เข้าสู่ระบบxian'na pov The whirlpool was a nightmare of pressure and disorientation. I tumbled through the dark water, my body slammed against the mud and then pulled back up, the crushing force refusing to allow me a moment of clarity. The tiny Goddess, her face red with tears and rage, was the epicenter of a devastation far beyond her years. She is grieving. She is fighting her mother’s war, Arriana’s mental warning echoed. I have to break through the pain, not the power. I fought the urge to close my eyes and surrender to the drowning. I forced a jet of air magic from my hands, not as an attack, but as a stabilizing counter-thrust to halt my spin. I stopped dead in the churning water, every muscle screaming from the effort. I focused on the little girl, ignoring the relentless currents trying to tear me away. I knew that even with the Holy Power, I couldn't survive an extended fight against the entire core of the Water element. I had to reach her. I swallowed a mouthful of water and
Xian'na pov The shift from the silent, rarefied air of the Floating Island was jarring. The moment Samuel and I bolted into our wolf forms, the energy of command was replaced by the raw, brutal rhythm of speed. The wind I had just mastered was now a blur against my white fur as Xiuan ran, keeping pace with Garry’s dark, unrelenting stride. Garry didn't slow or change direction until the dense forest canopy swallowed the sunlight. He led us through thick underbrush and over rocky terrain until the temperature dropped sharply. We plunged into a natural cavern—a cool, dark space where the only sound was the drip of water and the rhythmic thud of our paws. In the center of the cave, a body of water waited: a perfectly still, black lake. Its surface was polished like obsidian, reflecting the sparse light filtering through the cave opening. It looked impossibly deep. Garry stopped at the water's edge and dissolved back into Samuel. "Water is emotion, Xian'na," Samuel stated, his v
xian'na pov The Elemental Goddess, her name still unrevealed, lowered her gaze. The ancient cold of the house retreated, replaced by an invigorating, almost electric warmth. I felt my new emotional equilibrium settle into the Holy Power—it was a stability I hadn't possessed before. "The heart is the foundation, but the hand must perform the calculation," she instructed, taking my arm. Her touch was cold, like silk dipped in fresh spring water. "Air responds to your intent, Xian'na. Think of the Holy Power as a lightning rod, and your will as the atmosphere around it. What you imagine, the air executes." She began to teach, and the instruction was not based on complex gestures or ancient spells, but on pure visualization. First, she had me practice the calm wind. I visualized the air flowing into my palms as a dense, silver gas, then commanded it to solidify. In seconds, a small, stable platform of invisible force formed beneath my feet. I learned to manipulate this platform fo
xian'na pov the silence was absolute, a perfect, heavy blanket over the Floating Island. After the deafening, brutal gale, the stillness felt more unnerving than the chaos had. The ancient, moss-covered wooden house sat twenty feet away, across a gulf of empty air, humming with a deep, untouchable power. I stood on the edge of the island, my naked body covered in goosebumps, watching Samuel. He took a step away from me, moving further onto the moss. He pointed to his position, then back to the house. "Do not simply cross the void, Xian'na," he commanded, his flat voice cutting through the heavy quiet. "You have silenced the air, but silence is merely an absence of noise. Command the wind to serve as your transport. I want to see you fly from your position to mine, and then jump the rest of the way." The request was a new degree of difficulty. I had managed to freeze the atmosphere, but that took immense concentration and a full channel of my will. Now, I had to create controlle
xian'na pov The air wasn't just cold; it was a living, malicious entity. The moment the white light of my transformation faded, and I stood as Xian'na—frail, human, and naked—the wind became an enemy. It hit me like a solid, icy fist. My feet slid on the damp, spongy moss, and I stumbled, a desperate gasp tearing from my throat. I threw my arms out, not to block the gale—that was impossible—but to somehow anchor myself. The roar was deafening, a constant, high-pitched scream that swallowed all other sound. Around me, the chaos wasn't random. The wind whipped itself into tight, angry miniature tornadoes, their funnels thin and dark, spinning debris up into the sky before shattering against invisible walls of pressure. One of them screamed past my head, so close I felt the brutal suction tear at my hair. I squeezed my eyes shut against the stinging grit and the fear that threatened to paralyze me. Absorb it, little one. The body is the conductor, not the shield, Xiuan whispered,
xian'na pov "Good," I managed, nodding firmly, my voice steadier than I felt. "Let’s not waste any more time then, Samuel. Show me what I need to do." The war could wait a little longer, but the Queen could not. Samuel’s eyes flickered, the only visible sign of life in his entire frame. The golden light in his pupils was cold, like distant stars. He took a single, deliberate step forward, addressing the entire room in that same, perfectly flat monotone. "Controlled simulation is over," Samuel declared. "This final stage requires direct communion with the source power of the world. To learn true control, the Holy Power must flow with the fundamental forces, not simply be caged in theory." He turned his focus entirely to me, the Holy Wolf within sensing the unsettling pressure of his gaze. "You will remain in your human vessel for this training, Xian'na. The vessel’s current weakness is its greatest challenge. You must prove it can absorb and anchor pure elemental energy without







