The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 213

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 213. Water Flows and People Meet (1)
The Elves stared at me with wide, astonished eyes.
The tension had already begun to ease.
The wariness that had filled their gaze moments before had softened.
The vigilance hadn’t entirely vanished.
But the fear—the way they’d looked at me as though I were a monster—that was gone.
“This human…?”
“Is he the one you mentioned?”
“Yes!”
The female Elf nodded vigorously.
At first glance, it seemed she knew who I was.
‘How?’
My name had certainly become famous, it was true.
The Saint of Caravana.
My name was spoken of wherever one traveled on The Continent.
‘But surely the Elves wouldn’t know?’
The Elves had completely severed their contact with humans.
Even if rumors spread loudly across The Continent, the Elves couldn’t have heard them.
Or rather, they simply took no interest in such matters.
“Adrian Whitewolf! Am I right?”
This female Elf knew who I was.
She even knew my name precisely.
Yet I did not know this female Elf.
I examined the approaching female Elf carefully.
Hair the color of green, as if nature itself had taken form.
Her large, gleaming teal eyes reflected the innocent spirit of nature itself—serene and without malice.
She was certainly not The Spirit Summoner, the hero of the Allied Forces.
I continued to study the female Elf’s appearance.
A flawless figure.
Pointed ears.
The distinctive grace of the Elves emanated from her.
Her skin shimmered with a translucence like morning dew.
She had inherited the genes of the Monma, giving her beauty that stood unrivaled.
Yet unlike the Monma, there was nothing seductive or provocative about her.
She was simple, gentle, and pure.
‘…A face I have no memory of.’
I activated Predator’s Instinct [S], and information surfaced before my eyes.
==【Character Information】==
Name: Silmarien
Classification: Animalia, Mammalia, Hominidae, Elf
Gender: Female
Age: 43
Trait: Empathic Link [E]
‘Silmarien?’
…I had never heard that name before.
Of course, I didn’t remember every single Elf from the Supply Command by heart.
‘Her ability is far from ordinary.’
◆Empathic Link [E]
: The user can form emotional and intuitive resonance with beings that transcend language and are incapable of communication (such as creatures with entirely different ecologies). Sustained empathic connection at a certain level or higher can develop into a state of spiritual resonance.
If the empathic bond reaches a sufficient threshold, it can evolve into spiritual resonance.
The rank was Epic [E], no less.
A level capable of contending with Sovereigns.
Therefore, she was an Elf who must have distinguished herself within the Allied Forces.
‘Then why don’t I remember her?’
Yet this female Elf.
Silmarien seemed familiar, as though she had known me for ages.
“It’s been so long! Really, truly so long!”
…She was practically glowing with joy and excitement.
I asked her as she reached out to clasp my hand.
“Have we met before?”
“No!”
“Then how do you know me?”
“We’ve met somewhere!”
…?
“But you just said we haven’t met before?”
“That’s right!”
“Yet you’re saying we have met?”
“Yes!”
…??
“Where did we meet?”
“Well, there’s that…”
Silmarien fell into deep thought.
“…Where was it again?”
She held her index finger to her lips, pondering for a long moment.
Then she suddenly clapped her hands together!
“I have no idea!”
I was momentarily at a loss for words.
‘Are Elves normally like this?’
…They weren’t.
Elves were naturally pure-hearted, but this one was something else entirely.
“I don’t remember!”
…He simply appeared to be thinking of nothing at all.
His mind seemed as blank as a pristine canvas.
An idiot.
This wasn’t an exaggeration—the word fit perfectly.
And yet, among the Elves, he was apparently quite trusted.
“If this is the human Silmarien spoke of…”
“He’s a benefactor to our people.”
“We mustn’t treat him carelessly.”
“Let us repay the debt of his kindness.”
The Elves who had trembled in fear now extended their palms in unison, displaying their goodwill toward me.
* * *
Allerion was a half-elf.
A hybrid of human and Elf blood.
The blood of both races flowed equally through his veins.
Yet he despised humans.
None other than Allerion’s mother had taught him this.
He had witnessed firsthand the humiliation she endured.
To her, Allerion was an unwanted existence.
And yet she never rejected him.
It was humans who turned away from Allerion.
Specifically, the garbage he refused to call father.
To that man, Allerion was merely a trace of carnal pleasure.
But Allerion’s mother endured that human’s selfishness and irresponsibility.
-Allerion, no matter who gave you life… I do not regret you.
Through her, Allerion received the patience and love of the Elves.
She protected him in the way of the Elves until her final breath.
-If you go there… you will find the land of our Elves.
The land of the Elves, Sylvandir Forest.
There, Allerion could meet with the Elves.
And the Elves did not reject him.
They treated Allerion not as a “human” with Elven blood, but as an “Elf” with human blood.
Just like this.
“Oh! It’s Allerion!”
“…Allerion?”
“You’ve come back?”
Elves huddled together in a cluster.
Allerion rushed toward them.
