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Dawn Traveller - Chapter 10 - Friends of Elves Part II
There was nothing for Rendal, Grona, Nedhand and Hersey to do after they moved into the elves' forest.
"I think Jys should be trained as a mage. His understanding of the basic theory and the ways of mana are all too great to ignore. It's hard to believe that he's only 7 years old."
"Is he that amazing?"
"The theory of magic is difficult to grasp indeed. Terminologies and concepts in magic are extremely difficult for a child to grasp, or even an adult to process, and yet he looks at me with understanding and clarity, even during my most difficult lessons, as if he reads my every thought. He is very curious too. If he continues on this path, he'll become a great magician, and perhaps even surpass me. I've decided now, he can even work at the high levels of the magician's tower."
Hersey had high expectations for Jys' future, and had no doubts whatsoever.
A place in the magician's tower is something that all humans desire.
He did not know what hidden talents that Jys had because he was still very young, but that was what made his expectations rise.
"Work in a boring magician's tower… It'll be better for him to work as my apprentice in my shop."
Nedhand was very satisfied with Jys' skills as well.
Of course, he could not be compared to dwarves, who were naturally talented at smithing.
Compared to young dwarves, who had naturally mastered the skill of changing the characteristics of metals, Jys had only learnt the basics of hammering and starting a fire hot enough to use in the workshop.
But as a human, he was at a level where his skills could be useful for him. In about ten years, if he continued his learning, he could be skilled enough to be respected by any blacksmith.
Nedhand, of course, recommended the career path because dwarves innately felt satisfaction and happiness through producing works in a smithy.
Grona the dark elf had high hopes for Jys as well.
"He's starting to learn to breathe with the forest, at least a little. He is improving day by day, and there is enough talent for more. He runs with a strange strategy, but nevertheless, he does not fall and breathes the forest even better."
Upon hearing the praise of his comrades, Rendal contemplated deeply.
'How should I teach this kid?'
Jys had not shown any clear talent in sword fighting yet.
It had been expected, since his physical abilities were limited by his young age. Swinging a large wooden sword would have been difficult for any child his age.
While he had shown so much natural talent for magic, he was interested in sword fighting and was growing in strength and dexterity by the day.
It was a time when, as a parent, hopes for Jys' future flourished.
*
As Jys' age increased, so did his worries.
"Is this really the right path for me?"
He knew that he had been following along in his magic lessons pretty well.
He had grown up hearing about it ever since he was born, and he had grown to take an interest in it, to his relief.
It had been a long time since he stopped his lessons in blacksmithing; he knew that it would take something drastic for him to continue his career in that area.
Skills such as lock picking and disabling traps could easily be learned with short lessons every day, so there was no point in pursuing that path.
Furthermore, the dwarves' obsession in producing works out of metal, and their long life-span of 150 years could not be caught up by any other species.
He was improving in his running lessons with Grona as well.
It felt like his heart was going to jump out through his mouth at first, but after a while he grew used to breathing in the forest, and it almost felt comforting and refreshing.
The feeling of fresh air drawing into his tired body gave him satisfaction beyond description.
He was not fast enough to catch up with the wind yet, but he was happy running behind it.
He was developing sword-fighting skills in Rendal's lessons as well, so he was living the life of an exemplary student!
'Hm, I didn't think I would be living this kind of life in this world… it feels too straightforward…'
In Yeon Woo's world, he lived as an ordinary primary school student.
He had friends to play with, and ordinary school days, so his life was not bad by any stretch of the imagination.
He would move to the world of Marka whenever he was bored with resting in his own world.
He was happy with the fact that in Marka, he could work on running, sword fighting and magic skills to improve himself and go on adventures to strengthen his knowledge and physical abilities.
*
The civil war in the Grates empire only worsened over time.
As the emperor fell ill and became bed ridden, the most power-hungry nobles and armies raged even more in order to gain greater authority.
The empire's throne room became a bloody battlefield for the eldest, the third, the fourth and the fifth born princes.
