Chương 130: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 130 - Dream (1) — What Was Lost

Anna had a dream. Under the influence of the Kaguya Priestess's magic, her consciousness had already sunk into a deep slumber. She had no idea she was dreaming at all. Fragments of memory coalesced. Under the pull of unseen forces, they stitched themselves together into stretches of recollection that felt both real and false at once.... The forest ahead was lush and green. It seemed like she had returned to her beloved Emerald Forest. But why did it only seem that way?

"Anna!" A clear voice rang out behind her, cutting through her thoughts. Anna turned toward the sound. At the far end of the forest path stood a striking figure. Long golden hair, reaching all the way to her ankles. A set of emerald-green elven armor that left her slender arms and thighs bare, her skin fair as polished jade. The whole of her radiated an effortless, unhurried grace. Her sister. Anya. Anya was a Wood Elf, though not Anna's sister by blood. She wasn't even a pure-blooded elf.

She was a Half-Elf, born from a human and a renegade Wood Elf, rejected by every Wood Elf community she had ever known. Even in human lands, her prospects were grim. Outside of the Winter Kingdom, a Half-Elf's fate was almost always the same: slavery, or becoming some noble's plaything. Anna had found Anya in the woods on the outer edges of the Emerald Forest when she was seven years old. Anya had been barely breathing, covered in wounds, clearly beaten and abused before she ever managed to run.

Anna's own situation had been nothing like that. Anna was a well-regarded Half-Elf — sought after, even. She had been born with a naturally sweet and endearing face, and she carried something rarer still: snow-white fox ears and fox tails, uncannily similar to those of the Goddess of Time. The elven elders had marked her early as a talent likely to awaken into a High Elf. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Every awakened High Elf was stunning without exception, which was why the elders made a habit of lavishing care on Half-Elves who showed promise in looks. Ordinary Half-Elves were given three chances at enlightenment. Anna, with her rare natural gifts, had been given ten. Because of that, she had grown up surrounded by resources and attention, her treatment approaching that of a Wood Elf princess. It was the only reason she had ever dared to take Anya in, despite the pressure.

"Anna, I've been looking everywhere for you." Anya walked over, her face soft with concern. She looked like every gentle older sister in every story Anna had ever heard.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I... here... I don't know." Anna shook her head slowly. Her memories felt tangled. Blurred at the edges. Thin mist drifted through the distant trees. In the pale morning light, something vast and strange loomed half-visible among them: a massive structure, shaped like a nest. Something about it made her breath catch. It felt warm. Deep. Like a place she was supposed to be. But this was the Emerald Forest. There was no such structure here. There couldn't be. She stared at it, her expression blank.

"Alright, Anna~" Anya leaned down and tapped Anna's nose lightly.

"Don't wander around the outer forest, even in the daytime. What if you ran into a ferocious magical beast?" Her tone was gentle but faintly scolding.

"Come on. We're going home." She brightened.

"We're having Dew Rose Pastries today, and your favorite Dawnfruit juice~" Anya took Anna's hand and, without waiting for an answer, tugged her gently away.

"Oh..." Anna nodded in a daze. She let herself be led, but turned her head once, and looked back at the nest-like structure through the mist. She didn't know why. But something inside her felt hollow....

"This is your tenth attempt at enlightenment."

"If you fail again, you will lose the right to continue studying at the academy."

"Furthermore, you and your relative will be expelled from the Emerald Forest's core region." The elven elder's gaze was cold and unyielding. Anna stood with her head down, fighting the tears that kept threatening to spill. Her hands twisted together in front of her. She had nothing to say.

"Yes... yes..."

"Anna understands. Anna will try even harder."

"Hmph. Go." The elder glanced at her with open disgust and waved her off. Nine attempts. Nine failures. A wasteful drain on the Wilderness Breath relics left behind by Emperor Xiwei — priceless artifacts, squandered without producing so much as a flicker of awakening. And on top of everything else, this worthless girl had taken in a Half-Elf. A disgrace. A stain on the elves. What wretched luck.... Anna had already left the room. She could still hear him.

His voice carried through the door: waste, invested so many resources, squandered. Each word landed like a blade. Why couldn't she awaken? Why was she like this? She wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand. Drew a slow breath. And walked away in silence, carrying the weight of it alone. ➤ Next: Dream (2) — Tears Unshed