The Dew of the World Tree

Before he knew it, half a day had already passed since he had taken down the worm.

Do-yun sat atop a massive branch of the World Tree, gazing down at the nightscape of the eighth floor. The forest viewed from above was utterly serene and beautiful, yet the scenery below was not what filled his vision.

The notification that had appeared after he defeated Robin kept circling through his mind. Extreme measures like killing him might not have been strictly necessary, but there had been no other choice. The moment Robin had created that worm without so much as consulting him, the man had already shattered any trust in their temporary alliance.

"…Sylphy."

The last name Robin had spoken was that of the wind spirit he had so desperately wanted to reclaim.

While Do-yun remained lost in thought and silence, a voice approached without so much as a rustle of leaves.

"What are you thinking about so deeply?"

It was Elysee. She settled naturally beside him, and he turned a question toward her.

"Can you tell me a bit about Robin?"

"Hmm. I don't know why you're so interested in that half-wit."

Elysee answered as she drew several broad leaves from her robes. With practiced ease she folded them into teacups and asked,

"Would you care for a cup of tea?"

"No need."

Even after he refused, she insisted on crafting one more cup. When she finished and flicked her fingers, a branch overhead trembled and let a few drops of liquid fall.

The system alert made Do-yun's eyes flicker for a moment. So it was a spiritual elixir. He drained the dew in a single gulp and looked back at Elysee.

"Well, it's already over and done with, but if you're curious I'll tell you."

Elysee brushed her hair back and tilted her head slightly. After a thoughtful sip of tea while deciding where to begin, she finally spoke.

"Every elf forms a contract with a spirit. The name of the spirit that half-wit contracted with was Sylphy, the Wind Spirit."

Do-yun absently traced the mark on his forehead with a finger. According to Robin, that very spirit now belonged to him.

"The problem was that the half-wit was still a child who hadn't even lived fifty years."

"Fifty is a child?"

When Do-yun asked back in disbelief, Elysee tilted her head as if she couldn't understand the confusion. She showed not the slightest sign of joking.

"Is it not? You need to pass at least three hundred before you gain any sense."

In a completely unexpected place he felt the gulf between himself and the being before him. Still, it wasn't an important point, so he waved a hand for her to continue.

"Before entering the Tower of Trials, Robin took Heavenly Punishment upon himself because he didn't want to take Sylphy into a dangerous place."

Do-yun's expression shifted subtly at those words. Having received Heavenly Punishment himself, he knew full well how heavy a penalty it carried.

"Why on earth?"

He truly could not understand. Without Spirit Affinity and the Rune of Immortality he would never have considered taking Heavenly Punishment head-on. Yet Robin had chosen it of his own free will?

"Sylphy wouldn't leave him, so he must have thought that was the only way."

"Even so."

It could not be called a rational decision. Once he returned from the Tower of Trials he would have reunited with his spirit anyway. To sever the connection forever for the single reason of not wanting to take her into danger…

"A boy in the middle of adolescence simply couldn't think that far."

A bitter pity lingered on Elysee's calm face. Robin had never grasped the true meaning of being cut off from the spirit realm. He had believed the wound would heal with enough time. That was why he had unilaterally chosen Heavenly Punishment.

"After that, Sylphy never followed Robin again."

Robin had been happy that his friend had accepted his words. At the time he had no idea it was not a temporary separation but an eternal severance.

"When Robin returned from the Tower of Trials he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was broken. Of course he was—Sylphy showed him no welcome at all."

Robin simply could not accept that fact. The motivation that had carried him through the Tower of Trials to the end had been the conviction that he had not been wrong. The moment he admitted that belief was mistaken, he would be denying himself. Yet he could not shift the blame onto the Sylphy he held so dear, so instead he turned his rage upon the World Tree, the one that had delivered the Heavenly Punishment.

The obsession to reclaim Sylphy. The distorted goal of toppling the World Tree. At the root of it all lay the loss of having been abandoned by his spirit.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Fully."

Now he could understand Robin's psychology to some degree. The World Tree had merely been a convenient outlet for his anger. When danger had actually come, even Robin had sought the World Tree's blessing, had he not? Elysee's description of him as an adolescent boy fit perfectly.

So finishing the Tower of Trials doesn't automatically make your mind stronger, is that it?

Do-yun was still sorting his thoughts by comparing Robin with other returnees when an odd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sound beside him made him turn his head without thinking.

Crunch.

Elysee was casually taking a bite out of the leaf teacup she had made. Do-yun stared blankly, wondering what he was witnessing. She chewed the leaf thoroughly, swallowed, then tilted her head when she felt his gaze.

"What is it?"

"…That was edible?"

"Of course. Leaves of the World Tree raise spirit affinity."

She answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world and took another bite. After a moment of hesitation Do-yun lifted the leaf cup in front of him.

The system isn't showing any alert…

The instant he cautiously bit the tip of a leaf, Elysee burst out laughing beside him.

"That was a lie. Even the World Tree doesn't put effects into every single leaf."

