Arrogance was a failing peculiar to long-lived races, and an unavoidable one at that.
The reason was simple. After living so long and seeing so much, they inevitably developed a deeply ingrained belief... we are the center of the world, the embodiment of civilization and elegance, while all other lives are merely fleeting passersby in the river of time.
This arrogance was exemplified by Elves, especially High Elves.
They possessed nearly eternal lives, exquisite magical skills, and a cultural heritage stretching back through the ages.
In their eyes, the civilizations of humans, Dwarves, and other short-lived races were like fireflies on a summer night, brief and feeble.
The rise and fall of their dynasties and their technological innovations were, to the Elves, merely repetitions of a childish, inefficient cycle.
For Eliunor to recognize this was already no small feat. Yet recognizing it did not mean he could do much to change or correct it.
His current attempt to contact the Bagnians' second Revenge Fleet was itself a form of arrogance.
I can stop this war single-handedly.
It was a deeper kind of arrogance, concealed beneath reason and goodwill.
As the Whisper of the Morning Breeze led two frigates across the boundless blue like three silver leaves, Eliunor stood at the bow. What lingered in his heart was not entirely a sense of crisis, but also a High Elf's almost instinctive certainty.
Intercepting the Bagnians' second Revenge Fleet before it arrived was not difficult for Eliunor.
First, vast though the Azure Sky Sea was, it was not wholly unknown to the Elves.
Centuries of seafaring, along with long-standing trade with human fleets such as those of the Makon People, had given the Elves considerable knowledge of the main routes and trade-wind belts leading to the Magicless Continent.
Eliunor also had experienced