Shortly after I teleported my fifty new Mud Fishes back to my dungeon, I returned to the wooden house where my friends were sleeping. They had woken up by now, especially since the sun had risen a while ago. Actually, Merin and the fishing party had set out after the sun rose because it would be dangerous to ride the waters when it was still dark.
But, as they said, the early bird catches the worm, and thus we had went out the moment the sun rose and there was some light. In any event, the whole thing took less than three hours, and we were back before mid-morning.
"You're finally back," Myria said, sulking. "Where did you go?"
"On a little fishing adventure with us." Merin chuckled as he patted my back. "Don't worry, miss. Your husband wasn't cheating on you or anything. He was with us men the whole time. Even got a huge catch."
"Ah, I just received the message." Sylvie nodded. She and Silvia had a connection to my dungeon too because of our spirit contracts. "Fifty Mud Fishes? That's pretty nice."
"Why Mud Fishes?" Silvia looked puzzled. She shrugged. "I mean, they are cute, but I thought you would look for something…uh, stronger."
"They'll eventually evolve into something stronger," I replied. "But they are useful. Plus, I like them. Their docile nature, they are cute, and I think they can form a bridge between the ghost forest and the deep-sea sections of our dungeon."
"Ah, that's right. I guess not everything is about combat power." Silvia nodded in understanding. She made a face. "Unlike what those edgelords in the comment sections or edgy authors in cultivation web novels and manhuas insisting that the strong eat the weak."
Before I could go on a rant, Eliza showed up, having prepared and packed up everything. She nodded at us with newfound respect as she adjusted her leather gloves.
"Thank you for saving Murkwood yesterday," she said and offered a lovely smile. "Watching you fight fills me with confidence that we might be able to actually do this…that we can go all the way to the top and save Ardena."
"…who?" I gaped at her.
"The warrior chief of the elves. Some among us even call her the elvish Sword Saint. She wields the holy blade, Dainsleif, and is the crown princess of the elven empire that rules over all the enclaves in Yggdrasil."
I wasn't sure if I was hearing her right. That was quite the revelation to spring upon us. I wondered why she didn't tell us about this Ardena earlier, but then I recalled that she was pretty hostile toward us when we first met. It was only after we saved Murkwood from the Swamp Hydra and its Crunch Crocodile cronies and Swamp Serpent underling that she finally opened up to us.
"What happened to her? You said this elvish Sword Saint, uh, Ardena, needs rescuing?"
Eliza looked ashamed at that, lowering her head and averting her sapphire gaze. She clenched her fists and bit her lip before grudgingly admitting, "Yeah."
Myria, Sylvie, Silvia, Morten and I exchanged glances before returning our stares back to her. Eliza sighed heavily, her shoulders drooping.
"Ardena was one of the first elves to fight the recently aggressive hordes of spirit beasts as well as launch an investigation into the upper levels regarding rumored sightings of demons. However, she vanished shortly after reaching the very top…and we have been unable to establish any contact with her party. And, as you would expect, none of the other parties sent to assist her or confirm her location have reached that high up. We have been pushed back by powerful spirit beasts at the top…and though it's unconfirmed, apparently, a few of them have been killed by demons."
"That's not good." I gulped.
"That's why we became desperate to the extent where we would even enlist the help of humans." Eliza stared at us pleadingly. "Please help us, honored saviors. You're our only hope."
"Uh…we will still help you even if you didn't make a reference to one of our popular movies."
"Huh?" Eliza stared at me blankly. I sighed and shook my head.
"Never mind. I mean we're willing to help, so let's go."
"Thank you." Eliza bowed her head. "You really are…someone I am greatly indebted to. All of you." She glanced at Myria and smiled. "You really are lucky."
"What do you mean?"
"You are Song Jun Wen's wife, aren't you, ma'am Myria?"
"Yeah?" Myria blinked and smiled proudly. "What's the matter? You want my husband? You're not getting him."
Technically, we weren't married. We were only engaged, but I saw no reason to pour cold water on Myria's parade. It wasn't as if I was intending to call off the engagement, though the marriage would probably be a few years off. If I was Park Jin Sung, then she would be my Ha Rin. Not that I was a taming master. I was more of a summoning master, but let's not bother with the trivial details.
"If this is a manhwa, then big bro might become the Slave Knight of the Elf," Silvia said. "So you better be careful, big sis Myria!"
"Why are you selectively using an R18 manhwa as an example instead of the usual fantasy ones like Taming Master!?" Sylvie cried, smacking Silvia. But the younger fairy was not discouraged. Instead, she burst out laughing.
"Eh? Why do you even know what kind of manhwa Slave Knight of the Elf is, big sis?"
"No, that's…!"
"As much as I enjoy this little comedy routine, shall we make a move on?" I asked, interrupting the fairy sisters' banter. At least the existences in the fourth dimension had new manhwas to check out if they wanted. The benefits of making references in my reality.
