Chapter 46: Chapter 3: Great Elf 1
The breeze brought a faint floral scent.
Su Ziyu strolled along a winding path, with farmland on both sides of the road. On the right, various mushrooms were being grown, the tallest reaching over twenty centimeters, with a grayish-brown color resembling king oyster mushrooms he had eaten before. On the left, there were fields of sunflowers, all tall and robust, over a meter high, a variety unfamiliar to him.
Low fruit trees lined the path, the tallest only reaching two to three meters, bearing bright red fruits unknown to Su Ziyu, which he could easily pick.
"Hmm?"
"Look over there! There’s a foreigner!"
"Wow! He’s so tall!"
The first dwarf to spot Su Ziyu exclaimed, then a dozen or so dwarfs gathered around. Their height was only between one meter ten to one meter twenty, with slightly pale gray skin and slightly aged facial features. The most striking feature was a slightly red large nose, giving a very comical appearance, and all wore peculiar triangular hats with fluffy pompoms on the tip.
"Hello. Are you a wandering knight?" a younger dwarf asked bravely.
He noticed the anti-material sniper rifle on Su Ziyu’s back and thought it was a special long gun.
The language of these dwarfs was quite unique, spoken quickly and chattering; without systematic translation, Su Ziyu wouldn’t understand a word.
They appeared non-aggressive, a rather benevolent intelligent species.
Su Ziyu quietly lowered his hand from the knife handle and nodded to the dwarfs in front of him without speaking, as he couldn’t speak their language.
"Why isn’t he speaking?"
"Is he mute?"
"Is he really mute? Wow, he’s so tall!" A flurry of chatter erupted among the surrounding dwarfs, who seemed to be very curious, with many stepping closer to observe Su Ziyu.
Then, more chattering ensued.
"He looks so strange!"
"His clothes are so ugly! And he’s not wearing a hat!"
"His shoes are so nice."
"What is he carrying? Such a large package! Is there any food inside?"
"Are you from the Chessboard Realm? Why don’t you look like the ones I’ve seen before!"
"Are you a knight?"
"Why don’t you have armor? Are you just a soldier? How did you cross the Black Forest?"
"I’m Pick."
"The bravest Great Elf here, I’ve seen your human White Queen, she’s really beautiful."
Amongst the chatter.
A dwarf who looked slightly different came before Su Ziyu, wearing simple leather armor and a funny leather hat, with a short sword about thirty centimeters long at his waist. Boldly, he walked up to Su Ziyu and asked, "Human? Can’t you speak? Are you really mute?"
Shhh.
The surroundings fell silent, then whispers ensued.
"Look, look!"
"It’s Rebellious Pick. He’s talking to that foreigner."
"He must be boasting again."
"Hehe."
"Bragging Pick! Liar! Big deceiver!"
So noisy.
Are these little ones Great Elves? Why do they talk so much? Their chatter is headache-inducing!
"Looks like he is mute." The Rebellious Pick Great Elf didn’t care about the others’ ridicule and turned seriously, "I really did go to the Chessboard Realm, where there are many tall people like him."
"And the beautiful White Queen! Wow! She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen!"
This won’t do.
The inability to communicate through language is really troublesome.
Su Ziyu gritted his teeth, spent his Source Power Value, and activated the ’Master of Language’ ability. With a lot of information streaming in, he quickly familiarized himself with and gradually began mastering the language of these Great Elves. Their pronunciation included many retroflex sounds, their speech was rapid and somewhat noisy, but as long as something was said once, Su Ziyu could mostly remember and learn it.
A fascinating ability.
Though it doesn’t enhance his combat capabilities.
Based on his current level of mastery, it would take Su Ziyu at most a day or two to fully grasp their language and achieve seamless communication.
"This person seems to be mute."
"Take him to see the elder," a bearded Great Elf suggested.
A group of Great Elves escorted Su Ziyu forward.
Their curiosity was extremely high, almost hyperactive, with some younger and bolder elves even trying to touch his anti-material sniper rifle or staring curiosity at his backpack.
Su Ziyu felt annoyed.
He pondered for a moment, then took out some compressed biscuits and chocolate bars from his backpack, distributing them to the Great Elves around him.
"What’s this?"
"Black bar! So sweet! Really tasty!"
"Is this a biscuit?"
"It’s different from ours! Smells so good!"
Upon receiving Su Ziyu’s food, the Great Elves became a bit quieter, with no one attempting to touch his anti-material sniper rifle anymore, instead, they eagerly stared at his backpack, hoping for more treats.
Quickly.
A tiny village appeared before them.
Surrounded by a low fence, the road paved neatly with cobblestones. More Great Elves rushed over, curiously observing Su Ziyu, whispering like a marketplace, with words mostly repetitive, mainly expressing amazement at how tall he was.
These little ones were just like chatty human-shaped parrots!
The village elder was an old elf with a floor-length white beard, face full of wrinkled marks, wearing a luxurious floor-length robe, holding a staff but with a kind smile. He instructed those nearby and then guided Su Ziyu into a large house.
Soon.
Many Great Elves entered carrying various foods: grilled fish, vegetables, biscuits, bread, stewed mushroom soup, and more. They also brought a barrel of fragrant mead, while younger Great Elves gathered around Su Ziyu, eagerly watching. They’d heard others bragging about how this man had offered a delicious bar and crispy biscuits.
The Great Elf named Pick rudely plopped down next to Su Ziyu, seemingly wanting to touch his black dagger, showing little interest in the anti-material sniper rifle.
.........