Departure

Velina grieved in silence for a moment, then quietly wiped the tear stains from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. She looked up at Kalei, pulling him back from his deep thoughts, and smiled. "Let's not dwell on your father's affairs anymore. If you're ready, let's go."

Kalei nodded and asked, "Are we heading to Maestra?"

Velina shook her head. "No, I've discussed it with your Aunt Evelyn. The priests in the capital, Astranaar, are much more professional. We're going there."

Kalei said, "Astranaar? Isn't that a bit too far? It will take quite a lot of time to go back and forth."

"We can ride our Saber to Maestra first, then rent a few Hippogryph there. Hippogryph are fast; if we're lucky, we can reach Astranaar by the second half of the night."

"That would be quite fast. Let's go." Kalei pondered for a moment, picked up the wicker basket by the table containing roasted bread, smoked meat, and fresh water, and led the way out the door.

In reality, if one wanted to travel from Maestra to Astranaar, the fastest method was to utilize the moonlight teleportation array in the town square.

However, having experienced the War of the Ancients, the Night Elf had always maintained a cautious attitude toward magic, believing that over-reliance on it would bring unpredictable risks. Therefore, unless they encountered an emergency or a special mission, they would not blindly use teleportation arrays for travel.

Velina followed Kalei outside. After a few steps, she suddenly said, "Kalei, your attire is far too plain. This is your coming-of-age ceremony, after all. Do you really not intend to wear any traditional Druid ornaments? Like a laurel leaf crown or a necklace strung with acorns..."

Kalei interrupted her, "No need, Mother. I think this is just fine; I'm not used to those decorations."

He thought to himself that hanging branches and flowers on his body looked truly foolish, but he knew this had been a custom of the Night Elf for ten thousand years and felt embarrassed to argue.

It was strange to think that even though he had lived on the Azeroth Continent as a Night Elf for a hundred years, the habits he had formed in his previous life as a human remained deeply branded into his bones.

These habits had also made him a "weirdo" in the eyes of his peers—a "weirdo" who dressed simply, disliked vegetarian food in favor of roasted meat, and even refused to hide in the shade during the day.

Velina clearly knew her son's unique preferences, and seeing his opposition, she did not insist further and silently followed his pace.

The two walked out of the room one after the other and arrived outside.

At this moment, both moons of the Azeroth Continent, the "Blue Child" and the "White Lady," were hanging in the sky.

Looking up, the pale blue and moon-white moonlight intertwined like a soft veil, shrouding the land beneath their feet.

Across the land grew tall, straight trees; these trees stood like rows of guards, neatly arranged and extending into the distance.

Scattered among these giant trees were individual houses. These dwellings were constructed using timber from the forest, their exteriors covered in flowers and vines. From afar, they blended into the surrounding woods, forming a unique landscape.

The Night Elf were a race that preferred to sleep during the day and be active at night. As the "Blue Child" and the "White Lady" rose higher, many Night Elf emerged from their rooms and began to move about.

Just then, a slightly plump Night Elf woman, accompanied by a young man, approached Kalei and his mother, each riding a Saber.

Seeing the two, Velina stepped forward quickly and greeted them, "Good night, Evelyn, good night, Lox."

The two on the Saber returned the greeting with smiles, and the woman named Evelyn began chatting happily with Velina.

The two housewives were so engrossed in their conversation that they left the two young men, Kalei and Lox, standing to the side.

Kalei felt somewhat helpless. He set down the basket in his hand and signaled for Lox to join him in searching for their family's two Saber behind the house.

Lox was a few years older than Kalei. Due to the low birth rate of the Night Elf—where a village might only see one child born every few years—Lox had become Kalei's only childhood playmate in the village.

Lox dismounted his Saber and followed, saying, "Hey, Kalei, when did you get back from Maestra?"

Kalei said, "I've been back for three days."

Lox asked, "Did your Druid mentor allow you to graduate?"

Kalei shook his head. "Not yet, but I've finished the coursework with my mentor, and now I'm just waiting for the assessment. What about you? What have you been up to? I haven't seen you these past two days."

Lox rested his hands behind his head, strolling leisurely behind Kalei, and said nonchalantly, "Nothing much. I've been following my father to learn how to sail and fish lately."

Kalei said, "Fishing? I remember you started learning thirty years ago. You still haven't mastered it?"

Lox replied indifferently, "What's the rush? It's only been thirty years; that's not a long time. As long as I learn slowly, I'll master it eventually."

Kalei opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but swallowed the words as they reached his lips.

Seeing him hesitate, Lox understood his meaning and said, "Kalei, you shouldn't always be so rushed in everything you do. You have to remember, we are immortal; everything can be taken slowly."

"Besides, think about it: if you eagerly mastered every skill and achieved every wish, what would you do next? How would you spend this long, long life?"

Kalei knew his words made sense. If the social state of the Night Elf could continue indefinitely, this would indeed be a healthy attitude toward life. But how did that saying go? There is an exception to every rule.

As they talked, they arrived behind the house under a Silverleaf Fir with a diameter of five or six meters. On one of the branches, two Saber with sleek, pitch-black fur were playing and frolicking.

