Demon Hunter: School of the Wolf.

Chapter 676 Vera Returns! Do you know you...are pregnant?
After it was buried, the Grand Master said confidently, "There's been more feedback, isn't there?"

This is a statement, not a question.

Erin felt a warm current flowing into the mutated organ next to his heart, and glanced at the Demon Hunter's Notebook that popped up in his field of vision.

Name: Erin

……

[Attributes: Strength 99, Agility 99, Constitution 99, Perception 99, Mysticism 158 (+1)]

“There are definitely more.” The Witcher nodded.

The old druid with the white beard immediately burst into smug laughter, boastfully explaining the key to "burying two fingers deep" one by one. After finishing, he stared intently into the witcher's eyes with his penetrating gaze.

Unlike when they first met, the witcher didn't instinctively try to avoid him. Instead, he paused, chuckled awkwardly, and said in an embarrassed tone:

"Master, you...you are amazing, I have benefited a lot from you."

The Grand Master didn't seem to care about the Witcher's embarrassment and immediately smiled with satisfaction, like a child whose vanity had been fulfilled.

This was nothing like the Witcher's initial impression of him—a man of high moral character, profound knowledge, and a serious demeanor.

Ok……

Besides being knowledgeable...

"Let me teach you another little trick..."

The old druid quietly covered his mouth with his hand, seemingly unwilling to be overheard by others, but in reality, there were only the two of them in this woodland. Simmons and Olga had taken on a mission assigned by the Druids' Circle two days ago and left.

Simmons and Olga were naturally reluctant to part with him, but they were different from Erin after all.

Erin is just a guest and may leave at any time, while Simmons and Olga are druids of the Ring of Maidalui.

This is their duty.

In the Ring of Maidalui, apart from guests and reclusive archdruids, all druids are required to work, either maintaining order in the woodlands or traveling to the surrounding villages and towns to fulfill the requests of the local humans and lords.

Most of the time, the druids of the Ring of Maidens need to work, otherwise how could they maintain such a large expense as the Ring of Maidens?

Moreover, to be honest, they didn't just start having missions recently. The reason they had been staying with Erin all this time was because of the arrangement made by their mentor, Zebi Ortega.

He postponed Simmons and Olga's original duties so that Erin would still have someone to mentor him after he left.

Now that all the top mentors are here, they naturally have no reason to stay.

Although they really wanted to, and were reluctant to leave.

"For druids, shrubs like blueberries that produce edible fruit get the most feedback after being transplanted to the right location. They are... in your words, the most cost-effective plants for druids."

When serious knowledge is mentioned, even the great mentor becomes serious:

"Because shrubs like blueberries are shorter than apple trees and more 'popular' than grass, they are not only eaten by herbivores or omnivores like rabbits, deer, and mice, but also by a wider variety of creatures in the woodland, including ferocious beasts like wolves and tigers..."

"Therefore, correcting a blueberry tree naturally brings more blessings than correcting a red osier dogwood, which is also a shrub but does not bear fruit; compared to an edible fruit tree, which, because of its height, can only be eaten by a portion of animals; and even more than planting an oak sapling..."

"I've learned something..." Erin nodded thoughtfully.

However, the Grand Master's use of the phrase "highest cost-effectiveness, most feedback" made Erin feel a bit strange, just like when he first heard High Priestess Ianna say at the Temple of Meritelli that Meritelli did not need anyone's faith and that divine magic was not as good as medical magic.

Druids devoutly serve Mother Nature.

This is what Simmons, Olga, and Zebi Ortega said, and it's also the quality they demonstrated.

But the words spoken by the great master were far from devout; rather, they sounded like he was cheating and teaching people "one hundred little ways to fleece Mother Nature."

Ironically, these were the words of a great mentor.

That's incredibly strange.

After seven days together, Erin was already quite familiar with the Grand Master, so he spoke his mind and directly asked about his doubts.

The Grand Tutor, upon hearing this question that bordered on "accusation," was not angry. He smiled kindly and said:

"Druids are also human beings, and humans have desires and are prone to laziness."

"But desire is not a bad thing; it is what all living things rely on to survive."

"Wild animals want to find food, survive, and reproduce, so they hone their hunting skills, learn to run and escape, and cooperate with their own kind..."

