by Zhuang Bifan
Actually, Elves weren't the first inhabitants of the Emerald Forest. During the Dark Age, Elves lived as the slaves of the High Elves. Though Elves were similar to the High Elves in almost every aspect, even the names of their race, these names were only used by humans and other non-elven races. During that time, Elves had a status even lower than humans, who were also controlled by the High Elves.
The beauty and gentle nature of Elves didn't bring them good luck. They were beloved by the High Elves, but the way High Elves showed their love for Elves was by possessing them as their own slaves. Of course, losing freedom was still a little better than extinction.
As Elves were often close servants of the High Elves and had appearance that High Elves liked, something that often happened in the human race became a common occurrence among the High Elves. The outcome of this was that the bloodline of Elves and High Elves started to mix, and a group of Elves with the blood of High Elves emerged.
The truth was that how the High Elves and Elves reproduced remained a mystery to many people. However, due to the strikingly perfect appearances of Elves and High Elves, many speculations and wild guesses began to spread. After all, Elves with the blood of High Elves really existed.
There was even a rumor that said the current Elf Queen was the illegitimate daughter of the last Queen of High Elves. Of course, this was just a rumor with no concrete evidence. After all, nobody dared to look for evidence, as he would be subjected to the wrath of all the Elves.
Elves were never friendly to humans even 1,000 years after the Dark Age. The dislike Elves had towards humans was even greater than that of dwarves, those messy alcoholics. The reason for that, many knew, was that the appearance of Elves made them desirable to humans as well.
Towards the end of the Dark Age, humans and other races collaborated to oppose the control of the High Elves. Elves also made use of this opportunity to break loose from slavery. However, this wasn't the end of the Elves's suffering. What they had the face was all the other races who had lost their sanity, overwhelmed by the joy of victory after defeating the High Elves.
The overthrow of the High Elves signified the end of their cruel hegemony and the Dark Age. However, this was the real beginning of the Dark Age for Elves. After defeating the High Elves, Elves became the common target of all intelligent species on the continent. Nowhere in the whole of Anril was the Elves' home.
That was certainly the darkest period of Elven history. Though the High Elves had restricted their freedom, they'd still ensured the continuity of their race. Other races, including humans, however, vowed to kill off the entire Elven race just like what they'd done to the High Elves. Although there were some people who captured Elves as playthings for humans, nobody dared to keep Elves in secret, fearing the wrath of the whole Anril…
During that darkest period, escape was the main problem to the Elves. Yet, even the powerful High Elves couldn't escape the fate of extermination, so how could Elves survive the attacks from all other races? As a result, there were only a few hundred Elves alive during the most difficult period, barely surviving in the depths of the forest.
For any race, a population of merely several hundred was already equal to extinction. However, due to the longevity of Elves, which they were envied by every race including humans, the search for Elves didn't end even after years of not discovering any new Elf.
Legend had it that the Elves finally got the sympathy of Gods after being driven to the depths of desperation during that period. The Goddess of Forest Monferra performed a miracle, and granted a large piece of fertile land in the east of the Breezy Plains to the Elves. She also bestowed upon them the ability to communicate with plants and animals, allowing them to use the power of the forest and nature.
When the coalition of humans and other races finally found the tracks of Elves in the Emerald Forest, they realized that the Elves had become the most terrifying hunters of the forest, just as if they were possessed by Gods.
Of course, even with these abilities, the Elves couldn't turn the tables facing such a coalition. However, there was hope as long as they didn't give up.
The Elves didn't have to wait for long. The conflicts among different factions escalated, ultimately leading to the collapse of the coalition when they were splitting up the leftover wealth of the High Elves. At that time, the entire Anril was torn by wars. Nobody was concerned about the 100-plus Elves in the Emerald Forest anymore. The Elves finally had a chance to revive their race.
