#81
Elven Kingdom (1)
A dreamy atmosphere lingered.
Surrounded by countless wind spirits, the fruit of the World Tree fell, while Cecily was encircled by all sorts of colorful glowing spirits.
Her surroundings were chaotic with the howling wind, shimmering lights, trembling earth, and rapidly growing sprouts.
An immense force of nature was concentrated in that place, causing even her companions nearby to step back instinctively.
As Harris distanced himself, he realized.
By now, innumerable elves had surrounded the area, watching them.
‘Well, they did say the High Elf’s awakening ceremony is a rare sight. And Cecily’s appearance is said to be incredibly long-awaited.’
As he faced the storm of natural power blowing from her direction, he suddenly had another realization.
‘Oh? Wait a minute, this isn’t the time to just watch!’
Harris concentrated his mind and took a deep breath.
The refreshing air seeped deep into his lungs.
A very nutritious atmosphere filled with the energies of nature and spirits.
It was the perfect environment for training.
‘I can’t let this opportunity slip away!’
This time, as he strengthened his Unique Skill, perhaps due to the increased potential and growth speed of his avatar, manipulating energy became much easier than before.
“Hoo— Hoo···.”
He took deep breaths repeatedly.
With his eyes on Cecily’s awakening ceremony, he focused all his nerves on drawing the overflowing energy into his body.
Noticing something odd, Laforey, who was watching Cecily take the fruit to her mouth, turned to look at him, but Harris, intoxicated by the density of the energy he had never felt before, couldn’t spare a thought for such trivial matters.
Just then, as Cecily fully grasped the fruit of the World Tree.
《The entity has met the conditions and gained enlightenment. Acquired skill “Nature Affinity.”》
Harris also gained some achievements.
“Hoo···.”
Feeling satisfied, he looked at Cecily, and she had already fainted, being gently moved away by a group of elves.
In her hand, she tightly clutched a fresh branch of the World Tree from which the fruit had hung.
“This is the High Elf’s guard. Since she just awoke, we need to move her to a safe place until she recovers her senses,” Laforey quietly approached to add.
“Cecily will be sleeping for a while. She needs time to stabilize her suddenly increased energy.”
“I see. It makes sense since she was in the midst of such tremendous energy flux.”
“You’re quite impressive, Harris. I think I understand why the World Tree is taking notice of you.”
He seemed to have picked up on what Harris was doing.
“Oh, I just saw it as a good opportunity.”
“Considering how long you’ve been learning, that level of energy control is remarkable, isn’t it… um?”
Suddenly halting his praise, he stared at something behind Harris.
He looked quite surprised, as if he’d seen something.
‘But I didn’t sense anything?’
Though he was hyper-aware from absorbing all the energy, he felt nothing from his own senses.
Just as Harris felt a chill run down his spine at Laforey’s reaction, he quickly turned around… and came face-to-face with it.
A branch floating in the air.
“······?”
A very fresh branch, lush with green leaves.
“W-Wow, it really seems the World Tree is very interested in you, Harris. To provide you with such a gift.”
‘A gift?’
Upon closer inspection, he could feel that, much like the branch Cecily had held earlier, this one was imbued with abundant natural energy.
The only difference was that this branch had not borne any fruit from the start.
“A branch given directly by the World Tree is special. Typically, it’s only bestowed upon the individual during significant events like an awakening ceremony…”
And it is said to be processed into weapons or ornaments, performing functions akin to holy artifacts.
Because of this, it seemed that even High Elves couldn’t easily obtain such treasures.
Harris carefully grasped the branch floating in front of him.
As he did, the energy within became even more distinct.
‘So that’s why I couldn’t sense it.’
It felt as if he was embracing nature itself, blending seamlessly with his surroundings.
Given the already high concentration of natural energy surrounding him due to the unconscious state, it was no wonder he hadn’t noticed.
Then a curiosity struck him.
“Then, when you awakened, did you also receive such a branch from the World Tree?”
“Of course. I compressed that energy into a pair of ornaments.”
Looking at his nostalgic expression, Harris felt a moment of discomfort.
He cautiously glanced at the bracelet hanging on his wrist and spoke.
“Please tell me that isn’t this bracelet?”
“Haha, no, it isn’t. I made a ring and used it to propose.”
With that, his burden lifted, but he felt a strange sense of longing.
Yet, on reconsideration, the equipment made from the branch in his hand would surpass this bracelet, so it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“So you did get married.”
“Oh, didn’t I mention it? It’s been quite a while.”
“But you’re not wearing the ring right now···.”
“I gave my ring to my daughter. She will be more help than I ever could at this point.”
As he spoke, Laforey’s face transformed into that of a loving father, gently smiling.
‘…That’s nice to see.’
Seeing him smile happily while thinking of his family made Harris involuntarily grin wryly.
“You’ve worked hard to come all this way, Harris. Seeing you receive recognition from the World Tree right after arriving puts me in a good mood, feeling I’ve accomplished something in the end.”
“End?”
“I’m starting to reach the age where I should retire. This trip to the Ion Continent was my last official schedule.”
Harris stared blankly at his face.
No matter how he looked at it, he appeared to be in his early thirties with smooth skin.
“Ah, though I won’t step down immediately since there’s a shortage of hands, I won’t be leading tasks on the front lines anymore.”
