Gacha Leveling

Chapter 168 - 29 – The Laufgraan War 4

Ffyr flew high in the sky having fun with her new outfit. The noble lady that gave her the clothes and armor looked up with a wide grin on her face. Elves considered themselves descendants of fairies and held them in high regard.Having Ffyr accompany them was a good omen for all.

"You seem happy." Faralynn said with a hint of jealousy.

"Ffyr never flew like this in hell. She was so closed and miserable back there. It’s good seeing her having fun." Matthew responded, not noticing the jealous tone.

"You really like her." Erin commented.

"I do. She’s like a sister to me. Sometimes she even reminds me of Sarah when she was younger." Matthew explained.

Faralynn felt embarrassed for getting jealous. She knew his relationship with Ffyr was familial, but, even so, she couldn’t help herself.

"Where are we going?" Helen asked, trying to look ahead.

"We’re going to the Bafn Plains." Faralynn said. "We’re joining forces there with our allies there and then march east."

There were 2000 soldiers around them and 4000 servants. Faralynn explained that 6000 more soldiers were waiting for them. Also another 2000 soldiers and modern weaponry were coming in by train.

"We can get you a gun there." She added to Matthew.

The march took 2 days to arrive at the Bafn Plains. A huge encampment with walls made with earth magic awaited them.

Soon all the troops started to settle in. A huge tent for Farzan and Faralynn was already set just waiting for them, but all the others had to pick a place and settle for themselves.

In total, they had 3 attack helicopters, 5 tanks, 5 humvees, a thousand knights, 500 assault rifles, 2 thousand horse archers, 3 thousand archers, and 4 thousand soldiers.

Laufgraan banners, a green leaf on a field of gray, fluttered in the wind surrounded by the banners of all the nobles that gave their support to Farzan. There were so many that Matthew doubted he could remember them all.

"War council will happen after lunch." Firynn told Faralynn and the others who were in the elf’s private tent.

Faralynn sat down on the bed in the middle with Erin and Ffyr by her side. Helen, Tina, Mia and Matthew found chairs and chests to sit on.

"This all looks like a fairy tale." Erin commented.

"It does feel like a movie." Mia agreed.

"Perhaps that’s why I’m not nervous." Faralynn gave them a sad smile.

"We should be here for a few days until they agree on a course of action." Tina said, referring to the nobles.

"A few days?" Erin exclaimed.

"War is still something very slow for us." Faralynn said. "You saw our troops outside. Most of our soldiers still march on foot."

"What about the tanks and the other stuff?" Matthew asked.

"That’s my father’s. Just a few things he bought on Earth." Faralynn explained.

"I knew your dad had a personal army there, but to even own tanks?" Mia exclaimed.

"I guess he never lost his way of thinking. Nobles are required to have armies." Tina chuckled.

At that moment, Matthew felt from his Sixth Sense skill that he was in danger. He jumped forward from where he was sitting and took out Aym’s dagger.

"You’re no fun, Matt!" Faynn complained, getting out from the shadows. "Can’t even surprise you with a hug anymore?!" She chuckled.

"Faynn?" Matthew was confused for a while, but soon stored his sword in his inventory.

"Glad to see you back!" Faynn said and hugged him.

Matthew hugged her back.

"And me?!" Ffyr protested.

"Of course you too!" Faynn said, hurrying to hug her. "You grew so much!"

"You’re already back?" Faralynn asked.

"Yeah. There wasn’t much to see." Faynn replied.

"See what?" Erin asked.

"Faynn was doing some reconnaissance." Faralynn explained.

"Your uncle is doing pretty much what we thought he would. Closing the borders, and fortifying his castle." Faynn said while serving herself from some yellow grape-like fruits that were on a table.

"So, it’s going to be a siege?" Faralynn asked.

"Most likely." Faynn consented.

After lunch, Faralynn and Faynn went to the main tent for the war council where all the high ranking nobles gathered to discuss the next steps. It was a lively reunion with voices being raised and tables being slammed.

After the discussion about dinner was over, they calmly discussed the war plans.

