"Good morning my lord!" A group of elven girls greeted as they hurried past Eliron, holding woven baskets.
They were no doubt on their way to forage for wild berries and nuts.
"Morning young lord." An older elf muttered, his voice low and gruff as he strolled past him.
"How are you doing?"
"Morning!"
As Eliron walked through the village, he was showered with greetings. He turned to Yennefer. "Did something happen?"
It was not that their greeting was strange, they just seemed a bit more enthusiastic.
Yennefer shrugged. "Who knows?"
He stroked his chin. "Hmmm..."
It was morning, just a few minutes after first light, and Eliron was already back on his way to the forest, his axe resting on his shoulder.
Artie and Ash were also accompanying him, but were a few steps behind, discussing something amongst themselves.
It was day two after his meeting with Artie, meaning that Eliron had only six days till the major hunting operation.
So he needed to hurry up and strengthen his feeble body, if he wanted to have a chance against the magister.
He arrived at the clearing after a brief walk and lifted the axe high above his head, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the branches.
Clack!
He drove the axe into the wood, splitting branches away from the trunk.
Clack
Clack
Clack
He continued, his movements meticulous and perfectly executed.
Now that the trees were already down, he needed to prepare them for transport by cutting off all the annoying branches.
’This is an excellent workout....’
When he pulled the axe back he would work his biceps, and when he struck down, he would push his triceps to exert force on the tree.
This simple but effective workout, would help solidify not just the muscles of his arm, but of his back and core, improving his overall body strength.
We wiped off some sweat from his face and stepped on a branch, before bringing down the axe with a bang.
The repeated motion was like cardio, which would increase his endurance as well...
’I see why construction muscles are the best.’
Eliron continued his monotonous exercise till late into the afternoon where he finally fell to a knee, heaving a breath.
Yennefer had long found a nice shade sit, and to Eliron’s surprise, she seemed to be meditating as opposed to sleeping.
Ash was not lazing around either with the excuse of watching him work...
Clang!
Ash drove his sword forward in a practiced motion, his movements fluid, as the blade dug into the trunk of the tree, shattering the bark as though it was paper.
He heaved a breath, sweat pouring out of his face, his eyes filled with intense focus and he moved again, his body blurring before Eliron’s eyes as he delivered a flurry of strikes.
Eliron smirked. ’He’s good...’
If not for the team up between mercenaries, Ash could have stood his ground in the raid, but their sheer number was just too overwhelming.
Eliron sat down on the grass. His body was soaked with sweat, and his long blue hair clumping to his face.
’A few minutes of rest, and I’ll continue.’
He was already halfway done, everything was set to be done before nighttime.
While he was resting, he heard the sound of crunching leaves by his side, and then Artie appeared, handing him a water skin
"Thanks..." he grabbed it and pulled out the cover, taking hungry gulps, as Artie sat next to him.
She smiled before speaking. "I get you are trying to grow stronger, but aren’t you going a little too fast?"
He had been at this non stop for hours now, so it made sense that she was concerned.
But to Eliron, this was nothing.
’If they know what is ahead of us, then they will work even twice as hard.’
In the novel, the wood elves were wiped out, and this was still very much a potential future.
Yet, even such a gruesome fate was just one of their many problems.
In this world, there were countless people that could easily obliterate their village without even breaking a sweat.
The wood elves were walking on eggshells with each passing day.
There was no telling when one of these titans would stroll by... or if the High Elves would one day wake up on the wrong side of the bed and choose to take it out on them.
When that day would come, Eliron had to be prepared.
The primordial collection...
It was their only hope, but it could not do everything for him. Each step they took, every single decision he would make...
They would be the determining factor of if the elves would defy their fate, or end up just as they did in the novel.
"I’m just doing my part, everyone else is working hard too."
Artie stared at him for a short moment, then nodded, a light smile on her face. "Yennefer said you are building a house?"
Eliron nodded. "It’s the perfect workout, and I plan on replacing every house in the village with this model soon..."
Currently, the elves were living in huts which posed a lot of problems. Even without the leaking roofs, huts were relatively less safe and difficult to live in.
Artie blinked, her surprise seeping into her voice. "Wait, I thought you were just doing it as a work out, are you really going to complete the building?"
"Hmm? Why start something and not finish?"
"But..." Artie paused and stared at him. "Can you even build a house?" She asked, her voice curious.
Eliron gave her a long stare.
"What sort of question is that?" He asked in a flat tone.
"Heh," He scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest."
"Will I be able to build a house? I’m one of the best structural—"
Then Eliron froze when he realised his mistake.
If it was back on earth, then her question would have been very strange, absurd even... but here in Atrais, Eliron was an elf who had never stepped out of the confines of the village.
Yet, someone like him was planning to build a house the elves had never seen in all their long years.
Of course it was bound to cause attention!
"Oh... Uhum..." Eliron cleared his throat.
Artie was paying rapt attention to him, which only unnerved him more.
’Think of anything! Any lie would be perfect here!’
Eliron took a deep breath then blurred out: "I am self taught."
’Shit! What sort of dumb lie was that?’ Eliron screamed internally, but his face remained perfectly composed.
Artie’s eyes widened ever so slightly, like a detective about to spot out a badly disguised cover up.
"So you managed to teach yourself how to build a house, from just observing the houses around you?"
Artie muttered, in a skeptical tone, as she watched him.
’Yup, she’s caught my lie—’
"Hmm... you’re far more gifted than I originally thought, Eliron." Artie smiled gently.
"Huh?"
’She actually bought that lie?’ Eliron mused.
He scratched his head and chuckled nervously. "It’s nothing... I guess I just have a knack for it..."
Their conversation was brief, and after drinking the water Artie had brought for him, Eliron felt far more refreshed.
He stood up and grabbed his axe once more, bringing it down with vigour.
•••
It took two days or rigorous, back breaking work, but by evening of the second day, Eliron finally chopped the last branch out of the last three.
Now he was faced with another problem, transporting the felled trees to the village.
There was probably a skill somewhere in the Primordial Collection that would make this super easy, but Eliron did not want to miss out on any workout opportunities.
So he thought up a plan...