Having dealt with the Noxian soldiers who landed on Fae'lor Island, Faen simply manipulated the flowing water to form a dense mist around the island, forcibly halting the war.
Seeing Fae'lor washed clean, Shen and the others, who had been tightly gripping their spirit blades, suddenly relaxed and collapsed directly onto the ground.
It wasn't just ninja assassins from the Kinkou Order like Shen, or the Unspoken left behind by the Fae'lor guards. Even Kalan, a Primordial Kiilash, leaned back against a wall the moment he realized the battle was over, utterly unwilling to get up.
Combat is incredibly physically draining. Even in this world where magic exists and power can be replenished through other means, several consecutive hours of high-intensity fighting are enough to exhaust a person's stamina completely. In fact, just half an hour into the battle, the Unspoken of Fae'lor and some of the Kinkou practitioners had already withdrawn from the front lines, handing the battlefield over to warriors more accustomed to war, like Kalan, Riven, and Irelia.
This was undoubtedly a massive test of stamina and energy distribution. But for Kalan, a Kiilash who lived by hunting, rationally distributing energy and stamina was already an instinct. The force applied in almost every attack was just right, never causing unnecessary exertion. As for Riven, she was simply familiar with the battlefield and adapted to it.
Although the Blackstone Greatsword was massive, one could tell from Riven's stance as she swung it that she wasn't relying on brute strength. Instead, much like a spinning top, she constantly adjusted her center of gravity along with the greatsword. Aside from the initial all-out effort required to draw and swing the blade, most of her subsequent movements relied on adjusting her balance, letting her body dance with the blade, and borrowing the enemy's momentum to strike back.
As for Irelia, it went without saying. The legacy of the Divine Sword Dancer was inherently prepared for slaughter. Her heirloom blades boasted extremely high killing efficiency while consuming very little energy. The only problem was its near-zero interaction with the spirits of nature. It was fine during an era of strife, but wielding such a lethal weapon during peacetime without being able to use it in combat could indeed easily cause psychological issues.
But even so, the continuous fighting had drained too much of everyone's energy. Now that they could finally relax, even Shen's eyelids grew exceptionally heavy. It looked as if he wanted nothing more than to fall into a deep sleep right this second and not wake up until he was completely recovered.
Seeing this, Faen manipulated the water mist to envelop the group. At first, Kalan and the others were a bit confused, but they didn't resist. After all, they knew very well that even in their prime, combining their strength wouldn't be enough to defeat Faen. Now that they were this exhausted, if Faen truly wanted to kill them, he wouldn't need any extra tricks. He could have just applied a little more force when cleansing Fae'lor to wash them into the abyssal depths along with the Noxians, so there was absolutely no need to waste time on flashy tricks.
Soon enough, as the water mist glowed with a faint fluorescence, they felt the moisture seeping into their bodies drop by drop. As the vapor entered their systems, their stiff, swollen, and aching muscles began to rapidly ease, as if receiving fresh nutrients. Nourished by the water vapor, even their mental exhaustion was significantly alleviated in the process.
Although Faen had mastered the ability to manipulate flowing water long ago, it was previously limited to combat. But the dozen or so years he spent in the Dreaming Pool weren't just idled away. During that time, he continuously learned, understood, and attempted to accept Ionia's own Spirit Realm. Merging different types of Spirit Realm energy into water to produce various effects, just like he was doing now, was one of the rewards Faen reaped from the Dreaming Pool.
Feeling the group's stamina recovering little by little, Faen nodded to himself and then turned his gaze toward Syndra beside him.
Seeing this, Syndra nodded as well. She knew her teacher was silently asking why she had appeared here. With no intention of hiding anything, Syndra landed next to Faen, pointed at the Dreaming Pool below, and said:
"The Dreaming Pool connects to the Spirit Realm of the Spirit of Ionia itself. It's just that, in the past, this part of the Spirit Realm was a domain of darkness. Therefore, as long as I reached a mutual understanding with the darkness itself, I could use its power to connect to the Material Realm."
"Reach a mutual understanding with the darkness itself?" Hearing Syndra's words, Faen raised an eyebrow in surprise and said, "But if that's the case, wouldn't your soul be constantly subjected to the influence of darkness?"
"Normally, yes." Syndra let out a soft chuckle. She gazed quietly at Faen, a hint of obscure paranoia and madness flashing in her pale eyes.
"But all the darkness craves are negative emotions. As long as I can provide it with enough nourishment, this transaction can continue forever. And in an era of strife, such nourishment is not rare." As she spoke, Syndra glanced around from the corner of her eye. Confirming that everyone else was meditating with their eyes closed to accelerate the absorption of the healing mist, she licked her lips, then leaned her delicate face close to Faen's ear.
"But aside from these dark thoughts from Ionia, I myself also need to provide some paranoia, madness, and extremity that differs from Ionian traditions... Simply put, I need to find a way to make myself completely lose all rationality. I need my mind and soul to be left with nothing but pure, carnal instinct, to be roughly used and pumped full of cum like some sort of sex toy... Mmm, I know it sounds a bit strange, but essentially, it's exactly what you did to me in the days right before you left, Teacher."
Hearing Syndra's words and looking into her eyes, Faen smacked his lips and said, "That truly is a serious problem. As your teacher, I will definitely have to find a way to shoulder this heavy responsibility."
Syndra let out a soft laugh at his response. However, immediately after, Faen asked, "But if you're using the Dreaming Pool to reverse-connect to the Material Realm, doesn't that mean you still have to go back inside the Dreaming Pool to wait?" Faen looked at her.
Syndra nodded peacefully. "Although waiting from within a millennia-long illusion until now was a bit long and tedious, the wait was worth it. Besides, I'm already getting a little impatient." Syndra looked up, locking eyes with Faen. "For thousands of years in the Spirit Realm, I could only relieve my carnal loneliness through the memories of what Teacher did to me before leaving. Now that I've finally seen Teacher again..."
Faen knew this was going to be a fierce battle.