“Are you all safe?!”
“Yes. We’re fine.”
“I was startled, but everyone’s safe!”
Fortunately, they all seemed to be unharmed.
Allerion exhaled a deep sigh of relief and asked.
“How did this happen?”
Leaves bleached ashen gray.
A rotting pond.
A dying forest.
“It wasn’t like this just a short while ago.”
“Well, you see…”
“Ten days ago, the ground started making strange sounds.”
“It trembled violently, as if some massive creature beneath was thrashing about.”
It was utterly incomprehensible.
But this was the way of the Elves.
Not explanation, but feeling and sensation.
The Elven way of speaking through flow and resonance.
“And from that day on, the pond began to rot rapidly.”
“Dark crimson fungus bloomed on the bark.”
“The spirits won’t answer our calls.”
Allerion’s eyes widened.
Spirits refusing to answer meant the forest’s balance had completely collapsed.
If that were true, the Elves’ power alone could no longer solve this problem.
There was only one thing that could resolve this.
Something that could move without the spirits’ power—.
“Did you perhaps not see any humans?”
“We did.”
“They suddenly disapp—yes?”
They saw them?
“They’re with Silmarien right now.”
Silmarien.
An Elf that Allerion knew as well.
An Elf with exceptional communion abilities.
In human terms, she was something like a ‘High Elf’.
Of course, the Elves did not rank themselves.
The very concept of hierarchy—higher and lower—did not exist among them.
All beings were simply ‘different’.
They did not concern themselves with status, rank, or superiority.
It was purely a human way of expressing the notion of a High Elf.
In any case, Silmarien was a special being even among the Elves.
“I was just guiding the humans to our village.”
“Come with us, Allerion.”
“Huh…?”
I couldn’t make sense of what was happening at all.
* * *
Dense trees soared skyward without end, their canopy reaching toward the heavens.
As we drew closer to the Elven Village, the Dark Forest was gradually reclaiming its original beauty.
Walking along the path illuminated by fireflies.
Squirrels and small birds peeked their heads out from between the leaves.
The animals gazed at us with curiosity, tilting their heads in wonder.
Iliana’s eyes sparkled at the sight of creatures showing no wariness whatsoever.
“Wow!!”
At her cry, a bird fluttered upward with a soft rustle.
But instead of fleeing, it circled around Iliana.
When Iliana carefully extended her hand, the bird landed on the back of her palm.
“Oh my!”
Iliana’s eyes widened in delight.
The bird lingered on her hand for a moment before taking flight again.
Silmarien, the elf watching from beside us.
She smiled warmly and spoke.
“That’s a bark sparrow. It absolutely loves tree moss.”
Iliana gently stroked the back of her hand where the bark sparrow had perched.
A tender warmth lingered there, as if nature itself had briefly rested upon her skin.
“The animals here aren’t afraid of people at all, are they?”
“Afraid? Why would they be?”
“Well, creatures usually show caution toward unfamiliar beings.”
“Why be cautious toward someone kind?”
“Kind? You mean… me?”
“Yes! Bark sparrows approach first if something smells better than tree moss!”
“My… smell…?”
Iliana slowly lifted both arms to smell herself.
Sniff sniff.
From her underarms came a faint scent.
…It seemed to smell like tree bark.
“Kind people are recognized by everything. By animals, by trees.”
“Well, that’s a relief then.”
“Yes! What a relief!”
Silmarien laughed with crystalline clarity.
So beautiful and pure in her radiance.
I finally understood why the Elves were called the race of beauty, the ones who embodied nature itself.
And because of that, my curiosity burned ever brighter, impossible to contain.
“Say, you know…”
“Yeah.”
“How did you know about Adrian?”
Silmarien pondered deeply before offering a different answer than before.
“I received help once.”
“From Adrian?”
“Yeah! Adrian went whoosh! Boom! and helped me!”
“Whoosh… Boom…?”
“Yeah! Whoosh! Boom! And there was a screech! too.”
“…?”
“And he punished those wicked humans and that monstrous creature!”
Wicked humans?
A monstrous creature?
“Ah, could you be referring to Violess?”
“Violess?”
“The Lawless City, Violess. I heard Adrian punished a monstrous creature there.”
The public believed it was the work of The Saint, Isolde.
But Iliana had learned the truth of the incident directly from Isolde herself.
“Hmm….”
Silmarien fell into deep thought.
But soon she tilted her head in confusion.
“I’m not sure.”
“…”
“Human place names are too difficult.”
What could one expect?
Of course, this didn’t mean Silmarien was foolish.
From what I understood, for the Elves, place names were not fixed designations but merely expressions of the state of the moment and the essence of existence.
A field drenched in morning mist was the flowing field.
A field where wind blew was the passing field.
An autumn valley was the sunken vale.
A spring valley was the blooming vale.
Following the essence of each moment.
Depending on how existence manifested.
The names of places changed accordingly.
