Hathaway walked in the lightless city, her wide white robe fluttering in the wind, and beside her was an ancient building made of huge stones.
There is no sun here, nor the light of stars or silver moon.
Only a few luminous minerals were inlaid on the ancient stone pillars, becoming the only light source in this world.
"This is... Elder Hathaway?"
"Senior Hathaway... is he the ninth elder who is said to rarely attend the High Tower Council? He has come out of seclusion?"
"I had only heard of her name in legends before, but I didn't expect to see the real face of a person from history books today."
"I heard from the elders of the forest elves that she has been obsessed with exploring the forbidden outside world, and will sooner or later bring misfortune to the royal court..."
"I've also heard similar rumors from my elders... Obviously, no one cares about those things. Our lives are already rich enough now."
"Hush, be careful with your words—are you not aware of the elders' perception?"
...
...
As she appeared, whispers from onlookers were heard around her.
Hathaway looked up and saw that the hall leading to the Elf Tower was full of elves watching.
Aside from early childhood, elves are unable to accurately judge age by appearance - the posture of an elf's ears is a more accurate way to determine age.
Compared to Hathaway's drooping ears, the ears of the onlookers were all pointed and slender, which showed that most of them were no more than 50 or 60 years old.
"Has the curse of the elven bloodline deepened again..."
Hathaway whispered silently in her heart.
People in their fifties or sixties are certainly considered old for other ordinary races, and it can even be said that they have entered old age.
But compared with the high elves before the Cataclysm, they can only be regarded as children at best, and are still far from adulthood.
Not to mention entering the elven tower and participating in the actual government affairs and work of the royal court.
However, after the Cataclysm, the pollution of the Fallen Sun not only destroyed the royal courts of the ancient dragons and giants, but also directly affected the bloodline of the high elves themselves.
With each iteration, the pure blood of the elves became increasingly polluted.
Amidst the endless disasters and pollution, there are only a few high elves like Hathaway who were born around the time of the Cataclysm and whose lifespans are thousands of years long even without cultivation...
The life span of most newborns of the elves is only one or two hundred years.
Perhaps after a few hundred years, or even a thousand years... the lifespan of the elves on the Lost Island will be assimilated to that of the race called humans in the ancient books.
Hathaway walked through the hall, walked up the long gray-white steps, and went deeper into the tower.
She didn't care about the discussions of the tribesmen. Even with Hathaway's perception, she had already heard every word of the discussions.
After all, this tribe has been together for many generations since the Cataclysm.
Forget the fear and lose the ambition to make progress.
Forgot some things.
There is nothing strange about this -
Click.
Click.
Hathaway walked up the pale stairs step by step, and the noisy sounds in the hall on the bottom floor of the tower gradually faded and finally disappeared.
Her footsteps paused at a certain floor of the tower.
This is a huge ancient door, more than ten people tall, wide and magnificent.
On both sides of the door were two faint blue torches, which suddenly lit up with Hathaway's arrival, illuminating the dim world.
The golden elf stood in front of the huge door, stretched out his slender fingers from under the sleeves of his white robe, and touched the ancient door.
"I'm Hathaway Zekin."
"As the elder of the Golden Elf tribe and the ninth seat of the High Tower Council, I apply to open the King's Court Library in the Elf High Tower."
"Opening time: fifty years."
"Reason for application——"
"Use ancient knowledge to explore the depths of the astral world and discover a new source of power beyond the cursed elven bloodline."
"And use this as a foundation to find the way forward for the Lost Island."
"And... the future of the elves."
Accompanied by the words of the golden elf.
The ancient door rang with a loud bang, and the ancient mystery, along with the waves of the subspace, spread out.
This tower, once the center of the Elf King's Court, has survived catastrophes and long years, but it still retains something extraordinary and mysterious.
The Royal Court Library is one of the foundations of the Elf Tower.
Because of the deeds of the fallen Elf King, the High Elves, unlike the ancient dragons and giants, are the best preserved race among the three royal courts and still retain a relatively complete heritage.
The Royal Court Library is an independent subspace, which contains a considerable amount of ancient knowledge and books that were not lost or destroyed in the catastrophe and have been preserved.
According to the laws of the elves, only the elders of the Tower Council are qualified to open it.
However--
After a few breaths.
The ancient door was not open.
Instead, there was a crimson light of blood.
Hathaway's request to open the Great Library was denied.
"I'm so sorry, Hathaway-senpai."
"Because you have been wandering in the subspace and dimension gaps of the Lost Island for a long time, we have not had the opportunity to inform you."
