It would take 4 hours for Will and the elves to reach Lea's forest, home of the elves.
Throughout the whole journey it was somewhat quiet. Arbor walked Adaline as he hadn't seen her all this time and thus missed her dearly.
Will was thinking of what to say to Silvas, king of the elves. Asking them to protect Sandra seemed too unrealistic as elves despised humans, if they do actually offer to protect Sandra then that would be good. But for now he is going to use that excuse to hide his real intent, to find more information about their Goddess.
A being who can beat a mountain dragon is amazing. If he could harness or borrow such power to protect his kingdom, and maybe even kill the dragon, it would bring him so many benefits.
Surely a dragon of that size would be able to make thousands if not tens of thousands of magical items. Not to mention its scales.
According to what Rias told him along the way, the mountain dragon's scales were extremely durable, more so than any dragon. Did that mean he could unlock a better type of dragon scale armor and perhaps dragon bone armor?
"We're here." Arbor said in elven tongue.
Will was lost in thought. He saw a wall of thick vines that seemed to move as if it was alive. The wall was tall but Will could easily fly over it, but if he were to attempt to cross without permission he would be put down by the force of nature.
"Remember, only our Goddess can let you enter our village even if you have no ill intentions. And also, to be safe, take off your armor and put away your weapons."
While Silvas did have some authority and power, the one in charge is their Goddess. If she wanted to, she could replace Silvas as king and use somebody else.
"I know." Will said. He placed everything he had in either his inventory or his magical storage ring.
The vines created an entrance for the elves and Adaline. As Will was about to follow he noticed something holding his feet. What was holding him in place were some thick tree roots that were coiling around his legs.
Adaline noticed and turned around and began to hiss.
"Um, what?" Will couldn't move at all.
Tiny vines and trees started to coil around Will's body gently as a green light enveloped him, not wanting to hurt him and not wanting to let him go.
The leaves, trees, and even flowers started to circle around Will creating a sort of barrier around him.
Rias and Arbor saw him. Arbor held Adaline in place as she then began to growl but dared not to move.
"Hero?"
Before they could say anything, the wall of vines closed preventing the elves from seeing Will.
Rias wanted to go back, but for the first time the wall of vines did not create an entrance for her. Normally any elf can enter or exit as they please.
Before Rias could do anything, Arbor stopped her. "Rias, you and I cannot interfere with Goddess Lea." Arbor said, holding firmly onto Adaline but she seemed to calm down.
"I know, but, isn't it strange? If Goddess Lea wanted him dead she would have crushed him. But that seemed… very different."
Left with no explanation, they all left. If their Goddess Lea didn't want them to interfere then they couldn't do anything.
On the other side of the wall there was a cocoon made of trees, vines, roots, and flowers. Inside of the cocoon was Will, his light source was the green energy around his body that he thinks the Goddess is using.
He's seen this kind of energy being used before. Arbor used it on Adaline and Grace to check their conditions.
The feeling felt warm and comforting, he wasn't even afraid.
"You're… not him."
A beautiful voice could be heard in his mind, much like telepathy. The Great Sage uses a similar power. This is the first time it's been used on him as every time he talks to the Great Sage he carries an item that blocks telepathy in order to protect his secrets.
The vines and roots coiling around Will retracted.
There was darkness for a moment, when a blue light source appeared in front of him. The light source transformed into a beautiful but tall woman.
The woman's body was covered in blue flowers, moss, grass, and tiny vines. Her face however was entirely in a dark-blue color, it reminded him of a face that a human shaped hologram would have in a movie. There was a streak of a white-blue light going from her neck, to her left check, through her eye, and finally to her head. Along the lines of that white-blue streak he saw a blue light going from the bottom of her streak to the top, over, and over again.
The light in her blue-light streak is comparable to how blood travels through the human body.
Her eyes were pink. Her eyelashes were long and blue, so were her eyebrows. Her eyes had a serious and firm look.
Also she was very tall. She was no less than 6' 6'', while Will was around average size 5' 10''.
Her mossy hands reached Will's face. Will wanted to step back but his back was against a wall of vines.
She looked at Will's eyes while holding him in place. Later, she started to tear up.
Saddened, she released Will. She turned her back to her as she wiped her tears.
"Are you Lea?" Will asked. He felt it was her but it was better to be sure.
One thing he knows about her is that she has never, ever, shown her true form before. Elves even believe she might not have a form in the first place, that she is a bodiless deity who lives through nature.
