Martial Elf

“That’s right. Correct. We have to proceed in that direction.”

After parting from the giant’s brother and moving toward the intended east, I encountered a large lake and took a break for Rudolf, during which I was creating a martial art suited for him.

The internal structure of humans, elves, and giants is different, so it’s no surprise that the insides of a beast with four legs and horns differ significantly.

There are legends about transcendent beings who taught martial arts to sages, but such tales remain mythical, and it’s common for humans to teach animals, as in circuses where horses learn a few tricks, but teaching martial arts to a deer is uncharted territory.

However, the abundant, martial though untrained thought process based on knowledge from my past life and the transcendent senses of a high elf made it possible to achieve what seemed impossible, even if slowly.

I felt the challenge as a martial artist rising within me, and without delay, I proceeded.

First, it began by gathering knowledge about the anatomy of a deer.

I couldn’t dissect a living Rudolf to understand his anatomy, and above all, the activity of blood vessels and energy channels in a deceased creature would not be the same as when it is alive.

If I were to do it randomly, that would be one thing, but to genuinely teach him to become a spirit-being, I had to gather anatomical knowledge while he was alive.

Thus, the act of teaching Rudolf martial arts began as a bizarre endeavor of gaining insight into the deer’s anatomy.

Even among humans, there are hundreds of major blood vessels and channels, and when it comes down to the countless small branches, it reaches thousands in terms of anatomy.

The body of a living being is so complex and intricately divided, and sensing the entirety of this complex anatomy by injecting external energy is no simple task.

Nevertheless, I succeeded, and considering the characteristics of animals, which rarely stay still unlike humans, I created a martial art that, while less effective than a more powerful one flowing through him at once, had good compatibility with his body and could be used while moving. I passed this on to Rudolf.

“I’ll call it Rokui Donggong (Deer Intention Movement).”

I said while stroking the area around his neck.

“Animals that create a core live for a hundred years and become spirit beings, and a dragon becomes one after living for a thousand years. What do you think will happen to you?”

Animals generally find it difficult to create a core due to their lack of intellect, making it hard to form one unless they accidentally consume something like spirit grass.

However, while difficult at first, those who manage to form a core often live long and become spirit beings, so Rudolf might have the potential to become one too.

‘Above all, I can’t know what might come out in the future, so I have to make sure he can survive on his own.’

The first thing I encountered upon exiting the forest was a giant, something one would only see in myths.

It wouldn’t be strange if anything appeared afterward, and I wasn’t sure about myself but thought a clever, arrogant, and timid forest deer might find it tough to endure.

“You’ll get used to it soon. Let’s get moving.”

Rudolf, who seemed to feel the unfamiliar sensation flowing through his body and tilted his head in confusion, obligingly leaned against me.

Seeing how tamed he had become compared to the beginning, I oriented myself.

It was still midday, and no stars visible to serve as a guide, but having spent a few days near the lake, I was already familiar with the direction, so it didn’t pose a problem.

I redirected the senses I had used to feel the complex structure within Rudolf back outward.

‘In the end, I haven’t met anyone.’

But I was confident that I would meet someone soon.

After just leaving the forest and reaching the rocky mountain area, I found traces left by beasts rather than by humans, but many signs indicated that paths had been cleared for convenience here.

Seeing impressions pressed down like those of a cart wheel indicated we had entered the territory of humans or similar intelligent beings.

And proving my thoughts right, as the sun gradually hid and the moon began to cast its light, something caught my senses at the far end while passing through the mountain path.

Numerous beings were entangled with each other.

Sitting atop Rudolf, I soared 30 eltes into the air and enhanced my energy toward the direction I sensed.

“Oh… this feels like a hit.”

I said, looking at Rudolf, who was staring at me blankly, seemingly feeling the sudden lightness in his back.

“It seems that we need to hurry. Follow me.”

I kicked off into the sky, heading toward where the situation was unfolding.

◈ ◈ ◈

“Aaaah! Help me!”

“Please… someone help me…”

“Is this really the time to gather that? Run now!”

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

Kyle, having tossed aside all his remaining load, grabbed a fist-sized salt pouch and rushed forward, gritting his teeth to ignore the screams behind him.

Not only he but others also began to run in a disheveled manner.

There were people crying, and others running with tense faces, all exhibiting expressions filled with anxiety, despair, and fear.

“Auwwwwwwww!”

The howling from deep within was terrifying.

The wolf leader that had ambushed the merchants shouted behind him, causing his legs to nearly give way, but he gritted his teeth and endured.

“Shit… Shit… Damn those bastards!”

If he stopped running, he’d become a target for the pursuing wolves behind him.

The reason the wolves weren’t attacking right now was likely that the wolves chasing them weren’t the entire pack, and the fleeing merchants were running together like a herd.

Wolves have a strong pack mentality and deep affection for their group; they wouldn’t risk injuring their own during a hunt unless absolutely necessary.

They were clever beasts that effectively distribute risks, not reckless fools like me who didn’t value their own lives!

Why is my mind so clear in the midst of all this?

Was my head actually smart?

No way, that can’t be true.

