As I stood paralyzed by the sight stretching miles away from atop the Mana Tree, bitter memories of my previous life resurfaced. It was a massive war, as I recall, between the Kingdom of Voltarys—whose people, the "Aquaris," dwelled in the ocean depths and wielded lightning mana as their primary element—and the Kingdom of Ironholm.
Ironholm was incensed by the Aquaris, who had breached a sacred treaty. The pact granted us the right to hunt and extract rare minerals within specific boundaries, provided neither side interfered with the other. However, the truce shattered when Aquaris soldiers were caught secretly searching for a rare weapon-grade metal. Believing an invasion was imminent, the Kingdom launched a massive naval campaign with warships laden with gunpowder and volatile explosive dust.
Yet, the Kingdom had a weakness: a lack of combatants. Their population consisted mostly of blacksmiths and merchants. Consequently, they recruited mercenaries with the promise of high advanced pay, as they were the world's wealthiest weapon suppliers. Naturally, I joined that campaign to get the money—I was broke back then. In the end, Ironholm lost; the fleet was decimated, and countless lives were lost. I barely escaped death myself.
"How absurd... Did they truly think they could slay sea monsters with mere gunpowder, swords, and mercenaries who could barely manifest their Aura?"
These thoughts swirled as I gripped the purple leaf. My shock wasn't just at the vista, but at the chilling realization: "Why? Why does the wreckage of the Ironholm fleet exist in this world, specifically here in this lightning forest?"
As I pondered, I plucked the purple leaf. Suddenly, it erupted in a strange light and a sweeping, delicate bolt of lightning! Blinded and losing my balance, I tumbled downward. Thanks to my reinforced Aura, I landed unharmed, but the leaf had vanished.
I searched every inch of the ground but found nothing—until I felt a strange warmth in my pocket. I pulled out the Core I had retrieved from the ruins, only to find it had grown slightly and shifted in color.
"What?! What is happening?" I muttered in surprise.
The Core now mirrored the exact hue of the leaf I had plucked. I realized instantly that it had absorbed the leaf's latent power. I tried plucking leaves from other trees, but they remained dormant.
"It seems it only responds once... Hah, I exhausted myself for nothing."
Taking a deep breath, I decided to venture deeper into the forest, heading toward the shattered fleet to uncover the truth.