Chapter 43 : The King meets the Elves (1) While Ron was informing his king about the meeting, the elf who rushed toward the closest village finally arrived. "pant... pant.. Where is...the chief ? pant..." The young elf that has been sent by Uncle Marten was the fastest of the patrol corp, and yet even he took more than two hours to reach the First Village. When the two guards on duty at the main gate saw him coming back so exhausted, they knew something went wrong. "Young Oscar, what happened ?" They asked him what happened at the border for him to come back so extenuated that he couldn't stand on his feet without their help. The scout ran as fast as he could from the Oracle's domain border, he was so exhausted that his legs were shaking and his face was all red. He clearly had no strength remaining. "On the border...humans...invaded...a sword-master...meeting... cough cough..." He had trouble constructing a full sentence, the guards could only hear him blabbering some words before he passed out from exhaustion. Yet, those few words were enough for them to understand the urgency of the situation. "Call the chief, I'll ring the bell and bring the kiddo to the shaman so he can rest and explain to us what happened in more details when he wakes up. I hope to be wrong, but it seems like an emergency..." "Y-yes !" One of the guards left the place running straight to the village chief's house, while the remaining one carried the scout on his back and rang the golden bell situated on a tree just behind the main entrance, before rushing to the shaman's tent. "May Arthemil protect us..." ___ "So you said you couldn't detect them or see through their camouflage until releasing your aura ?" "Yes, Your Highness. I estimated the elves who ambushed me to be no more than 2-stars warriors. One of them stood up among his peers, he was cunning and seemed stronger than the others. Still, I didn't feel any traces of aura from him so he shouldn't be stronger than 3-stars." After taking a short nap of half an hour to recover his strength, Ron immediately went back to his King's side to give a more detailed report of his encounter with the elves. "If the elves patrolling the border of their territory are 2-stars, and the one commanding them is 3-stars... We can expect their village leaders to be 4-stars or above." "Isn't it good for us, Your Highness ? If their best warriors are only 3-stars and their chief are 4-stars, they shouldn't be a threat to us. Even the Volcanic Wolves are more of a threat than those puny seed-eaters." As usual, when talking about facing an unknown enemy, the first one to give his opinion was the short-tempered Duke Beaumont. "This may be true Duke, but this may also only be the visible tip of the iceberg. If they have any 5-stars Grandmaster or any 5-circles Grandmage among their ranks, confronting them head-on on inside their natural environment would be too dangerous, if not suicidial." The natives of Lunaris, like the Scyllas, also devised a ranking system to class their warriors into tiers depending on their strength. The Scyllas used the black monolith inside their mother-ship to gauge the potential, battle power and lethality of their Void Rifters so they could rank them into distinct tiers, but on Lunaris things were different. The Lunaris ranking system has been originally created to measure the strength of knights and mages, as they have always been the two main combatant forces on the continent. Although mages and knights do not use the same terms to describe their combat capabilities, they are still evaluated the same way. For a man to walk the path of the blade, in addition to following a specific school, learning sword techniques and gaining experience through real combats, he also needs to cultivate his body until it can fully bear the power of those techniques. Millenniums of research, experiments and experiences led to the invention of a universal system that can be used by any race, no matter the techniques or weapons they use. This system ranks blades-men into 8 tiers, corresponding to their current state of cultivation : 1-star or novice for newbies who just started learning any Blade-Art, such as swordsmanship, spearsmanship, oriental arts, axes wielding, shields arts, assassin credo, or any other. 2-stars or adept when the basics of the blade have been learned well enough to be used effectively in real combats. 3-stars or veteran when one is experienced enough to sense aura. 4-stars or master when aura can be materialized and manipulated. 5-stars or grandmaster when one achieved the pinnacle of his art, until refining his body and aura to their maximum. The 6-stars blade-kings are considered the most powerful beings living on the continent, even in the Central continent. They are so powerful that most of the time, they are employed as a one-man-army. Their body is as strong as iron, their muscles are as dense as steel, they can break huge boulders in two with a single of their punches, and the sharpness of their blade can cut almost everything on the continent. As for the 7-stars blade-emperors, there are less than a handful of them on the whole continent. Each of them has much more power than any ruler on the continent, and it is said that they often work behind the scenes to influence the continent. Only the most powerful countries of the Central continent can stand on equal ground with these monsters. If any blademan above the 3-stars level is considered to be super-human for ordinary civilians, the 7-stars truly deserve their names as blade-emperors, ruling upon all at the peak of their bladesmanship. To reach the 6-stars blade-king level, one needs to transform his aura blade into an ethereal blade. The gap between 5-stars and 6-stars is huge, but the gap between 6-stars and 