King Elduin walked back to the carriage with a bunch of fruits in his hands. Priest Erolith had been worrying about Elduin for a while, and when he saw the man emerged from the woods, he was relieved.

"Little Eld, I'm sorry for being harsh on you before. I just want you to be a good king. Elven King should not discriminate against other race because of their preference, as long as they did not harm the elves and the Sacred Tree," Priest Erolith said. 

King Elduin stared at his Big Ero for a while, then he put the fruits near his Big Ero and smiled perfunctorily, "Yes, Big Ero. I know that you want the best for me. That's why I will try my hardest to be the best. So you will not see anyone else."

"What do you mean?" Priest Erolith pondered. But King Elduin stayed silent and ate the fruits as his breakfast instead. Priest Erolith could only sigh, and they ate in silence together. In Erolith's eyes, King Elduin was still the same Little Eld as before. 

He was emotional, dedicated, and stubborn. One instance was when they were kids, Little Prince Elduin was angry at Erolith for having a study with a noble elven girl without inviting him together. The next day, the elven girl was not allowed to enter the noble school and had to study in regular elven school. 

That always reminded him that King Elduin was very possessive of what he liked. 

Priest Erolith smiled and gently patted Elduin's head, "Little Eld, don't get mad too much, okay? You are always a handful when you are mad."

"Hm," Elduin said, but his eyes glanced at Priest Erolith, and he had a thin smile on his face.

[Hm… why do I feel like, Elduin feels a bit different after he returned? Did Urduk do something to him?]

[Pupa: I don't know, but his Fatemeter is now 55%, so his feeling is slowly developing.]

The atmosphere was lightened until a beastman came out from his hiding in the wood. He bowed politely at Elduin and Erolith.

"Your Majesty, Your Divinity, I suggest we travel now. Because our journey is still far away," Maroch said. 

Priest Erolith nodded at Maroch, "Yes, we need to continue the journey now. Maroch, please prepare the carriage, and…"

Priest Erolith took out his handkerchief. He was about to wipe Maroch's mouth because there was some animal blood there, but Elduin gripped Erolith's hand. He tossed his handkerchief towards Maroch and said, "Take my handkerchief. You don't need to return it."

Maroch hurriedly caught the handkerchief and thanked King Elduin. The Elven King ignored him and pulled his Big Ero inside the carriage. Erolith wanted to protest for the unfair treatment Elduin gave to that beastman, but seeing Elduin's unpleasant face, he refrained.

Maroch sat as the coachman again, and they set up to another journey. 

The journey was smooth as usual because they haven't reached the dangerous part of the forest. Until they found their very first enemies, a bunch of forest wolves. Elduin scoffed at them when they chased the carriage, "Do you want me to clean in, or you want to do it, Big Ero?"

Priest Erolith shook his head, "Let them be as long as they didn't hurt us."

These wolves were not really dangerous because both Elduin and Erolith could exterminate them in one attack. Hence, as a pacifist, Erolith wanted to spare them instead.

It was not the case for Maroch, though. He was a bit dissatisfied with Erolith and Elduin seemingly in a good mood together. Thus, he used his corrupting spell on the wolves who were chasing the carriage and turning them into corrupted wolves.

Elduin and Erolith watched with their own eyes how the wolves suddenly became bigger. Their eyes glowed red and emitted a corruption aura. And aura that would wither all living things around them.

Priest Erolith glared at Maroch, who gave him a slight grin, then he hurriedly picked up his Elven Staff, "Under the sacred tree guidance, shall nature protect us!"

The corrupted wolves tried to pounce at the carriage to reach them, but Priest Erolith used his protection and wood vines around them moved on their own and slapped the wolves whenever they almost reached the carriage. 

Priest Erolith had a massive magic reservoir inside his body, so he could maintain this protection magic for a long time, which bore Maroch. He wanted to see these elves struggle. Thus, he called more and more wolves to surround the carriage and turned them into corrupted wolves. 

"Let's see if you can do something about this," Maroch said in a low voice. Elduin, who was relaxing for a moment, finally got alerted when he saw many corrupted wolves surrounding them. The carriage stopped because the wolves blocked their way.

"How could there be so many corrupted wolves here? There shouldn't be this many. We haven't reached the desecrated forest, where Urduk is chained!" Elduin was confused. But he took out his Greatsword and jumped out of the carriage. 

Maroch already unsheathed his claw and ripped the corrupted wolves' neck one by one. He was strong enough to fight by himself, which was commendable. King Elduin's eyes immediately directed at his Big Ero, who watched Maroch in awe as if looking at a strong warrior. 

He gripped his great sword tighter and yelled at his Big Ero, "Big Ero, look at me instead!"

Priest Erolith turned his head to Elduin, and he saw how Elduin was able to cut three corrupted wolves head in one slash from his Greatsword. Elduin's Greatsword had been imbued with Sacred tree magic, so it was ten times more effective against the corrupted. 

Both Elduin and Maroch fought against the seemingly endless hordes of corrupted wolves until the alpha of the pack appeared. It was thrice bigger than the regular corrupted wolves and had a violet bead on its forehead, signalling its strength. 

"Rrrghhh…"

Other corrupted wolves retreated immediately when their alpha finally appeared because the alpha didn't like to gang up against their victim. It wanted to show dominance.

Priest Erolith who had been passive for a while, finally stepped down from the carriage and used his magic, "With the power from the Sacred Tree, shall my allies draw the power of nature!" 

A tiny tree sprouted from the ground, and two small berries came out of it. Priest Erolith gave the berries to Elduin and Maroch, "Eat it."

Elduin ate it without hesitation because he knew the strength of the Sacred Tree. His strength was tripled, and he could hold his Greatsword with only one hand. Meanwhile, Maroch was a bit hesitant.

Because this was the first time an Elven Priest actually gave him the berries from the Sacred Tree. He was afraid that it would give him a reverse effect and poisoned him instead. Because that was what happened to him.

The berries of strength harvested from the Sacred Tree had effect and taste determined by the Elven Priest's heart. The purer it was, the better it tasted, and the better the strengthening effect would be. 

Maroch ate many of these berries in his immortal life, by threatening the priests, of course. And all of them tasted horrible. Because all previous Elven Priest had been corrupted, so their berries of strength also tasted disgusting.