Chapter 19: Three Hundred More Years

Chapter 19: Three Hundred More Years

“If that’s the case, she doesn’t have to worry about anyone getting too close.”

Even if she couldn’t defeat the opponent, she could at least hold them off for a bit until someone nearby could come to her rescue.

To explain it with a literary reference, it would be like Jing Ke trying to assassinate the King of Qin, while the king runs around a pillar.

Airael, this elven queen, is like the King of Qin.

Although she had many guards around her, there would inevitably be powerful assassins who could get close enough to strike at her.

In such moments, if she could showcase impressive close-combat skills to hold off the assassin, even if just for a short while, it would be enough for her guards to react.

At that point, with the assassin’s surprise attack failing, faced with the onslaught of numerous guards, they would have no choice but to surrender or face death.

Airael thought to herself, feeling quite pleased.

With that, she wouldn’t have to worry excessively about those assassins anymore.

The events of that day were like a thorn in her heart that she couldn’t forget for a long time.

Hela glanced at the suddenly smiling queen and, though puzzled, didn’t question her further.

However, the next moment, Airael took the initiative to approach her: “Hela, Teacher.”

Hela responded, “Your Majesty, what can I do for you?”

“Can I learn martial arts alongside studying magic?” Airael asked.

“Of course you can,” Hela answered, then realized something and asked, “Your Majesty, are you planning to learn martial arts?”

“Yep!”

Airael nodded vigorously: “I noticed that Iis and the others can use magic while being warriors, so I thought I could do the same.”

“Your Majesty, I understand your reasoning. Indeed, close combat is a significant weakness for mages, but I wouldn’t recommend you start learning now.”

“Why?”

Airael asked, completely baffled.

“While our Elven Race has long lifespans, which provides us ample time to learn whatever knowledge we desire, our time each day is still limited—only twenty hours. Your Majesty, your schedule is already packed, and if you add martial arts to it, it would cut into your precious rest time. As a result, if you don’t get enough rest while trying to learn, it could negatively impact your learning effectiveness.”

The phrase “work and rest combined” flashed in Airael’s mind.

“Alright, then when do you think I should learn martial arts?”

“Your Majesty, I’d say it would be best to learn martial arts when your practice in magic hits a bottleneck, and you can no longer advance through just practice.”

“And when will I hit that bottleneck in magic practice?” Airael pressed.

Hela shook her head: “I don’t know either. Each elf has a different talent, and their limits vary.”

Airael furrowed her brows and asked, “Hela, how would you evaluate my talent?”

“Your Majesty, your talent is exceptional.”

“Then can you estimate where my limit might be?”

“Well…”

Hela’s face showed a bit of hesitation.

“Hela, you don’t need to worry about anything; just say what’s on your mind. I won’t blame you.”

With Airael saying that, Hela gathered her courage and said, “I think your bottleneck should be at the ninth level.”

“Ninth level! How long will it take me to reach the ninth level?”

Airael wasn’t disappointed by this.

From what she understood, a ninth-level mage could already be considered a high-end power in this world.

The three levels beyond that are referred to as the Saint Level or Hero Level.

Though the names vary by region and race, they essentially mean the same.

Saints and heroes are the pinnacle of every race, and when they reach that tier, the power within them undergoes a qualitative transformation.

For that reason, reaching those three levels isn’t an easy task.

Missing any one of talent, luck, or effort makes it nearly impossible.

But only those who reach those three levels are recognized as leaders among their race in this world, where magic and other mystery powers can be cultivated.

That’s how might makes right.

Everyone only submits to the strong.

Only the strong can protect everyone from living in this world full of strife.

Because of that, Hela hesitated and struggled to find her words earlier.

Although reaching level ten from level nine is a bottleneck that every creature faces, Airael, being the queen of the Elven Race, should at least reach level ten to be deemed adequate and meet the expectations of her people.

However, no matter how strong Airael’s training talent might be, if she doesn’t put in the effort or has bad luck and suffers an untimely end, she won’t ever reach that third tier.

Not to mention, even if Airael does diligently train and stays alive, there’s still a significant chance that she may not reach that third tier.

Such matters are unpredictable.

So Hela, at that moment, had to either speak the truth or sugarcoat things and tell Airael, the elven queen, that her bottleneck was at least level ten, allowing her to level up straight to the Saint Level through diligent training.

But she chose to speak honestly.

Seeing that Airael was truly not angry, Hela felt relieved and continued: “Your Majesty, given your current age, you should be around two hundred years old, meaning it will likely take you about three hundred more years before you encounter that bottleneck.”

“Three hundred years!”

Airael exclaimed in surprise.

Although she was prepared for longevity, hearing that hit her like a ton of bricks.

And when did she become two hundred years old?!

She thought she’d only lived for a little over twenty years!

Where did that extra hundred years go?

Airael felt like crying but had no tears.

It was a sorrowful riddle.

Though she still looked like a lively and adorable elven little girl, in the perspective of her past human life, she was already an old lady by all accounts—she could practically be a great-great-great-grandmother.

“Your Majesty, we are not of the Human Race. Although their lifespans cannot compare to ours, their cultivation speed is much faster.”

Upon hearing this, Airael pulled herself out of her age-induced sorrow and said, “Then that means humans should completely surpass us elves.”

“Logically, yes, but Your Majesty, you’ve overlooked one crucial issue.”

“What issue?”

Hela explained, “Talent! The talent of humans limits their development. They can indeed cultivate faster than us elves, but their affinity is far inferior. Many humans don’t even qualify to train in magic, and can only choose to practice martial arts. Moreover, due to their frail bodies, many of them cannot excel in martial arts either.”