Chapter 935 – Forest Expedition

And so, surrounded by three enthusiastic Elf children, Mo Lan began her first “expedition” through the Emerald Forest tribe.

Their first stop was the little garden at Polly’s house.

It wasn’t the neatly organized nursery Mo Lan had imagined. Rather, it was a small, sun-drenched clearing beneath her family’s treehouse, where lily-of-the-valley flowers grew naturally alongside many other unknown little flowers that emitted faint glows or delicate fragrances, mingled with mosses and ferns.

“Look! There they are!” Polly pointed proudly at the clusters of plants draped with pure white, bell-shaped little blossoms.

The lily-of-the-valley of the Seran world was far more ethereal than any Mo Lan had seen in Valen. The petals were nearly translucent, swaying gently in the breeze, producing an incredibly faint, crisp chiming sound like real bells striking together, and giving off a fragrance far richer and purer than what she had smelled on bark paper.

“They like listening to my singing,” Polly said, and began softly humming a simple Elf nursery rhyme.

As her song filled the air, the lily-of-the-valley blossoms seemed to open even more fully, and their fragrance grew ever more intense.

Then, Polly carefully picked three of the fullest, most lustrous sprigs of lily-of-the-valley and held them in her hands.

She concentrated, and a faint, vitality-filled force of nature surged from her palms, enveloping the three sprigs.

Something magical happened!

The three sprigs of lily-of-the-valley seemed to come alive. Their slender stems automatically and gracefully stretched and intertwined, and in just a few breaths, they had woven themselves into three delicate lily-of-the-valley wreaths—one large and two small—with the blossoms arranged at artful intervals, as if meticulously designed.

Polly gently placed the smallest and most exquisite one atop Mo Lan’s head.

The remaining two went to herself and Celine, one each.

With the lily-of-the-valley wreath on her head, the elegant fragrance lingered in wisps among her hair.

“The wreaths have been blessed by my forces of nature, so they won’t wilt for a whole day!” Polly explained happily. “Wear it, and you’ll smell lovely all day long!”

“How come there are only three? I want one too!” The overlooked Dominic immediately protested in dissatisfaction, scratching at his chestnut-colored hair. “I want to smell lovely too!”

Polly pursed her lips, clearly finding the idea of a boy wearing a flower wreath a bit strange, but under Dominic’s insistent gaze, she reluctantly—and at a slightly faster pace—wove him a simple green vine ring, adorned with just one or two tiny lily-of-the-valley blossoms. “Here, for you!”

Mo Lan was now brimming with curiosity about everything magic-related in this world.

Once Polly had finished all the wreaths, Mo Lan reached out her small hand and gently tugged at the hem of Polly’s skirt, tilting her little face up to ask, “Polly, is this… magic?”

Polly nodded. “Mm-hm! It’s the first magic I ever learned. It’s called ‘Branch and Blossom Extension’!”

“That’s amazing!” Mo Lan praised sincerely.

Polly blushed a little at the compliment, her cheeks turning pink as she waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just the most basic zero-level magic—really easy to learn!

Besides, all I can do right now is quickly weave flower branches into a pretty wreath and keep it fresh for one day.

Tally can already use this magic to weave beautiful flower dresses!”

If even zero-level magic was this versatile—and could be mastered by underage Elves who couldn’t even write properly yet—Mo Lan’s estimation of the Seran world’s magic rose another notch.

“I really want… to start… learning magic soon!” she couldn’t help but exclaim. The thought of all that magical knowledge still firmly locked away in her inherited memories made her itch with impatience.

Celine, who had been listening quietly, softly interjected at this point, “Moira, you can already write vine script so well. Normally, the inherited memories for zero-level magic should have unlocked by now, shouldn’t they?”

Mo Lan sighed at this, explaining with a touch of helplessness, “Not yet! Granny Clan Leader said… I still need to… grow more, before the inherited memories… will unlock.”

She still couldn’t manage to say a long sentence in one breath! Seeing how dejected she looked, Polly, Celine, and Dominic all found it hard to understand.

“Isn’t it better that your inherited memories haven’t unlocked? No headaches, no needing to sleep to sort through extra memories, and not so much stuff to learn—you can do whatever you want!” Polly said.

“Exactly! Are the lily-of-the-valley flowers not fragrant enough, or are the wood sprites not fun enough?” Dominic said.

Celine nodded vigorously too.

“Nothing makes me… happier… than learning,” Mo Lan said earnestly.

“Moira, with how much you love studying, you’re definitely going to be a very learned Elf someday!” Polly said.

…

The group chatted as they walked, keeping the pace slow to accommodate Mo Lan’s short little legs. It took quite a while before they reached the banks of a clear stream.

Not far away lay a large, sun-drenched forest meadow, enclosed by a waist-high green hedge.

“That over there is Lady Lila’s Herb Garden. She’s the most skilled herbalist in the tribe. There are lots of dangerous things growing inside, so remember not to go near it, Moira!” Celine cautioned.

“Got it.” Mo Lan very much wanted to see what lay beyond the green hedge, but at her current height, she couldn’t see over it even if she jumped.

The stream babbled along, and the banks were covered in star-like wash-flowers.

These little flowers had five sky-blue petals with bright yellow stamens at their centers, looking quite delicate.

Celine deftly produced a small woven vine basket and carefully picked the fully bloomed flowers. As she plucked them, she softly explained to Mo Lan:

“You can’t pull them up by the roots—only take the blossoms… See, like this. That way they’ll bloom again soon.

Once we’re back, we need to crush the flowers into juice, mix in a tiny bit of tree sap, and let it sit under moonlight for three days before it turns into the wash-ink we use.”

Mo Lan followed her example, picking a single wash-flower and holding it to the tip of her nose for a sniff. It had a very faint, cool scent, similar to mint.

They each picked some wash-flowers and placed them in the small baskets they had brought from Polly’s house.

Finally, under Dominic’s incessant urging, they left the streamside and ventured deeper into the forest, to a damp, mossy patch of ground.

The light here was somewhat dim, and among the moss, multicolored glowing mushrooms radiated a dreamlike luminescence.

“Shh—” Dominic raised his index finger and lowered his voice. “Look over there!”

Following where he pointed, Mo Lan spotted several marvelous little creatures no bigger than her palm, their bodies a lush green like leaves, leaping and twirling lightly among the mushrooms. They truly seemed to be performing a silent yet elegant dance.

They looked exactly like the wood sprites she had seen in her inherited memories.

These creatures only appeared deep in forests where the forces of nature were extremely concentrated. When they sensed danger, they would disguise themselves as leaves, and sometimes they would sneakily tug at people’s hair.

“They’re really timid, and they move as fast as the wind!” Dominic whispered, a challenging gleam sparkling in his eyes. “Let’s see if we can catch one!”