Chapter 37 – First King

Kieran's vision became blurry as a powerful energy completely surrounded his body. Before he knew it, he found himself inside a large hall.

"Where am I? Am I inside the palace?"

He inspected the hall in which he had appeared.

The hall was huge, filled with majesty wherever his eyes rested. On each side of the hall were rising pillars of white jade decorated with golden engraving that seemed to pierce the heavens.

At the end of the hall, a staircase of about ten steps led to a large empty throne of immaculate white. Above the throne, the same characters engraved above the palace door could be seen.

In front of it was a white and gold coffin made of materials Kieran had never seen. A weapon he didn't recognize was planted on a pedestal next to the coffin.

He walked over to the coffin. Once in front, his hands slowly approached the coffin when it suddenly stopped.

"I shouldn't touch the coffin, even though treasures may be found inside. I feel bad profaning a dead person with whom I have no enmity."

He turned away from the coffin and stared at the weapon planted on a pedestal next to the coffin. Time seemed to have eroded the weapon, but its former glory could still be seen.

The weapon was a double-bladed sword larger than Kieran measuring 2 meters. It had a blade at each of its ends with a white guard at the end of each blade and a handle of a black color of about 50cm, which separated the two blades.

Each of the blades was as wide as both of Kieran's hands placed side by side, the blades had gold edges, and the middle of each blade was dark green. Old dull gold inscriptions were etched along both blades.

"It's the first time I've seen a weapon like that. It looks like two swords placed end to end."

He gently grabbed the handle of the double-bladed sword before slowly lifting it from the pedestal it was resting on.

"The feeling is strange. How am I supposed to hold this weapon exactly?"

He tried to land several blows in front of him with the weapon, trying to get used to the strange shape it had.

His movements were rough, sometimes, he held the double-bladed sword like it was a single sword, but the second blade hit his body with every move he tried to perform.

After several minutes, he changed his hand position to grip the handle with both hands as if he were holding a spear. He found the movements simpler this way, allowing him to ensure the blades can make a full rotation without hitting his body. He could alternate their positions between each blade to interchange the attacking motions and even use it as a spear to thrust forward.

The more he used the double-bladed sword, the more interesting and captivating he found the weapon.

"I've never used a sword in my life, but this weapon is really interesting. Its attack range is also longer than a simple sword. I wonder if this weapon is considered as a sword by the ability of a tree crystal."

While he was lost in his own world, a voice echoed throughout the room.

"Ji kuoz qai rup enri zirhsi loplinizzin."

He quickly turned back to the sound of the voice.

Seated on the throne was an old elf who looked at him with golden eyes.

He took several steps back, raising the double-bladed sword in his hands to face the old elf.

The old elf raised one of his hands in the air.

"la pez tez e ekuon biam, ji pi li dineoz tez xi res."
The old elf continued to speak, but Kieran couldn't understand what he was saying.

The old elf frowned when he stopped speaking. A gentle energy emanated from him, entering Kieran's body.

"Can you understand me now?"

The voice of the old elf echoed inside his head, making him flinch for a moment.

"Y... Yes, I can understand you."

"My name is Runihoril Sylnorin. First King of the Elves. And you? What shall I call you?"

'The first?'

Kieran was surprised for a moment. His knowledge of the history of the elves was poor but from what he knew of the elves, the current king was the 2,356th king of the elves.

"Kieran, Kieran Arvost."

"Pleased to meet you, Kieran. Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"In front of the palace door, you uttered words in my language, but you don't seem to understand what I'm saying. Can you explain how you did it?"

Kieran was lost, not knowing how to answer the question.

"I don't know, sorry."

Runihoril looked at Kieran for a moment with a strange golden light shining inside his eyes.

"Do you know the meaning of the words you said?"

"Live long and die free."

"That's right. It's strange. You know my clan's motto and how to pronounce it in my language, but you don't understand my language. What's more, I've never seen a race like yours."

"I don't know your language, but I know you're an elf. Our two races have already had a lot of exchange with each other."

"What is the name of your race?"

"My race is called human."

"Human... That's a strange name. How long have our two races been in contact?"

"I don't know the exact date, but it was around 12,000 years ago."

"12,000 years? That's pretty recent."

"Recent? 12,000 years is a long time."

"Ahah, it all depends on your lifespan. We elves have long lifespans, and they extend even longer depending on the rank our crystal trees reach. 12,000 years is a small period of time for some existences. Even 100,000 years would be considered nothing more than a nap for some of them."

"100,000 years? A little nap?"

Kieran's world was suddenly turned upside down by the information he was hearing.

"How can someone live so long?"

"You are only in the middle stage of the Iron rank. You are still far from reaching the peak of cultivation. For you, such a lifespan may seem inconceivable, but there are myriad existences that have reached such a level. Tell me, how is the relationship between our two races?"

"A peace treaty was signed between our two races, allowing an exchange between our two worlds."

"One more thing," Runihoril's tone suddenly turned serious.

"Do you know someone named Izuds?" golden light shone again in his eyes when he asked Kieran.

"No."

Runihoril stared at Kieran for several seconds before a slight smile appeared on his face as the golden light in his eyes faded away. He turned his attention to the double-bladed sword in Kieran's hands.

"You seem to like my double-bladed sword."

"Is it yours? I'm sorry, I didn't know it belonged to someone."

"You don't have to worry. I've seen everything you've done since you arrived in this hall. You didn't touch my coffin, and you just took the weapon that was lying next to it. I appreciate your attitude."

Kieran's eyebrows furrowed at Runihoril's words.

"You said my 'coffin', yet you still seem to be in good health. Why do you need a coffin?"

"To you, I look healthy, but what you see in front of you is just a wandering soul. I died a long time ago. My physical body rests inside this coffin."

"A soul? How is that possible?"

The more Kieran discussed with Runihoril, the more his perception of the world crumbled to pieces.

"My soul has been linked to this place for a long time now. This link allows my soul to remain 'alive' in a way. You can keep this double-bladed sword. I made it a long time ago, even if its core and all its inscriptions were completely destroyed during my last battle, and it is nothing more than a piece of scrap metal fragile eaten away by time. Its strength is equivalent to a Silver rank weapon now, it can still be useful for an Iron rank like you."

"Can this weapon be used with sword-related abilities?"

"Yes, I made it for that purpose. The only downside is that I've never seen anyone else use this type of weapon, I don't know if that has changed since my time, but you will probably find no art that will allow you to master this weapon."

Kieran's complexion suddenly darkened. Even though he had never held a sword in his hands, the short time he used the double-bladed sword gave him a feeling of satisfaction as if it was made for him.

"Ahah, look at you, you've only been holding it for a few minutes, but you're already so attached to it."

Kieran blushed with shame. He had the impression of being read like an open book by the man sitting in front of him.

"I have a proposition for you, Kieran."