Chapter 241 – Element of Creation (Two)

Blue surveyed the lake with a futile gesture.

It sniffed the scent of the earth and pawed at the ground with its hooves.

But doing so wouldn’t bring back the evaporated water.

Meanwhile.

—Sway.

Its body gradually began to return to transparent water, and the blue gem on its forehead regained its light.

‘Seems like it succeeded.’

The newly formed core was emitting a blue light from Blue’s chest.

Fortunately, it appeared to be functioning normally.

Then Blue approached and asked.

[My memories… where did all the lake’s water go?]

Looking around, Ray noticed Blue’s gaze was precisely fixed on him.

This perceptive Spirit seemed to have intuited who the culprit of the incident was.

The countless memories that had been dissolved in the lake.

They were likely the result of efforts accumulated over an unimaginably long time by numerous Blues.

‘All those memories are gone.’

Because he had absorbed all the Mana from the lake and used it as power.

But that was an accident of sorts that occurred during the battle.

Moreover, if he hadn’t done so, the island would have fallen into the grasp of the Crimson Giant.

In other words, the conclusion was.

‘I am justified.’

Nodding, Ray met Blue’s gaze directly and sent a message.

[Wasn’t me.]

[…….]

[I didn’t do it.]

[Boy, it was you.]

No, how did it know.

[Listen carefully. Tell me what happened while I was unconscious.]

Blue only expressed confusion and bewilderment, not seeming angry.

Ray calmly explained what had happened at the lake, and Blue, understanding the situation, nodded at the end.

[Boy, I suppose I should thank you first. If it weren’t for you, the island would surely have been destroyed. The Spirits of this island only know how to compete honestly with each other; they don’t know how to deal with such an unknown entity.]

[I heard only power is passed down through generations. The transmission of memories is disregarded.]

[You know about it. It’s a sad thing. If they hadn’t abandoned memories, they would have been properly prepared with countermeasures.]

It was a sorrowful history, it said.

The island that had to ascend to the sky to evade the invasion of the red Wizards.

The young Spirits who had to helplessly watch the forest burning below after ascending.

What was imprinted on their minds was the necessity of powerful strength to protect their home.

Afterwards, the island’s Spirits obsessively grew their power.

And that obsession, at some point, transformed into abandoning the transmission of memories and choosing only the transmission of power.

[So, there probably isn’t much difference from Spirits on the ground, the island’s, or rather, the world’s. The vast majority of Spirits living in the current world don’t know the real reason they obsess over power. Because the previous generations did so, they either follow suit or simply consider it instinct. I’m probably the only one who remembers the island’s history intact.]

[Philip, then, what about the orange-tailed one?]

[The foxes, of course, also pass down memories. But they only remember an extremely small part of the entire history.]

Blue said it had to bear the island’s history almost alone.

But it couldn’t handle the ever-accumulating volume of memories.

[So that’s why you created the lake. To share and store memories.]

[It’s a method we started using several generations ago. But it seems all the stored memories have flown away now.]

Ray pretended not to notice Blue’s piercing gaze that seemed to interrogate him.

Instead, he realized the current conversation was happening only between the two of them.

Ray responded to the private talk.

[Shouldn’t you tell the other Spirits what happened on the island? Then they could share the island’s history, and you wouldn’t need to go through the trouble of creating a lake.]

[That’s not what I want.]

[Why not?]

[One is enough to remember the sad history.]

Ray looked as if he didn’t quite understand.

Blue continued the message.

[Boy, remembering something is akin to carrying everything contained within it while living. What was seen then, heard, smelled… even the emotions felt at the time, all of it.]

[Isn’t it good to vividly remember past events?]

[If they are good memories, then yes.]

Blue turned its body to look around the surroundings once and said.

[Boy, I still remember the moment the island rose. The parent Spirits who fought to the end to protect us, the red-robed Wizards, the burning forest, the Spirit cores being destroyed everywhere and the terrible death throes echoing from all sides because of it. Though they are not events I experienced directly, merely memories passed down, every time I immerse myself in recollection, all the sensations and emotions are revived intact. I feel angry, my body trembles, and my chest feels heavy. Most memories related to the island’s history are depressing like that.]

Blue, expressing a bitter sentiment, turned its body back toward Ray.

[I don’t want the island’s Spirits to suffer the same pain as I do. Pain doesn’t diminish when shared; it just spreads in equal measure.]

Whoosh!

Instantly, the blue gem embedded in Blue’s forehead emitted a strong light.

Ray already knew what emotion was associated with blue Mana.

‘Thorough indifference toward oneself.’

When white is added to blue, it becomes the sky blue signifying self-love.

When black is added, it becomes the gloomy indigo signifying self-loathing.

It was a fact he realized while rescuing Ayla from Binjin’s grasp at the mansion.

[You’re saying something similar to Ayla.]

[Ayla?]

[Yes, she said she didn’t care what happened to her own life as long as she could save her younger brother…]

Ray stopped sending the message.

Come to think of it, Ayla’s values had changed a long time ago.

The thick layer of blue Ice Field symbolizing indifference toward herself that had covered the girl’s Vessel.

That structure made of Mana had, after the decisive battle with Binjin, transformed into sky blue self-love and flown away like the wind.

Ironically, the person who still had an Ice Field remaining in their Vessel was himself.

Though he felt unfairly accused, thinking of himself as a person overflowing with self-love.

