Arrived?
Allen followed the direction of Ida Emean's finger and looked over.
From top to bottom, lush green instantly filled every corner of his vision.
A colossal sky-piercing tree supported a green Kanupy that blocked out the sun and sky. Faint emerald radiance flickered between the leaves, reflecting the golden sunlight—ancient and full of vicissitudes.
Beneath it, the dark brown between the dense leaves was almost like a thick fortress wall, until its towering form was hidden by the verdant guardians surrounding it.
"Sacred… Mayena…"
The Witcher was overwhelmed by the sight, muttering in disbelief.
How tall could an oak grow in a year?
How many long years must its roots absorb before it could reach such majesty?
"Bzzzz—"
The surge of elemental energy made the wolf medallion hum.
In a daze, the emerald glow lingering among the branches seemed to instantaneously cross several hundred meters and fall into his eyes.
Then—
As the shimmering light flowed, he heard the forest singing.
He saw sunlight pierce the dense green Kanupy of the oak, dancing on leaves, strange stones, and soil.
Birds tilted their heads, chasing the scattered spots of light, their voices crisp and bright.
Delicate, clear water sounds came from all directions, and with their arrival—
The scene before him became even more vivid, even more alive.
Earthworms writhed their brown bodies, turning the soil. Moss sprouted on every piece of rotting wood. From above, a giant banyan tree let fall its thick aerial roots, blocking every ray of sunlight from the sky.
Then, accompanied by the sound of tinkling water—
He saw a lake.
Its surface was as deep as jade, yet shining like gold. The reflected sunlight was so dazzling that he couldn't help closing his eyes.
After closing them, the sound of the water only grew clearer.
The water was consoling, joyful, healing, calling…
When the Witcher tried to see who was calling him, the instant he opened his eyes, the whispered water-sound abruptly disappeared, and the scene before him returned to the awe-inspiring giant tree—Sacred Mayena.
A warm current then flowed through his entire body, as though he were immersed in a mildly hot spring.
In the blink of an eye, Allen felt much lighter.
"Just now… was that the mysterious grove that appeared after absorbing the Leshen's essence?!"
His eyes widened.
He had thought… he had thought he needed to learn a druid's meditation method before he could re-enter that mysterious grove.
He hadn't expected that merely standing at the outer edge of the Mayena Druid Circle, he would see that mysterious place again.
This time, he was heavily wounded. Although Vera had stopped treatment yesterday and declared him healed, he could clearly feel he wasn't at his peak—his whole body felt like rusted gears, stiff and sticky.
This was an injury beyond the reach of healing magic—if neglected, it would turn into a deep-seated ailment impossible to cure.
Vera's "Verdant Sigh," capable of treating hidden injuries, had no effect on this state. Only after months, once the dark injury fully formed and stabilized, could treatment continue.
But now, as the warm current passed through him, the hidden patterns in his muscles were permeated, and in a short while, his entire body felt renewed.
The hidden injuries that neither Vera nor Ida Emean could handle for the time being were healed as if brushed away.
Allen did not know what connection the Druid Circle had with that mysterious grove, nor what Sacred Mayena had to do with it.
He only knew one thing—He had come to the right place!
Just getting close—without even entering the grove or reclaiming the "residual" power—had already affected him this much.
What if he truly entered that grove?
"Ever since the white ships of the Hill Folk landed in this world, Sacred Mayena has stood here."
"Now the Elven Royal Court is long gone, free elves barely survive, yet Sacred Mayena still stands…"
Ida Emean did not notice Allen's odd reaction. She looked at the distant giant tree with a complicated expression.
Allen's thoughts were interrupted. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something—
But Ida Emean didn't remain immersed in nostalgia for long. After surveying the surroundings, she said: "The inner circle of the Mayena Druid Ring cannot be entered by outsiders. We'll just wait here—"
Before she finished.
Clang
Emerald radiance shot into the sky from the core of the Mayena Forest.
The clouds were blown apart.
The emerald glow rose like a straight pillar from the core of the forest, expanding outward.
Wherever the pillar's reach extended, blue-green light-rain fell.
A massive vitality, along with the expanding radiance and rain, descended upon the entire forest.
