We were in a tree. Not up in a tree, inside a tree. The room was round, as was the massive table that dominated the interior, and there was a door, several windows, and a set of stairs spiraling around the circumference of the room leading up to another floor above. The walls were smooth, solid wood, not made from boards or planks but somehow formed inside an enormous, ancient, living tree.

It was a species of tree I’d never seen before, one I didn’t think even existed on Earth, but was likely created specifically for the elves on this world. The elves called it a mithril tree, not to be confused with the rare mithril metal the elves also loved so much. The bark on the outside was smooth with a slight silvery tinge, its small but plentiful leaves a bright green. Its wood was almost pure white, so the curved wall of the room we were in almost looked like it had been whitewashed. Like the metal, mithril wood was light but incredibly strong. The trees grew abnormally wide in proportion to their height, and instead of normal buildings, the entire elf village lived inside them.

We almost didn't make it there. Once the elven Guard Captain, Petal, saw Sigrid's armor and went all feral on us, I had to step in quickly before Sigrid did something that would've gotten her killed. I quickly explained that we'd found it in chest in a labyrinth and asked why it was important. The elf had grunted and put away her knives before recovering her composure and apologizing, saying nothing but an enigmatic: "It would be easier to show you."

Then she and her companions asked if we would come with them to their village, to which Jane had readily agreed before anyone else could say anything, and that's how we ended up in a tree.

This particular tree was a sort of meeting place. The table was surrounded by a dozen beautifully carved chairs made of white mithril wood, and the floor was inlaid with a floral mosaic of colorful stones. Sconces positioned around the walls lit the place as though it was daytime and I desperately wanted to look inside one to see what made them glow, it had to be some kind of magic.

Huge tapestries depicting various scenes in stunning intricacy adorned the walls as well, and the elves were showing us one in particular: a battle scene focused around one female elf wearing glimmering scale armor who floated above the ground on two huge white wings while fighting giant humanoid monsters.

“Elda Wildflower defeating the Titans,” Petal said.

“That armor looks awfully familiar,” Sigrid said.

“Indeed. Although victorious, Elda was slain in the final battle of that great war and her Pegasus Scale Armor was thought lost. It is a legendary treasure of the elves and an heirloom of the Wildflower family.”

“You, ah, aren’t going to ask for it back, are you?” Sigrid said.

“Actually—” Petal said.

“You must forgive my granddaughter’s special interest in the armor,” came a creaky voice from the doorway. I looked over to see a wizened elf woman being assisted by two young elves who propped her up on either side. Beside us, Petal knelt and bowed her head.

“Magikist,” Petal said.

The Magikist was old. Like, really old. The dark gray skin of her face was cracked with lines. Deep, dark bags puffed under her eyes, and her white hair hung lank and sparse to her hunched shoulders. She did not look at all well. Even with her assistants helping her, every slow step seemed an arduous chore.

Salvia Wildflower Elven Magikist Powers:

Tree Hugger - Master

Wisdom Of The Ages - Expert

Skills: Aikido - Competent

Archery - Competent

Elven Knife Fighting - Adept

Herbalism - Master

Leadership - Expert

Stealth - Competent

“Oh do stand up, Petal,” the old elf said. “You know how awkward that makes me feel.”

Petal stood and gestured toward us. “Magikist, this is the human you wanted to see, Daniel, and his companions Jane, Sam, and Sigrid. This is our Magikist, Salvia Wildflower.”

“Wildflower,” I said, looking back at the mural. “That’s Elda Wildflower, which means...”

“Yes,” Petal said, “the Magikist is a direct descendant of the great Hero.”

“And she’s your grandmother,” Sigrid said, “which makes her your ancestor too.”

“Correct, my full name is Petal Wildflower.”

“That explains why you’re so interested in the armor,” Jane said.

Petal said nothing, but we all knew what she was thinking.

Sigrid sighed. “I suppose that means this armor is rightfully yours, then. I’ll return it, of course.”

Petal perked up, but the Magikist said, “No,” and Petal deflated again. “That armor is no longer our heirloom. I can tell that it has changed. I feel that it somehow seems to have chosen a new master, which makes it rightfully yours. And since the armor has accepted you as its owner, it also makes you a friend of the elves. I welcome you.”

