Chapter 12: Banquet of the Fairy Queen
After spending 2 years and 8 months in the green mountains, the last thing Alexander had expected was a detour.
He and his four fairy friends had just peaked at the Freezing Mountain, the 95th mountain in the range, and quickly fled down the other side. As its name suggested, this mountain was covered in ice and snow, and it was only thanks to Therma and her Fire magic that they managed to climb it without freezing.
Once safely in a cave halfway down the peak, the entrance to which they sealed with snow, they finally relaxed, knowing they could finish the journey the next day.
Alexander then brought out some wood from his inventory, which Therma happily ignited. Huddled together, they warmed themself and chatted happily. After getting to know each other better, the Fairies had begun to trust him more and more. In turn, he found their conversation interesting. The Fairies could speak with animals, plants, and other forces of nature. He found it incredible to hear about the mood of the earth, the conversation of the trees, and the desires of the animals.
A contract might not have bound them, but as friends, they had achieved a state of harmony.
Like so, within the cave, the four sisters suddenly grew alert at the same time, then huddled together in a corner and whispered amongst themselves. Alexander was surprised but simply called, "I'm almost done meditating if any of you are still hungry."
The next thing he knew, the four raced over to him. Gia then begrudgingly admitted, "Alatar, you might be a Big Person, but you're not all bad. We sisters have talked and wanted to take you somewhere."
Aqua then took over and explained, "The Fairy Queen is hosting a gathering of our kin in her palace today. She has said any Big People deemed worthy may also come along."
Alexander had not expected this and revealed a touched smile, "You girls are too kind, I'm just doing what anyone would do."
Electra darted forward at this and blurted, "What anyone would do!... That's crazy… You're special, Alatar… You're our friend."
As if on queue, a notification popped up:
image [https://imgur.com/frsnoLr.png]
The Elf felt his heart swell with emotion. Even though he knew this was just a game, it did feel good to have earned another trust and friendship. He was also glad to see that Eden was starting to condense his notifications, as getting multiple windows all the time was a pain.
With a bright smile, he nodded, "Thank you, thank you all. When do we leave?"
Therma smiled and barked, "Now!"
The four fairies flew a few feet away and formed a wise circle. They began to glow with power, and then, a few moments later, a passage through space was opened. Amazed, the Elf rose to his feet and walked over. His pace was too slow for his companions, who flew behind him and eagerly pushed him through the passage.
For a few minutes, he felt like he was falling forward as a myriad of lights flew past his eyes. He felt as though his body was bending and stretching before he finally emerged into what he could only describe as the most beautiful place he had ever seen.
It was an enchanted forest abounding with nature and magic. Stone, trees, and even segments of rivers levitated into the air at random. Colorful crystals could be seen growing out of the enrichment all over the place, refacing a brilliant sun. In the distance, one could see a massive tree that dwarfed even the tallest skyscraper, which seemed to be made not only of wood but also of stone, crystal, and metal. There were even areas where waterfalls emerged from within and poured down its great trunk.
Completely in awe, all he could get out was, "It's beautiful."
His companion laughed, and Electra blurted, "Of Course!... Now, let us show you around."
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Their group frolicked around as innocent as children through the wilderness, visiting the four fairies' favorite spots. They introduced him to all their friends, who were intrigued by the strange Hermit. Eventually, word began to spread, and soon, everyone started to call him the Friendly Hermit.
Alexander had kept an eye open for other Big People, aka Player, but hadn't seen any during this time.
In the end, this changed when a large group of fairies, including his friends, began to pull on him and chime more or less the same thing, "The Queen's Banquet starts soon; you mustn't be late."
The Elf let himself be pulled along to the massive tree, which was supposedly one of the Seven World Trees hidden throughout Eden, The Sacred Ash Tree.
Eventually, he was brought to a great stone door etched with the image of a great battle led by a beautiful fairy. The door opened a crack, which was more than enough to let him inside. His emergence into the room caused a polite babble of conversation at a banquet table to cease. Only a dozen Big People were present, and at the head was a woman in a golden dress with butterfly wings that seemed to be made of silver light.
Realizing he was not only late but had interrupted the banquet, the Elf coughed into a hand and remarked, "Apologies for my lateness, Your Majesty."
