Editing Dark Elf:Volume1 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 11===

The dizziness had grown far worse and he couldn’t control his perspiration. He really thought he was going to die this time.

He had been down to his last stem, so he was never going to last long after using Camouflize.

“Whoa!?”

He frantically uncamouflaged in a blast of white steam and rolled behind a mossy rock. The thundering hooves of the heavyweight warhorses raced past. He came dangerously close to losing his virginity out in the open woods before he could lose it on his wedding night. The horses would have gathered around him and spent all night making sure he was very well acquainted with those monstrous things hanging between their legs.

“I-I never could have called my rotten teacher a pervert again if that happened.”

He sat on the ground and tried to wipe the sweat from his brow, but he found he couldn’t raise his arm.

His was down to zero Witch Pumpkin stems. With the magic derivative deficiency set in, he really was approaching death. He had the severe headache of a dehydration symptom as well as powerful nausea. He could no longer accomplish something so simple. He clenched his teeth, but the dizziness would not go away. He had finally hit his limit. Even he could tell the unpleasantly warm sweat on his brow was rapidly cooling.

…''They…got away, right?

His thoughts turned to the girl who looked around 15 or 16. But a dark elf’s age did not necessarily match their appearance, so she may have been a 3000-year-old granny for all he knew.

He rested his back against the large rock and worked his woozy head. None of this was worth it if she had been captured by Professor Dissection. He wanted her to be happy. She didn’t owe him anything for saving her, but he still wanted her to take care of herself after he risked his life to repay her. After all, he doubted he was going to live long enough to see her again.

…''Oh, I forgot to return her earring.

With that thought on his mind, he started to shut his eyes in resignation.

But then it happened.

He saw something transparent.

He saw an unbelievable destructive gash.

An unseen mass of great power tore away the leaves of the trees and pierced the air as it followed the course of a flying arrow.

That was Archdragon Magic. Specifically, Charge of the Wyvern.

He could tell it wasn’t aimed at him, but his seated body was still lifted from the ground and thrown several meters. He slammed into a green mossy object that may have been a pillar or a rock.

“Kah!?”

The fearsome destruction reaped lives while traveling with enough confidence to carefully avoid felling any of the trees. Charge of the Wyvern was not the only magic used here. Wings of the Lindwurm sent in a great mass of air that was concentrated down to a single point before exploding in every direction. Levelling of the Drake increased an invisible pressure until it was powerful enough to flatten the target and the mossy terrain around them. Rolling of the Wyrm easily smashed large boulders.

Which side was doing this?

During his time in the Court Magic Academy, Klaus had never heard of a human managing to reproduce Archdragon Magic based on the scraps of information found in the old texts sleeping within the forbidden section of the royal library.

“Eek, eek!”

So the answer was simple. Especially when he heard a voice begging for its life echoing from deeper in the deadly forest.

The wrinkled old voice spoke the human language.

Which meant it was not a dark elf.

“What did I do to deserve this!? Eek, we must reveal the secrets of all forms of life. To create a freer world!! And dissection is necessary to reveal those secrets!! I have done nothing wrong!!”

The owner of the voice was obliterated, reduced to no more than some splattered remains.

His eyes had been as unreadable as a fish’s.

That researcher had been self-centered to the end, so all he left behind was a pathetic plea for his life. It didn’t seem like his words reached anyone. His life was snuffed out with the disturbing sound of something sticky being thrown against the wall. That was the end for a lonely old man who had managed to cling to success for so long despite his eccentric nature.

Yes, the dark elves could think, talk, and take action just like humans.

So of course they could use magic just like humans. In fact, no human knew much about the dark elves’ lifestyle, religious views, or technological level. There was just as little information on the magic they used. So why underestimate them? Wasn’t it possible their magic was even more advanced!?

…''Archdragon Magic.

Klaus’s survival instincts told him to continue his observations even on the verge of death. He would not survive through fight or flight if he lacked information. So his instincts were telling him to gather that information to give him whatever chance he could get.

…''I doubt they can just use magic like that for no reason. There must be more to this – some kind of core that supports the Archdragon Magic no one else can use!!

His memories seemed to flicker in and out. He did not remember much immediately before or after seeing Slender bathing, or when they had taken him to their village. For example, he knew he had happened across that mountain stream, but he couldn’t remember ''why he had been walking in that area''. Could there be other gaps in his memory? He must have been injured badly enough that he didn’t even notice the gaps until the memories returned to him.

But one of the drawers in his mind suddenly opened.

He had been thrown several meters through the air and slammed into a mossy object that could have been a pillar or a rock. But now he was confident it was neither.

This forest was also known as the Dragon’s Forest.

He had seen giant, pointy white fangs all around when he had stumbled across naked Slender.

And Professor Dissection had originally been here to research Brashgain’s bones.

In other words…

''“The dragon was over 10km long and could cover an entire city with his wings spread. 500 years ago, back when the knights still had some righteousness left, the humans managed to band together to slay that great predator.”

Reika Kickpleats’s words replayed in his mind.

This was when she had explained why she was only bringing her tight-lipped #1 student into the forest with her.

