Chapter 140: Elven Bloodline

After taking on the hero class, this was the first time Donald had abandoned casting spells and chosen to fight in this manner.
As one of the most powerful melee heroes in the world of magic, although the Demon Hunter wasn’t as ferocious as the Orc Swordmaster, with the bonus from the demon physique and the assistance of sacrificial magic, he slaughtered those Orc wolf riders of bronze strength as easily as chopping vegetables.
At first, Donald wasn’t very accustomed to the martial arts inherited from the Night Elf hunters—elegant and dazzling, yet laced with deadly grace. But after killing over a dozen wolf riders, he gradually got into the rhythm.
A mage suddenly charging into a group of orcs with a blade in hand, slaughtering everyone around, left Ferdinand on the other side utterly stunned. Staring in shock, he muttered, “Am I too outdated, or is this world too crazy? Is this still a mage? More ferocious than a Silver Knight! Could it be that Donald is the legendary person skilled in both magic and combat?”
It took less than three minutes for the five Orcs led by Wufeng to be wiped out by Donald and his companions. Seeing no living Orcs around, Donald raised his dual blades and laughed loudly, “Haha! What a satisfying fight!”
After the battle, they simply cleaned up the battlefield. Aside from a few dozen Orc scimitars and short spears as meager spoils, the soul power from the Soul Balls was the best reward.
As for the Orc corpses, since there was no bounty from the kingdom, keeping them was pointless. Donald burned them to ashes with a few bursts of magic flames. The same was done to the bodies of the wolf mounts.
Wolf mounts were mounts raised by Orc shamans. Though their combat strength was comparable to that of level-four magical beasts, they weren’t magical beasts themselves, so there were no magical cores or similar rewards. Their deaths only provided Donald with a small amount of soul power, barely anything at all.
After dealing with the Orcs, Donald wanted to inquire about the origin of these elves. However, his fierce fighting style and overwhelming strength had already filled these elves with awe. When Donald approached them, many young elves stepped back in fear.
“Don’t be afraid, friends of the elven race! I am a noble lord from the human kingdom of Selt. Where do you come from?”
Donald’s elven language was passable. He hoped these elves could speak more than just the Ancient Elven language.

Sure enough, after Donald spoke, many of the elves appeared puzzled, clearly not understanding the Elvish language. Eventually, an older elf in his thirties, supported by two female elves, stepped forward and said in Old Elvish, “I’m sorry, human lord. I am Elyia, the elder of this elf tribe. Please forgive me for being injured and unable to thank you for your rescue!” The lifespan of ordinary elves is between 500 and 800 years, so the fact that this elder appeared old indicated he was at least 300 years old.

Donald only had a superficial understanding of Old Elvish, so he had no choice but to rely on Kelthas to communicate with the elves.

It turned out that these elves belonged to a small elf tribe living in the forests of the northern continent. Due to several human kingdoms lying in between and their location being too far from the elf islands in the south, they were left behind during the Great Elf Migration. Relying on their innate ability to live in harmony with nature and using the forests as a barrier, they had lived peacefully there.

Unluckily, not long ago, a group of orc warriors driven by human armies, while hunting for food in those unknown forests, happened to discover the elves’ presence. Soon their tribe was found by the orcs, disrupting the peaceful life they had enjoyed in the forest for the past couple of years.

Orcs and elves are naturally hostile races. The elves, who value nature and peace, could not tolerate the rude, barbaric, and cruel orcs. Orcs also liked to raid weaker elf tribes. This situation continued until after the Great Elf Migration, when it became rare to see elves on the continent, and the orcs were driven to the Northwest Wastelands. Yet, deep hatred between the two races remained.

The discovery of an elf tribe in the northern continent surprised the orc leaders, who immediately ordered their warriors to capture this small tribe.

The elf tribe, consisting of just over eighty people, was no match for hundreds of strong orcs, especially since the orcs also sent two orc shaman priests. In the battle, five silver-level elders died or were injured while protecting their people, and another dozen members of the tribe were lost. The elves quickly lost their ability to resist.

To avoid becoming slaves to the orcs or food for them, the two remaining elders ordered everyone, along with the wounded and children, to flee through the back. Then, at the cost of their own lives, they unleashed a forbidden spell, releasing a version of a level-8 spell but with greater power—Nature’s Wrath—killing themselves along with their enemies and destroying the entire tribe.

However, the orcs had lost two shamans and hundreds of elite warriors, so they certainly wouldn’t give up so easily. The remaining orcs reported the situation as soon as they returned, and immediately a hundred of the fastest wolf riders were sent to chase after these elves.

These elves from the tribe, having been isolated for so long, still adhered to the traditions of ancient times and used Old Elvish, so after leaving the forest that sustained them, they lost their direction. Instead of fleeing south, they ran north to the edge of the uninhabited Tandril Swamp. Yet this led them to receive help from Donald and the others, allowing them to survive.

Donald rescued them from the orcs. The elves were very grateful, but they still held some wariness toward humans.

So Donald nodded at Kaelthas with a smile, and the Blood Mage immediately removed his cloak and mask, revealing his true appearance.

