"Follow it to its source," Raylo ordered.
The party followed the stream and soon reached its end.
Here, the stream gathered into a small pool roughly twenty ters in diater.
The pool’s water shimred dazzlingly in the sunlight. A dense concentration of Elental Power condensed into a faint, colorful mist above the surface, creating a dreamlike and illusory scene.
This was the end of the Elental Stream—a natural Elental Spring.
Master Marlin could find no words to describe how he felt.
Raylo smiled faintly and nodded to Coal Ball at his side.
Coal Ball opened its mouth, and a hundred huge oak barrels materialized out of thin air on the clearing by the pool.
These were all from the wine cellars of Black Stone Territory, originally ant to hold the latest batch of fruit wine.
Raylo planned to fill them with Elental Spring Water and take it back to try brewing a batch of Magic Brew.
"Fill them all," Raylo ordered.
The Knights sprang into action, beginning to fill the barrels one by one with Elental Spring Water.
Marlin watched this scene, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
In that mont, Marlin finally, truly understood.
Raylo’s promise back in the Mage Tower—the one about giving him an opportunity to break through to the Domain Level—hadn’t been an empty boast or a distant dream.
It was a real, tangible future, right within his grasp.
The Knights worked efficiently. Soon, the hundred oak barrels were filled to the brim with Elental Spring Water.
Coal Ball let out a satisfied burp. With a slight bulge of its little belly, the massive oak barrels vanished without a trace, swallowed whole into its personal space.
Marlin unfastened the waterskin from his waist. It was made from high-quality, tanned Magical Beast Leather.
He knelt, filling the waterskin and feeling the cool, invigorating spring water saturate the Leather.
’He’d never imagined he would one day be so extravagant as to use Elental Spring Water for his daily drink.’
’If word of this got out, every Mage in the Kingdom would probably think he’d gone mad.’
"Everyone, get ready. We’re moving on."
Raylo swung himself onto the Storm Griffin King’s back.
The Knights mounted their Griffin companions, preparing for takeoff.
However, Raylo noticed sothing was wrong with Moonlight.
The big cat, who usually either clung to his side or found a comfortable spot for a nap, was now crouched motionlessly by the edge of the spring.
Moonlight’s pale gold eyes were fixed on the bottomless depths of the pool, its gaze intent, as if lost in thought.
It didn’t even notice the party preparing to depart.
"Moonlight?" Raylo called out tentatively.
Moonlight’s fluffy ears twitched, but its gaze remained fixed on the water’s surface.
Its posture wasn’t one of soone admiring the view, but rather that of a vigilant sentry guarding sothing important.
Ed circled once in the air before flying closer to Raylo.
"My lord, Moonlight..."
"I’ll go down and see."
Raylo gestured for Ed to be patient. He patted Baofeng’s neck, and his mount complied, landing by the edge of the pool.
Raylo walked over to Moonlight and followed its gaze into the depths of the pool.
The pool was crystal clear. Sunlight pierced the surface, casting shimring ripples of light across the pebbles at the bottom.
Aside from an incredibly dense concentration of Elental Power, he saw nothing unusual.
There were no Magical Beasts, no signs of anything out of the ordinary, not even a single blade of waterweed—only pure spring water and smooth stones.
"What is it?"
Raylo reached out and gently stroked Moonlight’s silky back.
"Did you find sothing good?"
Instead of rubbing against his palm as usual, Moonlight remained completely focused on the pool.
After several seconds, it seed to startle out of its reverie. It turned its head and let out a soft cry at Raylo.
The sound was faint, yet it carried a strange rhythm, as if it were confirming sothing.
The next mont, to Raylo’s slight surprise, Moonlight suddenly leaped. Its body beca a streak of silver-white light as it landed securely in his arms.
Raylo caught it instinctively.
Slightly amused, Raylo patted its small head. Though still puzzled, he chose to trust Moonlight’s judgnt.
’This mysterious Silver Dragon can always sense things he can’t.’
’There might be a secret here, but perhaps now isn’t the right ti for it to be revealed.’
Holding Moonlight, he remounted Baofeng.
"Move out!"
The massive party took to the sky once more, becoming a vast shadow as it sped toward the South.
The party moved at an incredible speed.
The wind howled in their ears as the prival forests and mountain ranges below sped past.
The vast, prival nature of this world was breathtaking to behold every ti.
After flying for about an hour, a sharp-eyed Knight gave a signal.
On the plains below, a party was advancing slowly.
Fourteen Hill Giants marched with heavy strides, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly.
They carried enormous Wolf Fang Clubs, their gait steady and powerful.
It was the squad of Hill Giants led by Kado.
Raylo signaled for the party to descend, and they landed smoothly in front of the Giant squad.
When Kado saw Raylo, he broke into a wide grin, waved his massive hand, and gave a simple, honest smile.
With one hand, he hoisted the tree-sized Wolf Fang Club onto his shoulder. With the other, he pounded his chest, producing a dull THUMP-THUMP. This was the Hill Giants’ way of showing respect.
"Good job, Kado."
Raylo hopped down from his Griffin’s back and nodded in approval.
So as not to waste ti, Raylo had made his decision the mont they discovered the Elental Stream.
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