Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

Chapter 529: Third Day - World Trees and Elves

They had obtained more information to go on, so Allen brought Cecile and Formar to their location to brief them on what happened so far.

"Hey, we need more help over here!!"

As soon as she arrived, Cecile made her displeasure known.

While she looked about to snap, Formar was perfectly calm.

"Lady Sophiarone, there's Spirits coming to eat now too, and not just Young Spirits."

"I can tell you're working hard."

Formar quickly gave a report to Sophie.

(Maybe the spirits are spreading the word about the food.)

As word spread, it was only a matter of time before Great Spirits also began to go there.

And Formar did not mind cooking all day long if it helped Sophie.

"But Allen, do we really need to continue cooking? We already know what the problem is."

Cecile asked that, hearing that Allen had already found the problem.

"Yes, if you're gathering that many spirits then it's best if you continue."

After that, Allen added a Wraith C, Wraith B, and Wraith A summons to help Graham.

They did not have the knowledge to cook, but Allen could give them indication with Sharing.

(This way we can gather spirits for Sophie and Luck while solving the problem.)

"Alright, now how do we get inside the lake…"

(I wonder if charging in would work. I'll send a few Haramis to check it out first.)

The surface of the lake was sparkling in the morning light. He sent 3 Fish D summons into the lake.

'So you're the summoner I heard about, bringing forth creatures with Mana… but that won't work.'

Tonies had a complicated look on his face.

"You've heard about me before? But what do you mean that it won't work?"

The 3 summons began to convulse widely in the lake, then vanished as particles of light.

"Wait, your summons were just killed!"

Cecile looked around carefully in case there was an enemy, and the rest did the same.

(So he knew this would happen. He should've told me before I lost my summons!)

The stats increased by Growth could be random, so he was mad that he had lost 3 summons where Growth had given him good luck.

"Why did that happen?"

Tonies seemed to know, so they asked him.

'This Spring of Life is the source of all life, taking too much of it can have adverse effects.'

Summons only existed with Mana, so they were overloaded much faster.

"W-wait! I drank a lot of it earlier!!"

Luck shouted loudly, remembering what he had done the day before, then he grabbed his neck and tried to force himself to throw up.

'If you were human you would've likely perished, but elves can handle more of it. You probably didn't drink enough for it to be dangerous, but be careful from now on.'

Hearing that, Allen walked up to the lake's shore.

"Master Allen, what are you doing!"

Everyone watched as Allen's hand lowered and touched the water.

(Ow?!)

Allen felt a sharp pain like touching sulfuric acid, while his skin peeled off and began to bleed.

"I see, so the Spring of Life doesn't have regular water."

(It lowered my Mana and Spiritual Energy on top of my Strength.)

Allen looked at his stats on the Grimoire.

"Hey, you're testing things with your body too much lately!!"

Cecile quickly took out medicine from her own magic bag and healed Allen's hand.

"I see… Hmm, it's also absorbing my blood."

The water had gotten cloudy with Allen's blood, but it quickly returned to being crystal clear.

"We can't get inside the lake like this though."

'Hah, I'll let you in. Hmph!'

Sophie looked troubled, but Tonies said he would do something for them.

The surface of the lake rippled and then a concave indent appeared.

"We can climb on this then?"

'Yes, I'll create a bubble for you to enter inside the lake.'

Cecile looked worried, wondering if it really would be safe.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

(This feels like a waterbed!!)

<em class="chakra-text css-0">Boing boing

Allen went first, jumping onto the lake on top of the place Tonies pointed at.

"Allen, how can you be so careless!"

"Ohh! This feels kinda funny!!"

Luck also jumped after Allen, jumping lightly on the buoyant bubble.

'Everyone get on, we'll go inside the Spring of Life.'

(He's the second old man we get after Graham, though Graham is still somewhat young. But still, something tells me Tonies actually knows what's causing the decrease in water.)

Tonies seemed to know what was inside the lake, which was how he was so prepared.

But Allen did not mention that, and instead just went with the flow of things.

Once everyone was standing on the concave indent on the lake, the curvature increased and a wall of water surrounded them as a bubble that allowed them to go inside the lake.

"This is so cool!! How did you do that?"

"Hey stop moving so much! You'll break the bubble!!"

Luck pressed his face against the wall to get a better look and Cecile scolded him.

"The water is really clear. Hm? Something is coming."

The water was so clear that they could see tens of meters ahead. A large figure moved in the distance, with a long neck and fins like sea turtle limbs on its feet and arms.

It looked like a plesiosaur monster, more than 10 meters long and with sharp teeth.

'Gyaaaaaaaaaa!!'

The monster began to circle around them, threatening them.

"Hey!! There's a monster in the water without getting hurt."

'Hm? Don't get so uptight now, that's just a Spirit Beast.'

[Age] 38267

[Species] Spirit Beast

[Strength] 32000

[Mana] 25000

[Spiritual Power] 32000

[Attack] 36000

[Endurance] 33000

[Agility] 36000

[Intelligence] 28000

[Luck] 30000

[Attack Element] Earth

[Endurance Element] Earth

Kuwatoro was riding on Allen's shoulder in chick form, and Appraised the Spirit Beast.

