Chapter 212: Evade, Approach, Approach, Break

“Well then, I will explain how to make the Elixir.”

” ” ” “Yes, sir!!” ” ” “

Dozens of Elves had gathered at the assembly hall built in the branch town.

The fact that this many people have gathered means they really want to accumulate techniques for times of emergency.

“First is the recipe for the Elixir. This time, I have made it so that it can be made solely with materials obtainable from the World Tree.”

“Eh? Are there perhaps multiple ways to make an Elixir?”

At my explanation, a young Elf warrior tilted his head.

“Yes. Since the Elixir is a type of potion, it’s designed to be made with ingredients that can be prepared in that region. Depending on the location, there are even regions where the Elixir recipe differs from family to family.”

“The recipe differs from family to family!?”

“Is Elixir that widespread in the outside world!?”

For some reason, the Elves are surprised that there are multiple recipes for Elixir.

That’s strange, the Elves should have their own recipe too… Ah, I see.

They seem to have lost part of their knowledge due to the calamity in the past, and probably only relatives who used the same recipe survived, while the adults of households using different recipes passed away.

And the slight differences in recipes might have been weeded out into the most effective Elixir recipe while being passed down to the next generation.

“To think that while we were confined in the forest, such a thing had happened in the outside world…!!”

“No, I think that’s truly only in some regions.”

That’s right, just as Liliera-san says, various misfortunes overlapped to cause this.

If they had lived outside the forest, it probably wouldn’t have turned out like this, but I can only say they were unlucky in this regard.

“Ah, speaking of which, the potion I drank when I got injured in Bro’s village was ridiculously effective. Could that have perhaps been…”

Jairo-kun muttered about the efficacy of the potion he drank when he stayed in my village.

“Ah, stop, stop. To me, that was just a really effective potion. I don’t want to know any truth beyond that!”

It seems Mina-san has some sort of obsession unique to mages.

Well, that kind of thing is like artisan pride that others can’t understand, so let’s leave it be.

“If Elixirs can be made in large quantities, their rarity decreases and the price goes down…”

No, no, Elixir is just household medicine, so it doesn’t fetch much of a price, you know.

“Umm, Rex-san. May I take this lecture too? I’d like to use it for treating believers at the church.”

“Yes, of course.”

As expected of Norb-san. He probably wants to learn multiple Elixir recipes for when his magic power for recovery magic runs out.

The materials available differ depending on the region, after all.

Confirming that everyone had settled down, I began explaining the Elixir recipe using World Tree materials.

“These materials here, we will use them by grinding them into powder and mixing them with squeezed herbal juice, respectively. And these materials here…”

Having finished the general explanation, I then performed a demonstration of making the Elixir. Since it was strictly for explanation purposes, the quality of the medicine was secondary; I made it slowly while explaining the steps once again.

“…And then, if you mix this, it’s complete. Very easy, right? Now, it’s everyone’s turn to try making it.”

” ” ” “Yes!!” ” ” “

The Elves gathered around the tables prepared in the hall and began attempting to make Elixirs as they pleased.

“Heh, Elixirs can be made surprisingly easily.”

“Yeah. Since it’s called a legendary medicine, I thought it’d be much harder.”

After a while, everyone had completed their Elixirs.

I checked them one by one, confirming that everyone’s Elixir was properly successful.

“There are no problems with everyone’s results.”

” ” ” “Ooh!!” ” ” “

“Seriously! I totally made an Elixir!”

“I made an Elixir…”

“Hehe, with this, I won’t have to be afraid of injuries anymore!”

Yeah, everyone’s getting motivated right away.

Then let’s proceed to the next step.

“Now that everyone’s Elixirs are complete, shall we move on to combat training?”

” ” “Ye—… Eh?” ” “

“Alright, everyone please follow me with your own Elixirs~.”

Guiding everyone like that, we arrived at the ground level.

“Now I will lure in monsters, and I will have everyone fight the monsters without using magic.”

” ” ” “Hah!?” ” ” “

“W-Wait a minute! Not using magic!? That’s impossible!”

Just as I was about to start training, one of the Elf warriors raised his voice.

