Chapter 344: The First Future

The golden passage created by Eden carried the group across a distance that should have taken them hours to travel.

Arthur watched the scenery change around them as they passed through the enormous ring of temporal energy. Ancient roads, forests, and waterfalls appeared and disappeared beyond its surface, their movements slightly out of sync with the world they had just left. For a moment, Arthur saw the same branch from three different angles before the images merged into one.

Then the group emerged onto another enormous platform.

Arthur took a few steps forward before turning toward Eden. "You really moved us through the road’s time instead of simply shortening the distance?"

Eden nodded proudly, her new wings fluttering as the golden rings around her body gradually faded. "The road already existed at different moments. I just found the moment where we were farther along and connected it to the one we were standing in."

Sun stared at her. "You can explain that again, but I doubt it’ll help."

"I can try," Eden offered.

"Please don’t," Sun replied. "I’m already struggling to understand how we traveled through a road without walking along it."

Kong laughed as he followed them out of the passage. "You should be happy. We reached our destination without having to walk!"

"We haven’t reached our destination," Athena reminded him. She was studying the enormous roots surrounding the platform, searching for any sign of the ancient structures they had passed. "We have only traveled farther up the Tree, and we still don’t know what awaits us."

Mithra rested Dawn Sovereign against her shoulder while looking toward Eden. "Still, that was impressive. How far can you take us like that?"

Eden’s expression became thoughtful. "I’m not sure. It depends on how far apart the moments are and how difficult it is to connect them."

Arthur immediately caught the uncertainty in her answer. "So you don’t know your limits yet."

"Not yet," Eden admitted. "I understand Time better than I did before, but understanding something and knowing how to use it are different."

Vedas nodded approvingly. "Good. At least you know that much. I’d rather you admit you have limits than discover them while we’re fighting something dangerous."

Eden puffed out her cheeks. "I know how to be careful!"

Vedas looked at the roots surrounding them.

"Your definition of careful needs work."

Arthur chuckled, but his attention returned to Eden’s wings. Her evolution had changed more than her appearance. The way she interacted with the World Tree was different, and the Tree itself seemed to recognize her presence whenever she used her new powers.

Before he could ask another question, the platform shook beneath their feet.

A deep growl rolled through the surrounding forest.

Melo’s ears immediately stood upright, and her five tails spread behind her as she looked toward the far end of the platform. "Something is coming. Whatever it is, its mind feels wrong."

The roots parted.

An enormous Beast stepped out of the forest, its body resembling a heavily armored stag covered in layers of ancient bark. Golden branches grew from its skull, but purple-black veins had spread across its chest and neck, pulsing with the same corruption that had infected the World Tree. One of its forelegs dragged against the ground, leaving a trail of blackened roots behind it.

Athena recognized the creature’s condition immediately. "Another Guardian Beast. The corruption has reached this section, too."

The Guardian lowered its head and charged.

"Spread out!" Arthur shouted.

Mithra and Luna moved toward opposite sides of the platform while Athena and Athy took control of the ground beneath the charging Beast. Athy raised a ridge of earth to disrupt its footing, but the Guardian smashed through it without slowing down. Kong rushed forward to meet it, striking its armored shoulder with enough force to turn its head, while Sun followed with a concentrated shockwave from Long.

The attacks barely slowed it.

Kong landed beside Sun, rubbing his fist. "That thing has a harder head than you!"

Sun stared at him. "Why am I catching strays while we’re fighting?"

"Because you make it easy!"

The Guardian swung its antlers toward them, forcing both men to retreat as the enormous horns tore through the platform. Vedas intercepted its next charge, bracing himself against its armored chest while Arthur searched for the corrupted roots feeding power into its body.

"Eden, can you see where the corruption is connected?" Arthur called.

Eden closed her eyes, but her expression quickly tightened. "I can feel several connections. The problem is that they’re changing as the Beast moves, and I can’t tell which one will expose its core."

Another impact sent Vedas sliding backward. He dug his feet into the ground and pushed against the Guardian, but the creature’s strength was steadily overwhelming him.

Arthur looked at Eden.

