…

The moment when Shin crossed the wooden bridge connecting the center island, where the world tree was located, and the surrounding land of the Maze Forest, he was immediately greeted by an amazing sight of a majestic house that seemed to fuse with the tree.

He stared blankly at it for a couple of moments before following the guide inside. Then, when he entered, what he saw was something completely unexpected. He must admit that he guessed it wrong. It was a massive castle instead of an elven house.

The interior was so big that it was much bigger than the castle that he infiltrated previously along with Diablo. He was wondering how these elves had built such a big and complicated structure within such a short period. There was even a city outside this place almost filling the entire Maze Forest.

It seemed like the city and this tree castle were constructed within an instant. If only building a player city was this easy, then he and Shiella would not have any problems right now.

Shin was busily looking around as the guide led him to a place that looked like a throne room. But the strange thing was there was no one sitting on the throne despite it being situated at the very end of the room and elevated by a platform.

There was a circle of seats around the room, on a platform elevated from the ground. There were also empty seats, but Shin could guess that they were meant for the elders of the elven race.

However, there was no one present in the throne room, which gave Shin an idea of what was going on.

As Shin walked through the aisle of the room, he reached the other end, right below the platform of the throne.

He saw that Ithilien and Owen were currently waiting for him there along with an elderly elf. This elder had a hunchback and seemed to be very old. His body was being supported by a wooden cane that helped him to stand.

The age of this elder elf was exposed by the wrinkles on the corner of his eyes and his forehead. The blond hair that now had a hint of grey was also telling Shin that this elder must have lived for quite a long time.

Shin already knew that this elder must be the Elven Seer that the two were talking about. He was also the one who insisted on summoning Shin to personally thank him for his help.

As Shin observed the elder, the latter was also giving him a scrutinizing gaze. It was as if anything in front of the eyes of this elder would reveal their true selves without being able to hide any of their secrets.

Shin felt rather uncomfortable with that gaze, especially when this gaze was trying to unveil everything about himself.

The elder, on the other hand, seemed to have seen something and nodded his head satisfyingly, especially when he saw the specks of lights revolving around Shin.

He did not care about the mask that Shin was wearing, which indicated that he was an envoy of the Church of the Sun and the Moon. Even though the elves and that church had a close relationship, the Elven Seer was a firm believer in the ‘Mother Tree’ and the ‘Moon Goddess’ alone, so they did not worship any other gods aside from these two.

Regardless, the Elven Seer seemed to find Shin interesting as he saw that there were quite a few Elementals that were very close to him.

He knew that Transcendent Beings had a certain relationship with the Elementals due to the war that occurred during the Repelling Era, but he could see that the relationship between Shin and these Elemental Spirits was quite special. They had a certain bond that should only be present between the elves and the elementals.

“To think that he is this close with the elements, he truly is a special individual,” commented the Elven Seer, surprising Ithilien and Owen, who were standing near him.

These two had interacted with this elder the most due to the events that happened. It could be said that they had a quite close relationship with him. But this was their first time hearing him praise someone.

The moment Shin stood in front of them, he quickly gave the elder a respectful bow before saluting with a unique gesture of the Church of the Sun and Moon.

The Elven Seer chuckled when he saw his actions and waved his hand. “There is no need to be this formal, young envoy. You are one of the saviors of our kingdom, so I should be the one saluting to you.”

The elder seemed to have no plans of beating around the bush as he quickly stated his purpose in summoning Shin. “I want to offer you an invitation to a festival since it is usually the custom of our race whenever we are saved from a great disaster.”

“But as you can see, the kingdom still hasn’t fully recovered from the damage of the Withering. It is very inappropriate for such a festive activity right now, so I must ask for your forgiveness.”

“And I can tell that you are quite a busy young man, so I will be straightforward with you. I want to grant you a special request as a reward for your assistance. I will give you anything as long as we have it and will not affect our race.”

“I can also do anything for you as long as it is within my powers,” he added while giving Shin a deep bow.

Shin was slightly taken aback by the actions of the old elf. He was about to refuse as a form of courtesy, especially when he was only helping his friends with their quest.

But on second thought, it must be a special reward from the system, so it would be a pity if he refused such a tempting offer.

“You must not refuse, young hero. This will not only be a symbol of gratitude from our race and kingdom, but it will also reflect the favor of our Goddess and the Mother Tree,” added the elder before Shin could even refuse.

Shin was now caught in a dilemma as he did not know how to respond. He turned to Ithilien and Owen to the side, asking for their opinion, but the two just shrugged their shoulders as they also did not know what to do.

Shin then tried to think what he currently needed, until he thought of something. He then opened his inventory and took out a core that he acquired just recently.

“Then, can you help me with this?” he asked carefully as he also did not know what to do with this thing.

It was the core that he had gotten from King Yulis after he defeated the humanoid monster recently. It was said to be a material that could be used for the formation of a ‘Sword Heart’, so Shin wondered if the elder could help him with this.