That is why he found it a bit hard to believe it was her. If she had never shown her true self to the elves, then why would she show herself to him?
And lastly, there was no information on top of her head, no display of her HP or her race name. Either the system can't see it or that is not her real body.
"I… I am. It's been quite a… a long time since I've seen a system user." She turned to face him. Her sad face was replaced by a warm smile.
"You… you know what I am?" Will was surprised.
"Do you not know who I am? Or to be more specific, what exactly am I?" Lea gestures to herself perplexed.
Will shook his head.
"So… wait, has your system not mentioned anything about me? Surely it has said something about my kind since you're here."
"The system? Dude, he hasn't said shit about anything. I had to figure everything out by myself." Will had been meaning to complain to someone about this for a long time.
Lea furrowed her eyebrows, as if what Will had said made absolutely no sense.
"That doesn't make sense. Systems have to guide their users through everything, especially their given abilities. At least from what I remember."
Will shook his head slowly.
Lea took a while to think about it as she was piecing some stuff together.
"What's your system called?"
"The crafting system."
Lea tried to recall such a system. Either it's a new system or she had long forgotten about it.
"Sorry, that was a stupid question to ask. I had forgotten mostly about every system out there."
"I also have… so, so many questions to ask." Will had forgotten his reason for being here. He had been wanting to know something about this system for the longest time, and there was someone who seemed to know something.
"I'm sure you do but I won't be able to provide many answers because I have long forgotten about them."
Lea sat down on the grass. She didn't take her eyes off Will for a second.
"First, who are you? Why is your body like… that?"
"Well… my body didn't used to be covered in all this foliage, it used to be blue like my face. After a couple hundred million years this is what happens when I use the power of nature."
That was a lie and Will knew it. If that was her real body something would have appeared on top of her head. He absolutely had no idea really, but would she really appear before him in her real form?
"Hundred million?"
'How many zeroes is that?' Will thought.
"Can you perhaps contact the other system users?" Lea asked after a brief moment of silence.
"Others? You mean like the ones before who had the crafting system?" Will knew that bit at least.
"No, no, no, I'm talking about the other types of systems and their users."
"N-no. I didn't even know there were other types of systems."
"Wait, seriously?" She found that hard to believe.
"Yeah. Seriously."
Lea circled around Will giving him another look.
"I find it incredibly difficult to believe that your system hasn't told you anything about… well anything. Systems don't just leave their users in the dark privy of vital information."
"It's true! I don't know what else to tell you."
"If that's true then I guess a lot has changed since then."
They went on to talk for a bit, Will did get 'some' answers about systems, not any that mattered to him unfortunately.
"Is there… somebody you're looking for, perhaps?" Will asked. She kept mentioning about 'other' system users that could only mean she was looking for someone.
"He's… probably dead at this point, not that I wouldn't be surprised."
"Was he your husband? Or…?"
"My father." She leaned against the wall made of vines.
"He, um… left me to my own devices after billions of years, probably longer than that. Been waiting for him to come back ever since."
'How many zeroes are in a billion?' Will thought.
"Now that I think about it, you might've heard of his name before. I think you might know him as the… Conqueror? I think that was what others called him."
'Wait, I know that name.'
Will took out an item from his inventory.
{Failure 29}
{Able to control the weather to whatever its user wishes}
{A heavy ball that was made by 'The Conqueror' it is a failed product that he deemed 'worthless' but gave it to his child who likes to play with her father's creations}
{This item cannot be broken, or rust. It is made from an indestructible golden material that is not from this world}
"You're the Conqueror's daughter?" Will looked at her. He was very curious about the creator of this machine, but he didn't think his daughter would be Lea.
"I somehow knew you had it. If I may…"
Lea reached out to hold failure 29, but Will placed it back in his inventory before she could touch it.
"Sorry, it's mine now." Will said. No matter who it was he couldn't let this device be used by anybody other than himself.
Lea let out a small chuckle before retracting her hands. There was a smile on her face.
"You can keep it. I gave it away to some guy who needed it to change the weather in the forbidden lands or something."
"Oh, you mean Christopher."
"That's his name?"
"Yeah, was. Why did your father call it a failure? It's very powerful." Will thought if he were to create such a device, he would name it something better.
"Um… the device controls the weather at a certain radius, right?" Lea asked to be sure. It's been a while since she's seen it.
"Yes."
