The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Haruna confirmed based on the report on fairies from Stain, an adventurer.

“They appear when you drink flower wine made with a special recipe at a place with great scenery. The deeper the scent, the more likely they are to come bearing gifts for the honest and reputable players.”

Weed returned with Vishur and Knatul to a small lake near Morata and drank flower wine.

One, two, three glasses.

They fished and sewed while drinking and soon they noticed a peculiar sound.

Buzz-buzz.

“You there. That is some fine drink.”

Malin of the fairies arrived like a fly.

“The revenge that will not subside with time. Kaybern is on the move.”

“I will gladly fight.”

He too decided to join the Half-elf Vishur.

< Find companions of war complete. >

Barbarian Knatul.

Fairy knight Malin.

Upon a historical promise, they joined the fight against Black Dragon Kaybern.

Human, Half-elf, Barbarian, Fairy knight.

The heroes of four nations shall share the same fate.

< The quest rewards +4 to all stats. >

< Reputation increased by 10,000. >

The quest was finally complete!

It was rather simple but it was a quest that could only be accomplished with specific information.

The four heroes gathered to defeat the dragon.

Fairy knight Malin enveloped himself with a mystical light and spoke.

“To confront the dragon, we have to stop its magic.”

Barbarian Knatul continued.

“Is that possible?”

“There are several methods. If you consume secret potion that can only be forged at the Fairy Lake, you can reduce the amount of magic damage you take.”

“We must scavenge them.”

“I know the recipe. But the Fairy Lake is overtaken by the demons. We must gather the materials and head to the lake.”

Blink!

< The secret potion of Sabrina Lake.

The curious fairies created many arcane items.

One boasted of above all was the potion that granted resistance against magic!

With it, the player can withstand the most powerful magic spells.

The recipe requires 32 different materials.

Barny’s Red Medicinal Herb, Stone of Alaksium, Moss of the Green Skull, Coral of Turtle Island, Crescent Moon of Kundan, White Fox Tail, Snail Shell of Nemo…

Find all these ingredients and chase out the demons from the Fairy Lake.

Malin will craft the secret potion.

Difficulty: Crafting quest.

Reward: Secret Potion of Magic Resistance.

Quest requirement: Enter the fairy world. Must be guided by a fairy knight. >

Weed sent a whisper message instantly.

“Mapan-nim, how many of these can you find?”

- Mapan: Coral of Turtle Island? I can get this with pirates and divers. I heard the snail shell is extremely rare… I have one or two in stock. Hold on. I will ask if there’s more.

Mapan being a merchant was knowledgeable about countless ingredients.

- Mapan: Moss of the Green Skull can be found in infected corpses. Bahabam dungeon. They are found in that location only on days with the thickest fog. Many of these items only drop once every month. I expect it will take about 3 months to find the other ingredients.

“What if we purchase them from other players?”

- Mapan: I wonder if the Hermes Guild has any of them in stock. Anyhow, items like the Crescent Moon of Kundan aren’t well known, and other items drop at a drastically low rate even in boss monster raids. I can even see ones without a known origin.

“So we can’t collect them all in a week’s time.”

- Mapan: 3 months would be enough to search the entire continent thoroughly. The assault squad can provide assistance as well.

Weed regrettably assessed that the Savior quest had to be put on hold.

‘The squad will be a great help, but I guess I will have to do without them.’

Even if they collected all the ingredients, they still had to take over the lake from the demons.

From this point on, he decided to prioritize the battle against Kaybern over the Savior quest.

***

The Earth Shadow party succeeded in transporting the World Tree to the Central Continent.

“Thank you, Pale-nim.”

“It’s nothing. It had to be done.”

The squad led by Pale protected them from the skies.

Huge mobs of monsters swarmed the party at times, but Weed insisted.

- Weed: Please succeed with this quest.

It was highly possible that Kaybern was linked to the Elven race quest.

That being said, even if the elven warriors joined forces, it would be difficult to assemble them on time at Morata.

Still, if the World Tree was to root properly and bring more elves into the world, the benefits would be massive.

Prospering forests and increased yield of delicious fruits alone was already a jackpot!

Elrix was to plant the World Tree again and that was at one of the forbidden locations, in proximity of the Aberian Forest.

The border of Tulen and Rasal!

Elrix dug deep into the ground with a shovel.

“I will plant it now.”

“Hold on. I don’t know if it’s necessary, but it might do some good for the tree.”

Ben poured the special fertilizer that he bought from the merchants.

“I put in plenty.”

The sapling of the World Tree was planted.

It was quiet for a few seconds, but soon the tree branches began climbing to the sky.

The rich branches spread wide and the roots pushed deeply underground.

The nearby scenery transformed accordingly.

The dry grass turned green and flowers bloomed.

The soft winds carried fresh aromas.

Red, white, evergreen.

Flowers of various colors and trees if many kinds flourished in the forest.

“Woah!”

“What in the world…”

“I feel like I’m witnessing a season’s change all at once.”

The Earth Shadow party and the assault squad members enjoyed the luxury of the earth’s gift. The flowers wilted and the leaves fell, but soon bloomed again and formed thick forests.

< The World Tree Restored complete.

The World Tree has returned to its home.

The elves, protectors of the forest will regain their lost powers.

The ancient elven magic is unlocked. Affinity with spirits and fairies is heightened, allowing summoning of the spirit king and the fairy king.

