The Sinful Saint

Si Sheng saw the three elves approaching him and, wanting to interact with them, jumped out of the bushes with his arms raised, hoping he'd make it clear he wasn't a threat.

Unfortunately, a forest rabbit popped out at the same time, delaying his entrance.

Even still, the elves quickly noticed him once the silver-haired elf brought the other two's attention back.

"Can you understand me?" Si Sheng asked as the situation tensed up, hoping they might understand.

"Urgh..! Quid est kono? Sonikku impetus ka?"

"Non, watashi wa omoimasu eum, vel communicate est apud nos tanomimasu. Non est creatura communi gengo no hanashi?"

"..."

The elves seemed to recoil when he spoke. Not wanting to soil anything further, Si Sheng got down and wrote his name on the ground, then pointed to himself. The elves seemed to understand what he implied as they looked less alarmed after he did this.

After glancing at each other for a second the elves talked, or more like they argued, and eventually, the silver-haired one approached Si Sheng after they finished. She was holding two swords, one in each hand, and they appeared to be made out of a pale green material, probably some metal from this world.

When she approached, Si Sheng became alert. He could tell she was dangerous because his [Sixth Sense (Basic)] was firing warning signs left and right as she approached.

'Shit! Am I gonna die like this?' thought Si Sheng.

***

Si Sheng and the three elves walked through the forest for a good half an hour through the endless expanse of plant life.

At the end of that time, Si Sheng suddenly saw a clearing up ahead. He opened his eyes wide as if he couldn't capture the sight with his eyes in a resting position. When they got closer to the clearing, Si Sheng's eyes stayed popped out of his head. Before him was a wooden gate that was at least 30 meters tall, it had an ornate design on it reminiscent of the roots of a tree.

On top of the gate, which was connected to the walls that encircled the area, what could only be described as a buff elf was yelling at the elves next to Si Sheng. They yelled back in response only for the other elf to laugh back as he opened the gate.

Si Sheng thought to himself, 'So there's this stereotype here too, huh,' referring to the muscles for brains elf above, inherently understanding his essence.

As they walked through the village, which was more like a city, Si Sheng could hear the whispers and muttering of the elves as he and the three elves passed by. They looked at him in a curious manner and some of the women even blushed when he made eye contact with them, only a few though; there was a guy as well, unfortunately.

Si Sheng, shaking off the walk through town, realized that something was overshadowing the area. It hadn't been there a second ago, which confused him, so he looked up. When he did, he saw an awe-inspiring sight. A tree stood before his view, which could only be described as a tree holding up the heavens and connecting them to the ground. Its leaves could be seen along the branches hundreds of meters above him, which seemed small, but as two elves passed by Si Sheng, he got to see a five-meter long leaf being carried along.

'This is so interesting! The leaves are enormous and plentiful, I wonder if I can get one.'

Si Sheng thought a lot of things after seeing the tree and burned with anticipation.

***

Walking to the tree, which felt like it was forever distant, they finally arrived at the tree after walking for an hour. The creature had a shocked and confused expression on his face after they arrived in front of the council hall.

The council hall is a place where the elders of the elves gather to discuss certain topics regarding the village, such as policies, touchy social issues, etc. Basically, they were the politicians and judges of the elves. They were the oldest of the elves and were knowledgeable about many different topics, leading many to trust in their decisions.

Taro opened one of the doors to the hall; Jara, Beyra, and the creature followed behind.

The hall was a massive structure, easily as tall as the gates if not taller, judging by the ceiling height. The whole structure was made of wood and was decorated in a very natural way. There were vines and other shrubberies to be seen all over the place. Looking closer at the wood, it didn't look like it was cut and built as there were no visible joints in the wood anywhere. It gave the impression that the hall was grown, rather than built.

Moving deeper into the hall, Taro and co. walked to the sanctum at the end of the spacious hall where the elders would be.

Knocking on the door, Taro got permission to enter the hall. Opening the door, thirteen elders were seen sitting around a long table talking with one another. When they saw Taro, Jara, and Beyra one of the elders quickly asked, "What have you come to see us for? We're busy so make it quick," obviously irritated by their presence.

Suddenly, the elder shut up and lost his look of irritation. The creature that walked through the door after them caused all the elders to feel shock and other complex feelings one couldn't easily discern.

Taro was first to break the atmosphere, "We found this creature in the forest and he didn't seem to mean any harm. Furthermore, he seems to be able to communicate in some language, as well as being able to write in that language, I presume."

"We should discuss this with the World Tree."

"I agree. It's too dangerous knowing what might happen with their kind."

