Elder Snowfang

The young man was terrified of his impending doom as he saw the elves slowly coming out of their tree houses and their nasty glares put a mountainous pressure on him.

Slowly, the elves started to gather around him in silence and one of the tallest elves he had ever seen in his life cut through the crowd and appeared before him.

"Who are you, young man?" The tall elven man asked.

The elf was covered in a speckless white robe that bellowed graciously with every step he took. His long, lustrous white hair swayed gently with the breeze.

"M-My name is Kael," said the young man.

"I see…" The elf smiled and for a second Kael felt like all the weight on his shoulder had been lifted.

If not for the lilac eyes of the elf that was burning with purpose, Kael would've really thought he could safely walk away from here.

No, things were never meant to be so simple. Kael immediately felt goosebumps on his body as if those eyes were peering into his soul.

"Did you know, it is illegal to trespass here?" asked the elf. His voice was soothing yet dangerously cold at the same time which tricked Kael into dropping his guard.

"Y-yes," stuttered Kael.

-Voom!

The air hummed with arcanic vibrations and a gigantic spear made of crystalline ice appeared in the elf's hand.

"Since you're an elf like me, I will give you the honour of knowing my name before you die," the elf spoke calmly and aimed his spear at Kael.

"I am Corin Snowfang, the fourth elder of the Elven Council and I will take your life for trespassing despite knowing it is illegal!"

'Damn!'

Kael cursed his luck. Of all the people he could've run into, he just had to meet with the sternest of them all.

As an elf living in the WhisperMoon forest, of course, he had heard of Elder Snowfang, the hard-ass who would even punish his own parents for the slightest of mistakes.

"My Lord, it was never my intention to come here," Kael kneeled quickly, before the spear could be plunged into his chest, and banged his forehead on the ground. "I was forcefully brought here. Please, My Lord, you have to believe me. I consider the laws made by the Elven Council as the words of God and I would never go against it even if my life depended on it!"

"Hah! No one cares! You trespass here, you're dead!"

A smug, contemptuous voice reverberated through the atmosphere as a blond-haired man, dressed in an extravagant purple robe and a set of intricate rings on each of his fingers, strutted forward and flanked Elder Snowfang.

"Barhawk," Snowfang grunted, clearly uncomfortable to talk with the newly arrived elf.

"Snowfang, why do you feel the need to ask them if they know the law? All of them have eyes, can't they see this is a private area?" Barhawk tutted. "Just jab your frosty spear into their gut and be done with it."

Barhawk moved just as he finished saying his piece and slashed his sword at Kael.

"No!" Kale screamed and closed his eyes in despair.

-Clang!

However, before the glinting blade could pierce his skin, an icy spear stopped it dead in its tracks.

"Stay your hands, Barhwak! I am the one responsible for punishing the criminals, not you!" Snowfang uttered with a furious edge to his voice.

"Tch! What a waste of time!" Barhawk scowled and put his sword away.

"What were you saying, Kael?" Snwofang shifted his attention back to Kael, now that Barhawk was behaving.

"My Lord, I was brought here by force! I didn't come here willingly." Kael took a deep breath and thanked his luck for encountering Elder Snowfang before Elder Barhawk.

"Who brought you here?" Snowfang frowned and extended his senses to look for any intruders. "I don't see anyone!"

"T-That's because the man who brought me here is up there," Kael lifted his trembling finger and pointed at the top of the World Tree.

"Nonsense!" snorted Barhawk. "Do you see that blanket of clouds? That's not for show, you idiot! That's a magic formation set up by the World Tree itself. You think just anyone can pass through?

"This guy is clearly lying to save his skin and wasting our time! Declare him guilty and be done with him, Snowfang," Barhawk glanced at the gathered elves and asked. "What do you people think? Can someone pass those clouds?"

"No, Elder Barhawk! That's impossible."

"Yeah, even the First Lady and Elder Ronan can't do it."

Even the crowd thought Kael was being absurd.

"No, My Lord, I am not lying, He is up there!" Kael desperately wanted to shift their attention from him. "H-He even k-killed your son, Elder Barhawk! He did it, he killed your son!"

"Ahh, one lie after another. You're getting desperate, aren't you?" Barhawk chuckled sinisterly. "You know, I wanted to give you a quick death since you were one of our own. But guess what, you just pissed me off royally. You were better off not bringing my son's name into one of your lies.

"Snowfang, I don't care if it's your duty to punish the intruders. I am going to take care of this one. I will explain myself to the First Lady, you don't have to worry about it."

Snowfang reluctantly nodded. The young man had clearly crossed a line by falsifying the death of Elion in front of Barhawk to escape from punishment.

