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Chapter 104: Spinora

“Follow me,” said the emissary.

Crockta and his friends did as the emissary requested.

The guard who had been guiding the group called out, “Don’t worry. We will take care of the karuks.”

“Thank you,” replied Crockta.

Crockta and his friends exited the building and saw a carriage with karuks prepared for their transportation. They got on the carriage, and the karuks took off. The emissary didn’t say a single word.

Crockta tried to initiate conversation and asked, “Why did you call us over?”

The emissary sitting across from Crockta looked up.

He had a strange look in his eyes as he said, “Zelkyan will explain.”

Crockta looked at the emissary’s forehead again, but he was no longer able to see the symbol.

The emissary resumed his silence, and Crockta decided to look outside at Spinora’s scenery. The downtown area didn’t look like a city where war was imminent. He was reminded of Arnin; merchants were buying and selling goods, lovers were walking down the street affectionately, and children were running around in groups.

Nevertheless, his thoughts completely changed once the carriage went past the downtown area and went deeper into Spinora. Crockta saw armed dark elves training in military tactics. A seemingly endless stream of arrows flew toward targets on the training ground, and dark elves with shields and swords practiced their defenses. There were also those engaging in martial arts like gladiators in an arena. It was like a scene one might see in a military base.

“They are unlike other dark elves we have seen up to this point,” commented Tiyo.

As he said, the dark elves in training were at a higher combat level than the members of the garrison. All of them were solemnly dedicating themselves to training with stiff expressions. These were the faces of those who knew they were going to be thrown into a life-and-death struggle soon.

Meanwhile, the emissary was still silent. Crockta glanced at the emissary, and they accidentally made eye contact. The emissary looked at Crockta with his characteristic solemn expression, but Crockta refused to look away.

“Who is the strongest enemy you have faced up to this point?” asked the emissary all of a sudden.

Crockta tilted his head in thought and carefully chose his answer. He had experienced countless battles, but it wasn’t easy to choose the strongest enemy. It would have been a sound answer to cite Xantimur, but he wasn’t an enemy. If he had to choose an enemy that he had fought against with his life on the line, it would be...

“Behemoth,” replied Crockta.

The fight against the Behemoth had been a desperate struggle. He had fallen to the brink of death so many times throughout that battle. If the demon inside the belt hadn’t swallowed the unidentifiable corpse, then the Behemoth would have endlessly regenerated and crushed him.

“The Behemoth...” the emissary murmured and nodded in understanding as if he knew the beast.

“Do you know of it?” asked Crockta.

“I do.”

“How...?”

Crockta wanted to know how the emissary knew about the monster protecting the boundary, but the emissary didn’t reply and instead changed the topic.

“The enemy we will fight is much stronger than him,” said the emissary.

“...!”

“May we have luck on our side in the upcoming war.”

The emissary fell silent again.

There was only one enemy they had to fight going forward—the orc chieftain, Calmahart. Crockta had heard about him. Calmahart was said to be a monster with a stature so large that he looked like he was a different species compared to regular orcs. Each time he swung his axe, he slashed dozens of enemies apart, and with each roar, the ears of enemies went numb. He was like an insanely powerful mutant orc that had never existed before.

However, the emissary said the chieftain was stronger than the Behemoth, which meant Calmahart was even more powerful than Crockta expected. Crockta fiddled with his Ogre Slayer while he was lost in his thoughts.

***

“We have arrived,” announced the emissary.

They could see the World Tree outside the carriage window. It looked rock solid as if it was wrapped in armor, but the occasional translucent leaf that fell to the ground scattered a faint light.

“It’s beautiful,” said Anor in an entranced voice.

The karuks came to a stop at their destination, and their passengers got off.

The roots of the World Tree, firmly planted in the ground, were in plain view. Crockta and his friends saw a cave-like entrance in between the roots.

“Over there,” the emissary pointed.

They were about to enter the World Tree. Crockta, Tiyo, and Anor went in after the emissary. It was unexpectedly bright inside the cave-like entrance area.

Crockta looked around. He was unable to detect a specific light source, but the interior was bright as if someone had turned a lightbulb on. Crockta placed the tips of his fingers on the wall. It felt like rough tree bark.

He then noticed a faint light seeping out from the wall and realized that the World Tree was lighting up its interior by emitting a faint light.

“Hmm...”

As Crockta expected, the World Tree was a mysterious tree.

