Wizard: I'm leveling up by AFK in another world

After settling her team members in, Ella used the excuse of finding more food to head alone into the depths of the forest.

The deeper you go, the stronger the feeling of tranquility and peace becomes.

Occasionally a gentle breeze blows, rustling the leaves, and sunlight streams through the gaps, making one feel warm and cozy.

Ella felt as if she had returned to that ordinary afternoon not long ago, as if the war and death of the past few days had never existed.

It took about ten minutes to walk.

A clearing in the woods appeared ahead.

Ella paused in her steps.

On the empty grass, several empty wine bottles lay scattered about.

It was a rough clay bottle with suspicious leather sewn on the outside—Ella recognized it at a glance as something used by those savage beastmen.

In the middle of the wine bottle, a ragged figure was curled up.

He had a head of messy silver hair, and although his robes were filthy, their original elegance was still evident.

The man was still clutching a half-empty bottle of wine, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the fragmented sky above, obscured by leaves.

"Who?" Ella warily raised her scimitar.

The man slowly turned his head, revealing a face that was decadent and thin, yet still retained traces of his former handsome features.

Clang.

The scimitar in Ella's hand fell to the ground.

"...Your Highness Elion?"

Her voice trembled, filled with disbelief.

If it weren't for the fact that she had read this face day and night, and it was so familiar to her, that would have been a mistake.

She simply couldn't reconcile the image of that elegant, outstanding young elf with that drunkard clutching cheap orc liquor.

"uh-huh."

The drunkard, upon hearing the address, remained noncommittal and didn't even turn to look at Ella.

He raised the bottle again and took a big gulp, the spicy liquor running down his chin and wetting his collar.

"It really is you!" Ella rushed over and grabbed his shoulder. "What are you doing here? What happened to you? Why...?"

Elian ignored her, staring blankly at the sky, motionless.

But Ella didn't give up; she had so many questions for this man who had once held a high position.

After weighing the options, she decided to carry Elian back to the temporary camp and make further plans.

Noticing the girl's actions, Elian did not stop her, letting her do as she pleased.

"Hey……"

Elian turned his head slightly in surprise; he hadn't expected that the petite-looking Ella could pick him up so easily.

The scent of a man's sweat mingled with a gentle breeze, and Elian saw Ella's face, which was hidden by her long hair.

For a fleeting moment, his pert nose and slightly upturned eyes seemed to overlap with someone else's.

Elian shuddered violently.

The bottle slipped from his hand, and he suddenly reached out and grabbed Ella's arms.

"Anna... Anastasia?!"

Elian's voice cracked with emotion, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face: "Is it really you? When I returned to the World Tree from the Bridge of Sighs, the Royal Court had already been attacked..."

I searched everywhere for you... but... I thought...

Ella was in pain from his pinch and was terrified by his sudden, crazy behavior.

Anastasia... Everyone on Silvertree Island knows that this only daughter of the Elf King, the most beautiful elf in a thousand years, has long harbored a secret crush on him, but no one knows who it is.

It turns out to be His Highness Elion.

Did he mistake himself for a princess?

Ella was a little confused for a moment, after all, Elian was an idol she had worshipped for hundreds of years.

However, she quickly realized, "Your Highness Elion! Please be clear-headed. I am not a princess; I am merely a wandering knight."

She forcefully broke free from Elian's hands and shouted loudly.

Elian stared blankly at the female elven ranger before him, whose body bore the marks of war.

"It's not Anna..."

She was definitely not Anna. Anna's eyes were always gentle, like they held the water of a lake; they never had this sharp edge.

As if all his strength had been drained, Elian slumped down beside the tree roots.

He covered his face, his shoulders convulsing violently, letting out a suppressed, beast-like whimper.

"She's gone...everything is gone..."

Realizing that the person she once admired had completely changed, Ella felt a pang of sadness.

However, she still knelt down and comforted her, "Your Highness, as long as we are alive, we will continue to fight. The elves have not yet lost..."

"No, we lost. We lost from the very beginning."

Elian looked up, his face streaked with tears, his swollen eyes meeting Ella's gaze for the first time.

"Ranger... what's your name?"

"My name is Ella, Your Highness."

"Ella..." Elian pondered the name for a moment, "You didn't go to the Bridge of Sighs, did you?"

"Yes, before the war began, I was a prospective paladin of the church, training in the royal court."

"Do you know what happened on the bridge?"

This question stumped Ella.

When the royal court began its general mobilization, she was only informed that the legion composed of the three aces—the Silvermoon Knights, the Secret Sorcerers, and the Windwalkers—had been defeated on the Bridge of Sighs, suffering heavy losses.

The specific details all say that the evil god manipulated the cowardly orcs, gathering an army and falsely claiming to launch a divine war. This was used to lure the elven army onto the bridge, where they clashed with the equally deceived orc army, only to be outmaneuvered by the despicable and wicked wizard.

"Just as I thought."

After hearing Ella's explanation, Elian gave a bitter smile.

The Silver Tree Elves were like this for tens of thousands of years ago, and they are still like this now, facing imminent calamity.

He began to recount everything that had happened on the Bridge of Sighs, a reality unknown to ordinary elves like Ella.

"...The sky cracked open, and an eye almost as long as the World Tree looked at us as if it were looking at a group of ants."

"The Father God, the Orcish War God, the Lord of Storms... They joined forces for the first time in history, but they were no match for the evil god to whom the wizards served, and could not even withstand a single blow."

"Many totem gods have fallen, Ella. Before our very eyes, divine essence shattered into dust, and divine blood fell like rain."

Ella's eyes widened, and her breath caught in her throat.

She had considered that the Elven elite forces had suffered an unprecedented defeat on the Bridge of Sighs, which led the royal court to conceal much information.

Unexpectedly, not only the elves, but also the gods standing atop the Silver Tree Ring peak, were defeated by the evil god and even perished.

"I retreated to the royal court with some remaining troops, only to find it had been attacked. Blasphemous creatures I had never seen before were scurrying through the tree trunks, slaughtering all the elves..."

"The royal court has fallen, and I can't find anyone I know. The Elf King, the High Priest, the council elders and the wise men... and my Anna."

"So I went to the far north to find my teacher."

A more pained expression appeared on Elian's face: "I shouldn't have gone."