Allen froze, subconsciously raising his hand.
Fine emerald droplets fell into his palm. The newly revived warm current within him surged as though merging into a vast ocean—his entire body felt its continued replenishment.
No—
Not only replenishment. He felt his strength, agility, and constitution growing.
Was this… an anomaly caused by me?
The Witcher immediately became alert, quietly lowering his hand and steadying his mind as he glanced at Ida Emean.
She too was stunned by the spectacle, staring at the radiant emerald pillar.
"What is this?" Allen asked, controlling his expression as he scanned their surroundings.
"The Mayena Druid Ring… the Grand Master's Celebration of Life…" Ida Emean answered instinctively. Then, noticing his caution, she explained with a faint smile, "Don't worry, this isn't a bad thing."
"On the contrary, for a patient who just recovered from grievous wounds, it is an extremely rare opportunity."
"A Celebration of Life of this scale can even regenerate lost limbs."
"The Grand Master of the Mayena Druid Ring?" Allen frowned.
Ida Emean nodded. "He is the Reindeer Saint—the strongest and oldest druid, the sole avatar of nature in the mortal world, the true master of the Mayena Druid Ring…"
"Even during the era when the Elven Empire ruled the entire Northern Continent, the Elven King had to remain respectful before a druidic saint. Titles like Sage and Aen Saevherne were originally meant to honor such beings…"
"And he is related to you how?" Allen looked at the red-haired elf.
The red-haired elf woman rolled her eyes. "I said it was in the past."
"The Elven Royal Court that once conquered the entire Northern Continent had, at most, only three Sages. And now…"
She paused. "Now the requirements for Elven Sages and Aen Saevhernes are already far below what they used to be."
Allen nodded thoughtfully.
Powerful individuals required massive resources to sustain them.
The Free Elves, who had been weakened to the point of shrinking into a corner—and were still steadily declining—indeed had almost no possibility of producing Aen Saevhernes like those of the Elven Royal Court era.
But whether to stabilize public morale or to intimidate the outside world, such a title was still necessary. So they could only lower the standards.
It wasn't hard to understand.
But this also made Allen think of Avallac'h of the Alder Folk.
Avallac'h was likewise an Aen Saevherne in the original story; and Aen Elle and Aen Seidhe had separated from Aen Undod thousands of years ago.
So Ida Emean's words were wrong—or at least partially wrong.
The title of Aen Saevherne did not originate from the era of the Elven Royal Court, but from the even more ancient period of Aen Undod, before Aen Elle and Aen Seidhe split due to disagreements and conflicts.
It wasn't surprising that Ida Emean had mistaken this. After all, the Apocalypse brought by the White Frost and the destruction of the Elven Royal Court had buried too much history and knowledge. They didn't even know that the Wild Hunt were the long-separated brothers of their own kind.
However, from this, the true weight of the title "Aen Saevherne" became even more apparent—whether in the past or now, the elves who could bear this title were always the strongest two or three individuals.
All along—perhaps because the presence of the Wild Hunt was too overwhelming, or because Avallac'h's fate in the games was too tragic (after Auberon Muircetach was poisoned to death by Eredin, Avallac'h, due to his conflict with Eredin, was ostracized and cursed into the foolish little monster Uma)—and because he always helped Ciri for the sake of Lara Dorren, whom he had loved deeply (the source of Ciri's Elder Blood), effectively making him part of the protagonist group—Allen's attention had always been focused on Eredin, King of the Wild Hunt.
But in fact, Avallac'h, as an Aen Saevherne, was no weaker than Eredin—at the very least, not significantly weaker. He was a powerful figure who absolutely must be taken seriously.
And…
"In the original story, the protagonist group was able to win over Avallac'h, which means Avallac'h and Eredin already had underlying conflict. Could I use this somehow?"
Allen fell into deep thought as sudden inspiration struck him.
This was very difficult.
Because the premise of Avallac'h and Eredin's conflict was that Auberon Muircetach, King of the Alders, had been poisoned by Eredin, and Avallac'h was loyal to the Alder King.
Next, Ciri was the descendant of Lara Dorren, his beloved, and—just like Harry Potter and Snape—she had a pair of green eyes extremely similar to Lara Dorren's.
