Now, the water was still, seeping in with a faint quiet.
The light of some planet floating in the universe shattered over the gentle waves.
The surface of the water stretched out smooth as a mirror, and upon it, a single being floated alone.
Nereia had descended from her fortress and paused for a moment upon the tranquil surface.
There was no sound.
And yet she was listening.
To the faintest tremors of ripples the world gave voice to, and to the whispers of countless currents and wills contained within them.
Her gaze was calm, but her eyes reached endlessly far.
She whispered.
“The alliance with Silva was a natural current. Water moistens wood, and wood widens the boundaries of water. Water and wood grow together. But wood does not flow with water. They put down roots on their own and grow within stillness.”
She reached her hand out over the waves.
In the place her fingertips passed, a small current quietly formed.
That current soon created a subtle whirlpool toward Silva.
“They will feel it as well. That this wave is not merely enveloping us, but is moving toward us.”
Nereia closed her eyes and felt the wind.
A moment later, a wind blew in from afar.
It had come straight from the south.
And within that wind was a heat unfamiliar to her.
“This is… Ignis? Is the fire of their expansion drawing close to our sea?”
Instead of ascending to her fortress, she submerged herself beneath the surface.
Her body flowed like water, leaving no trace of her upon the waves.
And her voice rang out softly beneath the tide.
“We do not fight. But neither do we stop this current. For no one will be able to block this flow.”
Like blue currents wrapping around the roots of a great tree, the waves of the deep sea had reached the outskirts of Silva’s forest.
The boundary where sea and forest met.
Upon vines that drew up water, and upon currents flowing along branches, two beings stood facing one another.
Nereia and Drian.
Water and wood looked upon each other and stood there for a while without a word.
The flow came before words, and energy came before movement.
The first to speak was Drian.
“Your water flowed to us, and our trees embraced it. I hope our alliance now will be the same.”
Nereia quietly nodded.
“The flow will deepen along the trees, and the trees will grow within the flow. If that is our beginning, there will be no wrong direction.”
Drian closed her eyes for a moment.
A blue current brushed past beneath her feet.
She opened her eyes again and said,
“I can feel traces of fire from the south.”
Her voice was still gentle, yet firm.
Nereia continued.
“Ignis has not yet turned directly toward us. But that fire will not stop. Eventually, the moment will come when we must face this current.”
Drian placed a hand upon a tree branch.
At her touch, a small sprout emerged.
“We wish to avoid fighting them. But the forest has much to protect, and knowing that water cannot go against its flow…”
“…we must prepare.”
Nereia finished her words.
The two beings quietly faced one another.
In that moment, a silent energy spread along the current into the forest.
It was a wordless pact, a binding of energies.
Drian added one final remark.
“We will watch. And when necessary, the trees will spread their leaves above the water.”
Nereia nodded without a smile.
“When that day comes, we will flow together.”
The heart of the Aqua Empire and its blue cradle, Nereis.
And at its center stood a magnificent structure around which currents of black and blue energy swirled.
Nereia’s fortress was now preparing for yet another change.
Nereia stood in the central hall of the fortress with Sian and Levian.
The Corridor of Purification connected beneath the water was trembling quietly.
Nereia said to them,
“Unlike Ignis, we did not start a war. Instead, we joined hands with Silva and silently accumulated cores. Now, let us raise new soldiers.”
Sian carefully spoke.
“Your Majesty, if we wish to make the currents of the barracks more refined… the fortress must first be deepened.”
Nereia nodded.
“I know. This is the source of all currents. This fortress refines the energy of the entire empire and serves as the heart that stabilizes the center of circulation. If the fortress itself does not gain depth first, then the barracks and research institutes that extend from it will become structures without foundations.”
She then traced the flow of energy with her fingertips.
“Just as a fierce ocean current cannot be formed in a shallow river, if the fortress is shallow, the barracks built upon it will soon collapse.”
Then she placed her hand upon the surface of the water at the fortress’s center.
Ripples spread from her fingertips.
“Far more Wave Cores than before are already stored within this fortress. Let us deepen the fortress. Deeper, and more still. That flow will cover the barracks once again.”
“Understood.”
Sian went outside the fortress and stirred the surface of the water with his hand.
Nereia also raised her hand and began the deepening rite.
At the same time that a great number of Wave Cores vanished, the walls of the fortress slowly vibrated, and the waterways within expanded wider and deeper.
Spray once again scattered in all directions, and from within it, condensed crystals of water rose up.
The energy of water was firmly bound together, and its circulation pulsed far more stably and powerfully than before.
This was the beginning of Aqua’s third Field of Flow.
