Five spirits walked into the hall. One was Fourth Grade, two were Third Grades, and the other two were Second Grades.
Naturally, the one who spoke was the Fourth Grade spirit.
It was a beautiful young woman in a magnificent court dress. She could easily become the heroine of any noble human banquet she appeared in. Her bountiful chest was visible underneath the thin, low-cut tube dress. Her skin was as white and smooth as ivory, and a red blush could vaguely be seen on her delicate and perfect face.
In truth, if it weren't for the data that the Chip had projected in his mind that so clearly pointed toward her being a spirit, Greem would have unknowingly treated her as a real human.
"I am Lilit, the highest witch stationed in Faen by the Pale Witches. Firstly, please allow me to welcome my sisters to Shadow Island of the Faen Plane."
An enthusiastic round of applause rang out in the hall.
"We Pale Witches have specifically decided upon a new battle plan to coordinate the excavation of Faen. Seven days from now, all forces on Shadow Island will be split into two parties. These two parties will respectively invade the Garan Continent and the Faen Continent. Though I know my sisters came here to search the plane for resources, it is best to work with our forces. This way, it will be safer, and we can ensure that all of our operations go smoothly."
"If sisters of any branch wish to join us, why don't you report your targets and goals to me. I will arrange for a suitable invasion path at my discretion."
A few of the witch representatives present in the hall couldn't help but lower their heads in contemplation when they heard Witch Lilit's request.
"The Garan Continent." The first to speak was the representative of the Dark Witches.
Since someone had already spoken up, there was no reason for the other representatives to hold back.
"Faen Continent."
"Faen Continent."
"Faen Continent."
……
"The Oceanic Empire."
As many as five of the witch branches had expressed interest in going to the weaker Faen Continent, governed by the humans. On the other hand, only the Fate and Dark Witches wanted to go to the Garan Continent ruled by the elves. The most peculiar ones of them all were the False Witches. They actually chose the Oceanic Empire as their target.
Lilit frowned and fell silent for a moment. Finally, she spoke.
"Since more of our sisters chose the Faen Continent, then we Pale Witches will treat Faen as our main battlefield during this invasion. Those who go to Garan will only be responsible for a feint attack. All sisters who choose to go to Garan will have to take on a portion of risk on their own. Also, on the matter of the Oceanic Empire, we have only recently signed some cooperative agreements with them. If you False Witches start any trouble after entering their lands, you will not receive any help or reinforcements from our part."
All the witches had already expected such an attitude from the Pale Witches. None of them raised any objections.
"Very well. Since everyone has accepted this plan of action, then we can spend the rest of the time on Shadow Island to rest and prepare ourselves for the upcoming battle. You should try your best to eliminate the effects of planar suppression as soon as possible. Seven days from now will be the time of our coordinated operation! Also, if any of you require detailed information and maps of a specific territory in Faen, you can visit Miss Rita. If you want to craft some special spirit equipment, you can visit Witch Wurzer. Very well, that's all I need to say for now."
Having said that, the pretty Miss Lilit turned and left the mission hall without looking back.
After some discussion with Greem, Alice decided that she would look for that Miss Rita and purchase detailed information about the Elven Empire and the Garan Continent.
The price was thirty thousand magical crystals!
The target that Alice had set her sights upon this time was a powerful artifact in the hands of the elves. To avoid revealing her main objective of this trip, Alice had no choice but to purchase all the information.
The Staff of Divination!
It was a low-grade artifact that possessed the immense power to see through the fate of the world.
Anyone who possessed this staff would constantly sense a whisper murmuring in their ear as if secretly spilling to them the secrets behind the world. However, this sound was the voice of the devil for ordinary individuals with no talent for divination; it could drive them mad. You couldn't hear what it said even if you wanted to hear, yet there was no way to silence the voice if you didn't wish to listen to it.
Constantly, continually, perpetually murmuring!
However, when this Staff of Divination fell in the hands of sages and wise men, it would be able to expose the true face of the world hidden by the laws of the plane.
Alice needed to obtain this Staff of Divination and seal it into her Cards of Fate if she wanted to advance to Second Grade. It was the only path forward that she had obtained after three consecutive fate divinations.
Of course, there also existed other paths of advancement. However, Alice would never be able to walk down those paths with her current life force. That was why Alice had no choice but to grit her teeth and walk down this path of advancement, even if it was filled with rigor and countless possibilities of death!
Before she arrived, Alice had only managed to divine that the Staff of Divination was located in Garan. She had absolutely no idea who possessed the staff. As such, Greem and Alice were both stunned when they pieced together and analyzed the information they had purchased.
If there was no problem with the information that Miss Rita had sold to them, then it was very likely that the Staff of Divination had fallen into the hands of a mighty dragon demi-god. Here in Faen, a powerful dragon demi-god often meant an opponent of Second Grade.
There were dragons in the elven-ruled Garan. There was no mistake with this information.
