In the world of witchers, there was no doubt that gods existed. Beyond the Eternal Fire—which would only rise to prominence in the future—there were deities like Melitele, Kreve, the Lion-Headed Spider... gods both righteous and wicked, countless divine entities were scattered across the Northern Continent.
Allen had even seen Melitele's divine realm with his own eyes. But he still wasn't sure if demigods truly existed.
In the past, the term "demigod" had only ever been used to describe someone of overwhelming power—for example, Hen Gedymdeith, a being who fell short of true divinity, but was leagues above ordinary heroes.
Yet, in truth, gods weren't human. Neither Melitele nor Kreve had ever been humans who walked the Northern Continent and ascended into godhood.
Lately, the emergence of Legendary Vessels seemed to hint at some form of ascension through faith. The case of the prophet Lebioda was especially suspicious.
But the Northern Continent had never recognized any clear stages like mortal → demigod → deity. That pathway simply didn't exist.
Gods had never been humans raised to a higher plane—they were born as gods. But that reindeer…
Allen closed his eyes and recalled the golden antlers that looked like a crown, gleaming with a brilliance that felt undeniably divine.
"It's definitely not a god," he murmured. "In that forest, I could clearly feel the ambient emotions of the void. The reindeer gave off a calm aura, but not the kind of detachment gods have."
That wasn't to say gods lacked emotion.
Melitele, for instance, could shift between girlish playfulness, the nurturing warmth of a mother, and the sternness of an old woman.
But those were simply expressions—external reflections of her divine roles and domains. At her core, it was divinity that governed her nature, not emotion.
The reindeer was different. Its emotions were deeply human, almost indistinguishably so.
The contrast was striking. Thus, the concept of a demigod—a being still rooted in humanity but stepping onto the path of divinity—was the only fitting description Allen could think of.
"Who was he? Is there really a path to godhood in the world of witchers?"
That thought left Allen momentarily dazed.
Lebioda, the druids, the Nameless Lake…
Having shared the essence of nature through the Leshen Element, had he already stepped onto that path?
And if so, how should he walk it?
If he became a god, then the sorcerers, the Wild Hunt... even the White Frost—well, no, not the White Frost. Melitele herself had no power over it. But at the very least, the sorcerers and the Hunt would no longer pose much threat.
"Hoo—"
Allen let out a long breath.
Becoming a god still felt far too distant. He didn't even know what a Legendary Vessel really was yet...
Wait!
Allen suddenly furrowed his brow, remembering the first Element he had ever used.
"After using the @#￥%& Element, why didn't I retain any memory of it?"
"When I used the Leshen Element, even though it felt like a dream, I remembered everything vividly."
"Which means… the forgetfulness wasn't normal."
"So what exactly did I see back then? Was it also some origin point?"
Allen tried to recall, but his mind remained a blank void. He could only remember the moments before using the @#￥%& Element, and the scene after he woke up—when Vesemir and Nenneke had looked at him with suspicion and caution, as if he had merely blacked out in between.
"No good…" he sighed, shaking his head. "I can't recall anything at all."
The green vine coiled around his arm sensed his frustration and gently brushed against the back of his hand, as if offering comfort.
Allen studied quietly for a long time.
After using the Leshen Element, its effects were far more intuitive and obvious than those of the @#￥%& Element. To this day, he still didn't know how the skill Beast Roar: Berserk had been parsed. The whole process seemed like a black box.
"Could it be that the @#￥%& Element, unlike the Leshen one, is more obscure because it stems from a true evil god—and thus requires an even higher degree of mastery?" Allen speculated, though he clearly had no answer.
Just as he was about to do what he usually did—file the question away in his mental "memo pad" to revisit when more information surfaced—he suddenly realized...
Even if Ianna likely didn't know, and Tissaia de Vries wasn't the right person to ask, it didn't mean he had no sources of information at all.
"That reindeer—if it really is a demigod, then it must know what Elements are!"
"It might even know what Legendary Vessels are."
"More importantly, while it once stood between me and the Origin, it ultimately stepped aside. Maybe not out of goodwill, but at least it wasn't hostile…"
"It's possible!"