''“The dark elves are working to resurrect Brashgain. In order to bring flesh back to the great skeleton stretching across the entire forest and to return him to his former glory, they have set up a massive magic circle to absorb power from the land itself. He is a true monster, so recovery magic really can resurrect him from that state. And we humans are so much weaker nowadays, so we won’t last long if this succeeds. We have to put a stop to this but we also must prevent any other humans from seeing it. We face utter destruction, but if enough people panic, we might be brought down without the dragon needing to do a thing.”

He only had one chance to find the dark elf village.

If he gave up and left the forest, he could never attempt it again.

So the boy slowly looked up at the mossy object he was leaning against.

That enormous crescent moon curve was…''a rib.

One look through the gaps in the trees and streams was enough to tell that 10km dragon corpse really did cover the entire length of the forest.

His teacher was gone and the knights had just been wiped out. With this distraction dealt with, the dark elves would soon be back to their ''original work.'' Deep in the woods where no one could reach them, they would carry out the ceremony necessary to resurrect Brashgain and bring doom to the world.

Why would they do that? One look at Professor Dissection was answer enough. He was a rather extreme example, but he was like a concentrated version of how humans tended to treat magical lifeforms.

Humans saw them as creatures of fantasy. Humans refused to give them equal rights. They could so clearly think and behave just like humans, but humans dodged the burden and responsibility of treating them as equals by labeling them as inferior. But the downtrodden were not going to just sit there and take the abuse forever.

The dark elves had already developed a solid motive for their actions.

Only the humans acted like everything was fine.

“…”

Klaus Knockburn, currently slumped over and unable to move, had made a choice earlier. He had chosen his future wife. He had decided to rescue Slender who was in trouble after refusing to abandon a crying child.

And this was where it had gotten him.

Had he really done the right thing?

In a flash of motion, Klaus grabbed the glossy black beetle starting to crawl on him.

He stuffed it into his mouth and forced it down his throat.

It was likely a forest decomposer that cleaned the forest of insect and animal corpses. You might find something similar if you checked in the garbage can behind a royal capital restaurant.

But he still ate it.

He broke a taboo to live. Was that its legs or antennae that caught in his throat? He didn’t even want to know the source of that bitterness when he bit into its squishy belly. He ignored all that and got it down. He was not enjoying a nice meal for its flavor and texture. When living by the rules of the wild, you couldn’t complain when someone ate you. He had to steel himself to live by those same rules if he hoped to survive out here.

“Ewww. Dammit, why do I have to eat Witch Pumpkin stems of all things?”

But he no longer felt like he had an invisible ring of metal tightened around his forehead. This species of beetle must eat Witch Pumpkins or Ghost Turnips as well, so it acted as an indirect supply.

He could not die yet.

He could not escape to the human village just outside the forest.

In the Forest of No Return, a single step from the road was supposed to leave you stranded, never to escape. All of his assumptions about the human road had just been overturned. The dark elves did not fear the humans. They may have been ''overlooking'' the human wagons coming and going, but not anymore. If he tried to stagger his way to safety along the road, he would almost certainly run into an ambush and be blown away by Archdragon Magic along with the stone-paved road itself.

He could not afford to lose his life like that.

If he died, he could not stop the dragon resurrection. Nor could he find Slender again and ask her what was going on.

“Goddess dammit.”

He was moving slower than a snail, but he still got up. No voice answered his curse. The eerie silence of death had once more taken over the deep, damp forest ruled by the dark elves.

He had to do whatever it took to prevent the dark elves from resurrecting Brashgain, the 10km city-sized dragon that viewed humans as his prey. Rotten freak though she was, Reika Kickpleats was a genius, so if she said that would mean the end of humanity, he had to assume those modern knights (''She said we’re weaker nowadays, didn’t she?'') wouldn’t be enough. This one thing would mean the destruction of every human country and organization out there. That thing would be a living ultimate weapon.

“Who can I rely on?”

He toyed with the earring in his pocket, confirming its presence there.

Slender. In hindsight, it was such a silly name, but changing it now would only confuse his memories and notes. So he carved into his note-taking stick that Slender was his one and only option.

That girl was quickly becoming a special member of the dark elf species. She looked to be 15 or 16 and she was likely one of their bow-wielding hunters.

Was she an enemy or an ally? Should he really have rescued her?

Klaus slapped his hands against his cheeks.

…''Don’t hesitate, don’t second-guess yourself, and don’t overturn your assumptions for subjective reasons. Whatever her reasons might be, she still rescued me!

Reality could be cruel and Slender might be part of a village plotting to destroy the world. If he was wrong, he would be ruining his one chance of preventing the dragon’s resurrection. And then the world was doomed.

But he did not change his mind.

He could trust his future wife. And if he trusted her, then he could continue onward with confidence in his step.

If he trusted her, he needed to work toward being the kind of guy she would fall for.

“Time to win this lonely war and find all the answers.”

The only card in his deck was Camouflize.

He didn’t even know where he would find any food to eat, but he had to find a way survive in this dark elf forest.

If he won, it would all work itself out.

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