Wolves of Hader

Chapter 83

A meeting was held in the clearing. All the Iki Tribe had gathered, eager to see Elin.

Except for the main group and the two tribes who were receiving healing, everyone sat down in front of a broad rock.

On that rock, the chief of the Iki Tribe and the elders sat in chairs.

"So, how did you meet the two Elin?"

"The siblings were living in the eastern continent, and they were rescued by this Dran and were living together."

The chief looked at Wundbark and asked.

"How many of them are there in the south?"

"I saw about a hundred. There should be around a thousand scattered here and there."

"The Tak Tribe should be there too."

"They're living a hard life."

"Ha... I can imagine even without hearing more."

Sighs poured out among the Iki Tribe. They looked as if their only hope was gone.

"I thought there might be other Elin somewhere, but even they are living like that... there's nothing we can do."

"Are you talking about your restoration?"

The chief nodded.

This time, Wundbark asked.

"You're saying you put a shrinking magic on yourselves?"

"That's right. We hoped someone would restore us, but now there's no way."

"Not even if you go to Aindel?"

"We can't go. Besides, they abandoned us. They wanted to protect Aindel from the demons."

I asked again.

"So it's possible to restore you in Aindel?"

"It probably is. But for us, the shrinking magic has been fixed over too many years, and we have no way to restore it."

"Why did you choose to shrink yourselves?"

The chief looked at the elders.

As the elders nodded, the chief continued.

"When the demons invaded in ancient times, the queen of Aindel dispatched an expeditionary force to the two continents. In the end, we lost the war, even the heroes were divided, and the demons ended up conquering both continents."

"That's when they gave up on the expedition."

"That's right. I understand it. They couldn't have saved all the Elin scattered throughout the continent. If they'd tried, even Aindel might have been in danger."

"Where were you originally?"

"Our ancestors lived on a great island to the west. When the Elin escaped from that island, they fled blindly to the east. We arrived here, but this place wasn't safe either. So we shrank ourselves and lived in hiding."

"The Elin who went further east must have reached the southern part of the eastern continent."

"That must be so."

The large western island is none other than Demon Exile Island. There must be a reason the Dran call that island the Demon Exile Island.

"What happened on that western island?"

"That's where the demon gate is. There are several such places on the continent, but toward the end of the war, huge numbers of demons poured out from there."

The chief sighed and continued.

"At that time, there were as many as five hundred thousand Elin on the island. But when they escaped, less than thirty thousand made it out. Many Elin died there."

Someone asked Wundbark.

"Is there a reason that island is called the Demon Exile Island?"

"I only heard that there's an ancient ruin on that island, but I don't know why it's called Demon Exile Island."

In the game, almost no one went to that island. The route was very difficult, and there were no resources. I hadn't even heard of the ruin.

"How much do you know about the strange storms of the sea?"

"Of course I know. We asked the elemental for that."

"So the storms are really the work of an elemental?"

"When our ancestors settled on this island, there was a lord of the elementals who ruled the surrounding sea. We asked him: to protect the Elin."

"And that request has lasted until now."

"That's right."

"Does that mean the sea of the dead and the Cursed Sea out there are also like that?"

"That's something Aindel did. Before our ancestors escaped from that island, the sea was already sealed. The Elin couldn't return to their homeland."

Aindel's magic really is extraordinary.

To seal off an entire sea...

"One more question, if I may?"

"Ask anything."

I looked at Bellen and Lok.

It seemed that, by communicating with a powerful elemental, they were so startled they rushed in.

"Is it possible for an elemental to fight on behalf of Elin?"

"You mean a guardian elemental?"

"It's probably similar."

Not just similar, it really is a guardian elemental.

I couldn't act like an expert about elementals in front of Elin, so I was trying to bring it up subtly.

"How might Bellen and Lok bond with a guardian elemental?"

The chief looked silently at Bellen and Lok. After examining the elemental that accompanied them, he spoke.

"Elin can bond with all elementals. So, unless you truly communicate and a high elemental accepts you, there's no other way."

"So you become friends."

"In a sense, yes. Usually the strongest Elin are accompanied by high elementals. The Elin and the elemental have to be a match for a contract and companionship to be made."

"Then are there any high elementals here?"

The chief couldn't easily answer.

It was understandable.

There is a high-level guardian elemental in the rocky mountain of this island.

That was why the siblings were brought here.

The chief and the elders had a brief conversation.

The discussion didn't last long.

"They'll be sent to the mountain on the island. Since they're pure Elin, they'll be able to meet a high elemental that harmonizes with them."

"Is it alright if the elemental leaves the island?"

"We have no one to fight. It's enough for us just to protect the island and the forest."

I sighed in relief inside.

Guardian elementals are warlike and active. Having done nothing for so long on this island must have been frustrating for it.

So I figured that if it met Elin, it would approach first.

Originally, guardian elementals are the spirits of ancient races, and there are several different guardian elementals here.

There's even a spirit of an ancient giant under the rocky mountain.

For now, the main objective is for the siblings to be with a high-level guardian elemental.

Then, after some time, they may even merge with the spirit of the ancient giant.

/ / /

Another transaction was made.

The Iki Tribe gave us 8 high-grade spirit stones and 80 lower-grade spirit stones, and we gave them 40 mana stones.

Since spirit stones are rare and few in number, obtaining 8 was the best we could do.

So we didn't give all the mana stones we had brought.

"If there's any trouble, we'll help."

"There's nothing much, actually. Now we have enough magic, we can use spells we haven't used before."

"That's why the Iki ride insects."

