Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

"Hahaha! Then this old man will clear his schedule and make sure to attend your wedding!" The bishop laughed heartily.

He had a good impression of this young man so he didn't mind doing him this favor.

"That will be great!" Alaric slapped his thigh and laughed joyfully.

They chatted some more about this topic before Alaric found the opportunity to discuss another objective.

"Your Excellency, there is actually one more thing that I would like your help with." Alaric's face suddenly turned serious.

Sensing the abrupt change in his tone, the bishop furrowed his eyebrows. "Go on. I'm listening."

Alaric took a deep breath before he spoke. "Your Excellency, can you engrave an ability on my sword?"

The bishop became silent.

Alaric and Hershey patiently waited for him to speak.

After a few minutes of silence, the old man finally opened his mouth.

Sigh.

"I really want to help, Lord Alaric, but I am restricted by the sacred covenant." He shook his head with a regretful smile.

"I see. I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable, Your Excellency." Alaric felt that it was a pity, but he knew that he couldn't force the matter.

"No, it's alright. You don't need to apologize." The bishop waved his hand with a kind smile.

Now that he knew that it was impossible to get his help, Alaric tactfully changed the topic.

***

Deep inside the Enchanted Woodlands there existed an obscure place untouched by humanity.

It was a small elven kingdom that housed over a hundred thousand elves, the Greenwood Kingdom.

On this day, inside the biggest treehouse, an important meeting was being held between the most important members of the elven kingdom.

One of the elves in attendance was the princess, Yvanna Greenwood.

Other than her, eleven more elves had gathered.

"Your Majesty, the situation is dire. We need to stop those filthy creatures from destroying the forest!" A particularly robust elf expressed his opinion, the fury in his voice was evident.

Some of the elves in attendance nodded in agreement.

At this moment, the handsome elf with snow-white hair spoke. "I understand your anger, Dahon. I'm also furious, but if we take up arms and fight them, there could be an all-out war between our kingdom and the goblins."

"They might be divided right now, but if a common enemy attacks them, those scattered goblin tribes might gather under one banner." He added.

Everyone became silent at his words. This was what they were worried about.

Recently, a large goblin colony composed of over twenty thousand goblins had moved near their territory.

To build their new nest, the goblin colony decided to burn a large part of the forest and a portion of this forest happened to be part of Greenwood Kingdom's territory.

"Your Majesty, if I may speak." Yvanna suddenly opened her mouth.

The handsome elf nodded and gestured for her to continue.

Everyone turned their heads to Yvanna, curious to know what she was about to say.

Sensing everyone's eyes on her, Yvanna remained calm. "I don't think those goblins decided to move near our territory on a whim. There is a high possibility that they are aware of the existence of the Mana Spring."

As soon as she said those words, everyone's faces suddenly turned serious.

The mana spring that she was talking about was groundwater that flowed to the surface. However, the special thing about this groundwater was its purity and the dense mana it possessed.

The energy contained inside a glass of water from this mana spring was equivalent to the energy within a Fatal-grade beast soul crystal! Most importantly, the mana spring could produce a hundred glasses every year!

"That could be more troublesome. If those goblins are indeed aware of the mana spring, they would definitely use every means possible to get their hands on it!" The robust elf named Dahon frowned.

Yvanna nodded. "I agree with Elder Dahon. Your Majesty, we must not hesitate anymore. We need to do something about this! I know that you don't want any bloodshed, but sometimes, it is necessary to fight!"

The handsome elf stared deeply at his daughter.

After half a minute of silence, he said. "The goblin settlement has twenty thousand goblins and almost half of them can fight. On the other hand, our kingdom only has twenty thousand soldiers."

He paused and scanned everyone's faces before he continued.

"If we fight them, there will be immense casualties on our side. Even if we win, our military power will take a huge loss and we will become easy targets for other forces."

Yvanna seemed to have expected this response. "I have a solution for that, Your Majesty."

"You do?" The elven king, Garandel Greenwood, stared at her in surprise.

Yvanna nodded. "We can ask for outside assistance."

The faces of some high elves turned cold upon hearing this.

"Your Highness, the outside help that you are talking about… They are not humans, right?" An old elf with long golden hair asked.

"Elder Aegris, I understand your hatred toward humans, but not all humans are as bad as you think." Yvanna didn't like this particular High Elf.

The High Elf named Aegris scoffed at her words. "You have been fooled, Your Highness. I know that you were saved by humans, but there could be a hidden motive behind their actions. Perhaps-"

"Enough! I won't allow you to speak ill of my benefactors!" Yvanna slammed her hand on the table.

Everyone was surprised by her reaction. No one expected her to openly oppose Aegris for the sake of some humans.

Aegris's expression darkened. "Your Highness, I'm saying this for your sake. The human heart is unpredictable."

He then stood up and stormed out of the meeting room.

Five more high elves followed him, leaving the room with only seven elves.

After they left, the elven king sighed. "Can we really trust them?" Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

He trusted his daughter's judgment so he was willing to hear her out.

"I assure you that he is trustworthy," Yvanna responded confidently.