“No, it’s not impossible at all.”

“I’m telling you it’s impossible! You know how big those monsters are! If we, who don’t have sturdy bodies like Dwarves, fight without magic, we’ll be turned into minced meat in the blink of an eye!”

Hmm, I think a carapace of that monster’s level can be normally cut with a blade, though.

Ah, but the young Elves are dedicated to fighting with spirit magic due to the village’s policy, so they might be anxious about close-quarters combat.

People tend to brace themselves when doing something for the first time, after all.

“Then, I’ll show you how to fight without magic first.”

“Eh?”

Right, if they’re anxious, it’s important to first show them a precedent that it can be done.

To give them the image that ‘if he can do it, maybe I can too’.

“I’ll fight using only techniques without magic now.”

I entered the forest, lured a suitable monster, and returned to the base of the World Tree.

“Here I go!”

I took out a single, very ordinary knife from my magic bag and headed towards it.

“A single knife! That’s reckless!!”

“First, to seal the opponent’s movements, I’ll cut the thinnest part of the opponent’s joints!”

I thrust the knife into the back of the monster’s knee and severed the tendon.

With this, the monster lost its balance and fell.

“Once you stop one leg and make it fall, immediately cut the shoulder joint!”

I severed the monster’s shoulder joint, making it unable to swing its arm.

“Similarly, cut the tendons of the leg and shoulder on the opposite side!”

By processing the opposite side with the same procedure, the monster became unable to move.

“With this, monsters with joints in their limbs will become unable to move. If the tendon is deep, you can repeatedly scrape the surface to let the blade reach, or scrape the whole thing like cutting down a large tree and finally sever it using the opponent’s own weight.”

I mounted the immobilized monster and thrust the knife into the top of its head, finishing it off completely.

“After that, if you carefully sever the body of the immobilized opponent, you can eventually defeat any large enemy.”

“Looking at it like this, it’s a pretty nasty way to defeat them.”

“Well, I demonstrated it like this, but the things I did were pretty simple, weren’t they?”

” ” ” “It’s not simple at all!!” ” ” “

Huh? That’s strange.

I didn’t use any special techniques, just a demonstration of simply cutting.

“You say ‘cut the joints’ so easily! But even their joints have hard membranes, so you can’t easily cut them unless you have a Dwarven axe!”

“For that, you do it like this, at the thinnest part of the joint. Look.”

I thrust the knife into the thin part behind the joint in front of everyone.

“Seriously. Why does the knife pierce with this?”

“No good, it won’t pierce at all.”

The highly motivated Elf warriors immediately tried to insert their knives into the joints of the monster I defeated, but because the location was bad, it didn’t pierce at all.

The young Elves of this village have a complete division of labor, so they seem to have no knowledge regarding dismantling like this.

“That’s a hard part. Try piercing here.”

“No, even if I change the location… huh!?”

The Elf warrior seemed to want to say it was impossible, but the moment he applied the blade, the knife sank in deeply.

” ” ” “It pierced!?” ” ” “

“Hey, did you do something!?”

Another Elf warrior widened his eyes wondering if he was cheating, but there’s no point in cheating, you know?

“N-No, I didn’t do anything!?”

“Liar! You stabbed the knife!”

“No, I did stab it, but!?”

“Well, if you identify the place to stab like this, you can even pierce a monster’s hard shell with a knife. See, it was easy, right?”

” ” ” “That’s why we’re asking how you’re doing it!!” ” ” “

Hmm, the Elves of this village have low self-evaluation.

With their ability, I think they can do much more.

“Ah, this brings back memories. I was like that too.”

Watching our exchange, Liliera-san was staring with deep emotion.

“Ah, right. Let’s have Liliera-san do it next.”

“Huh!? Me!?”

“Liliera-san is a skilled person who became an A-rank adventurer at a young age, so this level is a breeze for her.”

” ” ” “Hoh…” ” ” “

The Elf warriors’ gazes gathered on Liliera-san.

“Eh!? No, um…”

“Now, go ahead, Liliera-san!”

” ” ” “Staaaaare…” ” ” “

“I-It’s impossible for meeeee!!”

