Chapter 36: All the Elves Were Surprised
"Come on, take this. Without a doubt, it should be able to turn you into a powerful mage as long as you use it," Har said, extending the Glacial Scepter towards the small Rayah. The child's eyes were shining with excitement, as it was every child's dream to become a powerful mage in the future, and now he had immense power within his grasp.
'With this, my sister will surely be surprised,' Rayah thought, imagining himself as a great man wearing heroic armor, holding this scepter and defeating monsters to protect his sister. However, Rayah swallowed hard with nervousness, wondering if he could really take something like this, and hastily said, "Sir, I can't accept it. I have no way to pay you."
Rayah said this with a tinge of sadness. Although he was a child with a perspective as simple as a stone, he knew his sister had been working hard to buy food every day, so he was aware of the monetary value of things. Now that he had seen this object with such a magical appearance, it seemed to awaken him, and he realized he couldn't afford it.
"...?" To the side, Virion was still standing with his mouth open, unable to say a word. He extended both hands forward like a zombie, his body slightly hunched, and took slow steps, his gaze fixed on the Glacial Scepter.
'What kind of magical artifact is this?' A bunch of questions like this passed through the old man's mind. As an experienced mage, he obviously knew many things about this world, and objects imbued with magic to create magical artifacts weren't new to him.
In fact, there were things like swords imbued with thunder magic strong enough to paralyze an enemy with a single cut. It couldn't be said that such things were common, but they weren't rare either, and they could be bought with a lot of money.
However, Virion had never come across a magical scepter as majestic as this one. The power of ice contained in this scepter was absurdly immense. He would dare say that as long as a conjurer with affinity to ice magic used this scepter, they should be able to conjure a great glacier just by waving it.
Certainly, the perception Virion had developed over the years was incomparable among the elves. Just casually waving the Glacial Scepter would cause a small snowstorm for less than a few seconds, but everything within this snowstorm would be frozen to the extreme...
In the video game, the damage from the scepter's attacks could almost be called cryogenic, but the effects only lasted a few seconds. When did such a powerful artifact appear in Dicathen? What materials were used to create it? What were its real effects? And more importantly, who was the craftsman who designed it? All these questions passed through Virion's mind in an instant.
But thinking about the craftsman who created an object with such immense power, he looked at Link as if he were a treasure chest, and many ideas came to mind.
'Can this really turn a common person into a mage?' On the other hand, Arthur observed the magical scepter strangely, his eyes narrowed, and he tried to evaluate the object. However, his own perception was only enough to perceive a part of the hidden power in this thing. Still, it was enough to realize that whatever this thing was, it was something incredible.
By its majestic appearance or the icy aura that escaped from the scepter, any common person who saw it could notice it was something valuable, but that was all. Only a mage with incredible perception of mana like Virion could evaluate the true value of the scepter.
Moreover, Arthur wasn't a person from this world and was currently unaware of the existence of artifacts. Although he knew from his knowledge of such stories that mages should use wands and such, he didn't know about the incredible effects that craftsmen could give to these artifacts.
Despite all this, Arthur could tell that this object was not ordinary, especially since Virion seemed to have a nervous tic and his hands were shaking, almost as if he wanted to snatch the scepter from Har at the next moment.
Going back to the topic, Har was glad that Rayah hadn't casually taken the scepter. Now it seemed that this child wasn't as lost as he thought.
"This is a gift. I just hope you won't forget me when you become a great mage in the future," Har said, placing the scepter in Rayah's small hands.
"!!!" As soon as Har said this, Rayah's eyes shone with excitement, and his mood improved significantly. He looked at the scepter in his hand and held it as if it were the most important thing in the world. Then he looked at Link, seeming very grateful.
"I'll never forget you. I'll become a great mage in the future, and then I'll bring this gift back to you. I swear I won't disappoint you!" Rayah held the scepter and almost made a knight's oath. Har was surprised by these words coming from a child, but then he felt like laughing, not because he was mocking Rayah or anything, but because he knew the scepter had a limited number of uses before it broke, so he didn't expect Rayah to return the scepter at all. Still, this could become a motivation for the little one, so Har didn't say anything. After all, it's better for Rayah's motivation to be to repay this favor rather than to surprise his sister.
'This guy, is he crazy?' To the side, Virion looked at Har as if he were insane. After all, who in their right mind would give a powerful magical artifact to a simple child to play with? Virion didn't expect Har to pull out an incredible artifact like this. He's not sure if a common person can utilize the power contained in this thing, but one thing is certain: every mage who sees this in a child's hands will undoubtedly want to take it.
The old man looked at Rayah, whose hands were shaking just from holding the scepter due to the cold wind. His expression turned serious, and he doubted Har's intentions. Giving this to a child is very dangerous, not only because the contained power could kill him if it gets out of control but also because of the greed of people who see the scepter.
