Chapter 284 Next Move

Steve had nothing to think about when he was meditating.

Usually, he just goes into the very deep subconscious.

When he entered the subconscious, Steve could feel the source of power within himself.

A source of fiery hot power.

Steve couldn't explain every time Thomas the scientist who was responsible for this experiment asked him that.

He could only explain that all he saw and felt was a blazing fire and hot feelings.

The fire was burning in a dark place with wet walls.

Steve suspects that the place is a cave. That cave lies in his subconscious.

That cave before must have been very dark.

But the existence of a source of fire that was unbelievably hot and bright lit up the place.

The characteristic yellowish glow of fire reflected from the rocks that created the cave.

Steve only saw the scene while he was meditating.

From his point of view, Steve felt that he was in front of the flames. Watching it quietly without doing anything.

But when Steve started concentrating on the fire, the flames grew bigger.

Steve never tried to push it to the limit.

He focused a lot of energy on the flames to see how much he could make them burn.

Finally, the fire was so big that it filled the cave. And nearly swallowed Steve inside it.

At that time Steve managed to resuscitate himself.

He woke up to his senses with a body drenched in sweat and emitting thick white steam.

Since then, Steve has not tried that again. He knew that he might not survive if he did.

But tonight there are new feelings and sights present in Steve's subconscious when he meditates.

The sight is none other than a tall, skinny, dry, red-barked tree.

The tree stands in the middle of a barren land with sandy red soil.

"Wait." Steve cast his eyes around. "What the hell is this?"

This sight is very foreign. And there is no good impression that can be seen from this place.

But the tall, skinny tree caught his attention.

Steve walked towards the tree. He knew that the tree was suspicious.

However, his curiosity is greater. So Steve complied with his curiosity and approached the tree.

It didn't take long for Steve to reach the tree.

"What tree is this?"

Of course, the shape of this tree made Steve confused.

The bark is reddish and dry. There were long cracks that made it look like the flesh was being clawed by a beast.

"Why am I here?"

Steve looked around. But he saw nothing.

So he circled the tree hoping to find something.

Because the diameter of the tree was very small, disproportionate to its height, Steve was already on the other side.

His forehead furrowed when he saw something sticking out from within the tree trunk.

"What's this?"

Steve drew closer to get a better look.

"Sword hilt?"

A moment later, Steve heard an unfamiliar voice whispering in his ear.

"Do you want more power?"

As soon as he heard the voice, Steve lost himself in his subconscious.

He wouldn't remember anything that happened after hearing that voice.

