, feeling the strength flowing through his body.

  Soon after, Lucien opened his eyes, the Emotional node of fear he cultivated giving him enhanced vision. His eyes glowed a faint purple.

  He observed every nook and cranny of the basement, able to see the flow of Nexus in everything.

  “Ah… so that’s what it was…”

  Lucien noticed a strange flow of Nexus.

  The flow of Nexus from the cogs connected to the basement trapdoor all converge at a singular point by this wall… I see.

  Lucien’s lips curled up into a satisfied smile.

  “Well… it should be about time to leave, shouldn’t it?”

  He said, speaking to himself.

  Lucien pressed the button and heard cogs turning.

  RUMBLE. RUMBLE.

  The basement trapdoor opened atop the staircase, which Lucien steadily ascended.

  Taking a deep breath, Lucien slowly exhaled once he was outside of the basement.

  “Fresh air at last. Those rotting corpses truly reek.”

  He said, chuckling mirthfully. He spread his arms wide, puffing his chest up.

  “How enjoyable nature is!”

  He smiled warmly.

  Still, though. Grandfather, just what are you? Why did you hide such things in a secret basement? Goodness, I have so many questions…

  Lucien pondered, sorting his thoughts and pushing his questions back for the moment.

  “Still, the upcoming ceremony comes first. There’s still two weeks left, isn’t there?”

  Lucien stroked his chin thoughtfully, before breaking into a lighthearted chuckle.

  Ah… the changes I have experienced these past few weeks surprise even myself from time to time… Who knew comprehending and cultivating Nexus could change a person so much..?

  Lucien reminisced about the memories he made the past few weeks: the long talks with Onyx about Nexus, the rough path of comprehending it himself, all of these memories flashed through his mind.

  “Grandpa…”

  Lucien mumbled, still unable to forget him.

  “Well… I’ve learned a lot from Onyx… He did say that I had changed radically these past few weeks… I can feel it, alright.”

  Lucien muttered to himself, reflecting on his radical difference in personality and strength. He found himself pondering something especially deeply.

  Na?vety, huh… I still find myself hoping and being overly optimistic. However, if being this kind of person makes me na?ve, then so be it. Onyx said that it was possible to be both cold and kind, so I’m not worried. Even if I tread a treacherous path, I trust myself.

  The smile on his face widened as he recalled Onyx’s various pieces of advice.

  “Well, he’s not as cold as I thought.”

  He mumbled, walking outside for the first time in two weeks.

  “The scenery really hasn’t changed a bit, has it?”

  “Well, why would it change? Such a peaceful place.”

  Lucien kept muttering, gazing at the beautiful blue skies littered with pale white clouds and the dominant sun shining its warm rays upon his face.

  “...Ah, how beautiful…”

  Lucien’s wide smile shortened, yet it remained just as warm. It was then Lucien felt truly peaceful.

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  [TWO WEEKS LATER, DAY OF THE CEREMONY]

  Lucien walked towards the tallest, thickest tree in the middle of the forest. He noticed multiple elders of different elven villages nearby, chatting with the grand prophet, one who could resonate with the tree.

  He gazed up at the world tree, its height seemingly endless.

  “The world tree, huh… such a grand name.” He muttered, voice charged with childish admiration.

  Red leaves… beautiful.

  Lucien kept admiring the world tree, observing its colossal red leaves, which reflected a bit of sunlight.

  “Lucien!”

  Lucien recognized the voice, which belonged to Serane.

  Serane waved at Lucien, smiling warmly with a beautiful blush on her face due to the warm sunlight.

  Lucien turned around and looked back at her, smiling just as warmly. It was as if Serane’s smile had rubbed off on him.

  “Hey. It’s time for the ceremony. I’m up first, right?”

  Lucien asked, and Serane tapped her chin with her index finger thoughtfully, as if truly pondering his question.

  “Stop acting, I know you know the answer.”

  Lucien teased, chuckling mirthfully as Serane playfully punched his right arm.

  “Yeah, yeah~ You're up first.”

  Serane quipped back in an equally teasing tone, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Remember, you only have a day to go up and come down after eating a fruit, okay? Any later and you’re disqualified!”

