Chapter 6- Towards the Dark Elf Settlement Part 2

Today we (as in my siblings and I) spent most of the morning packing our things. Afterwards, we prepared to say our goodbyes as we will be leaving in the evening. You may wonder, why leave in the dead of night? The answer… golems! Merciless, magoi fueled killing machines are to be our escort!

Mom's latest golems are powered by ambient magoi and at night, the ambient magoi is greatest. Just imaging these things killing monsters, magic beasts, and bandits like stomping roaches is thrilling! I can't wait to see them in action. Like most golems and gargoyles mom made, the golems had bestial features, but for the most part are humanoid and merciless when killing. Especially when it came to monsters.

It is said today's monsters are the remnant offspring of the demonic dragons. Those giant lizards were known for their greed, pride, and insatiable lust. Everything and everyone was fair game for them to copulate with. Even plants and the dead were not spared (those sickos).

This was how spriggans, vampires, ghouls, wendigos, and other creatures came to be. And like their progenitor were also greedy, gluttonous, prideful, and fucked anything to procreate. This led many races to near extinction since the demonic dragons wanted to spread their ilk all over the world.

Thus, it is with immense pleasure, we now enjoy stomping monsters into a pulp and harvesting their cadavers for their magically enhanced materials. We especially harvest their chaos cores which are the same as a mage core. They are usually the size of a peach depending on how big the monster is.

I may be a 6-year-old, but I have first-hand experience with monster hunting, hehehe. Too bad I won't get to do anything as we travel. It takes about 4 hours to reach the Dark Elven ancestral home from here, and the golems are set to exterminate and extract as we go.

As I stepped inside the stagecoach, a sleeping yet weeping Saphire and a silent Katya greeted me. It seemed to me Katya had been greatly intrigued by mom's creations and wanted to follow in her footsteps as a MagiTech Alchemic Craftsman. Good for her! This way I will have a partner in crime when I go hunting.

As for me, I decided to treat this life like my second favorite game on Earth, Incarnata Prima. It was the closest we had to full-immersion VR and allowed the player to do many things. My character was a Magic Warmonger who for the most part was a grandmaster of all the available schools of magic including Magic Smithing. I spent almost 4 years perfecting that character, and a stupid world war had to happen!!

Anyway, this time I will make it a reality. The first step for me (which I had already finished when I was 3) is to practice a meditation technique known as mana manipulation. Unlike magoi meditation techniques in Ohmdorra, mana manipulation is a technique which uses the body as a furnace to purify ambient mana and allow it to flow through the body back into the atmosphere.

Or at least that is what Uncle Yuriy said. Since I practically lived with him and aunt Katya from the age of 4, Uncle Yuriy taught (more like forced) me his meditation technique he called mana manipulation. Being an overly imaginative and naïve kid (in translation a dumb little brat), I believed every word he said since,

1. He's the family patriarch,

2. He always has the best stories, and

3. He's my favorite person in the family.

Little did I know the stuff he taught me would come in handy now. There are three stages of mana manipulation. First, mana intake; well in this case it will be magoi intake. In this stage, I have to not only sense magoi but with every breath allow magoi to enter through my skin and accessible orifices.

Second, mana refinement. Here after intaking enough magoi, I must guide it throughout my body circulating through my organs. Each circulatory rotation followed a specific order starting from the lungs to heart, then stomach to intestine to loins and back in reverse. Afterwards, instead of releasing the magoi, I send it through my throat then eyes, then brain.

I then return it to my lungs and repeat the cycle. The aim is to complete the cycle three times before releasing it back into the atmosphere, which is the last stage, Release and Retain. At this stage I must simultaneously release the refined magoi back into the atmosphere through my skin while receiving more. When all three stages are followed correctly, my organs are reinforced, and impurities are released through my skin with each completed circulation.

Once enough impurities are released, I can then focus on the next step which is to create my mana palaces. I currently have not taken this step. The reason... according to Uncle Yuriy, one must completely forge their palaces all at once or their growth will be capped.

When I turned 14-years-old, instead of journeying to the homes of my relatives, Uncle Yuriy taught this next stage of his as if grooming me for some kind of wizardry battle (Lightning bolt shaped scar on forehead and magic wand in hand: Missing in action. Divine chalice ordained familiar: Nope! Unavailable, please try again).