Do-yun immediately spat out the leaf still in his mouth. Even after he spat it, the bitter taste lingered stubbornly.

"You didn't have to spit it out, though. That's our elves' staple food."

"Stop the nonsense and get to the point."

He shot a cold look at the dejected Elysee. Sitting still atop the World Tree had never been mere rest.

"Is the preparation of the Mana Stones finished now?"

After defeating Robin, as Do-yun had been trudging along, Elysee had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠made him an offer: she would use the power of the World Tree to gather every Mana Stone on the eighth floor for him. The time she had said she needed was half a day. The reason she had approached him now was originally to report that.

"That's right. You only need to go down and harvest them."

"Is it really all right for me to take them?"

Do-yun glanced at her. Limited to the eighth floor, Elysee wielded absolute power. That was how tremendous the World Tree's influence was. If she wished, she could claim first place in the Hall of Fame in a single stroke. Yet she had decided to yield that chance to him.

"It's an investment. An investment."

Still, Elysee was not yielding blindly without thought. She had her own calculations as well.

"Protect us in the trial that divides the first and second tiers—the gateway floor that exists on the tenth floor. That is the condition."

Gateway floor. The especially difficult trials that appeared every ten floors, after which the grades of obtainable skills and items also changed.

"Protection, is it."

Only then did he grasp Elysee's intent. The reason she could wield such overwhelming power now was limited strictly to the eighth floor. It was power valid only on this land blessed by the World Tree. In other words, even if she gathered countless Mana Stones on the eighth floor and received the Hall of Fame rewards, her overall combat strength would inevitably weaken. Elysee had judged that she could not properly overcome the tenth-floor trial in such a weakened state.

"There's no compulsion at all, is there? What if I just take the Mana Stones and ignore you?"

"I believe one who possesses a spirit would never do such a thing."

Do-yun regarded her for a moment. How much of it was sincerity and how much calculation? What was certain was that she had succeeded in placing him under a debt of the heart.

"Then shall we move this way?"

Do-yun followed behind Elysee. Unlike the near freefall he had made earlier when facing the worm, this time they could descend at a leisurely pace.

"A pleasure to meet again, Do-yun."

Seo Hwi was already waiting on the ground to receive them. Wearing his usual easy smile, he raised a finger and pointed somewhere.

"One may safely say that every last Mana Stone remaining on the eighth floor has been gathered."

When Do-yun shifted his gaze that way he discovered a mountain of Mana Stones piled high enough to overwhelm even him.

"Just in case, I have kept the stones separated from one another."

"Well done."

Do-yun nodded and slowly scanned the heaps. Looking closely, he saw that Seo Hwi's mist carefully pushed the stones apart, maintaining distance. It was a precaution against the property of Mana Stones that caused more powerful monsters to be born when they touched—exactly the kind of catastrophe they had faced with the worm earlier.

"Now send those Mana Stones over to the worm's corpse."

At Do-yun's words both Elysee and Seo Hwi froze solid, looking as if they suspected they had misheard.

"There seems to be a point you do not grasp, Do-yun. A corpse is not necessarily safe."

"I know."

Seo Hwi spoke as though to dissuade him, yet Do-yun did not withdraw his will. He knew better than anyone. If a body absorbed this many Mana Stones, the worm stood a high chance of rising again as an undead. He had witnessed fallen monsters returning in stronger forms countless times on Earth. The reason he still gave the order was simple.

If you take the risk, a reward commensurate with it always follows.

That law held true in both the Tower of Trials and the Tower of Ascension. The worm that had swallowed dozens of Mana Stones had given two thousand points. Then how many points would this monster, now even stronger as an undead, give?

"Haa… I only hope this is not mere recklessness."

Seo Hwi finally nodded in resignation and began moving the Mana Stones with his mist. One after another the stones settled onto the worm's corpse, and with each addition the empty husk slowly began to swell.

"Do-yun, you are truly confident, are you not? A monster of this scale is beyond even the World Tree's ability to handle."

Elysee wore a rare look of anxiety, yet Do-yun never so much as blinked as he continued to watch the worm's transformation.

Gooooooo.

The air trembled. Having absorbed every Mana Stone gathered from the entire eighth floor, the worm no longer retained even the shape of a worm. A black, dripping mass—a monster saturated with curse, venom, and malice that polluted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠everything around it—was on the verge of completion.

Do-yun slowly raised his right hand.

"Can you withstand an angel's authority as well?"

It was evening. The cooldown of the skill he had been waiting for with such longing had already returned.

White light swept through the surroundings. The black ichor the monster had been about to vomit froze in place, and in the next instant time began to flow backward.

Hwaaaak.

An intense purifying radiance enfolded the monster's body. The Mana Stones buried deep within it were forced out one by one as if flowing in reverse. The more that number grew, the weaker the oppressive presence of the mass that had seemed ready to swallow the world became.

Thud.

The moment the final Mana Stone was expelled, the monster's form crumbled to powder on the spot. Immediately afterward countless notifications rose before Do-yun's eyes.