Chapter 20: Kraft
Kurtz found the green-haired, pointed-eared elf male who suddenly appeared before them increasingly familiar the more he looked at him. Something about him—
He nearly slapped his forehead in recognition.
'Isn't this the monk Kraft?'
So he was also a figure from the Age of Mythology? That made sense, though Kraft's waist-length green hair flowing free instead of bound had thrown Kurtz off at first glance.
In the anime, Kraft had shorter hair.
However, he naturally had to pretend not to know him now. Playing ignorant was becoming second nature, though it never felt less strange.
After dispatching the Demonscale Beast with fluid, practised movements, Kraft turned to greet Serie.
"Serie, I never expected to see you here."
The familiarity in his voice made it clear they knew each other quite well.
"You appeared just in time to steal my prey."
Serie's golden eyes flashed with genuine irritation, her composed mask slipping for just a moment. This should have been her achievement, her demonstration of superior magical prowess, but Kraft had intercepted it entirely.
The frustration in her voice was subtle but unmistakable. Kurtz had learned to read the shifts in her expression, and right now she looked like a cat whose mouse had been snatched away.
"You two know each other?"
Kurtz stepped closer, curiosity overriding caution. He hadn't expected these two to share a past, though in hindsight it made perfect sense. If both had lived through millennia, their paths would have crossed eventually.
If these two knew each other in the far future of the original timeline, Kurtz could understand that easily enough. After all, both were elves who had survived from the Age of Mythology to the present, so they must have interacted over the centuries.
Perhaps when Kraft had performed his legendary heroics, Serie had already heard stories about him echoing through elvish society.
But now, their acquaintance was thousands of years earlier than he'd expected. The implications made his head spin slightly.
"Yes, he's also from the Elf Forest, but he departed on his wandering journey two hundred years ago."
Serie's tone carried a note of something almost like nostalgia, though with her, it was hard to tell. "He was already making a name for himself when I was still learning the fundamentals of combat magic."
Serie was several hundred years younger than Kraft, Kurtz realized. When she had struggled through her magical education, Kraft was already a qualified warrior, making his mark on the world.
Unlike Serie, an elf blessed with extraordinary magical talent that bordered on the supernatural, Kraft had naturally gravitated toward the warrior's path, honing his body instead of his mana.
"Hello, I'm Kraft." The elf warrior approached Kurtz with an easy smile.
"You must be human, correct? And this one here is a dwarf?"
His manner was relaxed and friendly, a stark contrast to Serie's perpetual air of superiority. From his casual tone, Kraft had clearly encountered other members of both races during his travels.
"Hello, I'm Kurtz."
Dwarf Somo stepped forward as well, chest puffed with pride despite his recent injuries. "I'm Somo, warrior of the mountain clans."
"Excellent physique," Kraft observed, his experienced eye taking in Somo's build and the way he carried himself.
"If you survive long enough, you'll surely become a formidable warrior in the future."
The casual mention of survival made Somo's expression darken slightly, but Kraft had already turned his attention to Kurtz.
"I sense the aura of magic emanating from you." His green eyes sharpened with interest. "Could it be that you can actually use magic?"
Because his own path had led him toward martial arts, his perception of magical energy had become remarkably keen, a necessity when fighting mages who could kill you from a distance.
This was also the first time Kraft had encountered a human with genuine magical power flowing through their body. The discovery intrigued him.
Before this moment, he had visited several human settlements during his wanderings, and his evaluation had been depressingly similar to what he'd heard from other elves: weak and short-lived creatures with little to recommend them.
Although some impressive warriors occasionally emerged among humans, that seemed to be the extent of their potential.
Without the long history of magical inheritance that elves possessed, and without access to unique arcane knowledge, it was challenging for humans to establish themselves as anything more than a minor nuisance in this world.
However, Kurtz's very existence now challenged that assumption.
"Yes, I can indeed use magic." Kurtz nodded, seeing no point in denial when Kraft could sense it directly.
Kraft's expression shifted to something approaching wonder, and he leaned forward slightly.
"What type of magic do you practice? Could it perhaps be arcane knowledge recovered from ancient ruins lost to most civilisations?"
At this stage in his long life, although Kraft's magical talent remained mediocre at best by elf standards, he was still in a phase where magic fascinated him intensely.
"Light magic," Serie answered for Kurtz before he could respond.
Only she could reveal this particular secret safely. Even though Kraft was known as a remarkably good-natured person among the typically emotionally detached elves, Serie couldn't guarantee he wouldn't create difficulties for Kurtz if he learned the full truth.
Every race in this world jealously guarded its magical traditions and knowledge.
The elves were no exception to this rule.
