The next morning on the Heart-Shaped Island, over the flat white sandy beach, Eric and the extremely shy Elara stood facing each other with a few meters between them, empty-handed.
Eric had a great dinner the previous night, cooked by Elara, and it was truly delicious.
It was, of course, Eric's first time trying Elven cuisine, and it was a fully vegetarian meal with many varieties.
Even in his past life, Eric only ate meat when there were no other options; otherwise, he was mostly vegetarian, as those dishes were a lot quicker to digest, and he felt healthy, light, and happy. Of course, vegetarian doesn't mean raw cabbages, which a lot of people usually imagine. But no matter how much he preferred veggies over meat, he was, through and through, a hidden member of the ancient fruitarian association.
According to Lysandra, most Elves were vegetarian, but fighters, travelers, and other high-activity individuals would inevitably eat meat in their lives. Even she had eaten meat many times, but they don't continue eating it—only if the situation forces them to.
Eric observed Elara and wondered how she was going to fight him if she kept turning red and pink. It wouldn't really be a duel, even if she was an expert.
Riya chimed, "No, before that, she at least needs to look at her opponent—if not in the eyes, at least at their figure!"
Eric nodded, as Elara was currently just focusing on the white sand beneath his feet.
Elara couldn't help it. She had been in some ecstatic state ever since yesterday, and just glancing or staying with Eric sent her into an extremely pleasant and blissful state that she didn't want to leave.
She was so happy for no reason, and she didn't know how to explain her situation.
She was fully aware that dueling was a very serious thing, and not being serious about it was an insult to one's partner, but she just couldn't mentally prepare herself to fight against Eric no matter how much she tried.
She even avoided glancing at Eric's face, or else she wouldn't even be able to react properly. So in the end, she could only watch the white sand around his feet while trying her best to avoid looking at his feet.
Lysandra smiled bitterly. She could understand Elara's condition… theoretically, at least.
It was also Lysandra's first time seeing a pure High Elf's love condition with her own eyes.
She already understood that there wouldn't be much of a duel between Eric and Elara for some time, at least not on this island. The reason she wished for them to duel was so they could understand each other's capabilities and strengths—so they could fight properly and support each other against the Dark Elf tribe tomorrow.
Lysandra, who was standing a few meters away from them, calmly raised her hand. "Begin!"
Eric glanced at Lysandra weirdly. 'Can't you see your daughter's condition? Do you want me to fight her when she can't even look at her opponent?'
Lysandra shrugged.
Eric glanced back at Elara, who seemed to at least have put up a proper defensive stance.
Eric could clearly see that Elara was very well-trained, but she was still weak compared to Lyria, Livy, or him. Though there was a chance Elara had some specialty at which she excelled—like Livy, who was an expert in dual-wielding and had amazing flexibility, while Lyria was an expert in hand-to-hand combat. But since all three of them had been trained equally under Bella Noll, they were all more or less equally capable in everything.
Eric sighed and charged toward Elara at a fairly slow speed, giving a quick jab at her abdomen, which she dodged gracefully while moving backward—then she just stood in the same defensive stance.
Elara knew she had largely managed to dodge Eric's punch thanks to her ingrained combat memory, but she still couldn't bring herself to hit Eric, no matter how much she tried mentally.
She truly wished to have a proper duel, but she couldn't bear the idea of fighting back against Eric. If possible, she even felt it was alright if he beat her up and bullied her, but since it was a duel, she couldn't show such disgrace, so she could only dodge.
Eric kept punching and kicking Elara at a controlled pace, and Elara kept dodging.
Slowly, Eric started increasing his speed, and Elara kept dodging rapidly and gracefully.
Eric felt this green-haired, green-eyed elf really looked nice with the way she moved her body. It was very different from Livy's flexibility—and much more stable, yet almost like dancing, with very few unnecessary movements, while Lyria's movement was more of a veteran fighter's: straightforward and deadly.
In that sense, Elara's fighting style—at least her body movements—was somewhere between Lyria's and Livy's, touching on both their elements and very similar to his own.
Eric and Elara continued their cat-and-mouse fight while Lysandra watched with boredom. She felt like it would be much more enjoyable if they just make out with each other.
