Spirit of Nature

Kale thought it over and over, but couldn't make sense of it.

Big Black was crouching nearby. After watching Kale busy himself for an hour or two, only to start daydreaming again, he finally grew impatient and grumbled a few times.

Hearing him complain, Kale turned around, put on his coat, and walked over to him with a smile. "Big Black, do you still remember your old master?"

Big Black looked up at him and roared a few times.

Of course he remembered his old master. He and Little Black had been picked up in the forest by the old master, and without him, they would have starved to death.

Not only that, the old master had always treated them well. Unlike their young master, he never showed the slightest consideration for the hardships Big Black and Little Black faced, making them do one thing after another all day long.

Kale waved the vine in his hand. "I've got some good news for you. The old master is still alive. He was here once before. Can you smell his scent and find out where he went?"

Big Black looked surprised. He hurriedly raised his head and leaned toward the vine, enduring its rotten stench as he sniffed for a long while. In the end, he shook his head.

Kale sighed, realizing he'd been hoping for too much. Big Black was a magical beast with a keen sense of tracking, but far too much time had passed since his father left that scent behind. Forty years was enough to erase any trace.

It seemed there was no easy way to find his father. He could only search bit by bit and hope for a stroke of luck.

Kale tossed aside the vine and called to Big Black. "Come on, Big Black. Follow me and help me find your old master."

Big Black didn't know what was going on, but at the mention of finding his old master, he perked up a little.

For a Druid searching the mountains for someone who had gone missing forty years ago, the best method was to ask the nearby mountains, rivers, and plants about their memories of the past. Unfortunately, that method was far too difficult for Kale. Even his mentor, Matt Hardwood, wouldn't have been capable of it.

Kale guessed that only a Druid at the Hero level, or perhaps even a Legendary Druid, would have that kind of ability.

Where could Kale find a Hero- or Legend-level Druid at a moment's notice?

After thinking it over, he could only resort to the most primitive method: searching the mountains carefully.

But even then, he couldn't just search aimlessly. The area was full of winding mountains and crisscrossing rivers. Trying to find someone from decades ago with nothing but his eyes would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The best thing to do was look for nearby villages and see whether anyone there knew where his father had gone.

Having made up his mind, Kale mounted Big Black, left the gorge, and headed in the flattest direction he could find.

He and Big Black crossed mountains and valleys for more than ten kilometers before finally coming across a village of three or four hundred people.

Hidden villages like this were everywhere in the Night Elf lands, so Kale wasn't surprised.

A guard on patrol soon spotted him. Seeing that he was a Night Elf wearing a Druid's robe, the guard assumed he had come to work in the forest and welcomed him.

Kale chatted with the guard briefly, quickly explained why he had come, and asked about his father. To his surprise, the guard gave him a promising answer.

"My kin of nature, forty years ago? Hmm... I think someone like that really did come to our village."

Kale asked in surprise, "Really? Are you sure you're remembering correctly?"

The guard nodded. "I'm sure. Our village is rather remote, and not many people come here. We might not see even one visitor in several years, so I remember someone coming here forty years ago."

Kale hurriedly asked, "Oh? Do you know his name, or where he went?"

The guard thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Sorry, I don't know his name or where he went. If you want more details, I suggest you speak with our village chief. She usually handles matters like this."

Realizing the guard couldn't tell him anything more, Kale thanked him and went to look for the village chief.

The village chief was a woman who looked to be in her thirties. When she heard Kale had come to see her, she welcomed him without hesitation.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Kale got straight to the point and asked about his father.

The village chief thought for a moment. "Forty years ago, a male elf did come to our village. Are you sure he was your father?"

Kale replied, "If my guess is right, he was. Did you ask the male elf his name?"

"I did, but unfortunately, he had lost his memory. He didn't even know his own name. But don't worry—I have a portrait of him. I'll get it for you."

Lost his memory! So that was what had happened. No wonder he hadn't gone home. Kale's expression darkened.

The village chief went into the back room and rummaged around for a while before returning with a portrait, which she handed to Kale.

Kale took it and glanced at it. He recognized the person in the portrait immediately: it was his father, Malka Nightdew. His face looked much more haggard than Kale remembered, likely because of the hardships he had endured while fleeing.

He studied it for a moment, running his fingers over the portrait, and said excitedly, "It's him! He's my father. Where is he now? Take me to him."

The village chief sighed. "I didn't realize he really was your father. Unfortunately, you've come too late. He's no longer in our village."

Kale frowned. "If he isn't in your village, where did he go?"

"Child, don't worry. Let me finish first. Do you know why your father lost his memory? Because we discovered that he had been tormented by shadow magic."

Damn it! Ordos must have done it. I should've made that bastard suffer even more. Letting him die like that was letting him off easy. Kale cursed inwardly.

The village chief continued, "Your father stayed with me for two or three days. He was in terrible shape and kept having nightmares. The village priest couldn't heal him."

