"Druja?"
Cocotte's hand froze in midair as she stared blankly at Erica, feeling the dense natural energy overflowing from the girl's body, not knowing how she should respond for the moment.
This level of natural energy, she had only ever felt it on the Wood Calamity.
In a daze, it was as though Cocotte had returned to that different space covered by dense forest, where a thousand flowers bloomed and wild grasses danced madly.
"Cocotte, Cocotte."
With someone calling out to her, Cocotte suddenly snapped awake.
She turned her head toward Liya, who was calling her name, and stared in confusion.
"What Druja?"
Druja was the name of the Wood Calamity, something Viktor had told her.
Calamities had their own names, and it was the first time Cocotte had learned that.
She didn't answer Liya's question, but turned toward the duke and said, "Duke Levi, you don't have to worry. For now, Erica isn't in any danger."
"Maybe after you sleep tonight, she'll wake up tomorrow."
Hearing this, Duke Levi relaxed his brows slightly.
Since even a former councilor said so, maybe Erica really was fine.
He had already done everything he could.
The duke sighed, bowed to the two of them, and said, "Thank you both."
Cocotte hated this kind of formal etiquette the most. She even forgot she was Liya's hired employee and simply waved her hand at the duke, saying, "If there's nothing else, we'll be leaving."
Liya also nodded toward the duke.
"Alright, I'll walk you two out."
Duke Levi closed the room door, and the three of them slowly left.
But no one noticed that on the windowsill buried beneath green plants, a faint, unusual patch of black appeared.
A crow stood on the windowsill.
Its single eye stared at the delicate girl lying on the bed, a strange light flickering in it.
[Protector of nature under the dark night sky, cleanse this world of the final curse of life]
[Gaynustia, remove the life that has slipped beyond the grasp of chaotic order]
As though it had swapped out its voice box from its abdomen for a heavier tone, the crow's voice echoed slowly across the room.
In an instant, a black magic array constructed itself behind the crow out of thin air. White lines spiraled around it, converging on a dagger-shaped sigil at its center.
A burst of black mist sprayed from the magic circle's center, spreading across the room.
The flourishing plants, once touched by the black mist, immediately withered and shriveled, turning into powder and slowly dissipating.
The clusters of flowers growing on Erica's body quickly dried up and vanished, and a faint hint of green appeared in Vega's eye.
Vega slowly spoke, "A power you still can't control, don't release it carelessly."
"For now, I'll keep a bit of it for you."
With that, it flapped its wings and flew out the window.
Only a single pitch-black feather remained on the sill.
———
It seemed Erica had a dream.
She dreamed she was inside a realm of chaos.
Around her floated six enormous landmasses, each one filled with surging magical energy.
Wind, fire, earth, wood, thunder, water.
The six elements churned across the six continents like newborn planets in chaotic formation.
Storms and lightning clashed ceaselessly, and the six continents suddenly plunged into silent darkness.
One of the continents began flickering with light, and Erica was drawn toward the one that illuminated.
The moment she approached it, it felt like she had fallen into a lush, primitive forest, vines everywhere, wild grass up to her waist.
Towering cedar trees blocked out the sky completely; not a ray of sunlight could be seen.
Erica instinctively explored the forest, moving forward through the heavy fog.
Strange "wuuu wuuu" sounds echoed around her.
The deeper she walked into the fog, the clearer the sounds became.
After walking a long distance, the sound finally faded away.
The fog slowly dispersed, and a massive black object appeared before her.
Instinctive fear didn't make her step back. Instead, it aroused her curiosity, drawing her toward the dark shadow.
One step, two steps…
Soon, Erica walked right up beside the massive form, seeing its true appearance.
It was a huge green serpent-like monster, with three pairs of compound eyes growing on its head.
Sensing Erica's arrival, the creature slowly turned to look at her.
Before Erica could even feel fear, she noticed that atop the giant beast's head was… someone sitting there.
The figure seemed about the same age as Erica, but Erica could not see her features clearly.
Through the heavy mist, the figure looked hazy and indistinct.
A beam of light shone from behind the girl. Erica raised her hand to block the dazzling glow and fell into a blur.
She had intended to force herself to glimpse the girl through the light, but then a voice, familiar yet unfamiliar, slowly sounded by her ear, "You're still too weak, Erica."
"With your strength like this, how are you supposed to accept the inheritance to come?"
Erica fell into intense confusion. She dropped to her knees in the jungle, two lines of tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Mo…ther…?"
That familiar-sounding voice dragged Erica into memory.
But she didn't wake up. Instead, she fell into another void.
Everything around her was pitch-black.
Countless sinister black crows swept past overhead. Among the thousands, only one one-eyed crow landed before her.
It was noticeably larger than the rest. Its single eye glanced sideways at Erica.
Erica recognized this strange crow, it was the one following Viktor.
"God…?"
The sinister crow seemed satisfied, flapped its wings, and flew off again.
The space around her shattered like a mirror, countless shards falling into the void.
The next second, Erica appeared in a sea of flowers.
