chapter 14: forgotten lands

In front of him was a rune barrier that was coming apart, slowly revealing the two carriages and the figure of a person who was about to fall down.

"Elaine!" he thought to himself, quickly appearing in front of her. He caught her before she hit the ground.

"My lord, I-" Finn cut her off.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that?" Elaine didn't speak as she looked away from his soft gaze as she continued.

"Finn... that bastard Zudra was working for the enemy. He poisoned me and tried to go after the boys. But the poison he used was meant for Soul Sprout Konquerors. Unbeknownst to him, I'm at the Soul Sappling stage, so I was able to suppress the poison and attack him when he least expected."

"The explosion, it was a soul bomb, wasn't it?"

Elaine nodded as she thought about how her rune barrier wasn't able to hold.

"Your rune barrier looked different. Did you make another breakthrough in your rune studies?"

Finn asked, recalling the massive purple chains that were wrapped around the barrier as it fell apart. Elaine nodded as she too had no idea what happened or where that burst of mana came from.

"You have grown stronger yet again."

"Yeah."

As they were staring into each other's eyes, the door to one of the carriages opened, revealing a frightened Ver.

"By the gods..." her voice was filled with shock.

She placed a hand over her mouth, holding herself back from screaming.

"You! You will speak nothing of this. Get back inside; we will be leaving shortly."

Finn pointed at Ver, who quickly nodded and went back inside the carriage quickly.

"I don't like how you treat her."

"I'm only trying to toughen her up. You know how the capital is like to women, especially small fragile little girls."

Elaine nodded as she understood his reasoning.

"I'll be the coachman; you go ahead and ride with the kids."

"But your mana is exhau- okay okay, I'll ride with the kids."

Finn quickly corrected himself as Elaine shot him a look.

An hour later, the carriage was moving at a steady pace as they made their way to the capital. Timothy, who was sleeping on the carriage floor, kept tossing and groaning, but he didn't wake up. Jake looked at him worriedly, but Finn had told them not to wake him.

"Dreams are not just dreams; always remember that."

These were Finn's words to them, so they simply watched as he kept turning and tossing.

Timothy dreamt of darkness.

Pure darkness surrounded him, standing on solid ground. He didn't try to look for a way out as he didn't know where he was.

"The only thing I would truly need right now would be some goddamn light."

Immediately after saying that, the whole place lit up with two different lights, one blue and the other red.

"What the!"

The words got stuck in his mouth as he looked at the huge staircase in front of him. He couldn't see what was at the top. The staircase looked like it was made of dark matter, and each stair had a rune on it. He looked around, and this whole place was empty, with only the platform he was standing on and the staircase that led to no one knows.

"Father did say something about these symbols; he called them runes. The language of the universe."

Timothy looked at the platform he was standing on, and it had a set of runes on it. The more he looked at this set of runes, the more he could understand it.

"Forgotten lands."

That is what the set of runes on the platform meant. Timothy tried reading the runes on the stairs, but he didn't understand them.

"It seems like I can only understand these ones."

Timothy spoke as he decided to walk up the stairs. But immediately when his foot touched the first stair, he disappeared from the staircase.

"This has to stop happening to me!"

Timothy screamed as he picked himself off the ground.

"What in the!"

Timothy started running as he saw a huge airship flying towards him. He quickly ran into the forest not so far away from where he was. The warship left after some time as they lost him under the cover of the tall trees. Timothy heaved a sigh of relief after seeing the warship leave.

"What is happening to meeeeee!... holy shit!!!"

Timothy exclaimed after noticing the clothes he was wearing. Timothy removed the combat gloves he was wearing and took a look at his hands.

"Okay, this must be one crazy dream! Haha, yes, why didn't I think of that."

He laughed like a maniac before raising his hands to look at them again. His eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing, but everything around him indicated that this was not a dream. Timothy took in a deep breath of air, and the scent of the forest filled his nostrils.

"Pale white skin, huh? I guess I must be really going insane. Where the hell am I? What is this place? I have never seen trees as huge as these ones." Timothy pondered, casting a bewildered gaze around him.

He wandered through the colossal trees, their branches intertwined like ancient guardians. The air was thick with an otherworldly essence, and the silence was profound, broken only by the rustling leaves. As Timothy explored this mysterious realm, he stumbled upon a beautiful pool that reflected the surrounding trees.

Curiosity overcame him, and he approached the pool. As he gazed into the shimmering waters, his own reflection seemed distorted, taking on an ethereal quality. Suddenly, the surface of the pool rippled, revealing a fleeting image of a hooded figure. Timothy's heart raced as the figure spoke with a voice that resonated through the mystical surroundings.

"Timothy Mí'tûr , seeker of forgotten lands, the path ahead is veiled in uncertainty. Embrace the essence of the runes to unravel the tapestry of destiny."

Before Timothy could understand the mysterious message, the vision cleared, leaving him alone by the beautiful pool.