Vincent turned around towards the voice.
It was the High Elder, Vaelorion.
Seeing the High Elder's approval, the masked guardian nodded and left—so silently that Vincent was once again stunned by how quietly elves could move.
Vincent respectfully bowed, "High Elder, Vaelorion."
The High Elder shook his hand, "Don't. Others might not know, but we're almost equal. You don't have to bow to me."
"Moreover, bowing down is acceptable only towards the High elves and royal bloodline."
"I'm neither of them. I am just someone who managed to live long enough and experience some success in the Spiritual Ascension path."
Vincent was surprised about that new part of elven culture.
Someone as powerful as High Elder, Vaelorion is not considered respectful enough to receive a bow? This was very unexpected knowledge.
Vincent couldn't help but wonder about the difference between High elves and royal bloodline. Furthermore, the Spiritual Ascension path that every elf practice.
But he thought that it might not be the right time to satisfy his curiosity as there was an important matter to discuss.
Vincent decided not to involve himself with the Red Maple tree, at least for now.
"High Elder, I have something to talk about with you."
Seeing Vincent's serious eyes, he spoke, "Please, follow me."
Vincent nodded.
Contrary to Vincent's expectations, the both of them soon arrived at the living settlement where many elves lived instead of an isolated place solely for High Elder's living.
Seeing the High Elder, Vaelorion, some elves that were outside greeted him with a friendly smile and the Vaelorion replied in a similar way.
'Looks like it was true that elves bow only to two groups of elves.'
Shortly after, the two of them arrived at a common-looking home made within a wide, dead tree.
"Please, enter."
With High Elder's gesture, Vincent entered first.
The house was built almost in the same style as Mireth's. Barely zero furniture, yet everything is made with great care.
After Vincent entered, the High Elder followed.
"Please, sit and don't worry. No one will disturb us as elves highly value each other's privacy."
Vincent nodded and took a seat at the round table. The High Elder took a seat on the opposite side.
Without wasting time, Vincent brought his backpack and took something out of it. It was wrapped in bandages.
The High Elder's expression was unchanged, yet when he looked at this mysterious object, he couldn't help but start to feel odd inside.
Holding it in his hand, Vincent slowly pushed it towards the elder.
Vaelorion took it without asking, but didn't yet begin to unravel it.
Feeling it in his hand, he briefly looked at Vincent before his eyes shifted back towards the given object.
He started to remove the bandages.
After finally unraveling the object, the elder couldn't help but study the wooden object.
Seeing nothing unusual beyond a well-polished wooden stick, he decided to insert his soul force into it.
A dense transparent fire began to burn within his eyes. This action was clearly visible to Vincent.
The moment the elder's soul force touched the stick, he became shocked, speechless.
The High Elder remained silent as he stared at the wooden stick for a long time.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than before.
"Do you know what this is?"
Vincent replied honestly, "No idea."
"Then where did you get it? No. How did it even come into your possession?" His eyes began to radiate a strange intensity which made Vincent slightly shiver.
"Someone asked me to bring it here. I didn't know what it was nor that an elvish community was built here."
"..." The elder calmed himself. He decided to reveal his assumption.
"Young Vincent. What you just brought is not just a wooden stick."
"If I'm not mistaken, it is part of a dead sacred tree. Furthermore, from a much older one than our Red Maple."
Vincent finally understood the significance of this object. He can't help but recall the Red Maple's mysterious ability.
"What does it mean?" he asked.
"I don't know which sacred tree it belongs to as my soul force cannot even come close to it, so I can't figure it out."
"The fact that I cannot even evaluate this stuff with my soul force, indicates that the tree it once was part of, reached such an old age that I'm simply… not worthy to know it."
"..." Vincent was silent.
"Now tell me about who gave you this mission. Do you know that person's name and where it is?"
Vincent took a deep breath, "He's… dead. And about his name, it's Eirathorion."
The High Elder nodded and tried to remember anyone with that name. It was definitely an elvish name.
He doesn't remember anyone he knew with that name. Then, he decided to check names of High Elves that he knew within his memory. There weren't many.
Yet, he didn't find a connection with any of them.
Then, he decided to check the Royal bloodline.
There were only a handful of them:
The Immortal Spiritual King, Maeltharion
The Immortal Sacred Queen, Saraphaen
The Holy Princess of the White Forest, Valmora
The Holy Prince of the Ruined Forest, Ithilorn
The Holy Princess of the Dead Forest, Zhaelys
and…
At this moment, the High Elder's eyes widened. His body froze in shock as he recalled the last name of the ancient Royal bloodline known.
"The Holy Prince of the Poisoned Forest… Eirathorion."
"I've heard that he disappeared around 400 years ago. Who would have thought…"
He then quickly took the wooden stick.
'There's only one Sacred Tree tied to that prince.'
"I think I now know why he asked you to bring it to us. The Poisoned Forest, Dark Oak. This is where The Holy Prince, Eirathorion, settled his entire life."
"He lived and cultivated his spirit with the assistance of the Sacred Dark Oak for almost several millennia until someone, somehow invaded the forest and managed to plant an ancient curse into the Sacred Dark Oak, giving the forest its current name."
He tightly held the stick, "This artifact…. It is neither a stick nor a simple piece of wood."
"It's a root."
"This root might be the key to finally resurrect the Sacred Dark Oak."
"If that actually happens, our elven race will once again gain access to this Ancient Sacred Tree, leading to a major moment in our history."
"But I never expected that someone as powerful as the Holy Prince, Eirathorion, had died."
"Who had poisoned the Sacred Tree is still a mystery."
"But it should be expected since if the Sacred Tree dies, so will every elf that made a spiritual connection with it."
"Still, if he had immediately left the forest to find the Immortal Spiritual King, Maeltharion, or
The Immortal Sacred Queen, Saraphaen, with their help he might have a chance to remove the curse from himself despite the death of the Sacred Tree he bonds with, though losing his royal bloodline in the process."
"But him leaving the Sacred Dark Oak to death, not to save himself, but rather to escape with its root, would mean the hope of resurrecting the Sacred Dark Oak Tree wasn't gone."
"He had cultivated with this Sacred Tree for so long that their lives bonded together."
"If one of them dies, the other will follow."
"I assume that he made a crucial decision to sacrifice most of his Spiritual Ascension cultivation to forcibly preserve one of its roots that were yet to be touched by the poison."
Vaelorion trembled. Tears appeared in the corners of his eyes.
"This news needs to be immediately delivered to the Royal bloodline members! If they all gather together and head toward Poisoned Forest… Nah. It might be a trap. It's better to select an isolated forest and plant the root there. If all royal members assist the root with its growth, our race might have a new Sacred Dark Oak."
The High Elder, Vaelorion, was trembling in anticipation and great grief.
Losing a member of the Royal bloodline will lead to huge consequences and will immensely affect the elven race as each time an elf born with Royal blood within them, it means that this elf can reach the last, Grand Phase in Spiritual Ascension path.
'If our enemies find it out… another holy war might descend on race and who knows if we will be able to survive this time.'
Taking a deep breath, he finally looked at Vincent who had a curious face as he gladly absorbed this new information.