The entire Anril faced a power-shift among factions. Wars and exploitation continued between races and nations. Nations were built and destroyed. Peace finally arrived when an equilibrium was reached among nations.
Elves only existed in legends by then. Almost nobody could remember the hundreds of Elves left in the Emerald Forest. Maybe this was because the Elves didn't want to be reminded of the suffering they had been through during the darkest period. Or maybe it was because Elves were optimistic in nature. They loved life and nature, and didn't want their descendants' hearts to be filled with hatred. Thus, new Elves born after that catastrophe didn't know much about what had happened during that period, and showed their kindness to the wrong people.
A beautiful Elf had once helped an expedition that lost its way in the Emerald Forest. The team also got a lot of precious herbs from the Elves. This news spread like wildfire throughout Anril. Each faction swarmed to the Emerald Forest, no matter if they were looking for wealth or Elves.
The peaceful life of Elves was once again disrupted. The ones they were facing this time, however, were no longer an elite coalition of different nations. After so many years of plotting and scheming, different races could no longer form a coalition even if the High Elves were to appear again.
Those factions that swarmed to the Emerald Forest wanting to get benefits were no longer faced with a weak and frightened population of hundreds of Elves. They faced an Elven Kingdom over 100,000 strong, with each Elf being an excellent hunter and mage by birth.
Due to the constant harassment from the outside world, the Elves knew that they could retain their peaceful lives no longer. Hence, they did what humans and other races had done—the Elven Queen announced to the entire Anril the founding of the Elven Kingdom. With the founding of a nation came the right to diplomacy. The internal management of the Elven Kingdom, however, was still the same as before. The rulers were still the Queen and elders; there were no other governmental positions of any sort.
After getting the right to diplomacy, the first thing that the Elven Kingdom did was to formalize its territory. The Elven Kingdom announced that any trespassing into the land of the Elven Kingdom would be considered an intrusion.
The Emerald Forest was a giant treasure box. Nobody wanted to see it become somebody else's possessions, so the human nations were the first to oppose this decision. After knowing that the Elven Kingdom wouldn't back down, nations mobilized their troops and entered the Emerald Forest in order to force the Elf Queen to back down.
But the truth was, the human nations no longer had the ability of the past coalitions, even though the Elves were far weaker than the High Elves as well. Furthermore, the human nations no longer had legendary powerhouses like Apophis and Geresco.
With their natural blessings and the blood of High Elves, the Elves possessed amazing abilities that left humans in awe, not to mention their longevity, which left many races very jealous, including humans.
The natural aptitude of the Elves in magic came from their High Elven bloodline. This allowed every Elf to learn and use magic—unlike humans, of whom only a small proportion had talent for magic.
However, the real obstacle that hindered the intruders weren't powerful mages, because the majority of the Elves in the Elven Kingdom hadn't even reached a.d.u.l.thood. Even with their natural talent in magic, their magic wasn't powerful enough to defend themselves.
For a typical army, bow and arrow were just secondary equipment. However, the combination of the bow and magic made
for a very formidable weapon in the hands of the Elves. Moreover, the Elves possessed the ability to communicate with plants and animals due to the Goddess of Forest Monferra, as well as the natural terrain advantage: the Emerald Forest. Every Elf was an excellent hunter. This meant that in Elven Kingdom with a population of 100,000, there were 100,000 excellent hunters.
Chapter 534 - Gale Bandits
Maybe the cold-blooded genes present in the bloodline of the High Elves were finally awakened. Facing the attack from enemies, the life-loving Elves didn't hesitate to kill. Large numbers of human soldiers died under sharp arrows. Human corpses could be seen even outside the Emerald Forest. After many nations had suffered huge losses, they finally gave up the attempt to take down the Elven Kingdom by force, and expressed their intention to negotiate with the Elf Queen again.