(A Spirit Beast? And in the water even though it's an earth element one? Hmm, it has no name either… A nameless beast…)

"What's this strange feeling though? It feels similar to a spirit."

'Elves always have sharp senses for things like that. This Spirit Beast was once a spirit, but after drinking too much Dew of Life, it turned into a Spirit Beast.'

"Aww, that's so sad. Can we help it somehow?"

'It's not impossible, but this is what Puniet wanted when he was still a spirit.'

Tonies mentioned how that Spirit Beast was once a Young Spirit called Puniet.

Young Spirits had little power, but sometimes they still wanted to defend the Spirit Paradise from ghosts, so they would turn into Spirit Beasts, all of which had that duty.

(There's no dragonkin, divine people, or angels here, so spirits have to do it themselves, huh.)

"Are Spirit Beasts our allies then?"

'In a way, yes. But they'll still attack if you don't treat them well though.'

Tonies said that there were multiple Spirit Beasts like that in the Spring of Life, and to be careful.

(So this is what becoming a nameless beast meant, and then a drop of dew means to turn into Dew of Life then?)

Allen was starting to understand what the Great Spirit God meant when he punished Rosen.

Soon enough they were a few hundred meters deep and closer to the bottom of the lake.

"Woah, it's actually really deep…"

"Yeah. I guess that's the bottom over there?"

Allen agreed with Luck. The water was highly transparent, so they could see far away.

There was something green below them, which they assumed was the bottom, but as they got closer they realized it was something else, and a different scenery spread below.

"Wait, is that…"

(I see, so this is what he wanted to show us.)

Sophie noticed first, but Allen also noticed the leaves, trees, and fruits there looked familiar.

It was the World Tree from Rosenheim's capital Fortenia.

'The Spring of Life also sustains this World Tree.'

Tonies explained as everyone looked at the tree underwater.

The elves could not see it, but the Spirit Paradise was located directly above Rosenheim, and the Spring of Life dripped Dew of Life for the World Tree to grow.

"And so spirits also travel together with the Dew to arrive below?"

'Yes. Though only Young Spirit and small Spirits can trickle down like that.'

Tonies also mentioned how he would bring other spirits in bubbles like that if they wanted to see the world below.

'So this is how the Spirit Paradise blesses the surface…'

'Yes, and elves were born so they could protect the World Tree down there.'

That was how elves came to exist.

"I see."

(Hmhmm, so that's their duty. Rosen never mentioned that though.)

Elves always held the World Tree as a deity, but not even Sophie knew the truth behind that.

Their other deities, the spirits, had also never mentioned that before.

That also explained why Tonies acted strangely around Sophie, the elves lived without knowing their true purpose.

"You mentioned that the Spring of Life is indispensable for spirits, but what about those on the surface?"

Allen still had more questions for Tonies.

'Those spirits either bask in the lifeforce seeping out of the World Tree, or eat its fruits.'

While spirits blessed the surface with their power, they also needed the World Tree's power.

"Alright, now we just have to find the thief."

"Yeah, it's a large lake though, so maybe we should split up."

Cecile suggested they all split into their own bubbles to search around the lake.

"Alright, just tell me where I'll go then."

'...Got it. Where is everyone going?'

The bubbles could travel at a high speed, but the lake was still as big as the Caspian Sea.

Allen told Tonies where to travel to see if they could find anything strange inside the lake.

Everyone went to search, and half a day passed.

"Heyy!! There's something like a cave over there!!"

Luck had spotted a large hole in the side of the lakebed.

"Let's go there."

'...Alright, got it.'

Tonies traveled up to the cave's entrance.

"This cave looks really deep."

Hole went on straight for as far as they could see. Sophie went straight into it.

"Oh! I'm sure the thief is inside here!!"

"I know. It might be worth checking it out."

Luck and Cecile also agreed.

"Alright, bring us inside then."

"I got it. Let's go!"

The bubble just barely fit inside the cave, but they went in and gradually accelerated.

"Hey, how long does this go for?"

Luck sounded worried after they had traveled for tens of kilometers. Then they went for hundreds of kilometers and there were still no branches in the cave.

Luckily the Dew of Life had a soft glow and they could still see the cave walls ahead of them.

Then they traveled for more than 1000 kilometers.

(This is almost enough to travel to another continent. I guess it makes sense since there's two World Trees.)

Allen soon realized what was likely at the end of the tunnel.

"Allen, could this go to…"

Cecile was the next one to realize why the hole was there.

Eventually they reached the end and arrived at a large open space.

"This place looks pretty big. Wait, is that a Spirit Beast too?!!"

Before Cecile could finish her question, Luck's loud voice interrupted her.

As soon as they got out, a large Spirit Beast that looked like a mosasaurus glared at them.

'Graaaaa!!'

It roared loudly, making the water shake violently, and it swam towards their bubble.