Elias shook his head. "Not at all. This is Veylith."
"Veylith…" Lucas repeated the name, trying to recall whether he had ever heard of such a place. After a moment, he shook his head. "I've never heard of it."
"Yeah, of course you haven't," Elias replied. "Our place is hidden from everyone."
Once they stepped outside into the open land, Elias gestured toward the vast area around them and said a little louder, "A land full of anomalies."
Lucas looked around, his expression slowly changing as he took in the place before him. Veylith was far more established than he had expected. People moved throughout the land as though this were any ordinary kingdom, except their abilities were anything but ordinary. An anomaly with Earth power was using it to craft parts of a building, while another used Wood to construct another structure nearby. Not far from them, two other anomalies were combining their energies, seemingly attempting to create something new, only for their powers to clash and push against each other.
Farther away, two people were casually dueling, their battle looking more like practice than an actual fight.
Lucas stared at everything around him in amazement. "This place is amazing."
He looked toward Elias. "Why isn't this Kingdom popular?"
"Because it's under the ground."
Lucas froze.
"What?"
Elias simply looked upward. "Yeah…"
Lucas followed his gaze, looking toward what appeared to be the sun above them. Elias continued, "That sun is just another energy."
Lucas's eyes widened slightly. "Don't tell me there's a Sun Style too?"
Elias didn't say a word. He simply nodded with a smile.
Elias glanced ahead before speaking, a faint smile appearing on his face. "We should keep moving. The Queen is waiting for you."
Lucas looked at him in surprise. "The Queen… is waiting for me?"
Elias noticed his reaction and gave a quiet chuckle. "Yeah. You seem pretty surprised."
"Of course I am," Lucas replied, still trying to process it. "I just got here. Why would the Queen want to meet me?"
"The Queen personally meets with every newcomer," Elias explained casually, as though it were the most normal thing in the world.
Lucas's expression shifted from confusion to genuine surprise. "The Queen herself… meets every newcomer?"
Elias nodded, amused by Lucas's reaction. "That's how things are done here."
Eventually, Elias and Lucas reached the throne room. Lucas stepped inside, but the moment he saw the interior, he stopped. It wasn't anything like what he had imagined. He had expected a grand sanctuary, with a massive throne standing in the center and the Queen seated above everything, surrounded by a vast and impressive hall.
Instead, the throne stood between four pillars in a much more cramped space. It was empty, with only a faint red light illuminating the area and several candles burning on a nearby table. The entire room felt less like a royal throne room and more like the private chamber of a magician, filled with things that reminded Lucas of witchcraft. Even the scent in the air seemed to reinforce the feeling, carrying the distinct smell of herbs and strange materials.
Lucas looked around, taking in every detail until he finally noticed someone standing near one of the paintings.
The woman turned around.
"Welcome, boy. Hope you like the hospitality of my Kingdom so far."
Lucas immediately bowed his head in respect, his voice sincere as he replied, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Everyone has treated me very well so far. I really appreciate everything they've done for me."
Sinan gestured toward Lucas with a gentle smile. "Raise your head."
Lucas slowly lifted his head, finally getting a proper look at the Queen. He studied her face for a moment, something about her seeming strangely familiar despite the fact that he was certain they had never met. His brows furrowed slightly as he tried to place the memory. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere," he said, his voice carrying a hint of confusion.
Sinan paid close attention to the boy, studying him carefully. Her expression gradually became more serious as she noticed the details about him. "So you are from the Kingdom of Dragons, huh?"
Lucas swallowed nervously before nodding. "Yes."
For a brief moment, Sinan continued looking at him before her serious expression suddenly disappeared. A bright smile returned to her face as she laughed lightly. "Well, boy, the reason I brought you into my Kingdom is…" She paused deliberately, watching Lucas's reaction before continuing, "because you're an anomaly."
She gestured subtly toward the surroundings. "You see, this is a Kingdom filled with people like you, and I wanted to ask if you wish to stay with us."
Lucas fell silent for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Before he could give her an answer, footsteps approached from behind them. One of Sinan's guards stopped nearby and bowed respectfully.
"Queen Sinan."
Sinan turned toward him. "What is it, Bargon?"
Bargon straightened himself before continuing. "We investigated the castle like you asked us to. This is what we found."
Several of his subordinates walked forward, carrying bodies between them. Lucas's eyes immediately shifted toward what they were carrying, and the moment he saw them, his expression changed.
Three werewolf bodies.
Lucas turned around fully, staring at them in disbelief. The memory of that night came rushing back to him.
They are... from that night.
His eyes widened as another thought struck him. He quickly turned toward Sinan. "That means Vivian is alive. I want to leave immediately and go after her."
Elias hesitated before stepping forward. "But… you're in no condition to fight. Your entire chain was damaged, and your flow of energy is damaged too. You can't even use energy properly outside your body. You need more time to heal."
