Michael looked at the scene before him, feeling that the atmosphere wasn’t quite right. He couldn’t say exactly what it was, but his beastman’s sixth sense told him this wasn’t good, so he pushed Max forward.
"That’s right, we really thought Evan was a human back then. Max, his mate, listens to whatever Eric says about everything, so he brought Evan back to the tribe. Who knew it would delay the Elves in finding him?" He said frankly.
"Mate?" The Queen’s expression was strange. Her gaze shifted to Evan, then back to Eric: "You are still a child, how could it be so early..."
Her voice was filled with regret, though it was unclear what she was regretting. Eric didn’t quite understand; perhaps the Queen felt he was too young?
Evan’s smile froze. He lowered his eyes to look at Max and Eric’s hands, which still hadn’t let go of each other: "Mother, you go back. I’ll show them around."
The Queen left with an expression of unclear regret.
Mirinda had been walking silently by their side. Seeing this, he spoke up:
"Evan, didn’t you want to take him somewhere? You go ahead. I will take care of the others; I certainly won’t let them feel bored."
"Go where?" Eric knew they were talking about him and asked blankly.
Max tightened his grip on Eric’s hand, his eyes dark and unfathomable: "I won’t let Eric go anywhere alone."
Thomas also stepped forward: "That’s right, isn’t it better if we go together?"
"Evan has something he wants to say to him privately. He isn’t from the Dragon tribe; he won’t do anything rude. You can rest assured, Eric also needs his own private space." Mirinda maintained his smile, speaking lightly.
Elves were indeed far from the style of the Dragon tribe, but Eric had just returned from the Dragon tribe, so everyone couldn’t help but worry at the slightest disturbance.
Hearing Mirinda’s words, the Snow Wolves couldn’t conveniently stop them anymore. Evan had stayed at the Hadu tribe for half a year; they knew his temperament well. They had clearly seen the relationship between him and Eric, both teacher and friend, with deep affection.
If friends didn’t have private space and they followed him everywhere, it would be a bit overprotective...
"But let Max go along. He just met Eric." Thomas looked at his expressionless son. As a father, he knew his son was already starting to feel displeased.
Without thinking too much, he just assumed Max didn’t want to be separated for even a moment since he had just met Eric.
Evan looked straight at Max: "I have something to say to him privately. It won’t take long."
"Alright." Eric didn’t want a standoff. He patted Max’s large hand soothingly: "It’s okay, Evan is my best friend, and Arthur isn’t here. You can rest assured. Before, at the tribe, didn’t we often go out to practice magic? I’ll be back soon."
Max didn’t want to go against Eric’s wishes. Even though he was reluctant and unhappy, he slowly let go of his hand.
Among the Snow Wolves present, only he knew Evan’s thoughts. He looked up at Evan with a threatening look, while saying to Eric:
"I’ll wait for you to come back."
...
The flying horse took powerful strides. The clouds in the sky were kicked into a mist by its hooves.
It carried Eric and Evan higher and higher until the thickest main trunk of the Tree of Life appeared in front of them. The flying horse continued to fly up along the trunk.
Surrounding them were clouds. Eric curiously reached out to play with the clouds, an experience he had never had. What land creature wouldn’t want to experience the feeling of flying amidst a sea of clouds? Moreover, unlike an airplane, he could reach out and touch the cloud layers.
Looking down, the structures of the Elf tribe were no longer visible, only thick clouds.
When they first started, there were quite a few flying horses around. The higher they went, the fewer there were, until now, only their horse remained.
Unknown how much time passed, but the white expanse before Eric’s eyes finally disappeared. The deep blue sky looked as if it could be touched, and the top of the Tree of Life’s main trunk finally came into view.
"If it grew any more, this planet wouldn’t be as tall as it," Eric exclaimed, his mouth agape.
The main trunk had narrowed significantly and couldn’t support so many Elves living on it, but it was still as wide as several football fields.
Eric excitedly jumped off the horse, running back and forth on it, even trying to reach out and touch the sky.
"It’s so close to the sky here!" He shouted loudly to Evan. It wasn’t just close; it truly felt within reach. It turned out that when there were no reference structures around, the sky looked like this...
Evan smiled and said, "I knew you would like this place."
By the time Eric was tired of running, the sky had darkened, turning deep blue, and stars began to faintly appear.
"It would be so nice to stargaze here every day. You Elves live such a good life," Eric lamented.
He was tired from running and sat at the edge of the trunk. He could see the sky above, and below was a rolling sea of clouds. Occasionally, the wind would blow the clouds apart, and the tiny structures of the Elf tribe could be seen looming faintly.
Evan sat beside him: "Not every Elf can come here. Only royalty and recognized races can come up, which is why you didn’t see any other flying horses or Elves on the way."
Eric suddenly understood: "No wonder you wanted to ride the same flying horse with me up here."
He spread his arms to feel the gentle breeze on his face, cheering happily a few times. At this moment, he was luckier than those who climbed the highest mountains; the whole world was beneath his feet. Could there be any place more wonderful than this?
"Thank you for bringing me up here to see such beautiful scenery, and thank you for considering me your most important friend." He looked seriously into Evan’s eyes.
In Evan’s eyes, there was no sky, no clouds, only Eric, as if in this moment, only the two of them existed in the world.
"Not just the most important friend." He smiled gently, his handsome face becoming even more charming: "For those in the royal family, after finding a mate, the wedding ceremony is held here."
He leaned a bit closer, looking deeply down at Eric: "Would you be willing to come here with me every day?"
The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Eric didn’t know what to do, his eyes flickering uncertainly. He didn’t know if he misunderstood, but Evan’s meaning was clearly...
"You know I already have a mate, stop joking." He recoiled in panic, nearly falling off.
Evan pulled him back in time, hiding his bitterness, and smiled: "You caught me. Actually, I came to give you this."
He took out a symbiosis leaf from his bosom and personally placed it around Eric’s neck.
A cool sensation transmitted from his chest, and the stone in Eric’s heart fell. Really, he was still scared by Arthur, always thinking in that direction. He didn’t have such great charm.
"You scared me to death. Don’t make that kind of joke at a time like this, okay? You know I just escaped from the Dragon tribe," Eric complained.
"Just scaring you a little, who knew your reaction would be so big," Evan said with a smile.
Could he be blamed for a big reaction?
The old Dragon King didn’t know when he would come looking for his precious grandson, and there was Arthur - who knew if he would keep his word in the future. Eric grumbled silently in his heart.