"Totally possible!"
Allen became visibly excited.
And it wasn't just the two major questions—Elements and Legendary Vessels—that he wanted answers to…
Where exactly was that forest?
What did the plants within symbolize?
Were those animals actually druids?
Was the lake truly the Origin?
And why did his form in the forest resemble the golden yeti-like King Kanu, the form he awakened during his path of Beast Roar?
What did that mean? What benefit could it bring? Could he one day, like those legendary druids, take on a beast form—transform into a creature like King Kanu?
He still vividly remembered the crushing pressure brought by King Kanu and the One-Eye Clan. It far surpassed that of Hen Gedymdeith or even Tissaia de Vries.
It was the purest, most primal sense of power.
If he could transform into King Kanu, "battle strength increase" wouldn't even begin to describe it.
At this moment—
He had countless questions, and it felt like all of them could be answered within that mysterious forest. So he acted immediately.
Amid the floral fragrance filling the room, Allen shut his eyes.
A long moment passed.
Allen slowly opened his eyes in confusion.
"That forest… how do I get back there?"
-----------------------------------
Mayena Forest.
"It's been a long time since this forest was so lively," said Elwin, tapping his staff carved from redwood as he stepped across decaying leaves, glancing around at the druids arriving from all directions.
"A long time?" Ezekiel asked, stroking a small deer that had come close without fear. "Has Mayena ever gathered like this before? I don't recall it."
"Honestly, this is the first time I've even heard the summoning bell…"
He looked around, his eyes pausing on the deer, cattle, squirrels, and bears walking alongside the druids—creatures clearly distinct from normal animals.
"I've never seen so many devoted followers of the Path of Nature in Mayena before… let alone Archdruids who've mastered their nature forms."
"I always thought it was just the twenty of us here, plus a few apprentices…"
"How long have you been here?" asked the bearded Aedus, nodding respectfully to a passing brown bear. "Has it even been seven years?"
"About five years," Ezekiel replied, patting the little deer on the head and sending it off to play. "Hard to believe I've already been studying in Mayena for that long."
"No wonder then…" Aedus looked up at the towering oaks in the distance, thoughtful. "Before you arrived—maybe seven or eight years ago—Mayena wasn't exactly lively, but the gathering bell used to ring quite often."
"That's right…" Elwin added nostalgically. "Back then, the Grand Master would regularly summon us, to teach the truths of nature. We'd gather every week or two…"
"It was just like this now."
He looked around. "These druids here are Mayena's oldest—sages wholly devoted to the truths of nature."
"The brown bear is Master Isaac McKinney—he's walked nearly the entire path of primal strength. The smaller one is his former apprentice, Cniss…"
"The raven is Master Zebi Ortega…"
"And Master Siegfried Kruger is…"
Elwin introduced them to Ezekiel one by one.
"You know all of them?" Ezekiel asked in surprise.
Elwin nodded. "If it weren't for the Grand Master's gatherings in the past, I wouldn't either."
"The masters are all kind, wise elders. When the Grand Master was in seclusion, we could bring our questions to them—and they'd always answer patiently and thoroughly."
"Of course…"
"The Grand Master's understanding of the Path of Nature is still the highest. His teachings are profound yet easy to grasp. It's said many of the archdruids were once his students."
"I see…" Ezekiel said with some envy. The master of the Mayena Druid Circle was the one who had gone furthest on the Path of Nature in the entire Northern Continent.
No one doubted it—nor could they.
Unlike sorcerers, whose status could depend on magical ability, academic prestige, political influence, or wealth, druids pursued a singular goal: harmony with nature. That was their only and ultimate desire.
And in the Sacred Grove, this desire manifested in the clearest way possible: as proximity to the Sacred Lake.
There was no doubt—the master of the Mayena Druid Circle was the closest to it. The only one.
Of course…
It now seemed there might be another.
Back then—
When he left the Skellige Isles and chose to settle here, it had been because of the reputation.
He'd never imagined he'd receive direct guidance from the Grand Master himself—but he also hadn't expected that Elwin, Aedus, and the others who had arrived before him had been so incredibly fortunate.
