Chapter 59 - Elemental Elk Den
The 120 Elemental Elks looked prepared to eliminate the two siblings.
Seeing the tension, the elk princess that they had accompanied shouted at the elk. 'Stop!'
'Princess! please leave, there is an intruder behind you!' The adult elk said in worry.
'I said STOP!' The princess suddenly released a wave of mana that forced them to all stop.
'P-princess…' The adult in front looked at their princess and wondered why it was stopping them.
They were worried that something might happen to their princess.
She was the hope of their race in avenging their family.
The elk princess seeing that she had gathered their attention started telling them who the two elves were.
'Not only are they my saviors… but also the people that mother entrusted the Den Key'
The elks were shocked after hearing the last part.
Their look of apprehension towards the siblings shifted to a look of hope and respect.
Gone were the hostility and weariness.
Having been given the Den Key by the Queen herself is enough reason for them to trust the siblings.
The elk princess nodded in satisfaction after seeing that they had now trusted the siblings.
She then introduced both sides before gesturing for Avery and Yue to follow her.
They then arrived at a clearing.
In the middle, there was a circular pedestal that was two meters in diameter and one meter in height.
On the top surface of the pedestal, a circular array of runes were inscribed in a complex manner.
Then floating slightly above the circular pedestal was a three-dimensional statue of the Queen that recently passed away.
What's saddening was the fact that the floating statue has lost its luster and had cracks all over its surface.
The elk princess had a sad look as it gazed at the statue.
After a while, she then gestured for them to move toward the statue.
Avery moved and stood in front of the statute as the elk princess and Yue watched.
Avery held out the Den Key above the pedestal.
It then floated out of his hand and embedded itself at the center of the complex rune circle in the pedestal.
[Conditions Met…]
Pedestal started to glow as the circular rune expanded before floating to the statue.
The runes started to surround the statute like the rings of Saturn.
The pedestal and the statue then slowly turned into motes of lights.
The motes of light gathered at the center of the circular rune.
The rune then slowly contracted around the gathered light before turning it into nothing but a ball of light.
Then the light slowly dispersed, and what appeared was a transparent cube with the statue of an elemental elk floating at the center inside.
It then floated towards Avery's hands and almost immediately, Avery and Yue received a notification from the system.
[Ding. 1x Den (Elemental Elk) Acquired]
Yue then walked beside Avery and looked at the object floating above his hand.
"Wow! This Den Core looks amazing! The mana and complex rune around it makes me want to dissect it open!" Yue looked at the Den Core with excitement.
"Unfortunately we can't do that. This a legacy of the Elemental Queen and it would be disrespectful if we were to suddenly carve it open."
"Oh! I am sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" Yue said hastily as she realized the implications of her words.
"Haha. Don't worry, I understand what you meant. We will just find another Den Core in the future for you to experiment on." Avery explained as he smile at his sister.
"Wow really!?" Yue asked excitedly.
"Of course, I promise," Avery said.
"Yay! Thanks, big brother!" Yue said as she gave her big brother a tight hug.
Avery enjoyed her warmth and smiled satisfactorily.
They both then shifted their gaze back to the Den Core and inspected it with the system.
[Name: Den (Elemental Elk)
Rarity: White (Evolving)
Description: The Den of Elemental Elks. Creates a suitable environment for Elemental Elk when placed. Upon placement, spawns 2-5 Elemental Elk per day.]
A smile appeared on both Avery and Yue's faces as they saw its description.
After taking the Elemental Elk Den. The siblings followed by the elk princess and elk survivors went back to the entrance of the dimension.
There they saw both Lia and Estel along with the rest of the expeditionary force waiting for them.
The two generals, asked if the two siblings were alright to which they responded for them not to worry.
After that Avery then ordered the expeditionary force to extract the wolves of whatever useful materials they could find from their body.
This includes skinning them of their furs, their sharp tooth, their claws, magic core, etc.
Avery did not want to do the same for the dead elks especially since they were going to be part of the village from now on. He instead ordered the expeditionary force to bury them.
With the help of magic, they were able to extract the materials from the wolves and at the same time buried the fallen elemental elks.
The Elemental elks then mourned for their fellowmen and said their farewell.
They then left the dimension after making sure that they have everything they need.
Without the core of the Den powering the dimension, the last bit of foundation holding it finally collapsed resulting to the destruction of the dimension.
The Elemental Elks especially their princess, looked sadly at the dimension as it collapsed.
***
Just as the sun set down, the expedition force arrived at the village.
Avery let the expedition force rest, while he and Yue along with the elks went to an open space that they have designated for their mounts.
He then brought out the Den and placed it in the middle of the field.
He and Yue watched as the Den Core floated up in the air before surrounding itself with numerous runes.
A circular stone pedestal gradually rose from the ground while the Den Core slowly shifted a statue of the Elemental Elk Princess.
The statue then stayed afloat on top of the circular pedestal.
Though it did not look as grand as what they saw back in the dimension.
Yue guessed that the level must have regressed and that they would have to slowly level it up again.
After the Den was formed, a blast of mana originating from the statue was released.
Following the blast, the surrounding space shifted and all the color in the surrounding started turning white.
The white lights then started shifting into trees, grass, flowers, ponds, etc.
As this happened, everyone aside from Avery looked at everything with amazement.
He had already seen this scene multiple times in the past so it the process did not shock him anymore.
After a while, the white light gradually dispersed before showing a perfect environment for the elemental elk to live on.
The elks then dispersed as they happily explored their new homes.
The elk princess moved towards Avery and Yue before nuzzling its nose on them.
'Thank you…' using her magic, the elk thanked the sibling in gratitude.
Yue shook her head and said, "No need to thank us, we had other reasons for doing so."
'Even so… you still helped us, and I am thankful'
Yue smiled and told her not to worry about it anymore and simply enjoy their new home with her fellow elks.
After that, Avery and Yue left the newly formed dimension and were on their way back to the village under the night sky.
However, along the way something happened, that could potentially damage their relationship…
[A/N: Hope you guys are having a great day! I'll be uploading another chap or two by tomorrow! So do look forward to it!]