ã€ŠBirth of Manaã€‹


 Prologue: Advent of Darkness

    *Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction.Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author¡¯s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Also, there may not be a scientific basis for event which might transpire in the story.

    The sun hung high up in the sky, basking all life below in its golden radiance. Light softly filtered through the fluffy white clouds, a weather that was perfect for an outdoor hike or a family picnic.

    During this time, the streets of the city below would usually be filled with the hustle and bustle of a modern cityscape, a familiar sight which all the residents had long since accustomed to.

    However, the situation today was different. It was as though the embodiment of chaos itself had descended, as noise and violence filled the entire city.

    The noise came from multiple sources, among which a warning siren was the loudest of them all. The siren could be distinctly heard even amidst the chaos, demonstrating the effectiveness of the public warning alarm.

    The people were also in a mess as angry shouts and piercing screams rang from every corner of the streets. However, the anger could do little to hide the traces of helplessness and despair contained within the voices, reflecting the true feelings of the people.

    It is only in times of despair that you can truly observe the strength of one¡¯s will.

    This was clearly reflected in the streets below. There were people on one end of the spectrum who were frantically rushing through the streets, clinging onto the tiny bit of hope they held in their hearts.

    Whereas on the other end of the spectrum, there were people who lay dejectedly on the grounds, some kneeling with their hands in prayer, leaving everything up to the hands of fate.

    The roads of the city were filled with vehicles, but all of them were stationary. A closer look at the vehicles would reveal that most of them were empty, with the occasional driver repeatedly honking the vehicle impatiently with a look of resignation.

    The reason behind all of this could be traced back to an announcement, one which was repeatedly playing throughout the entire. If one were to listen carefully, they would be able to hear a mechanical voice mixed in with the noise.

    This voice came from multiple sources, such as phones, radios and televisions, but the loudest of the sources was the public announcement systems which were distributed evenly across the city along with the public warning alarms.

    The mechanical voice repeated the same message over and over like a broken tape recorder, continuously stirring the unrest and irritation felt by the people.

    ¡°Nuclear Emergency Declared, All residents, Please head to the nearest shelter immediately.¡± This was the announcement it repeated, the beginning of an end.

    Needless to say, this had brought about a large wave of panic among the people when it was first announced.

    Sceptics began voicing their doubts to the announcement but their voices quickly fell silent when more supporting evidence appeared, causing the weight of reality to kick in.

    Their city was not the only one under attack, far from it. Comparing the size of their city to the size of the attack was akin to size of an ant to a human, pointless to even compare.

    Satellite images depicting the plight of countries which had been attacked earlier started spreading around, along with pictures of missiles flying en route across the globe, shoving the dreadful reality directly into the sceptics¡¯ faces.

    People immediately started pouring into the fallout shelters, filling them up like cans of sardines as people all over the world began contesting for the world record of fastest nuclear evacuations.

    Fights ensued over spots in the shelter, causing many to lose their lives before the attacks even reached.

    As each shelter successfully sealed its doors, hordes of people could be seen outside, their faces burning with rage as they stared at the sealed door.

    There were also some who kneeled and begged in front of the door and others who repeatedly slammed the door as they cursed and swore at those behind.

    Similar scenes played out around the globe as they welcomed the nukes which mercilessly obliterated everything in their wake.

    In this city, there was a mother who held her baby daughter in her arms. She was among those who had a strong will, not willing to give in to despair.

    She bore witness to the shelter sealing its entrance on them, but heart did not break. She immediately took off for another shelter that she remembered was nearby, clinging onto a sliver of hope in her heart.

    Her dress was tattered, and her arms and legs were covered with injuries from the violence that filled the streets. Yet, the resolve in her eyes remained strong as she ran forward with hope.

    Suddenly, the man before her stopped abruptly in his tracks. She had not been prepared for this and lightly slammed into his back, despite her efforts to slow down when she realised he had stopped.

    The man was staring blankly ahead with eyes that contained a deep darkness, resembling the entrance to an abyss.

    His hand that held his phone to his ear slowly dropped lifelessly while loosening its grip, causing the phone to fall to the ground as his hand fell to the side of his thigh.

    The man turned body rigidly to face her, staring down at her from one head above with a blank gaze.

    Just as the mother was about to apologise and go on her way, a fierce glint shot up in the man¡¯s eyes as the sides of his lips curled up savagely. He grabbed onto the wrist of the mother and threw her onto the ground, pressing his body towards hers immediately after.

    The baby girl was lying beside her mother, facing up towards the sky. Thankfully her mother had been gripping her tightly, causing her to roll away from her mother only after they reached the ground.

    Panic filled the mother¡¯s face at the sudden development, but she turned to check on her baby. However, what she was not her wailing in pain as expected, but instead, her eyes opened wide while pointing an outstretched finger at the sky.

    Puzzled by the bizarre happening, she turned her face up to look at the sky where she saw a dot which was quickly enlarging in her vision. She started screaming in fear as she finally lost hold of the last strand of hope within her heart, releasing a piercing scream filled with terror.

    The man who pushed her down was moving his hands around her body, but he momentarily regained his senses as he saw the pair¡¯s widened gaze and turned his head to look above.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    What welcomed him was a dizzying scene of absolute white, burning deeply into the depths of his mind. Following this, a wave of extreme heat assaulted him, sending him into a perpetual darkness.

    Rewinding the clock by several years, it had been the peak of human prosperity. However, all things in the world came at a cost, a price humanity had been turning a blind eye to in the past few decades.

    Yet, this price was not something that would disappear with time. The problem kept worsening with the weak measures used to contain until, until it finally developed into a large problem which could no longer be put aside.

    Humanity had gone through many cycles of resource shortages, but new technologies that allowed them tap into other forms of resources were discovered each time.

    Hence, they adopted said technologies each time, casually downplaying the damage that was being done to the planet each time.

    Indeed, humanity achieved prosperity, a had period of rapid development which spanned several decades. Technology flourished, economies boomed and the quality of life of humanity improved greatly over this time.

    The voices of conservative environmentalists fell on deaf ears as humans focused on the benefit before their eyes, repeatedly taking without returning from the seemingly inexhaustible inventory of Mother Nature.

    Urban settlements appeared one after another, in places where great forests once stood. Most mines sat abandoned, showing no signs of the rich resources it was once filled with.

    The damage had already been done, and the weak countermeasures implemented did little to stop it. Humanity now bore the full brunt of the retaliation from Nature, no longer able to run away like they had been doing over the past few decades.

    Harmful gases filled the air in toxic concentrations, requiring the city-wide air filters just so humans could breathe safely.

    The seas were no longer the deep blue colour it once had, tainted by pollutants of all kinds. Weather conditions became increasingly erratic and natural disasters ran rampant across the planet.

    Based on virtual simulations, the world was projected to lose the ability to support life within the next 50 years. To top it off, critical resources such as food and water were also projected to deplete fully within the next three decades.

    Meanwhile, resources used to generate electricity that were equally as critical to humanity were projected to be able to last even shorter.

    Finally recognising the severity of the issue, leaders all over the world held an international summit where they gathered and discussed on the options that were available to humanity as a whole.

    This was no longer the problem of just one nation or several nations, it was a problem which threatened all life on the planet.

    The summit had lasted over three months, one of the longest summits in the history of mankind.

    In the initial stages of the summit, some leaders voiced blatant disregard towards the ¡®projections¡¯ that were made by the supercomputers around the world, saying that this was a conspiracy led by environmentalists to pull the wool over their eyes.

    However, their harried expressions betrayed their true emotions, as the truth of the matter was clear to everyone and there was little meaning in acting oblivious to the situation right now. These leaders quickly came under fire at the summit as the discussions proceeded in a darker tone.

    After much deliberation, the leaders had finally narrowed it down to two options.

    The first of the plans was one which focused on environmental restoration, dubbed as ¡°Operation Restoration¡±. It involved a treaty which required all countries to pledge that they would reduce all forms of consumption to the bare minimum required to sustain their country. The world would then focus on environmental efforts, in hopes of restoring the planet to its former state.

    However, this plan would face many challenges in implementation due to factors such as public backlash. Furthermore, there was little hope of success as although the countries had not publicly acknowledged the severity of the issue before, there had been ongoing environmental efforts which allowed them to understand the difficulty of the task.

    Hence, there were fears that this would only serve to prolong the inevitable end.

    On the other hand, the second of the plans was one which focused heavily on technological developments and was dubbed as ¡°Operation Last Stand¡±.

    As its name suggests, this plan was literally the ¡®last stand¡¯ of humanity. The plan involved pooling all available resources to the greatest of minds of humanity and providing them with the largest amount of support possible.

    All the participating countries would work together to gather these people and the resources required, even at the cost of resources depleting at a greater rate. This meant they would accelerate the end that was projected, all in hopes of developing a path of survival for the species.

    Over the course of the summit, there were many discussions which revolved around finding less extreme plans. However, they quickly realised that any such options would end up conflicting with itself, limiting the success rate of the plans which already had abysmally low odds.

    Ultimately, they had finally arrived at the conclusion with a vote, one which the latter marginally won, thus deciding the future actions that humanity would take.

    After returning from the summit, the leaders started publicising controlled amounts of information on the current plight of the planet. They had downplayed several matters to avoid widespread panic and paranoia but had emphasized on the severity of the issue and the importance behind solving it.

    Following the release of these statements, the leaders then announced a global project, aimed at gathering talented people from every field and the best minds humanity had to offer.

    The project involved multiple rounds of selection conducted throughout the globe, where people who passed were then offered incredible incentives to participate in the project.

    Meanwhile, they also proceeded with plans to construct a tower on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. This was a grand project which involved talented architects from all over the world, a building which symbolised the epitome of human architecture.

    This tower was constructed to be the most advanced multi-faceted research facility on the planet and was named as the ¡®Tower of Hope¡¯, in hopes of finding a solution for the impending doom humanity was facing.

    After the tower¡¯s construction, the people who were invited to participate in he project were then gathered and sent to the tower, where they received the greatest research support the world had ever seen.

    Around the period when the world¡¯s leaders started to highlight the severity of the issue humanity was facing, global organisation started a movement to archive the technology and culture of humanity in physical shelters all around the globe as part of technological and cultural preservation efforts.

    These shelters were designed to preserve the stored material for extremely long periods of time and were built to have a sturdiness which exceeded even that of most fallout shelters.

    Of course, a large part of this was attributed to fact that most of the fallout shelters were built with outdated technology from decades ago, as these shelters were entirely absent from the list of priorities of countries in spite of the recent developments.

    Initially, all things seemed to proceed smoothly. Research in the tower proceeded smoothly, and discoveries were being made at an unprecedented rate in human history, prompting technological advancements in many fields.

    In particular, right around 10<sup>th</sup> year since the construction of the tower, the developmental pace suddenly skyrocketed and multiple new discoveries and developments were being made at a daily basis, shocking the world.

    However, it was also around then, when the research started diverging from its initial motivation. The tower began to release results that were moving in a dangerous direction, with developments in areas such as weapon developments being released.

    The world leaders frowned at this initially but chose to turn a blind eye to it as many of the results released by the tower still proceeded in the right direction. They discussed shortly on the issue and concluded that it was probably a ¡®research frenzy¡¯ which would die down on its own.

    Yet, as time went on, the problem only got worse as the tower continuously reduced less results that were beneficial to humanity over time, but just as the leaders began to lose their patience and wanted to address the issue, disaster struck the planet.

    On this fateful day, of the 12<sup>th</sup> year since the tower¡¯s founding, military bases all around the globe suddenly fell victim to hacking attempts which originated from the ¡®Tower of Hope¡¯, and all their nuclear arsenals were emptied shortly after as all the staff watched on helplessly as the planet welcomed the greatest fireworks show humanity had to offer.

    Missile rained down from the sky, taking out most of the population in the world, but that had only been the first act of this grand show.

    As missiles rained down, continents trembled, and deep fissures appeared on the land. Lava escaped to the surface from these openings, painting the picture of a flaming red hell on the lands. Natural disasters broke out on every part of the world, permanently altering the landscape of the planet.

    Amidst all the chaos and destruction, thick dark gases also started spewing from various parts of the world, encasing the planet in a thick sheet of darkness, blocking most the light from entering the planet.

    The skies of the old were lost at this moment, replaced by the blanket of darkness which covered all life. Today was the day where everything changed as the planet ushered in a new age, an age of darkness.

 Chapter 1: Beginning of Trials

    A thick blanket of darkness loomed overhead, the ¡®sky¡¯ of today''s world. They knew neither of warmer nor of brighter days, having this concept of ¡®sky¡¯ ingrained into them since untold years before.

    In a corner of the land beneath, there stood a majestic forest that could easily cover a small country of the past, existing like a bright candle in the darkness as it stood in the lifeless backdrop of ruins surrounding it.

    Yet, even this forest was clearly not spared from damage, as seen from the dull-coloured leaves and droopy trees that lacked the vibrance and life forests were known to embody, in stark contrast from forests of the old.

    However, there was life even in this desolate forest.

    In a small corner of the forest''s south, there stood a field where eight human-like creatures stood, looking nervously towards their front where a clearly elder creature of the same race sternly gave them a lecture.

    The eight of them would easily have passed off as humans, and beautiful ones at that, with the trait of snow-coloured complexions and smooth silver hair that shone through even amidst the darkness. That is, if not for their distinct sharp ears that pointed out towards the sides.

    If anything, they resembled the creatures of fantasy lore more than humans, the race known as elves. The eight on the field could easily be seen to be elven children while the one several heads taller before them was an elven male adult.

    This was a field in the central village of the Calla Tribe, a small elven tribe which lived near the southern border of the elven territory.

    Elves were generally known lack of physical strength that compared to many of the other races, but more than made up for it with keen eyes and sensitive ears that more that made up for it, make them a deadly presence on any battlefield.

    Yet, what the raced was most famed for was not their strength on the battlefield, but rather their exemplary physical appearances with the feeble air from their complexions and glittering hair, solidifying their renown as one of the most beautiful races in the world.

    The bodies of elves developed similar to humans in the early phases, but there a stark difference came when they came of age at the average age of 20 years, when their bodies would stop ageing, keeping them in a state of ''eternal youth''.

    However, they too were not immortal, and their lives still ended when the time came. Once an elf has lived to an age of 120, their bodies'' condition would begin to deteriorate rapidly until death.

    That said, none of this have any part in the minds of these eight youthful elves, elves who were still ways off from maturing into full grown adults.

    All that was on the mind of these elves currently was the big coming-of-age ceremony that was about to come, the defining event in every elf in the Calla tribe where they undergo trials and break free of their shells and truly get recognised as adults after completing it.

    Naturally, in face of such a big event, the thoughts running through each of their minds were different. Some had worry-filled expressions filled with anxiety while others had excitement and anticipation shining through their youthful eyes as they struggled to keep their attention to the lecture.

    Among them, there was a boy who had round, topaz coloured eyes, his hair shining even more than that of his peers such that it was almost white rather than silver.

    His name was Alz, and he was also burning with emotions as with his peers. However, it was not the trials that stirred them, but something else. An inevitability that would follow the trial and something he regarded more importantly than the trials, reuniting with his parents.

    The forest was home to the elves without a doubt, but it wasn''t that they were the only race as the wolves also resided within. Each year much blood is spilt and many warriors haven fallen for the sake of the tribes.

    Hence, the safety of the young who are the lifeblood of the tribes is highly critical, leading to special measures are employed to safeguard them. Here in the Calla Tribe, the village was split into the central and frontier villages with multiple frontier villages surrounding and protecting the central village.

    When young elves are born, it was a village tradition to send the children back to the central village to be nurtured, until they finally reached the age of 10 whereby they would undergo the coming-of-age ceremonies and be sent to the frontier villages for training.

    They would learn the ropes from their seniors at the respective villages and learn the skill they need for contributing the tribe and survival, ensuring the tribes'' continued existence.

    There were two types of trials available, a warrior trial and a supporter trial. The warrior trial involved sending the youths to experienced warriors to learn how to handle themselves in combat and to forage for materials in the forest

    Meanwhile the supporter trial had various aspects such as cooking and apothecary among many others, training them to be reliable pillars of support for the frontlines and allowing the villages to maintain its function.

    Male hatchlings were generally required to undergo the warrior trial as the Calla tribe was constantly faced with a shortage of warriors and more warriors meant greater safety in each village as well. The only exceptions came when some male elves were born with extremely weak constitutions were found to have remarkable talent in another area.

    Female hatchlings on the other hand had a choice between both but were usually advised to go for the supporter trials as they had inherently less physical strength than their most male counterparts in general.

    The elven race was also one where the young do not come by easy and hence, adding the strain of battle to their bodies was unwelcome in the face of the many losses against the wolves.

    That said, female warriors had also left a huge mark in the Calla tribe''s history as there was a huge attack in the past which left the village at a huge shortage of warriors in its aftermath, forcing many elves male and female alike to be conscripted to tide through that difficult period.

    "How do they look like?¡±

    The faint vestiges of memory having faded over the past decade, all that he could remember was the warmth of their embrace that was deeply imprinted in the depths of his mind, helping him curb his longing throughout these years.

    As his daze continued, Alz subconsciously raised his hand and gripped tightly onto the pendent hung around his neck. It was the only memento he had of his parents, a simple wooden pendent with his name inscribed on it that his father had made for him personally.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "Hey... Hey Alz! Stop spacing out!" a soft whisper came in from the side, accompanied by a sharp pain on his waist which immediately jolted him from his reverie.

    ¡°Ah! Yeah, I¡¯m listening, I was always listening! Please let go, it hurts...¡± Alz hastily replied as he briefly looked down at the two fingers pinching him by the waist as he replied the culprit behind his sudden pain.

    "Hmph!" Caila pinched Alz''s skin down even harder for a quick moment before releasing him, her sky-coloured eyes still pointing towards the lecturer ahead the entire time.

    "You clearly weren''t paying attention! How long do you I''ve known you?" Caila mumbled under her breath, her lips barely moving despite the clearly voiced words. Finding himself at a loss for words, an awkward smile flashed across Alz''s lips as he returned his attention the lecturer.

    "WHAT ARE THE BOTH OF YOU DOING!? STOP FOOLING AROUND!" However, what welcomed him was a steely glare directed towards him and Caila, causing Alz to flinch backwards in shock.

    ¡°See! now he''s angry at me too.¡± Caila mumbled even softer than before after the lecturer looked away, not wanting to attract his attention again.

    "Aha... thanks." letting out a dry laugh, Alz peeked down at his left palm where there were four marks deeply imprinted on his skin from his nails, with some thick, red liquid slowly seeping through.

    "Are you okay?¡± Caila''s voice rang out again, deeply tinged with concern.

    ¡°Yeah, it''s just a light scratch.¡± Alz half-heartedly replied.

    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about the wound!¡± Caila turned to glare at Alz, even forgetting entirely about the lecturer for a moment. In the next instant, her eyes immediately darted back to the front, heaving a sigh of relief when she saw that the lecturer didn''t catch them this time. However, her two fingers had also moved back to Alz''s waist, positioned to strike once again.

    "I''m fine, really. I just got a little too excited." Alz reassured Caila with a genuine smile as his hands swiftly moved to diffuse the threat on his waist.

    Seeing this, Caila''s expression finally lightened with relief and continued, "That''s okay then. Anyways, you''d better listen carefully! We''re going to need to know all of these for our trials."

    "Don''t worry, don''t worry! We''ll always have you, don''t we? The four of us will be going together anyways!" a carefree voice interjected suddenly from Alz''s left, cutting into the conversation.

    He was Link, another of Alz''s childhood friends while the last of the four he mentioned was Polon who was further to Link''s left and the incidentally also the leftmost elf of the row.

    It was no coincidence that the four of them were standing here together, as all four of them were brought in the same batch from the fourth village. Of the four, Caila was the oldest while Alz was the youngest.

    Perhaps also because of this, Caila had the tendency to watch over the three of them as they went about their usual mischief, acting as a ''big sister'' to the three of them as the four of them developed a relationship akin to sibling across these years.

    While this made the three of them irritated at times, they knew that Caila always had their best interest at heart and always felt very thankful towards her, knowing the deep sincerity behind her concern towards them. Particularly so since they were all separated from their parents from birth, allowing them to further appreciate this care towards them.

    However, this had also led to an unhealthy reliance towards Caila in many things, especially so when they were facing matters that they felt were troublesome, such as the lecture before them.

    "You know I can''t always be with you guys! I will be on a different trial too..." Caila replied with a hint of loneliness that Alz managed to capture. Hearing this, the mood dampened and the three of them fell silent.

    She was willing to help them with trivial matters, but the trials were different, and this was going to be the first time they would be separated since arriving at the central village 10 years ago. While she was willing to close an eye and help with small matters usually, this was different from the usual.

    "Don''t worry, we still have Polon! He''s so quiet the entire time for once, he must have been seriously--" Alz tried to fix the mood of the conversation but stopped halfway with his mouth agape in astonishment as he looked towards Polon.

    While it was true the Polon was serious, he was serious about an entirely different thing altogether. His eyes were both closed with his head slightly lowered, wearing a silly smile on his face with drool trickling the sides of his lips, clearly in deep sleep.

    "Haa... He was like this from the very start. You said it yourself, didn''t you? That it was weird he''s been so quiet." Link replied with an exasperated sigh as he shook his head in an exaggerated manner.

    Knowing there was little use in trying to get Polon to actually listen to the lecture, the three of them refocused their attention to the lecture with renewed vigour, in part so they could help Polon out during the trials that were to come.

    Afterall, all of them understood just how importance this knowledge would be for the trials, particularly for the warriors as it would be a matter of life and death on the battlefield and that there was no room for kidding around.

    Also, with Polon in this state, they needed to find some time to help explain everything to Polon after he woke up too, and this could only be done if they knew what was being taught here.

    As for the other four elves in the line, Alz''s group wasn''t close to them as they were elves who were native to the central village, so the two groups hardly interacted with each other before this.

    There was a total of seven frontier villages, named the first to seventh villages respectively and adding to a total of eight settlements under the Calla tribe when including the central village.

    While the children who were born in the respective frontier villages would return to the villages they were born in, those who were born in the central village also needed to undergo these trials and would be send to the most shorthanded one among the frontier villages, which was the fourth village this time.

    Hence, the eight of them made up the group that was assigned to the fourth village for their trials with a total of six male and two female elves. The six male elves including Alz, Polon and Link were going for the warrior trial while the two female elves were going to take on the supporter trail.

    The elf who was currently lecturing them was assigned to their group as he was a returnee from completing his trial in the fourth village a few years back and would also be bringing them over to the fourth village soon after this lecture concludes.

    Having been tasked to prepare the eight of them for their stay in the fourth village, he was currently giving the eight of them a basic rundown on the things they needed to watch out for in the fourth village.

    After guiding them to the fourth village, he would then hand them over to the local guard team. They would then be monitored, and progress reports will be sent back to the central village at six-month intervals based on their performance.

    After the 30th report, at the end of a 15-years, their progress would then be evaluated by the village council, offering youths with promise to return to the central village while the others would have to remain in the frontier village.

    Several minutes later.

    ¡°¡­¡­And that will be all. We''re heading out!¡± taking a quick glance at the sky, the senior concluded his lecture and instructed the eight of them to move out as he started moving towards the village entrance without delay.

    Another five grown male elves lounging around by the side immediately grabbed their bags and stood up as well, following closely behind the lecturer in some sort of formation, their actions falling completely in rhythm with each other without any time at all.

    The eight youths reacted half a beat slower, but immediately chased behind in the gap at the centre that was clearly left for them... all except one. Noticing that Polon was still happily in dreamland, Link placed his arms on Polon''s shoulder and roughly shook him awake, dragging the half asleep Polon to follow behind.

    After five days of walking, the journey finally ended with no incident.

    However, this had still been a long, tiring journey for the youths as it was the first time any of them had to walk for such prolonged periods of time.

    Fortunately, the seniors were also very understanding to their plight and were kind along the entire journey, accommodating to them by slowing the place to match them and also constantly providing rest stops and refreshments along the way.

    Joy and relief flickered across the eyes of the tired youths as they caught sight of the row of fences before them that was about two meters high, encircling several generously spaced thatched buildings within.

    While not as big as the central village, the frontier village was clearly more than sufficient to house the population of 150 here.

    About two hours later, the group finally circled around the fence, arriving at the wooden gate stationed with two guards, having a signboard reading ''Fourth Village'' in elven script before them.

    "We''re here. You''re all now on your own, good luck for your trials." the lecturer turned around to face the youths with a rare smile on his face, giving them his words of encouragement before walking towards the two village guards.

 Chapter 2: Arrival at Fourth Village

    ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t this Kleiz? So you got selected for this.¡± One of the guards recognised the senior who was leading the way and called out to him.

    ¡°Yeah, got unlucky when drawing the lots.¡± The senior grumbled with a bitter expression on his face.

    Following that, he cleared his throat and continued on, ¡°We¡¯ll leave the hatchlings in your good hands. We¡¯ll get going now¡­ we still have to report back to the council after we return.¡±

    He let out a tired sigh at the end of the sentence and turned to leave, tracing the path they took on the way here. The other five seniors who had been following along naturally followed as the group of six disappeared into the distance.

    The hatchlings looked at the six seniors with gratitude as they walked away before turning to face the guard nervously.

    ¡°Welcome to the fourth village! Come right in.¡± the guard welcomed the hatchlings with a warm smile.

    After he said that, he had a quick discussion with his partner and lead the way into the village.

    After all the hatchlings entered, the guard pointed in a direction and said, ¡°Go over to that field and wait for now, the village chief will be meeting you there shortly.¡±

    The hatchlings turned their heads to where his finger pointed, catching sight of a wide field where several male elves were jogging. These elves did not look much older than them and looked like they were currently doing some physical training.

    They obediently nodded their heads and started walking over to the field. Their movements were rigid, and their expressions were stiff, clearing showing the nervousness they felt and understandably so.

    They were children who had just reached ten and were suddenly placed in a foreign environment away from home. It would be harder for them to not be nervous under these conditions.

    Alz and his childhood friends were also not immune to this. Despite being born here, they had lived their entire lives in the central village and this place was as foreign to them as it was to the other four.

    Meanwhile, the guard walked towards a drum that was beside the gate and gave three hard knocks to the drum with a wooden drumstick that was placed nearby.

    Three low pitched sounds resounded clearly throughout the village, informing every one of the hatchlings¡¯ arrival. Hearing this, curious members of the village started to make their way over to the field to catch a look at the hatchlings while most just carried with their tasks.

    However, not all residents of the village were able to react so calmly to this. There were some elves whose movements froze as they heard the drums, eight elves to be exact.

    Their expressions visibly lit up as the sound entered through their ears, causing them to pause whatever they were doing as they hurriedly made their way to the field.

    As the hatchlings entered the field, the young elves who were jogging looked over briefly and revealed welcoming smiles to them before continuing to jog.

    The only adult elf that was jogging around the field changed his course and jogged towards the hatchling, soon arriving before the group.

    When he arrived, he smiled towards the nervous hatchling before him and spoke, ¡°Oh, new hatchlings? You must be tired from the walk here. Its fine to sit anywhere on the field.¡±

    However, immediately after saying that, his eyes suddenly sharpened, and the sides of his lips curled up higher, forming a savage grin as he began to look at each of the male hatchlings.

    After observing the six boys closely, he slowly shook his head while releasing an exaggerated sigh, before introducing himself, ¡°I¡¯m Firiz, and I¡¯m in charge of the physical training here in the fourth village.¡±

    His expression reverted back to a welcoming smile as he stared shortly at each of the males again before jogging away, but in the eyes of the six boys, the smile clearly appeared to have a sinister tone behind it this time.

    After he jogged about 10 meters away, his voice suddenly drifted into the ears of the hatchlings, ¡°Rest now while you still can, because you won¡¯t be able to soon enough. Hahahaha¡­¡­¡±

    Firiz¡¯s voice trailed off in a laughter which got softer as he jogged further. The six boys felt a chill travel down their spine and their faces contorted as uneasiness started to rise in their hearts.

    ¡°A-Alz, we¡¯re g-gonna be okay r-right?¡± Link grabbed onto Alz¡¯s shoulder and began to stammer in a barely audible voice.

    ¡°I-I think so?¡± Alz saw his friend¡¯s ghastly expression and wanted to comfort him, but his own fear and unease took over as he replied in an uncertain tone.

    ¡°Seems like a fun instructor, can¡¯t wait for training to start!¡± Polon said enthusiastically, trying show off his ¡®nerves of steel¡¯, but his quivering voice and trembling body did little to help him.

    The three central hatchlings also began to talk amongst themselves, their expressions and voices not much better than Link.

    The two girls revealed a sympathetic gaze as they looked at the guys before proceeding to sit on the ground and rest their tired legs. Seeing this, the boys also started sitting and their nerves slowly calmed down as time went by.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Within a few minutes, a small crowd had gathered around the field, looking curiously at the eight unfamiliar faces on the field.

    ¡°Welcome to the fourth village young hatchlings! I am Blain, the chief of this village.¡±

    Suddenly, a deep, powerful voice travelled out from one side of the field. Having been addressed, the hatchlings quickly raised their heads and looked towards the direction of the voice.

    They immediately caught sight of three figures that were approaching them. The voice seemed to have originated from the man who was walking at the center.

    This man appeared to be in his mid-20s, and there was nothing which really seemed to stand out from his facial features.

    However, his body was a whole different story as he boasted of an exceptionally stout figure which most elves could never hope to match, a rarity among their kind. There was also a certain air of authority around him which made him feel more reliable.

    The two elves by his sides were walking half a step behind him as they followed. One of the elves was a male and was wearing a garb which looked like a more detailed version of the clothes they had seen on the guards earlier.

    He had extremely sharp facial features that gave him an angry look and the expressionless face of his only served to deepen that impression, making look extremely stern and angry at all times.

    The other elf was a female elf that had long hair that extended to her shoulder, curling up slightly at the ends. Her hair was a dazzling shade of silver, and her bright purple eyes that sparkled like gemstones.

    The dull leather dress she wore covered her body entirely but took nothing away from her beauty. She had a smile across a face which exuded elegance and grace around her, setting her apart from most of the female elves.

    ¡°You must be tired from the journey here. We will discuss the matters after the next light so just rest well for now.¡± The village chief bent down slightly and spoke to the hatchlings with an affectionate smile on his face.

    He righted his body and continued speaking, but this time it was addressed to the two elves beside him, ¡°Lein, Layla, show the hatchlings to their dorms.¡±

    After he said his piece, he turned around and started walking out of the field.

    The male elf, Lein, walked up and called for the hatchlings who were undertaking the warrior trial before walking out to the west of the field. The six boys hurriedly stepped out and chased after him, exiting the field.

    Layla silently waited for the males to step out of the field before directly a gentle smile at the two girls. She walked up and held the two of them by their hands, leading them out of the field towards the east.

    They began chatting along the way and soon, the anxiety of the girls started to fade as giggles and bell-like laughter rang from the direction they left.

    The small crowd that had gathered around the field started breaking up as the elves went back to their tasks, leaving only eight elves who were looking in one of the directions where the hatchlings left.

    The eight elves displayed their emotions differently but the longing in their eyes were the same as they stared in the direction their child left in. These eight elves were naturally, the parents of the four who were sent to the care center.

    A few moments later, they finally retracted their eyes and hurried off in the direction the village chief left.

    Blain looked at the eight elves who stood before him with a helpless smile on his face. This was how it had gone every year since he had been assigned with this post, the parents would gather impatiently and find him immediately after.

    ¡°You heard my words, come over to the field at the next light. You¡¯ve already waited for ten years, Its only one more night. They won¡¯t suddenly disappear, so rest well tonight to prepare for the reunion tomorrow.¡± Blain consoled them with the words he had rehearsed over the past years before returning to his work.

    The elves exchanged looks with each other and silently left, proceeding back to their homes. However, one thing was certain, this night was fated to a sleepless night for these eight elves.

    As this was going on, the hatchlings were being guided to their dorms.

    ¡°I am Lein, the guard captain of this village. I am in charge of all the warriors here at the fourth village. If any of you have any questions, you can ask me now.¡± shortly after they exited the field, Lein suddenly spoke to the hatchlings.

    The movements of the boys who had been following behind stiffened, but they continued to follow behind. However, it was clear as day that they were intimidated by the elf who led the way and the silence continued.

    Time seemed to slow down for them as the young hatchlings felt the atmosphere becoming increasingly strained. Finally, one of the central elves decided to voice out and asked a question about something he had forgotten from the earlier lecture.

    Regret washed over his face immediately as he asked, expecting to be reprimanded for his stupid question and lack of knowledge. Yet, reality played out differently from the young hatchlings¡¯ expectations.

    Lein patiently answered the question without any form of reprimand. He even went on to provide details that were not covered in the lecture before, deepening their understanding on the matter.

    Seeing the way this played out, the other boys mustered their courage and started to ask more questions, all of which Lein patiently gave the answered them like he did the first, providing them with details that invited more questions each time.

    Perhaps due to the tension from before, Polon was actually attentively listening for once. As he listened, sparks of curiosity began to flash in his eyes. He was by far the least knowledgeable among the six of them. Alz, Link and Caila tried to give him a crash course along the trip but expectedly, nothing much really registered in his mind.

    The way that Lein explained however, seemed to appeal to him and he started raising more and more questions as Alz and Link looked at him with looks of shock and dismay.

    Even though Lein¡¯s expressionless face remained unchanged the entire time, the hatchlings¡¯ impression towards him slowly changed while they interacted as they realised that he might not have been as scary as his appearance suggested.

    Amidst the storm of questions that were raised, they finally arrived at an area where multiple huts were sitting around. Each of these huts were with wood and vine, the two most commonly used building materials in elven architecture.

    Lein soon guided the boys to an empty hut that had six empty beds in it. He patiently answered the last of the questions that were asked before leaving them with a reminder to gather when the first drum was heard as he walked away.

    The interior of the hut was exactly as one would expect from a military dormitory, simple. There were six beds that had small gaps in between, with a wooden basket placed at the side of each bed for personal items.

    The beds did not appear foreign to them as it looked identical to the ones they used back at the central village. This design which used twigs and leaves for its construction was essentially universal across the entire tribe, so this was not surprising.

    Small gaps could be peeked through the vine covered roof, revealing the unchanging sheet of darkness that lay overhead.

    Looking at the beds before them, the six young elves felt their fatigue setting in all at once. They quickly discussed on the bed assignment, reaching a decision that they were all satisfied with almost immediately. The young hatchlings then laid down on their beds and their minds started drifting away.

 Chapter 3: Reunion and Homestay

    Meanwhile, at the girl¡¯s side, Layla was chatting with the two girls throughout the walk. As opposed to the strictly question and answer style Lein used, Layla brought the subjects up herself, and talked about many important things to the two girls.

    The female dorms and the male dorms were exactly the same, having multiple huts with six beds each. Since there were only the two of them, Layla guided the girls to a hut where there were already three taken beds.

    Layla introduced the hatchlings to each other and the three elves warmly welcomed their new roommates. Layla then proceeded to leave after telling the girls that she will be here to pick them up tomorrow, so there was no need to worry about it. The two girls repeatedly thanked Layla as she left, their hearts filled with gratitude.

    The next day.

    *Don*. A low-pitched sound rang across the village, signalling the brightening of the skies. The curtain of darkness in the skies never changed, but some periods of the day were brighter than others. This was how the elves split the days.

    The first drum of a day signalled the brightening of the skies, the period when the skies would begin to gradually light up. The second drum would be sounded when the light was at its peak and would begin to dim.

    The third one sounded right before a period when darkness would soon cover the skies, warning the elves of the darkness that was to come. The last and final drum of the day was sounded in a period between the third and the first drum of the next day, reminding elves that remained awake that half the darkness passed.

    There were the four drums used in all the villages to tell time, the periods being known as the first light, second light, first darkness and second darkness respectively. There was always a patrol unit that would be assigned with the task of sounding the drum each day.

    However, most elves did not rely on these four drums for time. Due to the lack of time telling devices, most members of the tribe had sharp body clocks honed from a very young age. The drums only served as a reminder for most of the elves and was primarily used divide the day.

    The drum used for these four drums was located near the heart of the village, and produced a lower, deeper ring than the drum located near the gate. This prevented confusion from arising between the two drums as the sharp ears of elves could easily pick out the difference between the two drums.

    Today, the hatchlings were supposed to gather at the field at first light, however the air in the hut where Alz and the others were living in remained still. As if expecting this, a figure approached the hut silently.

    Lein let out a sigh as he looked at the six hatchlings who still lay soundly asleep on their beds. However, there were no traces of the disappointment one would expect to see in his face, rather, he was showing a bitter smile which rarely appeared on his face.

    This was one of the tasks he hated doing, playing the role of the devil. Every year when the hatchlings first arrived, they would sleep in on the first day without fail. After all, the trip here from the central village might not have been much to him, but it definitely took a toll on these ten year olds.

    He always felt the urge to let them sleep so they could recover properly, but he had learnt from his predecessors and also from his own experience that he couldn¡¯t be light on them now. Being light towards them in the first few years would only end up harming them in the long run.

    He shook his head lightly to dispel these thoughts from his mind. This was his duty and responsibility, as the one in charge of them. Therefore, he roared, at the top of his lungs,

    ¡°WAKE UP! WHAT TIME DO YOU ALL THINK IT IS! GO ASSEMBLE AT THE FIELD NOW!¡±

    The boys were naturally shocked by the sudden roar, jumping up from their beds instinctively. Their eyes were hazy as they looked around trying to figure out what was happening. As soon as they saw the expressionless guard captain standing in front of them, they quickly understood the situation.

    Looks of panic appeared on their faces as they frantically got up and gathered before Lein.

    ¡°Follow me.¡± Lein said coldly as he looked at the hatchlings¡¯ reaction. He then turned and left the hut without waiting for a response.

    The hatchlings exchanged looks of fear and unease but quickly jogged up, following behind Lein. Thankfully, they knew from yesterday¡¯s interactions that Lein was not as cold as he appeared, but their hearts still raced with unease.

    The picture was entirely different at the side for the girls as Layla warmly greeted the two girls at the entrance as she had promised, setting off towards the field together in smiles and laughter.

    She addressed some of the girl¡¯s queries during this time and told them that they could look for her if they had any more questions in future.

    After about 15 minutes, both groups arrived at the field at around the same time, where they saw that village chief and several other elves were already standing in wait.

    ¡°I¡¯m see that all of you had a good night¡¯s rest. Let us start by introducing some of the people around the village.¡± Blain¡¯s deep voice rang in the ears of the hatchlings after he shot a quick look at each of them.

    The boys felt like a load went off their chest when the village chief did not mention anything about their tardiness. They felt like there were small barbs piercing their heart as their worry and unease built up on the way here and the silent, expressionless Lein only made it worse.

    Blain walked up beside Lein and Layla and said, ¡°I believe you should already know that Lein and Layla are in charge of the warrior and supporter hatchlings. They will also be teaching you what you need to know during the first 3 years of your stay.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    The village chief then went on to introduce the group of people who stood in the field. There was the tailor who was in charge of making and mending clothes, the apothecary who was in charge of medicine, the librarian who was in charge of the library, among many other roles.

    The people who stood here were representatives selected by each group to give a brief introduction of each field to the hatchlings. Incidentally, the physical trainer whom they first met when they arrived at the village was also present.

    The eight elves initially focused their attention on the village chief and the various representatives, but four of them soon became distracted as they saw various familiar looking faces among the group of elves.

    Link¡¯s eyes reddened when he his gaze met with the woman who was introduced as a tailor. His mind instantly blanked out and nothing else entered his head.

    Caila also began sobbing as she looked at the apothecary representative while Polon stared blankly at a couple who stood behind the various selected representatives.

    Alz also directed his gaze at a couple who stood behind the representative who were also looking at him gently. The male elf was trying to look tough, but his body¡¯s shaking gave away his pretense while the female elf¡¯s eyes were bloodshot, and tears were streaking down her cheeks.

    Naturally, Blain who was standing in front noticed this, causing the sides of his lips to curl up slightly into a smile. He turned a blind eye to the hatchlings¡¯ lack of attention as he continued on with the introductions. Soon after, the introductions concluded.

    ¡°That will be all for today. For the next two weeks, you will all be staying with a family from the village. They will be teaching you more about the things you need to know during this stay.¡± Blain concluded the introductions, before turning to leave the field with a smile on his face.

    The central elves were promptly received by their assigned families and brought out of the field while most of the remaining elves also quickly vacated the field, leaving the entire field to the twelve elves who remained.

    As the other elves left the field, the parents finally stopped holding back and moved right up, embracing their children. No words were needed as the children returned the embrace, finally experiencing the warmth they always craved in the past ten years.

    It was an unwritten rule in the Calla tribe, to allow the returning hatchlings to stay with their parents at the beginning of their trials. This was a form of compensation towards these elves who sacrificed much by staying in the frontier villages, and as a form of compensation towards the children.

    Still, these terms were extremely unfair for those who lived at the frontier tribe, but this was tradition. Some elves had to pay the price for the tribe to continue existing, and this price fell on them, the elves who lived in the frontier villages.

    The Calla tribe is split into eight villages today, a single central village and seven frontier villages. However, that is not how it had always been. The entire tribe were gathered in one village at its peak, when it had boasted of more than two thousand members, and was among the larger of the small elven tribes.

    Despite the long average live expectancy of 140 years on average, elven populations were generally small in size as it was very difficult for their race to bear offspring. This could be seen from there being only four children from the entire village ten years ago.

    This was despite the population of more than 150 elves living here in the fourth village. This was also one of the main reasons behind the strong bonds among the elves.

    The Calla tribe landed in its current plight due to the greatest enemies of their tribe and the deadliest predators in their part of the woods, the wolves.

    The southern part of the forest they lived in were known to be infested with wolves. These wolves usually moved about in the time period after the first darkness and before the first light each day.

    They launched multiple small-scale attacks on the villages several times each day, which were fended off by the elves who were on guard or patrol duty. These attacks were usually easily handled and led to no casualties.

    The problem came when they launched large-scale attacks. Large-scale attacks involved seemingly endless waves of wolves grouping up to attack the target. These attacks had no discernible pattern to them and were impossible to predict.

    There had been records of more than 20 years where there hadn¡¯t been a single large-scale wolf attack. However, there had also been records of nearly consecutive large-scale attacks, such as the attacks that split the tribe, the ¡®Great Wolf Disaster¡¯ which happened 120 years ago.

    During this disaster, the tribe received a second large-scale attack right when they were recovering from the damages incurred from a large-scale attack which ended just on the previous month.

    The tribe was shocked then as they did not expect an attack at this period. This led to devastating damages being done to the tribe as the 2000 strong tribe was reduced to a mere 140 members who were lucky enough to flee successfully.

    The survivors then headed to the elven capital, Alvein to seek refuge then. However, they only managed to rebuild the village four years later with large amounts of aid from the capital when the wolves finally cleared from the area.

    The capital provided the survivors with 100 combatants and 300 non-combatants, along with large amounts of food and water, allowing the tribe to avoid the fate of being wiped out.

    Right after the village was rebuilt, the tribe elected a council formed with elves older than 120 and elves who were renowned for their intellect and wisdom in the tribe. This main purpose of this council then was to come up with countermeasure to avoid the disaster of four years ago.

    The council immediately began to discuss countermeasures to the issue, but eventually only came up with one proposition which seemed feasible.

    The initial proposition was for guard posts to be stationed at strategic positions around the central village, so that they could warn the tribe if any signs of large-scale wolf attacks were seen. However, the darkness in the forest coupled with the nocturnal behaviour of wolves made it difficult for the posts to scout out the wolves¡¯ movements effectively.

    The ineffectiveness of this plan became apparent when the tribe was once again struck by a large-scale attack six years later, which the tribe barely managed to fend off.

    The flaws of the initial idea immediately came to the council¡¯s attention, so they discussed the matter and came up with another proposition, leading to the frontier villages the village has today.

    These frontier villages were built at the location of the old guard posts and were meant to be ¡®dummy villages¡¯, serving as decoys for the wolves. Several years later, the next large-scale attack struck, wiping out the sixth village that was targeted then.

    The central village noticed this and immediately prepared to evacuate, but they realised that the wolves were just prowling around the sixth village and started scattering four years later. The plan had succeeded, but it came at a heavy cost.

    With a heavy heart, the council ordered for the sixth village to be rebuilt and repopulated while the entire tribe mourned for the loss of the valiant members of the sixth village.

    Due to the constant threat at frontier villages, the council also decided that newborns were to be brought back to the main village for the first ten years. When they reached the age of ten, they would then be sent for their trials and elves who showed promise were allowed to return to the central village.

    After many cycles of frontier villages being destroyed and rebuilt, the tribe arrived at the present. The members of the tribe all understood the importance of this traditions, which had protected the village time and again.

 Chapter 4: Warmth of a Family

    No matter what the reason was, the parents still felt guilt as they sent their children away. They understood the meaning behind the tradition, but the pain did not lessen. The situation was worse for the children as they were forced to bear the pains of separation all because of a ¡®tradition¡¯, without knowing anything more.

    Alz lay in the warm embrace of his mother, looking curiously as the figure who stood beside her. The man was well-built and had small scars all over his body, giving him the impression of a veteran warrior. His eyes were the same shade of yellow as Alz, but his other features looked rougher.

    His head was currently pointed down while his eyes were coloured in guilt. He was too ashamed to look directly at the pair because he felt like he had let the pair down far too much.

    He and Alz¡¯s mother were part of the same batch of hatchlings, and Alz¡¯s mother was one of the hatchlings which had achieved the best results and had easily earned the right to live in the central village. His performance on the other hand was mediocre at best, so he did not earn the right to return to the central village.

    He had very mixed feelings on the day the council evaluations were released, but not because he was unsatisfied with his results, as he had always been prepared for that.

    He had held feelings towards Alz¡¯s mother since many years ago and felt genuinely happy when they announced her evaluation results, yet a part of him also felt lonely. Yet, reality had other plans for him as she confessed to him right at that moment, asking if he would allow her to live by his side at the fourth village.

    Naturally, he was overjoyed by this and readily accepted, but he always felt guilt towards her because of this. This got worse when they found out that they had Alz and he would never forget the painful tears she shed on that day ten years ago, a memory that was like a thorn in his heart.

    Just as negative thoughts began to fill his mind, he felt something warm gently pulling on his hand. He looked up and saw Alz''s mother smiling at him. She lightly shook her head while looking at him with a reprimanding gaze, as though she could see through his thoughts.

    Seeing this, his heart warmed, and he quickly pushed the negative thoughts to the back of his mind. Today was a happy day, the reunion that they had all been waiting for. There was no meaning in dampening the mood by thinking of what had already past.

    ¡°Let''s go back, to our home¡± Alz''s mother said with a slightly hoarse voice, a gentle voice that felt nostalgic yet foreign when it entered Alz''s ears.

    She grabbed onto both of their hands and walked off. Her face had a radiant smile which shone brightly, a smile comparable to the brightest smile she made in her life, the one she had when she first learnt of Alz.

    Alz let his mother pull him along as he felt the warmth that remained from the embrace earlier, invoking memories which he thought he had long since forgotten. One by one, the reunited families began to leave the field, emptying out the field.

    There were several times when he thought this was all a dream, as this was something he used to dream about countless times, a warm, happy reunion.

    This was something he had always longed for as early as he could remember, so he tried his best to savour this feeling, to make up for what he had lost over the past ten years.

    The three of them soon stopped before a small wooden hut. The hut was slightly smaller than the one he was brought to yesterday, but there was a cosy feel about the hut, something which the dormitory did not have.

    Alz was quickly pulled into the hut and its interior entered its eyes. The interior of the hut clearly differed from the places he had previously stayed in. There were several decorations around the hut which gave the space a homely feel.

    A wave of nostalgia rose in Alz''s heart, along with a sense of security. There was something about this place that made him feel at ease, a feeling of comfort the care center and dormitory lacked.

    ¡°So this is what it feels like to be home.¡± Alz inwardly thought as he eyes danced the hut.

    ¡°This is where you were born...but you probably don''t remember.¡± A hoarse voice containing grief and loneliness emerged from his side.

    Alz turned to the side and saw his mother looking at a section of the hut. He followed her gaze and saw a bed with a crib nearby, woven with many twigs and leaves. There were several small toys placed in it and a few sets of leather clothing clearly meant for babies.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    The area looked well-maintained and it was clear at a glance that much work had been done to retain it. Alz felt something move in his heart when he looked over the area, causing the sense of distance he felt towards his parents lessen slightly.

    ¡°This is your bed, tell us if you want anything else.¡± suddenly, a low, husky voice travelled into his ears.

    This was the first time his father had spoken since the reunion. He turned to the direction of the sound and saw his father standing by a bed, a bed which looked to be in a fresh condition. Evidently, this was something they had prepared in advance for his stay.

    Alz looked around at the entire hut again, thinking about the two-week time limit he had here. He inwardly decided to cherish every moment of this time, hoping to compensate as much as he could for the past ten years, to experience life as a family for the first time in his memories.

    In the two weeks that followed, he went out with his parents daily while they showed him around the entire village. They brought him to various important places in the village during this time, such as the location of the lake and the various amenities in the village.

    Alz enjoyed every second of the time while his parents showered him with affection. They strolled around and had picnics, they played by the lake and laughed together. The family of three cherished this time they could spent together and made every bit of it as fulfilling as they could.

    On the final night, the three of them were lying on a single bed. This was something Alz''s mother decided to do the last night and took no objections. Alz lay in the center with his mother gently embracing him from the side.

    His father though, was not looking too good. Around half of his body was sticking out of the bed and he was struggling to balance himself. He wanted to move over to the other bed but each time he tried, a sharp glare was shot towards him, causing cold sweat to trickle down his spine. In the end, he abandoned all resistance and caved in, obediently staying on the bed.

    They talked about many things this night, about Alz''s previous lifestyle and his friends, stories of his parents'' past and anything interesting they could think of.

    *Don*. The drum which signalled the second darkness echoed across the village, marking the end of the homestay period along with it. Alz would no longer be able to stay here from the next day onwards and his training would officially begin.

    His parents would also have to return to their posts and they would no longer be able to spend a period of time like the past two weeks, weighed down by their personal commitments.

    Alz''s eyes began to water as he recalled the happy times they spent in the past two weeks. He had never felt this fulfilled in his entire life and he was left wanting more. Suddenly, he felt something warm lightly caressing his hair.

    His mother reached out to pat him while her eyes were focused on his face, trying to burn every last detail of Alz into her mind. Several moments later, she hugged the back of Alz''s neck and pressed him to her chest, embracing him.

    The sudden soft sensation assaulted his mind, causing his adolescent instincts to flare up. His heart started racing and more blood flew to his cheeks, dying them red. However, his mind quickly settled in the comfort and he began to feel drowsy, eventually falling asleep.

    His father looked at this scene with a gaze that contained envy as he struggled to position himself less awkwardly on the bed, so that he could sleep.

    Time flew by seamlessly, disregarding all wishes of an eternity, as it always had.

    The next day.

    Alz felt his body shaking, rousing him from his slumber. He slowly opened his eyes and caught sight of his mother''s face in front of him with her eyes closed. He looked his shoulder and saw a hand there. He rubbed his eyelids while turning to look behind, catching the culprit behind the shaking.

    His father was shaking him awake with one hand while his other hand was massaging his back. He looked utterly exhausted and it was immediately apparent that he did not get a good rest. Alz almost couldn''t contain his laughter as he saw this, but he also felt some guilt at the same time.

    ¡°Wake up, it''s time for you to gather.¡± his father said in his husky voice.

    Alz was reluctant to move, but he also knew he didn''t have a choice. He slowly tried to raise his body but suddenly, the grip around his body tightened and caught him off guard. He fell back on the bed, in front of his mother.

    His mother was glaring behind him with a gaze full of resentment, something which brought a smile to his face. Just then, the drum of first light sounded. Alz tried to remove the hands around his waist but they were light chains of steel, showing no signs of budging.

    Alz''s father sighed as he saw this but he didn''t dare to force her hands off either or hell would await him after. He tried to convince her slowly by saying sentences like, "it''s bad if his late on the first day." and "his still living in the village.", finally convincing her to release her arms tearfully about ten minutes later.

    Having finally been released, Alz paused slightly as a wave of reluctance washed over him, but he quickly got out of the bed and went to wash up.

    ¡°Be careful and come visit us often.¡± His mother¡¯s eyes said with a tearful gaze, her voice slightly breaking towards the end.

    ¡°I''ll come back whenever I can.¡± Alz promised his mother while his eyes also reddened slightly.

    His mother revealed a gentle smile and carefully took an item out from her dress, handing it to Alz, ¡°This is a lucky charm I made, always keep it by your side.¡±

    Alz received the pendant in his hands and proceeded to observe it. The pendant was fang-shaped with multiple inscriptions of blessings in elven script carved on it, threaded through with a string that was made with by weaving multiple thin vines together.

    He immediately placed it around his neck, where it stood beside his other wooden necklace with his name inscribed on it.

    Alz closed his eyes and held the pendants in his right hand for a moment, before he said, ¡°I¡¯m going off.¡± He had a serious expression on his face as he turned around and walked towards the field.

    After a few steps he started to break out into a jog, fading off into the distance. His ears faintly heard some sobbing coming from behind, but he did not turn back, as he did not have to confidence to continue leaving if he did so.

 Chapter 5: Tests

    Alz soon found himself back at the familiar field once again.

    On the field, there were several elves standing orderly in front of Lein. The elves were split into three separate columns and all looked to be around his age.

    The elves in two of the three columns had contained some faces which he vaguely recalled seeing over the past two weeks while the elves in the last column were his five roommates.

    He did not reveal any look of surprise at this as he had already known about this beforehand. He had learnt over that past two weeks that all hatchlings who arrived at the fourth village would receive instruction directly from Lein in the first three years of the stay.

    He quickened his pace and ran up to Lein, lowering his head slightly and apologising for being late. Lein silently stared at him for several seconds, causing Alz''s body to tense up.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make this a habit! Get into line.¡± Lein finally said after staring at Alz for a while.

    Lein then turned his head back to the front and looked towards the hatchlings. Alz heaved a sigh of relief and quickly ran to the line where his batch was.

    ¡°Now that everyone is gathered, we can finally begin. All the new hatchlings, step forward." Lein shot quick look at Alz again as he mentioned the first part but quickly continued on.

    The six hatchlings walked up to Lein with their hearts pounding furiously. They had all been told on the sequence of events at the beginning and knew what was coming, the basic physical evaluation.

    All hatchlings were tested on their physical abilities at the start of the year. For the first three years, they had to undergo a basic physical evaluation while in subsequent years, they would go through more advanced evaluations involving actual combat situations.

    The six of them obediently followed Lein''s instructions, going through some physical tasks which tested them on their strength, endurance, flexibility, and stamina and were graded for each individual component.

    During these tests, only Polon''s results stood out, surpassing the average results by far. This came at no surprise to Alz and Link, as they knew he had always been fond of and good at physical activities, but the others were shocked by his performance. Meanwhile, the other five of them had average results.

    After they were done, the other two batches took turns completing the same tasks and received their evaluations as well. By the time it concluded, the second drum had already rung and Lein guided them over to the mess hall to have their meal.

    The mess hall they were brought to constructed to accommodate the warrior hatchlings and there were already several groups of elves sitting when they arrived. The three groups quickly proceeded to collect their food at the front after they arrived.

    They soon collected their food and took a seat at a nearby table that could fit the six of them. They were part of the same batch after all and there were many things they would be doing together in the following years.

    ¡°Man, Polon really did great today!¡± Link excitedly exclaimed as he slapped Polon''s back.

    ¡°Yeah he did even better than most of the seniors too.¡± Alz nodded in agreement as he turned to look at Polon.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Polon laughed and revealed a shy smile as his face reddened.

    The other three elves also chipped in praises at Polon whose lips slowly formed a silly grin. Following that, they began to talk about the things that they had learnt over the past week, supplementing each other''s knowledge and learning more about how everything worked.

    They were not being particularly quiet as they spoke and some of their seniors in the mess hall walked over to help with a few questions that they had. Slowly, they began to learn information such as famous hatchlings and useful survival tips. Many seniors also introduced themselves and gave them a warm welcome to the village.

    About 15 minutes later, they finished their meal and returned their utensils to the front. The six of them then rushed off to assemble at the field. They were not late, but when they arrived at the field, they saw that Lein was already waiting so they quickened their pace and gathered before him.

    The other two groups of hatchlings were already dismissed, but they still had something left on their itineraries today, the mental evaluation tests. This test was only conducted twice for every hatchling, once at the start and at the end.

    The test was used to assess the intelligence and problem-solving skills of the hatchlings and would be included in their overall performance evaluations.

    Elves who performed well might even gain the option of stopping their trials and receiving special training for important roles in the tribe instead. One such example was the librarian role which was only offered to hatchlings who performed well in these tests due to the nature of the role.

    The six of them were naturally very curious when they first heard of this. However, they did not manage to learn anything about the tests because it was prohibited by the tribe to share any information with the hatchlings on it.

    After they had assembled, Lein gestured for the hatchlings to follow behind and walked out of the field towards the North. They walked for around 10 minutes until they arrived before a grand structure, the library.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    The library was also made using the same architectural materials as the other buildings in the village. However, the library had much thicker walls and appeared to be sturdier than most other buildings. There were no visible gaps on the side of the structure, only small holes at the top that were left intentionally.

    The libraries were of extreme significance to the Calla tribe. These building stored the wisdom of the tribe over the ages and was the one of the key factors in its development. Much of the information that was stored were vital to the tribe''s survival, including information on wolves, maps of nearby areas and herb identification methods.

    Therefore, the tribe spared no expense when it came to the building''s construction, making the libraries the grandest buildings in the frontier villages, and second only to the council building in the central village.

    At the entrance to the library, there was a woman with beautiful straight silver hair standing in wait. Her figure was slender, but her chest was ample which added to her womanly charms. She had beautiful facial features and enticing amethyst eyes which would make any elf take a second look at her.

    She turned to the group with a bright smile that contained traces of playfulness when she noticed their arrival, directing it toward Alz who was following behind Lein.

    Alz noticed this and looked up, matching the gaze of the woman who had literally been sticking to him over the past two weeks, in fact she had been sticking to him even until today, the gaze of his mother, Tia.

    Lein hastened his steps when he saw that Tia was waiting outside, arriving before her soon after. He gave her a small bow in greeting which she returned with a light nod and a dazzling smile.

    Previously during the introductions, Tia wasn''t in her best state and the hatchlings were too preoccupied by other matters to observe their surroundings. Now, there were no longer any distractions around and they finally noticed Tia''s beauty.

    ¡°Hey Alz, that¡¯s your mum, right?¡± Link said with some doubt in his voice as stared at Tia with his eyes wide open, poking Alz at his side. He vaguely recalled seeing her back then but the impression she gave back then was worlds apart from now.

    Link wasn''t being especially loud, but his voice stood out in the silence, allowing the other hatchlings to overhear. They other hatchlings immediately flashed looks of envy as they moved their eyes between Alz and Tia.

    Alz felt his blood rushing up to his head, causing his cheeks to burn furiously. He looked down to hide his face while recollections of the soft sensation last night played in his mind, causing his head to redden further.

    During the past two weeks, he had naturally inquired about his parents'' work and learnt that his mother she worked at the library and his father was part of the guards. However, every time he asked for more details on his mother''s job, she would just smile playfully and say, "you will know soon".

    Looking at the playful expression his mother had earlier, Alz naturally realised that she had not told him about their current encounter beforehand on purpose. Happiness welled up in his heart each time he looked up, but a part of him also felt speechless when he thought about how she had acted this morning, despite knowing that they would meet again later today.

    What Alz didn''t know was that Tia and Layla were famous in the fourth village for their beauty and talents, being collectively known as the ''Twin Goddesses" in the village. Layla was known for her talents in virtually all areas of the supporter skill set while Tia was known for her wit and intellect, along with her meticulous eye for detail.

    Tia had been appointed as the overseer of the library by the elven council and was in charge of all matters relating to the library. This included documenting and recording information, verification of information and accounting for everything in the library.

    This was a position that was notorious for the mental burden it placed on the holder of the position, yet Tia had been performing extremely well, earning her the respect of most of the elves in the village.

    ¡°Welcome to the library, preparations for your tests have already been made. Don¡¯t worry about the results, it will be fine to just try your best.¡± Tia''s bell-like voice clearly spread into the ears of the hatchling, encouraging them.

    ¡°"Yes!"" a spirited reply came from the hatchlings almost instantly, except for Alz who was feeling embarrassed and turned his head down.

    Tia lightly giggled as she saw Alz''s reaction but immediately turned around and led the group of seven into the library. When they entered the library, they immediately saw two other elves waiting by the side.

    These two were librarians who had volunteered themselves as Tia''s assistants for the day. Given her position, Tia normally wouldn''t even make an appearance for these tests and would just assign a single librarian to handle it.

    However, things were different this year. She had forcefully taken charge of the tests this year no matter how much the other librarians tried to convince her otherwise. In the end, they could only give in but insisted that these two elves assisted her from the side.

    At the end of the day, these librarians simply did not want her to overwork. They were the only ones in the village who truly understood how much effort she put into her work and did not want her to tire herself over such a simple task.

    Tia understood their feelings and readily conceded to this arrangement, partly also because she understood that it would be better for Alz if she did not personally conduct his evaluation

    As he caught sight of the two librarians waiting by the side, Lein''s movements froze for a moment while he revealed an expression of shock. His expression lasted for less than a second before he recovered but he was still feeling shocked.

    These librarians usually cooped themselves up in the library and hardly showed their faces around the village. There was only six of them in the entire village including Tia and were all handpicked by the council after many rounds of selection. Their role was of critical importance to the village and even the tribe and were treated respectfully by other members in the village.

    Yet, now half of them were mobilised just to conduct a simple mental evaluation test for newcomer hatchlings, something that was probably a first in the village or even the tribe''s history. Hence, it was difficult for Lein to not be surprised, but the hatchlings remained oblivious to his feeling as they followed behind Tia, looking around the library curiously.

    Tia lightly nodded her heads towards her two colleagues and continued walking deeper into the library. The two librarians naturally followed beside Tia when she passed by, joining the group.

    The group of elves soon arrived in a room that had fifteen seats placed around the room. There were several rocks with holes in them around the room, along with a few ''shelves'' made of vine that carried many wooden ''scrolls'' in them.

    These ''scrolls'' were made by connecting small rectangular pieces of wood together

    The hatchlings were completely oblivious to this and silently followed behind Tia as the two librarians walked a pace behind Tia by her sides. They soon reached a room with many around 15 seats scattered around with several ¡®shelves¡¯ made of vine, holding many ¡®scrolls¡¯ in them.

    The scrolls they used were made by joining rectangular pieces of wood together and rolling it up, with the contents inscribed on the inner side.

    ¡°Take a seat and wait, he will be bringing you for your tests one at a time.¡± Tia said while pointing to one of the librarians who stood beside her.

    The hatchlings obediently nodded and were escorted out to the test site one by one. Each hatchling took about 45 minutes to finish and soon, the first three were done. It was finally Alz''s turn as he nervously proceeded out of the room behind the librarian.

 Chapter 6: Astounding Results

    They arrived in a room after a short walk. The room had two wooden chairs placed opposite of each other with a table in between. There were several scrolls and weird objects on the table.

    Just as Alz wanted to take a closer look, the room start to dim. The librarian looked towards one of the lamps in the room. The flame in the lamp was flickering and looked like it was about to extinguish at any moment.

    The lamp had a simple design, made by gouging a small hole on a piece of rock. The hole was filled with tree sap extracted from the forest and ignited to produce a flame. These lamps were not commonly used in the tribe due to the limited supply of tree sap and the time-consuming extraction process of it.

    Furthermore, the sharp eyesight and strong hearing the elves possessed was sufficient for them to navigate in most areas even without, hence there wasn''t much need for it outside.

    However, the library was an exception to this. There were empty lamps placed around most parts of the library to facilitate reading in the library. It was one thing to navigate around in the dark and another to read in it after all, the latter requiring much more light to engage in comfortably.

    Usually, only one lamp was lit at the reading area of the library and it was part of the managing librarian''s duties to refill it when it began to flicker.

    Due to the frequent need to read materials in the library, all the librarians were given access to the supply of tree sap in the village. As such, they usually always had some on hand, not to mention now when they knew that this lamp had to be prepared for the tests.

    The librarian quickly walked up to the fire and blew it out, proceeding to refill the sap within and re-igniting the lamp. He only took several seconds for the entire process and did it with extremely fluid motions, clearly showing his experience in doing this.

    Alz observed the entire process with interest as it was his first time seeing anything like this. The only other time he had ever seen fire was the large fires used for preparing meat and he hadn''t known of fire being used like this before.

    After he reignited the lamp, the librarian pointed to one of the chairs said to Alz in a friendly voice, ¡°Go take a seat." while he walked over to the other seat.

    Alz nodded stiffly and walked over to the chair in rigid motions. His mother had performed extremely well for her tests and he did not want to disappoint her. Alz knew that his mother''s earlier words were actually directed that him, wanted to ease some of the pressure he felt, but that was not what he wanted. He wanted her to be proud of her.

    "I can do this!" his eyes started to burn with a strong resolve as he reaffirmed his desire to perform well.

    While Alz was organising his thoughts, the librarian was busy checking over the apparatus and setting them up for the test. After he had confirmed that there no problems with the apparatus, he moved a wooden object on the table in front of him.

    The object was a wooden funnel held up by a stand, resembling the top half of an hourglass with an open top. There was a wooden plate placed beneath the opening which had sand on it. The librarian blocked the funnel''s opening with an object that was on the table and emptied the plate into the funnel.

    "Your time will run out when all the sand has fallen onto the plate.¡± The librarian explained to Alz while he was setting it up.

    Next, the librarian proceeded to pick up each of the objects on the table as he began to explain how the test would work, "These objects are puzzles and this one will be considered as solved when ......"

    The weird objects on the table were puzzles while the scrolls contained questions which Alz was supposed write the solutions to. There was an empty scroll and a fang-tipped ''pen'' provided for him to carve the answers to the questions to.

    The librarian patiently demonstrated how each puzzle worked and what constituted as being solved for each of the puzzles, making sure that Alz understood how each puzzle worked before he moved on.

    The table had a total of twelve problems which consisted of six puzzles and six scrolls.

    ¡°Tell me when you are ready.¡± the librarian voiced out.

    Alz closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before turning to the librarian and nodding.

    ¡°You may begin.¡± seeing this, the librarian announced as he removed the stopper from the opening, allowing the sand to flow through.

    At the announcement, Alz immediately grabbed the nearest puzzles and started solving it. He wanted to finish all the object puzzles first while their concepts remained fresh in his mind. He focused entirely on the puzzle before him and rapidly solved it, moving on to the next one.

    The librarian revealed a look of surprise when he saw how fast Alz solved his first puzzle, but his expression quickly returned to normal as it flashed in his mind that luck probably played a big part on it.

    However, soon, he couldn''t continue sitting still as he witnessed Alz solving more and more puzzles without dropping his pace, proceeding to solve the final puzzle before even a third of the sands had fallen. After which, he moved on to the word problems, starting to unravel a scroll on the table.

    Time steadily went by, accompanied by falling grains of sand. When about half the sands had fallen, Alz finally looked up from the scroll with a smile on his face. However, he did not find the librarian on the opposite seat as he had expected.

    He was slightly puzzled but suddenly, he heard breathing sounds from behind and slowly turned his head around, almost jumping off his seat at the sight that entered his eyes. Thankfully, he managed to suppress it as it would have been bad if he really did so as the librarian was breathing heavily and staring at Alz wide open eyes from right behind him.

    The librarian had, at some point in time, left his seat and was standing right behind Alz. In truth, he had been here since Alz was solving his third written problem as he could not stifle the urge to check on Alz''s answers.

    First, he quietly picked up each of the puzzles and observed them closely, confirming that they were solved. Then, he moved behind Alz and looked at his answer script from over his shoulders. Under normal circumstances, Alz would have been able to notice his movements but he had been too focused on the test this time.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The librarian was feeling extreme shock and disbelief as he looked at the child that sat before him but suddenly, his expression froze and slowly turned into one of suspicion as a thought ran through his mind.

    This thought was something which he would have never believed had it been someone else who told him, rather, he would probably be thrown in a fit of rage and begin fighting with said elf. Yet, it was the only possibility he could think of now. He doubted Tia.

    Alz could be said to have a special position among the elves being tested in this batch due to his relationship with Tia and the fact of the matter was that three librarians were mobilised for the evaluations this time, whether directly or indirectly, because of him.

    Furthermore, the two-week homestay period had just ended, and Tia was one of the few elves that had access to this information beforehand. His mind entered a state of turmoil as his thoughts began to conflict.

    On one hand, he did not want to cast doubt on Tia but Alz''s results were simply too unbelievable for him to accept. It had exceeded his very understanding of the tests by far and he had no choice but to suspect her. Right as his mind was about to snap and start questioning Alz, an idea popped up in his head.

    ¡°Well done Alz, you can take a short break before we proceed with the second part.¡± the librarian calmed his raging emotions and said to Alz, before he started to walk out of the room.

    While he was walking out of the room, his impatience started to overcome him and he began to brisk walk, eventually breaking out into a short sprint when he was longer in sight.

    The librarian was currently heading towards the problem storage room in the library. There were many puzzles and problems that were kept in the library, far more than the twelve that were used for the test this round.

    After all, if the tests were always the same, the contents would leak no matter how much they tried to keep it under wraps. The tribe might have prohibited the spreading of the word on these tests, but elves were only elves, there were times when they were careless and made mistakes.

    Instead, there was a large pool of specially designed problems prepared in each of the libraries and each time these tests came up, the librarians would gather and randomly pick out 12 problems from the storage room to be used in the test.

    Hence, the librarian had the thought, "What if I try with a different set of 12 problems?" this was the ''second part'' that he was referring to earlier, a part he made up.

    With that said, he actually couldn''t have been blamed for having doubts towards Alz''s results simply because of how absurd they truly were. Anyone who knew about the history behind the tests would have doubted them.

    For the entire history since the tribe''s founding, the best result ever recorded was by an elf who had solved 10 of the problems by the time all the sands had fallen, and that elf was already hailed as the greatest genius of the tribe back then.

    Given this, it was not difficult to see why he couldn''t maintain his composure when face with Alz''s results, even proceeding to suspect Tia whom he greatly respected and would have never thought of doubting before this.

    Meanwhile, Alz had no way of knowing any of this. He silently closed his eyes and began to rest as he prepared his mind for the ''second round'' that was coming. At this point, he had truly been thinking that his results were average and there was a second round.

    After all, all the previous elves took about 45 minutes for their tests earlier and barely half of that had passed now, so it made sense to him that there was a second part. In addition, there had simply been no reason for him to doubt the librarian''s words at this point in time.

    About two minutes later, the librarian to the room panting, barely maintaining his grip on the 12 new problems in his arms. He hurriedly ran to the table and sprawled his chest on the table, placing the problems down.

    Immediately after this, he refilled the funnel and immediately removed the stopper without waiting for Alz to react.

    ¡°You can start now.¡± he announced as he removed from the stopper without giving Alz any time to prepare.

    Alz was beginning to suspect something when he looked at the librarian''s condition as he returned, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sudden announcement. He felt slightly puzzled but quickly began to concentrate and proceeded with the test calmly.

    With the previous experience, his mind was already warmed up and he began to solve the problems one by one with frightening concentration. His pace far exceeded that of the previous test and by the time a third of the sands had fallen, he was already on his eleventh problem.

    This time, the librarian was truly speechless. There was no longer any doubt with the results from the previous test. Rather, they might have even been undermining Alz''s true potential. He stared dumbfounded at Alz as while closely observing him, trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

    Memories of his own mental evaluations started floating into his mind. To this date, he still remembered the pride he felt when he first learnt of how good his result of solving 7 problems were.

    He had been selected as a librarian candidate back then in light of his results and prematurely ended his trials, paving his way towards obtaining the well-respected position of a librarian he currently held. Yet, all of the pride he had crumbled to pieces in the face of this elf who sat before him, of this young elf who had barely reached the tender age of ten.

    The librarian heaved a heavy sigh as he looked at Alz calmly solving his final problem without any signs struggling. However, he also felt joy welling up from the depths of his heart as he watched over this historic moment, as he felt like the future of the tribe was currently reflected in his eyes.

    ¡°Good job Alz! you did really, really well!¡± the librarian revealed a sincere, contented smile as he congratulated Alz for his performance.

    There was also a clear change towards his own attitude towards Alz. Previously, he had been especially kind and patient towards Alz out of reverence towards Tia, but now he genuinely respected Alz for who he was.

    ¡°Lets go back and announce the good news!¡± the librarian felt excitement rush over him and he didn''t want to waste a single second in returning to announce Alz''s historic achievement.

    ¡°Thank you." Alz politely thanked the librarian for his praise with a wide smile on his face. Alz still did not know he fared compared to the rest, but with how excited the librarian looked, he was confident that he would not disappoint Tia with his results, putting him in a good mood.

    The librarian led Alz back with a spring in his steps and soon after, they were almost reaching the waiting room when the librarian abruptly stopped moving forward.

    Cold sweat started forming on his forehead as he suddenly recalled something important, something he had failed to account for. Alz almost bumped on him but manage to steady his posture and stopped while looking at the librarian with confusion written all over his face.

    ¡°A-Alz¡­ listen¡­ if anyone asks, can you say that you only did one test?¡± The librarian stammered slightly at the start and paused a few times midway as he asked Alz in a pleading voice.

    He had just remembered the problems that would arise if he announced Alz''s results honestly. He would definitely be questioned on why he treated Alz unfairly and made him go through two tests and he would be hard pressed to justify his actions.

    His colleagues were not stupid, they would naturally be able to guess the reason he did it which would have been bad for him in many ways. Right now, only about 40 minutes had passed since they left the room and it would have been much easier to explain it as Alz solving only one test, but Alz had to agree with the story.

    After Alz heard this, he finally connected the dots in head and stared coldly at the librarian. He had already noticed that something was amiss when the librarian returned panting the second time. Now, he finally knew what was going on.

    He felt rage rising up in him when he realised that the librarian before him was doubting his mother''s integrity, something he could not forgive. However, a larger part of him was puzzled at the reason behind his actions. He saw no benefit for the librarian in doing so as he had forced himself into a dead end the moment he tested Alz a second time.

    ¡°I only did one test.¡± Alz calmed his anger and replied, thinking back to the kind and friendly attitude the librarian had shown him. The actions also did not seem to be malicious, so he decided to let it slide for now.

    The librarian wiped off his sweat and heaved a sigh of relief at Alz words, looking at Alz with a wider smile than before.

    ¡°Let''s go back in! You have achieved amazing results! Your mother will surely be proud of you!¡± the librarian said as he returned to the waiting room.

 Chapter 7: Choice

    After he entered the room, the librarian did not immediately lead the next elf out, but instead walked over to his two colleagues and began to discuss the matter of Alz''s results.

    Meanwhile, Alz naturally returned to his seat after he entered the room, oblivious to the extent of the stir his results created. As the librarians were discussing, Tia and the librarian looked towards Alz with surprised expressions. Tia''s gaze contained pride and surprise which the other librarian shock was written all over his face.

    The discussion concluded quickly, and the librarian walked out of the room again, bringing Polon along with him this time.

    About 45 minutes later, the two elves returned but judging from their expression, Polon''s tests did not go well. Polon appeared utterly exhausted, as though he had just returned from a war and slumped lifelessly on his seat after he returned.

    The librarian glanced at Polon and shook his head with a sigh before bringing the last elf out to conduct his tests. Clearly, he had not been impressed with Polon''s earlier performance.

    When the pair finally returned in another 45 minutes, the tests finally concluded, and the librarians gathered together and began a discussion amongst themselves while the hatchlings patiently waited in their seats.

    Lein had already left earlier when the second elf was brought for his tests as his presence was not needed here this time. His role at the library was normally to watch over the hatchlings, but Tia and her colleague were here so his presence wasn''t needed this time and he went off to handle other matters.

    ¡°That was so tiring, I only managed to solve 4 puzzles.¡± Link complained to Polon.

