I Became a Cub in the Elven Kingdom - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Leaving the Nursery

Shu Li had always believed that mastering a foreign language was an arduous and time-consuming endeavor.

He had studied English from elementary school through high school, yet after over a decade, he still hadn’t truly grasped it. How could he possibly learn Elven, a language ten times more complex than English?

If his dad knew he had mastered over a hundred Elven words in just a month, he would be utterly astonished.

Shu Li felt no shame in using Chinese phonetic transcriptions and Kong Er (phonetic approximation) to fill in the gaps.

His teacher had said that with the right method, learning could be twice as effective.

Both Fairies and Elves were long-lived races, blessed with longevity, ample time, and eternal youth.

As a Fairy Cub only two months old, spending five or six years to master a profound foreign language seemed perfectly reasonable, right?

After this mental pep talk, Shu Li’s anxiety gradually transformed into calm.

So what if he spoke slowly, stumbled over words, or made mistakes? He could learn at his own pace.

He set himself a small goal: to become conversational within a year.

However, being surrounded by linguistic prodigies constantly stimulated Shu Li.

The competition is fierce!

It’s absolutely cutthroat!

He was still babbling his first words, while the other cubs were already chatting fluently and singing nursery rhymes without a hitch.

The gap widened, slightly bruising Shu Li’s pride.

But he quickly rallied, regaining his confidence.

Nothing is impossible for a willing heart.

By staying focused on his goals, success would surely follow.

Over the next month, Shu Li studied even harder. He filled three notebooks with detailed notes from class. On the left pages, he wrote the Elven phonetic transcriptions, and on the right, the corresponding Chinese explanations. His handwriting transitioned from cursive to semi-cursive script.

With practice, his chubby fingers grew nimble and fluid. His semi-cursive script became both fast and elegant. Comparing the cursive script in his first notebook to the semi-cursive script in the latter two, the former truly looked like gibberish.

Today marked the hundredth day since the Fairy Cubs’ birth.

In the morning, after teaching two nursery rhymes, Siet announced good news to all the Fairy Cubs.

“My little darlings, this afternoon we’ll be leaving the Nursery! Aren’t you excited?”

The cubs exchanged glances to confirm they’d heard correctly, then erupted into cheers, flapping their wings and soaring into the air in celebratory circles.

“Wow-wow-wow! We’re going to play in the Faerie Forest!”

“We get to live in pretty little houses now!”

“Will Siet and Aisha still teach us?”

“Are there any big, tall animals in the Faerie Forest? I want to be friends with them.”

“Hey, they’ll swallow you whole! Like this—ROAR—”

“No way! Siet said all the creatures in the Faerie Forest are our friends.”

“Right, right! If they eat Little Fairies, they’ll be punished by the Elven King.”

“Ooh~ I really want to meet the Elven King…”

“Me too! Hey, Sperien, didn’t you receive the Blessing of the Elven King?”

“That’s right, Sperien has met the Elven King.”

“Is the Elven King really like Siet said—the most beautiful, noble, and powerful Elf in the world?”

Suddenly surrounded by a swarm of Fairy Cubs, all chattering at once, Shu Li’s mind went blank.

“You… one… at a time…” Even after studying Elven for over two months, his listening comprehension still lagged behind. When too many people spoke at once, his ears automatically activated their “mute” function.

A curly-haired Fairy Cub blinked its large, watery eyes and asked, “What does the Elven King look like?”

“Is he…?” Another Fairy Cub began to speak, but Decio immediately clamped his hand over the cub’s mouth.

“Mmph! Mmph!” The Fairy Cub glared angrily at Decio.

Decio, his youthful face stern, said coolly, “One at a time.”

The Fairy Cub drooped his ears in acknowledgment, and Decio released his mouth.

Asking Shu Li to describe the Elven King’s appearance was truly putting him in a difficult position. How could someone who struggled to form even simple sentences possibly use vivid and complex vocabulary to describe another person?

Gazing at the rows of curious, beautiful faces, Shu Li racked his brain to organize his thoughts. “The Elven King has golden hair, green eyes, and is tall… How tall? This tall…”

To give the cubs a concrete sense of the Elven King’s height, Shu Li spread his wings, flew off the small stool, and soared upward to a height of about 1.8 meters.

“About this tall.”

Probably, he added silently to himself.

In truth, on the day he was born, Shu Li had been in a dazed state. When he opened his eyes and suddenly faced a “giant,” he had nearly been paralyzed with fear. How could he possibly have known the Elven King’s exact height?

