Magic

Harrot's injuries were severe. He had nearly been disemboweled by the Centaur Chieftain's axe. Though he said he was fine, Marcus still asked the elves to take a look.

The cheerful, handsome elf was on good terms with Harrot and knew a little basic healing magic, so he came to treat Harrot's wounds.

The elf chanted a few spells, then green light glowed from his hands as he pressed them against Harrot's injury.

The handsome elf's healing magic was probably very low-level. Although the wound barely closed, the HP on Harrot's system panel only recovered by 5 points.

Harrot did not mind. With the system, he only needed to sleep for a day or two and any injury would heal. At worst, he would lose a little maximum HP.

But the elf stared at Harrot in utter surprise and did not leave immediately after finishing the treatment.

Instead, he asked strangely, "Are both your parents human?"

Harrot searched his memories. The original Harrot's parents had indeed both been human, so he gave an affirmative answer.

To his surprise, the elf asked hesitantly, "Did you ever feel different from others while growing up? For example, were you especially agile, did you have exceptionally sharp senses, or could you vaguely sense the magic in the air?"

Harrot could not tell what the elf was getting at, but he answered truthfully, "No. I'm just a little stronger than average. Everything else is normal."

The elf muttered, "That's not right. Why strength... Could I have been mistaken?"

The elf suddenly stood and walked out of the tent, then turned back to tell him, "Wait here. I'll get someone. She knows more about this sort of thing."

Harrot had no idea what was going on. Before long, the handsome elf returned to the tent with a female elf.

This female elf looked vastly different from ordinary elves. They were both beautiful blonde women, but their bodies were completely different.

Elves were strikingly good-looking, but tall and slender, with little in the way of curves. The men did not have bulging muscles, and the women did not have sensual figures.

But this female elf was different. The muscles on her arms and thighs were clearly defined, and more importantly, her figure was incredibly full—bigger than even Sihrulu's!

Harrot was stunned by her impressive figure for a moment. But he was about to become a father, after all, so he quickly recovered and asked, "Who is she? Why did you bring her here?"

Before the handsome elf could speak, the female elf answered directly, "My name is Tiona. I'm half-orc and half-elf!"

Harrot understood why this female elf had such an outstanding figure. Orcs had always been known for their powerful physiques. This mixed-blood woman had probably inherited the best traits of both parents.

Tiona said nothing more. She approached Harrot, grabbed his head with both hands, pressed her forehead against his, and closed her eyes as if sensing something.

Harrot looked blankly at the handsome elf beside him, somewhat at a loss. Should he push this female hooligan away?

The handsome elf said awkwardly, "Tiona can be a little strange, but she isn't a bad person. She's testing the strength of your soul! Don't be nervous. It'll be over soon."

Harrot was startled, thinking the secret of his system was about to be exposed. But the female elf suddenly opened her eyes and declared, "There's no mistake. He must be half-elf!"

The handsome elf said excitedly, "I knew it! His soul strength is something no human could possibly possess!"

Tiona explained to the confused Harrot, "The greatest difference between elves and other races lies in the soul. Dwarves, orcs, and all other races have roughly the same soul strength. Only elves have souls three times stronger than ordinary races!"

"Your soul is twice as strong as an ordinary human's, on the same level as mine. You are definitely half-elf."

After thinking for a moment, Harrot guessed it was because he had fused with the original Harrot's soul. He was certain the original Harrot had no elven blood.

Before his transmigration, the original Harrot's Agility had only been 4 points. Forget elves—even the human average was 6!

Harrot had originally wanted to brush the matter aside. After all, these two elves were not important figures. But the next sentence instantly excited him.

"Elves can use magic precisely because they possess extraordinary soul strength."

Could I use magic too? Harrot thought. He had nearly been instantly killed by the Hyena Magical Beast's magic before, so he understood very well how powerful magic could be.

Even if he fought that Hyena Magical Beast again now, he could not guarantee a certain victory. It would depend on how many times the beast could cast magic.

"Then can I learn magic?" Harrot asked nervously, deeply afraid of being rejected.

As for elven blood, Harrot did not care. He was not a Bloodline Noble, so it did not matter whether his bloodline was pure. In The Bald Man's eyes, he was already half-orc. Adding some elf blood would not make much difference.

The handsome elf said tactfully, "Generally speaking, a soul twice as strong as an ordinary person's can sense faint magic, but..."

The handsome elf hesitated, and Tiona cut in from the side, "It's hard for mixed-bloods like us to learn magic. I studied in the Elf Forest for eight years and only learned one lousy spell!"

The handsome elf said awkwardly, "It isn't a lousy spell. Raising Sand counts as beginner magic, and during those eight years, you practiced martial arts and went exploring. You were not serious about studying at all!"

"Although it is indeed difficult for half-elves to learn intermediate magic, beginner magic is still very useful. Small Fireball can start fires, Small Waterball can provide clean water, and so on. Beginner magic is practical too!"

The handsome elf comforted the disappointed Harrot.

Harrot was not disappointed for long. It was already good enough that he could learn magic. This had been an unexpected blessing to begin with, so he could not demand too much.

Although fully learning and mastering magic was an extremely long and difficult process, getting a general understanding of how magic was learned was quick enough.

The handsome elf had Harrot sit cross-legged, close his eyes, and focus on sensing the magic around him, trying to communicate and converse with it.

