Chapter 49
#49. Rueuel's Stump
Challengers who stay in the Tower of Trials for long periods tend to lose many of their desires.
As stats and levels rise and challengers gain superhuman physical abilities, they can endure long periods without sleep.
The community recommends sleeping once a day for mental health, but most challengers can easily stay awake for three nights.
If I really dug in and used the fatigue recovery items and potions sold in the shop, I could probably last about half a month without sleep.
Besides, sleep time itself is cut down so much that four hours is enough to get me back to peak condition.
Because of that, most Tower of Trials challengers lose their desire for sleep very quickly.
According to rumor, there’s even a famous ranker who supposedly only sleeps the mandatory two hours every forty-eight hours.
On top of that, a Tower of Trials challenger’s body performs perfectly as long as it gets enough calories, regardless of the type of nutrients consumed.
This is why some rankers and I can survive on white rolls instead of proper meals.
Even if you eat nothing but white rolls, which are basically lumps of sugar and flour, you won’t get fat or lose muscle, and the physical abilities granted by your stats remain unchanged.
That’s why many efficiency-minded challengers tend to get by on cheap, no-frills meals, citing their wallets or efficiency.
Of course, it’s not as though they lose their sense of taste, so most challengers eventually put efficiency aside and look for something tasty.
The community also recommends taking a cheat day about once a month for mental health, but that too is ultimately no different from sleep.
Rankers aspiring to become high-grade hunters keep this kind of ‘diet’ up for long periods and gradually lose their appetite in the process.
But while they lose those big desires, there’s one desire that never seems to fade.
That’s sex drive.
The closer physical ability gets to the superhuman level, the more intense libido becomes, making it a desire that strengthens rather than fades.
In fact, there were apparently quite a few problems in the early days of the Tower of Trials caused by challengers’ libido running wild in twisted directions.
The superior force they gained simply by entering the tower early, and the physically weak who were easy to identify.
And on top of that, the tower is a completely isolated space where the power of law and public authority can’t reach at all.
It’s easy to imagine what sorts of things happened.
It took quite a bit of bloodshed before public order was established under the influence of the major guilds, like it is now.
But whether it’s due to some skill’s effect or simply a mental issue, I’ve never had any trouble because of sex drive.
It’s not like there’s any functional defect, and it’s not as though the desire has been completely cut off either—I just wasn’t interested.
Well, maybe it turned out that way because from the start I had no choice but to handle it myself.
Anyway, I definitely didn’t choose my faction because of the Dark Elves’ huge, um, that thing—the way those Open Community wraiths do.
Seriously.
Or maybe?
Of course, there were several reasons I chose the faction, and it’s possible that, without me realizing it, that influenced my decision.
Yeah, it’s a bad habit—trying to rationalize everything by slapping all kinds of reasons onto it.
I was drawn to a certain part of the Dark Elves’ bodies. I’ll admit that.
But I didn’t choose the faction solely for that reason.
“All right, we’re here.”
While I was thinking those things, Eleanor’s footsteps stopped and a system message appeared before my eyes.
[Beyond the Night Mist - Rueuel's Stump]
As the mist surrounding us cleared, a Dark Elf village came into view, with giant trees standing like buildings.
One of the reasons I chose the Dark Elf faction was the village’s very existence itself.
**
A giant black tree that matched the Dark Elves’ dark skin.
If you judged by shape alone, it was close to a baobab tree, but even a baobab wouldn’t grow that large.
That tree is the Dark Elves’ residence. It’s like a giant naturally grown apartment, hollowed out and carved from the inside.
The sky is covered by the apartment tree’s branches and leaves, so sunlight doesn’t get in.
Instead, firefly-like light sources drift here and there, giving off light.
The amount of light is just a little brighter than a particularly bright full-moon night.
It’s an atmosphere that suits the Dark Elves’ image of manipulating shadows.
“Hah.”
I’d seen it on the Open Community before, but seeing it in person, it was such an incredible sight that I let out a laugh of disbelief.
“Amazing.”
I’d always mutter to myself here and there, but this time the words kept spilling out in pure admiration.
Eleanor suddenly put an arm around my shoulders, brought her face close, and asked.
“Oh? Does it look impressive?”
