Ding! Ding!
Thank you, @Keith Lighthill and @Jeremy Grant Ramos, for joining the membership!
I'm truly grateful for your support, it means a lot to me.
Bonus chapter (1/2)
Sorry to inform that I don't have much time today that's why I'll be uploading only 2 Bonus chapter.
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Chapter 65: Queen, You Wouldn't Want...
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God's Domain, Floor 12.
Seito materialized at his previous logout point. This time, he wasn't using his physical body to log in—it was still too early to take unnecessary risks with reality-warping stakes.
He opened his menu, input the coordinates, and initiated the teleport to the 12th Floor.
Whoosh!
When his vision cleared, he found himself standing in a breathtaking new world. If the previous floors were rugged or industrial, Floor 12 was a masterpiece of nature.
The entire floor was a singular, massive biome: the Elf Forest.
The safety zone was a collection of intricate treehouses nestled within gargantuan ancient trees, home to a population of over a hundred thousand Elves. And ruling over this emerald paradise was the Elf Queen.
Seito looked out over the horizon. The forest stretched out like a rolling green ocean. The air was cool and crisp, smelling of pine and damp earth. Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy in golden threads, dappling the flower-strewn forest floor. Birds chirped in harmony with the gentle babble of nearby streams.
"What a spectacular place," Seito murmured, taking a deep breath.
He could swear the air quality here felt leagues better than the lower floors. It was tranquil, beautiful, and felt... "alive."
I've found it. The perfect location for the Harbinger Guild Base.
With that thought in mind, Seito looked toward the center of the forest. Towering above everything else was a tree so large it seemed to pierce the heavens, its leaves shimmering with a soft, bioluminescent green light.
.....
The Tree of Life.
Ding-ding!
His friend list flashed. He opened the message.
[Maple: Seito-kun~! You're finally online! Sally, Ako, and I are at the Elf Queen's palace on Floor 12!]
[Sei: The Elf Queen? What happened?]
He was genuinely curious. Meeting a racial leader this early usually required insane luck—but then again, this was Maple.
[Maple: We picked up a quest this morning with a Gold-grade material as the reward. We just finished it! Hurry over!]
[Sei: On my way.]
He closed the channel and chuckled. He had only been offline for a few hours, and Maple had already stumbled into a Gold-grade material quest. Her luck was truly off the charts.
Seito didn't wait for a formal escort. He kicked off the ground and took flight, soaring toward the upper branches of the Tree of Life. As he reached the entrance of the Queen's chambers, he spotted Sora, Shiro, and Kanade flying in from the other direction.
"Looks like everyone got the memo," Seito noted.
He approached the guards. The Elven sentries were striking—tall, with waist-length golden hair and silver light armor that accentuated their lithe, athletic frames.
"Hello. Our companions are currently with your Queen. We'd like to join them. Could you please announce us?"
"One moment, Traveler," the guard replied. Seito's polite (and handsome) demeanor earned him a bit of immediate favor. She stepped inside and returned less than a minute later. "The Queen invites you in."
.....
Upon entering, the group's attention was instantly seized by the woman sitting at the head of the chamber. She was the embodiment of natural grace—an "Imperial Big Sister" type with skin as pale as jade and golden eyes that radiated both holiness and ancient wisdom.
She wore a gown woven from what looked like starlight and silk, her presence commanding yet gentle. This was the Elf Queen.
"Welcome, Adventurers," she said with a soft, melodic smile.
"Hello." Seito was the first to snap out of it. He walked over to where Maple, Sally, and Ako were sitting and made himself comfortable. "The Queen is even more beautiful than the rumors suggested."
"I thank you for the compliment," the Queen replied gracefully.
Seito looked at her and momentarily thought of a classic "villain" line: 'Queen, you wouldn't want the Princess to get hurt, would you?' but he quickly shook the thought away. Not the right time for that particular trope.
"Seito-kun!" Sally turned to him. "Did you finish the Floor 11 quest while we were away?"
"Yeah," Seito nodded. "I got a Spatial Crystal. I've already crafted my Gold-grade weapon."
"Gold-grade?!" Maple, Sally, and Ako all gasped in unison. Sally and Ako looked on with pure envy, while Maple's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"How strong is the boost?" Maple asked eagerly. She was sitting on a Gold material herself and wanted a benchmark.
"The base stats are more than ten times stronger than Orange-grade," Seito explained. "And that's just the raw numbers. If you factor in the Set Effects, it's in a completely different league."
"Ten times?!" Maple's jaw dropped. "Seito-kun, I've asked the Queen to help me craft my new shield."
Seito looked up at the Elf Queen in surprise. A Queen who is also a Master Smith? Just how high is her crafting level?
The Queen noticed his gaze and explained, "It was a promise I made to Maple as part of her quest reward. I will personally forge one piece of Gold-grade equipment for her."
...
Thank you for reading.