"Right. First, we should ascertain whether or not he's actually friendly or not. We don't want a repeat of what happened 430 years ago, do we?"

"Ah..."

The elders talked in solemn voices amongst themselves as the four watched on. Finally, the elder at the head of the table spoke to the three elves, "Can you get him to say his name for me, or at least talk to us?" His voice was low and raspy, showing the signs of age, but also commanding and charismatic.

Taro, speaking as the representative, replied with hesitation, "I don't think that would be a good idea. When we heard him talk, it felt like our eardrums were gonna burst. I don't think it's a wise idea."

"Then you three leave and we'll talk to him."

"But, he doesn't speak the common language. How will you communicate with him then?"

"It's fine, now leave us to our work. You can wait outside if you'd like."

It was obvious that the creature seemed somewhat confused and alert, but he wasn't too disturbed by the three leaving.

Having a staredown, The elder at the head of the table and the creature continued to glare at each other. Finally, the elder spoke to the ceiling as if someone was there.

"Mother, can you converse with this man and help him understand us?"

'"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. "'

"Thank you, Mother."

***

Si Sheng had been waiting patiently as the elves talked amongst themselves when one of the elves looked towards the ceiling and spoke to it. Confused, Si Sheng just waited, as that was all he could do.

Suddenly, he heard a voice projected into his mind.

"'𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯. "'

[The World Tree has blessed you: "Skill: Elven Language" Acquired.]

Si Sheng knew what the World Tree was from fantasy novels and was surprised that he'd encounter it here, not to mention be blessed by the World Tree. Si Sheng quickly checked his stats to confirm the blessing

[Blessings section has opened!]

[Name: Si Sheng | Age:18 | Race: Human Type I (Evolved)]

[Status: Healthy (Surprised)]

[Level 2/15 | Experience 452/2000]

[Titles: The Sin of Gluttony, Supreme Healer, Pioneering Human]

[Stats]

[HP: 1000/1000 | MP: 2000/2000]

[Attribute Points: 0]

[Skills]

[Awareness (Basic), Blink (Basic), Elven Language, Evil Eye (Eye of Understanding), Evolutionary Body, Fire Magic (Basic), ★Guide★, Gluttony, Healing Magic (Supreme), Presence Concealment (Intermediate), Repair (Advanced), Sixth Sense (Basic), Sneak (Basic), Sprint (Basic), Swordsmanship (Basic), Water Magic (Basic)]

[Racial Trait(s)]

[Assassin's Silence, Rapid Learning]

[Blessing(s)]

[Blessing of the World Tree]

'Wow, that's pretty good.'

Next, after checking his status, Si Sheng looked up at the elders who were starring at him.

The elder at the head of the table spoke again, "Human, can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I can understand. It's amazing that the World Tree can teach me a language just like that."

"Yes, Mother is a powerful being that cares for the inhabitants of this land."

There was a brief pause in the jovial atmosphere before the elder spoke.

"Human, why have you come to the forest? The treaty with man is still in effect and you being here means that treaty has been broken or disregarded."

"I don't know about this treaty you have spoken of. I've been in this forest the whole time and haven't been to a human settlement before."

"Hmmm... That explains why you can't speak the human's common language. However, I can't be certain about whether or not you are a friend or a foe. Therefore, I will have Mother decide whether we can trust you or not."

When he said that, Si Sheng was wrapped in warmth. It felt like silk was twisting around his body. There was also light floating around him in a mystical manner, which seemed to be the source of the warmth. From the light, Si Sheng heard a voice.

"'𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩. 𝘈𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 [Otherworlder] 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.'"

[!!!]

[Title: 'Otherworlder' Uncovered.]

'Uncovered?' Si Sheng thought the wording of the message was weird. He had always known that he was from another world, so getting the title now was weird. Additionally, the message said that it was "uncovered" not "acquired" leading him to believe that he had the title already, but couldn't see it on his status. He went to check the title for clarification.

[Otherworlder]

[Title given to people who have crossed over from another world.

*Information can't be completely read due to low "Intelligence".

★World Tree Uncovered Title★]

'So that's why,' thought Si Sheng. It explained why he didn't know about this title despite him always having it. If he had too low [Intelligence], then he wouldn't be able to learn anything. The same was true for checking other things information. Si Sheng thought about this for a second and realized that he might have skills and titles that he doesn't know about due to his low [Intelligence].

"I see Mother has deemed you a friend of the elves. Therefore, you can be trusted. I also see that you're an [Otherworlder], thus I welcome you to this world and to the [Elven Forest]."