The details of the negotiation were unknown, but the truth was that the Elves made their position as the masters of the Emerald Forest clear via their bows and arrows. However, with the negative example set by the High Elves, the Elves weren't unreasonable. After all, they still voluntarily provided herbs for the outside world even with the entry into their land restricted. The advantage of doing so was not only the ability to exchange herbs for necessities which the Emerald Forest couldn't produce, but also to prevent themselves from becoming the common enemies of Anril again.
Time had proven that such a change was necessary. Although it couldn't stop all illegal poaching and herb-picking activities, most people wouldn't risk their lives for herbs they could buy with money. Therefore, the well-known herb exchange market in the neighboring City of Late Winter appeared.
The current Elven Kingdom was said to have a population of over a million. Although the quantity was still small when compared to big nations like the Felan Kingdom, the quality was comparable to any big nation's. It was hard to imagine that the Elves were only a few hundred in strength when they'd first reached the Emerald Forest.
All this was attributed to the Goddess of Forest Monferra and described as a miracle. At the start, many people regarded this legend with contempt. However, this story had now become a topic of songs for the bards. What was the difference if it was true or not? Looking at the entire Anril, who had the ability to chase a million of Elves away from the Emerald Forest?
Precisely due to the close proximity to the Elven Kingdom, the City of Late Winter was named the herb treasure house of the Breezy Plains. The economy of the entire city was supported by the herb business, and the tax from herb exchange made up more than 80% of the city's total income.
Among the many herb stores, the most famous and highest in standard was the Tree of Emerald that Charles had mentioned. As the biggest herb store in the City of Late Winter, Tree of Emerald was also known as the Source of Life. It was said that this was the only place in Anril where one could use money to buy lives.
Lin Li would have scoffed at such a saying before he had traveled to Anril. However, the Guru-level pharmaceutics knowledge in his memory had taught him that everything was possible in the field of pharmaceutics. Not to mention potion formulae which cured all kinds of injuries, even incurable symptoms like aging could be mitigated by formulae in Lin Li's memory. Of course, the difficulty of making such a potion which prolonged life, the ingredients required, and the price of such potions were all too much for an ordinary person.
The Tree of Emerald monopolized almost 80% of the herb business in Anril. No matter how precious the ingredients were, they could be found in the Tree of Emerald. Of course, on the condition that one could afford them. The more precious and rare the ingredients were, the higher the amount they were sold for, naturally. It was said that a small amount of Purple Lotus Flower pollen was sold at a whopping 5,000,000 gold coins.
The Tree of Emerald wouldn't have reached its current status just selling herbs. Just like what Sienna had scolded Charles for, it was almost impossible to get the pharmacists to help in times of need no matter how big Charles' business was and how many pharmacists he knew. All Charles could do was to use such connections to elevate his own status. After all, the herbs were sold to the pharmacists, and they didn't owe him any favors. How was it a friendship at all?
However, how did the Tree of Emerald manage to monopolize 80% of the herb business in Anril and reach its current position? Was it absolutely because of its abilities? The reason seemed to be that the Tree of Emerald possessed its own pharmacists whose standards were no lower than of those in the Pharmacists Guild.
There had always been various talk about what background the Tree of Emerald had. However, there was one speculation that was most commonly acknowledged by people. That was, the Tree of Emerald was supported by the Elven Kingdom. Other than its name, this speculation stemmed from the fact that its herbs needed to come from a well-founded source for it to monopolize 80% of the herb business on the Anril Continent. This was of course just speculation as nobody had ever seen an Elf in the Tree of Emerald.
When Charles spoke of the Tree of Emerald, he couldn't help but feel envy. The Tree of Emerald could be considered a role model in the herb business. Yet, everyone knew that it was almost impossible to accomplish even half of what the Tree of Emerald had. The biggest obstacle was the fact that most pharmacists were very proud. How could they easily work for others?
"Speaking of this, I heard that there's a newly established Tower of Dusk in Doland. I don't know why they were so lucky to get a batch of pharmacists to work for them. However, I've heard that many other factions were trying to poach these pharmacists. Seems like they won't be happy for long," said Charles with sparkling eyes.
