Awarang, a small elven town in Gretharea Kingdom, 47 Gearro 3982

I let out a long relieved breath. I had made an acceptable adjustment to my survival plan. It should be good enough for now.

“Done?” I heard my uncle asked.

I looked at the source of the voice. My uncle was sitting comfortably on his usual great chair. A huge loaf of bread was in his hand and a big cup of hot coffee was on the wooden table in front of him. Well, I said coffee… but it was not really the same with my old world’s coffee. The smell and the look were similar, but the taste was closer to ginger drink… more spicy hot rather than bitter. In Elven, it was called javey… a favorite drink of many elves… not me, though.

“Yeah, I have designed a pretty much reasonable plan to cover this stupid mistake I did,” I said.

“Plan?”

“Martial art basically… It seems that I have to switch from [Tappa] and [Loweld] to [Ealong]. Of course, I will also need to work harder in my run and magic.”

My uncle nodded. His expression was still like usual, grim without any smile. “Beastmage?” He asked while pointing to my eyes.

“Yeah, this is what I got. The result of the blessing it seems.”

“Same plan?”

“Yes,” I simply said. My uncle knew my plans. Not because I told him willingly, but because he read the power-up plans within my diary. Yeah, I did write a diary in unencrypted rune-letters. I was stupid. I knew that.

Here, in elven society, there was no such concept of a diary being a private object. Anything that was written down was for anyone’s consumption. That was the concept of book and anything written here. If people wanted nobody but only certain people understood what was written, they needed to use personally encrypted rune-letters, of which only those certain people know. I was stupid, I knew. But, that plan of mine was written five years ago, before I understood the concept of encrypted writing and before I could access the library within my mind.

Anyway, the fact that my uncle knew my plan was actually quite a good thing, since I could see him in a different light.

My uncle was not much of an uncle. He was a pretty bad teacher. As a guardian, he was even worse. I was lucky because I was basically adult inside, so his lack-of-interest, no-affection, and free-reign policies did not really affect me much. But, I could imagine if I were a real child, I would definitely be either a depressed kid or an unruly one. I was really glad I was not a real child.

For my uncle’s occupation… well, he was certainly capable in blacksmithing, but he was not really special. There were about six or seven other blacksmiths in this town who were better than him. The power of his magic specialty, enchanting, which was signified by his magenta eyes, was not bad… but not good either, quite average. His physical power was quite high, but he was pretty slow and not very accurate. So, he could not be considered a great fighter either.

Looking from those facts, my uncle seemed to be an ordinary run-of-the-mill blacksmith. Yet, after he found out my plan and had a discussion with me… well, in his frustrating-few-words way of speaking, I found out that he was extremely intelligent… in a weird way though.

Surprisingly, my uncle’s comprehension ability was exceptionally high, and so was his memory. I even had some suspicion that he possessed eidetic memory. Also, using those high level comprehension and memory I assumed, he could easily make a correct deduction from the provided facts, find loopholes in any plan, and give accurate prediction of what would happen. Yet, the strange thing was that he couldn’t seem to be able to make any innovation or design anything new.

It was as if my uncle were an AI-less computer of my old world’s twentieth century… or a generic super assistant with lack of initiative.

This was, of course, really good for me. I used my uncle as a kind of proof reader for all my power-up plans. I didn’t even need to worry about him spreading my ‘secret’ power-up plans. He was probably the epitome of passiveness and introversion in this town after all.

The only weak point of him being my super assistant was that, other than the time right after he read my notes, he never provided non-requested assistance. Well, telling me about the curse on my name today was the second time he volunteered information without being asked.

“Four,” my uncle said, while throwing half a loaf of bread at me.

“Huh?” I asked in confusion while my right hand automatically caught the bread.

“Four years.”

“What do you mean four years, Uncle? I planned to stay here for another year only, remember?” I said, biting a small piece of the bread and slowly munching it to completely absorb the nutrition. The elven bread, Gemmus, was not very delicious, but it had nice smell and was full of useful substances.

My uncle shook his head. “After that,” he said.

“Um… my plan was to go to Stellios Forest for at least seven years. You said it yourself that it is the most optimal choice, Uncle.”

I did plan leaving the town next year. I needed to temper myself in wilderness, outside the safety of this town’s magic walls. Combat experiences, survival skills, sharpened senses, and links to wilder nature… those were what I wanted to get.

