When Toma woke up, he realised that he was tied in ropes
very tightly and the elf that almost killed him was sitting
right in front of him. The elf was wearing a white ruffle top
with a brown midi skirt. On her waist was a beautiful silver
accessory that was wrapping around her waist. Her blue hair
till her shoulders fluttered in the air and her red eyes shot
like daggers through Toma's heart.
Her eyes were full of bloodlust and her twinkling silver
earrings with red crystals added to her beauty.
The beauty was not a single trait in her. She was an archer.
She wasn't just an archer.
She felt like someone who never missed.
The instant Toma opened his eyes, all the elves in the elf-
village became alerted and pointed their weapons at him as
if he was a potential threat to their lives.
"Oh, so you are awake?", said the blue-haired elf.
"Who are you all? Why am I tied up? I'm not a hostage or
anything. Let me go home. I'm here by mistake. I have to go
back. My dog is waiting for me.", said Toma proving his
innocence.
"What is a dog? Don't you dare fool me, Mister. What is your
IKO? Answer me or die."
"IKO? What is IKO?", questioned Toma.
Everyone in the camp started whispering among themselves
how was trying to act so dumb that he didn't know what IKO
was. They also wondered what the dog creature he was
talking about.
"Do you think I'm that dumb?", said the elf. "Are you trying
to fool me? Who, in this world, doesn't know what IKO is?"
"I don't know what IKO is. And I would like to know what it
is and first of all, I wanna ask you why do you have so long
ears?"
"You stupid. I'm an elf and that's why I have long ears. Don't
you even know that much? IKO is the amount of power you
have. The higher it is, the stronger you are.", said the elf.
"You can check your IKO by tapping on your right wrist. So,
answer me, what's your IKO?", asked the elf with a cold
death stare.
So, Toma, in zero hopes, thinking it was just a dream and
nothing would happen if he would tap on his wrist but in
order to stay alive, at that moment, tapped on his right wrist
twice and saw a blue light coming out of it that shone in his
eyes.
The number that represented his IKO was 86. So Toma told
them that his IKO was 86. On knowing that Toma couldn't
cause any damage to them, they decided to further
interrogate him and check if he was worthy of being freed.
"What does this number mean? Can you explain it further to
me? Where am I? Who are you? Can you please tell me
that?", pleaded Toma.
"You are in alfaborp right now, my friend. This is the village
of elves. The number on your wrist determines how
powerful you are. The people with IKO more than 1000 are
called....", the elf hesitated for a moment.
"...'heroes'. It doesn't matter if they are helping someone or
killing someone. They are given this status by the
government. And we suspect you are one of the heroes who
are here to either kill or abduct us.", suspected the elf.
"WHAT?! I didn't even know what IKO was till recently and
you suspect I am here to kill you. Sorry, but I don't know
what is going on right now and let me go back to the earth I
16 used to live in. This is not a joke.", Toma said this in order to make a joke thinking they were still on earth.
"EARTH?! What is that? A place where you are from? I have
never heard of it!", exclaimed the blue-haired elf.
"WAIT, WHAT?! I mean the planet EARTH we all live in.
This is not an isekai world. Let me go... Seriously?"
"Is it an isekai world???"
Saying so, Toma pulled his cheek in order to wake up if it
was a dream but he didn't wake up and suddenly he realised
what was going on. He started to pick up the threads.
"What are you saying?", asked the elf as if he was going mad.
"I don't about 'earth' but the planet where you are right now
is El' Valerith, my friend."
"I think I know what is going on. Let me introduce myself. I
am Toma Itsuki, a human, who is surprisingly, not from this
world. Can I know your name? And what exactly are you
talking about?", said Toma calmly.
All the elves started whispering among themselves looking
at a boy with messy burnt sienna hair and green eyes who
was trying to prove him innocent. That's when the chief of
the community entered the camp and everyone stood up in
order to welcome him.
The chief was looking like an old man who was quite good at
governing and leading people. He had ginger hair and a
golden tooth which sparkled when a ray of sunlight fell on it.
He had a large beard till his chest and looked like a kind-
hearted person.
He looked at Toma and came near him.
"Silence everyone. No talking.", the old elf silenced the other
elves and then turned to Toma. "I am Julliber Shatner, the
head of this village. Nice to meet you. Sorry for the bad
hospitality by my people. I would like to ask you a few
questions if you don't mind."
"Yes, please but I have a lot more questions than you have,
mister."
"No worries. First of all, you are not here to harm us, right?"
"No, not in a thousand years. I would hurt someone without
any reason", said Toma calmly.
Listening to this, the chief took a piece of paper in his hand
and made Toma say the exact words he said earlier. The
paper turned blue. The old man ordered the elves to free
him. Toma was baffled by technique he just saw.
"You must be thinking what happened, right?", said the old
man calmly. "Well, that's a technique that has been through
generations in our tribe. The person is to swore something
to this Welcra paper. If the paper turns blue, then they are
telling the truth. But if the paper turns red, then they are
lying."
"Don't worry we'll cause you no more harm.", continued the
old man. "You just have to say whatever you said earlier to
this paper and then we will decide what to do with you
further on."
Toma swore to the Welcra paper about everything and the
paper turned blue. Toma was also confused with what was
going on with him. That's when the old man turned towards
his people.
"You people probably know about a man who once also said
quite the same things like this boy here. The story of
Dramata Aretary is famous all over the world. But when it
happened and how of it is true, we know nothing about that.
But this boy, here, is obviously not lying. He swore
allegiance to the Welcra paper and now there is no way he
can harm us. So please, treat this boy..."
That's when a blonde elf came running into the camp,
yelling "Trolls, Trolls, Trolls..." from the top of his lungs.