The Grand Master didn't just teach in person—he did so frequently.
Jealousy!
Truly, it was maddeningly enviable!
"Ezekiel!" A bald druid approached from nearby. Like all druids, he was disheveled and unkempt, though his features were clearly younger than most. He leaned on a wooden staff, carefully stepping aside for what looked like a squirrel—but was clearly a powerful archdruid in disguise.
"Ezekiel, what's going on in Mayena? Why were we suddenly summoned? And why are there so many… so many elders here?"
Ezekiel blinked, then asked in return, "You don't know? Weren't you meditating just now?"
"Know what?" The bald druid scratched his head. "It's my turn to patrol the woods this week. Where would I find time to meditate? Wait—did I miss something important?"
After all, druids of the circle didn't spend all their time meditating.
The Mayena Druid Circle, being one of the most famous on the entire continent, was a functioning organization with many tasks requiring druids' attention.
Forest patrol was one such duty—druids patrolling the Mayena Forest served as a deterrent to poachers, tended to insect infestations, healed wounded wildlife, and removed threats to the natural balance—such as carrion creatures. So yes, it could be extremely busy.
Yet even so, such tasks were among the most valued responsibilities.
While the days during a seven-day patrol were packed, protecting nature and maintaining ecological harmony was itself a form of cultivation. Done well, it could even earn the favor of the Mother of Nature.
Even without tangible rewards, many druids relished duties aligned with the natural order.
In fact, some druid circles placed such high value on forest patrols that they saw them as a superior form of communion with nature, even more so than meditation.
Such were the differing philosophies among druid circles.
It's worth mentioning that the most disliked duties were those involving requests from nearby nobles.
They were complex, offered little benefit to one's cultivation, and if the noble happened to be a fool, you could end up wasting the trip with no gain at all.
Which… was often the case.
"Unlucky timing, Heinrich," Aedus teased with a chuckle.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The bald druid, Heinrich, frowned. "What does missing meditation have to do with anything? The Sacred Grove couldn't have… wait… no way—was it really the Sacred Grove?!"
Seeing the looks on Aedus, Elwin, and Ezekiel's faces, Heinrich momentarily forgot his surroundings.
His shout broke the stillness of Mayena Forest.
Bears, squirrels, magpies, and ravens turned their heads toward him, gazes aged and puzzled.
"Keep it down!"
Aedus shot Heinrich a glare, then quickly apologized to the gathered animals large and small.
Ezekiel pulled the now ducking Heinrich aside and told him everything: the appearance of the golden-furred beast in the Sacred Grove, its stride across the entire grove, passing the gathered druids to stand before the Grand Master, and finally, its contact with the Source Lake.
Throughout the tale, Heinrich repeatedly gaped in shock, each time muffled tightly by the three druids who had come prepared, refusing to let him utter a sound.
"How could a druid, on his first entry into the Sacred Grove, walk straight to the Mother of Nature's Source Lake?"
When the story was finished, Heinrich whispered in disbelief.
"Who knows?" Aedus shrugged. "But that's what happened. Every druid meditating in the grove witnessed it."
"So the Grand Master, who hasn't shown himself in nearly ten years, rang the gathering bell just for this?"
"For this exact reason…" Ezekiel gave Heinrich a side glance. "Isn't that enough? It's the Source Lake we're talking about. I've spent over thirty years and have barely left the 'grasslands.' I don't even know if I'll ever glimpse the Sacred Lake's shimmering light in my lifetime…"
Heinrich waved his hands quickly. "You know I didn't mean it that way. I just… I just can't believe someone made it there in an instant…"
Thinking about how he had barely gone farther than Ezekiel, he slumped in discouragement.
"Who wouldn't want to see it? I dream of it every night."
The four druids fell silent for a moment.
"Actually, we don't know for certain," Elwin said carefully, offering rare reassurance among druids as he patted Heinrich's shoulder. "We only heard the bell. We can't be sure it was rung by the Grand Master himself, or that it's about that golden beast. Maybe…"
Before he could finish—
BOOM~
A green radiance shot skyward from the heart of the Mayena Forest.
...
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