She was staring at the Guardian, her golden rings rotating faster as she followed the countless possibilities surrounding it. Her expression shifted from concentration to frustration, and Arthur recognized the same problem she had faced during the previous fight.

She could see what might happen, but she still needed a way to act on it.

"Eden," he called, moving closer while the others kept the Guardian occupied. "You discovered that you could understand the different paths Time might take. Is there anything else you noticed during your evolution?"

Eden hesitated. "There was something, but I haven’t tried it yet. I can feel different versions of myself, almost like I’m looking at possibilities that belong to me rather than just watching what might happen."

Arthur’s eyes sharpened. "Can you bring one of those possibilities into the present?"

"I don’t know."

"Then let’s find out, but start with yourself. Don’t reach for some distant future, and stop immediately if you feel you can’t control it."

Eden nodded before floating away from the fight. She closed her eyes, allowing the golden rings around her body to slow until they were almost motionless. Rather than looking at the paths branching away from the present, she focused on herself and searched for a possible version of her existence that was only slightly farther along.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then a new notification appeared before her.

[New Ability Discovered.]

[Future Manifestation]

[Temporarily synchronizes a living being with one possible future state, forcing its present existence to catch up with that possibility.]

[Warning: Manifestation stability decreases with the distance of the selected future. Excessive synchronization may cause severe exhaustion and temporal instability.]

Eden opened her eyes.

"I found it."

Arthur looked at the notification, then at her. "Future Manifestation?"

She nodded slowly. "I think I can bring a possible future version of myself into the present. Not permanently, though. It would only last for a short time."

Vedas glanced over while blocking another strike. "Can it make you stronger?"

"Possibly."

"Then test it quickly," Vedas said, his voice tightening as the Guardian forced him backward. "Because I’m running out of ways to hold this thing still."

Arthur raised a hand to stop Eden from rushing into the fight. "Remember what we discussed. Start with a future that’s close to your current state. We don’t know what happens if you push too far."

Eden took a deep breath and concentrated.

The golden rings around her body began rotating in opposite directions, and a second outline appeared around her small form. For a moment, two versions of Eden occupied the same space: the familiar fairy Arthur knew and a more developed figure whose wings extended in intricate layers, surrounded by streams of temporal energy.

The two forms gradually merged.

A surge of power spread across the platform.

Eden’s wings unfolded to their full size, and the golden rings around her body accelerated until they resembled a miniature system of rotating celestial bodies. The air shimmered around her, and every movement she made left behind a faint afterimage that lingered for a fraction of a second before disappearing.

Arthur stared in amazement. "You really did it."

Eden looked at her hands, which glowed with a much stronger golden light than before. "I can feel it. This is still me, but it’s like my body has caught up with something I could have become later."

Athena watched the temporal energy moving around Eden with intense interest. "Her current existence and the possible future are overlapping without one completely replacing the other. That should be impossible under normal circumstances."

"Yet she’s doing it," Luna replied, smiling as Eden turned toward the Guardian.

Eden raised one hand.

The Beast charged.

She moved.

Nobody saw the entire movement clearly. One moment, Eden was hovering beside Arthur, and the next she had crossed the distance between them and the Guardian, passing through a narrow opening before the Beast could close its antlers around her. A golden ring flashed around its head, briefly slowing its movement while Eden redirected the temporal flow around its corrupted chest.

"Now, Kong!" she called.

Kong didn’t hesitate. He launched himself forward and struck the exposed section of the Guardian’s armor, shattering a large piece of bark and revealing the blackened root beneath it. Sun followed with a shockwave that forced the creature to stagger, while Mithra swept past its flank and severed one of the corrupted connections.

The Guardian roared.

Arthur saw the remaining roots retract toward its chest, attempting to protect the core. Eden followed their movement, but her enhanced form flickered, and one of her golden rings suddenly stopped rotating.

Her expression twisted with pain.

"Eden!" Arthur shouted.

She tried to maintain the synchronization, but the temporal energy surrounding her became unstable. Her afterimages began appearing in the wrong places, and her wings flickered between different shapes. The immense power that had allowed her to move so effortlessly was now pulling her in several directions at once.

