Bonus chapter for brother Gervis [4/5]
The strength of individual Eredar grew slowly. This was practically a common flaw among all long-lived races, but a slow rate of accumulating absolute power did not mean they were weak.
Take a simple example: even though both wood and coal were made of carbon molecules, they possessed entirely different properties. Wood caught fire easily but burned out quickly. Coal was harder to ignite, but once it started burning, the light, heat, and duration it released far surpassed wood.
Short-lived races such as humans and Orcs could acquire power in a short time and wield it to a formidable degree, but in confrontations between those of the same life rank, they were usually no match for a long-lived race tempered by the passage of ages.
That was because "power" was a comprehensive concept.
Beyond an individual's combat resources, it also included resilience, physical attributes, skill concepts, and more. In these aspects, long-lived races with ample time to spend could crush short-lived races as long as they were even slightly diligent.
Yura was a perfect example.
She was not a legendary ranger, yet on a true life-or-death battlefield, relying on the combat experience and instincts she had accumulated over more than twenty thousand years, she could absolutely hold off a legendary Orc for a long time. Under favorable circumstances, even turning the tables and killing one would not be surprising.
In the end, Yura's bodily "container" and all her attributes had long since reached the level of a legend. All she lacked was the infusion and accumulation of primal force.
The material world was fair, after all. Long-lived races could not monopolize every advantage.
Conversely, being overly sluggish in responding to external changes was also a necessary condition for long-lived races to enjoy their lengthy