    Polon rolled his eyes when he heard Link and replied, ¡°At least you solved 4, I got glared at by the librarian because I only solved 2¡­ That was scary.¡± his body trembled slightly at the end as he remembered the chilling gaze he received from the librarian.

    ¡°Wow you solved 2? didn¡¯t think you had it in you.¡± Link said with his eyes and mouth widely opened in an exaggerated expression of shock.

    ¡°Hey, are you calling me stupid?¡± looking at this, Polon immediately snapped back in an angry tone, but a closer look at his face revealed that he wasn''t actually angry.

    ¡°No, I just didn¡¯t think you would be able to actually sit down and focus on something like this.¡± Link replied seriously this time as he voiced his honest opinion.

    ¡°¡­Yeah, I fell asleep halfway through so the librarian got mad at me... but my head hurt and I couldn¡¯t think anymore.¡± hearing this, Polon paused for a moment before he replied, using a pitiful tone towards the end of his sentence.

    ¡°¡­¡± Link stared at Polon in shock again, but this time the shock contained on his face was genuine.

    Suddenly, Link and Polon both turned to peek at Alz who was nearby. The three friends were seated close to each other and Link initiated the conversation with Polon fully expecting Alz to cut in halfway through, but it never happened.

    ¡°Alz?¡± Polon asked while waving his palm in front of Alz''s face.

    ¡°Oh, sorry was thinking about something else. What were you two talking about?¡± Alz finally came back to his senses and asked. His mind had been occupied with the previous events since he returned and was spacing out.

    ¡°We were talking about the test. How did you do?¡± Link immediately replied.

    "I solved all the problems in the test.¡± Alz hesitated slightly when he thought of the librarian''s actions earlier but decided to reply frankly.

    ""What!?/Huh!?"" Link and Polon simultaneous jumped out of their seats while gazing at Alz as though he were some kind of a monster.

    They had long since knew that Alz was smart and expected him to perform well, which was why Link was asking Polon about how he did first, so he would feel less dejected when heard Alz''s results. Yet, this served little purpose when it actually came down to it.

    Alz hurriedly pulled the two back to their seats, not wanting to cause a commotion. The test results were supposed to be strictly confidential within the higher-ups of the tribe and the hatchlings themselves.

    This was implemented so that hatchlings would not compare their results and form distinctions within the group, threatening the harmony of the tribe. There was little chance of it happening, but they were a small tribe and no risk was always better than little risk.

    Although, they usually turned a blind eye towards hatchlings sharing their results among small groups of friends as they understood that it was only natural to discuss it and did not enforce anything as long as the hatchlings did not go overboard.

    Alz had considered concealing his results from his friends, but finally decided against it as he did not think that their friendship would be threatened by something like this, and he didn''t want to lie to them.

    Link and Polon regained to their senses when they were pulled down to their seats, but the shock on their faces remained. The three other hatchlings also turned to give them a quick look but turned back to their own conversation soon after.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Shh! Remember, we¡¯re not supposed to share our results.¡± Alz placed a finger on his mouth and said.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry... but how did you do it? Were there any special tricks to it?¡± Link apologised for their huge reactions earlier but quickly turned to ask curiously.

    ¡°Umm¡­ I just did it?¡± Alz titled his head slightly as he tried to recall, but soon replied in a slightly puzzled voice.

    "¡°¡­¡±" Polon and Link stared at Alz with eyes and mouths that narrowed to a slit when they heard his reply.

    The three did not harp on the subject too long and soon, the conversation developed into one of their everyday conversations as though the earlier incident had never happened. Alz inwardly breathed a sigh of relief at his friends'' reactions as they continued chatting as usual.

    Meanwhile, the discussion at the front was slowly becoming. Tia started shouting at the other two librarians in what sounded like the beginning of an argument. The two librarians were showing helpless faces as they looked at Tia, trying to calm her down to no avail.

    Suddenly, the three librarians went silent and exited the room, leaving the hatchlings confused at what was happening.

    Alz was directed concerned eyes towards his mother but knew that this was not something he could interfere with and continued chatting with his friends while appearing slightly distracted. Polon and Link naturally noticed this but acted like they didn''t and continued the conversation.

    About fifteen minutes passed before the three librarians finally returned to the room with calm expressions on their face, as though there hadn''t been any disagreements earlier. They seemed to have came to a consensus that they could all agree upon and Alz finally smiled as he saw this.

    ¡°All of you did very well today! You are now dismissed, she will bring you out so follow closely behind her." Tia praised the hatchlings for their performance and dismissed them while pointing to the female librarian who stood beside her

    Before the hatchlings got up, she turned to look at Alz with a complicated expression and continued. ¡°Alz, you stay behind, we have things to discuss with you.¡± her face was a mix of pride, worry, excitement and loneliness all in one.

    The other hatchlings shot curious gazes toward Alz, but Alz did not look surprised as he had already expected something like this from the librarian''s reaction earlier. Instead, he suddenly felt a pang of unease as when his gaze met with his mother''s.

    The female librarian walked out with the five hatchlings in tow, leaving the three elves in the room. Tia slowly walked over to Alz and patted his head lightly while looking at him with loving eyes.

    ¡°Alz, I am very proud of you. I will support you regardless of what you choose.¡± Tia started saying tearfully and held Alz in her arms.

    Alz felt confused at the sudden development while the sense of unease he felt became stronger, causing him to start panicking slightly and tears started forming in his eyes.

    ¡°Calm down and listen, you have two choices now, we will fully respect your decision." Tia released Alz from her embrace and began to explain seriously.

    "If we report your results truthfully to the council, with your results, they will probably bring you back to the central village right away. You will go through special training to enter the council and have a bright path ahead of you.¡± Tia then paused slightly to give Alz some time to digest the information.

    This choice undoubtably lead to a bright future for Alz as there had been a precedent of such a case in the recent years. One of the acting elven council members was called back because she solved 9 problems during the test, creating a commotion in the tribe 30 years ago when she was brought back to the central village to undergo special training.

    Since she joined the council, she had also been performing well and proved her worth in the council. Given the results of this, if they reported Alz¡¯s score to the village, it was not hard to imagine the same thing happening to him.

    ¡°The other option would be to report a lower grade to the council. You will be able to continue with your trial here, but you will be missing out on a huge opportunity.¡± after a short pause, Tia begin to explain the alternative option to Alz.

    This was what their previous argument had been about. They were in charge of the test today, so whatever they reported would be taken as a fact. Tia was adamantly fighting to give Alz this freedom to make his own choice, as she wanted to give him a chance to decide what he wanted himself.

    Alz silently listened to Tia go through the two options. After she finished explaining, a sense of relief washed over the uneasiness he felt. When Tia was going through the first option he felt like his world was spinning out of control and something was rising from the pits of his stomach.

    Alz highly treasured the bonds he had with his friends and family and did not want to be forced to separate from them, much less after he finally had the reunion he had always been waiting for.

    He was still ten. His feelings for the tribe did not extend beyond what he felt towards his friends and family. The decision might have been unclear but any other elf, but he already knew which he would choose when Tia reached the end.

    He had seen council members in the past and knew how much the elves in the tribe respected them, but that was not worth more than his friends and family to him. He pretended to be deep in thought for several minutes before he voiced his reply, so they would not think that he made his decision rashly.

    ¡°I will stay here, in the fourth village.¡± Alz''s said with a clear and resolute voice.

    ¡°Are you sure? Most elves would never give up on this chance and such an opportunity may never come again.¡± the male librarian who tested Alz earlier asked.

    ¡°I''m sure. I don¡¯t want to leave my family and friends like this.¡± Alz turned to the librarian and repeated his decision with no hesitation.

    ¡°You might regret this, why don¡¯t you think more before making the decision.¡± Tia asked Alz in a shaky voice.

    Tia understood that she was actually being selfish when she helped Alz fight for this chance. She would be lying if she said she didn''t want Alz to stay, but she was also afraid, afraid that this might end up ruining his future.

    ¡°This is my decision and I''m sure of it. I will definitely not regret this, ever.¡± Alz affirmed his decision again, looking at Tia with a wide grin on his face. After he finished his sentence, he walked up to his mother and hugged her, patting her on the back lightly to reassure her.

    The male librarian sighed and shook his head slightly as he looked at Alz. He could hear the resolution in Alz''s words and knew he was not going to change his mind. He felt like it was a huge waste of Alz''s potential for him to stay here.

    Yet, a smile soon surfaced on his lips as he felt something from the heart-warming scene before him. He had a sudden urge to visit his parents back at the central village, a thought that hadn''t crossed his mind in the recent years.

    The female librarian also looked upon this scene by the entrance with a warm smile. She was on good terms with Tia and had sided with her earlier in the argument as well, because she knew she would probably do the same if she was placed in Tia''s position.

 Chapter 8: Two years later~

    Since Alz had confirmed his decision, the librarians then began to work out some of the more specific details with Alz. Ultimately, they had decided to report Alz''s result as having solved 6 questions, so he wouldn''t draw too much attention from the village.

    Alz naturally agreed to it when Tia told him of the arrangement and the four of them were now standing at the library entrance to see Alz off.

    ¡°Take care, Alz.¡± Tia said while waving her hands as Alz rushed off into the distance.

    Alz was rushing back to the dorm so he could get his two childhood friend¡¯s stories to match the story. He trusted that they would not carelessly spread his results, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Alz didn''t want an issue to crop up right after he settled it on this end.

    Soon after, he found his two friends back at the dorm and quickly told his two friends to keep silent about his results. He did not reveal much details, but he said that it was very important to him so readily agreed without any questions despite their confusion.

    Two years went by in the blink of an eye as the young hatchlings slowly got used to their new lives and became better at their roles.

    In the outskirts of the fourth village.

    A wolf was charging towards an elven boy from about 20m away. The boy was holding onto a shoddy looking wooden bow that was strung with a green vine-like material.

    The boy gazed back at the wolf who was charging towards him with no signs of panic, calmly grabbing an arrow from the quiver by his waist and nocking it onto his bow.

    The wolf suddenly howled as it was charging towards the boy, increasing its speed along with the howl. The boy remained unfazed as he held his bow up, pointing his bow straight at the wolf.

    15m¡­10m¡­ the wolf steadily got closer to the boy. Suddenly, the boy¡¯s ears twitched as a soft rustling sound entered his ear. Another wolf had appeared from the side and was rapidly dashing towards the boy.

    The wolf was not alone. It had been trying to distract Alz from the front while his companion went in from the side and even howled loudly to mask the sound made by its companion. However, the boy still maintained his composure as his lips curled up to form a smile.

    When the wolf at the front was about 5m away from him, the boy suddenly kicked at a thin vine that was hanging in front of him, slicing it apart with his stone tipped shoes. Next, he jumped in the opposite direction of the second wolf approaching wolf while taking aim at it.

    *Whoosh* he released the arrow and it landed right on the wolf¡¯s eye, piercing through its skull and killing it instantly. At the same time, a wooden cage suddenly dropped from above and caught the first wolf, halting its approach as it struggled to break out of the cage.

    ¡°Now!¡± the elf shouted into the forest as he released the arrow.

    Following the shout, a figure appeared from behind a tree that was right beside the first elf. The figure held onto a wooden spear with a roughly cut stone tip as he charged towards the caged wolf with a loud roar, causing the attention of the wolf to be directed towards him.

    In the brief moment it was distracted, an arrow sliced through the air and embedded itself into the side of the wolf''s skull.

    The figure who was approaching the cage began to slow down after seeing this as he cautiously approached the cage while observing the wolf. Soon, he gave a thumbs-up to the first elf who finally released the tension in his body and revealed a smile.

    The first elf was Alz and the second was Polon and they were currently out on a scouting assignment around the outskirts of the fourth village.

    In Alz''s early days of hunting, he once shot a wolf in what he thought was a vital area and carelessly approached the wolf, only to be greeted with a sharp claw to his chest. Fortunately, he had reacted quickly and drove his dagger into the weakened wolf¡¯s neck, finishing it off and surviving the ordeal.

    He received an earful from Lein after he went back that day, as Lein had always taught them to never let their guard down in the forest, particularly when they were hunting.

    Since then, he always remained vigilant when dealing with wolves before confirming their deaths, even if it looked like they were absolutely dead.

    Polon put his spear away and removed the cage from the wolf. Following this, he drew a fang-tipped dagger and started to cut apart the corpse, collecting the valuable parts in a leather bag he carried around.

    Meanwhile, Alz cautiously approached the second wolf and confirmed its death before drawing a dagger of his own and doing the same. After he was done, Alz walked over to the cage and mended the areas that were damaged by the wolf earlier with some materials from his bag before setting it up again.

    Polon silently watched by the side while Alz set up the trap. After a short while, Alz was done and walked over to Polon. The two then begun walking towards the direction of the village entrance.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Over the two years, Alz¡¯s looks had grown to increasingly resemble Tia. His exquisite facial features emitted a soft feminine glow, capable of charming elves of both sexes. In contrast to this, his body had grown slightly more muscular and had small scars littered throughout his body.

    There were also four deep claw marks which cut across his chest, a souvenir from a life-death experience he had while hunting. A quick glance at his body would immediately show that he was not someone to mess with despite his feminine looks.

    On the other hand, Polon had grown much more muscular over this time. His figure seemed to contain endless strength and vitality in it, something that one usually did not expect from an elf, a race known for being inherently deficient in physical strength.

    ¡°Man, I didn¡¯t do anything again. Nowadays, I feel like I¡¯m just standing around.¡± Polon sighed and said.

    ¡°I can only fight like that because I know you have my back.¡± Alz smiled as he replied.

    Alz and Polon continued to joke around and make some small talk along the way, soon arriving at a tree near the village entrance where there were already two elves waiting.

    In the past two years, the six hatchlings all grew tremendously under Lein''s tutelage. In the first few weeks of their training, they were first instructed to choose a primary weapon.

    Most of the elves in the village used bows as elves inherently lacked physical strength and were placed at a disadvantage in head-on physical confrontations, so it was generally unwise to fight at close distances.

    Their strong senses also allowed for them to detect and locate enemies from a distance, making ranged weapons ideal for them.

    However, Polon was one of the exceptions as he boasted of incredible strength not commonly seen amongst their race.

    His strength, coupled with the swiftness and agility of the elven race made him extremely suitable for close quarters combat, making him the only elf from the batch who chose a melee weapon, the spear, while the other five went with bows.

    They were also issued with a small dagger that was had a tip made of a wolf fang. This was a tool that came in extremely handy in many situations and also served a secondary purpose of doubling as a close combat weapon in times of emergencies.

    The elves except Polon were issued with a wooden bow and quiver alongside several stone-tipped arrows. They usually trained at the archery practice area where there were multiple trees that had target markers carved of them as well as seniors to guide them on their form.

    Meanwhile, Polon was taught directly by the village chief, Blain. Blain was one of the elves in the tribe who used a spear and was well known for his ability in using it. Part of the reason why Polon was recommended to choose the spear was also because of Blain''s presence in the village.

    When he heard from Lein that Polon choose the spear, he was gratified and immediately volunteered to make time out of his busy schedule to personally instruct Polon on the ways of the spear.

    Subsequently, they were also given many lectures by Lein on the characteristics of wolves, their habits, their vital areas and the such as well as the things they had to pay attention to while in the forest.

    Lein was very strict during these lectures and constantly repeated his points to make sure they remembered. He also gave out surprise quizzes frequently and punished those who could not answer his questions harshly, earning him many names from the hatchlings initially, such as ¡®Devil¡¯ or ¡®Demon Instructor¡¯.

    The hatchlings were split into three different pairs and assigned to squads headed by senior hatchlings or senior warriors to conduct patrols and guard duties.

    It was during this time that the hatchlings¡¯ resentment towards Lein slowly transformed into feelings of gratitude as they begun to realise the importance of Lein¡¯s teachings as they started delving more into the forests and face off against wolves.

    Alz in particular learnt this the hard way and always paid his fullest attention to whatever Lein taught them after his near-death incident. Even Polon who usually couldn''t sit still tried to pay attention to these lectures.

    However, he was extremely unsuccessful and usually relied on Alz¡¯s patient explanations after each lecture to drill the content into his head, something Link always joked about when they gathered.

    About a year ago, Alz was reading in the library when he came across scrolls which documented attempts to use traps for hunting wolves in the past, which had been discontinued after several trials due to its lack of feasibility.

    The main problems of the traps were the lack of durability and the ineffectiveness of static traps. The claws and fangs of wolves would easily rip apart any trap made by vine and twigs, hence these traps would only be able to stall them.

    This would still have been extremely useful in dealing with wolves, as stopping their movements even momentarily would bring great benefit to the combat situation. However, the next problem was a fatal flaw which made traps unusable.

    Wolves had great agility and strong senses. They were found to be able to realise when they triggered a trap and avoid them, rendering most traps ineffective.

    The research found out that wolves would only be caught off guard when the traps were not triggered by them, such as with pitfall traps, and some of them were made for the village¡¯s defence today. However, the elves had no effective tools to make these traps and they only covered a small area, hence the research was discontinued in the end.

    However, when Alz saw this, his eyes shined as he thought of ways he could use this information, while thinking back to the characteristics of wolves. They had poorer eyesight than elves but had extremely strong senses of hearing and smell which more than made up for that.

    Furthermore, they usually hunted in the darker hours of the day which reduced the advantage of eyesight the elves had over them. They were also very agile and possessed sharp claws and fangs, making them extremely tough to deal if they got up close.

    Alz spent a few weeks and successfully devised several traps that seemed workable. These traps were designed to be triggered by the elves during live combat as opposed to being triggered by the wolves.

    Working with these ideas, he started to delve into the practical considerations and eventually managed to produce blueprints of some of these traps. He had been extremely excited then and requested permission and support from Blain for live testing of the traps.

    Blain initially did not think well of his idea, but he had seen how hard Alz worked on these and couldn''t bear to deny the efforts that Alz had made. Therefore, he gave Alz permission to test out the traps in a small area while providing him with the materials and assigning him some elves to help in the setup.

    To Blain¡¯s surprise, Alz had managed to use these traps in real combat situations to great effect over the next few months. His interest in Alz''s project immediately perked and he started to assign more elves to construct and set up traps according to Alz''s blueprints in various parts of the forest.

    Following this, he requested for Alz to teach some of the warriors and his fellow hatchlings on the ways to use these traps in combat, something Alz had excitedly agreed to as he learnt that his innovation would be used to better the village.

 Chapter 9: Disaster Strikes

    However, the results of this endeavour were more than just disappointing. Many of the elves faced troubles such as being unable to accurately remember the exact spot a trap was, where the triggers were, or the right timings to release the traps.

    Some of the elves were even distracted by the presence of the traps and suffered injuries which they would have normally been able to avoid, causing the plan to be scrapped immediately.

    However, Blain did not want the traps that were already set up to go to waste, so he marked their locations on a map and passed it to Alz. Since then, Alz had exclusively patrolled in these areas as he was the only one in the village who could effectively use these traps in live combat.

    This slowly earned Alz the nickname of ¡®Trap Master¡¯ among the warriors as he and Polon took down one wolf after another while patrolling these areas with the aid of his traps.

    The two elves saw Alz and Polon approaching and called out to them.

    ¡°Woah that was fast, wasn¡¯t there a wolf sighted in your area?¡± one of the elves asked.

    ¡°Yeah there were two, but Alz took care of it real quick. I was just standing behind a tree the whole time.¡± Polon frankly replied.

    ¡°As expected of the trap duo, really can¡¯t believe you two just came here two years ago¡± the other elf praised as he turned to look at the pair.

    Suddenly, a rustling sound entered their ears from side. The four of them reflexively tensed their muscles while turning to gaze in the direction of the disturbance. However, they immediately relaxed when they saw two figures walk out.

    The four of them immediately stood up straight and placed their right hand on their chest while looking at one of the approaching figures. The figure casually waved his hand and the four of them relaxed their positions.

    ¡°There were three on our side, we took one out and two escaped. How were your areas?¡± the elf they greeted immediately spoke.

    ¡°There were no sightings at our side.¡± the first elf who called out to Alz and Polon earlier replied first.

    ¡°We encountered two wolves and took care of them.¡± after the previous elf replied, Alz also reported the situation on his end.

    When he heard the reports, the leader shot a quick glance at Alz and Polon before nodding in acknowledgement and saying, " Good job everyone, let''s go back.¡± he then led the way towards the village entrance while the five of them followed behind.

    They were greeted by the squad that was on guard duty by the gate and quickly let in without any trouble. After entering the village, they first stopped by the mess hall where they passed the meat they got from the hunt over to the kitchen staff.

    Next, they walked over to the barracks where they placed the other parts of the wolf such as the claws and the fangs at a designated storage area. They also did some basic weapon maintenance and replenished their supplies. Alz also replaced on the arrows he used earlier as there were some cracks along it.

    ¡°Ok we¡¯re done for today.¡± after everyone was done, the leader finally announced.

    The leader then walked off as usual while everyone else went off to enjoy their break. The hatchlings and warriors were usually given half a day of rest after each duty which they could freely choose how they wanted to spend it.

    Alz usually either spent his time with his childhood friends, Link, Polon and Caila, when their breaks coincided or at the library visiting Tia and reading up on things.

    However, today was one of the rare occasions where his entire family had empty schedules and they had made plans to walk around the village together.

    It had been a long time since they last gathered as a three due to the different schedules each of them had. Tia in particular had an extremely busy schedule and spent most of her time at working in the library and hardly had the chance to take any breaks.

    His eyes sparkled with anticipation and he broke out into a small jog towards his family¡¯s hut. When he was about to reach the hut, he was welcomed by a warm gaze from a couple who was standing in front of the entrance hand in hand.

    As he laid his eyes upon this scene, Alz felt the fatigue which had been building up in his heart gradually ease, along with a feeling of warmth slowly spread across his entire being. It was an exceedingly gentle warmth that gave him a sense of security, the feeling of family.

    The sides of his lips raised into an impish smile and he quickened his pace, diving straight into the middle of the pair. Alz usually repressed his childish side as the forests were not forgiving towards carelessness and this was one of the few occasions where he could give in to his childish impulses, so naturally he didn''t hold back.

    His parents were caught by surprise, but his father quickly reacted and shifted his weight, catching him into their arms with a hearty laugh.

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± Alz exclaimed with a brilliant smile on his face after he looked up at the faces of his parents.

    "¡°Welcome back.¡±" Tia and his father both responded with clear joy in their voices. Tia also used her free hand to gently pat Alz a few times on the head while Alz smiled at her in response.

    After this, Alz broke apart his parent''s hands and grabbed their hands with his own, one on each side as they began to ask about each other while proceeding in the direction of the lake. There was only one lake in the fourth village that laid close to the heart of the village.

    Rather, it was more accurate to say that the village was built around this lake and it was used to meet all of the water needs in the village. It was known as the most beautiful area in the village and was a popular destination for the residents to spend their time in.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    However, fate had other plans for their village today. Just as they were walking along the path to the village, a series of drums rang out across the village from the gate.

    *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don*. The drum rang out a total of nine times before finally stopping and a deathly silence began to spread across the entire village.

    Each hit seemed as if it pounded directly onto the hearts of the villagers, causing their bodies to tense up and their actions to freeze. The complexions of the elves turned a ghastly white, far beyond the paleness of their usual complexions and some even began vomiting after hearing the drums.

    The silence that followed did not last long before it was interrupted by loud howls that echoed across the village, crushing the last bit of hope the elves carried. There was no longer any doubt. The village would soon be enveloped in a storm of death as their worst nightmare had just arrived. A large-scale wolf attack had just begun.

    Rattling sounds started to spread from the village perimeter, becoming increasingly frequent rapidly. Many wolves were throwing themselves on the fences, attempting to tear it apart with their claws and fangs.

    The sturdy fence which had been guarding the village for several decades stubbornly resisted the attack, but it was clear that it wouldn''t last long. The wooden supports started to shake more violently while creaking sounds began to be heard, as though the fence itself were crying.

    After a few minutes, the creaks stopped intensifying and thuds began to spread out as the fences hit the ground, finally collapsing to the onslaught of wolves.

    The power of wolves in great numbers was frightening, overwhelming even as demonstrated by this first wave of attack. This was not something the fourth village could hope to stand against, but they didn''t have a choice.

    Alz had always been curious about why they had a tradition of separating children from their parents. The reasons behind the tradition were never explained to them back at the central village and they were only told that it was a long-standing tradition that was upheld for their sakes.

    This was not a reason everyone could accept, at least he couldn''t. Before he had arrived at the fourth village, he had already decided on two things he would definitely do. One was naturally his reunion which was highest on his list of priorities, while the other was research on this subject.

    During the homestay at the first two weeks, he tried asking his parents about the details, but it didn''t go well. His parents revealed difficult expressions and the mood dampened as they gave him a vague reply.

    Alz knew that he could have probably gotten the answers if he pressed on but decided against it when he noticed the change in mood and decided to carry out his own research.

    Hence, this became the first topic he researched in the library. This was when he had first come into contact with the history of their tribe and large-scale wolf attacks, and about the incident that split the village, the ''Great Wolf Disaster'' that most elves were still reluctant to talk about to this day.

    Alz was shocked when he first read it and began to delve deeper into the subject of large scale wolf attacks, learning more about the large footprints they left in the tribe''s history. Every record of these attacks was filled with entire villages being devastated, leaving few to no survivors each time.

    The most recent of these attacks dated back to 20 years ago in the sixth village. The village, like all the other victims, fell quickly to the wolves. Only four lucky elves managed to survive and rebuilding efforts were still continuing to this day.

    Now, his village was on the receiving end of such an attack. This thought alone caused his him to fall to despair, as did many other elves in the village. He felt something rise from the pits of his stomach and was about to throw up, but he suddenly felt a large warm hard on his head. The hand was rough, but it felt somehow felt exceedingly gentle as it gently went over his head.

    ¡°It will be fine Alz, don¡¯t worry.¡± his father said in a strong tone while his eyes burned with resolve.

    "This is it, the time to make up for everything." Alz''s father was repeatedly chanted in his heart as his heart pumped furiously, giving strength to his body.

    Tia broke down into tears and hugged Alz tightly, before softly whispering in his ears, ¡°Live on, Alz.¡±

    She turned Alz in the direction of the fence and slowly released him, turning to hold onto the hand of her spouse with burning eyes. Alz''s father looked at her with words in his mouth, but his eyes met with her gaze and he swallowed his words with a helpless expression on his face.

    Screams began to fill the air, mixed in with occasional howls that were getting increasingly louder. Soon, wolves began to enter their sight. They were not far from the fence, so the wolves did not take too long to arrive, but this was still only the first wave and the wolves weren''t too densely packed yet.

    Alz mind couldn''t process understand what was going on. He turned his head back wanting to ask, but his mouth felt dry and he was unable voice his words. Suddenly, he felt a hand pushing on his back accompanied by a low voice.

    ¡°Run! Run away Alz! Get as far from the village as you can!¡± Alz''s father said to Alz as he pushed on his back.

    He then turned to face the wolves directly and roared out at the top of his lungs, ¡°COME GET ME YOU BASTARDS!¡±

    He saw that Alz was still frozen on the spot and immediately roared at Alz, ¡°WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? GO! RUN! LIVE FOR US TOO!¡±

    Alz watched as his father roared repeatedly at the wolves. Alz''s eyes were watering but each time his tears formed, he forcefully rubbed away the tears while ignoring the pain he felt from his eyes.

    He was burning this scene into his memory, a memory that will always stay by him, forever. The time they spent together began to flash in his mind as more tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but he forcefully held them back, unwilling to let tears blur the image before his eyes.

    His father repeatedly shouted out at the top of his lungs while Tia held him tightly on his waist, supporting him from the side. However, he could see that there were still wolves had their focus on Alz. He began to panic as Alz might not make it out at this rate.

    Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him and he quickly drew his dagger. He gritted his teeth together and begun to stab himself repeatedly on the thighs while Tia supported him, causing the scent of blood to float in the air. This time, the wolves that were looking at Alz turned to him, licking their lips at the scent.

    The wolves had an extremely strong sense of smell and hearing which they used for hunting. This was common knowledge among the warriors. He had suddenly thought of using this to distract more wolves and create a bigger diversion for Alz to escape.

    ¡°GO! HURRY!¡± he saw that Alz was still looking behind while moving and impatiently shouted at him once more, hoping that he would quickly escape.

    Alz desperately tried to hold back his tears. He steeled his heart and began to run. He wanted to stay with his parents until the very end, but he couldn''t bear to waste the efforts of his parents, not after watching everything. He dashed through an opening in the wolves, fading off into the distance.

    When Alz finally left, his father felt a load leaving his chest. He stopped shouting at the wolves and turned to look at Tia. Tears were dripping off her cheeks, but she was smiling as looked in the direction Alz had escaped from.

    Blood repeatedly dripped from his thighs and the wolves were rapidly approaching. He thought about many things as he stared at the face of his beloved companion who was supporting him.

    ¡°Tia, I¡¯m sorry for being so useless, thanks for always being with me.¡± he gathered his courage and gave her a heartfelt apology, releasing the emotions he always bottled up.

    ¡°You know I''d never thought that way.¡± Tia said gently as she turned her head back to look at him with a brilliant smile.

    After this short exchange of words, he removed her arms from his side held her while she placed her arms around his neck. They stared deeply into each other as their faces gradually approached, finally locking their lips in a soft kiss which marked their final moments.

    Several moments later, their figures were devoured in the sea of wolves that pounced at them from all directions. The scent of blood began to fill the area but subsided soon after. The wolves then started scattering, leaving only a few pieces of bone which testified to the scene of carnage earlier.

 Chapter 10: Escape

    Alz sprinted into the forest with six wolves on his tail. These wolves had started chasing him when he ran past them earlier after he exited the village. He might have gotten out of the situation earlier, but the danger was far from over.

    He was furiously trying to come up with ways to he could escape, occupying his mind so he wouldn''t have to think of the previous events. Tia''s last words repeatedly echoed in his mind, making him understand that his life wasn''t all that he was carrying on his shoulders.

    As he faced the reality of the situation, he forcibly calmed himself down and begun to evaluate his options. He scanned around the surroundings, trying to identify the area and find anything useful nearby to shake off the wolves on his track.

    He wasn''t too sure of where he was now as he changed directions multiple times to avoid wolves and his mind had been too preoccupied with other matters to observe the surroundings.

    His eyes suddenly zoomed in on an area by his side. To be exact, his eyes zoomed in on the signs of traps in that area. This was an area he was familiar with, one of the areas that the village chief had set up with traps.

    "I can use this." the thought briefly flashed through his mind as he instantly started to sprint towards that direction.

    From his memory, there were three traps in the vicinity but there was only one which would be helpful now.

    The other two traps were of the same type as the cage one he used before and had the benefit of being easy to repair and reuse, but it wouldn''t be effective against the pack of six chasing after him now and ease of repair was the last thing on his mind now.

    He moved to the vine which he vaguely remembered was the trigger for the trap and proceeded to cut it apart with his dagger. He immediately took off after doing this while praying his hardest that this trap would buy him some time.

    *Swoosh* A web of interlocked vines swerved up from behind Alz, blocking the path between Alz and his pursuers. The wolves were alarmed by the sudden development and instinctively jumped back to avoid it.

    The two wolves at the front noticed it a beat too late and didn¡¯t avoid it in time, ramming head-first into the vines. However, they were only rebounded half a meter and no damage was done to them.

    The wolves started observing the web before them and realised that it was just a few vines woven together. Noticing this, they quickly proceeded to slice it apart with claws and made quick work of it, tearing the web apart in a matter of seconds.

    Alz felt a wave of relief wash over when he heard the trap activate behind him. The traps here were not set up personally by him and he didn''t have the luxury to check if the vine he cut was the right one earlier. Using the precious time this trap bought him, he ran slightly deeper and hid behind a large tree.

    Alz knew that the trap wouldn''t stop the wolves for long, so time was of the essence. He took a few herbs from his bag and crushed them together, rubbing it all over himself. His scent began to weaken, masked by a strong scent of the forest.

    These herbs were commonly found in the forest and were also the most commonly used herbs by the warriors. They were required to use it each time before they entered the forest and was extremely useful for blending into the forest, giving them additional stealth in the forest.

    Alz had replenish his supply at the barracks earlier and had some on his bag, so he thought of using this to mask his scent, hoping that the wolves would lose track of him.

    He stayed motionless beside the tree, breathing as quietly as he could. His heart pounded furiously and his palms were drenched in sweat while he nervously prayed for the best.

    However, luck was evidently not on his side as a low snarl emerged from his side. He quickly jumped out, but he could not fully avoid the lunge as the claws of the wolf tore through his arm, leaving a long, half-inch deep gash that went down from his elbow to his wrist.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Alz grit his teeth and begun dashed off while holding his wound together with his other arm to reduce the blood loss from the wound.

    The wolf seemed to pause for a moment after cutting apart Alz¡¯s arm, surprised that it had failed to take out Alz with that attack just now. It proceeded to lick its bloodied claws before beginning its chase anew.

    After running away, Alz noticed that this was the only wolf left in pursuit and was slightly consoled by this fact as he had neither the will nor stamina to run away from the pursuit of multiple wounds now.

    However, the wound on his hand also meant that he had much fewer options as the blood that dripped from his hand left a trail would allow even the worst of hunters to track him, not to mention a wolf with a keen sense of smell.

    He also did not have the ability to turn on the wolf as his primary weapon of choice was the bow, a weapon which required both his hands to wield.

    ¡°Polon could probably take that thing out with a dagger.¡± Alz muttered under his breath with some self-ridicule contained in his voice.

    He then continued running for another 3 minutes. His breathing was getting ragged and his vision was starting to fail him. His legs were also beginning to give way and had cause him to trip several times along the way.

    Each time he fell, he panicked and hastily stood back up, continuing his escape. Meanwhile, the wolf leisurely followed behind with playfulness and anticipation in its eyes. It had noticed that Alz was starting to tire and slow down gradually.

    It remained a distance from Alz but closed the distance slightly each time Alz slowed down or fell as the anticipation in its eyes grew stronger.

    ¡°I won¡¯t make it if this goes on.¡± Alz thought as he continued to push his already worn-down body beyond its limits.

    His eyes started to become unfocused and a random thought abruptly floated in his head. ¡°Ah, I bet I¡¯ll get scolded by dad and mum when I meet them later.¡±

    ¡°NO! NO! I can''t let myself fall here! I won¡¯t allow them to die for nothing!¡± His mind cleared up for an instant as he jolted himself back into reality from the memory of his parents.

    He looked around intently with his last bit of focus, trying to find anything which gave him a chance of survival. Suddenly, his eyes focused on a small hole on the ground which was about 5m in front of him. The hole had uneven edges, but it looked like he would be able to fit in it.

    He had briefly surveyed the surroundings but found nothing useful and his head was starting to get muddled again. After a split second of hesitation, he clenched his teeth together and sprinted for the hole, jumping right into it.

    The hole was deeper than he had initially expected but thankfully for him, it was not a fully vertical descend. He slid down the hole for several seconds before the area around him became more spacious. He sat up and tried to look around, but there was no light to allow him to see.

    Just then, a growl came from the tunnel behind him. He promptly tried to climb up reflexively, but soon remembered he was underground and scolded himself for being careless. However, the impact on his head never came and he successfully managed to stand.

    He was puzzled but had no time to think more about it, promptly dashing away from the tunnel while hoping for a miracle. A few steps later, he felt a stronger feedback from beneath his feet.

    Before he could understand the meaning behind this, a stinging pain assaulted his eyes as and his vision was painted in a picture of white. His mind felt a dizzying sensation from the sudden brightness and he fell forward onto the ground.

    Alz felt a cold, hard sensation from the floor beneath him unlike anything he had ever felt before. He tried to crawl forward while ignoring the pain in his arm but soon felt strength leaving his arms while an irresistible sluggishness attacked his mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t do it after all.¡± this was Alz final thought before his consciousness sank into the darkness.

    The clear droplets he had been holding back the entire time slowly exited from the corners of his eyes as his body lay lifelessly on the floor.

    The wolf entered the underground area soon after Alz and saw him right as he collapsed. However, there were too many things about this place which made it feel uneasy. The area was far brighter than the forest despite it being underground and the floor appeared different.

    Its instincts were warning it of the danger ahead from the unnatural scene before it. Normally, it would have turned back in such a situation, but it couldn''t help thinking back to the long chase it experienced and how tender Alz''s meat would be now.

    Finally, the wolf made its decision. It licked its lips and began to approach Alz, but it remained wary of the surroundings, planning to escape at any sign of danger. There was nothing that seemed dangerous at a glance and it was unwilling to just turn and leave at this point.

    As the wolf stepped on the different floor, an electronic voice suddenly rang out in a language that was distinctly different from the elven language, ¡°Danger. Hostile Presence Detected. Initi -- Target Eliminated.¡±

    Right as the electronic voice rang out, a red beam of light shot through its skull. Smoke started rising from within its head and a burnt smell spread across the room.

    The poor wolf had died so quickly it did not even have the time to recognise its own death and its carcass collapsed lifelessly like a puppet which had its strings cut.

    The only signs of life left in this underground area was now the weak breathing sound of the severely weakened elven boy. He still did not know that his efforts in escaping had paid off and the miracle he hoped for was granted, manifesting in a way beyond his wildest imagination.

 Chapter 11: Life-Changing Encounter

    Back at the fourth village. The village retained little of its former shape. Fang and claw marks cut across many of the huts and deep crimson patches could be seen everywhere. Many white bones laid on the ground alone, doomed to never become complete again.

    Many wolves were prowling around the village, sniffing the ground trying to find any leftover bodies. but this was fated to be a fruitless task as they had already gathered the remaining corpses in the village.

    Beside the lake at the heart of the village, there was a large pile of remains composed of wolves and elves alike. Several wolves were sitting by the pile, occasionally biting off pieces of remains from the pile and chewing on it.

    Somewhere along the path between the fourth village and the central village, there were three elves who were slowly progressing towards the main village.

    These 3 elves were the Blain, Lein and Polon. There were several fresh wounds found on them and their faces were extremely grim as they cautiously moved on in the forest. Behind them, there laid trail of corpses of both wolves and elves.

    There were signs of a great battle that had taken place here, a battle where the elves came out ahead, yet too much was lost for the side of the elves.

    The leader of Alz and Polon¡¯s squad, Firiz, Link and many other brave elven warriors lay motionless on the ground, their bodies filled with multiple claw and fang marks as the fought to the bitter end.

    The had died honourably, deaths of true warriors as they stood till the end on a battlefield. Alas, their lives were still lost.

    As the souls of these brave warriors departed the world, all that was left of the fourth village was a mere four elves, a sorrowful end to the village which had been so full of life just several hours ago.

    In the underground cave.

    ¡°Am I dead?¡±, This was Alz¡¯s first thought. However, as if in response to his inner thoughts, a stinging pain transmitted from all over his body. The pain transmitted from his right arm and legs in particular were extremely potent and washed away some of his drowsiness.

    He immediately tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids were heavier than they had ever been, as though his body was rejecting the very notion of waking up. However, this resistance helped to clear his head more and more and his eyelids trembled more and more violently.

    After what felt like an eternity to Alz, his eyelids gradually lifted, and images of the surroundings started to appear in his mind.

    Weakness and pain. These were the first sentiments Alz had when he woke up. His mind begun to clear as he started recalling the events that had happened before.

    "I¡¯m alive?" He looked down at his tattered body and exclaimed in surprise.

    There was a long deep gash on his right arms and many cuts on his leg but everything was intact and he was still alive.

    Suddenly, his eyes begun to water and a tear streaked across his face, dripping on his shirt. Then, more and more tears started to appear as though a dam had been broken. He started wailing and screaming as his grief filled voice echoed repeatedly in this narrow underground area.

    He was ultimately just a 12 year old boy. He had been forced to remain alert since the attack begun, forced to witness his parents sacrifice and had to escape from a group of bloodthirsty wolves alone.

    Now that he was out of danger, he finally had a chance to release the suppressed feelings in his heart as he broke down and wholeheartedly begun to cry as a heart-wrenching pain assaulted his heart.

    After crying for about half an hour, he finally stopped because the pain coming from his right arm was getting unbearable. He had also been feeling weaker and weaker as time passed since he woke up and he was starting to feel drowsy again.

    He looked down at his body this time, this time with more focus than before and he soon arrived at the cause. Blood was slowly trickling down from his right arm and pooled on the floor.

    Noticing this, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had woken up before the injury worsened and he died of blood loss. He immediately grabbed some herbs from his bag and pressed them on the wound. He then used his dagger to cut out a part of his shirt and used it to fasten the herbs to his wound.

    This a basic first aid measure taught to every warrior hatchling before they were assigned to their squads for duties. Lein had also commonly tested them on this as he felt it was an essential skill for all warriors as they frequently found themselves in combat.

    Alz nodded in satisfaction when he saw that blood was no longer spilling out from the wound. However, moments later, He suddenly revealed a smile in self derision as he looked down on the wound.

    His gaze darkened, and he slowly approached the newly tied bandages with his left hand, but just as his left hand was almost on the bandages, reason returned to his eyes and he quickly pulled his hand away.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    His eyes drooped down and his heart felt heavy, as reality of the situations begun to sink in, of the cruel reality of being left alone.

    When he looked in front of him, he was shocked and instinctively jumped back while tensing his body¡¯s muscles.

    There was a wolf lying in front of him. A quick glance at the wolf¡¯s body showed that it was fully intact with no signs of injury anywhere on its body, hence prompting Alz¡¯s reaction.

    However, as he thought about it, he realised that there was no way the wolf was conscious as otherwise, he would have never been able to wake up again.

    He then turned to look at the wolf carefully and realised that it was just lying motionless on the floor with no signs of life. He relaxed his posture slightly and cautiously moved his head towards the wolf, inspecting it from a closer distance.

    As he got closer to the body, he finally found the problem. There was a narrow hole on the forehead of the wolf which he could vaguely see through.

    This hole was clearly the culprit behind the wolf¡¯s death but Alz felt more puzzled than before as he was unaware of anything capable of creating such a wound. He suddenly felt chills go up his spine as the thought that something capable of causing that wound had been close to him ran through his mind.

    He hurriedly turned his eyes away from the wolf, unwilling to look at it anymore.

    ¡°I can see?¡± Suddenly, a question popped up in his head as he belatedly realised that he could see. He was surprised by this as his last memory was going underground, which meant that he was supposed to be underground now yet there was light.

    Furthermore, the light that filled this area was extremely bright, as though multiple lamps from the library were lit at once within a small area. He started to turn his attention to his surrounds and saw that he was in a narrow passageway.

    Two long white walls made of an unknown material stretch out both sides in a circular fashion, winding inwards towards somewhere.

    Above him, there were several squarish objects emitting a bright radiant light which filled the area. While the ground below him felt harder than anything that he had ever walked on in the forest.

    Alz lightly knocked on the wall with his left hand and noticed that it was harder than he had expected, as it felt harder than even the stones they used as weapon tips back in the village.

    ¡°I wonder if this is harder than the elven council building?¡±

    He lightly muttered as he turned to observe the bright squarish objects overhead. He stared at it until his eyes begun to water and a stinging pain assaulted his eyes, distorting his vision and forcing him to rest his eyes.

    He was extremely intrigued by the lights as he saw no signs of fire and felt no heat from it yet it was giving off more light than the lamps in the library, something which exceeded his understanding.

    He then turned his focus to the depths of the corridor. After everything he had observed from the surroundings, he was now extremely curious towards what was hidden beyond this winding corridor.

    He tried to stand up, but it felt like there were ants crawling all over his legs, biting on every inch of them when he tried to move, causing him to stumble and fall back onto the ground.

    He smiled bitterly as he looked down at the state of his body. He then crawled over to the nearby wall and used it to prop himself up, finally managing to stand while resting most of his weight on the wall.

    He took each step slowly, being careful not to put too much weight on his unsteady legs as he walked deeper into the winding corridor, supporting his body against the wall.

    After walking through the winding corridor which seemed to go on forever, his eyes finally lit up as he saw something appear on the wall.

    It was a distance which he would have normally been able to cover in under a minute, but he took several minutes to cover it this time, making the walk through this passageway much more painful than it needed to be.

    The door was a typical vault door one would find in the past. It was round and had a clear blue colour, much like the shade of the skies of the past.

    However, some parts of the paint had fallen off, revealing the metallic sheen hidden beneath the layer of paint. The wheel attached to the door in front which was painted in a similar shade of blue.

    Alz placed his palm on the door and felt a cool sensation transmit from his fingertips. He then tried to pull the door open but he immediately felt something holding the door back, preventing it from opening.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s this?¡±. He inwardly thought as he looked at the wheel in front of the door. He then gripped onto the wheel tightly with his left arm.

    He rotated the wheel slowly and heard something moving from within the door. He could also feel the vibrations through the wall which convinced him that something happening.

    He started turning the wheel faster by pressing his weight on the wheel, until the wheel would no longer turn. He then tried to pull the door open again. This time, the door was moving but the sheer mass of the door prevented him from immediately opening the door.

    Suddenly, a loud metallic creak rang through the air and the heavy door started to slowly swung outwards.

    Alz quickly let go of the wheel and leaned on the wall beside the door. An unknown smell flowed into Alz¡¯s nose as he peered curiously inside. However, the lights in the corridor were unable to light up the interior of the structure, and even with his eyesight, he could not clearly make out what was inside.

    He hesitated for a moment but soon, his hesitation was replaced with a self-depreciating expression as he went through the entrance.

    *Click*

    A clicking sound was heard and the interior lit up. The smell of old books wafted through the area and dust particles gleamed like tiny gems under the light. There were many rows of filled wooden bookshelves placed in ordered rows across the area, covered by a layer of unknown transparent material.

    There was a large space in the center where several tables and chairs stood. The chairs and tables looked to be made entirely out of wood and were all uniform in shape and size, unlike the tables and chairs back in the village.

    Books of all shapes and sizes were found on the shelves, most in a surprisingly good condition. However, there were three shelves where the transparent material had been removed from the shelves and the books on that shelf had mostly yellow pages, their bindings falling apart.

    There were also inscriptions seen on each of the bookshelves, probably depicting the content of the books in the bookshelf. However, Alz did not recognise the script used as it was probably a script used by the people who made this place.

    An air of antiquity surrounded this place, giving off the impression that it had been here for a long time.

    Alz stood in silence, overwhelmed by the grand sight before his eyes as his mind started to overflow with questions out of curiosity. However, his attention soon focused on an object that was right beside him.

    The object was a dull grey hemispherical device with a small green bulb on it. A green light was being emitted at regular intervals from the bulb and the device was beeping each time it lit up ever since the area lit up, causing Alz to focus his sights on it.

 Chapter 12: Negativity, and the Unknown Device

    He took a few steps along the wall and reached out for the object. The object¡¯s exterior was hard and felt cool to the touch while interior was covered in a material that felt similar to the wolf skins the elves used, except that it was much softer and had a smoother texture.

    Alz examined it for a few seconds before lightly shaking his head and he slowly lowered his body to place the helmet back on the ground.

    However, as he was putting it down, he noticed a small image imprinted on the wall beside the device. It was a picture of the device placed on a dark outline sitting in a cross-legged position.

    The dark outline greatly resembled the body structure of elves, with two hands, two legs a torso and a neck which connected the torso to the head. The proportions were also approximately the same as looked like a miniature blackened out outline of an elf to Alz.

    Alz¡¯s hands stopped as he stared at the image. A few seconds later, he returned his gaze back to the device and lightly placed it back on the floor.

    His gaze then turned back to the interior of the large room before him as his eyes burned with curiosity.

    From the various signs he had encountered thus far, it was highly likely that this place was left behind many ages ago by a civilisation that had vastly superior technology as compared to the elven tribe.

    Just a simple door to this room left Alz in awe. It was made of an extremely hard and heavy material which he had never even heard of back in the tribe and yet this civilisation was able to shape it so evenly and use it as a door, something his tribe would have never been able to accomplish.

    Alz ignored the protests coming from his legs and slowly shifted his weight away from the wall. After about a minute, he finally managed to stand without the support of the wall but his legs were shaking uncontrollably and gave off a strong sense of instability.

    He shot a quick glance at his legs before setting his sights at one of the shelves which was not surrounded by the transparent material as he slowly made his way over to the shelf.

    As he approached the shelf, a musky scent gradually increased in intensity. The scent felt similar to the scent of the forest Alz was used to and reminded him of home back in the village, bringing a smile to his face.

    When he finally reached the shelf, he looked at the shelf that stood before him with a hollow expression, bearing no traces of the smile he had before. He soon snapped out of his thoughts and lightly placed his hand on the shelf, observing it.

    It gave off the familiar scent of wood, yet it felt distinctly different from the wood obtained from the trees in the forest above. This wood was stronger and looked more vibrant than those he was used to.

    Alz then proceeded to grab a book off the shelf. There were multiple characters printed on the front cover that looked similar to the inscriptions on the sides of the shelf.

    He lightly flipped open the front cover, revealing a yellow sheet of paper with multiple brown spots over it. Alz could vaguely see neat rows of finely printed characters on most of the page which set off a flash in his mind.

    He realised that these books were just more advanced form of the scrolls back in the library, objects used to store information.

    His heart started to beat furiously as he looked around at the rows of full bookshelves which filled the room. However, when he looked down at the page again, his thoughts froze and his heart sank as he realised a major issue with his train of thought. He could not read anything.

    He sighed as he looked at the yellow parchment, but he was still curious about how the book way the book worked as this alone could potentially lead to innovations in information storage which would also be invaluable to the tribe.

    However, as he tried to flip the page over, the instant his fingers touched the paper it started crumbling. Suddenly, as though a switch was flipped, all the pages started crumbling to dust and the disappeared in a matter of seconds right before his eyes.

    Alz first revealed an expression of shock. He stared down at the empty book cover in his hands confused. He quickly grabbed several more books from the shelf but without fail, all the pages crumbled entirely to dust the moment he touched them no matter how delicately he tried to do it.

    [This is useless.]

    His eyes watered, his shoulder slumped, and his lips protruded into a pout as he complained to an invisible audience. After noticing how brittle the pages were, he had given up any hope of obtaining any information from the books in this place.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    He turned his head away from the shelf and looked around trying to find something useful. Suddenly, his eyes started shining as a soft gasp emerged from his mouth. He realised that he had overlooked something important and wanted to immediately confirm his suspicions.

    He tried to dash to the nearest bookshelf which still had a transparent material coating it but the excitement made him forget about his body¡¯s current state and his leg gave way when he took the first step, causing him to fall flat on the ground.

    An awkward smile plastered on his face as he raised his head. He slowly stood up using his left hand for support and walked over to the bookshelf, this time slowly and carefully.

    When he got to the bookshelf, he softly stretched his finger out at the transparent layer but it swiftly pierced through with almost no resistance. Alz thought of a possibility and hurriedly went to check all the books.

    Thankfully, the pages this time were soft and supple, showing no signs of the brittleness displayed by the pages found in the other shelf. This left Alz in amazement as he shot a quick glance back at the transparent layer.

    The pages this time were a clean white, displaying all its printed content without obstruction. They also had a slightly grainy texture to it which made it comfortable to touch.

    Alz looked at the book in his hands in amazement when he realised how thin each page was and how many pages a book actually contained.

    Sadly, the contents were written in the same script as before and he was still unable to read any of it but he had already obtained an idea towards improving the scrolls in the library so he did not feel as dejected as before.

    As Alz thought about the feasibility of the idea, he thoughts flowed towards how much more information they would be able to record and how much his mother would praise him, but his thoughts reached an abrupt halt as this point.

    He fell backwards onto the ground as tears begun to flow out uncontrollably. His curiosity and excitement at the new discoveries covered over his negative emotions but they were constantly at the back of his mind, threatening to overflow.

    He despised himself for not staying being and running away on his own. Whenever his mind was not distracted, he would think back to the faces of parents surrounded in wolves, back to the time when his father stabbed himself to draw the attention of the wolves and how he cowardly ran away.

    He had been trying to distract himself since he woke up, because he knew it was dangerous. He could not forgive himself, but his parents¡¯ last words rang in his mind whenever he was about to burst, so he could only call himself a coward, a coward for refusing to follow after his parents.

    After a period of self-loathing and venting, he gathered his emotions again and stood up. He looked at the books in front of him with an indifferent expression and slowly walked around the entire room.

    His excitement towards the books disappeared when he realised that he could not read anything and he had already learnt how books were designed so there was not more he could gain from any of the shelves.

    When he walked past the one of the tables, he saw a small piece of paper on it with multiple words written on it. The paper was yellow and brittle like the pages from the first shelf but there were still some words which could be seen on it.

    There was also an entrance to another much smaller room, which contained many empty labelled boxes which were messily scattered in the room.

    These were the only things he could find but none of them was of any use to him, so he quickly disregarded them.

    He soon found himself back at the entrance, standing in front of the hemispherical device where a green light was still being released from the bulb at the front with an electronic beep following after each time.

    However, he noticed that the light was dimmer than when he had initially entered the room and the beeps were also getting softer.

    He did not know why or how this was happening, he had a feeling that when the light no longer blinked and the beeping stopped, the device would no longer be able to function as it was intended.

    He would probably have no way of repairing it and he would just miss this opportunity. He did not know what the device was for, but he knew that the makers of this room would not have placed it here for nothing.

    The instructions on it were also the only things in the room that were not written in the ancient script, but with pictures so there had to be deeper meaning behind placing it here.

    The beeps audibly softened with each beep to Alz¡¯s sharp elven hearing. The difference was minute yet it was steadily getting softer each time without doubt, as though rushing Alz to make his decision.

    After staring at the device for five minutes, Alz finally gritted his teeth and sat down in front of the it. This was a risk he was willing to take, as he no longer had anyone waiting for him at home, no one to welcome him back when he returned, no home to return to.

    Therefore, he made his decision, prepared to accept any outcome as he placed the device on his head.

    After he finally placed the device on his head, contrary to expectations, nothing happened. The device continued to beep and each beep still got softer each time at the same rate. Alz could not see it but he felt that the green light was probably still flashing along each beep.

    Just as he started to wonder if he misinterpreted the picture, something finally happened.

    The flashing green bulb stopped blinking as a solid green light appeared in its place. The time between each beep started to reduce as the machine started to beep more and more frequently.

    Alz felt his mind become foggier and something felt like it was entering his head. Despite this, whenever he tried to focus his mind, the sensation became less pronounced as though nothing was happening.

    Just then, smoke started to rise from the device and the green light started flickering. The beeps joined to form one long beep and Alz felt a sharp pain suddenly hit his head.

    The pain was several stages beyond all the injuries he suffered combined. As the pain assaulted his mind, Alz felt the image before his eyes darken as he once again fell into the realm of unconsciousness.

    The light on the device extinguished as Alz was falling backwards onto the ground, rolling off his head as it sat on the ground once again, only this time, the green flashing light and beeping was replaced with a thin stream of smoke which soon dissipated into the surrounding air.

 Chapter 13: Preparing Essentials

    Images of his past flashed by his eyes, starting from when he was cradled in Tia¡¯s arms, crying out repeatedly as Tia and his father stared at each other helplessly, trying various means to pacify the young Alz.

    However, whenever they looked down at Alz, the joy and endearment could not be concealed as this warm family scene buried in the depths of his subconsciousness played out. Then, as though in fast forward, he saw his entire life play out until the scene where he last saw his parents.

    Suddenly, everything disappeared into the darkness where he alone stood. He felt something calling out to him from the front, but the voice was extremely muffled.

    He blankly walked in the direction of the voice, hoping to hear it more clearly but he felt a light pain shoot up from above his chest and he subconsciously moved his hand there, grabbing onto the area there tightly.

    When he looked up again, he saw a group of elves with his parents at their helm, facing him. Within the group of elves behind them, he spotted Caila, Link, Layla and many other elves he remembered seeing back in the fourth village.

    Tia gently shook her head as she looked at Alz, reaching out to Alz and pushing him away. All the other elves in the group also did a pushing motion and Alz felt himself floating away.

    Alz slowly opened his tightly shut eyes. He felt like he had just experienced a really long dream, an extremely important dream but he could no longer recall any part of it.

    He shook his head to get rid of his drowsiness and looked down at his body, only to see that his left hand was tightly holding onto the pendant that Tia had given him after his first two weeks at the village.

    Suddenly, he felt moisture at the sides of his face and moved his left hand up to wipe it but a new stream appeared. Tears started welling up in Alz¡¯s eyes and flowed out uncontrollably as he felt a pain spreading from his left chest.

    He started wailing loudly as he felt a mysterious sense of sadness and loss, urging him to let it all out. He looked down at the pendant within his left hand and moved his right hand over pressing it tightly towards his chest while clasping tightly on it with both hands.

    This lasted several minutes before the sadness started fading away. He felt more refreshed than before and his emotions were no longer as negative although the sadness and loneliness had not diminished in the slightest.

    He then arched his neck backwards and saw that the device had fallen off his head at some point in time. The last thing he remembered before passing out was the beginning of an extremely long beep, followed by a sharp pain in his head and then boom, he passed out.

    Just as he was trying to recall the events in greater detail, a searing pain burst out in his head, paralysing all his thoughts.

    It felt as though his entire head was soaked in tree sap and lit up in flames. His body curled up and he pressed both hands onto the sides of his head to apply pressure in an attempt to alleviate the pain he felt.

    This episode went on for about fifteen minutes before the pain finally let up and was beginning to fade away. However, before he could even begin to feel any relief, he started to cough repeatedly and even started retching as streaks of blood exited his mouth.

    Five minutes later, Alz lay flat on the ground looking up at the ceiling with half-open eyes. A small pool of blood could be seen on the floor beside him and there were two thin trails of blood which extended from his mouth down to his chest, staining some parts of his clothes.

    The last 20 minutes was the most hellish period of time he had been through, leaving him thoroughly mentally exhausted as he lay flat on the ground.

    His eyes soon closed fully, and his breathing became more even while his chest begun to rise and fall in rhythm with his breathing.

    Just like this, a full day passed and Alz still lay flat on the ground, sleeping peacefully.

    After a few minutes, his eyebrow suddenly creased, and he started groaning. He felt a pain being transmitted from his waist area, forcefully knocking him out of his peaceful slumber.

    This time though, he recognised the feeling. It was a feeling he had experienced before, only, it had never been this bad.

    His eyes snapped open and his mind quickly cleared. He sat up and his whole body suddenly trembled uncontrollably as he recalled his previous experience.

    [Food¡­Water¡­]

    A hoarse voice left his mouth as he instinctively looked around for food despite already knowing that there was no food in this area.

    Yes, he was hungry, and terribly so too. His throat was also burning, desperately craving water.

    After his escape, the extreme physical exertion had already left his body craving for nutrients, but his mind was too distracted by his emotions back then for him to realise it.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    Following that, he had gone without food and water for longer than a day. It was no wonder his gastric would be hurting so much that it woke him up.

    He quickly opened his bag and grabbed a leather container, emptying the water into his mouth. However, the water was like a small puddle in the middle of a dry, hot desert, far from enough to curb his thirst.

    Noticing this, he started wondering how long he had been asleep for his thirst and hunger to develop this much.

    Although the water he just drank was not nearly enough, it slightly alleviated his thirst and he begun to think of solutions to the current problem.

    Just then, he remembered about the wolf corpse that lay at the entrance outside and he quickly supported his body with left arm, standing up.

    When he stood up, he realised that his leg muscles were no longer aching as much and the pain in his right arm had subsided substantially which made him feel better about his current plight.

    Despite this, his body still felt extremely weak and he felt a mild stinging pain in his head from the previous ordeal.

    Alz tried his best to steady himself as he walked out of the room slowly with an unsteady gait, headed off in the direction of where the wolf corpse was.

    Fortunately, when Alz went back to the wolf, he saw that it was still intact as he the fang dagger from his waist and started cutting it apart, separating out the various parts of the wolf as he was used to.

    ¡°Still looks good.¡± He inwardly thought as he looked at the meat and saw that although it hardened slightly, the meat still looked fresh and edible.

    Back in the village, he had been taught that meat was safe to eat as long as the meat was not left out for more than three days, after which the meat would start to break apart and smell bad.

    He continued staring at the meat, thinking of the ways he could prepare it. A fire was the most natural choice and he knew how to start a fire but he did not have suitable wood at hand.

    It was notoriously difficult to start a fire from wood directly chopped from trees and Alz was not confident he was able to do it in his current state.

    The fires used for cooking back in the tribe were generally started using wood that had been chopped and hung for months, drying it out. Fresh wood was then used to feed the fire before they started cooking.

    He could easily obtain wood from the nearby trees above, but he had no good way of starting a fire, which was a big problem for him now.

    Suddenly, an idea sparked in his head and he thought of a solution to the fire problem.

    He took a deep breath and lightly moved his limbs about to confirm his physical condition before climbing out of the path to the outside. He then walked towards the pathway out to the forest.

    He came up with a solution for the issue of hunger, but his throat was desperately craving water, so he still had to find a water source to solve the problem of thirst.

    A head slowly peeked out from a narrow hole in the middle of the forest. It had silver hair and yellow eyes, with a pair of pointed ears and was carefully looking around at its surroundings, as though prepared to dive right back in at any sign of danger.

    This head was naturally Alz¡¯s head. After a short check on his physical condition, he knew that he could not afford to engage in any form of combat now.

    The bandages on his right arm were also losing gradually losing its effectiveness. He had enough herbs to rebandage it one more time but saw little point in doing so now as he wouldn¡¯t be able to use his hand too much either way.

    After looking around cautiously for two minutes, he quietly sucked in a breath and his body started rising from the hole. He made sure to do everything as quietly as possible and soon stood upright on the ground.

    He now stood still, silently thinking of what he could do to find water. There were two main options available to him, tracing roots and digging or hoping for a lake nearby but he quickly realised that he only had one real option giving his body¡¯s state.

    He stopped hesitating and set off in a direction opposite from where he came from as he didn¡¯t remember seeing any lakes on the way here, marking a nearby tree with his dagger after a set distance so he could find his way back.

    Luckily for him, the goddess of luck had not forsaken him as he stopped abruptly in his tracks when he was about 300m away from the hole.

    His eyes started sparkling brightly while his mouth slightly opened into a smile as the familiar scent of water drifted into his nose.

    [It¡¯s this way.]

    He sniffed in a few directions with his nose and turned to look in one direction. He focuses his senses and begun to slowly progress in the direction which carried the scent of water.

    After a short walk, his vision was no longer obstructed by the trees and he could finally see the lake about 30m ahead of him. Despite this, there was no joy or elation seen on his face as his expression hardened while looking at the lake.

    [There was one afterall.]

    He had been praying for there to be no wolves around the lake but he also knew that it was highly likely for wolves to be found around any water source, afterall they too needed water.

    In fact, he could have already been said to be extremely lucky to find a lake so soon with only one wolf nearby.

    Alz¡¯s eyes sharpened and his ears twitched repeatedly as he surveyed the surroundings, heaving a sigh of relief after as he did not detect any other wolves in the area.

    He then turned his gaze back to the wolf as a fierce glint lit in his eyes, his eyes burning with hatred and murderous intent.

    The one thing he could not forgive more than himself lay before his eyes now, the primary cause of his sorrow and suffering. It was also alone and unguarded, there was no way Alz would let go of this chance.

    He endured the stinging pain in his head which seemed to worsen the more he was thinking as his eyes darted around the surroundings, looking for things he could use but there was nothing he could find while the pain kept getting worse.

    He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for the pain in his head to subside before letting out a bitter expression. At this rate, he would end up self-destructing before anything even happened.

    He let out a sigh and walked to an area with a clear vantage point before sitting down silently.

    He grabbed his bow and mounted it onto his feet, using them to hold the bow in place, using his feet to substitute for his injured right arm.

    He then drew an arrow from his quiver and bent forward, latching it on the bowstring with his left arm. He took a few breaths and turned a frigid gaze towards the wolf. He silently bent backwards and pulled back on the bowstring with his left arm while taking aim.

    He knew he only had one shot at this, so he aimed with utmost focus and precision before releasing the arrow.

    However, just as he was releasing the arrow, his legs trembled slightly causing his shot to deviate slightly. Alz¡¯s expression paled as he helplessly watched the arrow cut through the air.

 Chapter 14: Victory and Return

    *Whoosh* The arrow flew and embedded itself slightly to the right of the wolf¡¯s chest.

    The wolf¡¯s eyes narrowed, and its ears flattened as it howled in pain at the sudden assault, clearly anxious at suddenly receiving an attack.

    Its body slowly lowered and got closer to the ground, the it stopped. The wolf did not fall. It was heavily injured by the arrow, but that injury was not fatal.

    It used its mouth to pluck the arrow out of its chest, wincing in pain again when the arrow exited its body. It licked the wound a few times before it turned into the direction of the arrow.

    Its ears rose straight up as it let out an angry growl while directing a ferocious gaze towards Alz.

    Alz smiled bitterly as he watched the scene play out. Some part of him had hoped that the arrow would be able to kill the wolf, but his senses knew that the wolf would not fall to such a wound the moment he released the arrow.

    He had been intending to use something else to support the front of his bow, but he couldn¡¯t find anything suitable around.

    The pain in his head also continued to intensify as he surveyed the surroundings, causing him to give up on his idea and use his legs instead, despite knowing full well that they weren¡¯t in the best condition either.

    However, regret now welled in his heart as he thought back on what would have happened if he had spent more time finding something to support the bow instead. These thoughts flashed by as he watched the arrow hopefully, praying for the what if.

    Clearly, his luck ran out when he managed to find the lake and the wolf, expectedly, lived the arrow.

    All he could do now was hope, hope that the injury would cause the wolf¡¯s movements to slow down enough such that even his current battered body could take it out.

    He quickly took out several herbs from his bag and rolled them together into a round shape, grabbing on it the ball with his right hand.

    He then assumed a combat stance and met his gaze directly with the wolf¡¯s.

    When the wolf growled, he immediately purged his mind of the unnecessary thoughts in his head and focused all of his attention on the enemy in front.

    After the howl, the wolf dashed straight towards Alz, but it was clearly less agile than normal as it¡¯s motions visibly slowed each time its right legs touched the ground.

    ¡°There¡¯s a chance¡± Alz thought as he silently observed this while his left hand gripped tightly on the handle of his fang dagger and he evened out his breathing, slightly calming down his racing heart.

    The wolf quickly got closer until it reached a distance of 3m from Alz where it stopped abruptly.

    It then started to circle around Alz while observing him, looking for an opportunity to take Alz down.

    Alz calmly watched this familiar scene as he continuously directed his stance towards the wolf in extremely fluid motions as the wolf circled him.

    This was something which his body remembered, from the hunting he had done in the past. His body could react and respond to the movements of the body before his mind even reacted, resulting in the fluidity of his actions.

    Soon, the wolf stopped in its tracks and snarled at Alz, as it prepared to pounce. Alz looked at this calmly and did not react.

    Seeing this, the wolf stopped its feint and continued to circle around Alz as though nothing had changed, but its eyes were shining brighter than before.

    Its instincts were telling it that the thin, weak looking creature who stood before it was a strong foe despite how weak it looked, that it had faced off against many of its kin and survived.

    However, it soon got impatient and its injury from before begun to hurt. It could not afford to prolong it any longer as it pounced towards Alz, without warning this time.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Despite the lack of warning, this time Alz quickly reacted, in fact, he had reacted even before the moment the wolf itself decided to pounce.

    This was the wisdom of the elves at work, knowledge accumulated over time that allowed the physically weaker elves to take on wolves who outnumbered them by several times.

    Wisdom which allowed them to split into three pairs when in their squads while scouting, because they were confident in escaping as a pair even if they encountered a pack of wolves with the wisdom they possessed.

    With his body in tatters and his physical state being far from optimal, this was also the only edge he had left against the wolf, alongside his hunting experience in the past two years, the blade of wisdom.

    Despite reacting before the wolf, Alz had only barely managed to avoid the pounce, something he felt extremely helpless about as his body could not keep up with the movements in his head.

    Although the pounce missed, the wolf managed to close the distance between them and immediately turned to Alz with its jaws wide open, a reaction so fast, it was only possible if the wolf itself had expected its pounce to miss.

    Alz revealed a slight expression of panic but he quickly crushed the herb ball in his right hand and threw it at the wolf¡¯s nose while moving his dagger up to block the jaws.

    The wolf¡¯s nose crinkled, and it closed its jaws immediately, backing off to its initial distance. Alz inwardly heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the wolf back off, thanking Lein for his teachings in his mind.

    The wolf stared at the herb ball before it with a human-like expression of disgust as it swiped its right foreleg in front of its nose twice, as if trying to blow away the pungent odour before its nose.

    It then glared at Alz with ferocious eyes which contained more anger than before. Clearly, it had not been pleased by the smell of the herb ball.

    This was developed by their tribe more than a century ago and was capable of paralysing the sense of smell of wolves and repelling them temporarily.

    However, it had the downside of only being able to be used once in a short period of time as the sensitivity of the wolf¡¯s sense of smell would be heavily affected after it was thrown at them, rendering subsequent uses ineffective.

    It was also easily avoidable with its stench and did not have much of an effect if not thrown up close, making it extremely useless for most elves and many of them back in the tribe did not even know about it.

    Alz also only found out about it because of the research he did when designing his traps and had prepared some for use with his traps, something which came in handy in this battle.

    The wolf snarled at Alz and pounced at him again, not bothering with feints this time.

    Alz moved his body slightly to his left and stared at the left chest of the wolf where it got shot. He then pushed his left hand forward in a stabbing motion, aiming it at that spot.

    The wolf noticed this and turned its head to the its right, spreading its jaws open attempting to bite off Alz¡¯s left arm.

    Just then, Alz¡¯s lips curled up and he immediately retracted his left hand, the dagger nowhere to be seen.

    The wolf saw this and was confused momentarily but it soon felt a sharp pain transmitting from its left eye and its world turned black, forever.

    Alz had moved the dagger over to his right hand during the stabbing motion and stabbed the wolf in the eye while distracting it with his left arm.

    Alz panted heavily as he stared at the corpse that lay before him. This was a large gamble that he had taken there, but thankfully, it had paid off and Alz was the one who survived.

    He had thought of this plan mid battle when he realised that this wolf was fairly intelligent from its behaviour and gambled everything on this one attack.

    The attack was entirely dependent on the wolf¡¯s reactions. Had the wolf not reacted to his lunge and continued forward, he would have been the one to fall.

    Alz took in a few deep breaths to calm his rattled breathing as he turned his attention to his right arm. The pain which had slightly subsided from the rest assaulted him full force again as a crimson liquid threatened to trickle out of the bandages.

    He sighed and cut some material from his shirt, fastening it around the bandages to stop the blood from seeping out.

    Following this, he squatted down and started taking apart the wolf¡¯s corpse with experienced motions as he placed the materials obtained into his bag.

    He then rushed to the lake as fast as he could, as there was the possibility of more wolves coming to this area, particularly after the howling just now and it would be disastrous for him if another wolf appeared now.

    As Alz approached the lake, the melodious chirping of insects gradually increased in volume. Green plants of various shapes surrounded the emerald waters, creating an air of life around the small body of water, something not commonly found within this area of the woods.

    Alz marvelled at the beauty of the lake as he approached, but his actions did not slow down. He sat by the leg and took out the leather water container in his bag, chugging down multiple full bags of water before finally stopping.

    He made a mental note to himself to bring more leather containers the next time he came while looking down at the lone water container he had.

    ¡°This saves me some trouble¡±. He thought as he looked around and saw several medicinal herbs around which could help him rebandage his wound. He quickly gathered several of each type that he needed and placed them in his bag, revealing a satisfied smile on his face.

    Now that his objective was achieved, he started to proceed along the markings, heading back to the underground area. The trip was smooth, and he soon found himself back in the underground corridor where the lights clicked on in welcome.

 Chapter 15: Loneliness

    Alz¡¯s released the tension in his body when he set foot on the winding passageway. He felt an odd sense of security whenever he was in this place, perhaps because of his first encounter with this place, so he naturally relaxed as he returned.

    [I¡¯m back]

    Alz voiced out quietly with a lonely expression.

    Now that he had found a solution to the water problem, it was time to solve the food problem as he walked straight into the room at the end of the corridor.

    When he entered the room, the first thing he did shoot a vengeful glare at the hemispherical device which lay quietly on the floor. This device was indirectly the culprit behind him missing the arrow before and Alz still felt the stinging pain in his head now.

    He then approached the first shelf he went to when he arrived and slowly caressed the shelf while observing it closely with his eyes.

    ¡°This will work!¡± His face lit up in delight as he confirmed the feasibility of his idea. Without hesitation, he took out his dagger and started cutting out parts of the wood from the shelf.

    The shelves here had all been sitting for a very long time and the wood had long since dried out, making it the ideal material for starting a fire.

    Alz first cut out a large slab of wood. He then cut out thinner slab of wood and started carving it into a cylinder. He held the cylinder to the large slab of wood and gouged out a cavity in the wood that was the thickness of the cylinder by slowly whittling off the sides of the hole.

    He looked down at the two pieces of wood and nodded in satisfaction. He then proceeded to carve out some smaller pieces of wood shavings and a few moderately sized pieces of wood before bringing everything out to the passageway.

    He was planning on making the fire at the passageway this time as he did not dare to start a fire above ground in his current condition and the room was simply not an option with all the flammable materials in it.

    While he was carrying the first batch of materials out, he casually looked around the room when suddenly, his steps halted, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he focused his gaze on a book on the shelf.

    Since he was unable to read them, he was thinking of testing if they could be used as fuel. There was a lot of wood from the shelves in the room, but this wood was valuable wood capable of being used for fire starting, he felt like it was a waste to use to use it to fuel to the fire.

    This time was an exception due to his condition, but he had initially planned on gathering wood from the forest to fuel fires when he recovered. If the books could be used to feed the fire, he would be able to avoid this entire tiresome and risky process.

    He retracted his gaze and proceeded out to unload the first batch of items at the passageway before returning to carry out all the wood he gathered from the shelf in batches to the passageway.

    When he was done, he went back into the room and walked over to the shelf which he had broken the protective layer on before.

    He had already carved enough wood from the shelf to cook the meat, so he was just going to grab a book to test if it burned.

    He felt slightly bad towards the people who made this room by doing this, but his guilt was soon washed away when he thought of how nobody could read the books anyways.

    He casually reached out and grabbed a book from the shelf, holding it in his hands. He wanted to do a casual inspection of the book to confirm the materials when suddenly, his hand froze. His mind went blank for a moment as he tried to comprehend what was happening.Stolen novel; please report.

    He rubbed his eyes as if doubting his eyesight, but nothing changed. He first revealed an expression of confusion, but it quickly transformed into an expression of shock and elation as his eyes and mouth both opened widely while the ends of his lips curled up slightly.

    [T-The Prin-ci-cipu-l-es of Mo-mo-de-r-n Ec-o-no-mic-s]

    Alz read out slowly and awkwardly in a language distinct from the elven script, a language he had never heard before.

    He quickly flipped opened the book and started looking at the words within the book as his grin got wider and wider. He flipped through several pages while staring intently at the words printed on the pages before slamming it shut and placing it back on the shelf.

    He took several deep breaths, but his heart kept racing faster and faster, showing no signs of calming down. His face was beet red and visible drops of sweat started to trickle down his forehead. He pinched his cheeks to check if he was dreaming but he quickly moaned in pain.

    He winced slightly but his grin quickly recovered into an even wider grin as he tried to grab another book to confirm what just happened. However, just as he was reaching out, the stinging pain in his head suddenly intensified.

    He crouched down and held his head with both his hands as cold sweat formed in his palms. He groaned in pain and fell to the floor a short moment later and rolled about on the ground. After about five minutes, the pain finally subsided and Alz stopped rolling about.

    He dazed out while staring at the white ceiling for several minutes before focusing his eyes and slowly getting back up. He felt that the stinging pain in his head became slightly stronger than before the episode as he looked at the books with fearful eyes.

    Suddenly, a loud growl echoed across the room and Alz felt a pain assault him from his waist. He looked down at his stomach with a bitter smile and turned his eyes back to the books.

    Although, now, all thoughts of burning these books faded from his mind and he quickly turned away from the books and started walking towards the passageway.