Allen had no Elder Blood. His eyes were still blue. And he was definitely not Lara Dorren's descendant.
"But it's not as if there's no chance at all…" Allen thought.
In Ban Ard, the Wild Hunt was able to locate him. Clearly, it was because "future" Eredin had transmitted some kind of information to the present Eredin.
If Avallac'h could be made to communicate with his "future" self—and even Auberon Muircetach, poisoned to death, could communicate with the present…
It wasn't impossible—but extremely difficult…
For Eredin to obtain information from the "future," it definitely wouldn't have been easy. Otherwise, others on the same level—Avallac'h and Auberon Muircetach—would also have had the means to obtain it long ago, and they would have found a way to kill him earlier.
Ridiculous!
How exactly did Eredin obtain this information?
Was there no such thing as a time-space paradox in this world?
Allen found it baffling.
But thinking again—whether from the final threat made by "future" Eredin, or from his statements back in Ban Ard not long ago, and from the strange sense of loss after returning from the "future"—all of it showed that the key to Eredin receiving information from the "future" lay with him, the miracle child.
If so—
Auberon Muircetach probably had no chance.
But as long as he could, through some opportunity, cross into the "future"—preferably to the moment right after Avallac'h had recovered from the Uma curse—and then return, Avallac'h would also receive the information, including news that Auberon Muircetach would be poisoned by Eredin.
"Future" Avallac'h would certainly be willing to send that message back.
"The key to everything is how to 'cross over' again," Allen frowned. "I'll need to find an opportunity to visit the tomb that Vilgefortz excavated—the one suspected to belong to the Great Prophet Ithlinne Aegli aep Aevenien…"
Thinking of this, Allen's frown deepened.
"Ithlinne again… the priestess of Gwendolyn, Maiden of Spring…"
"One more reason to dig for information about the devout Lydia and the Maiden of Spring Gwendolyn from Archdruid Zebi Ortega…"
"Allen… Allen…" Ida Emean's voice pulled the Witcher out of his tangled thoughts.
Seeing him lost in contemplation, Ida Emean asked curiously, "What were you thinking about?"
"Sorry," Allen snapped back to awareness and casually used an excuse. "I was thinking about Hen Gedymdeith…"
"Between Hen Gedymdeith and the Grand Master of the Mayena Druid Ring, who is stronger?"
Ida Emean thought for a moment, then said, "In nature, within lush, thriving vegetation, no one can surpass the Grand Master. Even poison would be sensed in advance by the will of Mother Nature…"
So outside of a natural environment, Hen Gedymdeith was still stronger… Allen understood.
At that moment—
From the rear, and not from the direction of the inner circle of the Druid Ring, a commotion rose.
Allen and Ida Emean instinctively turned around.
A large group of druids were crowding around an elderly man whose face was aged, his back slightly hunched, yet his beard and hair remained black, and his body was still robust and strong, hurrying toward the inner circle.
The old man's most prominent feature was his beard—almost touching the ground, thick black beard braided into a dense, long plait.
As the old man approached, the excited chatter also became clearer.
"Why would the Grand Master awaken at a time like this? Did Master Kanu appear in the Sacred Grove again, or did someone else find the Golden-Haired Beast?"
"No, impossible. When you found me, I was meditating. The Sacred Grove was calm as always—nothing unusual…"
"You may think it was calm, but that doesn't mean it truly was. Masters have plenty of ways to hide from our senses in the Sacred Grove."
"That's true, but…"
-----------------------------------
"All right, enough arguing. Whatever stirred him, we'll know once we see the Grand Master."
The druid with the beard trailing on the ground waved his hand, and as he lifted his head and saw Ida Emean and Vera standing at the boundary of the inner circle, his eyes lit up. He quickened his pace and instructed those around him, "Silence. Follow me to greet our honored guests first."
Ida Emean stepped forward and began exchanging courtesies.
The witcher standing behind the red-haired elf, however, while observing Zebi Ortega—his future druid mentor—was also turning over a question in his mind…
"The Sacred Grove… Master Kanu… the Golden-Haired Beast…"
"It all sounds very familiar…"
.....
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