The carriage abruptly stops; it was her third time coming to the dark elf settlement; they always stop at this pce, not at the forest’s doorstep, nor in the middle of nowhere. Anyhow, Rhapari didn’t care for it and didn’t even think about it too much. She quickly hops out of the uncomfortable wooden carriage; her whole thematic stood out like a sore thumb in the lush pins. Her quest had ended quite some time ago with the help of a unique zombie; despite it, the journey back spanned over a week. The other sceneries she’s seen couldn’t compare to what’s in front of her. Medieval cityscapes had their beauty, but who wouldn’t love some skyscraper-sized trees?

  The whole forest would be equivalent to a state or a whole smaller-end country. Their branchless, dark brown bark that expanded into the sky was covered with a thick shadow that consumed everything under the bulbous leaf formations; they reminded her of round popsicles. The trees seemed thin from here, rather an unfortunate distance. Speaking of, Rhapari walks around the carriage to the driver of this rugged contraption of a pnk with wheels.

  “Say… why don’t you drop me off closer?” She asked, trying to be nice while proposing the question. The driver paused, gncing a couple of times at her and the forest.

  “Drop you… off? You mean leave ‘er there?” He smiles, finally understanding the simple question. And points at her desired drop-off point, then promptly shook his head. “No can do. She don’t like ‘em.” He jolts his chin at the donkey with reins at the front.

  “Them?” Her ears perked up, and Ferul explicitly mentioned that they haven’t had any contact with anyone that’s not a dark elf.

  “Curses, bck magic and such—anyhoo’s I leave a buncha of yalls here. No use of makin’ yous the exception, even with coin.” The driver didn’t comment on it, bbbered, and started turning around by making a half circle. She hadn’t heard of anyone really doing this quest, though seeing as it’s a hidden questline, it’s pusible that there were more dark elves coming this way.

  Undeterred, she marched onto the settlement. The trees kept getting bigger and bigger, until looking straight up didn’t show the tree tops. Despite having such huge vegetation, under them, at the base grass yer, it was bare. Not a single bush in sight, and there was a lot to see; in every direction it was pretty much as ft visually as it can be. The supposed grass was actually moss rather than grass, it was extremely uneven due to the tree roots spreading out probably miles and miles under the dirt.

  Nonetheless, the whole scenery was a tad eerie; walking deeper inside didn’t help. With a gnce back, she opened her inventory, right at the talisman tab; there was a pinned one already. She clicked it, and the talisman appeared in her hands; it didn’t seem like an extraordinary jewel or something that valuable. It was but a simple rock carving, threaded through with a charred string that could snap from the lightest tug.

  There was no lore around it; Ferul didn’t add anything to it, just expined that it would give her “safe passage.” It’s her first time actually using it; she didn’t know why he didn’t give it to her the first time they met. Needless to say, the moment she threw it over her head, the scenery changed. The world around her slightly to the right then continued; unlike before, she was ready and had pnted her feet to avoid making an embarrassment of herself. As the world turned what she assumed a whole three-sixty degrees;

  “I’ve been waiting for your arrival, Rhapari.” His deep, regal voice reverberated through the forest. She stepped closer, still amazed at the settlement above. In front of her was a wooden staircase to the ground level; it wrapped around the tree a dozen times over. The steps themselves blended in quite well since they’re of the same dark brown wood. But before she could agonizingly reach the top, she gently bowed for the man in front of her.

  The man, seemingly unfazed by Rhapari’s bigger interest in the forest rather than him, gestured back with a nod. His unusual white attire was pocketless or without any visible seams, akin to an unremovable drape around his bckish-blue skin. On that note, they were loose, and they hung so low that the only skin he showed was of his head, hands, and sandals when walking. The pristine-white jacket’s back part even reached the mossy ground. His red pupils were hidden by his own eyelids. His, like Rhapari’s long ears, didn’t have any earrings.

  “We’re so close… but before I fester you with my problems, let me congratute you. You have completed another vital puzzle in the ongoing dispute. We’re… close.” He says, his focus shifted away from Rhapari and back to the staircase. Following his cue, she started walking alongside him on the staircase, at least for a couple of steps. The steps weren’t wonky or wobbly, but the fact that there was no railing really stoked her anxiety.

  “I got… never mind.” She interrupted herself; she wanted to mention that she got the item; however, he seemed to already know. He continued leading her up the stairs; his jacket kept gging behind, making her be a couple of steps behind him.

  “Anything of note happening in the human capital?” He added while interlocking his arms behind his back.

  “I didn’t go there; I went to Bckwood Woods, back to Higelsdale, and then took a ride to Hundellvell. With a carriage from there… I’m here…” She pauses, her focus quickly switched back on the upcoming step until she gnced at Ferul, who was walking whilst looking at her over his shoulder. “Uh… of note? Nothing much; I don’t keep up with the updates. I did overhear that the King will have a banquet, but… that’s nothing too interesting.” She added. Though, she did lie a tad; the banquet is absurdly interesting. However, her circumstances, which totally did not have anything to do with Ferul, she omitted expressing her privy.

  “A banquet, you say?” Ferul went back to silence, evidently mulling over that random detail. “It would be my pleasure to express how important you are. You’re one of us, and there’s not a lot of us left. We aren’t able to reach other settlements, even with your arduous help. Soon, we will be able to change that.” He kept expining; Rhapari did her best to hear him without falling down. The uneven moss ground underneath blended into a single green blotch; however it also pyed with her distance perception. Luckily, it didn’t matter any longer.

