Chapter 156 - Milestone of Destiny

In fact, without Stelina’s reminder, Gaven had already begun to burrow his way out, as he had sensed that something was off with the Carrier Bug—it did not seem to be running but rather falling.Only then did Gaven remember that this battle was happening atop a tree hundreds of meters high.

He didn’t know if the Carrier Bug, realizing it was doomed to die, intended to take him down with it,

or if it had accidentally slipped from the Dragon Scale Oak during its frenzied struggle.

When Stelina pulled Gaven out of the flesh cavity, the Carrier Bug was mere tens of meters from the ground.

Crack!

The Carrier Bug let out an unwilling and desperate scream, unable to even take its damned enemy down with it in death.

Seconds later, a massive boom resonated from the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

As Stelina landed on the ground with Gaven, the Carrier Bug was thoroughly dead.

As it fell, it crashed into a giant tree and was impaled by the not entirely straight massive trunk.

Neither Gaven nor Stelina could help but squat down on the ground, looking at each other for a long moment, unable to suppress their laughter, tears nearly streaming down their faces.

Battling a fearsome monster like the Carrier Bug, every nerve in their bodies had been taut, with no room for the slightest slack.

The margin for error was too slim.

They could hack at the Carrier Bug dozens of times without it feeling itch or pain.

But a single claw from the Carrier Bug in retaliation could end their lives.

In terms of melee combat ability on the ground, the Carrier Bug feared not even adult Giant Dragons.

The only disadvantage it had was its inability to fly.

Otherwise, not just them, but even adult Giant Dragons would opt to detour on sight.

Once they succeeded, the sense of accomplishment from challenging beyond their levels was incomparable.

Even as a thrice reincarnated being, Gaven could not suppress the joy in his heart.

Mid-laughter, Gaven abruptly stopped.

Ever since his rebirth, the Tears of Sulun, which had been silent in his mind, began to whirl crazily like a vortex.

The scene before his eyes froze, and Stelina, caught in mid-laughter, paused in motion.

Gaven reached out, intending to check on the half-Dwarf elf’s condition, but found his body unresponsive.

Time had not stopped; rather, his consciousness had been pulled away, stretching endlessly.

Gaven could feel clearly that something invisible around him was being shattered and absorbed, then poured into the Soul of the Legendary Warrior, and from there, threads and strands transferred to his own soul.

Like iced water in summer, this energy made Gaven’s consciousness and soul incredibly clear and lively.

He could distinctly feel the countless fine threads, drawn by the Tears of Sulun, binding his soul, linking them together, and one particularly thick thread was tied to the Dragon Scale Oak.

No, no, no.

It wasn’t that simple.

Gaven had just felt numerous souls being drawn by the whirl of the Tears of Sulun, each taking a turn inside before scattering away again.

That included the Dragon Scale Oak.

When Gaven looked at the Dragon Scale Oak once more,

his perception had distinctly changed.

He could vividly sense its vibrant, nearly terrifying life force, its jubilance from top to bottom, and its warmth and dependence on him.

A line of golden letters appeared in Gaven’s mind.

You have gained the Milestone of Destiny: Carrier Bug Terminator.

Carrier Bug Terminator: Your appearance has caused destiny to become chaotic and twisted. The Carrier Bug, which was meant to absorb the power of the Dragon Scale Oak and evolve into a Dragonized Aircraft Carrier Insect, had its fate forcefully ended by you.

You have saved all lives within the Dragon Scale Oak and Nectar Village.

From now on, their destinies will be inseparably linked to you.

Their regard for you will rise to reverence and will be firmly locked in place.

Your favorability among the creatures of the Spring Bud Forest has slightly increased.

You have gained some renown in the Spring Bud Forest. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet

You have acquired the Milestone of Destiny skills: Enlightenment and Flawless Teleportation to the Dragon Scale Oak.

The scene was as beautiful as a painting.

He wished to compose a poem for the world.

Yet he was not cultured enough,

So he could only exclaim at the magnitude of the surge.

This crooked poem perfectly encapsulated Gaven’s state of mind at that moment.

Aside from various exclamations, he could not immediately find other words to express his emotions.

Should he marvel at the power of the Tears of Sulun?

Or should he praise Felen’s uniqueness, the Magic Network’s omnipotence?

Even something as elusive as destiny was interwoven into it, forcefully making it tangible.

This incident had concretely made Gaven feel that destiny did truly exist, that his efforts had not been in vain, and that he was indeed altering the course of history.

He was now akin to a BUG, creating more BUGs through himself, ultimately altering the normal historical process.

If he thought about it seriously, this was not the first time Gaven had altered the course of history.

Because of him, Zalanda had already risen prematurely among the Tesser People, not only becoming the Darama City Lord early but also leading the Nort Militia and a mercenary coalition in the vicinity of Darama, defeating Monster Tribes emerging from the Marching Mountains, saving countless villages and refugees.

With her fair hand, her action of keeping her word, she garnered great support among the Tesser People and is now revered as the People’s Zalanda.

But that change was indirect, merely hastening certain events.

Unlike this time, which directly and irrevocably altered the destiny of numerous beings.

However, Gaven believed that as long as he did enough, changed enough, achieving a new Milestone of Destiny was inevitable.

His thoughts seemed to have wandered a bit too far.

Gaven refocused his attention, returned to the Consciousness Sea, and concentrated on the gains of this experience.

The stabilized Tears of Sulun didn’t revert to their original form.

More accurately, Gaven’s Consciousness Sea had undergone a tremendous change.

The once empty space, containing only the Tears of Sulun enveloping the Soul of the Legendary Warrior, now had the phantom image of a towering tree.

