ETERNAL LIONHART.

Ashes and dust. Everything — every tree, every beast, every inferior being — of hundreds of thousands, had turned to ashes and dust.

This was the power of those who were beyond S grade.

I examined the barren landscape in search of any sign of life that might have survived such devastation. «What kind of destruction is this?» I wondered as my eyes scanned the desolate panorama.

But there was nothing. My steps crackled across the broken surface of the ground with each movement as I wandered through the wasteland that had once been The Forest of Dreams.

The Forest of Dreams was a vast region of ancient forest growth bounded by the Reissen Mountains in the north and the High Wasteland to the south. To the east lay the Eternal Wastelands and to the west the vast desert of Mosire. The eastern border of the forest was next to the Valley of Silxie, through which the Darers River flowed.

«Another mission, what a disaster», I reflected as I walked.

Even the ground wasn't stable, threatening to collapse beneath me at any moment. I was a soldier, fulfilling my duty according to the orders of my lady, Titania Starlight: to investigate what had happened in the Forest of Dreams.

The burned forest should have instilled in me a sense of outrage, knowing that someone unknown had dealt a terrible blow to mother nature. This was no different from a declaration of war.

The destruction of the forest was unforgivable in the eyes of all elves, threatening to provoke the Third Impact.

But outrage wasn't the emotion I felt upon seeing this grim picture. Not even close.

Instead, a melancholic sadness drowned my insides. How many living beings had perished?

My fingers traced through the thick layer of gray nothingness, and I found myself examining the bumps and folds of the landscape in search of some reminder of what this place had been: a fallen tree, the debris of a collapsed house, even the charred bones of one of the millions of lives that had been extinguished.

«Such destruction, such loss», I thought, feeling a familiar pain threatening to crush me.

My work was done. With the most important information gathered inside my head, I teleported to the home of the Elves. I had to give my report to my lady, Starlight.

I took out a disc-shaped object too large to fit in my pocket and dropped it to the ground. Then, I pricked my finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the disc. Immediately, it expanded and emitted a three-meter column of light, as I entered the golden light column.

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When I emerged from the golden column of light, I had teleported to a very familiar forest.

The trees bent and intertwined into arches to create the Sunlight corridor that led to the entrance over a bridge, which shone in a variety of translucent colors.

The trees were in full bloom, their leaves were tinted orange, yellow and red, making them a very popular tourist attraction at this time of year.

«It's beautiful, compared to the destruction I had seen.»

The castle rose like a dragon that seemed to have been born from the earth itself, as there were no signs or indications that it had been molded or formed. Generous designs and runes made of what appeared to be precious minerals covered the castle walls, which rose high enough to be seen from kilometers away.

What lay within this deep forest was a mystery, and few traveled here to explore its depths. The most notable places in the forest included the majestic Moonlight Mountains, which provided the headwaters of the Sunlight Corridor and the Bladeheart River; the Lost Peaks in the northwest that formed the headwaters of the Sunblade River, the legendary Divine Tree, the Starlight Forest in the east; as well as many dungeon ruins, abandoned settlements, and mysterious places.

At the end of the forest, there was a gigantic tree that reached up to the clouds. As the last divine tree in an age where the power of myths was almost lost, Yggdrasil was the identity of the great tree.

Ordinary humans would stop breathing as soon as they approached, and even Ranker-level Ascendants were barely able to withstand the pressure of stellar energy.

However, there was an area surrounded by a mist of energy, which was difficult to enter even for elves. It was a place where only the gardeners of the Divine Tree, the High elves with the blood of Arv, could access.

I teleported to the castle and stepped aside when two armored guards passed by. They stopped surprised to make a deep bow towards me before continuing their patrol.

I nodded solemnly as I turned a corner. To my right, a training hall was open to the hallway, separated only by a series of columns carved in the shape of serpentine dragons.

Four students practiced a coordinated series of movements and strikes, each in almost perfect unison with the others.

I remembered when I was like them, young, full of energy and determination.

I watched for a moment. I have witnessed a thousand — perhaps even ten thousand — such displays in my life, but now I couldn't help but see it as much more than the slow perfection of form, speed, and delivery that elves taught to children.

With each practiced strike and block, they learned a movement meant to disarm or kill an opponent.

—Sirius seems strong, —I commented unconsciously, eyes fixed on a child slightly taller than the others.

The boy had gray-toned hair and a cold, attractive face of pale silver, a feature that gave him away as a lunar elf. The expression on his noble face was hard and austere, and his blue eyes as cold as tempered steel.

"I know him too well," I thought. "I see my reflection in him."

Sirius, the only Lunar Elf among them, was in his childhood, but the time spent training in Starlight castle —a privilege, especially for those not of the Starlight Clan— had left him stronger and more mature than his young age suggested.

Watching him train, I could almost see the image in my mind: an enemy breaking under each punch and kick, an army falling before him.

The children finished their formation and stopped to give me a deep bow.

While the others began to prepare to continue their training, Sirius ran towards me and bowed again.

—Master Eternal. Please accept my gratitude again for allowing me to train within Starlight Castle, —he said in a serious and sharp tone.

—Make sure you live up to it, Sirius, —I simply replied.

The child bowed once more and ran back to his training partner.