Chapter 74: The Life Origin Stone
With her little feet stomping, venting her inner grievances, Miss Verafia pouted her delicate lips, looking sulky. Her raised face, with eyes as gorgeous as the brilliant golden moon, unyieldingly glared at the detestable guy who had offended the young lady again.
This little lass… Hmm, her young body naturally couldn’t hurt Ig. In the young man’s eyes, it was more like Verafia was deliberately acting spoiled.
Ig gently kneaded her little head, a smile curving his lips:
“However, just as the young lady said before, the current elves, whether facing the dark elves or internal divisions, even the Elf Queen is powerless. In such a situation, perhaps only the appearance of a goddess can turn the tide?”
“That is why Lord Beltnan has placed his hopes solely on the Goddess.”
Raising his head slightly, Ig gazed at the statue of the Goddess of Life. A few strands of soft golden fluorescence flowed through her emerald long hair, as if meeting the gaze of the Goddess.
He suddenly noticed Leisa looking up at him and said with a smile:
“However, I believe that even in her slumber, the Goddess will not abandon her people.”
Miss Verafia raised her golden eyes and glared at Ig in dissatisfaction. She thought that such clumsy words of comfort could not reassure anyone; they could only coax a child.
“Hmph, it’s just that this young lady isn’t picky about being around this guy.”
Muttering softly, Verafia felt her delicate golden hair being picked up and gently stroked by the young man, as if by a comb.
Being gently combed, she felt a lazy comfort and couldn’t help but slightly close her golden eyes, her long eyelashes covering her golden moon.
Actually, she thought the same as what Ig had just said.
However, sometimes, Verafia would also wonder if it was precisely because of their dependence on the Goddess that the elves had fallen to this point?
Lightly touching her lips, she shook her head again. Regardless, regarding the elves, she and Ig were mere outsiders. They had only come here because of Ain and the Holy Spring of Life, so they naturally had no right to judge.
She only needed to help them awaken the Goddess… Beltnan only wanted a Goddess of Life, right?
Even though she thought this, Verafia always felt something was not quite right.
Shaking her head forcefully, she raised her head to look at the statue of the Goddess.
“So you are here, Miss Verafia.” An elderly voice with a smile drifted over, carrying an implied suppressed joy within it.
Verafia raised her head and looked. In the church, an elderly elf with white hair and a beard, wearing a loose robe, was Beltnan, the Great Elder of the Wood Elves.
“Grand Elder Grandpa!” Leisa exclaimed with surprise, raising her head.
“Oh, little Leisa is here too?”
Seeing the young girl, Beltnan’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, then a smile appeared. He walked closer to the girl, gently rubbed her head, and then raised his cheek with a smile, saying, “Miss Verafia, has this girl offended you in any way?”
“Not at all. I asked Miss Leisa to bring me to pray to the Goddess… she also told us many things.”
Lifting her little head, Verafia said cheerfully.
Beltnan stroked his long beard and nodded with a smile.
“Lord Beltnan, have you obtained the ‘Life Origin Stone’?”
Ig inquired from the side.
Having brought them to the Sacred Tree Church, Beltnan intended to give the “Life Origin Stone” he had just mentioned to Verafia.
According to Beltnan, the “Life Origin Stone” was a fragment of the spirit that the Goddess had once let spill into the Holy Spring of Life. Giving it to Verafia would not only help her absorb the divine power of life from the Holy Spring but also allow her to touch the sleeping spirit of the Goddess, thereby awakening her.
Both Ig and Verafia had speculated that Beltnan had lost so much of his life in just a few days precisely because of the extraction of the “Life Origin Stone.”
“It’s right here.”
Beltnan took it out from his embrace. A small, emerald-like, glittering green gem, about half the size of a thumb, appeared in his hand. Its crystal-clear luster touched the elder.
In Verafia’s eyes, the elderly elf’s life force was already flickering precariously, yet his cheeks and eyes were filled with excitement and emotion.
“This is the power of the Goddess…”
Leisa raised her face with effort, also murmuring joyfully. Just a wisp of its emitted light made her feel what she felt when she prayed before the statue of the Goddess day and night in the church.
Verafia gave a soft “Oh,” as she could also feel the dense life aura and the fragments of Silusilice’s law within it. She then stood up, walked closer to the elderly elf, and extended her two snow-white little hands.
Beltnan’s gaze fell upon her, and Verafia felt that the elf elder’s gaze held many layers of meaning.
However, he said not a word and placed the Life Origin Stone into the girl’s palm.
“Alright. Then we can only trouble you further, Miss Verafia.”
A relaxed smile flickered across Beltnan’s aged face. But Verafia could clearly perceive that the elf elder was not as relaxed as he appeared, as if he were struggling with something in his heart.
“By the way, Miss Verafia, would you like this old man to take you to the Holy Spring first?”
“Hmm, that won’t be necessary.”
Verafia shook her head, a sense of unease still lingering in her heart. However, she still managed to show a gentle smile. “Please let the Great Elder rest well first.”
“That would be good as well.”
Beltnan did not insist, smiling as he stroked his scepter. “Then tomorrow, I’ll have young Ain call you.”
His voice paused, then he turned to look at the ordinary elven maiden and said with a smile, “My body is not well. Therefore, I will trouble Leisa to escort Miss Verafia for me.”
…
Facing the Great Elder’s request, Leisa naturally accepted with great joy.
Walking along the church corridor together, because Ig and Leisa had deliberately slowed their pace, Verafia could now keep up with some effort.
The girl blinked her golden eyes, raised her little face, and looked at the elven maiden’s joyful face. She tugged at her robe and asked with some curiosity, “By the way, Leisa, do you have a special relationship with Great Elder Beltnan?”
Ig also raised his head, looking at the maiden curiously.
He recalled Beltnan’s kind and benevolent face when he was speaking with Leisa just now. After all, Leisa was just a Gold Rank little nun, while Beltnan was the Great Elder of the Wood Elves and a legendary powerhouse.
To be treated with such consideration, Ig couldn’t help but be curious about the identity of this elven maiden.
It was unlikely to be a descendant of close blood relatives. Could it be that this elven lady was the descendant of Great Elder Beltnan’s old friend, or adopted by him as a beloved child?
