Corrupt Creations

"Give me the herb together with some additional information and I can help you out of his situation, but I don't need that replica you just showed the beasts but the real one. What do you think?" 

Seth looked towards the mysterious person and saw the shock he was feeling by his body language. 

The Flaming Eagles didn't stop spewing fire, it had actually increased the Mana it spent on that skill, creating a conflagration. 

The fire was consuming everything around the place Seth and that mysterious person was, but it could not touch them. There seemed to be an invisible barrier that wouldn't let the flames trespass a certain area. 

The mysterious elf looked towards Seth and wasn't able to understand him at all. He was sure that the man standing in front of him, could kill him with a single move, since the Mana Perception initial-stage beast wasn't able to injure a single strand of his hair, however, he was resorting to a negotiation in order to obtain the herb. 

He was even able to see that the herb from the second wooden box was falsified, so the chances of escaping alive were zero if he didn't take the "offer" Seth has given him. 

Seth was looking towards that white mask, trying to see through it, but somehow it didn't even let him see the eyes of the person behind it. 

"Deal." That person said in a very normal voice, that could not be described as male or female. 

"That's good to hear." 

The fire burning everything around them suddenly vanished as if it was an illusion. 

Seth extended his hands and a very heavy greatsword appeared in the air. He grabbed it in mid-air, but the tip still touched the ground, since Seth wasn't able to control it perfectly. He wasn't accustomed with it yet and it would take some more days for him to be able to flawlessly handle it. 

Bang! 

The ground sank with the impact, leaving the elf speechless. That heavy sword was clearly not for a battle, yet Seth was handling it to fight. 

Seth lifted the greatsword and wild flames started to burn on the blade. It wasn't the Crimson Corrupted Flames, but some "normal" flames he could create, but, even though he considered them normal, they were still flames that originated from the Fragmented Law of Fire. 

The Flaming Eagle felt threatened by the fire Seth's greatsword was releasing and stopped the attack it was still releasing. It flapped its wings and started to fly away. 

Seth saw it was trying to flee and made a signal with his hands. His Mana Control base energy was used to pull the eagle back to the surface, making it crash amidst the other Mana Perception beasts. 

Seth saw that they were more or less near one another and concentrated a bit more Mana on the blade of his greatsword for his next attack. He planned to take care of them all with a single strike. 

He suddenly vanished from the place he was standing and appeared in the air above the beasts. With a swing of his greatsword, he released all the fire energy accumulated on the blade, creating a huge fire slash. It easily surpassed two hundred meters in length. 

It descended towards the ground, where there were at least hundred different beasts ready to attack the elf after the Flaming Eagle's attack. 

But now, they were facing an attack that has left them paralyzed by the huge pressure it was releasing. The beasts couldn't even escape since there was a huge energy pressing hard on them and could only wait for their demise. 

BOOM! 

The huge blade of fire connected with the ground, incinerating the bodies of every living creature that was standing there. It set the whole forest area around them in fire, transforming it in a hellish environment. 

At least an area of two kilometers was completely burning and every single creature and plant that was on that area, turned into dust. 

The mysterious elf kept looking towards that scene and was more than certain that his life was in the hands of the man he made a deal with. He decimated the beasts with a single strike, not giving them even the chance to struggle. 

Even the Flaming Eagle was burned to ashes by those strong flames. It had zero chance of escaping and died together with the other beasts. 

As an elf and with a very deep and pure connection with the nature, he could not help but feel a bit sorrowful by the deaths of so many beasts. However, that was how life in the cultivation world worked, so it wasn't something you should put on your heart. 

"Done. Now it's your time to fulfill your end of the deal." Seth turned towards the elf while saying those words. 

There was nothing the cloaked elf could do, so he just took another wooden box out of the storage ring and put it on the ground. 

Seth wasn't bothered if it would be another trap or not, he just sent a wave of his energy to open it from afar and checked the contents. 

There was indeed an herb inside it, the real one. Seth felt the quality and quantity of energy it contained and ascertained its veracity. 

He saw the green aura around it and observed it for a bit longer. That was the main motive he was interested in the herb. 

'This energy, there is no mistaking it. It has the aura of that poison those elves used on me right at the entrance of the Ygnolia Forest.' 

"Now you just need to answer some of my questions and we will be done." 

Seth continued: "First... What is this green energy that is covering the herb?" 

The elf took a bit of time before he decided to answer. 

"That energy is called Evergreen." 

"Evergreen? Where have I seen that word before? Ah, right! That tavern. Do you know a tavern called Evergreen Tavern?" 

"Evergreen Tavern? I don't know." 

'Is it just a coincidence then?' Seth kept thinking about it, but there was nothing he could do. 

"Then, is that energy called Evergreen able to transform into a poison?" 

"!!!" The elf didn't reply Seth's question directly. He seemed to be stranded on his thoughts. After some more time, he was finally able to ask something through his gritted teeth. 

"How do you know about it?" The elf tried to not reveal critical information; however, he was already preparing for the worst. 

"Huh? Some elves shot at me with some arrows that contained an energy very similar to that. However, now that I recall it, that energy seemed to be weaker than this one., not in strength, but in quality though." 

"So that's how it is..." 

"Haaa... that's it then. You can have it back." Seth sighed after realizing that the only connection between this elf and those elves that attacked him, was that green energy they were using. However, it only meant that it was something accessible to the elves in general and not something unique. Other than that, there seemed to be no connection between this energy and that tavern's name too, or at least, he could not see the connection for now. 

Seth threw the herb back to the mysterious elf, like he was throwing a piece of trash. The item contained a very good amount of energy, but Seth noticed that the herb's medicinal power was directed towards enhancing someone's poison resistance or cleansing poisons. It wouldn't help him on cultivation at all and he wouldn't need something like that too. So, he just gave it back to the elf. 

"You're giving it back?" The elf got really surprised by his actions. 

"Yeah." 

"W-Why?" 

"Hm? Because I don't need it." 

"You don't need it? It is able to permanently enhance your poison resistance, or even cleanse any kind of poison from your body. It can also increase the quality of bloodline of wild beasts... You don't need something like that? Why don't you need something like that? Please, tell me!" The elf walked towards Seth, trying to get an answer. 

"Sigh... Why are you acting like that now? Don't you think I wouldn't notice who you really are? You're acting so humbly for someone of your caliber "Golden Archer" Elydir Luberus." 

The elf moved away from Seth in hurry after hearing the first part of his phrase, but at the end of it, he stood rooted there, with a countenance full of confusion. 

Seth looked directly towards the masked face of that elf that was stranded in a retreating stance. By that minor action of his, he knew he was mostly right. 

"I don't know why you didn't use you bow to shoot some arrows, but it was probably because it would give you away. However, you could not hide your Mana Perception initial-stage realm cultivation of yours from my eyes and combined with that golden silky hair... You're too naïve if you thought you could fool me." 

Seth approached him in slow steps. 

"It's just that I don't know why you're hiding your identity and I don't need to know. But that same thing applies to you! You don' need to know who I am or why I don't need that herb. We are even now, so excuse me, I'm leaving." 

"Wait! You're right... I was asking for something I shouldn't. However, you saved me from trouble and I could not repay you back. Is there anything I can do for you?" 

Seth didn't want to meddle with the elves. He was on this territory purely to get his hands on some resources, but he would inevitably need some basic information, so he decided on something. 

"Alright, just accompany me towards the Ereinrith city and explain me some things about the city in general. That will do.