Full-Time Psychic Martial Artist

Two steep, rocky mountain ranges cut the entire northern forest into a funnel shape, with the opening of the funnel being the only entrance and exit to the valley. The Northern Forest Fortress was built in this strategic location.

[Audiobook Tip: There is a reference image here.]

When Lorne arrived at Northwood Fortress, the moon was high in the sky, and it was already midnight.

The fortress gates were not closed, but were heavily guarded.

As Lorne passed through the fortress training ground, he saw some elven soldiers setting up tents, clearly preparing to house the elves who had evacuated from the valley.

Lorne, carrying the magic whistle given to him by Saloville, made his way to the fortress command room and met Chief Commander Kovina.

The Sun Elves, also known as the "Light Elves," generally worship the goddess of light, Serios.

Sun elves have light golden hair like the sun, amber eyes, and delicate bronze or wheat-colored skin; their features resemble those of mixed Eastern and Western descent.

Kovina has long, light blonde hair with slightly curled ends that falls to her shoulders, and bronze skin.

He wore a cotton shirt and trousers underneath, a finely woven chainmail trousers in the middle, and a full set of silver-white, gold-trimmed elven-style armor on top.

The muscular physique of a female leopard fits perfectly with the streamlined armor, making her both beautiful and majestic.

[Kovina, Sun Elf, Level 24 Paladin (Command Mastery Level 7, Oath Mastery Level 5, Slash Mastery Level 4, Aura Mastery Level 4, Divine Power Mastery Level 4), Health 420/420]

[Audiobook Tip: There is a reference image here.]

When Lorne entered the command room, the other person was staring down at the huge sand table in front of him, frowning and deep in thought, looking exhausted.

Lorne examined the sand table closely. The entire northern forest was on it, with the villages of Fallen Leaf and Heath Leaf already marked with flags indicating they had been occupied by orcs.

Kovina also noticed Lorne's arrival.

"Come in, little Lorne. Village Chief Lorne has told me about your situation. Thank God, this is the best news I've heard in days. May Goddess bless the elves," Kovina said to Lorne with a smile.

"May the goddess bless the elves. It's an honor to meet you, Chief Kovina." After greeting her, Lorne quickly walked up to her and took out the orc scout's parchment map from his storage space.

"This is..." Kovina took the map, glanced at it, and her eyes widened.

"I got this from an orc scout..." Lorne briefly explained the situation, including how he found the map and the poison the orc carried.

During the conversation, Lorne noticed that there was another pair of eyes watching him quietly in the room, and they were very close, but there was no hostility in them.

"Senior Salowell said you would find a way to deal with these poisons," Lorne said, taking out the poison along with the orc scout's pouch.

Kovina stretched out two slender fingers, opened the waist pouch, looked inside, and after a few seconds of thought, said, "Neri, take a look at this."

As soon as she finished speaking, a petite female elf with short, jet-black hair, snow-white skin, and light purple eyes quickly emerged from Kovina's shadow.

The scene was as if the shadow was a dark body of water, and she had been hiding beneath it all along.

At this point, Lorne realized that it was this dark elf rogue who had been secretly observing him.

Dark Elves are the most mysterious of all elf subspecies, so mysterious that most elves believe this subspecies has long been extinct or only exists in myths and legends.

Legend has it that they can change their skin and hair color at will, are extremely skilled at disguise and concealment, and are all natural stealth stalkers.

What truly surprised Lorne was that the dark elf before him seemed to be underage, yet he was already a professional, and at a rather high level.

[Neri Shadow, Dark Elf, Level 20 Rogue (Thief Level 4, Shadow Assassin Level 4, Shadow Guard Level 4, Shadow Ranger Level 4, Shadow Dancer Level 4), Health 260/260]

[Audiobook Tip: There is a reference image here.]

Nelly brought her nose to the opening of her waist pouch and sniffed it a few times. She tilted her head slightly, as if recalling something, and then rattled off a string of terms that Lorne had never heard before, like reciting a menu:

"Dream Mushroom, Gastrointestinal Moss, Deformed-Eyed Toad Urine, Shadow Bat Dung..." Nelly's voice was soft and sweet, but her tone was a little silly, creating a unique and endearing contrast with her erudition.

