Kael returned to Starlight Town in high spirits.
The trip to Aelindale had gone smoother than he could have ever imagined. Not only had he secured the [Eye of Elunara], but he’d also managed to hand off [Aureleaf's Scepter] to Caelthas. With a Divine artifact in his possession, Caelthas no longer had to endure any humiliation from Silverglade.
As for Arch Elder Myran taking over the Aelindale World Tree—that was definitely off the table. Miana would either recall him, or Caelthas would kick him out. Whatever conflict erupted between them afterward wasn't Kael's problem.
His only focus now was hollowing out the World Tree outside the Grom'kar Outpost and founding his village!
It was already 11:00 PM. Normally, Kael would be logging off and heading to bed by now. But tonight, he stayed online.
He stood at the base of the massive World Tree, surrounded by a sea of players from Starlight Town.
"Dawnbreaker is going to carve a new village into the World Tree!"
Isolde had pinned the announcement in the Starlight Town chat channel. Almost every player online—busy or not—had rushed over. No one had ever seen anything like this before.
"I knew it! That's why he wiped out the Grom'kar Outpost a few days ago."
"Yeah, the elves and The WarChief are sworn enemies. If he hadn't destroyed the outpost, this World Tree probably wouldn't have grown properly."
"And to think so many people were flaming Sir Dawnbreaker back then, saying he destroyed their village for no reason and ruined it for everyone."
"I know, right? I was arguing with the trolls in the forums, but honestly, I wasn't too confident about it myself."
"Even when the tree was planted, people were making snide remarks, saying it had nothing to do with Starlight Town."
"Heh, let's see if those hypocrites try to come in and do quests once the village is built."
"Speaking of which, this tree is huge, but is it really big enough to build a whole village inside?"
"The elves are masters of spatial magic. I'm sure they have a way."
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Kael and Isilwen stepped up to the trunk. Kael held Isilwen's right hand while slowly pressing his left against the bark.
The moment his palm made contact, the World Tree shuddered.
A pulse of magical energy flared around Isilwen, and she placed her free hand against the trunk as well. After a moment, she nodded at Kael. They both let go.
The brief ritual was a transfer of authority. As the master of the World Tree, Kael was authorizing Isilwen to carve out the interior and construct the village.
Isilwen closed her eyes and began weaving spatial magic. Despite her youth, the elven priestess had lived through the destruction of the old Aelindale World Tree and the birth of the new one. While she might not boast about her other skills, her mastery of spatial magic rivaled anyone in her generation.
Ten minutes later, Isilwen opened her eyes. "The village is complete, Sir Dawnbreaker. Please give it a name."
Kael nodded as two dialogue boxes popped up in front of him.
[Please name the World Tree:]
"Starlight World Tree."
[Please name the village:]
"The Village of Starbough."
[Naming complete. Loading world map... 1%... 2%...]
[Load complete. The Starlight World Tree and The Village of Starbough have officially entered the world of Godpath.]
Instantly, a server-wide announcement blared across the global channel.
[System: New zones added—Starlight World Tree and The Village of Starbough. Welcome, adventurers, to explore!]
[System: New zones added...]
Reading the announcement, Kael finally let out a long breath. It had been over a month since he left the village of Aelinbough, grinding tirelessly to claim a World Tree of his own. If he counted his past life, he had been chasing this dream for nearly a decade.
Now, it was finally a reality.
The Starlight Town players erupted into deafening cheers the second they saw the system prompt. Everyone was itching to charge in and see what their new World Tree village looked like. But Kael hadn't moved yet, and no one dared to enter before him.
Isilwen gestured toward the entrance. Kael nodded and stepped into the village that millions of players could only dream of.
[System: Welcome to The Village of Starbough.]
Nice to hear that prompt again.
Kael blinked. Outside, it was the dead of night, but inside, it was as bright as day.
The Village of Starbough had four levels. Aside from the observatory on the top floor, the other three were massive hubs for players and NPCs. Each floor was roughly the size of the original Starlight Village. Calling this a "village" was an understatement; it was easily the size of a town.
To Kael's surprise, the interior wasn't just filled with classic elven architecture. Lush, vibrant plant life grew everywhere—plants he recognized from the list Isilwen had given him weeks ago.
She hadn't gathered those materials to decorate her own room. She had magically cultivated them to furnish the entire village!
Realizing this, Kael looked at Isilwen with deep gratitude.
Seeing his obvious delight, Isilwen smiled, glad her efforts had paid off. She pointed toward the ceiling. "Sir Dawnbreaker, shall we proceed to the observatory to install the [Eye of Elunara]?"
Kael nodded. Isilwen waved her hand, and they were instantly teleported to the top floor.
Like the one in Aelindale, the observatory had an opening in the roof to house the artifact. Isilwen led Kael to the altar and nodded.
Kael pulled the [Eye of Elunara] from his inventory. In his hand, it looked utterly unremarkable—just a glass marble.
As Isilwen chanted, the artifact floated out of Kael's palm, rising slowly into the air. With every inch it ascended, it grew larger and brighter.
The moment it locked into place, the [Eye of Elunara] unleashed a blinding shockwave of light. It was intense, but didn't hurt his eyes. For a hundred miles in every direction, the landscape was bathed in a brilliant white glow.
Then, the light slowly retracted. It settled into a soft, steady luminescence, like a massive pearl suspended in the night sky.
Isilwen dropped to one knee and bowed her head. "Congratulations, Arch Elder Dawnbreaker. You are officially the administrator of the Starlight World Tree."
Kael was completely thrown off by the title. "Me? Arch Elder?"
Isilwen nodded. "Yes. Anyone recognized by a World Tree and appointed as its administrator is an Arch Elder."
"Even if I'm not an elf?"
"...There is no precedent for it, but there is no law against it either."
Kael checked his status menu. He didn't have an "Arch Elder" title, nor did he receive any stat bonuses. He realized the title was just Isilwen's personal way of honoring him.
Just then, a system notification flashed across his vision.
[System: The Elven High Council will test you in 3 days. Please prepare accordingly.]
Kael nearly choked on his own spit.
Prepare my ass! They're all Level 60 governor-tier monsters! How the hell am I supposed to prepare for that?