"Mother Nature respects the desires of wild animals and will not allow wolves to eat vegetables, as this would disrupt the balance of nature. Nor will she allow deer, rabbits, and mice to lie low and await their slaughter, as this would also disrupt the balance of nature..."

"Similarly, Mother Nature respects the instincts of living beings, and also allows Her servants to have desires."

"Most druids may not care about worldly wealth and power, but honor and progress on the druidic path are also desires, no different from the desires of mortals and beasts in the eyes of Mother Nature."

Instead of calling the tricks I mentioned "cheating and trickery," why not try a different approach?

"What's your idea?" Erin asked curiously.

The Grand Master pointed to the cranberries planted at the Witcher's Hill: "Since Mother Nature bestows extra blessings upon people for all sorts of 'tricks and tricks,' why can't these blessings be intentionally guided by Mother Nature?"

“This is not ‘cheating or being cunning,’ but following the will of Mother Nature.”

"You can understand it like that...?" Erin was stunned, her eyes wide with amazement.

“Of course,” the old druid’s white beard trembled, and he winked slyly at the witcher, “if they were druids of the Ring of Maidal, I wouldn’t say that either, but would teach them to devoutly worship Mother Nature, just like Zebi Ortega did.”

"but……"

The Grand Master paused, then said meaningfully, "Erin, you are different."

Before Erin could react, the Grand Master continued, "You are not a druid of the Ring of Maidaloo, you are not even a proper druid."

“Ortega told me that you prefer to be a Witcher when it comes to choosing an identity.”

Erin remained silent for a few seconds before finally saying, "I'm sorry."

“I’m not blaming you,” the Grand Master shook his head, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes. “On the contrary, I respect you, Arryn. Compared to the druid’s path, the witcher’s path is more rugged, more difficult, more dangerous, and less understood by the world.”

“Most witchers have to go down this path, but you have other options, and quite a few, but you still chose it.”

"But this is not a decision that can be made easily, especially when it is based on reason rather than fear."

"Therefore I truly respect you, just as I respect all brave warriors who dare to sacrifice themselves."

"Moreover, compared to stopping humans from indiscriminately logging, who can say that hunting monsters that disrupt the balance of nature isn't also a way of protecting nature?"

"But you have a talent for the druid path. Hunting monsters is ultimately killing, and it is difficult to gain the approval and feedback of Mother Nature."

“If we don’t want to waste our talent, we have no choice but to find another way, don’t we?” Erin was silent for a few seconds, looked into the Grand Master’s eyes, and sincerely said, “Thank you.”

The mentor gently patted Erin on the shoulder, then stopped talking and got back to the main topic, continuing to explain the characteristics of blueberries.

Time flew by in this immersive classroom setting.

As the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, golden-red rays of light gradually paint half the sky crimson.

Normally, the professor would end the get out of class at this time, but for some reason, it didn't end today. Instead, he seemed to get more and more excited as he talked.

Erin, of course, could not speak up to stop him. Like a dry sponge, he quickly absorbed all the knowledge imparted by the Grand Master.

until……

The sun had almost completely sunk below the horizon, and the woodland was gradually darkening. The Grand Master was explaining the characteristics of another common berry in the Northern Continent when he suddenly stopped and turned to look at the northwest of the woodland.

Erin followed his gaze but saw nothing.

Just as he was wondering, the head tutor suddenly sighed: "It seems that our course will have to be put on hold for the time being."

Erin paused for a moment, a sudden pang of reluctance welling up inside her, and instinctively said, "Okay, you can go ahead and do what you need to do..."

“No,” the Grand Master shook his head and said something that puzzled the Witcher, “It’s not that I have something to do, but that you are leaving.”

As he spoke, he pulled out a thick stack of parchment from behind his back and handed it over.

I'm leaving, how come I didn't know... Erin took it blankly. The parchment and ink were very new, and you could smell the damp odor of ink that hadn't completely dried.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, he saw some writing and some drawings on the parchment.

Cranberry, heather, honeysuckle...

Upon closer inspection, these pictures were indeed the plants that the great master had just mentioned, common plants of the northern continent, as well as many other plants that had not been mentioned before.

The text on one side of the illustration describes the characteristics of these plants: whether they are cold-hardy or not, whether they prefer shade or sunlight, etc.

"Grand Master, what is this?" Erin looked up at the old druid, bewildered.

The old druid shrugged: "A gift for you."

