Is it wrong to be an Elf in a Dungeon?

...

Ember Pov

I finished the Goblin below my feet by stabbing it on its head, it released a small cry before dying. I took a deep breath, as I threw the body of Goblin away, I didn't knew how many monsters I had killed today, and neither I bothered, I looked at the wound on my hand gritting my teeth slightly, I had been fighting for hours, moving one place to another, fighting off the hordes of Goblins and Kobolds, and in the end one of them had managed to hit my hand.

Worse it was with a knife, a bit rusty one, and had cleaved through my flesh, fortunately wound wasn't that deep and I quickly used an antidote, but refused to have a healing potion till now, it happened exactly in the previous round where I slayed the monsters, even if the soldiers begged me to use a healing potion, I refrained to do so, only using the Antidote.

I wanted to increase my pain tolerance further, thankfully due to my intense daily training, I already had quite the pain tolerance, enough not to break into tears, and still give these bastards hell while I am at it." Your Highness!!", this time a female Elf came, bottles of potion where in her bag, and held a Health potion.

" Please your Highness, take the healing potion!", she begged with teary eyes seeing my wound, I gave a tired smile and said," I will, now would you han-", she quickly splashed the potion on my wound not letting me finish my wounds, I released a small moan, as the wound on my hand magically clotted quickly, and then shed revealing the white skin free from any blemish.

I looked at my hand in shock, as the process happened too quickly, I looked at the Elf for answers, she blushed and said," That was an Elixir", finally I understood how my wounds healed so quickly, and my mouth widened," Wait a minute isn't an Elixir worth like hundred thousand Alfians?!", I said shocked, that was too expensive of a treatment, I was thinking about taking only a High Potion.

" Your Highness!", Noel said looking at me with slight anger, I was surprised to see a very rare expression," I know you are a genius your highness, but we don't want you to get hurt, please don't work so hard, you can rest you know?", he said," Indeed your Highness, while it is incredible that you managed to slay ninety seven kobolds and fifty two goblins, please don't work hard", another female Elf stepped forward looking me with extreme worry.

I sighed looking at the Elf that splashed an Elixir on my injury like it is worth dimes," Your Highness, that goblin dared to blemish your body with that bound, using an Elixir to make sure that the injury heals, and no scars remain is but a small price to pay, I dare say, that if it for your highness, I will pay out of my pocket to buy Elixirs, to ensure you remain unsullied from the wounds done by those lowly maggots", she said surprising me.

"I- I see", I replied, shocked myself, they were devoted I knew, extremely so, and I had thought I have understood the depth of their devotion, maybe I did, but seeing it for real feels unreal.' Damn, they are gonna guilt trap me like this ', I thought wanting to cry, suddenly Noel asked me," Your Highness, your armor is covered in the blood of those filth, please let us remove it."

I nodded deciding to let them do whatever they want, Noel and some soldiers came and removed my armor, while I sat on a rock, once they did, the female Elf Archers came, and looked at me eagerly," Your Highness, please let us clean the filth on your body, it is painful for us to see you in this state", an Female Elf said, her eyes filled with worry, I just gave a nod.

The moment they received my answers joy filled their faces, and taking out clothes, and dipping it in a water from a bucket, which God knows from where came they started cleaning my sweat, dirt, and blood stains from me, their movement was gentle and delicate filled with care, and I felt joyful seeing several female Elves, each one a seasoned archer and a beauty treating me like this.

After half an hour of wiping me with clothes, and making sure I was clean, did they stop. I was already rejuvenated due to Elixir, and I still felt it was a waste, as my wound wasn't too deep, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to continue fighting in the first place, but well what was done is done, no need to cry over spilled milk.

...

3rd Pov

Five months have passed since Ember's first hunt with him using only his swordsmanship. It had caused quite a stir once Ember returned, since his behavior was deemed extremely reckless by everyone, while his father seemed slightly pleased, and why wouldn't he be? His prodigious son once again proved himself, that his talents aren't limited to only academics, once he heard of the feat accomplished by Ember, he was literally smiling at him.

Of course, not everyone shared his feelings, especially Ember's mother, sister and his maid, who were petrified hearing of what he did in the forest during his hunt. His mother was almost on brink of tears, hearing her son pushing through all those difficulties ignoring the leisure provided to him. Even Riveria had questioned him sternly, demanding an explanation of his actions and his answer baffled them.

' Sister, this world is a dangerous place, monster roam over the ground destroying lives as we speak of, as an Elf Royalty responsible for the Elves, how can I remain weak? It is my duty to get strong for not only their sake, but also for my own ', he had replied, earning appreciation from every Elf present, once his achievement and words leaked out of palace, they shook the entire Alf's Royal Forest.

The White Elves felt extreme respect for their prince, their beloved prince, and his words moved them all. Many even gathered before the perimeters of the Royal Palace, showing their respect, devotion, and gratitude to their prince. Ember was totally embarrassed by it, as while his words weren't a lie, his objective by no means was that noble as they thought to be. He just sighed and decided to focus back on his training.

