Chapter 556: The Descendant Of Helios
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Since it involved a gamble, they naturally had to inform the notary public of the stake clearly. Otherwise, the people wouldn’t know what happened after the fight came to an end. How could they be the witnesses then?
Vidas glanced at Lin Li, who was standing at a short distance away, and raised his chin with a look of arrogance on his face. He slowly said, “I, Vidas Dalisma, invite you to a battle on behalf of the elven Dalisma Family. We’ll use this gamble to decide the final outcome and the fateful owner of my elven treasure, the branch of the Tree of Eternity.”
Although they were rather far away from the viewing deck, their conversation could still be heard clearly by everyone on the viewing deck.
As soon as they heard Vidas’ words, an uproar instantly broke out on stage. Everyone, including the big shots who had attended the auction and gossipmongers who were just interested in watching a show, all knew that Arathor could become the castellan all thanks to the support by the elves. However, even after all these years, there was almost no one who had ever seen an elf. In fact, people even began to wonder what the actual situation was back then.
It was time for those who came from the auction to hear the name of the unassuming branch straight from Vidas’ mouth. It was no wonder that it was sold at an insanely high price of 15,000,000 gold coins, for it was a branch from the Tree of Eternity. It was an entity that was formed at the beginning of the world, and every leaf and branch of the Tree of Eternity which was full of vitality was absolutely precious and valuable.
Although everyone was very surprised, they all yearned for the so-called eternal branch. However, it was priced at 15,000,000 gold coins; hence, it was not something that they could afford to covet. Of course, that also made them feel even more jealous of the arrogant upstart, though they reckoned that he definitely wouldn’t leave the square in one piece.
To everyone’s surprise, Arathor, who was supposed to be the closest to the elves, actually stood up after hearing the self-proclaimed elf Vidas’ words.
Everyone knew by now that the elf named Vidas was brought to the auction by Castellan Arathor. Through the fact that Arathor inherited the position of the lord of the city, the close relationship between him and the elves became a widely known fact in the Breezy Plains. However, why did he behave that way at this moment?
Arathor soon discovered that he was not behaving appropriately. He coughed awkwardly and returned to his seat.
William, who was seated at the side, seemed to be deep in thought. When Arathor took a seat, he hesitantly asked, “Arathor, Dalisma sounds familiar to me. Could it be…”
Everyone was feeling surprised and bewildered about Vidas being an elf as well as the branch of the Tree of Eternity, whose name they had just learned. They did not feel anything much about Dalisma Family. However, not everyone understood the Elven Kingdom well. Arathor knew a bit about the Elven Kingdom since he had interacted with the elves for several years.
In fact, Arathor had already realized that Vidas had an extraordinary status in the Elven Kingdom, though he did not expect him to be a member of the Dalisma Family. Arathor began to get increasingly worried. If Vidas were a low-level elf instead, he would perhaps think twice before taking action, but since he was from the Dalisma Family…
Upon hearing William’s question, Arathor knew that he definitely couldn’t fool the knowledgeable authenticator and appraiser, William. He slowly turned to look at him, and explained, “Master William, Vidas’ true identity… I actually didn’t know about it beforehand. Had I known earlier…”
“So what if you knew earlier? Would it make a difference!?” William snapped. All he could think about now after watching Arathor nod was that Mage Felic had to be in hot soup.
Arathor knew that he was at fault too. Although the two parties were bent on carrying out the battle, the entire problem stemmed from the fact that he had presumptuously brought Vidas to look for the buyer. That behavior of his had already flouted the rules of the auction. Lin Li then openly purchased the branch with his own money. Yet, Vidas asked for it back. After failing to purchase the item or snatch it, Vidas even had the cheek to make him surrender the item. That was another violation of the rules.
Staring at the middle of the square, where the two parties were getting ready to hit each other, Arathor began to feel troubled and worried. Since Vidas belonged to the Dalisma Family, he probably had a higher status in the Elven Kingdom than they had imagined. However, the more powerful Vidas was, the less hesitant he would be about taking action, since he would less likely to be held accountable for his actions. In that case, Arathor would be held liable if the Supreme Council were to pursue the matter.
Arathor was not overthinking it. As the castellan of Roland City, he often interacted with all sorts of people from the aristocratic circles. For example, an aristocratic heir would not get into trouble for killing another person with some background. Instead, his assistant would take the blame for failing to persuade his master against the matter.
Hence, it was obvious that the Supreme Council would definitely put the blame on Arathor, and not the Dalisma Family or the well-connected William. The problem was, what kind of background did this Mage Felic have? That was a factor that affected his learning.
The auction was supposed to come to a perfect end. Yet, a sudden twist occurred. William rubbed his forehead and looked at the two of them. Those who had studied the Dark Age before would definitely be familiar with the Dalisma Family of elves. It was an important last name in the Dark Age.
During the Dark Age, the High Elves ruled the entire world of Anril, and the elves became the slaves of the High Elves because they fitted the latter’s beauty standards. The Dalismas were one of the six greatest families of the Elven Kingdom, and had always been a family of geniuses. Although they’d still ended up being slaves in that era, the appearance of an elf changed their entire circumstances.