While he received a number of glares from the Player, the Queen just smiled as a few dozen fairies flew in and darted over to a large tree within the World Tree behind her where hundreds of their brethren already sat. In a regal and soft voice, she responded, "Worry not, Friendly Hermit, it was my own subjects that delayed you." Glancing at Gia, Aqua, Therma, and Electra, who were the last to join the tree, She added with a knowing smile, "In fact, I thank you for bringing so much laughter to our all-too-empty halls." Gesturing to a spot to her right that seemed to be reserved, she finished, "Please, take a seat and enjoy the food."
The Elf sighed in relief and quickly moved over to his spot at the table. Glancing around, he realized that everyone was glaring at him except the Queen. He let out a hesitant laugh before glancing down at his plate and noticing a long cut of meat. It had been a long time since he had eaten such delicious-looking food within Eden, though he nonetheless turned to the Queen and asked, "Ah, Your Majesty. Was this meat from a hunted animal or livestock?"
The elegant woman chuckled at this and responded, "All the food here was gathered during the Fairy Hunt, an event we hosted before the ball." Her gaze grew teasing as she added, "I believe I sent a messenger to notify you of this, but they never returned."
Alex recalled a formal-looking fairy who had interrupted a game of hide-and-seek but had been quickly tackled by its peers. The Elf smiled impishly and responded, "Ah, apologies once again. I think I missed the memo."
The Queen smiled but reassured him, "Worry not; your time was spent no less meaningful in my eyes. And it is I who should be apologizing for not recalling your Race's traditions." She gazed at him with eyes full of knowledge and curiosity, "Very few Elfs these days remain true to the old costumes."
With a wave of the woman's hand, the food on his plate transformed into fruit. However, Alexander hardly noticed as he responded, "My mother was very strict in my upbringing."
After extracting a smile from the Queen, she gestured to the food before everyone. She commented, "Now then, let us return to eating."
At this point, the Queen seems to enter full NPC mode, completely detracted from the environment around her. Alexander was familiar with this from his time in the tutorial. The Elf was about to dig into the delicious-looking fruit, but the dark-clad, full-blooded demon across the table and to the left slammed a fist onto the table and snapped, "Bastard, give me that fruit."
The Elf glanced at the Fairy Queen, who seemed unphased. At this point, he glared back at this stranger and retorted, "No, then I won't have anything to eat."
The male seemed to be boiling with anger as a white-clad woman sitting across from Alexander evaluated him with a discerning eye. Ultimately, she couldn't hold back either as the Elf cut into a fruit with a knife and blurted, "Dude, don't you know what that is?"
Alexander looked down at his plate, then responded, "Fruit…" He glanced down again and used his Plant Identification skill, but it failed. Nodding, he finished, "It looks like a pear."
He took a bite as everyone around him nearly lurched to their feet. The dark clade male snarled, "Fucking Idiot, those are fruit from the World Tree. They can be used to make Revival Potions or even a Philosopher's stone."
These words were proven true by the appearance of a window that stated:
image [https://imgur.com/pIGVOhY.png]
The people's words and his achievements went unnoticed by the Elf, who was lost in the flavor of the fruit. His expression revealed his bliss, and after savoring every last drop of its flavor, he responded in a voice tinged with ecstasy, "I'd believe it; that was amazing."
He scarfed down the next fruit with as much restraint as possible, again earning 50 Mana and HP and 25 Skill points. His meal consisted of five fruits, but the flavor excited him far more than the Stat Bonuses he was gaining. When he began to eat the third fruit, the dark-clad demon lurched to his feet, shouting, "That's it…!"
However, the next moment, immeasurable magic pressed him back down as the Queen chimed, "Please don't interrupt the banquet."
Gesturing to the Elf, the man yelled, "But why does he get to eat fruit from the World Tree."
The Queen looked back blankly and answered, "Because he had a diary restriction, and here in my kingdom, we take that very seriously."
The great fairy returned to eating as the dark-clad demon was forced into silence. Everyone at the table seemed to contemplate trying to fake a dietary ration, but none of them were pure-blood Elves, and they had already consumed much of the meal before them. Terrified of losing favor with the Queen, everyone remained silent.