“Just say he’s around 1.8 meters tall,” Sperien concluded, slowly lowering himself back into his seat, his lips pressed tightly shut, refusing to speak further.

The other cubs, well aware of Sperien’s speech difficulties, listlessly returned to their seats.

Siet patiently waited for the cubs to finish their discussion, then gently plucked his harp and answered their questions one by one.

“The Faerie Forest is vast and dangerous beyond the Fairy settlements. Cubs must never enter the forest alone without an adult Fairy escort!”

“Besides Aisha and me, new teachers will soon join us to guide you.”

“Each cub will be assigned their own dwelling, which they must maintain themselves.”

“The Midsummer Festival is approaching. All Fairies and Elves will gather at the Crystal Castle in the Elven Kingdom to celebrate together and praise the Lord of All Things.”

“Of course, you will also have the honor of witnessing our noble and sacred Elven King.”

The cubs listened intently, their excitement growing at the prospect of meeting the Elven King soon.

Shu Li gripped his quill, scribbling down Siet’s words in his small notebook.

If talent is lacking, diligence will compensate.

He took notes during every lesson, reviewed them thoroughly afterward, and asked Siet about any unclear points the following day.

Hard work pays off. In just two months, Sperien’s Elven listening comprehension had improved significantly.

As for speaking… forgive his clumsy mouth, stiff tongue, and sluggish mind. He could only manage short, choppy sentences, one word at a time. Forget about him ever speaking in long, flowing phrases.

Siet watched the earnest golden-haired Little Fairy scribbling intently and sighed inwardly.

Sperien was the most diligent and eager-to-learn cub he had ever taught.

At first, Siet hadn’t understood why Sperien needed a notebook and quill. After some time, he realized Sperien was taking notes, using special symbols only he understood to annotate them.

Sperien was working tirelessly to learn Elven.

Though his progress was slow, he could now communicate normally with the other cubs.

This was a source of considerable satisfaction for Siet.

However, Siet still harbored some concerns.

Fairies possessed an innate talent for languages. In addition to Elven, they were required to learn Continental Common, the specialized languages of various races, the official languages of different nations, and even the incantations used to communicate with the Ancient Gods.

An exceptional Fairy was expected to master dozens of languages, not only using them fluently but also switching between them effortlessly.

If Sperien struggled so much with just one language, how would he ever manage the others?

Shu Li remained completely unaware of Siet’s worries, nor did he realize how many languages he would need to learn in the future.

After finishing his notes, his thoughts drifted to the Faerie Forest outside.

Although the Nursery was spacious, after living there for over three months, he had explored every nook and cranny. The place was a safe haven filled with lush vegetation, docile insects, aquatic creatures in the pond, and newborn Fairy Cubs.

Beyond the Nursery lay a vast and unknown world.

From the nursery rhymes Siet taught them, Shu Li learned that the Faerie Forest stretched across an immense area, forming a natural green barrier that separated the Elven Kingdom from the outside world.

Anyone who rashly entered the forest would either vanish or find themselves back at the entrance.

Once, a naive Fairy Cub asked Siet where the missing people went.

Siet paused his harp playing and, with rare solemnity, replied, “They died.”

“Ah? Why?” the cubs asked, horrified.

Siet lowered his gaze and said calmly, “The outer layer of the forest is shrouded in a mystical fog. When outsiders inhale this fog, they fall into illusions that amplify their inner malice. Those who fail the test lose their reason and turn on each other, ultimately becoming Death’s captives. But those who withstand the trial will find their way back and escape unharmed.”

“Amazing!” the cubs exclaimed in unison.

Beyond the Faerie Forest’s outer mists lay countless dangerous and ferocious high-level magical beasts. Any intruder who dared trespass on their territory faced certain doom.

The only truly safe zone in the entire forest was the area inhabited by the Little Fairies.

Shu Li was deeply curious about the outside world—specifically, the continent beyond the Faerie Forest. He firmly believed that his sudden transmigration to this Otherworld meant he had been summoned by the Ancient Gods as a Hero.

A Hero must defeat the Demon King to return to his own world.

But where could he find the Demon King?

Undoubtedly somewhere on the continent.

During his time learning Elven, Shu Li had gathered some useful information.

Fairy nursery rhymes were more like narrative poems, recounting ancient legends and history.

He learned that ten thousand years ago, a cataclysmic War of the Gods had erupted across the continent. Countless heroes had sacrificed themselves to seal away the Demon King, who sought to destroy the world.