Misunderstanding Harris’s gaze, he suddenly stated something unexpected.
“I’m relieved that a new High Elf was born just in time.”
“Th-That’s good to hear.”
Of course, he wouldn’t directly point that out.
After all, he was also one of the youthful elves.
*
The Enamel Continent, where the Elven Kingdom resides, was less than a fifth of the Ion Continent they had crossed.
However, the Ion Continent was excessively large compared to Auterica; the Enamel Continent wasn’t small either.
Located in the northwestern part was the elves’ homeland, the Elven Kingdom.
‘This feels different from what I imagined.’
Perhaps due to the influence of Earth’s media, when he thought of elves, there was a strong image of forest fairies.
There was a preconceived notion of them being vegetarians living in the treetops among nature.
‘But here, civilization seems quite developed. There are many street performances too.’
Certainly, there were many wooden buildings built in the trees just as initially imagined, but there were equally impressive stone structures built on the ground.
‘To think they’re all following eco-friendly architectural styles is remarkable.’
Upon first stepping into the Elven Kingdom and observing everything along the way, he clearly noticed that this place had uniquely sophisticated buildings.
‘Being the capital, that’s only natural.’
This was, after all, the capital of the Elven Kingdom, “Drasha.”
Surrounding the massive World Tree was a city where forest and civilization intertwined, creating a peculiar exotic atmosphere.
And Harris was currently inside a large structure.
Although it couldn’t compare to the World Tree, it was a building blended with a gigantic tree that was unimaginably large by Earth standards.
Wide stone buildings surrounding the root area blended with wooden structures that climbed up the naturally formed trunk.
This building was like a piece of artwork, a true marvel.
“Harris, right? I heard you came here from the Ion Continent with Cecily. Is that true?”
“They say it’s unlivable there. Cecily was in quite a dangerous situation this time too···.”
“Oh, I heard about that. They said it would’ve been a disaster if Laforey hadn’t gone.”
Nearby, young elves were chattering nonstop.
This was one of the educational institutions of the Elven Kingdom, Drasha Academy.
‘Though they all seem to be older than me, they’re still young according to elven standards.’
They appeared to be anywhere from mid-teens to early twenties, and Drasha Academy was a place where promising young elves who had passed their childhood gathered.
This was where they received education to grow and become the pillars of their country.
Harris found himself truly on the right track to the elite course.
“Ahaha… Yes, yes. That’s right… I was fine. I had good comrades. Yes.”
Although he felt burdened by the excessive attention, he could understand their curiosity perfectly.
After all, a complete outsider had suddenly appeared after crossing the sea from an entirely different continent, so they’d want to ask anything.
Especially now that they were no longer just fellow students.
“I worked as a mercenary. Back then, I didn’t even know how to handle spirits, so I mainly fought using my body…”
It was just after the theoretical lessons had finished, and he was trying to share a suitable anecdote for smoother interpersonal relations when suddenly—
Bang—!
A noise cut through the air, grabbing everyone’s attention.
A woman with blue hair stood up from her seat, slamming her hands on the desk, and despite all eyes drawn to her, she proudly lifted her chin, glaring at them.
“It’s too noisy, and I can’t focus at all. Could you be quiet?”
Her words were directed at everyone around Harris, but her sharp blue gaze was fixated exactly on him.
There was no mistaking that she didn’t look at him kindly.
‘Who is that girl? Why is she looking at me like that?’
Even if she was annoyed because he caused the ruckus, her reaction was a bit excessive.
As he pondered why he’d received such a look from a stranger, she suddenly spoke up.
“Oh, I guess we were too noisy…”
“Um, sorry for being loud.”
“Then, Harris, let’s talk again another time.”
Meanwhile, those clustered around Harris cautiously dispersed to their seats while keeping an eye on the girl.
While it was undoubtedly easier this way, the sudden change in situation left him utterly bewildered.
‘Looks like that girl has significant influence.’
Turning his gaze back to the now chilled atmosphere around, he observed the woman.
Her elegantly styled blue hair, sharp gaze that seemed to rise, and an expression hinting at arrogance beyond mere haughtiness.
‘Hmm, no matter how I look at it, she’s a daughter from a noble family.’
She certainly seemed to be a rather finicky noble girl.
Given that most elves he’d met so far had been kind-hearted individuals, she felt refreshingly different.
After the lessons concluded, she strutted past Harris.
“Hmph—”
When she paused momentarily and looked at him from head to toe, her gaze lingered on the bracelet on his wrist.
But she soon scoffed, turning on her heel, and left the classroom with her companions, taking graceful strides.
‘What was that?’
He felt somewhat dazed as he observed her retreating figure, and soon, discussions about her arose from the surrounding students.
Her name was Shapiron Silvesty.
As expected, she came from a distinguished family.
While elves typically shared no hierarchy among themselves, ancient families carried more weight due to their histories.
Especially a family that played a part in establishing the Elven Kingdom during the great migration to the Enamel Continent.
Yet, among the information he gathered, there was one surprising detail that caught Harris off guard.
‘Wow, this is truly unexpected.’
Because that girl happened to be.
The only daughter of the High Elf, “Laforey Greenwood,” with whom he shared a certain level of friendship.
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