Kaelen continued walking eastward from the Alarys cave. To be honest, he had never known the exact location of the Void Land that Nyldorakh referred to. He wanted to ask again, but his memory rewound to when he was still in his own consciousness—where Kaelen recalled that Nyldorakh's condition was currently not good.
At that moment, he was facing Nyldorakh. Upon hearing that the time he had left to complete his mission was only ten years, Kaelen immediately spoke up, "In the history of Zyretheil, I have never heard of anyone who succeeded. So that's not something I need to worry about right now. For now, I just want to rebuild my Elarith and develop my power as much as possible. Because if I become strong, it wouldn't be impossible to conquer the Forbidden Territories, even if it means conquering all of Zyretheil."
Hearing that, Nyldorakh fell silent for a moment. His wings still flapped proudly, before he continued, "But there is no way to regain a destroyed Elarith. All you can do is sit and wait for death. No matter how hard you try, it will all be in vain."
Instead of fear or surrender, Kaelen shook his head, "Although I'm not sure either, I have to try. At least if in the end I still die, I won't die with regrets."
"I really don't know how to get a new Elarith."
That statement made Kaelen fall silent. He didn't give up, just thought deeply, trying to piece together all the theories flowing in his mind. After a while, his forehead furrowed with both eyebrows knitted together, "There is one way," he said, looking at Nyldorakh.
"What?"
"The power of the void."
"What?"
"If getting a new Elarith and core power is impossible, then the only way is to create it. Elarith itself is an innate gift of the Vey'zareth at birth, but that doesn't mean it can't be made. If I find or create my own skill, it wouldn't be impossible to obtain Elarith and the core power again," Kaelen explained. From his passionate words, Nyldorakh clearly knew how great the spirit of this 190 cm tall man was.
A tall stature for a child, but one of the things that distinguished the Vey'zareth race from ordinary humans was their height. On average, adult Vey'zareth stand around 230 cm tall.
"You mean, you're going to reforge your talent and create a new Elarith and Core Power?" Nyldorakh paused, seeing Kaelen's nod. "But that will take a long time. And you don't have that much time even to keep yourself alive."
"That's why I need your help."
"I can't lend you power again. The consequences you must bear are already great enough; I'm not even sure you can fulfill your previous promise."
A faint smile lifted the corners of Kaelen's lips. Nyldorakh wasn't even sure if it was truly a smile, but the man seemed calm as if chaos had never stirred within him. "I'm not someone who likes to break promises, even to those who have deliberately discarded me and turned me into trash like now. But this time, I don't need your power. I just want to know if there's a place with the void element that you know of?"
"A place with the void element?" Nyldorakh fell silent for a moment. Although Kaelen couldn't see Nyldorakh's shadowy form, he knew that his Vaerloch was thinking.
"I don't know a place like that. But I know a place called the Void Land," Nyldorakh continued.
Kaelen's eyebrows knitted tightly, "Isn't that what we've been talking about?"
"It's not as simple as it sounds. I don't know exactly what it is like, but I can give you some information about that place. Only rough information, and I require an equal exchange."
Without much thought, Kaelen quickly nodded, "I will get you everything you want."
"I'll tell you later when I truly want it." After saying that, Nyldorakh's shadow mass again produced some glowing silver script that Kaelen had to read himself.
[Recalling rough information about the Void Land:
Name: Void Land
Location: approximately 27 km east from the mouth of Alarys Cave
Landmark: the place where everything began; that is where the Void Land lies
Element: unknown
Danger level: medium to high
Type of area: unknown
Other information: the longer you stay there, the smaller your chance of returning alive]
After finishing reading the text, Kaelen felt even more confused, "There is absolutely no clear information about this Void Land. It seems the people who go there are indeed reluctant to spread the information."
"Or maybe no one has ever gone there," Nyldorakh added.
"If that's the case, then I will be the first person to go."
"I won't stop you. But remember one thing: you must not die before keeping your promise to bring me a fire-element Thren. Or you will rot faster after your death inside your body."
"Don't worry, I won't die before uncovering the secrets of Zyretheil."
Just as Kaelen's foot stumbled upon something hard below, he finally stopped recalling the moments before. He was startled when the thing that made him stumble was a stone large enough to be considered a pebble.
Kaelen turned his head around, looking left and right to see the surroundings, then gazed at the sky, "It seems I've been walking for almost four hours judging by the changing position of the stars. At my current walking speed, I should have covered roughly 24 km. That means there are 3 km left before I actually reach the destination."