After all, the Sacred Light Kingdom was supposedly the capital of the Apothecary Profession, so he wondered if this Elven Seer had the solution to this problem.

When the Elven Seer raised his head and saw the small globe on Shin’s hand, his eyes suddenly turned wide as a blank look overwhelmed his face. “This-… This is-…”

That was when Shin realized something. This core was something that he had gotten from King Yulis, the previous king of this kingdom, so it was not hard to imagine the reaction of the loyal subject of the king once they saw this core.

The Elven Seer might not know where Shin had gotten this core, but given his abilities, he could at least see through the secrets of this object and discover the ‘soul’ of their previous king inside it.

This ‘soul’ might not be their king, but it still had his fragments and was closely related to him.

Shin realized his mistake. He was about to keep the core back when the elder was finally able to recover himself.

The Elven Seer sighed with deep regret along with a painful expression. “Don’t worry, young envoy. It is not your fault. You must have extracted this core and the tinder within it after you defeated the puppet, who previously was our king.”

“I must say that this can be fate as it now falls in your hands,” he added with a lonely smile. “But I rather let you have it than let those people get their hands on it.”

He then looked at Shin and nodded his head. “I think I know what you want to do with it. But are you sure that this will be your request? I think it will not be enough.”

Shin thought for a moment before shaking his head. He knew that he shouldn’t be too greedy, especially if he wanted to build relationships between this special NPC.

He nodded his head and confirmed that it would be his request. “Please, help me with this.”

The Elven Seer stared at Shin for a few moments before nodding his head. “Then I will do my best to help you produce the best result as possible.”

“But this will take some time, so I suggest you come back and see me after a day or two. I need to prepare a few things and seek help from a few people,” he said and gave a token to Shin. “You can show this to the guards of this place, and they will do their best to help you. They will respect you as much as they respect me, so make sure to hold onto it and not lose it.”

“If you can, please don’t leave the kingdom during this time since I may be able to collect the materials needed and summon everyone people that can help with this.”

When the Elven Seer saw Shin nod his head, he smiled before taking the core with him and left the throne room.

In the meantime, Ithilien and Owen walked over to Shin before giving their reports about the events that occurred during his time out of the game.

After listening for a few moments, he suddenly remembered something and asked. “What about Samael and Huahua? Where are they?”

“Ah! Those two? They seem to enjoy the current atmosphere of the Maze Forest. They accept a few tasks available from every NPC within the city and start running around,” said Ithilien before asking. “Should I call them? I think they will be thrilled to see you since they are quite eager to join the team.”

“Especially that litter girl. She keeps on bothering me about it. She seems to be excited to join us,” she added while giggling. She seemed to be quite fond of the Huahua given her reaction.

Shin thought for a moment before saying. “I am planning to invite Samael. But I have to ask for the opinions of the other members. We can discuss it when we have time. Their situation is quite different from Diablo.”

“How about the traitors? What happened to them and how do you deal with those people?” he asked.

“Ah! Regarding that. The Elven Seer seems to be aware of them. He-…”

*****

Real World

Soaring Continent, Central Region.

David, along with Jerimiah and Vincent, stood in front of a certain temple that seemed to be abandoned for a very long time.

“Where are you taking us now, David? We just come back from that unreasonably hard mission that you have suggested to the academy, now you want us to explore such a haunted place?” complained Jerimiah.

Vincent, on the other hand, did not say anything. It was because, despite the difficulty of the mission that they just finished, the benefits that they had gotten from it were rather good.

Even his stagnant growth seemed to start flowing once again.

“Tell us, David. What do you want to achieve by dragging us to these places?” asked Vincent.

Jerimiah nodded his head as he agreed. “That is right! Do you know how much progress the game is making? We are already left behind by the rest. I heard that the other top dogs are starting to reach Tier 3 now.”

David ignored Jerimiah and looked at Vincent. He stared at the latter for a couple of seconds before sighing helplessly. “I am not sure either. My master’s husband left these missions to me to deal with before he left with his wife and went ‘sightseeing’.”

Stopping his joke there, David shrugged his shoulders and continued. “I may not know the reason behind it, but I can at least trust him on whatever it is.”

“He may look carefree and lazy at times, but everything he does has a certain meaning behind them. I’ve gotten used to it already and just leave it to fate,” he added, earning him an odd look from the two.

David waved his hand. “Whatever! I just know that he must want me to look for something. I don’t know what exactly it is, but I am sure that I will be able to recognize it once I see it.”

“I assure you that we are doing a good deed, so just trust me and help with this. We can go back once everything is over.”

The two watched David enter the abandoned temple and were not sure what to do. They felt that this guy was pretty much unreliable at times. But they also could not deny that everywhere he went had a hidden treasure within them.

They then exchanged glances before sighing helplessly and following the lead of this crazy guy.

Inside the temple, a certain statue suddenly released eerie light from its eyes as if sensing their entry.

……