Going out to wilderness for several years was a common thing to do for young elves that focused on fighting skills or combat magic. Most elves did it in their late teens and in a group though. I wanted to start earlier and alone. But the location I chose, Stellios Forest was not that dangerous. It was just a low-level forest with few types of hostile monsters, the weak ones. I would someday move to the more dangerous areas, but from the complex calculation I had made, and my uncle had agreed, it would be the most effective and safest for me to stay in that low level area for at least seven years.

“Change it. Four.”

“You want me to move to Relogan Swamp after four years, Uncle? Isn’t it too dangerous?”

“No. Here.”

“You want me to return here after four years. Why?”

“War,” my uncle said simply.

I was speechless for a few seconds. War? How could my uncle predict… Wait, is that…

“Gretha-Mord Treaty?” I asked in unsure voice. I didn’t care much about politics, but I still knew enough about important political things which could affect my life.

Gretha-Mord Treaty was basically a magical no-aggression treaty made by our kingdom, Gretharea, and our neighboring empire, Mordeon, to stop any hostility against each other. I knew that the treaty would expire in five years, but it didn’t mean that the treaty could not be extended. It should be the best interest for each country that they extended the treaty, shouldn’t it?

My uncle just grunted unpleasantly and pointed at the wall, or more accurately, at a framed canvas on the wall.

The canvas here was not for displaying picture. Rather it functioned like a… well, newspaper or announcement projection. A nation-wide information agency, Breytar, projected important news in magical short messages on that canvas. The subscription fee for this service was quite high, but my uncle seemed to think that it was a necessary service to have. Well, I had to agree with him on this. I was from a world where information and technology were easily accessible after all.

Anyway, the content of the message in the canvas was a simple one sentence announcement… Mordeon Empire declared war against Owanna Kingdom.

What the hell was happening today? The terrorists’ attack… and now this ridiculous announcement of war… Although the one involved in the war was not my country, Gretharea, but still…

But wait… Owanna Kingdom? I quickly went to one of the bookshelves and took out one book in which I knew contained the most up to date map of the Northern Continent. Owanna Kingdom… here it was. Then, Mordeon Empire, since it expanded its territory by conquering Trocana Queendom seven years ago and Joon Kingdom two years ago, it would be… Oh, shit! Now, I knew why my uncle could predict that 'war'.

Owanna was a small peaceful kingdom in the southeast of Gretharea. There would be little chance of the kingdom to be able to survive against Mordeon Empire’s attack. And if Owanna were defeated, Gretharea would be completely surrounded by Mordeon in all sides, except the small part of northern coast. If that happened, would the Empire be willing to extend the treaty? No way.

“You are right, Uncle. War seems to be inevitable,” I said bleakly.

This was bad. Compared to Gretharea, Mordeon Empire was almost twice as big. Since it constantly plunged itself to wars, and it kept winning, its soldiers would definitely be stronger. And with the corrupt government reigning in Gretharea, and its complacent lazy soldiers, winning the war would be really hard.

I sighed in desperation. But, I hadn’t lost hope yet. The government of this country was indeed mostly corrupt. But those people in the government were not stupid. They should already know what it meant for the Empire to declare war against Owanna. They should be preparing for war now. And with five years preparation, the chance of stopping the Empire’s invasion would be much higher.

Besides, unlike the small countries that were defeated by the empire, Gretharea sheltered many powerful beings, since this kingdom was located in the most strategic place for magic power acquisition. The strongest general in the Northern Continent, the ten legendary mages, the sentient white dragon, the mythical hermit, the council of demigods, the sleeping immortal giant… If those insanely strong beings could be rallied as allies, the Mordeon Empire’s invasion would definitely fail.

The only problem would just be… traitors. There were always those kinds of people who would prefer joining the stronger enemies rather than fighting against them. If any of the great beings opted to join the Empire, it would be… very bad. And, that was not ungrounded fear.

If I were the emperor of the Mordeon Empire, I would definitely prioritize on gaining the support of those beings, or at least ensuring that those overpowered creatures stay neutral during the war. Of course, I would also disrupt any effort of the government of this country to gain those beings’ allegiance. There would be many ways to do that. I could redirect the focus of the government by planting spies and creating chaos. Wait, that was…

“Uncle, do you think the Empire is behind the Bhalafaeth’s terror?” I quickly tried to confirm my suspicion.

“High chance,” he grunted. “Others too.”

“Others? What do… Wait! You mean the rampaging bandits in Tanera Town, the revolt in Gyoya City, the necromancers’ outbreak in Jartan Town, the…”

“Yes!” My uncle cut my ramblings.

So, that was it. This chaos all over the country was very likely backed by the Empire. Damn! That was a great strategy for the Empire, but it was very bad for this kingdom.