Levian let out a small breath and said,
“Now our foundation has grown even deeper. We can go further and fully deepen the barracks as well, and our defenses will become even stronger.”
Nereia quietly nodded.
“For waves to grow larger, the deep sea must first be prepared.”
Having consumed a great number of Wave Cores to deepen the fortress, the Aqua Empire entered a brief period of rest.
But that quiet rest lasted only a moment, for Nereia sensed an alien feeling from the flow of air approaching from far away.
“Heat?”
Nereia ascended to the top floor of the fortress and looked south.
Soon Naus also followed her up and asked with a grave expression,
“Could Ignis be approaching?”
Levian hurried over as well.
“Ignis, which had been extending its influence toward Metalum, has changed direction. The place they could invade should be Metalum, but if they are coming up in the opposite direction instead…”
Nereia said nothing and quietly looked only at the sea.
The sky was still blue, and the water’s surface was calm, but within it, she could feel a minute difference in temperature.
It was no mere illusion.
Naus spoke again, seemingly flustered.
“Isn’t that Silva over there? Could they have business with Silva?”
She murmured softly.
“Do they dare interfere with our alliance? Their flames will never cease expanding. But this sea is not so light either. We should speak with Silva first.”
Nereia turned and descended from the fortress.
Her retainers followed behind her.
Nereia’s energy, slowly rising above the deep sea, spread eastward along a tranquil current.
She reached the outskirts of the Silva Empire, a boundary zone where branches quietly held water.
The lives of the forest sensed her presence and stirred.
A moment later, Drian appeared, parting the branches.
Behind her, Bramir, who was in charge of wind detection, followed quietly.
Drian looked at Nereia and bowed her head slightly in greeting.
“What brings the Empress of Water here? Is it because of Ignis?”
Nereia also gave a slight nod and spoke calmly.
“Yes. You must know better than anyone. As you know, that fire is now heading toward you. I came because I wished to know what thoughts you hold regarding them.”
Drian glanced south and answered.
“Of course, we feel that heat as well. The faint tremors spreading beneath the earth have reached a level we can no longer ignore. However, they will not be able to interfere in our relationship.”
Nereia stirred a small ripple upon the water and said,
“We can subdue them. If those flames come into contact with your camp, we will become a wall for you.”
Drian’s answer was somewhat ambiguous.
“I am grateful for those words, but they cannot invade us. There should be no need for a clash.”
Nereia spoke a little more directly.
“Wood feeds fire. We are nurturing you, but are you not nurturing Ignis?”
Drian closed her eyes and fell into thought.
Nereia’s words were, in other words, a suspicion that Drian’s forest could provide fuel to Ignis’s fire.
“We have not yet encountered them.”
Drian answered quietly.
“And even if they approach, we will first watch to see where their fire intends to turn next.”
Nereia silently stared at Drian.
She did not force her.
But she clearly added one thing.
“If those flames turn toward the sea, the forest must not become their fuel.”
At these words, Drian slowly nodded.
“I understand. We will follow the flow, but we will not follow the burning.”
The two leaders exchanged no further words.
However, the waves spreading from between them were clearly the bond of an alliance where tension and trust coexisted.
Back inside Aqua’s fortress.
In that place where the energy of water resonated faintly, Nereia and her three retainers were gathered.
“Drian has given us a friendly answer for now. But we cannot trust those words completely. Her thoughts may change after she meets Ignis.”
Naus spoke first.
“If Silva cooperates with Ignis, that means all of Aqua will be exposed to fire from the east. In the end, this battle may come not from the front, but from both sides.”
Levian crossed his arms and nodded.
“We sought to strengthen our alliance with Silva, but they have yet to show a clear stance. Energy can quietly shift without us knowing.”
Sian carefully drew lines on the map floating above the water.
“Because of the fortress’s deepening, we are now able to prepare to some extent. But if Silva accepts the energy of fire, their forest may become a passageway for Ignis.”
Generally, it was only natural for water to overwhelm fire, but if the fire was too strong, the water could instead dry up.
Nereia remained silent for a moment, then quietly gave an order.
“We must prepare for any possibility. Redeploy a portion of the Deep-Sea Spearmen to the eastern border. And expand the current detection network, connecting the flow beneath the water all the way to Silva’s boundary zone.”
Levian and Naus bowed their heads.
“Yes, we will do so.”
“And as soon as enough cores have been accumulated, deepen the barracks as well.”
Sian answered.
“Yes, understood.”
Nereia’s voice quietly enveloped the fortress.
“Mutual generation does not mean peace. Mutual generation merely speaks of the possibility of choice.”
In the quiet forest, a single strand of wind passed through the leaves.
Drian felt the flow, and within that flow, the warmth of fire and the weight of water reached her at once.