Ciri followed Joshua into the World Tree's Consciousness Space.
In the empty space floated a round table and chairs. Sitting in one of the chairs was a blue-haired girl eating something that looked like cake.
When the blue-haired girl saw Joshua suddenly appear in the space, the food she had swallowed got stuck in her throat. She kept patting her chest before finally managing to force it down.
"Hmm..." Ciri stared at the blue-haired girl for a long time. "Did the two cats we keep at home finally turn into people?"
Ciri's remark annoyed the black cat and white cat residing in the spiritual space. The black cat appeared beside Ciri's feet, while the white cat sprawled directly atop her head.
"Could she have transformed from that bird?"
Ciri picked the cat off her head just as the white bird descended from midair and landed on Joshua's shoulder.
"She isn't the World Tree... nor can she really be considered human. Her origins are a little complicated. Just think of her as an NPC in a game." Joshua introduced the Ascendant girl to Ciri. "She's from a race in the Underground Ruins beneath Nolan... that calls itself the Ascendants."
"Y-you captured another one of my kind."
Over this period, Bai Yue had realized that she had become Joshua's prisoner. Only by working for him could she earn her freedom. Yet she had not given up hope, and had constantly been searching for a way to escape this place and temporarily return to her body in the real world.
Before she could find a way, Joshua had somehow brought back another Ascendant.
But...
"No, you're not!"
Bai Yue could sense the aura of her race from Ciri, yet it was mixed with the primitive soul of a human.
"My name is Ciri."