Kingdom Era

Chapter 12 Golden Waterfall

Belinda, who was leading the group, didn't seem afraid of these monsters. She even dared to blow a cheerful whistle to a giant rhinoceros monster.

Little Betty, on the other hand, looked around excitedly, as if it was her first time seeing so many monsters. Before long, a colorful butterfly caught her attention as it danced around Betty friskily. Betty waved her hands around but couldn’t catch it however hard she tried.

Alan looked around as excitedly as the two sisters did. It was his first time coming in such close contact with so many monsters. The truth was that he had only about these monsters from those drunk mercenaries in the tavern.

For instance, one man claimed that he killed a fierce lion with one swing of his sword, and another said he punched a hot-blooded iron cattle to death in one blow. Alan now seriously suspected them of simply boasting and talking big!

He saw with his own eyes how that hot-blooded iron cattle charged toward and knocked down a giant tree so thick that seven adults could hardly encircle it. Yet, this hot-blooded iron cattle was pounced on and torn apart with ease by the fierce lion.

Compared to the relaxed mood that Alan was in, Gossen looked solemn and remained alert of any dangers lurking in their surroundings. His only mission was to protect Alan well!

As they marched deeper into the forest for the rest of the day, they saw fewer monsters as the forest turned denser. Thick, towering trees that could barely be encircled by a dozen adults could be seen everywhere.

Belinda, who had been brisk and lively earlier, put her finger on her lips and hushed Alan. She observed their surroundings carefully and seriously for any movements, while the divine streaked deer’s eyes stayed wide open and alert.

Gossen, who was standing behind Alan, turned somber and grim-faced. The aura of the place was becoming extremely overwhelming, and he knew that they had entered the core zone of the Misty Forest.

“Look at the tall, towering mountains over there!”

After traveling through a ridge, Alan saw a range of mountains soaring into the sky in the distance.

“The Cloud-reaching Mountain?” Gossen said as he looked at Belinda.

Belinda responded excitedly, “Yes, that's it! We call it the Mountain of Stianlo, which means an unreachable place. The Golden Waterfall is just around the corner!”

No one had any idea how on earth Belinda knew the way to the Golden Waterfall, but each time she stopped after walking for a distance, she would put her palm against a huge, ancient oak before deciding on the next turn.

Alan couldn’t help but ask after she did that a few times, “Belinda, what are you doing?”

As he asked, he imitated Belinda and put his hand against the trunk, but felt nothing except for the rough texture of the bark.

“This is the talent of the elven: We can communicate with plants. The forest is our home and the trees are our friends. These huge oaks have been living forever and they have a mind of their own,” Belinda answered in all seriousness.

Alan finally understood what was going on and felt somewhat envious. The elven were indeed blessed by the God of nature to be born with such amazing talent.

“There are many huge, bad-tempered fellows living in here. Let’s try not to mess with them. The giant trees will tell us where we should go,” Belinda explained.

Alan nodded even though he didn’t fully understand what she meant. As a matter of fact, he didn’t feel anything at all. The only difference he could feel was that this place was quieter than usual, and that was about it.

On the other hand, Gossen had a strong feeling about this place and refused to let his guard down. Somehow, he had been unable to shake off the perception of threat ever since they set foot into the core area.

The squad of four walked on for a few more hours. After they climbed through another mountain range, Alan finally saw a majestic waterfall that seemed to descend from the clouds in the sky. Under the bright rays of the sun, it flickered brightly like a rainbow.

“The Golden Waterfall!” Belinda was so overwhelmed with excitement that she almost cried, and she was accompanied by Little Betty who also cried out delightfully.

Gossen was the only exception who was not shocked by the giant golden waterfall. Instead, he simply stood behind Alan vigilantly.

“Your home is really far away, isn’t it?” Alan tore his gaze from the huge waterfall and looked back at the route they took as he lamented.

“Thank you, Alan!” Belinda looked at Alan with gratitude.

“I’ve fulfilled my promise to you. Don’t forget what you promised to me,” Alan remarked with a smile.

Belinda’s face flushed at once. She had agreed to be his girlfriend, but that was merely a lie she said to make him send them back. But now, she found that Alan was indeed different from those greedy and disgusting humans she met previously. Although he spoke flippantly, he treated them genuinely as friends.

“Wait a moment here, please.” Instead of responding to Alan’s statement, she took out a tiny conch covered in beautiful green patterns and blew it gently. A transparent wave immediately rippled from the conch into the distance.

Not long later, Gossen’s face twitched and he sprang right in front of Alan in one swift stride.

Right at that moment, a clear hoot sounded in the air.

“Monster!” Alan yelled and stared at the colorful shadow that appeared in the sky from afar, agape. It was a giant bird with its beautiful wings spread out at least ten meters wide.

Before Alan could collect himself, it descended from the sky and landed right before the squad.

It was then that Alan finally managed to see what the giant bird really looked like. It was covered with colorful feathers and a white crest stood proudly on top of its head. It looked just like the legendary phoenix, beautiful and divine.

“The ninth-grade divine bird of light!” Gossen grimly recited the monster’s name.

Upon hearing that, Alan was taken aback. He was surprised to know that this beautiful creature before his eyes was the legendary ninth-grade divine monster.

What surprised Alan even more was a woman standing on the back of the bird. She was tall and was wearing a wreath made of green vine. Her beautiful face shone with the dignity and grace of a queen, whereas her pointed ears told of the race she belonged to.

Just then, multiple handsome male elves appeared out of nowhere with strange longbows in their hands. They exuded tough, offensive vibes as they surrounded Alan and Gossen.

“Mother!”

“Mommy!”

Belinda couldn’t help but choke on her tears as she called out to the woman, with Betty rushing forward alongside her too.

“My poor girls!”

The woman grew emotional as well at the sight of Belinda and Betty. She bent over to stroke little Betty’s head, kissed her on the forehead, and hugged Belinda who was crying out of joy.

Alan and Gossen stood there witnessing the warm, touching moment. Never had he expected this elegant woman to be the mother of this pair of sisters.

After calming herself down, Belinda wiped her tears away and introduced Alan and Gossen to her mother. “Mother, this is my friend Alan and his guard. They sent us back here.”

“This is my mother, Madeline. She is also the leader of our tribe!” Belinda told Alan.

Alan was secretly surprised to find out that Belinda and little Betty turned out to be the daughters of the tribe leader. No wonder they were so highly regarded, Alan thought.

He bowed to the woman as gentlemanly as he could. “Honorable and beautiful Lady Madeline, it’s such a great honor to meet you!”