Martial Elf

A massive body that one could only see by tilting their neck nearly at a right angle.

Both giants, who appeared to be brothers, stood about twice the height of Rudolf, but they seemed to be four times that size.

Amidst all this, despite having a healthy amount of bulk and a protruding belly, the contours of their visible muscles could still be seen.

Considering their size and mass, it seemed like it would be difficult for them to sustain themselves, yet they moved without much trouble despite appearing somewhat sluggish.

That alone declared them as beings that deviated from the rules of ordinary life forms.

Their face had a blunt nose, full lips, and their eyelids looked puffed up as if they had been pounded like rice in a mortar.

They also wore a bulky outfit made from the hides of rather large beasts, and their hair looked sparse, so honestly, they weren’t the most visually appealing friends.

The giant on the left scratched his head.

“What is it? I feel something large here.”

“Hey big bro. Are we eating deer today? Deer?”

“Wait a minute.”

The giant roughly sat down and leaned in with his face.

“Hey, human. Are you the only one here?”

‘The smell…’

Having heightened senses can be a great advantage, but it certainly becomes a burden when it’s excessive.

The disgusting odor was carried by the lukewarm wind, causing a level of discomfort that was almost nauseating.

Rudolf trembled without making any proper movements since the giants appeared.

‘I’m completely terrified.’

His breathing was almost silent and harsh.

Excessive tension could be harmful to life itself.

To an ordinary human, it looked as if he were on the brink of hyperventilation.

I wondered if bringing him along due to my stubbornness was a mistake, and when I sent some energy to him, he gradually appeared to stabilize as his breathing became even.

“Aura?”

“Deer! Deer!”

There was something unusual in the giant’s eyes.

While I sensed a strong vitality, I didn’t particularly feel any aura; perhaps they were just sensitive.

I blocked my sense of smell and took off my hat.

“I am an elf passing through. Why does this road block your way?”

While I guessed the reason, it was still quite fascinating to encounter such a being for the first time.

Even if a fistfight were to happen later, I wanted to start the conversation first.

However, as I took off my hat and opened my mouth, both of them had strange expressions and their eyes became dazed.

“Um? Are you guys alright?”

“……”

They seemed to be in a daze.

I gathered my energy and compressed the air in front of me to high density.

I also opened a thin barrier of energy between the compressed air and Rudolf.

Even though I didn’t rush, the two giants didn’t make any movements during my preparations.

They were severely incapacitated.

With that kind of mass, they should be able to handle that level of shock.

Araya’s Artifacts Compendium

Creation Break

“Fwaah!”

“Gah!”

With a tearing sound, a small storm ensued, and the two giants, who were crouched down in a daze, fell backward.

The shock was strong enough to make the surrounding trees sway briefly, yet the two stood up again without significant issues.

“It seems they regained their senses.”

“What was that! Human! Are you a sorcerer?”

“It exploded!”

A sorcerer? Were they referring to a magician?

“No, I’m a martial artist. I’m not really fond of magic.”

“A martial artist?”

“I mean someone who trains their own martial skills.”

“What is ‘martial’?”

“That’s quite a philosophical question, but it’s not really a topic for the roadside. Just think of it as honing one’s strength.”

The giant who was speaking contorted his already unattractive face further.

Is he laughing?

“So, this is just a word game. By what measure is that considered strength?”

“It’s just one of the grappling techniques I possess. It’s not my major, you know.”

The giant laughed heartily.

“Even so, what’s the point of training something so minuscule that it’s a mere fraction of a fraction of itself!”

Saying that, he walked over to one of the massive rocks scattered around the nearby mountain, grabbed it, and exerted his strength.

“Huup!”

He effortlessly lifted a rock that seemed to weigh dozens or even hundreds of halgeld (hundreds of tons) and threw it outside the rocky hill.

Boom!

The fallen rock split in half with a loud noise.

“No matter how much you tiny humans train your strength, you will never defeat a Titan born from our father, Terato!”

The giant, who had not even been asked, suddenly boasted of his power as he flexed his various muscles.

I was somewhat taken aback by the sudden display, but while I could crush and turn things to powder, throwing a rock of that weight was something I couldn’t do, so it was an interesting sight.

“First of all, there’s one correction and two questions.”

“What is it?”

“First, I’m not one of the species you call human. I am of the elf species.”

“Elf?”

“A species born from our Earth Mother, the World Tree, El Prigion.”

“World Tree?”

“Big bro! Big bro!”

I pointed in the direction I came from.

It was a few weeks’ travel by the forest deer, so despite my mother’s massive body, she couldn’t be seen from here.

