Chương 20: The Ancient Ones Await

The elven village was every hippie's wet dream come to life. Somehow the elves had managed to grow trees in such a way that they formed the very walls and ceilings of their houses, making every single one of the hundreds of houses Vin could make out a living work of art. Some houses were short and stout, decorated with sprawling root systems while others were thin and stretched up into the forest canopy, allowing plenty of room for their people without having to expand the borders of their village very far.

New village discovered! 400 exp gained. Vin briefly wondered why his experience gained for discovering the elven village was higher than what he'd received for the stone village, but his attention was pulled elsewhere as the residents of the village quickly noticed their arrival. Immediately, a handful of elves ran over and took the unconscious elf from Smohl and Puwen, rushing him away to what Vin could only assume was some sort of hospital.

Two more ran over to assist Shia, but she waved them off, clutching Vin's arm all the tighter and causing some wide eyes when the helpers realized she was being supported by a human. The hunting party's clear injuries, combined with their missing members, caused a small stir to spread through the village. But that was nothing compared to their reaction to him. News of Vin's arrival spread like wildfire, and he'd barely taken a few dozen steps into the village before a small crowd had formed around them.

Staring at the hundreds of sets of pointed teeth, Vin finally understood what the last french fry in a fast food bag must feel like. To his surprise however, most of the elves were looking at him with curiosity or shock rather than anger, as though they'd never seen a human before and were wondering what he was doing here. Though there were certainly a few that looked at him with undisguised hatred or fury, and Smohl must have noticed as he raised his voice for all to hear over the low murmuring.

"The outsider is being taken to the Ancient Ones!" He announced, his words echoing throughout the village. Immediately, as if he were Moses parting the Red Sea, the hundreds of elves making up the crowd split aside in an instant, opening a path for them to travel deeper into the village. Even the elves with clear disdain for him stepped out of the way, their loyalty and belief in the Ancient Ones seeming to trump their hatred for humans.

"These Ancient Ones must be something special," he muttered, eyeing the many faces within the crowd as they walked through. His comment had been meant for Alka, but Shia, still clinging to his arm, must have heard him as she gave him a questioning look. Realizing his polyglot passive would have made it sound like he'd been moaning under his breath as he spoke in ghost-ese, he cleared his throat and repeated himself, in the elven tongue this time.

"That's putting it lightly," Shia chuckled, waving lazily at a few other elves in the crowd openly staring at Vin with something far too close to hunger for his liking.

"The Ancient Ones have been our sworn protectors for millennia now. Without them, the Sacred Forest would have been overrun centuries ago. They keep us safe, so it's no wonder the people act the way they do. I'm actually one of the few elves who view them merely as powerful protectors. Most of these people before you venerate them as living Gods." The village was dense enough that it took them a couple of minutes to reach the center, and Vin could only stare in awe at what he found.

It had been hidden by the numerous trees at first, but there was no hiding this natural monument for long. Standing tall and proud in the center of the village was a monstrous conglomeration of different trees. Hundreds of unique trees had somehow been woven, spun, and grafted together to form one single, gigantic tree reaching far into the canopy. The tree had to be at least a hundred feet wide, and Vin couldn't even begin to imagine how tall it was. He'd once visited the Washington Monument in D. C.

and the living structure standing before him put that to shame.

"Even if I don't see them as Gods, I do have to admit their house is pretty impressive," Shia said, chuckling at Vin's expression.

"We call it the Tree of Ancients. For pretty obvious reasons." Vin managed to pull his eyes from the upper reaches of the Tree of Ancients, and he finally noticed the dozen elves surrounding the tree's roots; each one holding a gnarled staff in their hands. Each stood tall, their many staffs planted on the ground and glowing a strong, green light as they bowed their heads in what could have been either meditation or prayer.

From this distance, Vin was just able to sense the mana flow going from the elves directly into the ground, before the roots sucked it all up like a bone-dry sponge. He supposed that answered his question as to how such a gigantic plant received the nutrients it needed to survive.

"Gods and magic," he whispered as he took in yet another miraculous sight that he never would have experienced back on Earth. Every time he stumbled onto something like this he thanked both his past self for choosing the Explorer class, and the System for making all this possible. Smohl seemed not only content to give him a few minutes to bask in the glory of their sacred tree, but even a bit satisfied, as though despite his dislike of humans he was proud to show off his village and all its glory.

Eventually however, they had to continue moving. Before Vin knew it, he was standing at the base of the Tree of Ancients, staring up in awe at the towering structure. This close he was better able to make out where one species of tree ended and another began, but unlike the grown houses they'd passed, there were no hollows in this tree acting as natural windows. It was one unified, glorious work of art.

