Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Episode 20. The World Tree (2)

[Essence of Mana (Pure) and the Seed of the World Tree are successfully combined.]

[The result is successful. ‘Sprout Seed of the World Tree’ is complete!]

Elixir and a Unicorn’s horn. I was fortunate enough to find both of them at the shop for everything. When I had all the ingredients, I tried the combination, and when it was completed, a sprouted seed was left on my hand.

It was smaller than my thumb but held a potential beyond anyone’s imagination. If I planted it with enough sun, depending on the growing speed, it would grow to be a few dozen yards or even a few hundred feet tall.

I had seen the World Tree twice in my whole life, once in the Devildom and once in Oculus’ dungeon. The presence of the tree was grand, overwhelming everyone and making people speechless…

It was one single most beautiful and mesmerizing thing that existed in this world.

‘I was able to understand why Elves were so crazy for the World Tree.’

And, of course, what the World Tree brought into the ecosystem would be a big part of the reason for their worshipping. But that wasn’t all. For the Elves, the World Tree full of life was their own roots, as well as their pride.

That was the reason why only the strongest Elves were allowed to live around the World Tree.

‘Not much was written in the recipe… but that was enough.’

The recipe was real. At least this made it clear that the Fairy King of Darkness had shown me a friendly gesture.

This kind of grand present could make me feel a bit uncomfortable, but this time was a bit different. I was using a massive number of points at the Auction of Devildom and I planned to keep doing it for a while. Also, I encouraged other Devils to spend more than they should have and brought the Fairy King a massive profit.

I totally deserved such a present.

If I became greedy and tried to get more, that would become a problem, but so far, I had no plan to do that. And even if I refused to help them, there was no way for them to harm me anyway.

I was spending enough to be a VIP, even more than those groups under Archdukes.

If I received massive benefits from the World Tree and used them at the Auction of Devildom, that was a win-win for the Fairy King. Maybe he could be jealous but no more than that.

I carefully picked up the seed and moved up to the 15th floor.

When I opened my Mana around the village of Dark Elves, Julium ran out to welcome me. “Greetings, my Master.”

“Where did you plant the Seed of the World Tree?” I asked them without beating around the bush.

The Seed of the World Tree that I had taken from Adol Ruff’s dungeon.

I was sure that the Elves had planted it in the spot where the power of the Earth was the strongest, so I was planning to plant the other seed in the same place.

Julium was blinking with curiosity. “It’s planted not far from here. But… if I may, can I ask why you’re asking?”

“I’m planning to plant a Seed of the World Tree.”

“But didn’t you already plant it?”

“That one has no sprout. I’m talking about a sprouted seed. Look.” I opened my right hand and showed the sprouted Seed of the World Tree.

The seed itself had massive Mana in it, so Julium recognized it right away. It looked identical to the one that had already been planted… The only difference was that the seed had sprouted.

“…!” Julium couldn’t breathe when he recognized the difference. He started to shiver, and his eyes became red with shock.

It was amazing that I had two Seeds of the World Tree and even more so that one of them had sprouted. It didn’t take long for Julium to understand my intention, and he tried to stand up straight. “I… I will lead you to the spot right away.”

Julium looked like he was in a hurry.

In the middle of the 15th floor, the Seed of the World Tree was planted.

The soil was fertile there, and the power of the Earth was very strong. It was a spot where anything would grow fast if planted.

Around the seed, a dozen Dark Elves were sitting and singing with faces painted in red. Krithli was among them, drawing some kind of a tattoo on her face with blood and concentrating on the seed sitting close to her.

I was able to feel the strong waves of Mana. Grass was growing remarkably around that area. They were singing an ode to the lives that was almost like a basic instinct to the Elves.

It seemed like they were trying to perform a ritual to make the seed sprout, but it was obviously not working. Only the right combination could sprout the seed. Other things seemed to be rather useless.

Julium clapped his hands and announced, “Attention. We are stopping the ritual now!”

The concentration of the collective consciousness was suddenly gone. The Dark Elves opened their eyes and looked toward Julium.

Soon, they saw me and quickly stood up to bow.

“Welcome, Dungeon Master.”

“Welcome, Dungeon Master.”

I looked at Krithli standing in the middle of elves. Her face was painted with blood, but her charms hadn’t disappeared at all. Before appreciating her beauty, I had to ask the most important question. “It’s been a while. Was there any progress?”

“…No progress,” Krithli answered with disappointment in her voice.

It had been already a few months since they received the seed, but there was no progress at all.

“Walk me through what you’ve done.”

“First, we enhanced the power of the Earth, then we used the worms that help the trees to grow and changed the soil with the help of the fairies. We called the Spirits of Earth to get some advice, but they didn’t know much about the World Tree. We also concentrated the power of Earth onto one spot, but that only killed other trees around the seed. This is our last attempt, using our ode to the lives. It has been a month but… it doesn’t seem to work… my Master.”

Krithli didn’t miss any details and told me everything with full honesty. They had tried everything they could, and this ritual was their last attempt, a desperate move.

‘Clearly, the combination is the only way.’ I had thought maybe not, but there was no maybe. The recipe was the only way, without any exceptions.

I handed the seed to Krithli.

Krithli looked a bit confused and asked me, “What is this?”

