World Awakening: The Legendary Player-Chapter 74: An Ant

Mela led them into a house built into the side of a massive tree. The inside was simple, just a table, a few chairs, and a fire pit in the center of the room. A woman with white hair stood there, watching them as they came in.

Nox carefully set Serian down, letting her lean against the wall for support.

’Damn,’ he thought, looking at the woman. ’The mana coming off her is insane. No way I can fight that.’

"Mother," Mela said with a bow of her head.

"Leave us," the woman said. Her voice was calm, but it held a power that made the air feel heavy.

Mela nodded and ushered her two sisters out of the house, closing the door quietly behind them. The woman, Fena, turned her attention to Nox and Serian.

"A Sun Elf," she said, her eyes on Serian. "It has been a long time since your kind has dared to show their faces in these woods."

"We did not mean to trespass," Serian said, her voice respectful but firm. "Our path north was... blocked."

Fena’s gaze moved to Nox. "And a human. One who fights my daughters and walks away." She tilted her head. "You are an unusual pair."

"The road turned into a forest," he said, shrugging. "We just need to get through. We’re not looking for trouble."

"Trouble has a way of finding those who enter my lands uninvited," Fena replied. She looked at Serian’s injured ankle. "You are in no condition to travel."

"I will be fine," Serian insisted.

"No, you will not," Fena said, her tone final. "You will not be leaving this forest. Not yet."

Nox crossed his arms. "And who’s going to stop us?"

Fena smiled, a slow, cold smile that did not reach her eyes. "I am."

He felt the pressure in the room increase. The mana that was rolling off her was so thick he could almost see it. It felt like the air itself was trying to crush him.

’Okay, she’s not bluffing.’

"You have brought conflict to my people," she went on, her voice still calm. "My daughter, Liesa, was reckless, but you are a dangerous unknown, human. And you, Sun Elf, are a reminder of a betrayal my people have not forgotten."

"We have no quarrel with you or your people," Serian said.

"Your presence here is the quarrel," she said. She walked over to her table and picked up a small, dark herb, rolling it between her fingers. "You will stay in this village. My daughters will see to your needs." She looked up, her eyes sharp. "You will be our guests. Until I have the answers I seek."

’Guests,’ he thought, a humorless smirk on his face. ’Yeah, right. We’re prisoners.’

"And if we refuse?" he asked, just to see what she would say.

She crushed the herb in her hand, its dark juices staining her fingers. "Then you will find that the trees of this forest have very deep roots," she said. "And they are very good at holding things that do not wish to be held."

He stared at her, a challenge rising in his chest. He knew he couldn’t beat her in a straight fight, but he had to know.

’Fine,’ he thought, a stubborn spark igniting in his chest. ’Let’s see just how big the gap really is.’

He didn’t move, didn’t draw a weapon. He just reached for his mana. He let it bleed out of him, a slow, deliberate release. The air in the small house began to change, growing thick and heavy. A pressure that had nothing to do with the woman’s own powerful aura started to build, a chilling presence that made the flames in the fire pit flicker and shrink.

Serian gasped, her hand going to her throat as she struggled for breath. The feeling was suffocating, a familiar, cold dread that she recognized instantly. "Nox, stop," she warned, her voice strained. "Don’t."

He ignored her. His kept pouring out, filling the room. It was like a silent, invisible tide of pure hostility. He pushed it further, trying to see her reaction, trying to get a read on her.

Fena didn’t even flinch. She just stood there by her table, her expression unchanged, as if she were waiting for a pot to boil. She let him fill the entire room with his corrupted mana, letting the weight settle on everything.

"Are you finished?" she asked, her voice calm and completely unimpressed. "It is a potent energy you have, for a human. But you are just an ant, trying to shake a mountain."

Before he could even process the insult, she let out a small sigh, like she was bored.

Then she released a tiny fraction of her own power.

It wasn’t a wave or a blast. It was like a single, sharp note played in the key of pure power. The mana he had built up didn’t just get pushed back; it was completely erased, annihilated in an instant.

His vision tilted violently. The floor seemed to drop out from under him, and the walls of the small house warped and twisted. A wave of intense nausea hit him so hard he gagged, his stomach churning as if it were trying to turn itself inside out. He stumbled, his hand flying out to catch himself on the wall, but his fingers just scraped against the wood.

The world was spinning, he felt like he was about to throw up all over the floor of the elf elder’s house.

"You humans," she said, her voice echoing in his spinning head, "are so full of yourselves."

The world slowly stopped spinning. He leaned against the rough bark of the wall, swallowing hard and forcing down the sour taste in his throat. The pressure was gone, but the memory of it left him feeling weak and hollowed out.

Fena didn’t even look at him anymore. She had dismissed him completely. Her attention was now on Serian. freēwēbnovel.com

"Your ankle," she said, her gaze steady. "The bone is fractured. It will not heal on its own." She walked back to her table and picked up the stone pestle, adding a few more dried leaves to the bowl. "I will prepare a poultice. It will speed the mending."

Serian looked surprised. "You would... help me?"

"You are a guest in my home," she said, beginning to grind the herbs again. "It is my duty to see to your well-being. Whether you appreciate it or not." Her words were simple, but they carried the unspoken threat: ’You are under my care, and under my control.’

She lifted her head, not looking at the door, but her voice carried. "Mela."

The door opened a moment later and Mela stepped inside. She glanced at Nox, who was still leaning against the wall, then at her mother.

"Take our guests to the east house," Fena said, not pausing in her work. "See that they have water. They are not to leave it."

"Yes, Mother," Mela said with a bow. She turned to Nox and Serian. "This way."

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