But the phenomenon appearing in his Vessel was like that.

“…….”

Observing Blue’s Vessel closely, there was indeed a thick Ice Field there.

[What is it? Why are you approaching?]

[Just, because I’m glad to see you.]

Blue, feeling an internal sense of familiarity, retreated hesitantly from the approaching Ray.

Then, as if remembering something, it said.

[I remember now. You’re the boy who was with the Rockdeer inside the canyon.]

[That’s right. Around the time the humans’ battle ended, you came down and created an Oasis for the Rockdeer.]

Perhaps its guard lowered a bit, Blue stopped retreating.

Satisfied with closing the distance, Ray stroked the nape of Blue’s neck.

—Sway.

The nape, following Ray’s touch, repeatedly turned into a physical body and then back into rippling water.

The characteristic hard shell of the Rockdeer was felt intermittently.

[Hmm, something feels familiar. Like a touch I’ve felt somewhere before. A bit lower there, no, higher, yes, there.]

[I heard you travel between the island and the ground. Is taking care of ground animals also your job?]

[Of course. Not just my own kind, but I care for all beings wherever my steps reach. They too are entities that can become Spirits someday if they strive.]

Blue, returning to the island after several months, said it was startled to see the giant tree stretching toward the sky.

[If my memory is correct, that was definitely the Elves’ World Tree.]

Upon discovering the World Tree, Blue first hurriedly flew up above the clouds.

The moment it entered the island after finding no particular anomalies, it accidentally allowed an attack from a crimson sphere.

What happened afterwards was exactly as Ray knew.

[It was due to carelessness. In all my travels between the island and the ground, I had never been hit by a sphere’s attack even once.]

Blue scraped the ground with its hoof.

It seemed angry and distressed that the island’s Spirits could have been endangered because of it.

Ray offered some consolation.

[No need to worry now. I destroyed the sphere.]

[You destroyed it?]

[I threw a Lightning spear and made it explode.]

Blue couldn’t hide its shock and surprise.

Because the crimson sphere above the clouds was something it had tried everything to destroy until now, but to no avail.

It rose into the air and looked toward the edge of the clouds.

The crimson sphere had truly disappeared.

[The world was dyed with light!]

[Blue Horn! I’ve never heard such a tremendous roar in my life!]

The Spirits surrounding them also chimed in with their testimonies, one after another.

In the end, the emotion that settled in Blue’s Vessel was deep awe.

[You are a Wizard of an incredible level.]

[Objectively speaking, it’s not that incredible. 4th Circle Wizards are often seen on the ground.]

[No, I don’t mean the quality and quantity of Mana contained in your body. I mean the way you use Magic.]

Ray immediately understood what Blue meant.

[Because I said I conjure images in my head when using Magic, is that why?]

[Yes. You said you pictured the Giant of Light and the Lightning spear in your mind. That’s the way Wizards of the Ancient Era used Magic. The more powerful an image you construct in your mind, the more Mana’s response you can obtain. But as far as I know, no one in this era uses Magic in that way anymore.]

Ancient Era.

Those three short words began to stir the boy’s heart.

Unpacking Blue’s words, it seemed that Wizards of the Ancient Era all used Magic by exercising their imagination.

[So, the more vividly you imagine the image, the stronger the Magic’s power? Regardless of the number of Rings?]

Blue fell into thought for a moment before answering.

[In the Ancient Era, Rings didn’t exist. To be precise, they didn’t exist before the war. At that time, natural-state Mana wasn’t polluted yet, so there was no need to purify Mana for use.]

[By war, you mean the war among the ancient races?]

[Yes, that’s right. But, boy, shaking my horn like that won’t make the answer come any faster.]

[After the war, did the ancient races create Rings?]

[Boy, a warning. If you don’t want to be gored by the horn, it’s better to let go. The horn is like the pride of a Rockdeer.]

Ray let go of the horn.

Not so much out of fear, but because he wanted to hear the next answer quickly.

Blue rubbed its head against the ground to groom its horn and continued.

[Rings were invented after the war. The devastated Mana could no longer be used in its raw state. Some races, imitating the shape of the vanished Rainbow, created a device called the Ring that could purify Mana.]

[Wait a moment.]

[What is it?]

[The Ring imitates the shape of the Rainbow?]

[That’s correct.]

Blue’s definitive answer confused Ray.

Because as far as he knew, the Rainbow wasn’t just a ring shape.

[The Rainbow is a half-cut ring shape. Not a full ring shape.]

[You’re wrong. The Rainbow is a complete ring shape.]

[It’s a half-cut ring.]

[It’s a complete ring form.]

[Have you actually seen a Rainbow?]

At Ray’s attack, Blue flinched.

[I haven’t seen one in person.]

[In the transmitted memories?]

[Not in the memories either.]

[Yet you speak so confidently?]

[And have you, boy, actually seen a Rainbow?]

This time the boy flinched.

Blue snorted as if mocking.

[It seems neither of us has actually seen a Rainbow.]

[I’ve heard about Rainbows from many places.]

[I’ve only heard about Rainbows from one individual, but the information I have is far more reliable than what you have.]

[From whom?]

[The Purple Guardian.]

After a moment of silence, Blue spoke.

[She passed the blue gem to my distant ancestor. Telling them to be sure to return it to the Rainbow when it returns someday, along with a way to definitely recognize it no matter what form the Rainbow takes.]