Chapter 14

Curious as of who it was, Arcius turned around. Entering through the door was the male elf, followed by the female elf. They were talking about something, though Arcius could not hear it from where he stood, and they stopped once they noticed him standing at the centre. He took a quick moment to look them both over.

The man was dark skinned, a sign of Noir Elf heritage, although it was a few shades lighter than average, so a Blanc Elf could probably be found in his heritage. He also had dark grey hair, a sign of Moon Elf heritage, probably one of his parents, as he lacked the distinguishing pale eyes of a full-blooded Moon Elf, for they were instead a dark brown. He also wore relatively simple clothing, the kind you would expect to see on an average, every day citizen of one of the Moon Nations.

The woman was golden skinned, possessing strong Sun Elf heritage, but her hair and eyes were not the typical golden colour of a Sun Elf, instead the hair was red and the eyes were blue. The blue eyes indicated that one of her parents was a Blanc Elf, but the hair… red hair is basically never seen among the elves. It’s so rare that some believe the concept to be a myth, and those that do believe it is fact tend to be the crazies who rave on about demonic heritage.

Arcius, however, believed it was probably a mutation of the same Sun Elf gene that produced golden hair, nothing more. Her clothing was more interesting, it was an elegant dress of golds and blues, more commonly seen among Havarashi, a clan of elves who live in seclusion on Havar. They believe that some kind of terrible demon is buried there, and it is there duty to keep it contained.

They would probably also be labelled crazies, had there not been a group of five massive skeletons found strewn across five of Havar’s seven continents, one so massive its ribcage was initially mistaken for a mountain range. Because of this, and other evidence, the Havarashi were reasonably popular among elves of all kinds, and because of their perpetually neutral nature to any matter outside of Havar, they were often called as mediators in disputes between elven nations.

When they fully turned towards him, Arcius nodded towards the man and gave a respectful bow towards the woman, as was expected in Havarashi culture, before speaking, “Hello. I’m sorry for being in your way, I was just experimenting with my magic. If you wish to use the Arena, than please let me know and I will leave.”

Their reactions were… interesting. The woman’s eyes had widened in surprise when he bowed, before quickly giving a return bow while he spoke, but the man had reacted differently. Or, I suppose it would be more likely to say that it had not changed since he saw Arcius. From the moment he noticed Arcius’ presence, his expression had been little more than a cold, hard, glare.

The woman responded, “It is quite alright. These places are for everyone, so it is only natural that you might be here. We were hoping to use this area to train our own magic, so there should be no issue if you decide to stay with us.”

Arcius smiled, “Thank you for the offer, I might just do that. If it’s not too much to ask, may I know your names?”

The woman again responded, though she eyed her partner curiously while doing so, “Of course. I am Lilia Ahn’Raysha.” The Ahn’ prefix meant she had achieved one of the Senior ranks among the Havarashi. “My companion is called Richard Halver.” Richard continued to remain silent, and from Lilia’s continued curiosity of him, it seemed this was not usual. Richard had a problem with him, even Arcius could tell that much.

Deciding that confronting this issue would be detrimental to the both of them, Arcius decided to withdraw. No point in starting anything here and now, and if it became problematic someone like Lilia would likely step in to sort things out. “My name is Arcius. Truthfully, do I am curious to see how a Havarashi experiments, I should probably turn in. I have something important to do soon in my Dungeon, and rest is always recommended to maintain good productivity.”

Lilia, it seemed, did not fall for it, but from how her curiosity of her companion’s behaviour seemed to be turning to concern, she clearly understood there was an issue, and did not call Arcius out on it. Unfortunately for all involved, however, life is a democracy. And all who live are given a vote.

As he moved to pass by them, Richard suddenly lashed out with a glowing fist. Arcius barely jumped out of the way of this, before a window appeared in front of him saying he had been challenged to a fight. Lilia reacted in shock, doubtlessly having received a message asking if she wanted to participate or observe. “Richard! What are you doing?!”

Richard’s response was cold, direct, and addressed to Arcius, “Go ahead human. Run. Like your kind always do.”

Arcius sighed, and, to the shock of Richard, accepted the challenge. If Richard was already going to be confrontational, than he might as well get this over with now. Lilia was teleported from the Arena, likely to the observation area. Richard recovered to his own shock quickly, and made the first move. His body glowed golden, and Arcius knew he was fighting a cultivator, not a magician.

Deciding to end this quickly, Arcius cast a Solar Field, filling the Arena with fire and light. It wasn’t the most powerful spell one could cast with Fire and Light Mana, but it was particularly effective against those of Noir Elf heritage. Their eyes were several times more sensitive in light than most other races.

Richard shrieked in pain and backed off, clutching at his eyes, while Arcius ended this. He had fought cultivators at this level before, and they had one fatal flaw. They spread out their magical defence to their entire body, weakening it, instead of focusing their power on protecting their vital spots. Case in point, Arcius’ Crystal Blade, a Light and Earth combination spell, cleanly separated Richard’s head from his body.

Richard was teleported away, and the Solar Field was cancelled out. Arcius waited a few moments before turning to leave, when Lilia opened the door. She bowed to him, and he bowed back, before she spoke, “I apologise for Richard’s behaviour. In these past few centuries, I have not known him to act like that in front of anyone. I am sorry you had to deal with him.”

Arcius waved aside her concern, “It is fine, you could not have known, after all, I’m the only human here. Truthfully, I had hoped to avoid such a confrontation, but whatever gripe he has with humans is far harsher than I thought.”

She nodded with that, then smiled. “So then, do you happen to have some time now for practice?”

Arcius smiled back, “I could spare a few pointers.”