Getting back home was calm and uneventful everyone was excited to finally get home and relax a bit,I decided that we would skip mornings training and take a rest instead the girls were awake throughout the night so I wanted to have them refill their stamina for todays hunting I also needed to prepare some food the moment we got home the girls were gluttons eating every 6 hours.
But while on the walk something sudden occurred.
-Lord sorron there is something walking through the woods 30 steps to the right…
Hobusaku quickly informed making me stop on my tracks…the others also noticed my sudden stop and formed a formation around me their weapons draw they quickly reassessed the situation ready for battle it was quick and efficient the result of their training and fighting in short…
This kind of situation wasn’t unexpected,but I assumed that since the sun was rising some of the beasts would go away,but at the same time i guessed that not everything would just leave from its shadows and it wasn’t really dangerous since everyone was here beating us would be very hard and 1 opponent wasn’t even a lunch meal.
-Lord sorron there are 8 Individuals they seem humanoid…
Okay,maybe not 1 and when she mentioned humanoid it made me perplexed for a bit…were those some kind of humanoid beasts ?
Feeling a bit threatened I told everyone to retreat a few steps and let hobusaku spy on them for a bit I also deployed the slimes in our base and asked the surveillance slimes if anything seemed to be wrong which was negative…
While most of us were standing still waiting for the report or the enemy to approach hobusaku finally got to a decent spot and was able to spy on them I used my transmission link to see who it was and noticed..
-The dark elves ? oh right…
Shaking my head a bit I realized that these people weren’t my enemies at all they were people who I wanted to trade with the dark elf village…looking at them you could see 8 individuals standing still at their position waiting for something probably me on top of that they were standing at a very inconvenient where the surveillance smiles weren’t able to catch at them seeing that it wasn’t really a enemy I told everyone to calm down for a bit and reminded them about the exchange I made with the dark elves.Hearing this everyone understood,but didn’t calm down and instead got a little more tenser then before still sheeting their weapons we all started to walk towards where the dark elves were located our footsteps stomping and clearing through the forest pulling the attention of the dark elves as they evenly got tense on our approach some of them keeping a hold on their sheeted weapons ready to draw if needed their demeanor was calm and collected their faces were also different from before with one familiar face which was Cheryth of course,she stood in the middle of this 8 man group and had a pretty bright smile plastered on her face slightly decreasing my anxiousness,but not doing the same to the female hobgoblins who were showing a face of outright hostility,but not voice it as we stood in front of this dark elf group.
Our line up and formation was imposing and a bit scary so to say to my left stood hobura to my right hoboku while to my front was hobusaku they were pretty much guarding me like a diamond also holding onto the handles of their weapons ready to draw..
-…
Like this we all stood still and just stared at each other awkwardly…this was pretty intense and our entrances were no short of dramatic it wasn’t as if we were about to brawl it out right here I only wanted to exchange why did it have to look as if we were about murder everyone !
I swallowed feeling that it was about to go into the wrong direction I quickly thought of the words to say I smiled stupidly and asked…
-How were the fruits did you like them ?
-…
My question was answered with a round of silence,but I could see a middle aged uncle standing behind Cheryth crack up a smile all of a sudden I didn’t expect that since he looked to be the most experienced and intimidating person in this group he even wore some kind of special armor which looked to be leather,but at the same time not his weapon was also something that looked like a steel sword,but was a bit different with small white stripes here and there…
That person in particular looked at me and when he heard my question for some reason he couldn’t help,but crack up and start laughing hearing him laugh without a stop was understandable making me laugh too for some reason.
The others seeing this were completely confused and made a strange faces the elves were looking at the uncle while I was being stared at by the female hobgoblins with raised eyebrows.
-Hahahaaha you…you really got me good youngster getting here and looking like a ready army about to fight us to the tooth with that question too…haha
Smiling I also replied my language changing into that of a dark elf.
-Its not our fault we were actually just going hunting and just came back stumbling upon your group it wasn’t intentional for us to look like this either !
The uncle and I had a pretty good laugh at this our little act had everyone calm down a lot their since it looked comical making some of the people here present also crack their own smile.