However, perhaps embarrassed to stand out, Liliera-san ran away saying it was impossible.

Now that I think about it, she was embarrassed when mistaken for the Dragon Princess in Dragonia too.

Liliera-san seems to be quite shy.

While we were talking back and forth with the Elves like that, I felt the sensation of a monster swarm approaching through my search magic.

“Ah, it seems a monster swarm has just arrived. Then shall we begin the training right away? MAGIC SEALING!!”

I deployed magic sealing magic in the surroundings for the training.

“I have made it so you cannot use magic, so everyone, please be careful not to accidentally try to use magic. It will create a large opening during combat.”

“Made it so… we cannot use magic?”

The young Elf warriors tilted their heads at the words that magic was sealed, but the moment they saw the monsters roaring and attacking, they reflexively chanted spirit magic.

“Spirits of Fire! Make those monsters burst into flames!”

However, the spirits showed no sign of answering their calls, and no magic was activated.

“W-We really can’t use magic!?”

“Wh-What should we do!?”

“Everyone, you’ll die if you don’t dodge~.”

“Eh? U-Uwaaaaah!!”

The Elves dodged the charging monsters by a hair’s breadth.

“I-Impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible!! If that hits, we’ll die!?”

The Elves passionately argued that they would lose at this rate and pleaded with me to make them able to use magic.

“It’s okay, everyone! That’s what you brought the Elixirs for!”

“Huh?”

For a moment, the young Elf warriors tilted their heads wondering what I meant, but they quickly guessed the meaning and turned pale.

“D-Does that mean, if we get injured, we should heal it with the Elixir?”

“Yes, exactly. Elixir making and practical combat training are the basics of group combat, after all.”

” ” ” “What kind of basics is that!?” ” ” “

Eh? If it’s a knight order or a warrior group, it’s a pretty normal thing, right?

“If an attack from that massive body hits us, we’ll die before we can drink the Elixir!!”

The young Elf warriors threw tantrums saying it was impossible.

I see, Sharaza-san requested this training from me partly because of the low self-evaluation of the young people.

Specialization doesn’t only have good sides, it seems.

“Then let’s do this. WIDE JUST-LOW PROTECTION!!”

“Wh-What is this!?”

I activated an area-of-effect defensive magic on everyone.

“I just cast Low-Grade Area-of-Effect Limit Defense Magic on everyone.”

“Low-Grade Area-of-Effect Limit Defense Magic? What is that?”

“This defensive magic is a magic where even if allies within the area receive an instant-death level attack, they survive at the very brink of death.”

” ” ” “Why is the effect so subtle!?” ” ” “

Ahaha, I understand how you feel.

I thought the same thing when I was requested to create this magic.

“A long time ago, a general of a certain country had this magic created, saying that because recruits lack a sense of crisis thinking it’s just training, he wanted them to experience life-or-death situations where they just barely don’t die.”

” ” ” “Isn’t that guy the worst!?” ” ” “

Well, it’s true he was a pretty malicious person.

But it produced results, and when you try it, it was actually a reasonable action.

“At any rate, with this, there is no chance whatsoever of anyone dying, so if you suffer a major injury, please recover with the Elixir. By doing so, you will not only get combat training but also viscerally understand the effectiveness of the Elixir you make.”

“Viscerally, you say…”

“Ah, it’s dangerous to look away, everyone.”

” ” ” “Eh?” ” ” “

A monster attacked the young Elf warriors who were absorbed in conversation with me.

Kyurururugaaah!!

And without time to dodge, they were blown away and smashed against the fort’s wall.

” ” ” “Gwaaaaaaah!!” ” ” “

“I-I’m… alive.”

“I-I survived…?”

But thanks to the Low-Grade Area-of-Effect Limit Defense Magic I cast, everyone was heavily injured but survived.

However, since it’s a magic to just barely hold on, the damage from a direct hit is massive.

“I-It hurts, it hurts… m-my leg is facing a weird direction…”

“Everyone, please quickly drink the Elixir and recover. Otherwise, the monsters will come again~!”

“Hiiih!? E-Elixir! The Elixir!”

