This even made Lucy think that it wouldn’t be bad to continue this aimless journey without going to the Elven Homeland.
But in the end, on the second day, Shien and his group arrived at their destination.
“Is that the Tegor Forest?”
Standing on Yulin’s back, Shien held Lilith’s hand, looked down, and a look of wonder flashed in his eyes.
Not only Shien, but Lucy beside him also murmured in amazement,
“Such a vast sea of trees…”
Yes.
A sea of trees.
Below them, a boundless sea of trees stretched across the earth, dyeing it a vibrant emerald green.
Within the sea of trees, gigantic trees towered into the sky, each at least a hundred meters tall, like an ancient forest, vast and desolate.
This was the largest forest in the human world—the Tegor Forest.
Melika also looked at the forest below, a mixture of excitement, nervousness, and pride in her voice.
“Legend has it that this is the first forest that appeared on earth when the world was born.”
Melika explained in a pleasant voice.
“After the Supreme God Omniis created the world, the Three Goddesses also used their powers to perfect this world, making it truly function.”
“Lildas, the Goddess of Fate, guides all things in the world.”
“Anima, the Goddess of Life, created the various races.”
“And Nadue, the Goddess of Nature, created the continents, oceans, and forests for this world. This Tegor Forest is Goddess Nadue’s first creation.”
“However, at that time, Goddess Nadue didn’t expect that deep within this forest, because of its abundance of life force, we elves, born from nature, would unexpectedly appear.”
Melika continued.
“If Anima, the Goddess of Life, is the creator of all races in the human world, then we elves are the only exception.”
“Although our birth is also related to Anima, as it was her power that filled the earth and forests with life force, ultimately leading to our birth, we were born from nature, condensed from the essence of the forest.”
“Therefore, our creator is Nadue, the Goddess of Nature, and she is also our highest deity. Anima’s power was just a catalyst for our appearance.”
“Even though Goddess Nadue didn’t intentionally create our race, we still regard her as our mother.”
Melika’s words were filled with faith and worship.
“Nadue, the Goddess of Nature, huh?” Shien pondered for a moment, then asked curiously, “Then, Melika, have you ever seen the Goddess of Nature?”
“O-of course not!” Melika quickly shook her head and said humbly, “Goddess Nadue loves our Elven Race very much, but even elves are just a small part of all living beings. Unless one receives the Goddess of Nature’s blessing, only elven royalty has the chance to meet her. An ordinary elf like me definitely can’t see her!”
“Really?” Shien asked doubtfully, “Then how did that goddess notify me and have me rescue you last time when those trash nobles were causing you trouble?”
“Th-that…” Melika became uneasy, uncertain, and lacking in confidence. “Could it be… a mistake?”
This girl still thought that being noticed by the Goddess of Nature was unreal.
Lucy said,
“I think it must be some quality of yours that caught the Goddess’s attention.” Lucy said thoughtfully, “It is said that Goddess Nadue can manipulate nature and even become one with it. She’s always watching over this world, watching over the Elven Race. She might have discovered something special about you and started paying attention to you.”
“I-is that so?” Melika still looked unsure.
Shien, because of Lucy’s words, suddenly remembered something.
During his duel with Aldia, with the perception of [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree], he seemed to have sensed the presence of a “person.”
“A goddess who can manipulate nature and become one with it, always watching over this world…”
Could that “person” be…?
Shien raised his eyebrows and concentrated, trying to enhance his perception with [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree], just like during his duel with Aldia.
Unfortunately, this time, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate, Shien couldn’t enter that state.
This was normal.
Last time, Shien was able to enter that state not only because of [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] but also because of one of the effects of [Outer Manifestation of Heaven’s Decree]—”During combat, can eliminate all distractions and instantly adjust one’s mind, body, and spirit to a perfect state.”
Thanks to this effect, Shien could eliminate all distractions and focus his mind, body, and spirit to their peak, combined with the perception of [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree], even perceiving the flow of the atmosphere and the pulse of the earth.
But in his normal state, it wasn’t so easy for Shien to enter that state.
“Too bad…”
Shien sighed regretfully.
However, Shien still turned to Airi, who had been “fighting” with the Divine Race since ancient times, and asked,
“What kind of person is the Goddess of Nature?”
“Her?” Airi yawned, frowned upon hearing Shien’s question, and said indifferently, “She’s probably the kind of person all women aspire to be.”
“The kind of person all women aspire to be?” Shien asked, stunned. “Why?”
“Because that goddess possesses all the qualities of a perfect woman.” Airi said with an impassive face, “Sister Sara has said more than once that she’s the epitome of ‘womanhood,’ possessing beauty, dignity, elegance, and courtesy, completely opposite to my unreserved second sister.”
Airi whispered the last sentence very softly.
Shien fell into deep thought.