Chapter 46.
It’s Decided

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Ivan and his party moved around in a row.
The Forest of Fairies was truly a strange place.
It’s like walking into a fairy tale world.
The elven villages were really different.
Some houses were built of clay, some were built of stone, some were made of wood, and some were made of various materials.
Although the materials and the shapes were different, they all blended well with the surroundings.
Even when they were so different, there was a sense of unity.
Two humans and one lizardman.
When an unfamiliar visitor appeared, the eyes of the elves in the village fell on them.
The elves’ expressions could not be read.
It was impossible to guess what everyone was thinking, with their stiff faces as if they had no emotion.
“It is a strange place.
It doesn’t really suit my taste.”
Ferocious Tooth murmured low, and the elf’s eyes turned to him and then returned.
He said that in the language of Lizardman, but did the elf really understand it?
It is unknown.
The elf led the party to a house made of hum.
Basic furniture was provided and it was clean, but it was a place that there’s no sense of living.
“This is an empty house.
If you rest here, we will come to guide you soon.”
As the watchman elves disappeared, Delfino let out a sigh.
“Huh, it’s a stuffy place.
This place is fantastic, but it’s just uncomfortable.
The eyes of the elves are heavy.”
“Have you ever met an elf before?”
“I’ve seen it a couple of times in the Western Union Kingdom before.
It wasn’t like this back then…”
Ferocious Tooth, who had been walking around the house, looking around, intervened.
“That’s probably because they’re elves outside the World Tree.”
“What?”
“I heard that if you leave the forest, you will lose connection with the World Tree.
Then the elves will also have emotions.”
When connected to the World Tree Network, the elves were not alone.
However, when separated from the World Tree, the thoughts and feelings that were always shared with someone became theirs only.
From then on, it was said that elves also change like other living things.
Ivan nodded his head and added a few words.
“It doesn’t change if you take a spoonful of tea from a large lake, but it’s a big change if you take it from a teacup.
I’ve heard that elves outside the World Tree are rather honest and expressive of their emotions.
I’ve never seen an elf like that though.”
It is not easy to break the connection with the World Tree that has always been with them.
Because they get a very big psychological shock and feel terribly lonely.
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So, there weren’t many elves who left the forest and were active among humans.
Those elves all had their own stories.

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While I was talking like that, Ferocious Tooth suddenly groaned loudly.
“The elves don’t have bathtubs to soak in.
They do not know the joy of bathing.”
It seems that he has been walking around the house as if looking for something from a while ago, turned out it was the bathtub.
“Not only elves but it’s even rare for humans to have bathtubs in their houses.
And at most, they are only filled with warm water.”
It was actually quite a luxury to have enough warm water to soak in.
First of all, it needed a lot of space, quite a bit of water, and lot of fuel to heat it up.
The same reason why Ferocious Tooth pointed out that human food is too inefficient before applies to bathing for human as well.
“… what?”
Ferocious Tooth looked a little shocked.
He didn’t seem to understand why every house didn’t have a bathtub to soak in.
“The human’s house we stayed in had a huge bathhouse!”
“That’s a temple, wasn’t it? There’s a religious reason to keep the body and mind clean.
And I didn’t say that there wasn’t a bathtub at all.
There are public baths, and many big mansions have large baths.
But it’s not the case for ordinary houses.”
Ivan also whispered that luxury inns often have bathrooms attached in each room.
“In a place like that, you can bathe to your heart’s content.
Soaking in hot water.”
Ferocious Tooth that heard Ivan’s words burned his will to work.
He made a promise to save money from humans and stay only at high-end inns.
Delfino, who was watching it with a strange expression, turned the topic around.
“By the way, for what reason the elves invited you? They are not a race that easily brings outsiders into their forest…”
“Well, they’ll tell you now.”
Ivan looked at the door with serious eyes.
As he was doing this, someone immediately opened the door and came in.
It was a face I had seen before.
Elena Evenwood.
An existence expected to be very close to the World Tree shaman.
“You came in without knocking.”
She answered Ivan’s words.
“Is it human manners? I’m sorry.
It’s unfamiliar to us.”
Actually, there was no way the elves connected to the World Tree could knock.

