The Elf- War for Academies arc

Miko

I paid no mind to the arrows zipping by my head, their force so strong that they knocked down even the trees behind me. Such a force behind such a tiny object could only come from 1 thing: elves.

So this is what the system chose for me today?

Narrowing my eyes, I readied myself to kill.

Ever since the Leviathan, the system has been giving me daily quests. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't some basic Saitama workout. Instead, every day I'd find myself teleported to some dungeon outside of time.

One day Farv and I were even in the middle of conversation when a dungeon started, and after killing an orc chieftain I had to come back and hear about his sore leg.

I wasn't built for this training, you know!

I smiled, proud of Farv and everyone. Although we enjoyed the festival, there was no denying the looming doom on the horizon. Therefore, we all made a promise to each other to hold ourselves accountable with our training, and to pick each other up if we fall behind.

Aruna was currently putting Farv through her patented training-in-hell routine.

I wasn't so lucky.

Barrel rolling behind a tree, I saw a huge rock create a crater where I was just seconds ago.

Although movies would lead you to believe that elves only used the most nimble of weapons, the truth of the matter is they can be brutal as well.

A few days ago I had found myself in my first elven dungeon and was thoroughly surprised to find a huge beast of a warrior swinging a greatsword, threatening to cleave me in half.

Nowadays though, nothing the elves had would surprise me.

They were just ants, like anything else before me.

Knowing their fighting patterns, I knew I'd find a group of archers hiding behind a cluster of trees to the left of me. A group of warriors would be circling around me, looking to strike from my flank as I was busy with the archers. Somewhere far away there were elves manning the catspults.

Sadly for the warriors, I would not be busy with the archers for long.

Sadly for the elves manning the catapults, distance was a trivial obstacle.

"Dragon's Breath."

Not even wasting time to check if the archers were hit, I turned my attention to the warriors. I knew the archer's screams would tell me if my attack worked.

With my enhanced senses, it was nothing to notice the warriors attempting to hide in the trees. Although by all accounts they were fantastic at sneaking (One elf had followed a soldier for an entire year without the soldier ever knowing. Said soldier could normally perceive eveything around him in a mile wide radius.) the elves were nothing next to my enhanced perception.

With all the training I've been doing, my stats have seen a substantial increase.

Perception: 8

Perk: Hunter's Eye

This perk passively tells you with perfect accuracy the location of anyone within 10 meters of you.

2 soldiers to the left of me, 2 to the right. 3 right down the middle.

Smiling, I readied my blade. Unfortunately, it hadn't leveled up yet.

It doesn't matter though, when the wielder is as strong as me.

I focused my attention on the group of 3 elves first.

With a blinding speed, I took advantage of another perk I've recently obtained.

One- handed: 10

Perk: Executioner's Blade

This perk passively triggers critical and perfect accuracy hits, as long as the user has higher one-handed skill than his target.

The elven warriors, though experienced from centuries of battle, were nothing compared to me. Easily sliding through their strikes, I decapitated the elf in the center before bisecting the other 2, all in a single strike.

That was the prowess of a pyromantic blade master such as me.

Heeding no mind to their falling corpses, to their blood pouring out into the winter snow and turning the field into a sea of red, I instantly began my sprint to the other group.

Passive ineffective.

Heh. Someone here could be interesting.

During this last week of training, I've learned a few interesting things about the system. This was one of them.

When discussing my abilities, there were 3 outcomes.

If I am overwhelmingly stronger than them, the attempt is simply successful and they die.

If I am slightly stronger than them, the attempt is ineffective. This means that they are somewhat comparable to me. Still, though, they would die.

If I am weaker, the attempt fails. This usually means they are stronger or more experienced than me. If this happens, I have a tough battle ahead of me.

Yet they still would die.

Confronting the 2 soldiers with a smirk, I instantly knew which one was comparable with me. One of the elves was decapitated, and the other was currently blocking my strike.

I laughed as I pressed forward, giving him no room to use the range advantage he had from a longer sword.

It was a technique I learned from Aruna, who was constantly fighting enemies far bigger than herself.

Aruna.

Sidestepping the warrior's heavy strike, I put a hand on the hilt of his sword and pushed down as I swept his legs from underneath him.

He fell to the ground defenseless as I stabbed my sword through his neck.

That left 2 more.

In a flash, they died.

20 souls acquired.

No level up yet, huh?

I looked up at the sky, waiting to see the rock the catapult would fling at me. Using the direction it came from, I'd easily find my final victims.

Sure enough, in a few seconds, the ants made their move and were subsequently squashed.

Showing no signs of fatigue despite the battle, I waited for the dungeon to close. Since starting my training, each dungeon has become easier and easier, to the point it felt like it took only 5 minutes to clear one.

It was utterly boring, to be honest.

As the minutes passed, I grew increasingly curious as to why the dungeon hadn't closed.

Then I noticed him. An elf donned in vicious battle armor, wearing the scars of thousands of battles on his otherwise regal face. Despite the blood of his comrades littering the snow, the elf only gave me a maniacal look of excitement.

This dungeon had a boss!

Exciting.

"Greetings, warrior. May your days end here." As he raised his great sword, at least 5 feet in length, I raised my own. That was maybe the size of a dagger.

His aura emanated so much pressure that the very earth quaked beneath his stance. As my hair whipped in the air, similar to riding in a fast car with the window down, I already knew The Lord's Grasp would fail.

This enemy was one with overwhelming strength.

With blinding speed, we made the first contact at the same time, but the greater length of his sword allowed him to exert a much greater force, knocking my sword out of my grasp and tumbling through the snow. No matter.

Readying my fists, I changed my strategy as quickly as a supercomputer would.

As I just saw, clashing with him head-on wouldn't end well for me. However, if I created some kind of opening then I could equip my sword and kill him in one strike.

His sword crashed through the air, forcing me to dodge with instinct alone. Before I had even reached my feet another strike was zinging through the air. Although not as nimble as his smaller elven counterparts, it would appear that even someone like him would still have his natural elven grace.

Knowing I would be far too slow if I tried to get to my feet, I opted to continue rolling, using my momentum and The Lord's Grasp on myself to pull me out of harm's way.

Attempt successful.

I grinned as my own magic pulled me out of danger.

I'm a genius!

Most people would only think to use their magic offensively, not realizing all the realms of possibility even such a simple magic could create.

Still, I needed to create some kind of opening.

The elf was already continuing his attack.

Although I ducked his initial swing, the force of his attack was so powerful I still felt my legs trembling from the sudden pressure in the air.

I met this pressure with a smile. I finally had my opening.

Grabbing his sword arm, I pulled the warrior towards me as I blasted his stomach with my knee.

Although the warrior was too strong to keel over from such an attack, it still knocked him off balance enough for me to continue the attack.

As I pressed him, he swung his sword with a careless, inaccurate fury. Easily sidestepping the attack, I landed a clean hit to his jaw. Although his attack toppled an entire area of trees, the force of my punch still caused an even greater tremor.

His skull imploded in on itself, turning the elf's head into a mangled mush.

Unequip.

As the dungeon closed, I stared at my hands with wonder.

I've gotten stronger.