Game of the World Tree
chapter-149

▪️NIGHTINGALE’S FAVORABILITY RATING

As the night grew deeper, the elven city still remained brightly lit due to the usage of lighting magic and torches.

However, since elves have an inherently strong night vision capabilities, Nightingale could just easily see everything clearly even without the aid of such illumination.

Led by Li Mu, she and her younger siblings crossed yet another teleportation array and arrived at the city’s main square.

Looking around the foreign looking structures around them, the newcomers were equally just as amazed by the wondrous city of the chosen ones just like their expressions back at Florence.

At this moment, the novice city had undergone some more rapid changes compared to before. With the addition of the second batch of beta-testers, the size of the city further expanded even more.

Now, it couldn’t simply be called a small town anymore, but rather a real fortress city instead!

Not only that, but the players have also been given full reins to let their imagination run rampant so as a result, the architectural styles within the novice city have become even more diverse.

From the looks of it, the construction designers seems like they were competing and were trying to outdo one another, as they incorporated all kinds of architectural styles on earth that they could possibly think of.

Nevertheless, although the architectural styles were vastly different, each buildings were still connected by lush greenery, such as lawns and gardens. Moreover, well placed trees as well as the overhanging foliage sprawling around have also somewhat softened the visual impact of the eclectic styles, giving them a touch of harmony as well as the entire city a rather unique earthly charm.

Building a beautiful virtual home have become a hobby for many gamers online and this naturally also occurred in Elven Kingdom as well!

It’s unclear who started it, but every player has begun wanting to build their own little home within the city!

Perhaps it was because of the first batch of beta-testers which set the bar too high in regards to designing their own houses, but the second batch of beta-testers have also begun competing with each other in constructing and designing their own homes…

Furthermore, the construction team belonging to Moe Moe Committee had even pushed this phenomenon into an overdrive!

They fully utilized their guild’s talents and designed various houses according to their own preferences, and then quickly built them with the assistance of Moe Moe Committee’s own dedicated team of construction enthusiasts.

Moreover, in order to acquire the materials needed to build their own homes, some players even developed an unorthodox way of using magical spells.

For example, they altered a spell so that it generates wood for construction and someone even developed a petrification skill specifically for hardening pavements…there were even people who used the traditional method used back in real life in order to make cement and replicated the procedure in this virtual world as well…

Of course, the overall style of the city is still dominated by nature, which is the iron rule set upon by Evé herself.

When a building is constructed, it is also required to receive the blessings of the goddess after its completion. This is because Evé bestows a little bit of her power to reinforce the wood and other materials used in the building.

Evé is doing this for she is a bit of a perfectionist herself and she have been reinforcing all the buildings constructed by the players despite her still recovering.

Also if the architectural style of a newly added structure wasn’t to her liking, she would then give out a system prompt asking the designers to rectify it.

This city is right beneath her feet, and she doesn’t want the newly added buildings to be just like a disorderly mess seen in some modern cities…

At the very least, the architectural design shouldn’t be embarrassing, also… not shameful as well.

If someone’s home is too shabby, they might even feel embarrassed to say that they are a player of the Elven Kingdom.

As the players keeps improving the city, the novice city also became increasingly prosperous, and the fantasy-like feeling grow more and more pronounce as time passed by.

In addition, several tall buildings were also added to the city as well, which were the headquarters of several large guilds.

Amongst them, the headquarters of Moe Moe Committee was the most spectacular.

They constructed a garden-style palace, modeled after the Hanging Gardens of Babylon just like back on earth!

These construction projects were all massive endeavor, and it would probably be really difficult to construct such structures in the real world. At the very least… it would take a long time to build and would require vast amounts of resources.

However in the virtual world of Saigües, where magic exists, everything becomes entirely possible!

Because of the existence of magic within this world, any building one can imagine can be built with a minimal physical effort!

Not only that, but many players even recorded videos of their own homes being built and uploaded them to the internet.

This kind of do-it-yourself city construction that is done by the players, which is close to reality and includes magical elements as well, has naturally caused quite a sensation in the real world.

