"This is the power of the Tree of Life, I can't believe my eyes."
Upon seeing their king, Thranduil, arrive at the Tree of Life and give birth to one hundred elves, the royal guard elves wept with joy.
This was a historic event, a change that would once again elevate the elven race to new heights that everyone dreamed of.
But Thranduil, envisioning the best possibilities, thought of ways to optimize these tools at his disposal.
What he knew was that no resources were needed to raise elves. Only when training them as elven soldiers would a large number of energy crystals be consumed.
"This seems to be going better. Now that I have enhanced the Tree of Life, I need ten thousand magical crystals to upgrade it to the advanced level." Thranduil glanced at the remaining energy crystals, and there were still many of them.
This amount of energy crystals is obviously not enough to continue upgrading the Tree of Life, but it can be used to train elven troops.
He immediately walked to the Ancient Tree of War.
Twenty-two types of elven soldiers were trained at once—ten of them elven swordsmen and the rest elven archers. A total of 1,100 magical crystals were consumed.
Whether swordsmen or archers, they were all adult elves.
The former wore exquisite metal armor and held a thin, sharp elven sword.
The latter, dressed in silver armor, carried wind arrows on his back in two separate quivers and a long elven bow in hand.
Each elf was fully armed and radiated a magical aura.
It is worth mentioning that… These elves varied in gender.
Some were male, others female, but with that unique armor that matched among them, their appearances were well concealed beneath their helmets.
But considering that the elven race was indeed one of absolute beauty, all could still show their beauty even under their armor.
The elves, at least those born from this tree, are a new intelligent and rare race that can develop their population without needing to mate with the opposite sex.
All elves come from the Tree of Life.
When born, they come from a green-eyed cocoon, and when it grows, it means the elf inside is about to be born.
They are all born of different sexes, their appearances vary greatly, but all have golden hair.
In all the remaining living elves on the continent, the only elven males capable of reproduction were the solar elves with the noblest lineage.
His Majesty the Solar Elf King who founded the Elven Empire was a male elf.
Now, many years have passed, and Thranduil has become the second.
This is why the old tree said that Thranduil was destined to become the Elven King.
There may be many elven princesses, but there is only one Elven King.
As for Thranduil, he was born destined to be the last King of the Elves.
…
Ruins of the Elven Kingdom, hidden area beneath a lake.
Thranduil's royal guard, upon seeing how the elves were born, wept with joy— their race, which had been oppressed for decades, was finally seeing a new light.
"All hail His Majesty, the great Elven King!" The heroic elves knelt on one knee before Thranduil, and each delicate and beautiful face was full of admiration and respect.
The solar elf aura emanating from Thranduil made them feel unlimited awe.
Not far away, nearly a hundred small elves in the shape of light orbs were flying around the Tree of Life, expressing their excitement and envy.
They also longed for the day when they would be "trained" to become great elves and serve His Majesty the Elven King.
"Stand up, this is not the time to kneel!" Thranduil raised his hand to get everyone's attention.
Looking at the fully armed group of elves in front of him, he was in a very good mood.
Now, finally, his army would grow. He then checked the information of these elven troops to see their stats.
"[...
Army of the Solar Elven King.
[Elven Swordsman]:
Level: High Rank
[Innate Skills]: Strong Slash, Enhanced Speed.
[Description]: Elven swordsmen possess vast combat experience and master fencing with expertise. Moreover, their elven swords are extremely sharp and cut through iron like mud.
[Elven Archer]:
Level: High Rank.
[Innate Skills]: Powerful Attack, Long Shot.
[Description]: Elven archers are famous. Each of them has the ability to always hit their target. Even the fastest birds can barely dodge the arrows from their fingers.]
[Elven Royal Guard]
Level: Very High Rank.
[Innate Skills]: Perfect Archers, Swordsmen, Martial Arts Experts.
[Description]: The elven royal guard are powerful warriors with thousands of years of combat experience. Those who form it fought in the last war against humans and made a vow to protect the Solar King to preserve the future of the elven race.
…]"
"Although they are both warriors, there is still a big difference compared to the royal guard that accompanied me to these ruins, but I believe their level will increase quickly." Thranduil thought as he looked at the warriors newly brought back to life.
If he could further advance the Tree of War, which nurtures the elves' knowledge and enhances their abilities, perhaps the next elves would revive with higher levels.
Among the level systems granted by the system and those that existed on the continent, there was no clear way to identify them. Some might be strong mages, others formidable warriors, but one could not be certain who was stronger until they fought.
Thranduil, being a complete warrior, didn't know how strong he truly was or what his limit was—now even less so, as his power continued to increase.
As a mage and expert in multiple fields, now that he could make full use of his ancient blood, Thranduil's power was immensely strong.
In addition to their extremely high starting levels, these elven swordsmen and archers each had two innate skills, so their real combat abilities were naturally stronger.
Undoubtedly, seeing his army now with more than two hundred elves, it was worth spending all his magical crystals.
If he had enough, he would undoubtedly train all elves to become full elven soldiers.
"There are still ninety elves left."
"To convert them all into elven soldiers, we need to consume over 4,000 energy crystals."
Furthermore, tomorrow the number of times the Tree of Life can reproduce will be refreshed, and I'll be able to raise another hundred elves. In total, I'll have to consume nearly ten thousand energy crystals to train them all as elven soldiers.
"Now we have to work even harder!"
At that moment, the system notification sound appeared again in Thranduil's mind as he watched the elves interacting.
"[...
New missions unlocked.
Mission content…
[Mission 1]: Clear the ruins of the ancient elven city.
[Mission 2]: Kill ten thousand monsters.
Reward: Tree of Gifts.
…]"
Thranduil was surprised that all the rewards were ancient trees. He wasn't surprised by the appearance of new tasks, as this was common.
He was simply shocked by the drastic increase in task difficulty.
Ten thousand monsters—with only two hundred elven combatants—was a very high level of difficulty. This mission was extremely hard.
That afternoon, he killed thousands of monsters, including vampire mosquitoes, but their strength was not too great.
It was complicated to encounter weak monsters, and the luck he had in finding that kind was immense.
Obviously, killing ten thousand monsters of that level is not an easy task. It's not that they're hard to kill, but rather hard to find.
As for the ruins area that Thranduil is currently exploring, most of the discovered monsters are low-level.
"I sense that the Tree of Talents can grant each elf an innate skill, like breathing underwater, becoming invisible, etc..." Just as Thranduil was about to ask the system, he suddenly felt a powerful evil magic emerging from the northeast of the plaza.
Thranduil looked up and immediately saw a great number of green flames appearing in that area.
Like dense will-o'-the-wisps, leaping in the dark.
"Your Majesty the Elven King, an undead creature is heading toward us at great speed!" reported an elven archer with a good radar skill.
Thranduil nodded. He knew it even if no one informed him.
The place where those undead creatures appeared was exactly the route he had taken to return to his territory.
Obviously, that thing was attracted to him.
"Transmit my order—prepare for battle!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
The elven troops quickly assembled; the one hundred elves of the royal guard took the lead.
As for the other elves, they positioned themselves in specific areas to cover any blind spots.
Their ranks were orderly, their eyes sharp, and their delicate faces revealed a solemn and deadly aura.
This was natural—otherwise, they wouldn't be the elite of the elves.