Sylvia composed herself and explained patiently, “Elemental Cores are conscious. They are not inanimate objects; they are elemental lords in the making, though this process can take hundreds or even thousands of years.”
Hearing another new term, Wu Yao held back from interrupting Sylvia.
“Rather than the name Elemental Core, we elves prefer to call them the Heart of the Elements. They can perceive, choose, and even form preferences. They like the aura of Witches, actively drawing close to them and willing to entrust them with their power.”
After thinking for a moment, Wu Yao asked the question she cared about most: “Once their consciousness is wiped away, do they still count as Elemental Cores?”
Sylvia fell silent for a moment, then replied, “Of course they do.”
She lowered her eyelashes.
“They just lose the possibility of advancing any further.”
“They are no longer elemental lords in the making. They are merely... vessels.”
“Mana vessels,” Sylvia repeated, her voice carrying a trace of suppressed hatred. “The despicable mages embed them at the tips of their staves to store and convert mana. But that is the most insignificant of the Heart of the Elements' abilities.”
Wu Yao sprang to her feet.
“I'm going to snatch them all back!”
Sylvia was startled by the weight behind her words. She looked at the cloudless fighting spirit on Wu Yao's youthful face, and the burning innocence in those black eyes.
She spoke of it so naturally and casually, requiring no mental preparation, devoid of any fear or hesitation.
It was as if what stood in her way was not the largest power dominating the entire continent of Elderan, but merely a pile of building blocks she could easily play with.
She wanted to advise Wu Yao not to put too much pressure on herself.
Those Elemental Cores had been lost for too long. To stand against the entire Mage Association and reclaim them was a heavy burden that shouldn't be pressed onto the shoulders of a newborn witch.
But meeting Wu Yao's gaze, she swallowed her unspoken words.
This matter was not a burden to Wu Yao; instead, it was something that made her leap with joy.
This was good too. Sylvia felt a trace of happiness.
“How do you plan on snatching them back?”
“First, tell me where the Mage Association is.” Wu Yao hadn't forgotten the quest she had accepted from Benita.
Sylvia fell silent again. This time, it wasn't anger, but a complex emotion subtly mixing speechlessness and relief.
A newborn witch who didn't even know where the Mage Association was, yet was already planning to rob them.
But it was also a good thing she didn't know. Otherwise, Sylvia truly feared that with the recklessness of a newborn calf, Wu Yao would charge straight into the Mage Association's headquarters and get captured.
In her mind, Sylvia pushed back the task of informing her of the locations of the Mage Association's branches and headquarters. She had a feeling that the moment she spoke, Wu Yao would march right up to their doorstep.
“I can't tell you right now.”
Wu Yao's eyes darted around, and one look at her expression told Sylvia that she still had no intention of giving up.
“The Mage Association has dominated the continent for many years, with branches in every country. Barging in would be a dead end.”
Raising a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, Sylvia felt a rare headache coming on. She couldn't just let Wu Yao go like this, nor could she let her recklessly crash into a behemoth she couldn't even begin to comprehend.
“How about this,” Sylvia made her decision and said solemnly, “I can tell you, but on one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Once you become a Gibbous Moon Witch, I will take you there.”
“Gibbous Moon Witch?” Wu Yao frowned. “What is that?”
Sylvia was no longer surprised by her lack of common sense. She didn't even show a shocked expression, only looking up at the darkening sky.
The setting sun had already sunk below the horizon, and the sky turned a color somewhere between deep blue and purple. Neither the Silver Moon nor the Bright Moon had appeared yet.
“It's getting late.” She pulled up her hood and said simply, “The power levels of Witches are divided into seven tiers. The Gibbous Moon is the fourth tier.”
“Then what tier am I?” Wu Yao chased after Sylvia, pressing for answers.
Sylvia's figure looked exceptionally slender in the twilight. Without looking back, she waved at Wu Yao and tossed a sentence behind her.
“I'll explain in detail the next time we meet.”
Then she vanished, seemingly blending into the twilight, leaving behind only a few dry leaves swept up by the wind.
What kind of quest is this? This player wants to participate too, damn it!
Wu Yao indignantly opened her attribute panel and scanned it up and down a few times, confirming that there was no such label anywhere.
“So what tier am I actually at right now?”
The only thing with any similarity was the Crescent Moon Blessing she had received last time. Crescent Moon, Gibbous Moon—they sounded like a matching set.
“Trash game! It doesn't even show my rank.” Wu Yao shut the panel, selectively forgetting her thoughts from half an hour ago when she was still praising this game's technology as being light-years ahead.
“Too much freedom isn't a good thing either!”
These words sounded a bit familiar.
Oh, right. It was a complaint she made at every weekly teachers' meeting.
Wu Yao shook her head, clearing out those unpleasant workplace memories. Not a single second of her summer vacation should be tainted by the shadow of work.
But then again, this game's level of freedom was indeed ridiculously high.
There were no guides, no quest arrows, and no NPCs wandering around in front of her with exclamation marks floating over their heads.
She could do whatever she wanted and go wherever she pleased.
She opened her map, and the translucent interface unfolded in the twilight.
A solitary blue light representing her current location glowed in an area labeled 【Holy Empire of Atoranca · Qinghe Town】, surrounded by vast stretches of fog.
Only the path she had walked left behind a thin, bright line, stretching all the way from the depths of the Cursed Forest to Qinghe Town like an undernourished capillary.
Aside from that, there were no other markings. However, based on her memories of using the Teleportation Runestones a few times before, she could roughly determine that the Holy City was located slightly above the center of this country.
Wu Yao estimated the scale of the map based on the path she had already traveled, then gauged her distance from the Holy City, arriving at a rough figure.
“About a thousand kilometers...”
With her current Agility stat, and without considering terrain obstacles, it would take her about ten-odd days of walking without sleep or rest to get there.
That was assuming she didn't take a wrong turn.
Ten-odd days wasn't impossible.
Wu Yao glanced at the direction of her territory; it was in the complete opposite direction of the Holy City.
If she headed straight for the Holy City now, she wouldn't make it back in time if anything happened to her territory.
She wouldn't feel safe leaving without setting up some defensive and offensive measures for the territory first.
Calculating the time, those two goblin merchants should be about to return. It was time to head back to the territory first!
She was very familiar with the path back to the territory; she could walk it even with her eyes closed.
Wu Yao casually pulled out the Compendium of Common Elven Spells that Sylvia had given her. The elven characters on it twisted and reorganized themselves into the block characters she recognized.
Rate on N.U.