It was especially the case after watching the players built their own homes, or having parties within their own backyards as they played the game together…all these tantalizing videos made netizens rather envious of these beta-testers…

That sense of realism and freedom, especially their joys can easily be felt through the screen as they watched these videos!

Unlike other games, such as ‘My World’ or ‘Sim City,’ which are currently becoming more and more popular in the virtual world, Elven Kingdom’s construction features are even more free and realistic compared to these games.

More importantly, even though ElvKing is technically not a life simulation-focused game just like the Sims, it can still give you the pleasure of playing a simulated life!

Plus… the gameplay time is four times longer than real-time due to the mind acceleration feature! It is said that someone can still immerse their consciousness within the game even if they’re sleeping!

And the true replication of the five senses, as well as the realistic food taste, and the beautiful scenery of the surrounding forests make the game’s life and fantasy atmosphere even more intense…

It is truly a dream paradise like no other!

Nonetheless, the essence of Elven Kingdom is still an MMORPG!

The main focus of this game is still adventure, and simulation and management is only a small part of the game…

Netizens have already become completely sour as they awaits the official launch of the game.

Unfortunately, Elven Kingdom is still in closed beta testing phase for almost two months now, and the official release date is still not been announced yet.

Alas, the netizens can only refresh the official website everday, as they awaits for the news of the official release.

While they wait, they also sometimes browse the videos that players have posted on various video websites, just to get a glimpse of what’s the game like…then they leave an envious comment or two.

The news that a group of players created a dream-like city in a virtual MMORPG game all by themselves is gradually spreading all around the internet…

Nightingale felt completely stunned as immersed herself within this dreamlike city.

“So this is…the City of the Chosen Ones?”

She murmured unconsciously.

Nightingale swore that despite living for over a hundred of years and traveling to various places, she still had never seen such a magnificent city just like this in her life!

It’s not that the cities in Saigües aren’t spectacular. The city of Rivendell is spectacular, and the ruins of the Titan giants are also spectacular…

But their spectacle is completely different from the cities built upon by these strange elves.

What really struck Nightingale was the unprecedented varying architectural styles used around the structures.

Actually this was the effect brought about by the collision of different cultures between the two worlds. When the players had first seen Rivendell, they are also shocked by the city built by the elves so long ago.

Thus it is normal for Nightingale to feel wonderful and majestic when she sees a completely foreign city full of earth-like characteristics not familiar to her.

Of course what she didn’t know was that, Eve’s power has also been imbued into the buildings built upon by these players, making these structures contain a little bit of nature’s aura.

This is also one of the reasons that makes Nightingale feel wonderful and attuned with the structures surrounding her.

After all…the Elves have always loved nature.

Although the architectural styles felt foreign, it still caters to elvenkind’s own preferences!

In addition to the city, Nightingale also saw the legendary World Tree at the distance.

It was truly an incredible colossal tree.

Standing in the city center, Nightingale couldn’t even see the complete canopy no matter how much she looked up!

She could only see the huge and sturdy trunk, seemingly leading endlessly straight to up to the skies…

Just what concerns her was that the World Tree still looked rather withered and lifeless, without any sort of vitality to it.

Hasn’t the World Tree already recovered?

The heart of the elven maiden still lingers some bit of doubt within her.

As if noticing her apprehension, Li Mu explained with a smile,

“Miss Nightingale, you will only be able to perceive the true appearance of the World Tree when you rekindle your own religious faith.”

To prevent the enemy from discovering her revival, the Goddess has disguised herself back in her original form, and only her believers and the chosen ones can see the World Tree’s true appearance.

Most players and believers already know this fact.

True appearance?

Nightingale’s heart moved, and she begun to have some guesses of her own. She then lowered her head and no longer looked at the World Tree in the distance, but instead resumed looking around the city.

With a glance, she saw more players.

Just like before, Nightingale could easily discern their differences from the native elves in terms of clothing and temperament.

