Chapter 286: Highlanders and Half-Elves

Elven Elder Marshall regretted that Donald had not agreed to his proposal and instead chosen to carry on the legacy of the Great Arcane Empire. Yet it was Donald’s choice, and he could not force anything on him. After all, this man had been personally recognized by the elven gods as having the potential to become a demigod, and maintaining a good relationship with him would bring tremendous benefits to the elven race.

It should be noted that the elves were not without demigods. On the contrary, the number of powerful elven demigods was among the highest among all races in the main world. The total number of elves worldwide was only around ten million, and even at their peak, it did not exceed a few million. Yet they had as many as thirty-some demigods, almost twice as many as the existing human demigods.

However, most of these demigods were high elves who became demigods due to their innate bloodline talents. They possessed demigod powers but did not reach the corresponding spiritual realm. They did not follow the traditional path of igniting divine flames but rather received their powers from the will of nature, similar to earth gods. As a result, they had to enter a deep sleep to recover after each use of these powers. Given their nearly endless lifespans, each sleep lasted at least a hundred years. Thus, despite the large number of demigod-level beings, they could not act recklessly. Apart from ensuring the safety and continuity of their own race, these indifferent and powerful elves paid little attention to anything else, which meant their existence was rarely known to outsiders.

Only a few elven demigods, through chance and talent, followed the difficult but powerful path of igniting divine flames to establish their divine roles. These individuals were the future successors of the elven gods and could immediately ascend to true gods once the conditions allowed.

Therefore, having an additional powerful demigod as an ally who could act freely was something the elven gods welcomed. After all, though they already held thrones and were powerful, they were restricted from freely descending to the main world. In contrast, demigods who had not established their own divine kingdoms were not subject to such restrictions. Given the current conditions in the main world, without external assistance, it would take hundreds or even thousands of years to establish a divine kingdom. Adding the process of forming a divine role, success might take as little as a dozen years or as long as several hundred years. Thus, a demigod spent a very long time in the main world.

Regarding Donald, this promising candidate, the Elven Council decided to focus on winning him over and supporting him.

“Do you intend to send a group of elves to live in Dalaran?”

When the two legendary elves made their request, Donald was slightly surprised.
Marshall said, “Indeed, Mage Donald must be aware of this. Our elves’ birth rate is declining year by year, and it’s already at its limit for two mother trees to sustain a population of nearly a million. Thus, the third surviving mother tree here is our hope for the future!”
Elder Rudy also spoke earnestly, “The Elf Council has made a decision. If you agree to this condition, you will become an ally of the entire elf race. When you or your realm are in danger, we will support you unconditionally!”
Seeing the sincerity of these two elf elders and their rare willingness to set aside their status as legendary powerhouses, Donald felt great goodwill toward them. Moreover, allowing elves to settle there would bring no loss to him, but rather some benefits.
Although Dalaran was developing rapidly, its population was still too small. Although the proportion of elites under his control was high, it was only about one-third of the total population. If he could attract a group of elves to settle there, it would effectively strengthen his realm’s strength.
After all, even the most ordinary elves were professionals at the peak of black iron rank or above. If not for their small population, with everyone fighting, they might have ruled the world since ancient times!
So Donald smiled and said, “I agree to this. After all, I also have elf blood in my veins. It’s an honor for me to be able to help the elf race!”
The two elf elders were overjoyed upon hearing this!
“I knew Donald would definitely agree. For your contributions to our entire elf race, the Elf Council has decided to grant you the title of Honorary Elder. From now on, you will be recognized as an elder by all elves!” said Marshall. Elder Rudy added, “Don’t underestimate the title of Honorary Elder. With this title, you become a member of the elf race. Even the royal families of the various lands cannot force you to do things you don’t want to do. In human society, you would have a status and position that surpasses ordinary ones!”
Elder Rudy, who had long been in charge of human affairs, understood these matters better. He immediately explained to Donald the significance of the title of Honorary Elder in the continent.

Donald was filled with joy at this additional honor. His status in Thelos already surpassed that of ordinary local nobles, and though he fell short compared to the established great nobles in terms of historical legacy, he far surpassed them in strength. Now, with this new status, he held a position equal to that of a king. Even if a powerful enemy sought to attack him, they would have to consider the backing of the mighty elf race!

