Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The vine that had held her hand tugged at Alena with even greater strength, pulling her deeper into the pot. The moment the vine gripped her tighter, a large arch made of intertwining vines and leaves rose before her, towering over the scene.

Mesmerized by the arch’s beauty and mystery, she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

As she leaned in closer, lost in its intricate design, the ground beneath her seemed to give way, and without even having a chance to scream, she fell into the large empty space, swallowed by the unknown and was falling endlessly downwards.

Alena was tossed around, her body whipped by the wind blowing from below and the force of her fall.As she struggled to maintain her balance, her body began to sweat, and after a while, she spotted a tiny seed, roughly the size of a baby’s fist, being tossed around by the wind in a similar way.

Instinctively, Alena knew that this seed was the one that had spoken to her.

Struggling through the fierce wind, Alena stretched out her hand and managed to grab the seed.

In that moment, the earth trembled with a sound like "kuku... kuku... kuku..." and a huge tree suddenly burst out of a small pot.

The tree didn't stop growing, and as it expanded, it destroyed the old mansion that had been standing for ages.The tree grew so large that Lisa’s greenhouse appeared as a small nest atop the exposed trunk. It didn’t stop there; the tree kept growing, its branches and leaves spreading beyond the borders of the realm, eventually covering the surrounding forest as well.

Roland and Lisa stood between the giant roots of the tree. While all this was happening, Lisa had buried her face in Roland's chest, only lifting her head once the ground stopped shaking. The fully grown tree illuminated the darkness with a beautiful light from its roots to the youngest leaves at the top.The vibrant energy filled with light overwhelmed Lisa, and she gazed at it in awe.

"Alena!!"

Lisa, spotting Alena’s tiny form hanging from the lowest branch, gasped and rushed towards her.The roots of the tree were so enormous that Lisa had to climb them to reach Alena. Holding Alena, who was caught on a branch as though picked up by a giant’s finger, Lisa checked to make sure she was breathing.

Thankfully, Alena was simply in a deep sleep.

Lisa felt relieved, stroked the child’s back and looked towards her husband, who had approached slowly.

Roland, reaching the base of the tree, knelt on one knee and lowered his head in silent respect, touching his forehead to the ground.

He then placed his hand on the tree, muttering something that Lisa couldn't understand. The light from the tree, which had been akin to life, began to flow down like water, coursing through the tree in veins like blood and spreading across the ground like a stream.

The light kept flowing, slowly taking shape in front of Roland. He stood up and watched as the glowing presence grew taller in front of him.The pillar of light, now towering high enough to make him tilt his head back, soon transformed into a beautiful spirit with long hair.

"You’ve acquired a name. Orion."

Roland Alderin spoke, but Orion turned away from him and directly towards Lisa.

Lisa, seeing the glowing Orion approach, politely presented the sleeping Alena in her arms.

However, Orion reached out, not for Alena, but for Lisa, gently patting her head as if touching something precious.Lisa realized then that she had been feeling the presence of this spirit for a very long time, and without realizing it, tears began to fall. Every time she returned home, the warmth that greeted her.

When surrounded by people, Lisa often grew weary in both body and mind, but whenever she entered the greenhouse, the comfort and kindness that made her forget all worries had always felt like her grandmother’s love.

"So it was you," Lisa said.

Orion began speaking with a smile, but Lisa couldn’t understand her words and only felt the air vibrating.

Seeing that Lisa didn’t understand, Orion’s face grew slightly sad, and she gestured for Roland to follow.

As the two of them walked a little away from Lisa, the air around them began to tremble.

Seeing the nearby leaves and branches shake, Lisa realized that Orion was angry with Roland.

But Roland, unfazed, calmly addressed the upset spirit.

"It was simply the right time."

Last night, thanks to the newly grown spirit tree, Roland’s barrier had expanded significantly, becoming a deep labyrinth that no human could recklessly enter. Lisa could now live more peacefully. Orion told her that she had come to the human realm long ago and had been living in the pot, protecting Lisa's family for generations.