Seeing the monsters approaching again, the young Elf warriors hurriedly drank the Elixirs.

Gulp gulp!!

Then, the young Elf warriors began to glow faintly, and their wounds healed right before their eyes.

Yeah, it exerted its effect properly.

“O-Ooh!? The wounds are healed!?”

“M-My leg is healed!? Th-Thank goodness…”

“Everyone, the monsters are here~!”

However, since they hadn’t defeated the monsters, the young Elf warriors were immediately attacked again and fell into a pinch.

” ” ” “Hiyeeeeeeeeh!!” ” ” “

But not everyone was running around trying to escape.

“Kuh! I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

A brave young Elf warrior headed toward a monster, dodged the enemy’s attack by a hair’s breadth, and immediately transitioned to a counterattack… but.

Clang!

It seems his aim was bad, and he was repelled.

“Calm down! Please identify the thin part of the carapace while moving!”

“L-Like I can do that!!”

“It’s impossible after all!!”

Kyugaaaaaaaah!!

The young Elf warriors were blown away by the monsters while shouting.

” ” ” “Uwaaaaaah!!” ” ” “

And the Elves smashed against the ground and walls became near-death again.

“I-I’m dying, I’m going to die…”

“Higyaaaaaah!!”

“S-Save, save… me.”

“Damn it! Pierce! Pierce!!”

“Uwaaaaaah!!”

They desperately drank Elixirs to heal their wounds, and headed towards the monsters with desperate expressions.

Watching that scene, Liliera-san muttered quietly.

“…It’s a picture of hell.”

“We were like that too… right?”

“Oh God. Please save their hearts.”

“If you attack too recklessly, the precious monster materials will get damag… well, they aren’t getting damaged, so I guess it’s fine.”

Liliera-san and Mina-san seemed to be remembering when they were doing special training, and had deeply emotional expressions.

In contrast, Norb-san was praying for the growth of the young Elf warriors who were desperately training.

Meguri-san was… well, the same as usual.

And speaking of the same as usual, there was one more person.

“Hey, hey Bro, can I join in too?”

“Kyuu, kyuu!!”

Jairo-kun and Mofu-mofu asked me, looking like they wanted to fight too.

“Umm, the monsters here are their prey, so you can take the additional monsters coming from outside.”

“Yay!”

“Kyukyuu!”

Having obtained permission, the two immediately headed towards the monsters coming from beyond the fog.

“Ah, Liliera-san, please supervise Mofu-mofu so it doesn’t run off deep into the forest.”

“Got it.”

That’s right. For some reason, ever since we came here, Mofu-mofu has been excessively trying to enter the forest.

Is there something it’s curious about?

While I was observing the battlefield like that, a change occurred in the young Elf warriors.

“H-Hihi… I won’t die, I can’t die… In that case, I’ll keep going until you dieeeee!!”

“Here? No? Then here? Gebuh!? E-Elixeeer… gulp, alright, next is here.”

“Hyahhaaaaaaaa! It pierced!!”

“H-Heheheh, as long as I have the Elixir, my injuries will heal… I’m not scared of you guys!!”

The young Elf warriors, who until now had been falling into a panic or running away saying they couldn’t possibly win, seemed to have viscerally realized the protection of the Limit Defense Magic and the effect of the Elixir after nearly dying multiple times. Thinking that if they wouldn’t die, they could win eventually, they resolutely began to challenge the monsters.

“Yeah, they’ve finally realized their true potential. That’s right, you are all much stronger than you think. It’s too early to narrow your possibilities on your own.”

All the young Elf warriors, not caring about getting injured, began dodging the monsters’ attacks by a paper-thin margin and thrusting their knives into the monsters’ joints.

That sight had a manliness that reminded me of those nostalgic Elves I once fought alongside.

“Fuhihihih! I know! I know where your fragile parts are!!”

“Once our attacks get through, it’s our win! This time we’ll make you scared!!”

“Kyu, kyuga!?”

” ” ” “Massacre all the monsters!!” ” ” “

“Kyugaaaaaaaah!!”

Within the foggy forest, the war cries of Elves and monsters echoed.