"I can’t hold it!" she cried.

Arthur immediately reached toward her. "Release it!"

Eden stopped forcing the synchronization.

The golden rings collapsed inward, and the enhanced form vanished. She returned to her normal Chrono Fairy appearance before dropping from the air, her wings barely managing to keep her from falling to the ground. Arthur caught her against his chest while Vedas and the others finished restraining the Guardian.

Melo rushed over, her expression unusually stern. "Let me see her. She’s exhausted, and her emotions are all over the place."

"I’m fine," Eden protested weakly.

Melo gave her a flat look. "You can barely keep yourself airborne. Don’t argue with someone who can feel how badly you’re shaking."

Kong glanced at the fallen Guardian before looking back at Eden. "That was incredible, but if using it leaves you like this, we need to be careful."

Sun nodded. "Agreed. It would be a terrible plan to have our strongest new ability knock its user unconscious halfway through a fight."

"Thank you for that very useful observation," Athena said dryly, although her concern was obvious as she checked Eden’s condition.

Arthur held Eden carefully while she recovered. The ability had worked, and its potential was staggering. If she could synchronize Vedas with a possible Gold-level future, even temporarily, the result could change the course of their battle against Ronin. The same principle might eventually apply to Arthur himself, allowing him to draw upon a future version of his own strength.

But the cost was impossible to ignore.

"How far can you reach?" Arthur asked quietly.

Eden managed a tired smile. "Far enough."

Arthur stared at her.

"That’s not an answer."

Her smile widened slightly.

"It’s the only one I have."

Vedas sighed. "She’s been spending too much time with you."

Arthur ignored him, although he couldn’t entirely disagree.

As Eden slowly recovered, the World Tree began to glow around them. Golden light flowed through the roots beneath the platform, gathering near Eden before spreading throughout the surrounding branches. The corrupted veins on the fallen Guardian dimmed, and the creature’s breathing gradually became calmer.

Luna watched the light move through the roots. "The Tree is responding to her again."

Athena nodded, her earlier curiosity returning. "Time is fundamental to a living ecosystem. Growth, decay, recovery, and evolution all depend on it. Perhaps Eden’s new form allows her to interact with the Tree on a level that other Beasts cannot."

Melo looked toward the enormous branches above them. "It recognizes something familiar in her."

Arthur glanced down at Eden, who was now sitting on his shoulder, recovering her strength.

"So the Tree isn’t simply allowing us to travel through it. It might be responding to Eden because her powers are connected to something that has sustained it for thousands of years."

Eden looked toward the glowing roots.

"I can feel them," she whispered. "They’re moving through time, but not like I do. It’s as if the Tree has been carrying the same moment forward for thousands of years, trying to preserve something that it can’t afford to lose."

Arthur’s expression became serious.

"The heart."

Eden nodded faintly.

Somewhere above them, Ronin was still climbing toward it, forcing his way through the Tree’s resistance in pursuit of its power. Arthur looked toward the path ahead, then back at Eden.

Future Manifestation might eventually give them the strength to confront him, but they couldn’t afford to gamble with an ability they barely understood.

"Rest for now," Arthur told her. "We’ll figure out the limits before we try anything more dangerous."

Eden leaned against his shoulder, her wings folding around herself as she recovered. "You really think I can synchronize Vedas with his future?"

Arthur glanced at the Goblin King, who was already examining the damage the Guardian had taken.

"I think it’s possible. But we’ll make sure you can handle it before we try."

Vedas looked over.

"And if that future is too far away?"

Arthur smiled.

"Then we’ll find a closer one."

Vedas considered that before nodding.

"That’s acceptable."

The group began moving again, keeping Eden near the center while she recovered. Above them, the World Tree’s golden roots continued glowing in response to her presence, revealing faint pathways that had remained hidden until now.

Arthur watched the newly revealed paths with growing curiosity.

Eden had discovered a power that might eventually let them borrow strength from the future.

But for now, the most important discovery was that the World Tree itself seemed to recognize her as something more than a visitor.

It was as though, after thousands of years of waiting, the Tree had finally encountered someone who could understand one of the forces that kept it alive.