A New Task

Kale took a few careful looks and noticed a green ribbon tied around the little fellow's foot. Recognizing it as a Cenarion Circle messenger, he quickly waved.

The owl spotted him at once, plunged down from the sky, and landed neatly in front of him. It hooted twice, then stretched out its talons and tossed him a letter.

Kale caught the letter. The owl was so cute that he decided to tease the little fellow a bit, then give it something to eat.

But the little fellow gave him a disdainful look, raised a tiny claw and smacked him once, then flapped its wings and flew off into the sky.

Kale hadn't expected the little fellow to have such a personality. He could only withdraw his hand sheepishly and open the letter.

As before, the letter came from the Circle's headquarters. It said that the beasts in the forests around Zoram Town had gone on a rampage. Since the town was short on Druids, they wanted Kale to investigate the cause and resolve the problem.

"Looks like my long vacation is over!" Kale tucked the letter into his bag, put aside his thoughts, closed his eyes again, and focused on completing his meditation for the day.

That evening, Kale told his mother about the Circle's arrangements.

Velina knew what a Druid's duties were. She also knew that no beast in the forest could harm a Druid blessed by the goddess, so she didn't object.

The next afternoon, Velina got up early and prepared a feast for Kale to see him off.

After finishing his meal, Kale packed his things, mounted Big Black, and left home.

Before heading to Zoram, Kale first went to Maestra to visit his teacher, Matt Hardwood.

They talked about what had happened recently, and then Kale brought up his father.

Matt exclaimed in surprise, "What? Your father's still alive? You found a clue about his disappearance? When?"

Kale told him about his father's disappearance and Ordos, then shared the clues he had found.

After listening, Matt cursed, "Damn Satyrs. Those bastards deserve to go to hell. Your father was unlucky to run into one of them, but at least he didn't lose his life."

Kale sighed. "He may still be alive, but his mind's not right. He doesn't even know to go home. I don't know where to look for him."

Matt frowned. "That is a difficult problem. Our territory is so vast that finding one person would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."

Kale said, "So I thought of a simple solution. I just don't know if it'll work."

"Oh? Let's hear it," Matt said.

Kale explained, "I was wondering: Druids can communicate with plants and animals. Could I ask a powerful Druid to go to the place where my father disappeared and question the surrounding hills, rivers, plants, and trees about what they remember of him?"

Matt's eyes lit up, but then he shook his head. "No. That would be too difficult. As far as I know, only a legendary Druid can draw memories from the land and its plants—and there's a time limit, too. Your father disappeared more than forty years ago. That's far beyond the limit for retrieving memories."

Kale was a little disappointed. "Is that so? Looks like I was overthinking it."

Matt sighed. "Don't be too impatient. Your father's been missing for so long that there's no need to rush. I suggest reporting this to the Temple of the Moon and asking them to help you look. I'll keep an eye out for any information about your father, too."

Kale nodded. "Thank you, Teacher. I suppose that's all we can do for now."

The two of them chatted about various other things. Before leaving, Kale asked Matt again about the investigation into the Nightmare. He still got no useful news. It seemed the investigation had gone nowhere, which disappointed him and put him on his guard.

Just before Kale left, Matt suddenly called after him. "Oh, right. I got so caught up chatting that I forgot to tell you: the Circle has finished assessing your contribution to the battle in Fel Fire Valley. You can go to the Circle's base and collect your reward from the person in charge, Dalaen Lightwind."

"Oh? What did the Circle reward me with this time?" Kale asked, surprised and delighted.

Matt smiled. "This time's different from last time. The Circle knew you were in dire need of a robe, so they took it upon themselves to prepare one for you. This time, they don't know what you need, so they didn't make that decision for you. Instead, they've offered you a selection of rewards to choose from."

"That's great. Thanks, Teacher. I'll go see Ms. Lightwind right away." Kale said goodbye to his teacher and followed the street to the Cenarion Circle's base.

Kale was already something of a celebrity in Maestra Town. When the receptionist at the base heard he wanted to see Dalaen Lightwind, they immediately took him to her office.

Dalaen Lightwind looked to be in her thirties. She wore a pale green Druid Robe, carried herself with elegance, and had a warm smile. She didn't seem at all like a Druid leader.

Kale had met her a few times before, so they weren't strangers. He skipped the formalities and greeted her directly.

Dalaen set down the quill in her hand and glanced at him, then quickly stood up. "Oh, Kale! You're here, Maestra's hero."

Kale smiled. "Ms. Lightwind, you're giving me too much credit. How could I call myself a hero in front of a high-ranking member like you?"

Dalaen sat down and smiled. "Heroism isn't about strength or status, Kale. Everyone has seen what you've done for Maestra Town over the past few months. You've more than earned the title."

Kale shrugged. "Then I can only hope I won't let everyone down in the future."

Dalaen smiled. "You're very levelheaded, Kale. It seems your teacher was right—you're more mature than you look."

"All right, Kale, let's stop chatting. You're here to collect the reward from the Circle, aren't you?"

Kale nodded. "Yes. My teacher told me about it."

Dalaen smiled. "The Circle has indeed finished its assessment." As she spoke, she handed Kale a scroll and continued, "According to the results, you may choose one item listed on this scroll as your reward."

Kale took the scroll, opened it, and studied it carefully.

There were quite a few items listed. There were staves, equipment, potions, and materials, as well as magical items, rare Druid spells, and even Moon Coins.