It was said that approximately two dozen dragons lived in Garan. Most of them were low-grade green dragons, but there were also a few extremely strong Emerald Dragons in their midst. The Staff of Divination that Alice wanted to get her hands on was an item within Second Grade Green Dragon Ohgu's collection.
The dragons might be prideful creatures that disliked living with other species, but they still had very close ties with certain individual kinds.
The forest elves were nature creatures. The emerald dragons and the green dragons also favored nature and were dragons that enjoyed living in vast forests. That was why these two species were, naturally, often on good terms across many different planes.
The forest elves had even carved out a large stretch of forest that belonged solely to the emerald and green dragons within the Great Fantasy Forest. Moreover, the elves had specially constructed a tall dragon cliff for the dragons to gain their favor. They had used countless jewels and mountains of gold coins to decorate the palaces of the dragons.
After enjoying so many offerings from the forest elves, the dragons were willing to battle on behalf of the elves conditionally. In fact, some dragons even became remarkably close companions and friends of influential individuals among the forest elves. It strengthened the ties and bonds between the two groups.
Alice, to her distress, realized that she would have to take the forest elves into all of her considerations to deal with the green dragon known as Ohgu. Otherwise, any battle plan that they came up with would be utterly disrupted by the intrusion of the forest elves.
Still, what troubled Greem and Alice the most wasn't how to fight their battles. Instead, it was their lack of a local native who was familiar with Garan.
Greem's thoughts fell upon the evildoers staying on Shadow Island.
…………
Saltfish Tavern.
The day had just turned dark, and already the tavern was filled to the brim.
Greem had just pushed past the two rundown doors of the tavern and taken his first step into the establishment when h
e frowned at the raucous sounds and voices. What bothered him more was the heat and the smell of cheap, pungent perfume, sweat, and the stench of salted fish having been stored for far too long.
The living environments the Pale Witches provided these foreign followers was not good at all. There were no sturdy, safe, or comfortable rooms. There were no delicious and fragrant meals. There was no warm water to shower with.
They all ate bread made of stale and rotting wheat, drank coarse beer, and the only meat they ate was fish. That was why all outsiders living on Shadow Island reeked of fish.
When they all gathered in the only tavern on Shadow Island, their sweaty smell gathered together and was amplified by the heat. This horrifying smell could probably kill an ordinary person who walked into this place for the first time.
Of course, Greem was no ordinary man!
With his Second Grade elementiumized body, he couldn't be killed even if he were thrown into the deadliest volcano in this world. Naturally, there was no way he would collapse from this mere stench.
Greem decided just to hold his breath as he scanned the crowd by the door side.
All sorts of vagrants, murderers, and criminals in ragged clothes with unkempt faces gathered here. They were of various races as well: humans, barbarians, dwarves, sethraks, and even half-elves.
The reason Greem was certain that they were half-elves was that he had already 'seen' with his spiritual senses the pair of long, slender ears they were hiding under their tattered trilbies.
Greem's appearance had also clearly attracted the attention of all the guests of the tavern.
They all held the same poses from the moment before, looking at this outsider that didn't belong to their group with blank faces. No one knew how to respond for a moment.
Greem might have put on a thick cloak over his adept's robe that hid all the rich threads and magical runes, but his cleanliness and neat appearance still betrayed him. It made him appear blatantly outstanding.
"We intend to go to Garan soon. We need to hire some guides who are familiar with the local geography there. Are there any amongst you who are suitable candidates?" Greem made no attempts to hide his intentions either. He directly stated his requirements.
Tssss!
The sound of people inhaling in surprise instantly echoed in the tavern.
Chapter 616 Secret History of the Elves
In the end, the one that managed to stand nervously before Greem was the male half-elf that he had first spotted.
Tymo was his name.
According to Tymo, he was born in Garan.
His father was a high elf, while his mother was an ordinary human maid.
In the Great Fantasy Forest of Garan where the elven court resided, the high elves led a life much like human nobles, indulging in wine and luxuries. Tymo's birth was no more than an accident; one caused by a high elf toying with a human maid while drunk.
Racial chauvinism for pure-blooded elves was the norm in the elven court.
Thus, Tymo's father, the high elf, had been cold-hearted enough to plan Tymo's murder right after his birth, all for the sake of keeping the family bloodline pure. However, Tymo's mother, the human maid, was unwilling to let her son die like that. She had escaped the Great Fantasy Forest under cover of night.
The mother and son wandered Garan for many years until the year Tymo turned fourteen. They were once again found by the subordinate sent out by the high elf. After some fighting and brawling, Tymo finally found a chance to jump off a cliff when his mother had desperately clung on to the assassin's leg.
Tymo's mother died under the sword of the elven assassin, while Tymo himself escaped Garan while covered in wounds. He became a sailor aboard a long-distance ship.
For the next hundred years, Tymo wandered around the human-led Faen. In the end, he was forced to escape Faen after killing an important noble that had attempted to abduct him and turn him into his sex slave.
