Chapter 146: Who Is Kei’s Mother?

The outside world in Kei’s eyes felt endlessly unfamiliar.

Looking down from Keanu’s back, towering tree trunks intertwined to form a sprawling green canopy overhead. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, occasionally alighting upon his shoulder before sliding down onto the forest floor like dancing spots of light. The wind swept past, carrying the scents of fresh grass, damp soil, and the faint fragrance of wild blossoms brushing against the tip of his nose.

Kei found novelty in everything he saw, having never laid eyes on anything quite like this before.

A slow-moving green beetle crawling along a nearby tree trunk even managed to capture his undivided attention. Tiny golden specks dotted its shell, catching the sunlight and shimmering brilliantly with every tilt of its body.

"Ian, that beetle is so pretty!"

Ian followed the direction of his finger and chuckled softly. "It’s just a regular beetle."

"But I’ve never seen one before." Kei leaned sideways, straining to get a better look. "Where is it going, Ian?"

"Probably out looking for food."

"Then does it know how to get back home?"

Ian paused for a split second. He looked at Kei’s curious face and answered gently, "Of course. All the living creatures in this forest know the way back home."

Kei nodded thoughtfully, as though having just absorbed a piece of vital information.

Ian watched him in silence for a moment before asking, "Kei, have you truly never stepped foot into this forest, not even once?"

Kei shook his head. His cheeks puffed out, and his little lips pouted in open dissatisfaction. "Father always said the outside world isn’t good for my health, so he wouldn’t let me go out. I’ve always been stuck inside the house."

"So today is the very first time you’ve ever laid eyes on the forest?" Ian asked in genuine astonishment.

"Mhm!" Kei replied happily, then immediately turned back to survey his surroundings. "Every single tree is so tall. Plus, there are so many pretty bugs."

Ian smiled. He reached up to touch the necklace hanging around his own neck, sliding a delicate cord through a jade-green leaf as an idea sparked in his mind.

"Kei, let me lend you this."

He unclasped the necklace and carefully fastened it around Kei’s neck.

The tiny leaf rested against the boy’s chest, radiating a faint, greenish luminescence. That gentle glow enveloped Kei like a thin, ethereal layer of sunlight.

"This is a leaf from the Tree of Life. Every Elf receives a leaf like this upon birth. It protects and nurtures us." Ian adjusted the cord so it sat straight. "When you’re outside, I’ll lend it to you so you’ll feel a bit stronger. But make sure you don’t take it off, alright?"

Kei reached up to touch the leaf. A gentle warmth radiated through his fingertips, prompting him to stroke it with fascination.

"What does the Tree of Life look like, Ian? Is it super huge?"

"Massive." Ian thought for a moment, spreading his arms wide, yet failing to convey the true scale. "Bigger than all the trees you see here. Its canopy spans across the entire Elven Forest, and its fruits give birth to little Elf babies."

Kei widened his eyes. "Elves are born from fruits on a tree?"

"Mhm."

"How magical!" Kei giggled softly. "Then those fruits must taste delicious, right?"

Ian burst out laughing, unable to resist reaching out to ruffle his hair. "I’ve never actually tried one."

"What a pity..." Kei looked down at the leaf resting against his chest with mild disappointment. "I want to see the Tree of Life."

Ian pointed straight ahead. "Then next time I’ll take you to the Elven Forest, and we can catch a glimpse of it from afar. But today, let’s head to Elven Lake first. I’ll teach you how to catch Silver-Scaled Fish."

Along the journey, Ian filled Kei in on the lives of the Elves dwelling within the woods. He recounted how their homes were built nestled among branches, how the children raced across vine-bridge networks, while the adults tended to tiny gardens and stood guard over the forest.

Kei listened with rapt attention. Every now and then, he would ask a question that forced Ian to chuckle, leading him to laugh along as well. Before long, the children’s overlapping voices blended seamlessly with the whispering wind and rustling leaves.

A short while later, Ian asked with a hint of curiosity: "What about your mother? I thought humans needed both a father and a mother to be born."

Kei blinked. "I don’t have a mother. I only have Father Julius."

Ian paused in surprise.

Kei lowered his head in thought, trying to dredge up any memories of Julius ever explaining how he came into the world. Yet his mind held no such answers.

"Maybe I was born from an egg, just like a little chick."

Ian stared blankly, then burst into roaring laughter. "Kei, you’re not a chick."

"But I don’t have a mother." Kei tilted his head, wearing an expression of absolute seriousness. "Then where was I born?"

Ian gazed into his crystal-clear eyes, his laughter gradually subsiding. He had no idea how to explain such a concept to a child who had never laid eyes on anyone aside from his father and himself.

"Well... you’ll understand when you grow older."

Kei still didn’t quite grasp it, but seeing that Ian wasn’t continuing the topic, he dropped the subject as well. He turned his attention back to admiring the forest, excitedly pointing out tiny wildflowers sprouting beneath the tree roots to Ian.

The two of them chatted away as they traveled. Before long, the dense trunks up ahead thinned out, and the ambient light grew significantly more brilliant.

The Elven Lake materialized before their eyes.

The expansive lake surface lay as flat and tranquil as a sheet of glass. Under the sunlight, the water shimmered with a brilliant silver luster, so breathtakingly gorgeous that Kei momentarily forgot to even blink.

"So pretty..." he breathed softly.

Sitting right behind him, Ian kept Kei securely anchored to Keanu’s back. "This is Elven Lake. The Silver-Scaled Fish dwell at the very bottom, yet their scales absorb the sunlight and refract a silver glow across the water’s surface."

Kei leaned forward to gaze into the lake, his eyes reflecting the dazzling silver radiance.

On the very first day he had ever stepped outside his little cabin, he had been granted a glimpse of a world this vast and miraculous.