"Everyone! There is nothing to see here. Go back to your abodes!" Snowfang ordered and the crowd dispersed quickly as if they were used to these kinds of incidents.

"Hehe, be a good boy now and don't struggle. I am going to start with your right arm." Barhwak took out his sword and gently tapped it on Kael's shoulder as if to mark a point where he would strike.

"My Lord, p-please, please have mercy! I have said nothing but the truth from the beginning!"

"Is that so? Too bad, I have poor hearing. All I heard were the pathetic lies of a dying man." Barhawk brought his sword down on Kael's shoulder intending to sever it from his body.

"No—"

Kael, again, cried out helplessly and closed his eyes in despair.

"Huh?" Barhawk and Snowfang uttered dumbly when a hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the sword before it could touch Kael.

"Sorry fellas, I brought him here and I've got to take him back,"

That's when they realised there was a body attached to that hand.

Raymond didn't give them any chance to respond and yanked the sword right out of Barhawk's hand before vanishing it into his pendant.

"What? Where is my— argh!"

A light kick to his chest silenced him and sent him crashing against the World Tree.

"Huh? I am saved?" Kael blinked several times and belatedly realised that the human had appeared out of nowhere and saved his life.

'Gods, I am going to be a gambler if I escape from here alive!' Kael scrambled to his feet and hid behind Raymond.

"Wh-who're you?" Snowfang asked, breaking out in a cold sweat.

How could someone move so fast without using mana? Snowfang felt like he was dealing with someone far above his league.

***

A few moments earlier…

Raymond landed on one of the branches and took in his surroundings.

"Wow!"

As far as his eyes could see, Raymond saw nothing but a sea of clouds. The World Tree was the only anomaly that broke the monotony of this place.

With its widespread foliage and the branches that reached for the skies, the World Tree stood as a majestic monolith.

Poke!

Raymond felt a branch poking him in the back and turned around. There it was, a branch was playfully swinging left to right in an inviting gesture, asking him to sit on it.

Raymond touched his glabella to make sure that he wasn't using his mana unknowingly. He wouldn't be surprised if his mana started acting on its own.

Thankfully, his mana seemed to be under control and Raymond heaved a sigh of relief.

'Hmm? Is it because the World Tree recognises that I am awesome?'

Raymond felt like that was an apt explanation for the World Tree's behaviour. After all, it was the freaking World Tree! It must know of his prowess.

"Haha. You want me to try swinging on you?" Raymond chuckled and hopped on the branch.

The leaves shook which almost reminded Raymond of a cat's purring.

"You're happy? Do you want me to keep playing?"

Again the leaves shook to show the World Tree's agreement. One of the leaves fell from shaking and landed on Raymond's lap.

Raymond picked it up. The triangle-shaped leaf was shining with vibrant colours.

"Ohh! This leaf changes colours according to the lighting angle?" Raymond was like a child who found a new toy and started checking the leaf while the branch acted as a swing and gently swayed with the wind.

"I wonder how it tastes?" Raymond looked at the leaf and shrugged before stuffing it inside his mouth.

Raymond felt a thick juice of sugary syrup sliding down his throat, bringing him the joy of eating the most delicious food in the world.

He looked around and plucked a handful of leaves from the branch and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Mmmm!" Raymond let out a satisfied moan as the sweetness spread throughout his body.

"If I could eat it every day, I would never want to leave this place!" Raymond mused.

Another branch poked him in the cheek while he was busy munching on the leaves.

"What?" asked Raymond.

The branch pointed at the ground and clouds became transparent in the next second.

"Ohh, that's neat!" Raymond appreciated the World Tree as it allowed him to look at the people below, who were surrounding the young man he had brought from outside.

The leaves shook rapidly in a show of agitation when a man swung his sword at the young man and only calmed down when another guy stopped it with his ice spear.

"Do you want me to save him?" Raymond asked and the leaves shook in agreement.

"Well, since you let me eat your leaves, I will save him." Raymond agreed and the branch nuzzled him lovingly.

Raymond rubbed the branch and felt it purring against his hands.

"You really like it when I do this, don't you?" Raymond chuckled and started to pet the branch. "Can you carry me to the ground? I want to surprise them!"

Raymond asked. He couldn't jump down without making a noise from this height and that would eliminate the element of surprise.

How could he miss it when there was a chance to show off?

The World Tree seemed to agree with his sentiment as a branch wrapped itself around Raymond and stealthily brought him down to the ground.

"Don't worry, I will visit you again," Raymond promised when the branch was unwilling to unwrap itself from his torso.

Only then did it let him go and Raymond arrived just in time to stop the guy from again swinging his sword.