When Lulu finally finished showing off all the devices, Nyx let out a low whistle.
"I'll admit." She said quietly, folding her arms. "I've seen the work of dwarves, but this...this is on another level. It's as if the machines themselves have a will of their own."
Even Leona had to admit, though she'd never say it aloud that what she was witnessing was nothing short of remarkable.
Normally, preparing the materials for even a single house took weeks, sometimes months of cutting, sanding, and shaping wood by hand, not to mention the fatigue it caused the workers.
Yet now, before her very eyes, only a handful of elves were producing polished planks with ease, each movement seamless, efficient, and almost effortless.
She could already see new homes being erected from the freshly cut timber, and though her lips stayed silent, inwardly she marveled at the scene.
But as she glanced around the clearing, something felt off.
Her eyes scanned the workers—Lulu by the wood pile, the young elves hauling timber, Nyx swinging a shining axe like a toy and then she frowned.
"Where is Luna?" She asked at last. "I don't see her anywhere."
Lulu looked up from the planks she was stacking and grinned.
"Oh! Look, look! Up there!" She pointed toward the towering tree.
Leona and Nyx turned their gaze upward—and there she was.
High among the branches, balanced with unnerving grace, Luna stood beside Luca.
Both of them were harnessed to thick vines, and Luca seemed to be explaining something, gesturing toward the contraption in his hands.
Luna, ever the one to capture knowledge, was jotting down notes in a small wooden-bound book, her expression focused and serious.
"She's learning how to use that thing called a 'chainsaw'!" Lulu giggled. "Luca said it's a machine for cutting down trees, and he's teaching her how to handle it!"
Leona's face paled slightly.
Her first instinct was pure alarm—not because Luna was high up, elves were born climbers.
But because of who she was with.
Luca was holding a tool powerful enough to shred the thickest tree like paper, and her daughter was right beside him.
She gulped, ready to shout for her to come down immediately, even if it meant sounding harsh—but then something else caught her attention.
Her eyes swept across the clearing again, this time with new awareness.
The machines. Those strange alien constructs were everywhere.
Large ones, small ones, buzzing and whirring, each emitting sounds she'd never heard before.
Yet...how had they gotten here?
They were enormous, too large to carry through the forest without leaving even a single mark.
She turned sharply to Lulu.
"Wait a moment." She said firmly. "Where exactly did all of these come from?"
"Huh?" Lulu blinked.
Leona gestured around her at the machinery.
"All of this. These strange devices. They're too large to carry and too heavy to move through the forest. There are no tracks—no signs of transport at all. So tell me, Lulu, where did they come from?"
At once, Lulu's face lit up with excitement, her earlier pride returning full force.
"That's the best part! The best part!"
She exclaimed, practically bouncing in place.
"Luca didn't carry them here at all—he made them appear! Just like that! I told you, he's really a hero! The Goddess gave him amazing powers—space powers! You have to see it for yourself!"
Before Leona could question her further, Lulu cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted toward the tree.
"Luca! Come down! Come down already! Mother wants to talk to you!"
From above, his voice echoed back. "Is it really that important? I'm almost done showing Luna how this works."
"It is important!" Lulu insisted stubbornly, stomping her foot. "Come down! Both of you!"
Luca exchanged a few words with Luna, then nodded. The two began climbing down with practiced ease.
When they reached the base, Leona noticed Luna was carrying a smaller version of his machine—a miniature 'chainsaw' of her own, its metal teeth gleaming in the light.
Nyx, curiosity practically glowing in her eyes, stepped forward the moment they landed.
"So this is what you've been playing with, hmm?"
She said, eyeing the strange device in Luna's hands and without warning, she reached out toward the blade.
Luna immediately panicked.
"No—no, Auntie Nyx, don't touch it!" She cried, her voice trembling with genuine alarm. "It's extremely sharp! If you touch the edge even by mistake, it could cut your hand clean off!"
"It'll even go through bone before you even realize it!"
