Master Of None

It was clear that having a close connection with the forest was making her more agitated. The strange part was that it seemed that more than one voice was speaking with the queen of the elves. There was a soft harmony behind the tone she used. Walker began to become more and more curious as to what the title means and why she would be connected to the forest physically as well as spiritually. His thoughts were quickly pushed aside what the queen spoke again.

"The human party will join our highest ranked enforcers to pursue this massive slime. This will be a moment of bonding between our kingdoms in the pursuit of natural life in the forest." This was another moment that surprised the elders. They were not able to understand why the queen was pushing it this far. The elves had taken care of their own problems in the past with no outside help. 

"Brother the queen wishes to tell you more." Onyx began to relay the message from the queen word for word. 

 "You may wonder what is going on here, I will gladly explain to the true hero, the memories shared with me give me hope and trust in you young one. The title I hold is usually only known of the relation to the elven forest, not to the spirits. The spirits of every elf have long remained dormant in the trees, the soil, and the very air of the forest. But when I gained the title of queen it changed to fit my unique system. The forest spirit system. I am now connected to the very forest and the spirits that have rested within. Every memory of my people is open to me, but at the cos that my body is forced to always be one with the forest. I need to deal with the massive flow of natural mana and spend most of my days in meditation." 

The words that Onyx brought to him were a lot to take in. Having a unique title that no other queens of the elves had ever had was a lot for one person to take in. The scary part was that it connected her to every elves' memories, this massive boon could help her make the best judgments for their people at all times. 

The drawback was heavy though, she was unable to move freely and go to protect her people herself. There was also the natural mana that would overwhelm her making it hard for her to act. Walker only felt the mana from her when she opened her eyes, but he knew that actually having a huge amount of mana would be much harder to process. 

"Brother she has more to say." Onyx was still translating perfectly. 

"You must not look burdened by my title, I gained the gift to watch my people grow for generations. As long as this forest stands I will live as well. I have seen two hundred years of elves grow as queen. I shall have a hundred more after we deal with this problem. I also have memories from our long ago ancestors, the true hero title that you speak of is very rare and only recorded a few times. I believe you truly have such a title and will show the proof of it and your drive to my people. After all, in my memories, a true hero is one that stands for all." 

The queen was showing her aptitude for the memories she had access to and drawing on them to understand the title Walker and his party had, more specifically she was able to use this knowledge and mana to guide her people in the best possible way. 

Onyx was not done speaking for the queen, he still had more for Walker to hear. "You must be interested in the goblin friends you have made too right? The elves have long had a hatred for them due to the demon lord centuries ago. The goblins were a species on the brink of proper sentience, but they were conquered by a young demon lord and made in to his minions. The title the demon lord gained was master of the goblins. In that title, the goblins were stripped of free will and only allowed their instincts. Their years of evolution were stripped from them and their lords were slain. I can remember this tragedy but those around now can not. They know only of the story book takes on evil goblins that tortured elven prisoners and fought against heroes." 

Walker was stunned that a title existed. It was disgusting to him that a title could remove so much evolution from a species. This was the first time he felt hate for the world he lived in. It may have been an effect of the friend of the goblins title absorbed by the true hero title, but it was still there. 

"Now that the particular demon lord has been long dead the goblin race scattered and has developed again. If they truly are able to flourish they may become another string sentient race in our world. The spirits I can feel, weak as they may be from resting for hundreds of years, wish to see this come to be. I will gladly write it in to law if you and the adventurers guild can assist them. The elven people will not harm them." 

This was too much for Walker to take in. There were so many possibilities if there was another sentient race added to the world. The elven queen seemed to speak on these things like they were just the same as flowing wind. Onyx was doing his best not to react and to properly pass on the grand words. He was also feeling the same amazement as Walker. 

The queen suddenly spoke out loud again, this time the force of natural mana was less because her eyes had again closed, but the fluctuations were still felt. "Bring the group of promising elves. Especially the one who studied under our elven pride." This made the elders scamble. One ran from the hall to do exactly as she ordered. "I need my scribe to write new things in to law. I expect that you elders can take care of the rest while I confer with the ancestors on the growth that shall come to the forest." 

The natural mana seemed to fade as if a cover was placed on it. One elder went to the queen's side with a stack of papers and the one in gold robes with green patters faced the party. "Please come with me, our queen has recognized you as guests. We rarely have guests that are not from other elven kingdoms so pardon us for any strange actions." 

The attitude was wildly different from before. The elder was now acting incredibly polite, it seemed that more had been said to him than the party had noticed. While Walker was having his own private conversation it was very possible that other orders were being passed to the elders through some form of magic that the queen could use. 

Su was still right beside Walker as the elder guided them to a side hall. She leaned in to him again while her eyes drifted from the queen to the hall in front of them. "Did you see the small dots of decay on those vines she controlled? I think this is a much bigger problem than they let on." 

Walker had not noticed any decay on the vines, but after hearing that she was connected to the forest entirely it made sense that she would also be affected by the decay. If she was not active in stopping the massive slime she would also end up rotting away with the forest. In certain terms, she was the reflection of the health of the forest. 

"Please rest here while we wait for the elves that stand above the others of our race to come. The three you are about to meet are apprentices of the three great elven title holders. One has managed to gain a title their master had while the other two are thought to be closer than any other elf in the last two hundred years." 

The entire party became focused on the elder as they heard that another title holder would be coming to join them. They had met the royalty that held titles but those titles were passed down. Walker was still trying to understand the unique title that the elven queen had. It may be different because of her unique system but these elves were going to have titles given by the world just the title of hero the party had gained. It was even more interesting to hear that they had trained under the previous title holders. This was something that the party did not think to be possible, that someone could be trained to gain a title.

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