“Of course they’re Trenbolone, Methenolone, Oxandrolone, Oxymetholone, Stanozolol, Trestolone, Stenbolone, Nandrolone Phenylpropionate, and Nandrolone Decanoate! Nine Dragons Power will help you ascend to the steroid planet!”
Astraea excitedly waved her hands and feet, spouting out a few names Luo En had never heard before. But seeing that each one had “dragon” in it, could it be…
‘Are these drugs with the power of dragons?’
Luo En guessed, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. If it was dragon power, how much enhancement could it give him?
‘But why haven’t I heard of those dragon names? Are they what the elves call dragons? And what is that steroid planet?’
“Cough, cough, I was joking. Where would I find you a dragon?”
Seeing that Luo En didn’t understand her joke, Astraea scratched her head and brushed the topic aside.
“But…”
“Alright, no buts. This potion is called Forest Holy Liquid. It’s made with Forest Heart, and after mixing in some elf saliva, the flavor is even better~”
The little elf withdrew the white porcelain bottle and continued explaining the effects of this elven secret potion.
“It allows the user to become closer to nature, even gaining the world’s recognition.”
As for what “the world’s recognition” meant, Astraea said she didn’t know either. In any case, it would strengthen Luo En.
“I see…”
Luo En closed his eyes and carefully sensed the change. Then he discovered that the world really did seem different.
Originally, when he closed his eyes and lost his sight, he could only rely on other senses to receive information. But now, he could vaguely sense the changes around him!
For example, even with his eyes closed, he could “see” the little elf putting a grape into her mouth.
He opened his eyes and sure enough, saw Astraea’s small mouth bulging.
Luo En smiled. The effect of the potion was certainly more than this, but the rest of the experience was indescribable. All he knew was that his knight’s path would be smoother from now on.
This was the world’s guarantee to him.
“Keep it up.”
The little elf’s eyes curved into crescents, looking somewhat sacred.
“Yeah, I will.”
The knight put on his helmet, slung his longsword over his back, and turned to walk out of the box.
—
The once-a-decade Kingdom Knight Tournament was one of the few occasions where the kingdom’s nobles and commoners could celebrate together.
Little Jimi and his sister had prepared their dried rations early and arrived at the royal capital’s tournament grounds.
Although it was said that everyone in the capital could come to watch, if commoners like them didn’t come early, they wouldn’t even be able to find a place to stand.
But today they were lucky. They had followed right behind Luo En and found a spot where the two of them could sit and watch.
As for Little Jimi’s father? Unfortunately, even on a day like the Kingdom Knight Tournament, someone had to guard the walls. Old Jimi was unluckily on duty that day.
Then again, guarding the walls was still better than going into the sewers to clear out goblins, right?
“Sis, look! That’s the knight brother!”
Little Jimi, seeing so many knights for the first time, was a little excited. When he saw Luo En in blue armor enter the arena, he stood straight up.
Amy looked in the direction her brother was pointing and sure enough, saw the knight she had been thinking about.
Luo En carried his longsword on his back and looked at his opponent. The knight tournament had many events, and the one currently underway was the foot combat match, which Luo En was good at.
“Luo En·Elvan·Logan.”
Luo En announced his name loudly, and the guy in red armor on the other side also stated his own.
“Manba Aote.”
Clang!
Both drew their weapons. Luo En held his longsword with both hands, while Knight Manba held a straight sword in each hand.
The two knights no longer squared off and immediately clashed.
Luo En swung his arms, the longsword tearing through the air. Manba used his right-hand straight sword to firmly block the blade of the longsword.
He couldn’t match Luo En’s two hands with just one, but Manba’s left straight sword shot out like a venomous snake toward Luo En, forcing Luo En to disengage his momentum and dodge left.
All of this happened within a second, and the fierce exchange between the knights drew a chorus of gasps from the audience.
“Ah!”
Seeing Luo En barely dodge Manba’s thrust, Amy cried out in worry.
“Big sis, can you not grab my hand? It hurts…”
Little Jimi looked at his sister, who was gripping him tightly, his eyes full of displeasure.
Seeing her little brother like that, Amy quickly apologized.
“Sorry, sorry. I got a little excited.”
Back on the field, Luo En, while disengaging his momentum, suddenly brought his longsword down with force. This time, Manba had no choice but to use both swords to hold off Luo En’s attack.
Luo En smiled under his helmet. Now the advantage was in his hands.
Without giving Knight Manba a chance to react, Luo En quickly kicked out, forcing Manba back several steps.