While the crowd had let them pass without incident, the mass of elves had followed the hunting party as they walked, even picking up more people along the way. A quick glance back showed Vin what had to be at least a few thousand elves gathered behind them, packed into every possible opening and even climbing on top of the nearby tree houses. Clearing his throat, Smohl spoke to the Tree of Ancients.

"Oh Ancient Ones! A wandering Explorer has entered our Sacred Forest. Despite our initial hostility, he saved our party by slaying an attacking Trunkback, and has asked for an audience with you!"

'I don't recall us ever actually asking for an audience with their tree God, you know. They kinda just decided all that themselves.'

"Shush!" Vin hissed, not wanting to miss whatever was about to happen. He was glad he'd kept his eyes locked on the tree, because only moments after Smohl had finished speaking a small portion of bark at the bottom of the tree began wavering like a disrupted mirage, before a man stepped directly out of the shimmering wood. While humanoid, the man was clearly far from human. His skin was brown and grainy, like the bark of an old oak tree stretched into a human form.

His clothes were similar to the woven, interlocking leaves that the elves wore, except for the fact that his seemed to be growing out of his own bark-like skin. The whites of his eyes were instead a soft green, and the pupils a rich, deep brown that focused first on Smohl, before shifting to land on Vin.

The being that could only be an Ancient One smiled, and Vin let out a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he'd been holding when the being's teeth were revealed to be similar to his own rather than pointed like the elves. After taking in the strange man, Vin's eyes widened at the System notifications that popped up. New magical beast discovered! 500 exp gained. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. New sentient race discovered! 6, 000 exp gained.

Level up! Explorer lvl 8. +3 Attribute points to spend. +1 Skill point to spend.

"Hello, young human," the Ancient One said, his voice rich and deep for having such a thin frame, as if he were actually three times his size.

"Welcome to the Sacred Forest." As Vin quickly dismissed his latest notification, he was startled by a flurry of movement all around him. Every single elf, regardless of age, gender, or any other discernible feature like the length of their braids, suddenly had their faces pressed against the ground, bowing in reverence toward the Ancient One. Even Shia, for all her talk about not seeing the Ancient Ones as Gods, had her face pressed against the soil.

Seeing the panic in Vin's face, the Ancient One let out a soft chuckle, which sounded more like branches shaking in the wind than actual laughter.

"Fear not, my young human. I don't expect you to bow. For centuries, my people have tried to get the elves to view us less as deities and more as partners, but alas, they refuse." As he spoke, the Ancient One gazed upon the bowing elves with a clear expression of love, like an elderly man watching a group of his grandchildren playing in his garden.

"Do not worry. Once we have left they will loosen up and go about their day." With the wave of his hand, the bark of the giant tree rippled once more, and Vin found himself staring at a dark wooden door suddenly inset within the tree as though it had always been there.

"Please. After you." The Ancient One said, opening the door and motioning for Vin to head in first.

"Thank you," Vin said, carefully stepping past the bowing elves and approaching the Ancient One. He certainly wasn't about to not venture into the gigantic magic tree when invited in after all. Hoping he was concealing his manic grin of excitement, Vin stepped through the door and found himself standing inside a small but cozy sitting room. Not surprisingly, seeing as he was inside a giant tree, the walls, floor, ceiling, and pretty much every other aspect of the room was made of wood.

What was interesting however, was how much variety and creativity the Ancient Ones had managed despite that. The floor was a rich, brown lacquered wood, while the walls were more like the inside of a log cabin made from different types of tree. There was a small table growing out of the floor with two chairs that seemed to be made from small trees, their branches woven together to form the backrest.

There even seemed to be some sort of kitchen attached to the side of the room with an assortment of cabinets, though Vin couldn't even begin to guess what might be inside them.

"Please, have a seat," the Ancient One said, gesturing for Vin to take one of the two chairs.

"Care for a drink? Tea? Coffee? If it can be grown, I can provide it for you."

"Oh, tea would be great, thank you!" Vin said, surprised by both how comfortable the living chair was and the Ancient One's hospitality. Silence stretched across the room for a few minutes as the Ancient One prepared tea for them both. Vin was more than happy to simply look around the room, getting an inside view of the humongous tree and marveling at how magic had been used to create such a wonder.

Finally, the Ancient One joined him at the table, taking the seat across from him and placing two wooden cups filled with steaming tea in front of them.

"We don't have milk or sugar unfortunately, but let me know if you would like any honey."

