small clump of deep red coral staggered forward, its branches only half a foot long, moving slowly with the aid of its soft feet.
Lowly, incapable of thinking, coelenterates swarm in groups of millions of corals, moving their soft feet and branches formed from solidified secretions, fighting and intertwining with each other, stirring the surrounding seawater, and crawling in the same direction like a rising tide.
The towering, pillar-like branches constantly shifted and moved in the deep red ocean, attracting the corals below. In the blink of an eye, their size expanded several times over, becoming even larger.
"An extraordinary creature?"
On the sandy ground, Klein looked up at the colossal, deep red creature pieced together from countless corals, its dense, terrifying protrusions plunging him into uncontrollable self-doubt.
The "biological tide" before our eyes can no longer be regarded as a simple aggregation of coral polyps. These lower organisms, under the call of some force, have become a completely new whole through splicing and fusion.
Different types of corals each have their own function. Some are responsible for forming shells, some have developed propulsion chambers with water jet structures, giving their huge bodies considerable mobility, while others have specialized into keen sensory organs. It was with the help of these organs composed of flagella and tentacles that Klein and his companions, who had passed through the labyrinth, were discovered.
"They are alchemical creatures." Lewis held a small conch shell in his hands and blew on it gently. "The Queen granted us the ability to control other creatures in the ocean, and our vampire friends helped us modify some creatures near our settlement, like these corals, so that even these small creatures can serve as guards."
Does the higher sequence of the "Pharmacist" pathway in Alchemy still possess Alchemy-related abilities?
When Klein entered the underwater kingdom for the first time, everything was new and exciting. In addition to the towering coral reefs, he was more interested in the sky where the spirit world and the ocean merged in the distance.
Billions of pounds of seawater floated above their heads, with dozens of crevices connecting to the spirit world embedded within them. From time to time, spirit creatures would swoop through these crevices, leaving terrifying shadows on the sandy land with their strange or horrifying appearances.
"The high priest is waiting for you in the temple."
Following the direction Lewis pointed, a magnificent and imposing stone palace stood atop a nine-story platform, its deep blue, the same color as the coral decorations, fully revealed before Klein's eyes.
The Stone Palace is located at the center of the entire settlement, with guards stationed on each of the high platforms, until the highest point almost meets the ocean that serves as the sky. In terms of layout, the entire Stone Palace seems to be a pillar supporting this special environment.
Lewis revealed the identities of Klein and his party to the elven guards who had come with the coral reefs.
These solitary "elf singers" wield spears made of white bones and carry dark longbows on their backs, their attire as retro as their own.
The singers dispersed the coral guards, and together they summoned a whirlwind that lifted Klein and his party off the ground, flying over the town and towards the temple atop the high platform.
Klein, experiencing flight for the first time, looked down with great interest, trying to capture the strange creations he had never seen on land.
But the deeper Klein followed the guards and scout Lewis into the encampment, the less he could maintain his initial carefree and novel mindset.
His reason and existing historical understanding, like a runaway horse, galloped headlong towards collapse, never to return.
Looking down from the sky, he saw rows of tiled houses with beams as the core connecting the upper and lower parts, and coral replacing wood as the main building material. Elven children running around in the fields wore coarse cloth shirts, and elderly people sat at their doorsteps doing some simple work. It was a scene that could only be seen in an ancient East Asian town. It was completely different from the style of the elven ruins excavated on Sonia Island, and it did not match the model of elven culture that humans had speculated and reconstructed after repeated archaeological studies.
Are you kidding me? Are all the studies on Elven culture by historians outside wrong?
As a history major with excellent academic performance, even though Klein was not the "original" one and had inherited most of the memories, he was 100% certain that the "elven landscape" he was witnessing at this moment was not the same as the elven culture that outsiders talked about.
The elven ruins near Sunia Island can mostly be traced back to the Second Age... Could it be that after the Elven King Sunia Solem fell, he received the "mystery" of the elven faith and transformed the elven culture, just like Roselle did in Intis, turning the elves, who were already similar to East Asians, into our alien version?