The tension between groups was so thick that no one could be at ease.
In a time when the empire started to fall into peril and towns were being destroyed by monsters that took the chaos as an opportunity to attack, Jys met his 8th year in the elf forest.
"Hello, Elf… Elder."
In the village, Jys was known to be a bright child who always greeted others.
'He says hello again today.'
'A human child.'
'I saw him yesterday, and now again today.'
The elves, always so uninterested!
It wasn't easy to learn their names, let alone befriend or get to know them.
Jys suddenly heard the thoughts of the flowers.
'The trees are getting all the sunlight, and there is not enough for us.'
'We're going to wither and die.'
'We're never going to blossom, or meet new butterflies and bees.'
In their despair, the flowers were preparing to die.
Jys turned his head to see the trees with their outgrown branches, blocking the sunlight.
'Just last year, they were incredibly beautiful when they blossomed…'
Being able to read thoughts also meant that he had to endure their anguish. The trees and flowers living in the elf forest were so full of life that they knew how to think and even talk for themselves.
So many plants, growing and dying off; you could say that it is just the circle of life, but it was still very difficult for him to feign ignorance.
"Ugh. I guess it's not a hard task, though bothersome."
Jys dug into the ground and carefully lifted the flowers and their roots out of the ground, replanting them in spots where they could get all the sunlight they needed to grow.
'Young human. Thank you, human.'
'I think I'll be able to grow well here. I'll let off nice scents, just for you.'
'Will you be able to return to eat my fruit when they're ripe?'
The plants were grateful.
Because he looked after the trees and flowers, they in turn released fresh and sweet scents whenever he passed, and sometimes even an apple would drop in front of him.
Not every forest in the continent was like this. It was because the forest of elves was so full of life and magic that the forest itself had changed over time.
A human that had knowledge of plants!
'Is he able to communicate with plants? He's more advanced than the young elves here… I guess the elves are still very young at that age. It is only possible because humans have rapid growth when they are so young, still, impressive.'
Elves started to pay a little more attention to Jys.
"Hello, Grandfather Elf!"
"Hello, human Jys."
They even started to return his greetings.
"Hello to you too, Grandmother Elf!"
"Oh my. I'm only 250 years young… Call me noona."
(TL/N: "Noona" is a term for "older sister" or a female who is slightly older.)
"…"
In the forest, it was not uncommon for brothers to have 100-year age-gaps.
He became close to the young elves.
"Jys, play with me!"
"Pardon me, but how old… might you be?"
"110 years old! Wanna be friends?"
Elves that were 50 years old called Jys "hyung" or "oppa".
(TL/N: "Hyung" is a term used by males for older males, while "Oppa" is a term used by females to older males, both meaning "older brother".)
Among the elves, children of that age only just learnt how to cut and eat fruit.
It was fascinating to listen to elderly elves whispering quietly amongst themselves.
"He's only 430 years old. That must be why he is still so immature."
"Does a 430-year-old even understand life? It is an age in which one does not understand the winds nor the earth yet."
The elves' lifespans reached to 500 years, and their aging process came much later on in their lives.
They barely formed wrinkles until they were over 400 years old, looking young to the point where it was almost impossible to tell how old they were based on their looks.
After a while, Jys even befriended an elf.
He befriended a female with shimmering silver hair, who was among the most beautiful elves in the forest. Her name was Allium.
She, now 140 years old, was born through the union of a high elf with an ordinary one, and was almost reaching her stages of becoming an adult. She was at an age where her beauty bloomed, readying her for her life as a female.
"Hello, Jys."
"Hello."
Jys and Allium strolled along the forest path.
They did not appear to fit well together; a small child and a slim elf with a beauty that would shock the human world. But neither of them cared.
Jys would have a growth spurt in a few years, and Allium would not change for a long time.
Funnily enough, Jys had the power in their friendship.
"Allium, what do you want to do today?"
"I found a spot where we can watch the creatures living in the grass. Do you want to go?"
