Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

In her present state, she won’t survive the cold. I should help her bandage her wounds first.

Alaric lifted the elf and carried her inside a hollowed tree to keep her warm.

After placing her down, he took off his fur coat and draped it over her body for additional warmth.

At this moment, he saw her long eyelashes fluttering, revealing a pair of cyan-colored eyes.

“Ah~”

Even the groaning sound she made was very enchanting.

After making sense of her surroundings, she realized that there was an unfamiliar human in front of her.

Her eyes widened in fear.

She wanted to stand up and push him away, but she lost all strength as the pain in her abdomen finally registered.

“Hiss!”

She hissed in pain while keeping a cautious eye on the human.

Seeing her like this, Alaric smiled bitterly in his heart.

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. I just happened to discover you when I sensed an abnormal fluctuation of mana.” He explained himself.

The elf didn’t believe his words. “How can I trust the words of a human?”

Alaric sighed, feeling slightly annoyed by her prejudice. Still, he tried to reason with her in a calm voice. “Look here, Miss Elf. You were the one who asked for help so I kindly offered my hand. If I had bad intentions, I would have done it from the start.”

The elf’s expression relaxed a bit upon hearing his words.

“Wait here for me. I’ll go and get something to bandage your wounds. In the meantime, apply pressure on your wound. I’ll be back soon.” Alaric didn’t wait for her to respond and stepped out of the hollowed tree before rushing back to the camp.

The elf sat there in silence.

Can I really trust him?

She didn’t want to place her trust in a stranger, especially a human. However, given her condition, she had no choice but to believe in him.

It’s so cold…

She lowered her head and pressed her abdomen.

…

Meanwhile, Alaric hurried into the camp with the firewood he had gathered earlier.

“My lord?” Aldrin was surprised to see him running in a hurry.

“I have no time to explain. Go and get me some bandages and medicine for stab wounds.” Alaric instructed with a serious look.

Aldrin was curious, but he didn’t dare ask when he saw his stern gaze. “Yes, my lord!”

While he was looking for the first aid kit, Alaric went to deliver the firewood he had gathered and asked the warriors to quickly make a fire.

A moment later, Aldrin came running towards him with a leather sack in his hand. “My lord, I have gathered what you requested!”

“Good! Stay here and don’t mention this to anyone.” Alaric warned him before leaving in haste.

Aldrin stared at his figure, wondering what had happened. “What’s going on?” He muttered.

…

By the time Alaric returned to the hollowed tree, he found out that the elf had already lost consciousness.

He quickly got down to check her pulse.

When he sensed the faint beating of her heart, he heaved a sigh of relief.

He then laid her down and rolled her shirt up to give him a clearer view of her wound.

It’s not too deep, but she lost too much blood and the cold weather is also making her condition worse.

Alaric opened the leather sack and took out a handful of medicine paste. He then smeared it on her wound.

This medicine paste was made from the same herb he used to stop Rigor’s bleeding back in the cave at the Red Toad Gorge.

He then wrapped her abdomen with bandages.

After taking care of her fatal wound, he inspected her body to see if there were more wounds he hadn’t seen earlier.

There are some minor cuts, but they aren’t fatal.

Alaric smeared a small amount of the medicine paste on her cuts.

That should do it. Now, what should I do with this elf?

Leaving her here wasn’t an option since her body was still weak after losing a lot of blood, but taking her back to the camp was also troublesome.

I’m sure the warriors won’t ask questions, but that bastard of an uncle would definitely be interested in this elf.

Elves were beautiful creatures with innate abilities to control mana.

Unlike humans who struggled to interact with mana, elves were born with the gift that allowed them to command mana at will. There was also a higher number of beast soul warriors among them.

Thinking about this, Alaric rolled up her sleeve, which revealed a black ring-like mark on her wrist.

As expected, she has a soul mark.

This was a sign that this elf was a beast soul warrior.

People born with soul marks were capable of extracting the abilities of monsters by absorbing their beast soul crystals.

Her soul mark is still inactive.

Alaric thought while inspecting her soul mark closely. It had no pattern which means she was yet to absorb a beast soul crystal.

I didn’t expect that the first beast soul warrior that I would encounter is actually an elf.

Alaric chuckled while shaking his head.

Suddenly, he noticed that the elf was shivering from the cold which made his eyes sink.

There’s no choice! I need to bring her to the camp and keep her close to the fire!

Alaric grabbed a handful of dirt and smeared it all over her face to hide her beauty. He also wrapped her head with a cloth to hide her distinctive long ears and snow-white hair.

After making sure that everything that shouldn’t be seen was properly covered, he lifted the elf and carried her back to the camp.

How should I explain this to them without making them suspicious?

When he arrived at the camp, everyone curiously stared at the person he was carrying.

“My lord, who is that person?” Henry approached with furrowed eyebrows.

He could sense the mana in this person’s body.

Alaric kept his cool and responded with a calm voice. “She is a vagrant I found. She was dying from the cold so I brought her here to give her a chance to live.”