    When he reached the entrance, he paused for a moment and looked at the hemispherical device in thought before continuing out of the room.

    After he exited, the lights in the room shut off as darkness filled the space once again.

    His face was filled with thought as he walked over to materials. He was very excited when he found out that he could read and understand the ancient script.

    It was a mysterious feeling. He knew that he had never ever seen any of those words before yet they all felt so familiar when he read it. He somehow knew how each word sounded and the meanings being the words would mysteriously float up into his head as he read each word.

    However, this also came at a cost. He was not certain if his episode earlier was due to him reading the words, but it definitely happened right after he read the words and he really did not want to try it again.

    The stinging in his head also became stronger than before, something he clearly felt after the episode although it was still weaker than right when he woke up.

    He shook his head and looked down at the materials before him. Whatever the case, there was no doubt that he needed to fill his stomach first, so he squatted down and started his preparations for making a fire.

    He had been taught and even done this several times back in the village, but it always took a lot of time and effort and he usually wasn¡¯t very successful.

    His eyes started to become unfocused as he recalled the times when Link always finished first and came to laugh at him and Polon who were always struggling to start the fire with Lein standing by the side watching over all of them with that eternally unchanging face.

    This lasted for a moment before he snapped back to the task at hand. All he could do now was hope that the quality of the materials used this time could make up for his lack of skill and strength in his current state.

    He grabbed the cylindrical rod and pressed it into the hole he gouged out earlier and placed the rod between both his palms. Then, he started rolling the cylinder back and forth as quickly as he could.

    Before long, embers started sparking and the wood soon ignited as a smile floated in Alz¡¯s face. He quickly threw the wood shavings onto the embers, causing them to grow larger, growing into a fire. He then placed a piece of wood in to feed the fire, causing it to burn stably.

    He nodded as he looked at this but just as he was about to reach out for the meat, he realised that he had forgotten to make skewers to pierce the meat with and a stand to hold the skewer. His movements paused awkwardly as he looked down at the fire.

    He sighed as he grabbed one of the few remaining arrows in his quiver and broke off the arrowhead, using it as a skewer as he pierced a piece of meat he had cut apart using his dagger earlier and placed it above the fire.

    Stick by stick, he enjoyed his first meal since he left the village as he devoured the day-old wolf meat entirely, finally sating his hunger. He then proceeded to put out the fire with some water from his container while drinking some as well.

    His only thought at the end of the meal was ¡°I WILL MAKE A STAND FOR THE SKEWER NEXT TIME, FOR SURE!¡± as he looked down at his extremely sore and numb left hand with tears in his eyes.

 Chapter 16: The Archives

    After his meal, Alz took apart the bandages on his right hand replaced them using the herbs he had gathered earlier.

    He started to feel drowsy while tying the bandages and proceeded back into the room. He then put his equipment aside and lay down on the floor, drifting off to dreamland.

    About six hours later, Alz woke up from feeling refreshed. His stomach was full, his throat wasn¡¯t burning, and his wound was freshly bandaged. His legs were also almost back to prime condition and he was finally in a decent state for the first time in a long while.

    ¡°It is getting weaker¡±. Alz thought after closing his mind and feeling the pain in his head.

    The stinging pain in his head was alleviating with the passage of time, a good sign as it meant that it wold probably soon fade away entirely.

    He looked at the rows of bookshelves in front of him and revealed a look of hesitation, but he quickly turned his eyes away,

    Since he knew now that the pain was getting better, there was little meaning risking a relapse by reading now as he wasn¡¯t planning on leaving this place in the near future.

    He had initially planned on staying here only until he fully recovered but things were different now, there was also no strong compelling reason for him to rush back to the central village.

    Alz started thinking of what to do as he sat, as there was nothing pressing he had to do now.

    After a fair bit of thinking, he stood up and went before the shelf he gathered wood from and cut out two rectangular pieces of wood with larger bases and several long thin pieces of wood.

    He looked at the wood with a serious expression and started carving the wood with his dagger. A few minutes later, he looked down at the objects below with a satisfied expression and carried them over to his cooking area.

    These were naturally the skewers and skewer stand he regretted not having earlier, since he had free time now he decided to make them before he forgot again.

    He organised the things he needed in his head and then set out to gather them in the area. Now that his legs recovered, and his body no longer felt weak, he had the confidence to escape even if anything happened.

    Day by day, time flew by as Alz quickly got used to living in the underground archives.

    Two weeks later,

    Alz was carrying a wolf corpse over his shoulder as he walked back into the underground passageway. The bandages on his right arm were nowhere to be seen, replaced by a long thin scar that stretched across his arm.

    When he arrived, he laid down the corpse along the passageway and proceeded to empty his bag which was full of shoddily made water containers.

    These containers were made simply by tying a vine around a wolf skin with a small piece of wood used as a lid, an exceedingly primitive design even by the standards of elves, but it served its purpose which was all that mattered.

    [I think this every time but water sure is heavy.]

    He muttered as he looked down at the bags of water he took out.

    He then stretched awhile and looked into the room at the back, his eyes lit with determination.

    ¡°Its about time¡± he inwardly thought as he started to proceed towards the room. The stinging pain in his head had disappeared completely about a week ago, but he decided to wait another week just in case, as the hellish experience each headache episode caused was still fresh in his mind.

    He stopped by the entrance of the room to take several deep breaths before entering. He walked back to that familiar bookshelf and reached out to grab a book.

    As he reached out, his hand was visibly trembling, partly due to the trauma of his episodes and partly due to his sheer anticipation as he quickly took a book off the shelf.

    The book he held was titled ¡°Money in Society¡±. The meanings of the words appeared in his head each time he read a word as Alz slowly flipped through the pages of the book.

    About an hour later, Alz gently closed the book he held in his hands, and carefully placed it back onto the shelf.

    This first read had been an eye-opening experience to him as a currency system was not used in his tribe and he was highly intrigued by many things mentioned in the book but there were many things he could not understand in the book just with knowledge on the language.

    He was unable to understand many of the concepts in his book but there were several things he learnt from the book which shocked him to no end.

    This included the scale of the population of this ancient civilisation. The book mentioned of settlements called countries which had population on the scales of millions, some even having billions, a scale he could not have even imagined in his wildest dreams.

    He remembered reading back about the prime days of the Calla tribe where they had more than 2000 elves, yet it couldn¡¯t even begin to compare to the smallest of the countries that existed in the past and these countries even numbered more than the tribes their race had in total. Furthermore, all these countries were populated only by one race, a race that was called ¡®human¡¯.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    His eyes sparkled like small diamonds, as he swept the room with a fiery gaze, like the gaze of a pirate who had a large mountain gold before him.

    He grabbed several more books off the shelf but saw they were all books relating to economics, which made him recall the inscriptions on the sides of the shelves. He quickly walked over to the side of the shelf and went to read it.

    ¡°B-12 Economics¡± was carved on the side of shelf.

    Alz immediately walked over to the shelf beside it and removed the protective coating, revealing the carving on the side of the shelf which read ¡°B-11 Economics¡±.

    Alz then went on to check the shelf on the other side of the first shelf and saw that the inscriptions read ¡°B-13 Geography¡±.

    He looked at this in thought and slowly walked over to the first shelf on the left in the room, piercing through the protective coating. This time, the shelf read ¡°A-01 Archive Information¡±.

    It was only now that he had realised the oddity of this shelf. There were only three rows out of the six found on these bookshelves that contained books and there was even some space leftover on the right side of the second row.

    Alz immediately reached for the top leftmost book on the shelf. The cover read ¡°Archive Catalog¡±, bringing a smile to Alz¡¯s face when he saw this as he quickly begun to flip through it.

    Alz was surprised to learn that this was only one of many archives, constructed because the human race was facing an ¡®uncertain future¡¯. He was shocked to find out that there was something capable of threatening a race of that scale but did not think too much about it as it was something from the ancient past.

    As he filled through the pages, his attention quickly focused when he flipped to a page with a familiar picture on it.

    ¡°Total number of written titles: 20,384.¡± was written at the top of the page and below, there was a floor plan which indicated the labels of every shelf in the room.

    In the following pages, the book then went on to describe the contents on each of the shelves and stated that there would be more in-depth coverage of the books contained within each shelf in the subsequent 26 books.

    Alz placed the book on the floor and reach out for the book right beside titled, ¡°Section A Glossary¡± and ran through it quickly, seeing that it not only stated the titles within each of the shelves like in the first book, it was also arranged in alphabetical order and also contained a description on each title, containing various details on the origin and overview of contents of each book.

    He then peered to look at the next book¡¯s cover from the shelf and saw that it was titled ¡°Section B Glossary¡±, but he did not take this book down as he carefully placed the ¡°Section A Glossary¡± book back on the shelf and started walking around the archives with the catalog in hand.

    Thus, Alz¡¯s literature journey begun as he dove into the sea of books before him, browsing through all sorts of books in these underground archives and making many discoveries as he slowly delved deeper into the history of the world.

    Meanwhile, about a month later in Alvein, The Capital of Elves.

    A structure stood at the heart of the capital, towering above all other buildings around. However, the elves living in the capital did not feel an air of oppression when they looked at the building, rather, deep respect and gratitude reflected naturally in the occasional gazes which landed on the building.

    This building was the core of their city, the building where all the important decisions were made, the building which always watched over and protected the members of their race, the Elven Palace.

    In the largest room of the building, a large decorated hall, there was a group of elves standing in two orderly rows by the side, leaving a large space in the middle. These elves differed in appearance, gender and age but many of them had one thing in common, their eyes.

    That is not to say that their eyes were all of the same colour and shape, no, in fact, there were more different shades in their eyes and the colours of the rainbow, and their shapes also varied largely.

    Rather, the similarity lay in their gaze, many of them had deep gazes which appeared as if they could see through lies and deceit, gazes which seemed like they could peer directly into the souls of weaker willed individuals.

    Yet these elves were all facing the same direction with their heads slightly lowered, but there was nothing forced about this scene, and none of them showed any signs of dissatisfaction, only genuine respect from the bottom of the hearts.

    In the direction they faced, there was an exquisitely designed chair rooted to the ground, complete with two armrests by the side. One look was enough to tell that a lot of thought was put into its construction and was extremely pleasing to the eye.

    Above the chair, a slender figure sat with her legs crossed as her gaze overlooked the entire hall. She had smooth hair which shined in a beautiful silver lustre with a pair of deep blue eyes. Her facial features were extremely exquisite, and her smile would make gems lose their lustre, possessing a beauty which was in no way inferior to Tia and Layla from the Calla tribe.

    However, there was a deep crease in the middle of her forehead, the only blemish on her face, an inevitable product from the role she played. Despite her gentle appearance, a regal air overflowed from her as she silently gazed at the members within the hall with a kind smile on her face.

    She was the Queen of Elves, the one who currently stood above all in this capital, the current leader of their race.

    They were currently having one of their regular court sessions and were done with most of the matters, soon approaching the conclusion of the session.

    ¡°Are there any other issues to report?¡± The Queen¡¯s melodic voice broke the silence, softly echoing across the hall and resounding clearly in the ears of everyone present.

    Just then, one of the elves walked up from the side and reported, ¡°Your Majesty, The Calla tribe just sent in a report of a wolf attack on one of their villages.¡±

    As she heard this, the Queen¡¯s eyebrows slightly furrowed and her smile dissapeared, her eyes were also tinted with worry and grief as she asked, ¡°How were the damages? Do they require any aid?¡±

    The elf swiftly replied, ¡°According to their report, they lost one of their villages and only three elves survived from that village. They did not say that they required any aid though, so they should able to take care of it.¡±

    The Queen¡¯s expression relaxed slightly as she heard this, but she soon remembered something and turned to a woman who stood close to the front and asked, ¡°Minister, As I recall, the time for the tribes to send in their tributes is approaching?¡±

    The woman, noticing the queen¡¯s gaze took a small step forward and replied, ¡°It is as your majesty says, they will have to send in their people within the next seven years in accordance to the covenant.¡±

    The Queen thought for a moment before announcing, ¡°Send two squads over to check out the situation of the Calla tribe and inform that they only need to send in half the number of people this time.¡±

    The minister smiled as she heard this and replied immediately, ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± before stepping back in place.

    The man who had moved forward to report the matter also returned to his place and the court dismissed.

 Chapter 17: A New Goal and First Success

    Around this time, Alz was standing by the lake, silently gazing at the dark sky with a book in hand. The book he held was titled ¡°Wondrous Sights of Nature¡±, a photography book which was a compilation made in the past by a landscape photographer.

    He squinted his eyes as he looked at the sky, trying to peer beyond the blanket of darkness which shrouded the sky, to see even a little hint of that which was hidden beyond.

    In the past month, he had read and learnt much about the world, but it was only when he found this photography book about two days ago that he truly understood the differences between the world he lived in and that of the past.

    In the pictures of the book, the sky was clear blue at times, with fluffy white clouds which acted like white ink, painting a beautiful picture of serenity across the wide blue canvas.

    The sky had vibrant shades of red at times, as if there was a grand blaze beyond the clouds, and at times, it was a shade of black, but the black did not signify darkness, as there were bright shining stars which adorned the sky, illuminating the night sky.

    Above the heads of those who lived in the past, the everchanging sky always showed a new face to them, allowing them to go through their whole lives without seeing two same skies as the sky freely showed off its majestic beauty to all who looked up at it.

    Yet, when they raised their heads today, all they saw was a blanket of darkness darker than the darkest of nights. There was never any light, there was never warmth, only the never changing layer of darkness which filled the skies, as though it had always been this way.

    Several minutes later, Alz looked back down at the book with a look of disappointment.

    He threw a stubborn look at the sky before sitting down and continuing to flip through the pages of the book. He skimmed through the pages and soon stopped at a picture of a clear blue lake within a verdant green forest, filled with a diversity of trees and animals.

    He raised the picture with both his arms and looked at the lake before him in comparison. The lake before him was a murky shade of green when compared to the clear blue lake of the picture.

    The trees in the forest also looked duller than those in the pictures and the trees all looked the same, lacking the diversity found in the forest of the past.

    Most of all, there was no wildlife diversity in the lake before and only wolves were known to inhabit this region of the forest, something which Alz had always thought of normal, until he found this book.

    These were things he never noticed before, things which he did not have the right to notice, things he would probably have remained oblivious to for the rest of the life, if not for his encounter with the archives.

    The other pictures he had seen in the book started playing out in his mind, pictures of wide bodies of water with no end to them, of mountains and plains covered in white, of volcanos spewing red hot lava, of the auroras in the northern skies.

    These all ignited the adventurous spirit in the young Alz¡¯s heart as he resolutely decided, to set out on a journey beyond these woods, to explore the vast world that lay outside what he had previously thought was his entire world.

    Five months later, in a part of the forest near the entrance of the archives, a young elven boy was looking expectantly at a large sand mound that stood before him.

    The boy¡¯s bright yellow eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his head at any moment, his gaze not leaving the mound before him for a single second. This boy was naturally Alz, who had just begun his first experiment using knowledge obtained from the archives.

    Last week, he had read a book which had described many ways to start a fire, and within it, there was also a section on the methods of preparation of various types of fuel.

    As Alz was looking through this section, his eyes lit up when he reached the section on charcoal preparation. The section had listed various methods which could be used to prepare charcoal and the characteristics and uses of charcoal.

    Among the methods mentioned, Alz noticed a method which he could prepare all the materials for, exciting him greatly as this was the first chance he had to verify the information from the books, the first chance he had to apply a part of the technology of the human race from the past.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    He immediately jumped into preparations and built a mound using the sand in the area, according to the instructions from the book. He then placed pieces of wood he previously prepared into the mound and ignited it, which according to the book, would convert the wood placed within the mound into charcoal, bringing us back to the present.

    He had been cleared out most of the grass around this area and had even prepared many bags of water before this, scattering them around his feet in case something went wrong.

    He was now watching excitedly while praying that this would go smoothly as he watched the orange flame flicker about at the air hole on the top.

    After a few minutes passed and Alz suddenly walked up to the mount and started to block the air holes on the mound using soil from the surroundings in accordance to the instructions in the book.

    When he completed this, he sat down at the position he had been standing at earlier and took out the book from his bag, verifying that he had done everything according to the instructions stated. After checking everything in his head, he closed his eyes and begun to rest while waiting for the process to complete.

    About six hours later, Alz snapped open his eyes and walked up to the mound. He quickly started prying open the front of the mound, revealing numerous small charred black objects within.

    Alz picked up one of the pieces and started to inspect it closely. Next, he walked over to the side and tried to start a fire on the black object using the method he was taught back in the village.

    The charcoal did not disappoint as Alz managed to generate embers much faster than he had ever done so with the wood from the shelves with significantly less effort.

    A wide grin surfaced on Alz¡¯s face as he looked at the pile of charcoal he had created. Alz was extremely happy but it was not only because of the charcoal.

    While he did not believe it to be false, a part of him had always harboured doubt towards everything in the archives, particularly when he learnt of the great differences of the world recorded and his own.

    However, this was the first time he had applied knowledge obtained from the archives in the world, and it had achieved great results with it which indirectly gave weight to everything in the archives, easing the small doubt which lay in his heart.

    Ever since he found the catalog six months ago, he had been using it to browse through books in the archives. He read about many things, from math and sciences to arts and humanities, but the type of books which captivated him were the books in the fiction section, books that were commonly known as fairytales.

    Then again, being a young 12-year-old elven male, and the conditions they lived in, it came at little surprise that fairytales, fiction stories of the old, filled with colourful pictures and stories geared towards a young child his age were the most appealing to him.

    The first story which got him hooked was a classic tale of a princess captured by an evil wizard. Her personal knight was then commissioned by the king to rescue her.

    Thus, the knight embarked on an epic journey to save the princess, slaying demons and saving villages with the comrades he met along the way, finally slaying a dragon which guarded the tower the wizard lived in, defeating the wizard and obtaining the princess¡¯s hand in marriage.

    However, what touched Alz the most was not where most would expect. He got touched by a small plot point in the story, where most in the past probably would not have given too much about, yet it struck Alz at the softest regions of his heart.

    There was an elven race in the story which shared similar traits to his race, even the name of the race, Elf, sounded similar to the term they used for their race in their native language.

    Alz made a mental note of this and proceeded to do research on the subject subsequently, but it yielded little results as all he found was more fictions depicting elves, but there were no results of elves in reality, so he buried this deep in his mind.

    In the story, an elven magician was struggling in a forest against some evil demons, when the knight and his comrades appeared to help, fending off the demons with the elven magician.

    The magician then welcomed the knight and his companions to their village, but when they arrived at the village, they saw that it was being invaded by demons.

    The squad then jumped into action, repelling the demon invaders and saving the village. The elven magician then joined the knight and him comrades on the quest to defeat the evil wizard.

    Alz reread this part of the story multiple times, shedding tears of joy each time he reached the part when the elven village was saved. It was this which got him hooked onto fairytales, on the fantasy stories of swords and magic.

    He was reminded of the scenes where the wolves overran the village and the last moments of his parents, thinking of how nice it would have been if a hero from the stories appeared and saved his village.

    His daily routine since that day consisted of an additional timeslot for reading fairy tales, the only time of the day he actually resembled a child of his age as his mind wandered off into these stories.

    However, due to the wide assortment of knowledge in the archives, he had been lost towards which direction he should focus on reading on.

    Apart from fairy tales, he had just been reading books which had interesting descriptions in the glossary, which helped him obtain a lot of knowledge, but most of it was useless to him.

    Now, with this success, he had finally decided on a direction, to focus on obtaining practical knowledge which might aid him on his future journey and knowledge which would be beneficial to his tribe.

    With this in mind, Alz started to carry the spoils of his first experiment into the underground passageway.

 Chapter 18: Departure and Return

    The seasons which marked the passage of time were no longer, but time still continued to flow regardless, unaffected by anything in the world.

    Nearly five years had passed since his escape from the fourth village. One the grand scale, it may have as well been a single speck of sand dropping down the hourglass of history, but to Alz, it was a period of time which had brought about a large change to his life.

    Alz looked around the archives before him with a sentimental gaze as he slowly recalled the time he had spent here. Even with the astute body clocks of elves, Alz had long since lost track of the time he had been staying here.

    Every moment spent here had been a memorable one, a piece of memory he would probably carry with him for the rest of his life.

    When he first arrived, this place protected him from the wolf.

    When he was almost overcome by negativity, this place provided him with books to occupy his time, distracting him from the negative thoughts in his mind.

    While he was feeling sad and miserable, this place provided him with fairytales which eased his heart and soothed his soul.

    When he was feeling lost without a direction in life, this place provided him with a dream, of an adventure he could look forward to, and tools to help him along the way.

    As far as he was concerned, this place was now one which he could call home, one of the two most important places in his heart, the other being his home back in the fourth village.

    But all things came to an end, and this segment of his life was about to conclude. He had finally decided to leave, equipped with the many new tools and knowledge he had acquired over the past five years.

    Alz had located the way to the fourth village during the first year and frequently went to scout the area near the village. On one of his scouting trips recently, he noticed that the wolves were finally starting to clear out of the village.

    As he looked upon this, Alz inwardly thought ¡°It¡¯s about time¡± and begun to prepare for his departure, confirming the knowledge which might come in useful with the books for the last time, as he did not know when or if he would ever have a chance to return.

    If he could, Alz wanted to bring the entire archive with him, but naturally, this was not possible. After an intense internal struggle, Alz finally decided to bring only the ¡°Wondrous Sights of Nature¡± photography book with him as it was among the lighter books and would not weight him down too much.

    The book also contained many pictures which might come in useful in jogging his memory during his journey. Above all, it was a keepsake of remembrance, a memento of the years he spent here.

    Memories from the past played out in his mind as his gaze wandered around the archive. Memories of the time the realised he could read, the time he first made charcoal, when he first preserved meat by smoking, how he finally managed to make glass, and many more.

    He started to recall the precious moments one by one as he sincerely bowed towards the library in gratitude, tears forming in the corner of his eyes, his first tears in a long while.

    He held himself in this position for more than five minutes before righting himself, throwing one final look at the archives before walking out the exit. Before he left, he also shot a quick look at one of the tables in the archive, the one which had a note on it.

    Too much time had passed, and the note was not protected, so Alz could not make sense of any of its contents, but he managed decipher three words that were on the note.

    ¡®Tower of Hope¡±. These were the only words Alz managed to extract from the note, as these words were repeated numerous times across the note, allowing Alz to piece the letters from separate sections together, obtaining it.

    Alz did not know what this meant but given this and the empty scattered boxes in the supplies room of the archives, he deduced that it was probably left behind by a survivor of the incident which changed the world, the one thing incident the archives held no information on.

    He had attempted to restore it using paper restoration methods recorded in the books, but the note was far too brittle and scattered into dust at a single touch. Alz could only hang his head in disappointment as he committed this term to memory.

    Alz steadily pushed the metal door inwards, shutting the door which had been left open for the past five years. *Dong* The metal door slammed firmly into place, leaving only the familiar scent of books in the air.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    After Alz rotated the wheel and locked the door, he heaved a long heavy sigh before walking towards the exit, heading out to the forest.

    As he exited the hole, he looked towards a clear open area by his right with a nostalgic smile. There was a mound, a furnace, his leather tanning workbench, a smokehouse and various other furniture around this area, a workspace which Alz went through great pains to create, something he was extremely proud of.

    As he was undergoing the warrior¡¯s trial, he had not been taught the tanning methods of the tribe, so he picked it up from the books in the archive. However, he later discovered that the leather made by the tribe was superior in quality to those he prepared himself.

    This discovery first disappointed him, but it turned into a sense of pride after he thought it through, as it showed that they had technology which was superior to that of humans in some respects.

    He quickly retracted his glance and started heading off in a direction as he always did, except that this time, he was not going to return.

    Meanwhile, back at the central village of the Calla tribe, they were also preparing to move towards reclaiming the area around the fourth village.

    Ever since the attack nearly five years ago, they had been closely monitoring the situation at the village. Naturally, the wolves beginning to clear out would not escape their detection and they had found out about it even before Alz.

    However, they were a tribe. As such, they had much more planning and preparations to make beforehand and had coincidentally finished their preparations a day ago.

    Today, they were sending out a squad of twenty warriors, spearheaded by Blain, Lein and Polon, the ¡®only¡¯ survivors of the fourth village as they strongly volunteered themselves for this task.

    They were the vanguard squad meant to clear out any remnants left in the village so that the non-combatants could safely arrive at the village after. When the non-combatants arrived, they would then begin to patrol and protect the village as part of the new residents of the village.

    These elves were gathered from volunteers, elves who knew full well what it meant for them to participate in this rebuilding project and still chose to do it.

    They were now standing at the same field where Alz, Link, Polon, Cailia and the other four elves were being lectured at during the first day of their trial. Blain, Lein and Polon were standing in front of the seventeen elves, with their right hands placed on their chests in salute.

    Blain¡¯s powerful voice rang out across the field, ¡°We sincerely thank you on behalf of our village.¡± His voice filled with sincerity and his gaze slowly moved across the each of the seventeen elves who stood before him.

    Polon and Lein also lowered their heads slightly while tightening this posture as Blain addressed the other volunteers. However, in the middle of these, the two of them also sent worried gazes towards Polon occasionally.

    Polon, like Alz, was forced to bear the pain of separation soon after being reunited with his parents. On top of that, Polon knew for a fact that everyone else was killed, having even witnessed Link being killed right in front of his eyes.

    Alz had been fortunate, for he had an endless supply of books to drown himself in, numbing the pain. Within these books, he also found fairytales which soothed his soul and he found books which inspired him, giving a new direction to his life.

    Polon on the other hand, had not been so fortunate. After bawling his eyes out in grief when he arrived at the central village, he started isolating himself, not going out except for duties. He also stopped speaking almost entirely, only revealing traces of his former self when he was around Lein or Blain, something which worried them to no end.

    They had tried various means to help him snap out of it but nothing worked, some of them even backfired, creating some distance between Polon and the two of them. In the end, they could only watch silently as Polon begun to distance himself from everyone, shutting off his heart to everything.

    In direct contrast to his social situation, his fame on the battlefield had been growing larger and larger since he returned. He earned the nickname of ¡°The Silent Killer¡± for his lack of verbal communication and ruthless blows when fighting with wolves, yet it was an ironic nickname considering the way he fought.

    He was extremely well known for charging in with his spear directly into groups of wolves, ruthlessly killing them down without any regard for his own body, instilling fear and respect in the elves who hunt with him.

    However, despite achieving much success in the battlefield, many were unwilling to patrol the area with him as he had an extremely bad habit. He did not listen to instructions and pursued wolves even after they ran, not willing to let them leave.

    He had been punished many times for his conduct but showed no signs of changing, given his circumstances, the village council was also unwilling to be too harsh towards him and kept giving him chances.

    They were doing this in hopes that he would learn from his mistakes and step out of his depression as he was currently the youngest, most talented warrior they had in the tribe, and they had high hopes in Polon.

    Yet despite the many chances he was given, Polon refused to change and refused to even speak when he was called in by the council after causing a comrade to receive heavy injuries due to him rushing into a pack of eight wolves alone when they only numbered three about nine months ago.

    This battle brought both fame and infamy to his name as he slayed six of them with his spear in that battle while only the other two were slayed by his two comrades, creating mixed feelings towards Polon among the council.

    In the end, they decided to suspend him from duties indefinitely while trying all they could to get to him, but all he did was remain silent, refusing to speak even to Lein and Blain who were sent to talk to him.

    When the council received the report of the fourth, they decided to send him there, hoping that something would change in him during this task.

    Things might have probably turned out differently had any one of the initial group of four been by his side, to get through to him, but there are no what ifs in life, only what happened, as the once ever cheerful Polon grew into the elf he is today.

 Chapter 19: Pain of Loss

    Back when he witnessed the merciless fangs and deadly claws of the wolves rip apart his friends, his mind shattered as his heart slowly fell into despair.

    It was as though a thick fog had suddenly entered his mind, making it difficult to think.

    He had never been good at using his head, so he gradually stopped thinking. He started to move according to his instincts, placing himself in danger time and again, seeking death on the battlefield.

    Each time the faces of his friends or family showed up in his mind, he would always ask them, ¡°Why did you leave me behind?¡± in a sorrowful voice, as the guilt for being the only one left pierced him in the heart.

    The bravery the other elves saw in him was, in truth, merely the reckless charge of a pitiful soul hoping for each battle to be his last. Yet, time and again he charged in thinking that it would finally be over, only to come out on top.

    Ironically, abandoning his thoughts had allowed his instincts to sharpen instead, allowing his talent in physical combat to blossom. Thus, the legacy of the ¡°The Silent Killer¡± was born, as he repeatedly achieved incredible results in battle while seeking death.

    This time though, it was different. When he received the notice from the council on being sent to retake the fourth village, light had returned to Polon¡¯s eyes.

    His mind had cleared up for the first time since the incident. The sides of his lips curled up, but his eyes were weeping, displaying the complicated emotions he had as he firmly decided, ¡°This time for sure.¡±, while staring in the direction of the village.

    Hence, he was extremely calm today, revealing a composed side of him that he hadn¡¯t shown in the past four years as he stood before the group.

    Blain and Lein noticed this difference in Polon and mistook it for a positive change, revealing looks of relief while thinking that it was indeed the right decision to bring him along, not knowing the full extent of the darkness in his heart.

    After the three elves saluted the group, they then set off towards the direction of the fourth village, preparing to reclaim the territory of the fourth village.

    Alz moved through the forest at a steady pace, with no signs of hesitation in his steps. After all, he had already taken this trail far too many times to lose his way.

    His expression was relaxed, as if he was just taking a walk in the garden of his home, and not in a wolf infested forest where attacks could come at any time.

    Of course, he had reasons for his confidence as his experience in the forest now was vastly superior to back then, along with his equipment.

    Alz¡¯s equipment had greatly improved from that of five years ago. Back then, he used to sling his leather bag on his back, wearing his dagger on one side and his bow and quiver on the other.

    During the past five years, he focused heavily on his equipment, going to great lengths to improve them finally arriving at his current gear.

    He now wore two crossbows and two quivers at his waist, along with a dagger on each side. Each crossbow was mounted with a full cartridge of five arrows and there were fifteen arrows in each quiver, adding up to a total of 40 arrows on him.

    These crossbows were naturally weapons which he had constructed based on designs found in the archives. Each of the crossbows had a magazine attached which could be loaded with up to five shots as too many would have made the magazine too bulky for Alz¡¯s liking.

    On the quiver by his left, there were five marked arrows with pale green arrowheads that were distinctly different from the rest. These were the products of months of hard work and a whole lot of charcoal, glass arrows.

    However, Alz did not make too many of this despite its greater penetrative power as it took far too much effort to make and was far too brittle to reuse most of the time.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    He had also replaced his fang dagger with a stone dagger which had a flat blade about 18cm long and extremely sharp edges, far sharper than the stone weapons back in the tribe.

    Hatchlings were initially issued fang daggers because they were lightweight, easy to handle, cheap to produce and sufficient for most purposes as it wasn¡¯t designed for combat.

    In fact, it had served him extremely well during the two years he spent in the village. Despite this, in the recent years, he had found himself needing a sharper dagger for his research and proceeded to make this.

    As he had already read up on improving his arrowheads then, it had not been difficult for him to craft this dagger which he had been using ever since.

    The other dagger on his right side was a wooden dagger with multiple glass shards attached to it. He had initially made this as an experiment from the small leftover glass shards from preparing the arrowheads but had never once used it apart from when he first tested its sharpness.

    He had been surprised by its sharpness and decided to keep it with him, but he was not planning on using it unless absolutely necessary as he knew how brittle glass was from his tests with the arrowheads.

    On his back, he carried a leather rucksack with multiple compartments, secured with leather strings. Within it, there was some smoked wolf meat he prepared just yesterday, pieces of charcoal, his leather water bag, the photography book and a few thin books he made using the paper he made himself, fastened with wooden threads.

    One of the books was filled entirely with elven script, written in black using charcoal. This was a book where Alz had recorded findings which would be useful to the tribe and was planning on presenting it to the council when he returned, before leaving on his adventure.

    Suddenly, Alz heard rustling coming from his sides. He stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes, focusing his attention on his ears.

    ¡°Two¡­no, three¡±, Alz mumbled in a voice audible only to himself as he drew a crossbow from his waist and pulled back on the cocking mechanism, preparing it to fire.

    After this, he turned his body to face his left, standing in a combat posture with his right finger on the trigger. Before long, a wolf appeared from behind him.

    It noticed that Alz was looking in the direction of its companions and stealthily crept up behind him, trying to get in range for a pounce.

    After several seconds, it finally got in range, ready for a pounce but it was slightly confused as its comrades were supposed to have reached before it yet they were nowhere to be seen. However, there was no reason to let up this golden opportunity before it as it pounced straight at Alz¡¯s back.

    Just then, right as its feet left the ground, Alz suddenly turned with a fierce expression on his face, pointing his crossbow at the wolf and firing it immediately.

    The wolf was naturally shocked by his reaction, but it was in the air and even attempt to avoid as it tried to use its claws and fangs to block the arrow. However, it was all for naught as the arrow pierced straight through its skull before it could block, killing it instantly.

    Alz walked over and loaded the arrow back into the magazine before turning and proceeding to the the opposite side where soft whimpers could be heard.

    He soon arrived before a pit of sand, looking coldly at the two wolves which were struggling to escape but slowly sinking lower. This was a quicksand trap that he had previously set up, one of the many traps that lay in this area.

    This was the true reason behind the confidence he had shown on this trip, the many traps he had laid along the trail.

    He had long since been preparing to make this trip back to the fourth village, so he had made sure to give ¡®special attention¡¯ to this trail and consistently set up traps on the way each time he went to the fourth village for scouting.

    Eventually, this led to the trail becoming one of the safest place for Alz in the forest, second only to the area beside his forest workshop, which was so filled with traps that even Alz himself did not dare approach the area carelessly.

    He saw that the two wolves showed no signs of escaping and turned to leave, not bothering to kill them as it would be troublesome to retrieve the arrows after and he was confident in the trap.

    As he approached the fourth village, he encountered several more wolves along the way, but they were all either alone or in pairs, so he made quick work out of them and soon arrived before the torn down fence of the fourth village.

    Along the trail, he felt his heart getting heavier as it always did each time he came, but this time, it felt heavier than before, maybe because he was still affected by the melancholy of leaving the archives, or maybe because he had never came this close the previous times.

    He looked at the fence that lay on the floor and took a deep breath before crossing beyond the broken fence, walking back to where his parents fell, for the first time in nearly five years.

    His mood slowly worsened as he saw the destruction along the way. He started to feel anger towards the wolves and his powerless self, along with a strong sense of loss as he recalled the village before the attack.

    Soon, he reached the place between his home and the lake, where he last saw his parents. He stared blankly at the bones that were scattered around the area and fell to his knees while tears started dripping from his eyes.

    And so he cried, louder than he ever had, the loudest he had ever cried in his life.

 Chapter 20: Promise and Revenge

    Attracted by the noise, the wolves in the area started to move towards its source, slowly gathering around Alz.

    The first wolf to arrive saw a sobbing Alz, kneeling defencelessly on the ground. A ferocious glint lit in its eyes as it licked its lips and opened its jaw, dashing straight at Alz.

    As it approached Alz, it began to envision the taste of the yummy prey before it, wetting its jaws with saliva. However, these thoughts soon became its last, as it felt a sharp pain from its forehead and darkness filled its world the next instant.

    Alz had drawn his right crossbow and fired it at the wolf without looking up a single time, as he continued looking at the small pile of bones before him with tears dripping down his cheeks.

    His entire series of motions were so swift and fluid that it felt surreal. It was to the point where the wolf¡¯s mind could not even register his actions, not understanding how it died even at the end.

    The second wolf also continued its charge toward Alz for half a second before recognising what had happened, belatedly stopping its charge and retreating back as fast as it could.

    It had arrived slightly after the first wolf and immediately started charging after catching sight of the defenceless Alz, wanting to get some of the meat, but evidently, what happened after did not go according to its expectations.

    After backing off about 20m from Alz, it revealed a look of relief as it turned back, looking towards Alz who remained at the same spot. Chills ran down its spine as it recalled the eerie scene before, as it continued to glance fearfully towards the kneeling Alz.

    Its instincts that were quiet just a moment ago were now ringing at full force, warning it of the danger posed by the creature ahead.

    Suddenly, it saw that Alz was beginning to stand and panicked, backing off another 10m before looking back cautiously at Alz who was now standing, its body still facing out ready to escape at any moment.

    Alz started to walk, scaring the wolf to back off another 10m, adding to a total distance of 40m between them before looking back at Alz.

    However, Alz showed no signs of caring about the wolves around, as though these wolves did not exist in his world.

    He carefully looked around and walked over to wherever he spotted bones, gathering them in his arms and placing them before where he knelt earlier. After he couldn¡¯t find any more bones, he then proceeded to kneel before the bones.

    During this time, three other wolves had gathered but they had witnessed the interactions between the second wolf and Alz and knew that he was dangerous, so they did not carelessly approach him.

    The second wolf hesitated for a moment before turning its body to face Alz again, letting out a howl that resounded through the village, calling for the rest of its comrades.

    Alz¡¯s tears started dripping faster as he looked at the pile before him. He had gathered every piece in sight but there were still many pieces missing, something he felt helpless about.

    Images of the days he spent with his parents played out in his mind, images of the loving smile that silently accompanied him during the times he was researching in the library, of the figure who always happened to ¡®pass by¡¯ the training grounds, helping him out with his training, of smiles and apologies he received during the first two weeks of their reunion, and of their final moments, when they sacrificed themselves so he could escape.

    As Alz looked back at his memories, a soft voice that was on the verge of breaking escaped his lips

    ¡°M-mom¡­ d-dad, I l-lived¡­I-I¡¯m al-live¡­I p-promise I¡¯ll l-live pro-properly so you t-two can r-rest peacefully n-now.¡±

    He sniffed and swallowed as he spoke, stuttering throughout the sentence as though he had just forgotten how to speak.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Alz wiped off his tears and close his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm his emotions. When he opened his eyes a few moments later, all that was left on his face was a calm expression.

    ¡°It might be a little late, but I¡¯ll send them to keep you company now.¡± Alz uttered with a gentle smile on his face as he took one last look at the pile before moving his gaze to the six wolves that surrounded him.

    He was burning inside, but he knew that now was not the time to be emotional. The first wolf was only so easily taken care of because he had been prepared and the wolf had not, but it was different this time.

    His crossbows were naturally not always pre-cocked as it would damage the bow and posed a risk to himself, but he had set it up when he entered the village as he had already been expecting the wolves, allowing him to achieve the first kill with the element of surprise.

    The second wolf barked and gestured repeatedly to the other wolves, warning them of the danger Alz¡¯s crossbow posed as they circled around Alz, slowly closing in on him.

    ¡°Six¡­so seven in total.¡± Alz thought as he looked around, nodding slightly. He had estimated for there to be five to eight wolves left in the village and was prepared to escape immediately had there been more.

    Thankfully, his estimates were accurate and there were only seven in total. On top of that, he had been lucky enough to take one out before this, so he only had to deal with six of them, something he had confidence in.

    ¡°Six¡­ it¡¯s the same.¡± Suddenly, he felt a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as he recalled his escape five years ago.

    Back then, there were also six wolves on his tail and today, there were also six wolves.

    ¡°But I¡¯m no longer the me back then¡±, he thought as a smile appeared on his face, amused by the coincidence.

    Meanwhile, the circle formed by the wolves was still closing in on him, with each wolf being only ten meters away from him now. He would soon enter their range where they would all attack him at once, ripping him to shreds.

    Alz cocked his crossbow and stood in the middle silently, watching as the wolves approached.

    When the wolves were about six meters from him, he suddenly pulled out a large, translucent pale green object from the front pocket of his shirt. The object was weirdly deformed on all sides and barely fit into its palm.

    Alz¡¯s left hand slowed down slightly when he grabbed onto the object, weighed down by the object. He revealed a tinge of unwillingness as he shot a quick look at the it but immediately threw it directly onto ground below him.

    The object immediately shattered into countless shards as it smashed onto the ground, spreading across a large area on the ground. The loud and foreign shattering sound caused the wolves¡¯ movements to slow down and back off slightly.

    Making use of this window he had created, Alz immediately dashed to the right where the largest wolf of the pack was, aiming his crossbow at it.

    When the wolves were closing in, he had already identified this wolf as the alpha of the pack, so he had planned on targeting it all along.

    He fired his crossbow, but the alpha wolf immediately regained its senses, quickly dodging to the side and avoiding a fatal blow, but it did not escape uninjured as the arrow landed on one of its forelegs, ripping its leg off its body.

    It slowly fell to the ground after dodging, letting out a long, pained howl which was filled with anxiousness.

    Hearing this, the other wolves immediately barred their teeth and growled towards Alz while charging at him, trying to help their leader.

    However, their movements quickly slowed down and pained whimpers escaped from their jaws as they looked down at the pale green shards that cut deeply into their paws.

    Alz was silently observing his surroundings and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed this. He quickly drew his left crossbow and aimed it at the alpha that was lying on the ground, firing the shot with ended its life.

    Right as the alpha died, five pained howls filled with sadness came from behind Alz but he remained unfazed as he turned and started to finish off the five injured wolves one by one with his crossbow bolts.

    As he was killing them, one of the wolves started whimpering and showed pleading looks towards Alz, but it was all met with a cold gaze as the elf silently fired his weapon, killing them all.

    There was no longer any room left in his heart for sympathy towards wolves. All of that was destroyed on the day of the attack and he had already killed far too many of their kind since then for this to affect him.

    Furthermore, these were wolves that were in the fourth village, these wolves were especially unforgivable for Alz even among their kind and there was no way he would even consider sparing them.

    Alz walked out of the shard zone and removed the shards that were stuck on his shoe before taking out a small leather pouch from his bag and collecting them in case it ever came in handy. He sighed as he looked at the small bag of shards before tying the top and placing it in his bag.

    This glass ball could be said to have been Alz¡¯s masterpiece in glassmaking, one which he had created by fluke and failed in every attempt to recreate it. That said, he also didn¡¯t try too hard as glassmaking required a large amount of charcoal which he needed for many other purposes.

    After all, it was most effective in flat open areas was practically non-existent in the forest. He had planned on using it from the beginning but still felt that it was a pity for his masterpiece to be destroyed in this manner.

    Having cleared up the glass on the floor, Alz returned back to the pile of bones.

 Chapter 21: Resolving Attachment and Unexpected Reunion

    Alz gently scooped the bones up with his arms and walked away in the direction of his home, leaving behind the six fresh carcasses which were spreading the scent of blood in the air.

    He strolled along the path in his memories with the bones held by his chest in a gentle embrace as he slowly recounted his experience in the past five years, talking about any interesting things at length while glossing over the dangers within, as though he was strolling with his parents.

    He tried to appear happy with a smile on his face, but his slightly breaking voice and the never-ending stream of tears which rolled down his cheeks betrayed his true emotions as he reported his experiences to his parents, hoping to put their souls at ease.

    This scene could have only been described as bizarre by any onlooker, as a lone elf slowly strolled with a smile on his face, but tears flowing down his cheeks, talking to bones he held in his chest played out in the fourth village.

    However, the world reflected in Alz¡¯s mind was different. He felt like his parents were by his side, gently holding onto his hands as they silently listened to his experiences with a loving smile on their faces.

    Alz suddenly started to slow down, as though his feet suddenly became heavier and his tears started to drip faster, but he still moved forward, one step as a time, finally coming to a stop before a hut which was damaged by claw marks all over.

    His parents were becoming fainter with each step he took, finally disappearing entirely when he had arrived at the hut, putting an end to his delusions.

    He silently stood before the entrance, his eyes staring blankly into the space before him. When about fifteen minutes had passed, he finally started moving again, walking slowly into the hut.

    He carefully placed the bones down by the side and squatted down, removing his stone dagger from its sheath, preparing to dig a hole in the ground of the hut.

    The Calla tribe believed that spirits of fallen elves rested in their bones. The would remain within, watching over their surroundings until they were called by the Mother Elf, when they would be purified and given a new lease of life.

    Alz had been told this story many times in his younger days, but he had never felt too strongly about it. Furthermore, his perceptions towards life and death had changed drastically over the past five years, as he learned more about life and its origins from the books in the archive.

    However, at this moment, he chose to believe in it with all his heart. He casted away the doubts he had and solemnly and sincerely prayed, for the blessings of the Mother Elf to descend on his parents, for them to be able to live a good life after.

    His mind focused on praying while his body repeated the experienced motions of stabbing and scooping, causing the hole to gradually widen and deepen. After several minutes of digging, Alz¡¯s hands finally slowed to a halt as he looked down at the large hole before him.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Soft words of gratitude escaped from his lips in a hoarse voice, two words which had many meanings behind. He had uttered many words today, but none were as heavy as these last two. These words did not just contain his feelings of gratitude, they also carried a heavy resolve, words that signalled a farewell that was likely to be eternal.

    Alz knew that this was probably the first and last time he would be here. He would be leaving the village, the tribe and even the forest after this, setting off to explore the vast world. This was what he had decided on that fateful day about five years ago, the dream that he had obtained which drove him to live on.

    The moment he buried the bones would be the moment he lost his last bit of attachment to this forest, the moment when the final bindings he had on his heart would break. He had feelings for the tribe, but they were not strong enough to bind him.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    In fact, he even held a mild resentment towards the tribe. He knew that his resentment was unjustified, he understood the reasons behind the traditions and how they protected the entire tribe. Hence, he did not blame the tribe.

    He hated the wolves, but he did not hate his tribe as what they did was right. The tribe had to be split, and many lives were saved by that. He had no right to judge the decisions made by the council, much less when he was powerless to provide an alternative solution.

    However, emotions were complex, and they didn¡¯t always follow the mind, much less for a child like him. He knew, he understood, and he accepted, but his heart had drifted away from the tribe as he did so. These were the feeling he held in his heart, feelings which contributed to his resolve in leaving the forest.

    Alz carefully picked up each piece of bone, laying them down gently in the hole one at a time. His tears began to flow again, but the meaning behind it had changed.

    The tears before were tears of sadness, of grief, of remembrance to the happy times they spent in the past, tears shed while looking towards the past.

    The tears that currently flowed were tears of an unwillingness to part, tears containing the uncertainty of a hatchling that was leaving its nest, tears shed while looking towards the future.

    The air in the hut stood still, as the young elf gently picked up pieces of bone and carefully placed each piece into the hole before it one at a time. The task which would have normally been done in seconds lasted about five minutes before it finally concluded.

    Alz gave looked into the hole one last time before he started to cover it. This time, it finished in under a minute and Alz slowly rose from his position, standing before the grave. His tears no longer flowed, his gaze was clear, and his eyes burning with resolve.

    He slowly turned around and exited the hut. His heart felt lighter than before, as though he left a piece of him behind as he walked out the entrance. The bits of doubt and hesitation that clouded his mind cleared away and his heart started pounding with excitement as he began to imagine the world that lay beyond the forest.

    Just as he was about to proceed back to where he left the wolf carcasses, he suddenly heard the sound of a footstep coming from the side.

    He reflexively reached out for his crossbow, but quickly relaxed his stance when he heard the footsteps a second time instead revealing a puzzled face as he thought ¡°Hmm?¡±

    He had initially thought that there were wolves approaching, but when he heard the footsteps a second time, he immediately knew that it was not the case as the footsteps sounded distinctly different from those of a wolf.

    He paused for a moment in thought. He had a good guess as to what was making the footsteps as there really weren¡¯t many other possibilities. After a few moments, he shook his head slightly and continued moving towards the wolf carcasses, except that this time, his footsteps were noticeably louder than before.

    Polon closely followed beside behind Blain as they made their way to the fourth village. As they moved along the path, Polon suddenly recalled the two times he had travelled along this path in the past.

    The first was when his friends were still around, a once happy memory that was now a source of pain and misery in his heart, making him breathless from the pain each time he recalled it since he returned.

    He still remembered the helpless looks on his friends¡¯ faces as they tried to tell the dumb him the things that were mentioned in the lecture before as he dozed off, the pranks he played on his three friends during the breaks they had in the trip and the smiles and laughs they shared.

    Then came the second time, a journey that could be said to have been the polar opposite of first. Many had fallen before his eyes, including one of his best friends, Link. The group kept becoming smaller with each stretch of the journey, until only the three of them were left, a memory of dread and despair.

    All he ever wished for was for things to remain like they were in the first trip, but even that was no longer possible. He was currently passing through this path for a third time now, two times too many for his liking. He planned on making this his last, with no possibility left for a fourth.

    The journey which had taken him weeks in the past only took a day this time and the group of 20 soon found themselves before the fourth village, or rather, what was left of it.

    The expressions of the group hardened as they looked at the state of the village. Polon clenched his fists so hard that blood started dripping from it as it shook uncontrollably.

    They had left the village during the earlier stages of the attack before, or they wouldn¡¯t have been able to leave at all. So, this was the first time he saw the state of the fourth village after the attacks.

    The sight before him tore his heart apart. His heart started pounding faster and his breathing became more ragged as he desperately resisted his urge to shout out loudly and charge into the village, slaughtering every wolf that remained.

    Several moments later, he stomped his feet on the ground to vent some of his frustrations before his head finally cooled off and he slowly released the grip on his hand. He closed his eyes for a second before opening it, revealing bloodshot eyes which overflowed with murderous intent as he stared at the village.

 Chapter 22: Growth

    The other elves carefully glanced at Polon, slightly moving away from him. Just then, their ears perked as they heard sounds travelling from within the village. They immediately readied their stances but revealed puzzled expressions when they identified the sound.

    Most of these elves were veteran soldiers who had hunting for many more years than Alz. Furthermore, unlike Alz, these elves had always been living among other elves. They instantly recognised the source of the sound as one of their kind when they focused their ears.

    The elves relaxed the tension in their bodies while the footsteps continued to ring out steadily, heading in a separate direction from them. The elves turned to look at Blain with a questioning gaze at this unexpected occurrence.

    Polon''s mind however was clouded with rage and his mind was unfocused. He did not realise that the anomaly in the footsteps and images of wolves floated in his mind as the sound continued. Finally, he couldn''t resist the urge to act and dashed straight at the source of the sound with a murderous shout that filled the entire village.

    The other elves tried to stop him when they noticed, but Polon was fast and they had reacted a beat too late, making their efforts fruitless. Blain watched Polon''s rapidly shrinking back with a sorrowful expression and unhesitatingly started chasing after him.

    Polon was the most talented student he ever had and watching him slowly reduce to this state pained him. He inwardly sighed as he looked at the back of his best student, the child who had always been suffering since the incident.

    Lein naturally chased immediately as well and the other elves looked at each other with bitter expressions but quickly proceeded to chase after the three.

    His vision was stained in red. His mind fell dormant once again and his instincts took over. The world around him started warping and the surroundings became fuzzy. Polon gripped tightly onto his spear with his right hand as he charged straight steady sound that rang out.

    As he approached, he began to notice to anomaly in the footsteps, the similarity of the steps with his comrades its difference from the wolf. Yet, he couldn''t think straight, the sight of the devastated fourth village made him lose his reason as he continued charging forth.

    Alz halted his steps as face revealed a confused expression as he turned to look in a direction. He could hear that an elf was charging towards him. The footsteps were light and swift, yet it advanced at a terrifying pace he couldn''t hope to match.

    "Was I wrong?" a thought floated in his mind as his eyes narrowed.

    He had initially thought that the newcomers were elves sent from the central village. After all, he couldn''t think of any other reason why any elves would approach here, particularly at this this point in time when the wolves started to show signs of leaving.

    However, he felt a clear hostile intent from the charge. The creature who approached him was hostile beyond doubt. If they were truly warriors sent by the tribe, there was no reason for them to be unable to recognise his footsteps when even he could recognise theirs.

    A fierce glint lit up in his eyes and he quickly opened his backpack, taking the bag that held the glass shards out and scattering it in front. Next, he drew his crossbow with his right and cocked it while his left hand held onto his stone dagger, his eyes staring straight ahead.

    Before long, a figure entered his sight. The figure was an elf as he had expected, but he was currently moving forward at a speed that went beyond the limits of an average elf. His expression was murderous and the bloodlust emanating from him was astounding.

    Alz closely observed the approaching figure and suddenly, a smiling face popped up in his head. The face of one of the closest friends he ever had, the face his partner who had always been with him when he hunted back then and one of the only remaining things he truly cared about.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    "POLON! STOP!" suddenly, a loud bellow came from behind the figure and a burly figured appeared in the distance, chasing after him.

    Alz''s expression was filled with happiness and grief. He was happy that his dear friend was still alive, but also felt sad for the current state he was in. He looked back at the figure and saw the hints of sadness contained within the fury.

    "Polon!" Alz shouted out at the figure while loosening the grip on his crossbow, but he did not react. Alz''s eyes were dyed with a deeper sadness as he looked at Polon, but he quickly stepped to the side such that there were no more glass shards in the path between them.

    Alz kept shouting out at Polon but nothing changed. Watching this, Alz''s started to feel a deep anger rise from the depths of his soul. He took a deep breath to calm his emotions and sheathed his dagger, taking on a combat stance.

    Several moments later, Alz was finally within the range of Polon''s spear. Polon immediately thrusted his spear forward, but Alz calmly dodged as though he had read it in advance. In this opening, Alz immediately made a short dash, approaching Polon.

    "If you won''t listen then go to sleep for a while!" a chilling voice exited from Alz''s lips, containing Alz''s fury within it.

    Alz grabbed onto Polon''s body while using his own to distort Polon''s center of gravity, throwing him onto the ground the next instant and knocking him out.

    A voice called out, a familiar voice from his memories. Polon''s body slightly trembled as he heard the voice. His mind was struggling, trying to break free from the anger that bound his mind. Yet, he did not succeed. He continued charging like a mindless beast towards the only ally that remained.

    The bits of consciousness that remained in him shouted for his body to stop but it didn''t work. He dashed up to his friend and lunged his spear at him but suddenly, he heard a chilling voice from his side and the next moment, his world flipped and his consciousness faded.

    Blain stared in shock at the scene before him. He had started panicking along the way when he recognised the elf that was standing ahead. He was extremely surprised that Alz had managed to survive the incident back then and was extremely happy to see him.

    He felt like a strand of hope had finally appeared for mending his student''s heart, but never in his wildest dreams did he expect their meeting to play out like this. If Polon really killed Alz here, Blain could only imagine how the regret that followed would break him completely.

    He started shouting but Polon did not react, Alz started shouting but Polon still did not stop. Blain was falling into despair as he watched the scene. In his eyes, Polon was a warrior who had grown to be able to match even him in a battle and was not someone Alz could handle.

    Yet, reality had played out completely differently from what he had expected with an almost comical ending. Polon could only thrust his spear once before being thrown to the ground in a way he had never even thought was possible, ending the fight.

    "A-A-Alz? Is that you?" he slowly walked up before the young elf who was standing before Polon who lay sprawled on the ground, his voice filled with doubt and disbelief.

    "Village chief, it''s nice seeing you again." Alz turned to Blain and replied with a smile, but quickly turned his gaze to Polon and asked in a worried tone, "What happened?"

    Blain resisted the urge to ask Alz about the fight earlier and followed his gaze to look at Alz, sighing before he spoke, "He never truly recovered from the incident."

    They both fell to silence, but Blain quickly broke the silence, unable to contain his curiosity, asking Alz, "What was that just now?"

    Alz naturally knew what Blain was referring to when he asked. He looked at Blain and casually replied, "Nothing much, just something I picked up." he ended it there, not continuing to explain.

    Blain looked at Alz silently, before proceeding to sigh. He could hear Alz''s unwillingness to explain further and he said, "You have really changed, in many ways."

    Alz remained silent and looked down at Polon, trying to come up with a solution to solve this tricky problem.

    Lein and the other elves slowly started to arrive one after another, walking up to the pair. The other elves looked at Alz and the unconscious Polon with curious eyes while Lein opened his eyes and mouth widely as he saw Alz, his face filled with disbelief and unconcealed joy.

    Alz noticed Lein''s reaction and called out to him happily, "Guard captain! You also survived!"

    "I-Its really you? Alz?" Lein stammered slightly at the start, not yet recovered from the shock.

    Alz beamed at Lein and lightly nodded his head. He was extremely happy that Lein had made it out of the ordeal, as Lein was his instructor and his lessons had helped him much throughout the years, something he felt extremely grateful for.

    Suddenly, a soft groan was heard from below and Polon''s eyelid started to wiggle as he slowly returned to consciouness.

 Chapter 23: Revelation

    Polon slowly lifted his head and started looking around drowsily. He is head still hadn''t fully recovered from the impact before and he was confused towards what was going on.

    However, the first thing that entered his mind shook him down to the core of his being. His immediately came to his senses and tried to speak, but he felt like there was something stuck in his throat and he couldn''t get his voice out.

    Suddenly, he felt an impact on his head.

    "Its been so long, yet you still haven''t learned how to listen when people are speaking!?" a familiar-sounding voice with that all so nostalgic tone entered his ears.

    The next thing he felt was a tight hug, as the childhood friend from his memories held him tightly in his arms.

    "A-Alz? R-Really? I''m not dreaming?" Polon asked with some hesitation in his voice. He was still thinking that this couldn''t have been possible, yet the sensation he felt were so real.

    "Do you need me to smack your head again? " Alz said jokingly in a playful tone while gently ruffling Polon''s hair

    After which, he looked directly into Polon''s eyes and continued slowly, "It''s really me...I''m back, Polon" he was in a good mood right now, as he had just found out that two of the people he really cared for were alive. In addition, one of them was one of his closest friends from the past, Polon.

    Polon began to break into tears, sobbing loudly and finally releasing some of the pent-up emotions he held from that incident in the past. Alz slowly pat on Polon''s back, soothing him as he cried. However, no tears flowed from his eyes, all of his tears had already died out from before.

    Suddenly, Polon''s body jolted as he started to remember the scenes from his mad charge before.

    "A-A-Alz... So just now... that was really you?" Polon panicked slightly and carefully asked in a guilt laden voice.

    Alz began to strongly smack on Polon''s back multiple times when he heard this, releasing a voice that was filled with anger from his lips, "Oh! So you finally remember! Very good!"

    It was because he understood his friend, that this was the only way to help him at times like this. Letting him reflect on things himself was a recipe for disaster, something the three, no... four of them had learnt in the past as they grew up together.

    Polon did not like thinking, but he wasn''t dumb either. He quickly understood Alz''s intentions and smiled at him, showing that he was fine. Although, a large part of why he was able to recover from the guilt this quickly was due to the fact that Alz wasn''t injured.

    Just then, a thought went through his mind as he recalled the last scenes before he passed out.

    "Alz, how did you beat me just now? I don''t mean to brag, but I think I''m pretty strong?" Polon asked Alz in a voice that contained confusion and belated shock.

    The surrounding elves mutually exchanged looks of surprise and directed curious gazes towards Alz, observing him. Meanwhile, Blain''s ears perked up as he tried to focus on the conversation between the two.

    This time, Alz didn''t give an answer that was as vague as the one he told Blain, replying, "You might have fought with many wolves, but remember that fighting against peo-elves is different."

    Alz spaced out slightly as he replied, correcting his words once mid-sentence as his mind returned to the many hours he had spent practising his techniques on the wooden dummies he had personally carved.

    Back at the archives, Alz was looking out for information which would benefit his tribe, but more importantly, he focused on acquiring information that would potentially benefit him on his journey. Hence, when he saw that there was a section on this in the catalog, he immediately went to read up on it.

    In the section, he had found many different fighting techniques documented in the books, Furthermore, most of these were specifically designed towards handing other humans. It was then that a thought came into his mind, that he might probably come across other hostile creatures that were not wolves in his journey.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The tribe had taught them a fighting style that he had long gotten used to and had served him well even during his stay here, but would it always be useful?

    After all, everything they had been learnt and been taught were made to handle wolves which was would suffice in this part of the forest, but it would greatly lose its effectiveness beyond these woods.

    Alz quickly started flipping through the fighting techniques of the past his eyes shined when he found a few which seemed suitable for him, martial arts that allowed a weaker user to take on opponents who possessed greater strength than him.

    His race inherently lacked strength, this was a well known and documented fact. There were exceptions to the rule every now and then, but he was not one of them. Hence, he could only make up for it up with technique, something these arts were made for. This was the start of his days of training.

    Polon slowly observed Alz''s with his eyes, trying to figure out how he was taken out so quickly. It was only then that he finally realised the huge changes in Alz. His appearances were among the least that changed, growing to resemble Tia more over the years while his height was now half a head shorter than himself.

    These changes were still normal, but everything else after were not. Alz was wearing clothes with a distinctly different design from the ones he was used to seeing in the village, with many pockets on the front and sides of his shirt.

    His pants were similar the ones they had in the village and did not go beyond the knees, but also had deep seated pockets on them. There were also three thick pieces of leather that were strapped around his body.

    The bottom-most strap was horizontal and went around his waist, holding two quivers up at his side. The other two straps on the other hand, crossed each other diagonally above his waist.

    Alz''s crossbow holsters were on the lower end of both sides while his dagger sheathes were on the higher side. Finally, the bag Alz carried behind his back also clearly appeared to be more complicated than the ones they used in the village.

    However, these were not the most defining change of Alz. Polon somehow felt a sense of distance from his friend which had never been there before, something which went beyond what time alone could do. Something had clearly changed about his friend, something which scared him.

    Polon silently at Alz before asking with uncertainty in his voice, "Your still Alz... right?"

    Alz looked at the fearful expression on Polon''s face while hesitating. He eventually flashed a bright smile and nodded towards Polon while inwardly sighing as he helplessly thought, "his instincts are sharp as always."

    Polon had always been the most sensitive to emotional cues since way back, something which worked against Alz now. Alz was still struggling towards thinking up a solution to Polon''s current problem and he didn''t want to make it worse by breaking the news of his departure so suddenly.

    Polon didn''t look convinced but he didn''t choose to press on, instead changing the topic and showing Alz the brightest smile he made since the incident as he said, "Welcome back Alz!" after this, he stood up and gave Alz a tight hug again as tears trailed across his face.

    His mind was simple, Alz was back now and that was all that mattered. No matter how much he changed, he was still Alz, his best friend.

    Blain and Lein looked at this scene with warm eyes while the other elves had a mixture or surprise and wonder on their faces, as this was a side of Polon they had never seen since their return.

    Also, many of them also noticed Alz''s unique getup and also understood that he was another survivor from the fourth from the earlier conversations, prompting many curious gazes towards him mixed in with sighs of respect and admiration.

    "This is great! With Alz here, I''m sure we can rebuild this village much faster!" Polon exclaimed excitedly after he separated from Alz about five minutes later. The cloud of negativity in his mind had faded off considerably and the will to live began to light in him again, at this encounter that he had never thought possible.

    However, his happiness did not last long and was quickly interrupted by a sigh, a sigh filled with helplessness that came from his front.

    Alz looked up at towards the sky and steeled his heart, before turning a resolute gaze to Polon. Since it came to this, he decided to tell the truth. He did not want to lie to his best friend and it was something he needed to deal with in the near future.

    "I''m sorry Polon... I''m really happy you''re alive and that we managed to meet again, but I can''t stay in the village, I''ll be leaving the tribe soon. Sorry." Alz''s voice was determined, there was some loneliness in his voice, but it spoke of a conclusion that would not waver.

    Polon''s expression immediately froze. He made a forced smile and asked again, "What do you mean you''re leaving? You just came back... We can go talk and go hunting together like the old times again." his voice was tearful and breaking across as he gazed at Alz, hoping to some change in his attitude, but he was disappointed.

    "AAAAAaaaaaa" Polon''s face slowly crumbled and he ran off with a loud scream that echoed throughout the village with tears in the corner of his eye.

    Alz reflexively tried to chase but stopped after reaching his limbs out slightly as he realised that he didn''t know what to say. He silently walked over to the glass shards he scattered earlier and started keeping them while he collected his thoughts.

 Chapter 24: Polons Darkness

    "The three of you, go watch after him." Blain picked three elves from the group and instructed them to chase behind Polon.

    He wanted to go himself, but he resisted the urge to chase after Polon as he knew that there was nothing he could do for Polon even if he caught up. He also wasn''t too concerned about his safety as he trusted in his strength.

    Alz ignored the gazes from the surrounding elves, carefully collecting the shards of glass on the floor. After several minutes, he picked up all the shards on the floor and fastened the bag again, placing it in his backpack.

    Blain promptly approached Alz when he saw that he was done, asking him, "Alz, are you really leaving?"

    He too wanted to know the answer to this question. From Alz''s performance and getup, it was apparent that he had been through many things since the attacks and he would certainly be an invaluable asset towards rebuilding the village.

    Alz simply looked up at Blain and nodded, not explaining more. His eyes were unfocused and it was clear that he was distracted. Noticing this, Blain swallowed his questions with a bitter expression, knowing that he wouldn''t get anything out of questioning Alz in his current state.

    Suddenly, Alz voiced a question, "Have you sent elves back to report on the condition of the village yet?"

    Blain was caught by surprise at the sudden question but quickly responded, "We just arrived and came here immediately after Polon. We haven''t even scouted the area for wolves yet." he answered frankly as there was no reason to hide this from Alz.

    Alz nodded slightly after hearing this and said, "There was a pack of seven wolves left but they have already been killed. Their bodies are over there." Alz updated them on the situation and pointed in the direction he was heading earlier before the interruption.

    Blain looked at Alz with his eyes wide open in disbelief, not just him, the surrounding elves all looked at Alz with shock. That short sentence conveyed a simple message that sent a chill down their spines.

    The wolves wouldn''t have randomly died on their own and there was only one plausible way in which Alz could have obtained that information, furthermore he was alone with no signs of any allies which made the shock they felt even greater.

    "Y-You killed them alone!?" one of the elves couldn''t hold back his thoughts and shouted.

    Alz sent a casual glance at that elf before looking back at Blain, continuing his words, "I''ll bring Polon back with me to the village to report the village''s condition to the council." he wasn''t asking a question, he made a statement.

    Blain met with the gaze of Alz and fell into silence. He was looking deep into Alz''s eyes, trying to peer into his mind, to find a way to convince him to stay. However, he couldn''t come up anything which would sway the resolve of the young elf before him.

    Several moments later, he sighed and asked, "Are you confident?"

    "I will bring him back no matter what!" Alz''s expression instantly hardened and he replied in an extremely serious tone.

    Blain nodded his head multiple times while finally revealing a delighted smile at this answer. This was the first proper answer he got from Alz in the entire time, and the only one which he was satisfied with.

    Alz then began to ask Blain a few questions on how Polon led his life after the incident, all of which Blain patiently explained to Alz with as much details as he could provide.

    After this conversation, Alz started running towards the direction Polon took off in with a determined expression on his face. Lein had a rare smirk on his usually expressionless face as he gazed in the direction Alz headed while some elves appeared confused.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    Alz could feel his heart thumping loudly, providing energy to his limbs. The time between his steps grew shorter as he ran, revealing the impatience that he felt. As he was running, he realised that the surroundings were becoming more familiar.

    Alz had been to most of the village in the past, but there weren''t many places which could give him this sense of familiarity which was cultivated by a long period of time spent in this area. His steps slowed down to a walk as he began to observe his surroundings.

    "So he came here." he thought as he looked at the familiar sights around him. There were signs of damage all around, but every tree, every building, and even every bade of grass here had a place in his memory. These were the dorms where they had lived together in the past.

    Alz began to regulate his breathing, thinking of what to say when he met with Polon later. He was slightly worried that Polon might lose his mind and leave the village, but his concerns soon dissolved when he realised where this was.

    Since he ran in this direction, Alz knew him well enough to pinpoint exactly where he would be now. Alz revealed a look of nostalgia as he looked around, before walking towards the hut where they lived while organising his thoughts.

    The familiar hut soon entered his eyes, along with three elves who were waiting around the hut. The three elves shot sharp gazes in his direction when he appeared, but quickly relaxed their bodies when they identified him, greeting him with a light nod.

    Alz returned their greetings and slowly walked over to the hut while nostalgia began to fill him. Memories of the spars he had with Link and Polon here, of the times he was explaining the contents of Lein''s lectures to Polon while Link made fun of him by the side, fond memories of the times when everything was still happy.

    He quickly shook his head to clear his mind. Now was not the time to look back at the past, he had something more important to do now, to save his friend who was still suffering from being trapped in the past.

    This was something he understood, and something he had been fortunate enough to overcome in the early stages with help from the archives. However, things looked worse for Polon. The stories of how Polon led his life since the incident made him feel like shards of glass were piercing his heart each time.

    He understood Polon more than the elven council back at the village, more than Lein and Blain and in some areas, even more than Polon understood himself. Hence, he had noticed many more signs which they could not from Polon''s actions in the past years.

    Polon had closed his heart for five years and it had only been worsening. He did not know that Polon had intended to end his life in this trip, but he also didn''t think Polon would be far from his breaking point given the things he had heard.

    He took a deep breath and entered the hut while calling out, "Polon?"

    Polon was standing in the kneeling in the room slamming the ground in front of him. When he heard the approaching footsteps, his face immediately shot up to look at the intruder with a ferocious expression. Having seen that it was Alz who entered, an innocent smile suddenly floated on his face as though his rage earlier had just been an illusion.

    His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were stained with tears while his fingernails were digging into his palms. The bottom of his fists had a small trail of blood dripping from it and the ground before him had two marks which contained hints of red, matching the shape of his hand.

    "Hey Alz, do you still remember?" Polon asked in a normal tone, the tone he often used when he conversed with Alz in the past.

    "Yeah, I remember everything." Alz replied while looking back into Polon''s eyes.

    The side of Polon''s lips curled up to form a wider grin as when he heard the reply, but the smile vanished in the next instant, replaced by a contorted expression filled with grief and loneliness.

    "THEN WHY ARE YOU LEAVING!?" Polon bellowed at the top of his lungs.

    The dominant emotion might have seemed like anger, but it took a different form when it fell into Alz''s ears. What he heard was a cry of grief, loneliness and the fear or something being taken away from him yet again.

    Alz fell silent at this, at a loss of how to respond. He was after all just a 16 year old who had been living in seclusion the past few years. He even felt an impulse to just stay at the village, but the resolve he held immediately doused the thought.

    About half a minute passed with the two elves staring in silence before Alz said with a gentle smile, "Polon, let''s take a walk."

    Polon''s was overcome with nostalgia for a moment as he blankly stared at Alz. This was always how it went with conflicts among the four of them. Whenever someone was throwing a tantrum, they would always bring him out for a walk to talk things out.

    He soon returned to his senses and replied grumpily, "But I never win."

    "We''re just going for a walk like the old times, how''s there winning and losing." Alz naturally knew what he meant but pretended to be oblivious. After saying that, he immediately walked out of the hut.

    Polon looked at this and hesitated, but his hesitation lasted just an instant before he gritted his teeth and chased Alz out of the hut.

 Chapter 25: A Promise

    Polon quickly caught up to Alz and walked up to his side. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful, as though the attacks of the past had just been a cruel lie. The two elves indulged themselves in the nostalgia from the past as they silently walked out of the village.

    Polon didn''t ask anything and Alz remained silent as well, as though unwilling to break the serene mood which surrounded them.

    "Why?" Polon finally asked in a calm voice after they exited the village, breaking the peaceful silence that filled the air.

    He didn''t ask where they were headed, because that didn''t matter to him. He and Alz both understood that the trip itself was where the meaning and wherever they were headed was only secondary, which was why Alz wasn''t surprised when he heard this.

    Alz''s eyes went blank for a moment, his mind moving back to that day he first found the book he still kept with him, of the sights filled with an otherworldly beauty he never imagined before. He was recalling the reasons behind his decision, thinking of the best way to answer his best pal.

    "It''s the only dream I have left, the only thing that kept me alive." a sincere voice finally exited Alz''s lips several minutes later.

    "Even if it means leaving the tribe, leaving all of us behind!?" Polon responded instantly, his agitation leaking towards the end as he started raising his voice.

    Alz abruptly stopped in his tracks at this question and Polon quickly reacted stopping right before Alz. Polon looked directly into Alz''s face, catching a glimpse of the sad, bitter and helpless expression he had. His heart began to stir as he felt the weight of these emotions.

    "I can''t stay here anymore." Alz''s voice carried lightly into his ears, making it his turn to fall into silence. He didn''t want to, but he understood why Alz said those words. The resentment in Alz''s voice was hardly noticeable, but it resonated strongly with those of his own.

    Alz started to walk again and Polon followed by his side. Both of them didn''t speak and silence dawned between the pair again, but the silence this time was heavy and depressing, opposite of the soothing atmosphere from before.

    The skies slowly began to darken as the two elves continued to cut through the forest with sluggish movements far from what they were capable of. Suddenly, a sigh escaped from Alz''s lips and he lightly shook his head with a slight smile on his face.

    "I will be back, I promise." he said in a refreshed voice, as he finally thought of something he had neglected before, a solution to the problem which was weighing heavily on his heart.

    Polon slowly turned his head to look at Alz while surprise lit in his eyes. Just because he was leaving doesn''t mean he wouldn''t ever return. This lasted but an instant before he looked down while his eyes dimmed again. After all, nothing had changed and Alz was going to leave.

    "POLON! CAN I LEAVE THE VILLAGE TO YOU?" Alz suddenly shouted, his voice echoing loudly within the forest.

    Polon was alarmed by this and quickly readied his spear. It was never a good idea to shout in the forest, even if the first darkness hadn''t arrived yet. This was such an obvious fact that Lein only mentioned it once in passing before, because he didn''t think anyone would actually do it.

    Yet, Alz''s face showed no signs of worry. Contrary to that, his eyes were wide open with a savage grin on his face. He prepared both crossbows but kept one back in its holster, holding the other in his hands.

    Sure enough, Alz''s shout didn''t go unnoticed. The two elves began to hear sounds closing in from four different directions, surrounding them. Polon immediately felt relief wash over him when he noticed that there were only four wolves.

    "Did he hit his head too hard when he was away?" He sent a fierce glare at Alz while thinking multiple rude comments towards Alz. However, he didn''t voice them as he knew that getting into an argument now would only be counterproductive.

    While he was doing this, his body had already begun moving. The sluggishness from before was nowhere to be seen, replaced by sharp movements befitting the rising star of the tribe.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    His blood began to boil, and he felt an urge to charge at the wolves. If this were any other situation, he would have already charged at the wolves directly, but now Alz was by his side. He focused his senses on the closest wolf immediately moved to stand between it and Alz in combat stance.

    "Leave it to me." a voice suddenly came from behind and he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. He turned behind with a questioning gaze, but Alz merely shook his head lightly and pulled him back.

    The force was weak and he could have easily resisted, but he moved along it and went behind Alz, silently observing him. He also remained in his combat stance, ready to jump in at the first sign of danger.

    Alz calmly pointed his crossbow in the direction of the wolf with his eyes closed. Several moments later, his eyes suddenly sprung open and he fired an arrow in front, immediately taking off towards another wolf after this.

    A pained whimper came from the direction he shot at earlier, but Alz didn''t care as he was already on the next wolf. He cocked his crossbow and pointed it ahead, firing it instantly. This time the sound of a hard collision spread out almost immediately after he fired.

    Alz didn''t check this time either, he had more pressing issues to handle. He immediately cocked his crossbow while turning around to face the two wolves that were viciously snarling at him.

    Polon was shocked by Alz''s performance but his attention towards the surroundings didn''t let up for a single second. He didn''t think that Alz would be able to handle these wolves in time and was just about to charge up when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

    Alz aimed both his crossbows at the two wolves before him and mercilessly pulled the trigger, releasing two deadly arrows which instantly robbed the lives of the two wolves.

    Peace quickly returned to the surroundings, leaving the four motionless bodies and the scent of blood that wafted in the air as the only signs of the short skirmish.

    Polon strapped his spear back to his shoulder while staring at a crossbow in Alz''s hand. He had never seen anything like it before. He was sure Alz didn''t load any arrows earlier, yet it still managed to fire arrows repeatedly at incredible speeds. However, he was quickly distracted by Alz who started speaking.

    "See, I''ve became stronger. I can protect myself now, I will surive, and I promise I will return safely." Alz faced Polon and began to speak in a gentle voice.

