svetikya Chapter 550: They were agitated. Agitated as hell…
Chapter 550: They were agitated. Agitated as hell…
Nidhogg pointed to the floor below them, and the luminous roots beneath the house’s wood responded immediately. Golden lines began to run across the living floor like veins awakening beneath ancient bark, spreading brilliance throughout the room. The air grew a little heavier—not threatening, but ancient. Deep.
"Deep roots connect all worlds," she explained calmly. "But Yggdrasil rearranged the Original Realm so that only certain specific currents can reach it. It practically folded dimensional space upon dimensional space until it transformed that place into a living labyrinth."
Kael watched intently now.
Nidhogg continued:
"It used to be simple. You crossed a main root and that was it. Now?" She made a dramatic grimace. "That paranoid tree created detours, false currents, dimensional echoes, and pockets of mirrored mana."
"Elion told me she’s avoiding me," Kael commented.
"She’s desperately avoiding you," Nidhogg corrected. "There’s a significant emotional difference."
"You talk about it like you’re watching a soap opera."
"Because I am."
Elion took another sip of his hot chocolate.
"She literally is watching."
"Of course I am!" Nidhogg protested. "You two are extremely interesting!"
Kael decided to ignore it before the conversation went off the rails again.
"So how do I get there?"
Nidhogg raised a finger.
"There are normal roots." Another finger. "Deep roots." A third. "And primordial roots."
The golden lines on the floor shifted, forming a kind of living map beneath their feet. Luminous currents intertwined like cosmic rivers traversing infinite layers of reality.
"Normal roots connect ordinary worlds. Realms, planes, civilizations."
She pointed to thicker, brighter currents.
"The deep ones connect fundamental structures of existence."
Then her golden eyes took on a more serious glint.
"But the primordial ones..." Her voice lowered slightly. "Those traverse concepts."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Concepts."
"Time. Destiny. Memory. Origin." She crossed her arms. "The Original Kingdom is hidden at an intersection of these roots."
Silence.
Even Elion seemed more serious now.
"Yggdrasil didn’t just hide a physical place," Nidhogg explained. "It hid an existential state."
"...That sounds annoyingly complicated."
"That’s because it is."
Nidhogg then rose from the armchair slowly.
Her enormous presence seemed to fill the room even more as she walked to the center of the room. The dark dress rippled around her legs as she snapped her fingers once.
The house’s lanterns dimmed immediately.
The roots beneath the ground began to pulse.
Runes appeared in the air.
Kael vaguely recognized some of them—ancient, aggressive symbols, charged with raw power. The markings glowed blue and gold as they slowly swirled around the dragoness.
Elion let out a small whistle.
"Are you going to use primordial runes?"
"I’ll need to."
Nidhogg raised her hand, and one of the runes slowly descended to her palm.
"I can open a passageway between deep roots." Her expression was now completely serious. "A short rupture. Precise. Violent."
"Violent."
"Ancestral teleportation is rarely gentle."
"Excellent."
"I’m going to throw you directly into the currents of the Original Realm." She pointed at him. "But listen carefully, Kael."
Her voice grew heavy.
Very heavy. "After you cross..."
The runes around her slowed.
"...I can’t guarantee anything anymore."
Silence filled the room.
The crackling of the fireplace seemed distant now.
Nidhogg continued:
"I can’t go in to get you." Her golden eyes narrowed slightly. "I can’t break the barriers of Yggdrasil without starting an entire dimensional war."
"She really hates you."
"I chewed on a sacred root in front of her once."
"Elion said you almost ate the judgment table."
"It was made of root too."
Kael let out a tired sigh.
"Of course it was."
Nidhogg approached him again, but now without dramatic exaggeration. Just serious.
"The Original Kingdom reacts to the will of Yggdrasil." She crossed her arms. "Your own roots may try to lead you astray. Paths may change. Memories may interfere."
Kael looked up.
"But I can reach Sylphie."
Nidhogg watched him for a few seconds.
Then nodded slowly.
"Yes."
The answer came firmly.
No joking.
No irony.
"You can."
This made something in the atmosphere change.
Kael remained silent, still holding the small remaining fragment of the golden root between his fingers.
Elion watched her son from the side now, quieter than before.
Nidhogg then sighed slowly.
"But there’s something else."
Kael raised his eyes again.
The dragoness pointed to her own runes swirling around her body.
"When I open the void... you will fall into the deep roots alone."
"How long will the crossing take?"
"Difficult to say." She tilted her head slightly. "Inside, distance doesn’t work properly."
"That’s encouraging."
"Sometimes five minutes are equivalent to three days."
"...Wonderful."
"But," she continued quickly, "since you have a strong emotional connection with Sylphie, the roots will probably react."
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"React how?"
Nidhogg shrugged.
"Perhaps they’ll guide you."
"Perhaps?"
"Perhaps they’ll try to stop you."
