Millions of years ago, when true dragons ruled the whole world and made it their playground, there was a Wood Dragon.

  This Wood Dragon was different from the other dragons. It had a very long body that slithered like a snake, and its horns were similar to a reindeer's. This characteristic made the other dragons avoid him because of his strangeness. It was not long before he was exiled from the race, accused of having impure blood and that if he continued to stay longer, he would corrupt their true and pure blood.

  (A/N: Just to be clear, the ‘true dragon’ has the appearance of a Western dragon, while the Wood Dragon has the appearance of an Eastern dragon.)

  And so, he was forced to leave and wander alone. He didn’t have any place to go since he hadn't had parents ever since his birth. As he traveled for a long time, he eventually grew tired and wanted to rest. He landed in a barren land, found himself a cozy and comfortable place, and slept.

  Then he woke up after a good night’s sleep. It seemed like the sleep had lifted his bad mood, judging by his eased expression. It dawned on him that this kind of lifestyle, where he traveled throughout the world, quite suited him, and so he continued his journey. What he didn't realize was that while he was sleeping, one of his scales had fallen off his skin.

  This scale, which held an incredible life force, revived the barren land. With it, the lifeless land began to bloom, and eventually, the whole place turned into a very thick forest. As for the scale, it turned into a very large tree, though not as huge as the current tree. It stationed itself at the very center of the land. At this point in time, the tree had evolved and was able to take a human form.

  At a particular moment, she took an interest in humans who were living just outside her territory. And so, she severed a branch of herself, and that branch took a human form. She had flowing white hair and golden eyes. Her ears were long and pointed, similar to an elf’s.

  She went to the human settlement that was right beside her territory and observed them. After a very long time of observing, there was only one thing that she found interesting—a baby.

  The act of giving birth to a new life intrigued her. She observed and observed, and the more she observed, the more interested she became. At some point, she started thinking about wanting to create one herself. The instant she thought of this, she immediately acted on it. She hated the idea of copulating with humans, though. But she had a way of giving birth even without copulating.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She planted a seed inside herself and showered it with strong life force every single day. That seed came from the fruit of her tree, so it would definitely be related to her. She continued to pour life force into it for a very long time, and finally, the seed hatched. A small baby came out of the seed, and in her delight, she realized she had actually given birth to a child. She had been looking forward to this all her life.

  She still had to wait a long time for the baby to grow, but she didn't complain. She was just grateful that her plan was successful. At the time of delivery, the baby was safe and sound, much to her relief.

  “And so, she raised the baby into a magnificent elf. This was the age when the elven race came into existence, and the Sylvania Empire was founded by a child who was raised by a tree—the very first Empress.” My mother pointed at a very large portrait that was hanging on the side.

  “That is the whole history of how our elven race and the Sylvania Empire were created.”

  I nodded in amazement. I couldn’t believe someone was able to create life by themselves. Beings like those usually have a strong connection to the aspect of life. There was still something I wondered about, though.

  “If she was the very first elf in the elven race, then how did our race prosper? Did the tree create more elves?”

  “Fufu… I’m impressed you noticed that. Here’s a pat as your reward.” She reached out and patted my head.

  “Unfortunately, the tree at that time had depleted her life force, making it impossible for her to birth more elves. It even endangered her life. The first Empress tried to find potions or elixirs that could restore life force, but to no avail. It was during that journey that she encountered another elf.”

  “Huh? I thought the first Empress was the first elf? How come there’s another one?”

  “It turns out that there wasn’t only one tree capable of birthing elves. These trees are called the Trees of Life.”

  Tree of Life, huh? Sounds befitting. Still, if there were so many of them, did the Wood Dragon shed his skin?

  “The elf that the first Empress met actually carried a scale of the Wood Dragon. The elf’s parent had been hunted down, forcing the Tree of Life to sacrifice herself so her child could escape safely. The scale was the only thing the elf was able to take. The first Empress took the elf in and also asked for the scale, which the elf gladly gave upon hearing her situation. As the first Empress surmised, the scale was able to restore the tree’s life force. Not only that, but it was also able to enhance one's soul!”

  That scale is quite a treasure. There are only a couple of things that are able to affect the soul. That scale should sell for a high price.

  Wait… isn't that the solution to my current dilemma!?