    "I will definitely be back, so can you watch over the tribe while I''m gone, Polon?" Alz paused for a moment and stared directly in Polon''s eyes before he continued, holding his fist up at the end of the sentence.

    Polon grimaced, but he soon made an exaggerated sigh. Alas, it had still turned out this way, as he had expected from the start. "I will probably never win an argument with him." Polon thought as he looked at Alz with a bitter smile.

    "You''re being unfair." Polon complained with dissatisfaction in his voice, but he still raised his fist and bumped it into Alz''s fist.

    "I''ll take care of the village while you''re gone but make sure you keep your promise, or I won''t let you off lightly hehehehe." Polon said with a threatening tone, with an evil smirk on his face, and his fist clenched tightly in front of Alz''s face, ending in a menacing laugh.

    "Remember that you can always come back, the village will welcome you back at any time." Polon added on in a sincere, serious voice while his eyes began to water as he fully came to terms with the fact that Alz would be leaving the tribe.

    "Yeah I won''t forget." Alz lips curled up and he replied while moisture formed at the corner of his eyes.

    Following this, Alz collected his arrows but they left the wolves'' remains on the ground as it wasn''t beneficial to have the materials weighing them down for the journey ahead.

    The two elves then began to chat after Alz told Polon the purpose of this trip. Although, rather than chatting, it was mostly just Polon bombarding Alz with questions one-sidedly about his life in the recent years and his equipment, particularly about his crossbow.

    Alz answered the questions to the best of his ability, but most of the answers only made Polon more confused. Seeing this, he decided to skip most of the details and made his explanations as simple and straightforward as possible so Polon could understand.

    He freely shared the knowledge he gained from the archives with Polon along the way. However, he didn''t mention the location of the archives even once as he didn''t want anyone to disturb the last place he considered as ''home'' in the forest.

    He also figured that the archives wouldn''t have much value to anyone else since nobody would be able to understand anything there and the device he used was no longer functioning.

    The two elves moved slowly, stopping to camp whenever the skies got too dark. Alz also let Polon try some of the smoked meat he made only to have Polon ''requesting'' more than half of his stash after tasting it, something he eventually gave in to reluctantly after Polon guilt tripped him with his departure.

    He also showed Polon the picture book he brought out from the archives, causing Polon''s eyes to sparkle at the beautiful sights in the book. Looking at these pictures, Polon finally understood why Alz was so set on his adventure and almost wanted to follow Alz, but he held himself back when he remembered his promise with Alz.

    Time flew by as the two friends enjoyed the last bit of time they could spend together. However, all things come to an end as with this trip as they reached the last leg of their journey on the fifth day since they left the fourth village.

 Chapter 26: Return to Calla Tribe

    A short distance from the central village.

    "Hey Alz, if you can make the meat taste so good, can''t you do something about these pops?" one of the elves ranted to his companion while looking at the half-eaten green berry in his hand.

    Meanwhile, his companion''s face eyes were squinted tightly and his lips were puckered after throwing an entire similar-looking green berry into his mouth.

    "How many times are you gonna ask that? I only learnt how to smoke meat so it can last longer, I don''t know how to cook." after he recovered control over his facial muscles, Alz replied with a grimace on his face, lamenting his lack of consideration before they sat off.

    When the pair first set off from the fourth village, their minds were preoccupied with other thoughts and it hadn''t struck them then, but they had forgotten to refill their bottles back at the lake.

    However, they couldn''t completely be blamed for forgetting. Alz had been living close to a lake in the recent years and he always made sure he had an adequate supply of water in the archives, so he never had to worry much about water.

    Polon also wasn''t used to worrying about water as the tasks that he was sent for were primarily scouting and hunting tasks close to the village where his bottle was more than sufficient.

    They only realised the problem when they stared at each other awkwardly with their almost empty bottles in hand on the first day they set up camp. They decided to head back for water if needed but thankfully, they noticed a bush with green berries right by their camping spot.

    Alz immediately heaved a sigh of relief when he identified these berries. They had been taught of these berries in one of their early lessons and Alz vaguely remembered Lein mentioning that these berries were juicy and could be eaten to substitute for water.

    In fact, this was the main solution for elves on long expeditions and couldn''t find nearby lakes as these bushes were more common and easier to find than lakes. Alz and Polon had also seen these before several times but never had the chance to eat them.

    Little did they know, how much they would come to regret this decision they made. They finally ran out of water on the second day that they ran out of water and took out the berries they plucked from the bush the previous day, preparing to eat them.

    At the first taste of these berries, even Polon managed to remember the lesson Lein had with them on these berries vividly. In particular, their memories of Lein''s facial expression back then were extremely vivid. His complicated expression that had traces of fear as he talked about the berry.

    It was true that these berries could be used as a substitute for water, but its juices were extremely sour and bitter at the same time, enough to even bring fear to Lein''s face.

    Polon had been ranting about the taste of these berries since then and Alz had been repeatedly berating himself for not considering the problems of water before they left.

    The two friends continued their friendly banter along the way, but they started slowing down and the mood began to change as they moved forward. The two elves started talking less while the mood got heavier, eventually falling into silence yet again.

    They hadn''t reached the central village yet, but it would appear within their sights in about 50m more, concluding their short trip that was filled with excitement.

    As much as they would have liked for the journey to last longer, they also had to consider how the village would react if they took too long for the trip. They had been moving very slowly, but there was a limit to how long they could take.

    Alz had considered this at the start and initially decided to take four days for the journey as any more might have been pushing it. Their pace had also been adjusted accordingly to reach on the fourth day, but Polon began to slow down on the third day.

    When Alz noticed this, he couldn''t bring himself to ask his friend to speed up and slowed down the pace instead. Although, Polon also knew that they couldn''t delay too much, so he was still moving at a reasonable pace, bringing the pair here before the second light of the fifth day.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    "Polon." Alz suddenly stopped in his tracks and called Polon. After this, Alz opened his backpack and took out a book. This was the book which he had prepared to leave with the tribe, containing what he felt would come in useful to the tribe translated from the archives.

    This book contained more than just writing, it also had many tiny pictures meticulously drawn by Alz to identify some terms used which were not defined in their script. He had spent many long hours preparing this, intending to use it to repay whatever he owed to the tribe.

    Alz looked at the book with a gaze filled with love as his fingers gently caressed the book a few times. Polon looked at the book curiously but took no action as he patiently waited for Alz to continue.

    "Pass this to the council a week after I leave." Alz said after he finally hardened his heart, holding the book in his hands out to Polon.

    Polon tried to take the book gently but his attempt was met with an unexpected resistance. He immediately looked up at Alz with a questioning gaze but saw that Alz was staring at the book in his hands with a pained expression.

    A few moments passed and Polon finally felt Alz loosen his grip. He gently pulled the book out from Alz hands and began to observe it. He had heard about books from Alz during the trip and even saw the photography book himself, so he wasn''t really curious about the book itself.

    He also knew Alz well enough to be able to make a rough guess on the contents of book, which was all things that would bore him. What he was curious about was the paper used to make the book, the paper that carried a similar scent to the forest that surrounded them.

    "Leave it to me!" after fiddling with the book in his hands for a while, Polon replied with a big smile and a thumbs-up. Alz smiled at Polon''s short but reliable answer, thanking him inwardly for not asking any questions.

    "Its been really nice seeing you again, thanks for staying alive." Alz softly muttered as he resumed his steps towards the central village''s entrance.

    Polon stared blankly at the back his dear friend with a lonely smile before he sighed and did a short jog to catch up to his side as he said, "Hey, don''t leave me behind."

    "Oh, you''re finally back! The council has be ---this is? I don''t remember seeing him with your group?" one of the two guards stationed at the entrance recognised Polon and called out to him, but quickly realised that he didn''t recognise Alz who was walking behind him and asked.

    "His Alz, a survivor we found at the village." Polon replied in an emotionless voice, completely different from when he spoke with Alz.

    Both guards immediately turned to look at Alz with looks of surprise, having not expected this answer. Furthermore, his equipment and attire were very different from what they were used to seeing, sparking their curiosity.

    Suddenly, the second guard looked behind them, but quickly realised that there was no sign of anyone else.

    Before he could ask, Alz noticed his gaze and said, "The rest of them are currently securing the fourth village. The two of us volunteered to report back after we cleared out the last few wolves in the village."

    Both guard were relieved when they heard this but also felt slightly puzzled at the decision to send only two elves back to report. However, this was not part of their jurisdiction, so they quickly put it in the back of their minds and regained their composure.

    "The council has been awaiting your return, go see them quickly." the first guard hurriedly completed his earlier sentence, rushing the two elves as the two guards opened a path for the two elves to enter.

    "We''ll report to the council right away." Alz said with a light nod and took the lead in walking through the entrance with Polon following by his side.

    Right as they entered the village, they saw a group of warriors looking at them nervously from a field nearby. Polon replied their gazes with a light nod, causing them to reveal looks of relief. Meanwhile, Alz''s eyes were wandering around the village with nostalgia.

    Despite the distractions, the pair continued to proceed deeper into the village without stopping, eventually reaching the most important building of the tribe. This structure clearly stood out from the rest of the structures simply because it was the only one that was not made of wood.

    It was neither the tallest nor the largest building in the tribe, but it was definitely the sturdiest structure by far and was the only building in the tribe which wasn''t constructed with elven architecture.

    Alz recalled reading that this structure was constructed with foreign aid enlisted by the Elven King after the ''Great Wolf Disaster'' as an emergency shelter in the tribe. This building, unlike the rest of them, would not fall to the wolves'' attacks.

    There were also rumours floating around that the building was connected to a large underground space but had never been officially confirmed. The public also never had the chance to confirm the rumours since the frontier village implementation more than a century ago.

    Despite this, the council building was still viewed as the most important building of the tribe in both purpose and significance as the building of choice for the tribe council to convene where they discussed the important matters of the tribe.

    Alz took a deep breath as he observed the building before him, calming his heart. He had seen far superior construction from books in the archives, so he wasn''t awed by the structure before him like most elves in his tribe was.

    However, he felt intimidated by what the building symbolised, especially when he thought of what he was about to do. A part of him felt like just running away, leaving the tribe without notice.

    Yet he knew that running away wouldn''t solve the problem. It would only leave a thorn in his heart stabbing him whenever he thought about the forest in future, something he did not want.

    Hence, he steeled his heart to prepare himself for what was to come as he slowly walked into the grey building which seemed to weigh heavier on his soul with each step he took.

 Chapter 27: Audience with Council (1)

    When Alz entered the building, he felt like the pressure that was building up within him solidified as his eyes met with the twelve pairs of piercing eyes from his front. The room was spacious, but the air was extremely still which added to the heaviness he felt in his heart.

    Polon on the other hand, simply walked in nonchalantly, remaining indifferent to the gazes that were directed towards them by the council members.

    Alz eyes started to wander around as he began to observe the room. A large, round, wooden table sat at the center of the room with a semi-circular opening and an elevated step on the side which faced the entrance.

    The twelve council members were sitting around the table with spacious gaps between each of them. Both, male and female elves were seen but only one of them looked young while the rest had long since left their prime years behind.

    They were also slightly taken aback when they saw Alz suddenly enter, as they didn''t recall sending Alz over to the fourth village. In particular, one of the older elves'' eyes instantly widened when he caught sight of Alz, observing him closely with surprise, joy, and hints of grief.

    Alz''s lost himself in thought when his gaze met with that elf. His gaze turning frigid as he stared back, looking away only after several moments. A distant memory floated into his mind as his eyes wandered around the room, something he heard from Tia.

    He had recognised that elf, he was a council member who came to visit him several times when he was still in the care center. Although, each time he came he just directed a displeased expression at Alz and leave shortly afterwards without saying anything.

    He used to visit him more in the earlier years, but these visits gradually declined and eventually, he stopped visiting him altogether. Alz had always been puzzled about his behaviour then, only managing to piece the puzzle together from facts he later learnt in the fourth village.

    This elf was his grandfather, Tia''s father to be exact. Even though his emerald eyes shone in the same shade as that pair of eyes in his memories, Alz still found it hard to feel any closeness due to their interactions in the past.

    He did not know why his grandfather had treated him so coldly in the past, rather, he didn''t want to think about it, to justify his actions in his own mind. Since he didn''t mention anything about their ties then, he no longer had a right to mention it now.

    "We were sent back from the fourth village to report." Alz subconsciously lowered his head and began to speak respectfully. The words got through properly, but his voice shook slightly, and he could feel sweat forming on his palms, reflecting the nervousness he felt.

    "Young one, I do not recall your face from those sent to the village?" the elf who was seated directly of where Alz stood asked him in a puzzled voice, voicing the thoughts of most of the council members who sat in the room.

    "I am Alz, I managed to escape from the village during the attacks thanks to my parents'' sacrifice." Alz answered while continuing to speak in a respectful tone, but his eyes were directed not towards the elf who posed the question, but towards his grandfather instead.

    Such an act did not escape the watchful eyes of the council members. Their eyes naturally followed Alz''s gaze and looked towards his grandfather, catching sight of his darkening expression as Alz mentioned his parents'' death.

    "This child is the son of my late daughter, Tia." Alz''s grandfather heaved a sigh and spoke while looking towards Alz with a distant look in his eyes.

    "The child of Tia!" one of the female council members gasped in surprise, causing several other members to turn towards her with quizzical expressions, however her face revealed nothing as she rapidly reined in her emotions.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    These members also quickly lost interest in her and turned to observe Alz instead, trying to figure out the reason behind her reaction. Alz had caught their eye when he entered the room partly due to his unique getup and unfamiliar face.

    The elf he entered with was also Polon, which didn''t help much in drawing away their attention. Polon was indisputably the thirteenth most regular visitor to this building, right behind the twelve of them. The council members could feel their heads aching the moment they saw him, causing them to look away swiftly.

    Alz felt uncomfortable being stared by the highest authority in the tribe and started breathing more heavily while his legs felt like they were turning into jelly.

    Polon noticed Alz''s abnormal state and hit him on the back lightly while moving up to speak, "We met up with Alz when we arrived at the village."

    Alz managed to regain his bearings thanks to this and shot a grateful look at Polon. Yet, Polon only managed a forced smile in response. He knew exactly why Alz was feeling nervous which made him reluctant to help, but he still decided to help him in the end.

    Luckily, Alz didn''t notice Polon''s expression as he had closed his eyes and started to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Alz''s grandfather and the female council member who reacted earlier wrinkled their eyebrows at this, with a strong disappointment written over their faces.

    The rest of the council was also taken aback by this and lowered their evaluations of Alz. They held high expectations towards him when they found out that he had managed to live all these years without the support of the village, but this performance had slightly dampened their expectations.

    Alz gripped the two amulets he wore around his neck, tightly in his right palm, hoping for them to grant him the courage he needed. When he opened his eyes again, the nervousness and weakness he had displayed earlier was no longer seen, replaced with a resolve that burned strongly in his eyes.

    "There was a pack of seven wolves left but we already finished them off. Blain decided to send the both of use back while they continued to secure the area." Alz continued to report the information at the village but with a much firmer tone than before.

    The sudden change in his attitude sparked the council''s interest towards him anew. Despite this, handling the situation at the fourth village naturally took precedence now and they would only address their personal interests after the urgent matters were settled.

    "Gruff, notify the second wave to move out for the fourth village immediately after this." the same elf who had questioned Alz earlier turned and spoke to one of the other male council members who nodded in affirmation to his statement.

    After this, he held his hand to his chin as he looked at Alz in thought, thinking of how to handle his return. He didn''t know much about Alz, but it was clear as day to anyone in the room that he was close to Polon.

    Previously, although he didn''t show it, he was actually very surprised by the help Polon gave to Alz. After all, that was the first time Polon had spoken in their presence since his return.

    Polon was the problem child of the council, but this didn''t mean that they found him to be a nuisance. Rather, this was a right he had earned by proving his worth time and again.

    The council held high hopes for Polon''s future, which was the reason why they willingly agonised themselves over his issues and the problems he caused.

    Yet, they also knew that their measures were unable to solve the root of the problem, which was why they made the decision to send him to the fourth village. However, looking at the two elves before him, he had a feeling that a large part of the reason behind his change was Alz.

    From his perspective, Alz''s return was just a lucky occurrence which didn''t hold much meaning alone, but if he was the one who brought about the change in Polon, things would become very different. His eyes shone with deep wisdom as he turned to look at Alz.

    "Young one, since you were training as a warrior in the fourth village before the incident, would you like to return to the village as a warrior once again?" he showed a warm, elderly smile at Alz and asked.

    Hearing this, Alz''s grandfather immediately furrowed his eyebrows in displeasure. He hadn''t expected the tribal chieftain to decide on Alz''s arrangements without first discussing within the council. Just as he was about to voice his displeasure, a voice suddenly spread across the room.

    "Apart from the report, I have also come forth with an announcement to the council. I have decided to leave the tribe." Alz showed signs of an internal struggle after he heard these words, but quickly resolved himself and announced his will to the council.

    As he said this, he felt a weight leave his chest and the nervousness that gripped him earlier finally disappeared entirely, relieving the pressure he felt had been feeling since he entered the room.

 Chapter 28: Audience with Council (2)

    Alz''s grandfather swallowed the words he was about to utter back into his stomach. A dead silence enveloped the room as the entire council focused their eyes on the elf who stood at the front.

    Polon lowered his head slightly to conceal his lonely smile and the crystal droplets that formed in the corners of his eyes. He might have been persuaded along the way, but he still felt reluctance towards the departure of his dear friend.

    Alz slowly felt his mind being devoured by the deafening silence. He grasped his amulets tighter within his right palm, standing strong under the sharp gazes that surrounded him. His resolve was strong, he wouldn''t falter here.

    Along the way here, he had faltered several times, but he still decided to proceed on. Compared to that, how could the opinions of twelve unimportant elves even sway his mind in the slightest?

    The silence continued on for a full minute, with Alz staring at the tribal leader and the entire council staring back at him. The tribal chieftain''s gaze started turning cold when realised that the light in Alz''s eyes showed no signs of weakening as time went by.

    He suddenly released a deep sigh, breaking the stillness that filled the room. He looked straight and Alz and began to admonish him, "Do you know how important every warrior is to the tribe? Do you know how many lives will be lost because of your foolish decision?"

    In response, Alz calmly replied, seemingly not shaken in the slightest by the harsh tone of the tribal chieftain, "The village has been doing fine in the five years I went missing and will continue to do so even if I''m gone."

    "HOW CAN YOU BE SO SELFISH? The tribe has just begun to rebuild the fourth village has a dire need for warriors, we cannot allow you to leave at this crucial point in time!" the tribal chieftain bellowed.

    Alz felt like fire was coursing through his veins as his blood began to boil. He had only barely suppressed his emotions when the chieftain blamed the future deaths on him, but this time, he snapped, and the rage and resentment he kept bottled up began to leak.

    A stubborn look surfaced on Alz''s face as he began to argue with the tribe leader, "I was an elf who was supposed to be dead, why is there a problem if I leave!? It was the tribe who abandoned us first, what right do you have to keep us here!?"

    The chieftain first stared at Alz with wide-open eyes, but his complexion slowly became paler with pain reflected in his eyes while the other council members began to revealed expressions which were filled with sadness and helplessness.

    He had clearly voiced his dissatisfaction towards the tribe, the resentment he felt towards them. They did not think they were wrong, but this didn''t mean that Alz wasn''t right. This was the sin they had to shoulder as the highest authority of the tribe, one which they silently accepted and were unwilling to defend.

    Alz''s heated words painted a sombre mood across the room, dampening the spirits of everyone present. The gazes directed towards Alz only contained grief and empathy, showing no signs of anger towards his words.

    Most of the council members were old, but they hadn''t gone senile. On the contrary, they were elves that were handpicked for their wisdom and feelings towards the village and only had the best interests of the village at heart.

    Naturally, they wouldn''t hold the angry ramblings of pitiful child against him, much less when they knew the truth behind his words. The chieftain sighed inwardly as he looked at Alz, dousing his desire to hold Alz in the tribe. Alz''s resentment towards them was clear, and he was beginning to think that it might be better to let Alz leave.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    While he was thinking, his eyes suddenly swam to Polon as he realised something. He hesitated briefly before straightening his expression and said, "As you know, the fourth village is currently being rebuilt and we cannot afford to allow any warrior to leave the village now. Alz, can you consider leaving only after the village has been rebuilt."

    The chieftain switched from the harsh, cold tone earlier to a softer tone as he spoke. However, he ended off in a statement, not a question. It was clear that he was intent on making Alz stay, not willing to compromise further.

    The other council members were slightly taken aback by this. After what happened earlier, most of them were more inclined towards letting Alz go and they believed the chieftain felt the same.

    However, they quickly understood his intent when they took another look at the two elves who entered the room. Many of them grimaced, but they chose to remain silent at this. They felt bad for Alz, but their duty was ultimately to consider the best interests of the tribe.

    This was the main purpose the council was founded, entrusted with making the decisions that benefited the tribe at all times. To go against this would be to go against the faith of the elves and previous generations that placed their trust in them, something none of them would do.

    Alz felt his anger rising to his head and his nails started to dig tightly into his left fist. However, right as he was about to release another outburst, a hand reached out from his side and pulled him back.

    "Let him go. I''ll stay, I''ll make up for his share. The fourth village will not fall as long as I''m standing." Polon stared at the chieftain and loudly declared as he moved to Alz''s spot.

    Ironically, with Alz overcome with rage and the council''s surprise towards the sudden developments, he was probably the most level-headed elf in the room now. He had been silently observing the changes in the room the entire time.

    He had noticed immediately when the chieftain''s eyes fell on him, and the council''s reaction after the chieftain had spoken. He was slow, he was lazy to think, but he was not dense. Hence, he did what a friend should do in this situation, what he needed to do.

    The chieftain was naturally joyous at this, but he also felt conflicted at this. The Polon who currently stood before them felt like an entirely different elf from the recent years and it was apparent at this point that it was Alz that changed him and not returning to the fourth village, making him more reluctant towards releasing Alz.

    Seeing the council fall into silence, Polon''s expression slowly started to become impatient. He had initially thought that him standing out would be enough for them to release Alz, but nothing was happening.

    Alz''s grandfather saw that the chieftain was still indecisive and sighed inwardly before making his decision to speak. Regardless of how the chieftain thought, he would never allow Alz to remain in the village after the resentment towards the tribe he displayed earlier.

    "I have a suggestion... As I recall, the tribute to the capital was planned for departure in three days. Alz, would you be willing to join them as a warrior of our tribe?" Alz''s grandfather suddenly started to speak.

    Polon''s eyes widened with anger at this but this time, Alz held him back with a look of contemplation. He managed to cool his head when Polon pulled him back earlier and finally realised the council''s motives as well as where his own mistake lay.

    He had already tried to reduce his value by hiding his combat abilities and knowledge, but he failed to account for Polon''s importance to the village which ended up making it more difficult for him to leave.

    Nonetheless, all of that was now in the past and this new suggestion by his grandfather got him interested. In truth, he hadn''t planned his next destination either and was just planning on leaving the forest first.

    This was because he lacked information on anything outside of his tribe and he was well aware that there were very few things he could learn about the outside from within the tribe. Hence, he hadn''t thought of being able to obtain any information about the outside world from the forest.

    However, this suggestion brought on new possibilities. The Elven Capital of Alvein had contact with settlements outside the forest and he could probably obtain information on foreign settlements near to the forest at the very least, making it a great first stop for his adventure.

    Being an elf, he was also naturally drawn towards the idea of visiting Alvein at least once before he left the forest, to witness what the Capital of their race looked like and how it compared to the settlements of the old.

    Furthermore, it was a good reason to get out of the mess he was currently in and the capital was also much larger than their tribe. It was hard to imagine that they restrict him too heavily when he wanted to leave as long as he played his part properly, something he was confident in.

    These thoughts raced through his mind, causing excitement to well up in his heart as he decided on the first destination of his journey, the Elven Capital, Alvein.

 Chapter 29: Grandfathers Inner Turmoil

    The chieftain frowned slightly at Alz''s grandfather''s sudden actions, but quickly recalled his relationship with Alz and his own actions earlier, making a bitter smile while deciding not to interrupt.

    "I am willing to depart for the capital as a warrior of the Calla tribe." Alz stepped forward and declared with his right hand on his chest in a salute.

    Several seconds later, the chieftain began to speak, "Very well, Alz, you will leave with the group in three days, make sure you do not embarrass the tribe in the capital. Is there anything else you want to bring up?"

    He looked towards Alz as he finished speaking, but Alz remained silent this time. He nodded his head lightly and continued, "Since there is nothing else to discuss, the two of you may leave now."

    Hearing this, Alz and Polon bowed slightly towards the council and began to leave the building. As they were leaving, the earlier council member named ''Gruff'' also stood up and began heading out as well while the remaining members resumed their earlier discussions before the pair arrived.

    Clearing out and securing the village was only the first step, and there were many more details that needed to be ironed out. With the information the pair had provided, they could now lay more concrete plans for the future.

    However, Alz''s grandfather was unable to focus on the discussion in the room at all. He stared blankly at the entrance as he spaced out while the other members pretended not to notice and simply carried on with the discussion.

    Around five years ago when the scouts first reported the attacks on the fourth village, he immediately lost all reason and tried to run to the fourth village frantically before the others could even react.

    Naturally, he didn''t manage to leave as he was stopped by the guards at the gate with the other council members chasing behind. In the period following this, it was like he had changed completely.

    He began to throw random fits of anger and remained irritated the entire time. He also conducted his duties poorly and was practically a walking explosive at that time, showing no signs of his usual calm and gentle demeanour.

    This was at its worst when the three elves arrived from the fourth village, dashing his last hopes. He started shouting at them under the pretext of ''not protecting the village'' and had even tried to attack them, creating a huge disturbance in the room.

    The chaos was quickly suppressed as the chieftain called for two elves to hold him back and bring him out of the room. Of course, he was not actually that unreasonable and knew that all of it was just misplaced anger.

    Later that day, after he had cooled down slightly, he returned to the council and bowed to them, apologising sincerely for his previous conduct.

    Following this, he requested for a break from the council and practically vanished from everyone''s sights for three months. When he had finally returned, he resumed his duties and began to conduct them properly again, but he spoke much less and always carried a depressed air around ever since.

    This episode allowed the council members to understand how much he valued his daughter, so they wisely chose to give him time to collect his thoughts now.

    Alz''s grandfather stared blankly at the entrance to the room. His mind started to wander back to the past, triggered by the appearance of Alz whom so heavily resembled the daughter he loved.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    After she was born, he had lost his wife to an illness soon after. He had nearly fallen into despair, but she stopped him. He spent all the time he had between hunting and scouting with her back then, raising her with all the affection he could give.

    Yet, on the year she completed her trial, she did not return. She had chosen another elf over him, a mediocre elf who possessed not a single redeeming quality in his eyes. He loved her, but he always felt his anger rising whenever he saw her, causing them to quarrel.

    He eventually entered the council and visited her less due to increasing responsibilities, causing them to drift apart more. Eventually, he stopped visiting and they stopped communicating.

    When he first learnt of Alz''s birth, he visited him multiple times, but his brilliant topaz-coloured eyes cut deeply into his scar each time. He could only see Alz as his son and not hers, hence he neglected him.

    As he went through these memories that were filled with regret, his mind slowly froze on memory seven years ago, the last time they had spoken. Tia had suddenly appeared in the central village and immediately looked for him.

    He was both surprised and overjoyed at her sudden visit and went to welcome her personally. However, his happiness slowly died down when he learnt that she only visited because of Alz. It was then that he learnt about Alz''s true results and the arrangement Tia had made.

    They talked for about two hours before Tia angrily stomped off, returning back to the fourth village at the end of an argument. Little did he know, that this would be the last time they would be meeting.

    After she left, he thought through it and ultimately decided to help. He shared the truth with only one of his most trusted friends for added credibility for when he needed to reveal the truth, so there would be more weight to his words.

    If Alz really had the level of talent Tia mentioned, it would be a great loss for the tribe to have him continue as a warrior after the trial. He also wanted to use this as an opportunity to mend his relationship with Tia and to look away from the past.

    However, the incident at the fourth village decimated his hopes, mocking his vision for the future. Yet today, he learnt that all was not lost. His grandson still remained. Alz somehow managed to escape and survived alone for five years, and he had returned.

    His eyes stuck onto Alz the moment he entered the room, to the face that reminded him of his daughter. He had even thought he was dreaming of his daughter visiting him, but he quickly noticed Alz''s bright yellow eyes.

    He returned to his senses and recalled the scene from six years ago and the promise he didn''t make. The motivation behind it was gone, but Alz was still alive. Alz was the last kin he had left with Tia''s departure and he thought it was time he did something for his grandson.

    Yet, things did not go as planned. Alz had returned, but he held a strong, deep-seated resentment towards the tribe. He began to hesitate when he realised this, unsure of whether or not he should reveal Alz''s results.

    He continued to watch the developments unfold, planning on discussing it with the other members later instead of bringing it up here, but the chieftain derailed his plans entirely, wanting to force Alz back to the village as a warrior.

    He had decided to intervene then, but he was interrupted by none other than Alz himself who made a shocking declaration. After witnessing the strength of Alz''s will, he decided he wouldn''t make the same mistake again and decided to support his decision, offering him a way out.

    He slowly turned his head towards the center of the room as light slowly returned to his eyes. After looking back on everything in his life, he was beginning to question the decision of splitting the village by the old council.

    This was the root behind most of the problems he faced, and many others as well. It was just a rumour outside, but the council and many of the older elves knew that a shelter truly existed beneath this room, after all, it had been used before.

    The shelter was used for its first and last time during the first large scale attack that followed after the ''Great Wolf Disaster''. Without it, there was no way they could have withstood it with just the measly 140 survivors and 100 warriors granted to them by the Elven King then.

    The Elven King had built it with the intention of allowing them to hold their ground and fend the wolves away, but the re-elected council feared the wolves far too much to consider the defence provided by the shelter to be enough.

    However, they now possessed more knowledge and experience, and the time might have come for the tribe to come together once again. He inwardly decided to work towards this as he started to participate in the discussion again, planning to bring it up after he made a concrete plan for it.

 Chapter 30: Reminiscence and Farewell

    After they exited the building, Alz followed Polon back to his place where he would be staying in for the next three days. There were many empty huts around the village and he could have easily requested for one, but there was much less hassle if he just went to stay with Polon.

    They had been living together for a long time from the days in the care center up until the day of the attacks. As such, they were extremely comfortable with each other''s presence and Polon naturally welcomed this decision, allowing them to relive their days as room mates for this short period of time.

    The three days went by in a flash, and the two elves were now approaching the field, where they would soon part ways. Alz would be setting off for the elven capital and Polon had decided to return to the fourth village, to fulfil his end of the promise.

    During this time, the council had sent two more waves of elves for the restoration of the fourth village, but Polon was not issued any orders in the entire duration, something he silently felt grateful towards council for.

    In this time, Alz and Polon had done many things together. They had visited the care center which had housed them for nearly ten years together, walking around the places they used to play while reminiscing of the carefree days when Caila and Link were still around.

    Polon had also requested Alz to spar with him, eager to get back at him for the defeat he experienced. However, Alz simply accepted with a sly smile on his face at this, his body shaking trembling slightly as he tried to stop himself from bursting from laughter.

    Polon was angered by Alz''s reaction, but this was quickly replaced by feelings of helplessness and dejection. He had always thought that the only reason Alz managed to take him out back then was because he had been overcome with rage, resulting in him being unable to react Alz''s actions.

    Of course, he later understood that this couldn''t be further from the truth. He was quickly taken out by Alz in this bout, and in no less time than before. The same thing happened as before, and he found the world flipping before him before his mind had even recognised what was happening, slamming his head on the ground.

    Refusing to give up, he stubbornly requested rematches each time but had been mercilessly thrown onto the ground each time. He eventually succumbed to despair after the gap in their abilities was repeatedly beaten into his body.

    However, inwardly, Polon also felt relieved at this result. He hadn''t mentioned it to Alz, but the first time he saw Alz''s crossbows made his blood run cold, causing him to shudder in fear, an emotion that had long since been a thing of the past for him.

    Hence, he was confident in Alz''s ability to protect himself when he was prepared, but he had qualms about Alz''s ability to defend himself in close quarters, something Alz had clearly proven that he was capable off in the past three days.

    To this date, he still couldn''t understand how Alz had seemingly effortlessly defeated him each time despite being physically outmatched. He was not one to brag, but he knew that there were few elves who could match him in strength and speed and even fewer who could take him in a fight.

    Yet, none of this mattered in the face of Alz and his confidence was mercilessly shredded each time they sparred. Alz had tried to explain the reasons behind it but it was too technical for him and his eyes became droopy each time he tried to focus.

    Polon had never read too deeply into his fights as he had always allowed his instincts to dictate his moves, not bothering to think about anything with his head. He immediately understood that this wouldn''t help him and cut Alz off after a few minutes with a bitter smile.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    His gaze towards Alz now held deep awe and respect within, from the unbelievably large changes in his friend in the short period of five years. After all, Alz''s biggest change was in his knowledge, something he had learnt about and witnessed first-hand along the trip.

    Alz helped him sharpen his spear beyond anything he had seen before, he started fires effortlessly with materials he had never seen before and his equipment was incomparable to any of those found in his tribe.

    They were walking at a slow but steady pace as they approached the field that had been in their sights since a while back. There were many elves gathered on the field, male and female alike. Some were standing while most were seated as they engaged in conversations with one another.

    All the elves appeared to be in their prime, with no teens or older elves amongst the group. They were all just lounging around, but the mood in the air was slightly tense at the same time.

    This was to be expected though, as this was the group that was about to set off for the capital, the group Alz would soon join. At the front of the field a distance away from the crowd, the council members were currently gathered.

    Ever since its founding, the council had always been present when the tribute left. They would give a short speech containing hopes and blessings for their futures and then see them out of the village with a prayer for their good fortune on the road.

    This was one of the many decrees set during the first generation of the council that continues to be upheld today. Even the system of the council was decided and passed down from then, existing for more than a century.

    The council consists of twelve members, with one appointed as the chieftain and all decisions they made went through a voting process where the chieftain had the right to vote twice. Hence, the chieftain might be the leader of the tribe, but he was not too powerful.

    As such, the other council members were not afraid of raising their options in discussions, even if it conflicted with the chieftain''s own view on the matter, allowing the council to function properly thus far.

    "Polon, I''ll definitely return, so make sure you''re still around to welcome me when I come back." Alz suddenly turned to Polon and spoke in a serious voice when they were one step from the field.

    Polon instinctively raised his hands slightly in an attempt to cover his head, but hurriedly put his hands back down when his mind caught up with a dry laugh. Alz chuckled slightly at this, wiping the solemnness off his face with a smile.

    Ever since the many bouts they had, Polon had developed a small trauma towards Alz and would shrink his head back each time Alz suddenly looked towards him, giving Alz a good laugh about it when he first found out.

    "Don''t worry, I''ll be here to get my revenge for sure! Let''s see who is the one throwing who when you come back! Hehehe." Polon looked at Alz with a challenging gaze as he responded.

    Seeing this, Alz lightly cracked his knuckles and looked at Polon with a wide grin, causing Polon''s face to drain of its colour. He tried to back off immediately, but the familiar weightless sensation quickly assaulted his mind turned his world upside-down, his head landing lightly onto the field.

    "I WASN''T READY!!!" Polon shouted while pouting as he rolled about on the ground while grabbing his head in his hands. However, there were no signs of any actual injuries as Alz had pulled him back slightly right as he landed, as he had done so each time in the past three days.

    "Now you have one loss to pay back, make sure you don''t go anywhere before you return this debt."Alz responded after an evil laugh with a smile on his face.

    Polon stopped flailing and spread his arms wide with a helpless smile on his face as he said, "I''ll get you back for this, on this very spot. Both, me and the field will be waiting for you to appear, so we can get our revenge!"

    Alz laughed loudly at this and walked towards the group, waving one hand above his head in farewell as he spoke in a voice only the two could hear, "Live on no matter what."

    "You too." Polon mumbled as he gazed at the blanket of darkness that lie overhead, but his voice so soft that it was lost in the wind, unable to make its way into Alz''s ears.

    All the elves had their gazes locked on the pair as this played out, shocking many of the spectators. Polon was well known in the village due to the disturbances he caused and the many times he was sent to visit the council, and most that were present knew of his strength.

    Yet, he was flipped over so casually by an elf seemingly close to his age that most didn''t recognise, a feat they would have never thought possible. The council members were especially stunned because they knew of his identity, which made them doubt their eyes even more.

    Suddenly, one elf from the group called out in an uncertain voice, "A-Alz? Is that you?"

 Chapter 31: Departure and Regrets

    It only took Alz a second to recognise him, largely due to his unchanged appearance from the past. Alz revealed a brief look of pain, brought on by the memory that came along with recognising the elf, but it quickly faded and nodded lightly towards him and returning a smile as he walked over.

    The elf was Kleiz, the one who had lectured them and escorted the group of eight over to the fourth village at the start of their trials. There were two elves beside him whom Alz also recognised who were whispering towards him, asking about Alz''s identity.

    Kleiz failed to show any signs of a response to this, simply staring at Alz with his eyes and mouth widely opened as he looked at the approaching Alz. He finally regained his composure shortly after his companions nudged him and began to tell them who Alz was.

    The two of them were also members of the group of six who had escorted them to the fourth village. Despite this, they hadn''t immediately recognised Alz partly because they only had minimal interaction during the trip and Alz had also greatly changed in appearance over the years.

    Kleiz was also unsure when he asked, but he remembered the group of four who were always together when he saw Polon''s behaviour and felt like the elf before him vaguely resembled one of the elves from the group, but he didn''t actually expect it to really be him.

    The two were naturally shocked upon hearing this, finally noticing the resemblance of Alz and the elf of the past. Everyone knew what had happened to the fourth village, making them all the more surprised at learning his identity.

    Several of the elves who were eavesdropping also revealed surprise expressions while all the elves around revealed curious gazes that contained confusion as they looked at the newcomer. After all, there was something else that set him apart from the group, he was clearly still a child.

    They were both curious about how he managed the earlier feat and confused as to what he was doing here. Yet, before anyone could ask Alz anything, the chieftain''s voice suddenly rang across the field.

    "Now that we have all gathered, let us begin. " the chieftain announced, focusing the attention of the elves group on him, simultaneously answering the doubts the elves had in mind, although they were now confused for a different reason.

    "Alz, step forward." the chieftain called for Alz to move forward. Hearing his name being called, Alz obediently stepped out of the group and walked up until he stood before the chieftain.

    "This is Alz, a survivor from the fourth village who had recently returned to the tribe. Do not look down on him just because he is young! He had been surviving alone in the forest with his own abilities for the past five years! You have already witness his abilities earlier, treat him as your equals as you move towards the capital together!" the chieftain announced while Alz turned to face the crowd.

    Following this, the chieftain called for Alz to return to the group a

    "The time of promise has dawned upon us. The Elven Capital has given us much aid in our times of need and it is only right for us to repay the great favours we have received...... May the Mother Elf bless all of you on your upcoming journey, always remember that the tribe will stand behind you wherever you may go."

    The chieftain speech started out with the purpose of the trip, eventually going into various hopes and blessings for their safety and futures in the new land.

    Many of the elves closed their eyes as they listened and the more sensitive elves even teared slightly as they listened to the chieftain''s speech, the final words that signified their parting with the tribe in the upcoming years.

    It was not that they would never be able to return, but they would have to spend at least 30 years in the capital before they would be released and allowed to return to their respective tribes in accordance to the agreement.

    However, most of them generally chose to stay at the capital even after the 30 years. After all, they would have spent 30 years there by the end of the period and would choose to settle down.

    The rare exceptions where when elves felt strongly enough for their tribes of the old and chose to return. There were several elves who fell in this category within the Calla tribe as well.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The chieftain himself was also a part of this group, losing his spouse in the capital many years ago. He had decided to return to the tribe, to dedicate his remaining years towards improving the place that had raised him with some of the wisdom he had obtained from the capital.

    During the speech, Alz was one of the few who felt little attachment towards the tribe and was the least emotionally affected by it. Hence, he decided to put his time to good use and politely asked Kleiz for details of the upcoming trip.

    He had read about the agreement in the past, but the scrolls only briefly mentioned the sending of warriors to the capital with no other details. He had also been spending all his time previously with Polon and was unwilling to spend the time researching on further details

    Kleiz sighed inwardly as he looked at Alz who seemed to know nothing about the journey, wondering why he was even coming along. However, he decided not to probe and instead began answering his questions patiently while feeling as though they had gone back to the days before his trial.

    Alz began to feel slightly down as he looked at Kleiz explaining, feeling a void in his heart at the memory of the three missing elves who were beside him the last time this scene played out.

    He shook his head lightly to dispel these feelings as soon as they appeared, continuing to listen attentively. After all, Caila wasn''t here to cover for him if he missed anything this time, unlike back then.

    After the speech concluded, the group began to march towards the entrance while the council followed behind. There were also some elves who had gathered around the field earlier who moved as they saw this, walking behind the council and seeing the group off.

    These were mostly comprised of close friends of the elves in the group. as those who participated brought their spouses along if they had any and those who had children behind were forbid from participating in the journey.

    The pensive mood from the chieftain''s speech earlier was alleviated by the light of excitement in the of the group as they moved out of the village in a formation, having the supporters stand in the middle while the warriors surrounded them.

    It was a large group with 26 warriors including Alz and 25 supporters in the center. Many of the supporters were spouses of the warriors, but there were some exceptions as well such as with Kleiz and his two companions as well as Alz who was an exception among exceptions.

    The agreement was to send 50 warriors and 50 supporters, but a messenger had arrived, informing them that that the queen decreed for the number to be reduced by half in lieu of the attacks at the fourth village, something the tribe felt extremely grateful for.

    After the group left the village, the central village returned to its peaceful days once again, as though nothing had changed from before. Everyone was still doing what they had to do and Polon had returned to the fourth village with the next wave of relief efforts sent towards the village.

    However, this peace did not last for long before the tribe was stirred once again by a shocking revelation. This source of this disturbance was an object that was presented to the council.

    Polon had returned to the central village a week after Alz had left to fulfil the promise he made with him, to pass the book Alz had written over to the council. Upon receiving the book, the chieftain first observed it with shock, which had only deepened as he went through the contents inside.

    He immediately inquired Polon on where he got the book, to which Polon promptly replied honestly. Hearing this, the council members looked at each other with bitter expressions as they passed the book around while regretting the hasty decision to let Alz leave the village.

    Alz might have displayed resentment towards tribe, but from this act alone, they could tell that he did held no ill will towards the tribe. In fact, just from the contribution of this book alone, he would have easily earned himself a position of equal if not greater importance than themselves.

    They did not know how the book was made, but it was lighter and contained more information than the scrolls they used. This alone would have been enough to propel his position upwards, but there was more.

    The book contained many innovative technologies they could have never imagined, with detailed write-ups explaining its theory and applications. Furthermore, the technology was all stuff that was useful to the tribe.

    Even the chieftain who had returned from the elven capital was stunned into silence by the contents of the book, his eyes filled with awe when he filled the pages earlier. They couldn''t even begin to imagine how much the author of this book, Alz, would have been able to contribute to the village had he stayed.

    However, they couldn''t go after him anymore. The group would have progressed more than half the distance by now even despite having to guard the supporters and it was far too late to chase them by now.

    With regret flashing in their eyes, they sent Polon back to the fourth village and began to send messengers to the other villages to gather the librarians at the central village for recording and spreading of the book''s contents.

    The technology of the tribe advanced rapidly after this with the new innovations and after a month of development, Alz''s grandfather had finally came up with a concrete plan with the new technologies and gathered the council to discuss the tribe''s merger.

    Two months later, the council gathered the various tribal chiefs and announced the plan for a merger, initiating the first stages of a long and slow process that would mark the greatest change in the tribe since its split, but this is a story for another time.

 Chapter 32: Acknowledgement

    The group was making their way smoothly towards Alvein, easily handling the few wolves that attacked along the way. Everyone in the group was looking refreshed as they had been moving while prioritising the conditions of everyone.

    There was still two years until the deadline of the pact and time was on their side after all. They were the first and hopefully only group required to be sent to the capital by the tribe.

    There were two main reasons as to why they were sent at this early in advance, with the first being a precautionary measure in the event that they encountered an accident and the tribe needed to send over more elves to fill the quota.

    The second reason was based on careful observations made over a long period of time by the tribe. Almost every year, there would be periods when the wolves attacked less frequently, a lull period of sorts.

    These lull periods usually lasted from one to two months each time and the most recent had just been observed a week ago, prompting the council to arrange their current expedition. As such, they only encountered a few small packs of wolves that did not pose a threat to them.

    In the early stages of the expedition, Alz felt a clear distance from the other elves as they hardly approached him, after all he was a last-minute addition and wasn''t familiar with anyone. Despite this, Alz didn''t really mind it as he was already used to living in solitude.

    Whenever he had any questions, he could also direct them to Kleiz who always patiently clarified his doubts. However, he was constantly on the receiving end of many stares during this time, gazes brimming with curiosity.

    There were also many sympathy-filled gazes directed at him, particularly from the female elves as they looked at him. Although no one approached him, Alz was treated specially within as the group made sure there were always warriors near him in case of anything.

    Alz felt some warmth in his heart at these actions. However, he naturally didn''t think it was required and voiced it out, but they simply laughed it off with kind gazes and words like "Don''t worry about it." and "It''s no trouble at all." while continuing to look out for him.

    He could only make a helpless expression at this as he understood that they would not be convinced easily. He was the only child in the group after all and coupled with his tragic past, it was difficult for the other elves to not care about him, especially when their tribe had very close bonds.

    Hence, they continued moving forward in this manner, with all the warriors evenly spread out around the center except for one section of the rectangular formation which had three elves there instead of one.

    It was only on the third day when things began to change, the day they group met with their first skirmish.

    They heard rustling sounds coming from the front as they were moving, prompting them to halt in their steps. The elves began to ready their stances as they focused their eyes to the front.

    Soon after, nine wolves slowly made their way into sight, but they stopped a distance away from the group. The wolves noticed the presence of the elves intruding upon their territory and would have normally attacked them immediately, if not for the size of the group.

    Hesitation clouded over the wolf who stood at the front as it stared at the elves before it. However, its ears suddenly twitched and it retracted one of its forelegs immediately while pointing a ferocious glare towards the group while the other wolves began to release snarl at the group.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    *Whoosh*, an arrow rapidly cut through the air, embedding itself into the ground where the alpha wolf''s foreleg was just moments ago. Alz met with the alpha wolf''s gaze with a piercing, hostile gaze as he cocked his crossbow again, pointing it directly at the wolf this time.

    Surprised gasps filled the air from the group of elves and many of them turned their gazes towards Alz and his weapon in shock and puzzlement. Kleiz however, was looking at Alz''s weapon with a burning gaze as he had caught sight of the entire process.

    Kleiz was the first to notice Alz''s movements as he was standing closely behind him. He revealed a perplexed expression when Alz took out his crossbow and cocked it, but what happened next instantly blew his mind out of the water, causing his gaze to turn fiery.

    The wolf was currently at least 100m away from Alz, which was almost double the range of an average elf. Yet, evidently, this wasn''t the case for Alz. Even towards the end, the arrow clearly still retained much of its power, even capable of digging slightly into the ground.

    After snarling at Alz several times, the hesitation in its eyes switched to a decisiveness as it howled loudly, ordering the pack to start retreating. A wave of relief washed over the group as they saw this, but they remained on their guards until all the wolves disappeared into the forest.

    A few of the elves immediately gathered around Alz, praising him earlier shot while asking about his weapon. Alz replied them with a smile and started to explain the components of his bow and how they functioned to the group slowly, resulting in more elves moving closer to him.

    He even did another demo shot with his weapon and let the other elves try shooting with it, allowing them to experience firing with the weapon. Each time after they tried it, they would return it to him reluctantly, but the way they looked at him had changed drastically from before.

    After the tests, the mood became slightly heavy as the other warriors sighed while looking at Alz''s crossbow with envy. However, this quickly cleared after Alz announced that he would help them each construct one of these after they arrived at the capital.

    The warriors would have immediately burst into cheers if not for the fact that they were in the forest, but they hurriedly thanked Alz in advance so he wouldn''t take back his words. The group then resumed moving with renewed vigour in the warriors with something else to look forward to now.

    Alz was also happy to see this as he had already planned on giving them crossbows from the start but did not know how he should breach the subject. They were of the same tribe after all and they were his only companions to a foreign land.

    He did not feel too strongly towards the tribe, but he still held gratitude towards it. Some part of him also felt guilty towards the tribe for leaving which was partly why he left the book behind, and this was also a small compensation towards everything he had received from the tribe.

    With this incident as an icebreaker, the distance between Alz and the group lessened greatly and Alz began to truly become a part of the group. However, the following developments did not turn out the way he had expected, causing him to turn speechless at them.

    A part of the reason why he flaunted his combat abilities earlier was because he didn''t want the other elves to continue toiling themselves by specially looking out for him. Yet, the elves began to fight for the role to guard him, causing him to end up with four bodyguards.

    He tried to argue against this arrangement to the other elves, asserting that he was capable of protecting himself, but this caused one of the elves to raise his lips into a sly smile.

    He was also fighting for a spot as Alz''s bodyguard but had failed to secure a spot. As he heard this, he came up with a brilliant idea which would negate his earlier failure.

    "Hmm, of course we can do something about that arrangement. How about we let Alz stay in the center instead? Let''s decide with a vote! Alz, we will even give you two votes for this!" he immediately shouted out, ignoring the fact that they were still in the forest.

    The four elves who won their spots immediately looked to him with a resentful glare while the eyes of the others lit up. Alz stared by the side with his mouth open wide, but alas, the die had already been cast and he no longer had the power to change it, not that he had any in the first place.

    The vote ended with an overwhelming result of 46 for and 6 against, sealing Alz''s fate. The female elves happily dragged Alz towards the center as he stared blankly towards the sky, wondering what he did for things to end up this way.

    Thus, he became the official plushie of the female elves, garnering him extreme popularity among the entire expedition, doomed to be hugged throughout the trip while receiving frigid glares from jealous male elves along the way.

 Chapter 33: Undefeated Hugging Pillow and New Knowledge

    Today was about a week away since the beginning of the expedition and the group was resting until the next light approached when they would begin to move again. It may have been the lull period now, but there was still no meaning in taking on unnecessary risks.

    Alz was currently in the sitting within the arms of an elven women staring into space with hollow eyes. He protested, he struggled, he tried to get out of it, but all his efforts only proved that resistance was futile, so he had now accepted it.

    At the same time, soft sensation on the back of his head and warmth from the arms cuddling his neck all reminded him of a time he missed, and he also began to feel that this arrangement wasn''t so bad after all.

    "Hey Alz! Help me take this guy out, look what he did to my face!" Kleiz was lying flat on the floor with mud all over his face as he called out to Alz with some jealousy in his eyes.

    A lively glint flashed in his eyes as Alz turned towards Kleiz, but a voice interrupted him from behind before he could even reply, "Why do you guys keep dragging lil'' Alz into this, stop dragging him into your silly games?"

    "Yeah, haven''t you all been beaten enough by him already? Why do you guys keep calling him over when you all clearly can''t win." an unpleased voice travelled from another elf who was sitting in front of Alz with clear displeasure in her tone.

    The two melodic voices were pleasing to the ears but spared no expense towards the wounded pride of the warriors present. Dry laughs spread across the makeshift sparring grounds as the elves looked away from Alz with awkward expressions.

    The statements were harsh, but none of them present, even including the warriors who were currently keeping guard could refute them in the slightest. They had been holding daily sparring sessions during the breaks since they left the village.

    Initially, the others hadn''t called Alz over and he didn''t try to join in either. However, after they broke the ice between them, the warriors extended an invitation to Alz to which he accepted in heartbeat to get out of being babied.

    Despite his display near the field before they left the village, the warriors didn''t think too much of it at the start, thinking that he was just a child. However, what came after left their mouths agape as they looked at Alz with awe and dejection.

    Alz was undefeated. Their thoughts of taking it easy on him got blown out of the water with his display of skills, allowing them to learn first-hand how Polon felt over the three-day period, shattering whatever pride they had over Alz due to their seniority over him.

    Naturally, they didn''t give up and continued to invite Alz over, but they quickly got stopped by the complaining women who didn''t want to give him up to the warriors.

    "Haa...Looks like I''m stuck here"

    Caught in the middle of this, Alz could sighed inwardly as he felt the arms tightening around his neck, knowing that there was no escape for him this time. There was nothing bad with how the female elves were treating him, but he was afraid of indulging too much in this warmth.

    "Stop playing around and get your asses moving, the area has already begun to light up. You guys can play all you want after we cross the border." a serious voice suddenly came from the forest near the group, directed towards the sparring ground.

    Silhouettes began to appear one after another from different directions, adding up to a total of ten. They were the patrol group who had just returned to the group after noticing that the skies were getting brighter.

    "Let''s go!" the elves wiped the awkward expressions off their faces and said with enthusiasm as they began to move. Kleiz also wiped the mud of his face and stood up, moving into his position in the formation.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Alz was also finally released as the supporters began to rise one after another as the expedition continued to march onward.

    Alz had learnt many things about the forest that he didn''t know during this trip, broadening his knowledge on the placed he lived in. He had previously known that the forest was roughly split into five different sections, with the capital in the center and the others pointing towards the four cardinal points from the capital.

    The Calla tribe was located within the southern part of the forest, something that was common knowledge back in the tribe, but this was the first time he had heard of the different conditions between each section.

    He had always found it weird that there was only one other creature living in the forest ever since he left the archives, something he had never read too much into before he entered the archives.

    The pictures and descriptions of forests in the past depicted of a large ecosystem with diverse species living within which lay in stark contrast with the forest he lived in.

    Hence, he had brought it up during one of the breaks in the past few days without carrying much hope in obtaining a clear answer.

    To his surprise, one of the elves revealed a look of surprise and praise as he looked at Alz then, providing him with an answer that caused his blood to boil over in excitement.

    While this might have seemed like an obvious question at one glance, the elves at the Calla tribe had been raised under the conditions of being one of the only two creatures in their habitat with next to no external contact.

    Additionally, there was constant pressure on them in the form of the trials, resulting in many of them subconsciously accepting the conditions as the norm and only beginning to question them as they got older.

    He would not have been as surprised had it been any of the other elves who brought it up, but Alz was still just a child yet he had already started to think about these things seriously. Of course, he would not have been as surprised at this had he known of Alz''s encounter with the archives.

    Regarding this, he knew more than the average elf in the tribe as he had been to the capital once in the past as a messenger, allowing him to learn more about the forest.

    The elf began to explain what he knew to Alz, to which Alz raised even more questions each time causing him to fall into deep thought. Eventually, a heated discussion sparked between the pair as they continued to delve deeper into the subject.

    Many of the elves who were sparring or sitting around also gathered near the pair as they listened to the discussion between the two that lasted nearly two hours, enlightening them with new facts and they hadn''t thought or known of before.

    There was a clear border that separated each of the sections, natural borders that existed since and unknown period in the past. When Alz questioned him on what the elf meant by a border, he simply smiled mysteriously and said, "You will see soon."

    The South was the only exception among the five where there were no species inhibiting it apart from wolves, apart from elves that is. The wolves were also only extremely aggressive in the South, actively seeking out and attacking elves.

    This apparently wasn''t the case in the other parts of the forest where wolves were commonly tamed and used for hunting instead. There had been many efforts made to probe its cause, but the reasons behind it eluded even to this date.

    The elves who learnt of this for the first time were naturally shocked, but the few who already knew of this simply fell silent. This was a sensitive topic for the southern tribes and those who knew it were forbidden from speaking of it, hence few elves knew of this in the tribe.

    Alz was naturally extremely shocked by this, feeling like someone had stabbed him in his heart. Intense fury burned in his eyes for a moment but faded off quickly before anyone noticed, hiding within his heart.

    The other four sections were home to many different species of wildlife and even had other types of trees although they were still few in number. The Eastern and Western sections had similar amounts of resources and were home to the middle-sized tribes.

    The Northern and Central sections were the areas that flourished the most, with the Northern area having only marginally less wildlife and biodiversity as compared to the Central zone. The North was also home to the largest tribe which was comparable in size even to the capital.

    Returning to the present, the group were steadily moving forward when suddenly, the monotonous scenery before them finally showed some change.

    There was an invisible line that seemingly separated two different worlds a short distance ahead of them. On one side, grey toned trees with dull green leaves spread out endlessly, giving a dreary feel to the entire region

    On the other side, the trees came in different shades of brown and green thickets were littered around the area, bringing a fresh breath of life. The patches of grass also looked brighter and various different herbs lay around in abundant quantities.

    "So, this is the border"

    Alz looked at the scenery before him with shining eyes, inadvertently hastening his steps while taking wider strides forward.

 Chapter 34: Crossing the Border. New Forest, New Species

    All of the elves, even including the one who had been here before were captivated by the border, marvelling at the beauty of the sight that lay before their eyes. This was a face of the forest most of them had never seen before, one which felt foreign yet familiar at the same time.

    The forest before them was a far cry from the forests of the pictures, but it lit a fire in the young Alz''s heart, towards the vibrant sights he would be able to encounter as he went on with his adventure.

    Before this, it would be a lie to say that he didn''t hold any doubts towards his adventure. Many of the details he learnt in the archives didn''t quite add up and he had no way of verifying most of the information either.

    "What if everything was false, if nothing was left?" There was always a voice in the back of his head constantly asking himself, a manifestation of the fear and uncertainty he held towards his adventure. Now, the last of his concerns were finally dispelled, greeted by the majestic sight before him.

    The group had quickened their pace and was rapidly approaching the border from when they caught sight of it, but the warriors leading the way suddenly raised his hand and stopped. Seeing this, the warriors behind quickly readied their weapons and threw cautious glances ahead.

    Meanwhile, several sounds began to spread out from diagonally right ahead of them. A visible tension filled the air as the sound quickly increased in volume, indicating that its source was rapidly approaching the group.

    The warrior''s gazes were filled with confusion as they looked ahead, unable to make out what was causing the sound. From their years of experience in the forest, it was immediately apparent to them that something was approaching.

    However, the sound was nothing like the silent strides of wolves they were used to or the light steps of their fellow companions. The steps sounded heavier and foreign, unlike anything they had heard before in their years of hunting.

    The only exception was the elf who had been to the capital once as a messenger before. He was looking ahead with his eyebrows crinkled in thought as he mumbled softly to himself, on the verge of recalling the creature that made this sound.

    He knew he had definitely heard it before but was somehow unable to remember what it was. Despite this, there was clearly no fear in his eyes because while he couldn''t recall the creature, he did recall that it was not dangerous, which also contributed to his weak memory of it.

    Before he could recall, a herd of four-legged creatures entered their sights from their right, galloping leisurely towards the left. They had greyish brown coats on the parts facing the outside with white coats on their bellies and parts that faced inwards.

    Their legs were thin with black hooves at its tip, but their appearance belied its strength as they carried the creatures gracefully along the wind, forming the distinctive stomps that the group had heard from afar.

    "These are [deer]!"

    Alz''s eyes started intently as the creatures with widened eyes, his heart beating faster with every extra detail he noticed on its body. He desperately resisted the urge to reach out for the book in his bag as he tried to memorise as much as he could with his eyes.

    The herd paid no heed to the group of elves, continuing on in their stride as they galloped on without rest, slowly disappearing into the forest towards the left. The elves stared curiously at the direction the creatures went off in, intrigued by this foreign creature.

    "Ah! That''s it, these are deer. They are one of the most common creatures in this forest and are not aggressive so don''t worry. Also, I didn''t have the time to try before, but I remember other elves mentioning that their meat is delicious." the elf finally recalled, explaining to the group.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Alz silently mouthed the term for deer in their native tongue, committing it to his memory. The other elves began to raise more questions, asking for more details so their trip would become smoother.

    The elf simply shook his head helplessly at most of them, unable to provide an answer. After all, he had only been to the capital to deliver a message and had only rested for a day there before hastily returning to the village.

    He had already shared all that he knew in the previous days and all that remained was pieces of information that he did not possess much details of and was unable to put clearly into words, causing the elves who approached him to return with disappointment.

    After the short intermission, the group crossed over the border and continued making their way towards the capital.

    In the week that followed, the group began exploring the unfamiliar forest that surrounded them, finding many surprises that brought them greater expectations towards their futures.

    During this time, there was one notable discovery they made which brought much joy to the expedition. The discovery of delicious fruits. This created a huge uproar within the expedition and some elves even went so far as to shed tears of joy at the discovery.

    It wasn''t just Alz and Polon who hated the taste of pops, most of the elves did not like them either. However, they had no other choice but to rely on them to substitute for water over long distance trips such as their current one.

    This discovery came as a pleasant surprise and was a large cause of celebration as it finally provided an alternative to the awful tasting pops, bringing the spirits of the expedition to a new high since they left the village.

    Apart from this, they also found themselves encountering a variety of wildlife frequently, causing the expedition to be alarmed each time as they looked nervously towards the foreign creatures before them, only to awkwardly put their weapons down moments later.

    Over this time, they began to realise that none of these animals held any hostility towards them, something they were not used to. Rather, the animals would usually blatantly ignore the elves and continue with whatever they were doing.

    This behaviour brought much puzzlement to the warriors at first, having only ever interacted with the hostile wolves. However, they happily came to accept this as they began to loosen their muscles and wore relaxed expressions on their faces as they moved onward.

    They were also intrigued by the many new species they saw along the trip, but they slowly became numb due towards them due to the frequency of encounters and no longer thought much of it eventually.

    However, not all of the elves were this way. Rather, one elf managed to keep his enthusiasm burning throughout as his shining eyes glued onto any foreign species they encountered, examining their features with a focused gaze.

    His strong reactions garnered much attention from the expedition, causing them to chuckle in response to Alz''s childlike innocence and curiosity. Hence, they unanimously decided to slow down their pace each time a new species was encountered even without any discussion.

    Meanwhile, Alz himself remained oblivious to these changes as he was completely absorbed by the sights around him. He was only barely able to contain the excitement he felt, but not for the reasons the other elves thought.

    These animals all bore resemblance to those which he had seen in and read about in the books from the archives, causing his heart to pound furiously at each encounter while increasing his longing towards his adventure beyond the forest.

    This period of time had also allowed them to gain a deeper understanding towards the abundance of the central forests, raising their expectations towards hopeful futures in the capital.

    The expedition progressed smoothly, not meeting with accidents. The group of elves marched onward in high spirits, following the directions of the trail given by the tribe.

    They started to encounter several groups of elves heading out from the direction they were heading towards as well, but these groups usually kept to themselves and did not approach them, to which the expedition decided to follow suit.

    About nine days after they crossed the border, they finally exited the sea of trees and stood before a large majestic city that was surrounded by thorny vines that reached up beyond twice of Alz''s height.

    They could also vaguely make out a tall structure deep within the tribe that towered over all others, standing out in sight even from this distance.

    The city was very large, occupying a vast area even the sum of the all their villages combined could not hope to match up against. The elves observed the city before them with awe as their eyes wandered across the city.

    Even the messenger who had came before was no exception as he stared deeply at the capital. Alz however, managed to keep his composure despite seeing it for the first time, having known of the existence of cities that were far larger than even this.

    "Finally, my first destination. The Elven Capital, Alvein"

    Nonetheless, he could feel his blood heating up from the excitement as they raced through his veins, looking at the grand spectacle before him.

    After staring in silence for half a minute, the group resumed their movements and began to circle around the fence towards the southern gate of the city.

 Chapter 35: Arrival

    Alz''s surprise began to grow while he carefully scrutinised the seemingly endless wall of vines beside the group as they were moving. He had unwittingly neglected it when they first arrived and only came to realise the wonders behind it.

    The thickness of the seamlessly intertwining vines alone was shocking enough, not to mention the sheer length of the wall which was said to enclose the city in all its entirety. This was the part which had first caught his notice, bringing his attention to the wall.

    This wall was unlike anything he had seen and read about even in the archives, going against everything he had understood, igniting his flames of curiosity.

    Along the way, they also noticed several tall, wooden structures behind the thick wall of thorns. This time, no explanations were needed as the warriors were able to tell what these structures were instantly, guard towers.

    These guard towers were meant to provide the elves with a high vantage point so that they could see further, and their arrows would be able to hit targets from a greater distance. There were similar structures back at the tribe, although none were as tall and there weren''t nearly as many.

    The group soon arrived at a wide entrance marked by two stone pillars which would have allowed six of them to walk in together side-by-side with ease. There were two heave stony gates open inwards at both side of the pillars, looking to be able to block out the entrance if closed.

    There were also guard towers near here manned by groups of four who were peering at the group as they approached. There were also two guards standing on eight side of the gate who had already been looking in their direction right as they arrived, notified by the sentries.

    "Hello and welcome to the capital. May I inquire on the purpose of your visit?" the expedition was immediately welcomed by one of the two stationed guards as they approached the entrance.

    "Wow, some of these tribes sure arrive early." as the first guard was talking, the group also caught wind a comment by the other guard who remained in position, clearly having seen through the reason behind their expedition.

    The first guard did not react to this and continued looking towards the group, waiting for a reply. Like his partner, he had also guessed as much but abiding by the protocol was also part of their duties and the confirmation step was still essential.

    Right as the guard walked up, one of the elves in the expedition also walked up and greeted the guard with their native salute before taking what appeared to be a scroll out from his bag.

    "We have come on behalf of the Calla Tribe in the South to provide our services to the capital in accordance to the covenant." he began to speak in a stiff, formal tone as though reciting words off a script as he held the scroll out to the guard with his palms outstretched.

    The guard straightened his back and returned the salute with one of his own, before respectfully receiving the scroll with both of his hands as well. He lightly opened the wooden scroll in his hands and confirmed its contents before returning it.

    "This indeed bears the mark of a tribe. Follow me over to the guardhouse, we''ll report this to our captain at once." the guard nodded lightly as he turned to sweep his eyes across the expedition. He raised his eyebrows slightly in puzzlement when he caught sight of Alz.

    This only lasted an instant before he moved his eyes away and turned around, walking back towards the entrance with the expedition quietly following behind.

    As they walked through the entrance, they could finally witness the interior of the city in its full glory, without the obstruction of the wall of vines which stood in their way during their previous walk.

    The first thing many of them noticed was a sturdy-looking building which stood right ahead. The base was constructed entirely with evenly sized pieces of wood that was unlike the shoddy construction found back in their tribe.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    The roof on the other hand, was leafy and green at first glance, as though it were a canopy formed by trees. A closer look however, revealed signs of a net weaved out of vines hidden beneath the greenery, forming the support for the leaves.

    This roof was designed to block off the chilling wind while still allowing some light to pass through so the residents within would not be as inconvenienced by the lack of light.

    The building was not especially tall, standing only slightly taller than the huts found in their tribe. However, what made it stand out was the area it had covered. The building was extremely large, encompassing an area several times that of the field back at the central village.

    Even Alz was not spared from the shock with his gaze was stolen by the massive building. The field back at central village was not small by any means, being at least 100m of on each of the four sides.

    It was the size of the building before them which could have only been described as absurd, blowing away any standards of building sizes the group was accustomed to.

    "This is the southern guardhouse, our guardhouse. I know how it feels, I was also very shocked when we first arrived. This is also just the beginning, there are many more surprising things inside so look forward to it." the guard looked towards the stunned elves with a knowing smile and explained in a voice that contained pride.

    The elves soon returned to their senses with their faces slightly reddened due their earlier display.

    "Colt, come down for a bit." the guard paid no heed to their reactions and shouted out to one of the elves on a nearby guard tower.

    Hearing his name called, the elf slid down from long vine that was fastened to the top of the tower and walked over to the guard. The guard briefly explained the situation and gave him the details that he had learnt before returning to his post with a quick farewell.

    "I''m Colt, nice to meet you. I''m from the Hostia tribe, a southern tribe the same as all of you." the newcomer promptly introduced himself and began to lead the way into the guardhouse.

    Right as they entered the guardhouse, the scent of grass gently wafted into their noses, bringing a sense of familiarity in this unfamiliar place. The elves were under the illusion that they had returned to the forest, with the canopy above with the wide green field laid before them.

    This illusion did not last long before it was interrupted by the sight of wooden targets lined up neatly in a row a section ahead. There were four young elves currently ahead of the target. Three elven boys were laughing maliciously while an elven girl was kneeling on the ground sobbing as she gripped tightly onto two split halves of a bow.

    "This is one of our indoor training fields. There are two of them in this guardhouse and are usually used for riding or archery practice. The captain likes to come here and lie on the grass though so watch out if you''re training here." Colt looked behind and explained to the group as they entered the field.

    However, his movement suddenly stiffened when he turned to look at the scene before him. His expression began to contort in rage as he grit his teeth. His fists were also clenched together tightly, shaking uncontrollably with his rising anger.

    The elves in the expedition frowned upon this scene as the last words the chieftain had left them before their departure rang out in their ears.

    "Beware of our kind."

    This was the reminder the chieftain had left them, a word of advice given by an elf who had lived in the capital for at least 30 years and returned. He had delivered this message with an especially serious tone at the entrance of the village right as they were leaving.

    His face then was dyed in an indescribable bitterness then, an expression which concealed many scars due to regrets from a time once upon. Regrets from the many things he had witnessed and the actions he didn''t take.

    Nobody then understood the depth of the bitterness he felt, but his expression had left a deep impression on everyone then, allowing his heartfelt words to seep deeply into their minds.

    This was an elf who had sent them all away with a laugh when they approached him to ask about the dangers of the forests in the capital, telling them there was nothing to worry about and to look forward to it.

    He repeatedly reassured everyone that the central forests were safer and mischievously refused to divulge any more details no matter how much they tried to pry, with hopes that they would explore and learn about the area with their own eyes.

    He had even told all the other elves who returned to not give out any information to the group with a hearty laugh, causing many of them to inwardly curse towards him then. This was something that happened when the group was decided, something only Alz was ignorant of.

    However, this also showed his confidence in their abilities to adapt to the forests, yet this same elf had given such a grave warning as a parting message to the expedition while clearly being worried about them.

    Initially, they were simply confused by his words. Their expectations towards their futures had also raised greatly during the fruitful journey here, both literally and figuratively.

    Yet, the scene before them painted a different picture from their expectations, allowing them to understand the beginning of the meaning behind the chieftain''s last words, and this was only just the beginning.

 Chapter 36: First Exposure

    Colt panted heavily as he looked ahead with conflict flickering in his eyes. The anger in face quickly faded as he directed his gaze towards the child who was sobbing on the floor.

    When he looked back up at the trio, the signs of anger on his expression were no longer as pronounced, replaced by a deep bitterness as he felt a strong sense of helplessness towards the situation.

    He took several deep breaths and loosened his fist, understanding that rushing up here would do no good. He was boiling over with rage, but he was already painfully aware that this would only serve to aggravate the issue.

    "Let''s hurry over to the next room." Colt shot a quick glance to the expedition as he spat out his words, hastily taking off in a brisk pace as he spoke.

    Many questions appeared in their heads, but now was clearly not the time to ask. The elves follow behind silently, matching his pace as they marched forward.

    Colt led the group on a path that detoured behind the four elves, the designated path for crossing the field range when there were elves using it. After all, it was naturally unwise to cut from behind the targets and moving through between the archers and the targets was clearly not an option.

    However, Colt immediately felt some regret towards his decision when three figures approached them from the front and blocked of their group, causing him to click his tongue uncontrollably.

    He felt irritation rise from the depths of his heart, but his regret quickly faded as he knew that this was already probably the best result as things would have been much worse had he taken either of other two paths.

    The trio had their bows with them as well, and knowing them, he did not doubt for a single second that they would have drawn their bows on them, as it wouldn''t be the first time they did something like that.

    "Woahhh! There''s so many new faces here! Is there a party or something!? Hmm...? You... I remember you, you''re one of the elves from the southern tribes? Kalt...or was it Kult?"

    The elf standing in the center of the trio began to speak as his eyes wandered across the group, but he lost interest almost immediately and focused a frigid gaze on Colt instead as his lips curled up into a thin smile.

    Contrary to the viciousness displayed in his words, his appearance was extremely clean and proper. He had neat silver hair that trailed smoothly to his broad shoulders. He was also about half a head taller than Alz which was slightly above the average height of their race.

    His face was still showed had signs of youth, albeit less apparent than Alz''s, and appeared to be in his early twenties. His attire was also well groomed and gave off a knightly impression as opposed to the impression of a hunter found in most elves.

    The two elves that stood by his sight were slightly shorter than him, but they had bulky figures filled with muscle that could match Polon back in the village, although, these two elves were clearly already fully grown and at their prime as opposed to Polon who was still early in his growing years.

    His voice sounded crisp and clear but was laden with feigned enthusiasm, obviously mocking the group. There was also clear arrogance and maliciousness that fitted so well into his voice that it was scary how natural it was.

    The elves in the group felt their blood running cold as they looked at the elf before them, some even lowering their bodies subconsciously as their instincts warned them of the hostility emanating from the elf before them.

    Colt gritted his teeth tightly and met with his gaze. However, the anger and resentment in his gaze immediately disappeared like a speck of snow under the blazing hot sun, replaced by a look of fear and unease as he inadvertently lowered his eyes in the next moment.

    A cold glint flashed in the elf''s eyes while his lips curled up further in response to Colt''s reaction as he continued to stare down on him with his condescending gaze.

    "Young Chieftain, I believe his name was Colt." one of the elves standing by his side spoke up after the ''young chieftain'' spoke, correcting him on Colt''s name

    "Hahahahaha, all the southern elves are the same, why do you even bother remembering their names? You''re gonna be doing 20 push-ups after this as punishment!" the ''young chieftain'' held his hand to the stomach and began to laugh loudly before turning to his companion and speaking.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    "Hey, you. That thing over there is from your tribe, right? Go throw it out of this city and throw yourself out with it before or you''ll end up regretting it." he then pressed his index finger directly onto Colt''s forehead and stared directly into his eyes before speaking, ending off with a playful yet cruel smile.

    "And you, the ones standing behind this piece of trash. My name is Cruz Custos, you''d do well to burn this into your tiny heads before we meet again. I''m in a good mood today so I''ll let you guys off for now, be grateful."

    The elf turned to the expedition and introduced himself haughtily before walking towards the entryway at the side of the field with an arrogant laugh that echoed in the field while his two companions followed behind.

    Half a minute later, his obnoxious laughter finally cleared after he exited the field, leaving a dreadful silence that filled the air. The elves in the expedition began to exchange glances, clearly lost by the sudden development, but they all had one thing in common, flames of rage burning in their eyes.

    Even the most mild-tempered of them was angered by Cruz''s words that demeaned and insulted all the elves in the southern area. Many of them even had thoughts of walking up and rearranging his face for him, but they had too many reservations to act now.

    After all, anyone could tell that they held positions of importance in the city from Colt''s reactions and it was unwise to stir trouble on the first day they arrived without even knowing the extent of trouble they would be getting into.

    According to the covenant, they would be staying here for at least the next 30 years and it didn''t look like a good idea to ruin all of their futures due to a moment of rashness right after entering the city.

    The group then turned their eyes to their guide, Colt, who had remained silent ever since Cruz approached the group. He currently hung his head low with his fists clenched tightly as his body shook uncontrollably from the emotions he felt.

    "Standing up for a fellow tribe member, a friend''s daughter? What a joke! I can''t even look at him in the eyes."

    A murky darkness swam in his eyes as he roared at himself in his mind towards his pathetic display from before, feeling ashamed and disappointed at himself for the cowardice he had shown.

    He had opened his mouth several times during the earlier ordeal, but no words came out. He couldn''t even stand up for himself then, not to mention standing up for someone else. He began to wallow in his thoughts while his sense of the reality began to dim.

    However, just as he was about to lose himself in self-derision, he felt a gentle touch on his hand, bringing him back to his senses. He instinctively looked up but saw no one. He slowly moved his gaze downwards and finally caught sight of the small figure who was trying to cheer him up.

    This figure was the girl who had been kneeling on the floor earlier after being bullied by the trio. Her eyes were a beautiful meadow green eyes and her soft silver hair was tied up in ponytail behind her.

