Martial Elf

After the third great gathering, I opened my eyes to find that night had fallen, and the stars were shining through the makeshift cover of the cave where the giants lived.

Enjoying the omnipotence I felt in my body, I slowly stood up and began to walk outside.

‘What an amazing body, no matter how many times I see it.’

Elves, especially High Elves, had shattered the common sense of the Central Continent from the very beginning.

Life forms inherently possess a strong resistance and rejection to external energies.

The energies accumulated by martial artists in their lower dantian are not fundamentally part of being human.

While it hasn’t been thoroughly established, there exists a theory that from infancy, fighting against the world’s energies desensitizes one to Qi, hardening it like calluses.

Although some might consider this a typhoon accumulating in the atmosphere, children are generally able to perceive and acquire Qi quickly because they have fewer of these hardened calluses.

Furthermore, just because one accumulates Qi does not mean that such energies become familiar to humans.

Though the meridians differ in direction from one’s own, the so-called Nine Gibbon Meridians accumulate external Yin energies over time, harming the body.

The overall condition when the accumulated Qi within the body breaks free from control and rampages, destroying the body, is referred to as the “Condition of Self-Destruction.”

An example of this is when the demonic energy from the demonic arts invades the spinal cord, destroying various senses and reducing one’s patience, leading to a ferocious side effect.

In contrast, the bodies of Elves had a sensitivity to nature’s Qi that was on a different level.

While the differences in blood pathways and meridians may have contributed, there was something fundamentally wrong.

Perhaps it was because of the World Tree, which plays a significant role in the cycle of life for stars.

The Qi flowing throughout my body was surging like it had been oiled, and I felt no burden in my blood pathways and meridians.

To reach the pinnacle area through the Yang Meridian is possible for only one out of a thousand martial artists, and yet I accomplished it just two weeks after forming my dantian.

Moreover, experiencing the abnormality of my upper dantian, Baihui point from my previous life, allowed me to perform it right away.

Thanks to that, Araya Gong became a bizarre martial art that presupposes both the Small Gathering and Great Gathering from its inception.

Whether the Small Gathering or the Great Gathering, fundamentally it is about paving the way to greatly accept and accumulate external energies, while strengthening the internal universe; however, it inevitably overworks the blood pathways and meridians like weight training. Thus, regularly I would practice light Qi movements and take breaks at certain intervals.

However, both the High Elves and the Elves who had been tutored by me were accepting it at an excellent pace, albeit with some variations in intervals.

In my case, I had no significant issues practicing the Small and Great Gatherings multiple times a day, as I theoretically reached their realms in my previous life but had never experienced them directly, leading me to worry I might misinterpret their significance.

Even though it had only been ten years, my lower dantian contained energy larger than that of a duck egg.

Generally speaking, if it were about the size of a walnut, that’s 1 jar; if it were about the size of a duck egg, it would be around 2 jars, yet I had already reached an area of more than 2 jars of qi without using any elixirs.

Moreover, the method I used to accumulate was not the easy collection of energy specialized for my school but rather a slow but pure accumulation through the Sanjae Heart Method and basic Tonap Law.

Because of my family’s commissions from the martial world, I knew all the theoretical roots except for some minor demonic arts, but I still hadn’t decided which direction to take.

More than anything, since I could solve all problems with what I currently possessed, I felt no immediate need.

Despite that, such an achievement.

As an Elf, who lives far longer than humans, I could hardly imagine the level I would reach later.

Considering that an Elf’s life goes beyond the typical duration of life, I would continuously grow stronger as long as permitted.

It was said that beings like Terato could move mountains; perhaps in a hundred years, I would be able to destroy mountains even if I couldn’t move them.

‘I wish my limbs were just a bit longer.’

For those who reached a certain level, the length of limbs is not additive but multiplicative.

However, there was no clear answer regarding this aspect.

In the past ten years, my body hadn’t grown even a fraction of an inch either in height or in limb length.

Even considering the peculiarity of being an Elf, seeing newborns grow to my sternum within a few years and continuing to grow, it seemed I was uniquely peculiar.

My mother only said that I would grow someday but didn’t know exactly when…

My chest hadn’t exactly developed, and the characteristics of femininity hadn’t manifested either.

