Dark Elves from the Shadows
Five dark elves emerged from the shadows. True to their elven nature, some wielded bows, others swords. Aside from being dark elves, they didn't seem to have much in common.
The first one to reveal herself and speak to me was a woman with something like a pitch-black aura coiling around her right hand. That must've been the black ribbon-like thing that blocked the high elf knight's sword. And she'd probably used it to summon the other dark elves through the shadows just now.
I already had a rough idea of what it was. One of the dark elves' racial traits: shadow magic. I'd heard it specialized in stealth and illusion spells that hid the body in darkness, but it could even do summoning? And from how it blocked that high elf knight's attack, its defensive capabilities were impressive too.
Whether that was due to the shadow magic's excellence or the mage herself being powerful, I couldn't say.
"Don't be so on guard. We're on your side."
One of the dark elf NPCs who popped out from the shadows patted my shoulder as he said that. He was the warrior type with a sword. A quick glance showed the console color floating above his head was green. The color that appeared for friendly or neutral NPCs, regardless of level.
I wasn't sure if he was really on my side, but at least he wasn't an enemy. And damn, this guy patted hard. Didn't seem intentional, but his strength stat must be high.
I couldn't distinguish their individual levels since all the consoles were green, but like the high elves over there, these were probably elite NPCs. At this point, the strongest entities from both opposing factions had gathered here.
"Yeah, I get why you'd be suspicious. Let me put it simpler: we're enemies of those tree-huggers."
The dark elf swordsman chuckled lightly, spouting the old "enemy of my enemy is my friend" line.
"Elenoir, are you siding with humans?"
Meanwhile, the high elf knight said that as she shook off the shadows binding her sword.
"Yeah, I like this human. He smashed that annoying prick's face good, didn't he?"
The dark elf woman called Elenoir pointed at the fallen knight, then shifted her finger toward the high elf prince.
"And that bastard started it. You keep babying your 'prince,' and he runs around clueless about the world."
"His Highness is wise."
"See? You're taking his side without knowing shit. Holed up in the deep woods all your life—what wisdom?"
The mana reinforcement glow around the high elf knight faded. But her expression darkened in contrast.
"That dumbass prince attacked this human first, and this sorry fucker jumped in blind and got wrecked."
The other dark elves chimed in one by one from the shadows.
"Pathetic sight."
"Couldn't even fight back."
"Acting all noble while at it."
"That's his guard?"
They covered their mouths like they were just snickering, but it was clearly meant to grate on her nerves.
What was this? Utterly bewildering. I knew some NPCs acted unusually human-like, like that shepherd girl on Floor 2. And I'd heard elite upper-floor NPCs in other towers behaved similarly human.
But watching these NPCs bicker like real people was disorienting. Were they really just disposable mobs?
The standoff between the high elf knight and Elenoir dragged on. Their cold yet somehow childish verbal sparring went on for quite a while.
The pattern was consistent: the dark elves poked with sneers, the high elf responded stiffly like she didn't care. Of course, her face grew redder and redder with building rage as time passed.
She looked pissed enough to go all-out, but she didn't.
"Enough. We're leaving."
Her teeth ground audibly, yet she sheathed her sword and declared retreat first. Was the power gap that wide? The dark elves were all elites, but none seemed stronger than the knight.
"If you thought I'd swing at such vulgar provocations, you're mistaken, Elenoir."
She slapped her scabbard as she spoke—it wasn't just the power difference holding her back.
"But don't mistake this for me overlooking it repeatedly. Especially your human there…"
Her sharp gaze turned to me.
"Invading our forest, harming His Highness, and escaping unscathed. Consider it heaven's grace."
Heaven's grace my ass—I'd eaten so much bullshit luck up to now.
"Bullshit. Next time I see you, I'm ripping your ear off, you smug bitch."
I flipped her off. I knew it was poking the bear, but I couldn't hold back this time.
The knight ground her teeth and left. Elenoir burst out laughing and slapped my back.
"Hahaha! Love it!"
Looked like I'd naturally gone down the dark elf route.
Any challenger stepping onto Floor 7 for the first time probably faced something like this.
Run into the high elf prince while hunting rune bears, nearly get shot, form a connection. Since he's royalty, you'd quickly contact the high elf faction's core. Then take a big quest and join them naturally.
Or, like me, get attacked by the prince for having a creepy weapon. He's strong for Floor 7, but not overwhelmingly so. A normal challenger wouldn't drop instantly—might even win.
Then the elite guard knight appears, unbeatable for a Floor 7 player. Her attitude probably depends on how you treated the prince. Handle it cleanly or avoid fighting, and she's friendly. But beat him brutally or kill him like I did? She attacks, putting you in peril.
Dark elves show up right on cue, save you, and you join their side.
"Threatening to rip off an ear? First time hearing that one. You've got a silver tongue."
"Not really."
"Giving those three pricks I hate the most a good smackdown? I'm smitten. Totally into you!"
Beating the forced-loss event against the high elf knight skyrocketed my affinity with the dark elves. Elenoir hated the prince, his guard, and that last knight anyway. Couldn't stand their arrogant superiority over other races. All high elves were like that, she said.
Didn't that mean she hated the whole race? Whatever.
From blocking the knight's attack, Elenoir was clearly one of the dark elf faction's top NPCs.
"This must be fate. Care to visit our village sometime? I'd love a leisurely chat."
Dark Elf's Invitation
I hesitated. Truth was, I hadn't planned to join the dark elves at first.
They had the highest pick rate of the three factions, but that had nothing to do with quest rewards. High elves had the best rewards but low picks due to shitty NPC personalities.
Dark elves' popularity boiled down to one thing.
The primal appeal of the dark elf NPCs' killer looks. High elves were no slouch in the face department, but dark elves had that extra presence in certain areas.
Of course, I wasn't dumb enough to pick a faction for hot NPC bodies.
"Sure, why not."
So there was another reason I accepted Elenoir's offer and the quest. The real one.