Chapter 591: An Opportunity

The ruler of the Silver Empire sat quietly upon the throne, crafted long ago by lost ancient technology. The holographic projection before her had already faded away. Her gaze drifted aimlessly into the distance, as if lost deep in thought.

After a moment, she gently tapped the golden armrest of the throne. Among the cables connected to her nervous system behind the seat, one flickered briefly with a streak of light.

Without a sound, the metal sliding door on one side of the Command Hall silently opened. A high-ranking handmaiden dressed in a white gown trimmed with tassels stepped in lightly and bowed toward the throne. “Your Majesty, did you summon me?”

“Please bring Master Verania to the Command Hall,” Belsethia nodded softly. “I need to discuss matters of technology with her.”

The Star Sanctuary was not only a floating fortress symbolizing the empire’s power but also a vital research facility and repository of knowledge. Inside this grand airborne city were vast laboratories and several archives. One of the continent’s two major magical organizations, the Starcasters’ Guild, had its headquarters here.

The Silver Empire boasted a team of top-tier researchers—brilliant mages, wise scholars, and master engineers—who immersed themselves in the endless knowledge contained within the Star Sanctuary and the relics of their ancestors. Relying on the sanctuary’s extensive research facilities, they tirelessly delved into the mysteries of magic.

For their outstanding contributions and exceptional academic prowess, these researchers held an honorary title independent of their professional ranks—the Starcasters.

One of the most distinguished Starcasters, Master Verania, who had served the empire for nearly two thousand years, was summoned by the queen. She set aside her vast data and blueprints to approach the throne.

This wise and learned woman was tall and elegant. Though no longer young, she retained a mature beauty and graceful bearing. She wore a pale purple robe trimmed with silver, her long golden hair pinned high. Several magic-infused crystals floated around her, serving as her spellcasting conduits and recording devices. Before Belsethia, she bowed slightly and inquired, “Your Majesty, how may I serve you?”

“Verania, you are my most trusted magical advisor,” the Silver Queen said softly. “I must make a decision and need your counsel.”

“Please speak, I am listening.”

“We have reestablished contact with the northern continent—you should already know this,” Belsethia began. “I just spoke with messenger Sonia and met with Gawain Cecil—he truly has been resurrected.”

“…Resurrections have occurred occasionally throughout history, but a ‘perfect’ revival like Duke Gawain Cecil’s is rare,” Verania pondered. “It may be related to some mutation in lifeforms. Do you want me to investigate the secret behind his resurrection? But that’s not my specialty—life sciences researchers would be better suited to advise you on that.”

“No,” Belsethia replied. “I summoned you because Duke Cecil proposed a suggestion—about technological cooperation between humans and elves.”

“Technological cooperation?” Verania was surprised, furrowing her brow. “That’s… unexpected. Human and elven magical arts have never truly blended. Even during the Gondor Empire era, our academic exchanges with humans were mostly limited to culture and the arts. Occasionally, we discussed supernatural powers, but only in theoretical terms. I doubt Duke Cecil’s idea of ‘cooperation’ refers to that.”

If it were just academic exchanges, the queen wouldn’t have needed to consult her.

“They have found a way to decipher and control elven spells,” Belsethia said calmly, though her words made the Starcaster’s eyes widen. “More precisely, they have uncovered the fundamental principles behind all known runes. They call it: Rune Logic.”

Verania’s first reaction was disbelief. The world’s runes were countless, and the possible combinations nearly infinite. Even the most gifted mortals couldn’t perceive all magical fluctuations or control every magic circle, let alone unify vastly different rune systems from different races into a single set of principles. It sounded like an impossible tale. Yet, as a rigorous and humble scholar, she suppressed her instinctive skepticism and asked the queen, “Is this true? How did they accomplish it?”

“Duke Cecil won’t reveal the details, but they must have found a new path—one completely different from tradition. We have intelligence confirming that during the war in Ansu territory, magical devices bearing elven spell characteristics appeared. That should serve as evidence,” Belsethia said evenly. “Duke Cecil hopes to establish technological cooperation with the Silver Empire. He wants our anti-gravity technology, multi-layered rune stacking techniques, and various ancestral knowledge in mechanics and engineering. In exchange, he is willing to share Rune Logic and their insights gained from analyzing human spells and divine magic.”

“Our ancestral knowledge…” Verania repeated softly, her expression growing serious.

“We have never revealed our ancestral knowledge to outsiders. Even when we collaborated with human nations to build the Sentinel Towers, we only provided ‘sealed results’ without disclosing construction methods,” Belsethia continued. “The legacy left by the original elves is the foundation of the Silver Empire’s endurance. Duke Cecil’s proposal… gives me pause.”

The Starcaster did not answer immediately. She fell silent, contemplating. The magical crystals floating beside her, which had been gently shifting, suddenly stilled and began to pulse in unison.

This was a sign of deep thought.