Alena, curious, asked various questions, but the only story Orion shared was that she would be leaving before the first light of dawn to return to the spirit realm. When Orion left, the light from the spirit tree faded away. Roland, seeing Lisa looking wistfully at the tree, comforted her.

"You can feel the spirit’s concern for you, can’t you? Orion’s blessing is still rooted in the earth, holding it fast."

Roland had used his magic to instantly create a new home to replace the old mansion and Lisa’s greenhouse. It was a small, cozy house, and everyone was stunned by how quickly it had been created. Roland, who usually made things himself like a regular human, had never shown this level of magic before.

Lisa and their daughter couldn’t stop staring at both the new house and Roland. Lisa was very pleased with the manageable size and structure of the new home. When Roland used a generator he had found in the village to turn on lights, Lisa’s eyes widened in surprise, and she asked, "We’re living comfortably thanks to your magic, but suddenly, a generator? Do we really need electricity?"

Roland answered with a somewhat mysterious expression.

"Human magic is quite useful, you know. If something useful comes from the new spirit tree, I plan to start acquiring some convenient human items. After all, I can’t always rely on being a wizard."

Lisa was distracted as she opened various doors in the house, nodding absently at his words. Roland, who had been quietly watching her, whispered to Alena, who had her face pressed against his.

"Alena.. You must keep what you know about Orion a secret."

In this place, there could be no secrets between the three of them.

However, Alena didn’t understand the meaning of his words at the time.

The next morning, she would learn its meaning.

Very early in the morning, Roland’s mother, Meredith Alderin, led a group of elder wizards to Alena’s house. They knocked sharply on the wooden door of the new house. Meredith Alderin, wearing a long black cloak that almost dragged on the ground, had silver hair and blue eyes. Her sharp chin and long neck were smooth, showing no wrinkles, and she appeared to be in her early middle age.

Despite seeing her son after so long, Meredith didn’t greet him warmly, nor did Roland say a word of welcome as he stepped aside to let them in.

Meredith Alderin, looking at her son with an expression of clear disapproval, asked, "The mother of this child is alive, yet why is she not here?"

"I told her to step aside for a moment, fearing your gaze might kill her," Roland replied.

Alena, who had been watching the wizards, was surprised that Meredith looked nothing like her father, whose dark wavy hair and light blue eyes were so different, and was startled by the mention of “mother.”

"Goodness!"

Meredith was furious, but seeing the elder wizard's reactions, she sighed and stopped pressing the issue.

When the greetings between mother and son seemed to be over, the three elder wizards, seemingly uninterested in wasting time in the human realm, approached Alena.

"Is it true that you grew the spirit tree outside?"

The elderly wizard’s voice was gentler than Alena had expected, though she was still scared.

"I just put my hand in the soil as the seed instructed," she replied.

One of the elders nodded, saying, "It’s difficult even for pure-blood wizards to grow a spirit tree in the human realm. To think a child with a human and elven bloodline mother could do this."

"So this is why they said to investigate this matter quickly. It would cause an uproar if the magic realm found out."

"I don’t know how to report this. Especially since this is the time when the magic realm is selecting new students."

Meredith, who had been listening from a distance, spoke sharply, "In the days when a female witch led the Alderin family, awakening and growing the spirit tree’s seed was an essential skill. Ha! It’s been so long since a girl was born in the Alderin family."

The elders, hesitating even after witnessing this ability, seemed to shrink under Meredith’s sharp gaze and moved away to confer with each other at the far end of the room.

Though their whispering wasn’t clear enough to fully understand, it seemed likely they would accept this matter.

After a brief snort, Meredith turned her gaze to Alena.

The intense look from Meredith made Alena involuntarily shrink and cling to her father’s side.

"Straighten your shoulders. Hold your head high. Even if you are not a pure-blood wizard, as an Alderin, you must show pride."

At her grandmother’s words, Alena stiffened unconsciously.

Meredith leaned close to Roland’s ear and spoke in a low voice.

"If this child graduates from magic school properly and becomes a worthy witch, the magic realm will no longer press charges for the bloodline’s disruption and will lift the exile."

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