Ch.60Proof of Qualification #3

“Haa…”

Oberon’s Forest.

After traversing the forest for days, tearing through monsters and sprinting along the most efficient paths, Ellen caught her breath before the most prosperous and thriving of the many elven villages.

She had set out with baggage so sparse it bordered on pitiful, just like when she first wandered across the continent. Having to protect her horse while advancing, killing monsters, and traveling through dusty lands had left her looking quite haggard. Even though elemental magic could keep her clean in any environment, there was no way to hide her innate exhaustion.

Almost there.

Though she had never visited this place before, she knew its approximate location, and elven forests had a distinctive scent. Moreover, the most prosperous Oberon’s Forest had the strongest fragrance, making it easy to identify—the scent of spirits that only those who contracted with elementals could detect.

“Wait here for me.”

Ellen smiled as she heard her horse snort lightly in protest. Though she had changed horses many times due to their limited lifespans, each one had been another friend who stayed by her side. That made for many sad moments, but also a special affection.

As if understanding her concern, the horse blew a rough breath through its nostrils and tilted its head as if telling her to hurry along. It was pointing precisely at the entrance to Oberon’s village—showing an intelligence unlike ordinary horses.

“Alright. I’m going.”

Ellen stroked the horse’s mane one last time before leaving. The smile on her face transformed into something utterly rigid, and her eyes, which had been filled with warm light, turned ice cold. It was not unlike the expression she wore when confronting enemies.

—What face does a filthy dark elf have to show here?

The voice reached her as soon as she approached the tunnel-like entrance carved from wood. The sound echoed from all directions rather than a specific point, making it impossible to pinpoint its source. It was the result of borrowing the power of wind spirits.

“I’ve come to take the Legacy Trial. Step aside.”

Filthy elf, indeed.

Because of historical records claiming that the occasionally born dark elves had violent tendencies and caused trouble, they treated her like sewage. How absurd.

Though Ellen thought this, outwardly she answered with an utterly cold voice.

—Hah! You came for the Legacy? Ridiculous. Get out—

“The only thing getting cut off will be your neck.”

Once she entered the sanctuary where the Legacy was kept, they would have no way to stop her anyway. She was determined to advance even if it meant breaking anything that stood in her way. The air surrounding Ellen clearly revealed this intention.

She could also use wind spirits. This allowed her to taste the flow of air and locate hidden opponents. Therefore, both concealing oneself and dispersing the origin point of one’s voice were meaningless against her. Even if she couldn’t read their presence, knowing the flow was enough.

—You…! If you’re serious about fighting— Ugh?!

The man’s voice cried out in pain. Ellen’s arrow had precisely cut through the air toward a nearby tree, piercing the shoulder of the man sitting on its branch. The arrow disrupted the wind, dispelling the concealment that had hidden the man’s appearance and voice.

“Ugh, urgh…!”

Having been pierced in his right shoulder, he could no longer properly hold his bow. The elven guard who had been protecting the entrance to Oberon’s village glared at Ellen with murderous intent while nursing his anger. Though he couldn’t shoot his bow properly, he could still use magic and move. He thought it was too early to give up completely.

While any elf could pass through a village without trouble, dark elves were the exception. Elves were the origin point of discrimination and its strongest center.

Yet, despite such aversion, they still raised dark elves until they reached minimal maturity. This practice stemmed from legends that abandoned dark elves brought greater calamity, and calculations that raising them within certain boundaries might make others reluctant to harm them.

“You really want to—hup!”

Unable to bear it any longer, the guard tried to draw out as much elemental power as possible to attack, but swallowed empty air as soon as he met Ellen’s fierce gaze. It was a look that evoked an abyss—a dark valley with no visible bottom.

He was simply terrified.

Her eyes were darker than her ashen skin could ever suggest, swirling with viscous emotions that seemed impossible for an elf to possess. Combined with her killing intent, the pressure was incomparably overwhelming.

“If you don’t want your entire family to die… stop this nonsense.”

Though it was a humiliating situation for the guard, he couldn’t move a finger. Despite his training, there was a fundamental difference between a guard who had lived peacefully in a gentle forest and Ellen, who had been hardened through centuries of real combat.

Of course, they too used their power when conflicts arose with other races or when hunting monsters, but such occasions were rare. Thus, they couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by her presence.

Above all, Ellen’s current state was vastly different from before. For the first time in her life, she had found someone she wanted to be with, and since that person was a man, her emotions had intensified. It was the manifestation of a clingy obsession she herself wasn’t even aware of.

Spill blood or let her pass?

After a moment of deliberation that felt eternal, the guard finally withdrew his mana and turned his gaze from Ellen to the sky. He realized that dying here would be nothing more than a meaningless death. In other words, he had painfully experienced the difference in their caliber.

“You’ve made a wise choice.”

Ellen tossed out a seemingly mocking remark before pulling her hood over her head and passing through the cave-like entrance into Oberon’s village. Typically, elven villages were surrounded by barriers created through elemental magic, making them difficult to locate except for fellow elves or those proficient in elemental magic. However, with an accurate map, one could find them relatively easily.

