33

The Witcher: The last King of the elves

Chapter 33 - Tree of Life

The drops passed very quickly; Thranduil had to wait patiently until the reserves of crystals increased again.

To have more warriors and for the Tree of Life to grant different types of troops, it needed to be nourished.

At night, the elves who had gone out hunting returned one after another to their territory. After hearing of the gains obtained,

Erian, as the captain of the vanguard, personally came to report the results to Thranduil.
“Your Majesty, since the battles are becoming more and more intense on the defensive wall where we established an extended control, we have obtained a little over one hundred thousand magic crystals.”

“Any wounded?”

“Nothing that a little water from the Fountain of Life cannot heal; we are all well, Your Majesty.”

“Excellent work as always, Erian. Soon you will see the fruit of all these battles thanks to the Tree of Life.” Thranduil nodded slightly as he thought.

Including what remained from the improved ancient war tree and his own hunt today, he now had more than 170,000 magic crystals. At last, he was no longer as short on resources as the day before.

His need had turned into a constant concern of always having enough resources.

After a while, Erian said respectfully:
“There is one more matter I would like to report to Your Majesty.”

Thranduil rose from his throne, his crimson crown with its wooden appearance casting a solemn aura, and looked intently at Erian as he asked:
“Is there something else?”

Erian, feeling the nobility of his king, instinctively lowered his head and said:
“That is correct, Your Majesty. After these days of hunting, we have practically eliminated all the monsters from the ruins in the city center.”

“The monsters we killed today were almost all giant swamp rats that had escaped from the underground and were fleeing beyond the walls. Once we finish eliminating the giant swamp rats, I fear we will no longer have any monsters to kill in the city center.”

“I understand what you mean.” Thranduil had already considered this, and as he walked toward the Fountain of Life, he said in a calm tone:
“Once the Blood Moon War is over, we will march with our troops to the outskirts of the city. A great number of dark forces are entrenched there, as well as countless magical beasts and monsters. We will not have to worry about a lack of resources for the development of the territory.”

“Do you plan to march out?”

“We must, someday. It will not be us who start a new war with humans. I fear they are beginning to move, and soon we will receive a visit, so we must be ready to give them a proper welcome.”

“Your Majesty, once we recover the entire city, we will begin to rebuild the empire!” Erian, together with the other elves, most desired to have a clean homeland to protect.

It was common desire; living among the trees, now that they were so many, was no longer a good idea. That was why the artisans were accelerating their work on the structures.

Thranduil thought for a moment and said:
“It is time to clear the ruins of the buildings in the city center. We need to rebuild gradually. The walls surrounding it also need to be repaired, defensive posts set, and full control established over what enters our kingdom.”

“The city wall must be completely repaired, for it is the first barrier to keep the dark forces outside the city. With the city walls in place, the evil forces in the outer city will not be able to enter the inner city at will.”

For Thranduil, repairing the city wall was a higher priority than rebuilding the center.

“As you command, Your Majesty!”

“Now that we have more than a thousand great mages among our ranks, as long as a few of them master the earth element, together with the aid of the elven spring water, we should be able to repair all the cracks in the city wall within two days.”

“But Your Majesty, we lack the corresponding magical materials, and the repairs may not be so strong… Therefore, the defensive power of the repaired city wall will be much weaker than before the war.”

Every brick and stone of the elven capital’s walls had been specially made. Both their physical strength and magical resistance were astonishing.

Thranduil had tested it before, yet his magical attack could not even scratch the wall.

Its defensive power far exceeded the reach of solidified earth and stone created by elves through magic. Even when mixed with the debris of the old walls, it was still far inferior to the original ones.

“For now, we cannot demand more.”

Thranduil smiled and said:
“We are not trying to withstand a demon’s attack. We are only blocking the evil forces outside the city temporarily. When conditions are favorable, we will be able to rebuild the wall as it was in our days of glory.”

Originally, Thranduil had planned to let his system repair it directly. If even divine artifacts could be restored, what was a city wall in comparison?

As long as he could afford the magic crystals, his system could repair anything.

But when he heard that an alarming amount of crystals would be required to repair the wall, Thranduil immediately abandoned the idea.

It was better to let them find their own way to do it gradually.

“I see.” Erian said respectfully, “Your Majesty, rest assured, we will complete the task as soon as possible.”

“Mmm.” Thranduil nodded, not giving it much further thought. After the elf left, he began to consider how to correctly use the crystals in his possession.

“The level of the Tree of Life needs to be improved. Giving birth to ten thousand elves a day is clearly not enough.”

Upgrading the Tree of Life to the highest level would allow not only the creation of new races but also the revival of elves who had fallen in battle.

Whether for training soldiers or collecting resources, there would be no shortage.
In fact, Thranduil wanted to train elven clerics and hippogriff knights, but considering the wars, if his soldiers died, reviving only ten thousand per day was not enough.

Their numbers might be large now, but that was insignificant compared to what he knew about the continent, far greater than any human kingdom.

To keep the walls around his empire secure, they needed at least half a million active elves. That alone showed how much was required for continued growth.

However, Thranduil did not only want advanced troops; he also planned to continue expanding the ranks of elven swordsmen and elven archers.

Especially the elven archer. He had always been fond of that type of soldier: high damage and long attack range.

The training cost of fifty energy crystals was only one-sixtieth of that of a Hippogriff Knight.

Once the Elven Archers grew in number, a series of upgrades in the Temple of God’s Blessing would be arranged. The profitability would undoubtedly be as high as training advanced troops directly.

Thranduil truly wanted to see the corps of elven archers strengthened, and what a spectacular sight it would be to see the battlefield covered in a rain of arrows.

“Of course, advanced troops are also indispensable… We will always have to rely on them to fight the strong men of the enemy camp.”

After thinking for a long time, Thranduil decided to prioritize upgrading the Tree of Life.

Regardless of anything else, first he needed to increase its privileges.

…

With the consumption of 100,000 crystals, a brilliant golden light suddenly emerged from the void and then enveloped the Tree of Life.

At the same time, the body of the Tree of Life began to grow rapidly.

Two hundred and fifty meters, three hundred meters…

In the blink of an eye, the Tree of Life reached five hundred meters in height, almost as tall as the ancient world tree.

…

“[…

Tree of Life.

[Information]: The Tree of Life is the main heart of the elven empire. It remains invincible until all other buildings are destroyed. Its abilities include nourishing the elves and resurrecting fallen elven soldiers.

[Information]: It can give life to ten thousand elves each day.

[Rebirth Section]: It can revive thirty thousand elves per day.

…]“

Beneath the Tree of Life, Thranduil let out a slight sigh. Only now did he finally stop feeling anxious.

“The time has come.”