Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1117: Chapter 1116: Profound Ao Secrets

A creature that Enya had never seen before appeared at the door. Its smooth metallic exterior displayed a smiling face that inexplicably lifted one’s spirits. It floated in mid-air, a small distance from the ground, through some kind of anti-gravity means, filled with energy that was clearly not a magical surge. This wondrous creature floated inside and was very polite:

”Hello, I am here to install the devices.”

Enya was momentarily stunned — though her emotions were well hidden within the smooth eggshell — as she watched the floating metal sphere. She then noticed that it was followed by many items, floating in, ready to be assembled into ancient magical devices. These included neatly packed rune triggers, crystals mounted in metal frameworks, alloy bases with plug-in structures, and other assorted items. These things didn’t possess anti-gravity or repulsive structures themselves but were clearly floating under the control of the metal sphere at the front.

The device components soon stacked neatly in the room, and that clear and bright metal sphere approached Enya. It seemed curious about this pale-gold dragon egg, though its emotions were also hidden within its hard shell. It then floated up and down slightly, happily introducing itself: ”I am the chief Grand Artificer here, tasked with designing a custom Magic Web Terminal and personally coming to install it. You may call me Saint Nicholas Egg — or simply Egg or Mr. Nicholas.”

”Um... hello,” a somewhat hesitant voice came from within the pale-gold giant egg, ”you can call me Enya.”

”Nice to meet you, Lady Enya,” the metallic sphere floated once more, and some of the stacked device parts nearby floated up. ”Then I’ll start working now — it might get a little noisy, please bear with me.”

Enya watched in amazement as the creature calling itself ”Egg” began to work. Those peculiar device components started assembling at a dizzying speed into a prototype of some complex machinery. During this process, she sensed extremely high-frequency and exceptionally precise magnetic oscillations and massive energy fluctuations undetectable by mortals, all evidently released by this curious creature. Despite being the oldest god in the world, well-read and experienced, Enya couldn’t help but wonder: truly a region ruled by Wanderers from Outer Realm... why are there so many strange creatures?

Soon, however, she realized that as an egg able to converse, chit-chat over tea while reading the newspaper, she might also be considered somewhat bizarre, which made her feel better.

Saint Nicholas Egg swiftly assembled the device components he had personally designed and debugged. This fun task put him in a good mood, but even more interesting was the ”resident” of this room — the pale-gold egg stood nearby, seemingly observing everything. In all his years in this world, Egg had never seen such an intriguing life form, prompting him to engage in conversation: ”I’d heard there was a new guest here... but I hadn’t expected such an odd one. Ah, madam, pardon my offense — have you not hatched yet?”

”Sort of,” Enya replied offhandedly, while observing Egg’s exterior, ”what about you? Haven’t you hatched either?”

”Me? This is just how I look,” Egg floated up and down as if mimicking a human shrug. ”At first, others also thought this outer layer was an eggshell, but it’s actually my skin... yes, skin.”

”Quite remarkable,” Enya said softly, pensive, as ancient, peripheral memories surfaced in her mind, seemingly reports of amusing encounters from wandering dragons. After several seconds of silence, she suddenly spoke, ”You’re not a being of this world, are you?”

Egg hesitated, instinctively repeating his usual explanation: ”Um, well, actually, I’m a Master Mage from the ancient Gondor Empire, converted into this form due to an experiment mishap...”

”You fell in the southern mountain range back then?” Enya interrupted before he could finish, ”I recall... humans called those mountains the Dark Mountains. Ah, it must have been over a thousand years ago, or maybe longer.”

Egg reflexively paused his task (though he had no hands), turning in astonishment: ”How do you know that?!”

”I know many things — though I was far north at the time, roaming dragons frequently shared interesting world changes with me,” Enya said mildly. ”You needn’t worry; I’m not the sort to be shocked by a guest from a foreign place like a common person would. Countless incredible events have transpired in this world, and your existence isn’t too extraordinary to me.”

