Arena, Alien hunting

“The Silver Clan itself is not a problem. ”

Mother, the oldest, silenced everyone with her hands.

“There's no need to be afraid when more than a hundred Lycans attack. Our husbands and young boys will be able to defeat them. ”

The mothers nodded and agreed.

“But that's not what we need to think about. You have to look at it from a bigger perspective. ”

The elderly mother continued.

“The bad omens that are happening to us. ”

The other mothers were surprised by what he said.

“That said, Ellis' abduction and human territory have become more frequent recently. ”

“Lycans Rope to the east, Humans to the north…… ”

“Not only that. On the other hand, monsters have been flowing in lately. ”

“There's only one reason we keep getting omens. ”

“Indeed, the tree of life……. ”

A mother inadvertently muttered with tears.

Then the other mothers hurriedly stopped.

“Shh!”

“Quiet! ”

“Even a friend, are you going to tell a story about the Tree of Life in front of humans? ”

Then the mother who made the mistake made a thought and bowed her head.

“I'm sorry. I made a mistake.”

What the hell?

Was that something I shouldn't have heard?

And then Jake told me not to go near the Tree of Life.

It was the same even after being recognized as a friend.

Everyone thought I was sensitive, so I decided to pretend I didn't hear that.

However, my elderly mother asked me.

“Humans, let me ask you something. ”

“Yes, tell me. ”

“What is the purpose of your visit? ”

At that moment, my head turned taut.

I had anticipated that I would be asked this question.

Being a friend is not enough to convince me.

I told you.

“My home was ruled by the writer Bastien. ”

I used the story Odin told me in Copenhagen.

“I was sick and tired of being persecuted by the writer Bastien. I went to the forest thinking," Let's live with nature in a place where there are no people. "”

I sighed.

“Foolishly, I thought I'd be safe with the spirits, and I went into a place called the Forest of the Undying and I saw Lycans defeated. ”

“So you ran away again and came back here. ”

The elderly mother said.

I nodded.

“I barely escaped the woods, but I didn't want to go back to where I used to live. But then I remembered that you live in the brown mountains, and I thought, you know, maybe we could be friends. ”

The mothers nodded.

I liked the idea that I wanted to live with nature because I was sick of humans.

Well, I made it up considering the elves' disposition.

However, the elderly mother smiled at me.

I felt uncomfortable with her smile.

I felt like a small child because I was afraid my mom would find the test paper that I had hidden from her.

“That's weird.”

“… What do you mean? ”

“As you've heard, there are bad omens coming at us from every direction, east, west, south and west. Even in the center of our town. ”

The center of the town.

It means the tree of life.

“At this point, I came to you wanting to be our friend. For us, I wonder if you are either a bad sign or a good sign. ”

“ ……. ”

“Don't take this the wrong way. We don't doubt you. ”

“I know I haven't proven my trust to the mothers yet. ”

“You're welcome. You've already proven that. ”

Other mothers nodded and agreed.

You proved your trust?

You mean to tell me about the strange trends in Lycans Rope?

Was that enough to prove that I could trust him?

The elderly mother said.

“Spirits.”

“Eek?”

I shuddered for a moment.

Is it a spirit after all? Is it supposed to be cute?

“It seems odd that we only see spirits and accept you as a friend. ”

“… to be honest. ”

I said, mothers laughed.

The elderly mother said, with an incredibly charming smile of unbelievable age.

“But we're right. You can see the Summoner if you look at him. ”

“Is that so?”

“There are quite a few animists among humans. Of course, not all animists are good. I heard there were some puny humans who used spirits to do bad things. ”

“ ……. ”

“But the spirit of an animist is unmistakable. ”

“Yes?”

“The image of a spirit is a mirror that illuminates the mind of the animist. ”

Surprised me, I was followed by the explanation of my elder mother.

“If you were a villain, your spirit would take a more aggressive form reflecting that sentiment of yours. Will you show me your spirit again? ”

“Yes, yes. Silf, Casa. ”

I summoned two spirits.

When the cat of the wind and the puppy of fire appeared, the mothers burst into elasticity.

The elderly mother reached out her hands. Sylph and Casa approach her and make love.

The elderly mother grabbed the silk and held it in her arms and said.

“Look at this. How many lovely, loving children are you? ”

“That's right.”

I know they're cute.

The elderly mother said.

“You were lonely, right?”

“ ……?! ”

Suddenly, I felt like my heart was beating.

