The Heartbeat of the Cruel Elves Author: Zhuo Ge Summary: “If everyone gives a little love, the world will become a beautiful place.” but-- What if they are not human? What if they have no love? What if they offer nothing but blood, poison, conspiracy, chaos, betrayal and murder to the world? "——Then, let me offer some charm." Rein, a young wizard from the surface world, looked at the silver-haired, snow-skinned, evil and cold dark elf female warriors in front of him, with their scarlet eyes flashing in the darkness. He shuddered and pretended to be calm, and said so.
------ "The Mind Flayer gave me a fascinating spiritual force, and the Ghoul gave me inexhaustible physical strength... The dark world gave me such a powerful gift, and I just want to use them to bring a little simple love and joy to this evil world." - Archmage Rein, "The Dark Walk" preface - "Education of Love". Volume One Chapter 1: The Mind Flayer Cold water drops hit his face. Li Yin opened his eyes and woke up from the endless darkness. He felt unprecedented fullness and clarity. His brain was unprecedentedly active, his temples were throbbing slightly, and excitement was surging like the tide. Every nerve was like a newly replaced and taut string, as if it could produce a gorgeous and smooth piece of music with just a slight vibrator. That feeling was like accidentally taking a bottle of "Fox's Cunning" magic potion, unlocking an extra area in the brain, and intelligence increased dramatically in an instant! It seems that with just a little thought, one can come to a result that would amaze even the gods! But, shouldn’t it be like this? Shouldn’t my brain…have already been eaten by the mind flayer until only half is left? After a little thought, this conclusion naturally came to his mind. In an instant, Li Yin's face suddenly changed and he sat up. That happened not long ago. He was originally a wizard from the surface world, but was accidentally captured by the mind flayers during an operation and became a breeding ground for their larvae. The mind flayer, also known as the mind sucker, is an evil creature that lives in the underworld. Although most creatures living in the underworld are evil, the mind flayer is particularly outstanding. Its vicious nature and treacherous power make even other evil races living underground tremble with fear. They have the peculiar psychic ability to interfere with other people's minds at will. With this ability, they can not only clearly perceive what other creatures know and think, but can even secretly seduce and manipulate the other's thoughts, turning creatures that originally had independent wills into completely docile and obedient slaves without anyone noticing! Not only that, the most notorious and strange feature of this race is that they have no ability to develop into a full-fledged form. Their larvae, a tadpole-shaped creature, must be implanted in the brain of another creature and survive by gnawing on the other's brain. When the creature's brain is eaten up, the Mind Flayer larva will connect its nerves to the victim's body, using its swollen body to serve as the victim's new "brain". In the end, the victim's consciousness will completely disappear, and his own body will become a shell for the Mind Flayer to host! Before, Li Yin had encountered such a miserable fate. Li Yin still remembers vividly the great fear he felt when that strange creature with slimy purple skin, four snake-like tentacles wriggling around its neck and an octopus-like head slowly approached him, stretched out a four-fingered claw and put a "tadpole" into his ear.
When the cold and slippery young body drilled into his skull through his ear canal and his brain felt waves of severe gnawing pain, Li Yin thought that everything was over. But it didn't. He fainted in the pain, but was awakened by a devastating explosion and violent vibration. When he woke up, the "parasitic pod" that wrapped him had broken, and the entire cabin was turned into a sea of fire. In the corner, he could vaguely see the charred bodies of several mind flayers and their humanoid slaves. He didn't know what was going on, nor did he have the energy to find out what was going on. His instinct for survival prompted him to break free from the parasitic pod and start fleeing. On his way to escape, he suddenly found that the entire lair was in chaos. There were fires and captives running everywhere. The few mind flayers he saw had turned into corpses, and most of their kind were nowhere to be found. In short, because of this "disaster", Li Yin was very lucky to escape from the mind flayer's lair. But his luck did not last long. Because, on the way of escape, when passing through a wide cave, Li Yin and his companions who had successfully escaped like him and were temporarily traveling together were attacked by several zombies who were foraging for food. In the end, although the fugitives managed to repel the zombies with their numerical advantage, Li Yin was accidentally scratched in the process. The ghoul's poison paralyzed his body, making him stiff and unable to move. The fugitives had no way to deal with it, so they had no choice but to leave him here alone to fend for himself. Li Yin had no complaints about the way his companions handled the situation. Because the ghoul's poison not only had a paralyzing effect, but also eroded people's lives bit by bit. In other words, even if they took him with them by force, he would die because he could not receive treatment. Moreover, he knew in his heart that he had been worried on the way to escape: even if he survived, he meant surviving the attack of the ghouls, he would not survive. The other companions were just laborers enslaved by the mind flayers, and he had become the host of the mind flayer larvae. As a mage, Li Yin had some knowledge of underground biology. Escaping from the lair of the mind flayer did not mean that he had completely escaped from the shadow of the mind flayer. On the contrary, from the moment the larvae of the mind flayer drilled into his brain, Li Yin knew that his tragic end was doomed. The larvae did not stop gnawing at his brain, and he would inevitably die in the end. The attack of the ghouls only accelerated the arrival of this process... In fact, Li Yin felt a little relieved for this premature death - at least he no longer had to worry about being completely taken away by the mind flayers and having