Chapter 1211: The Spirit of Adventure

One of the reasons Belsethia had personally come to Cecil was to deliver the last of the ancient Druid sages to Amon. But that wasn’t the only purpose of her visit.

On the third day after the Elven delegation arrived in Cecil City, deep within the secretive “Project 115 Bunker” nestled at the foot of the Dark Mountains southwest of the imperial capital, a magi-tech vehicle bearing no insignia rolled through the heavily fortified base. Passing through thick walls and energy shields, it drove straight through the administrative zone’s rear corridors and mechanical gates, entering a massive cavern that served as the main testing ground.

From a high platform overlooking most of the test site, Belsethia’s gaze swept across the vast assembly area below. Countless steel frameworks crisscrossed the space, supported by magically shaped stone platforms, together forming a testing zone larger than several football fields. High-powered magic crystal lamps fixed to overhead beams bathed the platforms in bright, daylight-like illumination. Numerous engineering vehicles and technicians moved busily between the platforms, their lights flickering like dragons weaving through the night.

This was the assembly and testing ground for the sky fortress project—one of the empire’s most closely guarded secrets. Under normal circumstances, such a facility would never be open to foreign envoys. Yet for the Silver Elven Queen, an exception was made. The reason was simple: although Project 115 was a Cecil Empire initiative, much of the anti-gravity engine technology powering it originated from the Silver Elves. Moreover, many of the energy components were also used in the Elves’ own Star Temple.

While Cecil was building the sky fortress, the Silver Empire was simultaneously restoring the Star Temple. These two projects ran in parallel, essentially representing a technical collaboration between the two empires.

“As you can see, our work here is still at the stage of assembling the keel and testing the anti-gravity engine units,” Gawain explained to the Silver Queen beside him. “Of course, this is the most complex and time-consuming part of the entire project. Once the foundational structure is complete, the rest of the assembly will proceed much faster.”

“This progress already surprises me, Uncle Gawain,” Belsethia said sincerely. “I never imagined you’d have reached the actual testing phase of the anti-gravity engines. This must be the Origin Lab’s influence on large-scale engineering… truly impressive.”

Gawain smiled faintly. “The Origin Lab has indeed been invaluable. Tasks that would normally take months or even a year or two in the real world are done in a virtual environment. With the help of the accelerated cognition system, these tedious and time-consuming tests can be completed in a month or less. Of course, the massive neural network acceleration consumes enormous resources and ties up precious wetware mainframes, but compared to blowing up half a base in reality, it’s a bargain.”

“…Looks like I’ll have to seriously consider renting neural network computing power when I return,” Belsethia said with a smile, looking at Gawain. “There’s a reason it’s so expensive.”

“We’ve established large-scale communication and relay channels between Cecil and the Silver Empire, so naturally we should make the most of them,” Gawain said calmly. “Speaking of which, how is the Star Temple restoration progressing?”

“If you mean the temple itself, not much has changed. Repairing the foundational structure isn’t something done overnight. Although scholars and craftsmen say the new technology has accelerated progress daily, it’s not something you can see with the naked eye,” Belsethia smiled. “But if you mean our restoration efforts… we’re discovering new things almost every day.”

The Silver Queen smiled as she looked down at the enormous assembly site, watching the complex mechanical structures being installed piece by piece onto the steel skeleton, like witnessing a giant slowly coming to life from slumber.

“We finally opened the ancient gates leading to the power core, dismantled the engine isolation dome that hadn’t been opened in over ten thousand years, and breached the sealed layers leading to the central logic array. We saw the alloy skeletons stretching through the darkness, the silent ancient devices, and the corroded cables and sensors that had lost connection to the Throne of Dominion for centuries…

“Most of the deep-level technology is beyond anyone’s understanding now—even if scholars can identify a few components, current conditions make repairs impossible. But at least we’re not too late. We can still recognize the functions and locations of most device groups, and we have new plans.

“Master Virania and her star mages have mapped the energy logic of the temple’s lower levels. We replaced some severely damaged power cores with magi-net arrays from Cecil. Next, we’ll remove the completely ruined anti-gravity and propulsion units and replace them with modern industrial equipment, while rebuilding the chambers and functional zones around the temple’s keel.

“Our biggest challenge now is reconstructing the sensing and control devices that have gone offline from the central hub, so the Throne of Dominion can properly recognize the newly installed components. Progress here is slow, but since autumn began, scholars have made breakthroughs. Artificial neural cords have been fused with signal connectors, and with the help of biological neural centers, the temple’s control issues may be resolved. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly—otherwise, we’ll have to replace the Throne’s functions with hundreds or thousands of operators.”

Listening to Belsethia’s technical report, Gawain nodded slightly. “Was it our ‘intelligent factory’ that inspired you?”

“Giving machines the ability to think with synthetic brains… human creativity never ceases to amaze,” Belsethia laughed. “Honestly, after seeing the materials Rebecca sent, Master Virania didn’t eat for a whole day. But the next day, she persevered through all the documents and expressed great respect for your technology.”

Gawain was momentarily speechless, imagining what it would look like for elves to adopt wetware mainframes and heavy machinery technology. Suddenly, he felt a pang of guilt.

Unaware of his thoughts, Belsethia’s eyes remained fixed on the assembly platforms below. Compared to the papers she had read, seeing these things firsthand gave her a much deeper sense of awe. After a long silence, she finally spoke softly.

“Looking at all this, I can’t help but wonder… in those very, very ancient times, in an age even the Silver Elves can barely imagine, how did our ancestors—the Primordial Elves—build something as magnificent as the Star Temple? That grand, colossal fortress… was it also assembled piece by piece on a site like this, starting from the keel, beams, and basic power units?”

