Wizard Immortal

Chapter 266 Elf

In the early morning, the sun shines on the earth.

The wide road is lined with rows of evergreen trees, which are growing there neatly at this moment, giving people a refreshing feeling.

In the distance, a beautiful city stands, its silhouette already half-visible.

"We've arrived at Tsukimi Castle." A voice rang out from the surroundings, its tone calm, yet tinged with nostalgia and longing.

In a carriage, Balana sat at the front, looking at the city in the distance, and explained to Adir, "This is the city where I lived when I was a child. I spent several years there."

Her appearance has changed a lot at this time.

Having traveled from the territory of the Black Wizard Alliance to the outer area of ​​the Elf Forest for several months, and thanks to Adir's medicinal treatments, her original injuries had completely healed, and she now looked very energetic.

The previously terrifying skin on her body had been covered with a new layer of fair skin. Although she was sitting in a carriage, her voluptuous figure and delicate features attracted the attention of others, and she looked full of vitality.

"If there's anyone you know who wants to visit, I can give you a few days off."

Sitting in front of the carriage, while driving it, Adir spoke to Balana beside him.

"Never mind."

Balana shook her head: "I was an orphan when I was a child, and I could only survive by begging in this city. Most of the people I knew back then are now dead."

"Speaking of which, if I hadn't been discovered to have knightly talent and been adopted back then, I would probably be a corpse by now."

Her tone was flat as she looked at the distant city, appearing somewhat melancholy.

Hearing her story from the side, Adir remained calm, simply driving the carriage quietly without saying anything more.

Adir had learned some things about Balana's identity during the time they spent together.

Balana was a highly skilled Grand Knight who left Silvermist Forest three years ago for some reason and ended up in the territory of the Black Wizard Alliance.

As for how she got those injuries when we first met, she never went into details.

Adir didn't ask any further questions about it.

After walking for a while, the number of carriages and caravans in the distance began to increase, making the well-maintained road in front of us seem crowded for a moment.

However, it was still early morning, and many caravans were still on their way at this time, so although there were many people, it wasn't too excessive for the time being.

At least compared to the traffic jams that Adir I experienced, these are nothing.

On the road, Adir noticed that the caravans passing by contained not only ordinary humans, but also many other races.

Lizardmen, orcs, half-orcs, and various ethnic minorities were all walking on this road.

However, relatively speaking, the largest groups here are lizardmen and ordinary humans, while the number of other races is much smaller.

Adir could easily understand this situation.

Silvermist Forest is located in the south, and geographically it is closest to the Swamp Kingdom and the Black Wizard Alliance, so naturally there is more interaction between the races from these two places.

As for races like the orcs and highlanders, they are mostly located in the north of the Maison region, which is too far from the Silvermist Forest.

As they walked along the road, after a while, Adir's gaze fell upon several figures on the side of the road.

They were several tall and thin figures. Although they looked similar to ordinary people, they were generally quite tall, mostly over 1.7 meters, which is considered a good height in a world where most people are malnourished.

They are tall but not particularly robust, with fair skin and relatively delicate features compared to ordinary people.

"Are these the elves of the Silvermist Forest?"

Looking at those figures, Adir asked Balana, who was standing to the side.

Are you disappointed?

Balana smiled and said, "In your human world's legends, elves are all handsome and beautiful beings with long lifespans, and it seems that every elf is a master of music and sculpture."

"These are the real elves."

She looked at Adir, pointed to the elves in the distance, and said, "Although elves are relatively good-looking compared to ordinary people, most elves are actually only of average to above-average appearance. I've even seen some elves that are ugly."

"As for so-called art, it's utterly ridiculous."

She shook her head, a self-deprecating look on her face: "Ordinary elven commoners struggle for a living just like human commoners, and in the Silvermist Forest, ordinary elven commoners may even be worse off than human commoners. Those so-called arts are just things exclusive to elven nobles."

"It is true that elves generally have a longer lifespan, but it's not an exaggeration."

Adir listened silently to her story without saying anything.

As a wizard, he certainly wouldn't assume that elves were synonymous with beauty.

In fact, what appears beautiful on the surface may not be the truth behind it.

