Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 328

Chapter 328: EX 328. Infertility
Rachel followed Elaine through the inner halls of the palace built within the colossal heart of the Great Tree. The walls shimmered faintly, pulsing with soft green light that felt alive,.like the tree itself was breathing. Every surface bore delicate carvings, vines woven into silver and emerald patterns that told stories of old wars, harvests, and the first elves born from light.

Guards lined the path. Each one bowed deeply as Elaine passed. So did the nobles, tall figures with pointed ears and glowing eyes that flickered with reverence.

Rachel noticed it all in silence.

‘They actually love her,’ she thought. ‘Not just obey her… but truly love her.’

It reminded her of the real world of Yggdrasil. Back there, respect for leaders came from fear or obligation, not devotion. Here, it felt pure and Genuine.

They stopped before a massive door grown from the tree’s heartwood, veins of gold glowing faintly across its surface. A guard stepped forward, lowering his head.

“Queen Elaine.”

Before Rachel could think, she spoke without restraint.

“Elaine?”

The guard’s eyes snapped open, sharp and glowing green. His hand instinctively went to the hilt of his blade. For a moment, Rachel felt the pressure of his killing intent it was heavy and suffocating.

But the Queen lifted a hand, a simple gesture that halted him instantly.

She turned to Rachel, her blindfolded face unreadable. “Does someone you know bear this name?”

Realization hit her. ‘I called her by name.’

Her mouth went dry as she nodded quickly. “Yes. My sister. It was her name.”

Her voice trembled toward the end. The memory still hurt.

Elaine tilted her head slightly. “She must have been a great sister.”

Rachel smiled faintly. “She was… the best.”

The Queen turned back to the guard. “Open the gates,” she said, her tone calm but carrying the quiet authority of command. “I must show my ignorant student something.”

The guard’s eyes widened. ‘Student?’ The thought crossed his mind, but he dared not speak it aloud.

He pressed his palm against a circular rune embedded into the wood. Light rippled outward in waves, and with a low groan, the massive doors began to open, vines pulling aside as if obeying an ancient call.

Elaine stepped through first. Rachel followed, glancing once at the guard, who was still staring in disbelief.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, the doors shut behind them with a deep echo, sealing the outside world away.

Only the faint hum of magic filled the air now.

****

The Elf Queen and Rachel walked in silence through the winding wooden corridors that spiraled deeper into the heart of the Great Tree. The air grew warmer the further they went, thick with the scent of sap and glowing pollen drifting lazily in the air. After a long descent, the path opened into a vast chamber and Rachel froze.

Her breath hitched. “This… this is the Ancestral Pool.”

Before them stretched a shimmering lake of light, the surface rippling with radiant emerald energy. From the pool’s edges, translucent streams branched out and flowed into dozens of sacs latched to the living walls, each one pulsing gently with life. Those sacs, she knew what they were. The cradles of newborn elves.

She had seen this before. Back home. In Yggdrasil.

But here… it was smaller. Much smaller. Still, the sight and the faint hum of ancient power felt the same. Identical in rhythm, in warmth and in purity.

Her hands trembled as a chilling thought crossed her mind.

‘No way… could this Great Tree be a younger version of Yggdrasil?’

Her mind rebelled at the idea. It shouldn’t be possible. ‘The trial world is its own realm,’ she thought, ‘not a reflection of the real one.’ Yet the energy here, the scent of the roots, even the faint whispers in the mana everything screamed of familiarity.

The Elf Queen glanced at her and mistook the conflict on her face for awe.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Rachel blinked, forcing her thoughts to still. “Yes,” she said quietly. “It really is.”

She remembered the first and only time she had seen the Ancestral Pool in Yggdrasil, during her appointment as a leader candidate. The same golden light, the same soothing hum. It had left her breathless then, and it did so again now.

Elaine’s blindfolded gaze stayed fixed on the water. Her tone softened, but her words struck deep.

“The bloodborns are not the result of sin.” She paused, her voice steady and calm. “They are the result of salvation—for our race.”

Rachel’s eyes widened. Her mind went blank. ‘What?’

Everything she had been taught, all the scorn, the stories of corruption and sin collapsed in an instant.

The Elf Queen turned to her then, sensing the storm behind those wide eyes. “Do you wonder why we elves worship the Great Tree rather than the light from which we were first born?”

Rachel shook her head slowly. This was the first time she’d even heard that elves came from light. She couldn’t find the words.

Elaine smiled faintly. “That is because the tree saved us, Rachel.” Her voice echoed softly in the chamber, almost reverent. “The tree saved us. That is why we worship it.”

****

Elaine stood still before the glowing pool, her blindfolded gaze fixed on the soft ripples of life energy. Her voice came quiet at first, almost like she was speaking to the pool itself.

“Many millennia ago, our people worshiped the light,” she began. “Some would say that out of all races born from it, we were the closest.”

The glow reflected faintly across her pale skin, and for the first time, Rachel saw something fragile behind the queen’s calm, the weight of memory.

“But despite being the most devoted,” Elaine said, her voice tightening, “it didn’t mean we were the most loved.”

Rachel stayed silent, afraid even to breathe too loud.

Elaine continued, her tone slipping into something colder. “When our race was at the brink of extinction, the light, our so-called origin—turned away from us. It had other children. It did not care to save the ones who still sang its praise.”

The words sank heavy into the air as Rachel’s stomach tightened.

Elaine turned slightly, the faintest tilt of her head toward Rachel. “At that time, we elves faced a problem that would break any race. A slow death, not by war or plague, but by nature itself.”

Rachel swallowed, her voice barely above a whisper. “What kind of problem?”

Elaine’s answer came quiet but sharp.

“The curse of infertility.”

****

A/N: Yes the light is another way to call the primordials.