Witnessing the appearance of the First Elder of the Elven Council, Haldir’s face noticeably darkened. While the Emperor greeted the First Elder respectfully, Haldir grunted coldly.

Ignoring Haldir’s rudeness, the First Elder spoke, thrilled by Haldir’s revelation, “How fascinating! The boy has stepped into the Plane of Ascension, which has eluded the grasps of the elves for the past millennia! I wish to meet him as soon as possible!”

Haldir interjected coldly with a dark face, “Hahaha! Look who’s once again eyeing a member of the Throm family! You must be going senile if you think I’ll let any of my precious family members near you!”

The First Elder sighed and finally turned to Haldir, “Haldir... You still haven’t let it go? You should really come to terms with it. It has been far too long, holding a grudge like that!”

Haldir muttered to himself, “Let it go?” He then laughed maniacally and exploded with rage, “Hahahaha! LET IT GO? Look at the esteemed First Elder trying to show compassion! Where was this compassion when you ordered my brother to his death? Eh?”

The First Elder sighed once again and answered, “I’ve explained to you a thousand times why I made that decision. It was for the greater good of the Elven Empire!”

Haldir raised his voice even louder and shouted, “Greater good? Ha! You’ve found a nice way to sugar-coat your mistake! My brother was more than capable of turning the situation of the War around. If only you had faith in him, but alas, you gave up on him! YOU pulled him out of the battlefield. YOU ordered the suicide mission to my brother’s unit. YOU knew very well that my brother wouldn’t sit quietly while his men were practically ordered to die. YOU pushed him to a path of death! You should at least admit it outright, instead of hiding behind the paper-thin facade of ‘It was for the greater good.’”

The Emperor tried to smooth things over, “Now, now. Why don’t we calm ourselves before any one of us says something that we will later on regret?”

After calming down, Haldir quietly uttered, “What’s left to regret? I already regret encountering the First Elder with my brother during my younger days!” Without giving the Emperor or the First Elder any chance to reply, Haldir continued, “Well, I’ve finished conveying the matter of the Plane of Ascension to the Emperor, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Both the Emperor and the First Elder silently watched Haldir as he exited the Throne Hall. After a while, the Emperor broke the silence, “You haven’t yet revealed the truth to Haldir?”

The First Elder sighed melancholically and replied, “No. And I don’t intend on revealing it anytime soon.” He appeared to be conflicted as he muttered quietly, “It was the only request Haldir’s brother, my dearest pupil, had ever asked of me! But at the same time, it’s painful to interact with Haldir like that!”

Taking a breath, the First Elder renewed his resolve and, with piercing eyes, spoke to the Emperor, “You better not blab about the truth to anyone. My dearest pupil trusted you enough to let you in on it. You better not betray his trust. Don’t let his death be in vain.”

The Emperor looked a bit forlorn as he reminisced his time with Haldir’s brother and nodded in response to the First Elder’s words.

Noticing that the mood of the Throne Hall had turned quite melancholic, the First Elder changed the topic and began to discuss the severity of the Plane of Ascension’s situation with the Emperor.

***

Exiting the Throne Hall, Haldir took a deep breath to calm himself. Unable to calm down, he started to stroll within the garden where Aldon had met Alyndra. The greenery, freshness, and the overall ambiance of the garden were effective as Haldir’s mind reached a state of tranquility.

During his stroll, Haldir saw Agis training under a tree and approached him. Though Agis was surprised by the presence of the commander-in-chief of the Elven military, his facial expression didn’t change as he greeted Haldir respectfully, “Good Morning, Commander!” Haldir waved his hand and replied, “No need for the formalities. You can call me by my name.” Though Agis replied affirmatively, he didn’t have the courage to call out the Commander’s name.

Haldir spoke to Agis, “Can you ask the Imperial Guards and find out the whereabouts of my grandson, Aldon? I cannot sense his presence in the Castle.” Agis answered affirmatively and left the garden to enquire about Aldon’s whereabouts.

After a while, Agis came back and reported awkwardly, “It appears that Young Master Aldon has exited the Castle with Young Master Taeral. Some Imperial Guards who overheard them talk on their way to the gates of the Castle informed me that they were headed to the Sunshine Marketplace to buy things required for some kind of a journey.”

Shaking his head, Haldir grumbled, “That stupid grandson of mine! Didn’t it even cross his mind to notify me? I’ll chew his head off when he comes back.” Agis laughed at Haldir’s reaction and spoke, “Hahaha! Considering Aldon, it is entirely possible that he forgot to notify you.”