"You really are terrible at reassuring people."
"I’m being honest."
"That makes everything worse."
Elion chuckled softly.
"She’s right about that."
Nidhogg then raised a luminous rune before him again.
"But one thing I can guarantee."
Kael waited.
Her golden eyes softened slightly.
"You’re not going there alone because you’re weak." Her voice grew warm. "You’re going because you love someone enough to cross primordial roots for them."
Silence again.
Then Nidhogg gave a small smile.
"That’s very beautiful."
Kael looked away for a moment.
"...Thank you."
Elion immediately pointed.
"He got shy."
"I didn’t."
"Yes, he did."
"He definitely did," Nidhogg agreed cheerfully.
"You two ruin serious moments with impressive speed."
"It’s hereditary," they both said together.
Kael slowly closed her eyes.
"I really hate this family."
Nidhogg remained silent for a few seconds observing Kael after the last exchange of taunts. The golden glow of the runes still swirled slowly around her, reflecting in her draconic eyes as the roots beneath the house pulsed with gentle energy.
Then, suddenly, she clapped her hands once.
The serious atmosphere evaporated instantly.
"BUT before that," she announced with renewed energy, "you need to take a shower."
Kael blinked.
"...What?"
"You’re going to cross primordial roots." Nidhogg pointed at him with absolute authority. "I won’t allow you to do that smelling of emotional exhaustion and accumulated stress."
"That doesn’t smell."
"Yes, it does." She narrowed her eyes dramatically. "The smell of a man who sleeps four hours a night."
Elion immediately raised his hand.
"I confirm."
"Betrayal again."
Nidhogg completely ignored his complaint and pointed to a spiral wooden staircase in the corner of the house.
"The bathroom is upstairs." Her smile widened slightly. "And you’ll like the water."
This made Kael narrow his eyes.
"...Why?"
Nidhogg answered that with absolute pride.
"Because it’s diluted sap from Yggdrasil."
Silence.
Kael stood motionless for two seconds.
"...You bathe in the World Tree."
"Technically," Nidhogg corrected, "it’s a carefully stabilized alchemical mixture of dimensional thermal water and refined primordial sap."
"In other words," Elion summarized, "tree bathing."
"Exactly!"
Kael slowly massaged his forehead.
"That sounds dangerously illegal."
"Everything good here seems illegal," Nidhogg replied immediately.
The worst part was that she seemed genuinely convinced of it.
The dragoness crossed her arms under her generous bust and continued:
"The sap strengthens body, soul, and mana channels. It will help you resist deep roots."
"Are there any side effects?"
"Perhaps you shine a little."
"Elion shone for two weeks," Kael replied immediately.
"ONCE UPON A TIME," Elion retorted.
"You licked magic stones."
"I was young."
"You still do."
"Sometimes."
Kael let out a long, ancient sigh.
Then he slowly rose from the armchair.
"...Okay."
Nidhogg’s eyes gleamed.
"Great!" She pointed energetically upwards. "Clean towels are in the left cupboard! Don’t open the right door!"
Kael stopped on the first step.
"...Why?"
"Because there’s an ancient creature sleeping there."
Silence.
"...You keep ancient creatures in the bathroom?"
"Just one."
Elion didn’t even react.
"Normal."
Kael immediately decided he didn’t want details.
He climbed the stairs slowly while the cozy warmth of the house continued to envelop the atmosphere. The living wood creaked softly under his steps, and the luminous roots scattered across the second-floor walls pulsed like golden veins running through the entire structure.
Nidhogg watched Kael disappear up the stairs.
He waited.
Until his footsteps were completely gone.
Then—
His smile vanished.
Instantly.
The change was so abrupt that even the ambient temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.
The dragoness slowly turned her face to Elion.
Her golden eyes were now completely serious.
Ancient.
Predatory.
The runes around the house slowed down.
"Put every escape spell you can on his body."
Elion remained silent.
The previous lightness had vanished from her face as well.
"...You think it’s that bad?"
Nidhogg replied immediately.
"Yes."
The fire in the fireplace crackled low behind them.
The dragoness rested her elbows on her knees, slowly interlacing her scaly fingers.
"There’s a real chance Yggdrasil will simply kill Kael the instant he sets foot in the Original Realm."
Silence.
Elion looked away for a moment.
Even she didn’t try to contradict it.
Nidhogg continued:
"She’s unstable."
His voice was low now.
Heavy.
"More unstable than she appears."
The roots beneath the ground pulsed slowly.
"Elion... that tree is terrified."
Kael’s mother sighed.
"...I know."
"And terrified creatures do horrible things."
Nidhogg raised his golden eyes again.
"Especially ancient entities."
Elion slowly set his cup down on the table.
"Did you see anything?"
The dragoness hesitated.
That alone was bad enough.
"When I touched the roots I gave him to eat..." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "They were agitated. Agitated as hell..."