"We did that a few days ago."
"Then do you want to play on the slide?"
The forest was full of strange and beautiful places for the two children to play.
They could swim around and play in the glistering pond, with rays of golden sunshine gleaming above.
Some of their favourite activities consisted of watching the newly born baby animals, or sliding down giant leaves in the forest.
The animals started whenever the human drew near, but Allium's presence comforted them all every time. This was due to the fact that the elves took care of nature and did not unnecessarily harm or kill any living beings.
"Do you want to ride my friend?"
"Really?"
Allium even let Jys soar high above the trees on her friend, the griffin.
Of course, the griffin had other ideas.
'Who is this baby human, always with my elf friend? Should I just eat him?'
It drooled and licked Jys every time it was left alone with him, trying to get a taste of something it couldn't have.
Allium's father, Lythianthus, liked Jys very much.
"You have the scent of the forest. It's almost impossible for even elves at your age to let off this strong of a smell. Do you have any interests in learning archery?"
"Pardon?"
Jys looked into Lythianthus' mind, to read his intentions.
Just say that you're interested. Quickly! Say that you've been interested in it for a long time!
'Well, it seems that he means well.'
"I do have a little interest…"
"Good. I was getting bored. It's time for the best archer in the eastern forest to teach you some archery."
"Uh, is this bonus training time?"
Jys cringed to himself.
"Is that how you think? You always seem to play with Allium around sunset, so you must be free around that time, right?"
"Around sunset is great. It was always my dream to shoot arrows under the gentle caress of the moonlight."
'This is night training, the worst of the worst. It could interfere with my sleeping schedule if I'm not careful.'
Jys was determined.
"No, it seems that things might get a little busy from now on. Humans have quite a lot of things to do."
"But you still have time to play with Allium."
"Well yes, because we're friends…"
There would be nothing interesting in the forest if Allium were to stop playing with Jys.
Playing doctors, giving piggybacks and running around with the beautiful, bright elf gave him much of the energy for the day.
A little 8-year-old human boy did not raise any concerns, though he had the mind of a 17-year-old man!
"I'll teach you archery at sunset every day, starting tomorrow."
"No, no! It's totally fine!"
"You're saying that because you don't know how fun archery is. There's nothing more fun than archery when you're young… yes, when you're around the age that you are now. You probably don't know, but even humans living in their own cities play with bows and arrows."
"No way. I've never seen archers where I lived, not even once."
"Ask your parents, and they'll tell you."
'It's easy lying to a child. His parents of course will be excited to hear that I'm willing to teach him. There's no way out of this for him.'
"…"
Lythianthus' determination to teach him left no option for Jys than to surrender.
Furthermore, he knew that Rendal and Riley would enthusiastically support Lythianthus' idea.
The high elf Lythianthus had left the forest to roam the human world a few times before. It was only for a few days every ten years or so, but his archery skills shocked the humans every time.
The most skilled archer amongst even the revered high elves was no match for any human.
"I'm busy too, so it seems our lessons will only go for an hour."
"That is not as long as I expected. I guess I did have interest in archery."
"If you learn it well, it'll be of very good use to you."
"I'll try my best."
Jys decided to compromise.
But Lythianthus, in all his years, was experienced in humans and their ways.
'It'll be easy lengthening the lessons. It won't be difficult to beat him into listening if he ever decides to be lazy.'
*
"Honey, I think we did well in raising our child."
"Yes, I think moving here was a good idea, too."
Rendal and Riley watched the archery lessons from afar, with smiles of satisfaction growing on their faces.
What parents would not be happy to see their child so smart and diligent?
"I think I should intensify my lessons from next year, too."
"I'll heal any muscle pains, so train him the best you can."
-
Story by Nam Hee Sung
Check out the original here: http://mm.munpia.com/?menu=novel&id=27166
Translated by Hannah Kim
Proofread by Janowicz
This chapter was released on Friday the 19th of January, 2018.
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