Chapter: 28
“If there’s a tree that bears bows and arrows like this, it wouldn’t be a burden for you.”
Considering they already rely on the fruits created by Yggdrasil for their diet, bows and arrows that form like fruit shouldn’t be a problem.
Surely, they wouldn’t refuse this either. If they dislike this, how on earth are they managing to munch on Yggdrasil’s fruits?
“How can you… plant an item made of wood and make the tree grow…?”
“Who exactly are you…?”
Hmm. I might’ve done something extraordinary here. So, it seems even I find it quite impressive.
It really is extraordinary!
“I’m just someone who wants you to use this bow.”
At that, the humans all knelt down and began to bow to me.
“O great one…!”
“Oh come on, that’s not necessary.”
[These kids have decent judgment.]
Ignoring Yggdrasil’s comment, I magically lifted the humans back up from their prostrated positions.
“I’m just passing by. I don’t plan on revealing my name. So just forget about it.”
“Such… No, if you’re the great one, you must have your reasons. Understood. If you’d like to keep your name hidden, we’ll honor that.”
I nodded slightly in response.
“Instead, I’ll gift you one more thing.”
I summoned my magic and began changing their bodies.
Nope, they could no longer be called humans.
I enhanced their eyesight and hearing. Other senses could become too sensitive and get in the way, so I left them alone.
And finally, I elongated their ears. They transformed into shapes like long leaves.
The end result was no different from the elves I envisioned.
“This… What on earth is…”
“I’ve improved your seeing and hearing. Now you can see farther and catch even the tiniest of sounds. With this, you’ll become natural hunters.”
The humans were left bewildered by the sudden changes in their senses. Well, it’s only natural to feel confused when your senses just flip like that.
It’s like… getting a new pair of glasses? No, it’s more intense than that.
“Your ears got a bit longer during the hearing upgrade… But honestly, the shape of those ears makes them look like the leaves of the World Tree. It’ll serve as proof you’re children of the World Tree.”
[Mom? What have you done to these kids?! Their ears are long?!]
“And now, as you resemble the World Tree, you will name your race. From now on, you, the children of the World Tree, shall call yourselves elves. Those long ears will be your proof.”
[Mom?! Mom?! Don’t ignore me?!]
“From now on, you will live as guardians of this quiet forest, protecting the World Tree, Yggdrasil.”
[Mom?! Mom?!?!]
And just like that, elves were born in this land.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A very long time ago, when the World Tree Yggdrasil created the elves.
The god of hunting, who was close to the World Tree, gifted bows and arrows to the elves, who are the children of the World Tree.
However, those bows and arrows were made of wood. To the elves, who conversed with trees and lived closely with them, trees were no different than family.
Therefore, the elves couldn’t even bring themselves to hold the wooden bows.
But how could they discard such a precious gift from the god of hunting? Not wanting to earn the god’s wrath, the elves struggled to grasp the wooden bows, but they just couldn’t and ended up crying instead.
It was Yggdrasil who reached out to help these elves.
Yggdrasil planted the bows and arrows in the ground, making a tree grow.
From that tree, bows and arrows started forming like fruits, and the elves could harvest them thanks to the tree’s blessing.
Since then, the tree that bears bows and arrows has become a treasure for the elves and is said to be strictly managed and protected by both the elves and the World Tree.
Even today, it’s said that when a young elf comes of age, the highlight of their coming-of-age ceremony is asking a tree for a bow they’ll use for the rest of their life.
……
In the distant future, when the elves face a crisis, it’s said that the chosen one by the World Tree will retrieve a bow and arrows rooted in this tree and save the elves and the World Tree.
– Encyclopedia of Legendary Weapons.
1) Records refer to an unnamed deity, leading to differing opinions on who bestowed the bows and arrows. However, due to the symbolism of the bow and arrow, the prevailing theory is that it was the god of hunting.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
[Mom. That was a bit too much. You went and made the children’s ears huge without warning.]
“But don’t they look cute?”
[Well, that’s true, but….]
Compared to when they were just humans with long limbs, dashing or beautiful, now they undeniably give off a vibe of being a different race entirely.
That vibe certainly comes from the long ears I extended, which even Yggdrasil can’t deny.
“In the future, various races will appear on this land. Shouldn’t there be a clear way to distinguish your children from those races?”
What a blatant lie. I just wanted to see elves with long ears.
Well, it seems the elves are quite happy with it, so there’s no issue there.
[Since the kids seem to like it, I’ll let it slide… But what if other humans want to come live around me? Should I change them too?]
“Hmm, are there many new humans coming in?”
[Not a lot, but a few do show up every now and then.]
I nodded at Yggdrasil’s statement. If there weren’t any, it wouldn’t pose a problem, but if even a few trickle in, we can’t just ignore it.
“If new humans want to become like the other elves, it’ll take time, so we need to accelerate the transformation.”
[Right. It took a long time for these kids to change like that, so I doubt newcomers would be able to handle the same length of time required.]
“Well, in that case, manually transforming them might be the best option… But changing every single aspect of each newcomer would be a huge hassle.”
What if I could create a magic to copy and change racial traits?… Hmm, such magic doesn’t exist yet… Well, why not just whip it up?
First, designate the target. Choose the one to copy traits from as target 1. Choose the one to overlay traits onto as target 2.
Then, compare the racial traits of the two targets and overlay them to transform target 2 into the same race as target 1… This process should limit the transformation to just racial traits.
Watch out so I don’t accidentally change physical features or mental aspects. Hmm… this should work.
With that in mind, I created a new magic to copy and paste racial traits.
It’s magic that only copies racial traits, and it requires a huge amount of magical power—so much that even a dragon would struggle to use it.
But Yggdrasil, who has endured for countless years, should manage just fine.
“I’ll teach you a spell I just made. This magic should resolve your concerns.”
[Did you prepare this in advance?!]
“How could that be? I just made it. Just now. It’s not optimized, so it consumes a lot of magical power, making it difficult even for dragons to use.”
Yggdrasil seemed shocked by my comment.
[What’s the point of such magic?]
“At the very least, it’s useful to you. It’s magic that can transform newcomers into beings just like those elves.”
The simplest method would be to just not accept outsiders at all, but Yggdrasil seems too kind to think of doing that.
If you can’t push them away, you have to accept them. With this magic, newcomers can be welcomed as part of the elf community.
[Seriously, I just can’t get how Mom creates magic. How does she manipulate such tricky magical power as if it were her limbs?]
“What do you mean, can’t you just do it?”
[Typically, you can’t just do that! Creating even one spell requires extreme caution! I really don’t get it.]
Huh, is it really that complicated? I was just doing it naturally, so I didn’t realize.
Well, anyway.
“The newly sprouted tree over there… You take care of it for me.”
[Sure. Since it’s a tree, I wasn’t planning on leaving it be. It looks like the elf kids will grow quite dependent on it, so I’ll protect it even by wrapping it in my roots.]
Yggdrasil stated this as if it were obvious. Honestly, no one knows trees better than this child.
[But are you okay with this? Hiding your existence from those children.]
“It’s fine.”
At this point, it’s just a simple primitive society, so I can poke my nose around without issue…
But as time passes and society evolves, with politics and power dynamics getting complicated… I can’t make any careless moves.
It’s like stepping into a carefully crafted model garden with muddy feet.
When that time comes, I just have to observe from the shadows without drawing attention.
Well, if a crisis occurs that the world can’t handle, I might step in then.
But thinking about it, by that time, I’ll probably be too lazy and just want to hide in a corner.
Still, for now, my sense of responsibility outweighs my laziness. The responsibility of having brought life into this world.
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