The Traveler: Martial Druid

Chapter 11

"...congratulations. You passed"

Katsuo wanted to jump and scream in joy but he held himself back. Finally! After 7 months of gruelling, he had finally passed all the exams sensei had prepared for him. This meant that he should be able to start his mana training soon.

During these 7 months, Aranel Sensei had taught him the common knowledge of this world, starting from the major countries to what happened in the past. Katsuo didn't think he had even studied this much for his high school exam.

"So sensei, we can finally start mana training, right?"

"Why are you asking the obvious? Of course not! Think of yourself as a baby, you only learnt how to speak. You can only be considered a toddler now. So what do you teach to a baby after how to speak?"

"How to walk?"

Katsuo was finally used to Aranel Sensei's weird pace.

"Correct, then what do you think walking would be for you?"

"I guess it would be moving my body?"

Katsuo took a second to ponder before answering the question.

"You are right, from this moment forward we will be learning how to fight. I have seen you train in your martial arts before but it can only be called a hobby at best. The way you are right now, you can never use it in a real fight. Don't give me that look, I am not belittling your martial arts. I am belittling you. You are the one who can't use it properly yet. So from now on, we will be training together. We will start tomorrow at dawn."

"Yes, Sensei!"

Katsuo was satisfied with this. He was not in a hurry and if he was not lying he agreed that needed this knowledge. Did he think Aranel Sensei was going overboard? Obviously. But what she taught him was in no way useless.

***

The next day Katsuo woke up at the crack of dawn as usual. Normally, they would have breakfast and start having their lessons but today was different. Today he was finally going to train properly. 

For the past half a year his passive skill [Martial Arts: Seiryuu Style Karate] was stuck at Elementary lv.5 no matter how much he trained he couldn't level up. He was disappointed at first because unlike what he thought walls existed in the system. It couldn't help him get stronger infinitely, but then he had an enlightenment. It wasn't that he hit a wall, it was that he had no experience.

Before, he could train with grey blur but he hadn't seen it ever since his birthday. Now that he wasn't training his real-life experience, of course, the skill wouldn't level up.

As he was stretching Aranel Sensei walked in with something in her hand. Katsuo could clearly see what it was but his brain wasn't registering what it was for some reason. It was like looking at letters and not knowing what they meant. She must have cast an obscuration spell and it must be a surprise she had prepared for him.

"Okay before we start our training I have another test for you. Tell me, when is an elf considered an adult?"

"Between the ages of 80 or 100"

This was an easy question as Aranel Sensei had taught this to him before.

"Good, then why do you think that is?"

"Because that is the age when they reach physical maturity?"

"No, elves actually reach physical maturity at the age of 50 and stop growing after that. So no, it's not because of physical maturity."

"Then what is the answer Sensei?" Katsuo just gave up thinking about this question. Aranel Sensei was going to give him the answer anyway so why did he need to waste his braincells thinking? It was better to just admit he didn't know anything.

"Before I answer that let me ask you another question. What do you think is the most common way an elf dies?"

"Going heavy with the questions today, aren't we? Anyway, I don't know where you are going with this Sensei but due to your vitality, I guess it should be fatal injuries? After all, you told me no elf had ever died of natural causes and with their powerful bodies it would be hard for an elf to get sick. That's why the answer has to be fatal injuries caused by fighting or magic."

"Good reasoning. Your answer is close but it is only the second most common way"

"Then the only answer left should be sickness but isn't that weird? Or in this world si there some sort of plague that specifically targets elves? I feel like wizards should be able to cook up something of that nature?"

"Well, that is kind of farfetched. At least up till this age, no such plague has ever appeared. So no, that is the third most common way"

"Again, I don't know the answer Sensei. I am honestly out of ideas. How can even elves die anyway then?"

"Well, it is a sad fact but the answer is suicide. An elf's mind is the most dangerous thing to an elf's life"

"What? Why?"

Katsuo didn't understand why would suicide would be so common among elves. As someone who clawed with every fibre of his being to live, he couldn't sympathize with or understand them. 

"That will bring us back to the question of why elves are considered adults between the ages of 80 and 100. That's because it is the age when they learn of parting."

Katsuo looked puzzled. He didn't understand where his sensei was going with this.

"Elves are immortal. You might think of this as a good thing but it is a life full of goodbyes. A human can hardly live beyond 80, even the dwarves the race that lives the longest after elves can not live past 500 years old. So as an elf, everything we cherish or love eventually leaves us. Eventually, we can not handle the pain of parting and take our own lives to follow after them.

You see, we have a custom to prepare young elves for that. From the moment they are born we assign a Lornian Raven hatchling to them. The young elves grow alongside their partners and take care of each other. Eventually, when the raven dies and they learn what it means to truly lose someone they are considered adults. 80 to 100 is actually the lifespan of a Lornian Raven. We chose them because they have a similar life span to humans. This way, when the young elves leave their hometown for the first time to see the world beyond the forest they won't make friends or lovers willy-nilly only to be heartbroken later on when they pass away. That was why I was so distraught the day I adopted you. Because when you die,  I will be the one that's suffering from your loss.

Hence for an elf the most romantic words are not I will die for you. It is the opposite. I choose to live for you.

Of course, this custom made other races think of us like we were some arrogant snobs who were too good to make friends with lower races. But who cares what they think? It's not they who suffer after all."

Katsuo felt a lump in his throat. In all the media he had read immortality was something glorified, or it was something like a curse where the owner wanted to die but couldn't. This was the first time he had encountered such pitiful immortals.

"Anyway, we also bring up half-elves like that though instead of a Lornian Raven we give them a Karnia Wolf. Its life span is only between 10 to 15 years but half-elves aren't immortals like us so we actually do this to them only because it is a custom."

Aranel Sensei laughed to herself, it seemed like she found the notion of making half-elves go through the same separation was just a cruel joke to her.

"Then?"

Katsuo looked at the unknown thing in Aranel Sensei's hands.

"Yes, this little lass will be your beloved companion"

"What? Then I have to stay here until that thing dies?"

"Don't make me laugh son. You can leave when your training is done. I am only gifting you a companion for three reasons. One because it is an elven custom. Two because this was how I brought up my children and lastly because I think in order to be a proper druid you have to understand and empathise with nature. The best way one can understand nature is to become a part of it and you can do that by taking care of this little one here."

Also, she was not sure if this little cutie in her hands had a life span at all but those words were left unsaid.

Once Aranel Sensei lifted the spell Katsuo saw a little wolf-like creature with two tails and azure-blue eyes. It was wildly trying to escape from her hands biting and scratching everywhere but there was an invisible barrier around it.

"...Grey blur?"

When Katsuo called its name little creature stopped struggling and looked at him like it had given up.