I felt a growing sense of unease as we walked towards the gateway portal, but I knew I had to keep up appearances. I quickly contacted Llewel, and to my relief, he promptly accepted the telepathic connection.
"Do I need to supply any Mana for this teleport?" I swiftly interrupted. "I do not want to repeat what happened back in Dhoggurum."
"Oh, no. You do not need to supply anything. There is no need to worry. I can guarantee that," Llewel answered.
"Are you sure? Absolutely? I have enough Mana to go around," I questioned as the gateway drew closer and closer.
"I'm absolutely positive," Llewel reiterated. "These actually require no Mana at all, which is why they are so coveted."
"Holy shit, how?" Vee questioned.
"I cannot say," Llewel answered, sounding somewhat regretful. "But I can suggest that if you have any magical senses to keep them open at all times during the transit, it may offer you some insights."
"Don't have to tell me twice! I always keep my [Spatial Sense] up permanently!" Vee boasted.
Paeris stepped through the portal first, the shimmering veil rippling as he touched it and vanished before our eyes. Loreleia was next, and then it was my turn, with Llewel to be last.
I wanted to gulp as I reached it, but [Roleplay] prevented me from doing so. Outwardly, I was picture-perfect, despite my mental turmoil.
I activated every sensory trait I had available while also instructing my [Sub-Cores] to look for details themselves, hoping they would follow through with my unreasonable demand.
I stepped forward, and although I made contact with the portal's surface, I couldn't feel anything. I continued stepping through and felt my entire position being shifted. Within seconds, an overwhelming flood of information surged into my mind, and when I completed my step, I was brought into another room entirely with Paeris and Loreleia present.
"What? That was so quick—I saw absolutely nothing!" Vee cried out in frustration.
I was still trying to frantically digest the flood of information, like hundreds of images had been burned into my imagination. I cut off my mental connection to Vee and stood silently, trying to ruminate through it all.
I was so lost in thought that I hadn't moved from the spot, causing Llewel to bump into me as he exited. I barely flinched while he let out a slightly startled utterance. The three elves and Vee tried to talk to me, but I blocked them all out and tried to rapidly digest what I had seen before, and I felt like I would've lost it.
I watched in awe as hundreds of images and fleeting moments swirled in the air before me. They moved like fireflies drawn to an unseen rhythm, each one glowing faintly, pulsing with meaning. At first, the chaos of motion overwhelmed me, but then they began to align, fuse, and become something greater.
The fragments of experience coalesced into branches, each stretching upward and outward, forming a vast and luminous tree that towered above my understanding. Roots, invisible yet undeniable, were burrowing through the air, no, through the soul of the world itself.
I was momentarily overwhelmed with the experience, but soon gained some insight into what I had witnessed.
This tree is the true origin and is spiritually connected to every other tree. There's no cost in resources or even time to use it, as it is merely an extension of its own roots that have dug through reality and emerged into another location!
I also confirmed that my condition had not changed. No Mana had been spent, and all my cores and storage were in tip-top shape. This made me realize why this was coveted—you could instantly transport an entire army if you wanted!
Even the Adventurer's Guild teleportation required significant preparation and expense just to teleport me and Thern. They even had to schedule it. Meanwhile, this was absolutely effortless!
My thoughts were interrupted finally, not by the spider poking me or the elves calling my name, but by two loud notifications popping up.
I blinked in surprise at the notifications and then looked at the four individuals trying their best to get my attention and break me out of the trance.
"Sorry. I seem to have witnessed something glorious and needed to take the time to comprehend it," I explained.
Vee prodded my face, and I could feel an extreme amount of annoyance radiating off her. I quickly reestablished our connection.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"You put me on mute! I can't believe you!" Vee yelled.
Before I could apologize, I was interrupted.
"I'd suggest you keep what you witnessed to yourself, daughter," Loreleia said in a tone demanding obedience. "Even from me."
I instinctively placed my hand over my chest and bowed.
"As you say, Matriarch."
"Screw that. You better tell me later," Vee immediately said. It was a very good thing that I hadn't connected any other elf to our mental conversation.
"Good. Llewel will chaperone you to our accommodation here," Loreleia said. "Feel free to take in the sights, but be warned that many will be watching. Of course, that will also work to our advantage, as we can spread the rumors. Paeris, you will attend me."
I nodded in agreement while Paeris performed a deep bow. At the same time, I added Llewel to our mental connection, although I knew we would need to be a little more careful about what we said using it.
I wore the official Feirelle colors and even now had a noble name. Per Loreleia's suggestion, I opted to hide my class and levels, as many other influential figures had done, and simply displayed my name.
I asked what skill they used to perform that and discovered it was another offshoot upgrade of [Identity Block] called [Identity Plate]. However, compared to my own [Identity Fabrication], it seemed like a considerable downgrade as it couldn't present anything false.
