Growth (3). #07. Growth.
The Tower of Struggle was rumored to bear fruit on the World Tree Yggdrasil like some sacred legend, but that was nonsense. Elves, just like humans and other races, created children through sex and reproduction. Their lifespans were simply longer, so their libido was lower and the success rate of fertilization was pitifully small. Elves all had pointed ears as a standard feature, and unless they were dark elves, the default look was emerald eyes, golden hair, and pale skin. The three elves I had just met all had golden hair and emerald eyes.
“I was just a passing player.”
The three elves guarded me with panicked glances. The elf knight in charge of the knightly role didn’t even draw his sword. He raised both hands cautiously to show he had no intention of fighting. There was no need to hold back out of mutual caution.
“Then why are you blocking our path? It’s not like you couldn’t just walk past?”
“I had never seen elves before. It felt a bit unfortunate just to walk right by.”
“…You bastard! You weren’t planning to just leave, were you?”
The elf knight reacted sensitively to every single one of my responses. From his reaction, I could tell how important this woman elf was. From the very beginning, she had been walking around like she was “I am an important person,” advertising herself. Of course her eyes would draw attention.
“But why does she feel so familiar…?”
From Yoo Dahui’s point of view, she had gone through dozens or hundreds of regressions. Especially after joining the guild, she kept repeating the same tutorial over and over. Through all those regressions, she had met every kind of player imaginable, but she had never encountered a party like this combination.
She had only met one elf on the first floor: the captain of the Central 1st Knight Division of Alvheim, Elena Trigard.
They had met as student and instructor respectively. So there was only one reason. These people had died shortly after the tutorial began. If they had died on the very first day, of course Yoo Dahui wouldn’t have run into them.
“I’m sorry, Princess. I think we’ll have to deal with this human.”
“He seems to want to talk to us?”
“I can’t believe it. As the one who’s supposed to protect you, Princess, I have to consider the worst case. I don’t mind if I’m in danger, but Princess, you might be.”
The elf knight tightened his grip on the sword. The elf princess naturally moved behind the knight, guided by his hand.
“Ah…”
A sigh escaped me at the excessive loyalty. Our princess understands my feelings, yet these subordinates still don’t get it.
‘I’ll just suppress them with raw power.’
I had already defeated a troll. An elf knight like this wasn’t a match.
“If I win, you guys become my companions too?”
“Hah, a human like you claiming to beat me? Right away, I’m… kyu!”
Before the guy could even finish saying his name, I rolled my foot and shot forward like a bolt of lightning. When I swung my iron sword, the elf knight reacted swiftly and blocked it.
“Are you attacking me right now while I’m saying my name?! You bastard, this was your intention from the start!”
“No. I just didn’t want to remember your name. If you don’t say it, I’ll give you more time.”
“Shut up! Now that I’ve seen your true colors, there’s no more need for talking!”
The elf knight shouted with a furious face. His eyes burned with savage intent as he stared at me.
I wasn’t even scared. Real bastards weren’t scary.
“Princess, please watch!”
“He’s asking to talk…”
“Enough of your nonsense!”
The elf knight charged at me.
“Fuck, your princess told you to stop talking. What’s the point of that?”
“…You’re insane.”
I barely held back a laugh and blocked the elf knight’s sword with mine.
After exchanging blows with me, the elf knight let out a smirk.
“Your skills are pathetic!”
“That’s correct. I’ve never studied swordsmanship before. I had no choice.”
That made sense. I had only been training in the Training Ground for a little over a month. A rookie soldier fresh out of basic training couldn’t know anything. He learned it the hard way. I had watched some sword tutorials on YouTube. The ones shown through the algorithm had a weird power to them. A technique that suppressed the enemy with tiny movements. The survival rate of people who learned swordsmanship versus those who didn’t was on the level of heaven and earth.
Of course, in a fantasy world where you could chop mountains in half with mana, the actual power of swordsmanship wasn’t that huge. No matter how skilled the elves’ swordsmanship was, it didn’t look like it could surpass my current physical specs. On equal footing, I didn’t doubt I could break through their formations with one-handed sword work.
Clang!
The sword and shield collided. A heavy sensation transmitted through the shield.
Boom!
Strange noises began coming from the shield. A sound like it was being gnawed on, unpleasant to hear. Fragments flew off the shield.
Clang!
“What the—”
The elf knight swung his sword again. A streak of light flashed across the incoming horizontal slash.