"Let us bid farewell to the elves of Murkwood first." Eliza went to speak to them. They gathered, with Merin taking the lead and grabbing my hands.
"Thank you very much." He lowered his head. "You're more than welcome to visit us again."
"We'll do our best," I said with a sincere smile. "I really like Murkwood. The food here is great, and I would love to have a meal here again."
"Excellent." Merin grinned. "We'll make sure to prepare a banquet when you drop by."
With the pleasantries out of the way, we proceeded to the massive trunk. Well, Murkwood was located halfway between the trunk and beneath a branch, so it wasn't too far. Before ten minutes had passed, we were already back on the gradual, sloping path that wound around the World Tree. Following the rounding road up, we slowly ascended once more.
However, Morten called for a halt when we reached the next branch. Eliza shook her head when we stopped, glancing at the village there.
"This enclave isn't under attack, so we don't have to stop here. We should proceed to the next one."
"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to stop by this village, but I thought we might as well take this opportunity to rest because I just received word that a newcomer will be joining our party." Morten held up his smartphone. I realized that he had been speaking to someone over the phone earlier, but since it was none of my business and I believed that he deserved some privacy, I didn't eavesdrop.
"A newcomer?" Myria inquired. Morten nodded.
"A warrior this time. An Earth ranked warrior from Germany. He's one of the top ranked heroes in Europe, having mastered magic swordsmanship. He's best known for slaying Earth ranked dragons, and so I feel like we will have a much greater chance of success if he joins us. He had always expressed an interest in helping out the elves in Yggdrasil, but he was away for a mission regarding a Volcanic Dragon. I think he finally slew it and finished that mission, so he's free to take on this one now. Don't worry, given his skills, he'll catch up to us in no time at all."
"I'm already here, actually."
We all jumped when a voice spoke up. A tall, muscular knight in black and silver armor with red streaks strode toward us, a huge sword sheathed behind his back. His gauntlets and boots gleamed with polish, despite him moving around in the dirt-crusted bark of the World Tree, and his longish gray-silver hair stretched to his shoulders. He had handsome features, tanned skin and a piercing green gaze. He lowered his head humbly, a far cry from most of the Earth ranked cultivators I knew.
This guy had the imposing air of a warrior, and none of the complacency so endemic in experts of Hua Xia. He nodded to us and placed a gauntleted hand on his black breastplate.
"I am Sigmund Krieg, a warrior of the Fafnir Guild. At the request of the elvish enclaves, I have come to provide support. I might not be capable of much except combat, but if you allow it, I will lend you my blade."
"Thank you," Eliza said somewhat stiffly. Unlike us, Sigmund had yet to prove himself trustworthy, and so she remained wary of him. "I am grateful that you came all the way to help us."
If Sigmund noticed her hostility, he wasn't offended. Instead, he nodded and turned to us.
"I'm Song Jun Wen, a cultivator from the Far East," I introduced myself. "This is my fiancée, Myria, and my adopted sisters, Sylvie and Silvia. And this is Morten Pedersen, a former player of Blackburn Rovers…"
"No, I'm a liaison between the Odin Guild and Divine Path Sect," Morten corrected, nudging me in annoyance. "I'm a mage-warrior from the Odin Guild, and the rest of the people here are from Divine Path Sect. Except Eliza Sherwood, of course."
"I'm an elf," she said unnecessarily and clamped up.
"Is there anyone else coming?" I asked both Morten and Sigmund. Sigmund shook his head, his hair rustling over his broad shoulders.
"No. I'm afraid there's no one else from the Fafnir Guild coming. I spoke to Mononobe Mitsuki and the D…I mean mages under her, but it appears that they didn't want to come as that will violate copyright issues."
"Copyright issues?" I blurted out. "What does copyright have to do with anything?"
"There's a light novel series and its anime adaptation that have something to do with characters named Mononobe," Silvia explained with a giggle. "Of course they can't show up in an original work written by another author."
"Or they are just cowardly making up excuses to not help out," Eliza sniffed. Sigmund raised an eyebrow, but didn't look offended. He appeared the type who focused on proving himself with actions rather than words, and I respected him for that. Obviously, he hadn't proven anything yet, but in contrast to Eliza, I was more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Are we heading all the way to the top?" The black magic swordsman asked instead.
"No," Eliza replied, her glacial tone melting somewhat at his sincerity. She pointed at a branch hanging just above us. "The elvish enclave of Springwood is facing trouble with an incoming swarm of spirit beasts. I've just received a message from them, requesting for aid. If you don't mind, I wish to assist them before continuing the climb."
"I don't mind at all," I replied without hesitation. "Let's help them."
"I wish to help too," Sigmund said calmly, his hand on the hilt of the sword slung onto his back. "We should hurry."
Eliza stared at him for a second before nodding and turning back to the slope. Picking up her pace, she hastened upward without another word, her blue eyes fixated on the enclave built onto the branch right above them. At our current speed, we should reach there within the hour, but I hoped that the elves of Springwood weren't already under attack.