his body transformed into their twisted and ugly appearance to continue living in the world. The mind flayer's larvae might still be able to completely devour his brain, but what it ultimately takes over is only a dead body. Its bloated body and nascent consciousness can only be trapped in a corrupt body and finally rot and die in despair! Your body will become a cage. In this regard, Li Yin even felt a strange, revengeful pleasure. So, at that time, he was in a wonderful mood of despair and peace coexisting, in the gradually increasing coldness, stiffness and paralysis, waiting for his death to come little by little. But now it seems that I am not dead! what happened? Not only did he not die, but the pain, dizziness, and confusion he had felt from the mind flayer larvae gnawing at his brain had also disappeared. Not only that, his brain was unexpectedly active, and his thinking was sharper than ever before! Could it be that, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and he was immediately horrified, that he—— Already turned into a mind flayer? ! Well-developed brain power and extraordinary wisdom are the characteristics of the Mind Flayer! Instantly, he turned his head in panic and looked around, trying to find a mirror or a bright and smooth surface like a body of water to check his appearance. But there was no light around him. He woke up from the endless darkness and fell into another thick darkness. In the darkness, there were only the undulating hard rock surface, the stalactites and stalagmites that were jagged up and down, and under the low rock dome, it extended to infinity. Chapter 2 Ghoul The strange thing was - he didn't realize it until this moment - even though it was so dark all around and there was no torch light, all the images were still clearly imprinted in his eyes. Dark Vision!
This is exactly... another special ability possessed by the Mind Flayer! Li Yin became more and more flustered and looked around anxiously. After a long while, he suddenly came to his senses and reached out a hand to his chin to feel around. Smooth and dry, with sharp edges and bones. Fortunately, there were no strange tentacles growing on it, and no disgusting mucus came out of its skin. His appearance was probably still that of a human. Li Yin's surprise faded a little. He was not transformed into a mind flayer, at least, not completely. Moreover, if he really turned into a mind flayer, his mind should have been completely replaced by the mind flayer's mind. How could he still retain his consciousness so clearly? Li Yin used another common sense to deepen his judgment and further calm his panicked mind. After calming down, Li Yin slowly stood up and subconsciously twisted his limbs to loosen up his muscles. At this moment, he suddenly noticed something else - it was not just the brain that was active. At this moment, along with the movement of his body, a sense of fullness of power rose up, spreading through his waist, back and limbs. Not only did he no longer feel the cold, stiffness and numbness brought by the ghoul toxin, but he also felt stronger than ever before. He clenched his left fist, and the creaking sound of his joints indicated a strength he had never had before - he was a mage, and physical strength was not his strong point. So, could it be that... Suddenly, Li Yin thought of another possibility. He stretched forward his right hand that was resting on his chin and looked at his arm. On the back of the pale forearm, there was a horrific wound about one finger long and half an inch deep, which was left by the sharp claws of the zombie. I didn't turn into a mind flayer, but into... a ghoul? As a wizard, Li Yin's knowledge of undead biology told him that if victims infected by ghoul toxins were not properly treated, they would not only be killed by the toxins, but their bodies would also transform into ghouls on the first midnight after death. If an ordinary person transforms into a zombie, his physical fitness will indeed be significantly improved. Li Yin had not thought of this possibility before. However, at that time, he was only slightly relieved by this. Because it takes a certain amount of time to transform into a ghoul, during which time his companions would have long gone away and would not be threatened. On the contrary, if there were pursuers coming from behind, he might be able to buy some time for the fugitives by accident. As for the long-term plans after transforming into a ghoul, Li Yin had not considered them at all. That wasn't something he should be considering. Because, at that time, he was no longer himself. Still based on his knowledge of undead biology, ghouls, a low-level undead creature, are different from higher-level undead creatures such as liches and vampires. In the process of transformation, the minds of the transformed will not be completely preserved - their brains will be filled with endless desires for the flesh and blood of the living, and all thoughts, reason, and emotions will be distorted by this extreme hunger. In the end, although they still retain the minds of intelligent creatures, can think, and have their own behavioral logic, all the desires they once had as living beings: love, hate, jealousy, ambition, fear... all disappeared, all merged into one, condensed into a single motivation: eating. All their wisdom and all their thinking only serve this one motivation, and they become beasts that only know how to hunt living things, sip blood, and gnaw raw meat - the only difference from beasts is that they are smarter and more deadly. In short, it can be said that after the transformation is complete, they have become completely different individuals from their previous selves. And now... Li Yin frowned slightly, looked at himself, and confirmed that he was in a clear mind. Although he did feel hungry, it was probably because he had not eaten for too long and his stomach was empty. He did not become a monster who only thought about eating. Neither a ghoul...nor a mind flayer... So, what is going on? Li Yin raised his head and looked at the dark and heavy rock dome above his head in confusion. "Hey," at this moment, a sharp and loud voice suddenly broke through the silent darkness and came from a distance. Li Yin turned his head in response and saw a slender figure slowly appearing beside a cluster of stalactites in the distance. "Who is it?" The man stopped and asked again.
