Blood Elf Monarch

Seeing the grievous state Astrid had got herself in, Serene quickly approached her and casted healing magic on the wounds. A lustrous mist gradually materialized around the wounds, which slowly healed them - [Soothing Mist]. Even though the effect wasn't much, it was still enough to keep her alive.

Now that Astrid had effectively been gotten rid of, the situation turned into a one against three battle. Tristan had to be more careful now, especially as he already saw the 'undefined' stats of the Forlorn Prince.

With his upgrade to stage 4 of Blood Monarch, his urge for blood had also tempted him to just unleash his power. However, Tristan knew succumbing to this urge of his would decisively spell the death of him. Therefore, he had to restrain it.

Prince Janus was about to order the elders to attack when Tristan startled him by speaking abruptly.

"Who dares to fight me first!?"

The words that Tristan uttered were aimed to manipulate and make a one-on-one fight, as it turned out, his opponent bought it.

"Hahaha! You like to play games, aren't you?" asked Prince Janus with an amused smile on his face. "Alright, you know what? I will let you choose who you want to fight against."

When in doubt, use your head. This way, Tristan could first get one of them off the equation before moving to another. This situation is certainly much better than fighting against all three at once.

However, though Tristan had escaped from the worst possible scenario, what he got ahead was certainly still an ordeal. Hence, he quickly scanned the two elves standing beside the Forlorn Prince to get an estimate of their strength.

The first one, the elf standing on the left side of Prince Janus was introduced as Dulos. The man was quiet-looking, but with a body slightly bigger and more muscular than a normal elf. The contrast between his atmosphere and appearance certainly caught Tristan off guard.

[Wood elf - Male]

[Battle power undefined]

[Spirit force 210]

Tristan inwardly shook his head when he saw the word undefined pasted on his battle power. It was clear that these two elves were on a different level than the elder he fought at the mine.

He subconsciously held his breath when the result of the other elder came out. It was a very slender and pale-skinned female elf with long, braided green hair.

[Wood elf - Female]

[Battle power 125]

[Spirit force undefined]

"So, which one will you choose? Caerleon Mayor?" asked Prince Janus when Tristan just stood there without saying anything.

Meanwhile, Tristan ignored the Forlorn Prince as he contemplated which one he should pick. Based on their stats, he could infer that one was a great fighter while the other was a great magician. Both were strong opponents, but their specialization was completely in contrast to another.

Tristan was so annoyed that he wished to just break the scanner apart as it became more and more unreliable with each passing day.

Even though his inner was in turmoil, outwardly Tristan showed a confident smile as he said, 

"Alright! I will choose the big guy!"

For him personally, a physical-based duel would be more predictable and manageable than a magic-based one. After all, one could count the amount of magic spells in his repertoire with hands. In addition, fighting physically could definitely push and test the limit of his current strength.

The male elder named Dulos quickly stepped forward when he heard Tristan's words. The two longswords he brought out and firmly gripped in his hands were reflecting the sunlight as his figure dashed at Tristan.

Clank!

Tristan, who already took his stance the moment he opened his mouth, welcomed Dulos. The mithril sword in his hand had precisely accepted the downward slash Dulos sent, but caught unprepared by the force in it.

The ground around his feet seemed to sink in, as Tristan's body received the entire momentum of the strike. He felt his hands going numb from receiving the full force. The man certainly had a battle power of more than 200.

After the first strike was parried, Dulos was certainly not done yet as the second longsword quickly came for Tristan's life.

Clank!

Fortunately, Tristan managed to shift his sword at the last moment and successfully blocked the attack. Dulos appeared unfazed by his continuous failure as he utilized agile footwork to change his position and the direction of his swing.

Clankk!! Clank!!

As Tristan blocked two slashes that came nearly at the same time from two different directions, he was being reminded of the elf master who taught him blade dancing. The man in front of him should be on the same level, or probably even more as Dulos used two longswords instead of two daggers.

Clankk!!

Tristan received Dulos' double sweep attack and his body was pushed back several meters. This attack was stronger than the previous ones, but he could still handle it.

This elf had high battle power, but what mesmerized Tristan was the technique that he utilized. Not only was it top notch, Dulos had combined and incorporated it into his fighting style that it felt natural like breathing.

If it wasn't because of Tristan's previous experience with the same technique, he was certain he wouldn't be able to keep up and could only be helplessly beaten up.

In the meantime, Prince Janus who was watching the fight looked excited when he saw how Tristan fared against Dulos. "Amazing! You are very strong!"

Tristan had to admit that even though his battle power was higher than Dulos, the elf had a much better technique and its application than him. He could infer from what he was seeing and experiencing so far that the one he was fighting must be a stage 4 Katra fighter - a level that the elven masters in Vanyar had reached.

It was at this moment that Chieng arrived as his figure jumped out of the dense woods.

His arrival attracted attention, including Prince Janus whose gaze immediately locked on the figure on his back, the crippled Prince Elroth.

"Ha! Welcome to the party, dearest brother. Glad you can join us."

Tristan didn't lose focus and kept attacking Dulos. He had the advantage of strength and speed over the other party and also still had a few hidden cards in his sleeve. However, he knew the elf must be the same as well.

Hence, Tristan decided to enjoy himself as it was a rare chance for him to have such a fine sparring partner in swordsmanship. After a few dozen exchanges, like every other fight he went through, his body began to adapt to Ludos's technique.

Due to the gradual familiarity, Tristan instinctively spotted an opening in Ludos and immediately took said opportunity.

After his successful strike to deflect Dulos' attack,  He sent a swing at Dulos' head as the latter lost his balance. Unfortunately, just a centimeter before the blade landed and pierced through, Dulos' body suddenly turned into stone. As a result, Tristan's sword was stopped and the golden opportunity went like smoke.

"Clank"

[Greater stone skin- Tier 4 earth spell.]

One of the best individual defensive spells was casted, and Dulos' body which had turned into stone was suddenly covered and layered by even more stones, turning him into some kind of stone man.

While transforming, Dulos seemed unable to do anything. Therefore, Tristan would not let go of such an opportunity as he sent two more deadly attacks at the elf.

Clank!! Clank!!

The attacks were able to push and hurt Dulos as Tristan could see the pained expression on his face, but there was no blood spilled. Even his mithril tier 3 weapon was only able to put a scratch on him,

Dulos stood up and drew his swords once again. This time, he was cladded in layers of stone armor.

"Shit!!" cursed Tristan loudly, as his eyes looked at the monstrosity.

If he knew the man had such troublesome magic as well, he would've chosen the female.