Chapter 103

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Chapter 103: Smile

Each key had a unique shape and rhythm, leading to a door or producing a sound. The sound resonated softly in Tasha’s mind, like a large hoop with small ringing bells on a tin stick.

The sound said: Knowledge for knowledge, truth for truth.

When Tasha’s hand left the mirror, the shadow of the key disappeared; when her hand touched the mirror again, the shadow reappeared, along with the chanting-like sound. These colorful shadows floated evenly in mid-air, some far in the blurry starry sky, some close enough to touch Tasha’s face.

No, not just face to face, in the place where her body overlapped with hers, those shadows still exist. Tasha’s empty hand swept around, the ghostly image of the key passed straight through her palm, like a ghost passing through a wall.

These ghostly keys are everywhere in the Hall of True Knowledge, but in the vision of the dungeon, it is still blank here. All the keys are not physical, if someone else stood here, they would not be able to see a single shadow. Touching the Door of the Mirror is like connecting with something, they appear directly in Tasha’s mind, as if the vibration of a mosquito caught in a spider’s web is transmitted all the way to her fingertips. Every key exists, but just not at this moment in time.

They are already lost, or perhaps not yet created.

With a thought, a small iron key floated straight from afar as Tasha’s mind stirred. This ghostly image hung in the air above the round mirror, as if embedded in an unseen groove.

In the vast network of the dungeon, tiny dots of light emerged from each person with fairy lineage, silent and unnoticed. Minstrel Jacqueline contributed the most, these faint lights flowed at an astonishing speed, like fragmented information in fiber optic cables. They converged in the Dungeon Core, and then passed through Tasha as the terminal.

A glow appeared between the demon horns, condensed, and then fell like a drop of water. An invisible pen dipped in this ink, swiftly outlining the shape of the key. The elusive ghostly image solidified, the iron key turned into a solid form in the air, metal pieces formed and fell downwards, landing with a pat into Tasha’s palm.

So, are horn’s function antennas? This thought flashed through Tasha’s mind. She caught the key and inserted it into the lock on the mirror.

That inconspicuous iron key vanished like a swallow returning to the forest, the key was sucked into the lock, both disappearing, the smooth Door of the Mirror rippled like a lake, emitting a small illusion. A palm-sized fairy flapped its wings, humming a fairy song, a tune so beautiful and enchanting. Just a minute later, the singer on the leaf suddenly disappeared, leaving only the melody echoing in Tasha’s mind.

At the same time, the outside library came to life. A parchment suddenly appeared, on which the fairy’s song was recorded in minstrel’s staff notation. With sufficient information in place, the Door of the Mirror activated, and this lost beautiful tune reappeared in the world.

The dusty old library’s collections were revealed once again, the ebony wood sighed, and the dusty shelves came back to life. A shimmering light surrounded the whole library, as if a curtain was lifted, making the oldest building in the dungeon look brand new. For a brief moment, Tasha saw the ghost of the library from hundreds of years ago.

Countless scrolls were neatly stacked on the shelves, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. From the far south to the far north, from the most ordinary humans to the most mysterious fairies, from the Heavenly Realm to the depths of the abyss, countless secrets were stored here. The previous collector held the truth of half the world, standing in the center of the library, flipping through the Book of Dungeons – which was not just a book in his hands but a blank memo. In a fleeting moment, Tasha strained to see through the fabric of time, and the master of the library turned around, sporting a pair of dark curved horns on his head.

Victor, she silently repeated in her mind.

The big demon’s yellow eyes curved with a smile, as if across distant time and space, he also saw the next master here.

This was no ordinary dungeon setup; Victor was the former owner here and must have done something. The illusion faded quickly, leaving Tasha unable to understand the connection between Victor and this dungeon in that fleeting moment. But she understood the role of the Hall of True Knowledge.

Knowledge about the world and information gathered here forged keys, each unlocking a different door to solve mysteries. These secrets varied in size, depending on what you could exchange for them. Knowledge for knowledge, scattered clues for answers, fair and reasonable exchange of equivalents.

Tasha’s goal was definitely not a lost song.

"Tell me," she said, "Where did the Great Druid and the Forest Elf go?"

A jade green key rose up from among the stars.

It looked really beautiful, even before fully formed. This key was as big as a hand, with a slim body like a dagger, and a semi-transparent texture like light gauze. Once the key was fixed above the round mirror, a storm would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Suddenly, countless threads were pulled up in the vast space, and innumerable dots flew in from all directions, too fast to leave long lingering shadows. The different races of nature were connected, the knowledge of Druids was linked, one thread from the natural herbs growing in the Medicinal Herb Garden, another from the flowers and plants in the Angaso Forest, with the stout one resembling a flying dragon connected to the Heart of Nature’s feedback… All the complex information suddenly fell into place.

They dazzled people’s eyes, yet were so orderly. Bloodlines traced back to bloodlines, inheritances sought after inheritances, as one vine pulled out a large piece, how could these invisible threads be described? Perhaps they could only be called "cause and effect".

Trace the roots of the cause and effect lines.

In the midst of countless cause and effect lines, the emerald key was gradually materializing, unlike the iron key that formed too quickly earlier, this one could now see the casting and shaping process. It was as if the materials from countless pipelines were converging in the mold, the completion of the key continually rising, finally nearing half completion. The speed of information filling slowed down, as if the filling material had bottomed out, this key was half emerald, half transparent.