"After a joint vote by the remaining eight seats of the Tower Council, it was decided that—"
"I will temporarily exempt you from some of your authority as an elder of the Council. The authority to open the Royal Court Library is among the exempted authority."
A voice came from the darkness.
She was a moon elf with long light blue hair, wearing a white robe similar to Hathaway's.
"El Frost Song..."
"Why did the Council do this?"
Hathaway looked at the moon elf in front of her and spoke softly.
"No, that's not my name."
"Besides, she's not married yet, how could she have an ice elf surname?"
"If I remember correctly, El Shuangge seems to be the name of my great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother? I can't quite remember."
"But it doesn't matter. They are all old news anyway."
The female moon elf played with her long hair and smiled sweetly.
"As for the reason you want, Senior Hathaway—"
"Of course, it's too dangerous to explore the astral realm. There's no veil to protect you there... If you're not careful, you'll become as depraved and crazy as recorded in the ancient books. ”
"It's okay for you to go crazy by yourself, Senior, but it would be too annoying if we have to spend time dealing with you after you go crazy."
Hathaway's eyes froze for a moment, then she regained her composure.
She said softly: "Obviously your ancestors——"
"El Shuangsong, the former second elder of the Council, spent her entire life searching for a way to fight the curse and leave the Lost Island..."
"She once told me that the future of the high elves should never be trapped on this island without light."
"Instead, we should bathe in the real sunshine."
"When the Council was first established, its purpose was to coordinate forces and help the elves find a path to the future..."
The golden elf was interrupted before he could finish his words.
"It was you old antiques who messed around in the beginning. We wasted hundreds of years and a lot of resources, but in the end we got nothing. You also often lost control and killed countless people."
"They talk about the future of the elves all day long."
"The royal court is all old news from many years ago. Who cares about those old-fashioned clichés?"
"Why should you let your inexplicable obsession ruin our comfortable life now?"
"Besides, don't you think it's ridiculous to think of creating a new power system to fight against the curse brought down by the fall of the Creator? That is the power of God!"
…
Don't create a new path for yourself.
Instead, all expectations, all hopes...are placed on the continued existence of the "curtain".
So, is this right?
Is the curtain created by the Elf King eternal?
Before she could finish her words, Hathaway saw that the moon elf in front of her had already disappeared beyond the torch, into the endless darkness and shadow.
Soon, the blue torch also went out, leaving only the empty and silent tower.
She turned slightly and looked at the door of the library behind her, which had stopped shaking and was sealed with dust again.
The dust that had been accumulated for a long time fell down and covered the ground.
This huge library, which contains the heritage of an entire race's civilization, has not been opened for hundreds of years.
Obviously, even if one has the permission to open it, in the eyes of today's Elf Council, the knowledge contained in this library is worthless.
Many years ago, the door of this great library was once open all night long.
The elders replaced the magnificent council chamber with a library, where they discussed solutions to pollution, ways to restore light, and the future of the elves.
Hathaway was silent for a long time. Thousands of thoughts finally turned into a soft sigh.
never mind--
She came to the Royal Court Library this time to find a way to locate coordinates in the dimensional void from the knowledge passed down by her predecessors.
Of course, without a positioning method, nothing would change what she was going to do.
It's just that the risk is higher.
Her figure disappeared into the tower and entered the ceremony venue that had been prepared long ago.
Beside him were thick books filled with various experimental data.
There are also complicated holy relics, ritual materials and auxiliary props...all of these are available.
Behind every piece of material information lies hundreds or thousands of attempts made by an elf elder.
Tried again and again, each experiment failed. The void rift was mistakenly opened without any protective measures, which meant that a high elf was out of control and mad, or was directly cut and swallowed by the space rift.
After countless failures, this research has finally been carried out to its current stage.
However, the descendants of those pioneers have themselves denied the efforts of their ancestors.
…
No overthinking.
Hathaway simply followed the procedures and completed all the preparatory steps according to the experience gained at the cost of countless blood and lives.
Then, in an instant.
Surrounded by extraordinary materials.
In the center of the ritual altar, a dark crack quietly opened.
It is not a fleeting spatial turbulence, but an extremely unstable one that may cut and devour anyone who approaches at any time.
Instead, it tends to be a stable form, large enough to accommodate one person.
Of course, if one rashly enters the dimensional void without any means of positioning, it means that one might be lost in it forever and never be able to return.
But at this moment, Hathaway has no chance of turning back.
She took a step forward, and her figure disappeared into the diffuse cracks.
…
The void was pitch black.