After making sure Elara had enough sweat to warrant a bath, Lysandra raised her hand again and commanded, "Stop!"
Eric stopped, while Elara was already in a 'stopped' state. But she was gasping for breath and covered in sweat from all the swift dodging movements she'd had to pull off over the last half-hour.
To Eric, it was fun but at the same time boring, as he was the only one attacking. Battles are much more intense and interesting when opponents fight back, and this was also what everyone actually trains for while dueling—reflexes and counterattacks—which Elara didn't do at all.
Lysandra waved her hand. "This is it for now. In the evening, we'll have another session. Elara, you'd better fix your head by then. Now, both of you go take a bath and do as you wish."
Eric was planning to tour around the island after breakfast, if possible with Elara. After all, she was great company, but if she was only busy blushing and shying away, then there was no fun—only awkwardness.
Yesterday, whether due to the situation or the environment, they'd had a fairly good conversation. But today, Elara seemed to have taken multiple steps backward and couldn't even look him in the eye.
'Sigh… What a pain… hormones~'
Eric felt there was no point in pushing this friendship forward, either. They'd only hang out until tomorrow, after which they'd go their separate ways—at least, he needed to return to Ringwood Town. He was already very late, and Bella Noll should be getting worried, along with Lyria and Livy.
Just as both participants were returning, Eric suddenly heard a voice inside his head—it was Lysandra's voice: "Eric, come to the top of the hill where the cave is. I will be waiting."
Eric turned around and saw no one—Lysandra had disappeared. He turned back and saw Elara still lost in her own fantasy world. She didn't seem to have heard Lysandra's voice or telepathy.
Eric was internally amazed. It felt very different from talking with Riya. Conversing with Riya was like talking to another person in a small room, while Lysandra's message felt more like standing in a large hall where she had to use a speaker to shout at him—a very strange experience when one gets to feel it firsthand.
Eric wondered what Lysandra had to say, but it must be important, since she didn't want Elara to hear.
"Or she might just want to—you know what boys and girls do in the woods, hehe," Riya teased.
Eric scowled. If that were the case, Lysandra wouldn't have called him out—she would have just knocked Elara out in a way that made her believe she'd fallen asleep. But since Lysandra had summoned him to the top of the hill, it had to be for a conversation.
Riya couldn't argue with Eric's reasoning—he was likely right—but she refused to lose. So she snorted, "And how would you know? They're Elves! They might like it more when they do it in trees!"
Eric shivered. There was indeed such a possibility.
He would have to deal with this with utmost caution!
He silently followed Elara to the cave, and after she went inside her bathroom, he took the chance to climb back to where he'd been the previous day.
Upon reaching the top of the hill, Eric found Lysandra perched on the same tree branch where he'd sat yesterday.
Eric wondered if Lysandra had secretly been watching him yesterday. But it didn't matter—he hadn't done anything he should be ashamed of!
After noticing Eric had climbed the tree, Lysandra smiled and patted the empty space beside her on the branch.
Eric hesitated a little and sat with a gap of one person between them.
He couldn't resist Lysandra if she tried something 'Elvish'—he was far too weak compared to her. But he could show her, indirectly, that he was only there for conversation—nothing more—while also not being outright rude.
Eric sighed internally, wondering why he suddenly felt like a fair maiden secretly meeting with a perverted gang leader who couldn't be trusted with 'his' tendencies or wandering hands.
"Or, like, secretly meeting with your 'boyfriend's' perverted father!" Riya couldn't help but joke, but she was extremely cautious and only spoke in whispers—after all, Lysandra was too scary.
Eric nearly puked. He held back his disgust and smiled weakly at Lysandra.
Lysandra was really tempted to do 'something' to Eric. In fact, if he had normally sat beside her, she probably wouldn't be 'that' tempted—but since he had shown his indirect insecurity, she almost wished to become an old predator seeking fresh meat!
But she wouldn't do such a thing, as she truly just wanted to talk. Not to mention, Elara would be devastated. And finally, Eric was not some young, insignificant human boy she could randomly mess with.
Lysandra preferred Eric as a friend when he became more capable. Until then, she preferred him just as a child—and as a son-in-law.
She glanced at Eric and then pointed at her front. "Quite a sight, isn't it?" She smiled.