It was none other than the Dragon Scale Oak.

The Soul of the Legendary Warrior also shifted its position; it was no longer wrapped in the Tears of Sulun but resided within the phantom image of the Dragon Scale Oak.

The Tears of Sulun, on the other hand, had detached and floated upwards, akin to a high-hanging moon.

Within the phantom image of the Dragon Scale Oak were speckles of phantoms, and when Gaven focused his attention, he vaguely sensed that these represented individual beings.

The bright shining words "Carrier Bug Terminator" floated above the Soul of the Legendary Warrior, emitting a magical aura.

Gaven’s thoughts focused on it, and the first to appear were those two Milestone of Destiny skills.

Enlightenment, this skill was completely identical in nature to the Druid spell of the same name, possessing the magical power to Enlighten animals and plants of tremendous size, granting creatures with intelligence below three the average human intelligence value of ten, turning ordinary animals into sentient animals, and plants into Awakened Plants.

Enlightened creatures, within thirty days, remained in a charmed state, and any act of harm would automatically terminate the charm. Once the charm ended, the attitude of the Enlightened creatures would be determined by how the Enlightener had treated them.

This was a typical fifth-ring spell, one that Druids of the ninth level or above could cast.

It could be cast once a day.

Gaven wondered if his own Enlightenment spell had any particular uniqueness.

That would have to be verified later.

Dragon Scale Oak’s Flawless Teleportation was simple in its description.

It precisely and accurately teleported Gaven along with his equipped gear to the Fairy Wilderness’s Dragon Scale Oak, also usable once a day.

The simpler it was, the more powerful it seemed.

Upon reading the description, Gaven’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

This ability was simply a life-saving godsend.

If he ever encountered danger that he couldn’t resolve, he could directly use this skill to escape to the Dragon Scale Oak.

The only flaw was that the teleportation was one way.

Once teleported here, if Gaven wanted to return, he could only take the long way around via the curtained paths of the Spring Bud Fortress.

Given its life-saving nature, this minor flaw was hardly worth considering.

"Lord Gaven, Lord Gaven..." Stelina’s call brought Gaven back to reality, as the anomaly caused by the Tears of Sulun had completely disappeared.

"Oh... my apologies, I was just lost in thought. What were you saying?" Gaven hurriedly gathered his thoughts and responded.

"I just wanted to thank you, Chief Gaven. Had you not appeared in time, we would have been helpless against that creature," Stelina expressed her heartfelt gratitude.

She unintentionally revealed subtle expressions that were distinctly different from before.

In the past, although there had been camaraderie from fighting side by side, her attitude toward Gaven was merely superficial respect and politeness, keeping him at a distance deep down.

In fact, this wasn’t solely characteristic of Stelina’s temperament but a racial trait inherent to the entire Yaling, and even to all Elves.

They were innately amiable, treating all creatures with equality most of the time, but their inherent pride and otherworldliness kept them at an appropriate distance from all beings.

The only exception was probably Virginia. From their first meeting, she gave Gaven a sense of genuine goodwill, as if he were a close friend or a family member returning home after many years.

It was this attitude, which deviated from the typical demeanor of the Yaling, that made Gaven sense something was off with this Yaling Lord.

That dreamlike, unreal sense was difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion.

Gaven now similarly detected a hint of closeness and cordiality in Stelina.

Gaven’s thoughts were stirred, and he recalled a line from the explanation of the Milestone of Destiny—your favorability among the creatures of Spring Bud Forest has slightly increased.

Could it be the effect of this enforcing Law?

If it really was so.

That would be a bit too powerful.

A slight increase in favorability, and it’s already like this.

Then what if it was a great increase in favorability? What would the attitude in Nectar Village be, where respect is due, one second, how would they treat him?

Gaven felt his thoughts diverging once again and quickly brought them back, saying, "You cannot thank me for this matter; you should thank Lord Virginia for her wise arrangement. Without the equipment she provided, our battle would not have gone so smoothly."

What Gaven referred to, naturally, was the Combat Armor he was wearing.

Gaven no longer just felt satisfaction with this Armor but cherished it, as the 15% damage mitigation allowed him to let loose and exert his full strength.

Even though he had fought hard inside the belly of the Carrier Bug, the Combat Armor remained spotless, shimmering with brilliance.

Mentioning the Combat Armor, Stelina’s expression clearly became a bit odd. "Lord Virginia actually let you wear this Armor," she said.

"What’s wrong?" Gaven asked, startled and cautious, "Is there some story behind this Armor?"

"Indeed, there is a story," Stelina nodded, "A tragic love story."

"Can you tell me about it?" Gaven had a bad feeling.

"There’s nothing secret about it; it’s common knowledge here at Spring Bud Fortress," Stelina answered, "This Combat Armor belonged to Lord Virginia’s human husband who passed away and has been kept in Spring Bud Fortress by Lord Virginia ever since, never used by anyone else."

Stelina didn’t go into detail, but the mere fact of their union was enough to know that it was bound to be a tragedy.

It was the inevitable tragedy for all of the Everlasting Kind when they mingled with most ordinary people.

A century was often the limit of most humans’ lives, having experienced birth, aging, sickness, and death.

But for the Elves, the Everlasting Kind, it was but an incredibly brief moment in life.

Afterward, she would have to live on, carrying the memories and emotions of the deceased, for an exceedingly long time.

It took the Everlasting Kind a long time to form emotional bonds, and an even longer time to forget them. Many lived the latter half of their lives in melancholy and remembrance, unwilling to invest in new relationships until they returned to the embrace of the gods.