Even without evidence, Klein felt that this was the only correct answer to explain what he had seen and heard.
But this is a good thing, isn't it? The elves can cook blood tofu and use chopsticks, which is similar to us... Klein tried to calm himself down and imitated the actions of the people around him, adjusting his posture in the wind for a smoother landing.
They flew very fast, and in just over a minute, they arrived at the foot of the platform that held up the stone palace and landed in front of a steep and towering staircase.
The "elf singers" exchanged glances. Lewis, who served as both scout and introducer, nodded slightly and turned to look at Klein and the others. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed that the divine messenger named "German Sparrow" had already taken a step forward and walked up the stairs that led to the nine-story platform.
"I can speak Elvish."
Klein replied in standard Ancient Elvish without an accent.
"You would say…" Lewis said with a sigh of relief after exchanging a few seconds of eye contact with Klein, who was standing on the steps. "That makes sense. Few of the Creator's messengers are not linguists."
"In short, we can't use any extraordinary powers near the temple, not even the high priest. To reach the temple, we have to walk up the steps. Heh, in your words, it's called a pilgrimage, right?"
"This temple belongs to the god of miracles and is dedicated to the king's brother, who is also known as the 'god of mystery'."
As he spoke, Lewis stopped Alger, who was also preparing to ascend the steps, and shook his head at the mixed-race child who possessed the same ancient bloodline as them.
"The high priest said that he only communicates with the messengers of the gods."
Upon hearing this, Klein, who had already walked halfway across the first platform, looked back down and, after thinking for a moment, decided to try to advocate for Alger, and said...
"He also enjoys the Lord's favor."
"I'm sorry, this is the High Priest's order."
Among the elven singers, an older elf approached Lewis, his handsome, aloof face showing apology as he bowed slightly.
"Only the God of Miracles and the Creator's chosen ones are allowed to enter the temple. Except for the annual festival, even we are not allowed to approach it. Apart from the high priest and priests who have the Queen's permission, no one else has the right to move around near the temple. Please understand."
The elves were also forbidden from entering the temple… Klein was puzzled by the rules the singer spoke of, but he could say nothing more.
Just as everyone who wants to ascend the temple must walk up the steps, this is not only a custom of the elves, but also a tradition that the elves have long believed in, which is equivalent to law, and is a respect for the beliefs of this ancient people.
"I'll be waiting for you down there."
Alger showed no displeasure at being rejected; instead, he accepted the result with ease.
Having received a response from his companion, Klein stopped dawdling, maneuvering Ludwell to fall a distance behind him, and began to climb step by step.
The nine-story platform resembled an inverted pyramid in the Byron culture. With each step Klein took, he felt the pressure on his shoulders increase, from initial ease to visibly difficult challenges. By the time he reached the sixth floor, the puppet Ludwell following him had completely lost its ability to move.
The Spirit Threads remained in Klein's hands, but he could no longer manipulate them even an inch, as if some invisible force was restricting his extraordinary abilities beyond his physical body.
The seventh floor, the eighth floor... the climb didn't take Klein too much time, but he had to pay a price for every step he took. When he reached the ninth floor where the temple was located, all the sealed artifacts that Klein usually carried were forced to be left behind on the way up.
He arrived at the stone palace as if naked, looked up at the palace's wide main gate, and finally saw the high priest of the elves.
She was a woman dressed in a loose-fitting long robe, her long black hair styled into a high bun at the back of her head, and her sharp ears and phoenix eyes added a touch of heroism to her beauty.
"Welcome, Chosen One of Miracles. I am appointed by the Queen to oversee the daily operations of the temple. You may call me Trislana."
The female "Aquaman's" gaze was intense and sharp, as she tried to find some trace of what she hoped to see on Klein's face.
In the end, Trislana, having gained nothing, parted her rosy lips slightly and sighed.
"When the Coral Guardians found you, I also saw your appearance. I thought you, like your companions, were also descendants of elves."
