Chapter 500 - Observing in Secrecy

Tiasa shook her head seriously and said, "It’s not possible. The more we use the teleportation gate, the greater the chance it will be located by others. You all should know the extent of the undercurrents behind Eternal Gathering Island. How could we trouble Her Majesty the Queen with such private family matters? We should proceed through normal channels. If it turns out that the situation there is extremely urgent, I will naturally request Her Majesty the Queen to use the teleportation gate to provide you with support.""Then I’ll follow Grandma Tiasa’s arrangements. I’ll set sail immediately. Please inform Halem on my behalf." Selin was always one to act swiftly; the moment the strategy was set, she was already energetically preparing to execute it.

"Don’t rush, there are still some details and precautions that need to be settled," Tiasa couldn’t help but say with a smile, "Your impatience is rare among elves, more akin to those short-lived humans who are always in such a hurry with time."

"Isn’t this because of those merchants driving me? Once they rush a deadline, overtime work is inevitable. This time I’ll take the opportunity to get away from them for a while, just like taking a vacation," Selin said with a laugh.

The clan leaders of the three great families came together again to review the possible situations Selin might encounter upon returning to the Felen Continent and settled on a general response strategy before letting Selin depart.

One of the others went to report this matter to the Elf Queen.

The other took on the responsibility of gauging the attitudes of other Mesnoel family residents regarding this affair.

The three great families were merely the leaders of Mesnoel, not all of it. Many more smaller families and ordinary residents were scattered across Eternal Gathering Island.

Mesnoel was no small city; at the time of the evacuation, the population was as many as two thousand. With a century of development, estimated population numbers had likely increased.

Don’t think that two thousand is a small number; they are elves, not known for large populations. Even Liuxipa, the capital city of Eternal Gathering Island, has only about thirty thousand inhabitants.

All the elves on Eternal Gathering Island combined don’t even add up to half the population of Tesser Kingdom.

Their long lifespans are a trade-off for low fertility rates. An elf, living ten times longer than a human, can bear fewer children in their lifetime than half of what a human female can.

Add to that the indifferent nature of elves and the frequent separations between spouses, their emotional lives are relatively sparse, making childbirth even more challenging.

Some elves choose to marry humans, not just out of affection but also for an undeniable reason: they want a child, even if it’s a mixed-blood one.

The gestation of a half-elf is much easier than that of a pure-blooded elf.

In Felen, the total number of half-elves has long surpassed that of pure-blooded elves, but because they are so widely and thinly dispersed, no one pays much attention to this issue.

The interest in the revival of Mesnoel among those large and small families far exceeds that of ordinary elves.

Because the latter are more content with their lot; many have already integrated into the life of Eternal Gathering Island. Some have even started new romances, or established new homes, and their nostalgia for Mesnoel isn’t strong, considering it just a memory.

Mostly, it’s a topic of after-dinner conversation, to sigh at the passing of the years and evoke a bit of empathy.

Other non-Mesnoel migratory elves also pay attention to this affair, but overall interest isn’t high.

After all, Mesnoel’s fame is there for all to see. If it were the world-renowned Mystorno being revived, the entire Eternal Gathering Island would be shaken.

Silver Elves, also known as Moon Elves, refer to themselves as Tuter Quesser, famously championing freedom with a carefree and unrestrained attitude, living by the creed of enjoying the present day as it comes, considered the epitome of elven-kind.

Most of the elven species traits known to humans refer to Silver Elves because they are the most intermarried with humans; at least half of the half-elves are of Silver Elf descent.

But descriptions of racial traits can only apply to the majority, and even a highly stereotyped race like giant dragons has its own distinctive features and characteristics, let alone elves.

At least in her way of handling matters, Selin lacked the procrastination typical of most Silver Elves. After leaving Eaglesong Tower, she returned home to deal with a few pressing matters and then hurried to the nearest port to book passage on an elven merchant ship departing that afternoon.

As soon as the elven merchant ship sailed out of the scope of the Mystlock Locks that shrouded Eternal Gathering Island, it activated the teleportation and directly reached a mountaintop surrounding Mesnoel.

From there, she could perfectly overlook the entirety of Mesnoel.

The scene she saw shocked her. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt

This was not the desolate place devoid of inhabitants she had expected; instead, it was bustling with activity and throngs of people.

However, there were few normal people to be seen; the population consisted of a hodgepodge of forest races.

There were various members of the Fae Race, birds and beasts, all kinds of peculiar Awakened Plants, a group of tall and mighty Golia, and even a small contingent of humans.

But the most numerous were the so-called masters of the forest, the elves, totaling around five hundred, mostly half-elves.

Like the elves of other forests, only a portion responded to the call of the soul from Eternal Gathering Island and migrated, while others chose to stay in their homelands.

Among those who stayed behind were former residents of Mesnoel and scattered residents of Mir Forest.

