Suddenly, all the Branchflus around them burst like balloons. Blood started flowing from Theodoras and Lily's ears and noses, and their heads began to throb violently. Unable to bear it, Theodoras lost consciousness, while Lily barely managed to hold onto hers. Then, the pressure abruptly stopped. In the sky, there was a figure with long white hair, a sheathed Shamshir at his waist.
Note: A shamshir (Persian: شمشیر) is a type of Persian/Iranian sword with a radical curve. The name is derived from the Persian word shamshīr, which is made of two words sham ("fang") and shir ("lion").
The fire in the air was drawn toward a single point, forming a ball, and then the fireball suddenly dispersed and vanished. It was clear from his ears that the stranger was an elf; his eyes were blue and glowing as he hovered in the air. He wore gold rings on all his fingers except his thumbs, each adorned with differently colored, glowing gemstones. Around his neck, he had a gold necklace encrusted with large red jewels. For a man, he was wearing an excessive amount of jewelry, and he was clad in golden armor. "Are you the brats who dared to burn my forest?" the man said as he unsheathed the Shamshir from his waist. The blade's tip was curved, slender, and long, with even its hilt made of gold, exuding extravagance. Theodoras quickly regained consciousness and sat up, slowly opening his eyes to look at the man suspended in the sky. The man rubbed his eyes with his hand, utterly stunned, as if he were witnessing someone rise from the dead. In an instant, he appeared right in front of Theodoras, holding the sword to his right eye. Theodoras didn't blink, the blade hovering just in front of his eye. "Who are you, brat, and why do you have the spirit eyes?" Theodoras couldn't comprehend what was happening; everything was unfolding so fast that he recoiled backward. He began to sweat and tremble as memories flooded back—the last time he'd seen someone with power this immense, he remembered what had happened. Fear mixed with rage as he gritted his teeth. "Who am I? You're not the one who should be asking that. Who are *you*, and how can you be this powerful?" Theodoras could see the mana rising around the man and the dense mana coursing through his body. In truth, he could see the mana in everything—living or inanimate, every object's mana was visible to him. "Answer me, brat," the man said angrily. "Sir, before asking someone who they are, you should introduce yourself," Theodoras replied. "Foolish half-breed. Are all high elves like this?" the man sneered, kicking Theodoras in the face. Without hesitation, Lily unleashed an Ignis spell, but it was futile—the man swatted it away with the back of his hand, and the spell dissipated. Ignoring Lily, he continued, "Since you wanted me to introduce myself, fine, brat, listen well. I am Keykhosrev Jafar-i, master of the Shamshir of the Blood Moon from the Jafar-i tribe, a Moonlight Elf. You'd have figured that out if you weren't idiots." He glared at Theodoras suspiciously. "Answer me, human child. Why did you burn my forest, and where did you get the audacity?" "Sir, we didn't try to burn your forest. We were only defending ourselves because the Branchflus attacked us. I'm sorry," Lily said. The man narrowed his eyes but couldn't resist Lily's innocent gaze, though it irritated him. "Mr. Jafar-i, how can we get to Celestia from here?" Lily asked. Keykhosrev's response was stern and direct: "You can't." Lily grew wary, suspecting the man might mean them harm. "Sir, why can't we?" she asked, trying to remain polite. "You can only leave this place on the night of the Aduax Eclipse, which happens once a year. The next one is a full year away."
Aduax Eclipse: I mentioned it in previous chapters but didn't give it a name, so sorry about that. The Aduax Eclipse is when Aduax passes in front of the moon, casting all its light onto the world once a year.
"What? But why?" Lily's disappointment was evident in her voice. "There's a seal on this area. There's a barrier around this part of the forest by the lake, and if someone with mana enters, they have to wait a full year to leave. Even then, it's not a normal exit—it's through the teleportation gate in the temple, which only opens once every five years. Lucky for you, it's just three years until the gate activates again," Keykhosrev Jafar-i said, grinning as if it were good news. "WHAT? THREE YEARS? A WHOLE THREE YEARS?" Lily's eyes began to well up with tears. "Oh great, all I needed was to babysit a crybaby. Anyway, both of you get up, we're going to the temple," Keykhosrev said. Lily's crying tugged at Theodoras's heart, but his curiosity got the better of him. "Temple? What temple? In the middle of the forest?" Theodoras stood, wiping the blood from his nose. Keykhosrev smirked smugly. "Don't think it's some rundown shack just because it's in the forest. I've personally tended to that temple for 400 years. Oh, and by the way, I don't know what it's for—just that the magical energy there is incredibly dense. At night, the lake absorbs the light from Aduax and converts it into magical power." Both of Theodoras's eyes sparkled, especially the star-shaped one. "Sir, what's a High Elf and a Moonlight Elf?" Lily had sat on the ground, muttering to herself like she'd lost her mind. Theodoras and Keykhosrev decided the best thing was to leave her alone for a while. Keykhosrev was baffled by Theodoras's ignorance. "Goddamn, how can a half-breed human be this clueless? Whatever, it's not shameful to not know—it's shameful not to learn. First, let me tell you about the elf races: Moonlight Elves, Sunfire Elves, Water Elves, Earth Elves, Storm Elves, and High Elves. Those are the six elf races, but sadly, the High Elves' lineage was wiped out in the Great War. We Moonlight Elves use illusion magic, so we focus more on martial arts. Our strength over other races is that we become incredibly powerful under a full moon since we draw our power from moonlight. High Elves had spirit eyes and found it extremely difficult to have children. The spirit eyes I mentioned let them see mana and souls. Elves, being bound to a single source from birth, use spirit magic to compensate for their weaknesses. You probably don't even know what spirit magic is," he said, glancing at Theodoras. "What's spirit magic?" Theodoras asked, and Keykhosrev jumped in. "Spirit magic is controlling the souls within objects to shape them. It has various branches, but for now, knowing this much is more than enough for you. High Elves were a race far superior to even dragons in wielding spirit magic," Keykhosrev explained, while Theodoras listened in awe.
Friends, the new episode was short and ended in a ridiculous place, please excuse me. 🙏🏻