Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 697 - 641: Dreams and Nightmares

Doludo Yuehen was the youngest Great Druid of the Senate, with a tall figure and exuberantly wild hair, which under the meticulous care of his beloved had come to resemble a moving garden. His ingenious Elven wife, Falanel, after discovering that her husband’s hair was more troublesome than the wildest snakeweed, began cultivating tiny blue and green flowers within it; the effort paid off handsomely, as the natural force radiating from the mature Druid allowed these adorable little things to thrive within Doludo’s hair, and she thoroughly enjoyed sleeping beside the refreshing bed of flowers every night.

Doludo thought these cute decorations were not at all bad; he adored Falanel greatly and showed utmost tenderness to his slightly mischievous wife. On one hand, his deep understanding of the ways of nature made him gentle and composed by nature—a trait that was actually considered a sign of insufficient capability among the Senate, as adept Druids are not swayed by the whims of nature. On the other hand, Doludo was considerate towards his wife. Falanel’s younger brother, her beloved brother-in-law Heinz, was a rebellious youth; his choice to become a Witherer and accept exile had deeply wounded her. Falanel’s sorrow was only soothed after the birth of their daughter, Fannila, but that rascal had taken advantage of her parents’ inattention to go off on her travels, and although the Elven mother didn’t show any overtly negative emotions, Doludo always made sure to soften his demeanor when facing her.

"There, don’t worry about me, my Doludo. Please stand tall as the head of our family. Heinz has also returned with Lord Irason, and there’s news of Fannila. I won’t be sorrowful anymore." The Elven Mistress kissed Doludo’s cheek gently, placing the Staff of the Forest into his palm, and then buried her nose in his hair, inhaling softly before revealing a satisfied and radiant smile.

For over ten thousand mornings, Falanel’s habit of sending her husband off had remained unchanged. She squeezed the juice from the Quilu Flower buds and lifted her finger to smooth the wrinkle on the man’s forehead.

"Are you still upset about the matter of Fannila finding a human partner?"

"No," Doludo replied with a gentle smile, embracing his wife and lightly touching her forehead with his own, feeling the cool sensation transmitting through their skin into his brain, "For Fannila, it’s just a minor episode in life. I’m not too bothered by it." At most, it would last a hundred years—a mere tenth of her life, or even shorter.

It was Heinz he worried about. Not intending to trouble his wife for the whole day, Doludo didn’t elaborate further and took his leave to start a new day’s work.

The Dream Forest was jointly managed by the Queen and the Senate. As a member of the Long-Lived Species, the royal family comprised only one person—Queen Tiffany—passed down through a single lineage. The Queen Faction consisted mostly of her followers and their descendants. It is said that the first Queen, during her lifetime, captivated nearly half of the population of the Elf Kingdom with her boundless charm. The second generation of Elves grew up in the shadow of their parents’ limitless adoration for the Queen.

Irason.

Who knows if those who had courted the former Queen would feel indignant enough to separate from the natural roots after witnessing the foolishness following the Lady of Nature’s death. In his own mind, Irason, the Dragon Priest, was almost as infamous for his unreliability as he was renowned for his beauty in life. If it were not for a few Elders identifying the object of their secret admiration before they died, all the Dream Elves might have thought there’d been a mix-up.

The Queen Faction represented the Elves’ tender roots, the initial and purest form of love.

The second ruler established the Senate. That noble Governess, clothed in thorns, brought fairness and order to the somewhat naive Elves. When Irason harbored the Witherers and chose self-exile, this mysterious lady appeared like a night-blooming cereus, taking over the disordered Dream Forest with the will of the Queen. The Senate then began to implement systematic hierarchy and division of labor into Elven society, and it was under their supervision that professions were born out of what Elves once purely loved.

The Druids, adept in nature, were respected civil servants of the Elf Kingdom, their roles far more important than those of warriors and hunters due to their versatile abilities. The entire composition of the Senate’s Elders was made up of Great Druids, and Doludo was the youngest among them.

He was responsible for education, nurturing more Druids.

Although there was already a simple educational structure, cultivating professions still depended highly on talent; these teaching Druids preferred mentor-apprentice methods of instruction. Doludo first visited the Senate; he needed to report on the day’s planned curriculum, to gather his students, and perhaps to select some promising new talents from the junior teachers.

Doludo was gentle and unpretentious, the gap in age between him and his apprentices being the smallest, making him especially popular among the youths.

But even such an amiable teacher encountered a few thorns.

Doludo’s thoughts instinctively returned to the little girl a few weeks prior, whose indifferent attitude toward her surroundings had made a deep impression on him. But what truly embedded the memory into Doludo’s mind were the other two people following close behind the young girl.

Irason and Susanna.

The former queen and the governor.

Doludo was slightly terrified at the time, subconsciously assuming that the little girl was the next queen or the illegitimate daughter of these two. However, what he discovered turned out to be even more preposterous than he had imagined.

She was the daughter of the Dragon King, the guardian dragon of the Dream Elf, the Emerald Dragon Claudia.

Doludo suppressed the trembling in his heart as he provided one-on-one instruction to Claudia on the basics of druidism. She then graduated after spending an afternoon, mastering any obscure spells in one go, grasping all concepts at once. His bewilderment ended the foundational teaching swiftly, and throughout the process, Claudia seemed nonchalant, perhaps because the coursework was too simple and not very stressful. This ignited Doludo’s desire to teach, or perhaps his love for talent, as he almost force-fed her, sharing with her the knowledge he had prepared for higher-level apprentices.

He had educated Claudia to the point where she was one step away from becoming a Great Druid when he was interrupted by Susanna.

"That will be enough, Doludo Yuehen. If you continue, Claudia will pick up your thinking habits, which is not conducive to the division of druids."

The afternoon’s lessons left Doludo somewhat tired but also satisfied, yet his sense of responsibility as an educator raised a question.

"May I ask, my lady, which elder do you plan to recommend Claudia to? Her talent is excellent, and she would be a prime candidate for any druidic path."

Susanna rarely let out a laugh.

"I am recommending her to myself. My goddaughter will become a Dream Druid."

"A Dream Druid... That is certainly the best choice."

Dream Elves have another world, the Dream Forest. It is a sanctuary shared by all creatures and the playground of the Dream Elves. Their entire race possesses the ability to remain conscious in the Dream Forest, meaning they have half more time than any other species that requires sleep, allowing even true sleep to be a moment of strength.

The ones who maintain and cleanse the Dream Forest are the Dream Druids, the noblest among the many professions of druids, as Dream Druids guard everyone’s minds and clear the nightmares of their demons.

The Dream Forest is not safe, for negative energy born in the unrestrained thoughts of a sleeping mind nourished by twisted forces produces nightmares, an intangible yet horrifying power capable of corrupting the soul.

Yes, the nightmares come from the Evil God.

In the depths of the Emerald Dream, the chaotic thoughts of the slumbering Triton are sealed.

The only nightmare that stepped into reality smiled slyly and said lightly,

"As a dragon, of course, you must deal with the Evil God."