Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 144: World Tree Cave

Together, they walked toward the opening.

As they neared it, a breeze rose from the abyss — but it wasn't cold.

It was warm. Damp. Alive.

It smelled of wet roots, ancient moss, and something else…

"You feel that?" Kael whispered.

"Yeah…" Erika replied, barely audible. "It's like… being inside a womb."

Kael frowned, but the description was disturbingly accurate. The staircase wasn't just for descending — it swallowed them. As if they were walking into something that knew them… and had been waiting.

With each step down, the mana thickened. Heavier. Denser. Like walking beneath an invisible ocean. Instinctively, Kael coated himself in a thin veil of mana, warding off any subtle interference.

Erika did the same. The two of them descended in silence.

Down.

Down.

Down…

After what felt like minutes — or perhaps hours — the staircase widened, opening into a corridor.

But this… this wasn't stone.

The walls pulsed like exposed flesh, covered in veins of living energy. Floating structures rose from the ceiling like organic lanterns, each one glowing with a greenish light that flickered like breath.

"This isn't technology. It's not even magic. This is…" Erika began, then trailed off.

"Biomagic," Kael finished. "And old. Very old. Maybe even older than humanity itself."

He had learned much from his grandmother during training. Once again, he couldn't use 80% of the spells he knew due to his lack of mana and control. But knowledge—knowledge was something that couldn't be denied. He had information on many things in this world. And when it came to magic? He was practically a renowned professor.

They continued walking through the tunnel, their slow, measured footsteps echoing against the walls like ancient whispers. Each meter traveled was a silent reminder that this place did not follow the laws of the natural world—there was something deliberate, almost theatrical, about its construction. As if someone—or something—had shaped this path not to imprison, but to guide.

And then, the scenery began to change.

The tunnel stopped being narrow. Its walls, once covered in runes and blackened stone, began to soften, taking on a more organic appearance. The surfaces grew curved, natural, as if carved over centuries by careful erosion—or by the hands of nature itself.

Moss began to grow beneath their feet, covering the ground with a damp, green carpet. Tiny wildflowers sprouted here and there, shy but vibrant. The walls pulsed with a faint glow, an emerald shimmer that seemed to breathe with the environment. The air became more humid… sweeter. A light, almost imperceptible fragrance filled their lungs with every breath—something between nectar and damp earth.

It was… beautiful.

If not for the complete absence of sound, it might have even felt welcoming.

Kael exchanged a glance with Erika, and she nodded—cautious, but clearly intrigued.

Soon, they reached a small circular chamber—neither large enough to be imposing, nor small enough to feel claustrophobic. It was simple—and yet, there was something profoundly sacred about it.

The ground was covered in thick, lush grass, so vividly green it looked newly born. A few moss-covered stones were scattered about, placed in a way that felt random, as if they'd been left there millennia ago. In one corner, a gentle stream crossed the room diagonally, entering through a narrow crack in one wall and exiting through another on the opposite side. The water was crystal-clear, so transparent it seemed made of liquid glass.

Erika instinctively approached, her eyes gleaming like sharpened crystals. She knelt by the stream and reached out, dipping her fingers into it slowly.

"Mana…" she whispered, awestruck.

The liquid slid across her skin but did not drip—it was absorbed. Gently. Completely. As if her body knew exactly what to do with that pure energy.

"It's… definitely mana," she confirmed, lifting her hand and showing fingers free of any droplets. "It's being absorbed directly… like a recovery spring."

Kael stepped beside her and smiled. There was a lightness in that moment, one that stood in stark contrast to everything they had faced until now. Without thinking, he reached out and gently tousled Erika's hair, his touch soft and affectionate.

"Use as much as you need to recover. I need you well," he said with a smile that almost looked like the old Kael—before the dungeon, before the collapse, before the darkness.

Erika stared at him for a moment, surprised… and perhaps slightly flushed. But she quickly averted her gaze and began absorbing more mana from the stream.

Kael then stepped away, his eyes drawn by a sensation he couldn't ignore. Something was there. A subtle but persistent pull—not a voice, but a feeling… as if he were being drawn toward a memory that didn't yet exist.

He crossed the clearing and approached the opposite wall. At first glance, it was just a smooth rock—but the closer he got, the more the world around him seemed to dim in contrast to that surface. It was as if everything else lost its color, its brightness… and only that remained.

And then...

"Umbra," he said, even before he saw her.

The familiar hovered lightly in the air in her draconic wyvern form. Her wings were partially folded, and her eyes lit up at the sight of Kael.

"It's the World Tree," she replied, her voice carrying an almost reverent tone as she gazed at the wall like it was a sacred temple.

Kael felt it too. There was no doubt. That energy was unmistakable—dense, deep, ancient. Not like the chaotic mana that had surrounded them on the previous floors. This was… primal. Pure.

That's when he realized.

"The chaotic mana…" he murmured, frowning. "It's gone."

Umbra nodded, her gaze still fixed on the living wall.

"Yes. It vanished some time ago. When you had the vision," she said gently. "Since then… everything's changed. You've changed. And so has this place."

Kael nodded slowly, feeling that strange sense of familiarity with the silent call that vibrated deep in his soul. His steps carried him forward, slowly, to the point where the energy felt strongest. He wasn't guided by sight—but by perception. It was as if the mana itself was leading him.

And then… reality seemed to bend before him.

With a soft sound, almost like the sigh of an ancient forest, a portal opened. A spiraling vortex of green light took shape, its edges rippling like leaves in the wind. It was beautiful and terrifying all at once. A beckoning and a warning woven into a single living structure.

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Erika, now beside him, watched the scene with wide eyes. The gentle glow of the mana stream still wrapped around her, giving her the aura of someone newly reborn. The energy inside her pulsed strong and steady, as if she had returned to her peak.

"This is the way?" she asked, though the answer was obvious.

Kael only nodded again, his eyes locked on the portal's center.

Erika took a deep breath and, driven by a protective instinct—or perhaps a desire not to let him go alone—she stepped forward, reaching toward the opening.

That's when everything collapsed in a single instant.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

A sharp, nearly deafening sound exploded through the air. A flash of electric light filled the chamber, and before Kael could react, Erika was thrown backward as if struck by lightning.

"AHHHH!" — her scream shattered the silence with raw panic.

She crashed to the ground hard, rolling once before coming to a stop. Her body trembled violently, muscles convulsing uncontrollably. Green sparks still danced across her skin like serpents of light, fading slowly as the energy dissipated.

Kael rushed to her side, dropping to his knees next to her collapsed form.

"Erika?! Hey—look at me!" he shouted, shaking her gently.

She gasped for air, her face contorted in pain—but she was conscious. Her eyes opened slowly, clouded and filled with confusion.

"I… I just tried to touch it," she murmured, her voice faint.

Kael clenched his fists. A heat rose in his chest—not just anger, but something deeper, a primal instinct awakening.

He looked back at the portal.

The green light continued to swirl gently, as if nothing had happened. But now, there was a new layer. A faint golden glow along its edge… a seal? A barrier? It was something he recognized—not from books, but from somewhere deep within his own soul.

"It's a seal of rejection," he whispered. "This portal… it only accepts those who are recognized by it."

Umbra materialized beside him with a flicker of shadows, nodding slowly.

"Portals like this can only be accessed by someone who has permission… it belongs to the World Tree, so only those blessed by it can pass through…" she explained softly.

"I see…" Kael murmured as he cast Basic Heal on Erika. "Stay here. I'll be back soon," he said firmly.