Chapter 141 : Ethernite
Chapter 141: Ethernite
The Elves who had come out beyond the Great Forest were too busy dealing with the surging Monsters.
In particular, facing the Demon Tribe that scattered magic was no easy task, and they could not escape a hard fight.
“Don’t stop, keep shooting! They’ll show an opening too!”
Evendel, known to only a handful even within the Uncharted Area.
Thus, they were Elves who had lived peaceful days.
Perhaps because they had grown accustomed to peace for so long.
Faced with a large-scale assault on Evendel, they did not know how to respond and were reduced to loosing arrows at anything in sight.
Though the Elves possessed vast wisdom accumulated by their ancestors, the difference between stories passed down and reality was great.
With even the experienced Elders absent now, Zariel could only watch the distant Demon Tribe from afar.
“The arrows won’t reach because of the magic!”
“The Monsters’ hides are too tough to pierce!”
His subordinates shouted to Zariel, but there was no suitable solution.
They could only block them somehow.
Zariel knew as well that with the forces here, they could not repel the enemy.
Thoughts he would never have considered under normal circumstances flooded his mind.
“If only the Exile were here, it would have been different…….”
As if responding to Zariel’s mutter, an arrow emitting blue light flew in.
Thud.
It pierced through Stone Armor in a single strike and lodged into the eye of the one behind it.
“You seem to be in trouble, Zariel.”
When he lifted his head, he spotted Brandok drawing his bowstring from a tree branch.
He had never imagined he would feel so glad to see the man he once looked down on.
However, Brandok’s baggage was no ordinary load.
As if evacuating, he carried a bundle large enough to fit a person.
Judging by its uneven surface, it seemed to be filled with stones.
Swish, swish!
Brandok fired three arrows at once and finally burst the Demon Tribe’s head.
The arrows he shot were ordinary, yet their power was not.
It was thanks to the Fighting Spirit he had mastered during his long years with the mercenary band.
After slaughtering even the Monsters nearby, he landed lightly.
Still bearing the massive bundle.
Just as Zariel was about to offer his thanks—
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The World Tree trembled, and specks of light flickered across it.
Piiiiing!
Even the sharp-eyed Elves could not recognize what it was for a while.
Only Brandok, as if having a guess, muttered.
“It seems you granted my request, Robin.”
Pipipip!
Before long, the Elves realized that the lights were arrows.
They were not flashy, but arrows that pierced through anything, mercilessly slaughtering the enemies nearby.
As Brandok hurried to depart, Zariel blocked his path.
“Are you heading to Evendel.”
“Please let me pass.”
“What will you do if I stop you?”
“I will break through.”
Without another word, Zariel stepped aside.
“So your hypothesis was correct after all.”
“That is what I believe.”
“If that is true, you should be hailed as a hero of the clan.”
Brandok headed straight for Evendel.
Carrying a great load of purified Magic Stones.
Three days had passed since Aelin had glimpsed Elicia’s memories.
After displaying archery close to divine authority, she had been bedridden for three days, unable to rise.
Three days was not a long time, but during that period, something unprecedented in history had occurred.
Brandok had made the World Tree absorb the Magic Stones.
“Everyone is here. I will begin the meeting.”
A clan council convened to decide重大 matters of the Elven race.
In addition to the Elders, new faces attended the meeting.
Robin, Sigbard, Aelin, Brandok.
Two outsiders, and even one who had once been exiled. They were faces unimaginable at a clan council.
Aelin had attended occasionally, but for the other three, it was their first time.
“This meeting is to discuss the changes in Mother World Tree and how we shall respond going forward—.”
“Let us skip that and hear from the teacher first.”
At Aelin’s words, the Elder who had been announcing the start of the meeting closed his mouth.
Once it was known that she had inherited Elicia’s memories, Aelin’s treatment changed.
Though Aelin had been born after Elicia became nourishment, she had not inherited her power.
Yet recently she had not only inherited her memories but even repelled the Demon Tribe’s invasion, so it was only natural.
The Elders were not fools; even in their eyes, the archery Aelin displayed was remarkable.
In truth, Elicia’s memories were faint, like a dream, but she did not mention that.
“It is true that Magic Stones imbued with Demonic Energy are dangerous.”
“But Brandok, you scattered those dangerous Magic Stones before Mother.”
Brandok placed a prepared stone on the table.
Robin’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
It was the same kind of stone he had been asked to carry from the cabin to the pond.
A stone tinged with blue light.
‘That’s a Magic Stone?’
One thing came to mind.
The Rainbow Pig at the Oak Tree Inn in Narvik.
The dung the pig excreted after eating Magic Stones looked just like that.
“The Magic Stones that contain Demonic Energy will, given sufficient time, lose that Demonic Energy. And once the Demonic Energy leaves, the Magic Stones transform like this.”
“Ethernite. Are you saying that the mineral used as the primary material for Artifacts is in fact a Magic Stone?”
“That is correct. Magic Stones contain Demonic Energy, but they are also lumps of Ether in themselves.”
‘What is he talking about now.’
Was he saying that the Rainbow Pig’s dung was a lump of Ether?
Robin wondered if he had misheard.
But thinking back, that lump of dung had no foul odor and gave off a refreshing sensation, like that stone.
Of course, he had not gone near it because it was dung…….
“What the World Tree requires is Ether. Until now, Elves became nourishment to sustain the cycle, but if there is sufficient Ether, there is no need for that.”
“So your claim is that what nature needs is nature itself.”
“To be honest, even I was not certain whether it would be safe to have Mother absorb the Magic Stones, even if they were purified. So I asked Robin for a favor. It was half a gamble, but in the end, it succeeded.”
The favor Brandok had asked of Robin was a matter of great significance to the Elven race.
