Wron's friend was from Silver Wind Deer.

She had strong belief and appreciation towards one of the wind gods and eventually became the disciple below him. This matter had risen her race's prestige in the world pillar more than a few thousand years ago.

The times changed, however.

Unlike the lady, her race wasn't prominent enough to give birth to the Ascended Race. They became less and less important over time which led Wron's friend to make one of the worst mistakes in her life.

She simply used divine message to her race and shared this truth.

In a normal case, the god's lost interest wouldn't hurt the race much. If they managed to get good results for their standards, then they would get something out of it nonetheless. However, the deer knew about their clansman being up above in heaven and requested for a little above their standards without any results to back them up.

Eventually, Wron's friend had to share this truth. Because what they believed was coming from their god, was actually toiled by the disciple.

Our race has failed our lord; was what they heard and these words had shook their hearts. One by one, the deer began to fall from floor to floor.

And they soon fell deep enough that the black crow could request the husband's help.

"I think… There is more to this, isn't it?" Hiro and Josef simultaneously asked while looking at the thin tree towering the whole landscape.

The thin three had too few branches, but a faint lightning could be seen sometimes sparking around its withered bark.

Though it looked withered and lifeless, this tree was one of the treasures brought down by the lightning race that had been enemies with Silver Wind Deer for a long time.

Kyoya scratched his head, "From what we gathered, the silver wind deer have climbed up a few floors back… But it's still weird for those lightning people to bully them like that. Is there some deep hatred?"

This tree was planted by the lightning race called Lightning Phoenixes. Although their name had a legendary creature, they were from the 56th floor and their statuses were far from legends.

Kyoya and the rest called them lightning birds because it felt just right.

Any new visitors wouldn't get hurt by the lightning tree, but if one stayed for too long, then one would need to be wary of any sudden lightning bolt.

Similarly, any pregnant woman from the deer tribe would get struck down by a lightning bolt.

Hana threw some idea, "Isn't it against the guardian principles? Shouldn't those deer just go to that center call and request aid from the guardian family from the ascended kingdom?"

"That's what we must know first. Let's just speak with their patriarch," Kyoya replied, then the party stepped into the deer's territory.

Going across the street, Kyoya and the rest could see that those houses were just built temporarily. Most of them looked feeble and seemed as if a gust of wind would be able to tear the construction down.

Nothing particular seemed to stand out.

But the deer going across their streets gave off the feeling of resentment and unwillingness to keep their meaningless lives.

"In the past, we used to cultivate the potent herbs and flowers that even eating those raw would do miracles," The old deer spoke while seeing Kyoya's eyes.

In those, one could see many questions the old man felt like answering.

With the attention on him, he continued, "Our markets were often teemed by people from various floors, even those above us. If things kept this way, then we would call ourselves a Small Ascended Tribe."

"But you failed to be ascended," Kyoya replied and the old man's forehead ceased. His eyes got a little redder and he soon closed those.

His sadness didn't stop him, "As long as the patriarch believes in change, there's hope. We, old ones, have already lost it, but let's pray for deer hearts to be rekindled."

It explained why those houses were temporary. If not, then their settlement would haunt their hearts and continue to corrode their already fragile minds.

The husband wished well for the old man, "Don't close your eyes that often, old man. Who knows? You might see the youngsters soon changing your tribe's fate."

The old man's eyes opened.

"At the very least, I am confident we all will see this lightning tree getting cut soon." Kyoya smiled widely, then resumed his tread. The goal had been to see the patriarch and so he would soon see the young patriarch and his zealous heart.

Looking at the backs of the husband's party, the old man whispered to himself, "His strength… should be that above 30th floor… And yet I can't stop myself from believing him… Who was he?"

-

"To be honest, we lack healers, don't we?" Hiro asked on the way to the patriarch.

A skillful healer was an essential part in any parties. It came from both the game knowledge and the world pillar's standards! Master Diaper's words were on the point.

The question was, "Would the believer of wind god be a good healer?" The forest elf asked. Though she was close to nature and possessed means to bring some regenerative traits, Fusia's skills were mostly offensive.

The same case could be with the deer from this tribe.

The party contemplated for a while, each voicing out their opinion.

Josef said, "We can look out for the healer in the meantime. Our goal is to help this race, so shouldn't we think about this tree? Kyoya, I remember you used to cut a lot of wood."

Maria added, "True! The husband's axe should be able to take down this tree! In the past, he worked for everything by himself!" Now, he usually bought some high quality wood for his house.

But Kyoya rolled his eyes at them, "One cut and I would get striked by that lightning curse. Do you want me to get killed?"

"What about… Rosa's sword?"

The husband's steps halted and he looked at Maria with narrowed eyes.

Of course, she didn't flinch back and reciprocated his glance, "What is it? For how sharp-tongued she was, I think she would be able to withstand some lightning bolts for your sake."

"...We have to analyze this tree first." Kyoya replied, then the topic quietly died.