“As you say, Magikist,” Petal said, through gritted teeth.

“I wanna be a friend of the elves,” Jane muttered, kicking at a non-existant rock on the floor.

The old elf waved her hand, dismissing the topic. She’d managed to amble over to the table. Her assistants helped her get seated. “Come, we are not here to squabble over artifacts, we have much more pressing things to discuss.”

We all joined her sitting around the table as the two attendant elves served tea in complicated ceremonial motions. In the center of the table stood an ornate vase containing a bouquet of my lavender flowers.

“Now then,” the Magikist said, pointing at the flowers, “which one of you made these?”

“Uh, that was me, your Magi...kist...ness?” I said.

She laughed. “I have never been comfortable with the honorifics, although I do like Magikistness. I may tell people to call me that from now on.”

“Grandmother!” Petal said, a horrified expression on her face.

“Take an herbal remedy, Petal. I was joking. Please, just call me Salvia.”

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“Okay then, Salvia,” I said. “I was the one who made those flowers.”

“When’d you do that?” Jane said.

Sigrid elbowed her. “Shush.”

"Does the wall not produce those flowers normally?" I said.

“Never," Salvia said. "For many years wall of thorns has surrounded our village, a lifeless barrier separating us from the outside world. All efforts to remove it, as well as the other effects of the Shadow Blight, have failed.”

“You mean the elves didn’t put up that wall?” I said.

Salvia frowned and shook her head. She almost looked offended at the suggestion. “We most certainly did not.”

“Then what is the Shadow Blight and what’s causing it?” I said.

“It is a curse,” Salvia said, “inflicted by the Shadow Demon that took up residence in the Great Swamp.”

Hello Shadow Dungeon.

“It grew slowly at first,” Petal said, “in a great ring around the village. Then within days it was as tall as me, and a week later reached its current height.”

“And it has been like that ever since,” Salvia said. "A vile, dead thing."

"We've tried to get rid of it and cure the Blight, but..." Petal shrugged and gestured around vaguely. "Here we are. And there it remains."

Salvia nodded in agreement. "I had almost given up and resigned myself to the way things are, but when Petal brought me one of your flowers and told me a human had made it bloom on the wall, I began to think that perhaps there is hope after all."

The Magikist groaned and rose shakily to her feet. Then she lowered her head. "Please. Will you help us?"

Quest: Solve the Nature Dungeon in the Eastern Forest

Reward: Dungeon control, kinship with the elves

How could I possibly say no? Still, it's not like the elves seemed to have any problem getting past the wall, and it did seem effective at keeping unwanted pests like us Players out. What was the real problem here?

"We will do everything we can to help the elves," I said.

"Damn straight," Jane agreed.

"Hells yeah," Sam added.

Sigrid didn't say anything. I noticed she'd been mostly staring at the two male elf guards posted on either side of the door. Oh Sigrid. She was like a cat in heat.

Salvia collapsed into her seat, exhaling deeply. "I am so glad. Thank you."

"First, can tell us more about the situation here?" I said.

“We used to be a free people,” Petal said. “Friendly with the humans, beastfolk, and other races. Openly trading with them all and allied with them against threats like the orcs, demons, and other scourges.”

Beastfolk. Like Shannon the Pretty Cat Girl gardener. There was bound to be other species as well. The image of a humanoid bunny girl — another staple of fantasy-themed isekai like this — sprang unbidden but not unwelcome into my head.

Salvia took a sip of her tea and nodded approvingly. “At the same time as the wall appeared, the Blight began affecting the trees on the edge of the swamp, polluting them with its evil. It still spreads, year after year, consuming more and more of our forest.”

Petal’s fists clenched on the table. “When it happened, some of us started saying we should sever ourselves from the outside world. This grew into a faction that eventually gained enough power in our leadership to create new laws that force us to remain within the wall and keep everyone else out. And now," Petal pounded her fist on the table, "everyone just accepts that’s how it is. Like trained pets.”

“I have always spoken out against the isolation,” Salvia sighed, “but nobody listens now. Most of the elves who opposed cutting ourselves off chose to leave the forest. Many went to live in the beastfolk lands, others scattered even farther. We who remained have become an insular, fearful people, hiding in our village, imprisoned by a combination of the Blight and our own ignorance and xenophobia.”