There it is.

Ellen nodded as she saw the magnificent forest village hidden behind the barrier, and at its center, a tree standing tall like a pillar supporting the sky. If Jion had seen it, he might have mistaken it for the World Tree—such was its impressive grandeur.

“……”

She walked.

She simply walked and walked toward the tree that seemed both close yet quite distant. Though every village had a great sacred tree firmly rooted, she had never seen one this large before, and it was certainly overwhelming.

However, for Ellen, the size of the tree was secondary. Without bowing to its majesty and history, she strode purposefully toward the sanctuary said to be beneath its roots.

Though her covered face made her somewhat suspicious, the strong scent of elemental magic confirmed she was an elf. That was why those walking the streets or running businesses glanced at her occasionally but didn’t stop her. It was amusing how they feared dark elves yet easily overlooked someone just because their appearance was concealed.

Still, thanks to that, she could reach the sanctuary’s entrance with remarkable ease.

—Only a child of the forest may open the door, and among them, only the worthy may grasp the thread of lineage.

Recalling the verse passed down in each village since ancient times, Ellen disappeared beneath the roots into what resembled a dark natural cave. For something grandly called a sanctuary containing a legacy, its security seemed incredibly lax.

However, there was a reason why elves left the sanctuary undisturbed and merely shook their heads at those approaching it. Only elves could obtain the legacy, and historically, those who had challenged it could be counted on one hand. In contrast, the number of those who died trying could fill mountains, so others simply viewed it as suicide.

“Haa…”

Descending further, past crystal valleys that twinkled like stars with blue light even in darkness, she reached a large disc inscribed with a magic circle. It was designed to activate automatically when one lay upon it and released mana.

The magic circle was the trial itself, and its duration was fleeting. Though the participant might experience a very long time, externally only enough time would pass to blink a few times. The gap was that significant.

Therefore, failing to open one’s eyes in that brief time meant death, and it was customary for those who periodically maintained the sanctuary to remove the corpses.

Ellen exhaled a short sigh, then lay on the magic circle and released her mana. The magic circle, fed by Ellen’s mana, emitted light more brilliant than crystal, eventually completely engulfing the woman lying at its center.

◎◎◎

—You’ve come again.

A world where waterfalls poured from the sky and the Milky Way flowed across the ground. A world where day and night coexisted simultaneously, where a massive ember like a mountain and a tower of fierce storms stood at a distance from each other—a world that could only exist in fantasy.

The faint female figure who ruled one axis of this divided world, one of the pillars and today’s attendant, Wind, raised her hand with a sigh. She did so to punish the intruder who trampled on “communion” by methodically working her way up from the bottom.

However, Wind’s hand, raised to tear apart the soul, stopped. The woman, Ellen, emerging from the lake floor and walking forward, looked different from the elves who had died before.

Unlike those who simply tried to cheat, her eyes were incomparably dark, and the fact that Ellen was a dark elf with black skin made her stand out.

From Wind’s perspective, being a dark elf wasn’t particularly significant, but those eyes, packed with dark emotions, aroused her curiosity.

—Have you come seeking power?

Whatever the reason, she had undoubtedly come for power. So Wind spoke in a seemingly friendly manner to ask her reason.

“…Yes. I want it.”

Contrary to the expectation that she would be overjoyed, Ellen’s attitude remained consistently calm. She was so cold it might have seemed inappropriate for someone in a supplicant position, but Wind seemed to like it even more.

—Most who carelessly set foot here lost their lives. No, perhaps all of them. Yet still?

“Because I have a reason why I must.”

Ellen answered respectfully, instinctively sensing that Wind was vastly superior in status. She also thought there was nothing to gain by being haughty when making a request, but beyond that, she felt an overwhelming pressure.

Wind, still maintaining her undiminished interest, asked Ellen:

—What is that reason?

“So I won’t be abandoned.”

To avoid being abandoned—what an interesting answer, Wind laughed inwardly. It was completely different from the clichéd answers about being blinded by desire for power, and refreshingly novel to Wind.

—If you came this far to avoid abandonment, does that mean the one who might abandon you is that powerful?

“If she decided to come at me, I would certainly die. That’s how strong she is.”

This is even more interesting.

Risking one’s life merely to avoid being abandoned.

Such obsession with this woman—the more she learned, the more delightful the story became.

Wind concealed these thoughts and spoke in an utterly solemn tone.

—The one you don’t want to be abandoned by, this ‘she’ you speak of—is she human?

“Yes.”

—Then, are you willing to risk your life to gain this woman’s favor?

Love between women.

Having no particular prejudice against homosexuality, Wind was eager to hear the answer. She had long since abandoned the thought of killing Ellen and was considering letting her live even if the answer wasn’t what she wanted.

However, the answer that slipped through Ellen’s lips surpassed Wind’s expectations.

“No. It’s to be embraced by a man who stands beside her.”