Since the arrival of a new age of light from the great god Baldur, Midgard has become the most vibrant and lively of lands. Creatures from all over, even the High Elves who originally resided in a land called Alfheim, began to expand their settlements into Midgard. In particular, they favored the area currently known as Greenland, a large plain, despite the legends that Alfheim was a place as beautiful as the heavenly Asgard itself.
Speaking of Elves, it's impossible not to mention the Dwarves, as these two races were born long before humans. They were both created by the primordial gods not long after the universe came into being. The Dwarf realm was named Svartalfheim, which means "land of the dark elves," clearly indicating the unequal affection the gods had for Elves and Dwarves, even though the primordial gods knew that Dwarves had been created even before the Elven race.
Both Dwarves and Elves are creatures with extremely long lifespans. Among the Elves, if they are not harmed or killed, they can be considered virtually immortal. They hardly age, even after hundreds of years. On the other hand, the Dwarves can also live for many centuries, but they can't maintain their youthful appearance for long, which is why you always see Dwarves with long, white beards.
However, the Dwarven race has a strong will of its own. Most Dwarves live underground, searching for various precious minerals to forge objects for their own kin. As for the territories and boundaries of different realms, the Dwarves never let themselves be bound by them or see them as a limitation. They only believe that as long as it's below the surface, their kin have the right to use it all. Therefore, since time immemorial, not only have Dwarves always been digging and mining beneath Midgard, but they also constantly encroach upon the underground of other realms like Alfheim or Asgard.
This seemingly self-serving nature of the Dwarven race has caused High Elves to look down on them. Nevertheless, the Dwarves' ability to find minerals and forge objects is supremely excellent, to the point that even the gods admit they cannot rival them in certain matters. This caused great dissatisfaction among the Elves, who believed they should be superior to Dwarves in all things.
It wasn't until the Elven King, Alfsesfern, discovered a special silver ore created from a magical mixture of the Elven race, later widely known as Mithril, that the Elves finally felt they were no longer second to the Dwarves in any way.
Returning to the story of the High Elves expanding into Greenland, on the very first night the Elves were building their new village, a Dwarf leader named Billkin appeared and immediately caused distress for the new pointy-eared visitors.
Billkin stated that Midgard was the land of humans, and Dwarves lived underground. Even though they were in the same area, humans were unaware of their existence. But it was different for the Elves; if they settled here, it would be an overlap with the human race, and a major conflict was sure to arise. Therefore, the best thing for the Elves to do was to retreat to Alfheim, the sooner the better.
At that time, the leader of the Elven group who traveled to Greenland was named Aldrey. He considered himself a direct descendant of King Alfsesfern. With such noble blood, no matter how much reason was in Billkin's words, there was one rule more important than all reasons everywhere: the strong get everything.
Of course, both Aldrey and Billkin had large groups of followers with them. If a fight broke out between them, it would be a small-scale war between the two races, something that had happened over and over again since the beginning of time.
However, on that occasion, Aldrey and Billkin made a different and unusual agreement: each side would send one woman to duel. The winning side would remain, while the losing side would immediately withdraw.
The reason for the agreement to have a duel between two women came about because both parties were fond of insulting each other until they agreed to send out the weakest representatives to fight. This ultimately led to each side sending a woman to duel.
In that duel, the Elven woman won over the Dwarf woman with a single strike. This was because the axe the Elven woman used was made of Mithril, which could destroy the Dwarf woman's steel sword in a single clash. It could be said that this victory was a triumph of the Elves' Mithril over the Dwarves' steel.
Twelve years passed. The Dwarf woman married a Dwarf king and later took over the throne from her husband, taking the name Queen Yellow Bean. She led an army of Dwarves back to the small Elven village once again.
With the Dwarf military force that Queen Yellow Bean brought, there was no way this small Elven village could resist. But the Queen still offered the same method: a duel. However, the Elven woman who had defeated her before had died the previous summer after being stung on the head by a wild wasp. Even so, the Elven village sent a new representative, Aldrey's own daughter named Allivia, to be their champion.
The fight ended with Queen Yellow Bean's victory with a single strike. The Mithril sword in Allivia's hand was instantly broken in two when it was struck by the axe in the hands of the Dwarf Queen. That axe was the Dwarves' magical axe named Snow White. Thus, all the Elves present had to move out of the village in Greenland.
This story should have ended or been forgotten, had Allivia not married Lhombaerthy, a High Elf from the ancient Bladnir family. This family had refined Mithril to create a new type of ore called Aithillic, which became a metal with properties far superior to old Mithril.
Allivia, the most skilled blacksmith in the Bladnir family, forged a sword for herself and named it Iðunn, after the primordial goddess who gave the gods the apples of youth to keep them young forever. She intended to wash away the shame of her past defeat.
After possessing the magical sword, Allivia trained in Elven warrior fighting techniques relentlessly. This caused her to become estranged from her husband, who found love with another woman. In a fit of jealousy and rage, Allivia killed her husband's new lover before fleeing to Greenland in Midgard.
