Chapter 206: In the Elf Forest (1)
"Professor Pandel, can wind-based magic block those arrows?"
"No. You can't block arrows from an elf ranger. Technically, those guys aren't even using real bows."
"What do you mean by that?"
"If you've used a bow before, you'd know. A real bow is pulled back with brute strength from the back muscles, so with the elves' weak muscle strength, they can't properly use one."
"This isn't the time for a lecture, and it would've been nice if you'd just told us that sooner!"
Whoosh!
As I burned away one of the arrows with a mana saber, Mollang climbed onto me and positioned herself to shield my heart, while Shuru hid under my feet, watching for an opening. Bella was trembling behind me like a frightened herbivore.
"Damn, I keep rambling from doing too many lectures. In short, the elves' bows aren't based on physical mechanics. The string is just symbolic, ornamental even. What actually fires the arrows is the wind spirit. So if I try to deflect them with wind-based defense magic, they pierce right through. And if I try to block them with power, the clash between spirit energy and mana will make my barrier vulnerable to follow-up shots!"
"So how many arrows can you block?"
"If I keep putting up barriers repeatedly, I might stop a few. But more than three would be tough."
"That's enough. When I charge out, please protect the others right away."
I tried to put Mollang down, but she was clinging tightly to my chest, refusing to let go, and Shuru had slipped out of the bag and wrapped her arms around my back.
'Are they trying to come with me?'
Ideally, I'd leave them behind for safety, but if they're this fired up...
"If you get hurt, you're getting yelled at by me."
Nod.
"Meow!"
Encouraged by their confident signals, I knocked away the next arrow with my dagger and began sprinting forward.
"O Earth, protect us firmly."
Crackkk!
The surrounding mana formed an earthen wall, shielding Professor Pandel and Bella. I glanced to confirm that, then rushed straight ahead.
'If I follow the arrow's trajectory... between those trees...'
Twang—
Thankfully, the arrows were now aimed at me instead of Professor Pandel. I deliberately slowed down, and the moment I saw the arrows coming, I accelerated, making it hard for them to lock onto me.
Thud!
I watched the arrow made purely of wood embed itself into the ground and continued running in the direction it came from. Judging from the angle it stuck, the archer was more than 500 meters away, directly ahead.
'If it's 500 meters... I can reach them soon!'
Boom!
I tore through the earth as I ran. When there were about 300 meters left, something strange happened—no more arrows came.
'Wait, are they about to fire now? Huh?'
An arrow shot up into the air, aimed at the sky, then suddenly dropped vertically, targeting me.
"What the fuck?!"
The trajectory was bizarre and hard to predict. I realized then that the shooter wasn't where I thought—neither direction nor distance was reliable anymore.
Clang!
I smacked the incoming arrow with my dagger and tried to spread out my mana to detect invisibility or find a magic tool in the area, but I couldn't sense anything.
'Is it spirit magic?'
Spirit arts, which use the power of nature rather than mana... Just scattering mana around won't help me locate them.
"Professor Pandel!"
I called out to him to find the attacker, but he must not have heard me from inside his barrier. That meant I was exposed and completely visible to the enemy.
Whooshhh!
Another arrow veered midair and came at me. It wasn't fast, but the path was impossible to read. I was completely at its mercy.
'Is there no way to counter this?'
It wasn't an immediate threat, but staying still would get me hit.
"Sniff sniff... Meow!"
That was when Shuru caught a scent.
Cats aren't as good as dogs, but they still have sensitive noses. As a cat beastkin, Shuru picked up a strange scent and locked her eyes on a spot from my shoulder. Trusting her, I charged toward a tree to my left.
Whizz!
An arrow grazed my cheek—a direct shot.
"Shuru!"
Shuru leapt from my body and lunged forward, biting at empty air. Then, a cracking sound of breaking wood came from seemingly nothing.
Vwoooom!
I raised my mana saber to slash at the invisible elf ranger, but hesitated. Killing the guardian spirits who came as envoys of the forest might lead to all-out war with the elves.
"Watch out, little brother!"
Out of nowhere, Bella dashed forward, having left the barrier. She kicked the invisible elf ranger Shuru had bitten, her rabbit beastkin leg strength sending the opponent flying.
Thud!
Crash!
With the sound of a tree trunk toppling, the elf ranger finally revealed herself as her invisibility was broken.