Harrot closed his eyes and sat there thinking for ten full minutes, yet he did not feel a thing.

Feel with my heart? Where is that supposed to be? My heart or my brain? How am I supposed to communicate or converse with it?

At least give me a few more hints, Harrot thought helplessly.

Tiona yawned, patted Harrot on the shoulder, and said, "Stop trying. The first time I sensed magic was near the Tree of Life, where the magic density was more than ten times higher than outside. Mixed-bloods like us do not have strong enough souls. It's hard to sense magic for the first time without outside help. Go to the Elf Forest when you have time, then learn magic there!"

The handsome elf also comforted Harrot helplessly. He told Harrot that if he wanted to go to the Elf Forest, he was willing to act as his guide. Once they got there, he could ask his parents to help teach Harrot how to master magic.

Harrot could only temporarily give up learning magic. The Elf Forest could wait. Pioneering was more important right now, and according to Tiona, someone with a soul only twice as strong as an ordinary person's could not learn powerful magic anyway.

First, his hopes of becoming a priest and Sun Priest had been shattered. Now, his hopes of becoming a mage had been shattered too. It seemed he could only be a miserable warrior after all.

After the handsome elf left, Tiona stubbornly dragged Harrot into conversation until midnight. In her eyes, they were both mixed-bloods, so she was especially friendly and warm toward him, with plenty she wanted to talk about.

Tiona had orc blood, and both her speech and movements were open and uninhibited. Combined with her outrageously good figure, the occasional physical contact left Harrot dry-mouthed and restless.

Although Harrot dreamed of having eight wives and had imagined marrying a beautiful elf, he knew how to distinguish the time and place.

The Centaurs might attack tomorrow or the day after. Sihrulu was still carrying his child. Taking advantage of their shared half-elven identity to pursue Tiona under such circumstances would be far too beastly.

Harrot successfully overcame his desire. He only chatted with Tiona about elven and human customs and amusing stories before they went their separate ways to rest.

"Oh, your injuries are already fine? Cleon is still lying down recuperating!"

The next day, Marcus came to visit Harrot. Seeing that his injuries had mostly healed, he marveled at the power of magic. He had never seen Harrot's recovery ability before and thought it was all the result of magic.

Harrot had no intention of correcting Marcus. His extraordinary recovery ability was still a secret for now. Only The Bald Man knew, and given The Bald Man's character, he would not reveal it behind Harrot's back.

Although Marcus was on good terms with him, this involved the system. If Marcus pressed him for an explanation, Harrot would have no good answer. It was better to keep it hidden.

Marquis Prague sent someone to invite Marcus to the meeting room to discuss military matters. Harrot followed along. As the chief Knight, he was allowed to enter the meeting room with Marcus.

Before long, more than twenty nobles, several dwarves, and Archmage Iltiran had gathered in the meeting room.

Once Marquis Prague saw that nearly everyone had arrived, he said, "Our scouts have spotted movement from a Centaur army a hundred li from here. They must finally be unable to hold back any longer!"

"Marcus, your suggestion was excellent. The Centaurs have indeed been enraged!"

"Prepare for battle. Those Centaurs may attack as early as this morning!"

The nobles began discussing matters anxiously and excitedly. The moment had finally come—their direct confrontation with the Centaur army!

If they won this battle, they would have achieved an initial victory in the Pioneering Alliance's campaign. Next, they would drive out the Centaurs and relocate Commoners here to establish settlements and a new kingdom.

If they lost this battle, the pioneering effort would be a complete failure. Even if the humans could gather forces for another campaign, these people would no longer be in a leading position. At most, they could only follow others and get a small share of the spoils.

They could only win this battle, never lose! That was what everyone thought.

"The scouts are still gathering intelligence, and the exact size of the Centaur army is still unknown. But no matter what, we have more troops!"

Marquis Prague gave a pre-battle speech. That was indeed true. The Pioneering Alliance had a total of eighty thousand troops, while the Thunder Tribe only had ten thousand.

Centaur civilization was extremely underdeveloped, without a mature national structure or social system. It was difficult for them to mobilize all their strength, so their numbers should not be too great.

The nobles responsible for commanding soldiers had already sent Knights to gather their troops. The rest remained in the meeting room to learn the subsequent battle plan.

Soon, fresh intelligence arrived. The Centaurs had begun advancing toward their camp and would arrive by noon at the latest. Their total numbers were estimated to be around thirty thousand!

The nobles' expressions all turned grave. This was significantly more than they had expected. They had originally believed that provoking the Centaurs into attacking early would keep their numbers below twenty thousand.

Grand Duke Lance spoke in Marquis Prague's place to encourage everyone. The last time Marquis Prague had raised morale, he had nearly led them all to their deaths against the Thunder Tribe's interception force. He was too embarrassed to continue rallying hearts now.

"Do not lose heart. Though the Centaur army is individually powerful, it is merely a disorganized rabble forcibly gathered together.

They have neither a tactical system nor military training. As long as we defeat their chieftain, they will become nothing but a mob!"

Grand Duke Lance's words lifted everyone's spirits. With him and Prague, two Legendary Experts, attacking the Centaur Chieftain together, they would surely defeat their opponent—not to mention Archmage Iltiran.

The battle plan was not complicated. Against the all-cavalry Centaurs, the humans had no possibility of taking the initiative. They had to rely on favorable terrain and fight defensively before counterattacking.