There are times when actions you take bear fruit. There is the sense of putting into motion something greater than yourself. Perhaps the beginning of a new epoch. Whether the initiators realize it at the time is a different story.

~Belenus, the Sun God

“What are you doing?” Mugna no longer looked like an old man, and his face didn’t look like a gnarled root of an ancient tree. His appearance was now that of a middle-aged man with wispy, light-brown hair. His walnut-colored eyes still carried warmth, and his skin was still hardened, but it looked more like a tan.

Even the staff he now carried didn’t have the gnarled quality of the past and instead looked more noble and elegant. It was a deep red-brown color and looked exquisitely carved.

Most of these changes were because he reached Yggdrasil and was no longer of one element. A balance of Wood and Fire Mana existed within him, giving him a youthful look and appearing more passionate. It was like it infused him with the fire of youth.

These changes had shocked Gavin to no end. Even he struggled to associate this noble-looking man with the Mugna of the past. Even their auras were different.

“I’m packing. Aren’t we climbing the tower?”

“When did I ever say that?” Mugna chuckled. “I said we are going to the upper realm or did you forget where I came from? The tower is useless for me.”

“It isn’t useless for me…” Gavin was unsure of what was happening.

“I can take you with me, and with the power I have now, it won’t be a problem to upgrade your Body. In the upper realms, you’ll achieve more and in a shorter time than if you climbed the tower.”

“Oh. Then what about the Druid Order? Or the False Dawn Academy?”

“Both are in excellent hands. I’ve been working hard while you toil away in your shop. I’ve also helped one of those hidden elders of the Maddox clan regain a hundred years of life. He’ll come out of seclusion to help your clan and look over the order. Besides, I’ll be able to come back if I’m needed. Teonet clan is also willingly supporting the Maddox clan’s actions. Between those two clans and the current head of the Druid Order, we’ve given a third of the council seats to the Beastlords.”

“That much?”

“Crow was right. They are honest people and worthy of being our allies, and they know the Maddox clan provided this beneficence. The Beastlords know we can provide the thing they lack the most—knowledge, techniques, and the backing needed to climb the tower. They are more than willing to nurture this relationship; our power will be even more authoritative than the other continents. On Litavis, there isn’t another nation stronger than us now. Even the Vodou are wary of us.”

“These are all the aftereffects of Crow?”

“Partially, yes.”

“And the rest?”

“The academy,” Mugna laughed. “Many other nations are begging us to grant their people a quota for allowing their younger generation to attend.”

“That… they aren’t worried?”

“They are more worried we won’t take them. Obviously, they’ll choose students who have clans or families. That way, they can retain their loyalty or at least threaten them to return. Either way, it is a good thing for us. I’ve already discussed it with the council and told them the classes should be divided into teams, and none of the exchange students can be on the same team. We can create stronger connections with all nations if I can get them to interact and rely on the Druid cultivators.”

“So it took less than five years to get to this point, eh? I was expecting us to spend at least a decade establishing ourselves to remain neutral and dominant,” Gavin muttered to himself.

In all, he worried about the Druid Order the most since a lot of the more prominent powerhouses had entered the tower once more. This significantly weakened the Maddox clan because even the clan lord left. He never expected to go so soon; the only thing he hated to leave behind was the False Dawn Workshop.

“I have an idea for the False Dawn Workshop, but we will have to wait until Crow becomes more powerful.” Mugna believed that since the workshop was in a hidden realm, they could convert it to something more substantial.

Mugna vaguely sensed how Crow was using the power of Yggdrasil and was shocked. It was true that a world tree grew worlds, and within the cycle of life and death, it’d eventually die, releasing those worlds into the universe once more. However, that usually took millions of years, and a world tree shouldn’t be producing worlds already. That was the thing that shocked him the most. Crow shouldn’t have that kind of power.

The one thing he knew was that all worlds connected to the world tree would have strong spatial channels between them. Establishing stable portals between them required very little mana and even less for activation. The last point was vital because most portals used a lot of Mana Crystals to activate. The reason was that they forced open a channel, stabilized it, and then sent something through. That required a lot of power.

However, a portal between worlds connected by the world tree could be activated by an individual without using Mana Crystals. It was also possible for the more powerful cultivators to leave one world and walk the branches of the tree to the next.

Mugna wanted to know how Crow did it and then link the world tree to the workshop and the Triskelion Archives. Both existed in a pocket realm, which very few people knew. Having them both linked to the world tree would greatly benefit them.

“Alright, enough chit-chat. Pack your stuff and say your goodbyes. We leave tomorrow.”

“No need. We can leave now,” Gavin said decisively. Only Mugna knew how mysterious Gavin was, and it could be said they’d been friends for longer than possible. Gavin’s existence was even a mystery to Mugna, and he suspected his old friend might have more connection with the upper realms than he’d initially thought. However, it wasn’t a lie to say Gavin’s Body was too weak to handle the upper realm, so Mugna had his doubts.