"So I decided to go to the city and find a high priest to treat your father. But while I was away, your father ran out of my house and left the village. No one knew where he went."

"After I returned, I took the villagers and searched for two or three days. We looked everywhere nearby, but couldn't find your father."

Kale asked in disappointment, "So my father left your village and disappeared again?"

The village chief looked regretful. "Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

Kale knew they weren't to blame. He should be thanking them for taking care of his father. He managed a faint smile. "It's all right. You can't be blamed. My father was just unlucky. I should be thanking you. But now that the trail's gone cold again, I don't even know where to look for him."

The village chief sighed. "It really is a difficult situation. We tried all sorts of things at the time, but couldn't find him. Now that forty years have passed, it'll be even harder."

"But if your father is still alive, then he's either living alone in the mountains or staying in some village. If you really want to find him, you still can. It's just a matter of how many years it'll take."

Kale understood what she meant. She was suggesting he spend decades, perhaps even a century, combing the Night Elf lands from end to end.

As a matter of fact, that was a perfectly reasonable approach for a Night Elf. But where could Kale find that kind of time?

He shook his head to himself, said goodbye to the village chief, then rode Big Black out of the village.

After that, he stopped searching for his father aimlessly. The village chief's method might work, but he truly didn't have that much time to spend on the matter. He needed to find some unconventional way to continue searching for his father.

He rode Big Black home, arriving before dawn.

His mother thought he had gone out for a ride on Big Black and didn't suspect anything. Kale never told her that he had learned anything about his father.

He wasn't deliberately keeping it from her. He was afraid she would get her hopes up only to be disappointed again, so he decided to wait until everything was settled before telling her.

After that, Kale stayed in the village and went nowhere. Every day, he either chatted with his mother or trained.

His experience in Fel Fire Valley had reminded him once again how dangerous this world was. If he wanted to help the Night Elves escape the crisis that awaited them, he first needed to become strong enough.

After a long period of training, he gradually raised his level to 39, but he couldn't make any further progress.

He knew he had hit another bottleneck. Ordinary training wouldn't help him advance any further, so he set it aside for the time being and focused on learning various spells and finding a way to activate the Seed of the Soul Ancient.

According to the panel's description of the Seed of the Soul Ancient, he needed to channel natural energy into it to activate it. But he had tried several times, and it hadn't reacted at all.

He thought about it carefully for a while and guessed that the natural energy wasn't pure enough to awaken the Seed of the Soul Ancient. Activating it probably required natural energy of greater strength and purity—or, in other words, more powerful life force.

But where could he find life force of a higher level on such short notice?

There was a Life Gem in Kale's Magic Backpack. The life force it contained should have met the requirements, but the gem also held Ursoc's angry power.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn't dare use the life force inside the gem on the Seed of the Soul Ancient.

Kale was still racking his brain for a solution when he suddenly heard laughter coming from all directions.

"What was that sound?" The thought had barely crossed his mind when a sea of flowers appeared before his eyes. A song praising nature rang out across the blossoms.

Kale gazed at the sea of flowers and listened to the enchanting song, overjoyed.

He knew he had received an invitation from a Spirit of Nature.

A Spirit of Nature was a conscious entity formed from gathered natural energy.

These entities came in all sizes and could be found everywhere, but they were difficult to sense. Only Druids favored by Spirits of Nature could perceive them and receive their invitations.

It was said that any Druid invited by a Spirit of Nature would receive its guidance, and perhaps even a gift.

Kale never expected to be so lucky as to encounter a Spirit of Nature so easily. He hurried to his feet, searching for its location.

Unfortunately, all he could see in every direction was an endless sea of flowers. How was he supposed to find it?

He tried to follow the direction of the song, hurrying along, but the sound drifted all around him. He searched and searched, but even after a long while, he still couldn't find the Spirit of Nature.

Half an hour later, he still hadn't found a thing. The sea of flowers and the song gradually faded from view.

When he returned to reality and thought back on what had just happened, a feeling of loss welled up inside him.

Kale knew that he really had piqued the interest of the Spirits of Nature near Moonhidden Village. Unfortunately, his level of cultivation was still too low to sense them. Naturally, he couldn't find them or communicate with them.

Still, although he hadn't met a Spirit of Nature, it had given him a welcoming gift. As the Spirit of Nature surrounded him, the proficiency of all his skills rose slightly, by four or five points. Kale could hardly believe it.

In the past, he could train all day and still not raise a skill's proficiency by even one point. Now it had happened so easily. If this happened a few more times, wouldn't all his skills reach their maximum levels? Just thinking about it thrilled him.

But Kale knew that was just wishful thinking. It wasn't easy to encounter a Spirit of Nature.

He shook his head, dispelling his wild thoughts.

Seeing that it was still early, Kale prepared to finish his training for the day in the valley. Then he noticed an owl circling overhead.

Its feathers were a rare silvery gray that shimmered in the moonlight. It clearly wasn't an ordinary bird.