Eli lay flat on grass, within the Tree of Life’s sealed nook, when a stray breeze slid in, whispering through leaves from nowhere.

It brushed Eli with a feather-light touch, cool as dew before dawn.

The elder elves guarding the Tree watched, stunned, like stones stirred by a sudden ripple.

In the inner space, a perfect pentagon table stood like a star, one elf seated on every side.

They traded looks, silence hanging like moss. “Is that... a Transcender’s ripple?”

“Impossible. The brat’s not even thirty,” the left-hand elder barked, tugging his beard like a stubborn root. “You ever seen a thirty-year-old Transcender?”

“Kara, we’ve seen it before. More than once,” said the elf at the opposite corner, smiling like soft rain.

“Kara, what do you mean? Trying to cross me?”

“Old man, remember the Demon King and the Hero from centuries ago? They shot up like meteors, yet were under thirty. Am I wrong?”

“So you mean the one below is a Demon King or a Hero?”

“I never said that,” Kara answered, cool as shade. “I only answered you.”

“Enough, enough,” the one beside the miniature Tree said, head shaking like a weary bough. “Centuries pass, and you’re still like this.”

“Forget him. Even a true god would have nothing to do with us.”

“Waynes, did you figure out that human girl who suddenly sealed us for a moment?”

Waynes, beside the Tree’s simulacrum, blinked and gave a wry smile. “No. You only slept. She crammed me in a little sphere until the Tree rescued me.”

“Truly... I don’t even know what to say,” someone muttered, words trailing like smoke.

Just then, the breeze swelled, strength rising like tide under a new moon.

But it whipped only around Eli, drawing a widening ring that tightened the wind like a cinch.

The strange whirlwind lifted him, laying him sideways in the air like a leaf caught mid-twirl.

Energy from all around streamed toward the space between his brows, converging like rivers into a lake.

From that point, a golden, vortexing ribbon formed, dragging the field’s power straight into his brow.

Battle Aura and magic didn’t matter; raw, unshaped power welled up everywhere, like springs breaking through stone.

The six in the Tree’s space watched, awe pooling like dusk in a valley.

“Seems he’s about to step into the realm of the Transcender. Waynes, how many years since we saw this?”

“Hundreds,” Waynes sighed, eyes clouded like rain. “Our Elf Race juniors have been trapped there. Now a human junior steps in before us.”

“Let everything follow its course,” the other sighed, breath like wind through reeds.

The elder who had kept silent said suddenly, “Elberg, Waynes, could someone entering Transcender state be unconscious?”

The two paused, thoughts grinding like millstones. “Impossible.”

“When you enter, your mind briefly brushes the world’s source. If you’re out cold, it may scar the soul and make you fail,” Waynes added.

“But look at him,” he said, pointing at Eli like a branch toward a lone star.

The five elves looked at each other, faces reflecting like still water.

“Looks like... trouble’s coming.”

At the moment the vortex firmed, the power scattered as if ordered, then poured into Eli’s body like sand into a dune.

A fierce surge burst from him, a shockwave like a thunderclap rolling over stone.

Waynes frowned. “Hold on. Didn’t he just... succeed?”

Silence fell. They watched events unspool like a slow banner in wind.

When the wave drew back into Eli and settled, the breeze vanished, and he dropped straight down on his rear from twenty meters.

Thud.

A small, muffled grunt followed, enough to make the five old elves roll their eyes.

Unbelievable. Someone actually became a Transcender while asleep.

He woke to ache and fog. He pushed himself up, and the world felt different, as if washed clear by rain.

He drew a deep breath, then looked at his hands, eyes narrowing against unseen glare.

Waynes stepped out of the space and eyed him. “Boy, is something wrong with your brain?”

Eli arched a brow, mockery first, then words. “Huh? What hole did you crawl from, old monster? Calling me brain-damaged? You’ve got the brain damage. Your whole family does.”

Waynes stared, speechless, like a fish out of water.

“Could you, well, let us run a check?”

He couldn’t help it; curiosity gnawed like ants. How was this guy acting perfectly fine?

“...Damn, ran into a senile nutcase,” Eli muttered, brow knotting. “What’s going on? Isn’t this a welfare home?”

Waynes’ eyes lit like sparks. He beckoned, and four elves flashed into the air and pinned Eli together.

Eli braced to fight, but four powers far stronger slammed him down and held him like iron clamps.

“Holy crap, where did these old freaks crawl from—” he yelped. Five geezers ground him into the dirt; irritation boiled, but they were stronger.

He quit struggling and stared at the earth, eyes empty as a dried well.

Waynes chuckled. “Hold him steady. Let me see what’s going on.”