Welcome to Elderfield Old Woods Guide: Mill Key, Joggers Club & Ancient Tree

Quick Answer

Start with Barry’s Joggers Club test, find the Mill Key in the Old Woods and clear the Abandoned Mill for his Lost Mirror. After joining the club, follow Michelle’s route to Old Woods Mines, bring back Verdite Ore, then use the final route west of the mill to reach the deepest woods and the Ancient Tree.

How Do I Start Exploring the Old Woods?

The normal approach into the Old Woods is from the northern side of town, past Tanner’s house.

Reaching the entrance is easier than surviving what is inside it.

My first early trip ended almost immediately when an ordinary Wild Deer was already taking enough resources to make deeper exploration unrealistic. That became my useful readiness test for this region: if normal Woods enemies are draining the food and healing I would want for a boss, there is little value in forcing another hour of exploration.

Once regular fights feel manageable, the Campsite becomes the practical base for repeated trips. It has a fishing spot and, more importantly, a bus stop that costs 3,000 gold to activate.

I would not spend that money just because I found the stop on my first visit. The value changes once the Joggers Club route starts sending me back for the Mill, Mines, Verdite Ore and the deepest Woods. At that point the bus removes enough repeated walking that the cost begins paying for convenience rather than curiosity.

Fishing is another reason to revisit the Campsite, but the fish, bait and rod requirements belong with the fishing guide. For this route, the Campsite matters mainly as a travel anchor.

Where Is the Mill Key?

The Old Woods progression becomes much clearer once Barry gives the test for joining the local Joggers Club.

Barry explains that he once fled the Abandoned Mill after being startled. During that escape he lost two things:

• the Lost Mirror that belonged to his father;
• the Mill Key needed to get back inside.

His landmark for the key is a large statue somewhere along his escape route through the Old Woods.

That is the clue worth following. I search the Woods around the large-statue route rather than checking every container or trying to force the mill door with another generic key. The Mill Key is a pickup in the Woods, not something I buy from a shop or craft at the farm.

Once the Mill Key is in my inventory, I head back to the Abandoned Mill.

What Is Inside the Abandoned Mill?

Opening the mill does not immediately hand over Barry’s mirror.

The interior leads into a fight with a group of Fingermen, and this encounter can consume much more MP and healing than the small building suggests from outside. I save before opening the route and avoid arriving after a long Woods run with an almost-empty recovery supply.

The important result comes when the final enemy goes down: the Lost Mirror drops onto the ground.

There is no reason to continue searching the mill for another hidden Joggers Club objective after obtaining it.

Bring the Lost Mirror back to Barry. He accepts it and formally makes me a member of the local Joggers Club.

That membership is the point where the Old Woods changes from a maze I can wander through into a region with deliberate deeper routes.

What Does Joining the Joggers Club Unlock?

After Barry accepts the Lost Mirror, I return to Michelle.

She explains that Joggers can enter strange sections of the Woods that are closed to outsiders and begins teaching those routes in stages.

The first important one is the route to Old Woods Mines.

From the bus stop, head east toward the newly accessible mining path. Michelle’s objective is specific: bring her Verdite Ore, a material found in those mines.

The Mines can contain their own enemies and side rooms, so I treat the Verdite objective as the priority rather than trying to exhaust every branch on the first run.

There are also alignment-gated rooms elsewhere in the Old Woods mining system. A door that specifically names an Old God is not solved by finding another Woods key; those requirements are part of the weekly alignment system covered in the Old Gods guide.

For Michelle’s progression, I just need to return with the requested Verdite.

Where Do I Go After Finding Verdite Ore?

Hand the Verdite Ore back to Michelle.

That proves I can handle the first restricted route, and she reveals the last major Joggers Club path:

go just west of the Abandoned Mill.

That route leads into the deepest part of the Old Woods.

This is an important checkpoint because reaching the mill earlier does not mean the final route should already be open. When the path still seems to go nowhere, I check the progression in this order:

1. finish Barry’s Lost Mirror test;
2. become a Joggers Club member;
3. talk to Michelle;
4. enter Old Woods Mines;
5. bring back Verdite Ore;
6. return to the area west of the Abandoned Mill.

The final route is deliberately held behind that sequence.

What Does the Fallen Angel Want?

One of the stranger encounters deeper in the Woods is the Fallen Angel.

It asks for a Living Soul.

Giving one up produces a Sign of Death. This is optional exploration rather than the thing that opens the route to the Ancient Tree, so I would not delay the main progression just because I reached the Fallen Angel without a Living Soul in my inventory.

Living Souls also come from other powerful creatures later, so seeing this encounter before having one does not mean the route is broken.

The key distinction is simple: the Fallen Angel is a useful return point, while Verdite and the Joggers Club route are what move the main Woods progression forward.

Why Do the Stairs in the Old Woods Usually Lead Nowhere?

The strange staircase is tied to an anomaly event, not normal map progression.

Most of the time the stairs appear to lead nowhere. On an active day, Elderfield News specifically reports that the Old Woods stairs are once again leading to an unusual destination.

That broadcast is the signal to make the trip.

When I climbed them during the active event, the stairs led into a Void-like area where a disembodied voice demanded an offering.

I therefore leave the stairs alone on ordinary days instead of repeatedly testing them while working through the Mill or Ancient Tree route.

How Do I Reach the Ancient Tree?

Once Michelle has accepted the Verdite Ore, use the final Joggers Club route west of the Abandoned Mill and continue into the deepest Woods.

This is where I stop treating every fight as something to clear for loot.

The route is long enough that wasting healing on unnecessary encounters can leave the inventory in bad shape when the real obstacle appears. I save before committing to the deepest section and bring enough HP and MP recovery to survive a prolonged fight.

The major target is the Ancient Tree.

The fight rewards patient control more than trying to empty the entire resource bar immediately. Stuns were especially useful in my run because denying one enemy action created room to heal or set up the next attack. Once recovery started getting thin, I used food before gambling on another attack sequence.

There is no benefit in arriving with the same supplies that barely handled normal Old Woods enemies. The Ancient Tree is the payoff for the full Joggers Club route, so this is where I spend the healing I deliberately saved on the way in.

What Does the Ancient Tree Drop?

Killing the Ancient Tree gives 500 XP.

Its reward sequence also produced:

• Living Soul
• Dream Pearl
• Dream Leaf
• Skull of the Woods

As the Ancient Tree dies, its far-reaching branches wither away.

One detail is easy to misread after the victory.

The route beyond the tree can still report that the darkness is too thick to continue. That does not mean the Ancient Tree failed to die or that another hidden Woods boss needs to be found immediately.

The dark passage becomes useful later, after Professor Dayton gives me the Eternal Lantern. That return trip is part of Deeper Research, so I leave the darkness alone until that item actually exists.

For now, I return and report that the Ancient Tree’s branches are gone.

That follow-up advances the next stage of progression and opens access to the Catacombs. From there, the route continues through the Catacombs rather than deeper into the Woods.

At that point I consider the main Old Woods progression complete. The dark passage is a later reason to come back, not an unfinished part of the Ancient Tree clear.