Lucas shook his head, frustration and worry mixing in his voice. "Then I want someone to come with me. She's out there… my master."
Sinan watched him for a moment, her expression softening. When she finally spoke, her tone carried the patient firmness of an adult trying to reason with a child who refused to listen. "Lucas… your injuries are critical. You need more rest. I'll send a search team. You stay here until you recover."
Lucas wanted to argue, but the words never came. He knew she was right, even if every part of him wanted to leave immediately. He reluctantly accepted her decision, but the worry remained written across his face as his thoughts stayed fixed on Vivian, wherever she was.
Sinan turned toward Bargon, her expression becoming more composed as she looked at the three bodies being carried away. "Bargon, take them to the Arcane Studies Department. Have them examined carefully. I want to know what we're dealing with."
Bargon bowed his head. "Yes, Queen Sinan."
"And Bargon…" Sinan's eyes briefly moved toward the bodies. "Don't let anyone damage them before the examination is complete."
"Understood." Bargon turned and signaled to his subordinates, who carried the three werewolf bodies out of the room.
Once they had left, Sinan turned back toward Lucas. Her expression softened again, almost as though the grim subject had never been brought up. "So… I assume you won't be staying for very long."
Lucas gave a small nod.
Sinan smiled. "Then at least make yourself at home while you're here. Veylith isn't going anywhere."
Lucas nodded again, but before he could say anything, something suddenly clicked in his mind. His eyes rose toward her, this time with genuine realization.
"Wait…"
Sinan raised an eyebrow.
"You are… Sinan. Five-Star, Rank #7. You were a hexcaster" Lucas stared at her, piecing together what he remembered. "You were part of our Kingdom a long time ago. You left, and then…" His expression became confused. "There's nothing about you in the history books."
Sinan's lips curled into a faint smirk. "That's all you know about me?"
Lucas hesitated.
Sinan let out a quiet laugh before her expression slowly changed. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and for the first time, there was something distant in them, as though Lucas's question had pulled her attention toward a time she hadn't thought about in years.
"Anomalies weren't always treated the way they are now," she said quietly. "Back then, being different wasn't something people celebrated. It was something they feared."
She looked toward one of the paintings in the room, her voice carrying a mixture of pride and old frustration. "Even so, a few of us managed to rise through the rankings. I was the only anomaly among the Five-Stars during my time."
A small smile returned to her face. "I wanted people to understand us. I wanted to prove that anomalies weren't something to be afraid of. We were powerful… useful. We could become some of the greatest assets a fighting unit could have."
Her smile faded.
"But there were places where none of that mattered."
Lucas remained silent, listening closely.
"In the remote parts of the Kingdom, anomalies were sometimes killed when they were born." Sinan's voice became quieter, the words no longer carrying the confidence she had shown moments earlier. "I couldn't just stand there and do nothing."
She paused, her gaze lowering slightly.
"So I took their bodies."
Lucas's expression changed.
"I studied them," Sinan continued, her voice heavy with the memory. "I wanted to understand what made us different. I wanted to know if their powers could still be used after death. Maybe… if I understood them well enough, I could find a way to make sure their deaths weren't meaningless."
She fell silent for a moment before looking back at Lucas.
"I was a rare case myself." A faint, almost proud smile touched her face. "I possessed five elemental powers."
Lucas's eyes widened.
"Five…?"
Sinan nodded, but the pride in her expression didn't last. Her eyes shifted away again, and the next words came with visible hesitation.
"That is when…"
She stopped.
For a few seconds, Sinan said nothing. Her eyes moved slightly, and the pain behind them became impossible to hide.
"When the Kingdom found out what I was doing, they didn't see what I was trying to accomplish." Her voice had lost its earlier warmth. "They saw bodies. They saw forbidden research. And they became convinced that I was trying to create an army that could be used against them."
Lucas listened without interrupting.
"I wasn't."
The words came quietly, but with certainty.
"That was never my intention." Sinan's expression tightened. "But they had already decided what I was. So I was banished from my own Kingdom."
She took a slow breath before looking around the room.
"I walked away."
A faint smile returned to her face, though there was still sadness behind it.
"And eventually, I created Veylith. A place where people like us wouldn't have to hide who they were… or be afraid of what would happen simply because they were born different."
Lucas stood quietly in front of her, clearly overwhelmed by everything he had just learned.
"So…" he finally asked, his eyes still wide with disbelief, "you can really use five elemental powers?"
Sinan looked at him and gave him a knowing smirk.
"You're still stuck on that part?"
Lucas smiled awkwardly.
Sinan waved him off. "Go on. You need rest, young man."
She turned back toward her work desk, already returning to whatever she had been doing before Lucas arrived. Lucas lingered for another moment before finally following Elias out of the room, his mind still occupied by everything he had just learned about Sinan and Veylith.