The Silver Queen did not disturb her chief advisor. She sat quietly on the throne, listening with her soul and nerves to the ancient machinery’s low roars and whispers throughout the floating city—each engine, each reactor, each AI node slowly approaching ruin. Her expression remained calm and unreadable.

“Your Majesty,” Verania finally looked up, breaking the silence. “Did you know that thirteen hundred years ago, I was a professor at the Royal Academy? I taught young elites advanced arcane techniques, imparting the empire’s most cutting-edge knowledge in the arcane arts.”

“I have heard,” Belsethia nodded slightly. “Many members of the Starcasters’ Guild were your students.”

“Yes, most of them were taught by me thirteen centuries ago,” Verania said, taking a quiet breath. “Six days ago, I visited a friend at the Royal Academy. On their bookshelf, I saw their current textbooks… still the same content I taught thirteen hundred years ago.”

Belsethia’s gaze sharpened as she regarded the Starcaster before her.

“Your Majesty, the Silver Empire is like a giant beast frozen for thousands of years. It may still be the largest creature in this forest, but inside, it has slowly decayed during this long stagnation. We have mined knowledge from our ancestors’ legacy. In the first few millennia, we built a vast empire with it. But for many millennia afterward, we made no real progress. All our technological achievements have been mere incremental improvements in a few established fields. We have crafted ever more refined, durable, and efficient products from ancient blueprints, but… in the fundamental fields behind those blueprints, we have remained stuck.

“Your Majesty, we are running out of paths. We need a second way. The chance of finding it alone is slim, but perhaps an opportunity lies before us.

“Human magical arts may have suffered a heavy blow after the fall of the Gondor Empire, but they are a clever and adaptable race. They excel at drawing knowledge from diverse fields and developing rapidly. Their knowledge could serve as a valuable reference for us—we need exactly that kind of ‘reference.’

“That is my advice, Your Majesty.”

Belsethia listened quietly to the Starcaster’s counsel. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke: “You are right. We must seize this opportunity.

“Master Starcaster, return to rest. Prepare the other Starcasters for my summons.”

Verania bowed deeply. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

After she left the hall, the Silver Queen remained silent for a moment before tapping the armrest again and calling her handmaiden. “Send for Lord Valendian.”

Moments later, the empire’s chief minister, Valendian Goldvale, entered the Command Hall. Wearing a red robe trimmed with gold and a mithril crown, the tall, stern high elf bowed deeply before the throne. “Your Majesty, how may I serve?”

“The northern Duchy of Cecil will begin high-level technological cooperation with the Silver Empire. In exchange for their mastery of runes, the empire will open parts of our ancestral knowledge to them,” Belsethia said calmly. “I will convene the Council of Regents and all the Master Starcasters to discuss this. There will be many opponents—vain pride and needless reservations will cause many elves to reject sharing our ancestral knowledge with humans.”

The chief minister maintained his ever-impassive expression. “What are your orders?”

“I demand the proposal be passed within two days.”

“Understood.”

The hall fell silent once more.

With the attendants dismissed, Belsethia sat alone on the throne. Only the occasional hum of machinery broke the stillness. After several long seconds, a sigh escaped her lips.

“May this truly be an opportunity.”

…

At the same time, far to the north, within Ansu territory.

Deep beneath the earth, in an ancient palace, a room was brightly lit.

High Priestess Beltera stood quietly, watching several cultists clad in black robes inspect a magical device at the room’s center.

Two black stone pillars, nearly a man’s height, were covered in dense runes and faint golden arcane lines. Embedded among the runes and lines were tiny crystals and rare magical materials, shimmering softly. The pillars stood less than two meters apart on the floor, which was covered almost entirely by a complex, massive magic circle. The circle was partially activated, with countless runes and connecting lines flickering faintly, and the crystals embedded throughout pulsing with energy.

The elven twins stood beside Beltera, watching the two “stone pillars” with keen interest. They spoke in unison, marveling, “The Eversleepers truly have some fascinating ideas—they’ve managed to project human consciousness over long distances, even directly across the Grant Wall…”

“It’s a pity this might be the last time we work with them,” Beltira said calmly. “In the end, they rejected the path of true evolution and chose that illusory spiritual world instead.”

“They believe their path is the right one, and we believe ours is,” the elven twins chuckled softly, pacing around Beltira. “What about you, Archpriest Beltira? Do you have your own unique vision for the new world?”

“I don’t like the way you circle around your words,” Beltira snapped, brushing off their teasing and stepping toward the center of the room. The cultists who had been inspecting the magic circle had already withdrawn, and the two black stone pillars now glowed with a steady light.

“If you’re not willing to help, at least don’t make things worse.”

“Oh, we’re definitely here to help,” the twins said in unison, following Beltira to the pillars. “We have plenty to say to our comrades on the other side of the barrier, too.”

The magic circle in the room flared to life, and the shimmering light on the black pillars suddenly brightened with an intense glow.

(End of chapter)