The Martial Unity

Chapter 3229: Inner and Outer Realms

”The Forest of War teaches them to harness their talent for harmonizing with nature for combat,” she explained with a patient expression. ”It forges the warriors that allow us to protect ourselves and join the ranks of great civilizations.”

Rui pondered aloud. ”When you say talent, what threshold are we talking about? What is the condition that an elf needs to achieve to be admitted into the Forest of War?”

”Only those elves who have achieved the Gate of Harmony are permitted into the Forest of War.”

Rui grew even more curious at those words.

The Gate of Harmony.

He had heard Mother Pruschilia mention it before to him in their first conversation. It was the first stage of harmony with flora, giving them basic control over nature; it was the first step down the Nature Path.

”The elven warriors who have thrust past the Gate of Harmony will then have the opportunity to cultivate the Hymn of Mind and Soul,” Veruschia explained. ”This is a process where elves harmonize the sum totality of their conscious and subconscious mind with nature in an extraordinarily lengthy process. And only after they have completely harmonized with nature in mind and soul can they achieve the Singularity of Flora and become a Mother of Nature.”

It was a fascinating progression that was extremely different from the Martial Path.

From her words, it seemed that the Nature Path had fewer ’ranks’ of power than the Martial Path, even excluding the Transcendent Realm. In the first place, it seemed like a mix of discrete ranks and a continuous slope. However, even if he tried to translate the potential harnessed of the Nature Path into the Martial Path, it seemed that they only harnessed the Apprentice Realm, the Master Realm, and the Sage Realm equivalents.

”What about the body?” Rui asked with a curious expression. ”Don’t the elves harness the potential of the body. I know that elven bodies are very different from human bodies, but you should still have immense potential hidden within your bodies.”

”The role of the body in the Nature Path appears to be different from the role it plays in the Martial Path,” she directed a knowing look at Rui’s and Amare’s Path. ”In the Nature Path, the body is not central. Flora is not exclusively a material or physical phenomenon, and our harmony with it is beyond material; thus, the significance of the physical body is not as high as it tends to be in other Paths. However...”

She turned towards him. ”It does play a role nonetheless. The Nature Path is actually a bimodal path. It has what we call an Inner Realm, where one harnesses nature from within one’s body and an Outer Realm, where one harnesses nature from without in the form of the nature around us.”

”Inner Realm... Outer Realm...” Amare murmured with fascination. ”How individualistic is each elf’s Path? In the Martial Path, for example, each Martial Path is very unique and different from the others. Each Path is affected by the causality of one’s life, and it leads to outcomes that are as different from each other as other paths.”

”That is an interesting piece of information to learn,” Veruschia remarked with a curious expression. ”I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to manage Paths with so much individuality, but it is not something that is true of the Nature Path. The Nature Path also varies slightly from person to person. However, elves of the same tribe generally tend to have the same Path.”

Rui’s eyes widened as he realized one of his suspicions had turned out to be correct. ”Meaning it is possible for two elves to have the same kind of Nature Path?”

”Yes,” Veruschia replied. ”The types of Paths tend to be divided between Inner and Outer. As well as the kind of flora manipulation, and even what species of flora one may have the most affinity for. That is where the tribe one grew up in counts.”

”...I see,” Rui murmured. ”Can you tell me more about the Inner and Outer Realms of the Nature Path?”

”Of course.” She smiled. ”The Inner Realm involves enhancing your body with the power of flora. We integrate floral tissue into our bodies to enhance our strength, speed, and durability. For example...”

She opened her palm as a small sapling began growing from within it, blooming to form a small flower.

”Wow!” Amare exclaimed with amazement. ”That is amazing! How did you do that?”

”It isn’t that impressive,” the dark elf replied with a smile. ”It is merely the little bit of the Inner Realm that I have cultivated. It increases my speed and reflexes.”

Rui’s senses heightened as he peered into the depths of her body, studying her physiology.

Much to his surprise, he could sense plant tissue in her nervous system and her spinal cord, able to transmit messages across her body extremely quickly.

”The Outer Realm is what I am doing right now, to travel with you at high speeds,” she replied, pointing to the branch of leaves beneath her feet. ”I am manipulating nature around me with just a single touch and communicating with it thanks to having achieved partial harmony with nature.”

”I see...” Rui’s eyes lit up. ”Isn’t the Inner Realm innately superior to the Outer Realm then? After all, the Outer Realm is only as useful as the flora around the user, is it not?”

”The Inner Realm is also limited,” she replied. ”After all, the Inner Realm is limited by the volume of your body. There is only so much you can do to the elven body before you have reached a limit. It is only together with Inner and Outer Realm combined that one can reach the Singularity of Flora and become a veritable Mother of Nature.”

Her gaze shifted to the distant horizon.

”There it is, we are not that far away from the Forest of War. Soon, you shall get to experience a taste of how we train our elven warriors.”