And like so we finished our awkward little encounter after that the uncle started talking in a more official manner serious though and through,but still holding an amused expression I also told the female hobgoblins to step back for a bit I wanted to meet this person face to face hobura right out object which hoboku did too hobusaku also didn’t like the idea obviously so I quickly bargained it and just let them come with me with a 1 meter space between us behind me the uncle seeing this didn’t mind since he could see the threats that were coming his way through the eyes of the female hobgoblins…he couldn’t help,but shiver too which I understood and felt sorry for.
Now sitting on a boulder both of us were facing each other and looking into one another’s eyes our people were right behind us for support.
Smiling the uncle moved his hand towards me for a handshake this movement made hobura flinch for a moment,but she immediately held back seeing that it was something no-threatening.
-Well let me introduce myself my name is Vulgan Aelasar I am village chief of the dark elf village you know about you also may know my daughter who you had saved previously which I want to thank you for youngster…
Smiling I shook his hand giving him my own name.
-Sorron,I don’t have a surname and you don’t have to thank me it was a matter of course
-Humble I see and quiet smart too…not many are able to learn or understand our language,but speak it as if it is your native which is impressive and intriguing
He said raising his eyebrow while looking at me curiously…I couldn’t say anything from that and just scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
Seeing this the uncle vulgan got back to business in hand he raised his hand for a moment to gesture to someone who immediately stepped forward giving him a rosy shaped star fruit which was shining faintly…I knew what it was the moment I saw it,it was the Divine fruit that I gave for exchange with this village something I grew using the unique skill.
Looking at the item this meeting was about he started talking again.
-This fruit is something you had offered our village in exchange of other items or information you may need Cheryth had told us about this and at first many village elders said that it was ludicrous and idiotic to accept this offer since we grew and collected our own everyday,but…
His eyes now showed a very cunning light the amusement was gone replaced by sheer seriousness and sharpness.
-Once the elders had a taste of this fruit in particular…they immediately accepted the offer so did after personally tasting it,our village appraisers even showed that the quality of this fruit was divine something that was never seen to this world now over 100 years ago it seemed god given at first,but also puzzling since the person who had provided these fruits was someone who lived in the middle of the forest with his own people which we had never met before…obviously it seemed very suspicious at first and many believed that the fruits were frauds and not the real thing,but because the amount was so small only the decisive members of our community could have a bite knowing for themselves that it was in fact the real thing…
With that said vulgan broke the fruit into 2 and let the sweet juice inside of it drip onto the ground and as it did so something miraculous happened as the dirt which the juice was dripping on started to grow rapidly producing a lot of grass and growing it in high speed visible to human or lord eyes so to say.
Cheryth and the others who were standing by were a bit regretful for the waste of the divine fruit,but also very amazed by it at the same time seeing the accelerated growth rate of the ground.
I was also a bit astound since I didn’t know it had such an effect I never tried this before since I believed that it was just a fruit and if consumed it wouldn’t amount to much anything other then its effect..this made me think of why it was doing something like this and why vulgan was showing this to me…seeing enough I faced vulgan again looking him into his eyes as he continued.
-The insides of these fruits have highly concentrated pure energy inside that have large amounts of vitality in them it makes you think of where this vitality actually comes from and how it would possibly be able to grow since fruits and vegetables the moment they are taken away from their roots lose their nutrition supply slowly starting to decay,but this fruit doesn’t decay which is miraculous and shows that it has so much energy inside that it can supply itself for a very long time…
Saying this he stopped for a moment looking down towards the ground staring into the newly grown patch of grass he had a very unsure look on his face and finally finished what he wanted to say.
-But it worries me it is unknown to me where this power is coming from at the same time the offer is very tempting and I would have most likely agreed if I didn’t have this thought so forgive me I can’t agree to your exchange..
Hearing this I was slightly disappointed for a bit looking down and also staring into the patch of grass…I his words were true and very reasonable he thought of his people and didn’t want unwanted trouble because of a mistake his line of thought was worthy of that of a village chief I wondered why calar never talked about her father as the village chief…was it because she didn’t think of him as such ?
Vulgan who was sitting on the boulder was regretful he slowly stood up and muttered to his people to go back,but before he left I called out,I couldn’t let this go it was a chance I wanted to grasp.
