Karnak, Monarch of Death

Until now, Karnak's party had never traveled particularly quickly wherever they went. Their requirements were simply too demanding for fast travel. They had to eat proper meals on time, and get proper sleep on time. Moreover, the meals had to be fresh and delicious, and the places they slept in had to be as luxurious as possible!

It was one thing to take traveling lightly, but with standards like these, it was impossible to move quickly. But this time, Karnak made up his mind to move as swiftly as possible.

They purchased fast horses for everyone and departed from the Zestrad territory, riding as hard as they could while preserving their strength. They chose the shortest possible route, did not hesitate to camp on the roadside, and made do with rough meals.

Maloka had already arranged necessary supplies so that the Twilight Church across the regions could continue to provide them with what they needed. Thanks to this, Karnak's group had already passed through the Eustil Kingdom, crossed the Baracant Mountains, and entered imperial lands after only three days.

***

A group on horseback kicked up clouds of dust as they rode down the rough main road. It was Karnak's group, who had just descended from the mountains.

Lapicel spotted a suitably large tree near the road and gestured to the others. "How about over there, Lord Karnak?"

It was already past lunchtime. She thought it looked like a good spot to rest up and fill up their stomach.

Karnak was already exhausted and immediately agreed. "Yeah, let's take a break."

The group led their horses off the main road and gathered them in one place. With the riders dismounted, the horses began to graze on the grass nearby. Originally, horses fed on proper hay, and grass on the roadside was no substitute for that. But it was good enough for a snack.

"Ah, my back..." Karnak straightened his back with a groan. "Riding really does take a lot out of you, doesn't it?"

He wasn't complaining for the sake of complaining either. Even a well-trained knight would have shown signs of fatigue from such a gruelling journey. Yet, Karnak failed to find any sympathy.

The responses came in order from Varos, Leven, Drel, Serati, and Lapicel.

"Well, yeah."

"They say riding takes a lot of energy, right?"

"Not that I would know."

"Me neither."

"I've heard that for ordinary people, just riding for a while is exhausting."

All of them were aura users, and not just any aura users either. They were individuals destined to become future martial kings. Granted, Serati was a bit of an outlier, and Drel still had not fully recovered his strength, but even so, it was all relative. They were in an entirely different league from average aura users.

If anything, the horses would collapse before these people showed any signs of fatigue. It was no wonder they could not understand Karnak's complaint.

On the other hand, Milia was nodding her head vigorously. "I understand, Lord Karnak."

Karnak was overjoyed to find some empathy. "Right? It's not that we're weak. They're the strange ones."

After receiving Latiel's healing, Karnak felt somewhat alive again, and with renewed energy, he urged Varos. "Let's eat."

Under normal circumstances, they would have found a nice restaurant to try the local specialties, but they were in a hurry now.

Varos rummaged through his bag and pulled out preserved rations. They consisted of sandwiches made with top-quality pork ham and fresh vegetables, along with thinly sliced, savory sausages and nuts.

"I've seen this scene countless times, but I still can't get used to it." Drel clicked his tongue as he looked at the luxurious meal laid out before them. "Is it really alright to indulge in such luxury when time is so critical?"

It was true. Karnak had indeed said he would not shy away from rough meals. But he was still fully intent of having full meals. Hard biscuits and dry jerky, by his standards, were not even fit to be considered food in the first place.

Karnak explained. "No matter how urgent things are, I refuse to eat something tasteless. Do you know how precious each meal is?"

That was why, along the way, he had arranged through the Twilight Church for various packed meals to be prepared in advance, and as soon as they were ready, Karnak had layered them with preservation magic, which Varos then diligently carried around.

This way, they could still eat reasonably good meals without wasting much time. Everyone gathered under the tree, sitting in a tight circle as they began opening their packed meals.

"Thank you for the food!"

"Oh, the ham from this place is good!"

"Ack, water, give me water."

"I told you not to eat so fast."

"There's wine here, Lord Karnak."

"Thanks, Serati. But is it alright to drink and ride?"

"There's plenty of water mixed in, so it should be fine."

Drel found the sight utterly frustrating and preposterous. They were about to engage in a battle that would determine not just the empire's fate but that of the entire continent. Yet, it felt as if they were on a simple picnic. Shouldn't a true warrior be riding into battle while chewing on dry jerky?

Karnak and Varos's response to this was firm.

Karnak began, "We've tried that."

Varos chimed in. "It's pointless."

Karnak continued with his mouth full. "In the end, those meant to die will die regardless."

Varos delivered the final blow. "Those who eat well-balanced meals are stronger than those who only chew jerky."

Drel grumbled, unable to accept it. "Well, that's true, but still, wouldn't the mindset be different?"

He was immediately scolded by Karnak. "If your mental fortitude is only as strong as what jerky can give you, it's not going to be much use in battle."

Moreover, Leven and Serati were quietly scolding him through secret messages.

—You should be grateful.

—If he were the type to be satisfied with dry jerky, the world would have ended a long time ago.

Everyone except Drel continued to enjoy their meal with a relaxed demeanour.

Then, Milia suddenly turned to Karnak and asked, "This Giyen Ren, he's the elven archmage, right?"

"Yeah," answered Karnak.

Milia continued, "And you said he's commanding elves, dwarves, and even dragons."

"So?"

After thinking for a moment, Milia continued her questioning. "Then, just how strong are elves and dwarves?"

