Varian's senses expanded to the fullest, covering an area as large as the solar system. But all he could capture was the trunk of a tree. No, not even the full trunk, only a portion of it.
"This," Maria pointed to the brown ground under them and said with a smirk. "Is the world tree. It grows from the 60th floor to the 31st floor in a space parallel to the one the floors reside. We're heading to the roots of the tree."
"The roots?" Varian looked around.
Above him was endless darkness of empty space. Below him was the dark brown ground that extended to the edge of his vision.
If they travelled the normal way, it'd be hell of a long journey.
"Can't we just teleport?"
"No." Maria said and pointed to the ground.
It began to wriggle and a few humanoid creatures began to break out.
Varian stepped back and Maria hurriedly put on a bracelet onto his wrist. His presence decreased and started to blend with that of the world tree.
Before he could ask why, she used another treasure and a huge stealth formation enveloped them.
The elves that just appeared looked around frantically. They were lithe and beautiful like all the elves he knew, but their eyes didn't have the calm and grace innate to most tribes in their kind.
Varian saw only one emotion in their eyes.
Fury.
"The natural protectors of the World Tree. They're billions of them or maybe more." Maria spoke through a special communication device even though they were next to each other.
"We're the pests of the world tree, targets that must be eliminated. If we do anything conspicuous, we'll face the chase of near endless elves."
Varian rubbed between his brows and nodded.
"Don't worry, as long as we use the concealing treasures and keep a low profile, we'll be fine."
The elves left after an unfruitful search and the duo started their travel to the bottom of the world tree.
Interestingly, there were mountains—ridges of the tree, valleys, canyons, and even rivers on the world tree. Of course, they were all parts of the tree itself—its ridges, rough textures, leaking liquids, and others. It's just so massive that it appeared like a world.
Varian could feel the immense vitality brimming from the tree, a lifeforce so huge that he felt like an ant in front of the sun.
'Is this a rank 9 creature? Or a divine being?' He gulped down his saliva and continued the travel.
The treasure mask <Thief Of the Tower> was much better than the stealth treasures Maria was using. But it lost its stealth upon attack.
So, Varian decided to use her treasures for now.
More than a day passed and interestingly, the rules of the tower didn't apply here. So, there was no killing of players or natives needed.
Even if there was a need, Varian and Maria stored enough of the 'bounty' of criminals from the places they visited for this very purpose.
The journey was quiet.
Maria grew nervous as she grew closer to the location of her mission.
Varian grew nervous as he imagined all the myths he read about the world tree. The roots were definitely not a normal place.
"You can leave after we reach the 59th-floor area." Maria suddenly spoke.
"But what about me leaking about the mission?"
"You won't." Maria looked into his eyes and said in a confident tone. "It's not that I trust you that much, but you won't bother doing such things."
"Heh, even I don't know what I'll do next morning and you're predicting my actions." Varian waved his hand in dismissal.
Maria wanted to argue when a gemstone on her necklace began to glow. Her expression grew graver than any time he had ever seen and she tapped on the gem.
"We sensed you're close by! Support! Support!"
"Supp—"
Maria started a sprint without a word. Varian followed. Their speeds had reached a realm of their own. Varian could sprint across the whole earth in a second when he was rank 3.
Despite being concealed by treasures, their speed was already starting to attract the elves, as evidenced by the tremors from the ground.
Varian tried putting on the <Thief Of The Tower> and his stealth soared to the point he no longer aroused any vigilance. But he had only one treasure, so Maria's sprint still put them in a dangerous position.
But Maria decided to take an even bigger risk. "No, this isn't fast enough! We need to teleport!"
"Are you crazy? The elves will be after us!"
"You have that stealth treasure!"
"It won't work if I take you with me!"
"I have to go!" Maria's eyes were determined.
Varian would've knocked her off if he could and prevented any risk. But she's still a bit stronger than him. Even if he could take a chance with the artifacts, a fight now meant inviting gazillion elves to feast on their flesh.
"Y-You fucking donkey!" Varian cursed.
The space around them distorted and the activity of taking another person exceeded the scope of Varian's treasure.
An elf broke out from the ground like a zombie and sensed the disturbances in space. Around her, a hundred more elves broke the ground.
After sensing the fluctuations, they went back into the tree and the holes miraculously closed up.
A piece of news was transmitted to the elves down the tree.
When Varian appeared in a distant location, this time, the elves appeared right after he left.
And with each teleportation, the elves were getting closer and closer to spotting him.
"It's this place!" Maria dashed into a huge mountain range that stretched for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Maria climbed a mountain and entered a maze of caves, her speed increasing with every moment. "They're in that cave, heavily injured after being ambushed by…"
She stopped in front of an empty wall.
Varian stopped behind her, his face deadpan. "There were no fights here. The last time someone came here was 6 hours ago."
"T-They…how could they…" Maria's eyes grew dull.
And more than a million elves flooded the mountain.
The weakest was a rank 1 celestial.