    Her facial features were mostly rounded but were not yet distinct, shrouded behind a veil which time had yet to remove. The youth of her features was comparable to Alz, but she was actually two years younger than him at the tender age of 15.

    "Uncle C-Colt, I-I''m okay-y so ch-cheer up, I-I''m really f-fine." she tried to speak while desperately holding back her tears, her voice breaking several times as she gently patted the back of his hand while holding it with her other hand.

    She was looking at him with a smile on her face, but her eyes still red with and tears were slowly streaking down her cheeks, giving away the strong front she was putting up.

    "Haha, I''m really pathetic, to think I would need to be consoled by Maya."

    He looked down at the young girl before him with a gentle, doting gaze as he lifted his hand and patted her gently on the head as he began to speak.

    "Sorry Maya... sorry for being so useless." he apologised to the young girl with a pained expression as he looked at the two halves of a bow she held to her chest with her elbows, the last memento her friend had left her before his eternal departure.

    Maya frantically shook her head sideways, a strong gaze filling in her tear-stricken face as she spoke, "You didn''t do anything wrong, they are the bad guys. P-Papa used s-say so t-too. I w-will... "

    Her voice began to break again as she recalled her deceased father, causing her tears drip faster. She took several breaths to regain herself and continued in a resolute voice, "I will become strong, so they can''t ever bully us again!"

    Her moist emerald eyes shined with a blinding brilliance as she spoke of the promise she had made in her heart. Colt felt as though something hard stabbed deeply into his heart, bringing him back to his senses.

    Light began to fill his eyes again, dispelling the murky darkness. He still had things to do, duties to perform. There was no time for him to waste grieving, when even a young girl like Maya had the strength to move forward.

    Suddenly he revealed a look of shock as though finally remembering something. He stiffly turned his neck around, only to see many pairs of eyes focused on them, causing his face to redden slightly.

    "S-Sorry for the spectacle, I''ll bring you over to the captain now." he hastily apologised with an awkward smile and quickly began to walk briskly towards the door on the opposite end of the entrance they took.

    Maya''s face also reddened like a tomato as she belatedly recalled the presence of the onlookers, running after Colt who sped off.

    The elves from the Calla tribe felt their emotions for earlier die down at the warm scene that played out before them, but they were all putting on much more serious expressions than before as they now knew for a fact that their stay would not go as smoothly as they had hoped for.

 Chapter 37: Ruckus

    Colt slowed his steps to a halt after crossing the entryway, waiting for the group to catch up. Maya followed beside him without uttering a single word, occasionally sneaking glances at the group behind with her cheeks still burning with embarrassment.

    As the group behind approached the door, noise began to make its way to the group''s ears, sparking curiosity among them. The noises became louder as the group moved closer, allowing their sharp ears to begin distinguishing the sounds.

    The bulk of them sounded like noise from conversations, mixed in with several other sounds that didn''t sound foreign to the elves in the group. A familiar place appeared in the minds of most of the group as they progressed through the entryway.

    Before they could confirm it with their eyes, Colt''s voice travelled into their ears, confirming their suspicions.

    "This is the dining hall, where we will usually have our meals. The food here is much better than anything found in our part of the forest, so be prepared to enjoy your meals." Colt began to speak right as the group was making their way through the entrance.

    This place had similar furnishing to the dining halls in the back in the tribe, except that it was a scaled-up version with many more tables and chairs placed around. There was also a counter at the front where both male and female elves were currently giving out food.

    The dining hall was bustling with activity, happily engaging in conversations while they ate. The tableware and furniture constantly came in contact with other objects around, creating the characteristic sound of dining areas which led to the noise they heard earlier.

    Everything appeared to be normal at one glance, with vibrance throughout the entire hall. However, Alz furrowed his brows as his eyes scanned through the dining hall, quickly picking up on the anomaly within.

    The hall seemed to have been split into two sections, with an invisible divide between them where only a few elves were seated. When they saw Colt leading the way, the elves seated on the left sent warm gazes towards him while hostile glares shot from the other side.

    "Haa... This is going to be troublesome. Let''s just hope everything goes well."

    Piecing this together with the earlier incident, Alz started to feel a headache coming while sighing inwardly as he realised he had underestimated the severity of the issue.

    He had initially planned on coming here only to collect information on cities beyond the forest so that he would not be totally lost after leaving. He had not expected everything to proceed smoothly but he also did not expect issues to crop up this early.

    All he could do now was hope that this would not create too much trouble for him during his stay and mess up his plans. However, he also knew that this was likely not going to happen from their earlier encounter and the scene before him.

    With such a large group entering, the hall audibly quietened down as several groups of elves seated on the left broke off their conversations and turned to look towards the incoming group. There were also some curious eyes from the center while most seated on the right remained indifferent.

    "Oh, its Colt! Are these our newcomers?" one of the elves seated on the left side called out to Colt, asking him expectantly as his eyes drifted off to Alz the group that was still entering the hall.

    "Yeah, they just arrived earlier. I''m bringing them to see the captain now, but I was on duty earlier and don''t know where he is. Did you see him around anywhere?" a smile appeared on Colt''s face as he looked at the elf who called out to him, replying to him and asking a question of his own.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Neither of them particularly contained their voice, allowing the exchange to be heard throughout the hall. This time, more elves turned towards the group from both sides, observing the group more carefully.

    "Wow! The south is even sending in children now? Have they really become so desperate or are they disrespecting the rest of us!?" before the elf could answer, an acerbic voice cut from the other side of the hall along with a loud slam on the table.

    Hearing this, many of the elves revealed surprised looks as they scanned through the group, landed their eyes on Alz. The elves seated on the right began to roar with laughter while pointing at Alz while those on the left looked at Alz with confusion and disappointment.

    "Why does it always turn out like this?"

    Having been forcefully dragged into the center of attention, Alz could only reveal a bitter smile as he looked upon the scene, sighing inwardly. He wasn''t particularly angry at the elves for mocking him, in fact, it was in his interests to be underestimated.

    However, his intention to keep a low profile at least during the beginning of his stay was mercilessly dashed with this incident, causing him to feel a sense of helplessness at the situation before him.

    Thinking back, he realised that many of his plans which seemed sound at first never went the way he expected, from his return to the village, along the expedition, and even now. This prompted him to reflect on his planning process, determined to refine it further before he set off.

    That said, he also couldn''t truly be blamed for his oversights as he had only been 12 when he fled the village. In the following years, he had also been living in the absence of external contact and had only resumed interactions with others recently.

    These series of events, in a sense, could have been said to be fortunate for him, allowing him to realise the many factors his previous arrangements failed to consider, the element of ''humanity''.

    Alz might have been able to take the mocking into his stride, but the elves around him were unable to do so. The bodies of the warriors from the Caila tribe were shaking with anger while the females directed stone cold eyes at the laughing elves.

    The elves seated on the left also began to shout angrily in response to the laughter, creating a scene of utter chaos throughout the dining hall. Meanwhile, the elves sitting at the center grabbed their dishes and brought them to the front before leaving the hall, unwilling to get involved in this.

    "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" suddenly, a thunderous roar came from the entryway on the right, echoing throughout the dining hall. A few moments later, a figure slowly walked in with a tired expression on his face and a hand massaging his forehead.

    The rowdy laughter instantly ceased the instant the voice was heard, causing the hall to fall into a momentary silence. At the sudden silence, Colt immediately jolted himself back to reality and walked up to the figure to explain the situation.

    After all, the figure was the elf that he was looking for, the captain of the southern guardhouse. While Colt was explaining the situation, the other elves in the hall remained completely still, in stark contrast from the picture of chaos just moments ago.

    "I have understood the situation. " the captain silently listened to Colt and nodded lightly after he had heard the whole story.

    "ALL OF YOU HERE, SINCE YOU HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY, GET YOUR ASSES OVER TO THE FIELD AND RUN 100 LAPS EACH!" he then shouted once again, his voice sounding especially loud as it broke the silence that filled the hall, causing many ears to start ringing.

    The expressions of several elves by another entrance were coloured in grief, walking dejectedly over in the direction of the field. These were the innocent elves sitting in the divide earlier who had been a step too late in escaping.

    None of the other elves let out any voices of complaints either, obediently returning their dishes to the front and moving over to the field. Many of the elves who were sitting on the right however, looked at Alz and the rest with grudging looks, clearly blaming them for this situation.

    After all, they all knew from experience that nothing good would ever come out from arguing with the captain at this time, even if they had reason on their side like the innocent elves who had been caught in the crossfire.

    "All of you, come with me." after the rest of the elves vacated the dining hall, the captain spoke to the group before exiting back from the entryway where he had appeared from.

    Colt, Maya and the elves from the expedition obediently followed behind the captain with some nervousness and unrest amongst them due to the commotion earlier, entering the entryway after the captain.

    Silence returned to the dining hall once again, leaving only the staff in front who were busily clearing the large wave of dishes and utensils that were handed to them all at once.

 Chapter 38: Meeting with Captain (1)

    There was a counter at the front with tables and chairs scattered around like before, but there was a distinct difference between the furnishings of the two, with the tables found here being mostly small and round unlike the many long rectangular ones at the dining hall.

    There were also stools before the counter where several elves were seated, something that was absent in the dining hall. There were also many conversations taking place here, but the elves here were watching their volumes, so there wasn''t much noise.

    The food served here also came in smaller portions, with most of the dishes around being filled with fruits and snacks which were clearly not meant to substitute for meals.

    The hearts of the expedition members settled slightly as they entered, influenced by the cosy and relaxed atmosphere in the room.

    The captain didn''t stop to explain anything to the elves, continuing to proceed deeper into the room. The group soon arrived before a closed door within the room, the first entrance they encountered that had a door attached.

    The captain lightly pushed on the wooden door, causing a soft creaking sound to ring out from the hinges by the side. Many of the elves from the expedition observed the hinges curiously, having not seen anything like it in the past.

    Alz spaced out momentarily as he looked at the door, reminded of the huge metal door from the special place of his memories and the absolute sense of security which he felt in those times.

    The group''s movements did not stop during this time, entering through the door one by one. The captain finally stopped after taking several steps into the room, turning around to face the group.

    Upon entering, Alz let his eyes roam about the room, trying to look out for hints towards figuring out what the room was for. The room was small, feeling cramped even when not everyone had entered yet.

    There was a simple square desk at the back with various scrolls scattered messily above it, along with stationery used to inscribe on them. By the side, there were several shelves similar to those found in the tribe''s libraries with various scrolls on them as well.

    Apart from these, the only other furniture in the room was a large table in the middle, with long seats on both sides coated in what seemed to be the skin of an animal for additional comfort.

    When all of them entered the room, the captain finally began to speak, "I have understood the circumstances before and know that you are not at fault, but I would still like for all of you to watch out and avoid such incidents in future."

    His voice was not as stern as before, containing a clear sign of exhaustion within it instead. Colt opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but quickly fell to silence again as he looked at the tired expression on the captain''s face.

    The captain noticed Colt''s expression from the corner of his eye as well as the tear marks on Maya''s face that had yet to dry, prompting him to let out a sigh internally. Colt did not report anything about Maya''s incident to him, but he had been in charge for long enough to guess what went on.

    This issue was something that had already been brought up many times before, something he had long since known of. If he had the ability to do something about it, he would have long since done so, but he did not.

    Even when he tried to raise this issue to the higher-ups in the palace, it would always fade into nothingness, unable to raise even a single ripple. No matter how many times he tried, it always ended the same way, causing him to grow weary towards this long-standing problem.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    He had even received warnings from the ''invisible'' force that worked behind the scenes, the ones that had obstructed his reports from reaching the Queen. He naturally knew the identity of this force as well, but it was precisely because he knew it that this was such a thorny matter.

    He was also not alone in this struggle, with this being the most common problem raised the four of them, the four captains of the guardhouses. Yet, all they could do was complain and accept the existence of this ''tumour'', powerless to change anything.

    The captain suddenly stretched a hand towards the group with his palm facing up, as though waiting to receive something. The elves from the expedition exchanged confused glances with one another, trying to see if anyone knew what he wanted.

    Looking at this, the captain spoke in a mildly irritated voice, "The scroll of summons, your tribe''s leader should have left it with one of you. The guards at the entrance should have also checked it earlier."

    The elves immediately revealed looks of enlightenment after hearing this. The elf who carried the scroll felt cold sweat dripping from his back as he frantically removed the scroll from his bag, carefully placing it on the captain''s palm.

    The captain quickly grabbed the scroll and opened it, nodding his head as he went through its contents. Suddenly, his eyebrow wrinkled, and his gaze began to move back and forth between the scroll and the expedition members with slight puzzlement.

    "It is written in the summons that your tribe only needed to send 25 combatants and 25 non-combatants, yet why have you brought along an extra member?" the captain raised his question while his eyes began scanning through the members of the expedition, eventually settling on Alz.

    Colt had only reported that the northern elves had began to insult the southern elves when they noticed the newcomers, but hadn''t mentioned the reason why it started, to which the captain didn''t probe as well.

    Hence, it was only now that he realised the existence of Alz whose youthful appearance made him stick out like a sore thumb within the group. Also, subtracted from the group, it would be left with 50 members, the exact number requested by the summons, making it immediately apparent that he was the extra one.

    Alz remained unfazed even with the captain staring at him, talking a step out from the group and bowing slightly to the captain before he began to speak.

    "By the grace of Her Majesty, I have heard that our tribe is only sending in half of the promised number of elves in light of the attacks that destroyed one of our villages five years ago." Alz paused here for a short moment, lowering his head while his eyes began to darken.

    "I am a survivor from that village. When I heard of this story from the chieftain, I personally volunteered to join this expedition in hopes of repaying the favour shown by the Queen." he continued on with a voice that was filled with resolve amidst the dejection it contained.

    A look of understanding dawned on the captain''s face while his eyes that looked towards Alz began to soften, filled with sympathy towards his plight. Colt also looked at Alz with eyes of shock, not knowing that he had such an unfortunate past.

    He had also felt some resentment towards Alz''s tribe for sending over a child earlier, embarrassing the rest of them as well. However, this now faded completely, replaced by a look of pain and empathy, from his old memories of wolf attacks in his tribe.

    Maya also turned to look at Alz with watery eyes with tears flowing down her cheeks. She had already felt very sad when she had lost her father and couldn''t even begin to imagine the grief Alz felt, stimulating her vulnerable emotional state that had yet to recover fully once again.

    Even the other members of the expedition began to look at him with sad and sympathetic eyes as each of his words resonated strongly in their hearts.

    Yet, all these elves would have probably not looked at him the same way had they known the true thoughts that were running through Alz''s head.

    "Finally, something went according to plan!"

    Alz carefully observed his surroundings, being careful to retain the expression on his face. This was not to say that his grief was feigned, as the attacks back then had left deep scars in his heart he wasn''t sure would ever heal.

    However, he was not one to openly show his pain to others, much less to strangers that he was meeting for the first time. In his mind, he was only reciting a well-rehearsed script that he had prepared beforehand for this situation, which seemed to have achieved the result he wanted.

 Chapter 39: Meeting with Captain (2)

    Alas, his joy only lasted a few moments before it was sent crashing down by the harsh, cru--- ... no... warm, kind reality would be more apt for describing this situation.

    "I admire your resolve, but you are still young. How about you start with training under some of our warriors first?" after a short pause, the captain held his hand to his chin and asked Alz.

    Hearing this, Colt immediately reacted and followed up after the captain, "He can follow the other children in their training, I''m sure they would also be happy if Alz were to join them." Maya also nodded her head vigorously while looking towards Alz.

    Meanwhile, the males from the expedition revealed strange expressions as they looked towards Alz, with some forcefully trying to hold back their laughter while the females also looked at Alz with some surprise, wondering how Alz would act.

    Some of them might have wondered how he survived in the five years he was missing at the start of the trip, but these doubts had long since faded with the many surprises he had brought them, causing them to feel thankful at his presence now.

    Having travelled with Alz over the past two weeks with Alz being the center of attention during most of the trip, they had all learnt several things about his character. The captain and Colt clearly had good intentions in their comments, but they knew Alz wouldn''t like that arrangement.

    No one here bore any doubt towards Alz''s capabilities as a warrior. Alz had earned their respect from the bottom of their hearts on the way here though the hunting skills he showed at the start and his unparalleled fighting prowess demonstrated in the spars.

    In fact, Alz was oblivious to this, but there was an unvoiced conclusion that Alz was the strongest, most versatile elf amongst them, making they feel safer just by having him within the expedition.

    However, they also felt strong pain at this, wondering what pains he had to go through to reach this point. This made want to allow Alz to act his age more often, leading to the special treatment he had received along the way.

    Well... at least initially. Later on, many of them were mused by Alz''s reactions each time they teased him, providing a constant source of entertainment and laughs along the way, helping to soothe the unsettlement many of them felt.

    "Why is this happening again!?"

    Alz screamed inwardly as his inner gloating was interrupted by a thick wave of dejection that swept through his mind, causing his expression to distort slightly. The three foreign elves did not notice it, but muffled laughter was heard from some of the elves in the expedition.

    "Just you wait."

    It was soft, but it did not escape Alz''s notice. He felt an urge to turn his head around and glare at them, but forcefully suppressed it as now was not the time for it. Instead, he made a mental note of the voices he recognised as he lifted his head to look at the captain.

    "Captain, the tribe sent me here because they were confident in my abilities. It would be a stain on my pride to be treated differently just because I am a child." Alz held his back straight and saluted while uttering each word with a strong resolve.

    The captain looked at the other elves for a moment, puzzled by their weird reactions, but his attention was quickly brought back to Alz, making a slight frown at his words. He was slightly displeased at his goodwill being rejected and thought Alz was simply being foolish.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    "Your pride may be important, but your life holds more value, particularly for a young one like yourself. Do not let excessive pride cloud your judgement and make a mistake you will regret." the captain said in a stern voice, lecturing Alz.

    "Captain, What Alz is saying is true. We have all witnessed his abilities along the trip here and believe him to be a great warrior. To look down on him because of his youth would be an insult to our tribe." the elf who presented the scroll earlier suddenly spoke, supporting Alz''s words.

    The other elves from the expedition also directed fiery gazes at the captain, showing that it was not he alone who felt that way. It was one thing for them to tease Alz, but none of them liked the fact that an elf who had earned their respect was being looked down upon.

    The silent laughter within the group was eroded in an instant as the captain''s words reignited some of the residual anger they felt from the earlier in the dining hall, triggering a strong reaction from them.

    The captain was slightly taken aback by the sudden piercing tension, backing off half a step when he met their eyes. He quickly regained his composure, but he felt an irritation rising within him. He had already been in a foul mood from the earlier incident and did not want to deal with this right now.

    "Fine, just do whatever you want. Colt, bring them around the guardhouse and show them to the empty bunks in the Right Wing. Don''t forget the uniforms. You may leave now." the captain turned around and spoke coldly, chasing them out of his office.

    Colt felt sweat forming at his palms at the suddenly confrontational air in the room and heaved a sigh of relief at the captain''s next words, saluting to the captain''s back and attempting to leave the room.

    Alz feet remained planted to the ground while a heavy bitterness started welling in his heart. A sense of deja vu began to assault him as he directed a question towards the captain''s back," Can I stay outside of the bunks?"

    He realised that it was probably unwise for him to ask now, but this was an integral part of his plans and he had no idea when his next chance to meet with the captain was. Hence, he still decided to ask it after some hesitation.

    The captain turned around slowly and stared at Alz with an emotionless gaze. He simply continued to stare at Alz without speaking, causing the atmosphere to become more strained as time went by.

    Many of the onlookers were holding onto their breath at this unexpected development, but many of them felt their respect for Alz growing at his bravery, unbeknownst to the helplessness he was currently feeling.

    Alz''s breathing slowly became heavier, feeling as though there were countless barbs constricting his lungs. Despite this, his gaze remained strong, staring straight into the captain''s eyes, unwilling to display any signs of weakness.

    The two elves continued to stare at each other as though time had frozen in place. The others watched on nervously, wanting to help in some way but were powerless to do so. This went on for two minutes before the silence was finally broken by a hearty laugh from the captain.

    "Hahaha! It seems I have really underestimated you. Fine, I already said to do whatever you want already so go ahead. You can leave now, or is there still something else?" the captain spoke in a tone mixed with anger and surprise, his voice sharpening towards the end.

    "N-No... There is nothing else." Alz hastily replied, turning around and rushing out of the office.

    Now that his objective had been achieved, he did not want to stay in the room for even a second longer. He was also nearing his limit from the two minutes and was feeling slightly nauseous due to the pressure he felt.

    "I''m so pathetic"

    After leaving the room, he held onto the closest wall for support and retched a few times. He slowly turned to look down at his body with a bitter smile. He suddenly began to shake his head vigorously, looking up with bright eyes that were lit with will.

    After Alz left, the others frantically scurried out of the room. Colt waited for all the elves to exit before he gently shut the door, leaving the captain alone in the office.

    When they all finally exited, the captain slowly turned to look at the door with his face in thought, suddenly breaking into a light smile as he muttered, "He''s an interesting one for sure."

    He then moved to sit at the desk by the back and started to flip through the scrolls that were scattered on the table with a serious expression.

    In his eyes, this was simply a small request, something that many other guards were already doing. Unlike the Calla tribe, there were simply too many guards here and it was not feasible to fit them all in the guardhouse, so the elves were already allowed to stay separately.

    However, little did he know, the many events that would eventually be triggered by this request, generating large waves that would eventually bring about massive changes in the political landscape of the capital.

 Chapter 40: The Dust Settles

    Alz felt a hard slam on his back, nearly causing him to fall forwards. The pain drew him out from his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. He instinctively turned to send a glare behind, but quickly swallowed his words back down.

    When he looked back, all eyes were focused on him, from Colt, Maya and everyone in the expedition. He released a dry laugh and backed off a few steps with an awkward smile on his face.

    There was relief painted over all of them, from finally being free of the thorny atmosphere that filled the office earlier.

    "Kid, my heart nearly stopped just now." an elf said while patting his chest, to which many others nodded along in agreement.

    Suddenly, one of the elves started laughing, setting off a chain of laughter that erupted in the group, catching Alz by surprise. The laughter went on for tens of seconds before Kleiz walked up to Alz and placed a hand on his shoulder.

    "Alz, that was some guts, good job!" Kleiz raised a thumb towards Alz with a wide grin on his face.

    The elf who passed the scroll to the captain also moved up and ruffled his hair lightly with a gentle smile as he spoke, "Alz, you''re a great warrior and we all know that. Don''t let their words get to you, we will always stand behind your back."

    "Yeah! Go throw a few of them around if they still don''t learn." another elf followed up,

    "We''ll visit you often, so don''t worry about feeling lonely." the ex-messenger elf who discussed with Alz on the forests along the way also added on.

    A female elf also went up and held Alz gently in her arms, patting the stunned Alz softly on his head with a doting gaze. The kind treatment caused tears to drip from the corners of his eyes, completely unprepared to receive the warmth that was being shown to him.

    He hadn''t informed anyone of his arrangements beforehand and was feeling some guilt for making them go through that. Additionally, he was extremely grateful towards the group for standing up for him earlier, making him feel worse about it.

    However, he had also not expected that raising his request would cause such a stir, so he did not mention it to the others. He also held some concerns that they might stop him, but these were evidently unnecessary from the scene before him.

    Alz had mentally prepared himself to receive some blame for his thoughtless actions earlier, but there was none of that. Instead, the words were overflowing with warmth that landed directly on the tender parts of his heart.

    In their eyes, Alz was still very young. He had earned the awe and respect from many of them with his talents along the way. Some of them even felt a sense of pride at being from the same tribe as him.

    The group was currently most concerned about how the earlier affairs affected Alz, afraid that he might be affected from the negative comments directed at him, causing his confidence to take a blow he couldn''t recover from.

    "I will get it done for sure."

    Alz''s wiped his tears off with his fingers and steeled his gaze, his motivation rising anew.

    "Thank you everyone. I''m fine, I''m really fine. Sorry for the trouble." Alz said as he broke free from the arms around him, bowing towards the group.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "Haha, don''t worry about it. We''re sure you have your reasons for bringing that up there. Just make sure you tell us where you will be staying so we can visit." the elf who passed the scroll over said which a chuckle, dismissing the issue entirely.

    "So, where will you be staying?" Colt found this to be a good moment and interjected into the conversation, asking the question that everyone was curious about.

    He had been assigned with the duty to help them settle in and would have to account for their status to report back to the captain at a later time. He was only surprised earlier at the situation Alz raised his request, but not at the actual request itself.

    After all, there were many elves who returned to their tribes and elves from previous batches of their tribe present here too, such as themselves. The chieftain might have arranged a guardian for him before setting off, which would also make sense with his age.

    This was what many of them thought after they calmed down, but Alz''s next reply immediately blew away this conjecture, causing them to wonder what he was thinking exactly.

    "I... don''t know yet. Where... are we allowed to stay? There doesn''t need to be any buildings there. All I want is a wide-open space that I can freely use. Is there anywhere around like that?" Alz replied his question with one of his own, his tone filled with uncertainty.

    Colt first looked at Alz with surprise, but his eyebrows soon creased in thought.

    "This...I''ll have to check, but it should be fine as long as it is within the ''barrier''." Colt murmured softly, his voice also sounding slightly uncertain.

    "Barrier? Do you mean the thorns around the city?" Alz asked curiously at the unfamiliar term that somehow had an oddly familiar ring to it, even though he was certain he had never heard the term before.

    "Yeah, that''s how it is called. It''s rumoured to have existed since before the founding of our capital, but nobody knows why. Anyways, if that''s the case, why don''t I show all of you around first, maybe you''ll find somewhere suitable along the way." Colt answered Alz and continued with a suggestion.

    Nobody in the group rejected to this proposal and Colt began to bring the group around, first introducing them to the different parts of the guardhouse. As he spoke, the elves'' faces were slowly coloured in shock, learning of the differences between the capital and their tribe.

    The guardhouse was extremely well equipped, to the point where the elves were feeling uncertain if it should even be called a guardhouse. Colt first brought them back to the area they passed through earlier, the ''Lounge'' where drinks and light snacks were served.

    They then briefly stopped by the dining hall where Colt explained the timings for meals, the types of food served and the like before moving on. There was a total of four entrances to the guardhouse, one on each side of the rectangular building.

    The bunks were located at the left and right wings, located at the two sides of the building. There were also two training fields of the same size, with one of them located by front entrance which they entered by.

    On top of that, there was a stage constructed for sparring matches between the warriors, a recreational field where they had equipment for sports and games, a concept foreign to the elves from the Calla tribe.

    Last but not least, there was an equipment store where the guards could collect and replenish their equipment, as it was ultimately still a guardhouse. Many elves found themselves becoming dizzy just by trying to remember various rooms while Colt looked on with a knowing smile.

    After they were done with the guardhouse, Colt began to lead the group outside, where he would introduce them to the other amenities around while Alz kept his eye out for somewhere suitable to build his place.

    Amidst everything, a sparkling pair of grass-coloured eyes constantly peeked at Alz from beside Colt, with a gaze that was brimming with curiosity and a hint of envy.

    She had been training for a long time, to gain skills that were worthy of being acknowledged by the tribe. This was something she had been striving towards for many years, yet she constantly faced setbacks along the way, such as the bullying incident earlier today.

    Yet, here, there was an elf who had already earned that despite looking to be around her age. She had been observing them entire time.

    She had seen, the respectful gazes that the other warriors directed towards that young elf, eyes that acknowledged him as one of them, unlike those that were usually directed towards her.

    She had heard, the words they used when they supported him, strong words that told of their respect and confidence in his skills, words that she had never heard.

    She was envious, but she was also curious, at how that young elf with feminine features managed to command such respect from his comrades that they would stake their tribe''s name on it, hence she carefully observed.

 Chapter 41: New Culture

    Colt continued bringing the group around the capital, introducing them to the places they needed to know. As Colt led the way, the group followed behind frantically, their faces filled with exhaustion.

    They had all thought it was going to be relaxing, a quick and simple tour around where they would be living. Yet, the capital had much more than they ever thought. With the various places they had to remember, the mental strain was slowly building up as they moved from one place to another.

    The capital was far larger than their tribe, with much less insecurity among the population without the constant threat of being wiped out by wolves. Hence, there was much more development in the capital, especially when it came to recreation.

    Faced with the many new facilities they had to remember, many of them were complaining inwardly as they followed behind Colt. Life back in the tribe used to be simpler, with much fewer things they had to remember.

    However, this did not come with merit, as it allowed the reality to sink deep into their heads. This short orientation allowed them to recognise that they were now in the capital, away from their old lives back in the tribe.

    "The skies are getting dark, let''s continue tomorrow." Colt looked up to the sky and said, after bringing the group around the southern district for several hours. Maya had also left at some point during this time, returning back to her home.

    "There''s still more!?" someone from the group said as he looked towards Colt an exhausted look while holding the sides of his head in his hands.

    Colt turned to face the group, replying, "We''ve pretty much been to everywhere you need to know, and you can learn about the rest during your stay, but there is one more place I need to bring you to."

    He then turned to look at a direction and continued, "It is quite a walk from here, so it''d be better if you all get some rest first. Oh, and only the fighters will need to follow me tomorrow, someone else will be bringing the rest of you around."

    Most of the group were relieved at learning that there was only one more place they needed to go, having already been overwhelmed by the many locations they went to earlier.

    "What is that place?" Alz suddenly asked with concern in his voice.

    While the others were struggling in trying to remember all the new locations they were brought to, Alz was leisurely sightseeing and looking for a good place to build his new home.

    After all, this level of memory work was nothing compared to the intense mental load he had been under the past five years and naturally didn''t stump him in the slightest. Hence, he noticed it, the change in Colt''s expression when he mentioned the last location earlier.

    Colt''s face briefly distorted earlier, but it only lasted an instant and escaped the notice of the other exhausted elves, but not Alz. Having caught sight of it, a bad premonition started to form within him, so he asked.

    As he heard Alz''s question, his eyes first widened slightly. He turned over to Alz with a bitter look as Alz''s astuteness, realising that he had picked up on his subconscious change earlier.

    Colt let out a sigh and said, "You''ll see tomorrow... but prepare yourselves, it''s not we can easily accept."

    His tone was heavy, and his eyes contained pain as he memories from the time his tribe just arrived and were introduced to that place began to surface in his mind.

    Some of the elves still showed confusion, but most of them fell silent at this, having deduced the identity of the last location.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Alz was especially shaken by this, his eyes reddening rapidly. His nails began to dig into his palms as a deep-seated resentment burned in the depths of his heart. Those who were standing around him also sent worried looks at him at his change but did not approach him.

    Colt sighed again as he looked at Alz''s drastic change but also remained silent. He knew that this was a sensitive issue for all them who came from the South, and it was doubly so for Alz with what he had been through in the past.

    "Let''s return to the bunks for today." Colt abruptly changed the subject, leading the way back to the southern guardhouse.

    Alz took several deep breaths and followed behind, quelling his emotions. This was something he had already known before, and something he knew he had to accept no matter how strongly he felt against it.

    The rest of the group also moved behind Colt, heading back to their lodgings. The lodgings here were split by tribe and not by gender, so the group didn''t need to split. Colt had already assigned several rooms to them when they went by earlier as well.

    The combatants had also collected their new uniforms from the equipment stores and would have to wear them for their subsequent duties. They were all guards now, placed under the command of the southern guardhouse, their new roles here in the capital.

    Alz was following the group because he was also staying together with them for the night. He had been persuaded earlier when they were assigned the dorms, to which he accepted since he was also tired from the journey here.

    Besides, it also worked for him as he was still agonising about where to build his new place. He had found several locations along the way which would work, but none of them really appealed to him too much.

    Colt had also checked for him and assured him that it would be fine as long as he built it within the barrier, so he was planning on scouting alone tomorrow to search for a better place, unwilling to make a hasty decision.

    The group soon arrived at their designated rooms at the right wing while Colt returned to his tribe. Before he left, Colt had told the group to meet at the dining hall for a meal before they set off for the last location.

    The timekeeping here was more elaborate here, with a day being split into twelve equal segments. The days were also being marked in intervals of five, with a term for each of the days.

    There were also various instruments to tell time, with the most common of them using sand and liquid. Within the southern guardhouse, the liquid devices were very common, and the elves were issued with one for each room assigned to them.

    The liquid clock worked using a viscous tree sap that could be extracted from many of the trees in the area, placing it into a funnel with a small, calibrated opening below.

    There was a wooden container placed below the funnel that was split into five different divisions used to separate the days. Within each division, there were twelve markings used to indicate the current time of the day.

    The funnel was placed over the rightmost division, used to mark the start of the week. Once the division was filled, the sap would overflow into the next division beside it, marking the start of a new day.

    Colt told them that they only needed to empty the container at the first light once every five days, and they could collect more sap from the stores should they need any.

    There were also communal clocks located at various places within the capital, with the closest one being the one found in the dining hall, so they could adjust their clocks accordingly if they needed to.

    When they were brought around the southern district earlier, they had also seen a massive sand clock at the center of the southern square, where many of the facilities were located around, which was the clock those living in the area calibrated to.

    Naturally, there would still be problems with adjustments and synchronicity, but it was much more sophisticated than the timekeeping system back in the tribe where it was only the duty of the librarians to keep track of the passing days, and days were only split into four rough divides.

    This was a fresh system to many of them, causing many of them to be fascinated by the new, advanced timekeeping system and instruments. Alz while not shock, was also greatly intrigued by this, not knowing of it before they arrived.

    That said, just because it was more advanced, this did not mean it was better. Rather, this was more showing of the differences between the cultures that existed in the capital and the south.

    The system they used in the south was simple, using only drums to notify them of the time of the day, but it sufficed for all their purposes and did not require complex instruments like those found here, allowing the village to focus more on their survival.

    The group was given four rooms, each containing fifteen beds. After a round of discussion, they decided to split the rooms between the genders, giving two rooms each to the males and females.

    Despite this, Alz was not spared from his fate that was decided on the journey. He was quickly kidnapped into one of the female bunks after this discussion, escorted by many eyes that burned with envy, off to fulfil his sacred duty as a hugging pillow for the final time.

 Chapter 42: Old Scars

    While he felt embarrassed throughout the night, this ended up helping him keep his thoughts away from the visit to the final location and sleep soundly in a warm embrace, something he inwardly felt very thankful for.

    As the elves fell into deep slumber one after another, the darkness slowly receded, and the skies began to brighten up again, welcoming the arrival of the next day, the fourth day of the week according to their newly obtained clock.

    After he woke up, Alz joined up with the other warriors at the dining hall to meet up with Colt at the appointed time. They regrouped without trouble and had their meals before setting for the final location.

    Outside the southern forests, wolves were generally treated well by the elven community. They were usually non-aggressive and acted as hunting companions for the fighters, helping them out greatly when moving around in the forest.

    Naturally, the capital was no exception, and there was a wolf pen located here as well. However, the attitude towards this at the southern guardhouse was vastly different from the other three, facing with much more opposition to this practice than the others.

    Alz had read about this before back in the library at the fourth and hadn''t felt too much against this then, but his outlook on this matter changed entirely following the attacks on his village.

    Even though he did not lose control like Polon, he heavily detested those creatures all the same, for robbing him of everything he once had.

    Rearing a wolf as a companion was something that had never crossed his mind, not even once. To him, wolves were enemies that existed to kill or be killed, there was nothing else in between.

    While not to the extent of Alz, the others in the expedition also felt rejection towards this idea, resulting in a stiff atmosphere as they followed behind Colt with heavy steps.

    Being from the south as well, Colt was not surprised by the lack of motivation shown by the group, understanding where it came from. This was why was reluctant to inform the group of their destination before, but Alz''s question had worked against his original intent.

    Since they already knew where they were going, there was no point in holding information back from them any longer. Having thought that, Colt broke the heavy silence with his words, beginning to explain how things went in their guardhouse.

    "You guys probably already guessed it, but I''ll say it anyway. We''re heading to the wolf pen now. Over here, each of the us are given a wolf as our companion, and you guys will be collecting yours later."

    No response came from the group, but the silence that returned felt heavier than before, indicating that Colt''s words had properly reached group''s ears. Indeed, there was no surprise among the group as they had already discussed deduced the final location the night before.

    At this confirmation, the group suddenly slowed down, with many of them showing disgust on their faces. Colt was not bothered by the irritation and lack of enthusiasm that was being shown, as he knew what they were going through.

    He had already expected this from the start, as his group had also reacted similarly back then. In a sense, this was the natural reaction from them too and he would have been shocked had they reacted differently.

    The enmity between the wolves and south was accumulated over multiple generations and was not something that could be simply resolved. This was a common bond that went beyond the tribes, connecting the entire south.

    As he watched the group, he also felt a slight sense of loss deep inside, releasing a sigh inwardly. They had also shared this bond once upon a time, but it had been whittled down during their stay here, causing it to lose the edge it once had.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The group continued moving along with Colt''s occasional voice and heavy footsteps in the background. After a long walk, The figure of a large brown wolf suddenly entered their eyes, a statue that was carved entirely out of wood.

    Despite its size, the statue was very well-defined, with many intricately features carved with incredible attention to detail. If not for its colour, one might have even mistaken it for the real thing, showing the effort behind its creation.

    Alz''s body was shaking uncontrollably as he glared at the meticulously carved statue, the final moments of his parents playing vividly in his mind. Anger surged within him at the sight of that form, shackling his feet down to the ground.

    Determination filled his eyes and he resolutely turned around, walking back in the direction they came from. He was unwilling to proceed any further, feeling like he would lose a part of himself had he moved on.

    The irregularity was quickly noticed, but those in the expedition merely sent a quick glance to his back before looking away. Colt quickly turned when he heard footsteps moving away, his sight landing on Alz''s back.

    He paused briefly in hesitation before deciding to chase after him, but a figure suddenly moved in from the side and blocked his path before he could do so.

    "Let him go. He has already been through far too much, the captain will surely understand as well." the figure said in a grave voice as he looked towards Colt, recalling the incident at the fourth village.

    Colt saw the grief in his eyes and fell into silence for a moment before nodding his head. He then turned around and continued to lead the group towards the building that was located behind the statue.

    After Alz''s departure, the group moved on smoothly to the pen with nobody else from the group leaving. Everything after proceeded smoothly as they went by the procedure and were each assigned with a companion.

    They were naturally unwilling to look after the wolves now, but they already had measures in place for this. The guards from the southern guardhouse were given the option of leaving their wolves to caregivers in the pen for the first five years.

    This was a special consideration by the guardhouse in light of their circumstances, providing them with a buffer to get used to interacting with the wolves, something many of them were thankful for.

    Meanwhile, on Alz''s end.

    Warm tears were forming in his eyes as he walked, triggered by the painful memories he recalled earlier. Pangs of homesickness attacked him in his vulnerable state, leaving him with a strong longing for home.

    "I have to be strong!"

    However, each time the tears formed, his fingers were there to remove it. He was feeling homesick, but his home was something that only existed in the past. It was not something that would be solved even if he returned to his tribe, for it was no longer there.

    There was no option for turning back, so he could only progress forward. He slowly calmed his emotions as he walked, deciding on what to do for now.

    He knew that walking off the way he did would probably result in issues, but it was something he had to do so he did not regret it. If given the option to choose, he would walk away every single time, there was no doubt in his mind regarding that. Hence, he decided not to think about the consequences for now.

    He had originally intended to do it after they left, but since he had time now, he decided to move it forward and started scouting the surroundings for a good place to build his home.

    According to Colt''s explanations along the way, there were only two wolf pens in the outskirts of the capital, one that was located between the South and the West and one between the North and East.

    These pens were shared between two guardhouses, hence explaining the long walk which had taken them nearly three hours. There were also several enclosures closer to the guardhouses, but those were only for the guards'' companions and were not used for rearing.

    This was something that they had just learnt along the way, as Colt had not brought them there while showing them around yesterday. After all, this was hardly important to the group and would probably not see use for the next few years at least.

    While noting his location in his head, Alz slowed down his steps and started taking detours, looking for a nice area that fit the image in his mind as he progressed in the direction of the southern guardhouse.

    The area enclosed by the barrier was extremely large, but the elven population was small. As such, there were many undeveloped, forested areas even within the barrier as homes were generally built close to other buildings due to the amenities.

    When Alz first learnt of this from Colt yesterday, he was immediately overjoyed as this meant that there were many more prospects for his new home. He was not the least concerned about the amenities, as he was confident in his abilities to build them himself.

    All he wanted was to live in a secluded area where he could live peacefully and move on with his plans with minimal interruption, a place like the archives where he had gotten used to living in over the past years.

 Chapter 43: Unexpected Aid

    Several hours felt like it was only an instant as Alz explored the unknown areas on his mini adventure within capital. Alz finally made it back to the guardhouse, but there an unsatisfied frown on his face, expressing no joy at his return.

    In the past few hours, he had found several interesting fruits and plants that he had never seen before, broadening his knowledge on the vegetation found in the capital, but the all-important location continued to elude him.

    "Guess that side is no good." He mumbled to himself before turning to look down at his stomach.

    He stared at the guardhouse for several seconds before he gritted his teeth and walked in carefully, making his way towards the dining hall. He had encountered several elves during this time, but most simply sent him a passing glance before walking off.

    An odd feeling rose up as he saw thing, causing Alz to stop for a moment and think about it. He soon found the flaw in his previous thoughts, feeling a surge of relief well up within him as he hastened his steps.

    His previous experience had left him mildly traumatised, afraid of running into trouble here because he was alone. Now was not like in the morning, when they had Colt with them who was acting under the captain''s orders.

    Although, after noticing how the other elves were acting, he started to reconsider his perceptions, rapidly arriving at a likely conclusion that put his mind to ease.

    He realised that he had probably been mistaken as one of the children who was training here, as he wasn''t wearing his uniform at the moment. Having discovered this, he no longer felt the need to proceed cautiously and started moving normally.

    Just to be safe, right before he entered the dining hall, he peered in from the entryway to check, but the elf that had called him out the day before was nowhere to be seen. He let out another sigh of relief and walked to the front to collect his meal.

    The utensils they provided here was simple, same as their tribe. It was simply food place on a serving plate made of wood. The only difference was that the plates here were more uniform, unlike the haphazard shapes seen back then.

    The meal collection went by hassle-free, as it did in the morning. After collecting his plate, he swiftly moved to the nearest empty table, intending to eat quickly before continuing his scouting.

    He knew that the others wouldn''t have a problem no matter how long he decided to stay, but he didn''t want to end up being overly dependent on them.

    They had treated him well, but he had already gotten used to a live of seclusion before this and it was not easy to adjust. While he was grateful for the kindness they showed, he also felt constrained when he was together with them, unable to act as freely he wanted to.

    After he put down his place, he started to enjoy his food while thinking of the next direction to move in. After all, he knew far too little about the surroundings and couldn''t decide based on location, so any direction was essentially the same to him.

    When he was halfway through his meal, an unexpected visitor appeared before him.

    "Alz? What are you doing here alone?" a female elf said as she walked up to him with a plate in her hands, staring at Alz with a pair of clear green eyes.

    Alz froze for an instant when his name was called, but he didn''t detect any malice in the voice, so his body quickly relaxed as he moved his gaze up. He truly relaxed after recognising the other party, scolding himself inwardly for his overreaction.

    The speaker was Maya, the elf he had encountered yesterday. If there was one thing he could be sure about, it was that she was absolutely not with the group that had mocked him before, knowing that alone was enough for him.

    "I''m just grabbing a meal." Alz replied after finishing the food in his mouth.

    "But shouldn''t you be... N-Nevermind." Maya cut her question halfway through, flustered by Alz''s sharpening gaze as she went on. Cold sweat started forming on her palms and she hurriedly looked away, feeling the warning behind his gaze.

    Maya knew about the group''s itinerary for the day, which was why she was surprised at seeing Alz here alone at this time. Her first instinct was to ask him why, but she wisely stopped before voicing out her question under his piercing gaze.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Alz obviously knew what she was about to ask, which was why he reacted the way he did. He felt slightly apologetic towards doing this, but he was really not in the mood to talk about the pen right now.

    Suddenly, an idea sparked in his head, causing Alz to look at her like a hunter eyeing his prey. Maya happened to move her eyes back at this moment, causing her to flinch at his gaze, backing a step from the table.

    "Why is he so petty! I already stopped didn''t I!?"

    "W-What?" Maya took another step back and asked with some agitation in her voice while scolding Alz in her mind, thinking that he was holding a grudge for just now.

    From the way she reacted, Alz immediately realised what he was doing wrong and changed his expression like the flick of switch, looking towards her with a warm smile.

    "Come and sit, you''re eating too right?" Alz asked in a gentle voice, as though the scenes that played out earlier had just been part of her imagination.

    Maya instinctively backed off another step as she felt a chill travel down the back of her spine. She was creeped out by his sudden change in attitude and wanted to just turn and leave at this very instant, but as the old saying went, curiosity killed the cat.

    She hesitated slightly before walking up to the table, taking the seat that was opposite to Alz. There was fear and some anger in her from before, but her curiosity had won over her in the end. She had been curious about him since yesterday and didn''t want to let go of this chance.

    As the two elves sat face to face, Alz started thinking of of how to broach the subject when Maya suddenly spoke out before him.

    "Hey, how old are you?" Maya asked a question that had been on her mind since she first met him, something she was extremely curious about.

    Alz was slightly taken aback by the sudden question, but he didn''t see the need to conceal it, so he honestly replied, "I should be turning 17 soon."

    When he returned to the tribe, he had dropped by the library to check the records, discovering how much time had elapsed during his stay at the archives.

    "So, he''s the same age as me."

    "Hmm, I see." a curt reply escaped Maya''s lips.

    Next, she went on to set off a barrage of questions at Alz while neglecting the food that was before her. The questions she asked were mostly simple, unimportant questions, such as what his hobbies were and what he usually did.

    "What did I get myself into..."

    Since he had a favour to ask from her, Alz tried to answer most of the questions properly. However, when it came to sensitive questions such as those which related to the archivers, he naturally did not answer them honestly and chose to fabricate an answer instead.

    "I hope this was worth it."

    This went on for several minutes and Alz was starting to feel some fatigue set in, but Maya showed no signs of stopping. Realising this, Alz inwardly decided that it was about time and forcibly cut Maya off, moving into the real reason for his sudden change in attitude.

    "Maya, do you know this area well?" Alz asked as he turned to look at her.

    Maya pouted slightly as she looked at Alz with a mildly resentful glare but Alz was unperturbed by her gaze, calmly waiting for her reply. After a few moments, Maya finally caved in with a small sigh, understanding that her questioning session had came to a close.

    "Well, I was born and raised here, of course I know it well." Maya replied as she turned her head away from Alz.

    "Then, is there a lake nearby where people don''t usually go to?" Alz smiled at her reply and followed up with the real question.

    "I do know one, but it is quite far from here." Maya replied after only a brief moment of thinking, surprising Alz with speed of her reply.

    "Perfect!"

    "Can you bring me there?" Alz asked, his voice quivering slightly with excitement.

    Had he continue scouting alone, the chances of finding a suitable location were slim and he wasn''t sure if he could even find one within the next five days, much less today. He had also asked Colt previously, but Colt did not have any good places to recommend.

    After all, despite the long period he had spent in the capital, a large portion of his time was spent training and on duties. Most of the guards also rarely explored the areas within the barrier during their free time, opting to spend the time in the guardhouse or exploring the outside.

    Alz was disappointed when he learnt of this from Colt, but Maya was different. As a child who was born here, she was usually barred from leaving the protection of the barrier and most of the recreational facilities here were geared towards the guards.

    Hence, they were more likely to explore the areas within the capital, which was what Alz had placed his hopes on. Indeed, his gamble seemed to have paid off from his words, and he felt relieved for having not wasted his time answering questions earlier.

    Well, had she not known of any suitable place, he would not have minded either. He was just taking a chance as he would have been eating here regardless and there was hardly any loss for him in the matter.

    "I don''t mind... but when?" Maya titled her head slightly as she asked, not understanding the excitement behind his voice.

    "Now!" Alz replied with a wide smile as he stood up from his seat, beginning to walk away.

    "Wait, wait! At least let me finish my meal first!" Maya quickly protested causing Alz to freeze in his tracks.

    Alz returned to his seat with an awkward expression on his face, sitting back down once again.

    "Sorry... I got a little too excited." he said and started to silently stare at her half-finished plate, waiting for her to finish.

    Due to the constant pressure exerted by pair of eyes beside her, Maya finished her meal quickly and led Alz out of the guardhouse, towards the place she had mentioned earlier.

 Chapter 44: Message within the Flowers

    After leaving the guardhouse, the two elves started heading towards the North with Maya leading the way.

    Maya had attempted to restart her questioning session, but Alz''s clear disinterest eventually made her decide to put it off for now, unwilling to ruin their friendly relationship with this.

    Instead, she began to talk about the capital at length, allowing Alz to learn more about this place. He was extremely grateful for this, as his lack of knowledge had constantly been bothering him like a thorn in his side.

    As Maya had mentioned earlier, the guardhouse was quite a distance from their destination, taking over an hour before they arrived at their destination. Thankfully, there was no lack of topics to talk about with his recent arrival here, allowing the pair to pass the time swiftly.

    "We''re here!" Maya exclaimed excitedly as the image of a clear, pristine lake reflected in their eyes.

    Alz also felt a strong sense of anticipation welling up within him as he caught sight of the lake beyond the greenery ahead of them. The pair hastened their steps, breaking out into a jog as they covered the last leg of the trip.

    The calm, greenish-blue waters sat silently in the centre with plentiful greenery around crowning the lake, making for a beautiful picture of nature. There was currently a herd of deer resting by the lake, bringing a vibrant feeling of life not found in the lakes in the southern forest.

    Alz''s attention was immediately captured by the view before him as a satisfied smile floated onto his face. From what he had learnt about this place from Maya as well as his own experience, this place had satisfied most of his conditions.

    The two most important conditions he had in his mind were both met, the lack of elven traffic and the presence of a water source. There was also no lack of materials nearby and to top it off, the lake was beautiful and calming to look at.

    He turned to the side with a look of gratitude, but an unexpected sight welcomed his eyes. Maya''s head was slightly lowered as she gazed the lake before her. She had tearful eyes and a lonely smile on a face as she lost herself in recollection, thinking of a time once upon.

    Alz''s grin stiffened up as he saw emotion in her eyes, one that resonated deeply with him, causing him to feel a stinging pain in his chest. This was a pain that he was painfully familiar with, a pain that plagued the depths of his soul since then.

    He sighed lightly and looked away, pretending he hadn''t noticed. He understood the gist of the matter from her conversation with Colt yesterday, but he already had his hands full with his own problems and adding anything unto that list was the last thing he wanted right now.

    "Come, I''ll show you something nice." Maya said as she suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and flashed a mysterious smile towards Alz, grabbing his arm.

    Alz could have easily dodged or broke free of her grip, but he chose not to. He allowed her to grab onto his arm and drag him along with curiosity in his eyes.

    She hadn''t mentioned anything about this on the way here, so he didn''t know where she was leading him, but the confidence in her voice made him look forward to wherever she was bringing him.

    They carefully made their way through the forest as Maya searched for various marks she had previously carved on the trees to avoid getting lost. This patch of forest might have been within the barrier, but it was completely undeveloped.

    It was also fairly large, and they could easily have gotten lost if they were not careful. While it was not dangerous by any means, they were still careful to avoid that as it would have wasted a lot of their time.

    After meandering through the dense path of trees for about ten minutes, a large open area suddenly entered their eyes. The area stood out clearly as it was devoid of the trees that surrounded it from all sides, making it extremely conspicuous for anyone nearby.

    Maya revealed a look of relief at seeing this, knowing that she didn''t go the wrong way. It might have been a short distance from the lake, but the terrain here was extremely unkind with many inaccessible areas along the way due to various landforms.

    This led to the path here being fraught with turns, making it very easy to get lost even despite the markings on the trees. Navigation was one of the things she struggled with the most and she also hadn''t been here for a while which only made it worse.

    "This is it!"

    He had thought that the lake before was vibrant and beautiful, but it still lack in lustre compared to the pictures in his books. However, the scene before him was different, stunning him with its beauty that was in no way inferior to anything he had seen before.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    Flowers, flowers and more flowers. A seemingly endless field of brightly coloured flowers spread out before his eyes, painting his world in a bright shade of yellow. These flowers had yellow petals with varying coloured cores, a flower he remembered from his days in the archives.

    Reading books that had pictures was one of Alz''s favourite past times back then, adding colour to the dull repetitive days. Among those books, there were also several books that documented flowers, but he didn''t spend too much effort remembering their names.

    Yet, this was a flower he distinctly recalled because its name struck a chord in him. ''Sunflower'' was its name, a flower named after the star that was said to hang above their heads, beyond the thick blanket of darkness.

    It was only a simple thing of knowing the name, but this simple difference here was enough to alter his entire perception of the field, identifying a strong desire that was hidden behind the beauty of the golden field.

    "If only there was sunlight."

    Alz suddenly turned his head up, staring deeply into the deep darkness above. The scene before him was beautiful, but it lacked something important which made it a feel tragic in his eyes.

    This was an entire field of sunflowers that had never received the blessings from the sun, the very origin of its name, and would probably never get to experience it.

    His heart was drenched in sadness as these thoughts riddled his mind, at the unspoken grief behind the planting of this field and the sorrowful fate these sunflowers were forced to bear, reflecting on his expression.

    Maya beaming brightly when she arrived at the field, losing herself in the beauty of the field for a moment before she turned an expectant gaze to Alz, wanting to observe his reaction.

    By a twist of fate, she had missed his initial reaction towards seeing the field, catching the tail end of his reaction instead. She felt her heart sink when she saw the expression of grief his face, turning her face red in anger and embarrassment.

    Despite going through the lengths of bringing him here, this was the expression he showed. She was both angry and sad at his reaction, as this field held an important place in her heart but Alz''s current reaction tainted her image of it.

    "I knew I shouldn''t have brought him here!"

    When she mentioned bringing Alz here before, this was the moment she had been most eager about, yet it had ended up disappointing her the most, causing her to regret her decision.

    Maya turned around and stomped her foot in anger, walking off from they came from. The heavy footsteps brought Alz back to reality, causing him to look at Maya''s back in slight puzzlement, not knowing the misunderstanding that had arose.

    "Where are you going?¡± Alz asked to her back, catching up to her in quick steps.

    "W-What? Aren''t you feeling dis-disappointed? I-If you don''t like it then get out! I''ll show you the way but don''t ever come here anymore!" Maya replied in an acerbic tone filled with anger, turning behind to face Alz with her face on the verge of tears.

    Alz was confused for only an instant before he realised where things went wrong. After all, there had only been so few things that occurred before her sudden change and it wasn''t hard for him to connect the dots.

    "ARGHHHH!"

    He let out a helpless sigh inwardly while cursing his fate as he looked at Maya with a bitter smile, not knowing what to say. However, he was not feeling angry at her.

    Putting himself in her shoes, he would probably have felt offended as well had someone reacted the way he did after bringing them to a place that held great significance in his heart, so he knew where she was coming from.

    "I didn''t mean it that way. I really like this place." Alz explained sincerely, hoping that this would solve things.

    Maya narrowed her eyes and locked her eyes with Alz, trying to gauge his sincerity. Several moments later she finally asked, "Then why did you make that face just now?"

    Alz first felt relief at hearing this, knowing that he was given a chance to explain. However, he soon found himself at a spot as he realised he couldn''t explain it properly, as it involved sensitive issues he wasn''t intending to reveal.

    Various thoughts went through his mind as he thought ways to cover it up, but Maya''s innocent green eyes seemed to stop the words from exiting his mouth each time. He felt heartfelt gratitude toward her leading him here and didn''t want to lie to her for this.

    "This much should be fine."

    Eventually, he released an audible sigh and decided to speak the truth, asking her a question, "Do you know the name of these flowers?"

    Maya raised an eyebrow as she looked at Alz, trying to figure out the intent behind his question. However, all she saw was a genuine gaze in his expression and it did not feel like he was trying to divert the topic.

    Maya shook her head lightly, indicating that she didn''t know.

    "These are called [''sunflower''], named after a large ball of fire that hangs above us." Alz continued on, raising his hand up to sky and gripping his fingers into a fist as he told her of a tale from a time long past.

    The term sunflower sounded out of place, being from a different language then the one they were used to. Maya tilted her head slightly before looking up, seeing nothing like what Alz had described in the darkness above.

    "We can no longer see it now, but the person who planted this field probably wanted to see it a lot." Alz ended off with a sigh, adding on to her confusion despite clearing some doubts.

    However, before she could ask anything, Alz quickly followed up, "I read this from a piece of rock last time, so I don''t even know if it''s true, but this field reminded me of it."

    He felt bad about lying about the reason behind his sadness but had no qualms about this white lie. The information on sunflowers was nothing much, but the existence of the archives getting out was something he couldn''t afford to risk, as it would have caused his future plans to crumble.

    Maya was even more confused after the explanation than ever before, but the anger in her eyes subsided as she looked at Alz''s genuine gaze. Despite how farfetched it was, her intuition was telling her that his words were true, surprising even herself.

    At the same time, she began to feel like Alz was shrouded in an aura of mystery, slightly altering her impression of him.

 Chapter 45: Envy

    Of course, even Alz himself didn''t know how much of what he said was the truth, as this was all based on his own conjecture. There could be many other reasons behind this and he might have just been wrong from the start, and even if it were true, there would be many more questions.

    However, he didn''t bother reading too much beyond as this was the least of his concerns now. After all, regardless of the intent of the person who planted this field, it was already in the past and wouldn''t affect him now.

    Maya''s expression finally lightened up, walking pass Alz into the golden field.

    "Sorry... it''s just, this place is very important to me." Maya said with her back turned toward Alz. A sad smile graced her face as she looked at the flowers, overcome by a wave of nostalgia.

    "I haven''t been here for a long time, but the flowers still look as beautiful as I remembered." Maya said in a lonely voice.

    Her back looked extremely frail at this moment, like she would collapse and drown in the field of flowers at any moment.

    "Did you know? I actually found this place because I got lost, but my dad managed to find me after searching." she chuckled slightly, but it did little to hide the heavy emotions behind her words.

    "This became my favourite place, He used to bring me here all the time... but I already haven''t been here for a long time." Maya turned around and staring toward Alz with a tearful smile, missing the days when her father was still around.

    "I''ve been giving my all in the trainings, but everyone still treats me like a child. No matter how much I try, nobody acknowledges me." she said in a despondent tone as the smile on her face became more tragic.

    "I have seen it, you''re different from me. Your tribe believes in you and treats you like one of them." she said with envy in her voice.

    "Please, tell me, what am I doing wrong? How can I become more like you? How can I earn the respect of the others?" she pleaded in a strained voice that was tinged with desperation, staring at Alz with hopeful eyes, hoping he would be able to provide her with an answer.

    Maya had already done everything she could think of, but nothing seemed to work. Anxiety was starting to get the better of her as she remained at a complete loss for what to do, when he suddenly showed up, an elf her age who had earned the trust of his tribe.

    "So, this was it"

    Alz had been wondering why she was telling him all this, but now he knew. He was confused at the start as they had just met yesterday and didn''t have any deep ties, but this was the reason behind.

    Alz looked back at her silently, unsure of what to say. He knew that she was expecting something from him, but he would have to betray her expectations.

    Ever since his return to the village, he hadn''t really cared much about the opinions of others. He merely did everything he felt was necessary and things had simply fallen in place naturally.

    It could have been the strength he exhibited, the intellect he had shown, or something else entirely, but he never bothered to find out. He had a goal to work towards and that was enough for him, he wouldn''t let these unnecessary thoughts clout his mind.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    He also didn''t know about her situation and was unwilling to get involved. While he held heartfelt gratitude towards her for showing him here, that was the extent of it. If it were a simple favour, he wouldn''t have done it without hassle, but this went far beyond that.

    After some thinking, he sighed and said with a bitter smile, "I don''t know the answer to that, but you seem to be too rushing too much, maybe that''s where the problem lies."

    This was the best piece of advice he had to offer, but Maya merely looked down in disappointment, clearly unmoved by his words. This was nothing new to her, having been told that multiple times, but that was not the answer she was seeking.

    Alz sighed lightly and walked away, starting to scout the area. Since he had already decided to build his new place here, there were many things that needed to be done and the top of that list was deciding where exactly to build what.

    After scouting the area for about half an hour, he finally returned to the initial area with a satisfied smile. Upon his return, the first thing that he saw was Maya laying flat on the ground. He quickly approached her when he saw this, letting out a breath of relief when he looked closer.

    She was breathing lightly as she lay, sleeping soundly on the field. There were several hints of dried tear marks around her eyes but there didn''t seem to be anything wrong with her.

    After confirming that she was fine, Alz hesitated slightly before moving a distance away and sitting with his back towards her. Next, he took out a notebook and a piece of charcoal from his bag and flipped to an empty page with an expression of focus.

    He was currently sketching a map, a habit he had formed in the recent years. He was confident in his memory, but he didn''t want to spend too much effort keeping track every location, which was the point of the map.

    As he was drawing the map, he also sent occasional glances behind him, making sure that Maya was still asleep. Ideally, he wanted to wait until Maya had left before doing this, but she was soundly asleep and showed no signs of waking soon.

    He also wanted to draw this while everything was fresh in his mind, so he could start planning the full layout of his structures properly, as the perspective provided by the map would be a great aid for doing that.

    Two hours went by silently, with Alz sketching his map and Maya asleep behind him in the field of golden flowers. Alz was already done with his map and was currently staring at it while the layout of everything slowly took shape in his mind.

    Suddenly, his ears twitched and he immediately returned his notebook to his bag before turning around. Indeed, when he looked back, he saw a dazed Maya sleepily rubbing her eyes, having just awoken from her nap.

    "Good Morning." Alz walked up and greeted her.

    Maya was startled by the oncoming voice, jolting her head in his direction. When she saw Alz, she first revealed a look of wariness, but it slowly vanished as she began to recall what had happened.

    "Sorry for just now." Maya blushed slightly and looked away, having recalled everything that had happened earlier.

    As she reflected on it now, she realised that many of her actions earlier were too rash which made her feel embarrassed belatedly. After all, what she had done earlier was far from normal, especially with someone she had just met yesterday.

    She was just swept up by her emotions from her pent-up stress and the memories from visiting this place again, causing her to vent all her frustrations on Alz, something she now felt slightly bad for.

    Despite that, Alz looked at her with puzzlement. He didn''t feel like she had done anything that required an apology, so he was unsure of what she was apologising for. However, he quickly shoved that to the back of the mind, not bothering to think about it.

    "Are you feeling better?" Alz asked in a concerned voice.

    "Yeah, thanks for watching after me. How long was I sleeping for?" Maya replied as she stretched her body.

    "About one marking passed." Alz thought about it for a moment and shot a quick glance at the sky to confirm his estimate before replying.

    Maya nodded her head and slowly stood up, casually sweeping off the dirt that had gotten on her clothes.

    "Shall we go back?" she asked as she started to walk towards the way they had came from, fully expecting Alz to follow.

    However, the words that entered her ears caused her to halt footsteps, turning around and starting at Alz with a stunned looked that contained doubt at what she had just heard.

    "I''m going to be staying here." these were the words that had left his lips, the words that had just entered her ears.

    "You''re what!?" she asked in return, with clear disbelief contained in her voice as she stared at Alz with her wide meadow-coloured eyes.

 Chapter 46: New Home

    "I''m going to build my home here." Alz reaffirmed his decision again.

    Maya gave Alz a dumbfounded look as she said in a hysterical voice, "B-But there''s nothing here! Why would you want to live here!?"

    Upon hearing this, a smile formed on Alz''s face as he replied in a light-hearted voice, "There''s a lake and all sorts of plants and animals nearby. There''s also this beautiful place here, what more do I need?"

    Maya found herself at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond to his overly optimistic words. She had initially thought that he just wanted to find a secluded place to relax his mind, and this thought had never even crossed her mind.

    "You''re treating this too lightly! Do you really think it''s so easy to live alone with nothing around?" after a short pause, Maya rebuked Alz''s words in a voice that was seemingly filled with anger.

    The smile on Alz''s face deepened despite being scolded, hearing the deep concern that was hidden behind her words. He didn''t hold it against her as he knew that she was just worried for him, instead feeling thankful to have met someone like her here.

    However, she didn''t know what he had been through, of the experiences that he had gained in the past five years. Had Alz been just any average elf his age, her worries would have been very real points which they may fail to consider, but that he was not.

    He was an elf who managed to survive alone in the aggressive forests of the South. Living here in a forest that was contained within the barrier of the capital with only non-aggressive creatures living here was not something he needed to worry about.

    "It''ll be fine, don''t worry about it." Alz dismissed her concerns casually, replying in an unconcerned tone. He didn''t bother explaining further, but his voice was strong, expressing his confidence in the matter.

    "You!! Don''t come back crying when you learn how hard it is!" Maya flared up and stomped towards the way they entered the lake from.

    As she was walking away, she abruptly halted her steps and turned back to Alz, asking in a soft voice, "You''re really not coming?"

    This time, there was no anger in her voice, only deep concern as she looked back at Alz with hesitation in her eyes.

    "She''s kind"

    "Be careful when going back." Alz said as he waved to her with a warm smile on his face. Maya felt her anger rising up again, snapping her head back to the front before moving off with heavy steps.

    Alz sighed as he looked in the direction of her disappearing back, feeling some regret at being unable to help her.

    However, this quickly faded as he moved his attention back to the field with excitement brewing in his heart, at the first sense of freedom he felt since he left the archives.

    He sent a quick glance to the location where he wanted to build his hut but shook his head lightly. He then took out his map and proceeded into the trees, heading deeper into the forest.

    He had briefly thought of building a hut first, but he quickly dismissed the thought as it would take up too much time. Also, the hut''s purpose would primarily be for drawing attention, which was something he didn''t really need to consider now.

    Living conditions weren''t really an issue for him as he had long since gotten accustomed to falling asleep on the cold, hard floor of the archives while reading, and even sleeping on any part of the field was superior to that.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    There were many more important things he needed to build now, with the first being his new workshop. Many of the tools he made in the past had been left behind at the archives, so he essentially needed to start everything from scratch and there was no time to lose.

    Alz soon arrived at the area he had scouted out previously, the place where he had decided to build his workshop. The area was packed with trees, but there were small patches of empty space here and there.

    He made a light nod as he looked around the area again, making a satisfied smile after. The spaces were not big, but they would suffice for what he was building. Being surrounded by trees also provided him with cover that would camouflage the place, another reason he chose this place.

    "Time to get started!"

    Alz first began by preparing the basic tools he needed, starting off with a hatchet so he could gather wood more efficiently. Rebuilding everything was a long and arduous process, and everything had to be done in steps.

    Thankfully, he had the experience from last time, which would save him a lot of trouble in this process. He then proceeded on to make some wooden containers, so he could transport water over from the lake.

    The reason he wanted a lake in the first place was not to quench his thirst, as the berries in the forests here were plentiful for his water needs. He needed it for other purposes such as creating mud and dousing fires in the case of accidents, something berries couldn''t do.

    Time flew by as Alz tirelessly laid the groundwork for his new workshop, with many of his facilities starting to take shape. Alz was chewing on a piece of jerky as he carried two buckets of water when he suddenly missed his footing and fell flat on the ground, spilling all the water.

    "I might have overdid it again..."

    Alz turned around and looked up at the sky with a dry laugh, noticing that the sky had already lit up at some point in time. A feeling of weakness began to overcome him, the familiar feeling of overworking his muscles that he had experienced countless time before.

    "Can''t rush it too much, I guess this will be it for now.¡±

    He slowly crawled up started looking around to confirm the progress he had made. He had completed his charcoal mound and was about halfway through his smokehouse now, having intended to complete it today.

    However, the trees in the central were harder than he was used to and the lack of bags to contain water took a greater toll on him in the round trips he had to make for water collection.

    He staggered slightly when he took his first step but regained his footing quickly and started making his way back towards the field.

    Upon reaching the field, he broke out into a smile as he was welcomed by the floral scent and the radiant garden before his eyes, feeling some of his exhaustion begin to leave him.

    He moved unsteadily to the flowerbed and fell backwards onto it, spreading his arms widely as he prepared to rest for a new day of work.

    "This is so nostalgic."

    He lay down with his eyes closed, feeling as though he had returned back to the past. This was how he had done it in the past as well. Apart from the sweet floral scent that gently wafted into his nose and the soft flowerbed soil, everything else was the same.

    It was tough and painful work, but he always enjoyed it as it brought about a strong sense of accomplishment. The strenuous physical exercise also helped keep his mind off the many things he didn''t want to think about him, something that helped him much in the early days.

    Alz''s consciousness was beginning to fade away as he lay in the soothing embrace of nature when his eyes suddenly shot open and he instantly sat up, looking towards a direction with an alert expression, showing no traces of drowsiness from moments ago.

    There were footsteps coming from there, and not just one set of them, but many. He ignored the weakness in his muscles stood up, placing his hand on his crossbow and preparing to draw it at any moment.

    The footsteps slowly became louder and the figures were almost in sight, causing the tension in Alz''s body to rise to the maximum. Just then, a familiar voice suddenly called out to him from the group.

    "Alz, are you here?" Maya''s voice rang out clearly from his front, bringing relief to Alz.

    The relief the coursed through his mind began to affect his body, causing his muscles to relax all at once. The weakness started to take over again, resulting in Alz falling backwards onto the flowerbed.

    The figures started to become clearer as they exited of the woods, revealing the faces of the visitors. They were the 25 warriors of the Calla tribe, led by Maya who was walking at the front.

    Looking at this, Alz truly felt all the worry leave him, letting out a sigh of relief.

 Chapter 47: Visitors

    Similar to when Alz had first arrived, the group was stunned by the beauty of the rare sight before them. At least to their knowledge, sunflowers were not found anywhere else, so this was the first time they had seen these flowers.

    Maya was the only one who was unaffected, looking around in search of Alz. Within seconds, she caught sight of Alz who was sitting in front of them and broke out into a jog towards him. Ignoring the stinging pain in his butt, Alz got up again and waved to the group.

    While he didn''t expect this beforehand, he knew that she only had good intentions, so he didn''t blame her for bringing them here out of the blue.

    This was also convenient for him, as he was also planning on meeting up with the others in tribe for some discussions and this saved him the trouble of returning to the guardhouse.

    "I thought you might need it, so I brought some help over!" Maya exclaimed as she beamed towards Alz, waiting for his reply.

    Alz revealed a look filled with gratitude as he replied her enthusiastically, "Thanks, I really needed it!"

    While it was not in the sense she thought, she did end up helping him so he his gratitude was sincere. However, her words also displayed her lack of confidence in Alz which caused Alz to make a sigh inwardly as he replied.

    That said, he didn''t intend to explain anything to her, so he moved on and walked up to the rest of the group, greeting all of them.

    "We came to visit like we said we would!" an elf said as he walked towards Alz with a wide grin on his face.

    "Hey Alz, don''t just suddenly disappear on us, we were all worried about you!" Kleiz complained as he moved out from the group and slapped Alz on the head, expressing his dissent towards his actions.

    When they returned from the wolf''s pen, Alz was already missing. They had searched high and low but found no signs of him. Thankfully, Maya approached them and informed them of Alz''s plans, allowing their hearts to relax.

    After all, with the way Alz left them back before the pen, some of them were even worried that he might ran away from the capital without notice.

    "Oh right, here you go." a group of elves walked out from the center of the group and threw a large sack at Alz, causing Alz to stumble and fall as he tried to catch it.

    The group roared in laughter at this while one of them walked up and said, "The women prepared this for you. They were also worried about you, so remember to visit them soon."

    Alz looked inside the sack and found items such as empty water bags, clothes and blankets for him to stave off the cold wind. He teared up slightly as he saw this, feeling the care behind each and every item within the bag.

    "Still, this is really a nice place. I''ve never seen a place as beautiful as this." the elf who discussed with Alz about the village walked up and commented with amazement as his eyes scanned the field.

    "Still, there''s really nothing near this place, are you really sure you want to stay here?" he then asked as he looked towards Alz.

    "Yes!" Alz replied with a strong nod with a resolute gaze in his eyes.

    The other elves smiled warmly in response to his answer and exchanged glances with each other, beginning to do some light stretching to warm their muscles up.

    "So, what have you done already?" Kleiz asked Alz with a wide grin on his face as he stretched his elbows, clearly preparing to help.

    The warmth in Alz''s heart grew even more as he heard this. He didn''t want to be dependant on them but refusing their help here would have been rude, so he decided to accept their help just this once.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Naturally, he had no intentions of bringing them to his workshop though. He showed them the tools he had already made and told them where he wanted to construct his hut and the group all set off to gather the materials for his hut.

    Maya''s mouth widened in shock, not expecting this reaction from the group. She had originally thought that the group was coming here to dissuade Alz from staying, and it had never crossed her mind that they were here to help.

    She knew his tribe trusted him but didn''t expect them to trust him this much. Her eyes darkened as she watched from the side, with a strong dejection filling her as she felt the difference in treatments they received more strongly than before.

    Alz was the only one who noticed this, but he pretended not to as he didn''t know how he could help, choosing to let her think it through herself.

    As the saying went, many hands make light work. This was especially true in simple tasks like the one before them. There was also no lack of tools as the group had already brought enough for the group, having anticipated this from the start.

    When the skies started to darken, a simple elven hut stood by the side of the field, with a small fireplace near its entrance. This was all that Alz wanted here, and the group had delivered spectacularly.

    Alz scanned the elves resting around the field with grateful eyes, as it would not have been possible for him to complete it this quickly without them.

    However, when his eyes landed on Maya, he felt a slight headache assault him, as the favours he owed to her were starting to pile up unknowingly and he wasn''t sure how to handle it.

    After her brooding earlier, Maya had decided to chip in and help out as well, working with the group to complete his house. When he saw this, Alz felt equally grateful and troubled at the same time, not knowing if he should have stopped her then.

    Suddenly, heavy steps were heard from the forest direction of the forest, but Alz wasn''t surprised this time. Sure enough, the ones who arrived were those he had been expecting, four of the warriors that had arrived with the tribe earlier, split into two pairs with each pair hauling a deer in.

    "THE MEAT IS HERE!" one of them shouted as they entered the field. The exhausted elves laying around started to rise and gather around the newly constructed fireplace after hearing this, preparing themselves for the meal.

    Alz shoved these thoughts to the back of his mind and rose up, walking over to prepare the fire at the fireplace. His exhaustion from the previous day had only gotten worse with the lack of rest, but he had hardly contributed earlier and didn''t want to leave all the work to them.

    He gathered some of the twigs placed around the fireplace and started a fire with experienced motions, setting the station up for grilling the meat.

    The elves who returned unloaded the deer near the fireplace where two elves were waiting with knives in hand. The two elves rapidly chopped it into multiple parts while the others started to gather branches from nearby to skewer the pieces of meat.

    Despite the absence of verbal communication, their motions smoothly flowed without pause, a result of travelling together for the past two weeks. The preparation was done in a flash, and the warriors were now carrying the skewers over to the fire.

    Maya was the only one out of the loop, silently watching the fireplace from a distance with apprehension in her eyes. She couldn''t find a good time to cut in earlier and was hesitant to join the group now, conscious of being the only ''outsider'' here.

    "What are you waiting for? Come and join us." a voice suddenly came in from the side as her attention was directed towards the front. When she turned her head, she immediately saw Alz holding a skewer out to her.

    "Yeah little girl, there''s no need to act so reserved." one of the warriors hollered in their direction.

    Maya turned back to the fireplace and saw that all the elves were directing welcoming smiles at her without exception, showing no intention of excluding her from the meal.

    Maya''s face cheeks reddened when she saw that all eyes were on her. She made a light nod and received the skewer from Alz before walking to the fireplace with her head lowered to cover her embarrassment.

    Many of the warriors showed relief when Maya started to head towards the fireplace. They noticed that her mood had become unusually gloomy since they arrived, and she had also been silent for most of the time she was helping earlier.

    Even when they tried to talk to her, her replies were short and lifeless. This created worry about her sudden change in mood among the group, but nobody knew how they could best approach her.