Kovina listened intently, her brows gradually furrowing.

"What's wrong?" Lorne noticed the other's reaction and asked after Nelly finished listing the dishes.

"As far as I know, these things all come from the upper abyss."

Whenever Ioria is corrupted by chaos to a certain extent, the seven goddesses of creation will add an outer shell to the planet to seal away the corruption.

The goddesses will recreate a new world on this new crust, and then transfer the creatures that have not yet been corrupted by chaos to live in the new world.

The old era has come to an end, and a new era has begun.

As for those creatures that have been corrupted by chaos, they remain in the old world to fend for themselves.

However, as chaos relentlessly eroded the earth, it gradually became distorted, and holes and gaps appeared inside the new crust.

These gaps increased in number and size, eventually forming an underground world, which is the "Upper Abyss".

Below the Upper Abyss lies the sealed Old World, commonly known as the 'Lower Abyss' or 'Old World Abyss'.

"So those orcs came from the upper abyss?" Lorne asked.

"I hope not," Kovina murmured thoughtfully. "If it is, then it's terrible."

"Could the divine calamity in Cuiyin City be the work of these orcs?" Lorne asked again.

Kovina paused for a moment, then looked at Lorne and asked, "You knew all along?"

"That's what Senior Saloville told me," Lorne answered truthfully.

Kovina's brows furrowed slightly.

Lorne immediately replied, "I haven't told anyone, and I won't tell anyone, unless you allow it."

Kovina nodded slightly, her brows relaxing: "I trust Saloville's judgment."

"So, is this related to the orcs?" Lorne continued the previous topic.

"Hopefully not. If they are, it means these orcs all come from the lower abyss, and there's nothing worse than that." Kovina's voice was unusually tired, as if she would faint at any moment.

"Madam, you need to get some rest," Lorne said.

"I know, but—" Kovina's words trailed off as her gaze suddenly swept past Lorne's face and looked out the window.

Lorne turned around curiously and saw an owl wobbling in, crashing through the open window and bursting into a cloud of magical smoke the moment it landed.

The smoke quickly dissipated, the owl disappeared, and a muscular male elf appeared on the ground.

Deep green eyes, medium-length grass-green hair, wheat-colored skin, wearing a short robe, arm guards, and gaiters woven from green leaves and black, white, and gray feathers, and a grass headband. Covered in blood, with a large hole torn in the abdomen of the robe from which blood was gushing.

[Audiobook Tip: There is a reference image here.]

"The upper...abyss, many...beasts—" The elven druid fainted before he could finish speaking.

"Salovell!" Kovina exclaimed, rushing over, kneeling on one knee, and reaching out to touch Saloville's body.

Salowell was bathed in a soft white light.

Kovina performed Healing, but it didn't seem to work very well. The woman was too exhausted.

"Hold on, I'll go get Saina."

As Kovina was about to get up, she saw Lorne place his hands on Saloville's wound, and the wound began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

You have completed the campaign event [Saving Saloville], gaining 50 x 10 experience points. (600/1000)

"It's alright, he won't die," Lorne said.

"You know healing magic?" Kovina looked at Lorne with a mixture of surprise and delight.

"Given by the goddess," Lorne casually made up a story.

"Thank you, Goddess, we almost lost him." Kovina clasped her hands together in front of her chest, praising him sincerely.

"Thank you, Goddess," Lorne added, but his hands remained focused on healing.

Nelly quietly walked up behind Lorne, bent down, sniffed Lorne, then tilted her head slightly, her eyes full of doubt.

"What's wrong?" Kovina asked Nelly.

Nelly sniffed Lorne again, somewhat uncertainly, and then said with a slightly naive but certain tone, "There's no goddess scent."

Lorne was slightly taken aback, then alarm bells rang in his mind.

What's going on? What's wrong with this girl? How did she know?

"Are you sure?" Kovina frowned as she looked at Nelly.

She believed both Lorne and Nelly, which only confused her more.

Nelly brought her little nose close to Lorne and sniffed him again, then nodded very firmly.

"Um!"