“That sucks,” Jane said.

I had to agree with Jane, although I probably wouldn't have phrased it that way. I really did feel for the elves. I knew what it was like to feel trapped and alone, although I’m sure my own experience was nothing compared to what these poor elves went through.

I know what you’re thinking. None of this was real. I mean, this whole place was only recently made just for us. But even though what the elves told us had never actually happened, it was real to them. That much I could tell. After spending so much time interacting with the Doppels, seeing what they were like at the start as generic monsters then watching the changes when they became named NPCs, I had come to the conclusion that the AIs driving the NPCs around here were so advanced that I considered them fully sentient. So although their history was fabricated, their feelings were as real as mine. In my mind, at least.

Honestly, I tried not to think about it too much. I figured that playing the game properly required interacting with the environment and everything in it with a willing suspension of disbelief. Besides, going along with it was way more fun.

“Doesn’t your position as Magi-whatever mean anything?” Jane said.

“The Magikist is not our leader,” Petal said.

Salvia nodded. “I am more like a shaman or high priestess. Our leaders are chosen annually through the Trial of Merit. For as long as anyone can remember, they have always consulted with the Magikist over any major decision, and more often than not her advice has been followed. I hold the title because I have the strongest connection with the Green, as it has always been.”

Petal leaned back and sighed. “When grandmother was unable to do anything about the Blight, her influence waned. People doubted her and stopped listening to her counsel. And now...”

Once more Salvia pointed at the flowers. “Neither I nor our best sages can do nothing to the wall, yet you made these.”

“So you think I might be able to make the wall go away.” I said.

She nodded. “I may be wrong.”

“But what’s the harm in trying, right?”

“You said something about a shadow monster before?” Jane said.

“The Shadow Demon, yes,” Petal said.

“Wouldn’t defeating the demon solve the problem?”

“That has long been our belief,” Salvia said, “but its forces are too powerful. We elves live a long time, and we are strong in battle, but there are relatively few of us. Too many of us chose to leave rather than remain trapped inside the wall, and any attempt we made against the demon’s forces only reduced our numbers further.”

“Our failure to defeat the Shadow Demon was the catalyst that triggered the elves’ self-imposed isolation,” Petal said.

“Well if we can't find a way to cure the Blight, maybe we can help you get rid of the demon,” Sam said.

“It is very strong,” Petal said, her voice flat and full of doubt. "And its shadow forces are significant."

“So let’s keep that as Plan B,” I said.

Obviously the Nature and Shadow Dungeons were connected. They sat opposite each other on the affinity wheel, so it kind of made sense. The elves' exposition seemed to suggest the intended path was to clear the Shadow Dungeon first, then probably find some kind of MacGuffin that'd help clear the Nature Dungeon. That seemed to be the game's design, but that didn't mean that's what we had to do. If we'd followed the game's design, we'd probably still be lost in the labyrinth. Yet we'd solved that by doing something unexpected.

The elves had sought me out because I'd made those flowers on the wall of thorns, which was undoubtedly also something the game designers didn't expect. That suggested to me that a different path to success had opened, something to do with the flowers. The game was adapting, reacting to our unexpected actions. I may not have been getting the usual quests everyone else was, but it was like the game had created a custom scenario just for me. This was getting even more fun.

“How about we go check out the wall and see what we can do?” I said.

"What, now?" Petal said.

“It is quite late,” Salvia added.

"You did come get us in the night," Sam said.

"It is easier to infiltrate the city in the dark," Petal said. "And we knew Daniel was there."

"How did you know that? Have you been watching me?" I said.

Petal shrugged. "Of course."

"Huh. I had no idea."

That made her smile. "Of course not."

Exactly like ninjas.

"You will be our guests for the night, and we can look into what you can do about the wall in the morning when it is light," Salvia said with an air of finality.

“But wouldn’t it be something for your people to wake up and find the wall is gone?” Jane said. For a non-gamer, she sure had embraced the mindset. That's our hero for you.

“That would be wonderful,” Petal said, “but it’s so dark now. Your human eyes don't see well in the dark.”

Jane and I exchanged a look.

“That won’t be a problem,” she said.