    As Maya proceeded to the fireplace, Kleiz raised a thumb towards Alz with a meaningful grin on his face, prompting Alz to make a bitter smile.

    The others were oblivious to the reason, but he knew that he was indirectly the cause of it, so he felt partially responsible for it. Furthermore, he felt like he owed her too many favours, so he felt obliged to help, there was nothing more to it.

    The meal later proceeded smoothly, with the warriors chatting heartily over the meal. Maya was still acting reserved at the start, but the group slowly got her to open up more towards the end, although it was still a far cry from how she acted with Alz yesterday.

    After they were done with the meal, Alz suddenly called for the group''s attention with a serious look on his face, saying that he had something he needed to discuss with them. The warriors directed curious looks at Alz as they gathered around him, waiting for him to speak.

 Chapter 48: First Card and Visit to the Library

    "Do I need to leave?" Maya asked in a soft voice, afraid that she was intruding on their tribe''s private matters. After all, despite the kind treatment she received, it didn''t change the fact that they were ultimately of different tribes.

    Alz''s movements froze for a moment as he was reminded of her presence. He slowly looked up and caught sight of her of her lonely figure by the side, swallowing the words he had planned on saying.

    "Well... it should be fine if it''s just her. I''m going to reveal it soon anyways"

    Alz let out a sigh in his mind before he waved his hand lightly in her direction while reassuring her, "It''s fine, it''s nothing too important anyway, but don''t tell anyone what you hear later."

    Maya nodded with a puzzled expression as a question mark floated into everyone''s head, wondering what Alz was planning on saying.

    Alz took a deep breath before asking in a serious voice, "Can you guys help cover my share of duties for now?"

    Colt had clearly explained the way duties were assigned to them yesterday while telling them not to worry about it for the time being, as newly arrived groups were given a week before they would be assigned with any of them.

    The duties were assigned directly to the tribes based on their size, and not to the individual guards. The tribes would then be expected to allocate their manpower internally, where the captain wouldn''t interfere with.

    This was set in place to give the tribes more freedom in their planning while also reducing the burden placed on the captain, a system that had seen great success over the years.

    The only condition was that each guard had to conduct at least one duty within a span of three months, to reduce the chances of a few elves overworking themselves and falling ill, disrupting the cycle of duties.

    Alz was overjoyed when he first learnt of this, as the duty cycle had been one of his primary concerns before arriving. However, this also meant that he needed the cooperation of the others, which was why he was planning on meeting up with the group even if they didn''t appear today.

    Many of the elves wrinkled their eyebrows at this, but they quickly exchanged glances and nodded towards each other before the elf who passed the scroll over to the captain walked up and spoke, "We don''t mind... but is there a reason for this?"

    They didn''t mind covering his duties, but they didn''t know of Alz to be one who would shirk his responsibilities. This was a question that was necessary for the sake of fairness, especially after what happened in the captain''s room.

    Alz''s lips curled up into a smirk, feeling as though a weight had fallen off his shoulders. Even though he felt that it was very likely for them to agree, he still wasn''t completely certain before this, but now he could finally relax.

    "I said I would make crossbows for all of you, didn''t I? Since I finally settled down, I think it''s about time to make good on that promise." a brief silence filled the air after Alz spoke, filling the air with only breathing sounds that were getting heavier.

    The warriors'' looked towards Alz with widening gazes, recalling the weapon that they had tested along the way. Alz had briefly mentioned it once back then, but none of them thought that he would start working on it so quickly.

    Several moments later, cheers of joy began to erupt from the group and the elf who questioned Alz started laughing heartily before he spoke again, "Take all the time you need, leave the duties to us!"

    This time, he didn''t even bother to check the reaction from the group, as he didn''t see a need to. After all, knowing them, there was no reason to expect anything other than a joint consensus here.

    "Cross...bow?" Maya mumbled softly, confused by the unfamiliar term she just heard, but query remained unanswered, drowned out by the surrounding voices.

    "Now then... for those who laughed at me in the captain''s room... " a mischievous glint flashed in Alz''s eyes as he continued on with a wry smile, his eyes scanning through the elves who were laughing behind back then.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    The laughter paused for a moment as Alz slowly scanned through the group, stopping briefly on anyone whose voice his remembered hearing back then, bring about a wave of nervous, dry laughs from some members of the group.

    "You''re all getting it last!" Alz exclaimed, laughing loudly after his proclamation. He had been remembered all their voices then and was waiting for this moment all along.

    The unaffected warriors looked at each other and resumed their cheers and laughter while the guilty elves sighed helplessly as they looked towards Alz, not expecting him to show such a childish side.

    Their moods reverted to normal very quickly as none of them really minded receiving their bows later. Regardless of anything, there had to be an order in receiving them, and the bonds within the tribe were strong enough to not let something like this affect it.

    The group then continued to discuss on the details, deciding on the estimated completion schedules of the crossbows and the timings when Alz would return for his compulsory duty. Covering his duty was one thing but going against the guardhouse''s rules for that was only inviting trouble.

    Hence, Alz still planned on doing one duty every three months, as this would probably end up saving him more trouble in the end.

    The discussion went on for another hour before it finally concluded. The group started to head back with Maya in the darkness, leaving Alz alone on the field once again, except with company of a well-built hut and fireplace this time.

    After they left, Alz went through his plans in his head once again before entering the hut and lying on his newly constructed bed, tugged into warm sheets from the sack he received earlier.

    Alz soon entered the land of dreams, finally allowing his built-up exhaustion to melt away as the night went by, welcoming the arrival of a new day.

    At the next day, Alz woke up feeling refreshed, ready to set out on his daily activities. With all the groundwork laid out already, he was finally feeling relaxed for the first time since he entered the capital, ready to work on his initial objectives.

    There was no rush on the side of the crossbows as he had told the others that he would be giving them two per month during the discussion. The others didn''t know, but it was actually only a day''s work for him.

    Even factoring in the time, it would take to complete his workshop, there was still a large excess of for him to work on it. Personally, Alz had also wanted to deliver the crossbows to them as quickly as possible, but he had his reasons for this delay.

    From what they had learnt, the forests in the central were also much safer than those of the south, so he also didn''t feel a compelling need to rush it either, hence deciding on the two per month schedule.

    "Time to check out the library."

    His muscles were still slightly sore from the overwork before, so he was planning on visiting one of the key stops in the capital instead, the library. He had been distracted by the need to find a place before, but this was the actual first destination he planned on visiting upon reaching.

    After sorting his thoughts, he grabbed his equipment and jumped off the bed, heading out of the field directly. Unlike Maya, Alz had a strong sense of direction and didn''t need any external aid, successfully leaving the forest in one smooth path.

    From here, he looked around and identified the directions before moving excitedly to the southern district where Colt brought them around.

    The library was among the facilities that Colt had brought them to, so Alz knew where it was located. Back then, they had left only after a short introduction without even entering, but now he had all the time he wanted to browse around.

    Alz soon found himself before a majestic structure, looking at it with shining eyes filled with anticipation. This was the southern library, a communal library built for the elves living nearby.

    While not to the extent of the guardhouse, the library was still large, being around triple the size of the library back at the fourth village. The architecture used similar to the guardhouse, as were most structures he had seen thus far, something that he had gotten used to seeing around.

    Alz took a deep breath to quell his burning emotions before proceeding into the library, being welcomed by the familiar sight of elven shelves as he stood by the entrance. A pained smile formed on his lips as his eyes swam around, his painful memories evoked by the familiar scene before him.

    However, now was not the time for this. He shook his head lightly and proceeded a counter that was by the entrance. The counter was currently manned by an old looking elf who had been smiling at Alz while looking towards him with warm eyes since he entered.

    "Hoho, what do we have here. It''s been so long since I''ve seen a new face, and it''s such a young one too. Hohoho." as Alz was approaching the counter, the aged elf began to speak while nodding several times as he looked towards Alz with a gaze of approval.

    "Greetings Elder, I am Alz. I just arrived at the capital with my tribe two days ago." Alz introduced himself to the aged elf politely, his voice containing a heavy tone of respect.

    The aged elf revealed a brief look of surprise before nodding with a satisfied smile on his face.

    "So, what brings a young elf like yourself to this gloomy place?" the aged elf asked as he looked towards Alz with a pair of bright, curious eyes that belied his age.

    "I want to learn about the outside world, the world beyond the forest." Alz replied with uncontained excitement in his voice as he returned the elder''s gaze with a radiant expression that shined brighter than his own.

 Chapter 49: Settling Down (1)

    The elder was slightly taken aback by Alz, looking at him with a mystified expression. After staring at him for several moments, he suddenly broke out into a resounding laughter, shocking Alz who was standing opposite of him.

    "Hohoho, we sure have a curious one here..." after his loud laughter, the elder regained his composure and spoke with a wider smile than before, one which showed how happy he truly was.

    However, his voice broke off halfway and he revealed a troubled expression as he continued on, "... but I''m afraid you''re going to be disappointed, there are no such scrolls that can be found here."

    "It was like this after all."

    Indeed, a look of disappointment briefly flashed across Alz''s face, but he quickly regained his smile and said, "It''s okay, there are still many other things I would like to read on. How about ......"

    Alz started to chat with the elder while asking about the locations of scrolls with the other things he wanted to learn about. The knowledge of the outside world was his primary goal, but there were also other things he was hoping to learn about here.

    In fact, he had already foreseen this possibility before he arrived, so he had also prepared a separate list of information he wanted to obtain. Despite this, he still held a flicker of hope when he came to the library, but it was clearly not realised.

    However, his disappointment faded away as quickly as it appeared, and he quickly got over this minor setback, started interacting with the elder by the counter. After all, even without that information he wanted, the library was still a place he would be visiting often in future.

    The library was a sanctum of knowledge, containing many scrolls about the local records and culture that would provide him with the information he needed for his future plans, a location that would provide him with invaluable aid in the coming years of his stay.

    To most other elves, reading was a chore and experiencing the culture directly was a better way for them to learn about it, but it went just the opposite for Alz as reading was a habit that had long since grown into him and interacting was the harder one of the two.

    Alz only left the library after the skies completely darkened, and not of his own accord. The closing time for the library had arrived in what felt like a moment to Alz who was lost in his reading, snapping out of his trance only after the elder wrestled the book he was reading from his palms.

    The elder looked at him with a helpless look that also contained gratification. This was the first time he had seen an elf who displayed such interest in reading, bringing joy to the elder who loved scrolls as well... except that Alz went beyond that with his reading habits.

    In the entire time he spent here, he hadn''t had neither a single bite of food, nor a single sip of water, spending his time lost in the world of information created by the scrolls, within the peaceful silence of the library.

    The elder wanted to lecture Alz for this but found himself at a loss for words when it came down to it, settling for a heavy sigh instead as he personally escorted Alz out of the library, shaking his head slightly as he saw Alz''s back out of the entrance.

    Little did he know, this was merely just the beginning, as the young figure he saw today would continue to show up many times in the future, continuing to plow through the sea of information while maintaining his unhealthy reading habits, an act he had grown accustomed to.

    Alz threw a final reluctant gaze back at the library before releasing long, deep sigh. He had been broken off from his reading halfway, a feeling he hadn''t experienced in a long time, causing his mind to itch for more.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    However, he understood that this was no longer the archives where he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted. Rules were rules, and he had to abide by them now that he was in the capital.

    "Someday, I''ll read everything I want, whenever I want to."

    A passing thought floated through his mind as he left the library, heading back to his new home where the golden flowers reside.

    In the following days, he repeated the cycle of working on his workshop and visiting the library when his muscles were tired, dedicating all his time to these two matters.

    During this time, he hadn''t stopped by the guardhouse even once, reverting back to the old lifestyle he was used to. When the others tried to check on him, he would either be asleep or away from his hut, having no interaction during this period.

    Yet, despite the lack of outside contact, this was the most comfortable time Alz had spent since leaving the tribe, days filled with fulfilment and discovery.

    The days seemed to fly by with Alz repeating his routine until two weeks later, when he was finally done with setting up his workshop.

    The workshop here was similar to the one at archives, but the layout was very different. Back then, he had cleared out an area to build the apparatus, guarding the surroundings with multiple layers of traps for security.

    However, he was hesitant in setting traps around his current workshop, for fear that it would end up hurting his allies more often than not. Instead, he opted to build them within the midst of the trees, using the surrounding forest as cover.

    There were also several additional structures found here such as those built for storage, as he no longer had the luxury of using the archives as a safe storage location. Among them, there were separate storage sheds for food, water, and various herbs with varying purposes.

    "It''s finally done!"

    Alz lay with his arms spread on the floor, dead tired from the work he had been doing. He had been working continuously for the past two days without rest, unwilling to stop as the workshop was nearing its completion.

    Today, his efforts had finally borne fruit, ending the long days of physical labour as he shaped the last bit of mud on his furnace, the last of the apparatus.

    Alz slowly got up from the ground and looked around with a wide grin on his face, but his smile suddenly started to fade while his pupils started to lose focus as he looked at the familiar apparatus surrounding him, struck by a pang of homesickness.

    After standing in place for a few minutes, Alz released a melancholic sigh before he started to stroll around for one final check on everything that he had built.

    "Here it begins."

    After making sure that nothing was wrong, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes for a moment before he turned around and started heading back to the field, planning to take a nice, well-deserved rest before he started on anything else.

    Right before he returned, he paused and glanced at the training corner once more before he released a heavy sigh and left with a hardened expression.

    Before, he had naively thought that the only obstacle he would face upon reaching was the difficulty in obtaining the information he wanted, but his outlook had changed entirely with what he learned from the library over the past two weeks.

    From the snippets of history he read, he realised that the peaceful appearance on the surface was merely a facade, one that belied the true chaos that existed behind the scenes.

    This discovery even made him have the urge to leave immediately, but there was also the group to consider. They might not have been something he considered before, but the warmth they repeatedly showed him had touched him and he didn''t want to bring trouble to them.

    He also hadn''t obtained the information he wanted, so after much contemplation, he ultimately decided to stay on, while bearing a small hope that they wouldn''t get dragged into the conflict.

    However, from the look of things, the prospects of this were close to nil with what they experienced just at their arrival. All he could do was to remain vigilant, avoiding anything that might get him embroiled in the conflict.

    Regardless, now that he knew of it, he had to make preparations for it as well, and this was one of them.

    There were few ways to prepare for something that he didn''t know if and when it would strike, so after giving it some thought, he decided to further refine his self-defence skills for now, although he hoped that he would never have to use it.

    When he returned to the sunflower field, he felt his mind slowly relax as he gazed as the golden petals that welcomed him. A smile formed on his face as he looked around, feeling as though the worries that plagued his mind were melting away.

    His eyelids began to feel heavier and he slowly closed them, falling backwards into the embrace of the flowerbed. Within a minute, smooth, rhythmic breathing sounds started to spread from Alz''s while his chest began to rise and fall.

 Chapter 50: Settling Down (2)

    Alz slowly lifted his heavy eyelids as the fog in his mind began to clear. The light from above was brightening ever so slightly, indicating the rise of a new day.

    He would usually go to the library on his rest days, but the workshop was finally completed, so he was planning on making some of the crossbows ahead of schedule.

    After learning more about the state of affairs within the capital, he felt a stronger urgency towards this task. Alz hadn''t spoken to the tribe about it yet, but he was also intending to double the rate of release to four crossbows a month instead of the original two as well.

    While this was partly because he wanted them to have better weapons to guard themselves, another major reason behind this sudden change was also because he wanted to prepare himself to leave earlier.

    Given all that they had done for him, he didn''t want to let down any of their expectations, but he also didn''t plan to stay for too long as he was afraid of being pulled into the muddied waters.

    With this in mind, he lightly exercised his body to rid himself of the grogginess and headed off to the workshop where the materials he prepared before were, and where his tools were located.

    After a short walk, he soon arrived at the station which he had constructed just for this. This was also one of the new additions to the workshop, something he didn''t have back in his old workshop.

    After all, he only had to make them for himself back then and the time and effort used to build this station would have been better spent on constructing the crossbow itself by far.

    However, things were different now, as he had to mass produce them now, which was why he didn''t hesitate at all when he made the decision to build it.

    At one glance, the workstation had a simple design, consisting of a simple wooden chair with mud table located before it. Yet, upon careful inspection, the effort behind its construction slowly began to show as more details were discovered.

    For starters, the chair had a backrest, something that was not usually found on most of the stools found among their race. In addition, there were pieces of leather padding the backrest and the seat, providing more comfort to the user.

    As for the table, there was nothing really worth noting about its appearance apart from it being made out of hardened mud. However, astute elves would notice one small detail about this table which was different, its exceedingly flat and even surface.

    There was also a small shelf on one side of the chair, within a hand''s reach from the chair. On the shelf, there various tools and measurement references that Alz had personally crafted. This was the workstation Alz had made, to prepare himself for the long hours of work that awaited him.

    The design concept was simple, abiding by three primary factors he thought were most important. Comfort, Precise and Convenient. Driven by these motivations, he went through painstaking efforts and eventually constructed this, a station he was very satisfied with.

    Among the pieces, while the chair took the most effort, it didn''t take the most time as he had kept the deer leather from the feast two weeks ago, so it didn''t end up being too much of a hassle.

    The most time-consuming portion of the setup was actually polishing the table''s surface and making sure that it was even, taking several hours of hard work to complete. That said, Alz didn''t dare slack off with it as this work would eventually go a long way in his stay.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    Alz went to the wood shed beside it to collect a few pieces of wood before taking his seat on the lone chair of the workstation. He lightly caressed the fruits of his effort before directing a focused look on the table, beginning his work.

    As always, Alz fell into a trance-like state soon after he started, dedicating his mind to the task before him. Time seemed to flow at a different pace around Alz, as he patiently carved and assembled each part with utmost focus.

    After what felt like a moment yet an eternity, Alz''s hands finally stopped, for there were no more materials left on the table. The shine in his eyes began to return as his mind began to process the details around him, stepping out of his previous state.

    His eyes quickly glanced across the table, forming a joyful smile lit on his face as he saw the six finished crossbows and several parts of a seventh before him. This was more progress than he had intended on making, a great result that had exceeded his expectations.

    However, his smile lasted for but a feeling moment before it was replaced by a grimace as a surge of weakness coursed through his body. The fatigue had finally begun to set in, and he now needed to bear the full brunt of it.

    Dizziness assaulted his mind, pain flared across his arms, his throat was dry, and his stomach was protesting in pain. Each of these would have been bad enough alone, and they were hitting him all at once now.

    A painful groan escaped his lips as he tried to stand up, but he immediately lost control of his legs and fell back to the chair. Alz looked down at his body with a bitter smile, lightly exercising his legs before attempting to stand again, this time with support from the table.

    "How long was I out for...?¡±

    His eyes returned to the table trying to recall how much time had elapsed, but it felt like there was a layer of mist shrouding his memories, preventing him from making an accurate judgement.

    Alz sighed lightly and headed off towards the field, not bothering to think too much about it. This was a sensation he was familiar with, and he knew that nothing would come out from pushing his mind further.

    This was something that would happen to him even before the trials. It had manifested slightly during his mental tests in the library but had become much more apparent in the five years spent at the archives, a talent that he possessed.

    While it caused him some trouble occasionally, such as at this very moment, Alz was still very thankful for this gift, as it often allowed him to achieve more than he expected, at the slight cost of some discomfort after.

    Along the way, he took a minor detour to one of the berry bushes to provide some relief to his throat and stomach before he continued making his way back to the field, where he quickly fell into a deep slumber.

    When Alz woke up, he saw that the skies were still dark. After thinking for a short while, he decided on his plans and headed back towards the workshop.

    Had the skies been lit, Alz would have dropped by the library for some reading and to regain his grasp of the time, but the library was approaching its closing time now so there would be little meaning in heading there.

    There was also no real need for him to keep track of the days too tightly, as there was still much time before he needed to do his compulsory duty.

    Hence, he decided to do some hunting with the newly constructed crossbows to test their performance. After all, it was only on the field where he could truly test for the imperfections and correct them after.

    Needless to say, with the lack of aggressive animals, the hunting proceeded extremely smoothly. Alz easily managed to hunt some animals during the performance tests, replenishing his supply of food at the same time.

    He brought most of the meat to the smokehouse for preservation before heading back to the fireplace where he filled his stomach.

    "I guess I''ll head to the library."

    Alz glanced at the illuminating sky while chewing on a skewer of meat, casually deciding on his next destination. These were carefree days where there was still little to worry about, days that he hoped would remain for the rest of his stay.

    Perhaps he had been wishing hard enough, as these days continued on for the next three months. Everything thus far had proceeded smoothly, and he had distributed the first three batches of crossbow to the tribe, marking the third month of his stay.

    However, this also meant that his cycle would be disrupted for the first time since he settled down. Alz was heading out for his first duty today, the first time he would take on the responsibilities of being a guard at the capital.

    Alz had heard that it was a simple patrolling duty from the others, so he wasn''t feeling too concerned about it. After all, with the wealth of hunting experience under his belt, what could even go wrong?

 Chapter 51 - Oversight

    Alz looked towards the sky and let out a sigh before turning the front. The skies had already brightened, and the day had only just begun, but Alz''s body felt much heavier than usual, reflecting his current mood.

    Today was the day he would set out on his first duty, something that he could only think of as being a drag. He wanted nothing more than to return to his daily routine, but he also knew that it would only end up worse if he skipped today.

    "It''s only one day."

    With another heavy sigh, he consoled himself slightly and dragged his heavy feet out of the field, towards the southern guardhouse.

    Incidentally, his attire today was also different from usual, donning the official guard attire for the first time. Perhaps because of this, he felt especially moody today, forced to leave his usual cycle and familiar clothes behind at the same time.

    "Time to get it over and done with."

    Initially, he was moving at a slow pace, but he quickly reasoned it within himself and realised that this was ultimately just wasting his own time, speeding up to his normal pace.

    After walking for almost two hours, Alz finally caught sight of the entrance to the southern guardhouse along with three familiar faces standing by the doorway. When they saw Alz, all three of them immediately started waving at him, causing Alz to reveal a look of surprise.

    Alz started hastening his pace, not wanting to make them wait. Even though the tribe hadn''t mentioned anything about receiving him here, he could think of no other reason for their large reactions upon seeing him.

    At first, he didn''t think too much of it, dismissing it as one of the many acts of kindness they often showed. However, as he approached them, he started to notice an unnatural stiffness in their expression, causing an ominous vibe to rise within him.

    "Hey guys, thanks for coming out to get me." Alz pushed the feeling to the back of his head and greeted the three elves with a bright smile.

    These three elves were Kleiz, Bart, the elf who handed the scroll over to the captain and Tol, the elf who had spoken to Alz on many occasions regarding the forests, two of them being the closest acquaintances Alz had among the warriors while Bart was usually in charge of the group.

    "Y-yeah, sure, no problem, don''t worry about it." after a brief pause, Kleiz replied with a stiff smile on his face while averting his eyes from Alz as he spoke.

    Alz''s alertness immediately spiked at his reply, raising an eyebrow as he eyed the three of them with suspicion. If it was only a guess that something felt amiss earlier, Kleiz''s shaky reply made him certain of it now.

    Kleiz had a brash and straightforward personality, and how he was acting now was wholly unnatural for him, causing warning bells to sound in Alz''s head.

    "Sorry Alz, I forgot to check when I decided on your duty. The fault is entirely mine, so don''t blame anyone else for this." Bart suddenly stepped up and spoke to Alz in a heavy tone.

    "What''s wrong?" Alz asked as he looked towards Bart with a puzzled expression. He had initially thought that something had went wrong with the tribe, but he relaxed slightly when he heard that it was just about the duty.

    At the same time, he was also feeling confused as they knew of his abilities and there shouldn''t have been anything they would worry about.

    Bart gazed directly into Alz''s eyes and tried to answer, but he hesitated each time he tried to speak, causing no words to leave his mouth.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    After a few seconds, Tol sighed and took over, explaining the situation to Alz, "The patrol duty today is wolf-accompanied."

    Alz felt his senses leave him for an instant, staring at Tol with a blank expression. He understood the words, but his mind was refusing to process the information immediately, spacing out for a moment.

    A deathly silence went on for about a minute with Alz spacing out while the three elves exchanged helpless looks as they observed him with concerned eyes.

    They had expected many different reactions from him, be it shouting angrily or falling to grief, but his current reaction, or the lack thereof, was more worrisome than any other he could have had.

    This was something the tribe had only realised yesterday, inciting a wave of panic among them. They had decided Alz''s duty solely by its date and had neglected to consider this scenario.

    Bart was placed in charge of planning the duties, so he felt personally responsible for this and came today. Kleiz and Tol on the other hand, were selected by the tribe to deal with the aftermath, as they were the most familiar with him among the tribe.

    Yet, even they were at a loss now for what to do, not knowing how they could go about with defusing the situation. Kleiz smiled bitterly as he inwardly regretted not looking to the female elves for help, as they would probably have been much better at handling this than any of them.

    "It''s fine, don''t have to worry about me. It''s just a duty, I can handle it." a hoarse voice escaped Alz''s lips, trying to reassure them. Despite this, none of them felt any relief from his words with his tone and the blatant forced smile on his face.

    Bart lightly nudged Kleiz while giving him a look, signalling for him to do something about it. Kleiz first shot a look of protest back, but quickly sighed and turned back to Alz as he thought of what to say.

    However, before he even got a chance to speak, Alz circled around the three of them and entered the guardhouse, slowly heading deeper into the building. Kleiz wanted to call out to him, but Tol placed his shoulder and shook his head lightly, stopping him from doing so.

    The three elves escorted Alz in with worried eyes, letting out heavy sighs after he disappeared from their sight. Bart revealed a strong look of regret, swearing to himself to never make this mistake again.

    Alz trudged ahead with soulless eyes, slowly advancing to his destination. He was angry at the start, but he couldn''t bring himself to lash at them with the sincerity they showed. Besides, he also felt partially responsible for not thinking of this before, so he didn''t want to blame them.

    With this in mind, he held himself from directing his anger at them, but this did nothing to help his motivation that had sunk to rock bottom.

    Many of the elves he came across turned towards him with curious eyes. Normally, he would have been called out or approached several times already, but the dark aura lingering served as an effective repellent, the one good thing that resulted.

    He gradually made his way across the guardhouse, exiting by the southern entrance of the building to the designated gathering point. He wanted nothing more than to just turn back and leave right now, but he knew very well that he couldn''t.

    "It''s just one time."

    A short distance away, he immediately spotted a group of five standing near the gates, with two of them from his tribe. Alz faced no difficulties in finding them, as they were standing out far too much for him to miss.

    It was not their looks or attire, but the leashes they held onto that gave it away. Each of them was holding onto a leash that connected to a harness on one of those detestable creatures, a wolf.

    After reading more in the library, he learnt that the wolves were truly non-aggressive here and were useful to the community in many ways. Rationally, he knew that he ought to try and accept them, but the scars in his heart went far too deep for this.

    Even now as he looked at them, an intense bloodlust started to radiate across his body, barely resisting the urge to draw his weapon.

    "Oh, He''s here. Alz, over here!" an elf from the group noticed Alz as he exited the guardhouse and informed the others of his arrival while calling out to Alz.

    After joining the group, Alz nodded to the two he recognised before lowering his head, not uttering a single word. The two elves exchanged bitter smiles, knowing that Kleiz and Tol were unsuccessful in consoling him.

    The pair had given the three some details on Alz before this, so they didn''t question the lack of his wolf. Regardless of how they actually felt inside, they didn''t direct any animosity to Alz now, choosing to ignore him instead.

    "Well... Since we''re all here, let''s go?" the elf snuck a cautious glance at Alz as he said this, but silence was the only response he reived.

    He took the lead and left the gates, turning around to check immediately after. When he saw that Alz was following, he finally felt relief and went deeper into the forest according to the given route.

 Chapter 52 - First Encounter

    Despite the rocky start, the patrol proceeded on smoothly. As Alz had initially thought, this was just a simple patrol, a routine duty where nothing much was expected to happen. They didn''t spot anything significant along the path and everything concluded plainly as usual.

    After the four-hour patrol, the six elves passed through the gates again, returning back within the barrier. Upon entering the capital, Alz suddenly dashed towards the guardhouse, leaving the group behind.

    Following this, the other three elves started taking off after a light greeting, leaving the two warriors looking in Alz''s direction with concern.

    Alz continued to dash even within the guardhouse, exiting from the northern entrance soon after. His breathing was starting to get heavy, but he didn''t stop running, continuing to make his way to the one place he could seek solace.

    As he raced forward, small droplets trickled down his fists, staining the grassy lands in a deep crimson shade. The deep nail marks on his palms were surely hurting, but Alz wasn''t in the state to care about it now.

    It might have just been an uneventful four hours to the others, but it was nothing short of torture for him. The barks and howls from the wolves had sparked his bloodlust multiple times, requiring much effort to suppress it.

    He was feeling mentally, far more than after the many all-nighters he spent reading in the past. It was a different type of exhaustion he was used to, an exhaustion from the heart. He was sorry towards everyone in the village, and especially so towards his parents.

    Haunted by the memories of the past, he dashed ahead with red, watery eyes, making his way back home where he could lie down and forget everything. His breathing became ragged and his pace slowed down slightly, but he still continued on and arrived back at the garden in under an hour.

    The pain finally eased as the familiar view entered his sight. His raging emotions started to calm down as gazed at the flowers and he started to adjust his breathing while learning on a tree nearby for support.

    Several minutes later, the strong emotions in his expression started disappearing, leaving only a strong sense of loss. Alz let out a dejected sigh and started proceeding deeper, wanting to drown himself in work.

    Just as his eyes were about to turn away, his head abruptly jolted back towards the garden. When he arrived earlier, he had already noticed that something felt off, but couldn''t quite identify its source then.

    Now that his mind was clearer, he finally noticed the anomaly. Rather, he was noticed, as a stranger was sitting and staring curiously at him from the garden. The stranger was in the middle of a peaceful nap earlier but was roused by the noise Alz made.

    Alz felt a tinge of annoyance as he hastily halted his steps, turning to glare at the stranger. He was not currently in the best state of mind, but enough sense remained in him to know what he should and shouldn''t do.

    Going to the workshop with an outsider present was clearly not an option. After a short moment, he sighed inwardly and decided to return to his hut instead, stepping into the field.

    At this instant, a sudden unease rose in his heart, drenching his back in cold sweat. It only lasted a mere instant, but he definitely felt something. His eyes swiftly darted around the nearby trees, trying to find the reason behind.

    "Was it my imagination?"

    Alz''s eyes continued to scan the area, but he couldn''t spot anything suspicious no matter how hard he tried. His instinct had flared up earlier, but there didn''t seem to be anything that would have triggered it anywhere.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    As a hunter, he had learned to trust his instinct which had saved him on many occasions. However, there were also many times where it turned out to be a false alarm, and this was probably one of them with his current state.

    "I must be tired."

    He shook his head and continued walking towards the hut with a self-depreciating smile. Apart from the initial glare, he didn''t spare a second look at the stranger, choosing to ignore him.

    While unexpected, his appearance here was hardly surprising as Alz had already prepared himself for other visitors from the start.

    After all, this was not the wolf-ridden forests of the south, and it didn''t lie in an inconspicuous hole in the middle of nowhere. Since Maya and her father were able to find this place, there was no reason for anyone else to be unable to.

    When it came down to it, this field didn''t belong to him, so he had no grounds to chase the stranger out. The best option for him now was to ignore the stranger and return to his hut. However, the stranger clearly had different ideas in mind.

    After taking several steps into the field, an irritation started to rise as he stopped in his tracks again, due to the path ahead being obstructed.

    "Hi, I''m Kai, nice to meet you!" a youthful voice escaped the stranger''s lips as he eagerly walked up to Alz and extended a palm towards him.

    Alz first tried to sidestep the other party, but the stranger matched Alz''s steps with a playful smile, continuing to stare at him. After failing three successive sidestep attempts, Alz finally turned to look at the other party with a look of unconcealed irritation.

    Observing up close, the first thing that he noticed was the height difference. Alz''s build was average for an elf his age, neither particularly tall nor short. As such, most of the elves he interacted with were usually taller than him, but this time it was just the opposite.

    The other party was short, with a height extending only until Alz''s nose. His facial features were highly androgynous, similar to Alz in this aspect. He was wearing a leather robe that loosely wrapped around his body extending down to his feet.

    However, despite the baggy attire which looked like it would only hinder his movements, the dagger strapped to his waist and bow by his back clearly indicated that he was a fighter, or at least aspiring to be one.

    His pupils were a deep, solid black, the colour of the night sky, surrounded by hazel irises that shone brightly in his gaze. On his head, he was wearing a brown leather bandana which wrapped around his hair.

    While this was an uncommon practice, it didn''t really bother Alz as he also knew of several elves who did the same, most often because they found their hair getting in the way when navigating the forests.

    "Move. Aside." Alz said in a cold voice while staring directly at Kai before attempting to cross over for the fourth time.

    Kai stared ahead blankly for a moment before he slowly turned to his empty, outstretched palm. A lonely expression briefly crossed his face before making a stubborn look. He abruptly turned and tried to place his palm on Alz''s shoulder, but he quickly found out how unwise this was.

    Right before Kai''s hand reached his shoulder, Alz suddenly turned around with an anger boiling over his face. Before Kai could even react, Alz held onto his hand and moved in with crisp movements.

    In the next instant, Kai felt like the world had flipped and a hard impact assaulted him from the back, knocking the air out of his lungs. All that reflected in his eyes was a pair of bloodshot eyes with the dark skies in the background.

    "STOP BOTHERING ME!" a loud roar entered his ears, causing the fear that was starting to rise within him to be amplified further.

    After saying that, Alz quickly turned and jogged towards his hut while the surroundings suspiciously. Right as he threw Kai to the ground, he felt like he heard a sound coming from the forest.

    Normally, he wouldn''t have been too concerned with this, but the sudden warning from his instincts earlier left him in a cautious state, not knowing if it was truly just a mistake earlier.

    Relief started to set in as he approached the door and his wariness started to fade, allowing his head to cool down from the released tension. Alz broke into a smile as he looked at the entrance before him, but he suddenly made a light frown just as he was about to enter.

    He made a brief look of hesitation before releasing a sigh and turning around and looking back at the field.

    *Sniff* *Sniff*. Kai was curled up his body at the same spot as earlier, sobbing quietly while wiping away his tears. He didn''t dare to be too loud for fear of the bad bully, but he couldn''t muster strength in his limbs to stand up.

    "Why now of all times? ..."

    As he watched this from the side, Alz inwardly sighed and entered the field again, heading towards the crying elf on the ground.

 Chapter 53 - Storytelling

    Kai was startled when he heard the approaching footsteps. When he saw Alz walking over in the distance, fear started to leak from his eyes. He struggled to get up but couldn''t seem to muster strength into his legs.

    "W-What?" Kai asked in a strained voice while backing off, but he wasn''t nearly as fast as Alz who was walking, so it didn''t take long before Alz reached him.

    "Here, get up." Alz said as he extended his hand out towards Kai.

    Kai shot a look of hesitation and distrust at him, but he gritted his teeth and grabbed onto the hand. After Kai grabbed onto his hand, Alz pulled him up in one smooth motion, helping him back to his feet.

    Kai stumbled slightly before he regained his balance and immediately stepped away from Alz, looking at him with grudgeful eyes. However, there was also some confusion in his expression, not knowing why Alz returned to help him up.

    "I''m sorry." before Kai could think deeper into it, an apology entered his ears.

    Alz bowed to Kai and apologised in a sincere voice, having reflected on his actions. No matter how bad his mood was, he felt bad for taking it out on an unrelated stranger. After reflecting on his actions earlier, he decided to right his mistake before he regretted it.

    Kai''s eyes slowly widened in surprise, but something unexpected happened then. Tears gushed out of his eyes and trailed down his cheeks as he started to bawl loudly, his wails echoing across the garden.

    Alz was stunned by his sudden outburst, starting to feel some regret towards the decision to return. He silently stood by the side waiting for Kai to calm down, but the crying didn''t seem to be waning anytime soon.

    At this point, Alz felt like turning around and leaving, but he was held back by his own sense of responsibility. If it were any other elf who caused this, he would have turned tail without doubt, but it was him.

    "Do you want to hear a story?" as the crying kept going on, Alz finally decided to pull out his ultimate weapon.

    "A S-Story?" indeed, Kai soon stopped crying, looking curiously towards Alz as he asked.

    Seeing that Kai finally stopped bawling, Alz finally felt relief wash over him. As long as he managed to get Kai''s attention, this was basically already over. He had the confidence in his stories to hold his attention throughout, distracting him from the earlier incident.

    "Yeah, a story." Alz replied with a gentle smile and sat on the field before patting lightly on an empty spot beside him. Kai hesitated for a moment, but his curiosity ultimately won over and he went up to take a seat there.

    "Once upon a time, ......"

    And thus, the storytelling begun.

    Alz spoke of a tale of swords and magic, the work of fiction that had gotten him hooked on stories. This was a story that he had read multiple times back then, one which he could vividly recall every scene within.

    Initially, he had only planned on sharing a short segment to stop Kai from crying so that he could leave in peace. At the beginning, he described any foreign terms they encountered so that Kai could understand.

    However, as he went on, he slowly became immersed in the plot, losing himself in the story. Alz stared blankly at the empty space ahead, his eyes no longer focused on the world before him.

    At some point in time, the initial motivation no longer mattered and what was meant to be a short session continued on for hours.

    As he went on, Kai''s eyes shone brighter and brighter as he stared at Alz in wonder, brought into a different world through his words. The world of the story unknowingly formed a connection between the two, synchronising their emotions.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    During happy times, smiles naturally formed on the pair''s lips. At sad moments, they shared their grief with tears. At tense moments, they clenched their fists and cheered the heroes on in their hearts, hoping they would pull through.

    When he finally reading out the entire book, Alz''s mind slowly returned to reality with a mild sense of loss. After feeling this sensation, Alz''s lips began to curl into a genuine smile, showing no signs of the anger and agitation he had before this.

    The storytelling had ended up healing himself instead, bringing him back to his usual state of mind. He was about to get up and resume his work, but he suddenly felt something warm coming from his side, rapidly turning his head over.

    A huge face immediately entered his vision, startling him for a moment. Alz immediately pedalled backwards with his hands as his thoughts began to clear, recalling the reason he was doing this in the first place.

    Kai was leaning in closely to Alz, staring intently at him a bright sparkle in his eyes. Gone was the fear in him, overpowered by the excitement that ran through his body. He had never heard or read any stories as engaging as this, as though he was transported to a whole new world.

    When he noticed that Alz was no longer speaking, his eyes slowly clouded over as his smile started fading away.

    "More...?" he asked in a soft, pleading tone as he looked upwards towards Alz with tears in the corner of his eyes. His voice sounded clearer than before, with a brighter tone.

    Alz''s mouth started to widen slightly, having been caught by off guard by his expression. He had always thought that he already looked very feminine, but now he realised that he had to revise his opinion.

    On the other hand, Kai immediately back away in a flustered manner, covering his mouth with his hand as he finally snapped out of the daze. His cheeks bright red as he lightly peeked towards Alz with some worry in his eyes.

    An awkward silence dawned between the pair as they kept a short distance with each other, until it was soon broken by an unexpected party.

    "Heyyy! Alz! Are you here?" a clear voice echoed from the forest, catching the attention of the pair. Light footsteps and rustling sounds continued to spread from that direction before a familiar figure entered their sights, Maya.

    "Oh! Kai! It''s been a long time." after exiting the forest, Maya immediately called out to Kai after seeing the pair sitting on the field as she ran up to them in quick steps.

    "Maya!" Kai responded with a heartfelt greeting, waving at her with a warm smile.

    "You''re looking for me?" Alz asked as he looked towards Maya after he cleared his previous thoughts.

    Despite being the first elf she called out to, Alz''s was blatantly ignored by her as she ran up to Kai instead and started catching up with him happily. They had known each other from when she used to come here often, a close friend from the past.

    Several minutes later, right when Alz was about to lose his patience and leave, Maya finally turned to him with a frown.

    "Your tribe kept pestering me to come check out on you, so I came. They seemed worried about you so remember to visit them soon." after saying her piece, she turned back towards Kai and resumed their chat.

    "Tell them they don''t have to worry, I''m fine. Thanks." Alz responded with a bitter face, thinking back to the events earlier in the day. It was no wonder that they would worry with how he had acted.

    Alz then began to rise, wanting to leave the space to the two of them. Yet, before he could stand, Kai had noticed him and and quickly grabbed onto his shirt, preventing him from leaving.

    "More stories?" he asked while staring innocently at Alz, his eyes blazing with residual excitement.

    "Stories? What are you talking about?" Maya casually grabbed onto Alz''s shirt as well as she turned to ask Kai with a mischievous smile. Alz stumbled and landed back on the ground, caught off guard by their sudden actions.

    "He just told me a story, a fun and exciting one. " Kai answered Maya with feverish passion, going on to describe some parts of the story.

    Alz glanced at the two hands stuck onto his shirt before turning a questioning gaze towards Maya, but his gaze naturally went unanswered.

    "I don''t know any more stories." Alz said while looking at Kai with a straight face, but Kai didn''t release his hand.

    "Why are you even grabbing me!?" Alz then turned to Maya and asked, but Maya''s playful smile only widened more.

    Alz started to think of forcefully breaking free of their grips but decided against it in the end.

    "I really don''t have any more stories." Alz tried to convince Kai again, but it still didn''t work.

    "Please?" Kai pleaded softly, stubbornly refusing to give up.

    "Fun and exciting huh? I want to hear it too!" Maya also chipped in from the side, increasing her pull on Alz''s shirt.

    Alz fell into a moment of silence, starting to consider it. Truthfully, he did enjoy the peaceful time earlier, and having somebody to share it with didn''t feel bad. Furthermore, thinking back to the favours he still owed Maya, he was reluctant to refuse her.

    The time before had allowed him to realise how much he had been rushing over the past months, and how important it was to relax his mind every now and then. Hence, binding himself to a commitment here really wasn''t too bad of an idea here.

    The thought of being able to repay some of the favours he owed Maya was the final decisive factor as he finally came to a decision.

    "Fine, but not today. If you want to hear more stories, drop by this field on the fourth days." after he said this, Alz broke off from their grip and stood up, heading back towards his hut.

 Chapter 54 - Mayas Trouble

    As Alz disappeared into his hut, Kai began to stare at the hut with a mystified expression.

    "I don''t remember a hut being there?" Kai murmured softly with uncertainty in his voice, noticing the hut for the first time.

    "Oh that? It''s new, was just built three months ago." Maya''s sharp ears picked up Kai''s murmur, prompting answering his doubts.

    Kai turned to Maya with an expression that held greater puzzlement than before. It was as though his face had turned into a large question mark, prompting Maya to chuckle and moved up to Kai.

    "How are you so cute!" Maya sandwiched Kai''s neck under one arm while drilling her fist onto Kai''s head. Kai revealed a look of panic and desperately held onto his bandana, preventing it from dropping off.

    "Alz lives here." after several seconds, Maya finally released Kai before speaking. Kai stared at her with a clear look of protest and hurriedly fixed his headwear''s placement, but Maya''s next words immediately caught his attention

    "He lives here!?" Kai''s looked at Maya with large round eyes surprise as he asked before giving a closer look to the hut. As someone familiar with this place, he naturally knew how inaccessible this place was, which only increased the shock he felt now.

    It was a beautiful place, but there was literally nothing around except nature, and he could only imagine how inconvenient it was to live here. Yet, from Maya''s words, he was doing just that, and had already been doing so for the past three months.

    A wide smile slowly spread across his face as he looked at the hut, his eyes burning with anticipation towards the next visit.

    As it was already getting late, the two elves only stayed for a short while longer before heading out of the forest together and heading off separately, returning back to their respective homes.

    Silence dawned on the sunflower field once again, devoid of the lively chatter from before. Alz slowly pushed opened the door to his hut, looking at the direction where the pair headed off with a reminiscent look.

    Memories of when the four of them used to play together surfaced in his mind, filling him with a deep nostalgia and strong sense of longing.

    Repaying Maya was indeed a consideration he had earlier, the one that ended up tipping the scales, but it was ultimately just that, one of many factors that he considered.

    He understood that doing this only increased the risk of everything that he was doing, but he still ended up agreeing to it. The real reason behind this was because they reminded him of the precious moments buried within the deepest reaches of his heart.

    He was used to living alone, he could handle living alone and it was better for him to live alone. However, he realised today that there remained a part of him that craved the experiences, from the happier times he had in the past.

    "I''m still a child after all."

    Alz made a bitter smile and continued to stare in the distance for several moments before returning to his hut, truly heading for the bed this time.

    In the following week, both elves turned up on the fourth day, marking the beginning of Alz''s regular storytelling sessions. As expected, his stories were very well-received, and Maya was left at a loss for words by the end, after been brought through the roller-coaster of emotions.

    There were stories available in elven literature in the capital as well, but the selection was limited, and they were few in quantity. Due to restrictions imposed by the mediums of storage, they were also usually much shorter and only very few elves actually wrote them, mostly as a hobby.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    Naturally, these stories did little to hold up against the classics from the flourishing arts of the mega civilisations in the past that outnumbered their entire race by a factor far beyond a thousand.

    Over the following weeks, the pair had also tried many times to question him on the source of his stories, but he smoothly dodged the questions each time. One time when he finally couldn''t stand it anymore, he resorted to using a method that stopped all future probes.

    The method was simple but effective. He threatened to stop his story-telling sessions should they continue asking about the source, shutting them up nearly instantly as they looked at him with pleading expressions.

    Time continued to flow by and the relationships between the three gradually improved with their frequent interactions, but Alz found that he couldn''t think of them like his three friends from the past no matter how hard he tried to.

    There seemed to be an invisible distance between them, preventing him from getting closer to them. When he started feeling this way, Alz let out a helpless sigh inwardly, realising that it was his problem.

    The attacks back then had scarred him deeply, and not just regarding wolves. He didn''t know if they would ever heal, but at least for this matter he was willing to try, to overcome this wound of the past.

    As with the first three months, he didn''t encounter any major problems in the next three as well. Alz''s schedule remained the same for the most part, with the exception of the fourth days of each cycle which he designated as rest days when he held his story-telling sessions.

    The crossbows he issued to the warriors were also becoming more well-known and everything was progressing in a good direction, an extremely positive sign for him.

    Today, Alz had just completed a duty assigned to him with ease and was passing by the guardhouse back to the field. This time, Bart had taken extra care to make sure that there wasn''t anything wrong with his duty, so he didn''t run into any problems with it.

    However, just as he was about to leave, he heard an angry shout coming from the bunks to his right. There was clear struggle in his eyes, but it quickly cleared away and turned his steps towards the direction of the noise.

    He would have normally ignored it and steered as far away as he could, but he recognised the voice, it was Maya''s voice. It was also then that he felt reality creeping in again, as had it been Polon who shouted, he knew that he wouldn''t have hesitated for even a moment.

    Having made his decision, Alz began to stealthily make his way towards the source of the disturbance, hoping to evaluate the situation from a closer proximity.

    It didn''t take long before he arrived before a room which he remembered to be one of the dorms assigned to the Hostia tribe. He crept up to the doorway and peeked into the room, observing the scene within.

    The first image that entered his eyes was sufficient to tell the story. Maya held to the ground by two stout figures, with multiple pieces of wood laying before her. She was glaring menacingly at the figure ahead of her as warm tears rolled down her cheeks.

    Upon closer inspection, it was clear that these pieces were previously part of a bow, except that it was heavily damaged and practically beyond repair in its current state.

    Alz immediately recognised the bow, to be the one they saw with her on the first day. It was especially clear with the signs of repair along where it was broken before, allowing him to identify it at a glance.

    One elf continued to stomp on the heavily damaged pieces of wood wearing a cold, thin smile on his lips, paired with a cruel look in his eyes. He was completely unfazed by Maya''s glare as he continued crushing the wood beneath his feet, his smile growing wider the stronger her reaction was.

    These three were none other than Cruz and his two followers, someone Alz never wanted to meet again for the rest of his stay. He didn''t know then, but he had a good grasp of the situation now, probably better than most others with all the reading he had been doing.

    "GO AWAY!" Maya screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice was filled with helplessness and despair.

    She had been resting in the bunks after some archery practice when the three of them suddenly barged in. The two followers immediately held her to the ground as Cruz began to destroy her precious bow, leaving her powerless to do anything but watch by the side.

    She had been screaming repeatedly, but it only served to fuel Cruz''s motivation as he stomped harder each time she shouted, causing a deep pain to spread from her heart.

    As he screams became more intense, Cruz suddenly stopped stomping and signalled his two followers with his eyes. The two of them released their pin on Maya and stood up, returning to his side.

    "What? Angry? Come hit me, I''ll even do this, so you won''t miss." Cruz began to taunt Maya, spreading both his arms out by his side while smiling at Maya.

    Maya tightly clenched her fists, her rage eating at her soul. She wanted so badly, to just go up and hit him. However, she slowly released her grip as she remembered the repeated warnings from the others, to never raise a finger towards him no matter what.

 Chapter 55 - Trouble Brews

    Cruz clicked his tongue in annoyance when he noticed Maya''s actions, knowing that her head was cooling off. He had had expected her to have already lost her mind to rage, but that was apparently not the case.

    While it didn''t affect too much even if she didn''t snap here, it would save him much time and effort if she did now rather than later. He had already gone through much trouble to set this up today and was unwilling to give up just like this.

    While this was happening, Alz was having a great battle in his mind as he witnessed the scene before him. However, he still managed to keep his calm and didn''t rush in to help.

    While he felt guilty towards Maya, this was something that he really didn''t want to get involved too deeply in. That said, he wasn''t planning on just pretending that he didn''t see it. He remembered seeing Colt outside earlier when he was on duty and was planning on calling him over.

    With this in mind, Alz began to move away from the doorway, heading back from the way he came. However, the Cruz''s next words were caught by his ears, causing his leg to stop mid-air while he was still in the middle of his third step.

    A bright red flash went through his mind, causing him to burn in anger. He stomped his feet loudly on the ground and turned around with a determined look, barging into the room.

    Continuing from before, Cruz was indignant about his taunts failing and decided to kick things up a notch.

    "Oh right, your father was a coward just like you. That spineless trash also used to take all our beatings without a single complaint, so I guess it must run in the family."

    "DON''T INSULT MY FATHER!" Maya immediately roared back, but her voice sounded more like it was pleading than it was angry.

    "Ah, I still remember the time he was holding onto you tightly while being kicked. That look on his face was so pathetic when he desperately begged us."

    "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!......" Maya repeatedly shouted while shaking her head, trying to drown out his voice with her own. Her fist was clenching tighter and tighter, about to lose control of herself.

    " ''Please, leave her out of it, just hit me alone'' was it?'' HAHAHA! WHAT A JOKE! NO WONDER HE DIED SO SUDDENLY, EVEN THE MOTHER ELF FELT THAT HE DIDN''T DESERVE TO LIVE!" Cruz moved his face up close to hers and directly shouted, seeing that his taunting was taking effect.

    Looking at his smug face right in front of him, Maya no longer had the confidence to hold herself back. She inwardly apologised to her tribe members as she slowly raised her fist, wanting to punch him this very moment.

    Just then, a loud sound came from outside the room, spreading clearly into their ears. It also didn''t stop there, as two more heavy steps immediately followed, closer than the previous step.

    Cruz turned to the disturbance with a frown, signalling for his two followers to check it out. However, before they started moving, a figure had already appeared by the door.

    The figure was a young elf with bright silver hair and sharp topaz eyes, Alz. He stared at Cruz coldly from the entrance with a look of utter disgust, thoroughly angered by his words.

    Alz held a deep respect for his parents, showered with love and care in the days back then. That was the happiest period of his life, where he always knew that he had a warm home waiting for him.

    He could never forget their last moments, when they bravely stood against the pack of wolves and their noble sacrifice that allowed him to live on. Without them, he wouldn''t have been able to stand here today, something that had brought him pain and gratitude alike.

    There were few things Cruz could have said to enrage him, but this was one of them. Alz couldn''t bring himself to stand by idly while Cruz insulted her parents, so he barged into the room.

    "A child? What? Came to save your girlfriend?" Cruz cocked his eyebrow and asked in an amused voice, starting to relax when he saw that it was just a child. He didn''t recognise Alz from their fleeting encounter 6 months ago, but that hardly mattered here.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Cruz signalled for his followers to suppress Alz, wanting to teach him a lesson for interrupting him. The two of them were exchanging glances even before Cruz''s signal and one of them lightly nodded to the other.

    A moment later, that elf started walking up to Alz with a relaxed grin, showing no signs of worry. Clearly, they thought that one of them was more than enough to suppress Alz who was clearly still just a child.

    Cruz was also completely unconcerned by this, turning his attention back to Maya. In his mind, the disturbance was already over when he learnt that it was just a child.

    "Don''t come over, run away!" Maya cried out weakly. She was touched and surprised when she saw Alz appear, but she similarly didn''t think that he stood a chance here. Despite this, Alz simply continued standing in place as though he hadn''t heard her.

    The four elves weren''t really far from the entrance, so it didn''t take long for Cruz''s follower to get to Alz. After getting in range, he immediately pounced at Alz, wanting to pin him down like they did to Maya earlier.

    Maya reflexively closed her eyes, her face filled with dread. However, when she opened her eyes again, the scene before her eyes wasn''t the one she had expected.

    Alz''s gaze sharpened when the follower pounced at him, lowering his body slightly in wait. When he got slightly closer, Alz used the ground for support and landed a hard strike on his gut, knocking the breath out of him.

    Alz followed up by grabbing onto his arm and twisting it as he moved to his back. He then delivered a low kick to the back of the follower''s knees, knocking him to the ground.

    The entire sequence was seamlessly executed, leaving the follower with no time to react. He blanked out for an instant after Alz''s initial punch and he already found himself kneeling on the ground.

    The only elf who bore witness to this was the other follower, his eyes widening greatly at the shock he felt. His companion might have been underestimating Alz, but that alone wouldn''t lead to such a thorough defeat.

    Alz strongly elbowed the back of the follower''s head to knock him out before returning his eyes to Cruz. He roughly dragged the first follower behind by his clothes and started heading deeper into the room, approaching the group.

    Cruz raised an eyebrow at the approaching steps, turning to check out the situation. When he turned his head, he was immediately greeted by Alz''s sharp gaze, causing his heart to skip a beat.

    "WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE? GET HIM!" Cruz''s voice contained traces of panic, slightly ruffled by the sight of his unconscious companion being dragged across the ground.

    Upon hearing Cruz''s voice, the other follower gritted his teeth and moved into the way of Alz''s path. His expression was tense and serious, the complete opposite of his other companion earlier.

    Despite the figure in the way, Alz continued onward without pause, proceeding onward towards Cruz and Maya. When he was about five steps away from the second follower, he suddenly halted and righted the position of the elf he was dragging along.

    The second follower revealed a puzzled expression at this, but he didn''t intend to let this chance go to waste. He immediately dashed up towards Alz, preparing to take him down with his weight.

    Having seen the quick battle earlier, he didn''t have the confidence to keep up with Alz''s swift movements and was intending to raw strength to overpower him instead.

    Yet, he quickly caught sight of a familiar face inching closer to him from the front. His companion was tossed directly towards him and flung across the air like a projectile, slamming him right in the face.

    He hurriedly lifted his arms to catch his companion, but the child was no longer anywhere to be seen. Suddenly, he felt a hard impact from the back of his head and his world was painted in darkness, falling weakly onto the ground.

    Alz shot a casual glance at the two unconscious elves to his side before looking back at Cruz with the same look he had when he entered, continuing his approach towards them.

    Both Cruz and Maya''s expression were dyed in shock, but the emotions they felt were completely opposite. As Alz got closer, Cruz began to take several steps back, distancing himself from Alz.

    Alz soon arrived at where Maya was laying, finally turning his eyes away from Cruz to her. He grabbed onto one of her arms without warning and started pulling upwards. Maya snapped out of her daze when she felt a pain course through her arm, quickly struggling to stand up.

    After standing, she didn''t even have time to react before she felt a strong pull on her arm, dragging her towards the direction of the exit.

    "Wait, wait... Wait!" Maya continuously voiced it, but Alz continued pulling despite her pleas until she shouted. Alz halted his steps and turned to look at Maya with questioning eyes that contained some displeasure.

    "My bow..." Maya''s murmured weakly, feeling intimidated by the current Alz.

    Alz finally revealed a look of enlightenment and released his grip, freeing Maya''s arm. Maya hastily moved over and collected the broken fragments of her bow with a sorrowful expression before returning to Alz''s side.

    After Maya returned, Alz started walking to the entrance again with Maya following behind.

    "W-Wait! Leave your name if you dare!" Cruz shouted from the back just as they were about to leave. Maya turned behind to look at him with a look of worry, but Alz didn''t even stop for an instant, exiting the room.

    Maya hurriedly followed behind with the bow fragments in her arms, exiting after Alz, leaving behind two unconscious elves and Cruz directing a grudgeful stare towards the entrance.

 No release today, double release next

    Hey,

    I somehow got stuck in the middle of chapter 56 and just can''t seem to find the right words to move on... Don''t think I''ll get any ideas even if I continue to stare at the screen for several hours so I decided to make up for it with a double release next instead... =X.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Sorry for the delay, but I''ll be sure to get both chapters up in two days.

    Thanks for the support!

    ...... that''s it... but chapter needs to be at least 500 characters long... hope this does it.

 Chapter 56 - Repair

    Maya slowly trailed behind Alz, occasionally sneaking peeks at him with eyes containing fear and admiration. This was a side of him that she had never seen before, one that had vastly changed her impression of him.

    Through their interactions in the recent months, Maya thought that she had already gotten to know Alz well, but she realised now how wrong she had been in the past. His abnormal storytelling aside, this was already not the first time that she had been shocked by him.

    It was hardly a secret that Alz visited the library often, as it wasn''t something he particularly tried to hide. Maya had also learnt this easily from his tribe members after trying to find him at the field unsuccessfully, heading to the library angrily to find him then.

    She still remembered thinking that it was stupid for him to be wasting time reading instead of training, planning to forcibly bring him to participate along with their training. Yet, these thoughts rapidly began to change when she arrived at the library.

    Piles and piles of scrolls were stacked by his side as he tirelessly continued grabbing new ones from the shelves with a smile.

    At first, she was just amazed by this sight, but the words she heard from the elderly librarian next caused a shock to run through her body.

    "He''s always like this." the elderly librarian noticed her looking at Alz then and told her with a bitter smile, shaking his head as he looked at Alz with concerned eyes.

    "Ah, so that was it."

    It was then that it hit her, feeling like she understood why the warriors from his tribe acknowledged him. Her thoughts of dragging him away naturally evaporated, choosing to leave quietly without interrupting.

    When she left, she felt like her heart had lightened, finally understanding the meaning of the lectures she had always received.

    For a long time, she had only been working towards get the others to recognise her, but Alz was different. He didn''t seem to care about how others looked at him, reading for his own sake.

    Inspired by this, Maya decided to set personal goals and train more frequently, hoping to improve herself one step at a time. She had thought that this the ''secret'' behind his success, that this was everything, until just now.

    Thinking back to earlier, Maya felt her cheeks burning up. Alz''s figure was just like a hero from his stories, suddenly making an appearance and rescuing her in a time of need.

    "Thank you." Maya said in a meek voice, remembering that she hadn''t thanked him yet. She hastily lowered her head immediately after, with cheeks that bloomed in a rosy pink shade.

    However, after lowering her heard, her eyes quickly met with the wooden fragments in her arms, what was left of her father''s bow. Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she stared blankly at the fragments, as though she had lost a part of her soul.

    This bow had always accompanied her since her father passed away, never leaving her side. Even after it was damaged previously, she had gone through great efforts to mend it to the best of her abilities.

    Even though it remained unusable after her repairs, it was still her most treasured possession, but even this was going to be taken away from her.

    "He was not pathetic... he was not a coward!" Maya''s sobbed uncontrollably, her body quivering as she spoke.

    "He was brave and strong... He was a great father." Maya hugged the wooden fragments tighter, soothing some of the pain she felt. The two elves continued to walk forward, with sobs coming from the elf at the back.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    A few moments later, Alz glanced back at Maya before returning his eyes forward while letting out a heavy sigh. It had been about ten minutes since they left the guardhouse and he had regained his calm, feeling some regret from his rashness earlier.

    However, the regret didn''t linger for too long before he came to terms with it, not willing to dwell on it too much. Besides, even if he was given another chance to choose, he was sure that he would have done the same thing so there wasn''t much point in bashing himself over it.

    It had been about 30 minutes since they left the guardhouse, but pained sobs could still be heard from the back occasionally. Alz glanced behind once more, his gaze sweeping through Maya''s downcast expression and the fragments in her arms.

    A look of hesitation appeared on his face when he returned his eyes forward, reflecting his wavering thoughts. After several minutes, the hesitation on his face began to clear, replaced by a helpless expression.

    "Do you have anything after this?" Alz asked, finally speaking for the first time since the very beginning.

    "N-No." Maya hastily replied, caught off guard by the sudden question.

    She had planned on doing more training today, but she was no longer in the right state to do so. With everything that happened before, she was currently feeling lost and unsure of what to do, just aimlessly following behind Alz.

    "Come over, I''ll see if I can fix the bow." Alz said, having already made the decision.

    Maya stopped in place and immediately lifted her head, her eyes bursting wide open. She stared at Alz with shining eyes filled with hope as she asked in an emotional voice, "You can fix it!?"

    "I''ll try, but no promises." Alz replied.

    "Thank you." Maya thanked Alz again, with no less gratitude than before.

    Hearing this, the hope that shined through Maya''s eyes began to dim as she continued following behind Alz. She didn''t hold much hope towards Alz being able to repair it, but she was grateful for the thought and she wanted to grab onto chance, however slim it was.

    No other words were exchanged for the rest of the journey, but Maya was no longer sobbing at the very least. The walk lasted for over an hour before they arrived back at the golden field.

    When they stepped out of the trees, Alz suddenly turned towards Maya and stared deeply into her eyes. Maya started to feel flustered, her heart beating faster than before. Her cheeks began to redden while she stood in place.

    "Follow me." before she could ask anything, Alz turned his eyes away from her and walked in a straight line towards a direction, heading deeper into the trees.

    A look of confusion appeared on her face when she saw Alz heading away from the hut, but Alz didn''t give her a chance to ask so she hurriedly chased after him to avoid being left behind.

    About five minutes later, the pair arrived before a table and chair in the midst of the trees. There was also a small wooden hut standing by the side, the small area contrasting greatly with the surrounding nature.

    "Place the fragments down on the table." Alz said upon arrival while heading to the nearby shed to collect several other materials.

    Maya spaced out briefly when she saw the furniture in the middle of nowhere before obediently laying the fragments on the only table present.

    Alz soon returned with several pieces of wood in hand, gently laying them down on the table. He then took a seat on the chair and held onto a tool on the table, starting with the repairs.

    Alz placed all his attention on the task before him, meticulously repairing the bow. The anticipation on her face began to grow as Maya watched by the side, her confidence in Alz rising as time went by.

    Over the next hour, the bow slowly took shape once again, bringing Maya great excitement. Happiness was overflowing from her over regaining what she thought she had lost, but she continued to wait by the side silently, afraid of interrupting him.

    About twenty more minutes went by before Alz''s hands slowly came to a halt. He held the bow up to his eyes and observed every part of it closely before his lips curled up into a satisfied smile.

    After all that time put in, he was finally done. However, saying that he repaired the bow would have been inaccurate, as it would have been more correct to say that it was reborn. After all, the bow was completely broken already and there was no real way to mend it.

    Instead, he tried his best to use as much materials from the fragments, resulting in this bow that possessed a very different form from before, a brand-new crossbow.

    The crossbow contained multiple shades of brown due to the mixture of wood used in its frame, but it was very much as sturdy as his other products and a work that Alz could be proud of.

    "What''s that?" Maya asked in an uncertain voice, noticing that Alz seemed to be done. This question had been floating in her head since a while ago, finally getting a chance to ask.

 Chapter 57 - Mayas New Weapon

    Alz had already given several batches of crossbows to his tribe''s warriors and it was gaining farm within the southern guardhouse, but that was limited to the guards and hadn''t spread to the younger trainees like Maya. As such, this was the first time she had seen a crossbow.

    "This is a crossbow, it should be more suitable for you." Alz said as he handed the crossbow over to Maya.

    During their time together, Maya had ranted about her lack of strength affecting her aim on several occasions, bringing the crossbows to his mind. After all, one of the primary motivations behind its design was to overcome this.

    He was already intending to give her a crossbow to repay her favours, except that he had originally planned for it further into the future. However, the incident earlier made him change his mind, deciding to make it for her now instead.

    As she was sitting in on their tribe''s discussion before, Alz didn''t really have qualms showing her this workstation. Also, Alz had intentionally led her through a path that avoided the other areas of his workshop on the way here, so there was little chance of her finding anything.

    Besides, there were elves he had to be on guard with, but she wasn''t one of them as far as he was concerned. At the very least, Alz knew her character well enough to trust that she wasn''t one who would spread such information around carelessly.

    Maya carefully received the crossbow from Alz and held it tightly to her chest with a blissful smile, shedding tears of happiness at the reunion.

    "Thank you." she thanked him again, the third time since they departed. Her words this time sounded more heartfelt than before, extending from the deepest reaches of her heart.

    The form didn''t matter, as this was still her precious bow. One that she had seen Alz slowly building from its fragments, something that she had all but given up on before.

    After half a minute, she finally released it from her chest and started observing it, tinkering around the mechanisms with great curiosity. Looking at this, Alz chuckled by the side and walked up to her side.

    "This part here......" Alz then started to explain the basic mechanisms behind the crossbow and the way it worked.

    Halfway through his explanations, Alz shook his head and sighed as he saw the lost expression on Maya''s face, clearly not following his words. A nostalgic feeling began to rise within him, reminded of the times he tried to explain things to Polon in the past.

    "Follow me." Alz cut off his explanation halfway and started leaving the workstation. Hearing this, Maya immediately reacted and followed behind him while tinkering with the crossbow in her hands.

    After a short walk, the pair soon arrived back at the field. Alz continued to lead Maya into the field, finally stopping somewhere in the middle of the field.

    "Try shooting at that." Alz handed Maya a quiver and pointed at a tree about 150m ahead, with concentric circles carved at one section of its trunk.

    With the strong eyesight their race possessed, there wasn''t much trouble before Maya saw the target Alz mentioned.

    "That one!?" Maya immediately asked, turning towards Alz with wide eyes.

    "That one." Alz made a light nod and affirmed her.

    "But it''s so far." Maya said as she looked down at the weapon in her hands.

    "Don''t worry, you can reach it." Alz confidently replied.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Alz then drew his own crossbow and loaded an arrow, firing towards the target. He did the entire process slowly, allowing Maya to observe him closely during this time.

    *Whoosh*. The arrow cleanly sliced through the air, landing directly at the center of the round markings.

    Maya''s jaw slowly dropped as she stared at the arrow that had embedded itself into the tree''s bark, slowly turning towards Alz with disbelief.

    She looked down to her own crossbow with eyes that were burning with excitement, recalling the arrow that was just fired moments ago.

    Maya took a deep breath and closed her eyes, replaying Alz''s actions in her mind. When she reopened her eyes, she drew an arrow from the quiver and loaded it on the crossbow before proceeding to cock it, readying it for the shot.

    She slowly aimed the weapon at the target, steadily pulling back on the trigger. *Whoosh*. The crossbow jolted backwards when the arrow was released, pushing strongly towards Maya''s hand.

    The arrow cut through the air as strongly as the previous shot, but it went by the side of the tree, missing the target markings completely.

    "I can do it too!"

    Maya tightened her grip on the crossbow, her body quivering with excitement. A wave of ecstasy ran through her body as she saw the distance her shot covered, setting aside the matter of accuracy for now.

    She had always been struggling to match the other elves in range, even when compared with the training counterparts close to her age. She was confident in her aim at closer distances, but her accuracy always fell off whenever the distance increased.

    Yet, this weapon didn''t possess that problem, allowing even her to fire such strong shots. She didn''t understand how it worked, but there was one thing understood at this moment, that this weapon would change many things.

    "Again." Alz shouted.

    Maya turned to stare at deeply at Alz, before revealing a radiant smile. Her smile was extremely bright, far brighter than any expression she had made ever in a long time. Even the sunflowers around seemed to dim for a moment, overshadowed by the radiance of her smile.

    However, Alz''s eyes were locked onto the target in the distance, missing out on this sight beside him. Maya pouted slightly when she saw this, but she quickly returned her eyes back to the front and reloaded the weapon, firing more shots towards the target.

    By the fifth shot, Maya started getting used to the recoil, learning to adjust the weapon and follow through with her shots.

    By the tenth shot, her arrows started landing on the tree, with one arrow out of the past five landing within the target marker.

    After emptying the fifteen arrows in the quiver, her shots all landed on the bark of the tree, with three out of the past five shots landing within the circular marker.

    Alz nodded with a satisfied smile as he looked at this, clapping his hands by the side when she finished the arrows.

    "Well done." Alz honestly praised her, feeling surprised by this result as well.

    Her accuracy and ability to adapt was top notch even among the warriors he knew, achieving a better result than most of his tribe''s warriors back during the first time he borrowed them the crossbows.

    After all, while it was similar in many areas, there were still things that worked differently from the conventional bows most elves were used to, requiring time to adapt.

    Even though he had heard her complaining and saying things like how her shooting would be better than the others if he were stronger, that was ultimately just her side of the story and he didn''t know how true it was nor did he bother to find out.

    However, from this alone, it was immediately apparent that her claims were not baseless, also reflecting how much effort she usually put into her archery as well.

    "Of course!" Maya replied with a smug smile, carrying no signs of her depression from before.

    "It was the right decision after all."

    Alz unwittingly smiled at her reply, feeling glad that he decided to help her out now. While she still couldn''t compare to his three childhood friends, she was one of the closest elves to him in the capital without doubt, and one who had helped him much.

    It felt to see her exit her depression, to be able to return to her usual self and smile again.

    "It''s getting late, you should go back soon." Alz said as he looked up at the skies, noticing that it was already quite dark.

    When he chanced upon the incident after his duty, the skies were still around its brightest. However, a fair bit of time had gone by with the everything that happened, and the light in the skies was already fairly dim.

    Factoring in the time it took for the return trip, it was probably about time for her to return before it got too dark.

    There were also some signs of damage in the dorms and some fragments left from the incident before which Alz highly doubted that Cruz would clean up, so their tribe might worry even more when they found out that she was missing.

    Maya blinked at Alz several times with a look of surprise before saying, "Go back? What are you talking about? I''m staying here today."

    Alz''s mind blanked out for a moment at the unexpected reply before reacting, "Go back, the others will worry about you."

    "You''re telling me that?" Maya immediately shot a question back, striking him where it hurt.

 Chapter 58 - Request

    Alz looked at her with a bitter smile, at a loss for words to respond with. Alz let out a heavy sigh and walked away, deciding not to bother himself with it anymore. What she wanted to do was her choice, and he didn''t see any point in sticking his head into it.

    "Hey, do you have any food? I''m hungry." Maya chased after Alz with quick steps, walking beside him.

    "There''s meat in the hut." Alz replied while continuing to move, stopping when he reached an empty area beside the field.

    "What are you doing?" Maya asked curiously.

    "Training." Alz returned a short reply.

    "Training?" Maya''s face visibly brightened as she asked.

    "Physical training." Alz replied again. His irritation was starting to show in his voice, but he was still trying to rein it in after considering what she had been through earlier.

    Perhaps sensing his rising irritation, Maya immediately moved away from him and retraced her steps back to the flowerbed before taking a seat.

    Alz took a deep breath and started doing his usual warm-up stretches, but he found himself unable to focus each time he caught sight of her sitting in the corner of his eyes.

    He wouldn''t have felt this way if she was just sitting, but her eyes were locked tightly on him the entire time, observing his every movement. As expected, this made him feel slightly uncomfortable as time went on, especially so since he had gotten used to training alone.

    "Didn''t you say you were hungry?" Alz asked in resigned tone, realising that he was unable to concentrate properly on his exercises with her sitting there.

    "Don''t mind me, I can eat after this." Maya replied with an innocent smile, her gaze continuing to rest on him.

    "Go to the fireplace, I''ll get the food." Alz said while sighing inwardly, starting to head towards his hut.

    "Why did you stop? Don''t worry about me, just continue your training." Maya hurriedly stood up and moved ahead of him, blocking his path.

    Alz quickly came to a stop, looking at her with a questioning gaze. He felt like her mood had returned to normal earlier, but her actions since then could only have been described as abnormal, unlike the Maya he knew of.

    The wordless stare from Alz threw Maya''s thoughts into disarray, her hands fidgeting around not knowing where to place them. His expression slowly turned more impatient, causing her to feel more frantic as she stood before him.

    However, she suddenly gritted her teeth bowed deeply towards him, her eyes filled with determination as she asked, "I know this might be too much to ask, but... Please, can you teach me how to fight?"

    Alz blanked out for a moment, not expecting her to do this. When he finally reacted, he immediately lowered his body and supported her body, pulling her upwards. Maya tried to struggle, but she couldn''t win against him in strength, standing back up.

    "Wait at the fireplace." Alz said, acting as though nothing happened as he walked past her towards the hut.

    "I won''t give up!"

    Maya stared at Alz with an indignant expression, but soon after she bit her lip and started heading over to the fireplace, deciding to listen to him for now. She expected that it wouldn''t be easy from the start, but she was determined to see it through now that she already brought it up.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    She couldn''t forget the moment she opened her eyes and saw something far from what she expected. The image of the figure dragging Cruz''s follower behind him, throwing that huge body at his companion and taking him out in an instant.

    She had watched many fights and spars before, even participating in many of her own. However, she had never seen anyone who fought the way he did, taking out foes with such practical and efficient movements, burning deeply into her mind.

    She was satisfied with the results of her shoot, but she didn''t let it get into her head. After all, she had recognised the weapon held the most credit for it and not her.

    The crossbow might have been able to compensate for her weaknesses in archery, but that was ultimately just it. She didn''t just suddenly become stronger after the shoot, as her lack of strength still remained.

    If this happened a few months earlier, she might have been blinded by the success and became overconfident, rushing back to the guardhouse to flaunt her results, but she knew better now.

    Her previous goal of working solely for the acknowledgement of the others was misguided, something she realised during her visit to the library back then. She understood that it was more important to improve herself as everything else would follow naturally as he had said back then.

    "If he helps me."

    This belief only grew stronger with his display today, bringing the thought of learning under him to her mind. It felt as though she a path suddenly lit before her eyes, guiding her out of the darkness that surrounded her.

    ---

    Alz left the hut with a slab of meat in his hands, heading towards the fireplace. When he looked over, he saw a bright orange flame gently flickering in the wind with Maya waiting by the side. Noticing his approach, she immediately raised her head and directed a dazzling smile at him.

    Alz''s movements stiffened for a moment when his eyes landed on her, sighing inwardly as he realised that she hadn''t given up yet. He was honestly feeling troubled by her sudden request, at a loss on how to handle it well.

    He would have considered helping if it was something simple, but this was not. Giving her a crossbow didn''t require too much work from him and was a one-off thing, but agreeing to teach her would be a commitment, going beyond a simple favour.

    Putting these thoughts aside, Alz laid the meat on the ground near the fireplace and drew his knife, slicing it into smaller pieces. Seeing this, Maya quickly stood up and walked to him, skewering several pieces of meat and roasting them over the fire.

    After cooking each skewer, she placed it by the side and cooked new ones, constantly glancing towards Alz. Several minutes later, when she saw that Alz was about to be done with the chopping, she immediately grabbed several cooked skewers and heated them over the fire again.

    "Here, eat it while it''s hot.", Maya then offered them to Alz with an extremely eager expression, not having taken a single bite yet.

    "Thanks." Alz looked to her with a bitter smile, feeling reluctant to accept them. However, he still ended up taking them in the end, not bearing to refuse her efforts. Maya''s smile brightened when she Alz took the skewers from her, finally proceeding to eat herself.

