Anda slowly shook his head.

“No… what do mean by salvation?”

“Aunil. The sword capable of killing Golden Knights.” Olen said.

Anda groaned as a knot formed in his stomach.

He wanted to tell the elders to at least reconsider whatever plans they had, but who was he to question them?

“I don’t think we should. What will we do if he turns that blade on us?” Anda asked with trembling eyes.

“Ah… that’s the thing. We’re not so foolish as to let him loose in Eimval. We’ll tell him our plan, ask him to tell us where Aunil is, take him there and lead the Golden Knight there where they’ll fight. The optimal outcome would be one where they both die, but if the Knight is the only one to die, then so be it. We’ll simply finish him off.” Olen said with an expressionless face and trembling eyes.

Anda turned to Tal, who simply lowered his head.

“and what of Katsíki? He is the vessel of lord Kenos himself. What do you plan on doing after engaging them both?”

“On that, you will go to Coh, tell Yna that Eimval is in danger, the vessel will then send her here while you make sure the vessel doesn’t move. We’ll take care of him later.”

“How?” Anda asked rather loudly.

“I… we don’t know. But that’s a matter for another time. Actually, I suggest you look for a warrior capable of wielding Aunil as soon as possible.” Olen said.

The knot in Anda’s stomach tightened.

“It sounds as though you have all this planned out. Then why make me High Elder? Why ask for my permission?”

“We meant every word we said about you, Anda. You are the only one we can see leading the Ia into the future. That also means you need to be there when all important decisions are made and it is ultimately up to you whether we do this. So what say you, High Elder?” Olen asked with narrowed eyes.

Anda looked at Sil for answers, but she was just as petrified and shocked as he was.

“Fine! But you’ll have to think of a way either to sate the rage Katsíki will surely have or find a way to remove him from the Dark Expanse completely.”

“Remove?” Olen asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Y- yes. Hurting and killing Yna is one thing, but we’ve only seen glimpses of the anomaly that is Katsíki. Killing him may be harder than Yna.” Anda said. He didn’t show it, but his knees were on the verge of trembling.

“Ah… but we have time on our hands. For now, we want you to focus your efforts on ensuring that everything goes well on the surface. We’ll give you some time to think about what to do with Wolva so don’t worry. We won’t bring it up until you’re ready.” Olen said.

Anda painfully swallowed before nodding.

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“Good. Now, do what you’ve continued to do for the Ia.” Olen said before turning away.

Anda slowly turned and walked towards the entrance of the second level with Sil in tow.

Nothing was said as they made their way back to the Scout’s office.

There, they found two Rendaro, who idly sat on the old chairs. These were the other half of the scouting unit.

Yiden, a tall and burly man with beautiful long hair and Fìor. A short and rather slender woman with equally long hair.

“Whoa… you two look like shit,” Yiden commented as Anda collapsed onto the seat next to him.

“Yeah… is something wrong?” Fìor asked with a concerned expression.

“I… I’m going to be the next High Elder.” Anda said.

Silence followed.

“Does this mean you’ll no longer be the captain of the scouts?” Yiden asked.

“According to the elders, I’ll be able to conduct my normal duties while also serving as leader for the Ia,” Anda said with a flat voice and empty eyes.

“Mmm… hey, just remember, we’ll be fine without you. I’ll take over as leader and bring the scouts fame and glory!” Yiden said while flexing his large arms.

“Yeah right, but it’s the thought that counts, I guess,” Anda said with a faint smile.

“So… with you being High Elder… does this mean you’ll be the one who’ll have to hold meetings with the dark vessel?” Fìor asked making Anda’s eyes widen slightly.

“Probably.” He sighed.

“Well, dark vessel aside, with your new position, you’ll be getting more food from the farmers, right?” Yiden asked.

“Yep, but I don’t think I’ll be able to eat any of it without feeling extremely guilty.”

“But you rarely ever eat at all!” Yiden said rather loudly, but Anda dismissively waved his hand before standing.

“Speaking of, let's go see how their all doing the land above is almost ready for agricultural work,” Anda said as he exited the office.

He then led the scouts to a large doorway on the level's eastern wall.

It led into a gigantic area filled with acres upon acres of plants which were kept in wide pits that were cut into the floor.

The most common plant was tall, dark, almost black and was covered in pale white pods which were the Ia’s main source of carbohydrates. They could be boiled, roasted and even eaten raw. That was just how versatile the Nyxten plant was. There was also the added bonus that it grew far faster in areas with high amounts of darkness and Eimval was sitting on a bed of darkness… it was also underground.

Anda approach one of the farmers as he inspected the soil within which the many plants rested.

Anda remembered learning something about how only use darkness to build themselves. The rest of the plant's life cycle happens naturally. They feed off of nutrients and water from the soil which they use to grow, reproduce and gather darkness.

Anda wondered if this meant all Nyxten plants were magicians.

“Do you need anything?” The farmer asked.

“No, not really. Just wondered how things are going.”

“Oh. Everything is in order. I heard that it's getting pretty hot up there. Makes sense since it’s summer, but this made me think. Would it be a great opportunity for us to see if we could grow the Yolberry seeds we’ve been keeping for years?” The farmer asked with a rather excited expression.

“Y- yes. Actually, now that you reminded me, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve set up a bunch of spots for you guys to work with and I wanted to let you know that you're free to use it however you like.” Anda said.

“Thanks! I’ll let my people know and we’ll check it out later.”

Anda nodded before leading the scouts out of the building.

They then made their way to the surface via a new, much larger entrance which was being contracted.

Several space magicians could be seen manipulating the very fabric of reality as they lifted large slabs of stone from point to point.

Judging from the their sweaty, half-naked bodies, Anda deduced that being a magician was quite taxing.

He greeted whoever he came across before stepping onto the surface where he gazed upon New Eimval.

Building with stone from deep within the earth was a habit the Ia weren’t going to forget soon.

Several stone buildings stood around the entrance and smaller wooden buildings could be seen littered everywhere else.

Anda noted that several other entrances were being built just in case of an emergency.

He wondered if seals could be placed above the secret ones, but that would only create problems once an emergency actually arose.

From what Anda understood, creating a seal was like wrapping something in a blanket to keep it safe or warm.

To see or access it, one would need to remove the blanket.