“I admit. You are strong. You are a warrior.”

A light exclamation escaped the lips of the other elven warriors at Eltuan’s words. They had never seen their captain acknowledge a warrior from another race before. This was the first time.

“But it is not over yet. You have to beat me. That way, brothers will listen to you.”

It was an old custom of the Red Moon Valley elves. The strongest warrior would lead the rest.

“Hmm, come to think of it. You are quite alike.”

Raven contemplated while looking at Eltuan’s smooth face. The elf’s eyes were burning with passion.

“Alike? With whom?”

Eltuan tilted his head.

“A certain someone I know.”

Raven answered with a smirk. Eltuan’s actions reminded Raven of a certain someone, but the elf would be better off not knowing. Eltuan might take offense if he found out who Raven was thinking of.

‘I can’t believe that an orc and an elf are alike, tsk…’

The strongest warrior became leader of the pack, and they did not stop until the battle was clearly decided. The elves of Red Moon Valley were strikingly similar to the Ancona Orcs. Even though they looked completely different, the two unexpectedly shared many commonalities.

“Hmm…”

Eltuan’s thin, long eyebrows wriggled upon seeing Raven’s smile. For some unknown reason, he found the smile quite vulgar.

“Here I go.”

With a short statement, Eltuan rushed forward once more.

Woosh!

Eltuan lowered his posture, his knees almost touching the ground, then aimed at Raven’s legs. Raven reflexively delivered a low kick. He had learned this from Argos as well.

However, Eltuan seemed to have expected Raven’s attacks. Eltuan ceased his attack immediately and reached out to grab the leg that was flying towards him.

‘I got you!’

After successfully grabbing Raven’s ankle with one hand, Eltuan pulled the leg towards him while pushing his shoulder between the opponent’s legs.

He would lift the opponent up before slamming him to the ground.

‘As long as I can get you to the ground…!’

Eltuan was sure of victory.

The barehanded combat techniques of the Red Moon Valley elves boasted hundreds of years of history. It was developed for real-life situations in case the warriors were not equipped with any weapons.

Elves usually crafted their weapons from animal bones and trees. As such, the elves had faced many difficulties dealing with other races when they first settled in Red Moon Valley. Although they were nimble and possessed good reflexes, they were relatively weaker compared to other races and were lacking in weapons as well, since the other races possessed metallic weapons.

When they engaged the enemies, their weapons often broke, forcing them to retreat over and over again. Eventually, the elves came up with a plan, and thus their unique form of bare-handed fighting was born.

The second-generation elves were born under the influence of the sacred tree. They were much more physically fit and powerful compared to their parents’ generation. Their unique flexibility combined with powerful strength and time gave rise to the development of unique techniques that allowed them to come out victorious against other races while bare-handed.

It was effective against races that were physically superior, such as the lizardmen and the orcs.

There was no need to mention humans.

With Raven’s legs wrapped around his shoulders, Eltuan threw himself to the side. It was a technique that restrained the opponent’s legs and arms at the same time.

However,

“Ugh?”

Eltuan became shocked at the turn of events. He was grabbing onto the opponent’s legs and waist, but the human had moved like a snake and wrapped his legs around Eltuan’s neck.

Boom!

“Keuk!”

Eltuan groaned after falling to the ground before Raven. But that was not the end.

As soon as the two bodies hit the floor, Raven changed his posture in an instant. He climbed on top of Eltuan and used his knees to restrain the opponent’s arms.

Then Raven clenched his fist and thrust it forward.

Woosh!

As soon as he saw the fist falling towards him like a large hammer, Eltuan tightly closed his eyes. But the expected impact never came.

“Who is the winner?”

Eltuan opened his eyes. Raven’s voice still felt cold, but slightly comfortable at the same time. The opponent was smiling while riding on his chest. The tightened fist was already touching his forehead.

“…You. I, lost.”

Eltuan admitted defeat.

“Good.”

Clap!

Smiling, Raven lifted himself up after giving Eltuan a small bump on the head. Then he reached out his hand towards Eltuan.

“…..”

Eltuan paused for a moment, then meekly grabbed onto Raven’s hand.

“You are lighter than I thought. The muscles are very well developed for combat as well. Are all elves of Red Moon Valley like this?”

Raven spoke towards Eltuan, who was dusting off his dirtied clothing.

The elf nodded silently.

“It is definitely a body built for close combat. I noticed that the muscles around your chest area are especially well-developed. Did you purposefully build them up?”

Raven asked while recalling the sensation he felt when he had pinned Eltuan to the ground.

“What?”

Eltuan flinched before looking up.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Eltuan looked up towards Raven as if he found the whole situation absurd. His expression started to change little by little, until it took on a shade of red. Raven became confused at the reaction.

“This…”

However, Eltuan fumed with rage without giving an answer, and Raven looked towards the other elves in hopes of finding answers.

Raven’s gaze met with Ellaja, Eltuan’s brother. Ellaja appeared to be devastated by the unexpected defeat of his sibling, and he glared at Raven before speaking.

“My older brother is a female. You stupid human.”

“…what?”

Raven frowned. Clearly, he had misheard something.

His 

brother

 was a female?

Wasn’t something out of place here?