7-stars is not even fathomable. Being so few on the continent, these blade-emperors often live in secrecy and none of their techniques are known, as nobody ever escaped alive from an encounter with one of them. Be it a lone soldier or a powerful army, after facing a 7-stars blade-emperor not even blood and bones remain. The last tier, the 8-stars blade-god, is considered a myth, and the only one who has supposedly reached this state during his lifetime was the godfather of modern swordsmanship : Arthur, the Sword of Oblivion. A lot of debates are being held every year by some of the most famous scholars from the Central continent to know if Arthur the Sword of Oblivion, the strongest swordsman that has ever existed and the one who modernized swordsmanship until making it the most proficient and famous Blade-Art, has truly existed or not. Some say he did exist and ascended to immortality once he had a breakthrough and reached the 9-stars level, while others think he is just a legend of ancient times. There are even theories saying that his myth is a fabrication made by another swordsman less talented who wanted to leave behind his own sword technique as a legacy. No matter the truth, none can deny that this legend is what led the sword to be considered the most honorable weapon among all. Even if any blade can be deadly in the hands of an experienced person, the sword arts surpassed all the other Blade-Arts mainly thanks to the teachings left behind by Arthur's legend. Of course, since then, many of the continent's heroes have chosen a different path such as the way of the Spear, the Daggers, the Bow or even the Shield. They all left behind powerful arts for their favorite weapon, but none of them has ever been as well-known and reputed as the Art of the Oblivion Sword left by Arthur's myth. If bladesmen, no matter their weapon, are ranked depending on their cultivation level and their blade techniques, things are slightly different for mages. While everyone, even the least talented kid, can pick up a weapon and reach up to the 3-stars level through intense training and complete dedication to the blade for many years...This logic does not apply to magic. Magic also requires effort, training and willpower. But before all, it requires a mana-heart and a lot of innate talent. Not everyone can become a mage, as the ability to control the mana present in the environment is decided at birth. For every twenty 4-stars sword-masters, there is only a single 4-circles battlemage. This reflects how scarce and valuable these mages are to the countries that foster them. The life of a newborn blessed by a mana-heart has already more value at birth than a thousand of 1-star bladesmen. Thus, mages are extremely important and respected all around the continent. If a 4-stars swordmaster such as Ron is important enough to be bestowed upon the honorary noble title of baron and to occupy the position of vice-captain of the Royal Guard in a medium-sized kingdom like Lyssandra, a 4-circles battlemage has the right to reside in the King's Palace and have access to any resources he desires. When Alphus the White, the strongest mage in Lyssandra, had a breakthrough and finally carved his fifth circle on his mana heart during the previous war after nearly dying, the King offered him a whole province the size of a barony, the authorization to build a 300m tall mage tower and the honorary noble rank of Marquis, the highest noble title achievable for someone not from the Royal family or any of the four Ducal families. Contrary to the way of the Blade, the way of Magic has not 8 but 10 tiers, which depend on the number of mana circles one has carved on his heart : 1-circle novices are the young teenagers joining mage academies, blessed by a mana-heart at birth and the ability to control mana. This first circle is being carved naturally between eight to twelve years old if the heart can receive mana. 2-circles adepts can use the most basic spells, but even at this early stage, these young mages have enough power to destroy a grown-up tree with the weakest of their offensive spells. 3-circles mages can use defensive and support spells, as well as cast the weakest curses and blessings. They can already destroy a whole house with a single spell. 4-circles, also called battle-mages, are considered experienced mages and only a few students from the magic academies have enough talent to make it this far. They master both offensive and defensive spells, and they can cast medium curses and blessings. This is also the required number of circles to learn destruction and flight magic. They have enough power to destroy a large-sized village on their own. 5-circles grandmages are considered true masters of magic ; they are experts in their field. They are so powerful that they can face multiple 4-circles mages by themselves with ease. This is also the number of circles required to create illusions or to control golems and other minions through magic. They have access to the most powerful curses and blessings, and just one of their most powerful destruction spells has enough power to destroy a city the size of the Lyssandra capital. Nothing much is known about the few mages who reached past the 6-circles level. Their appearance in public is extremely rare, even more so than the 6-stars and above bladesmen, and the countries that support them do their best to hide them from spying eyes. If this had to be compared with Jun's former world, those mages are used the same way the powerful countries on Earth were using nuclear weapons. Unless their presence on the battlefield was absolutely necessary, it was far more efficient to utilize their presence as a dissuasion while keeping them hidden. Even though high-ranking mages are employed as mobile nuclear weapons