Point-of-View: Sylvar Miirphys

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I woke up with a tired groan, before sitting up groggily and looking around...oh, it looks like I'm back in the Laus Domain. I'm in a tree house...that means I'm in the Elf village.

When Sant created the floating island, he divided up the area into four quarters and used Divine Magic to make each quarter as close to each race's natural habitat as possible. For the Elves, that was a lot of greenery and tall trees. After that, each respective race built a village for themselves, and we all cooperate and freely share our resources with each other.

The Elf village simply built wooden houses in trees, since Elves tend to naturally feel more comfortable in high places. The Fairy village was a large lake with flowers and trees surrounding it, and the Fairies lived inside tree trunks, which they hollow out for themselves. The Halfling village was a grassy area with not much else, and their living accommodations varied between mud huts and wooden houses.

And finally, the Dwarf village was a more rocky area with a bunch of underground mines, given their expertise when it comes to metal-working and crafting, and they also tend to live underground. Oh, that reminds me, I need to ask them to make me a new spear, since-...I stood up with a start, as everything came flooding back to me.

How long had I been out for!? The last thing I remember is...fighting against those people from the Rustlands. I let out a growl of frustration as I recalled that fight...that freckled bitch, the last thing she said to me...yeah, I hate to admit it, but she's absolutely right.

Except for when she suddenly, and briefly, manifested a drastic boost in power towards the end, none of them were even close to my base power level. And yet, they got insanely close to killing me. She said that I panic easily...

And I'd be a fool to disregard that just because it was said by an enemy trying to provoke me...because she was absolutely right. I could have stood to use my wind far more efficiently against Kuro, but I was so taken aback by how powerful he was that I was unable to just stay calm and fight at my best.

And then, during my fight against the Rustlands' humans, when that blonde woman with the gills caught me in her water trap, I should have stayed calm and just burst out a shockwave of wind right away instead of panicking, I could have avoided taking so much damage.

Instead, as it happened, by the time I broke out, I was already weakened from the blood loss and Corruption Magic damage, not to mention that I'd nearly passed out since I couldn't breathe, and then I got electrocuted, burnt, whipped by chains that burnt me some more, and lost my cool so much that I basically forced the Wind Spirit to unleash my full power, despite the fact that it would've killed me.

Sorry about that, Aero, I wasn't thinking straight, didn't mean to yell at you like I did.

"It is alright, I fully understood, and shared in, your hatred in that moment," Replied the Wind Spirit.

Had Bell not intervened, I'd probably be dead right now...I then glanced down at myself and scanned my body...looks like all my injuries are healed. Likely Sant's Restoration Magic, I doubt regular healing spells would be enough to reverse the damage from Corruption Magic.

I then noticed that there was a note pinned to the bed post...I picked it up and read what was written on it...oh, it's from Sant, he wants me to go meet him after I regain consciousness. Sant lives in the spot where the four villages intersect, from where he summons us when necessary, but otherwise keeps to himself, alone except for the guards assigned to protect him.

Looks like I'm close to that area, shouldn't take me more than half an hour to get there. If I'd been at the boundary of the Elf village, it'd take about a whole day to get to Sant. Especially since I can't use teleportation spells, they're way too complicated for me to figure out.

Guess I might as well head out. I was in a small tree house, which was not one that anyone lived in. There were several small tree houses like this one scattered throughout the forest, and they were sort of communal, anyone can use them and no one really owns them.

As for living in, bigger tree houses are used to live in, though even then, more often than not it's not permanent, Elves don't like to be pinned down in a place for long. That, and the fact that they don't get easily attached to things, they're not a very materialistic species.

Like I've said before, monogamy and matrimony aren't concepts that exist in Elf culture, so families aren't really a thing either...that said, all Elves feel strong kinship with each other, even practical strangers. It was kinda confusing for the first couple of decades, but I eventually got used to it...Elves are very different to humans, their minds and biology just don't work the same way.

The only exception is that when a new Elf baby is born, the mother will develop maternal instincts and raise and protect her offspring for about the first ten to fifteen years of their life. After that, the new Elf has to learn to be independent. I have no idea who my father is in this world, and I haven't seen my mother in like, fifty years.

And yet, I barely feel anything. In other words, Elves do have strong loyalty to their own kind, but they hardly ever value one member over the other...so basically the opposite of what it's like with humans, they can care a great deal about their spouses and family, but for the most part, they don't give a shit about the rest of humanity.

With Elves, it's kinda the opposite...blood ties don't mean much at all, while unity as a race overall is extremely important. Oh, and as for names, the mother of a newborn Elf names them, and then the new Elf inherits their last name...there are over one point two million Elves in existence right now, but there are only about fifty or sixty last names.

Oh, looks like I've arrived at Sant's place...the center of the Laus Domain, it had a tall wooden fence surrounding it and guards outside the entrance. It was a pretty small space, I'd say about a big as a couple of football fields put together side by side.

The guards let me in as I approached the entrance, before shutting the gates as I walked in. Sant looked up as I walked towards him...looks like he was dozing off before I got here. This place was pretty empty, except for a small house in which he lived in and a large throne-like stone seat, which is where he was right now.

"Ah, Sylvar, I have been expecting you," He greeted me, as I bowed respectfully.

"Yes, my lord, I thank you for healing my injuries," I replied gratefully.

"Indeed...Bell has already informed me of everything that transpired on your investigation of the human settlements, including the information given to you by Belia. Quite concerning, all of it...I would like to hear your opinion, you are more likely to have an objective, unbiased viewpoint...," He remarked, before forming a barrier around us and continuing with narrowed eyes, "...seeing that you are a former human yourself."

He still doesn't fully trust me, huh...

"When we departed for this investigation, I was optimistic that we could establish peaceful relations with at least one of the human nations, but...I now see that I was being naive. Honestly, with the exception of Silvland, the other two are likely to agree to non-aggression pacts if we were to offer...however, that is only because we have more overall power than they do and it's in their best interest to secure their own safety and survival...but if they ever get a chance to eliminate us, they will almost definitely take it," I replied, giving him my honest opinion.

"Very well, then...we shall continue to expand our territory throughout the areas unoccupied by the humans and we will simply ignore them...however, in the event that they display aggression towards us, we will have no choice but to eliminate them," Surmised Sant with a frown.

"Regarding the matter of territory, my lord, how goes the progress in expansion?" I asked curiously.

"Quite well...we have built small fortresses throughout the areas that we have occupied, they will be quite difficult to breach," He replied.

"So soon? That was fast," I remarked in surprise.

"Not at all...it has been more than a week since you lost consciousness already."

Huh?

"Wait, what!? I was out for that long!?" I exclaimed in alarm.

"Indeed, I was able to restore your body using my Restoration Magic, but your very life force had gotten damaged from the Corruption Magic damage you received, it took some time for you to fully recover. As a result of the damage, however, your lifespan likely shortened by a small amount," He explained.

"Oh...I see. That's...not great to hear. Wait, what's the date today?" I inquired warily.

"It is the 19th of May."

I'm, uh, not sure I heard that right...

"Hold on, that can't be right...so, wait, back up a sec, tomorrow's the day of the attack!?" I realized, my eyes widening in horror.

"It would seem so...but there is no need for concern. It will be impossible for Belia to march her forces here without being spotted by the troops we have stationed throughout the fortresses that we have built throughout our new territories," Pointed out Sant.

Yeah, that makes sense, there's no way an army could approach the Laus Domain without running into the our defenses. Dwarven Earth Magic was probably used to create the fortresses, so there's no doubting the durability of the structures...and yet, I couldn't help but get a really bad feeling about tomorrow...

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