Kale looked through every option. Apart from the Moon Coins, almost all of them would be useful to him at his current stage.

After considering it for a while, Kale finally chose a magical item—the Branch of Nordrassil.

Nordrassil was the World Tree guarded by the Night Elves. Unlike other World Trees, it had been grown from the first World Tree seed on Azeroth. The Dragonqueen of the Red Dragonflight had cultivated it in ancient times to conceal and balance the miniature Well of Eternity that Illidan had created on Mount Hyjal.

After the tree came into being, it received the blessings of Nozdormu, the Bronze Dragon Aspect; Alexstrasza, the Dragonqueen of the Red Dragonflight; and Ysera, the Dragonqueen of the Green Dragonflight. It began absorbing the Well of Eternity's power and growing strong.

For a long time, Nordrassil had lived up to the Night Elves' hopes. It had successfully concealed the power of the Well of Eternity on Mount Hyjal, and by absorbing the well's power and transforming it into nature energy, it helped restore Kalimdor Continent's ecosystem.

Unexpectedly, however, Nordrassil was so powerful that even it couldn't bear the Well of Eternity's immense power. As time passed, the nature energy within the tree grew ever stronger, eventually beginning to affect the tree itself.

To maintain its own stability, every few decades the tree condensed its excess nature energy into a small branch and gifted it to the Night Elves in return for their protection. That was how the Branch of Nordrassil came to be.

Dalaen looked a little surprised. "Are you sure you want to choose this? I don't think it'll be of much use to you right now."

Kale smiled. "I'm sure."

Just two days ago, he'd been wondering where he could find purer nature energy. He hadn't expected to come across it here today. It was just like having a pillow delivered when you felt sleepy.

Seeing that Kale was set on his choice, Dalaen didn't say anything more. She put away the scroll, rummaged in her Magic Backpack, and took out a foot-long emerald-green branch. She handed it to Kale and reminded him to use it carefully.

Kale took it and held it in his hand. He immediately felt a tremendous surge of nature energy coursing through the small branch. It was truly astonishing.

"You discovered the Branch of Nordrassil."

"Name: Branch of Nordrassil"

"Quality: Epic"

"Description: A life-giving branch gifted by Nordrassil to the Night Elves. It contains a vast amount of nature energy."

He put away the Branch of Nordrassil, said goodbye to Dalaen, and left the Circle's base. Then, following Matt's advice, he went to the Temple of the Moon to report what had happened to his father.

Laria, the high priestess in charge of the Temple of the Moon, said she would keep an eye out for information about his father and asked him to wait patiently.

Kale thanked Laria, then rode his Saber away from Maestra and headed for Zoram Town.

Zoram Town lay west of Maestra, about two or three hundred kilometers away. At Big Black's speed, it would take a whole night to get there.

After leaving Maestra, Kale rode Big Black at full speed along the road for a while. When he saw that no one was around, he slowed down and took the Branch of Nordrassil out of his Magic Backpack.

He couldn't wait to find out whether the branch could activate the Seed of the Soul Ancient Tree inside him.

At first, he held the World Tree branch in his hand, but the Seed of the Soul Ancient Tree inside him didn't react at all.

Next, he tried to draw out the nature energy inside the branch.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the nearly transparent Seed of the Soul Ancient Tree hidden inside him stirred.

The seed was like a hound that had been starving for ages. It floated out of Kale's body, hovered above his hand, and began frantically absorbing the nature energy in the World Tree branch.

As the energy flowed into it, the seed's color turned visibly greener. A few minutes later, it had become a green sphere the size of a basketball.

As the energy continued to pour in, fine cracks appeared across the sphere's surface. A tender green shoot slowly emerged. Then the trunk and leaves grew rapidly, and in barely ten seconds, it had become a pale blue tree about a meter tall.

"Your Seed of the Soul Ancient Tree has been activated."

"You can summon the Soul Ancient Tree from within your body at any time to help you fight."

"The Soul Ancient Tree has two states: incorporeal and corporeal. In its incorporeal state, it can help you recover mana faster. In its corporeal state, it can fight directly for you."

"The Soul Ancient Tree's maximum capabilities depend on your own."

"The Soul Ancient Tree is currently in its juvenile state and must continually absorb nature energy to grow."

"As the Soul Ancient Tree grows, it will gain more abilities."

Kale saw the string of messages appear on the panel and was overjoyed.

Following the panel's instructions, he summoned the Soul Ancient Tree and tried directing it. He discovered that it could indeed switch between its incorporeal and corporeal states.

In its incorporeal state, it could change size and float around Kale, helping him recover mana.

In its corporeal state, it transformed into a little treant and helped Kale fight.

Unfortunately, the little fellow had only just been born. It wasn't even as capable as Big Black and couldn't be of much use yet. He would have to wait until it grew a little before seeing what it could do.

He played around with the Soul Ancient Tree for a while. When nothing else happened, he put it away, then lowered his head to look at the Branch of Nordrassil in his hand.

By then, the branch had lost all its luster. It had turned dry and yellow, its nature energy clearly spent.

He weighed the branch in his hand, then regretfully tossed it to the ground.

The Branch of Nordrassil was a rare treasure for Druids and could be used to aid their cultivation. He hadn't expected to use up one just like that. It would be difficult to get another.

Kale sighed and put it out of his mind. He mounted Big Black and continued toward Zoram Town.