She had some rough understanding of dragons. There were plenty of stories about them, after all. In fact, they even had a dragon right beside them. Since they never knew what might happen, they were traveling with Floke. And with no one around to see, Floke was currently fluttering around Serati in dragon form, zipping about.

But what about elves and dwarves?

Karnak thought for a moment, then said, "Come to think of it, has anyone here ever fought the fairies?"

Leven and Serati both shook their heads.

"I've never even met one, let alone fought one."

"Me neither."

"I've only used...things they made." Lapicel had almost said underwear but felt too embarrassed and subtly changed her wording.

All of them were only in their late teens or early twenties, and most of them came from the Seven Kingdoms in the west of the continent. They had no geographical reason to interact with the fae, who lived in the east.

Karnak asked, "What about you, Drel?"

Even though he was in his thirties and an imperial citizen, he didn't have much experience either. "I saw the fairy envoys who came to the imperial palace once, but that's about it. It doesn't really count."

Because of the unique situation of Dragon Land, humanity and the fae had barely interacted. At most, they exchanged specialty goods with each other, and that was about it. There wasn't much interest beyond that.

To humans, elves were long-lived pretty pointy-ears. And dwarves? They were long-lived bearded midgets. That was about the extent of their understanding.

"That's not entirely wrong, but..." Karnak let out a small laugh as he adjusted his sitting posture. "I suppose I should at least tell you a bit. It's a problem to go into battle ignorant of your enemy."

***

How strong were elves and dwarves? That was the wrong question to ask. If one wished to gather information to fight the fae, the question should have been phrased like this.

—How are elves and dwarves different from humans?

Karnak began, "The biggest difference, no matter what anyone says, is lifespan."

Dwarves lived roughly 300 years, while elves lived around 500. Of course, lifespans varied greatly among individuals, but those were roughly the average lifespan.

"But that doesn't mean you can simply think of them as having lifespans three or five times longer than humans."

The rate of their maturity differed from humans. Elves became adults around the age of fifty, maintained their youth until about four hundred, then entered middle age, only beginning to age visibly around four hundred fifty.

Dwarves reached adulthood around twenty, much like humans, but remained youthful until about one hundred fifty, held a middle-aged state until around two hundred fifty, and aged from there. Their childhood and aging phases were similar to humans, but their youth and prime were significantly longer.

As she listened, Serati muttered enviously. "So, elves live most of their lives in a young state? That sounds nice."

Leven reacted similarly. "Dwarves too, it seems. Their youth may not last as long as elves, but it's still much longer than humans.

Karnak gave a faint smile. "It's not as good as you think."

Everyone looked puzzled.

One of them asked a question. "Isn't it good to stay young for a long time?"

Karnak countered with a question of his own. "Think about it in reverse. How long is a human's youth?"

"It varies for each person, but..." Drel spoke in an uncertain voice. "Roughly from the late teens to the late thirties, I would say?"

"Right, and during that period, humans typically make the most progress. They hone their skills and acquire knowledge." A mocking smile tugged at Karnak's lips. "For elves, that same period lasts three hundred fifty years."

"What?"

"What humans can achieve in twenty years, elves take three hundred fifty years to accomplish." Dwarves fared a bit better, but even they needed over a hundred years. "It's not exactly that they're slow-witted or slow learners. The fae live the same flow of time as humans, so naturally, they can learn the same things in the same amount of time."

Imagine a human and an elf, both with similar talent, learning swordsmanship for two years. Would it take the elf thirty-five years to learn what the human did in two?

It wasn't like that. If their talents were similar, an elf could reach a comparable level of swordsmanship in two years.

"But physical changes are a different story," said Karnak.

During those two years of learning swordsmanship, a human would naturally go from scrawny to a muscular warrior.

But elves? Even after two years, they remained scrawny. To build muscles comparable to humans, they needed thirty-five years.

"Of course, the reason most elves remain slender has more to do with their innate constitution than their lifespan."

Despite their long lives, dwarves had no trouble building muscle. There was a reason why most dwarves were covered in thick beards.

"In truth, the real issue that comes with the fae's long lifespan lies not with their bodies but with things like mana, aura, and divine power."

Elves and dwarves took several times longer than humans to accumulate energy. This was why, despite their longevity, the fae didn't necessarily produce more powerful individuals than humans.

"Now, with this explanation, you should have a rough idea of what fae warriors are like."

Milia, being a priest, blinked in confusion. Huh? But he didn't really explain anything clearly...

But the aura users were different. They all nodded, as if they understood completely.

"I see, if they're aura users of the same rank, elves would have significantly lower physical capabilities compared to humans."

"Their swordsmanship would likely focus on precise movements. No matter how long they train, without the body to support it, aggressive sword styles would be meaningless."

"Their skill proficiency would be high, though. They would make up for slow physical development with the years they've accumulated."

"And you said dwarves build muscle easily? That would make them physically strong and highly experienced."

"But their short limbs would put them at a disadvantage in reach. Perhaps dwarves rely more on power-based swordsmanship?"

"What's considered power-based swordsmanship by human standards might be regarded as precise swordsmanship by dwarves."

"Dwarven warriors would be more concerning than elven warriors. Aura can cover the distance to some extent."

After exchanging their opinions, the group turned their eyes to Karnak, waiting for confirmation that their guesses were correct.

Karnak and Varos both smiled faintly. With talents as exceptional as theirs, just this much explanation was enough for them to piece together the rest.

Karnak nodded in satisfaction. "Seems you all have a decent understanding of fae warriors now. But things are a little different when it comes to fae mages."