Ranker's Return

Chapter 817

The talks ended with significant results and Hyeonu led Yeongchan to the elf great tribe chief, Nile.

“Nile, thank you for your help,”Hyeonu started the conversation with light thanks.

"What help? You have helped me and I’m just giving you a reasonable reward.” Nile shook his hand.

“Right, let me introduce you to this friend. He is a friend who wants to be an elf. Unlike that guy over there, he is leading a small force.”

Hyeonu brought Yeongchan to stand in front of Nile.

“Really? He doesn’t look bad.” Nile carefully examined Yeongchan’s face. There was no unpleasant aura flowing from his eyes.

“He is a good friend like a fool. The worst thing he can do is sell out a friend. That’s about it. He can’t do anything else.” Hyeonu cleverly packaged Yeongchan. He didn’t say clearly whether Yeongchan was good or not.

“He must be reliable if you introduced him. Do you really want to be an elf? Even though it might not be as good as the orcs?” Nile listened to Hyeonu’s words and asked Yeongchan a question.

“It is fine. I’m not expecting an advantage. I’m not the best right now, but I’m good enough not to be beaten anywhere I go.”

Yeongchan shook his head. To be honest, he would be lying if he said he never expected to become stronger by becoming an elf. However, he was more interested in the other side of it.

“Then I’m glad.”

“So I can be an elf right away?”Yeongchan asked Nile with a bright expression. It seemed that it was possible to change species without any special quests.

“Right away… it seems hard. Elves aren’t like orcs. I should still ask the bare minimum of you.”

Nile shook his head. Yeongchan’s wish was impossible. It wasn’t because he didn’t like Yeongchan or anything. It was just inevitable because the present day elves didn’t have a species god. More than a certain amount of power was required to change Yeongchan’s species. However, it wasn’t at a level that Nile couldn’t handle.

That was it.

“I understand. Please tell me what to do.”

Yeongchan never lost his smile. It was because Nile was saying that he was literally asking for the minimum. There was no need to be disappointed.

“Follow me.” Nile rose from his seat and moved at Yeongchan’s confident answer.

Yeongchan followed after Nile. Hyeonu and Teika followed suit.

Nile left the center of Viper and headed into a quiet forest.

“I think we’re going to the temple…”Teika muttered slightly as he walked after Yeongchan and Nile.

“A temple? Is the species changed at the temple?”Hyeonu, who was walking next to Teika, heard Teika’s murmur and asked.

“Yes, I changed species at the orc temple,”Teika resolved Hyeonu’s curiosity.

“Teika, you changed immediately, right? It is without anything else?”

“Yes, I immediately turned into an orc.”

Hyeonu nodded. It was natural. In the first place, time was too tight for Teika to fulfill any conditions. There was also another reason.

‘According to Teika, Raccoon is the orc’s species god, while the rest of them have no species god.’

Hyeonu knew how important a species god was.

The demons and god tribe—the reason they got ahead of the other species was the preemption of the species god.

“However, I think this one will take a long time… Teika, how about you go to the north with me?”Hyeonu suggested that Teika join the northern war.

“It doesn’t matter to me, but what about Argon? The two of us…”

“In any case, he can’t come. Teika, don’t you know what a monster Raccoon is? He is a god. In order for others to imitate even one of Raccoon’s hand gestures… how much would it cost?”

Hyeonu already roughly predicted the situation. It was clear that Argon/Yeongchan would never succeed in changing species as quickly as Teika.

“That is possible. Then I think it would be okay for us to go first. It is because there are a lot of people saying the situation in the north isn’t as good as we thought.”

Teika agreed with Hyeonu’s words. No matter what conditions Nile put forward, it was unlikely to end in a day or two. It wouldn’t be easy nor difficult. There seemed to be such a level of requirement.

“Come in.” Then Nile stopped in front of a huge tree. At the same time, the tree was split vertically and an entrance was created.

‘It is strange.’

Hyeonu’s eyes widened at the entrance. Then he went inside the tree at the same pace as the other two.

“This is the temple of the elves. It has been around for a long time.”

Nile introduced the interior with an expression full of pride.

‘It is amazing.’

Hyeonu admired the shape of the interior, where the tree trunks were woven together to form all types of shapes. However, that was it.

‘There are many splendid or mysterious buildings besides this place.’

Hyeonu wasn’t interested in this temple. There would be no reason to come here if it wasn’t for Yeongchan. It was a fact that wouldn’t change in the future.

Nile entered the interior of the shrine and reached for the ceiling, which rose so high that the end wasn’t in sight. Hyeonu’s eyes shone again when he saw it. Light reappeared in the eyes that were losing their vitality, like dead mackerel.

‘A tree trunk?’

A thick tree trunk quickly descended from the ceiling toward Nile’s hand. It was a strange sight. At the end of the trunk were small branches. Nile broke off a branch. The branch looked quite thin when attached to the trunk, but it was quite thick when lifted in Nile’s hands.

