384 The Ancient Part 2
“Runa….” I called out her name, which made her ears turn red. Finally, she turned to me and bowed her head. “I am sorry I have never met the ancient myself. Even my father needs to have a good reason to disturb the ancient.”
I smiled and patted her head. “It’s fine. But next time, tell me before we are faced with guards. I do not wish to start an international incident after forming an alliance with your kingdom.”
“Princess, you have made a good friend. Now, please do not keep the ancient waiting.” Rolash broke up our little moment. I smiled and walked forward, and bowed my head slightly to Rolash before pushing open the gates made of thorns and walked into the open space in front of me.
The ground was covered in lush grass with only a small dirt path that led to the trunk of the huge tree in front of me. Little Bell stayed perched on my shoulder as she hugged my neck. It seemed she was also very nervous at this time. But as we reached the trunk in the very front was a table made of roots with a few seats that were also made of roots sitting in front of it. Sitting in one of the seats was a young woman with barely anything on. She had green skin and long grass like hair with leaves covering her privates. To be honest, she was a beauty, but I knew she was not really human. She poured what looked like tea from a wooden kettle into wooden a cup and placed it by the other seat.
When she was done, she looked up at me, and without opening her mouth, she smiled and said: “Child of dragons. Please sit.”
I nodded and walked over, and sat down. As I did, a smaller seat and table appeared on top of the table with a small cup. The woman then waved her hand, causing a bit of the tea from the kettle to fly out and land in the smaller cup. “You too, little one.”
Little Bell smiled and flew off my shoulder, and sat down in her seat. I also sat down and took the wooden cup. I brought the cup to my mouth and took a sip.
[Sap of the world tree]
[All stats permanently raised by 10,000]
I almost stood up in shock. But I was able to keep my composure. Instead, I smiled and said: “This is very tasty. Slightly sweet but not too much, with a mellow aftertaste. I really like it.”
“I am glad to hear that. I only prepare this tea every one million years. It has been a long time since I have gotten to have this tea. So please sit and enjoy it with me.” The woman said with a smile. She seemed very noble from how she talked but what surprised me was that tea could only be drunk every one million years! This was a bit shocking!
Seeing my shock, the woman giggled as she said: “I hardly have anyone here to keep me company. And when I felt your presence, I did hope you would come to see me. My name is Nalia. I am the world tree’s spirit. Or should I say that I am the world tree itself.”
Hearing Nalia’s words confirmed my suspicions, but it was really different from what I was expecting. “My name is Faith Cyrilia. It is a pleasure to meet you. Next to me is Little Bell, my companion.”
“Your companion is very cute and is still young. She will grow up to be someone who can truly help you in the future. But for now, she still needs to take in the world’s energy. Once she has taken in enough, she will evolve into a new form that will be able to wield greater power. At that time, you two will be able to form a merger contract allowing you to wield your companion’s powers as your own. But child of dragons… No, I am sorry I should call you Faith. Faith. I hope you can promise me that the power that you will gain from spirit merger will not be abused. Such power can easily end this world if used wrongly.
“I can tell the two of you have one hundred percent trust in one another. I can see this as clear as day, but I still must ask you to never abuse this child’s power.” Nalia lowered her head to me as she said this, which made me grow flustered.
“Please raise your head. I swear on my life that I will never abuse such power. In fact, I do not think I will ever need it as I am now.” I really did not think I would ever need to use Little Bell’s power. I just did not see the need to at this time.
“No…. There will come a day when you will need it. But please do be careful.” Nalia did not explain when or why I would need to. She only said I would need to one day. Seeing as she did not explain, I also did not ask as I also kind of did not want to know. So far, knowledge of the future to me is a scary thing. While it can help in trying to avoid disaster, it can also become a burden and add more stress on me when I do not need more than I already have.
“I promise I will be careful to never abuse such power,” I replied firmly. She smiled and waved her hand. An apple fell into it from above and then suddenly split open into many slices and was placed on the table. “This is quite sweet this time of year. Please try some.”
I smiled and reached over, and took a slice. I bit into the apple slice and felt a rush of flavor enter my mouth. I almost let out some embarrassing noises as the fruit melted in my mouth and slipped down my throat without me even needing to swallow it. “This….”
“It is a fruit of the world tree. It has the effect of refreshing one’s body and expunging the impurities within them. I wanted to allow you to feel as if you were reborn, and it seems to be taking quite the effect. I will prepare a bath for you and a new set of clothes.” Nalia smiled as she looked at me. When I looked down, I saw black sticky stuff all over my body!
[Fruit of the World Tree]
[Attack Power permanently raised by100000]