Chapter 7: Crushed hopes and Unusual help?
The black-haired elves were shaking due to the arrival of the warden, an elf with a higher bloodline than them. A higher bloodline isn't just a name; she has much better mana resonance than them, making her equally powerful and also their superior here.
They wouldn't dare to offend someone like her, whose magic is many times stronger than theirs, as they still remember their days at the academy where they were always at rock bottom.
They had heard the rumor that she was somehow related to the famous Green Elf Clan and not just some random wild elf who only had green hair like the Green Elf Clan.
Being in the presence of someone who could destroy them with a word, their shaking legs were only a small reaction.
The green-haired, beautiful warden, with a frown on her face, reached the two of them, and seeing how they were shaking just by her mere presence, she felt disgusted. While she may not discriminate against half-elves, she felt repulsed because they couldn't even behave properly in front of her.
"Both of you, did you not hear what I just said to you?"
The two friends, still shaking in front of her, began to frantically think of what she had said earlier, and being elves, even if their bloodline is poor, their memory is many times better than that of a normal human.
Finally, after a few seconds, they realized her earlier words about how she said a slave had died inside the mine, and knowing there was only one person they could think of who was currently inside the mine, reality sank in as they said with a painful cry.
"Arthur!!!"
Tears started to flow from one black-haired elf while the other had a soulless look on her face. They sobbed while saying his name and started running inside without caring about the warden, using their magic to boost their speed.
Ivy, seeing their intense reaction and how quickly their expressions changed after realizing what had happened, guessed they must have been in love with the human slave who had died.
'Love, huh… I don't understand them…'
Seeing how she had been distracted, she was still not worried as their speed was nothing she couldn't catch up to in seconds. Using her air magic, she became a blur, with only dust forming on the path she followed, and not even a second had passed before she was beside them.
The black-haired elves felt the warden's arrival and were terrified by her speed, but they didn't have time to think about her right now as they only had Arthur in their minds. They wanted to believe that he was alive.
However, if someone like the warden had said he was dead, there was no chance of it being a lie, as she had the stone that could control the slaves, and the only reason she would say he was dead must be because his stone had broken.
Still, there was some hope in them as they had not seen his body themselves. They hoped for a miracle, though deep inside they knew there was no miracle that could happen to a mortal human slave who couldn't even sense the intense mana inside the mine.
Even they began to feel the pressure on their bodies, but suddenly, they felt a layer of pure mana around their bodies and heard the warden's unbothered voice.
"Keep leading the way."
Feeling the protection, their bodies felt much lighter than before as they increased their speed and ran toward Arthur's direction, as they knew where he must have gone.
'H–Hic, t-that foo-fool has built a small t-tunnel by himself over all these y-years hic in the place where the ma-mana is the t-thickest.'
This was also the reason they were having a hard time going there; otherwise, they could easily travel around here.
For Ivy, the level of mana in this mana well was nothing at all. She didn't need a layer of mana to protect herself, and the only thing that this primus mana could do for her was to enhance her spells and make them more powerful.
(Mana Well: A place where the density of mana is so high that it could result in the formation of mana stones.)
They reached the path where Arthur was currently lying with a wound on his head. All three of the elves could smell the blood coming from this path because of their sensitive noses.
While the two elves' hearts broke into further pieces from smelling blood, Ivy could sense much more, and confusion and surprise could be seen on her face.
'Huh? What! How can this be? The stone has clearly broken.'
She tried to think of the reason he was still drawing breath, even if it was faint, and the only conclusion she could reach was that this human slave must have had a rare awakening that some humans have after being in the presence of mana for some time, but not awaken the ability to fell mana when they have first contact with mana.
It is rare for human males, but being able to feel mana is just basic for every elf. Knowing he was only a human with low resonance with mana, she lost all her interest in him in a second.
After reaching only a few meters away from his body, the two half-elves also felt his faint breathing, so they looked with confused expressions on their faces.
"You guys are lucky, I think."
She wasn't going to explain to them about this human's awakening, as they would find out later anyway, but the reality was much harder for them. She didn't think this human would survive without a greater healing spell.
'I don't think these half-elves are capable of doing that.'
They reached in front of him, and the two elves quickly lifted his body in their arms and started their healing spells on him repeatedly at the same time, Ivy was surprised to see his appearance but she only kept her quiet while waiting for them to tire themselves out.
"Heal!"
"Heal!"
"Heal!"
"HEAL!!!"
Seeing there was no change in his breathing, even though both of their mana had been spent, they felt helpless, and now both of them were crying, seeing him in front of them but not being able to save him.
"H–Hic, h–hic…"
"A–Arthur, h–hic, w–wake up…"
Losing their hope, they then remembered they were not alone here, as their powerful warden was also here, whose strength they couldn't even comprehend.
'Yes!! I have to ask the warden for help. Surely she will help, seeing how handsome he is.'
But before they could say anything, they heard her voice once again, but this time they could hear some warmth in her words.
"I will save him. You guys don't have to worry about begging me for help."
Both half-elves were thrilled to know she would save Arthur. However, their happiness faded when they realized how unusual it was for their proud warden to offer her help on her own accord.
With a hint of fear and helplessness in their black eyes, both of them looked at each other, communicating with only their eyes, having the same thought.
'D-Did the warden also f-fall for h-him?'
'Noooo! T–This can't b-be!'
'H-How c-can we c-compete w-with h-her?'
They looked at each other with helpless looks on their faces, but they kept their mouths quiet for now so as not to disturb her, as the warden was now going to cast a great spell to heal him, and they didn't want to distract her.