After walking for a bit, they encountered guards standing in their way. The guards immediately moved aside when they saw the emissary. However, they paused for a moment as their gazes scanned Crockta and his friends.

“You may enter.”

The guards ultimately opened the door without performing any identification procedures and revealed the inside of the World Tree.

“I can’t believe it...” muttered Tiyo.

“Wow...” Anor gasped.

The inside of the World Tree surprisingly resembled the insides of an office building. There was a huge lobby with beautifully decorated stairs in the center that led to the upper areas of the tree. The lobby itself was filled with doors hanging down from above, leading to various places.

The dark elves passing by bowed when they saw Crockta’s group. Branches of the tree spread down the walls and cast their translucent green leaves everywhere.

“How did you do this?” asked Crockta.

It was impossible to create such a sight even in the modern world.

“We didn’t do this,” replied the emissary with a smile.

It was Crockta’s first time seeing such an expression from him.

The emissary continued, “The World Tree has made it like this for us. We are just temporarily staying here.”

He went on to explain that the World Tree had created the interior according to its will rather than the dark elves creating it artificially.

Upon hearing that, Crockta’s heart thumped from sheer excitement. Elder Lord was such an astonishing place.

“Zelkyan is upstairs. Let’s go,” said the emissary.

They headed up the spiral staircase, and the scenery shifted with each step. They continued admiring the scenery until the stairs came to an abrupt end. There were no more steps for them to climb, and there wasn’t a floor like downstairs. The stairs had come to an end in midair. A black sky soared overhead as if there was nothing above.

“This is...?” asked Tiyo.

He was afraid of heights and tried to stay at the center of the staircase as much as possible.

“Please wait,” replied the emissary.

Anor tilted his head curiously, not sure what the emissary meant. Nevertheless, they all quickly came to an understanding.

“Ah...”

A large branch, with twigs and leaves hanging off it, drifted down toward the end of the staircase. It was a branch that was flat and wide enough for multiple people to stand on.

The branch appeared to nod, greeting them like a living creature would. Then, it settled down at the edge of the staircase. The emissary casually walked onto it as if nothing unusual was going on.

Crockta and his friend stepped onto the branch in succession. After that, the branch rose gradually.

“How amazing...” Tiyo muttered.

Crockta wondered about the kind of abilities the World Tree had, considering it could do such an amazing thing.

After rising for a while, the branch suddenly stopped, and Crockta, Tiyo, and Anor noticed a passage that led outside. The branch headed in that direction and stopped by the passageway.

Crockta and his friends then followed the emissary outside the World Tree. They were at a loss for words when they looked outside.

“Wow...”

“Oh, my god...”

“Ohh...”

The World Tree and everything below the horizon spread out in front of their eyes. They saw plains and mountain ranges in the distance. There were also small valleys, animals treading the earth, and Spinora and its elves... The world’s scenery looked like a miniature world to them.

The blazing sunset cast a long shadow over every contour of the earth, making it feel like all of the creatures of the world were looking at the sunset by their side. It was a beautiful view that one couldn’t envision until they saw it.

Suddenly, a voice said, “Welcome.”

Crockta and his friends sought out the source of the voice, but it was hard for them to move because they were on top of a branch. Nevertheless, Crockta lowered his posture and carefully looked around to make sure he wouldn’t fall.

Meanwhile, Tiyo silently grabbed a hold of Crockta’s sleeve. He was definitely suffering from acrophobia.

Crockta looked around for a bit, but he failed to find the voice’s owner.

Right then, someone shouted, “Over here!”

The voice was coming from below them.

Crockta glanced down below the branch and was at a loss for words again.

“What is... that?” muttered Tiyo.

A dark elf was climbing up the World Tree. He cracked the surface of the World Tree with the small pickaxe in his hand and then used the pickaxe to get a feel of the tree bark. Once his foothold was steady, he swung the pickaxe again as he climbed up another step. Another crack appeared on the surface of the World Tree each time he struck it forcefully.

“...”

The dark elf carefully climbed up the World Tree and arrived near the branch Crockta’s group was standing on. He struggled his way up the branch and then flopped down on it while covered in sweat. The emissary had his eyes closed with a reserved look on his face as if he was used to all this.

“I’m Zelkyan! I’m the leader of the dark elves who guide all dark elves according to the will of the World Tree!” exclaimed Zelkyan as he jumped up after wiping the sweat off his face.

