Chapter 657: Griffin Court [Part 1]

Margrave Forest… Sёarch* The Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Two days after leaving the Magdar Kingdom, Ethan finally arrived at the Margrave Forest.

It was an ancient forest that seemed to extend as far as the eye could see.

At its center was a Giant Tree, which Ethan assumed to be a young World Tree.

If his estimate was correct, the tree was more or less two hundred meters tall.

It was already big and tall, but it paled in comparison to an adult World Tree, which usually had a height of thousands of meters, so high as if breaking through the sky.

While Ethan was minding his own business and appreciating the scenery around him, a shrill screech sounded, prompting him to look to his right side.

There, he saw over a dozen Griffins flying in his direction.

These Griffins weren't ordinary Griffins—they had Elves riding on top of them, and these Elves were holding bows loaded with arrows aimed in his direction.

'What a warm welcome,' Sebastian commented. 'I forgot that Elves don't usually like it when people trespass in their Domain. Especially the Elves of this era. The Tidebringer also had problems with them since they are an arrogant bunch.'

'And did he get along with them?' Ethan asked with curiosity.

'Well, back then, the Tidebringer wasn't really in a good mood when he visited this forest. Let's just say that the Elves added salt to injury, and all hell broke loose in the end.'

'Then I'm sure that those Elves still remember that. After all, only hundreds of years have passed.' Ethan's Other Half smirked. 'For them, that much time is nothing. Maybe some of them developed some kind of trauma after the Tidebringer was done with them.'

'Sounds like a good idea. Ethan, give them hell.'

'Yeah. Show us some fireworks.'

Ethan ignored the two members of his peanut gallery and stopped his Wind Dancer from advancing forward. He just made it float in the air, as he watched the Elves encircle him with wary looks on their faces.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here in the Margrave Forest?" an elf wearing green light armor asked.

Ethan assumed that this person was the leader of these Elves, so he decided to settle this matter peacefully.

"My name is Ethan," Ethan replied. "But some of you might know me as the Tidebringer."

As soon as the word "Tidebringer" was said, all the Elves flinched as if they had been electrocuted by something.

"S-Stop lying!" the Captain of the Elves stuttered. "You're not the Tidebringer."

"Are you sure?" Ethan asked in a teasing tone. "You might want to double-check. Certainly, you don't want to experience a repeat of what happened in the past, right?"

The Elven Captain turned pale, even more so after taking a good look at the teenage boy in front of him. He remembered the description of the young man with long blue hair and blue eyes, whom the elves mustn't offend no matter what.

"Are you really the Tidebringer?" A lady Elf asked with curiosity.

"Maybe," Ethan replied with a smile.

His playful tone made the Elven Lady arch an eyebrow, but after half a minute had passed, she raised her hand and ordered the other Elves to lower their weapons.

'I guess this lady is the real Captain of the group,' Ethan's Other Half commented. 'Why don't you take this opportunity to ask her about the Ratmen? I mean, the Cloudwall Mountains are just right past the Mangrave Forest.

'If they are this zealous about patrolling their Domain, there's a possibility that they have also encountered the Ratmen Scouting Party.'

Ethan thought that this was a sound idea, so while everyone was uncertain about how to deal with him, he addressed the Elven Lady politely.

"I am only passing through here to go to the Cloudwall Mountains," Ethan stated. "I received a report that a Horde of Ratmen might be plotting to head southward with the intention of spreading plague and pestilence to the lands.

"If this report is true, then I plan to deal with them. So, if you have encountered them before, can you tell me any information that you know about them?"

The Elven Lady was surprised after Ethan stated his purpose for coming to their Domain.

"Just answer my one question," the Elf Lady stated. "Are you really the Tidebringer?"

"No," Ethan replied. "But I'm the closest to his existence here in the Lands of Alastor."

"Hah! So you're not really him!" The Elf Man, whom Ethan thought was the Elven Captain earlier, finally found the courage to speak. "How dare you try to lie to me?! Everyone surround this filthy Huma--"

Before the Elf could even finish his words, Ethan summoned his Sea God's Trident and pointed its tip to the heavens.

A moment later, black clouds gathered above the Margrave Forest.

Thunder and lightning grandly made their presence known, which made the Elf Man look in horror as a single lightning bolt descended upon him.

Suddenly, a barrier appeared above the Griffin Riders, protecting them from the Lightning Bolt that could have given them serious injury.

Ethan had no plans to injure anyone.

He only summoned the bolt of lightning because his Other Half told him that someone with strong magical powers was observing him from the World Tree.

His Other Half assured that the being would not allow any of their people from getting injured by Ethan's simple demonstration.

"Please forgive my grandson for being naive and ignorant, Your Excellency."

A beautiful voice spread in the surroundings.

"He is only a hundred years old, so he is still ignorant of the world."

'See?' Ethan's Other Half smirked. 'I told you so.'

Ethan didn't say anything and commanded the Thunderstorm to increase its influence.

The roars of thunder echoed across the sky as if telling the Elves that if they messed with him, he would make them regret it.

"Calm your anger, Tidebringer. Although you are indeed not the one who visited us hundreds of years ago, his blood flows in your veins. You must be his descendant. Again, I apologize for my grandson's offense. How about we talk this out, and I will answer the question you asked earlier?"

"Sounds good," Ethan replied before navigating his Wind Dancer to fly toward the young World Tree.

None of the Elves dared to stop him because the roaring thunderstorm above their heads prevented them from doing anything reckless.

Also, their Queen had already spoken. It would be rude to offend the guest, whom she personally invited to proceed to the Griffin Court.