"It's one of the restored spells. The truth is, we're a bit short on mana stones. Would you exchange them for something else?"

Actually, I was planning to ask about that sea anyway.

"Please give us some magic stones."

"How many mana stones do you have?"

"About 120."

"Oh! As many as 120?"

The chief and the elders discussed again.

If they could get that many mana stones, even after giving all their magic stones away, they could make more than twice as many new ones.

The chief cautiously spoke again.

"If we take all 120, it feels like you'd be at a loss. Could you also use magic spells?"

"That would be good for us."

The chief's face immediately brightened.

It must be that, since they had so few magic stones, the discussion was drawn out.

"Then we'll give you all our magic stones. And we'll add four basic Elin magic spells too."

"Are you really giving them to us?"

"You have Elin with you, don't you? They must not be without magic. Especially if those two children will have a guardian elemental, they'll need magic."

"They're combat spells, right?"

"That's right. If Elin realize the principles behind magic, they'll come to create other spells as well."

"Is that really possible?"

"Elin's magic comes from bonding with elementals. Their language itself is a magic spell. Unlike other races that must infuse magic into spells and equipment, Elin cast magic through language."

Actually, while magic spells are very valuable to us, for the Iki Tribe, it's just like giving away their language. Such barter is always like this.

The transaction ended without a hitch.

We politely bid farewell in the clearing and returned to the forest.

The Dran were mostly healed, but it seemed the Elin needed a bit more time before they could live normally.

Urald said,

"A day or two won't be enough. We might as well take a month to heal, and let them bond with the elementals too."

"That makes sense. We should leave Bellen and Lok on the island too."

Wundbark spoke.

"The children won't be in danger, will they?"

"Monsters and pirates can't enter the faerie woods. There are no monsters in the mountain because of the high elemental."

I said to Bellen and Lok,

"As you heard, you two need to stay on this island for a month. Stay in the cave where the Magic Crystal is and communicate with the guardian elemental."

"What about food?"

"We'll transfer plenty from the ship."

"Alright."

With everyone but those receiving healing, we headed to the rocky mountain.

I showed Bellen and Lok a place to [train], and told them the location of the cave.

The next morning.

Leaving only the siblings and the Elin behind, the rest boarded the ship.

The pirate ship we'd obtained was left in the hands of the first mate.

They just needed to follow our ship.

The pirates went back to their own village and agreed to return to Ta-iki when we returned in a month.

Anyway, this Ta-iki trip resulted in a satisfying transaction.

I had expected the magic stones, but the magic spells were an unexpected bonus.

Eight high-grade spirit stones.

Eighty low-grade spirit stones.

Around two hundred Magic Crystals.

Two pairs each of shrinking and restoration magic stones.

Two pairs of rocky giant magic stones.

Two pairs of storm barrier magic stones.

Spell: Arrow of Thunder.

Spell: Blade of Wind.

Spell: Ice Barrier.

Spell: Hand of Earth.

The rock giant's magic stone must be for summoning a rock golem.

The storm barrier is probably a spell like the storm shrouding the sea.

There were two attack spells, and the others seemed to be defense and healing spells.

It seemed the chief had understood Bellen and Lok's specialties and given these spells accordingly.

With these four basic elemental spells, Bellen and Lok could probably create a wide variety of magic.

And perhaps.

Our house might someday have its own mage group, if the wounded Elin wanted to learn magic.

/ / /

We were voyaging again.

Four days had passed since we left Ta-iki. Just yesterday, the sea had been calm, but now the waves were quite high.

Kwa-rururung— Kwang—

The wind steadily intensified. Not just the wind, but lightning struck as well.

Urald looked west and shouted.

"It's an even fiercer storm!"

"This is a different barrier than the one we faced on the way to Ta-iki!"

"This time it's really tough!"

"We'll have to decide by the weather!"

"Let's head back! We can't risk wrecking the ship before meeting the Bellen merchant!"

"Let's do that!"

At that moment, the captain shouted.

"If we keep going, we'll enter the storm sea! We need to go north or south now!"

"North!"

"Turn north! Quickly!"

"Yes!"

The crew bustled about.

The headwind was so strong, it wasn't easy to manage the sails. The ship rocked back and forth steeply.

We barely skimmed past the edge of the hurricane.

Had the captain spoken a few minutes later, we would've been swallowed by the storm.

It was that close.

As before, it felt less like we were entering the storm, and more like the storm itself was about to engulf us.

The power of this storm was more than a hundred times greater than the previous Ta-iki waters.

Because of that, everyone came out on deck to watch.

The ship was listing to the right, surging over the waves. Suddenly, the elemental that accompanied me began to react strangely.

'Come... into the storm.'

A voice echoed in my mind.

It wasn't in my ears. It wasn't the elemental conveying it, either.

As I wondered what it was, the voice came again.

'You... shall pass.'

The elemental responded again.

It felt like it was bowing politely!

The party's elementals reacted the same way.

"It's the lord of the elementals of this sea!"

It was Urald shouting.

The lord elemental had accepted us.

Whatever the reason!

"We're entering the storm!"

"Young master! It's dangerous!"

"Trust me!"

"Very well! Signal the friends behind us! Tell them not to worry and to follow us in!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Everyone, hold on tight!"

The captain, holding the helm, slowly turned the ship.

The ship headed straight for the sea of storm and lightning.

There's one difference from our trip to Ta-iki: then, we had no elementals; now we had them with us.

This trial was about trust.

Those who travel with elementals—

It all depends on how much you trust each other and how deeply you connect.