Chapter 63
63. In the Days When the World Tree Bore Fruit
After hearing my answer, Lizmel fell silent for a while. She seemed to have taken quite a shock.
“I... don’t know. I don’t know what to do with you.”
After a long silence, Lizmel said that and shed clear tears.
I was reminded once again how much Dark Elves like humans. They liked them enough to cry over something like this.
After quietly wiping away her tears, Lizmel continued in a voice that trembled with anxiety.
“You’ve learned all of our swordsmanship, and your eyes have truly been opened. There’s nothing more I can teach you.”
[Quest Complete: Erwen’s Interference - Swordsmanship Training]
“I’ll tell Aunt Erwen too that you’ve finished all your swordsmanship training. So don’t come looking for me anymore.”
All of the optional objectives attached to the quest window were marked complete. Even though I still hadn’t done the sparring or the screening test or anything like that.
I’d never heard of a quest being completed like this. As long as the rewards came through properly, though, it wouldn’t matter.
[Quest Reward: You have obtained ‘EXP’ and ‘Gold’.]
[Goal Completion Reward: You can claim this from NPC Erwen.]
[The finest sword has been forged.]
But despite the system messages that heightened my anticipation, I still didn’t feel all that good.
I wanted to grab Lizmel as she left the training ground with dragging steps. But at the same time, I also felt like I had to let her go.
I could guess what kind of feelings and thoughts Lizmel had toward me, and what she had intended by teaching me swordsmanship.
And I could also guess how hurt she might have been by what I’d just said.
“What can I do? She’s an NPC.”
I could only sit down alone on the training ground and soothe myself with excuse-like words.
**
I spent the time until evening practicing swordsmanship on my own at the training ground for no real reason.
And when the sun was starting to set in earnest, I left there and headed to the blacksmith Erwen’s forge.
The blacksmith, who was especially short compared to the other Dark Elves, waved as soon as she saw me, as if she’d been waiting.
“What is it? I thought you’d come a little earlier. Don’t keep your elders waiting so long, you wretch.”
“I never asked you to wait.”
“Honestly, your way of speaking still has no hint of cuteness. And what’s with that face? You look like a rain-soaked oren.”
An oren must be some kind of animal that lives on the seventh floor, judging from the context. Is my expression really that bad?
“Lizmel looked pretty heartbroken too. Did you two have a fight or something?”
I didn’t answer. I knew Lizmel was hurt, but it wasn’t like we’d fought or anything.
For me, it was just a belated moment of self-reflection. Lizmel had simply been shocked on her own by what I said.
Erwen didn’t seem particularly interested in prying either. She just said things like that happen and told me to come into the forge.
There were still all kinds of weapons hanging inside the forge. Even though I’d cleaned them out last time, it was already packed full again before I knew it.
I knew very well just how fast this blacksmith worked, so I wasn’t surprised.
“It was a bit of a pain working with the ingots you brought last time, but thanks to them I made a very fine sword.”
Saying that, Erwen took out a sword from an old-fashioned case and handed it to me.
“Take a look. I think you’ll like it.”
The sword she’d made looked, at first glance, like an ordinary ebony steel one-handed sword with a bit of ornamentation added.
[Blacksmith’s Masterpiece: Sword of the Fairy Age]
Attack +85 (Slash)
Critical Damage: x2.8
Durability 880/880
Enhancement Attempts: 15
But the item information displayed by the system was no joke. The base attack alone was already impressive.
It easily surpassed [Sword of Wolf Hunting], the one-handed sword with the highest attack power among my swords.
And because it fully inherited ebony steel’s properties, it could be enhanced 15 times.
Maybe it was the reward for fighting enemies far beyond the seventh-floor level, because this wasn’t an item you could obtain on the seventh floor.
“You said you liked balanced, sturdy swords, right? So I deliberately didn’t add any flashy magical features—”
Erwen then added that, since she was using magical materials anyway, it would be a shame to leave it with nothing at all.
“So I put in just one function that suits you perfectly.”
Item info didn’t end with the basic stats. A sword finished at unique rank also had a unique effect attached.
Unique Passive Effect: Mana Absorption
When you defeat a monster, it absorbs part of the monster’s mana.
