Chapter 395:Catching up.
The council chamber slowly emptied as the representatives began returning to their quarters.
Atheline walked behind for a little. Lilith was already waiting a little further from him, speaking quietly with one of the attendants. Yet something had caught his attention.
Caius.
The High Elf had also remained behind. He stood near one of the enormous pillars, speaking briefly with Yander before she eventually left with several members of the High Elven delegation.
Caius watched her disappear through the doors, then his eyes landed on Atheline. For a moment, neither said anything, then Caius smiled.
"Young Lord."
Atheline smiled back.
"Caius."
Caius immediately walked toward him. There was nothing formal about his approach; instead, he opened his arms and pulled Atheline into a brief embrace.
"It’s been too long."
Atheline laughed.
"You can say that again."
Caius stepped back and looked at him carefully.
"You’re different."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it’s true." Caius smiled. "You’ve gotten stronger."
"So have you."
Caius laughed.
"Apparently we both had a strange events occur around us."
Atheline glanced toward the doors.
"Lilith is waiting."
Caius looked over.
"Then I’ll try not to keep you too long."
Lilith smiled when she saw the two of them.
"You found each other."
"Apparently."
Caius looked at Lilith and bowed politely.
"Your Majesty."
She nodded.
"Caius."
Atheline looked back toward the boy he had only saved and he seem to think him as an older brother figure, though he didn’t mind.
"I’ve been meaning to ask you something."
"About the Mystic rank?"
"Exactly."
Caius laughed.
"I was wondering when you’d ask."
"You went from where you were to Mystic incredibly quickly. So did Yander."
"I know."
Atheline crossed his arms.
"What happened?"
Caius opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
His eyes shifted toward the enormous windows overlooking Dragonic Island. For a moment, he seemed to be looking at something that wasn’t there.
"I suppose it started with the Beastmen Continent."
Atheline raised an eyebrow.
"You went there?"
Caius smiled faintly.
"Yes."
And suddenly, the present seemed to fade from his expression. He wasn’t simply explaining what happened, he was remembering it.
---
The journey to the Beastmen Continent had begun with a rumor. Caius remembered sitting inside the carriage with Yander, watching the landscape outside gradually change.
They had been traveling for days. The further they went, the more obvious the signs of corruption became; dead vegetation, abandoned roads and occasional traces of corrupted creatures.
They hadn’t gone there seeking power. They had gone because something had begun bothering them. The corruption was spreading, and nobody understood why.
"We should investigate," Yander had said." The goddess say the signs have been prevalent and that another Cataclysm will come."
Caius remembered looking at her.
"You say that as though it is set on stone."
Yander had smiled.
"We’ll definitely find trouble."
"Wonderful."
"You’re the one who agreed."
"I was hoping you’d change your mind."
She had laughed.
That was how their journey had begun. They eventually reached a region where beastmen and dwarves lived alongside one another.
It was a rough land; mountains dominated the horizon and forests stretched across enormous distances. Villages were scattered between them.
They had heard the rumor in a small settlement where people were disappearing, just a handful. But they had all disappeared in the same general region, a place the locals called one of the continent’s wonders.
Caius remembered sitting in an old tavern that evening. A beastman hunter had leaned toward them.
"Don’t go there."
Caius had asked why.
The hunter had looked toward the window.
"Because people who enter sometimes don’t come back."
Yander had immediately become interested. Caius remembered looking at her.
"No."
She had smiled.
"Yes."
"We’re not doing this."
"We came here to investigate."
"We can investigate from somewhere else."
"That isn’t how investigation works."
He had sighed.
"You’re enjoying this."
"A little."
The following morning, they went anyway. The entrance had been hidden within a massive canyon. There had been no giant doorway or obvious structure. Only an ancient stone formation partially buried beneath the earth.
The moment Caius stepped inside, he remembered feeling something change. The air had become still and the sound of the outside world disappeared.
Yander had walked beside him, then the doors closed. And they were trapped. The moment they tried to return, the entrance was gone.
Instead, a message had appeared.
PROVE YOUR STRENGTH.
Caius remembered staring at it.
Yander had looked at him.
"Training ruin."
He had nodded slowly.
"Looks like it."
The first room had been simple.
A battlefield.
Enemies appeared. They weren’t particularly powerful but every time they defeated one group, another appeared. Then stronger enemies came and more stronger ones.
The ruin measured them: strength, speed, endurance, elemental control, reaction, and combat instinct.
Caius remembered how exhausting the first few days had been. They had fought until their bodies could barely move.
Then they discovered the resources. The ruin wasn’t merely testing them. It was rewarding them with rare herbs, aether crystals, ancient weapons,meditation chambers and training formations.
Every reward pushed them slightly further. At first, they had progressed normally, then Caius noticed something strange.
"Yander."
