Early Evening - Late Fall : The Tree of Prayer

-With that much mana.. how much divinity could I make...- Not even taking the time to question how I would make it, I pulled in my aura to form a bubble around my body, picked up Ilios, and disappeared with light magic.

-Just like when I was underwater, I need to completely hide my presence...- "Hooh..." *vwWwwWoom* The noises from my surroundings started to warp as I took control of everything that even had the slightest chance of giving away my presence.

The light, and everything in the air, down to the atom, fell under my control within seconds.

-All that's left is to mask the ripple I'll make when I pass through that ocean of mana...-

Hastily running through my options, I quickly settled on a plan of action, even though I wasn't exactly too confident about it.

Put simply, I planned to spin my aura around my body at an incredible speed, which theoretically would scatter the ripple I would inevitably create. -It might cause some odd visuals, but I can mask that with light magic as a temporary measure... It'll look odd to those who are less sensitive to mana, but they aren't the ones I need to fool...-

Looking at the woman a few kilometers up the tree, I could clearly make out the boundary of her aura, but although it was extremely dense, it was quite small. -She must be using her aura to avoid getting poisoned by the ambient mana...-

But even though my assumption was likely wrong, why she was controlling her mana as such didn't matter. -All that matters is that she will have to rely on her physical senses to notice me...- It was a picture-perfect scenario.

With a smile of greed and excitement, I hastily finished my last preparations and set my sights on the center of the canopy. -Let's see why the gods liked napping here, shall we?-

After quickly making sure Ilios was securely in my grasp, I jumped up a few meters before creating a table of mana for me to stand on above the crowd.

In short, it was an extreme version of the magic I used to distribute my weight, but instead of supporting me directly, it supported a tiny platform for me to jump off.

-To think I'd create magic that lets me seemingly run on air...- *tap* Comfortably landing on the sturdy, invisible platform, I darted forward and ran across other platforms as I created them. *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap*

Although it was a bit slow-going at first, after a while, I was creating and running across the platforms at nearly full speed. -To think it'd be so much fun to use such precise magic so quickly!-

Before I knew it, I covered the four kilometers between the tree and where we originally stood, and landed on the top of one of the tree's massive roots.

But that didn't mean I slowed down.

*thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk* Using my built-up momentum, I used the curvature of where the root met the trunk to ramp myself up the side of the tree.

*ZzZiipP* An odd noise met my ears as I ripped through the ridiculously dense mana, but thankfully my aura technique managed to nullify most of the ripple as I darted past the woman on the tree.

A few seconds after I passed, when the remnants of the ripple finally made it to her, she turned and looked around, but I was already long gone by then.

-Wow.. scattering mana ripples like that works really well...- Finally beginning to lose my initial momentum several kilometers above the woman, I used wind magic to press me against the trunk and simply ran the rest of the way up. *t-t-t-t-tap*

-I should be far enough that they can't feel my running, right?- Looking down again, I saw the woman still standing there, nervously looking around. -I'll take that as a.. maybe...-

But before I could turn back around to look where I was running, I blasted into the canopy's cold and dense fog.

Instantaneously, I felt a moderately chilly but unfathomably comfortable air blow around me.

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It was a feeling that calmed my mind so quickly that I couldn't even react to the immense drowsiness that started to encompass my mind. -What a.. comfortable.. temperature...-

But when my legs lost their strength and my knees buckled, my instinct purged every single thought in my mind and woke me up with a jolt.

*THUNK* The tree shook as I drove my hand into the trunk to keep myself from falling.

*crackle* It wasn't until I heard the sound of the bark that my hand was embedded in start to splinter that my mind finally recollected itself. "Holy sh*t..." -I actually almost fell asleep like that?!-

Now completely awake and able to raise my guard again, I had no problem resisting the enticing drowsiness the fog made me feel.

