The world collected small amounts of energy from the powerful beings in the world and eventually formed world crystals that produced energy for all beings to increase their strength.
Which means the stronger the being living in your immediate surroundings the more power would be concentrated in your environment.
Chronos wondered if there were powerful existences that could create their own environments by feeding power to the world or if the environment simply changed to match the strongest creature inside of it.
Once they died would the environment remain the same or return to a natural state? Or did another creature just replace them?
And what if there was no powerful creature around?
Actually, Dracon Fen doesn't have any creature strong enough to create a swamp, but it was still a swamp. How did that work?
Sharing his thoughts with the group Vessin suggested an alternate solution for Dracon fen.
"It's an interesting theory but what if it's not limited to living creatures? For instance, Dracon Fen doesn't have a water type creature strong enough to create a swamp, but it does have the Averest river. If you include any major power source as a possibility, then the Averest river creating Dracon Fen makes sense."
"Which means that something even stronger is keeping the Averest forest a forest, instead of being slowly transformed into a swamp." Sariah finished her thought.
Then Lyla offered another view to this discussion. "It might not just be powerful objects either. The swamp doesn't extend to the west but there are no powerful objects or creatures there. But it does have a temple and a landscape that isn't suitable for a swamp. Perhaps those are also factors for the creation of unique environments."
"That wouldn't surprise me, but I have another question. Why does any of this matter to us?" Gregory asked.
"At the moment it doesn't matter. It's just interesting to know how the world regulates itself and changes. As we grow stronger I think it will matter more, maybe even affect our own growth. It's not exactly easy to grow stronger in an environment that is hostile to your own power after all." Chronos responded.
"I find this very helpful." Vessin exclaimed. "As an alchemist, if I know how to grow specific plants or recreate their natural environments, I'll have far more options for what potions I can create. Not to mention shamans and druids are all about manipulating the world around them. If they are aware of the flows of power, then they could use ritual spells to cast spells well beyond their rank."
Chronos' eyebrows knitted together. If they started using the world energy for spells there was no telling what sort of damage could be done.
"I don't think it's a good idea to use world energy for destructive magic. If it backlashes it could damage the world crystals and cause the swamps in the surrounding areas to spiral out of control." He advised against that train of thought.
Thinking about the damage that could be done Vessin understood what he meant.
"I'll still suggest for them to experiment only with enhancement spells. Even if it causes a backlash, it won't cause any damage to Dracon Fen."
"Alright, just be careful. We don't want to cause a natural disaster after all."
After they finished dinner, Chronos returned to his training. He was still trying to understand the door sense he had somehow unlocked.
...
A few days later.
Chronos had just finished sparring with Lyla when the lizardfolk messenger that had been sent to the Dragon paladins returned.
"Looks like it's almost time for us to work. Let's make sure our weapons and armor are ready." Chronos said.
"Un."
As they walked inside Chronos didn't need any assistance as he deftly avoided walls, pillars, and people based off of this new sense of his.
It let him sense other people and objects clearly and he was faintly able to sense his second heart and bloodline power. He could even track someone that had passed by without any scent at all.
It was like he could smell them in another space, and they left a small trail there.
It wouldn't be too much longer before he could start purifying his bloodline. He was looking forward to what advantages it would give him.
He still didn't understand why he was able to sense doorways and had no clue how to make use of it. For some reason they came through very clearly even when he wasn't trying to find them.
After reaching his room he carefully examined and cleaned his gear. All of it was in good shape and ready to go, even his leather armor had been repaired by the blacksmith.
The only weapon that wasn't in a usable condition was his spear that still had the black marks along its spine. Until he knew what had happened to it, he didn't want to risk using it or leaving it behind in case it caused problems and nobody here had enough knowledge to analyze what had been added to it.
He finished checking his gear just as a messenger from the Eldest Matriarch came to get him.
Following him to her chambers he found that other than his team the three-armed naga and the blue-scaled naga were both present.
"Hello, the last time we met wasn't good for introductions. You can call me Chronos and these are my friends Sariah, Lyla, and Gregory."
"Greetings, I am Sathrya the Iron Coil, not that I deserve that title any longer. I used to rule the eastern marshes before the troll army defeated me and forced my tribes to retreat." She said with a tone of self-mockery.
"Stop doing that Sathrya, if it wasn't for your preparations we would have already lost everything to the trolls by now. I am Vaelith Azurecoil currently serving as Sathrya's advisor and despite what she says Sathrya is an excellent general who saved countless tribesmen during the retreat." Vaelith introduced herself while scolding Sathrya.
"Oh, did you give up control of the southern tribes?" Chronos recalled that Vaelith had been in charge of the southern tribes in Gregory's report a few days ago.
"Not quite, the Matriarch's counsel simply decided that we don't need to be fighting three wars at once and have temporarily given up control of the southern marshes. Besides I don't believe the merfolk want to hold the southern marshes, they are after something else." Her eyes narrowed with unspoken suspicion.
"I see, then to what do we owe the honor of this meeting."
Eldest choose now to speak up. "We were able to contact Vice-Commander Adam from the Dragon paladins. He informed us that the tear you were inside of is now closed and everyone that was dragged inside is safe. Currently they are dealing with two more tears in the north, one of which has reached the thorn level, and won't be able to send us reinforcements with the large numbers of dark beasts being released by the thorn.
There have not been many dark beasts in our area, and I want it to stay that way, which is why we are requesting that your team handles the tear along the battle lines. Of course, we will pay you for your service and provide you with whatever assistance we can. Will you accept?"
Looking at his friends, they indicated that they would follow him no matter what he chooses to do.
"What payment can we expect for our services?"
"We'll provide you with potions to increase your physical and magical strength." Vaelith said with confidence.
Chronos had a strange look across his face before he responded.
"We don't need potions to increase our strength as our power has already reached the limit of what we can wield at our rank."
Everyone knew that there was a limit put on people's power that could only be surpassed by advancing in rank, but very few people could reach that limit before they advanced.
Hearing that they had already reached that limit was shocking for the nagas whose most famous potions all relied on increasing one's strength. They would have to come up with a different form of payment if they wanted to hire them.
"In that case, we will pay you with one magic artifact each from the naga's hidden lair and a writ of passage that will allow any naga or lizardfolk tribe in the world to know that you are a friend."
"Eldest, are you sure about that?" Sathrya asked in shock.
The naga's hidden lair was effectively the treasury of Dracon Fen. Any item inside of there would be worth a small fortune if sold to outsiders.
It was certainly a good deal for them.
"I am. They are the only ones currently capable of entering the tear and they have already proven that they can close it as long as the enemy is not in the fifth rank."
That was true and even if they died inside it would only be a matter of time before the tear was closed and they could retrieve the items. In the case that Chronos' team succeeded they would treat it as making a powerful friend.