'Huh?'
No, it wasn't an elf ranger.
What Shuru had latched onto was hair made of long branches and leaves, and what got broken when I kicked it was the trunk of a tree.
The tree, which had been roughly the size of a person, was uprooted by my strong kick and fell backward. As soon as it toppled, its roots that had been absorbing the earth's spirit power were severed, and the spirit magic concealing its body faded.
'Tree girl?'
If a tree took the form of a girl, would it look like this?
Aside from the fact that her feet were roots and her hair was made of leaves, she looked like a naked woman. She was pointing a small weapon that looked like a wrist-mounted crossbow at me, with wind naturally flowing through the tip to help curve the trajectory.
"Grrrrr!"
Shuru was fiercely biting her head, but her small jaw wasn't strong enough to pierce the bark. If it were Silvia, she'd probably rip the whole head off, but that's the difference in physique. Canine beastkin rely heavily on their jaws, while feline types use their front paws more, so their main weapons differ.
Whoosh!
Finally, Mollang charged in to neutralize the crossbow on her left wrist. The tree girl fired it, but it couldn't pierce Mollang's body and the bolt got stuck inside her, losing its trajectory.
Crackkk...
She tried to extend her roots and move again, but without proper access to the earth's nutrients, her movements were incredibly slow. I slipped my dagger into the crossbow on her wrist and severed the thin vine serving as the string, rendering it completely useless.
"Is it over?"
"Yes. Professor Pandel just..."
"Wasn't I brought here to protect you in the first place?"
Mollang, Shuru, Bella, and I all fought and subdued the opponent, while Professor Pandel just shielded himself and did nothing. It wasn't a great look, but he wasn't entirely wrong either, so I let it slide.
"It's a dryad. Known as a forest spirit, she was probably guarding the Elf Forest and attacked when she sensed suspicious movements."
"What's this bow?"
"Most likely a weapon provided by the elves. Probably works on a charge basis, firing a few times before the elves recharge the wind spirit's power."
The dryad tried to escape slowly, but as a plant-type being, she was too slow to get away. I had to lift her up myself, and even then she could barely move a centimeter.
Tap.
Crackkk...
She re-rooted herself and slowly raised her arms to block me, but her speed was so sluggish that even with Shuru pounding her head with her front paws, she couldn't react.
"She's way too slow to be a guard."
"For a plant, this is actually really fast. Unless a spirit mage assists her, her reaction time is inherently slow."
So she was essentially a masterless forest spirit... no wonder she was sluggish.
Paf—Papap...
Tap.
With the light weight of a mountain beast, something landed on a branch above. As I instinctively looked up, an arrow shot right in front of my nose.
Thwack!
"Guh!"
Bababababam!
My mana saber couldn't react in time, so I blocked it with my dagger-wielding left hand. The arrow seemed to have some special magic on it—the resulting air blast sent me flying backward. The moment I was pushed back, arrows flew toward the feet of everyone in the group.
I tried to locate the attacker, but they were perfectly hidden among the thick foliage. Aside from the tips of their boots, nothing was visible. Only the black arrows and bow tips could be seen, their body completely concealed.
'10 meters up... Not impossible to reach, but I'd need to spring off three trunks to get there...'
"Ah, before anything else... The intruder must retreat three steps from your current position. If you do not comply, we cannot guarantee your safety. And what else was there?"
Creeeak...
"Right, this is the Elf Forest. Unauthorized entry is forbidden. According to the treaty between the Kingdom and the Elves, elf rangers are granted the authority to execute illegal intruders on sight."
At the sound of a female elf's voice from above, Professor Pandel calmly raised both hands.
"Stop. We are an official delegation from the Kingdom. We came here to establish relations with the elf village. I am Pandel Isaac, professor of ecology and medicine in the Kingdom's Magic Knights."
"Huh? Pandel?"
Rustle rustle rustle.
Like she was jumping down through the leaves, the female elf landed on a large branch clearly visible to us.
As if she were here for a picnic, she sat with her legs dangling and waved at us, all hostility gone.
"Welcome back, Pandel. Long time no see."
"Calling it a 'long time' when it's been a hundred years... you haven't changed at all, Pai."
Bathed in the rising sunlight and beaming brightly, the blonde elf greeted us.