    The meal went by in silence, with Maya diligently offering food to Alz each time until he was full. Minutes passed by and the meal soon concluded with both elves eating their fill.

    There were still some strips of meat left at the end which Alz brought back to the hut, keeping it for the smokehouse. He sliced the meat up for this in the beginning, having taken a slab of meat that would be more than enough to feed the both of them.

    After a short rest, Alz ultimately decided to continue with his exercises in the end, trying his best not be bothered by her. Maya also didn''t just watch this time, choosing to join him in his exercise routine instead now that she had already revealed her intentions.

    Maya stuck closely to Alz until the end, when she suddenly disappeared without notice as Alz was carrying a pail of drinking water out from his hut.

    "Did she go back?"

    The thought only surfaced in his mind briefly before he denied the possibility. The surroundings were already very dark, and it made no sense for her to suddenly leave at this time.

    The only consolation he felt was from the fact that there were no real dangers nearby, so he didn''t have to be too worried about her safety. However, Alz slowly began to get restless as time passed, deciding to scout the surrounding area for her.

    About 10 minutes later of searching, Alz suddenly heard a soft, continuous sound coming from the distance, deciding to proceed towards it. The sound got louder as he approached the source, but he couldn''t seem to identify the sound from what he was used to hearing in the forest.

    Alz briefly thought that the surroundings looked very familiar, but he didn''t think too much about it as he had been to most nearby regions before.

    However, he quickly realised why he found it familiar when he arrived at the source of the sound, feeling an urge to slam his head on the tree nearby for realising the reason sooner.

 Chapter 59 - Disease

    "Why didn''t I realise sooner!?"

    Alz felt heat gathering on his cheeks as he peered through the trees, alongside a rising sense of guilt within him. The area felt especially familiar to him because it was a path he would take almost daily, whenever he had to collect water for using, the lake.

    A slender figure was standing in the lake humming to herself, the very elf Alz was looking for. Maya was taking a bath in the lake to wash up from all the exercise, and he unknowingly saw it.

    He took a deep breath to calm his breathing, intending to return to the field. He only came searching for her because he was afraid that she might have been in danger, but this was evidently not the case.

    Alz lifted his foot to set off, but he seemed to be stopped by something within, unable to make the step. He stood still for several seconds before softly returning his foot, turning back towards the lake again.

    "I should stay in case she gets attacked."

    An audible gulp could be heard from Alz''s throat as he moved forward with a flimsy excuse that he couldn''t even convince himself with. He carefully peeked his head out of the trees, staring in the direction of the lake.

    Earlier he looked away almost immediately, so only vaguely saw her silhouette through the darkness. However, now that he was focusing, her slender body revealed itself clearly under his gaze.

    However, his adolescent excitement only lasted for a short while before it was washed away by a pain in his heart. This was not to say that Maya looked bad, as her figure was slender with curves developing at the right places, stimulating his senses heavily.

    Her skin also appeared smooth and supple, a feminine body that would attract most men. Yet, what caught Alz''s eye the most was not any of this, but the small cuts and bruises that were littered everywhere, with many leaving their mark as scars even after healing.

    This was not just the body of a woman, but also the body of a warrior. The scars on her body were testament to the effort that she had put into training over the years, irrefutable proof that was carved onto her body.

    Alz sighed heavily and started heading back, regaining control over his impulses. Not long after he returned, Maya''s figure appeared from the trees as well with slightly damp hair from the bath she had taken.

    When Alz''s eyes landed on her, the image from before unwittingly appeared in his mind, causing his body to heat up, immediately averting his eyes.

    Despite this, Maya didn''t notice his abnormal actions, her mind occupied by something else. When she saw him, she quickly walked up to him and asked with reddened cheeks, "U-Um, can I borrow some clothes?"

    "Sure, I''ll get them for you." It was then that Alz noticed that she was still wearing the same clothes as before, agreeing without a hassle as he rushed off towards the hut.

    "Here, these might be a little big though." It didn''t take long before he returned with a clean set of clothes, passing it over to her.

    "Thanks, I-I''ll return them next time." Maya thanked him as she received the clothes from him.

    "It''s fine, you can have it." Alz replied casually, not minding it in the slightest. He had plenty of spares gifted to him by the female elves of his tribe, so giving away a set wasn''t a problem.

    Maya was slightly surprised at how warm Alz was being compared to when they were exercising earlier, but it was a good change, so she didn''t think too much about it.

    Right before she returned, a mischievous smile suddenly appeared on her face, thinking of a prank. She turned around slowly and lightly traced her body line with her fingers as she asked, "Want to help?"The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Alz immediately revealed a dazed expression, staring back at her blankly. Maya started giggling as she watched this, heading back to the lake with a satisfied smile.

    "Did she find out? How!?"

    What she didn''t know was that her small prank had caused Alz''s heart to skip a beat, his body trembling slightly as he stood still. His emotions were far more rattled than it appeared, tripped by his guilty conscience from before.

    This time, there were no accidents and Maya safely returned from the lake. With nothing left to do and the fatigue from the day creeping in, the two were preparing to rest for the day and had been lying on the flowerbed for a while now with a small distance separating them.

    Alz had initially offered his hut to her, but she insisted on sleeping outside, leading to the current situation. After all, Alz couldn''t bring himself to leave her alone outside, especially with the guilt from peeking incident still lingering in his mind.

    The night slowly deepened and Alz felt his consciousness slowly drifting away amidst the cool nightly breeze, falling asleep. However, not long after, a panicked voice came from his side, waking him up from his short rest.

    "Must be a nightmare."

    "Papa, Papa, NO! Don''t go! come back... don''t leave us alone..." Maya suddenly started screaming, but her eyelids remained tightly shut and she didn''t seem to be conscious.

    "Please, don''t make Papa disappear, please, please... I won''t make Papa bring me out when I''m tired... I won''t be selfish anymore... please return him... Papa, Papa......" tears seemed to flow endlessly from her eyes as she continued to mumble to herself, continuing on for several minutes before she finally calmed down.

    Alz let out a sigh and stood up quietly, walking over to his hut. Moments later, he came out with a blanket in his hand, carefully draping it over Maya while trying not to disturb her sleep.

    Her words might have seemed confusing to others, but he knew what she meant when he said that her father ''disappeared'', as he happened to chance upon her father''s death in one of the books in the library.

    The elves were a race who are immune to sickness and diseases, the concepts of such not even existing in their society. Alz had also only learnt out about such things from the books in the archives, that living beings could actually fall sick.

    However, there was one thing that was similar to a sickness in their society, a condition that hovered over the minds of those who knew. While it was called a different term in the capital, back at their tribe they used to call it ''The Return''.

    When most elves reached beyond the age of 120, their bodies would start rapidly aging in episodes, a common fact known to the population. While the first episode usually didn''t kill, more would start occurring over time, preventing most elves from living past 140.

    During these episodes, their silver hair would lose its shine, dulling to a pale white shade as though losing its vitality. Their bodies would rapidly start breaking down, until it went past a limit, returning back to dust and leaving nothing behind.

    Perhaps this was the origin of their belief, that the spirits rested in bones. They South believed this to be the Mother Elf retrieving the souls of aged elves, preparing to grant them a new lease of life.

    Hence, the term for the condition came about, dubbing it ''The Return'' in their tribe. This name might not seem scary, but the actual condition was far deadlier than it sounded, claiming the lives of all elves who suffered from it.

    The symptoms of this diseases were similar to the aging episodes of senior elves, except that it could affect elves of all ages, stopping only when nothing remained of the elf.

    To make things worse, all known records showed that it was extremely random and spontaneous, capable of striking at any given time without symptoms, dragging elves away from the world of the living in a short span of time.

    While not much was known about this condition and its causes, it was thankfully discovered to be extremely rare and non-contagious, so the average elf usually didn''t have to worry about it.

    Maya''s father apparently happened to be one of the unfortunate ones, as Alz had read in the library. Due to the rarity of the condition, every such case was recorded by the capital and Alz had happened to read the scroll documenting it.

    The records showed that Maya''s father had suffered a seizure during a patrol duty out in the forest five years ago, leaving the young Maya and her mother to fend for themselves.

    Yet, there was something he noticed that didn''t make sense when reading it, as the condition had occurring more frequently recently.

    He initially just dismissed it as a coincidence, until he came across a record that caught his eye, one of the primary reasons why he considered leaving immediately three months back.

    This was the record of a female elf who died of this condition, nothing special among the many records that were on the scroll. However, the victim happened to be the wife of the current tribal chieftain back in the Calla tribe, causing a chill to go down his spine when he saw it as he recalled the chieftain''s expression and parting words back when they left.

 Chapter 60

    After he went to cover Maya with a sheet, Alz laid back on the field again, staring at the darkness above with empty eyes. After several minutes, he shot a quick glance at Maya and sighed before closing his eyelid once again, returning to sleep.

    As with always, time flew by with both elves asleep, feeling as though only an instant passed when their eyelids opened again.

    Maya let out a short moan as she twisted her body slightly, her eyelids trembling slightly. Her eyelids slowly started lifting, looking around her with a dazed expression. Memories from the previous day began to flow into her mind as she took in the surrounding scenery, her mind finally awake.

    She immediately tried to rise, but her actions suddenly paused when she lifted her head, catching sight of the blankets draped over her body. A wide smile formed on her lips as she saw this, feeling a warm feeling rising in her heart.

    She didn''t recall using a blanket before she slept and the odds of a random blanket covering her on its own were non-existent, so there was only one possibility remaining.

    She looked towards her side with gentle eyes but saw that the elf who was supposed to be there was already missing from his spot.

    Looking at this, she suddenly revealed a look of panic as she remembered what she wanted to do, hurriedly sitting up from her horizontal position. However, before she could do anything else, his voice travelled into her ear, dashing the hopes of her plan.

    "Oh, you''re awake. I placed some food and water at the fireplace." Alz was doing some light stretches by the side when he saw Maya sitting up, greeting her.

    "Why did he wake up so early!"

    Maya complained lightly in her mind, revealed a look of dejection as she looked towards the fireplace. As Alz as said, there was a plate with edible plants and berries on it and a small wooden cup beside it, probably filled with water.

    The food and water were naturally taken from his supply in the hut, so it wasn''t too much trouble for Alz. However, she had initially planned on waking up earlier to prepare these, hoping to increase the chances of him agreeing to teach her, but it clearly didn''t go too well.

    She soon recovered from her disappointment, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. She stood up and headed over to the hut to wash up before moving over to the fireplace for her meal.

    "Since you''re done, I think it''s about time for you to go back." Alz said coldly right after Maya finished her meal, causing her to freeze in place. Moisture began to gather in her eyes as she turned to Alz with a gaze of sadness and anger.

    She she gritted her fists tightly with reddening eyes as she tried to think of ways to convince him, but nothing came to mind as her anger began started being replaced by a feeling of powerlessness that ran through her body.

    "Fine!... I''ll leave." she barely managed to squeeze those words out from her lips as she stood up and started walking briskly towards the exit she was familiar with.

    Yet, her expression became more stubborn with each step she took, her pace continuing to slow down the further she moved. A distance she would usually cover in a minute ended up taking five and she eventually found herself before the trees at the corner of the field.

    Suddenly, a look of determination flashed across her face and she stopped in her tracks, turning back towards Alz. She slammed her knees to the ground with such force that there was thud, her voice echoing briefly across the field, "Please, teach me how to fight!"

    "Haa... she still asked after all..."

    Alz let out a sigh inwardly, looking towards the kneeling Maya with mixed emotions. He had already expected something like this to happen, but a part of him still hoped she would just leave without turning back.

    After considering deeply about it last night, he ultimately decided to give her chance, a chance that she had just taken. If she had just left without saying anything, he would never bring this matter up again, but if she asked again, he would help her, and she did.

    "Come by the second marking on the third days."

    Maya''s head slowly titled to the side, her expression unchanging from before. Her reaction was as though Alz had spoken in a foreign language, causing her brain to stall.

    It took a few more moments before she finally reacted, her eyes rapidly widening with excitement and disbelief. She hastily raised her head and looked ahead, catching sight of Alz looking at her with a slightly troubled smile, raising her excitement to a peak.

    "Yes!! I definitely won''t be late!" she replied enthusiastically, bowing deeply towards Alz before placing her right shoulder with her left hand, saluting him with the formal salute of the Hostia tribe.

    After doing these actions, she immediately fled into the trees as though she was afraid Alz might change his mind. This rapid change in pace painted a vastly different scene from just moments ago, as though it were two completely different elves.

    Alz shook his head with a light smile as he saw this, carrying on with his daily training routine. The dust settled, and everything returned to normal, with Alz heading to the library after his training as he often did.

    The next day, Maya reported back to the field excitedly, arriving for her scheduled first lesson with Alz. As this was the first session, Alz assigned her some simple tests to evaluate her physical condition, pleasantly surprised by her performance.

    What she lacked in strength, she made up for in agility, possessing nimble reflexes beyond most of the warriors he knew. As he observed her completing these basic tasks, his eyes started to light with anticipation as he realised that this could be an opportunity for him as well.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    He hadn''t expected to gain anything out of this when he initially agreed, primarily agreeing because he was moved by her determination and plight in addition to the help she had given. As a result, he ended up overlooking this, only seeing it now.

    Despite having wooden dummies to practice on, these were ultimately just inanimate objects and Alz found that they no longer helped him much at his current level of proficiency, a problem he had been fretting about in the recent months, that is until today.

    "This could work!"

    After a short break, Alz decided to jump into the teaching her right away, feeling fired up from his newfound motivation. At the start, he tried to demonstrate the motions and explain the theory to her, but like with the crossbow before, it didn''t seem like it was helping much.

    Seeing this, he sighed and decided to go for the practical approach, thus drawing the curtains on Maya''s hellish training sessions which made her mildly regret her decision.

    ---

    The Next Day.

    "Maya''s not coming?" Kai looked toward Alz and asked,

    "It''s not my fault...She was the one who wanted me to teach..."

    "I d-don''t know... M-Maybe she''s not feeling well...?" Alz stuttered slightly, averting his eyes as he answered.

    Meanwhile, on one of the beds at the Hostia tribe''s bunk.

    "Alz!! Just you wait!"

    Maya was lying on the bed with her body in an awkward position, with hints of indignance and of fear in her expression as she recalled the traumatic experience yesterday as she was tossed around like an object left and right by Alz.

    ---

    Two months went by in a flash, marking the eighth month since Alz''s arrival at the capital. The past two months might have been a short time to many, but it was an important turning point for one particular elf, Maya.

    Perhaps fuelled by the desire to defeat him among other reasons, she began to improve at a rapid pace under Alz''s bull---tutelage, often heading over to Alz''s training field to vent her frustrations on training dummies whenever she had time.

    As the days passed and Maya steadily got stronger, Alz eventually started to struggle slightly when facing her. However, he was not at all dejected by this as this only brought him joy, finally having a proper sparring partner to refine his techniques with.

    Thus far, the only sparring partner he had who could even keep up with him was Polon, who Alz believed that he only won against because Polon was still getting used to his movements, knowing that given time Polon would definitely be able to defeat him in close-quarters combat easily.

    Even then, whether Polon would actually be a better sparring partner than Maya was up in the air. After all, Maya fought with technique like him, not strength, allowing him to better see the flaws in execution much more easily when they sparred.

    She was even weaker than him in physical strength, but he found that her talent for battle was superior to his and perhaps even a match for Polon''s, capable of surpassing him in time even with the handicap.

    Of course, this was something for the future as she still continued to get pummelled every single time she faced off against Alz, oblivious to his high evaluation of her combat potential.

    Training aside, ever since the incident at the bunk, Alz had been keeping wary of his surroundings as he knew that Cruz wouldn''t let go of that incident so easily, but to his surprise, nothing seemed to happen.

    Yet, this finding did little to lower his guard, as he knew from Cruz''s grudgeful eyes that this matter was far from over, that it was not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

    Today was a fourth day, Alz only rest day of the week. Alz was feeling refreshed from having just woken up and was carefreely thinking of which story to tell by later when he suddenly heard footsteps from the forest, lifting an eyebrow in suspicion.

    It was still early and not anywhere close to the time Kai would arrive. It also definitely wasn''t Maya as he accidentally got a little too excited yesterday and went ... slightly overboard, so she should still be recuperating from muscle strains.

    Alz slightly tensed his muscles as he laid in wait, but quickly relaxed as he saw the figure, waving to him lightly. Kleiz''s eyes visibly lit up when he saw Alz sitting by the fireplace, returning a smile and waving back as he jogged over.

    "Hey Kleiz, what is it?" Alz asked, knowing that he wouldn''t specially come here at this hour just to visit.

    "Hey, the captain is calling you." Kleiz panted lightly before replying Alz with a wide grin on his face.

    "It''s finally here!"

    "Let''s go!" Alz instantly replied with unconcealed joy in his voice, jumping on his feet and running into the trees as he spoke.

    His heart started pounding furiously with excitement coursing through his body. He was starting to feel a little worried about it as he had expected the captain to call for him earlier, but now these worries naturally faded away.

    "Wait up." Kleiz called out with helplessness on his face, chasing after Alz''s back that was rapidly shrinking in his vision.

    ---

    Meanwhile, slightly over an hour before this, there were nine elves gathered in a room at the southern guardhouse, all of them dressed in the guard attire. Two of the elves stood at the front while the rest lined up order in front of them in attention, as though waiting for orders.

    One of the two at the front was the elf famed for his notoriety in the guardhouse, Cruz Custos. The other eight however, were unfamiliar faces that had never been seen here before, with one of them visibly of a higher status than the other from the position he stood.

    The eight of them had extremely stout figures and exuded a strong sense of confidence, each of them appearing to be seasoned fighters that were more than a match for most guards here.

    In fact, this was probably not false, as they were elites that had come out on top of many harsh training sessions and proven their worth in battle, earning the right to join their current squad.

    Suddenly, two light knocks were heard at the door, causing the two at the front to look towards the door while the others remained completely still in attention.

    "Enter." the man standing beside Cruz was the one who spoke, granting permission to the elf who was knocking.

    Moments later, an elf carefully entered from the door, bowing deeply towards Cruz first before saluting towards the other elf at the front, holding his left arm horizontally over his chest.

    "Leader, the southern captain has just sent someone to call for the target." he reported seriously, remaining in salute the entire time.

    "Good job, at ease." a light flickered in the leader''s eyes as he replied with a light nod.

    Seeing this, the elf dropped his hand down and walked over to stand together with the seven of his companions.

    *Thud*. A dull sound spread across the room as Cruz slammed his fist strongly against the wall.

    "It''s time to make you pay!"

    A cold glint flashed in his eyes while his lips curled into a thin smile, recalling that young face from two months ago.

    His expression gave off a sinister air as it reflected the intense fury in his heart, shining with the light of anticipation at what was coming. With a snicker, he moved his feet and started heading towards the door, exiting the room without leaving a single word.

    The ''leader'' standing next to him frowned with slight displeasure but quickly shook his head and commanded in a stern voice, "Move out!"

    After giving the command, the leader hurriedly chased after Cruz while his eight subordinates followed behind in a well-trained and orderly manner, demonstrating the high level of discipline within the group.

    ---

    Alz body muscles tensed slightly as he looked at the door before him, recalling the incident that happened here when they first arrived eight months ago. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down, his gaze sharpening with each breath he took.

    Several moments later, a strong light of anticipation shone through his eyes, reflecting the emotions in his heart. This was going to be one of the most important events since his arrival here, and he was not going to mess it up.

    Alz knocked on the door.

    "Come in." a voice came from beyond the door, a voice he hadn''t heard in the past eight months.

 Chapter 61 - Negotiation

    Alz lightly pushed on the door and entered the room, taking in the familiar scenery before him. The layout in the room was exactly as he remembered, triggering memories of the last time he was here with his tribe.

    When he entered the room, he immediately felt a sharp gaze sent from behind the desk, turning to meet it directly without any signs of cowering as he saluted the captain. The captain lightly smiled when he saw this, observing Alz with an even greater interest.

    "It seems I''ve really underestimated you." the captain lamented with a rueful sigh as memories from their first encounter flashed through his mind.

    Back then, he recognised the ambition and drive in Alz. but had thought that he was just an immature elf who didn''t understand his own limitations, but he knew now that this was far from the truth.

    When he had first heard from Colt that Alz had chosen to live in such a secluded area, he was slightly displeased. However, he chose to leave the matter alone, expecting that he would soon give up and return to live with his tribe in the bunks.

    As the days went by, this incident quickly became a thing of the past for him, not concerning himself with it at all. After all, this was only a small thing to him, and he had many more important issues to worry about than a young conceited elf.

    Yet, a month later, he received numerous reports of a new weapon that suddenly appeared in the guardhouse, in the hands of the newest guards. Initially he hadn''t thought too much of it, but that quickly changed when he witnessed the power of the weapon, leaving him in shock.

    Following this, his interest in the new weapon spiked, ordering for many of those he trusted to observe the functions and limitations of this weapon, eventually obtaining a detailed report that left him at awe with the weapon''s performance.

    At the same time, he naturally also paid close attention to the source stated in the report, an elf that went by the name of Alz from the Calla tribe.

    He didn''t have any recollections when he first saw this name, not until he read the brief description of this elf, stating that he was a youth. It was only then that it came to his mind, the figure of a young elf that once stood before him.

    In the subsequent months, he did much more research on these weapons and also on the elf named Alz, finally making up his mind to call him over today.

    "You''ve really surprised me with this... crossbow, you call it?" the captain asked as he looked down and started tinkering on the crossbow placed on his desk with a look of great interest.

    "Yes, it is called a crossbow." Alz affirmed the captain''s words.

    "You made this?" after a short pause, the captain asked.

    "Yes." Alz nodded and replied.

    The captain''s eyes lit up when he heard this, looking expectantly at Alz. However, Alz simply stood with his mouth shut once again, not intending to explain further.

    "This youngling!"

    The captain felt an urge to shout at him, but quickly held himself back as he knew that getting angry here wouldn''t do him any good. He continued to stare at Alz but Alz remained unfazed the whole time, wearing an innocent expression as he met his gaze.

    "It looks like... I''ve really underestimated you." after several minutes, the captain finally said in an exasperated tone.

    Alz smiled inwardly when he heard this, but he continued to look back at the captain with the same innocent expression.

    "Tell me, what do you want?" the captain leaned back and asked.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    "I''m sorry? I don''t understand what you are asking?" Alz looked at the captain inquisitively, as though he got lost in the flow of the conversation.

    The captain clenched his fist tightly, nearly slamming it on the table. After a few moments, he slowly loosened his fingers with a powerless sigh as he looked at Alz, speaking in a tired voice, "Stop fooling around, you know what I mean."

    "This should be enough.¡±

    Alz was indeed fooling around, partially in spite of the captain''s overbearing attitude during their first meeting and partially for the negotiation, but it was about time to get into the actual topics.

    Looking at the deep crease between the captain''s brows, Alz determined that it was about time and started getting serious. he was indeed fooling around, partially in spite of the captain''s overbearing attitude during their last meeting, but he also didn''t want to take things too far.

    "Captain, it''s not that I don''t want to help, but it is really too much work. I can only make a maximum of two of these per month and it is really too exhausting to make more." Alz said after a deep sigh, speaking in a helpless tone.

    The captain face turned beet red, fuming from his seat. If he could, he really wanted to smack Alz right this moment, but he knew he couldn''t. After all, Alz was the one who held the initiative here, and he was on the side that needed Alz more.

    Disregarding the fact that Alz was openly lying since he was already giving out three crossbows per month, it was also no secret to him that Alz spent ridiculous amounts of time at the library, so there was no way the captain would buy his story.

    Besides, what he really wanted the most was not for Alz to make the crossbows, but the method to manufacture them instead. However, before he completely lost his patience, Alz quickly continued to speak.

    "But... I can spare more time to make crossbows if you agree to help me out with one small thing." Alz continued.

    "What. Do. You. Want?" the captain gritted his teeth tightly and barely squeezed the words out of his mouth.

    "I want unrestricted access to the military library." Alz flinched momentarily when he sensed the intense rage behind the voice, but he still continued on without fear, finally stating his intent.

    The captain felt some surprise at this request, but he soon furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought.

    "Why do you want to go there?" the captain slowly asked, staring towards Alz with a guarded expression, looking directly into his eyes as though trying to peer into his mind.

    Alz revealed some a slight hesitation, but his expression quickly hardened as a strong determination burned in his eyes, replying truthfully, "I want to learn about the outside world, the world beyond the forest."

    This time, the captain''s eyes immediately widened with surprise, having been completely caught off-guard by his answer. Looking at the expression on Alz''s face, he finally understood the intent of the request, and what he planned on doing in future.

    "I can grant you permission, but I will need you to give us with the method of manufacturing the crossbow." the captain relaxed his expression and answered.

    "I cannot agree to that, I will only provide you with crossbows." Alz immediately refuted the captain''s offer, not even sparing a second to think about it.

    "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" the captain immediately stood from his seat and shouted, bursting with rage that had been accumulating since the start as he looked towards Alz.

    However, Alz adamantly looked at the captain, his gaze not wavering in the slightest.

    The captain panted several times before calming himself down, asking Alz coldly, "Give me a good reason."

    "I don''t want my weapons to be used against elves." Alz replied without a moment''s hesitation, staring back at the captain with an equally ferocious gaze.

    The captain instinctively flinched back when he heard these words, his fury completely replaced by shock. Soon after, he powerlessly fell back on his chair with a look of tiredness, as though all the energy was sapped from him in an instant.

    "I did hear that you have been visiting the library frequently... what did you learn?" the captain''s eyes suddenly sharpened as he asked Alz, but there was a clear sense of helplessness in his gaze.

    "..." Alz stared back at the captain in silence, but silence could convey many things at times.

    "I''ve really... underestimated you." the captain spoke with a bitter smile, looking at Alz with a deep expression.

    "I can promise eight crossbows every six cycles to the guardhouse, on the condition that the northern elves are not issued any of them." Alz paused for a moment before he spoke, looking towards the captain with some pity in his eyes.

    "Fine, fine, just go." the captain''s expression became slightly more bitter as he noticed this, replying with a strong fatigue in his voice, slumping into his chair without looking at Alz.

    "Thank you." Alz thanked the captain sincerely with a deep bow, his eyes resting on the captain for several moments before he finally turned around.

    "Do you want to come work for me?"

    Right as he was reaching the door, the captain''s voice suddenly drifted into his ears again. However, Alz hastily left the room, not even looking back for a moment.

    The captain looked towards Alz''s exiting back before shaking his head and letting out a deep, powerless sigh as heslumped on the back of his chair.

 Chapter 62 - Ambush

    A complicated expression floated on Alz''s face as he closed the door behind him. The meeting had gone smoother than he had expected, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth as he recalled the captain''s display at the end.

    It seemed like the situation here was more out of control than he had thought before, a finding that left him slightly concerned. However, he didn''t brood over this for long, as this was something that was clearly out of his hands, and something he didn''t want to bother with.

    "Finally, I got it!"

    He shoved the negative thoughts away and started walking towards the exit with budding excitement. Upon exiting the guardhouse, Alz looked towards a small building nearby with two guards by the entrance, the military library.

    Unlike the communal library, the information in this library was classified and access was restricted to the captain and a select few individuals here at the southern guardhouse and was not openly available for everyone to browse through.

    When he couldn''t find the information at the communal library, he had suspected that it was probably here. However, he still held some uncertainty towards it before this, that is until he exchanged words with the captain earlier, feeling a huge weight lifted off his chest.

    "Time to head back!"

    Alz stared at the building deeply as vivid sights he had seen in the archives played in his mind, his eyes shining with anticipation. After a few moments, he shook his head lightly and started heading towards a different direction, back to his field.

    While he was very interested in the library, he didn''t want to break his promise for this, especially when he would be spending most of his time in future there anyways, and there was no real reason for him to rush since the captain had already given him his word.

    Hence, Alz slowly strolled back to the field with a wide smile on his face, the happiest he had been since his arrival.

    It felt like only an instant had passed before Alz stood before the familiar field, occupying himself with various thoughts along the way, ranging from the story he would tell later to the plans he had the future.

    "I''m going to miss this place."

    Alz''s pace slowly halted to a stop after he exited the trees, directing a lonely smile at the sunflower field. Perhaps because he was leaving soon, he felt some melancholy as he looked at the sight before his eyes, feeling some attachment to this place he resided in for eight months.

    Before long, Alz snapped out of his melancholy and was about to continue moving forward when he suddenly heard noises coming from the back,

    His expression immediately hardened as he dashed forward several steps before looking behind with an exceedingly serious expression, catching a glimpse of a sight which sent chills running through his whole body.

    There were three stout elves close to where he was standing before, eyeing him with fierce gazes that he recognised from his years of hunting, eyes locked onto a prey.

    "Is it Cruz!?¡±

    A name appeared in his head the moment he set his eyes on their attire, but three elves didn''t give him more time to think as they started running at him from three different directions.

    To make matters worse, their movements were clearly well-coordinated with adequate space between each other so as to not interfere with each other''s movements, an extremely bad piece of news to Alz.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Alz instantly ran away towards the hut, preparing to get some cover for some time to prepare his weapons. However, the three elves chasing behind merely revealed smile of ridicule when they saw this as they continued to chase from behind.

    Seeing this, alarm bells immediately rang off in his head as he looked towards his door with a serious expression, changing the direction of his dash.

    Just as he did this, the sound of someone clicking their tongue rang out from behind the door as it slammed open and four elves walked out.

    "Cruz!"

    If he was only ninety-nine percent sure before, he was completely certain now as Cruz was among the four who just exited the hut, looking towards him with a cold, sinister smile.

    "You trash! Get on your knees and beg for mercy!" Cruz shouted, laughing maniacally after he was finished as he glared at Alz with hateful eyes that containing glee.

    Alz gritted his teeth and started to run away from both groups, but two elves suddenly walked out from the trees in his direction, blocking his path forward.

    In his blind spot behind, another two elves also appeared from the opposite direction he was running, adding up to a total of ten elves who surrounded him from all sides.

    Alz''s face turned ugly as he saw this, but his feet didn''t stop, continuing to dash forward with a decisive look on his face. These two elves looked at him seriously as they widened their stance, prepare to stop his approach.

    Even though Alz looked young, they were all briefed on his fight in the bunk before the mission and knew not to underestimate him.

    While most of them still didn''t really take the briefing too seriously, they were all well aware of the consequences that awaited them if they failed, so none of them were willing to take the risk.

    Yet, just as Alz was about to reach the two at the front, he suddenly sprinted left in the direction of the three elves who had been chasing him from the start, moving faster than the speed he was showing earlier.

    These three elves were the most exhausted of them all, trying to keep up with him from the start. They were also focusing entirely on catching up to him and were caught off guard by his sudden actions, causing their reactions to be slightly delayed.

    This delay ended up being fatal, as when the closest elf to Alz finally reacted by trying to catch him, it was already too late. A sharp pain shot through his neck and his vision began to darken as he struggled to raise his trembling hands.

    Within seconds, he fell strongly on his knees, his eyes wide with shock, but there was no longer any light in his eyes, losing his life to a green-tipped arrow that pierced directly across his neck.

    However, dying was not enough to spare him from the fight, as Alz grabbed onto his corpse without hesitation and threw it directly between the other two elves, resulting in them separately dodging to two different sides.

    "Dirk!" one of the elves shouted, glaring at Alz murderously as he placed his hand on the dagger by his waist.

    "Capture him alive!" the leader''s face also glared fiercely at Alz when he saw one of his man fall, but still shouted out immediately when he noticed his subordinate reaching for his weapon.

    "They don''t want me dead!"

    Alz''s eyes lit up for a moment when he heard this, moving up to the elf who attempted to draw his weapon with another glass arrow in hand. When he got close, he immediately lunged it at the elf''s neck, but it didn''t go too well this time.

    The elf grabbed onto the arrow tightly and threw a fierce punch at Alz ribs, looking towards him with a cruel smile. However, his expression did not last long before it morphed into a look of shock, as he was assaulted by a sudden weightless sensation.

    Alz had released the arrow the moment it was grabbed and stuck his body to the elf, pulling along the punch he threw and lifting his body into the air.

    He then proceeded to slam the body onto the ground while drawing another arrow glass with his right, stabbing it deeply through the back of the elf''s throat.

    After this was done, he immediately left the arrow behind and jumped away, narrowly avoiding a pair of arms that tried to grab onto his body.

    Despite avoiding this successfully, there was no joy reflected in his expression as he could hear the other five elves closing up to him from behind.

    His eyes burned with determination as he raced off in a slight opening created by the two elves falling, recalling the memories from when he escaped from the wolves back during the attacks.

    Back then, he could only escape helplessly from the wolves, praying for safety with no ability to retaliate, but things were different now, as he had grown. He was confident that he would be safe as long as he could make it into the trees, rather, he would show those who dared follow behind who the real hunter was here.

    However, his hopes were quickly dashed as he felt a sharp pain in his left leg, tripping heavily onto the ground. In the distance, the leader was glaring at him fiercely with a bow in hand, having just let an arrow loose.

 Chapter 63 - A Soft Radiance

    Alz''s writhed in pain on the ground, holding onto his left knee with both his hands as he endured the strong, pulsating pain that was spreading from his left leg.

    The elf closest to him naturally didn''t let this chance go to waste, launching his body directly towards Alz attempting to pin him down with his weight.

    He didn''t dare let his guard down even in Alz''s current state, hoping only to pin him down so his allies could reach. After all, the cold remains of his two companions attested to the consequences of doing so.

    Before this, even though they didn''t voice it out, many of them had thought that the chieftain was being overly cautious by sending over the entire squad to capture a single elf, much less a youth, but now they realised the meaning behind this.

    Although, the chieftain himself would probably have been shocked by this outcome, as he had sent them over primarily to deal with other potential complications and also to show the importance of this matter to him, but it ended up paying off in an entirely different way than he would have expected.

    Nonetheless, what mattered the most in the end was the outcome, and while they had suffered from two unexpected casualties, the mission was evidently still successful as Alz currently laid helplessly on the ground awaiting their capture.

    The five elves unconsciously slowed their pace as they saw their comrade flying towards Alz, feeling a relief wash over them as the conclusion approached.

    "I''m taking one more with me!!"

    Yet, Alz suddenly let go of his leg while the elf was in mid-air, looking at him with a cold, fiery gaze that made his blood run cold, showing no signs of being distracted by the pain from the arrow.

    Alz gripped onto his dagger in reverse and swung his left hand towards the elf''s neck, but the elf was already alarmed before this and instantly reacted, crushing his hand downwards with the overwhelming weight advantage on his side.

    Alz revealed a look of desperation and immediately flung the dagger towards the elf''s neck right as his hand was being pushed down, but this again blocked by the elf, grabbing onto the dagger with his other free hand.

    However, before he had any chance to celebrate his successful defence, his eyes suddenly widened with shock and fear as he looked as Alz''s expressionless face, before slowly looking downwards towards his body.

    A dagger with green shards along its blade buried itself deeply into his chest, held in the hand of the young elf below.

    "You..." the elf tried to speak, but he never got to finish his sentence, coughing out large amounts of blood before he fell lifelessly onto Alz.

    The breathing of the other five elves got heavier, hastily racing over to the two elves on the ground. Even though he died, the last elf had successfully accomplished what he set out to do, his body weighing Alz down heavily and preventing him from taking any other actions.

    After reaching, one of the elves carefully brought the body of their comrade away from Alz while two of them lifted Alz by his hands, suspending his legs in the air without support.

    Despite finally neutralising Alz, none of them paid any attention to him, directing concerned gazes at the injury of their comrade. The elf who pulled him away placed his ear to the elf''s chest, but a look of grief soon appeared on his face as he shook his head sideways while looking at the other four.

    The four of them briefly revealed pained expressions before glaring dangerously at the suspended Alz, the culprit who had led to the loss of three of their comrades.

    "WELL DONE, WELL DONE INDEEED!" the leader roared with intense anger in his voice as he walked up to the group while Cruz followed by his side.

    *Drip* *Drop*. The leader''s steps were accompanied by a rhythmical dripping sound, as blood steadily flowed from his tightly clenched fist onto the field, staining the flowers along his path in a bright crimson shade.

    The four elves rapidly directly their eyes away from Alz and began to gather before the leader with the two elves suspending Alz leading at the front.

    *Thud*. A punch landed squarely on Alz''s face the moment he was brought into range, thrown without any warning. This punch was only the first of many, as the leader continued to lash out multiple punches at him, finally stopping after over a minute passed.

    While he understood that this would jeopardise the mission objective, he didn''t much of a choice in the matter as the one who led the squad. He didn''t do this because he was overcome with rage or anger, but out of duty to his men and the three lives that were lost to Alz.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    "Treat him." the leader frowned slightly as he looked at Alz''s leg, giving out an order to his men.

    Thankfully, the earlier display by the leader had eased some of the restlessness they felt, so the five elves reluctantly abided by the leader''s orders despite their unwillingness.

    However, while they were treating him, this didn''t mean that they were going to be gentle about it. One of the three elves who had his hands free forcefully plucked the arrow out from Alz''s left thigh, causing Alz to shout out due to the sharp pain.

    The two other elves followed up by grabbing some herbs and pressed them to his leg before bandaging it up, stopping the bleeding from the open wound.

    None of them even spared a second glance at the bruises littered around his body, only treating the one wound that was potentially life-threatening.

    The leader gave a nod to his men when they were done bandaging the wound before starting to observe Alz''s condition carefully. By this time, Alz''s was breathing weakly with wounds and bruises all over his body, barely remaining conscious from the intense pain he felt.

    Yet, when the leader''s face went in to look closer at Alz, a spit landed on his face as Alz looked at him with a bloody grin, his expression filled with insanity.

    "You have guts." the leader forced the words out of his mouth, desperately trying to rein in his anger as he moved his head away from Alz.

    "Bring him back." the leader commanded, turning around preparing to leave.

    "Wait, we haven''t persuaded him yet." Cruz suddenly spoke out against the leader''s words.

    "When will he become more like his father."

    The leader subconsciously looked over at him as though he were an idiot, but his words of got stuck in his throat when his eyes landed on Cruz, letting out a heavy sign inwardly as worry and unease flashed across his face.

    Their mission had two objectives, to persuade Alz to join them, or to extract the method of building the crossbows from him.

    Whichever the case, the main result the tribe wanted was control over the deadly new weapons that recently surfaced, the crossbows.

    Initially, there were plans to convince Alz to join their side immediately after his capture, but the unexpected developments that followed naturally meant that the chance of this happening was essentially nil right now.

    Yet, Cruz still chose to bring it up at this moment whilst knowing full well it wouldn''t succeed, clearly having other intentions in mind.

    While the leader wanted to retreat immediately, he wisely chose to remain silent as he watched by the side, knowing that he was powerless to change anything even if he spoke out now.

    After all, even though he was the leader of the squad, the chieftain had officially sent him here to assist Cruz with the mission, so Cruz was his superior at this moment and he couldn''t go against his words.

    "The North is sincerely inviting you to join us in the upcoming war." Cruz spoke haughtily, completely at odds from the contents of his words.

    "...War?" Alz murmured weakly under his breath.

    "Be honoured, it is your chance contribute to the side of the future rulers! Will you join us?" Cruz ignored Alz as he went on to ask.

    "I will join." Alz replied.

    "No? Then surrender the cross... what?" Cruz looked to Alz with surprise, but he immediately caught sight of the insulting smile on his face.

    Cruz looked at Alz like wanted to swallow him whole, his body shaking uncontrollably with anger. Just then, the corner of his eyes caught sight of the weapon holstered on Alz''s waist.

    "So, this is the famed crossbow. I will test it personally to see if it is worthy of being used in our tribe. " Cruz took one of the crossbows from the defenceless Alz and started observing it with interest.

    This was the first crossbow he had ever seen close up, as they had been laying low the past few months to avoid alarming the guardhouse. As he held in in his hands, he immediately felt the urge to test it, directing a cruel smile at Alz.

    "Bring him to those trees." Cruz commanded coldly, pointing towards a group of trees about 200m in front of the group.

    The two elves who were holding Alz up panicked slightly and looked to the leader for help.

    The leader also frowned at this, deciding to try and persuade Cruz, "Young chieftain, remember, the chieftain''s orders were to capture him alive."

    "As long we have one of these, we can figure out how to make them anyways."

    "I know, I know, I won''t kill him, don''t worry." Cruz answered with annoyance in his voice as he tested the firing mechanism of the crossbow.

    "Hurry up!" Cruz raised his head and shouted impatiently towards the two elves when he saw that they were not moving.

    The leader shook his head lightly and sighed, looking away from them. The two elves quickly exchanged glances they gritted their teeth and carried Alz over to the area Cruz pointed to.

    As they were walking over, Cruz loaded an arrow onto the crossbow and fired it towards another direction, his eyes lighting up as he saw the power behind the arrow.

    "This is for trying to act like a hero."

    After testing the weapon with several shots, Cruz''s smiled maliciously at Alz who was suspending in front of the tree.

    Alz looked at Cruz with a look of resignation, feeling his heart sink into the pits of despair. While the two elves were bringing him over, he had tried countless times, but couldn''t seem to muster enough strength to break free of their binds no matter how hard he tried.

    Suddenly, Alz heard a series of harried footsteps approaching from the side, jolting him back to his senses.

    "Don''t come! Get away!" Alz repeatedly shouted in a panicked voice, the identity of the visitor immediately appearing in his head, but the footsteps only got louder.

    The two elves suspending him also reacted immediately, giving a signal to the group in the distance.

    "Catch the intruder." the leader commanded in a stern voice as he moved up closer to Cruz. The three elves didn''t dare delay, moving towards Alz without any hesitation.

    Cruz wrinkled his eyebrow slightly, but still continued to aim his crossbow at Alz with hesitation on his face, knowing he probably wouldn''t get another chance like this if he stopped now.

    "WHY IS SHE HERE!?"

    Just as he was hesitating on retracting his weapon, his mind blanked out as he saw a figure emerge from the trees, accidentally pulling on the trigger.

    "Is this the end?"

    *Whoosh*. The wind-piercing sound captured all of Alz''s attention immediately, letting out a bitter smile as he looked at the approaching arrow. He emptied his mind at this moment, bracing himself for the sharp pain that would soon arrive.

    Yet, several seconds later, he tilted his head with puzzlement, as the impact from the arrow never came. As he opened his eyes, a soft golden radiance spread out before him, filling up his world.

 Chapter 64 - The Golden Princess

    In the Elven Capital of Alvein, if anyone were asked who the most important figure of authority was, the answer one would get would almost always be the Elven Queen, she who governed the capital.

    However, if the question was changed to the most recognisable elf in the capital, or even among the elven race, the answers would unanimously point to a single elf, the daughter of the queen, Aurelia Alvein, more commonly known as the ''Golden Princess''.

    The reason behind this was simple, for her dazzling golden blonde hair set her apart from the rest of the elves. No other elf in the entire elven history possessed anything like this, a unique trait that belonged solely to her.

    As such, there was no doubt that she was the easiest elf to recognise among the entire race, for her striking hair colour would give away her identity the moment it was spotted.

    Of course, being unique also led to a fair share of troubles, as many voices spoke out she was born, afraid of the child that appeared different from the rest of them with the loudest voice coming from the Northern Chieftain, calling for her to be killed at birth.

    However, the reigning Elven King then openly declared that she was blessed by the mother elf, arguing that such a beautiful colour could not have resulted from a curse.

    Owing to his stable rule over half a century, these voices quickly toned down, as most chose to believe in their king, deciding to take a step back and observe the development of the princess before raising any conclusions.

    Thus, the matter rested with no actions taken against the princess, and the king successfully protected his daughter.

    ---

    "Kai! Mia!" a golden-haired female elf shouted with her arms wide open and a smile on her face, an expression that had become increasingly common on her over the past eight months.

    "Awuu!"

    An excited howl resounded across as a large grey wolf sprinted out of the trees nearby and rammed directly into the elf, knocking her onto the ground. However, the wolf was also being careful not to hurt her, so she didn''t suffer any injuries from this as a melodious laughter escaped her lips.

    The wolf repeatedly licked the girl''s face while the girl gently stroked his fur, showing no fear in her eyes despite being faced with a ferocious creature that could take her life at any moment.

    "Haha, enough, stop it Kai, stop it."

    The girl called out after about a minute, causing the wolf to whimper several times as it stepped a short distance away from her, finally allowing her to get up again.

    When she got up, she continued to pat Kai while strolling over to the other wolf that was sprawled weakly on the ground. This wolf had exited the forest behind Kai and crawled over while the elf was playing with Kai earlier.

    "Mia, be strong, it''s just a little more." the girl looked towards the wolf with a concerned gaze as she gently stroked the fur on her belly.

    The wolf also nestled her head towards the elf, showing her affection by rubbing it gently against her body. Kai also crawled over and started licking Mia''s belly, looking at her with eyes full of affection.

    After this, the elf and Kai began to run around energetically while Mia watched by the side, the three of them slowly progressing towards the nearby woods as time went by.

    About an hour later, the three of them were moving around in the woods when a sharp glint flashed in the elf''s expression, scouting her surroundings carefully before letting out a sigh of relief.

    "Kai, Mia, be good, I''ll tell you lots of stories when I come back later!" the elf gently patted both wolves as she spoke.

    A sly smile appeared on the elf''s face as she went over to a small lake near them and started removing her clothes, placing them neatly by a large rock that was just beside the lake.

    "I wonder what stories he will tell today."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    She hopped into the lake and started washing herself with rapid motions while staring in a direction with uncontrolled excitement in her deep night-coloured eyes, her gaze shining so brightly it seemed like there were stars contained in that night.

    About five minutes later, she impatiently got out of the lake from near the rock and dried herself before dressing up in another set of clothes that were also kept there, a set of clothes that gave off a vastly different impression from the dress she was wearing previously.

    To be precise, this was the uniform worn by guard apprentices back at the palace, an outfit that one would hardly expect the princess of the capital to even possess, let alone wear it.

    The outfit was also complete with accessories, coupled with the standard issue bow, quiver and dagger placed beside the clothes.

    However, on top of all these items, there were two items which stood out in particular, not found in the usual guard apprentice set, a long sash and a large piece of cloth.

    The first piece of clothing she wore from the set was the leather sash, spinning it several times around her chess with a look of discomfort before securing both ends together. After she was done she patted her chest lightly and revealed a satisfied nod before donning the rest of the clothes.

    When she was done with wearing the other clothes, she then took the large piece of cloth and tied it over head, checking with her reflection on the water''s surface to make sure that she covered all of her hair before finally revealing a smile.

    Finally, she put on a baggy leather robe that was obviously several sizes too big for her, extending all the way down to her legs before her transformation was complete.

    "Kai, I''m going to borrow your name again." she murmured under her breath as she headed over to give the two wolves a farewell pat before moving out joyously in the direction she was staring at earlier, wearing a wide smile on her face.

    As she sneaked out with what she thought was a ''perfect'' plan, several figures were watching her with doting eyes from the shadows, silently trailing behind with smiles on their faces as they felt the joy that was emanating from every step she took.

    Her destination was the field with golden flowers, her favourite place from a young age. She had always felt a special affinity since she found that field, for the flowers were the only things she knew that resembled her.

    It was one of the few places she could seek solace when she was in a bad mood, the only place there was which could make her feel better about the detestable colour of her hair, when she looked at the radiance and beauty of the similarly coloured flowers.

    That is, in the past, that was what the field meant to her, holding an important place in her heart. However, now, things were different, for he was there, the elf who made her heart race with excitement with tales that went beyond her wildest imaginations.

    He was the second thing in the world who could lessen the hatred she felt towards her difference, and the first to bring colour to her dull, making her feel hopeful towards the future.

    She remembered a conversation they once had, one which he would have probably already forgotten but one that she would always remember, leaving a strong and deep impression in her mind.

    "Do the characters in all the stories have the same hair colour?" she asked, a question that had been weighing heavily in her mind since the very beginning but hadn''t mustered the courage to ask before.

    "No? Of course not!" he replied without even thinking, replying as though he was just stating the obvious as he looked at her with a puzzlement, not understanding how she even thought of such a random question.

    " There are orcs, demons, dragons, humans and all sort of creatures, some not even having hair, why would something like this even matter?" he asked.

    "But... but how would they be able to interact with each other then?" she hastily questioned back.

    "Why not?"

    He followed up with a final question that put her at a loss for words before moving on with the story, as though the question was never asked.

    He might not have thought much of his words, but this statement was like a bolt in the blue for her, allowing her to view the world in a different light for the first time.

    After all, his worlds contained not a single trace of doubt in them, spoken with a firm conviction. While his words did nothing to ease the negative experiences she had in the past, it made her gratified knowing that such people existed, bringing tears of joy to her eyes.

    However, her jubilant mood instantly fell apart after the walk that lasted slightly below an hour as her keen eyes caught sight of the disturbance in the field, racing forward like her life depended on it.

    Her legs felt heavier with each passing step, heavier than they had ever been, but she still raced forward, faster than she had ever ran in her entire life.

    She didn''t care that her vision was slowly growing fainter, she didn''t even feel the cuts and scratches that were appearing on her feet, she didn''t even care about the fact that her bandana was caught by a branch along the way and have been ripped off her head.

    All that was left in her world was the bow pointed at him, appearing visibly injured and weakened like never before as he was suspended in the air.

    She felt like her heart was getting ripped into pieces as she saw this, but this only made her feet move faster. He seemed to have shouted something, but the words didn''t linger in her mind long enough to understand, as the sight before her took all of her attention.

    When she raced out of the trees, an arrow suddenly started flying towards him, so she did the natural thing to avoid getting him hurt, she ran in front of him.

    An extremely sharp pain spread across her chest as she felt a hard object tear through her body, but all she felt was relief as she turned her head around and saw that he was fine.

    "Are you okay?"

    "Ar..." she smiled lightly and wanted to ask if he was fine, but the lights suddenly turned out and everything fell to darkness as her body was drained of all its strength.

 Chapter 65 - Gamble

    """PRINCESS!!/NO!!/AAaaa!!"""

    Screams and shrieks of horror were accompanied by harried steps from the direction the golden-haired elf came from, knocking those who were starting to doubt her identity out of their hopeful denial.

    "It''s not my fault, she ran into it herself. It''s not my fault, she ......"

    Cruz''s limbs started turning rigid as fear clouded over his expression, repeatedly murmuring the two sentences under his breath while standing frozen in place.

    "This fool!"

    The leader looked at the dazed Cruz beside him with anger and helplessness, feeling a deep sorrow rising from the depths of his heart. However, he knew what he needed to do now, and there was no room for hesitation.

    "For the chieftain!"

    The leader snatched the crossbow from Cruz''s arms and pushed him onto the ground, cutting the figure of a martyr in a battlefield as he dashed forward with the weapon in hand, his eyes containing a strong resolve to die.

    He understood that escaping was not an option for them, not because of the difficulty of the deed, but because the consequences of a successful escape were heavier. Someone needed to bear the forefront of their rage here, and he and his men had no choice but to lay down their lives here.

    As for Cruz, no matter how much he hated Cruz at this moment, he understood his importance to the chieftain, and they did too, so he believed that they wouldn''t do anything to him as long as reason remained in them, and he was willing to pay the price for it to happen.

    A similar look appeared on the other squad members as they bravely charged forward towards the figures that were speedily making their way through the trees towards the princess.

    Before long, a shower of arrows fell on each of them, but none of them even attempted to dodge, welcoming the arrows head-on before falling limply on the ground as they breathed their last, a brave show of loyalty to their chieftain.

    Crimson flowers bloomed when the downpour ended, casting the golden field in a sinister light not usually present. Two slender figures raced across the field without delay after this, moving to apprehend the last elf that remained of the group.

    When the two elves caught sight of the elf lying on the floor chanting to himself, even the deep worry and unease let up for a moment as a hateful glare flashed across their face.

    A look of hesitation appeared on one of the elves as she gripped the hilt of her dagger tightly, but the other figure noticed this and hastily moved up to obstruct the dagger with her palm, shaking her head sideways as she looked into the former''s eyes.

    A disgruntled look appeared on her face, but she slowly let go of the hilt and moved to apprehend Cruz. This process went exceedingly smoothly as they met with almost no resistance, returning to their companions while dragging Cruz''s body in tow behind them.

    "It''s not me, it''s ... it''s HIM! IT''S ALL HIS FAULT! IT''S ALZ''S FAULT!! IT''S ALZ''s ......" Cruz suddenly turned his bloodshot eyes towards Alz, staring daggers at him across the field.

    *Tak*. The elf who stopped her companion from drawing the dagger earlier suddenly elbowed Cruz at the back of his head, shutting off the broken recorder that just couldn''t seem to stop clattering.

    ---

    The golden glow before him suddenly moved, revealing a face that he had gotten accustomed to seeing over the past few months, looking towards him with hi---her deep black eyes that were mired in concern.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Ar..."

    She tried to say something, but her body collapsed limply to the ground before she could finish her words.

    Despite this, her message still came across clearly, for her gaze easily made up for the missing words and more, especially when it was not the first time he had received such a gaze.

    "KAI!!"

    Alz roared with helplessness and anger in his voice as a sharp pain shot up from his chest, triggering the memory buried in the deepest depths of this heart, the one scar he had never been able to muster the courage to confront directly.

    "Nothing changed... WHY AM I STILL SO USELESS!¡±

    Back then, he could only watch powerlessly as the horde of wolves attacked them, becoming the biggest regret of his life.

    He had worked hard since then, he had obtained incredible knowledge from the archives, he had crafted tools and learned superior ways of combat, he had returned to the village and took revenge on those detestable creatures.

    Yet, nothing had changed this time, as he was once again forced to watch powerlessly by the side while another elf he cared about fell before his eyes to protect him.

    "I should just join them..."

    The two memories superimposed in his mind, bringing great grief to Alz as he stared soullessly at ''Kai'', rapidly eating away at his mind and diminishing his will to live.

    The two elves suspending Alz by the side suddenly released their grip, causing Alz to fall on his knees as he continued to stare at Kai with tears rolling down his cheeks, unconcerned of everything else that was happening in the surroundings.

    "I have to take a good look at her!"

    Alz''s mind was beginning to drift away from the pain and fatigue with his broken will when the flame in his eyes burned anew, dragging his battered body forward as he realised that there was still one more thing he needed to do.

    Suddenly, his ears twitched as he approached her body, causing his eyes to widen and his heart to start racing. A strong look of determination appeared on his face as he propped himself up against his muscles'' protest, rushing over to her side impatiently.

    "There''s still a pulse!"

    Alz gently cradled her body in his arms and placed his ears closer to her body, his expression lighting up with joy as he heard the weak breathing sounds she was giving out, solidifying the colour of determination in his eyes further.

    "Get away from the princess!" just then, an openly hostile voice came from behind Alz, accompanied by several frantic footsteps making their way towards him, or her rather.

    A fierce glint flashed across Alz''s eyes as he detected the hostility in the voice, but he quickly held it back in with the shreds of reason that remained in him.

    Yet, before he even got a chance to speak, one of the elves was trying to forcefully shove him away while the other was attempting to snatch the princess from his arms.

    He might have been out of it earlier, but his mind had been working overtime since he found out that she was still alive, and it didn''t take more than instant to deduce the identity of these people from the current developments.

    However, there was also another thing that he understood, that these people might be her allies, but they were not his. Time was of the essence now, so he couldn''t afford to waste it on getting them to listen to him, hence he instantly made a decision.

    Alz carefully placed the princess down on the arms of the elf in front of him before moving a small distance as he turned to look coldly at the other elf, causing her arm to miss him.

    Both elves were confused by his actions for different reasons, but he was the least of their concerns now as they hurriedly shifted their attention to the princess, their breaths becoming heavier as they saw the arrow that pierced across her chest close-up.

    Although, just because they weren''t paying attention to Alz didn''t mean that he was planning to do the same. Before she even retracted her arm fully, Alz closed in on the elf who tried to shove him earlier with quick movements his injured body didn''t seem capable of, striking her off balance and knocking her to the ground.

    "Release her!" a female voice shouted out.

    Owing to how unexpected this was, the others only managed to react after a brief pause, as the elf who was carrying the princess hurriedly backed off from Alz while three of her comrades went straight for Alz to help their comrade and another three pointed their bows at him.

    The two who went to capture Alz also reacted hastily and dropped Cruz''s body to the ground, drawing their bows and arrows and aiming it towards Alz.

    However, all of them were moving cautiously, not daring to make any sudden movements as they looked towards Alz.

    It was not that they didn''t want to apprehend him, but Alz had backed off during the time they reacted and stolen the dagger from their comrade''s waist, holding the blade up towards her neck as he met their gazes.

    After a quick scan, Alz noticed that all the attention was gathered on him, nodding inwardly as he took a deep breath.

    "THE PRINCESS IS NOT DEAD YET, WE CAN STILL SAVE HER!" Alz dropped his weapon and jumped away from the elf he captured, yelling loudly with both arms raised.

 Chapter 66 - Treatment

    Several moments passed before one of the elves behind him finally relaxed her aim and walked out from the group, signalling for the others to stand down and allowing for the heavy tension that was lingering in the air to start dissipating.

    Alz let out a relieved sigh as he saw this, knowing that his gamble had paid off. Extreme times called for extreme measures, and this was the only method he could come up with on the spot, an all-or-nothing gamble with his own life at stake.

    From his perspective, his actions had truly been reckless, but thankfully, these people were the princess''s personal guards, the same ones who had been watching over their interactions since the very beginning.

    Furthermore, they had also just witnessed the princess charge in unhesitatingly to save him, realising that this elf before them meant much more to the princess than what any of them had previously thought.

    Had it been any other guard detail present, Alz would definitely have been killed on the spot just for endangering the princess alone, but they were different, as these elves held the princess''s will at their highest priority, allowing Alz to avoid the fate of being riddled with holes here and now.

    It was also because of this knowledge that the captain decided to give Alz a chance to speak even in this crucial moment, of course, it was also largely because she didn''t have much of a choice at this point regardless.

    She had already taken a quick glance at the princess''s wound from afar and could tell that she was in a critical condition and was unable to be treated with the basic medical supplies they had on hand.

    As it currently stood, the palace was more than an hour''s journey from here and there were no other medical facilities nearby, and it was up in the clouds on whether the princess could last long enough for them to reach in her current state, much less when they had to actively consider her condition along the way as well.

    There was also the option of gathering herbs on site for treating her, but the chances of it going well were no less than the former with the time it would take.

    With this in mind, she was also a decisive person and it didn''t take long before she decided to take the plunge and place her trust in the judgement of the princess, in the elf she was even willing to risk her own life to save.

    As she was walking over, the colour of shock painted over her eyes briefly as she noticed Alz''s terrible condition for the first time, but she quickly tossed this to the back of her mind as the princess''s condition was far more important in her mind.

    "Do you really have a way to save the princess?" she asked in a steely voice, making it clear that she wouldn''t forgive any nonsense.

    "Yes." Alz nodded with utmost seriousness on his face.

    "Do you need anything?" she asked again in an audibly lighter tone from before, slightly reassured by the confidence in his voice.

    "Just giv... I need someone to help carry her." Alz was about to ask for the return of the princess impatiently, but a bitter look floated on his face as he took a quick look at his body, realising that now wasn''t the time to let his pride do the talking.

    The female squad captain revealed a slightly puzzled look as she heard this, not understanding the meaning behind his words. However, she wisely chose not to question him now, knowing that time was of the essence now.

    "Layla, Lily, assist him. The rest of you will stay behind and clean up this mess!" she thought for a moment before issuing the next set of orders, her voice boiling with anger as she gave out the second order, glaring at the dead corpses and the unconscious Cruz with a murderous light in her eyes.

    The princess''s condition was urgent, but Alz had already indicated that he didn''t need help, so she chose to only bring the two of them, leaving the rest to clean up the mess here and watch over Cruz.

    Hearing her words, Alz met her eyes briefly and nodded in affirmation before heading deeper into the trees by his right.

    Layla gently rubbed her neck and shoot a resentful look towards Alz as she stood up. However, she quickly reined in her emotions with a quick glance at the princess, not daring to delay her actions in the slightest as she hastily following behind.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    "Aura, please be okay... "

    Lily also followed after him immediately, frequently looking down towards the princess cradled in her arms with tears rolling across her cheeks as she tried to keep her movements as steady as possible.

    It was no coincidence that the two of them were the first to reach Alz earlier, as they were tasked to look after the princess from the start, being the closest to the princess within the entire unit.

    The two of them were the closest to the princess in age and frequently played with her in the palace during their growing years, fostering a strong bond that went beyond the others.

    This was also why the squad captain decided to have them follow Alz, to assist if needed while also trusting them to watch over the princess''s safety. Of course, it went without saying that she was also going to follow along as well as the three of them trailed behind Alz silently.

    However, about a minute since they left, the female squad captain couldn''t help but worry as she recognised the seriousness of Alz''s injuries once again from watching limp ahead unsteadily from behind, his body trembling with each step like it could give way at any moment.

    Yet, despite the blood that was continuously spilt from the wound on his left leg and the numerous bruises littered around his body, he was still moving forward at a rapid pace, as though he felt no pain from these wounds that seemed no lighter than the princess.

    "I got taken down by that!? Is he a monster!?"

    Layla was especially shocked by him, looking ahead with her eyes and mouth fully widened. Just then, Alz suddenly tripped on the root while she was observing him, causing her to gasp involuntarily as he fell flat on the floor.

    After the fall, Alz gritted his teeth tightly and struggled to lift his body up but couldn''t seem to find the proper balance with the weakness in his muscles.

    "Layla, help him." the squad captain let out a heavy sigh as a pained look flash across her eyes. Hearing this, Layla proceeded up without any hesitation, moving up to support him.

    "Thanks." Alz thanked her weakly as he looked down at his body with anger and helplessness, but he quickly adjusted his thoughts and gave her directions as the group continued to make their way forward.

    With Layla''s support, the following journey went by smoothly and they arrived at the destination about four minutes after they set out from the field.

    There was a simple bed here, a table with a pestle and mortar with many different herbs lying on the ground nearby and a three-layered wooden shelf with multiple filled bags on it, each of them secured by piece of vine at the opening.

    The three personal guards were surprised by this, not expecting there to be something like this built here in the middle of nowhere, but their eyes only wandered around for a moment before they turned towards Alz.

    "We''re here. Lay her on the bed." Alz announced with joy in his voice as he headed towards the shelf with Layla''s support. Thankfully, the holes in the woven bed allowed for Lily to lay the princess down successfully without disturbing the arrow in her chest.

    Upon arriving at the shelf, Alz promptly grabbed a sack and some bandages from the shelf. He then untied the sack and held it to his nose, giving the contents a whiff before nodding as he brought it with him to the bed.

    "Can I borrow a dagger?" Alz instinctively reached for his waist, but realised that there was nothing there, turning his sights towards Layla as he asked.

    "You...!!" distracted by the princess''s wound, Layla didn''t think too much about it and easily handed it over to him, but his next actions almost made her eyes pop out of her sockets as she desperately resisted the urge to scream at him.

    Alz immediately started cutting through her top, attempting to reveal the fair skin that was hidden beneath.

    Despite the invisible pressure that was emanating from three different directions, Alz swiftly cut through the first two layers of clothing, finally revealing the wound... or so he thought, but there was still one layer remaining, a thick sash that went multiple round across her chest.

    "Isn''t this uncomfortable?"

    Alz couldn''t help but think to himself even in this situation as he saw this, the last bit of doubt in his mind fading away at this sight.

    As expected, even he couldn''t help but feel slightly awkward before doing this, but he quickly took a deep breath before holding her sash down with one hand, feeling a soft, springy sensation under his palm which his other hand carefully sliced it apart.

    He had to be much more careful here as her skin was bound extremely tightly beneath the sash, but he eventually managed to slice it apart without cutting her skin, revealing the twin majestic peaks in its full glory, with the arrow embedded right between.

    Alz seemed to have felt the surrounding pressure intensify at this moment, taking a deep breath and refocusing his eyes on the wound. He put the dagger away and gripped onto the arrow with his palm, extracting it out of her body in one smooth motion.

    The princess let out a painful groan as the arrow left the body, but Alz finally made a relieved smile for the first time as he observed the arrow, noticing that the arrow was still mostly intact and there were no pieces of organs sticking to it.

    The moment the arrow left the body, blood began to flow profusely from the wound, but Alz had already been prepared for this, immediately grabbing several handfuls of powder from the sack and carefully applying it on both sides of the wound.

    After several applications of the medicine, the bleeding started to slow down rapidly, finally bringing the princess out of mortal danger to the relief of the four elves present, feeling like the large weight on their chests was finally gone.

    Despite feeling relieved, his hands didn''t slow down in the slightest as he continued to bandage her wound up to finish the treatment.

    "I did it... something changed this time..."

    A pure, blissful smile surfaced on Alz''s face as darkness began to cloud his vision, causing him to drop onto the floor like a lifeless puppet, with the smile still plastered across his face.

 Chapter 67 - Return

    The three personal guards were startled by Alz''s collapse, but they didn''t lose their composure unlike with the princess.

    "Check on him." the squad captain spoke to Layla before and carefully examined the princess multiple times before revealing an expression of relief.

    "Lily, lift the princess. " she spoke to Lily who also had relief painted over her faces, gently cradling the princess in her arms like before.

    Now that the princess was out of danger, she didn''t plan on leaving her here as they needed to bring her back to the palace as soon as possible so that she could rest and recover properly without needing to worry about her safety.

    Thinking of returning to the palace, the female squad captain''s body shuddered as she imagined the Queen''s fury when she learns of this matter later, but this was an unavoidable responsibility she needed to face, a duty that came with her role.

    "How is he?" she shifted her thoughts back to the present, direction her attention towards the final issue they needed to resolve before they could return.

    "His injuries are horrible... I don''t know how he even lasted until now." Layla replied, her voice mixed with amazement and shame from her defeat earlier when she was caught off-guard.

    "Lay him on the bed." she said.

    Layla carefully lifted the unconscious Alz and gently laid him down on the bed, trying her best to avoid applying pressure directly to his injuries.

    After Layla set him down, the squad captain began stripping him without warning, dropped his clothes by the side while Layla and Lily hurriedly looked away with a rosy blush on their cheeks.

    However, she was unconcerned by their reactions as she began to examine Alz''s wounds closely, her eyes resting the longest on the wound at his left leg in particular, the wound that had been bleeding the entire time he was leading the way earlier as was still continuing to bleed.

    There were multiple bruises and lacerations all over his body, with bones that seemed to be broken at various locations.

    With the state of his injuries, the only thing good news they had was that he was still breathing, although that too probably wouldn''t last for much longer if these injuries remained untreated.

    "His injuries were this bad?"

    She unconsciously began to frown the more she examined his body, realising that his treatment was going to be more troublesome than she had initially thought.

    Just as she was fretting about how she should go about treating him, her eyes suddenly zoomed in on the bag laying by the side, containing the powder he used to treat the princess with earlier.

    Without a moment''s hesitation, she reached for the sack and sniffed its contents, wanting to see if she could recognise what was inside.

    Her expression immediately lit up as she sniffed it, looking at the sack with an expression of disbelief as she lowered it from her nose. She immediately proceeded to pinch some power between her fingertips and began to observe it closer, confirming her suspicions.

    It was not because it had contained things she didn''t recognise that shocked her, but rather that she could pick out and recognise all of the scents that left her in disbelief, not knowing that many of these common herbs had properties that could be used in medicine.

    Whether it was the capital or the tribes, there was a list of herbs with their uses and properties that was publicly available, forming an essential part of the basic education for all the elves that lived in the forest, regardless of where they were lived.

    This was an integral part of the wisdom passed down from the previous generations, knowledge accrued over the long elven history that allowed for later generations to flourish, learning more about the way of survival in the forest.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    Most of the scents she picked out from the mixture came from plants that were not labelled with any form of medicinal properties, but she had already witnessed its incredible healing properties earlier, which could only mean that this was a new discovery by Alz''s tribe, or possibly even himself.

    "I need to report this to the Queen."

    She made a decision inwardly as she started to apply the medicine all over his injuries starting from his left leg, bandaging each injury with quick, experienced motions that reflected the long years of experience she spent on the field.

    ---

    Meanwhile, Lily and Layla were quietly whispering to each other with their backs facing Alz, their cheeks still slightly reddened from the captain''s sudden action.

    "Actually... did we really need to let him treat the princess? Couldn''t we have..." Layla carefully asked, occasionally peeking towards the princess in Lily''s arms.

    "Shh... Don''t let the captain hear you, what if she suddenly decides to kill him!?" Lily frantically interrupted her, looking back cautiously at the captain before she spoke as her cheeks reddened even more.

    "But...I mean... how do we tell this to Aura?" Layla asked with a look of turmoil, a rosy blush also coating her cheeks as she recalled the intimate treatment Alz gave the princess earlier.

    "That''s Princess Aurelia! We''re no longer kids! And... let''s just see how it goes." Lily corrected her immediately before letting out a bitter smile as she replied with a tone of uncertainty.

    "What''s the matter if It''s only the two of us, and Aura was the one who told us to call her that!" Layla replied with a slight pout on her face as the two continued their conversation, not mentioning a single word on the previous topic in the words that followed.

    All four of them were so caught up in the moment earlier that none of them realised, that all Alz needed to do was provide the medicine and either of the three of them could have administered the treatment.

    In other words, there was absolutely no need for Alz to view Princess Aurelia''s unclothed top, not to mention the intimate physical contact when he was cutting apart the sash at her chest and when he applied the medicine and bandaged her after, none of it actually required his presence.

    This was something that Layla had caught on to only after the relief from princess Aurelia''s recovery, and clearly Lily had realised as well, leaving the two girls unsure on how to explain themselves before her in future.

    ---

    "He should be fine now."

    The female squad captain let out a satisfied smile as her eyes scanned through Alz''s injuries, confirming that everything was well treated. Following this, she picked up the tattered clothes he was wearing previously and quickly put it back on for him.

    She stared deeply at Alz''s right hand for several seconds before letting out a deep sigh as she turned around to face the two elves chatting by the side.

    "Layla, stay here and look after him, you can return when he wakes up." she said while heading over to the shelf with the leather sacks, casually grabbing one of them and placing it in her own storage bag.

    "Lily, let''s go." she then called for Lily as she led the way along the path they came from, heading back towards the field.

    Lily waved towards Layla before hastily following behind the captain while Layla stood still with a dazed expression, unable to follow the captain''s words for a moment.

    Seconds later, her body suddenly jolted as though a shock ran through it while her head turned to look at Alz, finally comprehending the captain''s words.

    "Why do I have to protect this shameless elf!?... but at least I don''t have to meet the Queen after this."

    She felt some unwillingness at first as part of the princess''s personal guard, but she quickly changed her mindset and got over it, sitting with her back against one of the nearby trees as she vigilantly kept watch over the surroundings.

    ---

    "Captain, we''ve gathered all the bodies, there were nine elves wearing the southern guard uniform apart from the young chieftain of the North, all of them are dead now." the seven personal guards who remained at the field immediately noticed when their captain returned and one of them quickly went up to update her on the situation.

    "Also, three of them seemed to have been dead before we arrived, and... we found some unusual objects stuck in their bodies." the elf made an unusual pause in the middle of the sentence before carrying on, presenting two green tipped arrows and a knife with green shards on its edge to the female squad captain.

    The female squad captain lifted an eyebrow when she heard that three were already dead but quickly thought back to Alz''s brief suppression of Layla earlier and didn''t think too much about the matter.

    However, the objects presented to her quickly caught her eyes, looking at the green shards curiously.

    "Captain, be careful, these are sharp." the elf saw the captain trying to touch it and hastily retracted the items, giving a warning to the captain.

    A look of surprise flashed across the captain''s face, moving her fingers to feel out the shards more cautiously this time.

    After a minute passed, she realised that she still couldn''t figure out what those were and none of those present were of any help, deciding not to waste more time on it for now.

    "Bring those objects and drag him along as well, we''re heading back to the palace." she announced, heading out of the field.

    With Lily still carrying the princess in her arms while the two who captured Cruz dragged him along as well, the rest of the unit quickly followed behind the captain, heading back to the heart of the capital, the royal palace.

 Chapter 68 - Report

    After walking for about two hours, the palace was finally in sight.

    There two palace guards were wearing friendly smiles when they saw the unit approaching the gate, but shock soon spread across their faces as they noticed the unconscious princess held in the arms of the one of the squad members.

    "W-What happened!?" one of the guards urgently went up and asked the squad captain, his eyes clouded with worry as he got a closer look at the princess''s abnormally pale complexion.

    "The princess is injured. She has already been treated, but still needs much rest." the captain replied as she continued to make her way through the gates, not stopping to explain further.

    The two guards also didn''t dare to hold them back, hastily stepping aside even though there was already more than enough room for the squad to move through. With this, the unit proceeded smoothly through the gates and headed deeper into the palace.

    "Do we need to report this to the captain?" one of the guards carefully asked his partner after the group exited their sight, still appearing flustered from what he just saw.

    "You go." his partner replied after a slight pause.

    "Why me!? You go!" the guard shot a glare back at his partner, but his partner was looking away.

    "...let''s just guard the gate." the partner said with a heavy sigh.

    The guard hesitated for a moment before nodding as the two stayed in their post with uneasiness on their faces, occasionally sneaking glances within the palace.

    ---

    As the personal guard made their way deeper into the palace, the faces of everyone they encountered changed instantly when they saw the unconscious princess, frantically moving to the side to make way for their passage.

    Their steps got heavier with many of them feeling more unease with each step they took, but they still continued to make their way through the hallways and eventually stopped before an intricately decorated door that stood out even within the palace.

    "Yes? Who is it?" a voice containing traces of fatigue suddenly came from across the door, startling the female squad captain and several of the other squad members.

    The voice was gentle sounding and pleasing to the ear, a reliable voice that they usually rid them of their worries when they heard it, but only served to deepen their unease at this moment.

    Even though they hadn''t knocked yet, their footsteps had evidently given away their presence, attracting the attention of the elf who was hard at work within the room.

    "Your Majesty, the princess''s personal guard has something to report." the female squad captain sighed inwardly as she announced.

    "Ada? What''s wrong? Come on inside." a soft chuckle could be heard from the room before she replied, but her voice was clearly shaky with hints of anxiety not present before.

    The captain let out a long sigh and took the princess from the squad member who was currently carrying her, making a bitter look as she pushed on the door that felt many times heavier than usual and entered the room.

    The other squad members hastily followed behind their captain, entering the room orderly immediately after her with downcast eyes that reflected their unease.

    ---

    The Queen was busy at work in the royal study when she heard multiple sets of heavy footsteps from beyond the door, looking up from the scrolls on the desk towards the entrance as an ominous feeling started rising within her.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Her heart skipped a beat when she learnt of the visitors'' identity, but she quickly suppressed her worry as she welcomed them in while trying to maintain an optimistic outlook despite knowing that that her hopes wouldn''t

    This feeling rapidly intensified as she learnt of the visitors'' identity, but she still tried her best to remain optimistic as she welcomed them in, hoping that they weren''t here to bring bad news.

    However, she also knew that this was merely wishful thinking on her part as the chances of that happening were slim to none especially with the identity of the visitors, bracing herself mentally for the news that was about to come.

    After all, the royal study room was off-limits to everyone else unless she called for them, a basic rule that was known to everyone in the palace.

    The only exception to this rule was when there was something important that urgently required her attention, and she had never received positive news in all her experience since taking over the throne over a decade ago.

    Indeed, her hopes were instantly brought down by the first sight that entered her eyes when the captain of her daughter''s personal guard, Ada, entered the room.

    "AURA! WHAT''S WRONG WITH HER!?" she shouted at the top of her lungs as jumped out from her chair and rushed towards the captain, her eyes filled with worry as she saw at her daughter lying unconscious in the captain''s hands.

    "Your majesty, her highness was wounded by an arrow in the chest, but she has been treated and her life no longer in any danger." the captain reported with her head lowered towards the queen, too ashamed to look her in the eye.

    Even though she could see that the princess was alive before her eyes, she still felt like her heart nearly jumped out of chest when she heard that her daughter was shot by an arrow, only managing to regain some of her composure after words that followed.

    The queen gently caressed the princess''s face with her fingers and lifted the layer of cloth draped over her chest, looking at the bloodstained bandages with a look of pain in her eyes.