Durability recovery and an automatic cleaning effect are applied according to the amount of mana absorbed.
Any mana beyond the amount needed for recovery restores the wielder’s MP.
Every time I killed a monster, the durability was repaired automatically, and on top of that it refilled my MP—a ridiculously valuable option.
I was already drowning in gold and materials for item repairs, but real-time recovery was special even for me.
Because I’m a solo player by nature, I end up in drawn-out one-versus-many fights very often.
My HP keeps recovering thanks to skills and item effects, but my MP and weapon durability inevitably keep dropping.
With this option, as long as my concentration holds out, I’ll be able to keep my combat power at its peak indefinitely.
“This is incredible.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah, a lot.”
I happily swung the sword around in place.
**
Erwen smiled at me as I beamed with delight and naturally led me deeper into the forge.
“Seeing you like it so much makes all the hard work worth it. Your expression looks much better too. Keep carrying yourself like this from now on.”
I nodded and stored the sword in my inventory. Its base options were so good that I could probably save the enhancement for later.
Erwen pulled out some simple tea snacks and teacups, prepared at some unknown point. It looked like she’d set them out especially for me.
Why are Dark Elves always trying to feed me something, for crying out loud.
I knew Dark Elves saw me as about as much of a little stray cat, but Erwen was usually not like that.
I’d heard Erwen was especially old, so was this like a country grandma starting to feed the cat that comes around often?
“I’m not really sure what humans like, so I just bought whatever... Is there anything you can’t eat?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then sit down for a bit. You’re not going to just snatch the sword and pretend you don’t know the person who worked so hard for it, are you?”
I sat down obediently. The snacks looked sweet, so I roughly popped one into my mouth and chewed.
-Crunch, crunch.
Erwen gave me a slightly bitter smile as she watched me.
“Honestly, that’s not the kind of face you should be making while eating sweet snacks. I think it’s the first time in my life I’ve seen a human like you.”
She spoke as if she’d seen a lot of humans besides me. The other Dark Elves didn’t seem to be like that.
I got curious for no real reason and asked whether she had seen many humans.
“Well, I’ve seen more than the youngsters these days, at least. No matter what anyone says, I’m from the remaining World Tree generation.”
“The World Tree generation?”
“It means an old-timer who has lived since before the World Tree withered and rotted, back when it could still bear fruit.”
Come to think of it, I’d heard that before. Both Forest Elves and Night Elves had their souls circulate through the World Tree, or something like that.
The souls of dead elves return to the World Tree’s embrace, and the World Tree bears fruit to create new vessels for souls to inhabit.
In a sense, it was a kind of reincarnation system, but they say that became a thing of the past when the World Tree withered and lost its power.
This was a story from ages ago, before the two elf races were called High Elves and Dark Elves.
“Elves in those days lived so long they could practically be called immortal. Though even now they live very long lives.”
Erwen’s eyes had an especially hazy look as she said that.
“But do you know? Immortality and eternal life don’t actually mean you can’t die. They’re a little different.”
“Eternal life means everything except me dies.”
“It’s the feeling of standing alone while everything in the world fails to overcome time, crumbles away, and says goodbye. That’s what it feels like.”
It was a story out of nowhere, but I couldn’t just brush it off. There was something deeply earnest in Erwen’s voice.
“Thanks to that, our perspective on time and life is a bit unusual. Looking back, even decades can sometimes feel like mere moments.”
I could understand what she meant. That’s probably why she can see humans as cute without reservation. If I were to say what came to mind—
“Humans might look like insects.”
—To Dark Elves, humans might seem like something even lower than a stray cat.
Erwen gave a faint smile after hearing me.
“No, they look absolutely magnificent.”
Erwen’s gentle hand wrapped around mine.
“They live lives as short as a fleeting moment, and yet leave behind an immense presence. For us, memories of having come into contact with humans remain unforgettable.”
From a hand so soft it was hard to believe it had lived for thousands of years, I could feel a firm strength.
“That’s why Lizmel worries about you so especially, child.”
Erwen fell silent with those words. Then she gently patted my hand.
From that silent patting of her hand, I somehow felt a great many things.
Damn it, what NPC? I’m still nothing but excuses.
I should go apologize to Lizmel.