Elven Throne

Chapter 17: Elven Throne

"Heir of the Royal Elves?" Abium asked in surprise and soon noticed that the invisible power around his body started to disappear.

Meanwhile, Azolla nodded her head and responded.

"Anyone who has the high amount of Royal Elven Bloodline in their body is called 'Heir of the Royal Elves.' Long ago, the Royal Elven Family gave me a task before the city's destruction and ordered me to send that Evil God's avatar far away from this plane. Unfortunately, it isn't an easier task. I needed a strong-willed Royal Elf's blood and soul power to activate that Elven Throne. Moreover, that Royal Elf must have the power to resist the Evil God's temptation when activating the Throne. Otherwise, the Evil God's avatar might take control of that person's body and break the 'Time-Seal' spell before escaping. For the past 10,000 years, many Heirs came from the Elven Kingdom to reclaim the glory of the Ancient Elves, but none succeeded."

"The current Elven Kingdom knew about this Star Tower?" Abium furrowed his brows and soon asked another question.

"Wait. Are you the one who put this space ring in the secret room of Baxbron Woods?"

"You mean the underground passage you came through? No, that belonged to an ancient mage's secret passage. I thought the tunnel got destroyed when Lord Varos created the Borderland but didn't expect you somehow managed to find its entrance after all these years and even come here." Azolla paused for a moment and then added.

"Yes, Elven Kingdom knew of this Ancient Tower long ago, and they would send their peerless genius here to participate in this trial once every century. Most of the Heirs came here through the Borderland, while a few came here using an ancient magic teleportation circle. Alas, they were all nothing but weaklings. They have grown too soft during the past ten millenniums." He could feel the disappointment in her tone.

At that moment, Abium suddenly thought of her earlier words and soon squinted his eyes.

"Wait. The Elves know how to cross the Borderland?"

In truth, Abium, too, knew how to cross the Borderland. But he and other adventurers made countless sacrifices in the past to learn more about the secrets of the Borderland.

'Only a mortal man can pass through that Borderland, and they too have to walk on the pillar's shadow to reach the other side. If a Mage or a Warrior enters the Borderland, they will get sucked into the sand and disappear forever. But who would have thought that the elves had long known about the secret but kept quiet about it.' A trace of annoyance appeared on his face.

In the past, he even lost a good friend in that Borderland. So, learning such a secret about the elves made his blood boil.

'Those damned elves.' He cursed at them inwardly.

Meanwhile, Azolla nodded her head and continued.

"Anyway, your arrival made things much easier for me. From the earlier scene, I guess you must have a high amount of Royal Elven bloodline in your body. That means you are indeed an Heir of the Royal Elves, and you have the full qualification to activate the Elven Throne. Among all the Heirs who had made it to this city, only you and that skeleton seated on the Elven Throne managed to resist the Evil God's temptation and got qualified to activate it."

Abium's face suddenly stiffened up as he heard those ominous words, turned around in a hurry, and looked at tens of skeletons lying on the carpeted floor.

"But what killed that skeleton?" He asked as he looked at the lone skeleton sitting on the Golden Throne.

"It's the Elven Throne. Although he had a firm will to resist the Evil God's temptation, he lacked enough soul power to activate the Throne." Azolla responded emotionlessly, moved towards the metallic gate, and closed the throne hall.

In the meantime, Abium narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"If he can't do it, how can you be so sure that I can activate the Throne?" While speaking, he moved his long sword and sheathed it.

"Don't worry. I'll give you a spirit cultivation technique to increase your soul power before activating the Throne. Once you manage to increase your soul power up to the level of spell model construction, you won't face any obstacle to activate that Throne." Azolla said in a solemn tone, turned around, and waved her hand.

A moment later, a ray of greenish light appeared out of her right hand, entered Abium's forehead, and then disappeared.

Meanwhile, Abium felt a sharp pain in his head, followed by vast information about Spirit Cultivation Technique and its activation method.

As he skimmed through the information, he couldn't help but let out a shocking gasp.

'T-This is a true spirit cultivation technique!'

Soon, he calmed down his mind, looked at the tower spirit warily for a few seconds, and spoke with a sigh.