Curious to know how Agis was familiar with Aldon, Haldir questioned, “You seem to be familiar with Aldon. Do tell me how you know him! I’m at a loss as I cannot imagine a situation where you both interact!”

Agis awkwardly narrated his interaction with Aldon. After listening to Agis’ narration, Haldir was taken aback and started to laugh, “Hahaha! That boy really cannot keep his curiosity in check!” He continued, with a playful tone, “Agis... If you were pushed back by a Realm 4 Mage, I may have to doubt your combat prowess! Come, let us spar! Then, I’ll get a proper estimation of your prowess!”

Agis was speechless as he remembered his seniors telling him about the battle maniac of the commander-in-chief. Yet, he accepted Haldir’s proposal to a spar, “I’d be honored!” He recognized the golden opportunity to train with and learn from the commander-in-chief of the Elven Military, known as the ‘Berserk Devil’! Haldir had earned the moniker of ‘the Berserk Devil’ in the War that occurred around thirty years ago after going on a rampage and routing the majority of the enemy forces single-handedly.

Haldir smiled as he began to stretch, warming up for the spar. Agis slowly took out his spear and assumed a battle stance. His eyes were focused to the extreme as he intently observed Haldir’s movements. Haldir noticed this and chuckled softly, remembering his younger days.

After warming up, Haldir drew his green-bladed broadsword and spoke, “I’ll be taking this spar seriously. You better not hold anything back! Be sure to exert your strength to the extreme!” Agis nodded and gripped his spear tightly.

Haldir suddenly cast a Realm 6 Wind-attributed Spell ‘Gale Steps’ on himself and closed in on Agis almost instantly. This Spell amplified the Haldir’s agility by twenty times! The already quick Haldir was frighteningly swift as he appeared before Agis.

Anticipating this, Agis had cast the Realm 5 Earth-attributed Spell ‘Quicksand’ in advance on the ground surrounding him. As the name implied, the Spell created an area of quicksand on the terrain, which slowed down Haldir’s speed by half.

Though Haldir was slowed down, he was still quick on his feet and swung his immensely sharp broadsword towards Agis’ neck. Agis was quick to block the attack with his spear but was sent flying backward and crashed into a tree in the garden. The immense strength behind the blow decimated the tree into smithereens.

Noticing this, Haldir pulled out an Artifact that resembled a bead of water and activated it by infusing it with some Mana. The Artifact shone brightly, quickly grew large, and exploded, splashing water in all directions. Miraculously, both Haldir and Agis were not drenched in water.

Agis recovered from the crash and noticed this phenomenon. He quickly realized that Haldir had used an Artifact called ‘Environment Protector’. The Artifact, upon its activation, would cast a quasi Realm 7 Water-attributed Spell ‘Fluid Cushion’ on the user’s surroundings which protected it from any attacks. The actual name of the Artifact was ‘Bead of Fluid Cushion’, in accordance with the Spell it cast. But the reason it was renamed as the ‘Environment Protector’ was because it was utilized heavily by the military to protect the environment of the training grounds where the recruits underwent hellish training that pushed them beyond their limits. Agis smiled wryly as he thought to himself, ‘The rumor about the commander-in-chief always carrying an Environment Protector with him turned out to be true! What a battle maniac!’

Shaking his head, Agis refocused on the spar and cast a Realm 3 Earth-attributed Spell ‘Sharpen’ on his spearhead.[1] His spear started to glow in a yellow haze as it began emitting an aura of sharpness. Satisfied by the sharpness of his spear, Agis quickly deployed the Mana Armor around his chest and shortened the distance between him and Haldir.

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Taking precaution, Haldir also deployed the Mana Armor around his chest and leapt towards Agis, this time, aiming for his head. Agis quickly rearranged his Mana Armor to form a yellowish helmet around his head and took the blow head-on. Due to the natural defensive nature of the Earth-attributed Mana, Agis’ Mana Armor withstood the blow easily. Interestingly, the yellowish helmet started to vibrate eerily and clamped Haldir’s sword within it. While Haldir’s sword was stuck, Agis quickly took the initiative and stabbed his spear at Haldir’s head.

Though Agis’ plan was good, he had severely underestimated Haldir’s prowess. Haldir simply shook his hand that held the broadsword, and it was easily freed from the clutches of Agis’ Mana Armor. With the now free broadsword, Haldir easily and swiftly parried Agis’ spear to a side and took a step back.

Mistaking Haldir’s step as a sign of retreat, Agis moved forward, intending to press Haldir. Haldir licked his lips in delight as Agis fell for his trap. Haldir swiftly sidestepped Agis’ advance and bombarded him from both sides with heavy strikes from his broadsword.

