Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 869 - 808

The silver-haired beard was less than ten centimeters off the ground, stubbornly curling as a few tender buds poked their heads out from the cracks, swaying with the elder’s steps. Clad in a dark cyan robe, the old man strode with vigor, and even though he was just pacing back and forth in the deep mountain forests, he spoke with confidence.

"Her peculiar aura is too overpowering, leaving a profound impression. She achieves with a single glance or action what takes others a long time to convey through interaction. Faelga easily navigates her social networks, resulting in emotional responses that are detached and unusual compared to most, which is not good. The Elves are under her terrifying rule..."

"I’m sitting here to take a break, to listen to the breath of the forest and the pleasant chirping of birds. Big brother, could you please be peaceful and not criticize our foster daughter in that tone, especially since from what I can see, Faelga is doing quite well?" The speaker was a "moss wall," which would be indistinguishable if not for the moving lips. His features, blending with the moss, seemed to grow on tree roots. As his wrinkled face moved, he detached from the moss, the Disguise Transformation Technique fading, and an elderly Elf in a dark green robe sat at the cave’s entrance. His skin was like cracked bark, looking even older than his leader.

"Quiet, Second Elder! Don’t disturb my thoughts!" The circling old man stopped, chided, and then resumed his monologue. He wasn’t regarding his brother as a listener; he was merely talking to himself.

"Her aura of fear, I never thought there would be such a person, whose mere first glance could plunge others into fear. There must be a way to change her special talent... Right, why is her daughter Tiffany not affected, hmm... maybe because she’s a child, a child with blood ties to Faelga. The bland feedback mechanism makes it hard for her to feel emotions, so the familial closeness becomes even more precious to her. She will treasure her family members as the only precious possessions, for they are the ones she truly feels need her affection. The indifferent queen compensates all her indulgence on her daughter; we should start from this angle to change her... Faelga can do better, at least pretend to be normal."

His frank gaze made it clear to his brother that the words that followed were indeed a complaint about some of Faelga’s annoying habits.

"She only smiles! Since she was a child, no matter sad or angry, she displays that hideous grin in every negative emotion. What is there to laugh about? Like a lunatic, a queen who cannot effectively respond to her subjects cannot be a good queen!" He snorted and spat on the ground by his feet.

"What else can she do! Faelga grew up amidst the hatred of her only kin. She can be domineering, cruel, and sometimes unreasonable, but she is still a good kid..." The Second Elder touched his chest and patted lightly, "We definitely can’t do better than her, let’s not be too idealistic, Great Elder."

"What I’m angry about is not that!" The old man glared at his brother, then resumed pacing. "Faelga is smart, she knows what’s right and can judge rationally, but she just won’t do it! She could become a wise and elegant ruler, yet she insists on being capricious and wilful, she doesn’t hold herself to the strictest standards."

"Talking behind my back?" A teasing tone made the old man’s eyebrows stand on end as he turned to see his foster daughter standing behind him in a semi-transparent dress, extravagantly dressed with that mocking smile he loathed, "Disrespect to the queen is punishable, even for you Elders."

"Don’t mention it, I’m just squandering a century of nurturing grace!" The old man resumed pacing, his complaints laced with dissatisfaction towards Faelga’s attire, endlessly mumbling about royal etiquette and recalling the elegant Elf monarchs of the past.

Seizing the opportunity as he prattled on, the Second Elder gestured for Faelga to come and sit beside him, smiling bent over to suggest she take a seat next to him.

"He’s stuck in his ways, you know that." The Second Elder winked at Faelga, draping his lichen cloak over his foster daughter, "When we die, remember to bury me far from him, his loud voice could burst clouds in the sky."

Faelga leaned on the old man’s shoulder, sniffing lightly, "You’ve changed perfumes, Fourth Father."

The Second Elder’s face lit up like a blooming chrysanthemum, cheerfully responding: "Lily-scented, would you like to try it? I’ve prepared a bottle for you."

The pair, young and old, began exchanging thoughts about perfume, utterly unconcerned about the noisy, domineering old man.

"Is the queenly work going smoothly? After the battle, it’s time for a rest."

"As usual, the enemies are too weak." Faelga sniffed the back of her hand, then compared it to the Second Elder’s scent, finding his more pleasant.

"What about your special aura, still can’t turn it off?"

"I can control my breath to stop, but not my aura." Faelga shrugged her shoulders.

"That’s quite troublesome, your intimidating aura really hinders normal interactions. Was Great Elder’s method helpful? The one where you imagine others to be someone as dear to you as Tiffany?"

Faelga curled her lips in response.

"Bad idea. It made me realize that abnormal care is bound to result in abnormal outcomes. I had to replace my spokesperson immediately." As Faelga smelled the scent on her own body, she scanned herself as if searching for the whiff of a fear aura. "I’ve always found your analysis rather mystical, how my appearance alone is a nightmare, a terrifying existence to be feared. I can’t really feel anything different about myself; are you guys actually afraid of me?"

The Second Elder smiled helplessly and patted Faelga’s head.

"Yes, when the four of us first met you, we did get the goosebumps, you know. You were only the size of a palm back then. Even after so many years with you, we still have involuntary reactions from time to time—look, the hairs on my skin are standing up. Not to mention the Third and Fourth Fathers—they could still be scared to death by you."

"What about Great Elder? I can’t see at all that he’s scared of me," Faelga tugged at her face, pointing at the irascible old man who, perhaps sensing his foster daughter’s gaze, glared over in their direction.

The Second Elder leaned closer to Faelga and whispered, "This man here has been exploiting a ten-minute lead for a lifetime, and you, a daughter raised by him..."

"I can only say his elder brother complex is even more incurable than your fear aura."

He overheard.

"Being born ten minutes early means I’m older than you!"

"Raising you for a hundred years makes me your Great Elder!"

The Second Elder looked around awkwardly as Faelga stared straight at the stubborn old man.

"Where did Tiffany go, Daddy?" The full sense of dependency in her soft call extinguished the Great Elder’s anger. He didn’t know whether to be angry or to laugh, his face turning red as he stood there before finally squeezing out a sentence.

"Fourth Father took her out to play."

Faelga, laughing, said, "Fourth Father really loves children, doesn’t he?"

"No, he despises them; it’s just that Tiffany keeps dragging him around. It’s fair to say, as your daughter, she cleverly chose the easiest one to bully."

Faelga proudly tilted her nose.

Their conversation was interrupted by footsteps coming from behind the three, out of the cave. A disheveled old man with a bird’s nest on his head and dark circles under his eyes came running out of the hole, he started to laugh as soon as he saw Faelga.

"We’ve succeeded, my dear daughter!"

"I’ve found the bridge between dreams and the mind, just as you described it."

"I found that deep sea of the mind! We can draw strength from dreams; our tribespeople will undergo a transformation. Perhaps we should call ourselves the Children of Dreams, the Dream Elves."