For the past five months he had been training monsters daily, slaying them in close combat, however often he would use his bow to strike down stronger targets like Killer Ants, War Shadows, and even Orcs, the first two were known as newbie killer's similar to the newbie killer duo of Kobolds and Goblins, whom people with Falna can defeat easily, the former two were newbie killers of dungeon and latter were of world outside the Orario, where one might find a bigger horde of Goblins or Kobolds in wild by accident.

He also killed Orcs using his congenital magic spells, and Ember soon found the necessity of learning and mastering the concurrent chanting, which could be game changer, giving him capability of slaying Level 2's in the wild, at least the monsters since their long chant made them impractical against the sentient species.

...

Riveria Pov

I finished chanting my spell, releasing the magic from the tip of my wand, I obliterated the foe that stood against us, a Lizardman, it had been already on the brink of death by the poisonous arrows we had shot, and was reduced to my practice target, now after being a victim of my magical prowess it was reduced to dust, even its Magic stone decimated.

The Elves with me started praising me, the older Elf mages looked me with pride, while younger one with adoration, however to me it felt empty, as I gripped my staff harder. ' It's useless, for decades all I had been doing is but killing monsters even if Level 2 or 3, gravely injured by the Elf Archers, and soldiers, even the hunt that provides some fun to me, now seems dull ', I thought in my mind.

I was born as a High-Elf, an Elf Royalty, noblest among our kind. The power that comes with position is astonishing, as long as I say the words, the Elves would do so without any questions. I have loved reading books, ones that were filled with knowledge of the world outside to Alf's Royal Forest and magic, I have read, read and read so many books, enough to fill half the Royal Library.

I wanted a change, I wanted to challenge myself, and the spark that had been hidden inside me was ignited by the reckless act of my younger brother. Ember Ljos Alf, he was born with same destiny as me, sheltered, revered, respected. He was fond of knowledge as I am, he is also a genius who mastered basics of Elvish after six months of speaking his first words at the age of seven months.

He even started walking at the age of nine months, after that he showed us many wonders, he mastered koine, showed intense talent for Arithmetic's, almost perfect memory mastering everything taught to him. He started Archery training at an early age, magic training and now even had learnt swordsmanship at the age of sixteen.

It didn't seem special if we ignore that his mastery over the respective fields were comparable to people who had been working on them for decades, the only people who could compare to my younger brother, were them, the people bestowed grace by the Gods. The topic of Falna, God's blessing, and the being called Gods always interested me, but unfortunately my father, hated them to his very being.

I could understand the reason if the words he spoke truth, I even had tried verifying it from the Elf Adventures that would often come to Alf's Royal Forest, yes, Gods treated our world like a game, but I have heard from an Elf, his God has mourned for the child he had lost, cried for hours before calming down, heard him say how painful it was for him to watch his God, depressed for weeks after the death of his child.

I have come to conclusion, just like mankind, how there were various types of people from pure evil to selfish, to extremely kind, gods were same, but my father refused to believe it and with the tradition of our lineage guarding the Alf's Royal Forest and leading our kind, he had refused my any request to visit the outside world.

There were a few things that gave me joy, and my little brother Ember was one of them, watching him reading books, with his eyes focused on the pages was soothing to me, seeing him embarrassed or attempting to express his feelings was extremely cute, he seemed cold and aloof, but it was because of him going with flow, and maybe being fed up with the treatment he was receiving.

I never understood though why he was so determined to get strong, it's not like I totally don't understand but he doesn't have much experience of the world, yet to crave for power despite not experiencing the need for it, was something baffling to say the least. There were just so many things, that my little brother made me proud over.

His reckless actions of attempting fight monsters like kobolds and goblins, given they are weakest of the bunch, alone using sword had nearly given me a heart attack. Yet, it had ignited me, I wanted to feel the thrill in my boring life, the same thrill and excitement he must have filled when battling those monsters, I was an excellent Archer with huge experience to back me up, my congenital magic is capable of killing a single Level 3 if I use all of my mind.

But here is where problem lies, I am a bad swordswoman, heck I had even given up seeing how difficult and unsuitable it was for me, the only close combat weapon that I was good at using was a spear or a pole, and they don't make an ideal weapon for an falnaless Elf to charge in a battle against an horde of monsters alone.

" Is something the matter princess?", my instructor, Arina asked me with worry breaking my thoughts, I just shook my head and replied," Nothing much, I was just thinking on how to improve my abilities ", she nodded, ugghhh, how much better it would have been if I could just have falna, but no! I have a father who loath Gods, a mother who while doesn't loath gods, isn't going to help me either, in fear of something bad happening to me.

Seriously Ember being in my life is just so refreshing, his cuteness just soothes my soul, and even if he isn't a child anymore, he was still cute, and extremely charming. The moment he smiles, he looks so charming as if I can see his entire being glowing, and a melody ringing in my ears.' That's it! Tommorrow I will accompany Ember and see what I can learn from him! ', My eyes lit up on the idea, as I hummed slightly, being comfortably seated in the carriage.

