Supreme Magus novel Chapter 3475

Zima’s cities had high walls but no castles, with the various districts of each fortress separated by internal walls.

Countless small villages surrounded a city, but from so high in the sky all Lith could tell was that the further from the safety of the fortified walls a town was, the poorer its inhabitants were.

"How close are we to our target?" Zoreth asked. "I’d rather avoid human settlements. If someone recognizes me, we’ll have the entire Zima Council on our heels. I have a terrible reputation here. Sadly, it’s well-deserved."

"You’ve been to Zima?" Solus asked.

"I’m over a thousand years old, Solus." Zoreth said it like an admission of guilt. "There are few places I’ve not been. I would love to tell you I came here searching for a cure to my condition but it would be a lie.

"Back then, I was a bloodthirsty monster on the run. Those who chased after me had a very good reason for it and sometimes I wish I failed to shake them off."

She remained silent after that and Solus didn’t pry further.

"We are very close." Lith opened his hand just enough to let the light shine through his fingers. "Half a kilometer to the south."

Zoreth followed the light and brought the group to their destination with a single flap of her wings. It was a hill covered with grass and a single gnarled tree growing on its top. Several small birds and animals sat there, huddled around a lonely figure.

"Well, that’s unexpected." Xenagrosh took a good look at the scene with her Dragon Eyes and used the Skull of Bytra to make sure there were no traps waiting for them on the ground.

She let the others off her back and shapeshifted into her human form before slowly descending from the sky and to the top of the hill.

"I knew this day would come, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon nor that there would be so many of you." The voice sounded human and was produced by vocal chords, not air magic.

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"I’m sad my travels have come to an end but seeing different fragments working together gives me hope we can resolve this without violence. Maybe, I can convince you to let me free until you find the rest of our siblings."

"I beg your pardon?" Lith was relieved hearing Tyris’ universal language and confused by the rest. "You were expecting me?"

"Not you specifically, brother." The voice belonged to a youth with closed-cropped black hair who looked like a teenager. No longer a child but still too young to be a man. "I was expecting someone would come to collect my fragment.

"I know that the Yggdrasill bloodline can’t remain scattered for long, but knowing how lazy we are, how reluctant us Saplings are to move, I hoped I could buy myself at least a few years if not decades.

"After all, without a World Tree, there are no Chroniclers and without Chroniclers, I assumed it would have taken you a long time to track me down if I kept moving. I guess I was wrong."

The youth stood up and turned around to face his guests.

He was wearing a loose cotton tunic dirty at the edges where it brushed against the ground. The Sapling had chosen the form of a young man with almond-shaped eyes and a pale skin with a golden hue.