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Eugene pulled his hood back on, hiding every trace of expression beneath its shadow. Elufiel led him around two more streets and did not return to the inn until she was sure no members of the Judgement Tribunal were nearby.

"All right, we're safe for now. We'll wait for Od to come back and eat." Elufiel said this to Eugene before turning to enter her room.

"Wait." Eugene still could not suppress his curiosity.

Elufiel leaned against the doorframe and watched him for several seconds. Seeing the embarrassment growing increasingly apparent on Eugene's face, she tilted her head, shifted aside halfway, and said, "All right. Three minutes. Come in and talk."

"What did you want to ask?" Elufiel asked Eugene.

Eugene coughed. "Ahem, well... how long will I stay like this?" He had seen his reflection in the small mirror on the table. He looked completely different from himself.

"Not long. Maybe another ten minutes or so." Elufiel estimated the time.

"Whose appearance do I have right now?" Eugene asked curiously.

Elufiel shrugged. "No idea. Honestly, all the Blood Elves transformed by the Sin'dorei Orb look the same. I once wondered whether there was even an original model. Maybe the maker just put one together at random?"

"So what is the principle behind it?"

"You think I'd know?" Elufiel retorted. "Kid, you need to understand, this is just a little trinket. I'm only responsible for playing with it. Making it is the toy maker's business, and research is what mages like to do." With that, the elf unceremoniously shoved Eugene out the door.

The wooden door closed with a neither-too-loud-nor-too-soft bang. Eugene snapped out of his daze and realized that such a willful answer really was the sort of reply an elf would give.

After seeing Eugene off, Elufiel sorted through the pile of little things she had bought for a while. Suddenly feeling bored, she regretted not placing a Mind Vision on Odovish earlier. Then she could have seen what the mage was actually doing.

Teams of Paladins escorted a luxurious carriage down the road at high speed. Fortunately, the steadily warming weather of recent days had dried the mud on the ground. Otherwise, not only would the horses and carriage have struggled to travel, but the splattering mud would have been enough to make the trailing mage frown deeply.

The wind elemental Yano followed far behind Terrence's party, relaying their direction to its master. Following the wind elemental's guidance, Odovish tracked them from a safe distance, repeatedly using Blink.

About an hour after leaving the city, Terrence's group strayed farther and farther from the main roads and entered a secluded forest. The wind elemental circled outside the woods, leaving Odovish a clue before quietly slipping inside.

The intangible, gentle breeze swept over the treetops, passed through the gaps between branches, and silently followed the footsteps of the last Paladin.

Before long, an ancient temple came into view. The procession stopped, and Terrence got out of the carriage, leading several clerics and Paladins into the temple.

Just as the wind elemental was about to follow, it received a command from Odovish to stop.

"Stop, Yano. That isn't a place you can barge into."

Odovish, who had already reached the forest, caught sight of a corner of the temple through the layers of trees. The ancient, off-white temple had pointed domes and pillars decorated with vine patterns. Its gates were carved with sheaves of wheat symbolizing harvest.

This had once been the Nature Temple of the Temple of the Stars, but now it had become the Holy See's territory.

Odovish narrowed his eyes dangerously. After calculating the distance, he used Blink and appeared inside the temple. Discovering that its master had abandoned it and gone in alone, the wind elemental angrily tried to puff itself into a ball, only to realize that it had no physical form at all. It could only let out a heavy sigh, while the Paladins guarding outside the temple merely felt a powerful gust blowing in from all directions.

Realizing instinctively that it had caused trouble, the wind elemental immediately quieted down.

Inside the temple, short, thick candles burned atop exquisite silver candlesticks, illuminating the dim interior. Odovish appeared in a blind spot behind a bookshelf, where the shelf and wall formed a semi-enclosed space. The bookshelf was packed with heavy books, all covered in dust. It was not difficult to see that after the temple changed hands, no one had cared for them properly.

The surroundings were silent, without the slightest sound of voices or footsteps. It seemed Terrence and the others had no intention of entering the study. Odovish found a hardcover book titled The Joy of Planting on the shelf and brushed away the cobwebs wrapped around it. He pressed down on the book, which was nearly as thick as a brick, exerted a little force with his wrist, and turned it thirty degrees to the left. A faint click sounded, and a small door just wide enough for one person appeared in the wall beside him.

Odovish slipped inside, and the small door quickly closed behind him. The wall fit together seamlessly, without the slightest trace of a mechanism.

Odovish descended step by step, taking out an illuminating gemstone to light the way ahead. After turning a corner, the winding downward staircase split into three passages. Odovish chose one that led upward.

After several turns, the mage arrived in a small room. A few old chairs lay scattered in one corner. On the wall near them hung a terrain map from some unknown era, while the side wall bore a strange rune.

It resembled an eye, surrounded by an inverted triangle. Around the outside of that triangle was a complex eight-pointed star. The patterns were inlaid with a special metal that still glimmered faintly despite the erosion of time, forming a stark contrast with the dilapidated walls and the temple passageway as a whole.

Odovish stood before the wall bearing the eye pattern. He stretched out a hand and gently pressed it against the wall. A deep blue glow lit up from the outermost ring, gradually flowing along the design toward the eye at its center. When the blue light gathered at the eye's pupil, a somewhat blurry image appeared on the opposite wall. Faint voices followed.