30 THE STRANGER: PART IV

The forest was tremendous, light, and verdant. Its canopy was marked and home of willow, redwood, and vast, enchanted tree which only existed in books. Despite how huge the trees were, still plenty of light passed through which made the place even more majestic. It felt as if one is walking in an enchanted forest which was well managed and cultivated by a great mage gardener.

Thin climbing plants clung to many trees, and a mishmashed of beautiful, colorful and enchanting flowers turned it into their nesting place. The varieties of flowers, which clung onto the trees added some color to the homogeneous forest grounds.

A mixture of beastly sounds, which was caused by birds, echoed in the air, and were in harmony with the trickling sound of a gentle river stream nearby. Since it was almost sunset, various sounds of insects and critters filled the air, and adding to the sound of the occasional roar of a large animal made the place scary as well.

Even though the place may seem like such a scary place indeed, there was something magical about it. The whole place was filled with Lumineux. Since the area was filled with enchanting trees and plants, almost every inch of the area was sparkling. It feels like you're walking in space and are surrounded by stars.

Whilst the girl continues to explore the forest. She followed the trail to who knows where with great anxiety about what's to come. As she walked down the trail, it surprised her how well managed the trail path was. It was far better than the village.

'They've must maintain the trail and repair it all the time.' She thought as it impressed her how they could maintain it despite many creatures roaming around the forest.

Eventually, Athena ended up at the demon's so-called castle. As she examined it closely, it doesn't seem to be a castle like the one the Empire has nor was it close to even being one. It was more like her house back in Argenlès, however, the only difference was the size.

From the outside the house looks nice and traditional. It was old and covered in different vines of plants. It had been built with stones and has white stone decorations making it magnificent. Large, wide windows brighten up the house and have been added to the house in a most asymmetric way.

The building is shaped like a T, but not a very long end. It almost shaped like a T, but since the girl has not yet explored the entire house. For now, she'll identify its shape as a T. Since, there is a small end pointing at the front which made the house shape like a T.

The roof is high and triangular and is covered with flat roof tiles. There were a few chimney pokes out the center of the roof.

As she looked at the house more, it really looked like a very medieval manor. That holds great history and houses a great generation of people. As to why she thought of that, it's because despite how old the house looked, it still stood firmly and mysteriously, the entire house is covered in all sorts of enchantment.

The girl couldn't identify these enchantments, but she could sense them. Since she couldn't identify them at all, it only means it's very powerful. Some of the enchantment energy felt unfamiliar to her which made her curious about how powerful the owner of the estate is.

As the girl impulsively walked inside the house. She was shocked by the state of it…

'I guess one can be wrong.'

The inside was horrible, it was covered in dust everywhere. The walls, goodness, they were covered in molds and there were burnt markings as well. She could really say a demon has indeed lived in such a place, the state of it was suitable for a demon.

There was furniture around, but it was in no good condition at all. Yes, they can be usable, but not comfortable.

Athena sighs as she realizes the house must not have any helper seeing that the state was this bad. It made her curious when the last time someone actually cleaned the place.

The girl continued to explore the grounds of the house. It shocked her to see the state of the kitchen when she visited it. She couldn't even bother to check when she saw the dishes piled up. However, there was one room on the entire floor, which was very clean, tidy, and best of all well organized. It was the study, which was connected to the library. Amazing, that part of the house seems to be well taken care of, which means the owner must love reading.

As soon as she finished exploring the grounds of the house, she decided to check the back. She noticed quite a lot of lumineux were floating in the air. What she saw took her breath away, the whole area was filled with lumineux. It was double even more the amount of light compared to the forest.

'How is this possible? Is as if my mother is...'

That's right, to have such a large amount of lumineux means an Elementalist to care for the land. Which is why House Adolphus's estate is the most lavish land in the Empire.

'Could, the being be a human? Or, a vampire with Elemental power?' Athena contemplated on the identity of the being who owns the estate. She has never heard of a non-human before being able to bring such light apart from dryads. But, they have long been gone and it's been hundreds of years since a human saw one.

Whilst she continues to study the different plants, herbs growing in the garden. She noticed a very large greenhouse.

The greenhouse was almost half the size of the manor. It was filled with so much lumineux that its energy was so strong. Just with one glance, one can easily conclude that the person must indeed be an Elemntalist.

Athena couldn't wait any longer, she has ventured through life and death for this moment. To think, someone with great power is residing close to the village all this time.

As she opened the door, her eyes couldn't believe herself. Just a few feet away from her, was a human. To be more persistent, he looked like a young man, yet had the aura of an elder.

"Finally, I found you." Athena hurriedly ran closer as she wanted to get a better view of the person's face.

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