“It is a branch of the world tree. It can hold all types of energy. Gather energy here. Anything is good.”

Nile held out a tree branch to Yeongchan.

Yeongchan accepted the branch. Then a quest window was created in front of his eyes.

[A quest has been created.]

[Become an Elf]

[You who want to be an elf. Show your sincerity to become an elf.

Rating: S

Conditions: Gather energy 0/1, deliver the branch to Nile 0/1.

Rewards: Experience points, species conversion to elf.]

“How will I know that I have gathered the energy, Nile?”Yeongchan quickly looked at the quest window before asking Nile.

‘Why is it so vague?’

Gather energy on the branch. It was as Nile said and only this much was written. There was no exact information.

“Once you gather energy, leaves will bloom on the branch. Bring it back once one blooms,”Nile explained while pointing to the branch of the world tree.

“Then what exactly is the energy?Hyeonu asked this time. It was about the vague existence of energy.

“It is literally what I said. It can be magic power. It can also be the energy that comes from killing a monster. It will come out too when killing adventurers.”

Hyeonu’s mind spun after hearing Nile’s explanation. The conditions were more generous than he expected.

‘Teika heard that only experience is possible…’

The magic power of a player. There was also experience and the experience that could be obtained through PvP.

‘Hmm… Won’t it be too difficult for Yeongchan alone?’

Come to think of it, there weren’t many monsters that Yeongchan could hunt near the League of Different Species. There were still very few known hunting grounds within the League of Different Species. The people who just created a character couldn’t get out of the starting point and the only other hunting ground was Anfra Forest.

‘Are there any restrictions on the leaves?’

“Nile, how many leaves can bloom on the branch?”Hyeonu asked another question. It was an important question this time. The plan would change depending on Nile’s answer.

“Up to 99 can bloom. After that, the leaves will turn into flowers.”

Nile reached out his fingers toward the air. Then colorful flowers started to bloom in the air.

“But… making the flowers bloom is not an easy task. Don’t be arrogant and come back to me if a leaf blooms.”

Nile shook his head. An adventurer like Yeongchan could be made into an elf if even a single leaf appeared.

“Then can you turn 100 humans into elves if a flower blooms?”Hyeonu asked another question. This was also an important question.

“Only for you.” Nile nodded in response. To be precise, it was possible because Hyeonu was here. It was a request that would never be granted if there was no connection with Hyeonu.

“By the way… can you only seal energy from the monsters you have killed, or is it possible to seal energy from the monsters killed by other people too?”Hyeonu wondered with a curious expression.

“It is possible, but… do you really need to find such a situation? You are better off just killing monsters or the same adventurers…”Nile cocked his head and answered. It wasn’t impossible, but it wasn’t that efficient. It was much better to move by themselves than to covet the things of other people.

“It is possible? If so, that’s fine. We’ll be gathering it in an amazing way soon.”

The smile that appeared on Hyeonu’s face deepened.

‘I need to insert a straw in the northern war.’

It would help Yeongchan as well as Hyeonu’s streaming.

“It is easy if several people work together, Yeongchan. Let’s take a spoonful out of the bowls of other guilds,”Hyeonu approached Yeongchan and whispered.

“That’s good.”

A smile similar to the one on Hyeonu’s face appeared on Yeongchan’s face.

***

It was difficult to enter the League of Different Species but it took only a moment to get out. It was enough to take out a return scroll from the inventory and tear it.

‘If reinforcements are called… I have to save some face, even if there are no rewards.’

It wasn’t a quest so he wouldn’t be able to receive any other rewards. Even so, he still had to go.

“Your Majesty, can I come in?”

The place where Hyeonu came to after leaving the League of Different Species was the imperial palace.

“Come in.” The emperor still had a voice full of boredom today.

“I greet Your Majesty.” Hyeonu didn’t care as he approached the emperor’s throne and bowed his head.

“Are you feeling uncomfortable these days?” Hyeonu raised his head and asked the emperor.

“Uncomfortable… It is uncomfortable. They come many times in one day and make a scene as if the empire is going to collapse. I need to be able to rest.” The emperor continued speaking without erasing his uncomfortable tone. “So Marquis, have you come up with the right solution?”

The boredom in the emperor’s eyes disappeared and anticipation started to creep in little by little. Hyeonu felt burdened by the emperor’s eyes but he opened his mouth with a calm expression. It was because he didn’t just come with words but also brought results.

“I have brought a method worthy of being offered to the nobles who are disturbing Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

“The different species will help us deal with the undead in the north. I have already instigated a large number of adventurers to lead them to the battlefield. This battle will be very different from the previous ones.

“What about the marquis?” The emperor, who was smiling at Hyeonu’s words, asked a sharp question.

“I will be involved as well. The empire is in danger. How can I refuse as a noble?”

“Okay, if this war ends well… I will reward you for it.”

The emperor burst out laughing.

At the same time, Hyeonu also laughed. It was due to the message window that appeared in front of Hyeonu.