Although Elenoir is a peaceful country and the elves don't cause problems among themselves, there are shameless people with evil minds everywhere. Who knows how long it would take for this child to be robbed if he goes out on the street showing the scepter? Above all, Virion looked at the elves watching from not too far away. Although some were confused, many had already noticed something extraordinary about the scepter. They wouldn't dare speak while he was here, but when Virion left, those extremist elves wouldn't be different from hungry vultures.
'So, it's best to return for now.' Har thought this while stroking Rayah's head, then stood up and looked at the elves behind him with regret. The idea of bringing the corpses back to life is not possible. Moreover, although he can regenerate the bodies and allow the family members to see their faces one last time, Har is not willing, because for that, it's necessary to sacrifice another living being, the fairies.
He won't cure the remaining bodies until he knows what happened to the little fairy he used before. So, he plans to return to the video game and check the lands of the great fairies for answers. His plans to go to the beast forest to level up are postponed for the moment. He needs to make a quick trip to Hyrule and find something related to what happened after the little fairy used her healing powers, and he needs to return to this world before these coffins are already 3 meters underground.
Thinking that he needs to do this as soon as possible, Har wanted to use the Gate rune directly and do it right here, but this is his greatest secret. Still, he thought he could use the coordinates left in the portal of the forest to travel using the traveler's medallion.
"Boy, where did you get that thing?" While Har was absorbed in his thoughts, Virion approached and whispered from the side. He had returned to his usual proud posture and seemed like an authentic noble. Because of this, the elves didn't dare continue observing directly and lowered their heads a bit.
He was very curious about this object. Although he doesn't think someone without a core can use the scepter properly, it's still impossible for that object to turn a common person into a mage. He's still surprised by the ice power of that thing. That aura reminds him a lot of the ice arrows Link used during their fight, but he doesn't know where the objects Link pulls out of nowhere come from.
"I'll explain later, old man. I still need to show Rayah how to use the scepter," Har said, being vague about the matter. Obviously, he has no plans to explain the true origin of the Glacial Scepter or any of his weapons, but he'll come up with something later as an excuse.
"You, insolent brat," Virion got angry hearing Har call him old man again, but he quickly calmed down because he noticed Har was a bit hurried for some reason.
"Rayah, don't hesitate to wave the scepter at the old man if he intimidates you while I'm not here," Har turned and told Rayah directly in a teaching tone, like a father telling his children not to talk to strangers.
"...?" Rayah was stunned for a second, then suddenly reacted and got a bit startled. "Sir, are you already leaving?"
Rayah didn't feel good about this. He had a bit of sadness in his heart because he couldn't show his strength in front of Har, who had given him a gift and treated him very well. As for Virion, he felt offended by Har and repressed his desire to hit him. This guy doesn't treat him with respect at all. Although he stopped caring about his position a long time ago, he is still a respectable man with honor. How could he intimidate a small child?
"Stop calling me sir, just call me Link," Har said with a small smile. He felt really good about being accepted, especially remembering how he was treated when he entered the world of Solo Leveling.
"Uh, Mr. Link, can I know where you're going?" Arthur asked with interest. It's not that he cares if Link leaves or not, but he's in a special situation. He wants to know if Link will happen to go to any human village. Although King Alduin already offered him to be escorted by a group of guards back to his village, he thinks it would be great to travel with Link. After all, this guy has proven to be much stronger than a royal guard, and more importantly, he can travel through the skies. This way, returning to his family would be like child's play.
On the other hand, Virion was a bit stunned by all this. He thought Link would use the healing spell on the others, but this guy wants to leave in a hurry. What's wrong with him suddenly? 'Can't he use that spell again?' Virion thought this and found it reasonable. He thought a healing spell of this level would leave Link exhausted, so he surely wants to retire to rest at this moment.
However, Link's next actions left everyone bewildered. He pulled out the Sheikah slate he kept on his side before saying a few words. "I'll return." While making a brief farewell, Har entered the map of the Sheikah slate and searched for a blue point. These are the coordinates left by the traveler's medallion. He couldn't see the terrain on the map and couldn't tell how far it was from his current location.
Then, as soon as Har found the coordinates, he immediately used the teleportation function, and his body began to transform into blue virtual lines that flew towards the sky.
"!!!...???" Seeing the scene of Link turning into blue light lines and flying towards the sky, Virion, Arthur, Rayah, and all the elves present were completely stunned. Some elves even fell on their buttocks due to the impact. In the end, everyone's jaws almost dropped to the ground while their heads were raised without seeing anything in particular. But they all had a common thought in this situation: 'What the heck just happened?'
-End of this chapter.