41 Knowledge of the Elves (1/2)
”Indeed it does. There are basically two classifications of Elves. Low-born and High-born. Although it eventually became a status symbol, that's not why those terms were made in the beginning. Low-born Elves can be conceive through sexual intercourse, but with extremely low chances. A single life tree can birth at least one hundred a year. These Elves usually make up majority of the work force and regular citizens. High-born Elves or High Elves, like myself, are born solely through the <Life Tree>.”
”What's the major difference between the two? Potential?”
”Indeed. Low-born Elves, while still being more proficient in magic on average when compared to humans, have limited potential. Of course, although it is extremely rare, there can be exceptions. High Elves are even more loved by the elements. Not only do we find it easier to comprehend the secrets of the elements, we also naturally have a higher mana pool, faster mana regeneration rate, higher magic defense. Our glaring weakness as Elves, which even High Elves suffer from, is our susceptibility to physical damage, which is made up for by our exponentially longer life span compared to humans.”
”I see. Thank your for your candor, Elder Aran. May I ask, how old are you?” Luna asked out of curiosity. Elder Aran definitely fits the description of an Elder, but with their long life span, how old is he now?
”I have lived for 8,000 years. Only because I've reached the level that I'm currently at, which is level 65. Arbane here is currently level 40, at 500 years of age, is my biological son. Alea is a High Elf adopted by us and despite being only 120 years old, is already at level 50.”
This girl that looks about the same age as Maxene, is 120 years old?! At first, Luna was shocked, but after remembering all the weird stuff that's happened thus far, this one more shouldn't be a big deal. Nonetheless, it was still amazing that this little girl could be over a century old.
”That is the second secret of the Life Tree. The capability to give birth to High-born Elves. We Elves know how to cultivate it. One Life Tree can give birth to one High Elf every year. With five of them working together, it goes up to around ten a year, possibly 11. This is due to the Cradle of Evolution expediting the growth of the High-born Elves instead of them growing one by one on each tree at a slower pace.”
”Alright. I'll leave it to you then, Elder Aran. Also, along with your people, we've reached close to over 150,000 in population. I'd like to request your help in dealing with the <Titan> so we can completely start expanding more aggressively. I'd also like to integrate the Elven people with humans with close monitoring. This is a critical period and I'd like for everyone to get used to working together.”
”Your wish is my command, Lord Luna.” Elder Aran left to share the good news with the rest. It was a joyous occasion for the Elves. They all witnessed the collapse of their power on their own planet, not only because of their incapability to defeat their enemies, but mostly because of their pride. This was a lesson that Elder Aran had reminded them all time and time again, which made these survivors more willing to integrate with the human race.
Luna wanted to closely monitor this integration because he anticipated how sensitive this was going to be in the early stages of integration.
His plan was to make use of the soldiers to help monitor everything while they were within the City, and to prevent any disputes or at least report it to their superiors. The Elves would go out to hunt with the soldiers as well, and in their spare time, help out the Human Mages in order to help them with their understanding of the elements. The deeper one's understanding of it, the more potent their skills were.This was separate from actually putting in skill points into the skills.
Take for example Luna's passives, like the Blessings of Apolaki and Mayari. The enhancement they provided to his overall constitution was not present as a numerical enhancement in the form of stats. The same way the Rangers had much more grit than most people. It didn't appear as a skill, but it was there.
The same way there was no ”Steal” or ”Pickpocket” skill, but someone who was good at it to begin with, could do it better than others. This was the intricacy of this new world that had MMORPG elements. They didn't quite know what made this possible, but with the teachings of the Elven people, everybody started to understand just how crucial these things were.
Understanding that, one would come to know why Elves were naturally more potent Mages. Of course, this wasn't reserved for just Mages. Luna himself, after enchanting his weapon with the <Bathala's Primordial Flame> Anito, found out he could start comprehending the laws of fire as well.
Apparently, skill books were just an easy way to familiarize oneself with these elements, in terms of Mage skills. In truth, everybody was capable of doing so.
The same way with body enhancing skills like <Fleet Footed>, <Rapid Tempo>, and <Regeneration>. Unfortunately, the humans of this world didn't know enough to teach the Elves. The Elves themselves were not proficient in body enhancement as the races that specialized in it back in their own planet, refused to teach them any further than what they've learned from skill books.
***
Meanwhile, in some places all over the world, similar things were happening.
The Giant race was welcomed by someone who was a University student prior to the new world, the current strongest ONE candidate in China, and they shared their body enhancement techniques with them to help enhance their strength which added even more pressure towards the Chinese Government.
In the United States of America, the Dark Elves shared their body enhancing techniques relating more towards speed as opposed to the Giants' more Strength and Vitality oriented skills with the <Nation of Texas>. After learning of this, the <Nation of California>, <Tri-State Nation>, and the recently formed <Central American Nation> reached out to each other in advance in order to form an alliance to prepare for the aggression they expected Texas to display in the future, and against the possibility of the smaller nations forming up in Canada to the North as well.