Even though she didn’t exactly mention lifespan, Viktor knew that if ordinary humans take this fruit, they will gain 100 years while supernatural beings like him will gain some power increase, or that was what he learned from Umilia when she talked about there existing special fruits and treasures to extend life span. But she did mention that things like these were almost impossible to get unless one gets lucky.
This was why Viktor wasn’t that angry at Talia for bringing him here. At least he finally got to explore the world he always wanted to, and before he knew it, he had already come upon this special fruit.
”But please don’t tell Allmother I gave this to you. I don’t know if she will scold me or not,” Felina said softly as she rubbed her fingers together.
Viktor’s brows pulled together as he asked, “And why is that?”
Felina timidly looked towards her sides before answering, “Well…we really have a bad experience with strangers in our history. Our realm was once open to the outsiders b-but they all stole and destroyed everything…and the previous Fairy Queen had to sacrifice everything to protect this realm and keep it secure…away from outsiders…” Felina’s voice became teary, her eyes misty as she remembered these sad things.
Viktor already guessed that the reason this realm was so isolated was to protect all these precious things. Even the fairies themselves seemed to be special in many ways, and who can guess the number of evil beings out there who wouldn’t hesitate to exploit them.
”So the previous Fairy Queen is…”
”S-She now lives on as our Holy Godmother…her soul and even the souls of our sisters rests in peace inside our sacred Tree of Life. It is the very tree that makes life flow through this realm, and even we will eventually return to it. That is why it is also known as the Tree of Souls. We can sometimes even feel their presence by sitting before the tree,” Felina said in an emotion-rich voice as she briefly turned to stare at the huge tree in the center, gazing at it with reverence and awe.
Viktor also looked at the tree, and he realized that the longer he looked at it, the more he felt as if the tree had a profound aura around it. Just by looking at it, one could feel their minds being cleansed.
”Since you say you all return to the Tree of Life. Does that mean you all are born from it as well?” Viktor asked since he guessed that there were no men here, but still, these pretty fairies had to come from somewhere, right?
Felina nodded with a bright smile, “Allmother gives birth to us with her grace and the blessings of the souls resting inside the Tree of Life. She has then always taken care of and protected us. And to show how dangerous the outside world is, she would show us glimpses of the things taking place in other realms through the All-Seeing Pool.”
Viktor was astonished that the Fairy Queen could take a peek into other realms, but of course, she was a queen after all.
”And…I suppose you didn’t see anything good…did you?”
Felina shook her head as she blinked her pretty big eyes, “It was sooo bad we were unable to keep on watching. We wanted to help those who were in pain, but the Fairy Queen said that if we left our realm, it could be put in danger other than putting ourselves in danger. Even she said she wanted to help them, but because of how people have used us in the past, it is dangerous for us to go out there.”
”So…how long have you been staying here?”
Felina momentarily looked up in contemplation before answering with a bright expression, “It should be around umm…256 years?”
’She is 256 years old? I should really get an age detector next time…’ Viktor thought since she didn’t really seem like someone who was that old.
For her age, she seemed too innocent but then, considering the nature of her race and the fact that she had been staying inside the entire time was probably the reason, he mused.
”What about you? How old are you?!” Felina excitedly asked since this was the first time she was not only meeting a stranger but a man as well. She had always wanted to know more about the people from outside.
Viktor scratched his cheek as he said with a smile, “It’s quite complicated. Even I don’t know how old I exactly am. But I am at least thousands of years old, I guess…”
Felina’s big pearl-like eyes widened as her lips parted in awe, “Wowwww…you are really very older than me. I heard werewolves are potentially immortal, just like vampires. Can you tell me what your world is like? We barely saw or heard anything from the Lost Realm.”
Viktor began to talk about his own life but only about the funny and light-hearted moments for obvious reasons, making Felina giggle and smile innocently the more she heard about his stories. She never knew his life was so fun and interesting.
*Rustle..*
Viktor suddenly heard the grass behind him rustle and was surprised to see a few pixies and fairies peeking at him timidly. But it seemed more like they were interested in the discussion going on between him and Felina, and the way their eyes were glowing seemed as if they wanted to join in as well.
Viktor shook his head with a smile seeing these cute creatures and gestured to them as he said, “Come and sit with us. I won’t bite.”
”Yes, yes. Sisters, come! He has lots of stories to tell from the Lost Realm!” Felina excitedly called out to them as the others glanced at each other and whispered some things that Viktor was unable to hear.
But within a few moments, all of them meekly stepped out and sat down slowly on the ground while shooting timid glances toward Viktor.
”And…where was I…” Viktor chuckled with a smile as he began to tell them another story and before he knew it, almost all the fairies and pixies in the region were sitting around him, fully engrossed in his stories, learning about various things they never expected to.
