Chapter 247: The Elf Asuosi

"Elf?!"

Xia Duo was stunned. The creature before him was a robust male elf wearing armor and a long sword at his waist, and at this moment, the other party was staring at him with a serious expression.

For some reason, a sense of shame suddenly welled up in Xia Duo's heart, and he couldn't help but say, "I'm very sorry, Instructor, I just lost my focus."

"Asuosi, this is the second time you've lost focus during training. If there is a next time, go home yourself!" The instructor left these words behind and, ignoring Xia Duo, walked toward the others.

At this moment, Xia Duo was already dumbfounded. What had he just heard? Elvish?

Although he hadn't officially started learning Elvish, he did know quite a few Elven vocabulary words, and coupled with the Elven Magic incantation Niya had given him, Xia Duo was very sensitive to Elvish.

What's more, the characteristics of Elvish were so distinct—fluent and melodic, like poetry—that even if Xia Duo were duller, he would still have recognized it!

But—why could he understand what the other party said, and why did he himself seem to have just spoken Elvish?

Why was this?

At this moment, Xia Duo's mind was full of question marks, and only after the instructor left did he have time to examine the surrounding situation—

This seemed to be a training ground in some city. Looking around, he could see tower-like buildings in the city and floating walkways between the buildings.

Looking closer, around Xia Duo, three rows of long-eared, tall elves were holding delicate-looking one-handed swords pointed forward, though it was unclear what they were practicing.

Although these elves were the same as the previous instructor, their physical characteristics were different. The instructor had fair skin and a robust build, while these elves being trained had skin the color of light coffee and were slighter in build.

Xia Duo looked down and saw that his own hands were just like the surrounding trainees, but this color against the delicate skin of an elf didn't look bad; instead, it had a metallic luster, which was quite interesting.

"Asuosi, Asuosi, the instructor is coming back around, don't space out!" While he was thinking, Xia Duo felt his back being pushed again.

The force was neither light nor heavy, but just enough to make him notice. Was it Gelada?

Only then did Xia Duo come back to his senses and hurriedly raised his right hand, imitating the surrounding elves, pointing the one-handed sword in his hand forward.

Perhaps the other elves were truly training, but Xia Duo was just going through the motions; he was actually observing the sword in his hand.

This sword was a Magic Item!

The entire body was slender, somewhat like the swords from Xia Duo's hometown, and it was significantly different from Netherese swords.

The surface of the blade was engraved with some Fuwu of unknown meaning; they looked like Elvish, yet were somewhat different, and every one of these Fuwu was connected to the Magic Net.

The hilt was comfortable to hold, without ostentatious decorations; everything seemed to be solely for practicality. Just then, a thought suddenly popped up from the bottom of Xia Duo's heart—

"This is a standard-issue weapon of Sukanweisa City!"

Xia Duo was suddenly startled. Could it be the real Asuosi speaking? He didn't know what the principles of the so-called Astral Projection were, or how it allowed him to replace a creature in the Projection Plane, but now it seemed there was some incompatibility in the replacement?

Or perhaps, travel to a Projection Plane was just like this?

Xia Duo tried hard to recall what Niya and Aiboke had told him. Generally speaking, when humans projected here, they would also be human; only in very rare cases would they become other races.

Precisely because it was a very rare case, neither Niya nor Aiboke had gone into detail, and now Xia Duo had happened to encounter this very rare case.

Or perhaps, he wasn't human to begin with—at least not a Faerûn human—which allowed the range of choices to expand significantly when he performed the projection.

Regardless of whether it was incompatible, the most important thing right now was to try to play this role well; only on this basis could he secure benefits for himself.

Of course, the benefits here mainly referred to Knowledge.

Now that Xia Duo had projected into an elf, he only needed to dig deep into himself, and that would be enough. He was quite interested in elves!

……

Sukanweisa City, City Guard Training Ground.

Time passed bit by bit. Xia Duo continued to mix in with the group of trainee elves, going through the motions. The instructor passed by him several times, and his expression grew worse and worse.

And as the sky gradually darkened, the instructor finally announced: "That's enough, that's it for today. Dismissed. Do not be late for tomorrow afternoon's Martial Arts Class. Asuosi, you don't need to come tomorrow."

"……"

Almost all the trainee elves looked at Xia Duo. Even though Xia Duo kept telling himself, "You are Xia Duo, not Asuosi. You are here for Plane travel, not to suffer!"

There was still a sense of grievance.

Fortunately, no elf mocked Xia Duo to his face. Soon, the crowd dispersed, and only Xia Duo and the little companion who had pushed him from behind earlier—Gelada—remained on the training ground.

"Asuosi, what's wrong with you today? You actually dared to space out in Big Black Face's class!"

As Gelada said this, he even used a small Spell to conjure the instructor's image at his fingertips, though in Gelada's description, the instructor had truly become a "Big Black Face."

"Instructor!" Xia Duo suddenly shouted.

Pop—the image at Gelada's fingertips vanished instantly, and his whole body tensed up. Seeing the mischievous smile on Xia Duo's face, he suddenly realized:

"You rascal Asuosi, I saved you so many times today, and you actually dared to trick me! Don't think about having my father help you beg Big Black Face for mercy this time."

As he spoke, Gelada actually brandished his sword and poked at Xia Duo. This gave Xia Duo a fright. Was this an elf? A noble and elegant elf?

Drawing a blade at the slightest disagreement?

Xia Duo's own reaction was a bit slow, but his body's instincts already made him raise his sword to poke back at the other party, and at this moment, Xia Duo also understood why this was.

Following his instincts, Xia Duo just poked back and forth with his sword like this, not aiming at the other party's body, and the other party didn't aim at his body either; they just occasionally clashed swords, having a great time.

"Asuosi, why have you stopped talking? Are you playing the silent type like Big Black Face?"

At this time, Xia Duo had already sheathed his sword and stood still, while constantly signaling to Gelada, "The instructor is here!"

"Again? I won't believe you this time. If Big Black Face comes over, I'll fight him too!"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was slapped on the head. "You want to fight me too?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Gelada was so scared that he even dropped the sword in his hand. Turning his head, it was indeed the instructor. Gelada couldn't help but chatter his teeth:

"Instructor, I was joking, hehe."

"Joking?" At this moment, the instructor's expression was no less gloomy than when he had passed by Xia Duo earlier. "The training ground is closing. I'll deal with you tomorrow. Get home quickly!"

At the last word, the instructor raised his voice, almost roaring it out.

Gelada was so scared that he took to his heels and ran, not even wanting the sword he had dropped on the ground. Fortunately, he remembered Xia Duo before he left and signaled for Xia Duo to follow.

Xia Duo was not so rude; he said a word to the instructor and picked up Gelada's sword before preparing to leave.

"Asuosi, wait!"

The instructor suddenly stopped Xia Duo, and Xia Duo also stopped his steps subconsciously. Looking at the tall and robust instructor before him, a thought suddenly flashed through Xia Duo's mind—the instructor was his father's comrade-in-arms.