“I would have lived a lonely life. You wanted someone to comfort you. ”

“That's ……. ”

I couldn't speak because my voice was shaking. A lot of thought came to my mind. It reveals what was locked under the deep sleep.

A lonely day I spent many years alone studying for government exams.

One by one, a job, a marriage, friends disappearing by the side for many reasons... ….

Sudden death.

Exams.

Arena.

Destiny to fight to stay alive.

I returned to my family's arms, but no one knew my suffering.

I had to fight alone.

Is that why Sylph came to me? ’

I looked at Sylph. The elderly mother held the adorable silk in her arms and gave it to me.

“Here, it's yours. ”

“Ah……. ”

“A dear friend who has come to comfort you. ”

Silf jumped into my arms.

Climb on your right shoulder and rub your face against my cheeks.

Puppy!

Then Jigsaw Casa leaps up to her left shoulder and wags her tail.

Mothers laugh at such spirits.

‘I see.'

You came to me like that to comfort me.

... I was lonely. A long time ago.

Embarrassing, tears came out.

The elderly mother only smiled at me.

I was grateful to her for reminding me of the meaning of animosity. I wanted to return the favor. Seriously, not because of the exam.

‘There are no coincidences. ’

I've mastered animosity, and I've acquired both Silf and Casa.

Then everything I have now is inevitable.

‘Then……. ’

I thought about it and said:

“If you'll excuse me, I have something I have to ask. ”

“Ask.”

“What's wrong with the Tree of Life? Does the Tree of Life hurt? ”

Then every skill I have is not a coincidence, it's a matter of law.

The faces of the mothers who were delighted to see me and the spirits became as dark as one.

The elderly mother nodded.

“Yes, you guessed right. Decades ago, the tree of life began to deteriorate. We didn't want to believe it, and we couldn't find a way to confirm it unless it began to wither overtly. But it's time to admit it. The tree of life is getting weaker. ”

The sadness on the mothers' faces was young.

Some of them were sniffing. It is because the tree of life is very important to them.

“I don't know anything about the Tree of Life. what it means for you, what happens when it disappears. ”

“The tree of life is the foundation of sustaining nature. For us Elves who love nature and live as friends, we are like parents. ”

“ ……. ”

“Even if the Tree of Life disappears, our elves can live. But it's us who've lost precious meaning. And in a more realistic way, the spirits' energy is weakened. ”

She said.

“The tree of life is the foundation of nature, and it empowers the surrounding nature with abundant vitality. The same is true of spirits.If the Tree of Life disappears, the spirits will become weak. ”

From what I heard, the tree of life seemed to be the identity of the Elves living in nature.

I asked.

“If that tree of life withers away, is there no way? ”

I was afraid it was a rather rude question, but fortunately, she didn't mind.

“It's not gone. We can find a new tree of life and grow it. ”

“Seeds of the Tree of Life come from somewhere? ”

“Everywhere. because every tree has the potential to be the tree of life. ”

“Yes?”

The elderly mother pointed to a giant tree of life a little distance away.

“What kind of tree does that look like? ”

“I don't know. Other than the tree of life... ”

“The nettle tree.”

I was appalled.

That's how big the nettle tree grew, like a building?

I couldn't believe it.

Lots of nettle trees on Earth!

The elderly mother smiled and said.

“Of course, not every chrysanthemum tree grows that big and becomes the tree of life. Very few trees have the qualities to grow as the tree of life, even in all species. ”

“Then we must find a tree of that quality somehow. ”

“It's not hard to find. It's rare, but we can find it. These brown mountains have some of the qualities we've discovered. ”

“Then why don't you just grow a new one? ”

“I've already taken care of it. Young boys patrol east and north, but my husbands protect and care for the trees east and south every day. ”

The elderly mother sighed.

“But having the qualities does not make everyone a tree of life. No matter how hard we try, most of us end up dead before we become the Tree of Life. ”

According to the story, the pine tree with the potential to become the tree of life withered and died 30 years ago.

More than 60 years ago, even 200 years ago, in her childhood, she said the same thing happened.

This is it! ’

This is a real test!

If I missed this, I could have gotten very little karma even if the test was completed.

I smiled.

My elder mother wondered at my smile.

It would be strange for me to laugh when I hear such a sad story.

“I don't know if this will help. Will you take a look?”

And I, Chairman Park Jin-seong, created a fabulous flame of life.