“This is the new Seed of the World Tree that we are going to plant.”

Krithli was able to quickly catch on to what was happening, as she didn’t ask again if it was real. But she still wanted to know one thing. “My Master, if I’m not mistaken, I think it has a sprout already.”

I answered nonchalantly, “You’ve seen correctly.”

“Oh…!”

Telling Krithli that she had been right was enough to explain everything. Krithli understood everything and expressed her emotions. All the Dark Elves’ efforts had been in vain, but the pleasure and excitement of having a little sprout of the World Tree were greater.

“Are you planning to plant them together?”

“I’m considering it. Have you ever heard of a case where there were two World Trees in one place?”

Krithli tried to think for a while, but soon, she dropped her shoulders. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of that.”

“Others?” I looked around the Dark Elves, but there was no one nodding or showing any positive gestures.

I touched my chin for a while. Both Julium and Krithli had quite an impressive knowledge of the history of Devildom and the middle land, as well. If they had both never even heard of it, it was possible that it couldn’t exist.

‘Either I plant one in the Japanese dungeon or plant them together.’

There was no guarantee that the other one would sprout too, but I still had to consider all the possibilities. But I felt like planting both of them together somehow, because of the item that I bought during the auction—the Statue of the Goddess of Prosperity!

It was an Epic-level item that would give prosperity to one species around it. The Seed of the World Tree could be blessed by it, but it was for growth and not repopulation. If I planted one of my seeds in the Japanese dungeon, that seed would not be blessed by this item.

I finally made my decision and told them, “I will plant them together.”

Krithli asked me with her face full of concerns, “Would it be okay? We don’t know much about the World Tree. We don’t know what would happen to the other one if the sprout even survives.” And her worries had reasons. There were so many variables and none of them were easy to understand.

“Doesn’t matter.”

If I planted one in the Japanese dungeon, I could hedge the risks, but I also thought I would reap some benefit if I grew these two together.

And I thought it would be such a waste if I let only one of them receive the blessing from the Statue of the Goddess of Prosperity. Moreover… maybe this blessing could make the other one sprout as well, right? An already growing World Tree might be a good influence on the other one.

If regret was inevitable, I wanted to do something that I liked more. Anyways, life never guaranteed such a thing as 100 percent satisfaction.

I nodded as if I wouldn’t accept any opposition. My gesture gave some sense of duty to Krithli and the Dark Elves.

There were two World Trees.

They wanted them for sure, but Krithli was worried only for my benefit.

If we made it and grew them… That would be an enormous blessing. We would be able to live in a blessing that had never presented in history.

“So, this is the spot with the strongest power of the ground, correct?”

Krithli stepped forward and answered me with confidence, “It is certain, Master.”

I took out the Statue of the Goddess of Prosperity from my bag. A five-foot-tall stone statue of a voluptuous woman smiled at me. The Dark Elves looked at it curiously, but they embraced and blessed it.

“The Statue of Goddess of Prosperity.”

Soon, a window popped up.

[You can bless one species with ‘Blessing of Prosperity.’ The radius of the blessing is 30 miles around the statue of the goddess. The blessing is not applicable outside the radius.]

[From all the species around here, pick the species that you want to bless.]

[1. Dark Elves 2. Thousand-years-old tree 3. King Bees 4. ….]

It started to name all the species around it, but I found the World Tree listed at number twelve and chose it. It seemed like with or without a sprout, the Seeds of the World Tree were considered the same thing.

When I chose the World Tree, the Statue of the Goddess of Prosperity started to shine bright and filled the entire 15th floor with light that finally concentrated on the Seed of the World Tree.

[Blessing of Prosperity has been set on the World Tree. It will grow much faster and be much healthier, as well.]

The Seed of the World Tree in Krithli’s hand gently shone in blue. It made it visually obvious that it had been blessed. I wasn’t sure how effective this blessing would be… but I was sure that it would be helpful in some way.

“Plant it.”

“Yes, Master,” Krithli answered with an incredibly tense facial expression.

She decided to put it in the ground a short distance from the already planted Seed of the World Tree. Since there was no need to dig deep, she scooped some dirt out with her hand and put the seed inside.

When the soil covered the seed…

Bang!

The ground shook once. The little seed sucked up all the power from the ground around it and made a tiny yet strong move, but that wasn’t the end of it.

A tiny sprout poked up through the fresh soil covering the seed. It was less than an inch tall, but the power of life coming from it was almost thrilling.

“Oh, oh…!”

“Is that the World Tree…? The World Tree…!”

All the Dark Elves suddenly started to express their surprise. They couldn’t take their eyes off of the little sprout of the World Tree. Some were crying in ecstasy, and others were on their knees to raise their hands up to welcome the World Tree.

They never showed such reactions toward me, the Dungeon Master. Although Krithli and Julium were trying not to overreact, they were equally impressed and shivering.

Soon, a few message windows came up.

[Incredible achievement! You successfully sprouted the ‘Seed of the World Tree’ for the very first time!]

[The World Tree is the mother of the forest. It is merciful but also has no mercy to its enemies who are harming the forest. It is a special gigantic structure that is a strong fortress in itself.]

[The level of the dungeon has been upgraded. You can check the changes in inside affair mode.]

[The title ‘Owner of the World Tree’ has been given.]