capable of wreaking havoc on an entire region or even a whole country just by themselves, the majority of them are nonetheless susceptible to being assassinated and they still fall behind to 6-stars bladesmen in terms of pure dueling. Thats is why if they have to join a battle, they would always be accompanied by an entire escort led by at least one 6-stars blademan, as it would be the bare minimum to safely protect them from enemy bladesmen and assassins. Except for a few classes of mages that specialize in close combat, high-ranking mages need numerous bladesmen sticking around them at all times to keep them safe. These are the reasons why they are better used as a dissuasion and they seldom leave their research place. The resources needed to bring a 6-circles mage onto the battlefield and keep him safe from the enemy for just a few days is worth more than a whole year of taxes for a kingdom the size of Lyssandra. Even if nothing much is known about the few mages above the 6-circles level, it is still public knowledge that none of them have carved more than 8-circles for thousands of years. The 7-circles are not considered mages anymore, but magos. As for the 8-circles, they are called battle magos. Even the best genius of their generation or the most experienced mages who lived through centuries never surpassed 8-circles. That's how hard and unpredictable the path of magic is. Back in the human camp, the King was deeply thinking about the next course of action to take to deal with the elves. "Tell our men to be ready. Ron will lead the way. Sir Matthias, Duke Beaumont and Duke St Claire will accompany me, with six more knights from the Royal Guards. Duke Baillard will stay in the camp to manage our troops and protect the gems, while Duke Eddington will take a small group of knights and stay at a short distance from the meeting place, in case something goes wrong." Everyone nodded at their King's words. "Your Highness, should we prepare for a large-scale battle ?" Duke Baillard asked, visibly nervous to let his King venture into the elves' territory with so few people guarding him. Even if Matthias was a 4-stars champion, Duke St Claire was a 4-circles water battle-mage and Duke Beaumont was a 4-stars pugilist, they still had no intel about the elves' forces. Duke Baillard has been tasked to stay behind in the camp and protect the gems, but he wanted to know in advance if he had to prepare the soldiers to invade the elves' territory. "You shall do so, Duke. However, do not take any action until my return." "As you wish, Your Highness." After having finalized their plan, the King and his escort finally left the camp, followed by Duke Eddington and his knights. They engulfed themselves in the thick forest vegetation, following Ron to the meeting place. ___ "Little cub, come." A deep voice called. When the voice resonated from the heart of the Hydra Mountain, a young elf quickly appeared at the entrance of the dark and eery cave. She walked through the narrow galleries that penetrated deep into the depths of the imposing mountain, until reaching a wide cave illuminated by precious crystals hung onto the walls. There was a circular hole within the cave from which a heated breath could be felt at regular intervals. Different runes were inscribed on the rocks all around the hole. It was a spell formation created with tremendous magic power. Even after studying magic since the first day she met her Master, the young elf couldn't grasp even a fraction of the entire spell formation that was sealing him inside the mountain. That is how advanced the magic used to seal her master is. She halted in front of the hole, and respectfully bowed her head. "Did you call for me, Master ?" "The time thou waited for so long has finally come, I can feel it. Today is the day." She was taken aback by her master's words, but she didn't dare to move in front of him. "..." "Do thou not want to meet him ?" "I do, Master, but you..." "Thou do not have to worry about me. I didn't passed thou a part of my teachings for thou to be so hesitant." "Yes, Master..." "Go, little cub. Thou still have time to visit thy village and thy family before thy long awaited one arrives. It seems like the other cub also felt it, as he left the Slime cave with his dryads friends this morning." "Tom did ?..." A modest grin came on her face as she remembered her childhood friend, her father, and all the people she left behind when she entered seclusion to be trained by her master. "I never intended to make thou my disciple, but as stubborn as thou were when thou first came here, I am now proud of having accepted thou. Thou are not a little cub anymore, but a fine woman that will one day proudly lead thy clan." "..." "No matter how thy meeting with the one you waited so much will go, thou are now strong enough to decide of thy own path in life. Do not forget my teachings, little cub." "I will not, Master Tarasque..." "Now, go. Stop wasting thy time here." "Y-yes !" The elf hurried back to the mountain's summit, exiting the shadowy tunnels by the same entrance she once used to reach Tarasque's cave when she first ascended the mountain. She had grown up since then, she was no longer the awkward and clumsy young girl she once was. She now had the strength to protect her people, and she sincerely hoped that she was strong enough to walk alongside the Chosen One. During those years of intense training, her desire to follow him, as prophesied by her late mother, has never faded or weakened even once. "Master, thanks you for everything ! I will come back as soon as possible !" She yelled as loud as she could for her master who was imprisoned inside the mountain to hear, before leaping out of the opening and plummeting into the vast forest at the foot of the Hydra Mount.