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“I came here after being invited by the World Tree.
Which you gave it to me.”
“Yes.
The World Tree welcomes you, Ivan.
Even the priests of Arun, and the warriors of Morna.”
Elena Evenwood’s eyes passed through the group one by one.
Her eyes were like clear glass.
It’s not that they’re pretty, but that no one can read any emotions in them.
“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I did anything particularly pleasing to the World Tree.
Can I ask why now?”
When Ivan asked, Elena Evenwood nodded her head.
“I’ll tell you that as we get closer to the World Tree.”
And Elena Evenwood led Ivan out.
Delfino and Ferocious Tooth followed, and she didn’t stop it.
The majesty of the World Tree that rose through the clouds as if supporting the sky was truly amazing.
They looked towards it, but they didn’t feel like they were getting any closer.
“How big is the World Tree? When can we get there?”
When Delfino asked with such admiration, Elena Evenwood looked at him.
And she started explaining.
“We can not get there.”
“Yes? What does that mean?”
“The World Tree is not a real tree.
It has the shape of a large tree, but you can never touch it.
You can only see it and feel it.”
As he spoke, Ivan’s lost eye throbbed again.
The dull pain continued.
Ivan’s brow furrowed a lot, drawing keen attention from others.
“Why?”
“My eye hurt.
It’s like it’s resonating with the World Tree.”
As Ivan knew, that World Tree had no direct connection with Yggdrasil, the World Tree from Norse mythology.
The concept of a World Tree is very common.
The sacred tree of Sindansu in Dangun mythology, the tree of Christian life, and even the Georgia myth feature a huge tree which connect heaven and earth.
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But why does the eye that Odin stole react to the World Tree like this?
I could feel Odin’s gaze.
I could feel Thor’s gaze.
Heimdall and Loki’s gaze was also felt.
He also felt the gaze of an unknown god of Asgard, who passed by him once in a while.
But now, unfamiliar eyes were looking at him.
Far away, in the distance, a huge tree seemed to be looking down at him.
Elena Evenwood stopped walking as Ivan grabbed the eye patch.

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“I think this will be enough.
Now let’s meet the World Tree.”
“What do you mean? The World Tree is not a real tree…”
Delfino, who was talking, bit his mouth.
Suddenly, I felt a majestic presence that filled the whole place.
“Ugh…”
A low moan escaped Delfino’s mouth.
Distant eyes were looking at him.
The others also felt the gaze of the Transcendent, which only Ivan felt until now.
Everyone in the party took a step back from Elena Evenwood.
Because she changed her momentum.
Delfino called out the name of Arun, Lord of Light, and Ferocious Tooth drew out a large sword.
He glared, alerting for possible danger.
And soon they disappeared.
Woo-.
Ivan realized that he was standing in an unfamiliar space before he knew it.
A huge universe, and the World Tree that fills it.
He couldn’t see the others.
Only Elena Evenwood was looking at him.
she opened her mouth
[I invited you.]
Hearing her words, Ivan’s expression hardened.
Not just training, but communication close to the mental wave.
He figured out what was it soon.
‘Did the World Tree descend directly? Because of me?”
The World Tree, who borrowed Elena Evenwood’s body from Ivan, who was astonished, continued to speak calmly.
[I have only changed appearance.
I was already watching you.]
The World Tree was the World Tree network itself used by the elves, and it was a transcendent without substance in which the collective consciousness of the elves was obtained.
The fragment of divinity was divided among all the elves, so in principle its words were correct since the elves kept watching him.
“Why did you call me?”
When Ivan asked a question with a lot of caution, the World Tree answered.
[That’s because you’re out of the fate of this world.]
In this world, fate was a very important concept.
An absolute flow from which even God cannot escape.
Everything in the world was tied to its own destiny, but Ivan was not.
He was shaking the absolute flow with one hand.
That was why so many gods paid attention to him.
“I don’t understand.
I was just being dragged here and there, what the hell am I supposed to do with fate?”

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Ivan exclaimed dissatisfied.
Until now, he has only been swayed by the will of the gods and the damn thing called Quest, but what the hell is this? It was as if the World Tree was making fun of himself, and Ivan was on the verge of getting angry.
But the World Tree asserted.
[That’s why, the fate of the world is fluctuating, since you wield your own fate.
The unchanging future is changing, so I cannot deny your power.]
All of them lived while being influenced by others.
But all those changes were foreordained, but not Ivan.
All of his actions were unpredictable.
Even his existence.
The gods knew what a great ability it was.
Because gods gained strength from being bound by their own destiny.
Arun, the god of light, could not exist outside of the light.
The orc god Tarkan could not escape from battle and madness.
That was the power to prove their existence and their fate.
A player.
An existence that uses the world as a game board and plays with it.
Does he still have that kind of power, he who had been reduced to a mere character?
Ivan clenched his teeth.
“So you said you just called me out of curiosity? Are you wondering whether you can use me as your toy or not?”
Despite Ivan’s question full of spite, the World Tree’s expression did not change.
It simply spoke its words calmly.
[Not like that.
Because I’m not a perfect Godhead.
Rather, I would like to ask you.]
“What do you mean?”
[I want you to change our destiny.]
“A weak person like me won’t be able to do what the Goddess cannot do.”
As Ivan spit it out, the World Tree suddenly brought up a different story.
[You said your lost eye was painful.
Do you know why?]
“Damn it, it feels like Odin is playing bead with the eye that he took…”
[Because my presence pierces his painful memories.]
Ivan, who had been saying anything as if it had nothing to do with him, bit his mouth.
Surprisingly, it was because the World Tree showed deep emotions.
The World Tree said in a voice full of remorse.
[I will soon burn out and disappear.
That is my destiny.]