Regarding my chest, the past life’s experiences hadn’t yet diluted, and since it would undoubtedly hinder martial arts practice, I had mixed feelings about it.

‘I think my emotional fluctuations have become a bit intense lately.’

I recalled the time I couldn’t hold back my anger and struck the giants.

While there were aspects of insulting my parents and reopening my own painful wounds, in the past, I likely would have simply ignored them.

Honestly, my personality from my previous life could be described as plain at best, and bleak at worst.

An unbearable pain comes periodically.

A predetermined short life.

Not only was it difficult to share conversations over a drink, but even engaging in longer discussions was a struggle with my poor stamina.

Moreover, with the development of my upper dantian, I realized I possessed extraordinary talent for understanding martial arts, which led to a lack of interaction with others after receiving various commissions on martial arts from my family for the sake of confidentiality and secrecy; the servants who attended me were also periodically changed, leaving me with no one to confide in.

I wasn’t sure if my current personality was due to my circumstances or if I was gradually becoming accustomed to this new body, but honestly, I thought it wasn’t too bad.

I always felt that this life was fulfilling everything.

I have family who love me and give love, Elves who rely on and need me rather than distant onlookers, and a mission to fulfill in my life.

My newly received body is strange compared to the past, yet it is full of the potential to accomplish everything I need.

What about the world?

It’s not trivial affairs like the insignificant human’s small teacup gossip.

There are beings resembling gods, and monsters that are unmatched against unarmed humans scattered everywhere.

Today’s experiences included minor accidents, but they could easily serve as tales or legends.

The giants’ home was enormous in every way.

Its realities felt like a fairyland, resembling a model garden of immortals.

Without chairs to sit on, I perched on the table, listening to the conversation of the giant parents, strongly realizing that I was living in the mythic era of my past life.

While I didn’t know how this world would progress, I wanted to engrave my name somewhere in that history.

‘Fortunately, it seems that humans around here aren’t that great yet.’

When I saw some of the looted items from the giants’ home, nothing seemed more impressive than the giants’ words.

Just looking at the wooden crafts, humans were barely using metal objects, which were of poor quality, and the linens couldn’t compare to those of the Elves.

While the manifestation of the human species happened faster than that of Elves, the gap in development compared to the humans gathered around here wasn’t significant; rather, it seemed the Elves had vastly advanced.

‘Is it a racial difference?’

The Elves had only been here for ten years, but for the Elf race, there were virtually no suitable natural enemies in the forest’s ecosystem.

In contrast, humans must have faced great costs merely by living in the vast nature.

Development comes from the remaining force of life.

‘Still, I should visit the human factions. It would be foolish to conclude a situation based on a few loots and fragmented inferences.’

Even if humans were only half as cunning as in my past life, they might have prepared low-quality items fearing theft by giants.

As I finished my contemplative stroll and was about to enter the giants’ cave, I spotted Rudolf, who was dozing off, hidden among the bushes.

It seemed he was so frightened of the giants that he was hiding outside the cave to sleep, yet somehow he managed to follow along without running away.

As he twitched periodically, perhaps dreaming a nightmare, I felt sorry, thinking I might have overworked him too much since we came out of the forest recently.

Gently sweeping his body to organize the chaotic energy within, he eventually stabilized, his breaths growing steady.

Thinking of what lay ahead, I playfully considered creating martial arts for Rudolf, but I unexpectedly felt a little more necessity to actually make it.

“Sleep well.”

◈ ◈ ◈

“Please, my lady.”

“I am requesting it, my lady.”

Lady Bryonia looked back with an expression of ‘Is this correct?’ as I departed riding Rudolf, and soon after, Golb and Silv, who had followed behind, suddenly knelt down before me.

As I calmed Rudolf, who was trying to back away due to the dust kicked up by the two giants, I asked, “I don’t understand why you’re asking me outright without even summarizing the content. Were we really at a point where we could ask each other for favors from the beginning?”

At my words, Golb couldn’t find a reply and shut his mouth, while Silv, with a sullen expression, poked two of his fingers together.

I scratched my chin and asked for the reason.

“Let’s at least hear what the reason is.”

If it seemed interesting enough, I had no reason not to listen.

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