“Of course. Otherwise, do you think it just grew out of the ground?” Gawain raised an eyebrow. “What made you suddenly think about all this?”

“After finally opening the gates to the deepest parts of the Star Temple, we found many ancient traces in chambers sealed for over ten thousand years,” Belsethia said slowly. “Over the long centuries, the temple’s various sections have undergone countless renovations and purifications. Some outer areas were even destroyed by war. But in those sealed chambers, everything remains as it was shortly after the sky fortress first took flight.

“Today’s Silver Elves can no longer identify those Primordial Elf artifacts, but we can clearly feel they come from an ancient and great civilization—our distant, half-remembered ‘relatives’ from a ‘homeland’ long forgotten…

“Unfortunately, due to the passage of time and water seepage in some chambers, all documents and blueprints have been completely destroyed, and the precision instruments used for data recording are ruined. What we could salvage were only corrosion-resistant everyday items and decorations made from unknown alloys, plus inscriptions and carvings copied from the walls. Even so, these finds have caused a huge stir among the Silver Elves.”

Gawain blinked curiously. “A huge stir?”

“There’s now a growing call among the Silver Elves to ‘find our homeland,’” Belsethia explained. “This stems from the relics of the Primordial Elves we keep uncovering deep within the Star Temple.

“Actually, such voices have existed before—similar ideas have accompanied the Silver Empire’s entire history since its founding. But until now, these calls never gained momentum because the deadly ocean storms are just as perilous for elves. The Silver Empire’s ‘strength’ is as limited as Gondor’s once was, confined to the Star Temple’s cruising range. But recent events…”

“The formation of the Alliance, technological support from the Sea Witches and Naga, the reopening of the circumnavigation route, the dragons—and the successful navigation between Loren and Talrond,” Gawain quickly pieced it together. “These achievements have inspired all the landbound races, including your elves?”

“They’ve inspired us ‘extraordinarily,’” Belsethia smiled at Gawain. “Elves all know the ancient legend of the ‘Great Sundering.’ We know we come from another continent. When General Byron’s successful voyage to Talrond was announced at home, our scholars rejoiced, and the ‘homeland seekers’ grew louder. Coupled with our recent discoveries in the sealed chambers of the Star Temple… many elves now believe we can consider assembling a fleet, like humans, to search for the Primordial Elves’ original sacred land.”

“Exploring unknown continents across the ocean is a good thing in itself. I don’t see anything wrong with that,” Gawain said, looking into Belsethia’s eyes, choosing his words carefully. “But you should know that traveling to Talrond and searching for the Primordial Elves’ homeland are not the same thing. The former is the dragons’ birthplace—we have guides, escorts, established routes, and dragon-recorded celestial and hydrological data. Talrond isn’t that far from Loren. But your elves’ homeland…”

He pictured the massive tower foundations he’d seen from the Sky Station’s perspective, and the scant intelligence Enya had shared.

“Yes, one thing is certain: there is indeed another continent west of Loren, possibly the Primordial Elves’ homeland. But it’s very far away, with a harsh environment and unknown inland conditions. During Talrond’s heyday, the dragons occasionally sent exploration teams to observe that continent from afar. But now, with their strength diminished and lacking implants, enhancers, and the Omega system’s global communication and navigation support, even the dragons can no longer cross the ocean to reach that land.”

Belsethia’s eyes widened. The idea that the Primordial Elves might have originated from a mysterious continent west of Loren didn’t surprise her—Silver Empire scholars had long speculated as much. What surprised her was Gawain’s tone. He clearly knew a great deal about this and had been paying attention to it for quite some time.

“Surprised?” High King Talos certainly noticed the change in the Silver Queen’s expression, but he only smiled calmly. “I have a fairly good relationship with the Dragon God; many things I’ve heard come from her. Beyond that, I have some… special sources of information. I know there’s another continent to the west of the Loren continent—that should be the original homeland of the ancient elves. I also know there’s a landmass to the southeast—one the sea witches know how to reach.

“I’ve always been fascinated by new continents. The lure of exploring the unknown is irresistible to me. In fact, one of the main reasons I’ve studied navigation and built a powerful fleet is to uncover the secrets hidden deep beneath the ocean. As for reopening the ring continent sea routes and establishing maritime trade… those are just byproducts of that goal.”

Bersethia gazed steadily at Talos, who wore a pleased smile. After a long moment, she smiled too. “Your spirit of adventure… truly lives up to the intelligence reports.”

…

While Talos and the Silver Queen discussed new sea routes, ancient continents, and the spirit of adventure, another human with an extraordinary adventurous spirit lay asleep in his “adventurer’s cabin.” Outside the town, the wind howled intermittently, but the warmth from the protective runes wrapped around him like a comforting embrace.

Suddenly, an unusual shift in the atmosphere surged through his mind. Years of honed adventurer’s instincts jolted his nerves. Modir snapped awake from his slumber, rolling off the bed to the floor in less than a tenth of a second. As he assumed a defensive stance, one hand gripped the short staff leaning against the bed, while the other drew an enchanted dagger from beneath his pillow.

Layer upon layer of protective spells, along with blessings to bolster vitality, recovery, and magical affinity, flared to life, enveloping his entire body.

It was an instinct as natural as muscle memory.

Shaking off the grogginess of sleep, Modir’s eyes darted around alertly. He quickly scanned the room, confirming he was still inside his single-person “dormitory”—everything was exactly where he had left it before sleeping. The doors and windows showed no signs of having been opened, and there was no unfamiliar presence nearby.

But this wasn’t his room. At least, not his “normal” room.

Everything in his line of sight had lost its color, washed out into shades of black, white, and gray.

(The End of This Chapter)