Tasha began to worry if it could be completed, but unexpectedly, this two-colored key fell down, ripe and ready.

It felt icy cold to the touch, the transparent side now solidified, resembling a white crystal, while the emerald side shimmered with a peculiar texture, like wax on a leaf, or the scales of a bamboo leaf. Tasha held this large key in her hand, inserted it into the lock.

For a brief moment, there was no reaction at all.

Ripples continued to fluctuate on the Door of the Mirror, but nothing rose from it – as if something was stuck halfway. Tasha moved closer, gazing into the depths of the mirror, and suddenly felt dizzy.

Nothing rose from the mirror, and Tasha fell into it.

She kept falling faster and faster, everything happened in the blink of an eye. Tasha couldn’t feel her body anymore, she forgot where she was in the dungeon, as if she was being torn apart, or as if each soul fragment entered this sudden illusion. Of course it was an illusion, how else could she explain this endless forest made of towering trees? Without warning or process, she suddenly found herself here.

The tiny vegetation on the ground was different from the usual plants in Angaso Forest. In fact, Tasha had never seen these types of grass and leaves anywhere in Aryan. Golden flowers hung from the treetops, very beautiful, but Tasha didn’t recognize them. As she looked around, the only plant she could recognize was the oak tree. Recognizing the oak tree was enough, as this was an endless forest of oak trees.

Behind Tasha, a huge and majestic oak tree stretched its branches and leaves, its canopy reaching towards the sky like a mushroom cloud.

Tasha recognized it, she had seen it when it was just a small crystal shaped like an acorn, a tiny sapling in the backyard of the dungeon. The cycle between the Heart of Nature and the Sacred Tree would not change over thousands of years, like a phoenix rising from the ashes time and time again.

This was the Druid’s Sacred Tree.

The oak forest was filled with people, more precisely, Druids and elves. The two groups stood in front of the Sacred Tree, the former in smaller numbers, only about a dozen, dressed differently and of different races; the latter resembled a migrating army, their line extending far into the distance. The pointed-eared Forest Elves, as beautiful as legends describe, not a single unattractive individual among them, as if a touch of special favor was given to them during creation. These beautiful beings had solemn faces, fully armed, with soldiers guarding a few elderly and children, some carrying bags.

The sky was dark, as if a storm was about to approach.

"It’s time," said an elf.

Anyone who saw him could tell he was a king, not because of a crown, but because of a kingly aura around him – it sounds strange, but when you see it, it just makes sense. If he wasn’t the Elf King, then who else could it be? This almost god-like king held a bow and arrows, wore armor, and had a mistletoe crown with jagged leaves that seemed a bit dried up, curling sharp like thorns.

"All sixteen Great Druids are here," a Druid nodded gently.

She was not young anymore, but very beautiful, beautiful like a poplar tree. They were all Great Druids present at the scene, and even though they looked odd compared to her, they all had a harmonious natural aura. Looking at them was like gazing into a vast expanse of untouched wilderness after a fresh rain, or the ebb and flow of a vast ocean. The presence of blooming flowers and withered trees seemed like a natural spectacle, calming the heart and prompting a smile.

"A few Forest Elves still haven’t arrived," the Elf King frowned, as if the absence of a few of his people was an intolerable issue.

"It wouldn’t hurt to have a few young ones staying behind," the bearded man said, but the Elf King gave him a stern look. Unperturbed, he continued, "We don’t know how long this journey will take, and should something go wrong…"

"Nothing will go wrong," the Elf King asserted firmly.

"Nothing will go wrong," the female Druid said gently, "we will come back, sooner or later."

Indeed, this was not a farewell or a death march. Though the Forest Elves looked solemn, there was no heaviness or foreboding in the air. Instead, they showed a determined spirit on their faces. When a child anxiously reached for his father’s hand, the warrior smiled reassuringly and gently patted the child’s head. The younger ones needing to be carried by their mothers were comforted with promises of a quick return.

Tasha noticed a Druid furrowing his brow, as if wanting to say something but ultimately shook his head.

"It’s better this way," the short one murmured.

The Elf King stopped talking and the mistletoe on top of his head turned black and curled within a few short minutes, looking withered and scorched. The Elf King took off his crown and said, "We can’t wait any longer."

The Druids exchanged glances, all looking somewhat sad. Sixteen pairs of hands pressed onto the sacred tree, and they chanted prayers. The towering tree collapsed silently.

It was somewhat like when Oak Elder passed away, but compared to the scene Tasha saw now, Oak Elder’s withering was nothing. The canopy covering the view roared, shaking the whole world, and the giant tree let out a long sigh. The collapse of the sacred tree was gentler than a building demolition, as the canopy, before falling, turned into flowing light that fell on the audience below and on the Oak Guardian embracing the wide, intelligent arms of the sacred tree forest like a gentle breeze. Even with premature decay due to human factors, the sacred tree could not bear to harm all it sheltered.

The Great Druid lifted the Heart of Nature out of the remains of the sacred tree. One member transformed into a bird, delivering it to the Oak Guardian furthest from here in the sacred tree forest. When that Druid returned, the Elf King gestured to all his subjects and allies, raising his bow and arrow.

He drew back the bowstring, nocked an arrow, and aimed at the sky above.