"Well, if I remember correctly, my father considered anything a 'failure' if his devices couldn't affect an entire colossal planet at minimum. For example, the device you have can affect a portion of land. In his eyes it's a failure. Then again I think that was one of his first creations."
"A colossal planet? What's that, something like Jupiter?"
"I… don't know what 'Jupiter' is but a colossal planet is basically a really big planet, for the exact measurements I forgot about them. How do you not know? The size measurements for planets are dwarf, something… I think it was prosaic, and finally colossal, right? Or did the names change in the last billions of years?"
"I may not have been a smart student but I don't think I have heard of that. Maybe Pluto is, or was, considered a dwarf planet."
"If I didn't know any better I would say you were from another universe, but systems don't give their abilities to humans from another universe. Let's talk about something else, we're getting nowhere talking about this topic,"
"Lea, something that's been on my mind, why do you protect the elves? And how are you protecting the elves?" Will asked. She definitely wasn't a god but something else. He did try to ask her about where she's from, but she wouldn't say much. One thing he knows is she is the daughter of the Conqueror, the man who created the device to change the weather.
"Why? Well, ten thousand years ago I arrived at this planet after hopping from planet to planet to find information about my father. I found this tiny planet and made it my temporary home to take a break for a hundred thousand years. An elf from long ago helped me and in turn I promised to take care of his kin until I leave this planet, that's the short version. As for how? Well, this is how."
From out of nowhere appeared another device made of the same material as the 'failure' that Will carried.
It was around the same size as the golden ball, but in the shape of a pyramid. It had many markings that appeared to have Egyptian symbols. On each side at the bottom of the pyramid were trees that were moving, like an actual moving picture moving from side to side very slowly.
"It can let me control all of nature. I can see everything in a certain radius, and it lets me do anything I desire. It also can prevent my trees and anything from being destroyed easily. Not even fire can do anything to my forest."
Will tried to touch it to gather information, but Lea made the device disappear out of thin air.
"It's mine." Lea smiled mischievously.
"Haha, I see what you did there. Was your father a fan of Egyptian work or something?"
"You don't know that either? Man, what in the world happened to humanity?"
Will shrugged his shoulders.
"Wait, you've met heroes from my world, haven't you bothered asking them about anything?"
"I never bothered because I never cared about you humans. But I never would've thought that the humans that were being summoned to this world were from the main universe."
"Main universe?" Will asked.
"Humanity… to be exact the humans from your universe, is the only species who can create universes with a thought. As long as humanity remains alive, more life will be created. Those humans, despite all their faults, are at the center of all the universes, of everything."
"Wait, seriously? I find that is a lot of B.S." Will raised an eyebrow finding it hard to believe.
(Read ''killer of Mc's'' for more details. :D )
"It's true. I don't know why your system never bothered to tell you that but it's true."
"Okay… so *I* can just think of anything and a universe would just be… made like that?"
"No. You died, and therefore you can never create another universe because you are now a system user and not human anymore."
Will widened his eyes. That made a bit of sense.
One of his system's passive abilities lets him see anybody's species' name. Whenever he looks at what is above him all he can see is his HP.
"How did you know I died? You saw me die all those times or what?"
"All those times you died? Wait, you can come back from the dead? That's one of your system's abilities?" Lea looked at him, weirdly.
"Uh, yeah. Don't other system users have that sort of ability?"
"No, well not from what I remember. Some gain immortality or something after putting in some work, but I've never heard of a system user's ability to come back to life."
"Huh. Guess I'm lucky. But still how did you know I died?"
"It's one of the rules of the systems: It is not possible to force a living human into becoming a system user. They need to die and complete their time before they can become a system user."
"What happens if they were to 'force' it?"
Lea picked up a large rock using one of the tree's roots.
"Imagine that this rock is you before becoming a system user with your soul intact and everything." She then summoned some extremely thick tree roots beside her. "And now imagine these roots are the system's abilities."
She then mashed both together, the rock scattered into tiny pieces all over. There was a tiny piece of iron inside the rock.
"Get the picture? It won't be just your body that gets destroyed but perhaps even your soul can get damaged." She then proceeds to pick up the iron ore and covers it with her vines. "Imagine this piece of iron is your soul. If you die naturally, then the system can mold your soul into a new body along with new abilities."
She gave him an egg shaped thing that is made entirely of vines, beautifully made with flowers all over. Inside the egg is a piece of iron.
"This is… a lot to take in." Will slowly sat down as she scratched his head.
"I know. I probably should've told you to sit."
