Spirit of Nature

Kalei pondered back and forth, yet he could not find a solution in his heart.

Big Black, squatting to the side, watched Kalei busy himself with nothing for an hour or two and now stare blankly, growing truly impatient as it let out a few grumbling rumbles.

Hearing its complaints, Kalei turned his head, put on his coat, walked over to its side, and asked with a smile, "Big Black, do you still remember the Old Master?"

Big Black raised its head to look at him and let out a few roars.

Of course it remembered the Old Master; it and Little Black had been picked up from the forest by the Old Master all those years ago. If not for the Old Master, they would have starved to death.

Not only that, the Old Master had always been kind to them, unlike the Young Master, who had no consideration for the hardships he and Little Black faced, making them do this and that all day long.

Kalei shook the vine in his hand and said, "Let me tell you some good news: the Old Master is still alive. He stayed here before. Can you smell his scent and find his whereabouts?"

Big Black was somewhat surprised; it hurriedly raised its head to lean toward the vine, endured the stench of rot emanating from it, sniffed for a long while, and finally shook its head.

Kalei sighed, knowing he had expected too much. Although Big Black was a magical beast with a keen sense of tracking, the scent his father left behind had faded too long ago; forty years was enough to erase any trace.

It seemed that finding his father's whereabouts through shortcuts was impossible; he could only rely on luck, bit by bit.

Kalei tossed the vine aside and beckoned to Big Black, "Let's go, Big Black, follow me to find the Old Master."

Although Big Black did not know what was going on, hearing that they were looking for the Old Master, it managed to perk up a little.

To find someone who had been missing for forty years in the mountains, the best method for a Druid was to ask the surrounding mountains, rivers, grass, and trees for their memories of the past. Unfortunately, this method was far too difficult for Kalei; even his mentor, Matt Hardwood, could not possibly possess such an ability.

Kalei guessed that to have such an ability, one would at least need to be a Hero-level Druid, or perhaps even a Legendary Druid.

Where was Kalei supposed to find a Druid with Hero or Legendary cultivation on such short notice?

After thinking it over, he had no choice but to adopt the most primitive method: searching carefully through the mountains and forests.

However, "searching" did not mean looking without a goal. The nearby mountains were crisscrossed with rivers and rugged terrain. Relying on the naked eye to find a person from decades ago was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The best approach was to see if there were any villages nearby and check if anyone in those villages had discovered his father's whereabouts.

Having made up his mind, Kalei rode Big Black out of the canyon and headed in the flattest direction possible.

He and Big Black traveled over mountains and ridges for more than ten kilometers before finally discovering a village of three or four hundred people.

In the territory of the Night Elf, such villages hidden in the mountains and forests were everywhere, so Kalei did not feel surprised.

A guard responsible for patrolling the village soon discovered him. Seeing that he was a Night Elf wearing Druid robes, the guard assumed he was there for work in the forest and welcomed his arrival.

Kalei spoke a few words with the patrolling guard, quickly explained his purpose, and asked about his father's whereabouts. To his surprise, the guard gave him a pleasant surprise.

"Brother of Nature, forty years ago? Hmm... it seems there really was such a person who came to our village."

Kalei asked in astonishment, "Really? Are you sure you haven't misremembered?"

The guard nodded, "It's true. I shouldn't be mistaken. Our village is in a rather remote location, and very few people come here—sometimes not even one in several years—which is why I remember someone like that coming by 40 years ago."

Kalei hurriedly asked, "Oh, do you know his name, or where he went?"

The guard thought for a moment and shook his head, "I'm very sorry, I don't know his name, nor do I know where he went. If you want detailed information, I suggest you go find our village chief; she is usually the one responsible for handling such matters."

Seeing that he could not get more information from the guard, Kalei thanked him and went into the village to find the chief.

The village chief was a woman who looked to be in her thirties. Hearing that Kalei wanted to see her, she received him quite readily.

Kalei exchanged a few pleasantries with her and then went straight to the point, asking about his father.

The village chief thought for a moment and said, "Forty years ago, there was indeed a male elf who appeared in our village. Are you sure that was your father?"

Kalei said, "If I'm not mistaken, he should be my father. Did you ask the male elf for his name?"

The village chief said, "I did ask, but unfortunately, he had lost his memory; even he didn't know what his name was. But it doesn't matter, I have a portrait of him. I'll get it for you to see."

Memory loss! It was just as he feared. No wonder he hadn't returned home; it turned out he had lost his memory. Kalei's expression darkened.

The village chief went into the back room, rummaged for a while, and brought out a portrait to hand to Kalei.

Kalei took a glance and immediately recognized that the person in the portrait was indeed his father, Malka Nightdew, though the face in the portrait was much more haggard than he remembered, likely due to the many torments suffered during his flight.

He stared at it for a few moments, tracing the portrait with his hand, and said excitedly, "It's him, he is my father! Where is he now? Take me to see him."

The village chief sighed, "I didn't expect he really was your father. It's a pity you came too late; he is no longer in our village."

Kalei frowned, "He's not in your village? Then where did he go?"

The village chief said, "Child, don't be anxious. Listen to me first. Do you know why your father lost his memory? It's because we discovered he had been ravaged by shadow power."

Damn it! It must have been Ordos who did this. I should have tortured that guy more severely; letting him die just like that was letting him off too easy, Kalei cursed inwardly.