Unable to help himself, Egg floated towards the golden giant egg in the room’s center: ”What else do you know? Do you know how I got here?!”

”It seems important to you, but I’m sorry...” Enya hesitated but admitted candidly, ”I didn’t witness the moment you fell into this world, so I can’t judge much. However, my dragons reported you appearing suddenly at the top of turbulent atmospheric layers and then plummeting to earth. The Steady-State Limit Layer lacked any trace of you, so I surmise you must have passed through some kind of temporal-spatial rift — rather than normal space travel.”

”Through a temporal-spatial rift...” Egg murmured to himself. ”So the path home isn’t in Star Space but some spatial phenomenon... at least not a regular route...”

”I can’t be certain,” Enya said, ”the structure of time and space is among the most complex and elusive mysteries. Over millions of years, even a cohesive, consistent temporal and spatial structure may occasionally bear rifts and gaps incomprehensible even to gods. My only insight is: this world’s foundation may not be as stable as we imagine. The closer one nears the groundwork of world’s operation, the more things manifest in an unpredictable, counter-intuitive, irrational manner.”

”Unpredictable, counter-intuitive, irrational?” Egg subconsciously repeated the words she used, driven by curiosity to ask further, ”Why do you say so?”

Enya suddenly hesitated, breaking her silence after a moment’s reflection: ”There’s certain knowledge I’m unsure I can divulge, so I can only offer examples not too far beyond your understanding as a caution: It’s well-known, in the material world, thought and substance are distinct; in the shadow realm, substance and projection often dislocate and overlap; in the deeper shadow realm, the world viewed by the Observer is already some kind of ’illusion,’ with the majority of entities existing beyond the perception of sentient beings. And in the very deepest part, the place labeled ’The Deep Sea’... here I should refrain from saying more, only telling you this: within The Deep Sea there are no entities, and the concept of an entity universe has already been shattered.”

”No entities? Concept of an entity universe shattered?” Egg found it hard to grasp her words, ”What does that mean?”

”I cannot elaborate,” Enya stated without hesitation, ”First of all, overly advanced knowledge is harmful to you in itself, and my interpretation might also be mistaken, as the cognition of gods has limits. I’m merely providing you a reference... if you’re seeking a way home, perhaps that route lies deeper in the world, where temporal-spatial rules are more fragile and breaches easily appear — in the material world’s continuous and stable structure, hope is scarce.”

”A world one layer deeper... one layer deeper...” Egg muttered quietly. Initially, he seemed somewhat dejected, but suddenly he got excited, ”Ah, I understand now, thank you so much, I understand!”

However, Enya still felt a bit regretful: ”I don’t think I’ve been much help.”

”You’ve been incredibly helpful, Lady Enya!” Egg’s tone lifted, his whole sphere seemed invigorated, ”For so many years, I assumed I came from outer space, that my ’path’ to this planet lay in space, never considering the temporal-spatial structural aspect — you opened an entirely new perspective for me, my first step in over a thousand years!”

”But it’s not so easy to walk beyond this first step,” Enya couldn’t help reminding him, ”Even if aware that the world’s depths may conceal temporal-spatial mysteries, how do you plan to find a way out there? It’s beyond your current understanding, nor can present technological means handle it. As far as I know, your farthest step is just entering the shadow realm, not even close to reaching the ’underlying layer’.”

Yet Egg’s voice showed no trace of discouragement: ”I like something Gawain said: Tech always progresses, what we can’t do now doesn’t mean we can’t do later. I think he’s right. I’ve waited over a thousand years in this world; the former Gondor Empire was advanced, but they never reached the stars. Now I’ve encountered the Cecil Clan, curious about the stars and researching the world’s depths, and this time I can openly participate in their endeavors — I can live many more years, and I feel I will witness the day when this world’s technology evolves to unlock the universe’s deepest secrets... then I shall find my way home.”

Lady Enya listened quietly as this fascinating metallic creature spoke passionately about his dreams, and only when his words had fallen did she softly say, ”You are very optimistic. But what if... what if you really don’t get to that point?”

