Chapter 14
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"Help!!" Patrick screamed as one of his comrades was stuck in a web. Giant spiders were crawling around us. One of the spiders jumped at us, but I managed to burn it with fireballs. As another drew near, I cast fire enchantment to her sword, and she managed to cut through them with ease. I judged that this is the most mana-efficient method to deal with these arachnids. More of them still came towards us.
You have leveled up to level 15
She beheaded 3 spiders at once. Then another, then another. A swarm of spiders still came even after more than 20 corpses died before her blade. Nora also helped out. She moved nimbly, but her attack was hampered as she needed to watch out for the webs that entangled the dense forest.
Mattheus smashed open another spider, but this foe was a bad match for him. They are fast, nimble, and can dodge three-dimensionally. Moreover, they can use their webs to hinder his movements. He had a hard time scoring a direct hit toward them.
"Lily. To your left. Then that one behind, then that one beside Klaus." I directed Lily which spider she needed to kill in order. After a few minutes of panicking, Lily shouted at them. I asked her to gather around since only Nora and Mattheus could handle these spiders. Surprisingly, they rallied fast.
After that, we came to this stalemate. Lily continued to kill them while the horde continued to swarm us. The corpse soon disappeared into dust as we killed more of them. Nora and Matheus were fine against these spiders one-on-one, but the others needed to surround one of these spiders to kill it.
An hour later, the monsters finally stopped coming.
"Okay. Collect the magic stones. Rest for a bit, and we shall continue. We need to meet with the elf before sundown." Mattheus shout.
There were two types of monsters. Animals and monsters. Animals left corpses, while monsters turned into ashes and leave magic stones. Unlike animals, monsters could spawn randomly from dungeons or even openly in the field. Thus they could form a horde in an instant. The good thing was that these monsters usually follow a set pattern since they had low intellect. Since they did not fear death, they came in droves, and their behavior was predictable.
Mattheus said these magic stones could be sold for money. Some even regard these stones as universal currencies. I would like to know if I can use these stones to recover my mana. The mana expenditure for my magic can't be ignored any longer. Mattheus said normal mages need to use these stones as a catalyst, right?
Name Lhone
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Race: Elves
Job: Forest Guardian
Level: 20
"Hmm? Lily… stop. Put your hands in the air. Drop your sword…." I said as my appraisal told me of some elves nearby. It was such a shocking revelation since my eyes didn't actually see anything in the bushes. They are so silent that you actually need to look carefully before realizing they are there.
"What's the matter?" Mattheus asked
"Ambush! It's the elves!?" Nora said. Her ears perked up that the elves were now closer to us.
Everyone suddenly tensed up and raised their weapon.
"Wait-wait. Drop your weapon. Our goal is not robbing the elves here!" Mattheus shouted at the idiocy of our brothers.
"I see. So what brings you here to our Edhenthal Forest?" Now that the ambush was spotted, one of the elves showed himself in the open. He wore a green cape that blended with the forest. His face is so beautiful that it could be mistaken as a girl's.
The group was silent. Everyone was looking at Mattheus.
"We came to seek refuge. My name is Mattheus. I was a mercenary. I was ordered by Baron Rudiger to pose as a bandit between The city of Verundra and Valusta. But, after the job was done, we were discarded like trash and thrown away. "Mattheus said while looking vexed. He bowed while gritting his teeth.
"I see. As expected from filthy humans. I do not wish to speak with you. Tailfolk, is this true? Know that we only spare you due to these unusual companions you bring." He then turned to Nora and Lily.
"He speaks the truth. We were in the same group." Nora said.
"Will you show your status?"
"Yes." then we presented our status to him. He then returned the greetings back by showing his status.
"I see. Slaves. But you aren't wearing any collars. Follow me."
"Wait! Just because they wear no collars doesn't mean they are free. They might be trained by these filthy humans!" His friend shouted from the nearby tree. I found another one of the elves still hiding in the bushes behind us. We are surrounded. I might be able to defeat them, but this is not our goal.
"Hm… then it is up to us to train them back. Nain," He smiled. "So, tailfolk. Will you go to our settlement?"
Oh, I didn't expect to receive such a warm welcome. Sure they seemed haughty and arrogant, but it was like heaven and earth compared to how humans treated us. I liked these elves already. They seemed pretty chill.
"Hold on, we need to bind these humans. Nain, please bring some handcuffs for these monkeys." He said while looking at Mattheus like a pest. His eye was radiant with hatred as he looked into our group. My impression changed 180 degrees immediately.
"Ah! So, Human is the same as demihumans in elven countries…" Lily muttered. At that sentence, Lhorne turned towards us in surprise. He then calmed down with a sigh as he explained.
"Please work out your language. Demihuman is a derogatory term for humans to call entire species apart from themselves. I would prefer if you call us earfolk as I prefer to call you tailfolk and cave folk for dwarves."
"Have you seen dwarves, Lily?"
"Yes. The short kid look-alike but is actually an adult... I have seen them accompanying merchants." Lily spoke out loud unwittingly. I see. So legal lolis and legal shotas!! I really want to meet them now.
"Legal lolis?" Lily asked unwittingly, as my telepathy was accidentally transmitted to her.
"Pfft! Hahaha," Lhorne laughed at our comment. Then he calmed down after a few coughs. "Please don't say it in front of their face. It is the same insult as calling you guys beastmen…."
We reached a village after sundown. Surprisingly there are fewer elves here than expected.