I Became a Cub in the Elven Kingdom

Unsurprisingly, all four Little Fairies overslept the next day.

Sayah did not wake them in the morning, allowing them to sleep until noon.

When Shu Li awoke, he was still somewhat groggy. He felt as though he could not breathe properly, and when he lowered his head to investigate, he discovered Dixio’s leg lying across his chest.

No wonder he had been having nightmares. His friend’s atrocious sleeping posture had been crushing him.

Shu Li decisively pushed the leg away, patted his chest, and caught his breath.

The shove woke Dixio. His red hair sticking up like a bird’s nest, he crawled upright with a yawn.

“G-Good morning...”

Shu Li turned to look at the markings on the hourglass beside the bed. He froze, then hurriedly shook Angel and Budno awake.

“Wake up! It’s noon!”

“Hm? It’s noon?” Angel sat up, rubbing his eyes.

Budno was still sound asleep, clutching his beloved little pillow.

He had always been an exceptionally deep sleeper. Nothing they did could wake him.

Shu Li had no choice but to use his ultimate weapon. Leaning close to Budno’s ear, he whispered like a demon, “Someone stole your fruit. You don’t have any fruit left...”

The trick never failed. Budno’s eyes snapped open, and he frantically looked around.

“My fruit! My fruit! Don’t take it!”

Shu Li lightly patted his cheek. “No one stole your fruit. It’s time to get up.”

The instant he heard that no one had stolen it, Budno flopped back onto the bed.

Shu Li was rendered speechless.

Angel stretched. When he saw Budno refusing to get up, he said, “I’m so hungry! Let’s hurry up and go eat!”

Budno’s ears twitched, and he laboriously opened his eyes. “I’m hungry too...”

Growl—

His stomach obligingly spoke up.

Shu Li gave him a gentle push. “If you’re hungry, hurry up and get out of bed.”

Fifteen minutes later, four adolescent Fairies in their larger forms rushed toward the dining hall in a fluster.

“Well, look who finally got up.”

The Elves they encountered along the way teased them with amused smiles.

“G-Good afternoon,” Shu Li greeted them shamelessly.

“You must be starving. Hurry to the dining hall. Sayah saved some food for you.”

Shu Li quickened his pace and ran into the dining hall with his friends.

When Sayah saw them, she smiled. “Good afternoon, my little darlings.”

“Good afternoon, Sayah.” After sitting down, Budno collapsed over the table and said pitifully, “I’m so hungry...”

“Just a moment,” Sayah said.

She went into the kitchen and soon returned carrying a large platter piled with a sumptuous meal: fresh fruits and vegetables, freshly baked bread, boiled eggs, deer milk, nectar, jam, and more.

The starving adolescent Fairies’ eyes lit up, and they eagerly began eating.

Ilio strolled through the door with several wooden sticks in his hand. Reaching the table, he beamed at the four adolescent Fairies, who were clearly ravenous yet still maintained elegant table manners.

Shu Li immediately became wary. He lowered the half-eaten fruit in his hand and looked up at Ilio. When he noticed the wooden sticks, alarm shot through him.

What does Ilio want those sticks for? He isn’t planning to spank us, is he?

Is this because we got up late today?

But if he really wanted to spank us, one stick would be enough. There’d be no need to bring five.

A realization flashed through Shu Li’s mind.

He understood.

Sure enough, Ilio said to them, “Eat quickly. Once you’re finished, you’re going to the training ground this afternoon to practice swordsmanship.”

“Huh?”

The other three adolescent Fairies nearly choked.

Ilio gave them no opportunity to refuse. He handed each of them a wooden stick, kept the last one for himself, and casually rested it across his shoulder before winking at them.

“Don’t keep me waiting too long.”

With a spring in his step, he left the dining hall.

The food immediately lost its appeal to the Little Fairies holding the wooden sticks.

Practicing swordsmanship with the strongest warrior in the Elven Kingdom meant they would be the only ones taking a beating.

So was this punishment in disguise?

Waaaah...

After finishing their meal, the four adolescent Fairies dawdled their way toward the training ground, wooden sticks in hand.

The training ground stood outdoors in a separate courtyard roughly the size of two basketball courts. All kinds of swords and bows covered the surrounding walls.

