Chapter 148: The Realm of Spirits
The image before Max began to distort.
Wherever he was being dragged, he could feel an incredible amount of mana resting there, so dense and heavy that even before he reached it, his skin tingled from the pressure.
The image continued to warp even further. At one point, everything became a multicolored spiral, twisting around him like the pond had turned into a tunnel of light and water. The soft hand of the woman dragging him tightened around his own, as if she was worried she might lose him for all eternity with one slip of her fingers.
His body twisted and pulled, stretching unnaturally as if he had become rubber. A strong sensation washed over him, making it feel as though his entire body was vanishing into nothingness, dissolving into the colors around him one piece at a time.
And then, everything returned to normal.
Max opened his eyes.
Before him, the most magical, fantasy-like world he had ever seen stretched endlessly. Everything glowed in multicolored light, changing softly with every breath he took. The grass, the air, the distant trees, even the strange floating stones above him seemed to pulse with mana as if this entire place was alive. Weird beings floated through the air, their forms translucent and unclear. Some were fully multicolored, shining brighter than the sun, while others were as dim and gentle as the moon.
Nothing made sense here.
Nothing was like the world he came from.
The mana in this place was unbelievably potent, so thick that Max could feel it slowly solidifying into objects around him. It gathered into crystal-like flowers, thin glowing threads, and strange shapes that floated for a moment before melting back into the air.
"Follow me."
The melodic voice of the woman before him pulled at his attention.
Only now did Max truly notice how she looked. Her body was almost naked, barely covered by vines, leaves, and soft forest materials that seemed to grow around her rather than simply rest on her skin. A few thin branches wrapped around her wrists like bracelets, delicate and natural, as if the forest itself had dressed her with its own hands.
And her hair...
Long, flowing, and blue, falling around her like water touched by the sky.
It was so perfect that Max lost his breath for a moment.
He found himself floating in the air without even his dragon form.
His whole body felt light as a feather, weightless in a way that made no sense, as if gravity had been forgotten in this place. When he moved his fingers, the air around them rippled softly, carrying faint traces of color that faded almost immediately. There was no clear ground beneath him, only layers of glowing mist, floating roots, drifting flowers, and streams of mana that moved like rivers through the empty air.
"Where are we?" Max asked.
"This?" The woman giggled softly, her voice brushing against him like a hand sliding over his skin. "This is a realm of spirits."
Max looked around again.
The realm stretched in every direction, yet it did not feel like a normal world. There was no sky, not truly, only an endless ceiling of soft colors that shifted between blue, violet, gold, and silver like a living aurora. Strange trees floated upside down in the distance, their roots glowing with tiny stars, while translucent creatures drifted between them like fish swimming through water. Some looked like small animals made of light. Others had no form at all, only soft outlines of wings, eyes, or hands that appeared for a moment before melting back into the mana around them.
Nothing here felt solid unless it wanted to be.
Even the flowers blooming in the air opened and closed without stems, releasing glowing dust that drifted through the realm like fireflies. The mana was so thick that Max could feel it brushing against his skin, entering his lungs with every breath, sweet and pure enough to make his body relax despite himself.
"And you?" Max asked, looking deep into her eyes.
Something about her was so pulling that he did not mind staying here. It felt peaceful. Too peaceful. Something he had not felt in a very long time.
The womanβs gaze softened, and her voice grew slightly longing, as if the memory of something long forgotten had flashed through her eyes.
"Saelunith... yes, thatβs my name..."
Max could tell she was not fully talking to him. It was as if she was drowning in her own thoughts, remembering a name she had not heard from another mouth in ages.
That name felt ancient. Even the way she pronounced it made Max feel like it was a tongue twister, each sound soft but strange, as if it belonged to a language older than the elves themselves. Still, he attempted it anyway.
"Saelunith..."
The second the word spilled from his mouth, her body shivered.
Those longing eyes returned to him at once, staring at him wide open, her pupils trembling slightly before they narrowed again, returning to normal. It almost looked as if she smiled with her eyes. Her lips curled into a soft smile as well, and a small giggle slipped from her mouth.
"Say that again," she said.
"Saelunith," Max repeated.
A soft purr escaped her, gentle and pleased, making the mana around them tremble as if the realm itself had reacted to her happiness.
"You really..."
She cut herself off, not daring to finish what she wanted to say.
Instead, she reached for him again, her fingers wrapping around his hand with the same desperate gentleness from before.
"Come. I have to show you something."
Then she dragged him through the air once more, pulling him deeper into that mysterious space where trees floated like dreams, rivers flowed without ground, and countless spirits turned their unseen eyes toward the man who had spoken her name.
A mysterious current stretched through the air, shining with violet light.
Saelunithβs fingers guided Max into it, and the moment his body touched that stream, he felt himself being swept away. It was incredibly fast, almost like a roller coaster in an amusement park, perhaps even faster, but there was no metal beneath him, no rails, no wind screaming in his ears the way it should have. Only mana. Thick, sweet, powerful mana pulling him forward through the spirit realm.
He never closed his eyes.
He watched the multicolored lights rush past him, or perhaps he was the one rushing past them. It was hard to tell in this strange place where the sky, ground, and distance all seemed to ignore normal rules. Spirits flashed by like glowing shadows, floating trees bent away from their path, and rivers of mana twisted around them before vanishing into the distance.
Then, in the next moment, he came to a sudden stop.
Before him stretched a citadel as tall as the sky. Perhaps taller. Perhaps smaller. Max could not be certain, because the realm itself bent around it strangely, making the building feel close and impossibly distant at the same time.
At first glance, it seemed to be made entirely of white marble, smooth and ancient, but the longer he looked, the more he realized that it was not normal stone. It carried a faint inner glow, as if moonlight had been trapped inside every wall. Vines and leaves wrapped around the citadel from bottom to top, crawling over towers, balconies, and archways, yet they did not look like they were consuming it.
They looked like they were holding it together.
Max stared at it for a long moment, feeling the mana around the citadel pulse softly, almost like a sleeping heart.