Beyond their apparent beauty and mystery, the true reality of the elves is far more brutal than that of the humans in the Maison region.

This is a race that prioritizes bloodline above all else.

The elven race places extreme importance on bloodlines. In the elven kingdom, apart from elves born into nobility, other common elven people can never become nobles.

An elf born into a commoner family, no matter how hard she strives, could never make her descendants into noble spellcasters, much less marry into a noble family.

This situation arises partly because elves place too much emphasis on tradition, and partly because commoners have such low talent levels.

Just like in the human world, ordinary people, even if they are lucky enough to have wizarding aptitude, will generally only have first-class or second-class wizarding aptitude if their ancestors did not have wizarding blood.

With second-class aptitude, let alone becoming a formal wizard, it is extremely difficult to even become a third-class apprentice, requiring a great deal of energy and resources.

The situation is even more serious among the elves.

Perhaps due to racial differences, the chances of ordinary elves possessing wizarding aptitude are even lower than those of humans, and the aptitude they do possess is generally much lower. Second-class aptitude is said to be considered genius among ordinary elves.

On the other hand, because they possess some of the bloodline of the ancient moon elves, the probability of having wizard aptitude is relatively high among elven nobles.

This undoubtedly widened the gap between the two sides. Coupled with the elves' conservatism and emphasis on tradition, the current situation has gradually formed.

Even if commoners struggle their whole lives, they can only make their lives slightly better at best. They can never become nobles and will be subject to various restrictions throughout their lives. If they offend a noble, their entire family property may be confiscated.

A variety of thoughts flashed through his mind, but on the surface, Adir remained calm, simply driving the carriage quietly along the road.

Seeing Adir's behavior, Balana seemed to lose interest as well, so she went into the carriage, apparently intending to rest for a while.

Before long, the carriage slowly drove into the city gate.

There were several guards standing at the gate, but they were not elves; instead, they were dark-skinned, tall, and sturdy Guggers.

The Gugo are a race that lives near the Silver Mist Forest. Although they look very similar to humans, they are not exactly the same. In addition to having much tougher skin and flesh than ordinary people, they usually have black scales on their chest and arms.

This race has relatively strong individual combat abilities; even an ordinary member, once they reach adulthood, can rival a highly skilled veteran. However, very few members of the race possess wizarding talent, so their overall strength is not particularly high; they are merely a small race dependent on the elves.

There was no city gate tax. After inspecting the goods Adir was carrying, the Gugao guards allowed Adir and his companion to enter the city.

The city does not allow horse-drawn carriages or horses, so there are designated areas outside the city for carriages.

After setting down the carriage and packing up the rest of his belongings, Adir and Balana walked into the city together.

What greets you is a sense of cleanliness that you can't find anywhere else.

The city in front of him looked very clean. Although there were still some chaotic places, it was much better than other cities that Adir had visited before.

Especially in the city, there are carefully cultivated green trees, some of which are even covered with small flowers, which Adir likes very much.

Of course, there are also many downsides.

Perhaps due to the large number of outsiders, the city has a very diverse population.

Along the way, Adir had already seen several groups of beggars, including orcs, elves, and ordinary humans.

Looking at these beggar children, Balana was somewhat dazed, staring at a corner of the wall, lost in thought.

"If you want to see it, you can go and take a look."

Adir smiled at her, then handed her a bag of small copper coins without saying anything more.

Upon receiving the money pouch, Balana paused, stared at Adir's expression in silence for a moment, and then walked forward without a word.

She was clearly much more compassionate than Adir, perhaps because seeing those beggars reminded her of her own struggles there.

She didn't give them much; she gave each beggar a few small copper coins and then quickly returned to Adir's side.

"Is this alright?"

Seeing her return, Adir glanced at the beggar in the distance and said casually.

"I gave each of them three copper coins. As is customary, they could keep one for themselves, enough for them to have another small piece of bread."

Balana, seemingly very familiar with this, shook her head and said, "No matter how much more you give them, they'll only have this much left in the end."

"Let's go."

Looking at the long road ahead, she said, "The roads to other cities are quite difficult. We need to make some preparations before we set off."

(End of this chapter)