”Eltuan is a female!”

Ellaja repeated himself with a shout.

“Female?”

Raven turned his head. His eyes were blank.

Eltuan was staring at him with a flushed face.

“N, no, but, you definitely said brother… Before that, an elven warrior…”

Raven fumbled without meaning to. Ellaja continued in a heated voice, shooting out his words like a bullet.

“The older of the siblings is the older brother, and the younger one is the younger brother! Just like how mother is mother and father is father!”

“Ah…!”

Raven finally realized.

In some regions, regardless of gender, there were cases where the titles were simply based on an age system. There was no ‘older brother’, ‘older sister’, ‘younger brother’, or ‘younger sister’.

Apparently, the elves of Red Moon Valley utilized a similar system.

‘A female…’

Raven took a closer look at Eltuan, who was still staring at him. Now that he paid closer attention, she did seem like a female after all, although it was very difficult to differentiate due to the strange drawings on her face. In addition, all of the elves he had seen in the village were incredibly handsome and pretty, regardless of their gender. Eltuan would be no different if she erased the drawings from her face.

As a human being, it was difficult for Raven to distinguish the gender, even if she was originally a female who dressed like a male. Moreover, how on earth would he even have the slightest idea to think of her as a female when she had such big hands and fought extremely well? Her skills were great enough for her to be counted within five strongest fighters Raven had come across.

“Well, first of all… I apologize.”

It seemed a little unfair, but Raven apologized anyway. He had nothing to say in his defense.

“…That is okay. Warrior is warrior. Man or woman, it doesn’t matter.”

Eltuan restored her cold expression and replied bluntly.

“Anyways, you beat me. From now. You will lead our tribe.”

Come to think of it, Raven had thought of Eltuan’s voice as a characteristic of the elven race since it was definitely different from a grown man’s voice. It was as thin and pure as the voice of a boy before puberty.

“Well… Got it.”

Raven could think of nothing more to say, so he silently stroked his chin.

“Ah, yes.”

Raven continued to think of something to amend his mistake, and he hurriedly spoke after a thought flashed by.

“What?”

Her attitude had not changed, but Raven could feel that she was clearly offended. He smiled awkwardly before continuing.

“There are some people I know who would be a good match for you. One is a master of martial arts and the other is unparalleled in power…”

Argos might make a good match, but Raven continued to speak without thinking. He quickly blurted out his words as they escaped his thoughts.

He had brought it up as the thoughts entered his head, but the second figure would definitely…

‘I better not mention it.’

“A master of martial arts and someone unparalleled in power? Who are they?”

However, Eltuan took on a curious expression at Raven’s words. Her expression loosened slightly as well.

Raven wasn’t sure whether her interest would work for or against him, but he continued after licking his lips. Since he had already brought up the subject, it was inevitable.

“Well… the master of martial arts is called Argos, he is a peak fighter of the Tiramis Temple. And the one unparalleled in power… is an orc named Karuta.”

“…..”

Eltuan’s gaze glimmered at Raven’s last words.

“An… orc?”

Orc.

Enemy of the forest and all the elves.

Eltuan spoke with brimming killing intent, and Raven hurriedly explained himself.

“Even though he is an orc, Karuta is a friend who helps me. Besides, he is incredibly strong, and I think you might find that you share quite a bit of similar…”

‘Dammit!’

Raven had accidentally spoken his innermost thoughts. He hurriedly closed his mouth, but it seemed like it was already too late.

“Similar… to… me…? An orc…?”

An elf similar to an orc…

It would likely be the most humiliating thing to say to an elf. One would have to be braindead to utter such words.

“As a warrior. Just as warriors. He is one of the few true warriors I recognize. And there is a sacred tree of the Earth God where he lives. His situation is no different from yours.”

“Hm…”

Raven spoke rapidly in order to end the misunderstanding, and thankfully, Eltuan’s expression loosened slightly. The warrior recognized by the man who beat her in bare-handed combat must be powerful.

However, there were two completely separate issues at hand here.

“An orc similar to me. I cannot accept it. When we meet, I will send him to the side of the Earth God.”

Eltuan strengthened her determination as she memorized the name of Karuta, the strongest Ancona Orc. Her face was full of killing intent.

“Anyways, why don’t we set out now?”

“Hmm. Okay. You, no, Pendragon is the captain, my brothers and I will follow you.”

“Good.”

After barely avoiding a troublesome situation, Raven looked around with a deep sigh. Perhaps because he defeated their strongest warrior, the eyes of the Red Moon Valley warriors were completely changed from how they were initially.

Elves were generally known to be strict and meticulous, but the Red Moon Valley elves appeared to be a little different.

‘They are definitely similar to the Ancona Orcs…’

However, Raven did not dare speak his thoughts. He was sure to anger the rest of the elven warriors if he uttered the striking truth, so he hurriedly equipped his armor before moving along.

”Karuta, Karuta…”

‘I might have caused Karuta some unnecessary trouble.’

Raven felt a little sorry at the sight of Eltuan muttering to herself in front of him. It was obvious what would happen when the two met.

Karuta was an extremely proud orc who hated elves, but he was also a man who would never fight with women. In an unforeseen turn of events, he had just acquired a life-long rival.