Seeing Kaelthas’s face, the elves were both shocked and delighted.

“You’re also an elf!” exclaimed Ferdinand, who had spent time with Kaelthas and was quite familiar with him.

The high-ranking officials in Dalaran already basically knew Kaelthas’s identity. Unfazed by Ferdinand’s surprise, Donald had his own plans for these elves.

Only after Kaelthas’s identity as a direct descendant of the High Elves was revealed did the elves feel secure and stop resisting Donald and the others. Due to their inherited bloodline, they had little resistance to the High Elves’ lineage.

Ilyana, the only surviving elf elder, immediately bowed to Kaelthas according to Old Elvish customs.

“Our tribe has suffered destruction, and these children’s lives are in danger. Ilyana implores you to lend a hand and help us escape the orcs’ pursuit!”

Kaelthas then said something that surprised the elves.

“Elves, please stand up! I am a follower of Lord Donald. He rules over a vast territory, and whether he will help you depends on his decision!” Hearing this, the elves looked at Donald in surprise. It was not unheard of for elves to become followers of humans, but that was only in the days of ancient heroes or even earlier, during the era of the Great Arcane Empires. Moreover, pure-blooded descendants of the High Elves had never heard of anyone bowing to humans. Combined with Donald’s performance in battle earlier, the elves felt even greater respect for him.

Donald looked at the elves before him, thought for a moment, and said, “In my realm, there are two uninhabited forests. Although they are in the northern part of the continent, they are protected by barriers. The winter climate there is similar to this place. If you wish, you can go there temporarily to take shelter. I guarantee no one will disturb your lives.”

After Kelthas translated this for the elves, many of them became interested. With such a powerful lord and a descendant of the High Elves as their protector, their safety should be assured!

As for the elven elder, he had even more considerations. As an elder of the tribe, Ilyas had reached the early stage of Silver-level spellcasting abilities. Especially since their power came from nature, they were highly sensitive to auras. The other elves only felt a sense of closeness and goodwill toward Donald! But he could sense the aura of his kind within him.

So the elven elder said, “Lord Mage, I wonder if you also have elven blood in your veins?”

Donald glanced at Ilyas in surprise and nodded, saying, “I indeed have some elven ancestry. How did you tell?”

Having become a Demon Hunter and having been granted elven bloodline by the Book of Summoning, his lifespan had been extended to about three hundred years, and his strength had greatly improved, reflected in his maximum life mana and recovery speed.

This, which wasn’t really a secret, needed no hiding. His teacher and Chris had long guessed that he possessed powerful bloodlines from other races.

Hearing his guess confirmed, the elven elder immediately relaxed a bit and replied, “Our tribe inherits the traditions of druids, so we are highly sensitive to natural forces. Your aura feels very familiar to me!”

“I see!” Donald was surprised to encounter a mage with the long-lost traditions of ancient druids just by saving a few elves casually. He felt delighted.

“However, don’t the elves usually treat half-elves poorly?” Donald was puzzled by the elven elder’s courtesy.

Ilya explained, “We elves only feel shame toward half-elves born from forced unions between our people and outsiders. We have no prejudice against half-elves born from normal unions with humans!” Donald had learned this from books—half-elves who are not hybrids of higher intelligent beings, such as those born from rapes by orcs or other barbaric humanoids, cannot be considered half-elves. They are usually called orc-elves and are despised by both humans and elves as aberrations.

Although the elves were proud, they had to acknowledge humanity’s dominant position on the continent. Though the elf race was far more powerful than humans, their low reproductive capacity limited their growth, forcing them to abandon their role as rulers of the continent and retreat to the warm southern islands.

Upon learning that Donald, the human mage, was actually a descendant of half-elves, the elves completely dropped their guard. After discussing it with the elders, they immediately agreed to Donald’s proposal. With their homeland destroyed by orcs, the majority were willing to follow Donald and his group.

However, they needed to cross the Twin Dragon Marshes to reach Selt’s territory. The elves were worried that many of their people might perish in those dangerous swamps. Donald was also troubled by this—goblin airships couldn’t carry many people, let alone over fifty elves.

Seeing the innocent expressions of the elf children and the eager looks on the adult elves’ faces, Donald couldn’t bear to abandon even one of them. Suddenly, he came up with an idea and asked the elder, “You said earlier that you follow the Druidic faith? Then it should be possible to easily tame and control magical beasts, right?”

The elder replied confidently, “Yes, Master Mage. Even our tribe’s children can communicate with ordinary magical beasts below level three!”

Smiling at this, Donald said, “That makes things easier! Come out, horned eagles!” He then summoned thirty horned eagles to serve as transport for the elves.

Seeing these majestic birds with an aura of nature, the elves stared in disbelief. Donald briefly explained things to them, and soon the elves began using their innate abilities to communicate with the horned eagles. At Donald’s command, the eagles resisted not at all and quickly grew fond of the elves. After that, the younger elves paired up, while the adults rode alone, easily mounting the horned eagles and taking to the air.

Donald also released the goblin airships, taking along the injured elf elder who was unable to move, along with the four of them, and they flew toward the swamp.