New job classes: Forest Kin, Forest Hunter, World Tree Warrior, Keeper of the Forest can be obtained.

The influence of the World Tree’s growth effect will expand the forest territory rapidly.

All elves receive the blessing of the World Tree and have heightened abilities in the forests.

Vision improved by 100%.

Movement speed increased by 30%.

Maximum health points increased by 50%.

Plant and Earth magic spells are enhanced.

The elves will gain more advanced ability effects depending on the growth stage of the World Tree. >

The Aberian forest underwent a transformation as well.

Vicious monsters thrived in Aberian Forest.

The green aura of the World Tree covered the trees and branched out endlessly to the forest.

The ash-colored grass revived and the trees bore new branches, adding to the abundance of the forest.

Herbivores began sprawling and the high elves thought to have disappeared returned.

They scavenged the tree branches on the ground and built shabby huts.

The high elf village was being established.

This was the power of the World Tree that purified Aberian Forest, one of the 10 forbidden locations!

If the World Tree grew and returned to its prime, the elves could take its branches and roots and spread the forest to anywhere in the world.

The prosperity of the forest meant that everyone knew that the elves would bring a total resurrection of their own civilization.

- I’m going to make an elf account right now.

- Elves are the way to go.

- Those who have played as elves until now won the lottery.

- The elves have so many advantages even now… Now the World Tree?

The viewers were talkative.

The World Tree had been returned home, but the quest was still unfinished.

- More earth essence is required to erect forests. The monsters must be cleared.

The World Tree assigned a quest to eradicate monsters in the region with the high elves.

The assault squad members accepted the quest, but there was one more task.

The World Tree spoke to the Earth Shadow party.

- You must meet with Dragon Ratuas.

Silver Ring was astonished.

“The Blue Dragon?”

- Yes. You must retrieve an item and deliver my message.

Elrix sighed secretly.

“Hey all. You’re all going to accept this, right?”

The quest related to the dragon. The hardships involved were obvious, but knowing his comrades, they had no reason to turn it down.

“Of course.”

“I’m doing this for sure.”

Elrix was the same. One disappointment, if there were any, would be that he could miss the war against Kaybern at Morata.

***

Weed resided at Morata since the day he stopped the Savior quest.

Hunting and leading the dwarves were important, but he had to plan for the war.

‘I need to consider as many scenarios as I can. The dragon has to be lured into a position favourable to us.’

The worst case was the dragon refusing to descend to the ground.

If it were to spam breaths and magic attacks from above, just who could win against it?

‘There’s no solution. Aerial fight is a guaranteed loss. If that happens, everyone needs to retreat. The only fighting chance we have is on the ground.’

Kaybern had to be dragged down somehow.

The Hermes Guild too sent contingents to assist in the construction of defensive camps.

Arkhim made a proposal while examining the map of Morata.

“Magic corps have to be stationed in several locations within the city.”

“Would magic attacks work against a dragon with high magic resistance?”

“The damage will mostly be mitigated… But there are many other spells that mages can use. They can assist warriors with flight or acceleration spells. We have many mages in the guild that are willing to fight.”

The Hermes Guild’s mages, summoners, and spirit callers were assigned a building as their residence.

Gaushu, Hyler, Calcus, Gross, Crebulta and the others who excelled in Garnav Plains; the ex-commanders arrived with forces under their direct command.

Weed’s request for the Hermes Guild was 10,000 troops willing to use the Brazier of Sacrifice, but far more guild members were making preparations.

“Is there a reason for us to go this far?”

“I was also surprised to see this many volunteers.”

Arkhim smiled bitterly.

“They wished for the achievement for the dragon hunt. The mages could raise their soul level.”

“Soul level?”

“If one becomes an advanced mage, their high magic power unlocks the link to the soul. It is said that their magic level could increase and their incantations could be realized faster…”

“So, in order to raise the soul level, they have to hunt powerful monsters.”

“That’s correct. Normal monsters don’t grant it. For a mage, the dragon is the ultimate offering. If a dragon dies nearby, they could even absorb a portion of its mana.”

The job class expected to be the most powerful when Royal Road was just released was the mage!

When there was a lack of information among players, absurd rumors about mages such as being capable of blasting an entire mountain with a single spell spread out to the community and it was rare to find someone who was not hyped up.

Correspondingly, mages were difficult at lower levels but packed boastful attacks.

The fact that magic spells were hard to learn and that mage equipment was expensive were both relieved by the indomitable destructive force of the job class.

Presently, the mages weren’t all that popular, but the mage corp of the Hermes Guild was undoubtedly the best in the continent.

“Anyway, it will be a great asset for the Hermes Guild to step up like this.”

“Thank you for addressing it.”

Arkhim and the other ex-commanders appeared before the citizens of Morata and made a public apology.

They acknowledged that they were responsible for the rise of Kaybern and that they will do everything in their power to stop the dragon.

It was an inevitable course of action given that the Hermes Guild wanted to be active even in the Central and Northern continents.

Weed did not take their apology to heart.

‘What is the point of making a grave mistake and apologizing for it later?’

Once a villain, always a villain.

Even so, if they had any worth to them, he had to exploit them. Statistically, there would always be too much scum to count in the world.

“I am reassured that the Hermes Guild is on our side.”

“Ha-ha. Let us move on from the past.”

Weed and Arkhim exchanged eye contact and grinned.

‘The idiots who tried to cut off my living…’

‘The Hermes Guild’s greatest enemy!’