Chapter 238 238 The special wall
[OP: ]
"Hmmm? El? What are we doing all the way here? Shouldn't we… go help the others with the preparation? It's not necessary, I know, but, the teacher-"
"Nah, Nessy. Don't worry. We are helping them more than enough by not being there. Things will only slow down or will finish too quickly if we are there.
They want to make it 'perfect' and they will only achieve that 'perfectness' if we are away… besides, forget about everything and focus here.
What do you see before you, everyone?"
They morning was fresh, winds were carrying the fresh scent of spring with them. Chirping of the birds and buzzing of the bees could be heard from a distance away as they stood before a wall on the ground floor of the academy castle, with the fresh scenery of the spring garden on their left.
"This is just a pretty wall. I have been here once, and, aside from these attractive carvings and this cute sculpture on the side, there's nothing much here, right?"
They had gathered before this wall today instead of helping the teachers with the preparation work of the event, missing the chance to earn a few reward points from the teachers.
However, the points mattered little to all of them.
These people, these protagonists and the special people gathered before this wall, were more interested in the thing that was going on here.
"This is a wall, that is a cute sculpture of a Fu dog, and on our left side is the balcony from where we should walk out and go join the others.
We are pretty much wasting our time here."
"Hehe, I know you're upset Lux but don't be so harsh~. I am serious, what do you see here aside from these visible things?"
Their friends and acquaintances were here, there was a cheerful smile on El's face, Lucy was also smiling softly, perhaps thinking about something fun they did not know about.
It was confusing for them since this was just a normal wall, the same as many other walls present all throughout the academy castle, and they all could see nothing special in here even after looking at the place closely with their special skills and techniques.
Even their familiars saw this place as just a simple wall, one like every other attractive wall of this castle. However, her words made them question their conclusions.
"Lady Auriel, do you want to say this wall or this place has something more than what meets our eyes?"
"Something like a well hidden secret door that leads to a special place?"
"Oh? Ohhh! Really~?!"
The question was asked by their friend in the stylish suit, Leon, while the first response came from his friend who had been quiet and a little nervous all this while, the little Lily.
And, her surprised reaction was strong enough to send a wave of excitement throughout every single person present here, Nes, of course, being the first in the line.
"No, that cannot be though. I cannot see anything beyond this place!" Oak argued, looking at El with a rare upset expression, and, Lux supported her argument.
They could not see any logical evidence that indicated there was anything beyond this wall.
This place was quite genuinely the end of one of the corridors so there should be the garden area right beyond this wall.
There were no indications of any special characteristic of this place, or at least, nothing really met their special eyes and Scanning skills.
Lux, Oak, princess Cathy, and even Rex doubted those words for a moment and were looking at El for her confirmation.
Which, of course, came alongside a smirking face.
"Hehe, that's right. This ain't some simple wall or anything. This is one of nine unique walls that lead to a unique place located somewhere in the academy castle."
"…?!"
"T-the legend of the nine walls? That was real?!"
"Ha-hahah. You must be joking, El.
I have been searching from the third day we started the academy and I have found no secret room that was not recorded in the books yet.
The legend of the nine unique walls that change their position every time one third of the day passes, certainly must be just a legend only.
There is no way-"
"Calm down, Lux. Calm down and listen."
She gathered their attention with that little louder voice, and as a result, everyone calmed down… and finally focused on her.
"So, yes. It might be difficult to believe, but, this place is certainly one of those 'secret' places that has no written record in the common library available to any of the students.
However, if you know the places, the codes, have the knowledge and the necessary understanding of how this castle works…"
-Ooooooooooong!
She called out her Mana and placed her hand on the unique sculpture beside the wall,
-Booom!
And destroyed it.
"Hmmm. That thing didn't look good here."
"…"
"What?"
"What, what?"
"Why did you break it, El? It looked kind of cute over there."
"Did it?"
She raised her eyebrow at Nes and shook her head, moving onto the wall.
The sculpture didn't look good to her, so she destroyed it, and before she was done with something over at the wall, Lucy cleaned up the rubble that was left of the attractive sculpture.
-Snap!