However, compared to the crazy guys she first met, the attire of the elves living within this city are generally much more simpler. Occasionally, there are some people in gorgeous outfits quickly passing by, and some looked entirely preoccupied doing various tasks.

As for what they are doing…

Nightengale looked carefully and said, “Are they building a house?”

She was a little surprised.

What she saw was actually the construction team of Moe Moe Committee.

As long as there are players in need of construction, the Guild, Moe Moe Committee will not stop offering up their services…

After all, doing so would accumulate them lots of contribution points!

Moreover, the players who join the construction team are originally hardcore enthusiasts of simulation games.

As for the other elves within the city, they are either lower-leveled players or casual players. As for the high-leveled ones as well as those crazy reckless players, they had already long disappeared and was currently exploring the new map of Rivendell after the teleportation array was built…

When some players saw Li Mu and Nightingale passing by, they halted what they’re doing and greeted them one after another.

“Yo! Brother Mu!”

“Good evening, Brother Mu!”

“Do you want some fruits? It was just picked this afternoon!”

“Huh? Is this lass a new NPC?”

“Hello, Miss!”

Li Mu responded to each of them with a pleasant attitude.

“Good evening to you as well!”

“Sorry, I’m already full. My guild just had a barbecue party this afternoon, and I’m still currently stuffed.”

“Well, yes indeed. This is an NPC that Boxlunch’s team had rescued. I’m just taking her to see Lady Alice.”

After knowing that Li Mu was currently doing a task, these players didn’t linger much longer and left to do their own things after a brief conversation.

Watching their backs, Nightengale nodded in approval.

These elves… seem to be more normal.

The two resumed their walk and as she curiously looked around, before finally, under Li Mu’s guidance, arrived in front of a newly built temple.

Like the other buildings that Nightingale had seen, the temple was not in the traditional elvish style, and she could even slightly discern some similarities with some human temples she had personally seen before.

However, what’s different was that this temple was way more exquisite and filled with nature’s aura.

“Come, the saintess is waiting inside.” Li Mu said after pushing the doors open.

She tentatively took a deep breath before finally stepping inside the temple along with her siblings.

Nightingale noticed that inside of the temple was not actually very large, but it still retained the solemnity one would expect from a sacred place.

As soon as she arrived, Nightingale saw a statue of what looked like a goddess erected at the center of the temple. A blond elf was kneeling in front of the statue whilst silently uttering a soft prayer.

The long-haired figure was wearing a sacred ceremonial dress while surrounded by a faint sacred light.

Feeling the solemnity of the temple and hearing the soft hum of the prayer that the holy maiden had been chanting, Nightingale’s heart became calmer, and she gradually began to feel a little bit conscious of herself.

“Lady Alice, I have brought your guest with me.” Li Mu said.

After hearing his words, the prayer suddenly stopped.

“Thank you for your hard work. Your task is complete, you may leave now.” A sweet feminine voice said as she slowly stood up from her kneeling position.

Nightingale saw a hint of joy in Li Mu’s eyes as he bowed to the golden-haired maiden and slowly retreated back outside.

However, the sound of his footsteps seemed lighter than before.

In the blink of an eye, only Nightingale, her siblings and the holy maiden remained in the temple. She then saw the other person finally turned around to face her.

It was a female elf who appeared slightly older than her, with a serene smile bearing upon her face and emerald-colored eyes glowing with a radiance, full of faith.

She pinched the corner of her ceremonial skirt and performed a standard elvish greeting, before introducing herself.

“Miss Nightingale, hello. I am the Nature’s Saintess—Alice Galewind.”

So it was actually someone from the Galewind clan…

Nightingale was awestruck for a moment.

The Galewind, as a famous priest clan, had always been respected by the other clans, second only to the royal clan!

She pursed her lips and awkwardly returned the greeting,

“Y-Your holiness…hello!”

Alice smiled slightly, completely ignoring her awkwardness and simply said, “I know you have many questions within your heart, don’t worry… I called you here to answer them one by one.”

