Coruntio calmly explained what had happened.
"Since the regular cleaning of the contaminated area will be impossible due to this rainy season, I prepared slightly stronger specimens."
"What do you mean by stronger?"
"It's not like we made serious modifications. We just increased their vitality. The original plants were meant to die along with the toxins as they purified the contaminated areas."
The plants that purify contaminated areas are modified plants that evenly mix the characteristics of water hyacinth, persicaria, and cattail.
These plants, created solely for purification purposes, absorb toxins and contaminants from polluted areas, then quickly burn through their lifespan while purifying them within their bodies.
After completing their lifespan while preventing the spread of contamination, the plants become twisted masses of dried fiber.
As a bonus, these detoxified remains could be recycled later.
"We just increased their vitality, that's all. Who could have imagined this would cause such problems."
The trouble started when they increased vitality to absorb more contaminants.All living things fight for survival from the moment they're born.
This was true even for plants created to purify contamination.
The plants, made stronger and more resilient, chose to adapt to the toxins and evolve rather than burning through their life force and dying.
And so the created plants went beyond their original purpose and became mutants.
"Wait. Hold on."
Eldin frowned and interrupted Coruntio.
"What is it?"
"Putting aside that arrogant tone and thick expression for now, you're saying it's a mutant? Even if something mutates, it doesn't usually grow to that extent?"
Having fought the plant directly, Eldin knew this well.
That was a creature that could withstand a fire spirit's flames and even fired strange yellow beams.
After seeing that, it couldn't be dismissed as a simple mutation.
"The mutation isn't the end result. It's just an intermediate stage."
"Intermediate stage?"
"Yes. The current form is the result of final evolution after undergoing certain changes through mutation."
"So what exactly is this evolution? From what I heard, it's just a plant but knows how to draw up water and even put out fires."
"...Most likely, it's 'Ether Water.'"
Mist reacted to the mention of Ether Water.
"Are you saying that the plant is an ethereal being?"
"Yes. The Ether Water flowing in probably accelerated the mutation as well."
The contaminated area is where all kinds of wastewater and pollutants gather.
Its source is connected to the industrial district full of factories. The wastewater from White Corporation, which emits white smoke, contains Ether Water.
Most of it is Ether residue that has completely depleted its energy.
However, when these residues gather and accumulate in large quantities in one place, things change.
The plant that absorbed the Ether residue and mutated thus became an ethereal being.
"It didn't just become an ethereal being. With its enhanced vitality increasing further, it now also has 'colony' characteristics."
Mist and Osian recalled the plant that reproduced by parasitizing human bodies.
Its ability to create mass-produced specimens while consuming other life forms clearly showed how dangerous it had become.
"Isn't it dangerous if it can reproduce on its own?"
"From what I understand, there are conditions. Reproduction is impossible without other organisms to parasitize. The problem is..."
Instead of Coruntio, who hesitated to answer, Osian responded.
"The underground is crawling with all sorts of creatures."
"...Yes."
"You must feel some responsibility. Though unintended, this happened in an area under your supervision."
Coruntio reluctantly nodded, but his expression was full of discontent.
Eldin frowned at his attitude.
"Hey kid, why are you being so stiff when you came here asking for help?"
"No, sister. Why do you keep doing this? I'm a council member now."
"What, getting a title from the city made you too proud to see straight?"
Eldin and Coruntio seemed to know each other well from before.
Looking at their dynamic, Eldin probably always had the upper hand, both then and now.
And it was clear that Eldin had issues with how Coruntio was now.
"Sister. Times have changed. You might be content tinkering with what you like, but don't you think about other elves?"
Coruntio, apparently having his own grievances, confronted Eldin.
"The city is developing, and forest territories are shrinking. We elves must now belong to Tirna. But that's not the end of it. This place has its own rules, and we need to secure our own rights within them."
Once the forest-dwelling elves were incorporated into the city of Tirna, they couldn't stay free from the power struggles within the city.
The elves had to actively involve themselves in city affairs and maintain political connections through council positions to secure their rights.
Eldin couldn't sharply rebuke Coruntio because she knew this fact.
Though she worked with iron and hammers, she had the wisdom that came from living long as an elf.
She couldn't deny that Coruntio had found his own compromise.
"I'm doing this for our clan's revival. But sister, you keep treating me like before..."
"Hey, you fool. You need to read the room when you do that."
"Is it so wrong to expect respect as an elder due to age?"
"Hold on. I can't let that slide."
Osian pointed out the indignant Coruntio.
"What makes you think you're older than me?"
"What? Well, you're human, so..."
"I'm not an ordinary human. I am a knight who wields the power of the heavens. When were you born? 250 years ago?"
Osian scoffed as if Coruntio's age wasn't worth mentioning.
"I was born a thousand years before you."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The expressions of those who heard this collapsed as if they'd seen something indescribable.
Osian proudly demanded a response with a look that seemed to ask 'What's wrong?'
Coruntio nodded with a slightly shocked face.
"Sister. You're right. Indeed, such behavior should be adjusted according to the person."
"Well...I meant that, but not quite in that way."
"I understand. Let's discuss the schedule later and talk again another time."
Coruntio disappeared with a bow. It was closer to running away because he didn't want to stay there any longer.
Watching Coruntio's retreating figure, Osian snorted.
