While the sword was being made, Xu Xin returned to and stayed in the beast tribes' valley.
He wandered around the valley every day. He endlessly roamed the vicinity, centered on the riverbank where he was first discovered.
'I don't know where this place is, and I don't know where Lady Eve and Lethe are. The best I can do is wander around like this and hope to accidentally encounter them.'
Additionally, he had asked the beast warriors patrolling around the valley for a favor. If they happened to meet other elves, they should let him know.
It was a method entirely dependent on luck, but there was no better plan.
'If they know I fell into the river, they're probably moving along the river looking for me.'
Of course, this method was predicated on the assumption that they were still searching for him.
If they had grown tired of searching for him and given up, he would never meet them with this method.
Suddenly, Xu Xin thought of Eve, who had found him troublesome.
The blurry image of his birth mother's back as they parted in the marketplace came to mind.
'If they couldn't find me, and I'm left here forever...'
Xu Xin imagined such a situation. And he looked over the beast-people in the valley.
'I would just live with them.'
It could have felt frustrating and bleak, but he accepted such thoughts with equanimity.
He was not a person who minded being left behind or abandoned.
In his previous life, he didn't know his parents and had no blood relatives, but he wasn't lonely because he had his sword as a companion. Since martial arts were his joy, he wasn't lonely wherever he was.
※※※
Since Xu Xin defeated the Ogre and saved Lexil, the wolf tribe treated him with great hospitality.
Corine guided Xu Xin around the valley and its surroundings almost every day.
While wandering around the valley, Xu Xin frequently encountered other beast-people. Those who met him, regardless of gender, gave him intense gazes that were almost burdensome.
Some of the young women even openly seduced or courted him.
'They are truly honest with their emotions and uninhibited in their actions.'
Whenever he received the advances of pretty and cute beast women, Xu Xin couldn't help but think that.
So one day, he shared these thoughts with Corine.
"The customs of the beast-people seem honest and genuine. Because you don't feel ashamed of your emotions."
In response, Corine just stared at him without saying anything. When Xu Xin looked back at her in puzzlement, she moved her lips for a moment, then suddenly changed the subject.
"Xu Xin. About that time when you threw the Ogre. Is that elf magic? Can you show it to me again? It was so amazing that it keeps appearing in my dreams."
He answered without hiding anything:
"That was martial arts."
"Martial arts? What's that?"
"It's a skill for fighting others and preserving oneself."
"Is it different from magic?"
"Magic requires magical force to use, but martial arts can be learned even without magical force."
Corine asked with curiosity and fascination:
"If it doesn't require magical force, can all of us beast-people learn it? Actually, none of us beast-people have magical force."
He asked Corine if he could touch her body. At this, Corine flinched momentarily and gave permission in a strangely tense tone.
Xu Xin examined her bones and muscles, starting from her shoulders. He felt firmness yet flexibility through his fingertips. As expected, it was an excellent physique for martial arts.
'Are all beast-people born with such physiques?'
In his previous life, Xu Xin had met warriors from various distinguished families and clans who visited Wudang Sect. As befitting scions of famous families, they had their own martial physiques.
However, Corine's physique surpassed most of those scions of famous families.
'If they learned martial arts, the effect would be tremendous.'
As someone who revered martial arts, Xu Xin felt it was a terrible waste to leave such physiques untapped. He was even inclined to pass down martial arts to them.
However, Xu Xin couldn't bring himself to do so.
'My martial arts belong to Wudang Sect, so passing them to non-disciples of Wudang would be unethical.'
Even though this was a different world, he couldn't recklessly transmit his sect's martial arts to outsiders.
"You have a body well-suited for learning martial arts, but..."
After removing his hands from Corine's body, Xu Xin spoke with some awkwardness. He thought Corine wanted to learn martial arts. But he had to refuse, so he expected her to be disappointed.
Contrary to his expectations, however, Corine didn't ask for the transmission of martial arts. It seemed she had never even considered it and had simply asked out of curiosity.
"Could you please show that again, what you did back then?"
Seeing this, Xu Xin realized his misconception. Because he himself loved martial arts, he had assumed others would naturally love and want martial arts too.
He smiled a bit embarrassedly.
"Would you extend your arm? I'll show you directly with the body."
Corine obediently extended her arm. Xu Xin, grasping her wrist, demonstrated the Turn Body and Throw movement. Her body turned half a circle in the air.
Before she fell to the ground, Xu Xin caught her and set her upright.
Corine seemed to find the experience of floating and spinning quite fun. Xu Xin repeatedly showed her the same movement.
※※※
The Dwarves visited the beast tribes' valley. They came to deliver the completed long sword to Xu Xin.
Xu Xin received the elongated case handed to him by the Dwarves.
The case was made of wood with a subtle fragrance, and an intricate carving of an elf defeating an Ogre was engraved on it.
Feeling excited, Xu Xin opened the lid of the case. A long sword revealed its elegant form.
He involuntarily let out a sigh as he picked up and examined the long sword.
"How is it? Do you like it?"
"It's splendid."
At Xu Xin's praise, the Dwarves burst into laughter. Then suddenly, one Dwarf took out paper and charcoal and asked:
"Xu Xin. May I draw your face? I'd like to make a statue of you."
He wore a puzzled expression.
"May I know the reason?"
The Dwarves answered in unison:
"We've never made such a long sword before. We've never even imagined it."
"If we've never made it, probably no one else in this world has made it either."
"So this is the first long sword of its kind. Naturally, we should erect a statue of you. We must let our descendants know who the father of the long sword is, right?"
Xu Xin wanted to decline the Dwarves' request. The talk of erecting a statue and informing about the father of the long sword seemed excessive to him.
However, as the Dwarves earnestly pleaded, he eventually had no choice but to agree.
Having received permission, the Dwarf began to rub charcoal on the paper. Soon, Xu Xin's portrait was completed.
It was at the exact moment his portrait was finished.
Suddenly, the clouds in the sky began to move ominously. Strong winds blew into the valley.
"Found you."
A voice filled with deep fatigue resonated.
Xu Xin, holding the long sword in one hand, slowly turned his head. Platinum blonde hair fluttered before his eyes.