Rebirth: Childhood friend of the heroine

"Why....are you here?" Alex asked as soon as he entered the headmaster's office and spotted the familiar silver-haired elf standing there.

There was another elf in the room, with a smile on his face as he turned to look at Alex.

He also had silver hair, but long that reached the middle of his back and a pair of golden eyes.

"Alex...you know the former Tribal chief of Astria?" Hector asked, amazement evident in his voice.

Exactly how many great figures is he close with? First, the Saintess. Then the Vampire Lord. And now a Tribal Chief?

Alex shook his head, "I don't know them, sir. I just helped the girl near Frostbate a few weeks ago."

That day when they were heading to Frostbate to liberate his mother, a certain someone was surrounded by snow leopards and seemed on the verge of becoming their lunch.

Edric insisted that's why Alex even bothered helping her.

She even mentioned something weird about Alex being a half-elf, that aroused his suspicion if the girl was alright in her head.

They later dropped her to the nearest town and didn't see her again...until now that is.

"For saving my granddaughter, I want to extend my gratitude." The older elf lowered his head, with his hands on his thighs. The gratitude in his voice was evident and took Alex by surprise

Aren't the elves kind of proud of people who don't bow their heads generally?

"It's okay, mister. I just did what was natural." Naturally, Alex doesn't like an elderly bowing their head for anything. Read exclusive chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

The elder one raised his head before, with a smile, he introduced himself, "I am Akran, the former chief of my Tribe. And this is my granddaughter Liriel."

The granddaughter in question just raised her hand in greetings, ushering Alex to nod.

Taking a long breath, Alex asked, "So? How can I help?" Naturally, they surely haven't come all the way here just to thank him...right?

"Mister Akran wanted to ask you a few things which little Liriel suspected the first time she met you," Hector spoke as he invited the three of them to sit down first.

Alex raised his brows; he already could guess what this was about.

"The mysterious smell of the Mother Tree, I suppose?" Alex asked as he sat on the sofa and beside him sat Liriel. On the longer one sat the two elderly men before Akran said,

"She was quite persistent about bringing me here so we could meet. Liriel had never shown such stubbornness about anything before, which had us worried and curious." Akran confessed.

Liriel, for the first time, spoke, "You can sense it, no? The presence of the Mother Tree?" Liriel asked, with utmost surety in her tone. Even now, she was barely holding herself from sniffing Alex.

Akran's brows tensed slightly as he turned his golden eyes toward Alex.

There was, indeed, a very familiar sensation arriving from the boy. The feelings that Akran receives in the embrace of the Mother Tree. The calmness it provides, the sense of dependence...Akran could somehow feel it from the teenager.

"Alex ..what do you know about the Mother Tree?" Akran suddenly asked, after a brief pause.

Alex shook his head, "Nothing more than what the books offer. A huge tree in the center of the elven lands, and the mother of the elven race. A few are born through the fruit of the Mother Tree, I have heard."

Two elven warriors participated in the tournament, but other than their haughty nature and commendable hunting skills, nothing else was highlighted in the story. No back story, no flashes of memories.

Akran nodded, "That's correct. The Mother Tree is everything for us, our lifeline, our pride, our greatest resource. But the Goddess whose essence gave birth to the Mother Tree is Gaia. Do you know anything about her?"

Alex was suddenly reminded of his visit to the church with Celestria, when he spotted the pretty statue of the Goddess, "Nothing much...there is no mention of her in any book."

Akran smiled, "That is expected. You won't find anyone knowing anything about Mother Nature, nor the faces you see in the churches are accurate. Those are the imaginations of the sculptors, which vary from church to church."

Alex nodded. No wonder he couldn't find anything about Mother Nature even after trying to find out about her in the library.

"The closest one could get to the Goddess is when they are inside the fruit of the Mother Tree. And I, someone who was born from a fruit, feel the same sensation while being near you."

Alex was taken aback by that statement. His eyes parted wide slightly as he asked, "You mean to say...I give the same presence as the Goddess. Are you really sure about your observation?"

He didn't want to sound rude, but someone who has been called a Cursed Being over a thousand times, was having a hard time swallowing the news of him being anywhere nearly related to a deity.

Akran heaved a sigh, as he asked, "Have you ever fed your blood to someone?"

This question was also out of the blue, which ushered Alex to glance at the Headmaster and only after getting a nod from him, he said, "I did...it was a Vampire."

Akran asked, "Did you notice something peculiar in their behavior? Like sudden loyalty toward you? Or their increased vitality?"

Alex was forced to think back about Rebecca...surely, she became close to him all of a sudden. And her closeness continued to grow the more she fed on his blood. But he was assuming...that it was natural.

Was it not?

"I guess you did notice." Akran spoke with a sigh, as he spoke, "Let's do a test to see if you really have the essence of the Mother Tree."

Alex was kind of nervous about this experiment, as he mumbled under his breath,

'Exaxtly how many secrets does this body have?'

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A/N:- Thanks for reading.