    She carefully took the princess from the captain''s arms and set her down gently on the cushioned couch sitting in front of her desk that was usually used for receiving guests here.

    "What happened?" about a minute later, the queen finally shifted her gaze from the princess to the captain and asked in a seemingly calm voice.

    Yet, her body was visibly trembling and the chilling atmosphere radiating from her didn''t let up for a second, giving away her facade while allowing the guards to feel the anger that was seething in her.

    "After her highness played with the wolves......" the captain quickly began to describe the entire matter from the very beginning, summarising the entire flow of events with as few words as she could while the queen silently listened.

    She had made sure not to miss out any important details, reporting all of the events and the knowledge they gathered, including the culprit''s identities and their conjectures on the possible motives behind the attack.

    There was however one small lie mixed into her report regarding the princess''s treatment process, as she mentioned that Alz only provided them with the medicine instead of administering the treatment personally, causing Lily''s mouth to widen slightly in reaction to her words.

    "It''s him?"

    When the captain mentioned Alz, the queen briefly turned to a scroll on her table containing a written report submitted by the captain of the southern guardhouse that had read through earlier.

    This report stood out in her memory because there was something mentioned in it that had caught her eye, the report stating that a guard from the guardhouse had invented a bow-like weapon that was superior in performance compared to the ones they used in multiple aspects.

    Naturally, with the personal guard tailing the princess each time, the princess''s frequent visits to the field were no secret to her and she had long since ordered for a thorough background check on Alz as she did with Maya the first time the princess met with her years ago.

    However, she didn''t link the matters together when she was reading the report, only noticing now that the elf who was written to have invented the new weapon, the ''crossbow'', was the same elf that the princess had been visiting regularly, and the elf her daughter just risked her life to save.

    The queen felt an intense rage towards Alz when she first heard that the princess gotten injured because she blocked an arrow that was meant for him, but her anger slowly began to ease as the captain mentioned how he risked his life to save the princess after and repeatedly stressed upon the fact that the medicine he provided was crucial in saving her life.

    She was also surprised the captain reported that Alz was suspected to have killed three of the nine elves that were thought to be from one of the North''s elite hunting squad despite being alone, another feat that was worthy of gaining her notice by itself.

    "Alz... it seems I will have to meet with this elf personally." the queen mumbled softly under her breath as she stared towards the captain with a mixed expression.

 Chapter 69

    From Ada''s story, the queen could tell that it wasn''t entirely their negligence that got the princess injured, as a large part of it came down to the unexpected nature of her actions in the first place.

    She let out a deep sigh and decided to let the matter rest, not intending to fault them for their inability to protect the princess. Of course, the main reason she could think this way was because the princess was alive and sound, or even she didn''t know how she would have reacted.

    " Aurelia is still safe and that''s what matters the most. I hope that you will all learn from this incident and protect her better in future." with this in mind, she addressed the guards with words of consolation, finally setting their minds at ease.

    Although, all of them also heard the strong warning behind these words, knowing that while the queen had decided to let this matter rest for now, she didn''t want to see any such incidents ever again.

    "We thank you for your grace, your majesty." the captain fell to her knees and shouted while the others promptly followed after, echoing after her in unison.

    "Ada, everyone, get up quickly, you don''t have to do this. I know that this matter was out of your hands and you must all have been worried as well." the queen urged for the guards to rise, moving up to support Ada up personally.

    Ada didn''t resist the queen''s support and soon got up, bowing deeply towards the queen to show her thanks once again after she got back on her feet with the rest of the squad following suit.

    The queen looked at this with a helpless expression on her face but chose not to interrupt this time as she received their thanks.

    After this, the queen finally moved her eyes to the other unconscious elf that was lying on the floor, looking towards him with eyes that were burning with an intense rage.

    Her attitude towards Alz had softened on account due to his actions and the princess''s attitude towards him, and she had also decided to not pursue the personal guards'' oversight on the matter.

    However, this didn''t mean that her rage towards the incident had quelled in the slightest, rather, it was all channelled towards the party that held the most responsibility for the entire incident, the culprits behind the attack.

    Knowing that the other nine perpetrators were already dead also didn''t do much to make her feel better about the princess''s injury, as no amount of lives lost could make up for the weight of her beloved daughter in her mind.

    An intense struggle manifested in her eyes as the impulse to murder Cruz filled her mind, but she ultimately let out a deep sigh and turned her eyes away, unwilling to look at him any longer.

    "Take him out and confine him, you are free to punish him... but don''t kill him." the queen spat out words with her nails digging deeply into her palms, showing her dissatisfaction towards the decision she had just made.

    A thousand deaths wouldn''t have been enough for her to forgive Cruz for his crimes, but she above all understood the gravity of the situation and knew that the consequences of making such a selfish decision now was not something she was willing to face now.

    "Yes, your majesty." Ada had a complicated expression on her as she heard the queen''s decision, wearing a look that was mixed with bitterness, grief and relief at the same time, knowing how hard it was for the queen to make such a decision.

    "Ada, I will have Sylvia send ten of her guards to you from now on, make sure you keep Aurelia safe." the queen suddenly turned her eyes towards Ada and changed the subject.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "This... but... your majesty... what about your own safety?" Ada frantically said with a difficult look, trying to convince the queen out of her sudden decision.

    "You''re worrying too much, that elf won''t come after me first, he knows better than that." the queen frowned slightly at Ada''s reply, but she knew that Ada was just worried for her safety, so she didn''t get mad at her.

    "But... your majesty, what if..." Ada still didn''t give up after this, continuing to persuade her.

    "Enough! Do as I say!" the queen cut her off halfway, not letting her finish her words.

    "Ada, I know that elf too well... he will definitely target Aurelia first when he decides to move, so make sure you protect her well, if anything happens to her..." the queen let out a sigh as she saw that Ada was still not convinced, deciding to explain further.

    "Yes, your majesty." Ada decided to abide after a brief moment of silence, having seen that the queen''s mind was resolute.

    Sylvia was the captain of the queen''s personal guard, the second of the only two units that were comprised entirely out of female guards. There was a total of 20 elves in the queen''s guard which was double that of the princess''s, but now the queen wanted to switch that around.

    "Ada, thank you." the queen''s gaze softened as she looked towards Ada, offering her a heartfelt thanks.

    "Ella, Lily, Lydie...... Thank you for your hard word and I hope you will all continue working hard from now on." she then proceeded to thank all of the guards personally before returning to her desk.

    "Bring Aurelia back to her room and call in the physician to check up on her. Also, bring this to the palace guards and have them notify the rest of the council." the queen picked up an empty scroll and quickly carved on it with her sharp brush before handing it to Ada.

    "Acknowledged." Ada received the scroll with both her hands and briefly looked over its contents before gently lifting princess Aurelia off the couch, leading the way out of the room.

    The scroll was an urgent court summons that called for all the members of the royal court to gather at the throne room the next day, issued only when the monarch had something extremely urgent and important to discuss with the council, as with now.

    Thus, the room quickly emptied out, leaving only the queen working silently in the room with an additional shadow of worry above her head as she looked over the documents on the table.

    ---

    It had been several hours since Lily and Ada left, with Layla dutifully keeping watch over the surroundings for any potential dangers while occasionally glancing towards the unconscious elf lying on the bed.

    Suddenly, the eyelids of the unconscious elf started twitching as he tried to lift them unsuccessfully. Moments later, he seemed to have found the strength in him to lift his eyelids fully, finally opening his eyes once again.

    Alz instinctively tried to rise from the bed to look around, but a sharp pain ran across his body as he tried to sit up, resulting in him falling back onto the bed.

    "You''re finally awake, how are you feeling?" a youthful voice rang in his ears from above.

    "It wasn''t a dream?"

    Alz fell into a short daze as he heard the unfamiliar voice in his ears, but his confusion soon faded away as memories of the day began to flow through his head, allowing the shock from the series of unexpected events to finally dawn upon him.

    Everything had felt so surreal since the golden figure dashed out of the forest that he had even thought it was all just a nightmare at one point, but the reality of his current situation clearly showed otherwise, confirming that nothing was false.

    "She took a bag after all."

    As though remembering something, Alz turned his head towards the shelf by his left and saw that there was one less bag than he remembered on the top shelf, bringing a bitter smile to his face as he immediately figured out where it currently was.

    The loss of one bag wasn''t the problem here, as he could always make more. However, considering the background of the elf who presumably took it, there was no doubt that it would ultimately make its way to the queen''s hands, potentially hindering some of his future arrangements.

    That said, he didn''t blame them for their actions as he knew that it was their duty, as he would probably have done the same if he were put in a similar position.

    "At least I saved her, whatever happens will happen."

    A gentle smile floated onto his face as he thought back to the golden-haired elf who suddenly appeared and took the arrow in her chest, washing away the worries and uncertainty he held towards the future.

    He did what he wanted to do, and he didn''t regret it after. No matter how many chances he was given to choose, he would have made the same decision regardless so there was no point worrying about what already happened at this point.

 Chapter 70 - Agony

    "Hey, don''t ignore me!" the voice called out again, but with some light anger this time.

    "Sorry, and thanks for watching over me." Alz hastily apologised while directing his eyes towards the voice, catching sight of Layla who was sitting on above a branch of a nearby tree.

    "Don''t misunderstand, I''m only doing this because of the captain''s orders." Layla retorted back while climbing down the tree, but her gently curled lips gave away her true emotions.

    While Layla was descending from the tree, Alz attempted to prop his body up a second time with full awareness of his body''s current condition this time, successfully seating up from the bed as he looked towards her.

    "So? Are you feeling okay?" Layla asked again after she got down from the tree, briefly scanning Alz''s bandages with her eyes.

    "Yeah, I''m feeling fine now, thanks. Also... sorry for before." Alz suddenly apologised again with a slightly awkward smile as he took a closer look at her face, finally noticing that she was the elf he held at knife-point earlier.

    Yet, this apology ended up having the opposite effect from what he had intended, as Layla''s cheeks instantly puffed up with anger as she shot a fierce glare at Alz, the matter from before clearly still weighing heavily in her mind.

    "I-I was just caught off-guard back then, the same thing won''t happen again! Spar with me I''ll show you!" Layla argued, holding her fist up towards him as she spoke.

    However, Layla cheeks soon lit up with a bright rosy shade as she recalled the state he was currently in, realising that she had overreacted to his words.

    "Sure, let''s spar next time... More importantly, is she fine?" Alz casually agreed to spar with Layla in future before moving on to the question he had been dying to ask since he opened his eyes.

    "You shameless elf!"

    "If you''re asking about Aur-- Princess Aurelia, you should already know... she''s fine." Layla''s expression visibly became more serious as she replied, but the blush on her cheeks didn''t let up for a different reason than before.

    "So, h-she really was the princess."

    Alz let out a huge sigh of relief as he received the confirmation he wanted, his mind wandering over to the memories they shared over the past few months from their very first meeting in the sunflower field.

    "Of course! She is the one and only princess Aurelia, there is no other elf to mistake her for!" Layla cut in from the side with a slight tone of dissatisfaction in her voice, dragging Alz out from his memories.

    Alz was startled by her sudden intrusion, realising that he had unknowingly voiced his thoughts just now. However, a bitter smile soon surfaced on his lips in response to her words, feeling a mix of emotions welling in his heart.

    There was no falsehood in Layla''s words, as the princess''s bright golden hair was the greatest indicator of her identity, a unique trait that belonged only to her alone within their entire race.

    However, this was a bolt from the blue for Alz, coming in as a complete shock to him as this was a possibility he had never even considered before today, needing time to reorganise his thoughts and process this newly obtained information.

    Despite what was going through his mind, Alz chose to remain silent here, bringing a triumphant smile to Layla''s face as she felt great satisfaction at finally seeing him lose out in a conversation, thinking that he was caught at a loss of words.

    "Since you''re already up, I''m going to leave now." Layla observed him closely once more and saw that Alz also seemed to be fine, thinking that it was about time for her to return to the palace.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Do you remember the way?" Alz asked in a concerned voice.

    "Don''t look down on me! We are the princess''s personal guard!" Layla snapped back angrily, bringing a wry smile to Alz''s face.

    Layla rapidly turned around and looked like started storming off, but her steps abruptly halted only a short distance away as hesitation flashed across her eyes.

    "Take care of yourself, Aura seems to care for you a lot... and, she isn''t the only one who likes hearing your stories." Layla spoke genuinely without turning back, rushing off into the trees after she finished her words.

    "Thank you." Alz mumbled softly, feeling a warm sensation rise from within.

    Now that Layla had left, and he was awake, Alz saw no further meaning in staying here any longer. He started to exercise his stiffened limbs lightly and tested his range of motion before carefully balancing on his feet, steadily limping back towards the field.

    Upon reaching the field, a fierce expression flashed across his face as he saw the nine corpses piled up neatly by the side, but he quickly shook his head lightly and calmed down, knowing that there was no meaning in thinking too much about it.

    With everything that happened on this field, he believed that the palace would definitely send elves over to clear the corpses soon, so he ignored the corpses entirely and focused on picking up his belonging scattered around the field before returning to his hut.

    After drinking some water and filling his stomach with some of the smoked meat in his bag, he laid down on his bed and close his eyes, relaxing his mind as he slowly fell into a deep slumber.

    ---

    Alz wasn''t sure how long he had slept, but he felt much more refreshed when he opened his eyes again, feeling the various wounds around his body beginning to ease as well as he stood up from his bed.

    When he stepped out of the hut, he casually shot a glance at where the corpses were, but they were no longer anywhere to be seen.

    However, it didn''t bother him at all as he had already expected this, proceeding on to wash up and have a light meal before sitting on the log by the fireplace with a look of deep thought.

    Yesterday might have only been less than a hundredth of the time he had spent in the capital, but the impact it had on his future plans and actions were perhaps greater than the sum of the past eight months combined, so he wanted to sort out his thoughts as soon as he could, which was now.

    In particular, there were three major things that required his attention with the first being him finally gaining access to the military library, the only matter that was worthy of celebration among the three.

    This was the first major step he took towards his departure from the capital, towards his visions of exploring the world that lay beyond the forest.

    However, he quickly set it aside for now, as although this was the matter that held the greatest importance to him, it was also the least urgent of the three matters that he currently needed to consider.

    The second matter was the attitude of the North, as there was no guarantee that there wouldn''t be a second or even a third attack after their failure, especially when he thought back to the haughty words Cruz spoke of when he tried to invite him to their side.

    Alz already held reservations on the capital''s control over the North from the things he picked out in the community library before, but the situation was evidently far worse than he had anticipated judging from the blatant attack yesterday.

    After some consideration, he promptly decided to set up various non-lethal traps and markers within the forest that would allow him to find out if there were others in the field, thus preventing a repeat of yesterday''s blunder.

    Last of all, was the matter that was giving Alz the biggest headache, the Palace. Alz was the most conflicted on the stance he should take when dealing with the palace, especially after learning that ''Kai'' actually turned out to be Her Royal Highness, Princess Aurelia.

    This alone wouldn''t have meant much to him if it were before yesterday, but things were different now that it was an undeniable fact that he owed his life to her.

    Even if he didn''t die from the arrow yesterday, he would probably have been taken back to the North, which he didn''t think would have an optimistic result no matter what he did with the animosity Cruz held towards him.

    She was the one who changed everything, not only by blocking the potentially fatal arrow for him, but also by leading her personal guard over to deal with the aftermath, allowing everything to pan out the way it currently did.

    When he was picking up his items yesterday, he found that three of his glass arrows and his glass dagger were missing, but these weren''t of too much concern as he knew that the palace would soon realise how impractical these were with how brittle glass was.

    Yet, the same could not be said for the crossbow and the medicine, especially if there was truly an impending war with the North coming up soon.

    Personally, Alz was perfectly fine with the idea of the capital obtaining the schematic and recipe both of these items even before the events of yesterday, but the only fear he had was that it might end up costing him his freedom, the one result he couldn''t accept.

    Alz let out a powerless sigh after thinking it over multiple times, eventually giving up on the matter for now. After all, he knew that there was little he could do no matter what he tried, as the result ultimately rested on the decision of the Queen.

 Chapter 71 - The Queen (2x Length)

    Unwilling to continue spending time thinking about matters that were outside his control, Alz quickly confirmed his approach towards these two issues before returning his thoughts to the first of the three matters.

    "Time is precious, can''t afford to waste any."

    He briefly hesitated as he looked down at his body, but his eyes soon filled with determination as he stood up from the log and began walking towards the trees by the side.

    He had decided to visit the military library he had just gotten access to, but before he could do that, he was planning on making a pair of crutches to aid his movement for the long journey.

    While he would have still have to spend more time travelling, there was not much else he could do in his current state either.

    For starters, physical training was totally out of the question with his injuries as it wouldn''t exactly be considered training even if he were actually dumb enough to try now, it would be closer to self-torture.

    Most other activities also required moving the body which were inconvenient for him now, but reading was one of the rare few that were largely unaffected, at least that was how it was for him, something he had personally learnt back during his stay in the archives.

    A bitter smile spread across Alz''s face as he trudged along the path towards the guardhouse while time seemed to stretch out forever.

    Despite doing his best to move faster, he still ended up taking more than three hours before he arrived here, where the southern guardhouse, and more importantly, the military library was finally in sight.

    As he looked towards the library, the anticipation within him finally surged out uncontrollably, overwriting the bitterness he was feeling along the journey as he hastily made his way to its entrance as fast as he could manage.

    "Halt, this is the military library. Access is restricted only to selected personnel." seeing Alz approach the entrance to the library, one of the two guards by the door immediately called out to him, causing Alz to pause and look up towards them.

    "I am Alz, I have already been granted permission by the captain to browse the library." Alz bowed towards the both of them respectfully before speaking, unfazed by the doubtful eyes they casted at him.

    "Alz?... Wait here, I will go check with the captain." the guard murmured Alz''s name, but it didn''t seem to ring a bell. However, he shot a brief glance towards Alz before deciding to check it with the captain.

    The guard exchanged looks with his partner who nodded at him before jogging to the entrance of the guardhouse.

    "What in the world happened to him?"

    Meanwhile, shock and curiosity began to spread in the eyes of the other guard as he observed Alz in greater detail, noticing that there seemed to be even more bandages hidden beneath his clothes.

    "Alz? He''s here?" the captain revealed a look of bewilderment after receiving a sudden report from the guard in charge of guarding the library, doubting his ears for a moment despite how unlikely it was.

    "Y-Yes captain, the elf who just arrived called himself Alz. " the guard was slightly taken aback by the captain''s reaction, but promptly replied the captain''s query without asking anything.

    Upon hearing his reply, the captain hastily jumped out of his seat and stormed out of his office, rushing off towards the military library.

    A look of puzzlement spread across the guard''s face, but his well-trained body reacted faster than his mind as he hurriedly chased after the captain''s back despite not understanding the reason behind his large reaction.

    "Isn''t he supposed to be resting!?"

    There was also some confusion on the captain''s face as he made way out of the guardhouse, recalling the information he received from the unexpected visitors yesterday.

    ---

    The Previous Day, in the Captain''s Office.

    The skies had already gotten dark, but the captain was still diligently going through documents in his office when he heard a knock by the door.

    "Captain, I have brought two guards from the palace who say that they are here to see you." a slightly frantic voice came from the door, immediately drawing his attention with the contents of the report.

    "Welcome to the southern guardhouse." the captain walked up to the door without delay and personally opened the door, welcoming them in as his gaze floated over to their left shoulders as though searching for something.

    He made an imperceptible frown as he didn''t see what he was looking for, but he instantly blanked out the next moment as he finally noticed the distinct uniforms they were wearing, realising who these two elves were.

    Meanwhile, the accompanying guard hurriedly saluted the captain and excused himself, knowing that his role here was done.

    The two elves didn''t mind the captain''s reaction and returned light smiles to him before proceeding into the room.

    "Why are the personal guards here so suddenly?"

    Seeing this, the captain quickly came back to his senses and rush ahead to lead the way, wearing a wide smile across his face to avoid any risk of incurring their displeasure.

    There was little difference in the function of the uniforms worn by the guards of the palace and those of the guardhouse, but there was one simple way to differentiate between the two, the presence of the royal crest on the left shoulder.

    However, there were also exceptions to this rule, as there were a select few units that had specialised attire for their duties, bearing the emblem on a different part of the uniform, as were these two elves before him.

    They were part of the personal guard unit in the palace, wearing a uniform that was primarily designed for female elves with stealth and mobility in mind with the royal crest inscribed on the back of the uniform instead of the left shoulder.

    Although, with their distinct eye-catching uniforms, the need to check left shoulder for differentiating their identities was naturally non-existent, as there were hardly any elves dense enough to mistake them for regular guards in the capital.

    "We are here to send you a decree on Her Majesty''s order." after entering the room, one of the two immediately stated the purpose of their visit while the other guard removed a scroll from his bag and walked to an open space by the side.

    Seeing this, the captain instantly immediately took a knee in front of the guard holding the scroll, nervously resting his eyes on the ground as he wondered about the possible contents in the scroll.

    "By Her Royal Majesty, the Elven Queen''s decree."

    "The son of the Northern Chieftain, Cruz Custos has been brought into the custody of the palace for ambushing a fellow guard of the southern guardhouse, Alz of the Calla tribe."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    "Know that although he is not in any mortal danger, the guard Alz had suffered heavy injuries from this incident and you shall see to it that he gets the rest he needs to recover."

    "Rest assured, the guards were only sent to inform you as both elves involved are part of the southern guardhouse. I understand your difficulties and do not intend to blame you for this incident. I hope you will continue to serve well as the captain of the guardhouse."

    The captain''s facial expressions changed several times as the guard recited the decree, with relief being the last emotion on his face as the guard finished reading the contents of the scroll.

    "I thank Her Majesty for her grace, all shall be as Her Majesty wills." he carefully received the scroll from the elf and reviewed the contents of the scroll again as he started to ponder on what this entailed.

    While unexpected, the contents of the incident itself were hardly surprising to him. Cruz''s notoriety was never a secret in the guardhouse, widely known for terrorising and bullying the other elves from the southern tribes.

    Usually, elves who witnessed such incidents would simply report it to him and that would be the end of the matter, as the palace was unwilling to interfere while he was powerless to do anything about it as a mere captain of the southern guardhouse.

    Yet, the palace had chosen to get directly involved with the incident, even going as far as to apprehend Cruz. While he was gratified by this, seeds of unease also began to bud in his heart as he worried about the upcoming future.

    "Thanks for coming all the way here." regardless of what he thought, he knew that now wasn''t the time to think about this, rising to his feet as he thanked the two guards for delivering the decree.

    "Before we leave, there is a letter that the Queen instructed us to hand over to you. Make sure you deliver this to the guard named Alz the next time he comes to the guardhouse." the elf handed another scroll to the captain before moving towards the door with her partner.

    The captain inwardly heaved a sigh of relief when he saw them leaving, hastily seeing them to the door before closing it behind them, finally feeling the pressure in him began to ease as he alone in the room again.

    Feeling slightly puzzled, the captain looked down at the letter in his hands with some hesitation, but his curiosity soon won over as he unravelled the scroll.

    "Did her majesty really write this!? What is going on!?"

    After peeking at the contents, he hurriedly rolled it back up and placed it down on his desk, feeling cold sweat forming all over his body as he realised that there was definitely more than met the eye for this incident.

    ---

    "Alz! You really came! How are your injuries?"

    Alz was patiently waiting before the entrance to the military library when he suddenly heard someone calling out to him enthusiastically.

    "What''s wrong with the captain?"

    There was a slight pause before he looked over in the direction of the voice with an unnatural look on his face, feeling greater confusion as he confirmed the owner of the voice with his eyes.

    "Alz, shouldn''t you be resting now? I already gave you permission to come by at any time, so you don''t have to be in such a rush and can come when your injuries have healed."

    Shock briefly flashed across the captain''s face when he saw the extent of Alz''s injuries, but he immediately went up and greeted Alz with a face full of smiles as he started convincing Alz to go back and rest with a tone full of concern.

    "Captain, I can''t do anything else with these injuries anyway, and I''d rather spend the time reading. Please grant me permission to enter the library." Alz replied with a bitter smile, but his gaze contained wariness as he looked towards the captain.

    "I see. Well, if that is what you want, I will not stop you, but remember to take care of yourself so you can recover faster. As for your duties, I will assign someone else to do it instead, so you do not have to worry about it." the captain nodded with understanding as he replied.

    However, his overly pleasant attitude only made Alz feel more uncomfortable as he eyed the captain with suspicion, subconsciously backing off from him slightly.

    "W-What''s wrong captain?" Alz asked in a cautious voice, baffled by his complete change in attitude from yesterday.

    No matter he looked at it, the captain overly friendly attitude was nothing but strange to him, unable to come up with a plausible reason that may have resulted in this.

    While it did float across his mind that his interactions with the princess might have been revealed, he quickly denied that line of thought as he didn''t think that the palace would actively publicise such information randomly either, although he was beginning to suspect otherwise now.

    Noticing the suspicion in Alz''s eyes and the two stunned guards by the side, the captain let out a dry laugh as he realised that he might have been acting too unnaturally.

    "Alz, the palace had already sent word of your incident yesterday and instructed me to take care of your health. Also, they left a letter behind for you, asking me to pass it to you when you came to the guardhouse." the captain explained.

    "A letter?" Alz asked.

    "Yes, a letter written for you by Her Majesty herself." the captain said, holding a scroll out to Alz.

    ""The Queen!?"" the two guards standing by the side exclaimed in a feverish voice, looking towards Alz with shock and excitement on their faces.

    Yet, the emotions of the main subject himself differed largely from them, as Alz felt like the blood flowing in his veins instantly ran cold at the mention of the Queen, causing even his breathing to become rougher as he struggled to maintain his footing.

    Judging from the captain''s reaction, it was easy to conclude that he was not informed about the princess''s involvement with the incident, or he wouldn''t have been so surprised about just a letter sent by the Queen.

    However, Alz knew what they didn''t, of the facts behind the attacks yesterday and that arrow that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

    Despite successfully treating the princess in the end, he also understood that he was undeniably the one accountable for putting her in danger in the first place, a worry that had been weighing on his mind ever since.

    Having already came to a conclusion that this was unavoidable before he set off earlier, Alz carefully retrieved the scroll from the captain and began to go over the contents

    ---

    Dear Alz,

    I have heard much about your talents and exploits and would like to meet with you personally. I would be extremely grateful if you could decide on a time to drop by the palace after your injuries have healed and convey it to your captain.

    The Elven Queen

    Sofia Alvein

    ---

    The letter had contained none of the hostility he had expected and was written politely with great sincerity instead, with the Queen even signing off with her name at the end personally.

    Furthermore, instead of calling him for an audience, she allowed him to decide on the time he would head down to the palace himself, a letter he would never have imagined was written by the Queen just from its contents.

    Alz read the letter several times before falling into a daze, brought into deep thought by the contents of the letter as he struggled to decipher the Queen''s intents.

    A bitter smile soon surfaced as he realised that he was getting nowhere with his thoughts, feeling like he was understanding her intents less and less the more he thought about it, deciding to put it aside for now.

    Realisation also dawned on him when his eyes returned to the captain, finally figuring out the reason behind his abrupt change in attitude, that he had already set his eyes on this letter before.

    However, even though it was a personal letter for him, Alz didn''t intend to pursue the matter further as it also saved him some trouble knowing that the captain had already peeked at it, not having to explain further.

    "I will... think about it more, can I go in now?" Alz saw the expectant gaze of the captain and cut him off before he spoke, asking if he could enter the library.

    "You may." hearing this, the captain swallowed his words back down the throat and permitted Alz to enter the library, seeing him off as he limped through the entrance with the aid of his crutches.

    After Alz entered the library, the captain also didn''t stay for long, returning to his office after dropping several words of encouragement to the two guards.

    The two guards also recovered from their shock and diligently returned to their posts, but the curiosity on their faces only grew with time as they actively began to discuss on what they had just seen.

    With the fervour in their discussion, one could already foresee how the news would soon begin to spread in the guardhouse like wildfire, originating from the mouths of these two elves.

    "I''m finally here!"

    Within the library, Alz took another look at the letter before putting it aside, looking at the many shelves in the room with growing excitement in his eyes as he began to make his way to the one that was closest to him.

    ---

    Meanwhile, as Alz was embarking on his long-awaited literary journey in the military library, there was more activity than usual in the core of the capital, with rows of guards repeatedly saluting to the oncoming members of court arriving in response to the urgent summons by the Queen.

    As these elves entered the throne hall, they immediately went up and bowed deeply to the figure sitting on the throne at the front before moving to their designated spots on either side of the large hall.

    The Queen was also not idly sitting by on her throne, as she responded to all of them with a warm smile and a sincere greeting, addressing each of them by name and asking about how they were doing in recent times.

    This was the Elven Queen who was known for her compassion and benevolent rule throughout the elves, a motherly figure who watched over the safety of the elves in the forest.

    Before long, the fifteenth elf appeared at the entrance of the throne hall, following the same procedure as the others who arrived before him while the Queen warmly welcomed him.

    "The Court shall now commence!" after this elf got into his position, a personal guard stepped up from beside the throne and declared the beginning of the court session, finally setting things into motion.

 Chapter 72 - Court

    Silence dawned upon the hall with the announcement as all the elves concluded their conversations and directed their attention to the throne, patiently waiting for the queen to speak with varying expressions across the floor.

    While curiosity could be seen in a few of the court members'' faces, most of the them had visible bitterness in their expressions as they were looking towards the queen, having already heard of today''s topic from other sources.

    "First of all, I extend my deepest gratitude to all of you for making your appearances here." the Queen''s gaze swept across the members of the court and suddenly stood from the throne, making a light bow to her front.

    "My Queen, we have already discussed it many times, but this is not necessary. You are the Queen and our ruler, this is only our duty." an aged court member let out a deep sigh as she did this, trying to persuade her with a helpless look on his face.

    "Nonsense, this is the least I can do to thank all of you. Alvein would not be able to function without any of you, you are all more than deserving of this small show of thanks." the queen turned a gentle smile at the elf who spoke out before making an even deeper bow to her front.

    "My Queen, you are making light of yourself by saying this. We have all seen the efforts you put into ruling the forest and the work you have done, even back when His Maj..." the elf continued on helplessly, but frantically cut himself off without finishing.

    Indeed, he immediately caught a glimpse of the downcast light in the Queen''s eyes, feeling a pang of regret as he realised that he had misspoke. The Queen wasn''t the only one affected by this, as a heavy atmosphere began to spread across the room.

    "His Majesty is currently out on a noble mission to rescue those of our kind, but he will definitely return someday and lead us all again. That was his promise to us, and to all of you."

    Thankfully, this did not last long before the Queen spoke out, dispelling the heavy mood within the hall. Although, many of the court members were now looking towards the Queen with looks of pain, knowing that she was the one who was suffering the most from this.

    "I''m sure some of you may have already heard, but I have gathered all of you here today because the North has made a new move." unwilling to continuing harping on the previous topic, the Queen moved on to the main agenda for the session, causing the faces of the elves to immediately harden.

    "A guard from the southern guardhouse was ambushed by an elite Northern squad yesterday, led by the son of the Northern Chieftain, Cruz." the Queen began to speak about the matter, causing those who hadn''t heard any details to raise their eyebrows in doubt.

    It wasn''t because the matter was extremely serious, but rather because it seemed to be too small an incident to be concerned about if it were just this, as their ears had not been spared about the deeds by the Northern elves in recent times with Cruz''s name appearing the most.

    "Aurelia happened to be present at that time and was shot in the chest by an arrow. Luckily, she was treated quickly and is now out of danger, resting here in the palace." the queen continued with anger boiling in her voice, starkly contrasting with her gentle demeanour before.

    Shocked gasps were heard around the hall as the eyes of several court members shot wide open, finally understanding why the queen called for them so urgently.

    "I will let the captain of my daughter''s personal guard unit, Ada, go through the rest of the details as she was present during the matter." the queen called upon Ada who walked out from behind the throne and began to talk about the entire chain of events.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    As instructed by the Queen previously, her report was slightly different from the version she yesterday, not mentioning a single word on how Princess Aurelia rushed up to protect Alz from the arrow and changing it to just her getting shot.

    However, this minor twist in the facts did not affect the flow of the story as none of the elves present were concerned about why the princess was shot at this point, but rather about the undeniable result that the princess was shot in the chest.

    As long as this truth stood by, the reason why she was shot in the first place was irrelevant given the bilateral relations that existed between the Capital and the North.

    Their attitude towards the matter also changed as Ada spoke of the reason behind the attacks, speaking of the crossbow Alz made, along with the medicinal powder he concocted that had saved the princess''s life.

    The Queen also interrupted her speech to explain the details she knew of the crossbow from the report by the southern captain, allowing them to gain better insight on what it actually did and awing many of them with its concept and performance.

    On the Queen''s orders, Ada had also brought out the glass arrows she retrieved from the scene and showed it to the court, allowing them to view Alz in a new light as they were faced with the various innovations made by him.

    Like Alz had expected, the glass arrows didn''t manage to catch the eye of anyone present as Ada explained that despite its hardness, it had a major defect of being very brittle and was largely impractical to use.

    Yet, the story was different when placed together with Alz''s other achievements as the source of the crossbows and concocting the medicinal powder, showing that he had an innovative mind that was capable of achieving more in future.

    On top of that, Alz had reportedly also taken down three of the elite Northern fighters when facing off against ten of them alone, a story that while not all of those present seemed to buy, they understood that he wasn''t weak at the very least.

    Hence, it came at no surprise that when Ada mentioned his youth at the end, another round of gasps was heard across the hall, except that they mostly contained amazement and disbelief this time.

    "Your Majesty, I have finished." Ada turned to the Queen and lowered her head as she reported.

    "Good job Ada, you may step back." the queen nodded towards her with a pleased smile, to which Ada gave another deep bow to the Queen before returning to her original position with the other personal guards to the side of the throne.

    "Everyone, the matter is as Ada has spoken. The Northern Chieftain''s son, Cruz is currently being held at the palace and we will need to discuss on how we will handle him." the Queen said, directing the attention of the court to the problem at hand.

    An eerie silence fell upon the hall after the Queen''s words, as the court members began to exchange gazes between each other uneasily, not knowing how to respond.

    In a normal case, they would have most probably chosen to close an eye to the matter and silently bear with the actions of the North, something that they had already been doing over the past few years, even actively going to lengths to cover up some of the incidents.

    However, their cover-up might have seemed sufficient to them, but Alz was one of the sharp elves who managed to discover the seams between the threads, piecing together part of the truth from the scrolls in the community library.

    An example of such was with the cases of ''The Return'', a deadly disease that did actually exist in their race and the only illness that plagued their race.

    While this condition did truly exist, real cases were much rarer than those recorded in the scrolls at the community library, with the others being used to conceal the death of elves who died of unnatural causes at the hands of the North.

    When Alz had gone through the scrolls back then, he had accurately picked out one such case from the scrolls, allowing him to recognise the hidden dangers in the capital back then alongside other information in the library.

    This case was naturally the death of the Calla tribe''s acting Chieftain''s wife, one of the many murders that were concealed within the scroll.

    Yet, nobody present was dense enough to remain oblivious to the rage contained in the Queen''s words, as this incident had involved the princess of all elves, almost even causing her to lose her life for this.

    They all understood that this was why the Queen brought this matter up to the court, because she did not want a peaceful resolution.

    The fifteen of them understood how she felt as well, as there was also anger budding in them, but most of them were still hesitant to step up and speak out now, knowing what making this decision would entail.

 Chapter 73 - State of Affairs

    "It can''t be helped."

    The Queen eyes began to dim as they swam around the court, taking the hesitation of the others in her sights. It was apparent to her that most of them were still feeling indecisive and it was likely that they wouldn''t reach the conclusion she had hoped for.

    However, to her own dismay, she actually felt some relief in her as she saw this, realising once again how powerless she truly was in the face of the current reality.

    "Everyone, let us set this matter aside f..." the Queen announced, deciding to leave the matter for now and discuss it at a later time, but a sudden onset of marching sounds captured her attention, pausing her words to look towards the entrance.

    As such, the coordinated footsteps instantly became the focus of attention of the hall as all of them turned their eyes to the entrance. After all, there was no way this would go by unnoticed with the footsteps were getting louder with each passing moment, clearly heading in their direction.

    "Y-Your Majesty, t-the captain of the northern guardhouse has brought his men and---." just then, a panicked palace guard frantically rushed into the hall and fell on his knees, reporting the Queen with his head lowered.

    The expressions of the court members and the Queen immediately turned ugly after hearing this, learning of the identity of culprits behind the footsteps that were rapidly getting closer.

    "The Captain of the Northern guardhouse pays his respects to the Queen!" before the guard could even finish, a loud roar interrupted him from behind as orderly rows of guards began to march into the throne hall.

    As this was happening, Ada and another female elf promptly stepped up from behind the throne and blew a whistle. Many female elves then began to enter from the two doors at the back of the hall with Layla and Lily among them, assembling behind the two and blocking the path to the throne.

    Behind the group who had just marched in, there were also many palace guards gathering behind after chasing them from the entrance, sandwiching the group between themselves and the personal guards standing before the throne.

    "My Queen, I hear that our young chieftain had caused some trouble for the palace. I deeply apologise on behalf of him and would like to request his return for our Chieftain to discipline him personally."

    Despite being surrounded on both sides, the elf who identified himself as the captain of the northern guardhouse calmly stepped up from the group and began speaking without any form of greeting towards the Queen.

    Additionally, although he had a respectful tone, there wasn''t a single trace of fear or tension on his face as he spoke of his request while staring directly at the Queen.

    From this show alone, the differences between him and the southern captain were immediately apparent, as despite being in the same position, the northern captain clearly held much less respect towards the palace and the Queen.

    Faced with such insolence, the court members would have usually called him out immediately, but none of them chose to do so this time despite the anger on their faces as they looked on by the side.

    "Is this what the palace has come to?"

    The Queen was naturally enraged by his behaviour, but a deeper sorrow and sense of helplessness began to sprout in her heart as she met the northern captain''s disrespectful gaze directly.

    "Leave now! This is not a place you can enter!" the Queen shouted.

    "Pardon my disrespect, but I cannot comply. We will only leave when the young chieftain is returned to us." a cold glint flashed across the northern captain''s eyes as he heard this, openly choosing to refute her words.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    "Balk! How dare you speak like this to the Queen!" a low, rumbling bellow came an aged court member by the side who finally lost control of his anger, reprimanding the northern captain with a ferocious glare that caused him to flinch backwards.

    However, he couldn''t be blamed for that, as the impression the aged elf gave off was nothing short of imposing with his stout build and battle-worn appearance, alongside the two stone great sword he was famed for that only added to his ferocity.

    "My apologies general, I do not mean to anger you. All of us deeply respect you for what you have done, and our chieftain has said that he will always wel---." this time, the northern captain bowed deeply to the elf and replied with his gaze lowered, unwilling to meet his eyes.

    *BAM*. The general brandished one of his swords and slammed it heavily on the ground with an angry snort to cut him off but didn''t continue to press the matter after this.

    The northern captain also wisely chose not to continue on and turned back to the Queen, but he and his men were standing closer together, obviously rattled by the old general who was known as the strongest.

    "May Your Majesty please permit the return of our young chieftain." after throwing a sideward glance at the general, the northern captain bowed deeply to the Queen as he respectfully requested for Cruz''s return again.

    "I''m sorry for being so useless Aura."

    The Queen shot a quick look of gratitude to the captain before turning her eyes back to the northern captain in contemplation while letting out a sigh inwardly, feeling apologetic towards the princess.

    In truth, her decision had already been made since the moment she chose to keep Cruz alive, as it was the decision she had to make for the elves of the forest and the duty she had to them.

    After all, the palace might have seemed intact from the outside, but the reality was much harsher than it seemed.

    In the recent years, over half of the previous court members had already left due to the Northern Chieftain''s persuasions, with most choosing to wait by the side while some even went over to the North, leaving only the fifteen of them in the court.

    This was also why the Queen treated them all with utmost care and respect, for all of them were truly deserving of it beyond doubt, choosing to stay with palace in the harshest of times.

    While her abilities as a ruler have withstood the test of time over the past decade, she was ultimately just a stand-in for the throne, appointed to her position only because of king''s absence.

    The Northern Chieftain had wisely made use of this opening to incite dissent among the members of the court since the king''s departure for his expedition, with ambitions to take over the throne entirely.

    If the problem was only to this extent, the palace might still be able to come up with solutions for the matter, but there was a more fundamental issue that had already gotten too late for them to address, the matter of military might.

    The fact of the matter was simple, the North had already amassed strength comparable to the capital. This was all that was required to put the Queen at a loss for ideas, unable to muster any viable forms of retaliation.

    The Queen simply couldn''t bear watching a war unfold among their own kind, repeatedly making concessions to the North and losing ground in the battle behind the scenes. This was the helpless plight of the palace, the story of a compassionate Queen.

    "Ada, bring him over." the Queen said.

    Ada wordlessly bowed to the Queen and left through a room at the back, leaving the hall in an uncomfortable silence that filled the air as everyone waited for her return.

    About ten minutes later, Ada returned with Cruz dressed in simple clothes silently following behind her. There were several bruises on Cruz''s face and body, but everything was intact, and the severity of the injuries were a far cry from Alz.

    Cruz was still feeling puzzled from suddenly being told to leave and follow behind Ada, but his lights immediately lit up the moment he saw the Northern Captain, hastily dashing over to his side.

    "I thank Your Majesty for your kindness. We will take our leave now." The northern captain finally let relieved breath as he confirmed Cruz''s safety, thanking the Queen before commanding his men as they began to take their leave orderly.

    The palace guards gathered behind them naturally made way for them to pass as well, escorting them by the sides until they smoothly exited the palace.

    The group of personal guards also retreated to the two rooms by the side, leaving only Ada and Sylvia standing behind the throne, bringing everything back to how it was in the beginning.

    However, the same could not be said about the emotions of the Queen and the court members, and there was also little meaning left in continuing this court session in the sombre atmosphere, especially with Cruz having been taken away.

    "I thank all of you for coming over." the Queen stood up with a mildly forced smile and bowed towards the members of the court again as Sylvia walked up from behind the throne.

    "Court dismissed." Sylvia announced, bringing the end to the session as the Queen exited by the room at the back.

 Chapter 74 - Post Meeting

    After the court session was dismissed, the Queen headed over to the royal study and to start with her duties for the day, planning to submerge herself in work to fend off the sombre mood from before.

    "It''s me." as she was mindlessly going through the small mountain of scrolls on her table, a sudden knock on the door alongside a low, deep voice brought her back to reality.

    "Come in." the Queen said in a tired voice.

    "Sorry for disturbing Your Majesty." the visitor deeply bowed towards the Queen and stood in wait.

    "Elder, please don''t address me like that here, you''re only making me feel more uncomfortable." the Queen replied with a bitter smile as she looked towards the aged general standing in wait before her.

    "Hahaha, you never change Sofia." a rumbling laughter resounded across the room as the general went to grab a cup of water from the side before making himself comfortable on the couch with experienced motions, clearly not his first time doing so.

    Of course, this was hardly surprising for him, having served in the palace through the reign of three different Elven Kings before the current Queen until his current age of a hundred and twenty-six years old, one of the oldest members in the court.

    "Elder, thanks for helping out earlier." Sofia solemnly thanked the elderly general for his display of anger before, knowing that he was doing it to help her.

    "Don''t worry about it, it''s nothing. I was just pissed off seeing Balk acting so cocky." the general casually dismissed it with an exaggerated wave of his hand, acting as though he hadn''t intended to help her.

    "You haven''t changed as well, you''re still as bad at lying." Sofia chuckled lightly as she saw the general''s reaction, instantly seeing through his pretence.

    "Haa, why can''t you be more like Alvin, he never doubted me no matter what I said." the general''s movements froze awkwardly at being called out, letting out a deep sigh as he complained with a reminiscent smile on his lips.

    "I''m sure my husband was also able to tell, he was probably just acting in front of you." Sofia said as she chuckled again, but moisture could be seen on the corners of her eyes despite her laughter as she spoke.

    "Sofia, are you really just going to leave it like that?" after a brief silence, the general finally cut to the chase and asked the question that had been resting in his mind since earlier with a serious expression.

    "What else can we do? Kill him?" Sofia responded with a bitter smile on her face, knowing what matter the general was referring to.

    Although she wasn''t serious when she added the last part, a bloodthirsty light shone through the general''s eyes as he heard the words, tensing his body entirely as though he were going for battle.

    "Elder, stop it! I was only kidding!" Sofia''s eyes widened with shock as she noticed his reaction, hastily screaming to stop him from thinking deeper into it.

    "Sofia, my time is already about to come, I can feel it in my bones. If there''s anything this old bag of bones can still do to help th---" the general ignored her words and continued to speak with a strong resolve burning within him.

    "Elder, please... stop. Besides... even if you were to try, how will you ever succeed? That coward is always surrounded by guards. Mighty as your blades may be, they cannot reach him. I do not want to lose even you...Please." the Queen pleaded to the general in tears, dissuading him of the idea.

    "Sofia, don''t cry. I was also just kidding, this body of mine can still last many more years." the general''s expression softened as he looked at the child in tears before him, letting out a hearty laugh as he tried to console her.

    "Yes... I''m sure you will continue living for a long, long time!" Sofia looked to the general with a sorrowful smile, not choosing to reveal his painfully blatant lie this time, but instead choosing to place her hope in his words.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    "Since it makes you unhappy, let us not talk about this matter. There''s another thing I wanted to ask you, what is your plan with that elf you spoke of, Alz was it?" the general decided move over to the other topic he was interested about.

    "It seems like Aura has really taken a liking to him." Sofia replied with a tone of worried and helplessness, seemingly not answering the question.

    "I heard." the general however wasn''t lost by the sudden flow of the conversation, replying to her with a furrowed brow.

    After all, Sofia deeply knew the position of the elf before her, who was superior in some ways even when compared to her husband back when he was still around, much less herself.

    Although she could instruct Ada to hide certain details before the crowd, she couldn''t command her to lie before this elf whom had personally taught all of them how to fight, an elf whom they deeply respected from the bottom of their hearts.

    "Can he be trusted?" the general asked.

    "I''ll have to see for myself, I sent him an invitation to the palace for when he recovers." Sofia shook her head lightly as she replied.

    From Alz''s background and the observations Ada reported of him, there was nothing much to doubt about him. Despite this, she still couldn''t fully set her mind at ease without meeting him personally, wanting to judge with her own eyes.

    "What do you plan on doing with him?" the general nodded in affirmation at her reply before raising another question.

    "...I don''t know. The southern captain report stated he that he has intentions to leave ...but I hear that he also likes to read." there was a slight delay before Sofia returned an answer, glancing down at the stack of scrolls on her desk towards the end.

    The general''s eyes widened with shock, his mind blanking out momentarily as he was caught off guard by Sofia''s unexpected answer.

    "Are you sure?" he couldn''t help but ask again in a concerned voice, but Sofia only responded wordlessly with a bitter smile on her face, wearing an expression that was filled with pain and guilt.

    The elderly general let out a heavy sigh as he looked towards the frail, fatigued elf before him with deep grief contained in his eyes, recalling the blissful expressions he had seen on their family of three back when the King was still here, days that had been gone for over a decade.

    Even though he had obtained the answers that he came for, the general didn''t immediately depart after this, staying to engage in a pleasant conversation with the Queen.

    With the initial topics out of the way, the conversation that followed proceeded smoothly and brought smiles to both elves as they it continued, allowing both of them to temporarily set aside the problems brought about by the North.

    However, their conversation suddenly took a weird turn about twenty minutes later, with the general hastily taking his leave from the royal study after he had unknowingly revealed a piece of information to the Queen.

    Unlike with the Queen, Ada was being entirely truthful about the matters when she recounted it to the general, partly also because she didn''t expect him to share that section with the Queen, but things clearly didn''t proceed how she had intended.

    "Still, I didn''t think you would let him off so easily after he saw and touched Aurelia''s bare body, even if it was to treat her." the general randomly brought up a topic during the conversation, ending off in a hearty laugh.

    "A-Ah, yes, but it was to save her after all, so why would I blame Alz for this?" Sofia''s expression paused unnaturally as she heard this, but she didn''t reveal anything on her face as she immediately asked.

    "What matters the most is that Aurelia is still alive, and he did indeed do a good job when treating her, so something small like this shouldn''t matter." the general nodded several times as he spoke, agreeing with her words entirely.

    Yet, when he looked ahead again, an instinctive chill began to spread across his entire body as his eyes met with the seemingly gentle smile on Sofia''s face that somehow felt unnatural no matter how he looked, even though he couldn''t pinpoint the reason why.

    "Yes, it is a small matter, of course... it doesn''t matter." Sofia smiled ''gently'' at the general as she spoke in an emotionless voice, causing the warning bells to ring harder in the general''s mind as cold sweat started to drench his back.

    "M-My Queen, I think it is about time for me to excuse myself." he hastily tried to leave, receiving a light nod from Sofia with the same, unchanging smile on her face, not even correcting his sudden change in addressing her.

    "General, can you please call Ada over when you leave?" as the general was about to close the door behind him, the Queen''s emotionless voice spread into his ears, bringing a bitter look to his face as he walked away.

    "Sorry, Ada."

    "Ada, the Queen is calling for you." the elderly general naturally didn''t disobey the Queen, moving to call the unsuspecting squad captain over while apologising to her inwardly as he rapidly made his way out of the palace.

    ---

    "Ada, was there something you left out in your report?" the Queen looked at her with the same ''gentle'' smile she showed the general before.

    Ada froze in terror upon entering the room, instantly understanding the reason she was suddenly called for.

    ---

    Meanwhile, Alz was busy flipping through the wealth of scrolls he had picked out from the shelves when his body suddenly shook uncontrollably for an instant, feeling a weird sense of unease rise within him.

 Chapter 75 - Matters

    As with always, darkness began to envelope the surroundings with the inevitable passage of time. Alz stared at the gentle flame flickering in front of him in a daze before letting out a heavy sigh as he blew out the stone lamp.

    The stack of scrolls he picked out were no longer before him, returned to their shelves neatly just moments ago as he prepared to stop for the day, wanting to have some time to himself to sort out his thoughts.

    Alz''s gaze lightly swept across the library with a complicated expression on his face before he took hold of his crutches and rose from his chair, limping out of the library with slow, heavy steps.

    With the hours that had gone by, the two guards by the entrance had long since rotated out of their shift with two other guards standing by the entrance.

    When Alz left the library, the two of them immediately turned their heads over and eyes him curiously, but Alz paid no heed to them as he steadily made his way to the guardhouse.

    Upon entering the guardhouse, Alz immediately began to head towards the right wing of the guardhouse.

    Even though it had been several months since he last lived there, he was far from forgetting the location of the bunks the tribe were assigned, more so since he had still been visiting them whenever he had time to spare.

    After all, while he was reluctant to rely on the tribe for too much, it made no sense for him to waste the time traveling back and forth from the field after he had decided to spend the following days at the military library, especially with his current injuries.

    As such, he was planning on staying with his tribe over the next few days, a thought he that he had even before he set out from the field, with a part of him even looking forward to it.

    Even with Alz''s slow pace, the distance between the library and bunks was not far and the entrance to the bunks soon entered his eyes, unconsciously forming a small smile as he hastened his steps ever so slightly.

    To his surprise, as he was heading over, a set of rapid footsteps rang loudly from the bunk as Kleiz suddenly appeared at the entrance looking towards his direction.

    His eyes immediately lit up when he spotted Alz''s figure in the corridor. Although a light of worry clouded over over his expression, there was a lack of surprise on him when he saw the numerous bandages covering Alz''s body, clearly having been informed of it beforehand.

    "Quickly, come in and rest." before Alz could refuse, Kleiz proceeded to his left side and helped to support him.

    With a bitter smile, Alz inwardly let out a helpless sigh but decided to swallow his words and shifted part of his weight to Kleiz, allowing Kleiz to support him as they made their way towards the bunk.

    Contrary to what Alz expected, there were at least thirty elves from the Calla tribe currently gathered in the room, all of them looking towards him with eyes brimming with concern.

    In addition, Maya was also mixed in the group staring at him with reddened eyes, having rushed here as quickly as she could when she heard that he was wounded.

    Alz was briefly overwhelmed by the sight that greeted his eyes, caught off guard by the large turnout in the room. Feeling the concern in their gazes, he felt a warm feeling enveloping his heart and wanted to reassure them that he was fine when a figure sudden ran to up.

    "I''m sorry... I''m so sorry......" Maya embraced Alz tightly and buried her head in his chest, apologising profusely to him while sobbing continuously.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Maya''s heart sank when she heard that Alz was attacked by Cruz, recalling the incident when he stood up for her months ago.

    It didn''t help that they weren''t given any more details on the incident apart from the two elves involved, instantly filling her with guilt as she assumed that he ended up in this situation because of her.

    Alz instinctively lifted his hand and tried to reach out for her head, but he suddenly stopped before it reached and retracted it, returning it back to his side.

    "It''s not your fault, don''t worry about it. It''s not because of that, he was coming for me." after a brief pause, Alz regained his senses and softly consoled her.

    Of course, while his words were not false, they didn''t speak of the entire truth either. The incident before had definitely played a part in Cruz''s animosity towards him, but he didn''t intend to blame her for anything when it was him who decided to help her in the first place.

    Several other female elves he recognised from the expedition also followed Maya''s lead and ran up to him, holding him gently in their embrace while flooding him with caring words while being careful to avoid placing pressure on his injuries.

    Bart stepped out from the group and cleared his throat loudly, silencing the group surrounding him who slowly began to back off to Alz''s relief.

    "Alz, the captain dropped by earlier and told us what happened. Rest well and don''t worry about anything else, just focus on recovering." Bart said.

    "This is... the South."

    "...Thank you." Alz bowed deeply and thanked them from the bottom of his heart, feeling some moisture began to gather in the corner of his eyes as the darkness he was feeling began to recede away.

    Still, he wasn''t in the mood to converse with anyone right now and promptly headed over to the empty bed he used in the initial weeks.

    The others also didn''t think too much of this as it was late, assuming that he was just tired and wanted some rest. Now that they had confirmed Alz''s condition with their own eyes, they promptly began to disperse, not wanting to disturb his rest.

    With the warriors around also being considerate to avoid making too much noise, peace and silence dawned upon the room as Alz silently rested on his bed.

    Yet, how he currently felt was in direct contrast with the surroundings, his emotions still rattled from a discovery he had made in the military library, a discovery that left him at a loss.

    After lying down on his bed, Alz began to think through the information he gathered today in his head, hoping that he could finally resolve them in a manner that he could consciously accept.

    This trip to the military archives could have been said to be extremely fruitful, learning far more about the capital than he had expected. Above all, he also obtained the information he wanted the most, the information of the settlement closest to the forest.

    He was very surprised when he first looked through the scroll, feeling slightly cheated when he first saw the location of the settlement, the City of Dwarves that lay beyond the forests in the south.

    However, the excitement he felt was dampened by another discovery as he read further, leading to many mixed feelings forming within him, as he learned of a truth behind the forest that he had never considered before, a matter he would have rather remained oblivious to for his entire life.

    Even though he didn''t want to, he now understood, the reason why wolves were held in such high regard in the forest, even being known as guardian by the elves outside of the Southern tribes.

    Found throughout the entire forests, the wolves used to coexist perfectly with the elves in the past, not directing any aggression towards the elves even in the Southern forests. While surprising, this finding didn''t matter much to him and he quickly set it to the back of his mind.

    The next discovery though, was something he couldn''t neglect, the true reason the wolves were known as the guardians of the forest. The South in particular had the highest density of wolves in the forest, fending off numerous external invasions in the past.

    Although these wolves had suddenly became aggressive a few centuries ago without a discernible cause, they had still been dutifully carrying out their roles as the protectors of the forests over this time, and of their race.

    This had completely overturned the idea Alz held towards the wolves, as though denying the efforts their tribe had made in the past and leaving him feeling helpless and conflicted and about everything.

    No matter how many times he mulled over this in his head, he couldn''t arrive at an answer that would leave him satisfied, ultimately deciding not to think about it too deeply for now as he moved on to the other matters concerning himself.

    Another matter he kept his eye out for when selecting the scrolls was the situation and relations between the North and the Capital, greatly increasing his understanding of how things currently stood in the forest.

 Chapter 76 - Information

    As Alz probed deeper into the situation of the forest, more realisations dawned on him as he finally began to understand how the capital functioned and part the others played outside the South.

    Ever since he arrived, Alz had always found it strange that the capital called for warriors from the South, a doubt that had only deepened in the months he had been staying in the capital.

    After all, unlike in the South that was always at a lack of capable warriors no matter when it was, the situation here could have been said to be the complete opposite with the serene peacefulness that stretched across the entire capital.

    The duties of the guards here felt like they were just customary rites, greatly differing from the patrols back at the South where every single one of them had to put their necks on the line to scout for the potential dangers to the tribe.

    The general atmosphere among the guards here was also light and carefree, free from the heavy tensions where every member of the tribe had to live with the realisation that the next moment could be their last as they struggled to live to the next day.

    In fact, Alz was hardly the only one who carried these doubts, as he knew that many of the warriors also thought the same. Although they refrained from mentioning it openly, Alz knew that many of the tribe''s warriors didn''t hold much regard for the duties here, with himself included as well.

    While this could be seen in most of them, it came through the strongest in the older warriors whose eyes concealed a tinge of helplessness and desire to return deep whenever they spoke of the old days in the tribe.

    That said, all of them still made sure to carry out all of their assigned duties properly without fail, ensuring that the reputation of the tribe would not be tarnished in their hands.

    After all, the Southern tribes are always on the receiving end of much aid from the capital in times of need, aid that the capital had never failed to deliver even once. Just based on this alone, all of them were willing to give their all for the capital, not daring to take things too lightly.

    Although, with the incident from yesterday, Alz''s days in the capital could no longer be considered peaceful any further. However, this didn''t affect Alz''s perception of the matter, as hardly anything could be considered normal about that incident.

    He only recognised the importance of the patrol duties when he read about a matter closely related to the revelation of the wolves, records of foreign invasions in the past, not by any faction in the forest, but by aggressors who hailed from beyond.

    There were many other scrolls in the archives that covered these invasions in greater detail that Alz hadn''t gotten a chance to look at yet, but a quick glance at the colossal losses they suffered alone shook him to the core, drastically changing his view on the guard duties here.

    While the elves in the South had to live with the constant threat of wolves by the side, the capital held the heavy responsibility of preparing a strong force to meet with any foreign invasions in the event that one came, leading to the existing covenant among the elves.

    In the pact, the South currently had it the lightest since the start of the wolves'' aggression, only needing to send a total of four hundred elves with half of them being combatants in a twenty-year cycle, rotating among the many tribes living in the South each time.

    This was usually split among four of the Southern tribes, as with each one shouldering a quarter of the quota when they sent their elves over to stay for thirty years in accordance to the agreement, after which the elves were free to choose for themselves, whether to stay or to return.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Of course, while this was light compared to the other three groups, it was still a heavy burden for the Southern tribes who had a constant dearth of combatants, perhaps affecting them the most out of the four.

    The palace also understood their struggles and wasn''t too hard on them either, occasionally making concessions such as the one granted by the Queen to the Calla tribe in recent times even before her rule, allowing them to better cope with issue.

    However, they didn''t hold back on the other regions with the Western and Eastern tribes required to train and send in one elf for every six they had while the Northern tribe had to send in one for every five in their population, with six of ten of these elves being strong males.

    Also, although these three regions went by the same twenty-year cycle dictated at the formation of the covenant, the elves they sent in were required to stay for a minimum period of fifty years instead before they were given the option to leave.

    Even with the difficulty of reproduction among their race remaining, the prosperity of the forests outside the South still led to much greater populations in each of these regions with the North in the lead, adding up to large numbers of elves being sent in to the capital each cycle.

    These elves might have been lacking compared to the battle-hardened warriors sent from the South, but their additional numbers made up for this with much room to spare.

    This was how it had always been since the covenant, with the palace not encountering any huge issues. The elves in charge of the various tribes also understood that this was something that concerned the safety of all the residents of the forest and regularly sent in the elves without a fuss.

    This in turn also led to a huge difference in scale between the four guardhouses of the capital, with the Northern guardhouse being the largest of the four and the Southern guardhouse, the smallest while the Western and Eastern guardhouses were comparable in number.

    All four guardhouses ran similarly to the Southern guardhouse, having a captain assigned by the palace with guards and staff primarily comprising of members from the corresponding tribes in their directions, padded with a group of Northern elves to bolster the numbers.

    This was the system they had in place, with the guardhouses regularly dispatching patrols to detect any signs while the capital built up its strength to prepare for any incidents such as another invasion should it ever happen again, at least that was how it was supposed to be.

    Ever since the sudden departure of the Elven King, the reigning Norther Chieftain began to show his appetite for power, baring his fangs towards the capital as he slowly began to corner the palace.

    Shortly after the Queen was appointed to the throne, the Northern Chieftain immediately delegated a second captain to the Northern guardhouse in the name of aiding the current captain assigned by the palace in his duties.

    At the same time, he also began to send more Northern elves over to the other guardhouses to increase his influence across the capital.

    Thankfully, despite taking control of the largest Northern guardhouse, the Western and Eastern guardhouses were of considerable scale themselves and the Northern elves couldn''t gain complete control over them.

    The situation at the South had also been precarious with even the captain needing to watch his step with even move, but the capital didn''t seem to have responded to the Northern Chieftain''s moves to Alz''s dismay.

    The current situation could have been said to be anything but fine, with the conditions looking to be extremely unfavourable for the palace.

    Adding what he just read to the words by Cruz when he ''tried'' to invite him to the North yesterday, the credibility of behind his words immediately skyrocketed to the point where he could no longer doubt it, understanding that he was probably speaking the truth.

    Ordinarily, this matter wouldn''t have concerned him at all, especially now when he had already gotten his hands on the information he needed.

    However, a sliver of worry still sneaked its way into his heart as the face of that golden-haired elf appeared in his mind. Resting motionlessly on the bed, Alz''s lips slowly began to curl into a bitter smile as he noticed this, unconsciously letting out a sigh.

    The moment she appeared in her thoughts, more images from the past began to flash across his mind, of the figure whom always watched him with sparkling eyes by the side, of the weird questions she would ask occasionally that seemed to be completely random... and of the moment his world was filled with a radiant brilliance he mistook as the Sun from his books then.

    Mysteriously, the worries that cluttered his mind began vanishing into thin air after she appeared, allowing Alz to finally begin feeling his eyelids becoming heavier as his mind began to wander off, to a temporary retreat free of worries.

 Chapter 77 Lull

    "Alz... Alz, wake up! It''s time to eat."

    Alz slowly lifted his eyelids when he heard his name being called out, revealing a pair of clouded eyes beneath as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

    "Come on, let''s go to the dining hall. Resting is important, but you won''t get better without eating your meals." another voice entered his ears, prompting Alz to look over where he saw Tol and Kleiz standing by his bed.

    Indeed, just as he tried to move, Alz immediately felt a mild sense of weakness in his limbs accompanied by a dull pain in his stomach, physically reminding him that he hadn''t consumed anything over the past day.

    After brushing off the subject with an awkward laugh, Alz propped his body up and took hold of the crutches by the side, standing up on his feet and heading towards the dining hall with the two of them.

    Alz wasn''t aware of when he managed to fall asleep the previous day, but his mind was feeling refreshed now, ready to tackle another day of information gathering at the military library as he had originally planned.

    After all, although he had already gotten the information he wanted the most, he had only taken a quick glance at everything he was interested in before moving on yesterday, intending to read more in detail over the following days.

    While much of the information he gathered yesterday plagued him with many headaches and concerns, there was a belief that he firmly stood by, a principle that was further reinforced by the years of reading he spent back in the archives.

    "Knowledge is power, it is always better to know more."

    Alz inwardly nodded to himself as he chomped down on the spoon held in front of him. As he was chewing his food, Alz stealthily shot a glance at the hectic scene on the other side of the table before looking away immediately as he felt sweat gathering on his palms.

    "Besides, who knows what''ll happen if I continue to stay..."

    Alz''s body shuddered slightly as his train of thought went on, further strengthening his decision to coop himself up in the military library as he shut off his mind and motionlessly waited for the next bite to present itself before him.

    Tol and Kleiz both let out powerless sighs and briefly exchanged glances as they silently watched Alz''s plight unfold from the neighbouring table with a hint of envy concealed deep beneath the pity reflected in their eyes.

    "It''s my turn to feed him. Ah." one of the elves seated opposite of Alz said in a joyful voice, holding a spoonful of food out towards Alz''s mouth while Alz mechanically repeated his motions of opening his mouth and eating the food without showing any resistance.

    Rewinding back several minutes, when the three of them had just arrived at the dining hall, they were suddenly ambushed by the group of female elves from the Calla tribe who immediately rushed up to Alz and brought to a table where his food was already collected for him.

    Appreciating the kindness behind their gesture, Alz thanked each of them after sitting down, but they still continued to look at him with smiles on their faces, causing him to involuntarily gulp as he felt a sense of deja vu in from their gazes.

    "Look at those bruises on his hands, it must be difficult for him to eat... Why don''t we feed him?" indeed, one of the elves proceeded to bring up this point, causing the eyes of everyone in the group to light up as they seconded her view.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Despite Alz''s futile resistance, one thing led to another which resulted in his current plight, leaving Alz lamenting on his own powerlessness in the face of them as he began to recall the days during the initial expedition towards the capital.

    After he finally finished the plate of food before him, an excited glint flashed across his eyes, but it quickly died down before he could even make a single move as one of the them returned to the table with another plate of food in hand.

    "You have to eat more to recover, you didn''t eat anything yesterday right?" a gentle voice with a hint of reprimand drifted into his ears as the elf quickly replaced the empty plate while directing a caring gaze towards him.

    "T-Thank you." Alz replied with a slightly forced smile, releasing the tension he had gathered in his legs and remained seated in place.

    Thankfully, Alz only had to go through one more plate of food before the group finally decided to let him off, hastily speeding out of the dining hall as quickly as he could manage.

    After Alz left the hall, a few of the elves in the group finally couldn''t resist any more, breaking out out into chimes of laughter as they started chatting about how interesting it was to tease Alz while making their way out of the dining hall.

    Having witnessed the entire spectacle, the look of pity in Tol and Kleiz''s eyes deepened as they looked in the direction where he left at, feeling like they finally understood why Alz was so adamant on living away from them when they first arrived.

    Naturally, Alz''s destination after the meal was none other than the military library, arriving at the small building outside the guardhouse where he lightly greeted the guards before heading inside.

    Upon entering the library, Alz immediately went around to pick out several scrolls from the shelves before stacking them into a pile on the table. Following this, he lit the stone lamp before him with experienced motions and chose a scroll from the pile, spending the entire day buried in books.

    The days began to pass by peacefully and two elven weeks went by in a flash. It had been eleven days since the incident at the sunflower field and it was already starting to fade from public attention, only appearing occasionally in the conversations between elves.

    Ironically, although the attacks had caused the tensions between the North and the Capital to escalate, the situation here at the southern guardhouse was exactly the opposite with the Northern elves acting more meekly than before with Cruz''s departure.

    Regardless of the reason, the southern guard captain still happily welcomed this change and hoped that these days would remain for as long as possible despite knowing that there was never any chance of his hopes being realised.

    Over the past ten days, Alz''s condition had also been steadily improving under the meticulous care of his tribe that bordered on being overwhelming at times, leaving only a minor injury on his left leg that would likely disappear soon as well.

    On a separate note, while news of the incident had already began to die down, there was hardly any elf in the guardhouse who didn''t recognise Alz currently, with the many ways he stood out.

    While a part of this owed to the captain personally going around the guardhouse and informing all the tribes of the incident back then, an even larger reason was because of the shocking news that had been going around, originating from the two guards who were present back when the captain was talking to Alz.

    The matter of him receiving a letter from the Queen had been rapidly spreading by word of mouth, inciting a wave of shock and curiosity within the southern guardhouse that solidified Alz''s newfound fame here.

    Yet, none of this ended up affecting Alz at all, with him spending practically all of his time outside of eating and sleeping in the military library, remaining oblivious to the various changes that were occurring in the guardhouse.

    At the start of the day, Alz headed over to the library as usual, smoothly walking pass the two library guards and successfully gaining access to the library without any trouble.

    As this had been his daily routine over the past ten days, the two guards showed no surprise when Alz came over at this early hour, having long since gotten accustomed to seeing this.

    However, unlike the previous times, Alz didn''t pick out the scrolls beforehand, instead choosing to casually browse through any that caught his eye as he went around the shelves in the library.

    Before long, Alz suddenly halted in his tracks and turned around, realising that he had already cross the last shelf. His gaze briefly swept across the shelves in the library with a slight hint of disappointment in his eyes, letting out a deep sigh.

    "I suppose it''s about time." Alz shook his head lightly and muttered under his breath, realising that he was asking for too much.

    With a resolute gaze, he looked towards the entrance and took a step forward, willingly leaving this place before the skies darkened for the very first time.

 Chapter 78 Indecisiveness

    The guards revealed some surprise when they saw Alz leave the library at this time but didn''t voice any questions as they watched his back disappear into the guardhouse.

    Alz''s feet continued to carry him across the hallways until he arrived at the captain''s office, taking a deep breath before giving the door a light knock.

    "Who is it?" the captain''s voice came from beyond the door.

    "It''s me captain, Alz." Alz identified himself.

    "Come in." The captain''s eyes widened when he heard that it was Alz, placing the scroll that was in his hands back on the table and looking towards the door with an anticipatory gaze as he watched it slowly opening.

    "How are your injuries?" the captain asked,

    "I''m feeling much better now."

    Although Alz knew that the captain was just asking it as a customary gesture, he could feel the genuine concern from his voice, choosing to reply in kind.

    "I''m glad to hear that... so, have you decided?" the captain eagerly proceeded to ask, leaning closer towards Alz when he spoke.

    Alz felt slightly bad for the captain as he saw his reaction, knowing that he had probably caused the captain much distress over the past two elven weeks.

    In the previous two elven weeks, although he didn''t pester Alz for an answer, the captain had came by to visit him several times and casually brought the matter up only for Alz to dodge the subject as he hadn''t thought of what he wanted to do yet.

    "Yes, I''m planning to head to the palace on the third day six cycles from now."

    However, he didn''t continue to do the same today, returning a clear answer to the captain this time as he had intended do when he decided to come here.

    "Six cycles... I will relay this to the palace." the captain made a slight frown when he heard Alz''s words, revealing an expression of slight hesitation. Yet, the hesitation on his expression was quickly replaced with a smile, returning a light nod to Alz as he answered.

    His first thought was that six elven weeks might be a little too long, but he quickly thought back to the contents of the letter, ultimately deciding to just report Alz''s decision to the palace.

    "Also, captain, I would like to move back to the field after this." seeing that it was settled, Alz let out a small breath of relief and raised the subject of moving back to the captain, asking him for permission.

    While he could have simply just left without saying anything, he still felt the need to inform the captain as he was still a guard under the guardhouse''s command after all.

    A tinge of surprise flashed across the captain''s face, but his lips soon curled into a biter smile when he saw the resolve burning in his eyes, swallowing the words he was about to use to convince him back down his throat.

    "Sure, you were already granted permission to leave in the first place, just make sure you take care of your health... and remember to stay vigilant." the captain replied with words of concern at the end, adding a short reminder at the end.

    Alz''s expression hardened at the captain''s reminder, nodding strongly in response to him.

    "Also, can you inform the tribe that I went back later?" Alz suddenly asked.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "I don''t mind... but why don''t you do it yourself?" the captain paused to think about it for several moments before agreeing to it, but he still decided to ask Alz the reason out of curiosity.

    Alz''s body shuddered slightly as various thoughts went through his mind, letting out an awkward laugh while averting his eyes from the captain.

    "Thank you, then I''ll take my leave. The crossbows will be delivered soon." Alz acted oblivious to his question,

    The captain stood frozen in place for a moment, not understanding the reason behind his large reaction. However, his eyes immediately lit up when Alz mentioned the crossbow, deciding not to think too deeply about the matters that didn''t concern him.

    After he hurriedly left the captain''s office, Alz didn''t hesitate for a moment as he continued to leave the guardhouse from the northern entrance.

    "It''s time to go back."

    Right outside the entrance, Alz looked towards the direction of the sunflower field with longing in his eyes. With a smile on his face, he then began to head off in the same direction, traversing walk to the forest for the first time in ten days.

    Although his left leg still hadn''t fully recovered yet, his pace was still significantly faster than when he had to rely on crutches for movement, arriving back at his old home only a little longer than two hours later.

    Upon exiting the trees, he was immediately greeted by a breath-taking sight of golden petals swaying along with the gentle breeze, calming a little of the anxiousness he had bottled up within him.

    His lips slowly began to curl into an innocent grin as he continued to stare at this majestic sight, marvelling at the beauty of the flowers before him.

    "That was still brighter."

    However, it didn''t take long before his thoughts began to stray, turning a reminiscent gaze towards a patch of trees at the side. The radiance emanated by the flowers might have been bright, but it still paled in comparison to that sight burned deeply into his memories.

    Alz directed a concerned gaze in the direction of the palace before turning away with a heavy sigh, deciding not to think about that matter for now.

    Even though the surroundings were still bright, Alz began to feel a pang of drowsiness assault his mind, feeling a deep fatigue slowly creeping up towards it as he arrived back at this familiar environment.

    After spending some time pondering, Alz decided to go along with it and went up to lay on the flowerbed, drowning himself in the familiar scent of nature as he relaxed his mind and went to sleep.

    Despite the lack of a proper bed, Alz found himself more comfortable here than at the past two elven weeks at the guardhouse, managing to sleep soundly until the next day came by.

    The Next Day.

    Alz rubbed his eyes and began to stretch his body when he woke up, breaking out into a smile as he realised that he was feeling much more refreshed than before.

    He hadn''t really noticed it before, but evidently, the many days of non-stop reading had taken a heavy toll on his mind, finally clearing only after a long, well-deserved rest.

    "Should I just leave now?"

    Looking up towards the skies that had yet to light up, a conflicted expression began to surface on Alz as he focused his thoughts on the problem that had been bothering him the most, unable to fully come to a decision.

    Although there were many things he learnt from the military library that bothered him, he had also obtained all that he needed to know, of the location of the city to the South.

    Whether it was the problems the elves were facing or the revelation of the major contributions by the wolves, none of these would matter to him if he went chose to leave everything behind him and leave the forest now as he had originally intended.

    However, he also understood that while this was a simple way out, it would inevitably lead to many consequences as well, consequences that might end up being shouldered by his tribe.

    Still, judging from what he had learnt about the Elven Queen over the past few days, it also seemed to be highly unlikely that his tribe would be implicated too heavily by his selfish actions, allowing him to not rule out this option entirely.

    This result was supposed to be what he was going for at the very beginning, perhaps even turning out better than he had hoped for. Yet, he felt none of the joy he had expected after arriving at this stage, only a strong sense of loss at his conflicted emotions.

    Alz tossed and turned several times in deep thought, but the conflict in his eyes only seemed to deepen as time went by.

    About half an hour passed with Alz repeating the same motions before he suddenly sat up from the flowerbed with bloodshot eyes, realising that letting things go on like this was not a solution.

    It didn''t seem like he would arrive at a concrete decision if he continued to keep things to himself, deciding to consult with someone else to gain a wider perspective on the matter.

    Hence, he stood up and started walking out of the forest, heading towards one of the locations he visited the most in his stay here, with one of the few elves that he interacted with frequently since his arrival, the community library.

 Notice

    As you may have realised, I haven''t been able to find time for this hobby over the past week due to other commitments which are taking some time and will still be taking up some time in the near future.

    However,  Alz''s journey is just getting started (technically hasn''t even started yet =X).  I''m just going to spend some time to prepare for my other stuff properly before continuing on with the story with more regular updates =).Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Sorry for the sudden dissapearance, but I''ll be back soon, I''ll have something big in store for when I return!

    Thanks for the support as always!

    PS: It won''t be too long, just around 2-3 weeks to get everything else straightened out.