Chapter 1944: A Branch is a Gift
The Branch of the World Tree is a much-coveted item for all magic classes. Its very existence would create chaos as about half of the player population actually has a magic class. There are more players using magic than using swords. This is the result of a generation watching fantasy movies that have powerful sorcerers.
"Thank you for the gift. I shall use it well." Adrian stated even though he does not know what he will do with it. He has a lot of materials in his inventory that has yet to see the light of day, but he knows that he will use them to upgrade his current items.
"Do you need something like this to increase your power, Paradox?" Adrian asked Paradox.
"The given material is not needed in order to become a divine item." Paradox replied which made Adrian both shocked and scared.
Adrian is shocked that a powerful item that can manipulate all elemental mana is not needed to increase its capacity. He is scared because the material he is holding is basically a mythical tier item. If a mythical tier item is no longer useful to Paradox, then Adrian can only shudder at the fact that he would need to feed it Transcendent tier items. All items of that tier basically have divine energy infused in them.
"Where is Levin Cloud? He was here a few hours ago." Adrian asked as he did not realize that he was inside the Forest of No Return for a couple of days.
"Levin Cloud is doing a quest to increase his capability of harnessing natural energy. He left a few days ago as you are inside the forest for a long time. Did you not feel the passage of time?" Elder Danaya asked.
"Strange? I timed myself well, but it seems time itself is not flowing properly in the Forest of No Return." Adrian stated.
"The reason for that is the location of the Primordial Beast Nidhogg is located near there. The Forest of No Return is where my life energy is being nibbled on by the Primordial Beast Nidhogg." The avatar of the World Tree stated.
"Mother Tree! He is an outsider. Even if he is the Champion of the Twin Gods, you should not tell him about such important information like that." The Fairy King stated as he is worried that Adrian might use information like that to threaten them.
"The Goddess of Life Gaea does not easily choose someone as a champion. One of their qualities must be trustworthy. Plus, you might not be able to see it with your own sight, but he is someone that outranks you right now. We might need his help should the Primordial Beast Nidhogg become truly active." The avatar of the World Tree stated as it could see that Adrian has been given the task of Mediator.
"I promise to not say anything about the Primordial Beast Nidhogg because I already feel the heavy burden accompanied with it. I do not need anymore than necessary when it comes to worries about divine beasts." Adrian stated as he really does not want to get involved but the avatar of the world tree is looking at him as if it already made its decision.
Adrian knew that Primordial Beasts are like divine beasts, but they were not created from divine energy or the faith of other people. Primordial Beasts are beasts that have been born naturally through the accumulation of natural energy. They are basically energies of nature which means they cannot be truly killed as they will reform somewhere else when a large amount of natural energy is collected.
"I wish to ask one thing before I leave as all of you might know it. Do you know where I can get a stalk of golden wheat?" Adrian asked as he is in the best place to ask about it as he is in the presence of the Faekin which have connection to all plant life.
"Golden Wheat? I think I know about a plant like that. Such a plant is extremely rare, and it can even be used to create such delicious alcohol." Elder Danaya stated as she suddenly looked like she wanted a taste of the Golden Wheat Barley that she was gifted back then.
"If you know the place then please point me to it. I need such a thing in order to create the holy relic that I am tasked with." Adrian stated.
"I know the place but the last time that I had physically seen one was a hundred years ago. You know that a hundred years is enough time for a place to change. Humans have such short lifespans that a place can change within two decades. The place where I have physically seen it was called Wheatville as it is a famed place where the best wheat is farmed. They usually prayed to us for good harvest, but we rarely get prayers anymore for things like that." Elder Danaya stated.
Adrian remembered that the dryads were often prayed to by people that live in small villages to ensure good harvest. The prayers that they received are heard by minor gods or goddesses of life and they send the dryads a request to answer the prayers. This is how some minor gods or goddesses get faith to empower themselves. The dryads get some goods that they like from these small villages like wine or other offerings as gods cannot use them anyway.
"The mortal realm is no longer the same as it was. The number of beings that pray to the gods of life for good harvest has decreased. They usually pray for good health instead as harvest festivals are no longer held on places where people gather." Elder Danaya stated.
Adrian also remembered the instances of harvest festivals as they are held to celebrate a great harvest. It is also a time where the Faekin can traverse to the main world easily as a link to Alfheim is strengthened during such events. The fact that harvest festivals were forgotten is due to the widespread belief of the fallen Church of Light. They changed the harvest festivals to Light Festivals where they venerated the Goddess of Light Luminaria for the good harvest even though she barely does anything related to that.
This did not happen to just the Harvest Festival but also to other minor festivals where specific gods were celebrated. Some names of the gods were lost to history which weakened them to the point that they have become helpers. If the gods or goddesses of life were not vital to the flow of the world then number of them might have been sealed or needed to sleep to preserve energy.
"Do you know the general direction of Wheatville then?" Adrian asked.
"I am not one to be such a sour grape, but that place has already faded from the map. It was where the previous capital of the ruined empire. There was once a legendary farmer that can produce those golden wheat and he was able to feed a lot of people. He was able to save numerous villages from hunger because of his crops.
He was truly loved by the earth, but he was still human in the end. He was called a Saint... what was he called again? Saint Vincent if I am not mistaken. He was such a bright and kind kid that made me freely give him the Blessing of the Forest Elder." "I already told you to not meddle with mortals too much. He was persecuted because of that! In the end, he died because of the greed of mortals." The Fairy King stated as he was listening to the conversation.
"He really did love helping others but that also became his curse. Anyways, I believe only a farmer that is on the level of a Legendary Farmer can create the Golden Wheat. I do not know of any as the Fae have been banned by the Mother Tree from giving the Blessing of the Forest Elder due to what happened to the past Legendary Farmer." Elder Danaya stated as she knows that there is no legendary farmer in this era.
"Great! I have no way of getting the Golden Wheat in this era... Wait! I cannot get it in this era but that does not prevent me from going a hundred years back to swipe some." Adrian thought but he was just looking sad to hide what he was thinking.
"I am sorry that we cannot give you any more help, Champion Equinox. I guess this is what a grandmother feels when they cannot spoil their favorite grandchild." Elder Danaya stated as she created a leaf and pressed it on her eyes gently as if she was wiping off tears.
"At least, you consider yourself old already. That is progress." The Fairy King stated as he suddenly vanished with an explosion of glitter with an angry Elder Danaya shouting to strangle him because of what he said.