Hearing this, Nightingale breathed a sigh of relief. She then hesitated for a moment and decided to ask the question that’s bothering her the most.

“Has our patron god… really returned?”

Alice nodded, and a hint of reverence appeared within her face.

“Of course.”

With that, the holy maiden gently raised her hands, before a dazzling silvery aura was released from her body…

A Silver-ranked Priest!

Feeling the sacred power emanating from her, Nightingale’s pupils shrank in wonderment.

At the same time, she no longer had any doubts within her heart.

Priests at the silver level…

Only believers of an active deity could achieve it!

Nightingale breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, she felt a bit of joy and excitement.

The goddess has really returned… the future of the elves will definitely change!

However, despite her excitement, Nightingale was still not as fanatical unlike what the Rageblaze Clan used to be upon hearing such wonderful news.

She just felt a little happy and excited.

Nightingale thought for a moment and asked,

“So..about these strange elves… who are they exactly?”

“They are the Chosen Ones,” Alice said before adding, “They are warriors personally summoned by the Great Goddess from another world, who descend upon this world in the form of primordial elves. They came here to assist us in revitalizing our civilization.”

After speaking, Alice then ruefully smiled. “Judging by your expression, you might have been a little frightened by their odd behaviors. However don’t be afraid. Although they harbor some flaws, they meant no harm to us. They are the true warriors of the Divine Matriarch!”

So that’s how it is!

Nightingale’s doubts significantly lessened after listening to the saintess explanation.

“By the way, they are also amazing builders. The magnificent city you just saw is their own handiwork.”

Alice continued to smile before stretching out four of her fingers.

“They created such city from scratch in less than four months…”

Four… Four months!?

Nightingale widened her eyes with her expression showing utter disbelief.

“You…You mean to say that this city was entirely built by them in just four months? The unique city outside?”

“That’s right. So… never underestimate them. Although they have their own flaws, they also have their own strengths, and possess great creativity and learning abilities as well.”

“I think… that’s one of the reasons why the Matriarch chose them as the Chosen Ones.” Alice sighed as she let out a soft breath.

After hearing her words, Nightingale was somewhat speechless…

Underestimate them?

To be honest, she would never underestimate any of them at all after witnessing their insane slaughter back at Rivendell.

However…her heart was still filled with shock when she learned that this city was also built by these strange elves in just a span of four months…

So these chosen ones, besides their fighting abilities, are also adept in construction?

Really amazing…

Seeing Nightingale’s expression filled with all sorts of emotions, Alice sincerely asked,

“Miss Nightingale, the goddess has returned. Would you like to stay here in the Elven Forest, regain your faith, and rebuild the elven civilization together with us?”

Upon listening to Alice’s words, Nightingale didn’t answer right away but instead remained silent.

After a moment, she then sighed and replied,

“Your Holiness, forgive me for speaking bluntly… The return of the goddess is indeed heartening, but alas, I do not believe that the future of our race can simply be overturned with the return of our pateon deity alone.” Nightingale then paused for a second to gather up her thoughts before continuing,

“The departure of the Matriarch was indeed the main reason for our race’s decline, but it was simply not the sole reason as well…In my opinion, our fellow clansmen’s own stubbornness and naive kindness were also the root cause of our rapid decline within these past thousand years.”

“If we as a race does not change our existing beliefs, then what awaits us in the end is still ruination. I believe that… this also a-applies to her, the Divine Matriarch!”

Nightingale stated in a very serious tone as if finally letting out all her bottled up frustrations.

“From my understanding, our patron deity, her divine grace from a thousands of years ago also seemed to have been defeated because of being too kind!”

These were the words that she had long wanted to say.

However… all the elves that she told this before simply thought that this way of thinking was completely heretical.

Kindness and sincerity were the inherent qualities of the elves. Their traditional beliefs have always centered upon these two and they’ve been practicing such beliefs no matter how much their race had fallen so how could they be easily discarded?

After saying all her frustrations out loud, Nightingale’s heart felt a little uneasy.