"Uh, this should be fine. Thank you," Vin said, taking a tentative sip of the tea. It was the strangest blend of earl grey and herbal tea that he'd ever experienced, but it was tasty enough and gave him something to do besides gawk at the strange man in front of him. Unfortunately for him, the Ancient One seemed content to wait as long as it took for Vin to finish sipping his tea, simply continuing to smile at him like a kindly old grandfather watching his favorite grandson.

Eventually, Vin had to pause, and he sighed as he put down his cup. He waited a few more seconds, but when the Ancient One made no move to speak, he decided to get the ball rolling.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"By all means, please go ahead," the Ancient One said, continuing to smile.

"I can't quite understand the mixed signals I'm getting from you and the elves about humans. When I first ran into Smohl and his party, there was an argument about whether to kill me or to sacrifice me to you. When we entered town, most of the elves looked at me more like I was an object of curiosity rather than something to be feared or hated. And you seem to have nothing against humans either. Well, that or you're just giving me a nice last meal before the sacrifice or whatever."

The Ancient One nodded along with his points, not speaking until Vin had finished.

"None of that was a question you know."

'Oh great, he's doing the 'wise and annoying elder' trope. I hate those kinds of people.' Vin rolled his eyes, silently agreeing with Alka on this one.

"Then I suppose I'll officially ask. Why the strange, mixed reaction toward humans?" The Ancient One leaned back in his chair, and Vin was surprised to realize the sounds of groaning wood were coming from his body rather than the furniture.

"The history of the Sacred Forest stretches back countless generations, and I doubt you wish to spend the next few weeks here learning all of it. The short version is that the surrounding kingdoms, primarily made up of humans, orcs, and elemental-kin, disliked not being able to take what they wanted from the Sacred Forest, and they tried more times than you can imagine to invade. As a result, the elven warriors have fought against humans for as long as they can remember.

That is bound to breed resentment, even if it is unwarranted."

"So you don't share their anger?"

"My people live long, long lives," the Ancient One said, chuckling.

"While I admit the majority of other races I have encountered over the years have been of the raiding and pillaging sort, I have met my fair share of friendly, helpful humans who were just as awestruck by our way of life as you are. I've been watching you since you set foot in the Sacred Forest, and allow me to give you my official thanks for saving some of my young charges from that rampaging monster." The Ancient One stood up, his body creaking as he gave Vin a shallow bow.

"Oh, of course, no need for that!" Vin stammered, deciding to drink deeply from his cup to hide his face heating up. Nobody had ever bowed to him before, and the first person to do so was some sort of ancient half-God? What a weird day. Sitting back down, the Ancient One took a sip from his own cup, letting out a sigh that sounded like wind whistling through leaves.

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I'm afraid I must throw etiquette to the wayside for a moment, if that is alright."

"Sure…" Vin said, trying to move his hand slightly closer to his sword hilt without the Ancient One noticing. Clearly he wasn't as sneaky as he'd hoped, as the Ancient One simply chuckled, shaking his head.

"Oh no, you have nothing to fear. I simply have something of a large request I would like to make of you, and I'm afraid asking such after you have already done so much for my people would be considered rude, don't you think?"

"Eh, I was never really one for politeness," Vin shrugged, trying not to let the relief show on his face. If the Ancient One decided he did want to turn him into fertilizer, there wasn't a whole lot he'd be able to do about it after all.

"What's the request?"

"Before we get to the request, there's something you should know." The Ancient One finally lost his smile, his expression turning serious for the first time.

"This bit of knowledge, however, is currently a secret from the elves. I would have to ask you for your word that you won't share with them what I'm about to tell you." Vin wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he swore the entire room seemed to shrink slightly, pressing in on them just a little bit more as the Ancient One waited for his answer. Gulping, he hurriedly nodded.

"Of course! Your secret is safe with me!" In an instant, the Ancient One's smile returned, and Vin breathed easier as the room seemed to return to normal, no longer feeling like it was going to collapse in on itself and crush him into paste at any second.

"Excellent! I appreciate your candor. This particular piece of information would cause nothing but worry and fear for the elves, and I'd like to prevent that for as long as possible."

"I totally understand," Vin said, wondering what on Earth the ancient being sitting before him could possibly want to share with him, and how he could possibly help. Was there some super powerful monster approaching the forest? Were they running out of food? Some sort of magical virus decimating their people? Shaking his head, he pulled himself back to the here and now.

"So, what's the bad news?"

"Well you see…" The Ancient One took another sip of his tea, sighing in enjoyment of the rich flavor and giving Vin an almost apologetic smile.

"All the other Ancient Ones are dead. And I'll soon be joining them."