Chapter 154: Chapter154- Night Elf
Chapter 154: Chapter154- Night Elf
"Finally... it's your turn, Babylon Elliot."
John looked at Babylon Elliot, a knowing smile playing on his lips.
"Shall we talk?"
"Talk? About what?"
Babylon swallowed hard and instinctively took a few steps back.
Even though the man in front of him showed no sign of hostility, Babylon felt inexplicably nervous.
It was as if he were facing a tiger that could pounce and tear him to pieces at any moment, filling him with dread.
"Let's talk about how you saw through my little trick. How proud are you of yourself?"
"From the beginning, I suspected that hunting monsters was just a cover.
Even if you really wanted to release fifteen unrestricted monsters into the habitat, Lord Elowen and Lord Elaria would never agree to it. Isn't that obvious?"
"Well said. Go on."
"W-what else is there to say? After seeing through it, I lost interest and found a place to rest."
"Rest? I doubt it. Didn't you just say you wanted to watch these idiots make fools of themselves? How do you feel about that now? Satisfied?"
Hearing this, Babylon's face turned red.
He stammered, trying to retort, but couldn't form a complete sentence and finally hung his head in silence.
"Elowen, why don't you give your evaluation of Babylon's performance in this test?"
Elowen met John's gaze and was momentarily stunned.
"M-me?"
"Just say what you think."
"Well... his observation skills are good, his thinking is agile, but his personality is too arrogant and self-centered, and his sense of teamwork is weak."
"Having heard Elowen's evaluation of you, what do you think?"
"I-I have no thoughts, Lord Elowen is right..."
"Really?"
John suddenly laughed.
"Let me guess, right now you're thinking, why are you targeting me? Clearly, I'm the one who saw through the truth, much smarter than these fools who follow the crowd without independent thinking.
Besides, what's wrong with arrogance? I have the right to be arrogant... Am I right?"
Seeing Babylon's shocked expression, John knew he had guessed correctly.
"I've seen many self-proclaimed smart people, so I naturally understand their mindset. Elowen, make a note and give him an excellent rating."
"Excellent? Master John, are you sure?"
"Of course! Did he make an incorrect judgment?"
"Well, no..."
Elowen scratched his head, still looking a bit hesitant.
"Calmly analyzing the situation and quickly making a judgment deserves an excellent rating, doesn't it? As for his personality traits, they shouldn't factor into the score. Just do as I say."
"Understood, Master John."
With that, Elowen no longer hesitated and obediently gave Babylon an excellent rating.
Thus, the first test concluded: six received a good rating, eight failed, and only Babylon received an excellent.
"Alright, today's test is over. You can leave now. Tomorrow, at the same time, gather here in this clearing. Don't be late.
Starting tomorrow, Elowen will conduct a three-month training program for you, with periodic assessments similar to today's test.
Each assessment, Elowen will score your performances.
After a month, the three with the highest overall scores will be selected to join Elowen's personal guard.
There are only three spots, so I hope you all work hard."
After watching everyone leave, John finally relaxed, dropped his act, and sat down on the steps with a smile. "Elowen, what do you think of this group?"
Elowen also relaxed and sat down next to John.
After a moment of contemplation, he remarked, "They have potential. With some training and correction, they could become the backbone of the Elf tribe in the future."
"Tsk, what kind of evaluation is that? It's so vague. Let me ask you another question: after today, who left the deepest impression on you? And don't tell me everyone did. If you can't give a reason, you'll be punished just the same!"
"This... you're putting me on the spot, Master John. I'm fairly familiar with everyone, but if I had to choose, I'd say Meryl and Babylon."
Elowen stroked his chin, recalling, "Previously, I already had some impression of Meryl. This girl... well, I'm not much older than her. In my opinion, Meryl has a somewhat indecisive personality.
But her thinking is very agile, often finding the optimal solution in the shortest time, like in today's test.
Staying in the commercial street and trying to delay the situation as much as possible was indeed the best way to minimize the disaster. hosted-on-NovelFire
However, the problem is that Meryl's courage is somewhat lacking. Even when facing low-level monsters like cave goblins, she trembles with fear."
"Does she have an almost instinctive fear of monsters? Did something happen to her when she was young?"
"I'm not sure... I've asked people close to Meryl, but even her best friends don't know why she's like this."
Elowen sighed, paused for a moment, then continued talking about Babylon.
"As for Babylon, I don't know much about him.
On one hand, he's a descendant of the Night Elves and only recently arrived here.
On the other hand, he's somewhat of a loner, rarely interacting with others, so he has no friends.
Babylon's most frequent activity is climbing the Tree of Life and staring at the sky in a daze. I often see him there alone when I pass by."
"Sounds like a gloomy little kid, haha."
"Actually, this might be related to the fate of the Night Elves.
Many years ago, around three thousand years ago, the Elf tribe was a vast race, and the entire forest was our home.
Back then, the Elves were strong enough to be considered one of the three major races alongside humans and dwarves."
At that time, a small portion of the elves began to waver in their faith in the Goddess of Nature and started worshipping other deities, including but not limited to the Goddess of the Sea, the Goddess of the Night, and so on.
Initially, the Elven King didn't pay much attention to this since it was only a small group changing their beliefs.
However, their influence grew over time, and eventually, more than half of the tribe had changed their faith.
This angered the Elven King, who then banished them from the habitat, leading to the emergence of branches like the Night Elves and Water Elves."
Hearing this, John nodded thoughtfully.
In fact, John, despite living two lifetimes, was unaware of these events, as they were secrets within the Elven tribe, known only to the Elven King.
Elaria had never mentioned such matters to him.
"And... what happened after that?"
"Later, it's said that some elves were dissatisfied with the Elven King's decision, leading to an internal war.
I'm not clear on the details of the war, but I know the outcome.
The Elven King couldn't achieve a decisive victory and had to compromise, dividing part of the forest to those elves as their habitat to stop the conflict."
"Differences in faith causing such a split—it's not surprising in a world teeming with deities. What about the Night Elves? According to you, did they also participate in this war?"
"More than just participating."
Elowen sighed, shaking his head. "The Night Elves were nearly wiped out after that war, with fewer than a few hundred survivors struggling to survive.
To this day, Night Elves have almost disappeared, and even Babylon isn't a pure Night Elf; he only inherited part of their abilities."
"So, does Babylon still hold a grudge against the Elven tribe?"
"I don't know, maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. He never spoke about it, and I can't make assumptions.
All I can do is try to understand him better and learn about his thoughts."
"If Babylon does harbor a grudge against the current Elven tribe and stays here with the intention of one day overthrowing it, what would you do?"
At this, Elowen fell silent.
"I... I don't know. I don't want to hurt him, but I can't let my people be harmed either."