As a mixed half-elf, Tymo possessed agility and balance that no ordinary human could match. His potent racial talents allowed him to advance his profession into a rogue successfully. In fact, he became an exceptionally famous rogue and thief.
In truth, Greem was not at all interested in Tymo's tragedy. The only thing he was interested in was Tymo's hatred for the elven empire and his understanding of it.
Tymo might have lived in the Great Fantasy Forest for as many as a dozen years, but the only memories that remained in his mind were the scornful gazes and the endless hatred he held.
The Elven Empire was an extremely xenophobic country!
The entire empire, all the way from the royalty and nobility to the lowest classes of elves, hated alien races with an extreme passion. They even held an intense hatred for the humans, carved into their very bones.
The humans chopped down forests and destroyed vegetation. The size of the woods would decrease rapidly wherever humans went. There was great tension between the human's method of production and development compared to the beliefs of most elves, resulting in all sorts of conflicts and disagreements.
Greem brought the half-elf back to his place. After an entire day and night, he finally managed to obtain the obtain the other piece of information about the Elven Empire that was even more detailed and realistic than what they already possessed. Tymo had visited most areas of the Great Fantasy Forest, after all. The information he provided was the best addition and correction to what they already knew.
Garan was split into many different communities by the forest elves. Those who could live in the core area of Garan were, naturally, the noblest and most influential elven families. The weaker tribes and clans could only stay at the fringe of the Great Fantasy Forest.
The edge of the forest neighboured the shore. Slavers from Faen would often stop here in secret and ambush the weak elven tribes to capture forest elves and transport them back to human society to be sold at a high price. The forest elves were all handsome and pretty individuals. Their figures were attractive, and there was an exotic element to them. That was why prices for elves were always high in the upper echelons of human society.
An ordinary elven girl could sell for the shocking price of three to five thousand gold coins in human society. High elves with combat and magic professions could even go for as high as several hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
It was a dangerous thing to be living at the edge of the Great Fantasy Forest. Every year, hundreds of slaver ships would secretly sneak into Garan, where they would attack an elven village before quickly retreating.
While most of the slavers would fall to the arrows of the elven patrol, there were always fortunate men who could make it through the defensive lines of the Elven Empire. They could then swipe everything within an elven village and take with them every single forest elf, be they old or young.
The hatred between humans and elves only accumulated under such a background. At this point, their relationship had deteriorated so much that members of each race would bear arms at first sight of the other!
Tymo obediently told Greem everything he knew before respectfully asking the adept, "Lord adept, I have been wondering. The target of your attack this time is…"
"The Dragon Cliffs!"
Greem sat by the wooden table and gave a straightforward answer to the half-elf's question. He didn't seem to care for the half-elf's widening eyes.
Two strange, palm-sized dolls were happily climbing all over Greem's body.
One appeared to be put together from coarse and crude pieces of wood and radiated a fearsome green light from within its body. The other was a black ragdoll that was haphazardly sewn together. Half of its body was male while the other half was female. The only thing on the doll's face was a single eye drawn in blood, making it seem all the more sinister and odd.
The two strange dolls didn't seem to get along with each other. They rarely came together, preferring to play by themselves; one crouching upon Greem's left shoulder while the other floated above the right shou
lder.
Their choice of play was extremely bizarre as well.
The wooden body of the Spirit of Pestilence didn't seem to be a physical body. Whenever it saw something interesting, it would wave with its hand. The wooden hand would then instantly transform into countless tiny poison bugs that were indistinguishable to the naked eye and bring the item to the doll. The Spirit of Pestilence's method of assessing the quality of the item was to bite it.
Ordinary items would instantly melt under the Spirit's horrifying powers of poison. Even inferior magical equipment couldn't endure corrosion of this level.
The newly crafted Stitch Ghost Golem also only possessed a newborn soul consciousness. It appeared somewhat slow and stiff. However, Tymo instantly froze and fell into a daze when the doll turned its eye and locked eyes with him. His soul had almost been ripped out of his body.
In the end, it was Greem putting his hand in between them and cutting off their eye contact that pulled Tymo back to consciousness.
The half-elf shivered frightfully and no longer dared to lift his head to look around.
Yet, the adept's answer reverberated inside his mind.
The Dragon Cliffs…Dragon Cliffs. To think the target was the Dragon Cliffs!
Outsiders might not understand what the Dragon Cliffs represented. However, as a half-elf that had spent over a dozen years in the Great Fantasy Forest, Tymo was well aware of the importance of the cliffs to the forest elves.
That was because the Dragon Cliffs represented the ultimate force of the Elven Empire!
The half-elf immediately kneeled in front of Greem out of his loathing for his elven father and his hatred for all forest elves. He swore to do everything within his power to help the adepts accomplish this tall task of attacking the Dragon Cliffs.
Greem, satisfied, recruited him into the party.
…………
Seven days quickly passed.
After sufficient recuperation and replenishment of supplies, the expedition ships hoisted their sails and made for the two distant continents according to plan.
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