In a sense, it had been an experiment, and after observing the reaction, Brandok had become convinced of its success and headed to Evendel.
“The intermittent drooping and recovery of the branches is likely part of the digestion process.”
“Brandok, your rash attempt gave the Demon Tribe an opening to invade.”
The stone Robin had dropped into the pond had been absorbed by the World Tree.
As a result, a kind of protective barrier that had enveloped Evendel disappeared, and in that gap, the Demon Tribe invaded.
The World Tree soon regained its strength and purified the Demonic Energy, but it was only momentary.
Like a malfunctioning machine flickering on and off, it lost its vigor.
It was then that Aelin hurried to prepare herself to become nourishment.
In the end, they repelled the enemy, but Evendel suffered considerable damage.
Brandok, who had entered Evendel amid the chaos, poured the pile of Magic Stones he had prepared before the World Tree, and his hypothesis was proven correct.
The World Tree was now in far better condition than before.
“I could not stand by and watch Aelin become nourishment.”
“Is that all? It is laughable to even call that an excuse.”
“Aelin is too young to become nourishment. And….”
Brandok glanced at Robin before continuing.
“The Captain of the mercenary band I belonged to was not someone who would simply stand by and watch a comrade die.”
“And what does that have to do with anything? It has nothing to do with what you have done.”
“It means that while interacting with humans, I too became tainted by that foolish affection.”
The Elders still wore expressions of incomprehension.
Robin let out a faint chuckle.
“In reality, you did make Aelin into nourishment, did you not. It ended well, but I was late. If Aelin had died… I would have been deeply heartbroken.”
“This gathering is to clarify the circumstances and determine the punishment you shall receive.”
“No, Teacher did nothing wrong.”
Aelin looked at the Elders one by one.
Those were not the eyes of a pure and naive Elf.
They carried the seasoned composure of one who had lived a long time.
“If nourishment is so necessary, why don’t you throw yourselves in first?”
“Aelin! What are you saying!”
“It’s not as if only the old must lead the clan. Am I wrong?”
The Elders stared at Aelin in stunned silence.
She had never acted so rebelliously before.
“I hear you were struggling against just a few Demon Tribe. Doesn’t that seem strange? The famed archers of the past are gone—when did our clan become so weak?”
“…….”
“Those who truly devoted themselves to the clan became nourishment or died. We of today cannot even compare to the tip of their toes.”
The Elders had no reply.
Having lived long, they knew well how glorious the past prime had been.
If she had received Elicia’s memories, she would know how magnificent that era’s might had been.
And that they themselves were merely mediocre guardians who had failed to make a name then.
“At some point, the Elves went wrong. It is not we who should fear the Demon Tribe—the Demon Tribe should fear us.”
A statement too radical to have come from an Elf who loved peace.
Aelin did not stop there.
“We have hidden in the forest for too long. It is time to go outside.”
“Outside is an unpredictable lawless land filled with dangers on all sides. The human nations are even more dangerous.”
“They were able to grow strong because they took risks.”
Aelin grew momentarily wistful, as if recalling distant memories.
“I will leave Evendel.”
“That cannot be allowed. Do you know what you might say about the clan outside?”
Sensing the debate was about to intensify, Robin raised his hand.
It meant he wished to speak, but no one paid him any attention.
Bang!
When Sigbard struck the table, the meeting chamber fell silent.
Robin cleared his throat.
“Is there enough Ethernite for the World Tree to continue absorbing?”
A question entirely detached from the debate over whether Aelin should leave Evendel.
Yet this matter was important as well.
In place of the Elders, Brandok answered.
“We must observe further, but if anything, Ethernite will be insufficient, not sufficient.”
“Did you not gather Magic Stones throughout the Empire, Brandok?”
‘So the reason he gathered Magic Stones was to save the World Tree.’
Robin had not known there was such a reason behind Brandok’s incomprehensible actions.
The Elf who had concealed his identity had wandered the Empire for the sake of his homeland.
Since it was not a method he himself could guarantee, he likely had not spoken of it rashly.
If things went wrong, he could have been branded a Demon Tribe Worshipper.
Brandok answered Robin’s question.
“Even so, it will take considerable time before they are naturally purified.”
Robin nodded as if he had expected that.
“Elders, you have confirmed that Ethernite is the World Tree’s primary sustenance, correct?”
“Sustenance! Watch your words!”
“Yes… in any case, you are saying there is a shortage of Ethernite. I can solve that problem.”
‘The Rainbow Pig would be pleased too if it could eat its fill.’
Not only the Elders but Aelin and Brandok as well focused on Robin.
“In exchange, I will take Aelin with me. With terms like that, it is worth granting permission, isn’t it?”
Silence engulfed the chamber.
Robin possessed the most urgent solution to the current situation.
The reason Elves were prevented from going outside was because it was advantageous for survival.
However, that too was premised on the World Tree’s protection, and Aelin’s words were not without basis.
“Give us time to think….”
“Of course. In the meantime, we will enjoy a bit more sightseeing in Evendel.”
Robin and Sigbard left the meeting chamber.
After they departed, many more words were exchanged, but it did not take long to reach a conclusion.
They could not break Aelin’s resolve.
Moreover, Brandok added logical justification from the side.
Brandok spoke of having discovered signs of increased activity from the Demon Tribe.
That played a decisive role in turning the Elders’ hearts.
“Sigbard, you seem fine with traveling on the same team as Aelin?”
“Of course. Is Aelin not a fine cook?”
“That is not wrong… but I would like Aelin to serve as our guide.”
“Since she hears well, she would likely be good at sensing danger.”
Walking through the streets of Evendel, now somewhat familiar to them, Robin and Sigbard made plans for what lay ahead.
The day after the clan council ended.
Rumors spread rapidly that Aelin would be leaving Evendel.