A smile spread onto my face as the woman bit her lip. Not only was she trying to suppress any movement of her neck as it would absolutely kill her, but she wanted to stay calm, knowing something bad could happen to this forest if she made any rash moves.
"You're an elf through and through…" I smiled. "It's nice to see an elf have an attachment to their natural habitat. On the overworld, the regular elves are like that, sure… but the dark elves have always hated nature. Mother nature especially as she cursed us with the resentment of forests, jungles, plains, savannas… anything you can think of. Even the fucking ocean hates us."
"I'm sorry to hear that… but can you lower the daggers. I swear on my honor and loyalty to Mammon that I nor my underlings will do anything to you. If something were to happen, then may my elven heritage be revoked, and may Mother Nature curse me for times to come."
I just stood there, my daggers slowly softening as I heard a dark elf speak such words for the first time in my life. It was so grating to hear that it was almost uncanny like it was something that should never exist. It made goosebumps erupt from my skin and my hair stand on end. It made this lurking feeling in the back of my brain want to throw up and purge everything that I had just heard.
"You're mistaken if you think Mother Nature already doesn't hate you…" I muttered, lowering my blades completely, letting the woman cup both sides of her neck while applying a light green glow.
"Mother Nature loves all of her creations, in hell or in heaven."
"And what? Did she tell you that herself or did you come up with that on the spot?" I scoffed, sheathing both of my daggers.
All of a sudden, she stared into my soul, her very eyes scraping the insides of my body. And as her mouth opened, she spoke a few words that really took me back. So far that it might as well have been a past life.
"When Mother Nature sings with her creations, will we not be in the choir?"
"You talk like my fucking grandma," I sighed and as the woman finished healing her neck, she began running. I quickly caught up to her, but right after I reached a parallel level, she picked up the speed. This occurred over and over until we reached probably the biggest tree in this forest with an entire gate, drawbridge, and moat welcoming any outsiders.
We quickly approached the two demon guards at the front of the drawbridge, standing menacingly in order to push away any unwanted guests. But upon seeing the dark elven woman that I had been following, they broke out into a cold sweat and their intimidation immediately diminished.
"Welcome back, First Corp Leader."
"Yeah, yeah, just do the drawbridge so I can take this asshole to see the boss," The woman beside me ordered and with haste, the two guards set down the bridge, allowing approximately all thirty of us to cross.
Inside the massive tree trunk was a spiraling staircase assumably leading to the massive canopy overshadowing practically any other sign of life in this forest. This was most likely the big fuck off the tree that I would always see towering above the rest, and from what I could hear from above, it was most likely where the civilization was.
And I was absolutely correct as once we reached the top after only half an hour of walking, I found myself in a large town spread amongst the branches and leaves. It was surprisingly normal looking with streets of shops, restaurants, and grocery stores.
But what I found most interesting was how there was another canopy of leaves above us, blotting out the sunlight above, forcing this place to almost be in an eternal night. So in order to illuminate the streets and tightly packed houses and apartments made from the flesh of the surrounding trees, they had various bugs floating around. There were no lamps or glowing rocks, but instead hundreds upon thousands of these teeny tiny bugs that resembled fireflies.
With a body no bigger than a marble and a head that was practically all mandible, it looked terrifying up close. Yet, when you took a closer look at it, you noticed how those mandibles were blunted on each end, making it a sort of intimidation tactic while its entire body stayed extremely fragile.
It was completely see-through with its inner workings being extremely simple. Its digestive tract was visible to the naked eye while its little heart was the reason why it glowed so brightly. Continuously, that tiny golden organ pumped as fast as a rushing waterfall, emitting a bright golden light that illuminated the bustling streets.
Various races congregated here, with the dark elves being the majority and all the other demons split into several subgroups. Some looked more elvish than others while some looked like completely different races, but at the heart of it all, everybody here was demonic.
"Stop gazing off and follow me. You wanted to meet the boss, right?" The dark elf called me back to my senses and I instantly got absorbed into the nature-bound society. It could have been the skills quaking in my status, or it could have just been my lineage quaking in my DNA, but I felt very at home.
"Yeah, my bad… I just didn't expect this place to be so-"
"Welcoming right?" The dark elf finished my sentence as I began to follow her. "Here we're practically connected to nature. We can get as absorbed into it as possible and seeing how you look so connected with it… your words from before don't mean much now… or are you starting to back on your words?"
"It's the skills in my status. I have a lot of affinities that connects back to my elven roots, but just because the system says something doesn't mean the actual tangible life is the same way. It's nothing but a stupid coincidence," I replied and as she just smirked at me, we arrived at what seemed to be an adventurer guild.
