"Slow down, don't choke. There's more here if you need it."
Kaveh watched Silaya eat with a gentle smile, feeling a deep sense of healing within him.
"From now on, come here at this time, and I'll bring you delicious food."
Silaya looked up at Kaveh with her pure, wide eyes, her little mouth still full of food she hadn't swallowed yet.
When their eyes met, Kaveh suddenly froze.
What kind of look is that...?
Disbelief, joy, surprise, gratitude...
He reached out and gently stroked Silaya's messy hair, saying softly, "Eat up. You'll never go hungry again."
Silaya lowered her head and continued eating, but this time she ate much more slowly, large tears streaming down her cheeks.
[Kaveh! Is this the kind-hearted person who adopted Silaya?]
[He looks like he's still just a child himself.]
[Aaaaah, I can't take it! If I were in Sumeru, I'd fatten Little Silaya up until she was plump and rosy-cheeked.]
Nahida: "What we're seeing now is one of the most unforgettable moments in Silaya's life. The previous scenes depicted the hardships of her childhood, but now she's met someone who will forever be etched in her memory. This experience is invaluable to her."
"Silaya is so pitiful," Paimon sighed. "You'd never guess it from how she acts around us."
"She's a very optimistic person," Alhaitham said. "In my memory, she was rarely ever downcast. Academically, nothing could stump her, unless she simply didn't want to do it."
Silaya was truly the best student Alhaitham had ever encountered. Teaching her gave him a deep sense of accomplishment, and he felt at ease in her presence.
Sumeru City was built atop a colossal tree. Silaya sat on a branch along the Akademiya's path, a precarious spot where a single misstep would send her plummeting to her death.
"Silaya, what are you doing in such a dangerous spot? Move back a little!" Paimon called out.
Even though Paimon knew Silaya couldn't hear her and that her words would change nothing, she persisted in "talking" to Silaya.
By this time, Silaya was eight years old. Her hair was no longer disheveled, and her clothes were no longer dirty.
She rested her hand on the tree trunk, tilting her head slightly to gaze at the starry sky.
Her expression was utterly serious, her pupils unfocused, as if pondering some profound mystery.
Alhaitham sat down beside Silaya, turning to study her plump profile. Kaveh seemed to be taking good care of her.
He followed her gaze into the night sky, where seven brilliant stars blazed.
So, she's watching the stars?
"I remember," Nahida said, "this was the night Little Silaya obtained her Vision."
"Vision?"
Lumine and Paimon had only heard of Visions; they had never witnessed one materialize firsthand.
Almost as soon as Nahida spoke, verdant Dendro energy coalesced before Silaya, slowly forming a Vision that hovered in the air.
It drifted there for a long moment, but Silaya made no move to take it, remaining lost in thought.
Suddenly, the Vision plummeted downward with a thud, striking Silaya squarely on the face.
She yelped in pain, instinctively reaching for her nose, but her hand closed around the Vision instead.
"Eh? Is this... a Vision?!"
Silaya's usually listless eyes lit up instantly as she gazed at the Vision in her hand with pure joy.
It was indeed a Vision!
Silaya actually possesses a Vision?!
"Hahaha~"
Silaya cradled the Vision in her palm, gleefully rolling back and forth on the tree trunk.
Alhaitham instinctively reached out to protect her, fearing she might fall. Realizing his reaction, he quietly withdrew his hand, inwardly surprised: Has she always been this bold?
The scene shifted again, this time still in Sumeru City. Silaya was using her newly acquired Vision to tend flowers for others, earning a decent sum of money.
Another shift: Silaya using her earnings to buy books for Kaveh; the day she became Alhaitham's student; the day she independently completed her first research project...
Each transition grew shorter, until the final scenes flashed by in less than ten seconds each.
Suddenly, the vision blurred again, this time revealing a location outside Sumeru City.
"It's the Statue of The Seven near Vanarana!" Paimon exclaimed.
Vanarana was familiar to all five present; they recognized it immediately.
Unlike the previous rapid transitions, the scene lingered here for a full five minutes before Silaya finally appeared.
She climbed onto the Statue of The Seven, leaning her back against its base.
[My Teacher asked me to come to Vanarana to find Teacher Tighnari, study under him, and complete a thesis on Amurta Darshan. His request was sudden and seemed like an afterthought. Judging by his expression when he made the request, I suspect he's hiding something from me.]
Though Silaya, leaning against the Statue of The Seven, didn't open her mouth, everyone clearly heard her voice.
Chu Xi: "Is that Silaya's inner voice?"
No one answered, for Silaya's voice rang out again.
[Since coming to Vanarana, I've made many wonderful friends: Collei, the Traveler and Paimon, Chu Xi... I've spent an unforgettable time here, and it's here that I've determined my most important mission.]
[I'm unique because I can dream, while no one else in Sumeru can. My consciousness can connect to Irminsul, a phenomenon even Lesser Lord Kusanali doesn't fully understand.]
[On the day the Traveler arrived in Vanarana, I connected with Irminsul once more. This time was different from any previous connection. I could feel Irminsul's pain... or rather, the pain of Rukkhadevata...]
[For some reason, I felt compelled to act, convinced that I could do something. I resolved to save Irminsul—to save Rukkhadevata!]
Alhaitham: "..."
[The entities corrupting Irminsul seem strangely drawn to me. My presence stirs them into agitation, yet I know little of Irminsul's true state, nor of the Dendro Archon's condition...]
[During the Samsara of the Sabzeruz Festival, I used a dream capable of infinite recursion to infiltrate Irminsul repeatedly. At great cost, I finally gleaned the truth—the so-called "forbidden" knowledge...]
[I must conduct an experiment—one that, if successful, could save Irminsul and resurrect Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. But I need allies. My thoughts turned to those little ones I'd glimpsed in a dream...]
[I journeyed to Vanarana and sought the Aranara's aid. Upon learning of my Plan, they agreed to help, granting me partial Authority over dreams. Within the Tree of Dreams, I discovered a method to resurrect Rukkhadevata. Though she has passed, remnants of her consciousness must still linger. If even a trace remains, that is enough...]