Upon hearing the news of his new love's death, Lhombaerthy was furious. He immediately mobilized his people to hunt down Allivia everywhere.
At that moment, a major power struggle broke out among the Dwarves in Svartalfheim. Queen Yellow Bean also became entangled in the conflict, unaware that she would be targeted first. Ultimately, Queen Yellow Bean had to sacrifice her axe, Snow White, in exchange for her life.
Queen Yellow Bean led her remaining forces to Midgard, to the area known as Greenland, hoping to temporarily settle there and rebuild her strength and army. But fate brought her back to Allivia. And by a second coincidence, when the two met again, it was exactly twelve years after their first duel.
Allivia, all by herself, immediately challenged the throne-less Dwarf Queen to a duel.
Despite her hardships, Yellow Bean was still a warrior queen. If she were to refuse the challenge from the Elven woman in front of her, her reputation and prestige would be completely gone. So, she accepted the challenge with grace, even though she knew she no longer had her axe, Snow White, while the other side was confident enough to challenge her, which certainly meant she was well-prepared with her weapon.
A chilling rain began to fall. As the duel began, Queen Yellow Bean chose to use two swords, preparing for the possibility that if the first sword in her hand was broken, she would have a second one to continue the fight.
Allivia wanted to maintain the fiery emotions of a challenger. She chose to strike first, running forward while raising her sword high, ready to deliver a powerful blow.
Raising a sword from a distance is an excellent way to accumulate power for an attack, but it is too easy to predict. A sword strike that is meant to come down from above is almost certain to fail when facing someone with vast combat experience, and Queen Yellow Bean was one such experienced warrior.
Allivia's sword swing was both fast and sharp, showing her well-trained muscles. Yet, the attack missed its target easily.
Queen Yellow Bean took four steps back in a row, accurately gauging the length of her opponent's sword with her eyes. The tip of the descending sword barely grazed the tip of her nose. But when a mistake is made, it creates an opening for the other side to exploit. It is believed that the leg muscles of Dwarves are as strong as those of wild boars. Although they look short and harmless from the outside, they have incredible propulsion when they take steps in quick succession. The Dwarf Queen's silhouette lunged inward and swung the sword in her left hand up, immediately following with her right.
Queen Yellow Bean's two consecutive strikes created a cross-shaped slash. If Allivia had not moved back fast enough, her body would have been cut into four pieces. Even so, the first sword edge still grazed the side of the Elven woman, leaving a wound.
At this point, Queen Yellow Bean could assess her opponent's skill level. The Elven woman in front of her was still far behind her. Even though the other side possessed a magical sword, with such a difference in skill, the result would be decided in a matter of moments.
Allivia's left side was hit by the blade. Although it was not a deep wound, she was injured. Her full power was now out of balance. The second sword, which was swung horizontally, lost much of its sharpness.
Seeing the horizontal sword swing, Queen Yellow Bean was no longer afraid of the other side's magical sword. She flipped her left hand from a normal grip, swapping it upside down with the tip of the sword pointing down her hand's edge, using it to block the incoming sword. Then she followed with her right hand, bringing her sword down from above.
In the past, Allivia was defeated by the Dwarf woman in front of her with a single strike. She never expected the other party to be this highly skilled in combat. Her thoughts and plans were all wrong. Even a small mistake is enough to decide the outcome. She had made one mistake after another and now had to pay a heavy price for it.
Of course, Queen Yellow Bean saw her opponent's opening again, and this time she wouldn't let the opportunity slip away. The sword she swung down with her right hand was simple yet incredibly sharp. Allivia's body was hit squarely. The blade cut deep, destroying her internal organs and instantly ending her life full of vengeance.
From then on, the sword Iðunn, made from Aithillic by the master blacksmiths of the Elven Bladnir family, became Queen Yellow Bean's personal weapon. However, her forces never regained their former greatness among the Dwarves. All she could do was live in this Dwarf village in Greenland, making a living by working with the nearby humans.
This year, Queen Yellow Bean has reached sixty years of age. But with the long lifespan of the Dwarves, she is still considered young. In recent years, she has met and become quite close with the traveling god, Magni. Queen Yellow Bean felt that the god Magni gave special importance to the Dwarves, probably because he was worried that the High Elves were siding with the god Vidar. Therefore, he wanted the power of the Dwarven race to create balance in Midgard should something unexpected happen.
Queen Yellow Bean has been ruling this village for twelve years now. This peaceful life is not really to her taste. Every morning before sunrise, she begins to practice her sword-fighting techniques. And every evening, near sunset, she teaches all the Dwarves in the village to train with various weapons, not even excluding children who still have not grown all their teeth. She does this with the dream that one day, she will lead the people of this village back to take her own kingdom back from the Afbarahants family.