“Then I thank you both, elders. I’ll let Elder Ilya handle the details of the relocation. After all, elves are likely to prefer the environment of Moonlight Wood over the noisy and bustling Town of Dusk. With Starlight Town’s size, it should be no problem to accommodate up to three thousand elves!”

“That’s great! Starlight Town is right next to the Mother Tree, making it the most suitable place for elves to live. We’ve been staying there these past three months, and the environment is no worse than that of the Forest Royal Court or the Sacred Island of the Sun. Elder Donald’s arrangements will surely satisfy those elves once they arrive!”

Once everything was settled, though reluctant to stay longer, the two legendary elf elders did not linger. After discussing the relocation plans with Ilya, they both returned to the south. This time, they traveled on an alchemical airship gifted by Donald. Although its speed couldn’t match that of legendary warriors themselves, its comfort was much greater, much to their satisfaction.

As for the two pilots trained by Dalaran on the airship, they were specially assigned by Donald to train elves in piloting. They would return together when they next went back to Dalaran.

After seeing off the two legendary elf elders, Donald planned to inspect his territory. Leaving the lord’s mansion, he first checked on the business at the Alchemy Fire Shop. On his way to the blacksmith’s shop, he heard noise coming from the Adventurers’ Guild.

Curious, Donald immediately turned toward the Adventurers’ Guild and saw a crowd of adventurers gathered in the guild hall, with more onlookers gathered outside the doors.

“Move aside, move aside! The lord is here…”

The security guards, upon seeing Donald approaching, quickly cleared the crowd to make way for their lord.

“What’s going on?”

Entering the guild hall, he saw hundreds of adventurers gathered around a few people in the center, pointing and discussing. When they saw Donald enter with two guards, they all stepped aside.

In the guild hall stood four people, one of whom was at least nine feet tall—half a head taller than the average person—standing out sharply and easily noticeable at first glance.

But this guy clearly didn’t resemble elves or any other humanoid race; he looked entirely like a typical human. Beside this tall man was a small figure whose height barely reached his knees, creating a striking contrast with the tall man. No wonder such a strange combination attracted the attention of many adventurers. The little guy was barefoot, and oddly, his feet resembled sheep’s hooves rather than human feet. Donald immediately realized this was a humanoid race mentioned in ancient texts—halflings! Across from this unusual pair were the guild leader arranged by Donald: Clinton, who had already become a strong intermediate-level warrior, and Dina, the mage on duty at the guild that day. The former remained expressionless, while the latter seemed clearly impatient with the tall man’s persistence. The tall man argued anxiously, and when he heard Donald approaching, his face lit up with joy. He knelt down before him and spoke earnestly and excitedly. “Great Mage, please accept my request. Let me become your most loyal follower!” The tall man spoke in a human language with ancient accents; Donald could understand only half of it, inferring the rest from context. His words shocked Donald greatly. Yet Donald, no longer the ordinary Earthling he used to be but now a lord and warrior, calmly instructed Clinton to keep the workers working while he signaled the tall man to follow him inside. In the room prepared for the supervisor at the back of the guild, Donald asked the tall man, whose face showed evident anxiety, “Who are you? Why do you want to follow me?” At these words, the man’s eyes reddened as he began to recount his difficult journey. It turned out he was an orphan from the legendary highland tribes. Rejected by his peers due to his orphan status, he became determined to complete his coming-of-age hunting ritual on his own. He wandered too far, crossed into the Outcloud Mountains, and accidentally fell into an underground cave. There, he encountered a squad of dark elves on patrol. Before he could fight, the cunning dark elves stunned him with poisonous smoke and captured him, taking him to the underground world.

These dark elves belonged to Scorpion Tail City, and this tall underage man became a slave of the dark elves, suffering greatly. Later, Donald and others caused chaos in Scorpion Tail City, and several goddesses descended, plunging the entire city into turmoil. Since the slaves were freed to create chaos, this tall man, along with other slaves, witnessed Donald’s might when he plundered the treasure houses of the four major families in Scorpion Tail City. He later took refuge outside the city and was spared by the goddesses, but he heard Donald angrily cursing the Spider Queen, which made him deeply admire this young yet powerful mage. Since the people of the highlands had a tradition of following mages, he decided to become one of Donald’s followers. Though simple-minded and naive about the ways of the world, he had a firm will and was willing to endure hardship. He even made it all the way to Dalaran—God only knows how he found his way out of that winding underground world and reached Dalaran!