Swords and bows were the weapons Elves wielded best, so their usual training centered primarily on those two.

Ever since Shu Li began studying in the Elven Kingdom, Ilio had served as his swordsmanship instructor.

Even after ten years of lessons, Shu Li was still the one getting beaten.

Angel, Dixio, and Budno had learned swordsmanship from Fairy instructors. Today was their first time coming here to receive Ilio’s instruction.

Before they arrived, Shu Li had warned them what to expect.

Ilio might normally be all smiles and often tease the Little Fairies, but he was extremely strict when teaching swordsmanship. He never held back, and getting beaten was a regular occurrence.

The three Little Fairies’ scalps prickled at the warning, and they suddenly wanted to flee back to the divine tree.

Shu Li threw an arm around them, his eyes sparkling. “We’re brothers! We share our blessings and endure our hardships together!”

“We’re brothers! We share our blessings and endure our hardships together!”

Filled with fighting spirit, his friends tightened their grips on their wooden sticks and marched into the training ground with their heads held high and their chests thrust out.

Ilio stood elegantly in the center of the training ground, a genial smile gracing his handsome face. Holding his wooden stick in his right hand, he beckoned to the Little Fairies with his left.

“Come, come. All of you attack me together.”

The Little Fairies brightened when they heard that.

The four brothers would join forces and gang up on Ilio. How could they possibly lose?

Reality proved that they could.

They absolutely could.

Ilio’s feet seemed glued to the ground. He did not move so much as an inch, merely wielding the wooden stick with effortless agility. Before long, all four Little Fairies were aching from head to toe and panting for breath.

“Ah—I can’t do this anymore!”

Budno sprawled on the ground and played dead.

Dixio dropped heavily onto his backside, equally unwilling to move.

Angel was doing slightly better. He remained stubbornly on his feet, but both his arms and legs were trembling.

Ilio had not shown the slightest mercy. Every spot struck by the wooden stick hurt terribly!

Shu Li was the only Little Fairy who still had any strength left to fight. After ten years of training under Ilio, he had learned quite a few techniques and knew how to evade his attacks. As long as he accelerated his movements and remained constantly agile, he had an eighty-percent chance of escaping a beating.

The remaining twenty percent depended entirely on luck.

Seeing that their leader was still fighting, Angel felt that he could not give up so soon. After catching his breath, he endured the pain throughout his body, raised his wooden stick, and rejoined the battle.

Ilio arched an eyebrow. While effortlessly handling both Shu Li and Angel, he unleashed a barrage of taunts at Dixio and Budno, who were still lying on the ground.

“Well, who was it that said you were all going to gang up on me?”

“You’re finished already?”

“Did your Fairy instructors teach you properly?”

“You couldn’t even last ten minutes. It seems neither of you has the slightest talent for swordsmanship.”

“Is this what you meant when you called yourselves brothers who shared their blessings and endured their hardships together?”

Had they not wanted to become heroes?

Then they needed to show some courage worthy of heroes.

Unable to endure the provocation, Dixio let out a yell and struggled back to his feet. Raising his wooden stick, he charged at Ilio.

Budno gritted his teeth, his eyes brimming with tears. He used his wooden stick to push himself upright, swayed several times, then brandished it and joined the fight.

Shu Li dodged a strike, retreated several steps, and wiped the sweat from his face.

“Angel, attack Ilio from behind! Dixio, take the left! Budno, take the right! As for the front—I’ll handle it!”

The moment he finished speaking, he thrust his wooden stick toward Ilio’s chest.

“Not bad. You’ve learned to use tactics,” Ilio said, offering rare praise. “Unfortunately, your attacks are far too weak!”

The wooden stick in his hand moved so quickly that it left afterimages. He guarded his front, back, left, and right with an impenetrable defense that revealed no openings whatsoever, yet he was still able to counterattack.

Shu Li refused to be discouraged. He calmly issued commands, took advantage of every possible opening, and adjusted their tactics at a moment’s notice, determined to land a strike on Ilio.

The other three Little Fairies gradually adapted to the rhythm of the battle. Following Shu Li’s commands, they began working together with seamless coordination.

An hour later, four utterly exhausted Little Fairies lay sprawled across the training ground. Every one of them was drenched in sweat and panting like an ox.