"And, about your father, was he also a system user like me?"
"Well… in a way yes and in a way no."
"Wonderful, now you're speaking cryptic." Will rolled his eyes. He prefers simple and short answers if possible.
"What I mean is that he's 'unique' even amongst the systems and system users."
"Unique in what way?"
"If I remember… I think he's the only one without a system. There was something else but I can't remember."
"Without a system? Sounds like me." Will smirked. He knows the feeling.
"No, he's completely different from you!" She raised her voice a bit, she got a bit angry that he compared himself to her father.
"Okay, fine. One more thing, I need to ask for a favor. Can you protect someone for me?"
"Protect them from who?"
"That mountain dragon."
"Oh, him? I'm gonna have to pass. I don't protect humans, much less people who I don't care about."
"What if I offered your father's device back to you? Don't you think that's a fair trade?"
"Pass." She rejected his offer in a second.
"Wait, don't you want it?"
"If I wanted it I wouldn't have thrown it away."
"You threw it away? Didn't you say you gave it to a hero?"
"I lied. He just happened to find it. 300 years ago I gave one of my dad's devices to a human I felt pity for, it's the device humans are using to summon heroes. I didn't think that one of the humans would have damaged it after what I did."
"Your father is the one who created the summoning circle?" Will asked, surprised. That was the reason why he died in the first place, because of its blinding light that made him trip and die.
"He did. Anything else you want to ask me?"
"No. Take care of Adaline."
"The Adalis? Of course I will. Oh, and don't bother trying to enter the kingdom of the elves. I won't be making any more exceptions since that Sage guy."
An exit appeared behind Will that he exited. He didn't come here to get what he wanted, the method to kill the mountain dragon and to protect Sandra. Still he did receive some information about the systems.
There was information he would like to know, why do systems select humans from his universe? Why are both working together? What did her father have to do with Egyptians? There was a lot but she had long forgotten about most of the vital details.
Upon leaving the cocoon made of roots and vines, it went away. Will then put on his armor.
There is one other method of killing the mountain dragon but it'll be a matter of luck, something he wasn't very confident about. That method is none other than to pray for a powerful magical item strong enough to kill anything regardless of power and size.
He has the materials to make many magical items, but it also requires a bit of luck to come across a powerful weapon.
*WHOOSH*
Before he had a chance to react, ropes, vines, and iron chains caught and tightened around Will's body as multiple elves and organic creatures appeared out of the forest all waiting for the opportune moment to capture him.
Some of the elves held onto the ropes, vines, and iron chains to continue to bind Will in place. Others carried swords and bows and all were at a close distance as if they were ready to kill him.
"We did it!"
Radix, with a smile on his face, waved his hands to see they were successful in capturing Will.
The dragon scale armor Will has cannot be penetrated or be broken through with any of the weapons they carried, they learned that last time. They also knew he could revive himself after death, and therefore they knew killing him was the same way as him escaping.
So instead they had to bind him using some of the vines the organic creatures had, and also with some rope and iron chains they stole from human villages.
With the binding equipment they had even they knew a hero would find it difficult to escape using his strength. Some of the iron chains were enchanted with terrible enchantments.
Will was a bit taken back. But he wasn't worried.
"Remember, if his wings sprout, shoot them down." Radix said as he faced Will's mask.
"We meet again, hero. For the first time in my life I really think that killing a hero is a bad idea. Still, what a smart man you are to hand over yourself to us on a silver platter."
Before they arrived, many elves saw Arbor, Rias, Adaline, and to their surprise, Will, heading back to the village.
Radix used this time to gather everyone he knew and prepared him for an ambush. Even if Will had gotten permission from Lea to enter the kingdom, he still would've waited for him to ambush him.
Unless Lea had told them all to stand down then they would have no choice but to change their target. But as of right now, their Goddess hadn't said anything to them.
And this was the perfect place to ambush him. Will was this close to Lea's forest where elves are guaranteed protection from anything, even the mountain dragon.
Even if their plan fails to capture Will, if he attacks he would face the wrath of their Goddess.
"Oh, I remember you, you're the one who shot me." Will looked at Radix. He regretted his choice to spare him at the time in exchange for Rias's magical bracelet.
This did however make him feel better at knowing what might've happened if he let go of Josh, or that other person who wanted to capture Adaline but had forgotten his name entirely by now.
(Refer to chapter 24)
All the elves couldn't understand him, none of them spoke human tongue.