...

A few hours ago,

Ember Pov

My close combat abilities had increased with leaps and bounds, I have slayed over three thousand monsters using nothing but swordsmanship, a spectacle truly praiseworthy, I could bet I would have gotten 300 or 400's in my stats if I had falna. Whatever, today I had a new goal to achieve, and I have ventured to the southern part of the Alf's Royal Kingdom within the forest for it.

" Your Highness, the scout has returned reporting the presence of a small group of Killer Ants", an Elf commander said to me, Noel was behind me, just doing his job of bodyguard. Now one might wonder, how there are so many monsters in the Alf's Royal Forest? In this era, the dungeon's underwater opening hasn't been closed and all three great quests are yet to be announced.

That means Behemoth, Leviathan are still alive, monsters are breeding as always, however fighting against unpredictable monster hordes costs lot of lives, and are devastating, so my grandfather came up with a clever plan, to let some nest of monsters remain on the perimeter of the Alf's Royal Forest, where many Adventurer Elves gather, mostly to retire or just to have a break of decade or so.

This adventurer will not only use those monster nests and control the selective monster populations, but the monsters will also act as experience for newbie soldiers and Elf Adventurers, not many species were allowed of course, only Level 1 species, there is also a constant stream of monsters trying to invade Alf's forest, most of which are slayed on the perimeters, however a few managed to roll inside, which are taken care by soldiers in fortress or deliberately guided to become practice targets for Elf Mages or Archers.

This plan was clever and came up with its own share of risk, however it was successful, making even Falnaless Elves a force to reckon with, even the Amazons and Rakia Kingdom don't dare to invade Alf's Royal Forest, and if they did, or any other power, they won't only have to go against Elves living here, but also all Elf Adventurers from all over the world, who will gather the moment they get the whiff of their motherland in being danger.

Now, we had been received reports of a small group of Killer Ants escaping to inner parts of the Alf's Royal Forest, and they have been found, I replied after deciding on what to do," I would like to engage in close combat with them- and before you all panic listen to my entire plan", my words shocked them. Noel sighed, and so did others waiting patiently to listen my plan.

" I want the Elf Archers and Mages to finish up all Killer Ants leaving but a single not injured one, then I want you all to chase them to a place, where I and a group of seasoned soldiers will be with me, and Elf Archers on the watch, I want to engage in close combat together with them, which will also ensure my safety", I said, they sighed hearing my plan, and soon replied with a thundering voice," Yes, Your Highness!!"

Soon the plan was put into action, Noel and five more soldiers were waiting with me, to kill a Killer ant, on average three soldiers would be enough to do the job, however for my safety, more will be taking part in the fight. " Very well, I want Noel, and anyone of you to engage in battle against Killer Ant with me, if the fight seems to be not in favour, I want the rest of you to chim in", I said, giving my orders and they nodded, quickly choosing the second fighter amongst themselves.

" It is coming!", an Elf Archer sitting on a tree branch said, the Killer Ant soon came into our view, it was running towards us, it had a red exoskeleton, and three pairs of limbs, it also had big mandibles that could crunch bones into pieces, without any wait, I commanded," Attack!", I charged towards the Killer Ant while drawing my sword from the sheath strapped on my left.

The monster screeched seeing me, it's mandibles clicked rapidly as if wanting to crunch me into pieces alive, I have seen Killer Ants from far, crying in despair as I riddled holes in them or just obliterated from the face of the earth with my magic, it was thrilling to engage in a close combat with it, the Ant charged towards me.

I grinned and charged faster, then with a feint, I moved to its side, Noel attacked on its face, the Ant became confused seeing his opponent change and had to face Noel to save himself from being ripped apart, moving from the side, I jumped, and stabbed the sword on its throat. I heard a metal clink as my sword clashed against its hard exoskeleton, I quickly withdrew knowing that I had missed the attack, the second Elf soldier meanwhile quickly garnered its attention from me.

I quickly focused on its neck, not willing to make a mistake again, I charged forward, and then with a powerful slash, I beheaded it, the next moment its head rolled down, a sense of accomplishment filled me, as the monster laid dead on my feet. " That was amazing Your Highness, your swordsmanship being as amazing as ever", the soldier praised me.

" No need, I made a mistake in my first attack, otherwise it would have been died on my first strike", I said, shutting him and others up, who were about to praise me for my kill," Indeed your Highness, however that was only because of you not having fought them in close combat, you quickly organized yourself after your failed attack, and landed a swift strike beheading it", Noel praised me anyways.

I nodded, it wasn't something glorious as my first day, but I was satisfied with my kill, since that would only mean less hard work for me in future," Let's call it a day, Noel. I am satisfied with today's hunt", I said, deciding to take a rest, not to mention, I was hungry and couldn't wait to dig in the delicacy that would be served during dinner, made by Remia and others. Thus, we soon departed for the Royal Palace.

To be continued...