Chapter 23: The Dilemma of the Dryads
"Augula! How many times have I told you not to disturb everyone's sleep unless it's important!"

Boom——

The earth is shaking and the mountains are shaking.

The ancient tree in the center of the forest rose from the ground, and an old, wrinkled face appeared on the trunk, looking at the noise made by Augla with both anger and helplessness.

Ever since their clan of tree elves fell into a collective slumber, they have been awake less and less. Some of their companions even fell asleep and never woke up again.

But for the continuation of the race.

They had to do it.

"No, Elder, something really happened!"

Facing the old tree spirit's gaze that was almost about to spit fire, Augla shrank his neck and explained hurriedly.

Don’t be fooled by how cool he was when he was summoned outside for human sacrifice, and even called himself Lord Augla, but in front of the tree spirit elder, he was just a child of more than 200 years old.

It was also after the accident happened.

The last batch of tree spirits to be born with intelligence.

"Augula, you should know the price of waking everyone up. You'd better give me a satisfactory explanation!"

The elder tree spirit shook the dirt off the roots, and the shriveled branches and leaves on the top blossomed, bathing in the warm sunshine.

The birds and beasts that were originally fleeing in panic sensed a peaceful breath and finally calmed down. They flew to the branches chirping, as if they were complaining about Augla's evil deeds to the tree spirit elder.

"I'm sorry for scaring you."

The elder tree spirit had a kind look on his face and spoke softly to the little animals.

Then his eyes darkened and he glared at Augla: "Tell me, what happened? Did those annoying elves come here to ask for help again?"

"Uh... elves?"

Augla was stunned, then shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, it's not the elves, it's the Dream Forest, and the Moon God! I... I saw the Moon God!"

Because he was too excited, he was a little incoherent and waved his huge hands desperately.

"You said you saw the Moon Goddess?!"

Boom——

There was another loud noise.

Before the tree spirit elder could react, a giant tree not far away began to shake its branches and woke up.

As for the tree spirit elder, his face darkened: "Augula, you should know the price of lying. You can't deceive us to evade responsibility. I allow you to organize your words again!"

Dreamwood.

That is the holy land of the tree spirits.

It is also the place where their souls are nurtured.

They dreamed of returning to the forest and listening to the great teachings of the Moon Goddess, and would not allow anyone to make fun of them.

Facing the two elders' knife-like eyes, Augla swallowed his saliva and finally said with a guilty conscience: "It should be...right? I haven't seen the real dream forest either, but I felt the breath of the Moon God, exactly the same as the inheritance, really! Elder, you must believe me!"

soon.

He told her everything that had just happened.

He told everything without reservation, including how he was summoned, how he met Rhodes, and that strange little tree spirit.

After all, he is only over two hundred years old.

What he knew about the Dream Forest was what the elders had told him, and part of it came from the inheritance of the tree spirits, so he didn't dare to say it in a definite way.

And after listening to his story.

The two old tree spirits looked at each other and suddenly became serious.

"You mean, you were summoned by a force very similar to the inheritance of your clan?"

"Yes, I, Augla, swear on the honor of the Dryad clan!"

"Did you see anything else that was different?"

"Have!"

Augla responded heavily, and then tried to recall: "I was summoned there in a daze, and couldn't see the surroundings clearly, but there is one thing I remember, it seems to be an ancient tree."

"That's right! It's the shadow of a very large ancient tree, larger than any tree in the Sea of ​​Forests. I feel the same aura from it as the ancestral totem!"

As he spoke, Augla gestured, trying to depict the scene he saw.

Unexpectedly, after hearing his words, the two elder tree spirits exclaimed in unison. "Lord Silas!!"

Rumbling--

The entire center of the forest sea shook violently.

Dozens of sleeping ancient trees slowly woke up, creating a huge wave of trees inside the barrier.

"I... seemed to have heard the name of Lord Silas."

It was like a heavy roar from ancient times, spreading out like a gust of air.

Only the tree spirits who have received the inheritance know the significance of these three words to the tree spirit clan.

Silas.

The original body is the Tree of Life, also known as the Tree God, one of the four demigods under the Moon God.

He is in charge of the nurturing of life in the Dream Forest. He is the ancestor of all tree spirits and elves and is a well-deserved God of Life!
But as the Dream Forest disappeared, the Tree of Life also fell into a deep sleep.

At first they thought that Master Silas's spirit had returned to the Dreamgrove and had no time to wake up.

Can be used over time.

However, they discovered that the Dryads had lost contact with the Dreamwood and Lord Silas.

Without a source of soul power, a large number of their kind slowly turned back into ordinary plants without consciousness, and withered and died over the course of hundreds of years.

Their size has also shrunk from the entire Sea of ​​Forest to this central area today, and they are barely surviving by relying on the barrier left behind.

and so.

When the three words Silas reappeared.

The remaining tree spirits could no longer remain calm and woke up from their slumber.

"Augula, is what you just said true?"

"Did you really see Lord Silas?"

"You should know the consequences of deceiving us!"

Words filled with anticipation and nervousness continued to come out of the mouths of the tree spirits, fearing that this was just an illusion.

Augla's more than ten-meter-tall figure was surrounded by them. He was trembling and became the weakest, most pitiful and helpless one.

no way.

He could only bite the bullet and repeat what he had just seen.

After hearing his description, the tree spirits finally became convinced and became agitated.

"No doubt about it! That is the Dream Forest. It must be Master Moon and Master Silas who have returned!"

"The Dream Forest has actually awakened!"

Their voices were loud, containing unspeakable excitement. The branches and leaves on their bodies rustled, causing the birds and beasts on their bodies to flee in all directions.

But he was an elder after all, and he didn't know how many years he had lived. He soon calmed down, closed his eyes and felt it carefully.

After a while, he opened his eyes again in confusion.

"It still doesn't work. I can't sense the existence of the Dream Forest."

"Why is this happening? Has Lord Moon God abandoned us?"

Through Augla's description, they were almost 100% sure that it was the Dream Forest.

But why can't I get a response?

Have they, the tree spirit clan, really been abandoned?

"Is it possible that the forest has just revived and cannot accommodate too many souls entering?" Augula whispered in the corner.

When the two elders heard this, they immediately reacted.

"Yes, that must be the case!"

The two looked at each other, and then glared at Augla in unison: "Then what are you still doing here? Hurry up and get out of here. Who told you to come back so soon?"

Augura: “…”

finally.

Under the guidance of a group of elders, Augla came to the sacrificial site of the tree spirits and began to try to communicate with the dream forest.

(End of this chapter)