"Everyone, take him to the prison, and whatever happens do not kill him." Radix commanded.
They made a place outside of the village where they take human prisoners and torture them. They use them to vent their frustrations out on them after what they have gone through. What happens there is terrifying and a bloody mess.
The elves and organic creatures pulled, but Will wouldn't budge. They felt as if they were pulling a mountain.
"What's wrong?" Radix asked.
"We… he's too heavy."
"Heavy enough that 30 elves and 3 organic creatures can't pull him?" Radix asked, confused.
It wasn't because he was heavy, it was because Will was resisting a bit using his dragon strength. It was the equivalent of a full grown adult against a bunch of babies in a game of tug-of-war.
"Elves!" Will said in elven tongue, which caught them off-guard.
"Die!"
"I can't let you do that, system user."
As he was about to do something, he heard a voice in his head. A single vine coiled around his leg that Lea used to communicate with him.
"I don't care what they have done, I cannot let you kill even one while they're in my territory, under my protection." Lea said.
She knows what they have done, and what humans have done to them. It's been that way for years. Still she wants to protect them.
"Oh, I get what you mean. As long as they're not here it's fair game." Will responded, he couldn't help but smile behind his mask.
"No, that's not what I-"
The voice in his head was cut off as the vine coiled around his leg was touching nothing but air.
The elves saw how Will, spoke two words in poor elvish, took a momentary pause, then disappeared from his spot as if he had teleported away, and teleported right in front of Radix.
{Magical cape}
{Ability: Able to teleport short distances}
{Ability: Able to change the shape and color of the item}
It was the magical item he got after killing Taker, the infamous child kidnapper. He teleported out of the vines and in front of Radix who was meters away from him.
"GuHa!"
Will grabbed Radix by the throat, he didn't even have time to react, and flew with him upwards. The trees quickly reacted and encircled Will to block his exit, but Will simply teleported through the trees. As he continued to fly with Radix in his hand he saw how a huge portion of the entire forest was chasing after him.
Seeing the entire forest rise from the ground to catch him looked terrifying to Will at least.
Flying now was just as fast as he flew with dragon wings but more convenient. He continued to teleport away to gain distance, while it did help the forest was slowly catching up with him.
'Shit, what do I do?' Will thought.
The thought of shooting the forest with explosive bullets did occur to him, but he knew it wouldn't work. There was too much, and apparently the device that Lea is using to control nature makes it difficult for even explosions to damage it.
'Well, guess I have no choice.' Will didn't want to do this because it was risky.
Using his remaining left hand, he used {Builder's touch} to give him a boost of speed. Builder's touch can move anything Will wants as long as he has crafted it, and his armor also counts.
Using the builder's touch while he is wearing his armor makes him feel as if an invisible force field was pushing him. He once used it and didn't control his strength enough that it broke his back, this was before he had the magical item that can heal all wounds.
Lea saw Will gain a massive boost of speed out of nowhere. And now he was out of her reach. She could continue to chase after him for much longer and possibly tire him out, but she noticed something and stopped chasing Will.
She knew she couldn't blame Will entirely for this. Had Radix not done anything this situation might've been avoided. After all, she has lost many elves because of their ego and rage, but this is the first time she's lost someone while they were close to her protection.
Will looked back, he didn't even notice Lea stopped chasing him. He sighed in relief knowing she was gone for now, and that he didn't break his back like last time.
"Now, as for you… oh… god."
{Elf}
{HP: 0/13,000}
Will noticed that Radix was dead. He held him so hard that he had crushed his neck entirely, his body and head hanging on by a few pieces of flesh. It was the equivalent of crushing soft playdough. His entire arm was covered in blood.
What he also failed to consider is that on his right hand, he was wearing the {magical builder's touch} glove which increases his grip strength, on his left was the magical glove that heals all his wounds. Add that with his dragon strength, and the rush of adrenaline, Radix's neck couldn't handle it. He died the moment Will grabbed him.
Will dropped him from the sky. There was no point keeping a dead body with him. And also, elves don't carry essence with them.
"Oh, shit, Adaline." Will was so focused on killing Radix that he didn't consider Lea doing something horrible to Adaline.
But if Arbor cares for Adaline, and if Lea cares for all the elves, chances are that she won't do anything to Adaline.
Adaline, and even Grace and Arbor are the reason why he doesn't use the weather controlling device on the elves.
If he hears something horrible happened to Adaline, he won't stop till Lea suffers. But for now he waits to see what she does.