Saint Nicholas Egg suddenly became quiet, and after a few seconds of silence, he swayed his body left and right with a smile: ”I will turn into a rock in this world, quietly awaiting the day of my self-disintegration. Fortunately, this planet is, for me, a decent resting and burial place—so before that day arrives, I want to enjoy every day as much as possible, enjoy these days of mingling freely with metal.”

Not far away, those half-assembled device components began floating again. Under Saint Nicholas Egg’s exquisite control, these seamless structures continued to assemble, forming a specially made Magic Web Terminal and several auxiliary devices whose purposes were indistinguishable in mid-air.

Lady Enya thought quietly, although it was unclear what she pondered, she suddenly smiled lightly, ”I really do quite like this world.”

”Yes, I quite like it too,” Egg continued his work while casually responding, ”so you should also occasionally venture out like me—I understand the joy of staying in a room. I spend most of the time in the workshop too, but there are benefits to going out and soaking in the sun.”

Lady Enya suddenly fell silent: ”...”

Egg noticed the quiet of the golden egg and, with a hint of speculation rising in his heart, hesitantly asked: ”Could it be... you can’t float?”

”... I seem to have forgotten that function,” Lady Enya thought aloud, ”but I can research it. Okay, I have a new direction to strive towards.”

”So it seems you can’t float right now,” Egg felt he had received an answer, his voice carrying relief, ”that’s okay, I understand that feeling—days with a cold are always tough.”

”?”

Lady Enya sensed a question mark hovering over her eggshell, but before she could inquire, the iron ball gentleman had already immersed himself in subsequent work, she only heard his cheerful voice saying: ”...Don’t worry, once this set of equipment is installed, it can be used. Although not being able to go out may make you feel stifled, the exciting world of the internet can eliminate all your boring time...”

...

”This is the current situation of the silver elves,” Queen Belsetia stood before Amon, wearing a calm and indifferent expression as she recounted the experiences of the people in the forests and valleys following the departure of the God of Nature, ”To this day, although the Silver Empire is still a theocratic state, in essence, it is now mainly driven by secular forces—the royal family’s clerical status is mostly just a symbol. We still revere the gods, but our lives have consciously or unconsciously drifted away from religious activities.

”But in a small portion of areas, there are still elves adhering to the original doctrine, led by those fundamentalist Druids, of which the top tier consists of a few ancient priests who have survived since three thousand years ago...”

”I’m curious about one thing,” Amon softly asked after Queen Belsetia finished, ”those fundamentalist Druids, can they cast spells?”

”... They can.”

”The ancient priests who have survived since three thousand years ago, can they use spells?”

”... They rely on certain ancient artifacts and sacred objects passed down to this day to cast spells.”

”And both groups refuse to acknowledge the current divine symbolic representation of the Elven Royal Court and anticipate the revival of the old Druid sect.”

”Yes.”

Amon sighed lightly.

”Those ancient priests who have survived for three thousand years are my devout followers, whom I suddenly abandoned... The fault is mine, whereas those Druids propagating the revival of the old doctrine neither believe in you nor believe in me.”

Queen Belsetia raised her head, gazing into the eyes of the God of Nature—her heart gradually calmed down, even when looking into these sacred eyes, she wouldn’t experience an emotional upheaval: ”Then what do you mean?”

”Let those ancient priests come see me, I abandoned them for three thousand years... it’s time for a meeting.”

Queen Belsetia’s eyes widened instantly, as if she couldn’t believe what she had heard: ”But wouldn’t that make all your efforts so far go to waste? And when those priests again come into contact with the gods and return...”

She halted abruptly, as if realizing something, she looked to the side and saw Gawain standing there with a calm expression, as if he had foreseen everything.

Queen Belsetia steadied herself, raised her head once more, looking at the deity once revered by the elves: ”Then what about the remaining fundamentalist Druids?”

”Give them two choices,” Amon softly said, ”either follow you, or follow me.”