After a while, a servant came to Faralynn’s tent where Matthew and the others were waiting for her to come back.

"Lord Matthew. Lady Ffyr." The servant said with a bow. "Your presence is required in the war council."

When Ffyr entered the tent, the elves present all started to comment between themselves about how that was a good thing. But Matthew’s presence beside her also drew a lot of negative comments.

Faralynn was in the middle of a table, with her father on her right and surrounded by other elves.

"Bow, human. You are in the presence of nobility." An elven man with short red hair and light brown eyes admonished him.

"Be understanding, Lord Dalynn. Matthew’s world has no such custom." Farzan defended him.

"I’m sorry." Matthew bowed to them all.

Then an elven woman with long golden hair and purple eyes, that looked a lot like Faralynn, said something in Elven.

"Yes, aunt." Faralynn said in English. "He’s my boyfriend."

The woman smiled. She clearly understood English, but decided to speak in Elven again.

"Ffyr is his familiar, yes." Faralynn was overdescriptive to also translate what was asked to Matthew.

"So he wishes to become Lady Faralynn’s shield." Dalynn said, getting up, and walked close to Matthew. "He’s wearing your old armor." The elf added, looking to Farzan.

"It was just accumulating dust." Farzan shrugged. "Better put it to good use."

"Do you really believe he can shield your daughter?" Dalynn asked as if Matthew wasn’t there.

Faralynn’s aunt said something in Elven again and another woman, a silver haired and silver eyed one, replied in Elven as well.

At this point, Faralynn slammed the table in front of her filled with anger and said something in Elven that made both women recoil in fear.

"Matthew will go through the Shield test and I will hear no complaints about it." Faralynn said, looking around the room. Everyone kept silent.

"Tomorrow, then." Farzan said after a moment and then placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder to calm her down. "In the morning." He added.

After that they turned their attention to Ffyr and talked with her with utmost respect. They asked a lot of questions. They got really excited when they learned she was Titania’s daughter.

After that they ended the council and each of the nobles went to their private tents.

"Ffyr made them accept you more, but they still are a bit uptight about it." Faralynn explained to Matthew while they walked back to her tent.

She was walking a bit far from him and had her face red, a bit shy of how the soldiers looked at them.

"You got really mad there." Matthew commented.

"Yeah." Faralynn sighed. "Lady Azan got on my nerves." She said, her tone making it clear she didn’t want to talk about it.

"What should I expect tomorrow?" Matthew asked, changing the subject.

"The test is simple. You stand unarmed and take challenges from people around. When no one wants to challenge you, you are accepted as a shield." The elf explained. "Most of the time when it happens, no one challenges. It’s more of a formality. But with you..."

"With me people will try to make me give up." Matthew added for her.

"Yeah. It’s not that elves hate humans. It’s just that they distrust you. If you prove yourself tomorrow, I bet even Dalynn will treat you well." She explained.

"What about that Azan woman?" Matthew asked.

"She’s a bitch." Faralynn said, holding her anger.

Matthew laughed, which also made her laugh.

Matthew slept with Aurfax again while Ffyr and the girls shared Faralynn’s tent. The horse seemed quite pleased having Matthew as company for the night. And Matthew came to like having the heat of the horse to shield him from the cold.

After breakfast, a wide circle of stones was made and Matthew was put in the middle wearing just a pair of pants. Farzan yelled to all soldiers in Elven who he was and that he wished to become Faralynn’s shield.

Matthew could already see a line of men taking place. They were undressing themselves to only their pants.

He looked at Faralynn who was with the girls watching everything closely and smiled at her.

The first elf to go in the circle was a tall and muscular blond haired one. Matthew used his Identify skill on him. He was level 20.

Matthew didn’t even have to use his Unholy Mana skill. As soon as both greeted each other taking their right hands to touch the left side of their chests, Matthew increased his Agility with the Reckless Agility skill. With a lounge forward, he placed a punch on the elf’s belly that was too fast for his opponent to react.

The elf fell to the floor holding his stomach and groaning.

The crowd went silent.

Matthew just calmly walked back to the center of the circle and greeted the downed warrior.

"Next?"