“It’s a huge tree that encompasses all over there.”

“Treeee?”

“Big bro! Big bro!”

The giant laughed heartily.

“Our father Terato is a giant who lifts mountains! A tree? The ground is low and our mother is a tree? I can see why elves would think that!”

…Should I kill him?

Anger surged within me for a moment, but first, I needed to know what I had to.

“First, I’ll endure your ignorance and overlook your rudeness for now.”

“Hmph. What are you going to do if you don’t?”

Ignoring the bravado of the taunting one, I continued my speech.

“You mentioned earlier that you mistook me for a ‘human’; have you ever seen a being similar to me?”

“Of course. There are little earthlings about your size. Maybe a bit taller than you? They have short ears… Hmph… They’re more unattractive.”

“Oh…”

It seemed like the giant shouldn’t be the one to make comments like that.

“To begin with, those humans tend to move their positions periodically to hunt. They’re weak yet skilled at creating delectable things. Most importantly… humans themselves are tasty.”

“You eat humans?”

“Of course! They’re tenderer than the smelly beast meat! Their only downside is the limited quantity. If all of them get caught, they’ll hide away completely, so I merely select a few among my companions.”

The giant looked down threateningly as he spoke.

“Since you are all alone, I haven’t eaten an elf before, but it looks like I will today!”

“No!!!”

The giant was suddenly toppled over by another giant that came crashing down beside him.

“What are you doing! You ruffian!”

“Don’t eat her!”

Smack!

The giant on the side slapped the jaw of his brother who had bumped into him.

“Damn it! Are you going to raise her instead of eating her!?”

“Uuugh…”

After getting slapped on the jaw, the younger giant seemed dazed for a moment, but after coming to his senses, he said something shocking while twisting his body.

“Hehe… I want to marry her.”

“……”

The elder giant’s jaw dropped, and I also couldn’t comprehend fully what I heard.

“I… I’ve never seen such a pretty girl. I think she’s way prettier than the chief’s daughter I saw in the village.”

“Are you serious…”

The elder giant said as he pointed at me, looking thoroughly bewildered.

“Do you really think a Titan would marry that little earthling? Would that even make sense!!!!”

“I could live happily! I’m not good-looking, but if I marry her, our kids would be beautiful!”

The elder giant appeared to be on the verge of losing his jaw as his younger brother continued his nonsensical ravings, while I just closed my eyes and gazed skyward.

“…You want to have kids with that…?”

“Yes!”

“Do you know how children are born?”

“Hehe… Mom said that when people in love kiss and sleep together, a big dragon brings their child.”

“……You…”

Hearing the younger giant’s absurdity, I was pointed at.

“That one isn’t even a girl.”

“Wha… What do you mean!”

“Look closely.”

The elder giant tried to calmly reason with his foolish and dim-witted younger brother, who was getting excited.

“While it looks pretty enough to appear female, look at its chest.”

“Uh huh…”

Sighing, he continued.

“Whether they be giants or humans, they grow breasts to feed children. But that one has no swelling at all. It’s a male, not a female.”

“And you seem not to know, but children… Hah…”

“If you find that one attractive, let’s just eat deer and not touch this one. I’ll feed it well and make sure it goes to the bathroom properly…”

「Enough」

I couldn’t bear to listen anymore.

I descended from Rudolf’s body.

He cautiously glanced around, inching back little by little before running off behind.

“I honestly had the intention to pass things a bit gently since it was my first encounter with a sentient being, even though my goals were quite obvious.”

Through will, the energy from my body spread rapidly across the area, circulating once.

“I had the patience to endure even considerable, if not quite strong, rudeness. After all, it’s only been a short time since the age of barbarism began. It’s not the time for the light of civilization and the principles of humanity to be established.”

At last, the energy that had reached my depths amplified and resonated.

The energy I had desperately avoided releasing surged through my body as if it had finally found its world, spreading outwards.

“However, to insult my mother, to evoke the humiliations of a forgotten past, to demean my personhood, and to treat my life as if I were a subjugated beast…”

As the resonating energy attracted the surrounding forces with its pull, the gathered energies shimmered around me like mirages.

In a moment, these mirages wrapped around my body like a transparent armor, while the wide sleeves of the robe fluttered endlessly, as if in defiance.

“I, El Prigion’s seventh daughter, El Araya, as a mediator bearing a singular mission and right, swore in the name of my mother, who is revered, and in the places where life begins, I will exact judgment with the clarity of my role as a mediator upon those who insult my mother and treat her earthly creation with the innate powers of a beast.”

All consciousness turned towards the spring of my essence.

With a flash of light, I charged towards the giant’s immense body.

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