The elves currently here were probably only a small part of the Mir Forest elves, those affected by the Necrotic Plague and seeking treatment and refuge.

And a large portion, just like herself, were watching quietly from the shadows.

After all, although Mesnoel was being revived, knowledge about the Rebooters was limited, and moving there was a matter deserving careful consideration.

Especially after so many suffering from the Necrotic Plague had flocked here.

Those who had not been affected by the sickness were even more cautious to prevent themselves from being infected.

Information gathered indirectly almost made Selin burst out of hiding and run to Mesnoel to verify the matter.

The problem they feared the most, the Divine Root sealed beneath Mesnoel, had not only escaped its bonds but had also been killed.

If it were mere speculation, Selin would never believe it. After all, she had personally witnessed the battle to seal the Divine Root and knew of its terrifying strength. She knew it was not an inert object, but something that could be stimulated into a living being.

The horrific traces of battle outside Mesnoel, especially the terrifying trail that cut through half of Mir Forest, could only be left by the Divine Root in its attacking state.

As someone who came from a ruling family of Mesnoel, Selin knew more and was able to gather more indirect evidence—the Necrotic Maze Lock above Mesnoel was clearly lacking in Corruption Power.

The Mystlock Locks of Mesnoel were initially built as normal locks but later transformed into Necrotic Maze Locks to consume the power of the Divine Root. They still did not have the ability to create necrosis on their own.

Now the weakening of this unique ability implied it could no longer replenish the power of Corruption in large amounts.

The current Necrotic Power mainly came from the surrounding remnants and those suffering from the Necrotic Plague.

Once these forces of Corruption were absorbed and exhausted, the Necrotic Maze Lock of Mesnoel would revert to a normal Mystlock.

This discovery excited Selin so much she could hardly contain herself, clutching the Transmission Gemstone and almost desperate to share the news with Eternal Gathering Island.

But at the last moment, she forcefully restrained herself.

This Transmission Gemstone, which could penetrate the locks of Eternal Gathering Island, was a single-use consumable, rendered ineffective after one use.

Until she had formal contact with the Rebooter, Selin always felt that her knowledge was merely superficial, and the information transmitted back was incomplete.

"No more waiting, today, just today, I’ll make direct contact with him and see who he really is," Selin resolved, while keeping a close watch on Mesnoel.

After two days of observation, it was discovered that the Rebooter did not stay in Mesnoel permanently. Most of the time the lock was tightly closed without a trace of him.

Only at dusk would he appear on time, open the lock, and welcome the creatures gathered outside.

Compared to the chaos of the previous days,

Today’s situation was much more orderly because there were very few newcomers. Most were regulars, and for those beasts and birds, it was simply a return to the nest.

During the day, they left Mesnoel to forage in Mir Forest.

This was also what made Mesnoel so unique at the moment.

Among those beasts and birds, Hunters and the hunted mingled together as if they had an agreement. Those carnivorous creatures did not attack other animals here.

But once they returned to Mir Forest, the two sides had to fight for survival.

Those carnivorous creatures, unless particularly ravenous, rarely hunted the prey living among them.

It was not until Selin inadvertently saw a Forest Panther hunt down a weak wild boar, and the next day, its Necrotic Plague worsened, weakening its own body, that she realized there was no affection between these creatures. Their force of Corruption was transferred through consumption.

Eating those infected animals would exacerbate their own sickness.

Not only did the carnivorous hunters not hunt those herbivorous animals with the plague, but the herbivores also shunned corrupted plants, preferring to travel farther to forage in the forest miles away.

What caught Selin’s eye the most was a Pegasus.

It was black at one moment and white at another, leaving Mesnoel white, then turning black after a stroll, and turning white again by the afternoon.

Its blackness was not without reason, as it absorbed the surrounding Corruption Power. The speed was not particularly fast, but the persistence was still quite alarming.

Just as Selin was preparing to reveal herself and make contact with the Rebooter of Mesnoel,

An unusual disturbance came from the passage through the corrupted forest, as colossal creatures emerged.

Leading the way was a group emitting a putrid stench, like heaps of rotting vegetables and leaves. Compared to their bloated bodies, their two legs were like twisted vines, thick and short, wobbling as they walked. Their hands were also long, thick vines.

These Awakened Plants were known as Vine Fiends, also dubbed Stumblers for their wobbly way of moving.

The group of creatures following them bore some resemblance in appearance, but they lacked the short legs and instead had a bug-like bloated lower body. Their head area was occupied by a fearsome mouth filled with spiky fangs, and with the help of two thick tentacles, they moved forward in a jerky manner. These were another type of Awakened Plants known as Tentacle Demon Vines.

At first glance, these Tentacle Demon Vines weren’t much taller than the Vine Fiends, but a comparison of their movements easily revealed the former’s size was easily double that of the latter.

And that wasn’t all, the real giants were the group of Treants following behind.