The Empire seemed to have the upper hand here. It seemed to be very prepared to conquer this kingdom. This kingdom was in very bad situation. Then, would my return have any effect? I should probably just stay in Stellios Forest. It should be easier to survive there if I focused on stealth within these five years.

But then, what about my uncle, and the other people in this city? I was not really close to any of them and me being here would not change that much, but could I just leave them to their fate here? Would I be willing to suffer guilty conscience for the rest of my life? Would I be willing to risk my life to avoid guilty conscience? What should I do?

After long enough considering my choices…

“So?” asked my uncle.

“I will return here before the war erupts, Uncle.” I answered in a weak voice. Why had I chosen this path to tread on? I could not even say I knew the logical reason myself.

My uncle just grunted as a response, stood up, and walked to the big barrel he dropped previously. He took several things covered with brown leather cloth from the barrel and placed them at the table.

“Yours,” he said, still in grumpy tone.

I was speechless for a few seconds. Then, a wide grin started to appear on what previously was my gloomy face. Those were the special weapons I ordered. They were already completed. I didn’t expect this soon, but… this was great.

I quickly checked the first item. I yanked the cloth cover, and was immediately charmed with my first weapon... my main-hand weapon.

It was not much of a weapon actually. It was closer to a tool rather than a weapon. This first weapon of mine was an [iron hammer axe]. With its strong arm-length handle, sharp fan-like cutting edge, and blunt hammer-shaped axe-butt, it was a decent enough weapon for me… at least for now. It was pretty heavy for my current strength, but not bad enough to stop me from using it.

With this weapon, I had access for two different types of physical attack… slashing and bludgeoning. It meant that I could adjust my physical attack depending on my opponent’s characteristic. If I had to face, for example, an armored enemy, bludgeoning attack would be my main source of damage. For non-armored enemies, on the other hand, I was sure that slashing or chopping with the axe cutting edge would generally be much more effective.

The next item would be my long ranged as well as left-hand weapon. It was a [slingshot blade]. The blade was originally a birth-gift from my father, made of an unknown tusk. It was extraordinarily hard, sharp on its edges, and straight, not curved like most tusk-blades. Its shape was slim and had pointed tip like the blade of a rapier, although it was a little wider and shorter. It was obvious that this blade was very effective for piercing. That was another type of physical attack on my arsenal.

Although I asked my uncle to modify it, the blade was actually unchanged at all. The hilt of the blade was, on the other hand, very different from the original. It was formed like a reversed letter ‘Y’. And with a pair of rubber-like bands connected to an ammunition holder… there it was, a slingshot.

In many places of my old world, decades before the digital era began; slingshot was treated like a child’s toy rather than a weapon. But this thing I hold here… it was definitely not a toy. The material used for the rubber-like bands was Corotta’s tendon, a substance with toughness and elasticity rivaling the super synthetic rubber of my old world. The full-draw strength of the slingshot was not very different from the full-draw strength of a longbow. Both were powerful long range weapons in the hand of capable wielders, which meant... not me. I was capable, but I didn't have enough strength yet to make a full draw on both weapons.

Anyway, I chose a slingshot for my ranged weapon not because I could not use bows. I was accurate enough in archery for medium range. I was an elf after all. My problem with archery was simply… the arrows. They took a lot of spaces and well… they were hard to make. They… oh alright, I would admit that. I was… pathetic at fletching.

Unlike arrows, the ammunitions for a slingshot saved a lot of spaces and were pretty easy to make, at least for me.

Other things that were given by my uncle along with the weapons were some bars of ammunition ceramic molds. What I needed to do to make the ammunition was just calcining the molds, melting the metal used as the material, pouring it to the molds, waiting until it was cold enough, taking the results out, and… done.

It was simple, but well… I needed access to the blacksmith’s foundry to do it. But again, the great thing about slingshot was… I could simply use rocks if I ran out of crafted ammunitions. They would not be as good, but they would do for emergency.

About slingshot crafted ammunitions, well, normally slingshot users preferred spherical ammunitions. They were the easiest to use. But, in my case, I could use pointed, cone-like, arrow-head ammunitions. I was not very good yet here. Probably if I gave myself a score it would still be 6 out of 10. They were not easy to use, considering rotation, balance, and the likes. But once I got the knack on how to use them, I knew that when I used it, it would be as if I shot arrows without shafts… as deadly, yet harder to detect. I just needed to practice more.

I was suddenly frozen on my place. With these weapons, it meant that I needed to practice using each of them… a lot. Damn! My schedule would get even nastier than before.