Mira Continent — The Dark Elf Kingdom Underground
In the continent of Mira...
Nott, Uul, and Yord were traveling through the tunnel Yord had created, heading from the outskirts of the continent toward its center.
The tunnel stretched for a great distance beneath the earth. Yord had carved a path through the rocks using her power, allowing them to move more quickly while remaining hidden from the eyes of others.
A long time passed as they continued through the tunnel.
Hours passed...
During which almost none of them spoke much, except for Nott, who talked constantly.
Nott walked at the front with an unusually calm expression, while Uul and Yord followed behind him, each carefully observing their surroundings.
They did not know exactly what they would find at the end of the tunnel, but their objective was clear.
They had to reach their destination and discover the reason behind the sudden increase in the Dark Elves' power and potential.
After many hours of traveling...
Yord suddenly stopped.
She raised her head slightly, then said calmly:
"I can sense enormous tunnels ahead."
She paused for a moment before adding:
"I think we've reached the underground kingdom of the Dark Elves."
Nott looked at her calmly.
Then he said:
"Make a small opening without attracting anyone's attention. We need to investigate first."
Yord nodded.
She approached the rocky wall in front of them.
She raised her hand and carefully began using her power.
She did not create a large opening.
Instead, she made an extremely small hole, barely large enough for them to see through.
Then she waited for a few moments.
Once the opening was ready, Yord looked through it.
And in the next moment...
Her eyes widened slightly.
A massive city had appeared before her.
The city stretched beneath the earth on an astonishing scale, as if it were an entire hidden world far beneath the surface of the continent.
Buildings spread in every direction, while various lights illuminated different parts of the city.
Dark Elves were moving throughout the area.
There were countless numbers of them.
Some were walking through the streets, while others were talking among themselves.
Activity could be seen throughout the entire city.
Yord continued staring for several moments.
Then she moved away from the opening and looked at Uul and Nott.
She said calmly:
"We've arrived."
Silence fell for a few moments.
Then Nott said:
"I'll go inside and investigate the reason behind the increase in the Dark Elves' power and potential."
He looked at Uul and Yord before continuing:
"As for the two of you, wait for me here."
Then he added in a more serious tone:
"If you sense that I'm in danger, don't interfere unless I ask you to."
Yord and Uul both nodded.
Nott then began preparing to move.
He released his shadows first.
The shadows spread around Uul and Yord, concealing them and helping ensure that their presence would not be detected.
Then Nott's body sank into the shadows.
Within moments...
He disappeared from sight.
Yord said calmly as she looked through the small opening:
"We'll wait here for now until Nott gives us a signal to move."
Uul nodded.
But he added:
"Unless he manages to discover what we came here to learn without anyone noticing."
Yord looked at him for a few moments.
Then he nodded in agreement with her opinion.
Meanwhile...
Nott had already begun his mission.
Inside the Dark Elf City
Nott quietly infiltrated the city.
He had no need to reveal himself to anyone.
He used his shadows to move throughout the city, listening to the scattered conversations around him.
He hid within the shadows of buildings and streets, moving from one shadow to another while observing the Dark Elves and listening to their conversations.
At first...
He heard nothing important.
Just ordinary conversations.
But as time passed...
Certain scattered words began to catch his attention.
A seed...
A Sacred Tree...
The Elves...
Nott continued listening.
In several different places throughout the city, he heard the Dark Elves talking about the same thing.
They were discussing a seed that possessed the potential to grow into a Sacred Tree, similar to the Sacred Tree possessed by the Elves.
He also heard other words being repeated among the Dark Elves.
They no longer considered themselves inferior to the Elves in any way.
They spoke with confidence, as though possessing that seed had given them new hope for the future.
Nott continued gathering those scattered pieces of information in his mind.
He did not need to ask anyone.
All he needed to do was listen.
Hours passed...
And with the passage of time, the picture gradually became clearer to him.
Nott gathered the information he had heard from different parts of the city and quickly began thinking.
After a few moments...
He said to himself:
"A Sacred Tree seed... and they don't consider themselves inferior to the Elves?"
He paused for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"This is interesting."
His smile was calm, but his eyes clearly showed his interest.
Then he continued:
"Looks like this mission isn't completely useless after all."
Nott chuckled softly while remaining hidden within the shadows.
His assessment of the mission had changed.
At first, he had not known whether he would find anything useful in the Dark Elf Kingdom.
But now...
He had discovered information that could be extremely important.
Therefore, he decided not to settle for what he had heard in the streets.
He needed to learn more.
Nott looked toward the center of the city.
And there...
There stood a massive palace.
The palace was visible from many parts of the city and appeared to be an important center for the Dark Elves.
Nott said to himself:
"The palace..."
Then he began moving toward it.
He traveled from one shadow to another quietly, avoiding the Dark Elves until he reached the area near the palace.
He wanted to obtain more information.
If there truly was a seed capable of becoming a Sacred Tree, then the palace was bound to contain important information about it.
Perhaps the answers he was looking for were hidden inside.
But...
Before he could go any deeper...
Nott suddenly stopped.
His smile disappeared.
He sensed a terrifying power surrounding the palace.
It was no ordinary power.
An enormous aura filled the area around the palace, as though something extremely powerful was protecting the place.
Nott remained motionless within the shadows.
Then he said calmly:
"An immense power..."
He stared at the palace from a distance.
Then continued:
"That palace... and everything around it is heavily protected."
He fell silent for a few moments.
Then narrowed his eyes.
"They must be hiding something in there... inside that palace."
Nott remained hidden within the shadows, carefully observing the palace.
He had now realized that his real mission might have only just begun.
(Author's Note):
Hello everyone! Thank you for your continuous support of this novel; your comments and interactions mean the world to me.
Stepping away from our story here for a moment, I wanted to share another project I've been working on with great passion. I have started publishing a webtoon (comic) on the Webtoon platform titled "Me and the Wolf."
It is a [Comedy / Fantasy] story about a miserable young man and a cunning wolf who is constantly getting him into trouble! If you enjoy my writing style and the way I build scenarios, I promise you're going to love this comic.
I would be so grateful if you could go check it out, subscribe to the series, and let me know what you think in the comments there!
🔍 Search on the Webtoon app for: [Me and the Wolf]