Chapter 39: The Sacred Tree of Ael’Zoria

"Ael’Zoria?"

Chris felt a strange sense of familiarity, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. He felt as if he had heard the name before, but he couldn’t recall anything about it.

The man only smiled and didn’t say anything.

Chris continued to follow the old man. They walked from one branch of the tree to another, moving in a direction Chris didn’t know. He decided not to ask and kept quiet.

The old man was the first to speak.

"By the way, you can call me Sage, as everyone does. I am one of the elders in charge of Ael’Zoria."

Chris nodded.

"Chris."

The old man looked at him with a smile.

"You are not very talkative, are you?"

Chris shook his head.

"Maybe at times, but right now, I only want to see my beast."

The Sage nodded again.

"We are getting close, so there is nothing to worry about. By the way, you have quite a good little dragon there."

Chris stopped in his tracks and looked at the man in surprise.

"You also know about dragons?"

"Hohohoho, you’d be surprised, young man. I dare say I know quite a bit more than you."

Chris was about to say something, but the man shook his head.

"There is no use in asking me about this. I can’t tell you anything, and it’s not the time for you to know anyway."

Chris closed his mouth and nodded slowly. He wondered why he had been hearing that sentence so often recently.

Soon after, they arrived at the base of another branch, where there was another opening in the tree trunk. This time, however, the opening was much larger than before.

*ROOOAR!*

Chris heard Azreon’s roar from inside. The sound was strong, and it didn’t seem like Azreon was injured or in danger. Instead, he sounded more irritated.

Chris breathed a sigh of relief.

They entered a room inside the tree trunk, and Chris immediately saw Azreon standing on the other side, imprisoned in a similar cage to the one Chris had exited just a short while ago. Azreon was clawing at the wooden bars, trying to break them, but nothing worked.

The moment Azreon saw him, he stopped attacking the bars and roared happily.

Chris felt extremely relieved to see Azreno unharmed and approached him.

Two guards were standing in front of the bars where Azreon was imprisoned. When they saw Chris approaching, they stepped forward to block his way. However, the Sage raised his hand as if signaling them, and they immediately stepped back.

"Calm down, buddy. I’m fine, and I’m glad to see you’re fine too."

Chris extended his hand through the bars and patted Azreon.

At that moment, Aelonen came rushing toward them from behind.

"Sage! The meeting is about to start. The elders are waiting for you."

The Sage looked at him, then turned to Chris. He remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"Chris, why don’t you come with me to the meeting? They will discuss what to do about you, so it might be in your interest to be present."

"Sage! How can that be!? How can a human be allowed to enter the Sacred Tree of Ael’Zoria?"

Aelonen yelled from behind them.

The Sage looked back at him.

"And will you now teach me what can and can’t be done?"

Aelonen instantly became frightened, but he still tried to argue.

"But Sage, the rules say—AGH!"

The old man raised his staff and hit Aelonen on the head, cutting him off.

"The rules? Are you going to teach me about rules, brat? I’ll remind you that I was the one who wrote most of those rules you’re talking about."

"Y-yes, Sage!"

Aelonen massaged his head to ease the pain and replied with his head lowered.

The old man looked back at Chris.

"So, what will it be?"

Chris nodded without hesitation.

"If I’m allowed, I’ll go."

The old man nodded and started leading the way, with Chris following behind him. Aelonen also followed them, glaring at Chris with animosity the entire way.

Chris didn’t pay any attention to him. By now, he had started looking at the man as if he were a clown. Chris wouldn’t underestimate strangers, but he had realized that he slightly disliked gullible people who let their emotions guide them before thinking things through.

But then he suddenly realized something.

’Was I like that before?’

He started thinking about his own personality before everything happened. Before he felt the cruel hand of human indifference, he had been exactly like that. He had been lively and gullible himself, with his entire personality revolving around his emotions.

Chris began mentally noting his own faults. He shouldn’t let his past dictate his thoughts and feelings.

’Maybe this guy isn’t so bad?’

After walking for a while, they stepped onto another large tree branch that extended far into the distance, much longer than any of the other branches he had seen. It led away from the gigantic trees and into the open space beyond them.

After exiting the thick tree canopy that surrounded them on all sides, his view widened, and what Chris saw left him even more stunned than before.

A single, gigantic tree stood tall in the distance. It was surrounded by the other enormous trees he had seen earlier, but this one was much larger. Chris looked up but couldn’t even see the top of the tree, as it disappeared into the clouds above. Its branches stretched high into the sky, looking as if they were holding up the clouds themselves.

The tree glowed with a strong golden light, and Chris instantly understood why the entire area of Ael’Zoria was so bright. This tree was illuminating everything around it. Earlier, Chris hadn’t been able to see even a glimpse of it because of the thick tree canopy surrounding him.

The Sage noticed Chris staring and spoke as they walked.

"This is the Sacred Tree of Ael’Zoria. It has protected our tribe for countless years."