She had looked toward him.
"What?"
"The time."
"What about it?"
He had pointed toward the formation displaying the passage of time.
"It doesn’t match."
She had stared. A day inside had passed outside but they came to learn that inside, far more time had passed.
They eventually calculated it and the difference wasn’t small. Time inside the ruin flowed somewhere between ten and twenty times faster than the outside world.
Caius remembered the expression on Yander’s face.
"We can’t leave."
He had stared at her.
"We can."
"We could." She had corrected herself. "But why would we?"
Caius had laughed.
"Because I would like to see sunlight again."
"You’ll see it eventually."
"When?"
"When we’re stronger."
That answer had become their routine. Every time they thought they had reached their limit, the ruin showed them another test. Every time they thought they had mastered something, another door opened.
Caius remembered the sensation of his Light Aether changing. At first it had simply become denser, then more refined, then something inside his core had shifted.
He had sat in one of the meditation chambers for what felt like months. Yander had been somewhere else, undergoing her own trial.
He remembered closing his eyes, feeling the light within him, and then... Something broke.
A limitation.
His Aether erupted. When Caius opened his eyes again, the chamber was glowing.
He had reached Mystic.
He remembered laughing because he couldn’t believe it. Later, when he found Yander, she had already crossed the same boundary.
She had simply looked at him.
"I knew you would."
Caius had smiled.
"You sound disappointed."
"Not at all."
They continued.
The ruin kept testing them. They fought monsters,solved formations, crossed ancient battlefields, recovered resources,learned techniques, and slowly, without realizing it, they became stronger.
Outside, only a fraction of the time had passed but inside, they had lived through years of training. Eventually, they reached the final chamber.
There was no enemy or treasure only a door, and a single message.
YOUR STRENGTH IS YOURS. WHAT YOU DO WITH IT IS YOUR CHOICE.
Caius remembered standing there for a long time and yander had stood beside him quietly.
Then the door opened, and they stepped outside. The sunlight had nearly blinded him. Caius remembered raising his hand over his eyes.
The outside world felt strangely unfamiliar. They had entered as people searching for answers but had left as Mystics.
And when they finally returned to civilization, they learned how little time had passed. Only three months had passed with since they entered.
Caius smiled at the memory.
---
Atheline had listened without interrupting. When Caius finally looked back at him, his expression was slightly nostalgic.
"You two really went through all that?"
Caius nodded.
"We did."
"And you were with Yander the entire time?"
"Most of it."
"What happened afterward?"
Caius smiled.
"We separated."
Atheline looked surprised.
"Why?"
"We both had different things to do."
Yander had returned to the Dark Elven Kingdom to visit her home town. Caius had returned to the High Elven Kingdom. Neither had expected their paths to cross again so soon since they had planned to meet again in a month or two.
But then the invitation to Dragonic Island had arrived, and here they were.
Atheline shook his head.
"You’ve always been lucky."
Caius laughed.
"That wasn’t luck."
"Finding a training ruin that accelerates time?"
"Fine." He smiled. "Maybe a little."
Atheline looked toward him.
"You know, I thought you were going to say you found some secret treasure."
"There was treasure."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"What?"
Caius grinned.
"Knowledge."
Atheline groaned.
"That’s exactly what I didn’t want to hear."
Lilith laughed quietly.
Caius smiled.
"But seriously, young Lord..." his expression softened. "I’m glad you’re here."
Atheline looked at him.
"Really? Not scared of the competition?"
"Yes... Because despite everything that’s happening..." caius glanced toward the doors where the representatives had disappeared. "It’s good seeing someone I know."
Atheline smiled.
"Same."
Caius looked toward Lilith.
"And it’s good seeing you both together."
Lilith smiled.
"We’ve been together for a while."
"I know." Caius laughed. "That’s why I said both of you."
Atheline shook his head.
"Still the same."
"So are you."
They stood together for a moment. Atheline glanced toward the enormous windows.
"You think that ruin was connected to everything happening now?"
Caius’s smile faded slightly.
"I don’t know."
He looked toward the distant mountains.
"But lately... I’ve started wondering the same thing."
Lilith’s eyes narrowed.
The thought lingered between them. Another mystery appearing at almost exactly the wrong time.
Atheline sighed.
"Looks like we have a lot to talk about tomorrow."
Caius smiled.
"Unfortunately." Then he laughed. "But tonight, I’m going to enjoy the fact that we’re all alive and spend some time with Yander."
Atheline smiled.
"That’s a good idea."
They finally parted ways.
As Atheline walked back toward Lilith, he glanced once over his shoulder. Caius was already walking away.
For a moment, Atheline found himself remembering the boy he had once known. The same easy smile and the same optimistic attitude,only now, that boy had become a Mystic.
And somehow, the world had become far more complicated than either of them had expected.