But the damage was already done. -I made such a racket and even dispersed all my stealth magic... I really hope I'm far enough into the fog...-

Looking down, I saw nothing but the blinding fog, which at least stretched as far as my aura could reach. -I should be fine...-

Finally gathering myself, I carefully pulled my hand out of the tree and continued climbing.

Things continued quietly for a couple more minutes after that. I carefully ran through the fog with only my cloudy aura and gut to guide me, but eventually, things started to level out in an oddly concerning fashion. -Where am I?-

I felt like I was running over the top of a dome, with things gradually rounding and leveling out. At first, I thought it was simply the area between some branches that I just couldn't see, but as I tried to paint the image in my mind, I couldn't help but feel confused. -This doesn't make sense...-

After another couple hundred meters of running, things completely leveled out, with no hints that it would be changing in any direction, leaving me even more confused.

*t-t-tap-tap* *tap* *tap* Slowing down to a walk and waking up Ilios to set him down, I quickly made sure I was oriented properly before thinking back to what the tree looked like from the ground. -With the angle that the trunk has been tapering off.. the diameter up here should be less than four kilometers... But that would mean I'm only a kilometer and a half from the very center of it...-

It simply didn't make any logical sense, but while I was contemplating what to do, Ilios motioned me along with a lethargic but warm expression. -Does he know something?-

Thoughtlessly following after him, seconds slowly turned to minutes, but then, out of nowhere, Ilios changed to his full size, turned to me, and sat down.

-Huh?- I was taken slightly aback. "What's wrong?" I gave him a confused look, but he just bowed his head to me like he had done several times previously.

-What is he doing...- But when I thought that, I noticed some kind of engraving with my aura just ahead of us. -Hm? What's that?-

Seeing Ilios subtly motion me toward it, I walked past him to see what it was, but could only slow down to a halt when I covered a portion of it with my aura. "What.. is this?"

-

- Leif Vilulf ~ (Back several minutes)

"Let's show our lords how far we have come!" My voice, amplified by a series of wind runes, passed over the crowd like a wave.

The instant it reached their ears, they raised their hands into the air without exception.

-To think that even the dragons are excited this year!- As I spread my arms out wide, I brought all my aura closer to my body and braced myself.

*Vwooom* The mana in the air around the tree immediately started to increase in density before several, heartbeat-like shockwaves passed down the trunk.

*RUMBLE* The ground below started to shake as the shockwaves passed through the roots beneath it, but from where I was, distinct ripples could be seen. -No matter how many times I see it.. it's truly stunning...-

But while I was bathing in the beauty of the scene, I saw an absolutely colossal amount of aura within the crowd vanish instantaneously. -What the...-

Thinking I couldn't have just imagined it, I gave the area where it was a closer look but found nothing out of the ordinary, from the flow of mana to the expressions of the people praying. -Did I really just.. imagine that?-

After giving it some more thought, I finally just suppressed my worries and turned my attention back to the quickly rising sea of mana that extended to the horizon.

But after less than a minute, while I was watching over the people below, a completely out-of-place ripple came from my left. *vWooOmMm* It sounded like a very low-energy ripple, but at the same time, it was moving ridiculously quickly. -Did I really miss someone running by?-

Hastily looking around, I honestly found a concerning amount of nothing, to the point that I questioned whether Gulbrand, the apostle adjacent to me, had caused it. -What could he do to create that though... It felt like it was muffled...-

Without waiting for my thoughts though, the prayer continued and the sea of mana finally started to get close to me. I simply had no choice but to pull my thoughts back together. "Hooh..." -Even if it was someone running past, I don't need to worry...- *tap*

As if meant to try and keep me from calming my thoughts, I felt a very faint tap from within the tree.

Although I wasn't sure why at the time, my instincts made me look up at the fog-covered canopy, where there was a very faint, spiraling motion in the fog. -So someone did enter? But.. they didn't fall back out...- I stood there and stared at the spiraling motion for several seconds, simply waiting for someone to fall out, but no one ever did.

Before long, my thoughts started to wander and my excitement mounted. -Could that have really been him?-