She slowly sat up. Before her floated a seed radiating green vitality, trying to draw her to take it into her hand.
When Erica reached out to grasp it, the seed began sprouting in her palm, wrapping around her and forming a cocoon of green vines.
'Inheritance.'
Like waking from a long dream, Erica suddenly opened her eyes to find herself sitting in her familiar room, on her familiar bed.
Sunlight filtered through ragged clouds outside the window as a gentle breeze stirred the curtains.
Erica leaned against the headboard and opened her hand.
What she held was not a seed, but a pitch-black feather.
Like a deceptive illusion, the seed in her dream had turned into a tail feather like this.
But the power within her wasn't fake. Erica closed her eyes, picturing the sea of flowers.
When she opened them again, a warm, gentle field of flowers had appeared before her, like a beautiful painting.
And she herself was the painter.
———
Clang!
Two silver swords clashed violently, letting out a crisp metallic sound.
Viktor skillfully deflected Gwen's attack, drew his sword back, and spun it once.
The two of them separated, and Viktor nodded at Gwen.
"That's about enough."
Viktor stepped back, moved his fingers slightly, and a cleaning spell removed the dirt and sweat from his body.
Kefra had been watching the two sparring from the side of the training grounds from the very beginning.
When she looked at Viktor, her brows tightened.
For some reason, today her brother-in-law felt annoyingly irritating.
She felt a sudden urge to rush up and stab Viktor twice in the kidneys.
But she chalked it up to being an illusion, only demons gave her that feeling.
Unless Viktor himself was a demon.
Gwen hung the silver sword back onto the weapon rack, wiped his sweat, and walked to Viktor's side.
"You're improving quickly. Your stamina has also increased a lot compared to before."
Naturally. The Wood Calamity was built on life force.
Viktor had absorbed the Wood Calamity's essence, so his stamina was far stronger than before.
One could say the Wood Calamity compensated for Viktor's "fragile" shortcomings.
"Then, I'll come again tomorrow."
Viktor nodded at Gwen and turned to leave.
Gwen understood and stood in place watching Viktor depart. But suddenly, he noticed Viktor's shoulder, feeling puzzled.
'That crow, where had it gone today?'
———
Viktor walked out of the Delin estate alone and stood on the street waiting for a while.
A pitch-black crow fluttered down onto his shoulder.
Only then did Viktor continue moving forward.
"Do you know the place called the Inheritance Temple?"
Before long, Vega, perched on his shoulder, asked this.
Viktor didn't look at him and instead headed toward the nearby carriage.
He climbed into the carriage, pulled the curtains, and with a flick of his fingers, the carriage began moving on its own.
Viktor didn't answer Vega directly, instead asking, "Why are you asking that?"
"Saw the place in a certain little girl's dream. Got curious."
Viktor rested his chin in his hand, thinking.
The Inheritance Temple.
In the game settings, a mage's spells included the six great natural divisions.
But strictly speaking, the six natural divisions did not refer to six spell elements.
They referred to six forms of natural energy.
And the place of inheritance belonged to the endpoint of these mysterious energies.
It existed on the six borders of the continent, within the cracks of the void.
Any player could enter and, after overcoming trials, obtain the inheritance of a corresponding power.
But very few players ever completed all six temples in succession, and Viktor was one of the rare top players who had grinded through all six in a row back then.
"I know the place. Why?"
"Because of this, I'm quite interested in Duke Levi now."
Vega narrowed his eye, the sly gleam inside spinning mischievously.
Viktor understood immediately and said calmly, "So you left earlier to find Erica."
"Let me guess, the Wood Calamity's revival made something unusual happen to her?"
"More interesting than you think."
A faint green light flashed in Vega's eye, and green vines lightly spread across the inside of the carriage.
Viktor didn't look surprised. A power even this mostly-useless evil god could wield already explained enough.
"The Wood Temple's inheritance."
"This is a stolen power. Duke Levi must have stolen something back then, and this power is appearing in Erica because of it."
"So? Doesn't this power feel very similar to the Calamity?"
Vega giggled.
Viktor stared at him expressionlessly.
When a player completed the inheritance quests of all six temples, a god of the Inheritance Temple would appear as the final boss for the player to challenge.
Viktor sank into thought.
In his mind was a god radiating dazzling sunlight-like glory, but its appearance… Was like a fusion between a butterfly and a moth.
Six transparent glowing wings fluttered constantly. Its body and head were fused into one, its two eye sockets bursting with golden light.
Below it were a pair of drifting tendril-like tails.
Could it be that Erica's mother, who had never once appeared in the story... was that thing?
"The duke wasn't simple when he was young." Viktor sighed.
It was the first time he felt genuine admiration for someone, and it was for an NPC in a game.
"By the way, the Academy has already been rebuilt. In a few days, classes will start again."
"But my teaching assistant became an associate professor, so there's no one to write my lesson plans anymore. Do you have any ideas?"
Vega, who had been laughing a moment ago, suddenly blinked.
"Why are you telling me that?"
"What do you mean 'why'?"
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