After being asked this question, Li Yin came back to his senses and was instinctively happy. In this vast, empty and dark underground, after encountering the twisted and evil mind flayers and the ferocious and brutal ghouls, he finally encountered a being with whom he could communicate. Li Yin was happy from the bottom of his heart. So he cleared his throat and opened his mouth, ready to respond. Then, his half-open mouth suddenly froze. The language the other party spoke was not the common language of the continent, nor was it the language of Li Yin's hometown or several neighboring human countries, but - Elvish. This is the Underdark. There will be no other elves here. Here, there is only one kind of creature that can speak Elvish - the Dark Elves. They - Li Yin's legs went weak and he shuddered violently - they were not the same species as their elegant, civilized and graceful relatives on the surface. If Li Yin were to describe them in one sentence that would be enough to explain his situation, it would be: They are mind flayers in human skin! Like the mind flayers, they enjoy enslaving other creatures, but the mind flayers use psychic powers while they use physical means. While Li Yin was astonished, the man had already started walking towards him, his hard heels making clanging sounds on the rocky ground. Soon, his figure became clearer in Li Yin's eyes: pale skin, long silver hair, slender pointed ears, and the pair of shocking scarlet eyes, all of which proved to the young wizard the correctness of his inference! The elf's slender body was wearing an exquisite chain mail that shone with silver light. His scarlet eyes looked at Li Yin and looked at him carefully. His thin lips suddenly bent and stretched to the sides, revealing his white teeth, and a kind smile bloomed. "Here," Lein heard him cheer briefly in Elvish, "slave!" Then he raised the crossbow in his hand and pointed it at Li Yin. Li Yin turned around and ran without thinking. At the same time, the dark elf's excited command came from behind: "Don't run, slave!" Then, there was a slight sound of a mechanism being pulled, followed by the sharp sound of a crossbow arrow breaking through the air. The skin color of the dark elves is a private setting, and the relevant reasons will be explained later. Chapter 3 Mage Without thinking, Li Yin instinctively leaned to one side and jumped high. The crossbow arrow flew past his body and hit the ground with a ding, creating sparks in the darkness. At this moment, Li Yin suddenly realized that not only his physical fitness, but also his perception ability seemed to have been extraordinary improved! He could actually hear the slight sound of the crossbow being pulled amid the dark elf's scolding, and based on the sound of the crossbow arrow breaking through the air, he could instantly determine the approximate trajectory of the arrow without even looking back, and then subconsciously make his body dodge! "What on earth is this--" Just as this thought emerged in Li Yin's mind, an expression of surprise suddenly appeared on his face.
The body in the air was still flying rapidly over the jagged rocks. The jump seemed to take a little too long. Li Yin finally reacted. It seemed... too high. He lowered his head to check the distance between the ground and his toes. His body seemed not to be his own. The situation was completely beyond his expectations and he instantly lost control of his body. The ground was approaching quickly. His legs touched the ground, but he could not maintain his balance. His upper body continued to tilt forward under the action of inertia and fell straight to the ground. It collided firmly with the hard rock, causing a loud bang and a piercing scream. "Puff!" Li Yin supported himself with his hands and struggled to get up from the ground, opening his mouth and spitting out a mouthful of blood foam. He subconsciously looked back, but what he was looking at was not the dark elf shooting arrows in the distance, but the place where he jumped earlier.