Agis barely managed to rearrange his Mana Armor to his chest and back in time as he was quickly sandwiched between the flurry of Haldir’s attacks. He could only watch in helplessness as he was bombarded with blows, each more powerful than the last. Though he was helpless, he was confident in his defensive power and started to think of a way out of his bleak situation.

Noticing Agis’ confidence, Haldir grinned widely. Agis noticed this and felt shivers down his spine as he was reminded of why Haldir was known as the ‘Berserk Devil’. Haldir infused some of his Mana into the broadsword and continued his barrage. The broadsword glowed lightly in response. Though the glow appeared to be insignificant, it raised hell on Agis’ Mana Armor. The Mana Armor of Agis’ which was unscathed till now, began to grow cracks at an unbelievable rate.

Agis’ heart sank into despair as he panicked and jumped upwards with all his strength to escape the barrage of attacks. In the next moment, he found, to his surprise, that he had successfully escaped Haldir’s barrage and had jumped almost two meters in the air.

Unfortunately, his newfound relief was short-lived as his sight fell upon Haldir on the ground. Haldir was grinning widely as he spread his hands and was multi-casting the Realm 3 Wind-attributed Spell ‘Wind Slash’ in Agis’ direction. Though the power behind the Realm 3 Spell was not comparable to Haldir’s earlier barrage, the sheer number of them forming around Haldir gave Agis another panic.

Agis multi-casted a Realm 3 Earth-attributed Spell ‘Rock Fall’ in response to Haldir’s Wind Slash. As its name suggests, Rock Fall created numerous rocks that fell from a height. Though his reaction was in no way slower, Agis’ multi-casting couldn’t compare to Haldir’s.

After a while, both of them finished multi-casting the Spells at the same time. The almost over thousand of the Wind Slashes overpowered the meager hundred of the Rock Falls, and they struck Agis.

The already fragile Mana Armor of Agis broke down completely as he fell from the sky. His body was tattered, with bones protruding from various places.

Still not giving up, he tried to cast a Spell but was interrupted by a hard blow directly onto his solar plexus. Instantly, his breath was knocked out of him, and he passed out.

Looking at the unconscious Agis, Haldir scratched his chin awkwardly as he thought, ‘Ah! I might have gone a bit too far! Sparring with someone close to your power level does that to you! Hahaha!’ He quickly came back to his senses and cast the Realm 6 Healing Spell ‘Zone Heal’ on Agis. Agis completely recovered from his injuries swiftly but was still unconscious. Scratching his chin, Haldir sprinkled some water that he had obtained from a pond nearby onto Agis.

Agis slowly awakened and noticed Haldir looking over him worriedly. Realizing that he had lost, Agis shook his head as he stood up slowly and spoke wryly, “I’m absolutely no match for you, Commander-in-chief!” Haldir scratched his chin and tried to be reassuring, “It’s not that you were weak. It’s just... you couldn’t release your full strength during the spar!”

Agis thought over what Haldir had said and realized that it was true! During the whole course of the spar, he couldn’t cast the combat Spells he had mastered properly; Couldn’t use his weapon, the spear, to its full potential; Couldn’t use his most prided close-quarters combat skills to his advantage! He realized that from the beginning, Haldir was in complete control of the flow of the spar.

Cold sweat began to form on his face as Agis realized that if it were an actual battle, he would have lost his life in an instant! Till now, he had brushed off the tales of the prowess of the Commander-in-chief as an exaggeration by the common mass but now realized that it may very well be true. He thought to himself, ‘Heck, the stories may even be a modest rendition of the Commander-in-chief’s exploits!’

The reverent gaze with which Agis was looking at him made Haldir slightly embarrassed as he began to scratch his chin. He made up his mind and began to advise Agis, “You’re no doubt powerful. But, how much of that prowess can you actually draw in real combat depends on your mindset towards the battle. If you approach it with the same mindset you have now, you’ll be unable to draw out your full strength. The first mistake you did in this spar was to underestimate me…”

Agis listened to Haldir intently as he pointed out and advised on the faults of Agis during the spar.

***

After exiting the Castle, Aldon and Taeral went inside a nearby teleportation store owned by the Lunos family. A teleportation store, as its name implied, was a type of store that sold the service of ‘teleportation’ to its customers. The Lunos family’s ancestors, through hard work and competent foresight, had monopolized this market.

When Taeral, the Youngest Master of the Lunos family, entered the store along with Aldon, the clerks working in that store greeted both him and Aldon respectfully and asked where they wished to teleport to.