"Oh, why not send some of your men to try too?" Wilkinson, who had been quiet for a while, asked. He found it funny that his companions and he had been receiving so many presents these days.
Charles laughed awkwardly, and replied, "I know myself well. Those high-level pharmacists won't choose me for sure. However, Captain Sienna, I think you can give it a try with your abilities."
In order to lighten up the atmosphere, Sienna half jokingly asked, "Is it? Not to hide, I have been considering this recently. Charles, since you've interacted with pharmacists more, do you know what pharmacists like?"
Obviously, he didn't know that the owner of the Tower of Dusk was beside him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made such a joke no matter what.
"Pharmacists like anything that's expensive enough." Only Lin Li could joke about pharmacists like this. He then asked Charles, "Those herbs that I wanted really can't be found here?"
Charles was rather unsettled as he looked towards Sienna, and hesitantly said, "There's a way. I can find a way to find a few of the herbs you want, but…"
"But what? Don't worry about the price. Tell me what other problems there are," said Lin Li.
Charles didn't dare to make Lin Li wait, so he immediately explained, "Speaking of this, it's rather coincidental. A few days ago, I've gotten a batch of precious herbs from the Elven Kingdom via other means. A few of them are what you want. However, it is very dangerous and difficult to transport those herbs safely from the Elven Kingdom. Thus, whether this batch of herbs can be transported here safely depends on Captain Sienna's help."
Sienna scolded the bastard Charles for involving him in this. However, he didn't show any signs of disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, and nodded. "Indeed. The path from the Elven Kingdom is very long, and there are several dangerous locations which we must pass by. Especially recently, I've heard that a batch of high-value magic staff material from the Lude magic equipment store was robbed. The second master of the Holly Family in the Eastern Plains, who was in charge of the escort, was also kidnapped. The Holly Family had not only lost all their goods, but also spent a large sum of money to ransom him. According to the ones who went to redeem him, this stretch of road is now owned by the Gale Bandits."
Everyone in the Breezy Plains knew about the Gale Bandits. With abilities only below the Dark Blade's and placed second on the so-called Top Ten Bandits ranking of bandits in the pl
ains, the Syer Bandits who'd placed 10th on that list couldn't match the Gale Bandits at all. Of course, that was talking about Vanskore's Syer Bandits, without the allies which joined in later.
Some speculated that there was at least one Legendary powerhouse leading the Gale Bandits. However, there was no way to prove this speculation right or wrong. The truth was, the Gale Bandits had been rife in the Breezy Plains for years, and many missions had been dispatched to destroy them, including teams which were no short of powerhouses, yet all of them failed in their mission or contact with them was lost.
Though the Dark Blade was the top in the Top Ten Bandits rankings, it almost didn't engage in any robbing activities now. The true top bandits in the Breezy Plains were in fact the Gale Bandits.
The room was silent after Sienna mentioned the Gale Bandits.
Charles already knew that he was nothing in the eyes of Mage Felic, so his fear had subsided quite a bit. This was because he knew that as long as he did what he needed to do obediently, Mage Felic couldn't be bothered to find faults in him.
Merchants were merchants. Upon knowing that he needn't worry about his life, Charles immediately started worrying about his business. He had put a lot of money into this collection of herbs from the Elven Kingdom. If it was robbed by bandits halfway, it would immensely affect the business of the Seven Leaf Grass. He didn't have to worry about this if he directly sold them in the City of Late Winter, but that meant that he would only be able to earn very little.
In fact, Charles didn't have any hope upon hearing the Gale Bandits that Sienna talked about. Everyone knew that the Gale Bandits were only second to the Dark Blade. Judging from Sienna's mercenary corps' abilities, it was almost impossible for them to protect Charles' merchant caravan from the Gale Bandits until it reached safety.