-How about I show you and you judge for yourself if you should agree to my exchange…
Vulagn quickly stopped in his tracks his face reflecting a intrigued look as he turned towards me staring into my eyes and trying to see if I was deceiving him…but there was no deception which made him slightly perplexed,but thoughtful too,in the end I added another condition though.
-But I want you to promise me that you won’t have anyone ever know about this and if you agree this condition will take effect with the agreement how about it ?
Vulgan thought for a few seconds conflicted on what to do and slightly pressure by his own peers who were staring holes at him finally giving in and nodding his.
-I swear on my name and on the name of village that I will keep this promise
-Very well follow me…we need a secluded place everyone else stay here…
These words were a bit risky,but vulgan agreeded either way and I also told the female hobgoblins to shut in place hobura was the most who objected and wanted to go with me either way worried about me if anything would happen she even grabbed me and locked me into her embrace until hoboku and hobusaku were finally able to subdue the objecting hobura…both hoboku and hobusaku understood that I needed to do this and that my mind wouldn’t be shaken they were also confident in their abilities and most importantly in me to be able to handle this which I thanked them for silent before leading the way towards the other part of the forest vulgan following behind staring at me with his dark brown eyes he was trying to figure out what I was about to do not really drawing his weapon or thinking of anything wicked,but still taking caution since he didn’t know me well.
-Your people are quiet protective about you they are all woman too which is probably a lot of work for you seeing how they act of course..
I laughed hearing his comment and said.
-You have no idea they eat more then 3 average men combined making cooking for them pretty challenging sometimes…I am just glad that they aren’t picky eaters…
-haha
Vulgan cracked up as we walked inside the forest he was puzzled with my action and saw that my eyes were swirling around searching for something and when he finally wanted to ask I found what I was searching for making him stop talking as he watched me do my work.
Standing still I looked at the dead tree in front of me it was pretty dark and dry looking small too shrinking a bit because of its dead state this tree was going to be gifted a new life which I was going to bestow to it as I placed my hand onto its rough bark.
Honestly saying I didn’t really want to tell anyone about this skill since it had such a amazing effect being able produce divine fruits and vegetables or plants of that sort was something I expected to be very valuable if anyone knew I was capable of doing something like this many greedy eyes would turn towards me which I was sure about and the reason I decided to show it to vulgan was to seal the deal and also make him promise that he wouldn’t let anyone know about this the reason I trusted his promise was because I could guess that he was truly a honorable man who only thought about his people and tried to do the right thing go against his words would be the same as going against his village his home town which he couldn’t disgrace this kind of commitment was rare in people and if I would have seen the slightest bit of wickedness in his eyes I would have probably not even told him about this,but I didn’t which is lucky to me.
With those thoughts I activated the skill <Blessing Of Hegemone> immediately on the spot green particles started to gather around my hand and quickly moving towards the dead tree encircling it and showering it with its green light the both of the dead tree started to show greener once again growing up the shaft and sprouting branches which started as green little points the growth was exceptional and fast finishing only after 10 seconds fully awakening the dead tree and showing its prime beauty to the world once again..
-This…this is…what ?!
Vulgan had been staring at this show the whole time not sure what he seen after I finished her immediately stepped forward and touched the newly awakened tree to see if it was real after inspecting it for about a minute or two he couldn’t believe what he was seeing more the once muttering that he may as well be dreaming,but finally getting to his sense’s he looked at me cracking up a light laugh he gave me his hand for another handshake.
-My daughter told me about you when she returned it was the only topic she talked about when she came home telling people stories that had never been heard before she became a little celebrity among kids telling those stories and most importantly about you…she said that you could grow these things,but no one really believed in that since <Nature Magic> in particular was rare and only twice every 10 years or so this kind of miracle was also impossible for <Nature Magic> since it could only affect temporary growth rate and movement not real permanent effects like these,but now I believe and I would honored if a person like you would start making deals with our humble little town and as promised I won’t tell anyone about your secret on my honor it was…
Smiling I knew that what he said was 100% true he wouldn’t cheat anyone with his word which made me think that I made the right decision with my starter partners as I shook his hand.
A Place Of Legends 