"Even if you tempt me by giving this precious technique, it isn't worth risking my life-"

Before Abium could finish his words, Azolla smiled lightly and spoke.

"As long as you help me complete this task, I'll give you a high-tier mana cultivation technique and even the spell models up to Tier-2. Technically, you'll become the owner of the Tower afterward."

Her words appeared more like a devil's whisper in Abium's ears.

'Wait. Is it worth gambling?' He hesitated for a moment and soon fell into deep thoughts.

'I came here not due to some coincidence. I came here because of the strange vision I had received earlier. But what caused that? The Time Divinity? Anyway, I'll have a great future if I use this opportunity.'

Noticing his hesitation, Azolla turned her face solemnly and suggested another idea.

"If you aren't satisfied with that offer, I can even transplant my 'Soul Core' into your Sea of Consciousness and accompany you as your artificial spirit partner for the rest of my life. By doing so, I'll also get an opportunity to see the outside world." She paused for a moment as she saw the clueless look on his face and explained further.

"I may look like an Elder Dryad, but I'm an artificial spirit created by the ancient High Elves with the help of a Primordial Dragon. In ancient times, every magic tower had a spirit. Well, all Dragons and High Elves had long perished during the battle against Evil Gods, though. Anyway, you won't get a chance to implant an artificial spirit inside your brain anywhere nowadays."

'Interesting. Should I accept the offer?' This suggestion indeed tempted him.

Still, he remained calm and composted and asked more questions.

"Why would I need you in my head? What would I gain?"

In truth, what she offered earlier was more than enough for him to become a Rank-2 Mage in a few years.

In the meantime, a deep sigh leaked out of Azolla's mouth.

"You don't have to be wary of me, kid. I'm nothing more than an artificial spirit. Once you help me send the Evil God's avatar into the deep space, I will activate the self-destruction mechanism and detonate the Magic Tower and myself. But if you agree to my suggestion, both of us will gain something extraordinary."

"You will detonate the magic tower once this task is completed?" Abium got startled by her words and stared at her.

On the other hand, Azolla took a step forward, moved on the long hallway, and answered.

"A devastating planar invasion happened around 10,000 years ago, kid. That led to the destruction of many ancient empires and kingdoms. This Elven City is one of the victims of that invasion. During the end of the invasion, an Evil God from the Chaos Faction sneakily sent his avatar to invade the city and got the right coordination of the city. Thankfully, the royal mages managed to perceive the Evil God's plot much earlier and made a trap for that avatar in the Throne Hall. They then sealed themselves inside the time crystal to stop that Evil God's main body from descending to this beautiful city."

"Still, the Evil God is still out there and waiting for its avatar to get released from the Time Seal. If such thing happens, the Evil God's avatar will share the coordination of this city to its original body, and it might lead to another planar invasion."

A strange silence appeared in the hallway as she ended her words.

"What happened to the elves of this city?" Abium sheathed his sword, followed her footsteps closely, and asked.

"Before the royal mages seal that Evil God's avatar, many people in this city got affected by the chaos power and turned into Chaos Walkers. Only a few managed to resist the power of chaos and escaped from this place through a portal."

"Do you mean the elves from the Elven kingdom are the last survivors of this city?" Abium asked further while showing a surprised face.

Meanwhile, Azolla nodded her head and continued.

"Yes. One of the royal mages told me that the last member of the Royalty, the seventh princess Lusserina Lufiel, was also there among those survivors. She seems to be the one who rebuilt the Elven City in the mainland and created a kingdom for Elves."

"Lusserina Lufiel? I never heard that name before."

Abium furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. He had not heard of that name in the past and decided to check it later.

'But I think the reason how I resisted the Evil God's temptation must be due to the Time Divinity.' He was sure of it.

Abium knew that he was nothing special when compared to other elves.

From what he heard from Navare, elves' blood had mingled with humans during the past few millenniums, and almost one-tenth of the humans in Easica World had a minute amount of elven blood in their bodies.

Still, he got another hint that might lead him to find more about his origin.

Shaking his head, he walked right beside Azolla and spoke calmly.

"I'll help you."