Boom!
A crack appeared on the shield. That light… I had never seen it before, yet it felt incredibly familiar.
Did the presence or absence of swordsmanship really matter in battle? No difference.
Then did the presence or absence of mana make a difference? Obviously, yes.
“Fuck.”
The elf knight was two stages above humans. But an elf knight who could use mana was four stages above humans. That was enough for an orc to take one-on-one.
“Why did he die?”
I couldn’t understand it. What the hell had happened?
“Hahaha, you’re finally realizing the difference in levels!”
The elf knight grew bold and pressed me hard. The shield was chipped away until it shattered.
<‘Crude Shield’ has been destroyed.>
“Where did that smug face go? Show me some real skill!”
“O-okay!”
With the shield gone, it became much harder to block the elf knight’s sword. It might have been better to focus on dodging instead.
“Fuck.”
“Oh? Dropping your weapon? You’re too late for surrender now!”
I dropped my sword. With no shield, I would rely on my ‘thick skin’ and push forward. It might even be better. In a long battle, mana would eventually run out. Judging by the light, the mana pool itself was small. I just had to endure a little longer.
“Not bad.”
Once I set the sword aside, my body movements became much freer. Whatever had been hindering my thighs, waist, and shoulders disappeared. Raw fighting was better than clumsy swordsmanship.
Army Sergeant Kim Jinwoo of the Republic of Korea. I would show you the ground skills I’ve honed against my juniors.
I raised my arms and took a stance. I pulled up divine power and wrapped it around my fist. White light swirled and gathered.
“Wait!”
“What is it, Princess?”
“That power… it’s divine power.”
Ho…
The elf princess seemed to know divine power.
The Tower of Struggle had been created by overlapping multiple dimensions, so the space was filled with countless energies. There were tens of them, including divine power.
Hitting the right one meant you already knew a lot about it.
“Divine power is only usable by priests who believe in the goddess. The goddess does not share her power with evil people. In other words, there’s no need for us to fight the priests who serve the goddess.”
The elf princess had been trying to stop the argument since earlier. The logic wasn’t bad at all, and it had blocked the two of us.
“Then there’s no helping it.”
The elf knight reluctantly sheathed his sword when the princess spoke up firmly. His eyes still glared at me savagely. I sheathed my divine power too and relaxed my posture.
Only then did the elf priest step out from behind the knight. Looking at the broken shield, a pang of guilt hit me in my chest.
“If I had known this would happen, I should have shown divine power from the start…”
This never happened in the novel. The elves I had met always treated Yoo Dahui kindly. Of course I had expected kindness, but I never thought they would refuse to talk.
“Is this bastard the problem?”
The elf knight avoided my gaze with a shameless face, as if he hadn’t done anything wrong at all. If the elf princess hadn’t stopped me, my fist would have crushed his skull.
“By the way, Priest. Your outfit looks quite unusual.”
“You mean this clothes?”
I was currently wearing the Republic of Korea Army combat uniform. Since it was discharge uniform, the colors varied in places.
“It was created for the holy duty given by the goddess. It can also be called a symbol of faith and belief.”
“Ah… I see.”
The elf princess had many questions. Was it because she had never seen a human before, or because I was an unusual human?
“Either way, if it’s fate, then it’s fate. Since I have no companions, how about traveling together, Princess?”
“Hahaha, of course. I trust a priest like you.”
“Thank you.”
The elf knight and priest still looked full of complaints. Especially the elf knight glared at me like he wanted to kill me.
“As long as you look at the princess with strange eyes, I will never let you go.”
“Elroin. Let’s just forget it. Didn’t the assistant say at the Colosseum? The Tower of Struggle was created by gathering multiple dimensions. There must be more diverse people because of that, right? We have to try to understand them.”
“But…”
The elf princess calmly persuaded Elroin. Fuck, she even remembered the elf knight’s name.
“Shall we move?”
The elf princess led our group with a gentle smile. She walked as if she wasn’t someone being protected. I had already decided what I had to take from this elf party. Originally I was only thinking of one thing, but because of the elf knight, I had gained one more.
First, natural elves awakened and were born with [Elemental Magic] from the start.
I was planning to learn [Elemental Magic].
Second, I wanted to learn about mana from this elf knight. This was a hope.
“Looking at him, it seems doomed… but who knew this bastard could use mana? Fuck.”