Chris only nodded, still too stunned to form words. The sight was something he had never expected to be possible.

As they got closer to the tree, they passed more and more members of the elven race. They all looked at Chris strangely. Some were simply curious about the unfamiliar man, while others didn’t hide the animosity in their eyes.

Chris continued walking without paying attention to them. He was long used to people looking at him that way.

They approached the trunk of the Sacred Tree, where many guards stood in a row. A huge door was built into the trunk, looking like an entrance to another world hidden inside. It appeared ancient and was covered in glowing symbols that Chris couldn’t recognize, though he noticed some similarities to the symbols he had seen in the dungeon he had visited before.

As soon as the guards saw the Sage, they all bowed and stepped aside. Nobody questioned why Chris was there as two guards pushed the huge door open, one from each side.

The Sage, Chris, and Aelonen entered through the doorway and found themselves in a huge room that looked as if it had been built for meetings.

A round table stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by dozens of chairs that were already occupied. Only one seat was empty.

Noticing their arrival, the people around the table looked in their direction. Chris could see that they were all probably old, yet they looked exceptionally young. The sight was contradictory, leaving him feeling slightly awkward.

The Sage walked up to the empty seat and sat down, while Chris and Aelonen remained standing behind him.

"Okay, the meeting can start now." The Sage said.

"Respected Sage, could you please explain why you brought this human into our sacred place? This place should remain free of such filth."

Another old man sitting on the other side of the table spoke. Compared to the others, he was the only one with a round belly, while everyone else looked slim.

"Nodhen, such words are unwarranted. Just because we harbor some animosity toward humans because of our past doesn’t mean they are all evil and filthy. Let me remind you that we were once great friends with the human race, and we lived and fought together."

The chubby man looked down at the table for a moment before nodding.

"You are right, Sage. I let my feelings cloud my judgment. Forgive me."

The Sage nodded before continuing.

"This man should have the right to be present if we are discussing his life and death. Don’t you all agree?"

The other men and women sitting at the table looked at one another. Some didn’t seem to agree, but they all nodded in the end. Chris couldn’t help but think that the old Sage was quite respected in this place.

"Then, let’s discuss it. What do you all think we should do?" The Sage asked.

Nodhen, who had spoken earlier, stood up and spoke.

"I think we should kill him to avoid any trouble."

Some of the others sitting around the table nodded in agreement.

An old woman sitting on the other side of the table stood up and spoke in a strong voice while looking at Nodhen.

"I think that’s completely unnecessary! I see nothing bad about this child, and he hasn’t done anything evil so far. Why should we take such drastic measures?"

Some of the others nodded after hearing her words, but fewer agreed with her than with Nodhen.

Nodhen looked at her.

"Andrena, don’t let your good-natured heart cloud your judgment. We must be decisive now. Letting this human go will only spell trouble for our tribe. We can’t risk it."

"So we should just kill an innocent being to avoid possible trouble? This is not how our sacred tribe should act. This is not what we were taught by the old ways!"

Nodhen snorted.

"The old ways? Look what happened to our tribe when we followed them! This is a new era, and we must act in our own best interest."

Some of the others nodded in agreement.

"You! How can you be so cruel?"

The Sage suddenly raised his hand, and everyone stopped talking and looked at him.

"I agree with Andrena."

Nodhen looked at him.

"Respected Sage, please consider the situation and the consequences. This human entered our territory without permission and brought danger along with him!"

"And he did so unknowingly. He was escaping for his life, and he didn’t even know our race existed, so he is innocent." The Sage retorted.

"He also brought a Fallen to our doorstep!" Nodhen continued.

"And with that, he also brought us some answers we needed."

Nodhen looked surprised at the Sage’s words. The others around the table also looked astonished.

"You think... about..."

"Yes. We will talk about it later." the Sage replied with a nod.

Nodhen thought for a moment before continuing.

"But still, we can’t risk it at this moment. Even though his arrival turned out to be slightly beneficial for us, we can’t just take the risk of releasing this human."

Some of the others nodded along with his words.

"Nodhen!" Andrena looked at him in surprise.

"Please understand, Andrena. We stand to lose too much. Our tribe’s interests must come first."

The Sage silently observed them before speaking.

"I have an idea."

They all looked at him.

"How about... we send him to the secret dungeon to rescue Aelia?"

Aelonen flinched at the mentioned name, his eyes instantly widened and he suddenly looked at Chris with hints of hope in his eyes. Chris wondered if the man lost his mind.

The others appeared stunned for a moment before Nodhen started laughing.

"Hahaha! Excellent idea! Why didn’t I think of this before?"

Andrena, however, looked displeased.

"Respected Sage, I expected something like that from Nodhen, but you too? That’s way too cruel!"

The Sage looked at her and shook his head.

"You don’t understand, Andrena. I’m doing this for his own good, and for Aelia’s."

The woman looked surprised.

"You think he will succeed?"

The Sage thought for a moment.

"I believe he might."