Everyone in the camp started to panic and started rushing
towards south. Someone held Toma's hand and advised him
to start running in the same direction as other elves.
Toma looked to his side and saw the blue-haired elf
grabbing his hand and asking him to run away but Toma
was not able to move his feet as if someone was compelling
him to stay there and even Toma's soul was not willing to
leave the place.
Just when Toma came to his senses and decided to move.
A giant, monster covered in dirt with a large club in his hand
appeared in front of Toma. He was smashing the houses and
raiding their food.
The troll looked at Toma and suddenly jerked back as if
Toma had pushed him back.
The elf with blue hair with a bow and arrow appeared in
front of Toma and yelled at him to run away from there but
Toma stayed there as if he was not willing to leave the place.
The elf girl shot an arrow that pierced right through the
troll's right eye and the troll started to wither in pain.
The troll fell on the floor as if he was unconscious by that
attack. So the elf girl let down her guard and started to yell
at Toma for being so careless and not running away earlier.
She was complaining what would have happened if she was
not there and how Toma's wounds would have got even
worse.
That's when the troll stood up and plucked up the arrow
from his eye and swung his club at her.
Toma moved without thinking twice.
He pushed the elf aside.
And then-
A burst of red light erupted from his body, piercing straight
through the monster.
Silence followed.
The troll collapsed.
The elf girl looked at Toma and was surprised at what
happened right in front of her eyes.
"How did you do that? You said you were new to this world?
That was incredible! If you will practice more, you can gain
control over your power and become a hero. Just don't
become the corrupted one.", saying so the elf girl praised
him by patting on his back.
"I don't know how I did that. What is it that impressive that
your eyes are literally shining like stars?", questioned Toma
looking at her eyes that were twinkling as if there was glitter
in her eyes.
"By the way, what's your name?", Toma asked her further.
"I am Eldiea Waltins. Nice to meet you, Toma. You saved my
life. Thank you so much.", answered the blue-haired elf.
"Nice to meet you too, Eldiea. It was you who saved my life,
not me. Thanks. Would you not mind if I ask you
something?"
"Ask whatever you want.", she replied calmly.
It was the first time since Toma came into the camp and saw
Eldiea being calm otherwise what he saw earlier was way
worse than he could think of.
"Can you teach me how to control and use my IKO?", asked
Toma.
"I would be glad to do so. Teaching a human IKO is
something I can never even dream of. Humans are so rare in
this area.", answered Eldiea without any hesitation.
Toma and Eldiea started walking towards the evacuation
site where the other elves rushed when the troll appeared.
Toma had a lot of questions in his mind. He wanted to ask
her everything about this world and everything that he could
possibly think of.
"By the way, why was that troll attacking the village?", asked
Toma and started the conversation off smooth.
"The troll was pissed off because once our ancestors
accidentally stole his club thinking that was just a piece of
wood and can be used for fire. So they burned it up. From
that time on, he has been attacking us non-stop in order to
get his revenge."
"He had been attacking your village for such a small matter,
seriously? What a strange world it is!", exclaimed Toma.
"I know, right. And worst of all is the person who is working
in shadows and wants to kill all elves in the village. I don't
know what is his grudge against the elves. And you know
what I think he is a hero...", Eldiea started showing some
feelings.
"Talking of that, I want you to look at your IKO again
because probably it must have gone up because you
committed a good deed and helped me. The IKO rises
whenever someone commits a good deed, hones their skill,
fight a strong opponent, the risk to do that task is also taken
into account."
Toma again tapped in his right wrist twice and saw that his
IKO has gone up and became 127.
"That's a huge margin by which you just jumped. From 86 to
127 this is seriously a huge jump for an amateur like you. I
am really impressed by the progress you made."
Eldiea looked at Toma with starry red eyes and then looked
at his bracelet.
"Your bracelet is so beautiful. It is glowing like a star just
like me. Where did you get that? Can I have it?", pleaded
Eldiea like a child who was yearning for an emerald bracelet
that was shining in the moonlight.
"Sorry but I can't give it to you. It's important to me. By the
way, I have something to ask you."
"Yeah, sure.", answered Eldiea.
"Can you see that? That crack? In the violet sky?", asked
Toma.
"The crack? I think you are talking about the rift. There is a
legend that a person is born every 100 years who is able to
see and communicate with the rift. But I don't know how
much of it is true..."
She continued, "...The people who have seen the rift had said
that it looks like a crack opening to another world in the
violet sky that comes after every 6 months. But no one has
ever gone through that crack. I don't even know if this
legend is true or not."
"Well, that's enough. Is there anyone who have ever met a
person who has seen the rift?"
"I don't about that maybe the chief can tell you something
about that. By the way your training begins tomorrow at 8
am. Meet me at the grounds of Rulphend. Either way I'm
gonna pick you up tomorrow. I have something else to tell
you..."
Just as she was about to finish her sentence, they reached
the shelter where everyone was waiting for them. Eldiea
rushed in the shelter and alerted everyone.
"Everyone, your attention, please.", all the elves looked at
her. She continued, "I, myself have tested that this human is
no threat to us. This human named Toma has just saved my
life by killing a troll using his IKO. So please don't have any
questions and feel free around him."
After announcing this, she went inside a room and sent the
blonde elf that previously informed others about the troll.
The elf came up to Toma and told him that he was a doctor
and treated his wounds.
On the occasion that they have defeated the troll and of
getting a new partner, a banquet took place in alfaborp and
everyone toasted for the victory over the troll and enjoyed
the night. Toma also got so invested in the fun that he forgot
about everything else.
The last moment he remembered was the chief rushing
inside a dungeon and bringing back a wooden box with gold
decoration and a green coloured cloth. The memories what
happened after that in his mind got blurred.