Waaaah...

It hurt so much!

They were exhausted and aching all over. They could not even move their fingers.

Ilio was a monster. Defeating him was impossible!

Shu Li knew exactly how powerful Ilio was, so he calmly accepted the outcome.

Dixio, however, looked deeply dissatisfied. He secretly swore that he would become stronger, master swordsmanship, and defeat Ilio.

Yet the hateful Ilio was now crouching in front of them without so much as a flush on his face or a hitch in his breathing, poking one and then another with his wooden stick.

“Get up and keep fighting! Is this really all you’re capable of?”

The four Little Fairies glared furiously at him. Unfortunately, they truly could not get up, leaving them helpless in the face of his merciless mockery.

Seeing how enraged they were, Ilio knew when to stop. He rose and stretched.

“Today is the third day of Danlov’s meditation. I’ll go see whether he has awakened yet.”

He casually tossed his wooden stick aside. It sailed through the air and landed perfectly in the weapon rack at the corner of the wall.

Then he leisurely left the training ground.

The four pitiful Little Fairies wanted to go with him, but none of them could move.

Only after resting for more than half an hour did they finally drag their exhausted bodies out of the training ground, supporting one another as they walked.

Angel gazed at Shu Li with immense sympathy.

So this was how hard Sperien had worked during every half-month he spent in the Elven Kingdom. No wonder his strength had improved so rapidly.

If they wanted to become heroes, they would have to follow Sperien’s example and undergo such intensive training.

Angel had to admit that Ilio was right. Their Fairy instructors were far too gentle with them and could not bear to let them suffer even the slightest injury.

A determined light shone in his amber eyes.

Saint Mage Danlov had not yet emerged from his meditation. Breaking through his current rank and ascending directly into the realm of a Mage God would be no easy task.

After being trained by Ilio for more than an hour, the miserable Little Fairies returned to their rooms to rest.

Shu Li applied medicine to his injuries, took out his journal, and began writing furiously, recording in detail everything that had happened over the past several days.

After finishing his journal entry, he took out a stack of ancient texts and began searching them for information. Before he knew it, evening had arrived.

“Sperien, are you about to go... there?”

His three friends came running over, looking deeply mysterious.

Shu Li, who had been preparing to leave for dinner, fell silent.

Could you not look so excited about this?

He normally did not go to Vanaku until close to midnight. These past few days, however, he had been forced to leave early so that he could follow the adventuring party in the desert.

“I am going, but not yet,” he said. “I need to fill my stomach first.”

Angel asked gravely, “Sperien, tell us the truth. Is it really safe to go to Vanaku?”

Shu Li stroked his white hair reassuringly. “Don’t worry. The mother tree conceals my presence. As long as I don’t reveal myself, the Dark Elves won’t discover me.”

Budno sighed. “If only we could enter the space within the mother tree’s roots too.”

Dixio nodded in agreement. “Then we could go with Sperien!”

“No. If all of us went, we’d be much easier to spot.” Shu Li did everything he could to discourage the idea.

This was precisely what he had been worried about. No matter what they said, he could not agree to it.

His friends knew that, at their current level of strength, they would be of no help even if they went. Dejected, they embraced Shu Li and rubbed against him.

“You have to be careful!”

Shu Li hugged them back. “I know.”

After dinner, Shu Li donned a full set of advanced equipment and a hooded cloak. He waved to his three friends, who were leaning over the windowsill, then resolutely entered the mother tree’s trunk.

“Eunomysis, why didn’t you warn me?”

His friends had been sleeping in the hollow among the roots. The mother tree must have known perfectly well that they were there, yet she had not warned him at all.

“You didn’t ask.”

“Uh...”

Only then did Shu Li recall what the mother tree had told him.

There were certain things she could not tell him unless he asked.

What a strange rule.

Shu Li soon stopped dwelling on it.

When he traveled through the space within the mother tree’s roots and arrived in the Ergoja Desert, he immediately sensed a terrifying presence.

Extending his senses, he discovered in surprise that he had emerged beside a lake in the desert. Several trees grew along its banks, and the mother tree’s roots were intertwined among them.

What truly horrified Shu Li, however, were the enormous red fire dragon lizards crawling densely over the entire area.

Shu Li: QAQ!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!