In his words, there are a total of 15 palaces (in theory) one can make. However, one cannot add the palaces they missed after the initial formation. Each palace acts as a mage core and will automatically attune to the elements one has an affinity with.

Elemental affinity is determined by one's genes. Example, dark elves typically have a higher affinity with fire and darkness elements which allows them to be most proficient in fire and darkness magic as well as more advanced spells derived from darkness such as gravity spells.

Humans in this world also have elemental affinities based on their ancestral ties to the land they live in. Those from the continent of Salamor have a higher affinity with water and earth, whereas those from the continent of Frontanium are more attuned to wind and fire.

Here in Eliador, the humans surprising have what's known as a void constitution, meaning they have no greater affinity with any element and are able to manipulate any element with relative ease given enough practice. This is partly the reason most mage organizations try to recruit potential mages from here.

Regardless, in my case I can't really say what I have since I have not made my mana palaces, nor have I used an affinity stone (not In****y stone) since I am not with an organization. I mean, I'm only 6! Regardless of me having retained my memories from past lives, none of that information can help me at the moment.

For now, I will continue to practice my magoi manipulation until I have an immaculate body, or something close to it. Besides the magical aspect, I have been training my body as best as I can. Just… not too much since I don't want to be 3'6" for the rest of my life.

While I sat with my legs crossed, all-out carnage continued to ensue outside the carriage. Wave after wave of foolish creatures and thieves continued to be killed by the golems. The funniest thing I noticed was a group of bandits dressed like hobo power rangers. Noticing our carriage, they started to flag it down, only to be greeted by the 6-foot golem wielding a claymore. First it was,

"Hey slow down over here" and then,

"Looks like we've got ourselves a fat purse!" only for them to switch up with,

"Mercy, I cannot best you" which led to,

"AaAahh!" (Death throes)

The sad part is even when they begged for mercy, they'd get back up, strike a pose, and still try to fight instead running away… (sigh). This wanton display of death continued until we reached the next province to the north of our home. Here, there are more settlements, villages, and towns, all of which are made up of elves, beastfolk and the occasional topside dwarves.

Few humans live here since the topography, climate and overall conditions are too much for normal humans to handle. As such, this province of Duxley is known as Valiegrove (Fun fact: Valie in this continent's language mean "deadly air"!) in which the ambient magoi is so dense, it's visible to the naked eye. One can see multi-colored specks the sized of lamppost lightbulbs floating around all over the place no matter if you are indoors or outside.

Currently, we are about an hour away from Andy's clan. They live deep in a forest which receives minimal sunlight due to how densely packed and tall the trees are. I can't wait to see what their settlement looks like! Hopefully, they live in the trees or something like that and not in a damp dark cave…

(What the… the heck is this un-elven display!?) As we approached the settlement what appeared before us was a small town of normal looking stone and wooden houses all encircling what looks to be a giant hollowed out tree. Currently, the sun is rising, but it's still dark here since you know, the whole tree thing I mentioned earlier. As we approached, it looks like we were expected as a small group of people awaited at the settlement's entryway,

"Welcome young ones!" The elderly dark elf said as we came to a halt.

"And welcome home, young Alandareel. I pray the trip was without trouble?" Alandareel!? Who the hell is that? I looked at Andy, only to see him smile and say,

"Little Yuriy, this is my name given by my elven mother. It is my father whose lineage would not accept an elf being charged with preserving their bloodline. So, I am known as Andy everywhere else but here."

After satisfying my curiosity, Andy turned to the elder and spoke saying,

"Hallan deraal neda (Blessed life unto you), Elder Alamdarra. The trip was safe with Sarumariel (blood sister) Anna's golems."

Andy replied to the Elder. They must be speaking their native tongue since I understood extraordinarily little of what was said. While they greeted each other, a few of the villagers helped us with our luggage. Once finished, the golems controlling and protecting the carriage start walking towards a stable as if they had been here before, maybe they have. While I was in my own world, the Elder approached Katya, Saphire, and I saying,

"It is good to see the ammatari (descendants) of Yuriy here! Come, you must be hungry." With that, the Elder guided us to a somewhat big stone house right next to the giant hollow tree.

-End of Chapter