I'm a little bit cute after transforming.

"How can it be!"

Eve shouted it out, then realized her mistake and immediately shut her mouth.

Diana was also surprised; she hadn't expected the Queen to have this ability!

The Queen continued:

"I can sense that you are a kind and good child. If you are willing to stay, I will recognize your identity!"

Eve's face lit up with joy; after spending the past few days with the child, she really liked him.

Diana shook her head apologetically and looked at Eve.

"Sister Eve, I'm sorry, I actually came to the Elf Clan with a purpose!"

Eve looked on in disbelief!

Diana then turned to the Queen.

"Your Majesty, my friend is suffering a severe loss of life force. I would like to borrow some of the Water of Life from you!"

whoosh whoosh~

The guards drew their weapons, and even the queen, who had been smiling, turned cold.

The Queen said calmly:

"I can sense the astonishing vitality and magic within you, but if you attempt to steal the Water of Life, you will become the enemy of the entire Elven race!"

Diana quickly explained.

"I didn't mean that. I just want to borrow some money. I'll agree to any request as long as you give it to me!"

The Queen waved her hand to stop the restless guards, and remained silent for a moment.

He then gestured for the others to step back, and the guards obeyed the order unconditionally.

Eve gave Diana a complicated look and then withdrew.

The Queen sighed.

"Ah~ the Water of Life is so important to the Elven race!"

"Is it impossible no matter what?"

Diana persisted.

The Queen paused for a moment before finally speaking:

"I'll give you a drop of the water of life, but you must agree to one condition!"

Diana's eyes lit up.

"Really?! I'll do anything as long as you give me the Water of Life!"

The Queen spoke calmly.

"It's simple for you. All you need to do is lend a hand when the elves are in crisis!"

Diana agreed without hesitation. Even if the Queen hadn't said anything, she would have helped the elves because of Eve.

The Queen rose with a calm expression.

"You come with me!"

Diana followed the Queen out of the side hall and then, escorted by guards, entered the main hall in the center.

The main hall is incredibly spacious; though not extremely luxurious, it exudes exquisite beauty.

Various wooden furniture pieces are like exquisitely crafted works of art, with beautiful patterns carved on them, as if telling ancient stories.

The Queen dismissed everyone and led Diana to a large throne in the center of the interior.

The throne is constructed from a single tree trunk.

The Queen placed her hand on the armrest of the throne, and then her entire body glowed with green light.

The throne, which had been formed as a single piece, slowly separated from the middle.

A downward staircase, wide enough for two people to walk together, appeared.

Follow the Queen down the path.

The tunnel was filled with a faint green glow, but no source could be found; it seemed to be emitting light naturally from the surrounding walls.

Upon entering the tunnel, Diana felt a powerful life energy that made her feel relaxed all over.

The deeper you go, the stronger the feeling becomes. After walking for a while, you come to a large hollow.

The hollow ground is covered with green glowing lines, which become more complex towards the center.

In the middle is a tree stump about one meter high and wide, with the top of the stump concave inward, and the crystal clear green liquid inside is like jade!

The Queen looked lovingly at the thin layer of green liquid inside.

"This is the Water of Life! The Tree of Life produces only one drop of the Water of Life every ten years!"

"Elves are infertile; only by consuming a drop of the Water of Life can a new elf be born."

The Queen looked at Diana.

"Every elf comes here when their time is up, using all their magic and last bit of life energy to nourish the Tree of Life, so that they can condense a single drop of Water of Life!"

"Now you understand how important the Tree of Life is to the Elven race!"

Diana was shocked and fell into deep thought.

Seeing that she didn't show any greed in her eyes, the Queen nodded in satisfaction. Before she could speak, Diana asked:

"Your Majesty, does this mean that as long as the Tree of Life is provided with enough energy, the Water of Life can be produced?"

The Queen looked puzzled, then nodded.

Diana became excited.

"Then I'll give it a try!"

The Queen was speechless.

"You must know wood magic, and it requires a lot of magic power and life essence."

Diana nodded.

"I know wood magic!"

The Queen's expression turned serious.

"You'll die if you consume too much of your life essence!"

Diana looked completely unconcerned.

"I want to try it!"

Seeing that her advice was useless, the queen went to the edge, where a branch as thick as a palm extended out from the edge!

"You just need to place your palm on it and activate the wood-attribute energy in your body to make it work!"

"If you can't hold on any longer, withdraw your wood-attribute energy!"

The Queen still offered a reminder.

Diana showed no fear. According to her plan, providing the Tree of Life with a large amount of magic and life essence should not be a problem.

She has plenty of magic, but she's a little unsure about how this consumes her life essence. Nevertheless, she still plans to give it a try.

'It's just courting death, anyone can do that!'

Diana placed her hand on the protruding branch, activating the wood-elemental energy within her body.

Suddenly, a feeling of detachment washed over me.

Diana stared intently at the attribute panel in her mind.

The last two digits of the long string of numbers representing mana are constantly changing and being rapidly depleted; it's not a big problem.

The health bar numbers were also changing. After watching for a while, I realized that the health bar wasn't being consumed, but rather decreasing!

The maximum health is decreasing~

'Um~ no problem~'

This kind of consumption might be fatal to others, but it was insignificant to Diana!

With just one level up, your health doubles, making it hard to deplete your health completely!

Diana also felt that it was absorbing too slowly, so she actively released energy to help it absorb!

All that could be heard was a crackling sound, and the entire space seemed to be undulating slightly.

The Queen watched in disbelief as the life-giving water within the central tree stump continued to rise.

I was startled awake just as it was about to overflow, and I shouted loudly!

"Enough! Enough! It's overflowing!"

Diana was still not satisfied; the feeling of that power being drained from her body was wonderful, and she couldn't stop.

Seeing Diana's blissful expression, the Queen was immediately filled with questions!

'What, is it fun to consume your life essence? You're even addicted to it?'

The Queen had no choice but to stop Diana's bewildering behavior, since the life-giving water inside the tree stump was almost full.

If it overflows, that would be a real waste!

Coming to her senses, Diana was still a little disoriented and quickly asked:

"How was it? Was it successful?"

The Queen was somewhat incoherent.

"It's...it's a success! It's a huge success!"

He then looked Diana up and down.

Are you alright? Is anything bothering you?

Diana patted her chest and then walked towards the middle tree stump.

"I'm fine, let me see how you are!"

Looking at the life-giving water level with its edge flush with the surface, it seemed about to overflow!

Diana instinctively leaned in and gave it a quick, light kiss.

The Queen was struck dumb, and shouted:

"What? You can't drink it directly?"

······

However, it's too late!

Diana turned around and licked the green liquid from the corner of her mouth.

"Why can't I drink it? It's actually quite good... I can drink it..."

Diana's face was flushed, and she felt waves of heat surging through her body, making her unsteady on her feet.

The Queen rushed over and caught Diana as she was about to fall to the ground.

Diana felt her consciousness growing increasingly blurred, and she heard the Queen's voice sounding somewhat broken.

"It's over! It's all over now!"

Diana realized she had gone too far, and the feeling of her consciousness slowly fading made her a little scared.

At the last moment, I seemed to hear the cold voice of the system inside my brain!