"Hmph. I guess he has nothing to say when age is brought up."
Unlike Adela and Eldin who wore dumbfounded expressions, Mist stared at Osian with sparkling eyes.
'Wow, amazing. So this is how boldly you need to do it.'
Even though Mist was immersed in his own concept, he thought such lines weren't easy, but now he felt like he'd seen a level beyond.
Moreover, to Mist's perception, there wasn't a hint of falsehood in Osian's voice. He truly believed he was born a thousand years ago.
'True commitment to a concept means deceiving even yourself.'
Mist, having gained new insight, nodded inwardly, thinking he should learn from this junior.
*
Everyone left to attend to their own business.
Osian was left alone with Eldin, and only then could Eldin ask what she'd been curious about.
"Did you know about that power?"
"You mean what the plant was using?"
"Yes. That's not the kind of power that can be used even by an ethereal being."
People watching from afar might not have noticed, but Eldin, who faced it up close, could feel it.
It was a power too alien even for an ethereal to use.
'Perhaps her exceptional wisdom as an elf also helped her notice that subtle ominousness.'
And Eldin thought Osian knew the source of that power.
Osian had no intention of hiding it either.
"Yes. That's part of the power I use."
"The power you use? You mean that light-like thing coming from your sword?"
"Yes. What you saw is a power called Starlight. It's energy modeled after the starlight of heaven."
"I wondered why someone who knew nothing was running around Tirna with just an unmodified sword, but now I understand where that confidence came from."
Moreover, he could wrap that power not just around his sword but also use it like armor on his shield and body.
"But what are you doing carelessly leaking power like that?"
"You're taking this surprisingly well."
"After seeing light drawn from swords I made, why would anything else be a big deal?"
Eldin was surprisingly unprejudiced about such things.
"That was the Sun Ring, a power containing the energy of the sun."
"The sun, huh. Come to think of it, that thing the creature shot at me, looking back now, it was definitely similar to sunlight."
It hadn't made sense that a plant, even a mutated ethereal one, could shoot high-temperature energy, but if it was part of Osian's power, that was perfectly understandable.
At the same time, she wondered why this guy had such power, but she decided to save that question for later.
"Anyway, let's work well together from now on. Seems like you have business with that thing too."
"Are you going to fight too?"
"Surprised? Well, I guess that's understandable. The image I usually show isn't like this."
Actually, her rough behavior wasn't much different, but it was surprising that someone who makes weapons would fight directly.
"Despite how I look, I used to be one of our race's most outstanding warriors."
"I see."
That explained why she made weapons so well.
Usually, makers put their heart and soul into thinking about the users, but even so, there's a subtle gap between maker and user that can't be bridged.
But Eldin's weapons weren't like that.
They showed perfect compatibility, as if they were meant to be a matching pair with their user.
That was because she had experience not just as a maker but as a user as well.
"But it seems you retired from that long ago, is it okay to fight like this?"
"This is just occasional. I only get called when there's something important. Well, even though I do what I want without caring what others think, I'm not the type to ignore requests from fellow elves.
Of course, I make sure to get paid properly, though.”
Eldin added with a bright smile.
Osian thought of Coruntio. He seemed to be an elf with some standing.
He appeared to have influence among elves, and a council position wasn't something easily obtained.
Yet that same Coruntio couldn't move an inch before Eldin. That alone suggested Eldin's status among the elves.
'Even in battle, other elves stayed back while she alone stepped forward.'
Of course, given her trait of handling fire spirits, there was a high chance this was to prevent harm to others around her but the fact that other elves quietly watched the fight showed their trust in Eldin.
"Having the power of spirits must be reassuring."
Eldin is rare among elves for handling fire spirits.
While elves are generally familiar with spirits, most handle earth, wind, or water spirits.
They make soil fertile, help trees grow, and provide water, the source of life but fire and lightning were different.
Unlike other elements, these two had stronger destructive properties.
There were too many drawbacks for forest-dwelling elves to use them. Even if they could be controlled by the user's will, other clan members couldn't help but feel anxious seeing them.
Therefore, elves who handled fire or lightning spirits were considered eccentric.
And Eldin before them was controlling powerful fire spirits and using them to heat and hammer iron.
She probably still had secrets she hadn't revealed but Osian didn't pry into them.
"Let's do well together."
"Yes. Looking forward to working with you."
*
-Screech!
-Keeaak!
Beast screams echoed through the darkness.
The mutants that could tear ordinary people apart with their raw strength were now helplessly bound by plant roots.
A large lizard that had been struggling went limp. Its once elastic body shriveled up as if all moisture had been drained.
Anemone-like roots grew through the shriveled body as it quickly recovered its body in the darkness.
It was healing its wounds and replenishing its strength but it wasn't enough.
More power was needed to face that powerful enemy…and that power residing in the enemy's body.
It's tempting. Hunger arose. What would happen if it obtained that?
‘Hungry. Want to eat. Want to eat and become stronger.’
In the darkness, it raised a huge bud.
-Whoosh.
Above it, a sun pattern faintly appeared.
It was so faint that it looked like someone holding a torch in the darkness.
It cleverly waved the fire as if imitating someone lost underground.
Beasts that saw the light rushed toward it like prey drawn to an anglerfish's lure.
The mutants approaching the light were swallowed by darkness and shortly after, mournful screams echoed widely underground.