Nyx blinked, then grinned like a cat spotting prey.
"Oh really? That sounds...fascinating." She tilted her head. "Turn it on for me, won't you? I'd like to try."
Luna hesitated, glancing between her aunt and her mother. Leona's disapproving frown was already forming, but before she could stop it, Nyx gave her niece a sly, reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, dear. I know what I'm doing."
Reluctantly, Luna sighed and handed her the tool. She pulled the cord, and with a growling roar the machine came alive—the metallic teeth spinning with a violent hum.
The noise startled several nearby elves, but Nyx's eyes lit up like a child's.
"Well, this is delightful!" She said over the sound, stepping back and testing its weight.
Then, to everyone's alarm, she began swinging it—not recklessly, but with trained, deliberate grace.
Her movements were beautiful and practiced, like a warrior with a blade. She made several cutting arcs through the air before lowering the chainsaw to a pile of wood blocks and slicing through them one by one.
Each motion was flawless, her strokes clean and deadly.
Finally, she let the machine idle and switched it off, her grin widening.
"This isn't a tool." She said matter-of-factly. "This is a weapon. A glorious weapon. Can you imagine the humans' faces when they see this spinning thing roaring toward them?"
"Just stick it into someone's chest, and it'll tear straight through everything inside. They'll die before they can even scream."
"Nyx." Leona muttered with a long, suffering sigh.
Nyx only laughed. "Oh come on, Leona. You can't deny it's effective."
Leona ignored her and turned back to Lulu, her patience thinning.
"Now, please—explain to me properly. How exactly did all of these devices get here?"
"Of course, Mother!" Lulu replied brightly, before looking at Luca. "Luca, do the thing! The thing you showed me before! Make me go poof and travel all over, just like you did!"
"Go...poof and travel all over? What are you talking about?" Leona wondered if her daughter had really gone crazy.
"You'll see!" Lulu just grinned, tugging eagerly at Luca's sleeve. "Come on, do it!"
Luca chuckled under his breath. "You're impatient as always."
Then, without another word, he lifted his hand.
At first, nothing happened.
But then like ripples in water—space itself distorted before them.
A faint hum filled the air as a swirl of blue light formed out of nowhere, twisting and widening until it became a perfectly circular gateway.
Both Leona and Nyx gasped in unison.
A portal. A real, tangible, glowing portal right before their eyes.
It shouldn't have been possible. There was no mana, no active magic in the world anymore. And yet this...this was power beyond comprehension.
Before Leona could even process what she was seeing, Lulu jumped straight into it.
"LULU—!" Leona shouted, reaching out instinctively, but her hand closed on empty air.
Her daughter was gone and her heart jumped in her chest.
But before she could even demand what happened to her, another portal opened a few steps away, and Lulu tumbled out, landing gracefully on her feet, giggling.
"Tada!!!" She cried, triumphant. "I went from here to there in just one step!"
Witnessing this shocking feat, Leona stood frozen, staring between the two portals as they slowly faded away.
Even Nyx, who rarely looked surprised, blinked in astonishment.
Then Lulu turned and shouted.
"Again, Luca! Do it again!"
He laughed, shaking his head but humoring her.
With another wave of his hand, a new portal bloomed into existence and without hesitation, Lulu leaped through it again.
But once again, another portal appeared at the far end of the clearing, and she stepped out laughing, before diving right back in.
Soon she was appearing everywhere—one moment behind them, the next above a branch, then beside the woodpile.
The elves watching burst into amazed chatter, pointing and whispering as the hero's power unfolded before them.
"Did you see that?" One murmured. "He's bending space itself!"
"Impossible." Said another, awestruck. "There's no mana left...and yet he can still use it!"
"He really is a hero from the heavens!"
Leona could only stand there, eyes wide as the truth set in.
This man, this human had power far beyond what any mortal, elf, or warrior of any other race had ever displayed.
Not only had he brought impossible tools and machines, but he could bend space itself at will.