The village chief continued, "Your father stayed with me for two or three days. His mental state was very poor, and he kept having nightmares that even the village priest couldn't cure."

"So, I decided to go to the city to find a high-ranking priest to treat your father. But unexpectedly, your father took advantage of my absence, ran out of my house, left the village, and disappeared without a trace."

"After I returned, I took the villagers and searched for two or three days, scouring all the surrounding areas, but we couldn't find any sign of your father."

Kalei said in disappointment, "So you mean my father left your village and went missing again?"

The village chief said with regret, "Yes, I am very sorry. I couldn't help with this matter."

Kalei knew this wasn't their fault; on the contrary, he should thank them for taking care of his father. He managed a strained smile and said, "It's fine, this isn't your fault. I can only blame my father for having such bad luck. I still have to thank you. Sigh, but now the trail has gone cold again. I don't even know where to look for my father."

The village chief sighed, "This matter is indeed troublesome. We tried many methods back then, but we couldn't find him. Now that forty years have passed, it will be even harder to find him."

"However, if your father is still alive, he is either living alone in the mountains or living in some village. If you truly want to find him, it is still possible, though I don't know how many years it will take."

Kalei understood the village chief's intent; he was suggesting that Kalei spend decades or even a century conducting a carpet search throughout the Night Elf territories.

It must be said, this was indeed a viable method for a Night Elf, but where would Kalei find that kind of time now?

He shook his head to himself, bid farewell to the village chief, and rode Big Black away from the village.

In the time that followed, he no longer searched aimlessly for his father's whereabouts. While the village chief's method was effective, he truly lacked the time to handle the matter that way; he had to find unconventional means to track his father down.

Afterward, he rode Big Black and returned home before dawn.

His mother assumed he had gone out for a ride on Big Black and did not suspect his actions, and Kalei had yet to tell her any news regarding his father.

He did not intend to deceive her, but he feared that if he gave her hope only for it to be dashed again, she would be devastated. Thus, he decided to wait until everything was settled before telling her.

Kalei stayed in the village from then on, going nowhere, spending his days either chatting with his mother or training.

His encounter in Fel Fire Valley had confirmed once more that this world was far too dangerous. If he wanted the Night Elf to escape their future plight, he had to possess sufficient strength first.

After a long period of training, he gradually raised his level to 39, but no matter what he did, he could not advance any further.

He knew he had hit a bottleneck again; ordinary training would no longer suffice. He temporarily set aside his cultivation and began focusing on practicing various spells and brainstorming ways to activate the Seed of the Soul Ancient.

According to the system panel's description of the Seed of the Soul Ancient, activating the seed required an input of natural energy. However, he had tried several times and found that the seed showed no reaction at all.

He pondered this deeply for some time, guessing that the purity of the natural energy was likely insufficient to trigger the seed's vitality. To activate the Seed of the Soul Ancient, he would likely need more powerful, purer natural energy—or rather, life force.

But where could he find high-level life force in such a short time?

Kalei did have a Life Gem in his Magic Backpack, and the life force contained within it should meet the standard. However, that Life Gem also contained the wrathful power of Ursoc.

Unless the situation was dire, he dared not feed the life force from that gem to the Seed of the Soul Ancient.

As Kalei racked his brain for a solution, he suddenly heard a burst of laughter echoing from all directions.

What is that sound? The thought had barely crossed his mind when a sea of flowers suddenly appeared before his eyes, and a song praising nature began to resonate from within the blossoms.

Kalei looked at the sea of flowers and listened to the melodious singing, his heart filled with joy.

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

The so-called Spirit of Nature was a conscious aggregate formed by the convergence of natural energy.

These aggregates varied in size and were widely distributed, yet they were difficult to perceive. Only those Druid favored by the Spirit of Nature could sense them and receive their invitations.

It was said that any Druid invited by the Spirit of Nature could receive their guidance or even their gifts.

Kalei had not expected such good fortune, to encounter the Spirit of Nature so easily. He quickly stood up, searching for the source of the spirit.

Regrettably, no matter where he looked, there was only an endless sea of flowers; he could not find them anywhere.

He tried to follow the direction of the singing, moving quickly, but the sound drifted around him, elusive. He searched for a long time but failed to locate the Spirit of Nature.

Half an hour later, he had gained nothing, and the sea of flowers and the singing gradually faded from his sight.

Once he returned to reality and recalled the encounter, a sense of loss washed over him.

Kalei knew he had indeed piqued the interest of the Spirit of Nature around Moonhidden Village, but his current cultivation level was too low. He simply could not sense the spirit, and thus could not find or communicate with it.

Fortunately, even though he hadn't met the Spirit of Nature, it had left him a parting gift. Surrounded by the spirit, the proficiency of all his skills had increased slightly, by four or five points. Kalei found it hard to believe.

In the past few decades, Kalei sometimes trained for an entire day without gaining a single point of proficiency in a skill. Now, it had been so easy; if this happened a few more times, wouldn't all his skills reach max level? Just thinking about it was exhilarating.

However, Kalei knew this was just wishful thinking; encountering the Spirit of Nature was not that simple.

He shook his head, stopping his wild imagination.

Seeing that it was still early, Kalei prepared to finish his daily training in the valley when he suddenly spotted an owl circling in the sky.

The owl's feathers were a rare silver-gray, shimmering faintly under the moonlight; it was clearly no ordinary bird.