Chương 400: New Destination Set

Vale let out a long sigh as they finished building the new barracks. They had decided to stay near the lake for about a week. At least, they would stay until Korin got better. He was in bad shape. His mind was fighting against his own powers more and more each day. Vale could understand why, but something still bothered him. He had always thought Korin's powers could not affect him unless he used them on purpose. It seemed that he had been wrong. Vale sat down by the lake and looked across the clear water.

Sunlight danced on its surface, while the old dragon rested somewhere deep below.

"Well, this isn't the best situation," he muttered.

"But I guess it could be worse." A few minutes later, Eskar walked over and stopped beside him. Neither of them spoke at first. They both looked across the lake, knowing that a dragon was sleeping beneath it. After a while, Eskar broke the silence.

"It's strange to think there's a dragon under that water." Vale gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, it is." He glanced at Eskar. He knew the man had not come here just to talk about the lake. Eskar was not the type to waste time.

"So, what do you really want to talk about?" Eskar looked at him with his one good eye. Then he looked toward Nova in the distance.

"I think we're getting close to Korin's enigma. More likely, we're getting close to his Founder." Vale rolled his eyes.

"Way to point out the obvious." They had all reached the same idea by now. Korin's powers had started acting strange soon after the trip began. If Eskar was right about Visorian powers, that meant they were getting close to their source. It was much like what happened with Eskar. The closer he got to his Founder, the worse his powers became.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Vale asked. Eskar was quiet for a moment.

"He can't leave the group anymore. The only thing keeping him stable is that he can't use his powers freely while he's near us. If he leaves, he may lose control. And if that happens, one of us could die." Vale stared at the water. He hated to admit it, but Eskar was right.

"As much as I hate to say it, you're right. We need to stay together from now on. Even if that makes things harder." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He sighed and rubbed his face.

"Gods. Why did this have to happen now? Couldn't it have happened while we were fighting some huge monster?" Eskar sat beside him and gave a small nod.

"I agree. Still, if things get bad, I can fight him." Vale quickly shook his head.

"I don't know what power you gained, but I know it has a cost. That makes it a bad choice. If you run out of strength before we stop Korin, we'll only make things worse." Eskar looked at him for a moment.

"If you say so. I'll keep it as a last resort." He paused before speaking again.

"But there is another choice." Vale looked at him.

"What choice?" Eskar closed his eye.

"If we reach his Founder's domain, his powers should calm down. At least, that was what happened to me. He may finally be able to control himself." Vale thought about it before shaking his head.

"Isn't that a bit much? We'd have to search for it without even knowing where it is. It could be thousands of kilometers away." Eskar gave a small smile.

"Considering he had that vision, I doubt it's that far. I had something similar when I got close to my own Founder. Mine was much weaker, but Korin can't control when he enters his plane." The two went quiet again. After a while, Eskar stood up and looked down at Vale.

"I'll trust you to make the right choice. I'm going to help Nova again. Good luck." Vale leaned back into the grass.

"Thanks for that." Eskar walked away, leaving Vale alone with his thoughts. If Korin's Founder really was close, going there might be their safest choice. They could stay in the domain until the trip was over. That might give Korin time to calm down before his powers became worse. It would also keep the others safe. Korin was the strongest person in their group by far. If he lost control, none of them could afford to face him alone. The problem was that this plan depended on one thing. His Founder had to be close.

If it wasn't, they would waste days searching for something that might not even be there. Vale bit his lip as he thought about it.

"Why does making a choice have to be so damn hard?" A quiet sigh came from beside him.

"Maybe because you're thinking about the wrong things." Vale turned his head. Nym was sitting about a meter away. Things between them had become easier over the last few days. There were still some things they had not talked about, but neither of them wanted to force it. For now, they were friends again. Vale found that he was fine with that. He looked at her.

"So, did you figure anything out?" Nym nodded.

"Yeah." Vale waited. She said nothing. He raised an eyebrow.

"Soooo... are you going to tell me?" Nym gave a small laugh.

"Sure. If that's how you want to ask." She cleared her throat.

"Korin is a strange case. He's linked to four planes. That's much more than I expected. I can't even see all of them clearly yet." Vale let out a low whistle.

"Damn. I didn't know that was possible for anyone besides Barbatos."

"Neither did I," Nym said.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I've never been able to see this much before." She paused.

"I think it's because we're getting close to his core enigma. The one holding the other three together. Or, more likely, the one the other three are keeping down." Vale's face grew more serious.

"Do you know how far away it is?" Nym thought for a moment.

"About fifty kilometers. That's all I could find." Vale stayed quiet. Fifty kilometers. That was close enough that Korin's vision could not have been random. If Nym was right, they were already close to the source of his problems. He finally made his choice.

"Alright," Vale said as he stood.

"Then we leave tomorrow morning. The sooner we get there, the better." He stretched before looking down at Nym with a small smile.

"I'm curious to see what the place his Founder is trapped in looks like."