The Saber were magical creatures that lived in symbiosis with the Night Elf.

These creatures were massive, long-lived, and could be ridden or used as hunting companions. Because they were easy to feed and had docile temperaments, they were highly popular in Night Elf society. If conditions permitted, almost every family would keep one or two.

The two Saber belonging to Kalei's family had grown up with him and were particularly affectionate toward him.

The moment they saw Kalei, they stopped their play, leaped down from the tree, and pounced toward him.

Kalei caught them one by one, patted their round heads, and smiled. "Big Black, Little Black, I haven't fed you in a long time and you've gotten fat again. What good things have you been eating lately?"

The two leopards could not speak, but as magical creatures, they were more spiritual than ordinary animals and could understand their master's words.

Hearing their master say this, they immediately let out aggrieved whimpers, shaking their heads and tails as they did so.

Lox, standing nearby and hearing the names "Big Black" and "Little Black," couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

In the culture of the Night Elf, such straightforward and plain naming was truly inelegant. Only a maverick like Kalei could come up with such names, and he couldn't help but offer a minute of silence for the two leopards.

Kalei played with the two Saber for a while before bringing them to the front of the house.

At this point, the two mothers were still chatting and laughing, having completely forgotten what they were supposed to do next.

Kalei had no choice but to rudely interrupt their conversation.

The two ladies snapped back to reality only to find the "White Lady" hanging high in the center of the sky. They gasped in surprise, then hurriedly packed their belongings, called to the children, mounted their Saber, and set off toward Maestra.

In the game, it takes less than three minutes to travel from the Moonshadow Village where Kalei is to Maestra.

In reality, it is not so simple. With the swift pace of a Night Elf, it takes an entire night on foot; even riding a Saber requires half the night.

The four riders moved in two columns, galloping rapidly along the forest path.

Along the way, the four of them barely encountered any other Night Elf, primarily because the population density of the Night Elf is incredibly low.

As far as Kalei knows, the Night Elf currently have a population of about six million, while the Northern Kalimdor occupied by them spans as much as twenty million square kilometers.

Excluding the ice fields of Winterspring ravaged by snow and ice, as well as the towering Mount Hyjal Range, the area of habitable forest still exceeds ten million square kilometers.

Distributing a population of six million across such a vast expanse of land makes the population density easy to imagine.

Furthermore, with most Night Elf residing in major cities like Moon Goddess Valley, the capital beneath Mount Hyjal, Astranaar in Ashenvale, Nighthaven in Moonglade, Auberdine in Darkshore, and Val'sharah in the Broken Isles, the population in other towns is even sparser.

Therefore, it is very difficult for Night Elf in rural areas to encounter others while traveling.

This situation is acceptable during the day, but it is not ideal at night.

Every time Kalei travels through the desolate night, he feels a bit of trepidation in his heart.

Along the way, he watches the towering trees on both sides of the road and listens to the various strange sounds coming from the woods from time to time, unable to help but feel nervous, fearing that some dangerous creature might suddenly rush out from the forest.

His concern is not without basis; although the Night Elf are a powerful race and the absolute masters of the current Northern Kalimdor, Kalei knows that the Night Elf still face many dangers on this land.

The most dangerous among them are the demons of the Burning Legion that survived the War of the Ancients and roam the universe, as well as the Night Elf traitors who chose to defect to the demons during the War of the Ancients and were transformed into Satyr by them.

These remnant demons and Satyr hide in the deep mountains and canyons of Kalimdor.

For many years, the Sentinel forces and Druids of the Night Elf have spared no effort to purge these remaining enemies, but these creatures are like cockroaches—impossible to kill off completely.

Just when you think they have been wiped out, they always pop up when you least expect it.

The most troublesome aspect of these demons and Satyr is not the creatures themselves, but the dark power they carry.

This dark power has a strong corrosive effect on life; once the flora and fauna in the forest are tainted by these forces, they become corrupted and gradually turn insane.

If you are targeted by these crazed creatures in the forest, you are in for a stroke of bad luck.

Therefore, Kalei remains on high alert throughout the journey, constantly paying attention to the surrounding environment to avoid any accidents.

In contrast, the other three are completely oblivious. They certainly know about the demons and Satyr, and they know that dangers lurk in the forest, but the lazy habits they have cultivated for a long time make them prone to ignoring those invisible threats.

They sit comfortably on their Saber, chatting and laughing all the way, completely unconcerned about the eerie and terrifying environment around them.

Just as Kalei is considering whether to remind them to be careful, a strange roar suddenly reaches his ears.

He is startled, quickly pulls on the reins, and looks up in the direction of the sound, but he discovers nothing.

Lox, who is riding beside him, sees him stop and asks, "Kalei, what's wrong?"

Kalei says, "Lox, did you hear any sound?"

Lox shakes his head and says, "No, I didn't hear anything. You aren't being paranoid again, are you?"

Kalei frowns and does not reply. He looks up and stares in that direction again. The strange roar from before has vanished, but the vague sense of unease in his heart has not disappeared.

He remembers that there is a Bristlelimb Village in the direction the sound came from. Could something have happened over there?