Loreleia touched the wooden wall at the end of the room, causing the entire wall to open as if blossoming, revealing the outside world.
Loreleia and Paeris left first, and Llewel encouraged me to hurry after him, as the walls appeared to be slowly retracting to their prior state. I quickly took a glance at the portal, and while it was nearly identical in appearance to the one we had entered, the flowers had returned to their budding form.
I hastily left, and the wall's closure drastically sped up once I had left the room. The entire wooden structure looked like a sculpture of a Hydrangea, and while I couldn't directly sense the magic on it, it was positively brimming with life.
"Woah! Look at this city!" Vee exclaimed excitedly, causing me to turn around and finally look at our destination.
At first, it looked like any other city—ornate buildings, streets winding in a complex dance, the hum of life echoing in the distance. Unlike human or dwarven cities, there were islands in the walkways dedicated to impromptu gardens with various trees and flowers, unlike any I'd ever seen.
The streets were surprisingly packed, although not entirely by elves alone, as animals and plant constructs walked amongst them. Every elf seemed to be accompanied by a creature or a magical nature guardian, with some even having both. Even an elven child delicately cradled a small fox monster in her hands, as if it meant the entire world to her.
I stood at the edge, eyes tracing the horizon where spiring buildings pierced the mist. There was a strange stillness beneath the bustle, something I couldn't place. The air felt thinner, cleaner, and the wind carried a deep, slow rhythm.
As we walked further in and my senses began to spread out, I noticed the oddities. The ground beneath our feet wasn't earth or stone—it had texture, rough and ancient. I glanced down and noticed patterns far too organic to be elf-made. The roads curved not by design but by necessity, weaving around what now clearly looked like thick, knotted ridges of wood.
I stopped. Looked up, with Vee following my gaze.
That was when the truth began to unfurl.
The buildings weren't resting on solid land. They clung to something vast—branches. Immense, gnarled, and alive. They cradled entire neighborhoods, crisscrossing like the arms of titans, stretching outward and upward. The tallest constructs barely reached the lower canopy of leaves above us; above that, the branches pierced the clouds themselves.
I stepped to the edge of a walkway and peered over. My eyes widened while Vee began to yell expletives, accompanied by panicked screams. There was no earth below, no ground in sight—only the thick weave of branches descending endlessly, disappearing into a sea of fog far below.
And then it struck me fully.
This wasn't a city built in a tree. Nor was it carved into the trunk like the Feirelle home.
It was a city grown by one.
"Welcome to Caelthal, or as the humans call it, The Grove," Llewel said mentally.
"Isn't it a massive risk to be this high up?" Vee yelled.
"No?" Llewel questioned. "If anything, it makes our position almost unassailable. Even with flight, it is difficult to reach these heights, and thus the gateways are one of the only means of accessing these heights."
"What if they just chop the trunk?" Vee asked.
"They'd have an easier time leveling a mountain," Llewel scoffed. "Not to mention it is capable of rapid regeneration, effortlessly undoing any harm to it. Furthermore, the entirety of Caelthal is heavily veiled through a unification of elven and fey magic."
"So effectively, unless someone uses one of these gateways to reach here, it would be impossible?" I asked.
"Precisely. Hence why our enemies tried to claim your bag."
"Well, I'm sure someone could just teleport here…" Vee rebutted, then awkwardly paused. "Actually, no, scratch that, I don't think anyone can simply teleport inside here."
I quickly activated [Spatial Sense], but unlike in the prison room, I could accurately determine the coordinates of everything around me.
"What do you mean? It looks like coordinates are working for me."
Vee shook her head. "Within, yes. But it's like a protective bubble. I tried looking at coordinates outside of the tree, but they were blocked. I get the feeling that this entire area is isolated."
Wow, is Vee's range outside of the city limits? I've really got a lot of catching up to do to get to her level!
"An astute observation," Llewel praised. "It's one of the reasons why anyone with dimensional affinity was immediately recruited into creating or reinforcing this defensive formation."
"It's honestly a little creepy to have my [Spatial Sense] just see an empty void beyond the city," Vee admitted. "Although wouldn't it be the opposite from the outside, and thus give away your location?"
"I believe that's where the fey magic comes in," Llewel answered. "It's perfectly hidden, the underlying defense, and makes it not seem out of the ordinary. If I had to take a guess, I would assume it would fool your sense into relaying coordinates outside of the gap, as if it wasn't there entirely."
None of my senses or resistances told me anything as I tried to detect any of the magical defenses. Even my newly acquired [Soul Sight LV 9] merely showed the city's perimeter as normal. It was so "normal" that it disturbed me, knowing it wasn't true.
Something tells me that even if I had more than [Illusion Resistance LV 3], I wouldn't see anything. I wonder if Trixie knows anything about it.
"I still can't believe trees are growing on a tree," Vee exclaimed. "The Feirelle's tree house was impressive, but this really takes the cake!"