If I were truly smart, I wouldn’t have been risking my life wandering around like a mayfly.

Yet suddenly succeeding in a few light trading ventures filled me with excessive confidence, and I found myself regretting my decision from ten days ago.

Kyle was the fourth son of a farming family.

Just looking at that, it’s clear he was born into a poor household, where being the fourth son meant he would inherit little.

He wouldn’t receive any land, a house, a horse, a cart, or even a plow.

In the end, he’d either work under his brothers or leave home to do something.

His brothers, who seemed no better than him, made it hard for Kyle to find satisfaction in merely filling his stomach while being cautious around them.

Moreover, there were no women willing to marry such a man.

So he left home.

With only a pouch containing twenty-three coins in hand, he sought work in the largest village, Pohelrn, located a month’s distance away.

Pohelrn felt ten times larger than his own village, and it was the first time he had seen so many people in one place.

The village chief of Pohelrn referred to himself as a “king,” but honestly, Kyle couldn’t figure out what the difference was, except that he was trying to recruit people to fight against other villages.

It seemed they fought to either integrate the residents of those lands into their own village or to either kill or expel them if they refused.

Thus, Pohelrn’s peripheral villages were absorbing populations and goods on a massive scale.

While there were villages of giants and a giant river with enormous crocodiles and lizardmen in the west, where humans had yet to set foot, it was said that in the north and south, there were village chiefs who called themselves “kings” integrating other villages, like Pohelrn.

Although Kyle felt uneasy about the idea of hurting others, he found himself lured into participating in the inter-village wars, which were horrendous, with a promise of two silver coins for each time he participated.

The devastated villages were filled with screams and death, children crying for their parents, and women wailing for lost husbands.

Even when he finally held two silver coins in his hand, the horrifying images flooded his mind more than the sight of the coins themselves.

After that, he quit being a soldier and spent time doing the manual labor that newcomers often did outside the village.

While his earnings were better than when he was back home, the high cost of living meant that he accumulated very little, sighing as he drank cheap alcohol in a tavern.

“This time, I earned two gold coins and twelve silver coins in the trade.”

Hearing about the gold coins snapped Kyle into attention.

Gold coins? He realized that his daily pay for working all day was merely four silver coins, and thirty silver coins were needed to make one silver coin.

Although the prices of silver and gold coins varied over time, roughly estimating, he thought he would earn roughly one silver coin in a week… about thirty weeks?

Goodness! Kyle had made an amount that would require a year’s worth of hard work without a day off to earn.

What the man was saying sounded simple.

Villages where residents had been expelled by chiefs that called themselves kings, like Pohelrn, lacked proper daily supplies.

Such as salt or iron for farming tools.

Or trinkets and decorations that women would like.

Due to the presence of beasts or monsters in certain areas, agriculture was also difficult, making crops like barley scarce.

He was essentially trading such essential goods for valuable forest products, like animal hides or rare herbs found in the mountains.

When he returned and sold them, the profits would be significant.

And from then on, Kyle gradually gathered information, identifying the locations of the villages where those who had been expelled congregated while saving up some money.

The moment his earnings from his first venture with merchants increased from ten silver coins to fifteen, Kyle was elated.

While there were indeed places that yielded good profits, he learned through his soldier experience that earning a lot of money also came with considerable risk.

For if he encountered monsters or wolves, no matter how sharp his knife was for self-defense, it wouldn’t be enough for a proper fight.

He thought this way, yet after a few trade ventures, looking at the gold coins in his hands, greed surged within him.

The feel of gold coins he touched for the first time, having left home with just over twenty coins.

As he began to earn gold coins, reckless confidence began to swell in him.

With that, he emptied all his savings, taking salt and goods to embark on a trade venture and after two weeks since leaving, if he traveled only halfway down the road, he would reach his target village, and in returning to Pohelrn with the traded goods, he would earn more than two gold coins, just like those merchants he had first encountered in the tavern.

If that happened, Kyle planned to buy a horse.

Having a pack horse to pull a cart would allow him to transport various goods and products.

Since the demand for the same product was limited in any village, by becoming free from the constraints of volume and weight, he could handle a wider variety of items.

Just a few hours ago, he had been dreaming such a future but now, he was merely prey being chased by a horde of reapers in the dark.

His mind drifted back to his merchant companion who had been torn apart by the wolf’s claws and teeth during the first ambush.

That was a man who had said he would propose to the girl he liked after this trade.

The memory of his face morphed into that of a pitiful victim he had seen during his soldier days.

“Aaaahhh!”

“Get away! Get away!”

As the wolves pursuing the group of merchants started closing in as the merchants grew exhausted, the wolves, sensing that stragglers were forming, began to charge.

Kyle, himself running as hard as he could, felt his legs give way beneath him.

Am I going to die here? Like the villagers slaughtered by the attack on Pohelrn? Like my merchant comrades, who became wolf prey leaving the woman they planned to propose to?

In the depths of despair, watching as the wolf’s mouth opened wide to devour his neck, he was about to give up everything.

Between Kyle and the wolf,

A green butterfly appeared strangely, descending in the moonlight that illuminated the night sky.

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