Star-Moon Night

Compared to his emotionally detached kin, Kraft had witnessed far too many emotions during his years of adventuring—things he had never encountered in Elf Forest.

This gave him a far deeper understanding of emotions than his kin in Elf Forest possessed.

For elves, emotional detachment was actually a form of protection.

Elves lived far too long. If they did not ignore certain things and deliberately forget others, it would only become a form of torment for themselves.

Over time, elves instinctively learned how to dull their emotions.

Rhode smiled but did not take up the thread of the conversation.

Naturally, he knew why Serie valued him so highly, but he would not tell Kraft.

He understood the saying: a common man was innocent, but possessing a treasure was a crime.

Even if Kraft was not the sort to spread things around, the fewer people who knew of this, the better. Unless one day his strength became great enough that even the gods had to fear him, he would not reveal this secret.

The night deepened.

The campfire gradually died out, leaving only scattered starlight to illuminate the land.

Som had long since used his battle axe as a pillow, sleeping soundly and occasionally letting out faint snores.

Kraft leaned against a tree trunk with his eyes closed, looking as though he were asleep, though Rhode could not be sure.

Serie, meanwhile, slept alone in the tent.

Since those two had joined them, it had been a long time since he had lain in the tent with her. He suddenly missed the feeling of holding his Little Ancestor.

To be safe this time, Serie had directly expanded the range of her Warning Magic to two hundred meters. Even if something unexpected happened, they would have time to respond.

But judging from the past few days, it seemed she had worried too much.

Rhode could not sleep. Lying on the ground, he turned over again.

He had always had trouble sleeping, though it was especially bad today.

Maybe he could invent a spell to help people sleep someday.

As he let his thoughts wander, the tent opened and a small head poked out.

Their eyes met, and Rhode spoke first. "What? Going to pick flowers? Want me to come with you?"

He was joking. He had said the same thing to Serie before, but back then she had not understood what he meant by picking flowers.

Instead, she had replied, "Why would anyone go out to pick flowers in the middle of the night?"

After Rhode explained, Miss Serie had only spoken again after a long while.

"Elves do not need that sort of thing."

As for whether that was true, Rhode had no idea.

After all, though they traveled together, they could not stay together every moment of every day.

"No. Do you want to learn Plant Magic?" Serie shook her head and suddenly asked.

Rhode was a little confused. "Why ask that all of a sudden? And in the middle of the night?"

Couldn't you teach magic during the day? Why choose such a strange time?

"Today is a special day. Star-Moon Night makes plant elements more active, making it an excellent time to practice Plant Magic."

Rhode looked up at the sky.

Indeed, the moon and stars were especially bright tonight.

"Sure! But we should go farther away."

Rhode did not want to wake the other two. Serie understood what he meant and beckoned to him. "Follow me."

The two quietly left the camp.

Unbeknownst to them, Kraft opened his eyes behind them.

When adventuring in the wilderness, falling deeply asleep would only get one killed faster. So even on an expedition with several people, he remained vigilant.

However, he had no intention of doing anything. Whatever purpose Serie had, whatever she planned, had nothing to do with him.

He was merely an elf who lived for adventure.

Elsewhere, the two arrived at an open clearing. After Serie investigated and confirmed there were no Monsters nearby, she said, "I originally intended to teach you Plant Magic after you had fully mastered Light Magic, but I did not expect your talent to be even better than I imagined."

Rhode had exceptional magical talent.

He might not have realized it himself, but in Serie's eyes, his magical talent was already no worse than hers.

After all, she had gained some renown throughout Elf Forest because of her extraordinary magical talent and unconventional ideas.

Of those two things, the former was the more important.

Without that talent to support her, she would merely have been an unusual elf.

In Serie's plan, she might have spent ten, twenty, or even thirty years teaching Rhode. But now, it seemed it would not take nearly that long.

"Then should I say thank you?"

Rhode had not expected Serie to praise his magical talent.

After all, she was the strongest mage of humanity in later generations.

Humanity in later generations was not as clearly defined as it was now. Rather, everything that looked human was called human.

Of course, perhaps the Demon Race simply could not be bothered to distinguish between them and deliberately handled it that way.

Even so, Serie was still called the strongest mage on the entire continent. One could well imagine how terrifying her strength was.

Since he had received her praise, his magical talent truly had to be remarkable.

"Looks like I should set myself a little goal. I'll start by becoming the continent's strongest mage," Rhode joked.

But Serie's expression became somewhat strange.

"A short life..."

"Hm? Did you say something?"

Her voice had been too quiet, and Rhode had not caught what she said.

"Nothing."

Serie did not particularly believe Rhode could reach that level. If he had been an elf, she might have thought it somewhat possible, but he was only a human in the end.

A short life could not accumulate vast magical power, so naturally, it could not produce the strongest mage.

Unless his talent was more than simply being no worse than hers.

But how could that be possible?

Serie dismissed the possibility in her heart.

How could she possibly be surpassed by Rhode?

Proud Miss Serie would never admit such a thing could happen.

"Let's begin."

Serie decided not to dwell on the matter any longer and instead devoted herself to teaching Rhode Plant Magic.

Ultimately, for elves, Plant Magic was not as practical as Light Magic—or rather, it did not possess Light Magic's terrifying destructive power.

In most battles, Plant Magic served to restrain and assist.

Like the Thorn Wall Serie had cast earlier to stop the Monsters' pursuit.

Aside from that, it could manipulate plants to bind or even attack. If one were to name the race most skilled in Plant Magic, it would still be the Druids of the forest.

It was said that they could summon vines as thick as ancient towering trees to attack, and could even summon treants to control when necessary.

The Plant Magic of the Elf race was merely a small glimpse of what they could do.