Silently withdrawing his probing gaze from outside the temple, and calming the growing trepidation of returning home that had been rising since entering the elven encampment, Klein slowly shook his head and said sincerely.
"I'm also very sorry."
For a fleeting moment, he felt an inexplicable resentment towards the "God of Mystery," and towards the predecessors who had transformed elven culture into its present form.
Why go through all that trouble...?
"Miss..."
Klein took a deep breath and had just uttered two words when he saw Trislana, who was standing in front of the temple gate, slightly raise her left hand, interrupting him.
"Come with me."
Trislana offered no explanation, and before Klein could even react, she turned and walked into the temple, leaving Klein no choice but to follow.
Unlike its magnificent exterior, which was made of gold, coral, and marble, the interior of the temple was quite simple.
When Trislana pushed open the ancient gate of the temple and stepped onto the faded porcelain floor tiles, Klein was greeted by four bare walls with only simple whitewash, a few lamp niches standing on the ground that barely provided any light, and the only other furnishings were the limestone curtain wall that stretched almost across the back half of the temple, and an equally large mirror on the curtain wall.
There were no statues of gods, no paintings praising the great deeds of the gods, not even the simplest decorations or areas for believers to pray. This was a temple where outsiders were not allowed to enter, and the elves could only worship on specific festivals.
"Surprised?"
Trislana's ethereal and melodious voice echoed through the walls, dispelling Klein's illusion that he had entered a hallucination.
"Yes," Klein said honestly.
"This Temple of Solga was originally an outpost guarding the 'God of Miracles'. It wasn't originally a town; it was once the front line of our war against the False God of Storms. Everything you see now is the result of reconstruction on the ruins of the war fortress."
Trislana stood in front of the curtain wall, her graceful and tall figure facing the huge mirror in the center of the curtain wall, but no reflection was left.
"Are you here representing the people of the Rothschild Islands?" she asked abruptly.
"I don't speak for them, but I hope you can lend a helping hand to those poor people who have lost their homes and worship the same god as the elves."
Klein's voice was very soft, as if he were afraid of disturbing the shadows sleeping in the temple, or what might exist behind that strange mirror.
His probing gaze would occasionally sweep over the pale fingertips peeking out from beneath the elven priest's wide robe sleeves, trying to discern the priest's attitude towards the natives of the Rosd Islands from the priest's subtle movements.
"The same deity..."
"Perhaps on the surface, we do believe in the same god." Trislana did not immediately refute or reject Klein, "but upon closer examination, you will find that their beliefs are completely different from ours."
"I have read books written by people on land about us. In their view, we are arrogant and complacent. The reason we rarely show ourselves is because we disdain to communicate with humans and consider humans to be inferior beings to elves."
"To this end, they found evidence and excavated the relics left by our ancestors on the island of Sunia, which belong to the Second Age, when His Majesty was still alive, and elves, giants, and dragons ruled over other intelligent races in the world, a time when they were on equal footing."
Trislana's voice came from deep within her throat, devoid of any emotion.
"They excavated the tombs of our ancestors, disturbed the slumber of their souls, stole the burial objects one by one, and sent them elsewhere for others to judge and speculate on, and then came to the conclusion that we are arrogant... Who is more arrogant, really?"
"In those books, the culture of the elves, like the Byron who worships the 'god of the dead,' has become an interesting exotic style, a pastime outside of their ordinary lives, just like the culture of the Rosd people you are going to help. They also have a pastime, but it is a more 'lower' one."
Trislana pursed her lips and frowned.
"Before you entered the camp, the Queen told me that you were to take the cicada shell of the 'God of Miracles,' which was a task you had to complete and a divine message from the 'God of Miracles.'"
"yes."
Seizing the moment between Trislana's lengthy reflections, Klein quickly replied.
"You will have Him, but not now."
"You mean..."
Klein looked up and saw that the image was reflected in the huge mirror that Trislana was facing. Ripples on the edge of the mirror blurred most of the image, but the center remained clear.
There, a gaunt man with skin so pale it looked sickly was also looking through the mirror, and his eyes met Klein's.