Crockta and his friends were at a loss for words. They had expected the leader of dark elves to be more like a dark elf than anyone else. In their imagination, he was a man with a slender physique, a wise look in his eyes, and a calm demeanor.

However, this dark elf was massive. Even Ladet, who was brawny for a dark elf, was nothing compared to Zelkyan. Although he wasn’t as large as Crockta, Zelkyan had a strong body that was rippled with muscles like a horse. Moreover, he was a dark elf who enjoyed climbing as a hobby and had indulged in it while damaging the World Tree!

“Climbing is the best exercise. I get an adrenaline rush every time,” said Zelkyan.

Zelkyan took their shocked expressions as awe and puffed his chest out proudly. “I’m a true climber who has climbed to the top of the World Tree.”

“...Aren’t you damaging the World Tree?” asked Crockta.

“No, no, the World Tree isn’t that petty. As long as it has water and sunlight, it can heal its own wounds—ouch!”

One of the World Tree’s branches had descended and smacked Zelkyan’s head.

“...”

It was a bizarre sight. The World Tree seemed to be grumbling at Zelkyan while caressing the spot where it had hit. Then it shook like it was getting ready to strike Zelkyan’s head again.

Zelkyan moved away in fright, crying out, “S-Stop! You are so violent!”

The branch trembled near Zelkyan’s head and then slithered back to where it came from.

The World Tree didn’t say anything, but Crockta felt like he could hear it shout, ‘Oh, what should I do with this guy?!’

“Anyway, welcome to Spinora! Crockta! I really wanted to see you!” Zelkyan greeted.

He approached Crockta and hugged him. Crockta was forced to endure the smell of sweat coming from Zelkyan.

Zelkyan remarked, “Wow, look at this muscle. Aaall this muscle. Craaazy. Hey, Zenadu, come over here and touch this. Hey, Zenadu.”

While hugging Crockta, Zelkyan groped Crockta’s muscles. He even called over the emissary to feel Crockta’s muscles too.

Zelkyan continued to fuss over Crockta’s muscles, “Crockta, do you work out a lot? How many kilos can you lift? Do you eat chicken breast after exercising? Did you use any enlargement spells to get this?”

“...”

“Is it just genetics? Ah, I probably won’t be able to become this big even if I work out a lot. My calves won’t get bigger no matter how much I work out,” continued Zelkyan.

Zenadu silently approached Zelkyan and dragged him away from Crockta.

“Zelkyan, isn’t there a reason you called them to Spinora?” Zenadu reminded Zelkyan.

“Ah, yes.”

Zelkyan’s gaze turned serious.

‘He’s about to finally get down to business,’ thought Crockta.

Crockta, Tiyo, and Anor straightened their backs. It was time to get serious. They had been enjoying a brief break, but the Great Northern War was imminent.

“Crockta,” said Zelkyan.

“Please speak.”

Zelkyan hesitated and then asked, “Do you think it’s cheating to enhance your body with spells?”

A branch of the World Tree suddenly appeared and smacked the back of Zelkyan’s head.

“Ah, I was just joking,” Zelkyan muttered. He scratched his head and then looked at Crockta, Tiyo, and Anor. “Crockta, Tiyo, and Anor. I heard a lot about you. You came from the continent and are probably the ones who opened up the north. I can tell you are heroes from all the work you did fighting against the chiefdom in the north.”

Crockta nodded. Zelkyan wrapped his arm around Crockta’s shoulders.

“You guys are really strong, but... you need to become even stronger to fight against the chiefdom and win,” stated Zelkyan.

“Are they that strong?” asked Crockta.

“You can’t win against the chieftain with just strength,” replied Zelkyan.

The World Tree stirred next to him, and Zelkyan looked at it. They seemed to be communicating without words. Zelkyan nodded.

“Crockta, the World Tree asked me to tell you something,” Zelkyan said with a serious expression.

However, before relaying the World Tree’s message, Zelkyan paused for a second and gave the World Tree a look as if he was saying something to it. The World Tree waved the tip of its branch, urging him to continue.

“Whew... Yes, it can’t be helped during these times. Understood. It can’t be helped.” Zelkyan scratched his head with a bitter look on his face and then pointed at the World Tree. “This guy said...”

Then he pointed at Crockta’s crew with his other hand. “You, become my disciples!”