The village is named Elafindi, a name that means a type of fragrant flower from the land of Alfheim. It was named when the Elves first settled in the area, but the Dwarves who reclaimed it were too lazy to come up with a new name and have continued to use the old one.
This morning, Queen Yellow Bean was out practicing her combat skills as usual. As she was practicing her sword forms, she suddenly smelled a strange fragrance within the white morning mist. With the special intuition of an experienced warrior, she raised the Iðunn sword in her hand and pointed it into the white mist, saying in a stern voice,
"Come out from your hiding place! I know you are there."
Just then, a tall, slender figure moved silently to face the Dwarf Queen.
The one who emerged from the mist was a young Elven woman with light brown hair in a white and red outfit. Her face was beautiful and gentle, and a small, friendly smile was on her lips.
Queen Yellow Bean immediately asked, "Who are you?"
The Elven woman in the white and red outfit seemed to nod in acknowledgment before answering, "My name is Vanessa." She paused for a moment and then stated her name again, "Vanessa Bladnir."
"A Bladnir family Elf. Why have you come here?" Queen Yellow Bean asked, her voice echoing. She secretly hoped her loud voice would reach the people in the village, alerting them that an Elf had infiltrated.
"I intend to challenge you, Queen Yellow Bean." The Elven woman named Vanessa replied in a calm voice, a small, confident smile still on her lips.
"Are you all alone!?"
"Yes, I am alone. It is the way of assassins. We usually work alone like this," Vanessa replied, revealing a sword that had been hidden in her loose sleeve. It was a strangely shaped sword with a reddish-pink gemstone near the ring-shaped hilt, which had three sharp spikes protruding from it.
"You, all alone, think you can handle me!? Hmph, how presumptuous," Queen Yellow Bean scoffed at her opponent. She was overflowing with confidence in her own prowess. Even if she had to face "Enya, the Night Blade," the greatest Elven assassin, she was confident she could fight on equal terms. This was nothing compared to an unknown Elven assassin in front of her.
"Our fight will only last for a single breath." Vanessa spoke with a strange hidden meaning.
Queen Yellow Bean didn't need to understand. It was her nature to eliminate an enemy in front of her with a single strike. So, she had no more words. She simply moved her feet, transforming into a fierce wind and soaring toward the other party instantly.
The young Elven assassin, Vanessa, did not show any weakness. As the other side lunged forward, she lunged forward as well, moving her wrist that held the sword's hilt, activating a mechanism. The hilt in her hand extended, and the sword, which had seemed like a medium-sized sword, transformed into a glaive.
Every move Vanessa made did not escape Queen Yellow Bean's sight. An assassin who could transform a short weapon into a long one and gain an unexpected advantage in attack range was still not too unexpected for this warrior queen. The fact that her opponent could change a short weapon to a long one was of no matter, because Queen Yellow Bean was extremely confident in her own attack speed.
In the blink of an eye, the Iðunn sword in Queen Yellow Bean's hand slashed towards Vanessa's body.
"Clang!" The sound of metal hitting metal rang out as the Iðunn sword struck the long, extended metal handle of the weapon in Vanessa's hand.
Queen Yellow Bean's sword form was not over yet. In recent years, this dethroned Dwarf Queen had invented a sword technique that could strike continuously up to sixty-four times, which was even more than her sixty years of age.
The sound of metal clashing continued like rain on a roof. Vanessa's long weapon was used to defend against her opponent's continuous slashes, while also helping her maintain distance. Nevertheless, Queen Yellow Bean's attacks continued to pursue her, becoming faster and more powerful.
In the forty-eighth strike, an upward diagonal slash from Queen Yellow Bean, a strange sensation suddenly occurred in her body. Her breath hitched, and she coughed once.
Queen Yellow Bean suddenly remembered the fragrant scent in the mist earlier. Now it permeated the entire area of the fight. The corner of her eye caught a glimpse of the reddish-pink gemstone. That thing not only flashed occasionally but was also the source of these strange fragrances.
As the wise always say, "Brightly colored insects often hide a deadly poison, and a flower's fragrance can be a trap."
Queen Yellow Bean realized that she had inhaled poison. Her body, which had moved so fluidly, now twitched and stiffened in some parts. The horizontal sword swing in the fifty-ninth strike was no longer parallel to the horizon.
The smile at the corner of Vanessa's mouth seemed to widen a little. The defensive retreat was nearing its end. She appeared to move to the left but suddenly reappeared on the right. The blade of the glaive was raised on top before it slashed down in an instant.
Queen Yellow Bean's head was swiftly cut in two. And that was the only strike made by Vanessa, an unknown Elven assassin.
After killing Queen Yellow Bean, Vanessa did not stop to look at the body. She soared away and disappeared into the morning mist. Around the area, the strange fragrance still lingered in the air. If any other Elves passed by, they would know that this fragrance was the scent of a flower from the Elven realm named "Elafindi," which also happened to be the name of a famous Elven assassin on par with "Enya, the Night Blade."