  She reminded Lucien of the rules, her voice taking a more stern tone.

  “Okay, okay. I know the rules, you don’t have to keep reminding me…”

  Lucien answered in a playfully dismissive manner, preparing to go up the world tree.

  “Alright. Stay safe, then.”

  Serene wished Lucien well, and Lucien started jumping from branch to branch, slowly climbing atop the world tree in order to get a fruit and come down.

  About an hour passed by, and Lucien was at a considerable height, unable to see the floor any longer, not even with his vision enhancements due to Nexus.

  “...”

  Hm? What are those noises I hear down below? Are they having a festival without me..? Well, come to think of it, it is a festive season right now…

  Lucien pondered, trying to make sense of what the noise coming from below could be.

  Not being able to see below him, he was satisfied with the hypothesis he had just thought of.

  “Well, I’d better finish up quickly and join them, then!”

  Lucien smiled, continuing his ascent atop the world tree.

  At dusk, after jumping from branch to branch without any breaks for hours, Lucien finally saw a ripe fruit.

  “Alright! Finally!”

  Lucien huffed, his breathing extremely heavy due to stamina loss.

  Immediately, Lucien took the fruit. He was just barely able to lift it.

  “Oh Trees! How large is this fruit? It’s half the size of me..!”

  Lucien exclaimed, taking a bite out of the fruit, which immediately restored his depleted stamina.

  “Oh, this tastes really good!”

  Lucien continued eating the fruit, not sparing even the seed.

  After eating the seed, Lucien let out a guttural, agonizing scream.

  “AGH! AAH!”

  Lucien felt his body reforming, all of his bones were pulverized and created anew, becoming much more durable. Every muscle, tendon and ligament in his body were also completely torn off and knitted to be much more dense and compact.

  “AGH! H-HEL— AGH!”

  Unable to even scream for help, and sure that nobody would be able to hear him from this altitude anyway, Lucien endured.

  He painfully endured a full night of the slow and painful body reformation after eating the seed.

  By the end of it all, Lucien had become even more striking in comparison to before, yet despite his stamina being completely restored, his eyes were empty.

  Through the emptiness lay pain.

  The pain of body reformation was still fresh, as he recalled every vivid sensation of his bones cracking, then slowly getting pulverized, along with his muscles being torn and knitted in unnatural ways simultaneously.

  Lucien shook in terror and pain.

  “Well… time to descend, then.”

  Lucien mumbled, his voice radically different in comparison to before. It was much deeper and more authoritative.

  Lucien descended from the world tree with great ease due to the increase in agility.

  Even after all of this, the dreadful, worrisome feeling in his heart just would not go away.

  When Lucien had descended low enough to see the ground clearly, his heart sank down to his stomach.

  His body froze, and so did his mind. He simply could not comprehend what he saw.

  When he had fully descended, he heard.

  DRIP. DRIP. SQUELCH. GROWL!

  All of the elves he had seen, including those from his own village and others, were getting eaten. Eaten by a large pack of grey wolves.

  He was at a loss for words. He could only watch as Serane, the elders, and the grand prophet, along with all other members of all elven villages in the great forest were all being eaten by a pack of wolves.

  Unable to do anything and even think properly. His pupils blew wide. His heart pounded so loudly that he was sure even the wolves could hear it.

  He was completely frozen due to shock, and this shock slowly turned into realization.

  Then finally…

  DRIP. DRIP.

  A streak of tears poured down his cheeks, yet he made no sound. No sobs, no cries. Just silent, mourning tears, and a body frozen due to shock.

  “The screams were not— they weren’t festive…”

  Lucien muttered to himself, unable to think straight, subconsciously pointing all the blame at himself.

  “Because of me… if I had been here… No… what could I even have done..? What happened..?”

  The blame slowly turned into clarity, further turning into confusion.

  “Who… what… caused this..?”

  Lucien finally moved his hand in order to wipe the tears off of his face, which seemed to flow endlessly no matter how much he wiped.

  All he could see through his tears was the sight of a pack of grey wolves feasting on elven corpses.

  His gaze was especially focused on Serane, whose lower half had already been devoured.