No reference, no direction.
Losing the coordinates is equivalent to losing everything.
It's cold and dark.
From time to time, the spatial turbulence turned into sharp blades, cutting Hathaway's flesh and blood.
Cutting bloody holes in the pure white robe.
Some were extremely tiny, with only faint traces of blood, while others were so deep that the bones were visible, with hideous wounds that were bloody and mangled.
But Hathaway did not resist.
Her status has reached the legendary level, and she is also at the highest level in the nine-member council.
And as a genuine legendary high elf.
The word "gold elf" itself represents the natural affinity for the element gold.
Reciting the ancient elven language also represents authority and the spirit of words. With her legendary status, as long as she opens her mouth, it will not be a problem for her to resist some space turbulence.
But Hathaway didn't do that.
Because the bloodline of the high elves itself is cursed and polluted.
After the Cataclysm, once the elves were freed from the protection of the "Veil", they would be polluted and corrupted as soon as they activated the power of their bloodline.
And she, and all the pioneers who had worked so hard to do—
It is to eradicate the bloodline of the elves, find a new power system, and open up a way forward.
It allows the elves to walk in the world and live under the sun without relying on the power of blood and racial talents.
Once the authority of blood is used.
Then everything she insisted on and pursued would lose its meaning...
I don't know how long this kind of beauty lasted.
Until the wounds were densely packed all over his body, the wounds had dyed the originally white robe bright red, and the excessive blood loss made the golden elf's consciousness become blurred.
She finally sensed it.
In that endless void, there is a vast energy that is almost infinite, rootless and sourceless.
"It does not come from the Creator, nor from the Sun God, nor is it a gift from any god."
"Rather, it is completely ownerless energy that roams the astral and dimensional voids."
"As long as we understand and recognize the laws and rules of the world, we can use this passive energy to weave a corresponding structural model."
"The power that can be exerted in this way will definitely not be inferior to that of any other god."
"Even the Creator who brought all those disasters is no exception."
When you can truly feel the passive energy from the astral world flowing around you.
Finally, for the first time, a faint smile appeared on the corner of the golden elf's mouth.
only--
That smile quickly turned into bitterness.
Hathaway knew very well that she could not go back.
Even though I have proven that everything I and those pioneers pursued is not a fantasy but a practical reality, it is no longer meaningful.
There are no coordinates, no reference points, and no anchor points to guide you.
It is impossible for me to return to the Lost Island.
The only outcome that awaits me is to drift in this cold void.
The only ending is until the lifespan runs out, or before that it is swallowed up by the turbulence of space and turned into another corpse lost in the void.
Hathaway closed her eyes gently.
He let the chaotic turbulence of space carry him and drift in the dark void.
Although he was in the royal court, he also left complete experimental records and data——
If he could follow the records and information, repeat his steps exactly, and then after making good protective and positioning preparations, the elders of the many council chambers would enter in an orderly manner.
Then, my elves will still be able to discover the treasure with unlimited potential in the void.
only--
According to the current parliament's attitude towards itself.
It seems that I am a little wishful thinking.
This treasure of knowledge was acquired by the elders of the Council of Nations who had traveled through countless sub-space planes, exhausted their youth, blood, and a long time.
It is also destined to be buried forever in this cold void.
“I really…”
“Did I do something wrong?”
The golden elf's soft whispers disappeared into the dark void, and no one could hear them.
But the next moment.
Hathaway heard someone whispering in her ear.
"This is the first time I've seen you in such a miserable state, Master..."
"No, we are still strangers now."
"If I were to be approached like this, I would probably think he was a scoundrel."
A pleasant low laugh was heard.
"Then, let's do it again."
"Nice to meet you, beautiful Miss Golden Elf."
Hathaway turned back in surprise.
Not far behind her, a young man with black hair and black eyes was leaning against the cockpit of a huge metal structure, looking at her with his legs swinging.
The young man looked at the dark and deep void around him and frowned slightly.
"This is clearly such an important first encounter between the hero and heroine, but the background light is a little too dim."
He took out a branch from his arms, and with a flick of his fingers, the branch was cut into a slender wand shape by the silver-white blade.
"Come to think of it, this should be the first time a spell is cast in the First Age, so the sense of ritual still needs to be fully utilized."
The boy smiled and gently waved the wand that he had just cut from a branch.
"A wizard's spell... let me think about it, I got it."
"Lumos!"
A thousandth of a second later.
The bright light gushing out from the top of the magic wand illuminated Hathaway's beautiful light golden eyes which were slightly widened.
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