"Vlad!" Chloe called out, her hand instinctively reaching towards the door where Vlad had just fallen into the unknown dimension. Her fingers grasped empty air.

"Do not worry about him," Lirien said. "I sent him back."

She bounced off from the chair, her fluffy body hitting the floor and shaking like jelly. The impact sent tiny ripples through her plush form.

"Take the jade box and follow me," she said, moving towards the opposite wall from where the shelf was placed, advancing in little jumps. Each hop was light, almost weightless.

Chloe’s eyes lingered on the door for a moment longer. Then she shook her head and picked up the box from the table. As she turned towards the other wall, Lirien’s tail was already turning the knob of a door that had not been there just a second ago.

Chloe decided to shut off her senses while she was here, or her brain would not accept anything she saw as real. The impossible had become routine.

She followed Lirien through the door. It led to a vast grassland, open ground spread like an ocean as far as the eyes could see. The grass swayed in gentle waves, a sea of green under an endless sky. A cozy breeze kissed her skin, fluttering her hair backward like a silken banner. The wind felt familiar to her, as if the air itself was whispering secrets only she could hear. It felt as though the place was welcoming a lost child back home.

The door through which she had entered had already completely vanished behind her, leaving no trace of its existence. Only the endless plain remained.

"Where are we?" she asked Lirien, who was creating a circular ring on the ground with her tail, a shining silver ink marking the earth with the movement of her furry tip. The lines glowed faintly as they were drawn.

"A place rich with pure Anemo mana," Lirien revealed as she explained. Her tail continued its precise work. "During core formation, the body absorbs elemental mana aligned to its affinity from the surroundings to stabilize the core. For a mortal-level core, even a low presence of elemental mana in the surroundings would suffice. But from Tempest level upward, surroundings with richer mana of the required element are necessary."

"For a Primordial level, the elemental mana needed must be dense and pure?" Chloe finished her explanation, understanding why she had felt a strange familiarity with this place. It was filled with pure Anemo mana, waiting for her to absorb.

Did Vlad’s benefactor take him to a place with Umbra and Electro mana? The thought flickered through her mind.

While she was having these thoughts, Lirien had already completed the magical circle, its lines slowly glowing and fading as if it were pulsating with a heartbeat of its own. The silver markings shimmered against the grass, casting faint reflections on the blades around them.

"Sit at the centre," Lirien ordered. Her voice carried an edge of urgency.

Chloe followed her order without question. She sat at the centre where a small concentric circle was drawn that perfectly surrounded her body.

"This magical circle will help me connect my mana to your mana circuits," Lirien informed, her tone turning serious. "You just need to remember the flow of mana in your body as I guide the energy into your lower abdomen. I can only help you at the initial stage of absorption. You must remember the path and guide the energy by yourself."

"You cannot help me with the complete absorption?" Chloe asked, her voice even, the nervousness hidden beneath her poker face. There was no one here who could tell she was nervous.

"I do not have affinity to the Anemo element," Lirien revealed with a little jump, her plush body bouncing slightly. "Guiding the primordial Anemo mana is not an easy feat even for me. Ten seconds is what I can offer. You must learn the path in that time. Open the jade box whenever you are ready."

Chloe nodded, her eyes lowering to the jade box in her hand. Her fingers were tightly clutching the box, knuckles pale. She placed the box on the ground before her, the grass bending beneath its weight.

With a deep breath, she opened the lock with a click. As its lid moved upward, a sudden burst of wind erupted, sending her hair flying backward, the waves even visible rippling across her skin. She barely held herself from being swept away in the fierce gale. Along with the wind, a thick wave of mana splashed against her body, leaving several cuts on her sweater and skin, beads of blood emerging from the fresh wounds.

Her narrowed eyes fell on the small emerald gemstone, half the size of her finger, in the shape of a rectangle with diamond-like sharp edges on its surface, resting in the box. It was the source of the wind current, pulsing with a fierce inner light.

The magical circle beneath her began glowing, several lines of silver threads emerging from it like vines reaching for the sky. Lirien’s plush body glowed in a silver aura, connecting her form to the array. The air around them grew thick with tension.

The thousands of silver threads surrounded the jade box like a hollow cylinder, its other edge reaching Chloe’s lower abdomen. The uncontrolled waves of mana splashed her stomach directly, cutting through her clothing from the point of contact as the energy forced its way into her body. The fabric shredded, revealing the skin beneath.

Her eyebrows twitched as the sudden stinging pain erupted within her. Lirien increased the output of her mana, reducing the impact of the current. The silver threads glowed brighter, their light casting sharp shadows across Chloe’s face.

"Remember this feeling and the paths of the absorption," Lirien ordered, her voice urgent, as a few silver threads entered Chloe’s body, guiding the primordial Anemo mana to her lower abdomen. The sensation was foreign, a warm current threading through her veins.

Only a few seconds passed before the strong wind current cut off the silver threads, breaking Lirien’s connection with Chloe. Her plushie body was thrown backward into the air, tumbling end over end. She landed on the ground on her tail, her eyes never leaving Chloe.

A small gasp escaped Lirien’s lips. The flow of energy from the stone into Chloe’s body was now completely smooth. Her body glowed with a faint lavender aura, her eyes closed, her hair fluttering in the air as she effortlessly absorbed the primordial mana, as though she were simply drinking water.

"Your daughter is even more talented than you gave her credit for, Boreas," Lirien murmured, a hint of shock and amusement flickering in her voice.