She didn’t know if denying their race’s long existing beliefs right in front of the Holy Maiden and the statue of their patron god would provoke their wrath…

But what surprised her was that Alice only softly smiled after hearing her explanations.

“What you said is right. We should indeed make some changes with our core beliefs.” The saintess said before looking at the statue.

“In fact, the goddess had the idea of relying upon the chosen ones, whose personalities and beliefs greatly differs from ours, to change the elves traditional way of thinking.”

Unexpectedly… it turned out to be like this?

Nightingale was stunned.

At this moment, she seemed to understand why the personality of these Chosen Ones was so strange.

Speaking of which, Alice then sighed.

“Being kind to one’s enemies is being cruel to oneself… It’s not until we elves face the real possibility of extinction that I truly realize the hidden truths upon these words.”

Hearing her words, Nightingale nodded in agreement.

“So… Miss Nightingale.”

At this point, Alice spoke again whilst sincerely asking once more,

“Are you willing to stay and fight for the new future of the elven race as we reshape our beliefs?”

Nightingale fell silent as she seriously considered the proposition.

Suddenly, she remembered to the hopeful eyes of Rageblaze clan members she had just seen earlier…

Then, she thought of those strange elves, and their craziness in battle, as well as the wonderful and beautiful city outside…

Finally, she thought of that blockhead back when they were still sharing a prison cell together…

For some reason, Nightingale felt moved.

She looked at her skinny brothers and sisters, and then finally back at Alice who smiled at her.

Perhaps… real change can actually happen this time.

Moreover… she also needs to find a comfortable environment for her siblings to properly grow.

After a moment, Nightingale sighed as she uttered,

“In that case… I am willing.”

After speaking, she then stood in front of the statue and knelt down respectfully alongside the holy maiden…

At the same moment that Nightingale knelt down and accepted the offer, Boxlunch’s team which is currently at Florence suddenly received a system message that the sidequest had been completed.

【❗ 】

【Sidequest : Guide New Companions Completed】

【Quest Objective: Obtain the recognition of rescued NPCs and bring them back to Florence, completed】

【Additional Quest Objective: Restore the NPCs’ faith in the Goddess, completed】

【All participating players will receive ‘1000‘ experience points and ‘300‘ contribution points】

【All players participating in the quest will receive additional rewards – exclusive title “Nature’s Evangelist” 】

“It was completed?”

As the system message floated by their peripheral vision, all the members of the team showed excitement.

“Haha, we’ve got an exclusive title! Nature’s Evangelist!”

“But the contribution rewards is not much…”

“Just be content for once. We didn’t really put in much effort anyways. It was the Saintess who took the initiative!”

They then checked their own respective status screens and discussed excitedly their given rewards. Someone’s eyes then lit up as he noticed a new addition to the list of NPCs within her favorability tab.

“Oh? Guys look…It seems Nightingale’s impression status was also unlocked?”

“Really? Wait, Let me check…”

“What the heck! Why do I only have 20 points of favorability? Didn’t we save them? That’s too low, isn’t it?”

“Hahaha! Who asked you to be so cheeky despite you being entirely covered in blood at the time? Let me check mine as we—What the hell, I only have 25 points…”

“Hah, serves you right for laughing at me…”

“Aw man…it’s a little low. I was thinking of raising her favorability to learn some thief skills. I heard from Captain Box that Nightingale had apparently maxed out her lockpicking skill!”

“Oh right, Captain, how much favorability do you have with her?”

“It’s probably not high, after all, Box is always silent and even looks a little scary…plus he’s even killed a lot of people.”

“Yeah…I remember that the NPCs don’t like the act of murder…”

At this point, the team members all turned back and looked at Boxlunch who was also checking his own status screen.

“So Captain, how much favorability do you actually have?”

His teammates asked as they all tried to take a glimpse at his status screen.

Boxlunch was silent for a moment before closing his status screen.

“Captain?”

They kept asking persistently and Boxlunch eventually looked at them with annoyance. After hesitating for a moment, he simply stated a number that left all his party members completely shocked and silent.

“100 points.”