Manba barely managed to stop his backward momentum, but his stance had a gap. With no time to catch his breath, Luo En switched from a slash to a thrust, and the tip of his longsword struck Manba’s breastplate with a clang.
Knight Manba stood still for a while before saying, “I lose.”
Though unwilling, a knight’s whole body should be a weapon. Luo En’s kick wasn’t against the rules. He could only blame himself for being too slow.
Luo En withdrew his longsword and subconsciously glanced at the box area. The small figure smiled back at him.
“Thanks for the match.”
He clasped his fist and returned to the waiting area.
The small figure withdrew her smile. After confirming that Luo En had really left, she picked up her own straight sword.
The main ingredients of the Forest Holy Liquid were the Forest Heart and elf blood.
She had plenty of blood, but the Forest Heart was hard to come by. Borrowing from the duke’s storeroom naturally came with a price.
As compensation, she had to satisfy some of the duke’s desires…
‘What a terrible plot.’
But there wouldn’t be any nasty things like minotaurs here. Maximus wasn’t so perverted as to go into heat at the sight of an elf.
Besides, Maximus’s personal fetish was actually the flat-chested type like Aiouwen.
Anyway, getting off track. The so-called “duke’s desires” weren’t anything strange. It was just that as a Heteromorph, no matter how open-minded Maximus was, he still instinctively felt wary of her.
So she had to prove her worth to the duke, to prove she was worthy of Luo En.
Though it was annoying, she was the one who used his Forest Heart. That thing wasn’t something you could find everywhere. Only a complete, uncut forest could produce one.
Even in the well-preserved forests of the Elven City-State, it was rare, let alone in the Human Kingdom.
So how should she prove her value?
Astraea stepped out of the box. After ignoring the strange looks from the servants, she turned several corners and saw Maximus waiting for her in the outer area.
The tall duke had a cold expression, not at all like when he was with Luo En… Well, the duke didn’t have much of an expression before either, so he looked pretty cold. With the little elf’s total experience of just over forty years from two lives, she couldn’t read the duke’s mood.
“You are a magic user,” the duke said. “And also a swordsman.”
Astraea tried to put on an expressionless face like the duke, though it looked funny, the duke kept a straight face.
“Of course. To be precise, I’m a magic swordsman.”
Elves couldn’t cultivate the knight’s path. That was the path opened by the All-Father, so elves, who couldn’t strengthen their bodies like humans, relied more on magic.
Elves who liked close combat, like the little elf, would also study swordsmanship, which was what they called magic swordsmen.
“You know Knight Tang Deli, right?”
“Yeah, I know him.”
“I need you to bring back Knight Tang Deli’s family crest.”
Maximus gave the little elf his test, and along with it, he handed her a pass personally signed by him.
Knight Tang Deli had ventured deep into the Goblin Nest and never returned. Originally, the duke had dispatched the Royal Capital Guard to clear the sewers of goblins and planned to retrieve the unfortunate knight’s belongings as well. But he hadn’t expected the goblins to display astonishing combat power.
Now, none of the Royal Capital Guard’s cleansing squads had been able to reach the depth Knight Tang Deli had entered, which surprised Maximus.
Sending Astraea this time was not only a test for the little elf but also a way for him to get more information about those goblins.
According to reports from the Royal Capital Guard, those goblins were even using iron tools, and the number of Hobgoblins and Goblin Mages was increasing. Maximus was curious about what had caused these goblins to become so powerful.
An ordinary goblin tribe might not even have a single Hobgoblin, and a Goblin Mage was unheard of. The duke’s first reaction upon hearing that goblins could use magic was disbelief.
But the evidence was right in front of him. Whether he believed it or not, Goblin Mages existed.
Still, he definitely didn’t want to go into the stinky sewers himself, so this glorious reconnaissance mission was given to the little elf.
Astraea’s face fell. The noble duke didn’t want to go into the sewers, and she, as an elf, didn’t want to either!
‘I’m in no position to refuse. I have to do it!’
The little elf put on an expression of facing death, took the pass from the duke, and headed out.
“Right, remember to smile more. That kid Luo En probably doesn’t like it when you look gloomy.”
Even though he was wary of Astraea, Maximus still gave advice when needed.
“And Aiouwen asked me to tell you to stop bleeding yourself so much in the future.”
“I… I will.”
The little elf replied awkwardly. To make the Forest Holy Liquid, she had drained herself for several days.
Fortunately, she had recovered by now. Otherwise, she would have had to consider postponing the test.
‘But if I postpone, once Luo En is free, he’ll definitely not allow me to go out alone, right? Better to get it done now.’
Luo En had his own trial, and she, Astraea, couldn’t afford to fall behind.