-Ooooooooong!
They did not know what was happening, again, however, they still waited for a moment, and then out of nowhere, a strange blue gate opened up in the wall after she had simply snapped her finger.
"What the hell?"
"A magic gate, or is this something similar to it?"
"Come in everyone."
They were stunned by the sudden appearance of the gate, however, before they could get any kind of answer from her, she walked in the door that had appeared and vanished from the corridor.
"It's alright, everyone. Don't worry."
Lucy also walked behind her with Nes and, after them, the others also entered the place one by one… and reached a world that was just what they would have expected from something that was called a 'secret' room.
"Welcome to the room of the ancient tree, Syilpheds."
This new place they had entered into… this large room that was as big as the main hall of the academy castle, was a place that stole away their attention, their hearts, and all the uncertainties they possessed in their hearts.
"Syilpheds…"
The scenery before them was surreal.
"The spirit tree of light and wind… we had something like this in the academy?"
Their eyes were wide open and, so were their mouth.
"Wow…"
"It's pretty."
After passing through that strange blue gate, they had ended up in a special room that was quite large, and dark.
There was a giant tree present in the middle of this vast room. A tree that was the sole source of light in this shadowy dome.
"If you could please follow me, everyone." Lucy requested his companions and walked to one of the places with some open area, and a few sitting places present there.
The tree was bigger than most of the trees that were present in this world, and before this humongous life form, they were the same as little ants.
"Where did El go, brother Lucy? And why do you want us to sit down? I want to go see the tree-"
"Looks like Agnes doesn't know much about the Syilpheds."
Cathy spoke right after Lucy, her face completely covered with an expression of shock.
She was an elementalist, an elf, and someone who was deeply interested in botany aside from her light and holy magic, so she knew what this tree was, and just how dangerous it was to be too close to it.
"You know about this tree princess Cathy?"
"Yes, and getting too close to it could be pretty dangerous. It is said that the Syilpheds are connected to the spirit realm and that the spirits guard this special connective region.
It is dangerous, and, seeing how it is so old, there must be many advanced and superior level spirits living around the tree…
They are harmless and don't really hurt the beings around them, however, since they are spirits that might see the strangers as a threats, it is advised to stay away from the trees that have elemental connection to the spirit world."
"Then… what's miss Auriel doing over there?"
"Hmmm?"
The Syilpheds.
A completely blue great tree that possessed leaves that glowed with a strange ethereal light.
It gave the whole area a unique feeling, and one can feel the elemental powers in the surrounding that were greater than the usual worldly standards.
This place, filled with a soft light and a fresh atmosphere, was certainly attractive and eye-catching, however, as Cathy said, this place was also dangerous… and still, El was standing almost before the truck of this great tree.
"El?! What's she doing there?! Isn't that dangerous-"
"Calm down, Nes."
Lucy had made all of them sit in those seats and even though Nes tried to get up, he pushed her down.
"Just watch, everyone. Especially you, Nessy."
El had suddenly changed into a strange outfit, something that they recognised as the special outfit of a certain kind of traditional dance that mostly happened in some parts of their western continent.
"What's she doing?"
"Something she doesn't do often."
She was there, under the tree, dressed differently, her hairstyle changed, and, for some reason, there was a spotlight focused on her.
-Swiiiiiiiiish~.
"Behold, friends."
-Ooooooooong!
And, while they all were still confused, all of a sudden, a unique kind of melody, a music that rang not in their ears but in their minds, started playing in the background.
"Don't blink, or you will miss something good."
She was on a stage, and they were her audience.
-Ooooooooong!
She was the performer right now, and her performance was dedicated to these protagonists, who she now considered her friends.
-Swiiiiiiiish~.
"Wow…"
"This looked pretty…"
She was starting, star-like glitter was now falling from this glowing tree, lights were starting to pop out of the branches of the tree, and the area was being filled with new, various lights.
-Oooooooooong!
They had somewhere to go soon, to attend an important event, however, before they did that, they were going to receive a little gift from her, from their 'friend'.
And, all eight of them were going to remember this gift from her for as long as they drew their breaths…
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