Chapter 416. Déjà vu - 2
Chapter 416: 416. Déjà vu - 2
"He is Sera’s uncle. My half-brother. We share the same father. His full name is Kevin Sylvaris."
William blinked in surprise. A distant memory resurfaced.
During the academy orientation, Kevin had casually mentioned abandoning his previous identity and surname long ago to the students. At the time, nobody had thought much about it.
Now everything suddenly made sense.
The revelation was so unexpected that William struggled to process it.
All this time, Sera’s uncle had been teaching classes right under his nose.
"Does Sera know?" William asked through voice transmission.
"Yes."
The answer surprised him even more. William found himself wondering why Sera had never mentioned something so significant.
Selena’s amused laughter echoed inside his mind.
"Hehe. Boy, do you really think Sera tells you everything?"
She then went on teasing him even more. It was so relentless that William immediately shut down the voice transmission.
"Damn."
[Damn.]
Even Orion sounded sympathetic.
William shook his head in disbelief. Meanwhile, Kevin narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Seeing William’s reaction, he seemed to suspect that his carefully hidden secret had just been exposed.
Fortunately for him, there was no time to investigate.
At that moment, the priests finally began the ritual.
Ancient chants echoed throughout the hall as powerful mana gathered from every direction. The atmosphere immediately became solemn and sacred.
Sera lowered herself to the center of the ceremonial formation and lay on the ground while the priests surrounded her in a perfect circle.
Their voices rose together, speaking an ancient language that had survived countless generations.
To everyone else, the words were incomprehensible.
To William, however, they were clear.
Thanks to the Universal Tongue effect of his talent, he understood every single syllable of the ancient hymn as the awakening ceremony officially began.
"Oh, mother of all, the World Tree."
"We are all your children, the fruits that have grown within your embrace."
"Today, we present before you your most beloved child."
"Take her back into your embrace, nourish her with renewed vitality, and cure the Curse of Elfamia."
"Purify her of the sins carried within the ancient blood."
"Make her the true heir of the elven heritage."
"Oh, mother of all, mother of the world, mother of the elves, World Tree."
The chants continued to echo throughout the hall without interruption. Although the words shifted and changed with each repetition, the essence behind them remained unchanged.
Every prayer was directed toward the same purpose. Every invocation carried the same plea. The priests were calling upon the World Tree to accept Sera, nurture her, purify her, and guide her through the awakening that awaited her.
As William listened, a growing sense of curiosity began to take root in his mind.
The phrase that stood out to him more than anything else was the mention of the Curse of Elfamia.
He frowned slightly as he heard those words repeated over and over again within the prayers.
A curse?
That made very little sense to him.
Over the past months, he had used the system to examine Sera’s physical condition countless times. He had checked her status, her physical condition, her mana core, and practically every detail available to him. The results had always appeared completely normal. There had never been any indication that she was suffering from some mysterious curse.
Yet the priests were clearly treating this awakening as something more than a simple increase in power.
The wording of the ritual sounded strangely specific. They spoke of purification. They spoke of cleansing ancient sins.
They spoke of curing some sins inherited through blood.
The more William listened, the stranger it sounded.
If this was merely a physical awakening, why did the ritual resemble a sacred cleansing ceremony?
Why did they describe it as the removal of some sins and curses rather than the awakening of dormant potential?
Several questions surfaced one after another inside his mind.
Unfortunately, he doubted he would ever find meaningful answers.
The world was filled with countless traditions whose original meanings had been lost over time.
People performed rituals simply because their ancestors had done the same before them. Entire ceremonies survived for thousands of years without anyone truly understanding why they existed in the first place.
Earth had been full of such examples.
Perhaps this was simply another one.
Maybe the prayers had once possessed significance, but the meaning behind them had long since faded into history.
Perhaps the chants were merely formalities that accompanied every awakening.
After considering it for a moment, William pushed the matter aside. There was little point in dwelling on questions that likely had no immediate answers.
His attention soon returned to the ceremony itself.
Then suddenly, something changed. A subtle movement entered his perception.
William’s eyes shifted toward the enormous branches of the World Tree that extended into the hall through the open balcony.
At first, he thought he had imagined it.
The movement was so slight that it could have been mistaken for a trick of the light.
However, a moment later, the branches moved again.
This time, there was no doubt.
The ancient limbs of the World Tree were alive.
The massive branches slowly twisted and shifted. Smaller branches emerged from larger ones while countless leaves rustled softly despite the complete absence of wind. The movement was neither violent nor hurried. It was graceful beyond words, carrying a strange elegance that felt almost divine.
William watched in fascination as the branches gradually intertwined with one another.
One branch curved upward. Another bent inward.
Several more extended from different directions and joined together.
Slowly, piece by piece, they began forming the shape of a cradle.
The structure resembled an enormous wooden cradle woven from ancient branches and vibrant emerald leaves. It looked beautiful enough to belong in a dream, carrying an aura of warmth and gentleness despite its immense size.
The cradle continued growing.
Its branches stretched across the hall and gently approached Sera.
Not a single priest reacted with surprise. Not even Selena seemed alarmed.
It was obvious that this was an expected part of the ceremony. The cradle reached the center of the formation.
Then, with a tenderness that seemed impossible for something so massive, it carefully lifted Sera into its embrace.
The sight immediately reminded William of a mother picking up her sleeping child.
There was no force, no roughness, only care.
The branches cradled her body and held her securely as she lay within the living structure.
For a brief moment, Sera appeared almost weightless. Then the cradle began to close.
Additional branches emerged from every direction. Layers of leaves folded inward while countless vines intertwined together. Gradually, the open cradle transformed into a protective shell.
A cocoon.
Wood and leaves wrapped around Sera until she disappeared completely from sight.
The entire hall fell into a stunned silence.
"Oh God..."
Someone nearby released a quiet gasp of amazement. William barely heard them.
His attention remained completely fixed upon the cocoon.
Something about the sight captivated him in a way he could not explain.
The feeling was strange, unsettling, and familiar.
As he stared at the wooden cocoon suspended among the branches of the World Tree, an inexplicable sensation washed over him.
Deja vu.
The feeling struck him so suddenly that he almost lost focus. It was as though he had witnessed this exact scene before.
Yet no matter how hard he searched his memories, he could not find a single moment that resembled what was unfolding before him.
He was certain he had never seen anything like this with his own eyes.
And yet the familiarity remained.
William continued staring at the cocoon in silence while an unexplainable feeling settled deep within his chest, as though some forgotten memory was trying to resurface from a place far beyond his reach.