"What?" Kraft's eyes widened in genuine shock, and he turned sharply toward Serie. "Serie, did you actually teach him our magic?"
The implications hit him immediately. There were only three people present who could have been Kurtz's teacher. Dwarves were constitutionally incapable of learning magic due to their racial nature, so only Serie possessed both the ability and knowledge to instruct him.
Serie nodded once, confirming Kraft's stunned realisation with characteristic directness.
"Is there some kind of penalty for learning elvish magic?" Kurtz asked Serie in a low, worried voice, suddenly understanding why she'd seemed reluctant to reveal this information.
"Yes, the lightest punishment mandated by elvish law is complete memory erasure," Serie replied with casual matter-of-factness that made the words even more chilling. "Severe cases result in imprisonment until natural death occurs."
She said it as lightly as discussing the weather, but her words drained Kurtz's face of all colour instantly.
This was more than awkward; he'd been caught red-handed by another elf who now knew he possessed forbidden knowledge.
"It's truly you, Serie." Kraft shook his head and laughed with a mixture of exasperation and genuine amusement.
Although he hadn't interacted extensively with Serie during their time in the Elf Forest, he had indeed heard stories about her reputation among their people.
Astonishing magical talent that made even ancient elves take notice, combined with philosophical concepts that differed dramatically from typical elvish thinking.
Her approach to learning magic focused on studying every spell with the specific intention of maximising lethality, considered a dangerous anomaly among their generally peaceful population.
Fortunately, elves as a race were naturally emotionally detached, so even Serie's uniquely violent magical philosophy wouldn't attract excessive scrutiny from the forest elders.
Now, hearing that Serie had actually taught forbidden elvish magic to an outsider, Kraft felt shocked but also found it somehow perfectly reasonable.
It was exactly the sort of unprecedented thing he could imagine her doing without a second thought.
"So what do you plan to do about this revelation? Report it directly to the council of elders?"
Serie's voice carried no trace of concern or regret. She had no intention of returning to the Elf Forest anyway. Even if the elders decided to expel her formally, it wouldn't matter; she'd simply find another place to continue her magical research.
"Forget it," Kraft waved dismissively. "I'll just pretend I never heard or saw anything incriminating."
He had no intention of playing informant. Such tasks were tedious and thankless, and besides, he found himself genuinely curious about Kurtz, a human who could somehow learn and master elvish magic.
"You still haven't explained why you appeared here so conveniently."
Seeing that Kraft had no intention of pursuing the matter further, Serie smoothly changed the subject to safer ground.
"It's partially a coincidence, I suppose." Kraft's expression grew more serious.
"Have you encountered a female from the Skywing Clan during your travels? She should have been somewhere in the direction you came from."
"Yes, we have." Kurtz and Serie exchanged glances, both naturally remembering the Skywing woman named Lia.
If it weren't for the information she'd provided about safe passage, they wouldn't have risked crossing this treacherous swamp to reach the Gemier Forest.
"Then do you know what mission brought her to this remote region?"
"Yes, we do." This time, Kurtz answered directly, curious where this conversation was leading.
"That explains several things." Kraft nodded with satisfaction.
"I'm serving as a messenger and scout, and this time I'm responsible for investigating detailed information about this swamp's monster populations."
He paused, his expression growing grave.
"At a certain distance from here, in the new Dwarf Kingdom's capital, the leaders of the three most powerful nations in this world have already begun emergency diplomatic meetings."
Kraft counted them off on his fingers: "The New Dwarf Kingdom, Svartalfheim. The Elf Kingdom, Hithlum. The Skywing Kingdom, Doran Ta."
"The combined armies of all three races have already begun mobilising and gathering forces," he continued.
"My specific task is to investigate the exact numbers and activity patterns of monsters in this area, then report back so the military forces can arrive and begin systematic clearing operations."
After listening to Kraft's detailed explanation, Kurtz felt his mind racing with implications and questions.
He couldn't quite grasp how this development fit into the larger narrative. There had been little information about the Age of Mythology in the original work, and he had no way of knowing whether current events were following some predetermined plot or spinning off into entirely new territory.
"Do you want to accompany me, Serie? The war is about to begin."
Kraft's suggestion carried a note of knowing temptation. He understood Serie's nature well enough to predict her reaction to such an opportunity.
Serie's golden eyes lit with unmistakable interest at Kraft's words.
A conflicted expression appeared on her usually composed features, the first genuine indecision Kurtz had ever seen from her.
He found himself uncertain whether he should voice an opinion, since it seemed he had no legitimate reason to influence Serie's choice, regardless of what she ultimately decided.
But the thought of her leaving sent an unexpected pang of loss through his chest.