After monologuing, Kaelen continued his journey with swift steps. Until his steps stopped when he heard bushes around him start to move. That made Kaelen immediately wear a cautious expression. He scanned his surroundings, but in the moonless darkness of the night, Kaelen couldn't see everything clearly.
In that moment, Nyldorakh's shadow reappeared right before him with texts Kaelen had to read himself.
[Warning! Your position is in danger! There is a figure stalking you this far]
[If you encounter danger now, the best step is to run]
After reading the texts, Kaelen got ready by assuming a battle stance. Although there was fear inside him, Kaelen tried to hold it back. Fear would never yield anything but failure. That was the phrase Kaelen always planted in his mind.
Because there were no signs of anything appearing, Kaelen resumed his steps. But moments later, Kaelen's pointed elf-like ears caught something again.
Quickly, Kaelen turned around and directed both hands forward, ready to face a fight. Strangely, when he turned, it felt like nothing had ever been there.
Just as Kaelen was about to continue his steps, a long root wrapped around his body from behind. Kaelen was then lifted off the ground.
"For someone who has lost their Elarith, you are quite impressive. But no one ever escapes the first level Xal'zarioth, except they satisfy the hunger of Vazyrath Mudrienne," explained the figure.
Mentioning the name Vazyrath Mudrienne, Kaelen clearly knew that the one capturing him was one of the Drae'vanyth race. A figure he avoided due to their troublesome nature. "Is that so? Then I must be the first to get out of here alive."
Kaelen immediately pulled his hands free from the root's grip. Then with all his strength, he sunk his iron claws into all the roots entangling him, making the figure groan loudly, "ARGHHH!!!"
Within less than a second, the figure released its grip on Kaelen, and he collapsed to the ground. Wasting no time, Kaelen got up and ran away from there. His long legs were quite useful to increase his speed.
"For now, I still have no power at all. So I must avoid all dangers as much as possible," Kaelen murmured while running.
But as Kaelen had predicted, the Drae'vanyth did not give up easily. He saw the three-meter-tall figure continuing to chase him. It became more terrifying when Kaelen realized that the Drae'vanyth was running on dozens of root-legs, making it even faster.
"Damn! There's no way I'm going back to get trapped by that ugly Zorgathr." Kaelen sped up through a forest filled with towering grass and large trees.
[Danger! Enemy targets capturing you]
[Avoid Drae'vanyth's attacks and you will get something somewhat useful]
When he looked back after hearing the whisper, Kaelen saw several long creeping roots aimed at him. Swiftly, he jumped sideways so his body was in the middle of the creeping plants.
Kaelen didn't linger. He immediately ran toward several tree trunks to avoid the still-pursuing Drae'vanyth.
"If this keeps up, I might get caught. I can't face it with just iron claws."
At that moment, the ground Kaelen was stepping on suddenly shook and a deep crack formed moments later. If Kaelen hadn't sunk his iron claws into the base of a large tree, his body would surely have been dragged underground.
In that position, it made it easier for the Drae'vanyth to attack him. But before the root reached Kaelen's body, he swung his body upward to dodge. He managed to land on both feet and sank his iron claws into the creeping plants entangling the tree he was holding onto, missing the target.
"Ahhh!" The figure screamed again.
Seeing the opportunity, Kaelen then got an idea. He immediately ran at the figure without hesitation, "You want to catch me? Then do it. I want to see how creatures like you catch people who come here and never return."
Feeling provoked, the figure extended its long root again. But Kaelen swiftly jumped over it and ran behind the Drae'vanyth, causing the figure to spin and unknowingly wrap itself completely in its own creeping roots.
Once the Drae'vanyth was fully entangled, Kaelen approached it. Then, with his iron claws, he cut the hanging roots resembling hair and used them as ropes to tie the root bindings tighter and safer.
The figure kept struggling, prompting Kaelen to look at it before truly leaving, "You won't stay here forever, right? But even if you escape, at least wait until I reach my destination first."
The man then pushed the figure, now completely tied with its own roots. Kaelen's face turned purple as he pushed the figure, for he needed more strength.
"Just a bit more," Kaelen murmured. He took a quick breath before pushing the Drae'vanyth to fall into the crack he had created earlier.
Kaelen felt he had exerted all his strength. He forgot that this creature had roots as legs. Upon realizing this, Kaelen pulled his hands away from its body, "This creature is a half-plant being. And the strongest part of a plant is always its roots. Meaning as long as it has the ground to stand on, it can never truly be defeated."
In that state, his hearing caught some footsteps landing behind him again. Kaelen hesitated to look back. But if he didn't, he would never really know when he was in danger. So he decided to turn around and ready himself once again.
"Need help, Iron Forger?"