The name of that elf was Hollisas Dalisma, a name which rarely appeared in the history of the Dark Age. However, his nickname was rather well known, for he was the famous Helios. The elf Hollisas Dalisma was named Helios by the Elven Queen, and the Dalisma Family was then named the Helios Family.
Bloodline and hierarchy mattered greatly to the High Elves. Hence, it was 10 times harder for them to change and receive something compared to the ordinary elves. Yet, Hollisas managed to earn the title of the Helios just because of his capabilities despite his identity of a lowly elf. Apart from being very competent, he had put in plenty of effort as well.
Since Vidas belonged to the Dalisma Family, one could only imagine how high of a status he had in the Elven Kingdom. Although he was not as authoritative as the elders, the gap was a result of many different factors. Even in the Elven Kingdom that advocated nature, it was impossible for everyone to be equal.
Although the Elven Kingdom was known as a kingdom to outsiders, the internal management was actually the same as that of a tribal alliance. Second to the queen, the elders were actually like leaders of the tribes, and there were various authorities who had varying powers amongst the tribe. Those directly determined the right of an elder to speak.
After the Dark Age, the elves faced an attack carried out by various races, which almost exterminated them. The Dalisma Family did not escape that fate at all. In fact, to some extent, the reason why various races tried to destroy the elves was because of the Helios Family. During that crisis, the Dalismas incurred huge losses, and there were only a few hundreds of elves out of the entire Elven tribe which fled to the Emerald Forest. The prominent Dalisma Family was obviously one of them.
However, for the elves, it was not the population of a race that determined the strength of a group, but the blood of the members of the family. As one of the six greatest elven families, the Dalismas proved themselves to be outstanding. Therefore, even if the Dalisma Family only had one elf left back then, the family’s bloodline did not vanish. Hence, it was only a matter of time before they rose again.
The Emerald Forest was the best place for the elves to live in—it was an excellent place for recuperation after being attacked by humans. More than 1,300 years had passed since the end of the Dark Age by now. It was difficult to imagine the extent to which the Dalisma had developed.
In the middle of the Harvest Square, Lin Li remained still and composed even after hearing the famous name of the Dalisma Family which Vidas introduced proudly. If the debris of the stars was called the branch of the Tree of Eternity, Lin Li could be only amused. If he were to calculate it in detail, the new piece of the debris of the stars and the Tree of Eternity could be said to be twins.
Lin Li was truly interested in the stake that Vidas mentioned, which the latter claimed to be equal in value to the branch of the Tree of Eternity. The value of the branch was exorbitant. Hence, he reckoned that the arrogant elf wouldn’t fool him with some garbage.
“Mage Vidas, can you take out your stake now? Since you want to battle me, you ought to let me see what you have to offer.” Lin Li ignored his introduction, and instead inquired about the other side’s wager.
In fact, just like the people who were watching, Vidas didn’t think that there’d be any suspense in this fight, because humans were naturally less talented than elves, and since Lin Li was much younger than him, he felt that Lin Li would have at most practiced magic for only ten-odd years if he started to learn magic from a sensible age. The time Vidas had spent since arriving at the Legendary-realm alone was much longer than the time Lin Li had spent learning magic.
Although Vidas did not think it was necessary for Lin Li to look at the stake, there was no need for him to be so calculative about such trivial matters. He gave it some consideration, and reckoned that the treasure would be returned to him at the end of the day anyway. Hence, he decided to showcase the most valuable one since it was just for show.
At the thought of it, Vidas glanced at Lin Li, who was opposite him, and humphed before whipping out a magic staff that had a length of 50-60 centimeters. The dark red magic staff had a white tip that was embellished with gemstones.
When Vidas whipped out his magic staff, Lin Li’s left eyelid began to twitch despite being someone who had seen plenty of what the world had to offer. Although the surging magical power in the staff could not compare to that of the debris of the stars, it was indeed a treasure.
“This staff is the scepter of Helios left behind by the ancestors of the Dalisma Family. I believe its value is enough for it to become a stake in this battle.” Vidas held onto the gemstone on the top of the staff. The value of Helios’s scepter in his heart was even higher than that of the branch.
In fact, Vidas knew that Lin Li had to be rather knowledgeable in order to become the President of a local Guild of Magic. During the auction earlier on, he accidentally exuded his powerful aura in a moment of impatience. He reckoned that even a fool must have already estimated his abilities, what more a human mage. But why did Lin Li still initiate the battle? Clearly, it was because he knew that he had some abilities and solutions that he could use to defeat a Legendary powerhouse.
However, Vidas was not a novice Legendary-mage. Hence, he was well aware of the gap between an Archmage and a Legendary-mage. He knew that it could not be closed easily.
In fact, when it came to the special means of advancing in strength, there were not many other methods apart from potions and spells that would stimulate one’s potential to advance in level. For example, a Warrior might get to advance and gain massive mana through a mental spell. He reckoned that Mage Felic must have relied on potions to advance in level, especially since he had a legion of pharmacists with him.