Taeral looked at Aldon questioningly as he had not yet revealed where they were going. Aldon smiled and spoke, “To the Sunshine Marketplace, please!” The clerks looked at Taeral for confirmation. Taeral nodded his head in affirmation.

When the clerks left to prepare the teleportation circle to the Sunshine Marketplace, Taeral whispered to Aldon, “Aldon! What’s this Sunshine Marketplace? I’ve never heard of it!”

Aldon looked at Taeral with surprise as he replied, “Sunshine Marketplace is the most bustling and thriving marketplace in the whole Elven Empire!” He continued, with a puzzled look on his face, “How did you not know this?” Taeral replied with a wry smile, “Ah! I’m the youngest son in my family, and I’ve been pampered too much! I don’t even have proper combat experience yet! That’s why I am worried about the mission!”

Aldon looked at Taeral pitifully and silently patted his shoulder, reassuring him that he was there for him.

After a while, the clerks arrived in front of them and guided them towards a room. The inside of the room contained a huge teleportation circle glowing on its floor. Aldon stepped on the circle and beckoned over Taeral, who was cautiously standing in a corner. The moment Taeral’s feet stepped onto the teleportation circle, both he and Aldon were instantly teleported to their destination.

***

Aldon and Taeral appeared inside a room with a similar teleportation circle to the one they teleported from. Exiting the room, they encountered a different clerk wearing the uniform of the Lunos family’s teleportation store, who recognized Taeral and didn't accept the payment for teleportation.

After thanking the clerk, Aldon and Taeral left the teleportation store and witnessed a plethora of elves browsing around the shops beside them. They had finally arrived at the Sunshine Marketplace! Taeral was shaken by the sudden exposure to these many elves and began to panic. Noticing this, Aldon put a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him.

After calming down from his initial panic, Taeral began to get excited by the sight of innumerous shops selling various goods and customers flocking towards them to buy them. He had never in his life, witnessed such a bustling crowd!

Noticing this, Aldon smiled slightly and started to explore the marketplace with Taeral. He advised Taeral before they started to explore the marketplace, “Don’t spend any money now! Instead of spending them on trivial things, we should buy the essential things needed for the mission. We can always come back here and spend leisurely after finishing our mission.”

Though Taeral felt a bit crestfallen, he quickly recovered his spirits while browsing through various items on sale in a shop. Aldon bought the necessary supplies and items while they were exploring the marketplace.

After exploring the Sunshine Marketplace for quite a long time, Aldon and Taeral felt exhausted and decided to go home, rest, and prepare for the mission. Aldon gave Taeral his portion of the supplies as they walked back to the teleportation shop they had exited. Taeral, with a genuinely happy smile, spoke, “Thank you, Aldon! This has been an absolutely wonderful experience! Thanks to you, I feel more confident about the mission.” Aldon had also really enjoyed exploring the Sunshine Marketplace with Taeral. So, he smiled and replied, “No problem, Taeral! It’s what friends do, right?”

After a while, both of them burst into laughter after realizing how cheesy they were being. Reaching the teleportation store, both of them teleported back to the store where they had teleported from.

***

After exiting the teleportation store near the Castle, Aldon hastily bid farewell to Taeral and waited near the gates of the Castle as he had just remembered that Haldir had mentioned that he would be waiting for him.

Remembering that Haldir had enquired about the whereabouts of Aldon and noticing Aldon near the gates, Imperial Guards sent word to Haldir.

Haldir was immediately notified about this, and he concluded his advice about the spar to Agis and got up to leave. Immensely grateful for Haldir’s advice, Agis bowed deeply to Haldir as he left

***

Aldon was waiting idly near the gates of the castle, with something on his mind when an enormous voice boomed, and he felt a smack on his head, “You made me wait for quite a while, lad! You’re gonna have to make it up for me by having a spar the moment we reach home!”

With a warm feeling in his chest, Aldon smiled as he replied, “Sure, Grandpa!” He continued, losing the smile to a serious expression, “Let’s quickly go home! I have an important matter to share with you!”

Noticing Aldon’s serious expression, Haldir didn’t question anything and summoned their carriage with a whistle. Both Aldon and Haldir boarded the carriage without a word, and it sped towards the Throm Mansion.

***(Footnote)***

[1] In this Universe, the ‘Earth-attributed Mana’ consists of both the hard, gritty nature of the earth (ground) and the metallic nature of the ores present inside the ground. (In simple terms, what can be considered as ‘Metal-attributed Mana’ comes under the wing of ‘Earth-attributed Mana’ and is not a separate attribute.)