Time passed through the hollow without a sound.


    Jared had already lost track of how long he had been sitting in front of the stone dais.


    At times, his mind was clear.


    At times, it blurred, like a candle in the wind, flickering on and off.


    Life force kept pouring from his palms, flowing without pause into the two golden seeds.


    He could feel his flesh thinning and his bones turning fragile.


    Even the Golden Dragon Bloodline inside him was fading at a slow but irreversible pace.


    But he never let go.


    Right in front of him, the two seedlings kept growing taller and stronger with each passing day.


    By the third day, they had already reached 3 feet tall.


    More branches had split off from their stalks, and every leaf had turned clear, gleaming gold, giving off a warm light.


    What surprised Jared even more was that the shape of the two seedlings had started changing in silence.


    Their tops began to swell.


    Little by little, they sketched out blurry human outlines, like two embryos being carved into form.


    By the fifth day, the human shapes had be clear.


    On the seedling to the left, a male outline was taking shape.


    Broad shoulders. Long limbs. His features were still blurry, but Sidney''s outline was already there.


    On the seedling to the right, a female outline grew at the same pace.


    A slender figure. Slightly curled long hair. And that face that had once gone hazy in Jared''s memory was now bing clearer and clearer.


    Jared stared at the two faces still forming, and heat pressed faintly into his eyes.


    Almost there.


    Almost there.


    On the sixth day, Gwendolyn opened her eyes.


    She rose from the corner of the cavern, walked to Jared''s side, lowered her gaze to check on the two seedlings, and gave a slight nod.


    "Faster than I expected. Your life force is richer than I imagined."


    Jared said nothing.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to speak.


    He just didn''t have any strength left to spare for words.


    Jared''s face had gone white as paper. His lips were split and peeling, his eyes had sunk deep into their sockets, and he looked like he''d lost a wholeyer off himself.


    The fullness that used to be in his cheeks was gone. They had caved in hard enough that his cheekbones stood out sharp, like he''d just crawled out of a long, brutal illness.


    Gwendolyn looked at him and said nothing for a moment.


    "You''ve already burned through nearly forty percent of your life force," she said


    evenly. "If this keeps going, you''ll damage your foundation."


    Jared shook his head. When he spoke, his voice came out so hoarse it was almost impossible to hear.


    "I''m fine. I can still hold on."


    Gwendolyn didn''t say anything else.


    She reached into her sleeve and took out a golden fruit the size of a thumb. It was crystal clear, and the presenceing off it matched the Worldtree exactly.


    She held the fruit up to Jared''s mouth.


    "Eat it."


    Jared nced at the fruit. He didn''t ask what it was. He opened his mouth and swallowed it down.


    The fruit melted the instant it touched his mouth. A warm stream slid down his throat into his stomach, then burst through his body.


    The life force inside it was so pure it hit like long-awaited rain falling over a riverbed that had dried outpletely.


    His body gave a slight shudder. Atst, a trace of color returned to that paper-white face.


    The Golden Dragon Bloodline inside him got replenished. It began moving faster, and the life force he poured into the seeds grew fuller too.


    "That''s the Worldtree fruit. It only bears once every three hundred years."


    Gwendolyn spoke in that same t tone, like it was nothing worth dwelling on. "One fruit can restore twenty percent of the life force you''ve used up. If you take two more, you should be able to hold on until the end."


    She drew out two more fruits from her sleeve and set them beside Jared.


    "Eat one every other day. Don''t eat them early, and don''t wait too long either."


    Jared nodded.


    Something tangled passed through him.


    They were strangers.


    She could have stood by and watched him burn through his life force, then stepped


    in to save him after that.


    If she''d done that, she would have had one more thing in her hand to keep him in check.


    But she hadn''t.


    She chose the exact right moment to step in, and she used something this precious to help him.


    "Thank you," Jared said quietly.


    Gwendolyn didn''t answer.


    She turned and walked back to the corner of the cavern, then folded herself down cross-legged again.


    The moment she closed her eyes, the corner of her mouth lifted in the slightest curve.


    The seventh day.


    The final day.


    The two seedlings hadpletely grown into human form.


    They no longer looked like nts shaped like people.


    They were two lifelike bodies. Skin, hair, facial features, limbs—everything matched


    a real person.


    The only difference was the faint golden radianceing off their bodies.


    That was the trace of the Worldtree''s power flowing inside them.


    Sidney''s bodyy there with his eyes closed, his face calm, his breathing even, as if he had only fallen asleep.


    His wife-Jared remembered her name was Cadence-slept just as quietly beside him. There was even the faintest trace of a smile at the corner of her mouth, like she was having a good dream.


    Above the stone dais, the two streaks of white light seemed to sense the bodies


    below and began to drift down slowly.


    They floated to the level of the two


    chests and paused for the slightest moment. Then, like drops slipping. into the surface they sank into


    the bodies without a sound.


    In an instant, the golden radiance pouring off both bodies red.


    The light was ring and warm at the same time. It flooded the entire hollow and lit


    up the ancient runes on the walls until they shone.


    Jared narrowed his eyes on instinct, but his hands stayed locked on the seeds, not shifting even a fraction.


    The lightsted for about ten minutes before it slowly began to fade.


    The hollow went still again.


    Then...


    Sidney''s eyshes gave a slight tremble.


    His eyelids moved, like he was struggling to open his eyes.


    A few breathster, those eyes finally opened to a narrow slit.


    They were unfocused eyes, the pupils loose and wandering, fixed on nothing at all,


    like a man who had just wed his way out of a long nightmare.


    "Mr. Morse!"


    Jared''s voice came out rough and urgent. "Senior Sidney, can you hear me?"


    Sidney''s pupils slowly gathered focus.


    His gaze drifted around the hollow for a moment before finally settling on Jared''s


    face.


    His lips parted a little, and a sound barely made it out.


    "Mr. Chance...?"


    The voice was hoarse and weak, like thest me of a candle in the wind.


    But those two wordsnded with a sharpness that pressed straight into Jared.


    Jared''s eyes reddened on the spot.


    "It''s me, Senior. It''s me."


    The corner of Sidney''s mouth tugged faintly, like he was trying to smile.


    But there was too little strength left in him.


    The smile faded before it could even take shape.


    His gaze moved off Jared''s face and fell to the female body beside him.


    Cadence still hadn''t woken up.


    Her brows were drawn slightly together, as if the dream she was in wasn''t a


    pleasant one.


    Her breathing was steadier than Sidney''s, but it was still so faint it was almost


    impossible to catch.


    "Cadence..." Sidney''s voice shook.


    He tried to lift a hand and touch


    his


    wife''s face, but his arm only rose a


    little before dropping back onto the stone dais without any strength behind it


    "Don''t move, Senior," Jared said at once. "The two of you just had your bodies


    remade. You''re still too weak. You need time to recover."