Gifts… Erin immediately snapped back to reality, realizing the weight of the parchment in his hands.

Knowledge is more precious than gold and jewels on this continent, not to mention extraordinary knowledge.

Zebi Ortega once said that, apart from the Druid Mentor and the Druid Circle giving away prayer spells for free when breaking through to the Druid realm, other Druid prayer spells must be obtained by the Druid himself by completing the Druid Circle's commissions.

According to Simmons and Olga, it often takes a novice druid several years to acquire the Prayer spell.

The parchments in Erin's hands described the characteristics of almost all the common plants on the continent from a druid's perspective, in a concise yet detailed manner, and they even seemed to be sorted according to the degree of feedback received.

This is far more valuable than a few Druid prayer spells, even those of an experienced player.

"This...this...this is too precious!"

Erin felt as if he were holding not parchment, but a scorching hot stove, burning his hands.

"Take it!"

The Grand Master's expression suddenly hardened, and he gave a reprimand, causing the Witcher to immediately withdraw his outstretched hand.

“It’s just some common sense that’s useless to ordinary druids,” the Grand Master gestured for him to stop dawdling, then waved his hand and said, “The lesson ends here. Go back now, but don’t go back to Lydia’s old house. Someone is waiting for you at your original residence.”

"And remember..."

"Don't waste your talent in the Druid path."

After speaking, the Grand Master, without waiting for the Witcher's response, transformed into a holy white reindeer and headed towards the inner ring of the Maynard Rui'i Ring.

Erin stood silently under the oak tree, clutching the thick parchment. When the reindeer was almost out of sight, he took a deep breath and bowed deeply to its departing figure.

Then he walked toward the little cabin where he used to live.

As for who the Grand Master was referring to as the person waiting there?

Erin thought for a moment.

The Warlock Brotherhood's conference should have ended soon, most likely with Vera.

Several days later, when he returned to the residential area where the wooden houses were built under the oak trees, Vera was indeed standing at the door of the cabin waiting for him.

However, looking at the sorceress's hazy figure in the dim firelight, the witcher suddenly thought of a question.

Even from such a distance, the Grand Master could sense Vera's arrival, and was quite certain that the person coming was someone closely related to Erin...

Is it due to prophecy and divination, or is it from the extraordinary control of the Ring of Maidalui by a nature "demigod"?
If it's the former, that's fine, but if it's the latter...

Why did the Grand Master ask Simmons and Olga to find out Zebi Ortega's whereabouts on the day Zebi Ortega took him to Lydia's former residence?
-
On the other side, the majestic, holy white reindeer strolled back to the sacred Mayna. Under the towering, cloud-piercing canopy shimmering with a hazy light, a figure stood, seemingly having waited for a long time in the spot where the reindeer often lay.

"Visena, you've come..."

As the reindeer approached, Urun's gaze lingered almost imperceptibly on Visena's lower abdomen for a fleeting moment before he slowly walked to the foot of the sacred Mayna and knelt down.

At that moment, the tall reindeer's eyes met Vincent's.

"Grand Master..." Vinsenna bowed slightly, then reported as usual, "The Ring of Maidruid is all normal, and the patrol has not encountered any abnormalities..."

"Edes, who led the team to the Kesdra Mountains, and Ishige from the Wyvern Mountains... have both returned. But Master Kano and that golden-haired beast are still missing."

"I've already told them about the possibility of the golden-haired beast mutating, and they'll be there tomorrow..."

“Just look for the spirit of nature, there’s no need to look for Master Kano,” the reindeer suddenly interrupted. “The letters that haven’t been sent to the kings and nobles of various countries, there’s no need to send them either.”

"Why?" Vincent paused for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "Humans encountering Master Kano could very well lead to conflict."

“No need.” The reindeer sighed. “You’ll never find a druid master who wants to hide, and even if you did, it wouldn’t make any difference. Why force it? All the goodwill that needed to be sent out has already been sent out. As for the rest… let nature take its course.”

How could it be meaningless? Vincenta was puzzled, but seeing that the Grand Tutor had no intention of explaining, she didn't press the matter.

"That spirit of nature..."

"As usual."

“Yes, Grand Master.” Vinsenna nodded, then finished reporting the rest of the information before preparing to leave as usual.

Just then, the reindeer suddenly spoke a sentence that shocked her.

"Visenna, do you know you...are pregnant?"

(End of this chapter)