Underwood Elves were the secret realm’s most intelligent species. Some claimed that they were fully sapient, some said that they weren’t quite there yet... These were mostly just personal opinions. No one had ever taken the time to actually study the Underwood Elves in deep detail.
Everyone was more interested in killing and looting their belongings instead.
Indeed, it wasn’t without reason that the Elt family wanted Edrick to gather their corpses and the items carried by those elves…
Firstly, their bodies had uses just like those of beasts, but from what he had heard, things were a bit primitive in those areas. People were only interested in their remains because they belonged to the elven species... Naturally long-lived beings who tended to also have other boons associated with them.
Human cultivators wanted those benefits for themselves. As such, they sought to feast upon the flesh and organs of Underwood Elves to gain them.
Success in that regard was rather sparse. Underwood Elves were targeted because they resided in the secret realm and because their sapiency was in question. Otherwise, all this hunting might get some people visits from long-eared folks.
What was actually valuable were the items they wielded. They were actually knowledgeable in the ways of cultivation. Anoteros thought that this was pretty sufficient proof that they were sapient, especially considering the sort of items he had heard about.
Clearly, they knew how to smith, they knew how to build houses, and even knew how to create cultivation techniques... They could even use alchemy, refine tools, craft talismans, and create arrays as well.
To him, it sounded more like people were pretending that the Underwood Elves weren’t confirmed as sapient so that they could continue harvesting them every fifty years. However, to Edrick, who, thanks to the Lodestone, would soon be able to come and go as he saw fit. This was a wholly inefficient way of doing things.
Since he wouldn’t be limited by time and would be able to come back as often as he wanted to, it would be far more profitable to trade with the Underwood Elves. Frankly, he was quite interested in them as well.
They were elves after all!
Even he, who was quite certainly not very knowledgeable about the pop culture of his former world, had heard about those mythical beings. This was in contrast to sasquatches, who had been a legend whose existence had been questionable.
Elves had been nothing but fantasy.
Though there was a slight problem. In fact, there were multiple problems.
The Underwood Elves were naturally not too keen on having their territory intruded upon, and due to being long-lived, they didn’t forget about humans hunting them every fifty years. Even the young ones would know to recognise a human at a glance.
So they would be aggressive no matter what.
Furthermore, Edrick had no idea how to speak their language. It was something else that was completely undocumented.
Even with the Linguistics ability he had gotten from Hui, he wouldn’t be able to just snap his fingers and know how to speak fluently after hearing a few words from them.
So he could not even try to explain his intentions.
Lastly, Underwood Elves were a special bunch of cultivators. Since it was important to be able to hunt them, that was something everyone who entered the realm knew: They were invisibility cultivators.
They had natural predispositions, and every facet of their cultivation had invisibility bleed into it some way or another. Need potions of invisibility? Even beginner alchemists can make them easily here.
Want an array to conceal something? They can do that easily. They do it for their villages.
Talismans that can allow you to cast an invisibility spell or to conceal yourself? Also easy.
They can even refine weapons with the innate ability to turn invisible. Their cultivation techniques also allowed them to turn themselves and others invisible, too, which did not add much to pure combat power, but that was alright.
Underwood Elves were lithe and weaker than most other elf species, but they were still elves. Their frail-looking bodies were not to be underestimated. Their muscles, bones, and alike were not like those of humans.
From what Edrick understood, however, their strength was not overwhelming. Though they had natural strength higher than humans, compared to him, they would still be physically weak and fragile.
Still, they used that strength to be swift and stealthy. They killed prey and trespassers by sneaking up on them and slaying them with a single, precise blow.
This was why Edrick did not know whether it was a calculated risk or idiocy that had led the two boars to run into the territory of a group of Underwood Elves. These elves were omnivorous. They ate meat as much as humans would, and they weren’t exactly guardians of the forest.
The two boars were likely to get noticed and slain before being roasted over a fire.
Therefore, Anoteros was not wondering about catching them. He already considered them lost. Instead, he was questioning whether to venture in here or not. Although he had plans to trade with the elves in the future, he still needed to gather some of their corpses and items to complete the list.
As he debated with himself about what should be done, he heard a faint sound come from behind him.
It was nothing much, but since near an ‘Underwood’, everything was rather quiet. Beasts and animals usually knew not to hang around here.
Just some grass being crushed beneath what seemed to be a foot...
Anoteros showed no reaction whatsoever, but a second later, he turned around and delivered a roundhouse kick to what looked like nothing but empty air. It was not. He hit something, and that something was sent flying by the powerful attack, crashing into a tree trunk. Some wild fruits in the tree fell from the impact.
“Ouch” Edrick looked at his leg, a dagger was stabbed through it. His target had been quick to react, or perhaps it had been an accident. Anyway, his kick did not come without a cost.
Unfortunately for the attacker, Edrick was not too bothered by that and walked up to them.
“Hello there” he said.
An Underwood Elf looked up at him with fear in his eyes. His invisibility had been broken. The kick and crash landing had dispelled his focus completely.
The elf naturally did not respond. He did not understand at all what was being said to him.
Edrick sighed as he restrained the elf. That one was indeed stronger than he looked, but that would only be of value in front of the average disciple who was not a body cultivator.
Anoteros completely overpowered the elf and tied him up.
“I just got a brilliant idea. You and I- We are going to go on a little trip!”
Once again, the elf did not understand, but his expression got worse nonetheless.
His day seemed like it would be terrible.