Needlewood Forest.
A tall human ranger moved through the dense forest. Her Forest-walking Technique was at an exceptionally high level, and she seemed to advance at a speed ordinary people could scarcely imagine.
Soon, the human ranger reached her destination.
It was a woodland planted with many trees, all arranged in a specific pattern. At its center stood an enormous pale-gold oak.
This was a [Forest Sanctuary].
It was a place dedicated to the Goddess of Forests and Rangers—Mielikki. This goddess had few temples; her favorite altars were Forest Sanctuaries, which generally required an oak tree nearby. Mielikki was the Father of Oaks' daughter and the deity with the strongest command of nature's divine power at present. However, because the Father of Oaks and the Mother of the Earth had disappeared one after another, she held little sway within the Nature Pantheon. For a long time, this goddess had tried to regain control over nature's divine power, but those attempts had met with little success. Her greatest strength remained the [Forest] portfolio.
"My Lord!"
The human ranger knelt on one knee and said respectfully, "Recently, large numbers of demonized spiders have appeared in the forests to the southwest."
"Their numbers keep growing, and they reproduce very quickly."
"I suspect this has something to do with the drow of the Underdark. They seem to be planning another war against the surface elves. These servants of the Spider Queen are plotting something. Perhaps we should try to stop them."
At the center of the Forest Sanctuary.
A tall woman wearing exquisite green-brown leather armor turned around. She was extraordinarily beautiful, yet carried an indescribable martial bearing, strong and lovely. Mielikki was a kindhearted deity with a sense of humor, and a confident smile always graced her face. She was cautious about making