Just as Iliana found Elven naming conventions difficult, Silmarien naturally found human naming equally perplexing.
“But it was incredibly loud. Fighting, breaking, exploding.”
“Were there many humans with fierce appearances?”
“Yeah! But there was this human who fought so amazingly, and that was Adrian!”
It seemed Violess was indeed the place.
And from the looks of it.
Silmarien appeared to have been held captive as a slave in the Black Market.
“Were you alone there at that time?”
“Yes! I was so curious about the world beyond the forest that I snuck out.”
“And then you were kidnapped by those wicked humans.”
“That’s right….”
Silmarien’s expression grew downcast.
“But thanks to Adrian, I managed to escape safely!”
Yet as if none of that had happened.
She broke into a radiant smile in the next instant.
In any case.
It seemed Adrian had helped her in Violess.
That explained why she had been so friendly toward him.
“By the way.”
“Yes?”
“Why do the animals react that way to Adrian?”
Iliana slowly turned her head.
Then she saw the forest creatures trembling all around Adrian.
The squirrel was frozen stiff at the tip of a branch.
The sparrow had buried its face completely beneath the leaves.
The rabbit crouched in the brush with its front paws pressed together, quivering uncontrollably.
Every animal that caught sight of Adrian was too busy cowering and shaking—.
“Adrian is absolutely terrifying.”
“Adrian is terrifying?”
He punished those wicked humans and that monstrous creature.
“Yes! Even Lumis trembles with fear!”
“Lumis?”
Then something peeked over Silmarien’s shoulder.
A golden fox the size of a fist.
…It was impossibly adorable.
I wanted to take a bite out of it right then and there.
“Is it a spirit?”
“Yes. It’s a spirit of light.”
When Silmarien extended her arm, the fox carefully crawled up onto it.
Golden fur that gleamed like captured sunlight.
Its small tail was thin and silky as thread.
And those bright, curious eyes full of wonder were truly—.
Squeak?
…Absolutely devastating to my heart.
My mind was on the verge of melting.
“L-Lumis is….”
Iliana desperately suppressed the urge to take a bite and clenched both her hands tightly.
“Does Adrian frighten you very much?”
“Yes. Terribly.”
Iliana’s eyes sparkled without her realizing it.
A spirit’s existence she had only ever read about in books.
This was the first time she had seen one with her own eyes.
Moreover, even the books contained no information about spirits’ ecology.
The impulse to take a bite out of Lumis was somehow manageable.
But the surging curiosity was utterly irrepressible.
“Do you happen to know why that is?”
“Because I’m scared.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m scared because I’m scared.”
“Then could you tell me the reason you’re frightened?”
“Hmm, being scared is just… being scared….”
Silmarien gazed at Lumis with a genuinely contemplative expression.
A small fox and spirit of light—Lumis.
Lumis peeked cautiously at Adrian, then flinched with a start and trembled.
Then with a bound!
She hid behind Silmarien’s shoulders.
And as if that weren’t enough, she wrapped herself in the elf’s long hair, peeking out with only her eyes—
A tiny squeak….
…it was particularly devastating to one’s heart.
Her mind grew hazy, verging on dizziness.
Iliana desperately suppressed the urge to bite her.
Silmarien comforted Lumis and spoke.
“Lumis says that when she sees Adrian, she feels something like ‘ahhh…'”
“Pardon? Ahhh…?”
“Yes! The starlight from the distant sky is beautiful and the moonlight is lovely, but when you get close, your breath catches, doesn’t it?”
“Is that so?”
“Apparently so.”
“…?”
“But she likes him anyway. Frightening as he is, she likes him.”
“…??”
“Oh! What an incredibly fascinating pebble!”
Silmarien bounded forward with a leap, just like Lumis!
And there she carefully picked up a single stone from the ground.
“Look at this—it’s a stone that changes color four times! How amazing!”
…Truly, an elf impossible to pin down.
* * *
A conversation between Iliana and Silmarien.
I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but….
‘So that’s why.’
Now I understood why I had never known Silmarien in my previous life.
In that past existence, it seemed Silmarien had perished in Violess, subjected to countless humiliations.
But in this present life?
Violess had collapsed.
Because of that, Silmarien was able to return safely.
They say the flutter of a butterfly’s wings in one place can stir a great tempest in another.
“Oh! What a fascinating stone!”
This small difference had woven a new thread of fate.
“Look at this—a stone that changes color four times! It’s absolutely incredible!”
Silmarien held the stone aloft proudly, displaying it.
To find such joy in a mere pebble was truly something.
If anything, it was a talent of its own.
Yet separate from that, the stone genuinely was shifting through four distinct hues.
From ashen gray to pale green, then to a deep teal.
And finally settling into a cool silver—
◆Wraithstone
: A crystalline condensation of a spirit’s twisted will and sensation. A cruel remnant left behind by an existence severed from the cycle, its distorted consciousness preserved in its entirety.
‘Why is that here…?’
In that instant, I could only doubt my own eyes.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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