Among the grass swaying gently in the wind, I kept replaying Juuhra's words in my mind.
Eform… Enform…
The terms sounded complex—but they didn't tell me anything new. I had realized long ago: I could transfer a certain amount of capacity to any living creature I touched, slowly making them capable of evolution.
What Juuhra described was just a more natural, slower version of that process. Interesting, perhaps—but not directly useful to me.
What truly caught my attention was something else:
The Empress.
According to Juuhra, the wolves had fled from her. That meant she wasn't just anyone. If they feared her, she had to be powerful.
Without taking my eyes off the sky, I asked Juuhra:
"Do you have any other information about this 'Empress'?"
Juuhra paused briefly before answering:
"The wolves reached the deepest part of this forest while running from her. Normally, they took about a month to get here, because they stopped often to rest.