However, Steve's subconscious remembered it.

~~~

The night that was heavy with discussions was passed. The bright morning of the next day came.

Erend opened his eyes when the sunlight entered through the several holes in the house.

The curtains that haven't been closed are also an even bigger reason for sunlight to fill the room.

Nobody remembered to close the curtains last night.

Because they were too sleepy after the long discussion.

Erend, Billy, and Adrien slept on the couch.

While Aurdis slept in the room Erend should have occupied.

Saeldir hadn't returned since last night because he was busy doing something.

Only when the sun had risen did Saeldir return to the house.

Saeldir made sure not to attract attention by using Magic to disguise himself.

Even though it was still early, Saeldir didn't want to take the risk of humans seeing him when he was outside the house.

Currently, Saeldir was still wearing Elf clothes in the form of a gray tunic. But his appearance has changed a little.

His silver and long hair turned black. The length of his hair has been reduced to shoulders.

His pointy ears were also nowhere to be seen. Turns into normal human ears.

He thought that the three humans still hadn't woken up since it was still quite early. But he was a little shocked when he saw that Erend was awake.

"Where are you from?" Erend asked.

"I'm trying to match my energy with the energy of this world," Saeldir replied.

Even though he didn't understand the meaning of that answer, Erend just nodded.

"I will wake Aurdis up."

Saeldir walked up the stairs. Towards the room occupied by Aurdis.

Erend wakes up Billy and Adrien. No need for significant effort, Erend only needs to nudge them a little and they are fully aware.

"What's the time now?" Adrien asked.

"Six," replied Erend.

"Okay, we have to go to headquarters and start executing the plan."

Adrien got up and rushed to the bathroom.

He will be the first to shower. After that Erend and Billy.

Several minutes passed. They had finally finished preparing.

Aurdis had also finished bathing.

"Give this to that human named Lennard. Then he will show you where they are doing the Magic experiment."

Aurdis held out a small vial filled with liquid that gave off a golden glow.

Erend took the bottle.

"I have to make him drink this?" Erend asked.

Aurdis shook her head. "You just need to sprinkle it around him. Then he will be affected immediately."

Erend nodded. "That's easy enough."

Erend put the bottle into his uniform pocket.

Adrien and Billy, who had been watching earlier, also felt that this method was quite easy to do.

Certainly easier than having General Lennard drink it.

"We will go first. You can wait here until we return," Erend said.

"Yes." Aurdis nodded with a smile.

Saeldir on the other hand was frowning. He seemed to be thinking about something serious.

Erend, Billy, and Adrien got into the car and left for the military base.

Aurdis was still smiling as he watched Erend, Billy and Adrien leave.

Her smile was as bright as the sun this morning. Even though Aurdis just heard quite shocking news last night.

But as soon as she turned around, Aurdis saw Saeldir's face which looked angry.

His brows knitted together.

"(What are you thinking?)" Aurdis asked.

She knew that right now they were indeed being hit by a lot of trouble.

There is a big piece of information that Erend just gave last night. A piece of information concerning the destruction of their world.

But all that was too much for Aurdis to process. So she chose not to think about it for a while.

But it seems the same thing can't happen to Saeldir. He must be thinking about what Erend said last night.

"(We have to tell Aerchon,)" Saeldir said.

Aurdis sighed. "(I know. But I'm afraid he won't believe it and we end up having another long argument.)"

"(Still we have to tell him. In fact, we have to tell all the Elves. No, all the creatures in our world,)" Saeldir said.

Aurdis sighed again. It won't be easy.

Even she wasn't sure that Aerchon would just believe it.

How they had to convince ― not just all the Elves ― but all the creatures in their world?

"(Have you ever heard of this thing called The Great Calamity?)" Aurdis asked. "(It's possible that if you have something convincing, things will be easier.)"

Saeldir nodded. "(I remember hearing about it and I also know where to look for it.)"

"(Then that's good.)"

"(I'll be back first. Wait here,)" Saeldir said.

Saeldir opened the Portal in a hurry. The portal is directly connected to his room in their world.

"(I'll be back before night.)"

After saying that Saeldir went straight into the Portal.

Aurdis just stared at Saeldir's departure in the hope that he would find convincing information.

~~~

Erend, Billy, and Adrien arrive at the military base. They went straight inside and asked to see General Lennard.

Unfortunately, the General still had not arrived.

They suspected that he had some important business to attend to because General Lennard rarely came late.

And when he came late, he had just finished some important business. That's the information they got.

Especially now that the whole country is preoccupied with news about the incident on the cargo ship.

Of course, everyone will be busier than usual. Especially General Lennard.

"When will he come?" Billy asked nervously. He wanted to finish all of this as soon as possible.

"I don't know," Erend said. "Do you think anyone else will know about the location of the experiment?"

"I don't think that's possible," Adrien replied.

"It's a top-secret project. Maybe even apart from General Lennard and the people involved in the experiment, we're the only ones who know that something like that existed."

What Adrien said was true. That made them even more riled up because it meant they could only wait for the General to arrive.

However, they did not have to wait long.

They saw General Lennard get out of the car and walk into the military headquarters in a hurry.

Adrien immediately rushed to approach him.

"General, we have something important to talk about," Adrien said.

"Not now, Bortusk!" General Lennard answered curtly.

"We have new information on the incident, sir."

Hearing that, General Lennard turned to the three of them.

"Come to my office now."

~~~