Several kilometers ahead, in the farmlands outside the Elven capital of Panda Lan.
The Elven capital looked beautiful from afar, like a paradise on earth. But after drawing closer, one found it had acquired a touch of ordinary life: smoke rising from the buildings, farmland spread across the open ground before the city, and floppy-eared dogs among the fields.
These floppy-eared dogs were not especially large, qualifying only as medium-to-large dogs. Some crouched in the fields, while others gathered in groups of three or five.
One should never underestimate them because of their docile nature and goofy eyes. They were friendly only toward humanoid creatures and were mainly responsible for guarding the fields. They worked twenty-four hours a day. Whenever a herd of large herbivores approached, they never fought alone. A few barks summoned all the nearby members of their kind, and they swarmed their enemies without the slightest regard for martial virtue.
Even when facing large Transcendent wild boars, they dared to charge head-on. Since they were medium-to-large dogs, they did not eat excessively much, and as omnivores, they ate almost anything.
Aside from the one meal provided each day by the farmland owners, the floppy-eared dogs caught field mice and even harmless insects to eat, greatly reducing the threat rodents posed to the crops.
On these endless fields, one absolutely must not provoke a floppy-eared dog. Once you beat one until it fled yelping, within two minutes it would bring over a hundred brothers and chase your shoes right off your feet.
The Elves of this world farmed, hunted, and fished at the ports. Only by combining all three could they meet the food demands of their fifty million inhabitants.
Hunting required hounds. As for farming, the proximity of the hot jungle meant they had to prevent herds