Chapter 8 – War Elves (3)

After consuming a drake’s heart and going through the body change, Jade became something above a regular human. However, even then, Celestine was unable to display the full extent of her powers.

‘Well, it’s a big deal even now. There has never been a human summoner that could pull out this much of our power until now. Of course, I can’t say there has never been a human that has seen our kings/queens, however none of them could form a contract with them.’

The history of Arpedia went further back than humans thought.

And, within that amount of time, there were plenty of geniuses that came and went.

Among them were some that were as talented as Jade. However, there were few to none that had a combination of talent and effort as Jade did.

“I don’t think we HAVE to catch and eat one.”

-It’s one of the fastest ways to quickly become strong. It’s not like there’s never been a dragon slayer before. Of course, the majority of the dragons were mediocre at best, but it’s still incredible.

“Oh?”

Jade made a cold expression.

He didn’t care about anything else, but that was a title he desired.

-But honestly, true dragons start from the wyrm level and above. That’s when they can truly be considered to be dragons. The mediocre ones have weaker scales and breath.

“I’m sure we’ll meet one someday. Didn’t you say they still exist on this continent?”

-Yup, there’s quite a bit. There aren’t as many as there were in ancient times, but their numbers are steadily decreasing.

Jade nodded his head as it wasn’t an issue for him that they were steadily decreasing.

The important thing for him wasn’t the number of the dragons, but if there was a dragon that knew how to cross through dimensions.

‘Even if they don’t know, I’m sure they’ll show interest. And I can take advantage of that interest. Of course, the most comfortable thing would be to make them find a method for me.’

Arpedia wasn’t uncomfortable.

He had sufficiently adapted to the place and could sufficiently live here.

However, no matter how much he adapted to the new world and gained the strength to do so, he was still considered a foreigner.

Knock knock knock.

Jade awoke from his thoughts as he heard the attendant knocking at his door.

Hwid and the spirits simultaneously turned to look at the door.

“Sir Jade. The prince and princess have come to visit you.”

“Please escort them in.”

“Yes sir.”

The door opened at the same time as the servant’s respectful response back, and Hwid jumped straight into Jade’s arms.

It knew that Laney bothered it when it was separated from Jade, so it quickly escaped in advance.

“Ah, were you in the middle of your training?”

“No. I was in the process of breaking in my new sword.”

“I heard it was made with a Black Drake’s tooth?”

“Yes, I was luckily able to get my hands on a few of them”

Laney stared at Jade with curiosity.

She had seen plenty of wyvern and griffon bones, but she had never seen a drake’s tooth or bone.

“I’m sure it’s quite possible in the Great Forest, since it’s so dangerous there.”

“In return, it’s a land filled with opportunity as well. Just as dangerous as it is, the rewards that can be found are amazing.”

Rustle.

Jade’s eyes landed behind the siblings.

There was a total of three visitors in the room; the two siblings and another with half its face covered with a hood.

However, Jade focused on the energy that was radiating off the visitor instead of their outward appearance.

-It’s an elf!

-Not only that, but it’s a strong elf.

Jade still appeared calm amidst the fuss.

Even if they didn’t point it out for him, he could tell the other side was an elf just by feeling their energy.

Not only that, but she was a full-blooded elf, unlike Clara.

“This is our new partner and the reason why we came out here in the first place.”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Arelia and I’m a war elf.”

“The name is Jade.”

“You’re exactly as Clara said.”

As Arelia extended her hand out first to Jade, he calmly extended his out as well.

However, the look that she was giving him was unusual.

They were filled with surprise and shock.

“As I thought, you’re not surprised. I secretly thought you would be surprised.”

“There aren’t many existences that can have such a strong smell of spirits. But this is my first time hearing of war elves.”

Laney appeared disappointed as she had secretly wanted Jade to be surprised.

Now it was a bit ambiguous to boast the fact that they could invite a war elf to their party.

“It’s exactly as the name sounds. You can think of it as us being known to be fighters even among the elf race.”

“Oh?”

“Should I say we’re not scared to see blood?”

Arelia laughed and responded back on behalf of Laney.

And seeing this, both Lloyd and Laney appeared to be incredibly surprised.

They didn’t think Arelia would smile so brightly.

She always carried around a joker face and blunt personality, yet she was now standing in front of them smiling. Jade obviously being the reason why.

“To put it simply, you guys are good at combat.”

“That’s right. That’s also the reason why I travelled for the past month to meet these two. Most elves don’t like the thought of fighting. Of course, there are guards within the elf race that protect the tribe, but they’re not fond of seeing blood.”

As Arelia spoke, she stared at Jade with eyes filled with curiosity.

Spirit affinity was one thing, but like her, Jade was a warrior that also trained his body.

That’s why she had formed a competitive spirit.

“How many of you guys have come?”

“Including me, I would say about 300.”

“That’s quite a lot.”

“The numbers aren’t high, but every single one of them are strong warriors.”

Jade nodded his head as heard the confident filled response.

He was sure there wasn’t anyone who was as strong as Arelia but having 300 warriors wasn’t considered to be a small number.

Since they were all warriors that could summon spirits, each warrior was able to do the work of 100.

“That’s great.”

“Our grandmother was a huge help. Even we didn’t think they would help us to this extent.”

In response to Jade, Laney answered while nodding her head.

She was expecting some sort of help, but she had no idea it was going to be to this extent.

That’s why Laney and Lloyd were both shocked.

“It’s only possible because Clara is also a war elf. If she was part of a different tribe, I would estimate maybe two or three of us willing to help out.”

“That you very much.”

“But keep in mind, this will be the first and last time we help.”

“……Yes.”

Feeling the difference of how Arelia spoke to her compared to Jade, she felt intimidated.

However, this didn’t mean she was unhappy.

Arelia wasn’t a normal elf but a war chief of the war elf tribe.

This gave her the ability to speak the way she did.

“When are we leaving?”

“Tomorrow. We came here tonight to introduce you to the new member of the party and to let you know of our plans.”

“To be exact, I wanted to see you.”