The distance was uncomfortably close. And with her arm around me like this, some big thing keeps pressing against me.
The contact was awkward, and I’m usually so bad with words that I couldn’t really give her a proper answer.
“The forest bitches are always whining that it’s dark and gloomy and makes them feel like they’re growing mold. It’s been a while since I heard a reaction like that.”
Eleanor smiled as she said that. I guess “forest bitches” means High Elves.
To look at a sight like this and say it makes you feel like you’re growing mold—those elf bastards really do live up to their reputation.
No wonder the community calls them not just fuck-elves, but fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck elves.
“Ah, would you mind taking a look around nearby for a bit? I’ll go check whether there are any guest rooms left. This place doesn’t get many outsiders.”
Eleanor said that, stirred up the shadows, and vanished somewhere in a flash.
“Even if you go a little far, you’ll be easy to find, so feel free to wander around.”
“We’re different from those forest types. No one’s going to suddenly try to harm you just because you’re human.”
“Ah, but they might stick to you because they find you interesting, so avoid the really crowded areas.”
The other Dark Elves must have had things to do of their own, because they tossed out a few words each and then scattered.
The treatment was a lot different from what I’d expected, but as long as I could roam around freely, that was fine by me.
**
Eleanor told me to look around nearby, but I already knew how this place was laid out.
[7th Floor Dark Elf Faction Territory Map]
There may be slight differences in the details, but the Open Community has a map covering the entire 7th floor.
The 7th floor has its own village area, but this Dark Elf faction also has all the infrastructure of a village in its own way.
Since it’s a village where Dark Elves live, that makes sense in a way, but anyway.
The first place I headed for was the smithy that sold weapons and armor.
I’d listed the village’s existence as one of the reasons I chose the Dark Elf faction, but this smithy accounts for a big share of that.
“A customer? We aren’t taking custom orders right now... huh, a human?”
When I stepped into the smithy, a short female Dark Elf in work clothes and holding a hammer walked out.
Even though she was probably just a normal blacksmith NPC and not an elite unit, her reaction was incredibly human.
“What, what is this? Why is a human in a place like this? Did you get lost? Are you a stray?”
The Dark Elf blacksmith’s eyes shone with curiosity as she stuck close to me. Are all Dark Elves like this?
“I was invited here.”
When I answered awkwardly, the blacksmith jumped in surprise, saying it had been a really long time since a human had been invited here.
Then she muttered to herself, and even guessed that Eleanor was the one who invited me.
When I asked how she knew that, the blacksmith answered with a hearty laugh.
“Because she’s the only one.”
I didn’t know what that meant, and I wasn’t curious enough to ask further.
I cut to the chase and said what I came for.
“I want to buy a sturdy weapon.”
What you can gain by belonging to one of the three major factions isn’t just quest rewards.
Items with exceptional performance that can only be bought or made in each faction’s village, commonly called faction specialties.
In the High Elf faction, which lives in harmony with nature, they sell high-performance potions, armor for mage-type classes, and wands.
In the Dark Elf faction, which lives in the shadows, they sell metal weapons and armor with better-than-average performance.
The Kingdom Army faction doesn’t have any special items except for a few, but in exchange you can get items at very cheap prices depending on your reputation.
I’m the type who doesn’t use high-performance items if they would hinder my growth.
But in today’s fight with the High Elf knight, I’d discovered a fatal problem with my usual equipment.
It was only natural that its performance, including attack power, was low, but the problem was that its durability wore down far too quickly because of the material’s limitations.
The weapons that struck the High Elf knight’s armor, shield, and sword had almost all turned into scrap.
The losses themselves can be made up for easily enough, but if I keep going higher like this, I’ll end up burning through a weapon every single hit.
Attack power can be low, but durability absolutely can’t be.
At the very least, it has to be sturdy enough to fully withstand my strength.
“A sturdy weapon? Anything we make is sturdier than human-made stuff.”
Since Dark Elves use equipment made from a special material called ebony steel, there’s no better place to buy sturdy gear.
“Now then, pick whatever you like over there.”
I told the Dark Elf blacksmith, who was smiling as if eager to sell me the weapon I wanted.
“From here to there.”
Bring them all.