A Demon King in this Otherworld? Perfect!

Based on the novels and anime he’d consumed, a Great Demon King sealed away for millennia would almost certainly break free and wreak havoc on the mortal realm once more.

As the Hero, all he needed to do was master his skills, find the Demon King, defeat him, and seal him away to liberate the Otherworld. Then, he would conceal his achievements, return home, and reunite with his family.

What a brilliant plan!

Shu Li mentally gave himself a pat on the back.

After lunch, Aisha distributed large cloth bags to each Fairy Cub, urging them to pack their belongings and prepare to leave the Nursery.

These “belongings” were the various “treasures” the cubs had collected within the Nursery.

Shu Li had many “treasures” he couldn’t bear to part with.

During his daily explorations of the Nursery, he would pick up anything that caught his eye, stuffing his Flower Bed to the brim.

The large bag overflowed with pristine silk thread balls, crystal-like seeds, leaves that never withered, beautiful insect molts, smooth pebbles, crunchy nuts, and more.

The bag was so heavy that even carrying it with both hands was a struggle. Could his thin wings possibly support it?

Shu Li doubted it.

He spread his wings and flapped them vigorously.

“Heave-ho!”

His body, weighed down by the bag, slowly rose about ten centimeters before he began to strain, wobbling precariously.

Afraid of falling out of the Flower Bed, Shu Li quickly landed and set the bag down.

Waaah!

With his tiny wings, there was no way he could carry such a heavy bag!

Shu Li sat in the Flower Bed, scratching his head in frustration.

Decio and Angele each carried a large sack, wobbling as they flew into the Flower Bed. Perhaps the sacks were too heavy; both cubs lost their grip, and the super-heavy bags plummeted from the sky, shaking the Flower Bed with a loud thump.

Shu Li quickly covered his ears.

After a long moment, the shaking subsided. He uncovered his ears and looked up at the innocent-looking Fairy Cubs hovering in mid-air.

Decio and Angele stuck out their tongues apologetically.

Shu Li sighed, sat cross-legged on a petal, and propped his chin in his hands, staring at the three bulging sacks.

How were they going to transport these bags out?

Could they work together, carrying them one by one?

What if they couldn’t re-enter the Nursery after leaving?

The potential loss was too great; they couldn’t risk it.

Shu Li’s tender green eyes darted around, spotting Aisha flying toward them.

Aisha had come to urge them on.

All the other Fairy Cubs had already gathered at the Nursery entrance, but these three were nowhere to be seen.

Aisha circled back to search and found the three cubs sitting in a row in the Flower Bed, staring glumly at the three sacks, each larger than themselves.

No explanation was needed; she understood immediately.

“Do you need help?” Aisha asked gently.

“Yes!” Shu Li nodded vigorously, his bright eyes fixed on Aisha’s storage pouch at her waist.

The cub’s thoughts were written all over his face. How could Aisha refuse? She quickly and efficiently packed three large bags using her storage pouch.

With their worries resolved, the three cubs happily followed Aisha, flying toward the Nursery’s main gate.

Before the gate, many Fairy Cubs stood with their belongings, carrying everything they owned in bags of various sizes. However, none of their bags were as large as Shu Li’s, and they couldn’t hold nearly as much.

Budno, seeing the trio’s empty hands, smirked and made a mocking face.

Decio immediately retaliated.

Angele threw a phantom punch through the air.

Shu Li elegantly crossed his arms, calmly observing the scene.

If that little fatty knew someone was carrying our luggage for us, would he be consumed by envy and resentment?

Ding-a-ling—

Aisha flew to the front of the line, shaking the bell in her hand.

“All cubs, line up!”

The Fairy Cubs immediately stopped playing and formed two orderly lines, as they had been trained to do.

One line for male cubs, one for female cubs.

Aisha nodded to Siet, signaling him to open the gate.

Siet flapped his wings, flew closer to the gate, and pressed both hands against the magic array etched into the door. Instantly, the array lit up with a dazzling golden light.

The intricately carved, four-meter-tall gate slowly swung open.

As the golden light faded, the gate stood fully open.

Aisha shook her bell, and she and Siet led two teams of Fairy Cubs flying out the gate.

Shu Li brought up the rear as the cubs ahead of him rushed out, eager to be first. He hurried to keep up.

As soon as he stepped through the gate, the world opened up before him.

But before he could admire the beautiful scenery, he was startled by the dense crowd of adult Fairies gathered outside the gate.