149 Life Tree
A huge number of elves gathered inside the palace’s hall. The queen was there, as well as all the generals of the army.
Only a few humans were inside. Wisa, Jane, Myria, Lilia, Theo, Kai, Mohe, and Bill. Arthur asked the queen so that they could be present, and she obviously agreed to it.
It was the day of the king’s ceremony. An event that happened one time in a century to see if someone was worthy of being the Elven king or queen.
Merethyl told Arthur that one king who ruled had a daughter, and after he died, she was the only one worthy to be the next ruler of the kingdom, and then the king was from an outside family, just like Merethyl.
The only problem was that in thousands of years there was no man or woman worthy to rule the kingdom, so Merethyl stayed in command, as she was the strongest elf that was still alive.
She hoped that this time would be different, and that Arthur would truly be accepted by the Life Tree and become the next ruler of these lands.
“Thank you, everyone, for getting together this very day, for this tradition that has been with us since the beginning of times,”
“The Life Tree is above us all, and today, hopefully, it will choose a ruler once again,”
“Akhur, please, step forward.”
Arthur walked in towards Merethyl, who was beside a small tree planted in a pot.
“This is the seedling of the Life Tree. Touch it, and if you are worthy, then you’ll transported to a new realm where all the last kings went.”
The people present did not believe Arthur would be the chosen one. Of course, they acknowledged his power, and were thankful after all he did in the last fight. But there was no one capable of pleasing the Life Tree for ages.
They had lost their hopes of finding someone to bring back the glory of the elves. It did not happen in thousands of years. Why would it be now?
Even Arthur did not know if he would be the chosen. Now that there were all these people looking at him, he felt nervous.
“What if I fail now in front of all those people?” pᴀɴᴅᴀ ɴ(O)ᴠᴇl
The thing Arthur was counting on was his dragon blood. Not only it was from a mythical creature, but the blood of the lord of dragons itself.
He strolled towards the small tree and touched it with his right hand.
Time seemed to have stopped, and everyone nervously watched Arthur touch the tree. Deep down, they wished something would happen, and that they would finally have someone to rely on.
1…
2…
3…
Three seconds passed, and nothing happened. When everyone was ready to give up, Arthur vanished from their sights, entering inside the mysterious realm of the Life Tree.
~~~~
p、a,nd a-n、o、ve,L A plain that seemed to have no end, with a river in the middle. The river was not blue, as it should be, but had multiple colors, just like a rainbow.
There was a rainbow in the sky too, but that rainbow had thunders coming out of it that would hit the ground from time to time, destroying a piece of the land.
At first glance, there wasn’t a single life inside of that place, as well as no buildings, and not even trees.
Well, there was a tree, gigantic. Arthur could see it from afar, just like he could see the sun.
Was the tree the same size as the sun? No, that shouldn’t be possible, but after walking towards it for who knows how much time, it did not change. The tree still felt far, far away in a place where Arthur could not touch.
“What is this place?”
Arthur still could not believe it. The tree resonated with him, and send him to that place. How could a small seedling send someone to another dimension? That was something extraordinary.
He did not know what he was supposed to do inside of that place. Merethyl told him she researched all the kings and queens who went to that place, and found out that the insides of that realm differ from whoever was inside of it.
It meant that there was no way for Arthur to know what to expect. The realm would adjust to him and be random.
The only clue he had was the immense tree on the horizon, so he kept following it. Arthur flew for so long he ran out of mana, and walked for so long that his feet hurt, and he wanted to just lay down on the ground and relax..
Still, nothing changed. The tree was far away.
“This isn’t right. Following it blindly will not do. Think Arthur, think.”
“That’s it, my blood!”
Arthur could enter that realm because of his dragon blood, so he used his dragon transformation, expecting to turn into a half-dragon, as he wasn’t at a high level to become a true one.
But, contrary to his expectations, he turned into an enormous black dragon. He was as big as Slyvian, and could devour the entire city if he wished to.
The feeling of turning into an unstoppable force was something Arthur enjoyed. He flapped his huge wings and flew towards the tree.
Arthur was going so fast that the tree did not seem that far anymore, and at that moment, a voice talked inside his head. It was a woman, and Arthur instantly knew it was the Life Tree itself.
“Placidusax, I never thought you would return to life. Didn’t those false gods killed you back then? Hm, of course not. They weren’t your match, and the only reason for your kind downfall was the seal they put in all of you, making you weak!”
“I warned you, didn’t I? That one of you would betray you all,”
“You didn’t listen. You never do. Hmph,”
“Let’s forget about it. Come, come talk with me once more!”
The lightning rainbow turned into an immense hand that grabbed Arthur and sent him directly to the top of the Life Tree.
All of it happened so fast, and in mere instants Arthur was in front of a woman with green hair.