  They had finally arrived at the top; the settlement was huge, and their houses and buildings were at the treeline. They combined bulbous leaves into a huge canopy above them, acting like an awning would, and it nicely painted the dark wooden thematic with a light green as well as the seldom slivers of the sun that peeked through the gaps. As they continued walking to the b building that Ferul seemed to like, their path was surrounded with dark elves that kept their heads low and avoided eye contact with her or him. Which was a bit weird if she’s their only hope, though she didn’t mull over it too much; the quest was about to end anyway until Ferul stopped before opening the dark wood door and swung around to face her.

  “There’s something I must ask of you; I beseech thee to ease my st and utmost, worriable matter, which only thou canst solve—my son. And perchance, I have an inkling that he will be at the banquet.”

  ?

  The morning came whether he liked it or not. At least he woke up to a nice view; Li was gearing up, though for Han it felt like a punishment. She started with her leg ptes, guessing because her mobility wouldn’t allow her to put on the top parts first. He can’t help but admire her clean skin; the paleness didn’t matter. Soon, the admiration turned into worry;

  What’s her story?

  The armor was practically pristine and absurdly expensive for someone living in a shack whilst also sharing said shack. He hasn’t even seen the sword that’s sheathed in a glossy, polished leather sheath. Does Kanade even get paid? That would expin it slightly if Li’s the main breadwinner, though her gear was still a mystery on its own. He was pretty sure that they didn’t even have a second pair of regur clothes. Kanade’s was the same aside from the gear which, she puts on ter.

  There wasn’t much to work with. To begin with, he’s not a lore fetishist, so he didn’t have that half of the world’s knowledge. Anyhow, she was totally among the armored csses; padin, knight, fighter, and many more that branched out from those three. Narrowing it down will come with time as he gets to see her work.

  Li noticed Han watching her and waved, her hands calloused to the point where there was barely any softness left; it’s all thick scrunched-up skin. What was weird is that he could see a sword’s handle indented in it.

  I’d love to go with her…

  Despite thinking so, he wouldn’t have. Leaving Kanade alone was dangerous, and the moment she tastes an actual victory—he’ll keep enabling her. There’s a small amount of time, a very small amount of time till she becomes a warrior, and a small amount of time till he evolves.

  Oh~ I can’t wait.

  He couldn’t hide his giddiness without knowing that unlike Zom, Pochirin’s expression could be read. When he gnced back at the fully armored Li;

  Is… she giggling?

  Since the armor basically prevented him from seeing her face, he took a guess by watching her shoulders that kept twitching up and down. That though didn’t st long as she waved once more before leaving to do whatever she does. On that note, he didn’t know whether this guild that they kept talking about is the same one he knows of. Since for him, guilds are pyer-based social groups, he didn’t really py along with the idea of sharing EXP with like 12 people but did understand that at some point his solo nature would pteau at higher levels.

  The others, and now that he’s thinking about it, seemed pusible; adventurer guilds, they were for those without a guild, basically freencers of this work that take commissions whilst the guilds take some percentile of it. Nothing too extraordinary, but there were variations, or at least Han’s heard of some; one that only works with certain csses like Sanctarchy Lounge for any knightly csses, that one is probably the biggest one. The other went something along the lines of Order of the Dagger as the antithesis.

  Needless to say, it’s safe to assume that she works in the adventurer’s guild in Higelsdale. He wasn’t sure if she was a licensed adventurer; if not, that armor would go to waste. The other highly likely option is that she’s a partymate-for-hire, mercenaries for pyers whilst being under the umbrel of guilds.

  Still, being in a guild is a huge step for Kanade. God knows what she’s been doing all this time; she could’ve signed up and taken simple jobs whilst making a decent living. There’s no way that dungeon scouting paid this little; it’s arguably more dangerous than the other option he thought of.

  All this thinking was starting to ache his noggin. Han’s eyes dart back to Kanade, completely forgetting how close she was. After carefully extending the gap between them, his eyes examined her face. She’s still as beautiful as before. She had that spunk in her that he appreciated, living with nothing, living happily. But they really needed to shower. Desperately even. Even he was filthy, though he noticed that her hair wasn’t as oily as Li’s. In fact, her hair was rougher akin to a horse’s mane, or fur like Pochirin’s, without needing to touch it. The cat ears on her head were covered in that type of hair as well; the inner parts weren’t bck, though they were white and puffy, almost as if there were two clouds peeking out of her ears.

  Needless to say, Li needed to shower as well. As his nose was turned on because he wanted to check his stench, he smelled her coming back. Assuming she forgot something, he didn’t overthink it. But something wasn’t right; he wasn’t as dense enough to forget her natural aroma. The person coming didn’t have her scent. The smell quickly approached their porch; the stench split into three vaguely distinct people. He didn’t have much time;

  “Ow?!” Han had bitten Kanade’s ear and jumped off the bed. His instinct told him to hide under the bed, but a fading metallic scent of blood inched him to a pile where Kanade’s gear was. He bit into the handle of the dagger she used to butcher, rushing to the corner that he knew would be obscured by the door once opened. He didn’t have time to expin, nor could he have. Her groggy eyes could barely follow him darting around the small shack, and in a matter of seconds;

  “Anyyyonee~…” A muffled man’s voice pierces the door then, “Home!?” The door was kicked inwards; the door hinge somehow held on, hitting the side of Han. The hit was so sudden he couldn’t even react, though that probably saved him from being caught.