"Are you sure you know where you’re going?" I inquired with a frown.

"Yeah, of course I’m sure! Well, mostly sure...," Responded Rosary, looking around a bit uncertainly.

"Well, on the bright side, it’s not too big a deal if we’re lost. Prysm can just teleport us somewhere else," Pointed out Argent.

"Mhm, I sure can," She nodded with a thumbs up.

"Hey, we’re not lost! I’m pretty sure this is the right away...I haven’t been here in a while, but this does look familiar so we’re probably going the right way," Replied Rosary, as she continued to lead the way.

"Isn’t it about time you told us where you’re taking us?" I sighed in exasperation.

It’s been over half an hour since Prysm teleported us here, to the forest north of Kieph Town. We’d been walking that whole time, and we were now near the mountain not too far from the town.

The forest stretches across to the northeast, reaching the base of the mountain to its northwest side. This place is pretty damn vast, it’d take days to search it all, provided you don’t get lost or end up going in circles.

"Are there really people out here? I don’t sense anyone at all within a five kilometer radius, and I haven’t this whole time," Mused Argent skeptically.

"Well, it wouldn’t be much of a hidden settlement if you could find them that easily. Wait...okay, if I’m not mistaken, we’re almost there! It should just be a little bit further ahead," Rosary declared as her eyes lit up.

Yeah, I’m just going to assume that she is mistaken...hope for the best but expect the worst. And if it does turn out that we’re lost out here...I think it’d be best to just give up and think of another place where we can hide out in.

We made our way through some rows of bushes and shrubbery, pushing through the leaves and branches to avoid getting scratched up. This is starting to get annoying, I-...

"Ow...hey, don’t stop without any warning," I frowned as I rubbed my nose.

Rosary had abruptly stopped walking and I ended up bumping into her, my nose hitting the back of her head.

"Oh, sorry. But I was right, we weren’t lost! This is it, right here," She turned around with a grin.

Uh...it is? There’s nothing here but more trees though.

"Hm...something is a bit off here. Like, the scents I was smelling just earlier were a bit different...it’s like there’s something covering things up over here," Remarked Izzy with an uncertain, confused look on her face.

"Wow, your senses are amazing. You’re right on the money with that...okay, let me see, there should be a rock in the shape of a hexagon. Ah, here it is!" Rosary exclaimed triumphantly, as she searched through the grass. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

I walked over and peered over her shoulder. Huh, she’s right, that rock is a hexagon. It’s embedded in the ground, with the edges a bit worn down and jagged.

"What next? Oh, is that rock, like, a button to press that opens up a secret entrance or something?" Guessed Prysm in fascination.

"No, but you’re not too far off the mark. It’s kinda like a doorbell, but you ring it with a certain sequence of Mana bursts," Explained Rosary, as she pressed her index finger onto the middle of the rock and muttered, "Let’s see, what was it again? Uh...okay, one, two, three, pause...one, two, pause...and one, two, three. I think that’s right."

Huh, that’s a pretty intriguing security system...firing out small bursts of Mana into that rock in a predetermined pattern, I wonder how that could’ve been done?

A Magic Item, maybe? Magic Items are created using Magic Crystals, the crystals naturally emit a frequency that can be tuned and adjusted so that they perform the desired result when used.

But the equipment used to tune the crystals and turn them into the cores for Magic Items are extremely expensive, and are only available to Nobles, that’s why their Magic Items are of so much higher quality than what Commoners can create with the more inferior equipment that’s available to them.

Well, the capital has recently made higher quality goods, including Magic Items, available to Commoners at pretty affordable prices. Healing Items especially have been highly sought after.

The healing potions that can be made from Magic Plants are more effective that healing Magic Items, but potions take a long time to create and are, obviously, single use since they’re consumables, while some high quality Magic Items can be used indefinitely, even the crappy ones can be used at least a few times.

Potions are pretty cheap though, since demand for them is kept somewhat in check by Magic Items, so people do still buy them regularly. Anyway, I’m getting way off topic here...looks like something’s happening.

"Don’t move! Who are you people?" Came a voice from up ahead, as the ground below a bush rose up and an arrow appeared out from the opening.

Huh, it’s a door hidden beneath the bush, under the dirt and grass.

"We mean you no harm! My name is Rosary Farndrey, and I’ve been here before!" Rosary responded as she stepped forward, raising her hands above her head.

"Hm? Oh, it really is you! That’s right, humans age much faster than we do, don’t they?" Came the reply, as the door then fully opened and the figure climbed out.

Wait, humans? Those ears...an Elf? Wow...this is the first time I’ve seen a Demi-Human in this world. I have so many questions right now.

This one’s a male Elf, with short blonde hair, light blue eyes and pale skin. His clothes look like leather, but a bit crude...probably dried animal skin. It was dyed green, and he also had a quiver of arrows on his back.

Okay, so he’s a Light Elf then. It’s not that easy to find books about Demi-Humans in any of libraries I’ve been to, but I do know some of the basics. There are two types of Elves in this world, Light Elves and Dark Elves.

The first part relates to their Attributes, and unlike humans, each of those two races can’t possess the opposite Attribute, and none of them possess both Attributes. Light Elves tend to live for upwards of five hundred years, aging far slower than humans do.

I’ve also read that they don’t have Soul Weapons, and instead possess a transformation ability, which allows them to temporarily take on a more powerful form in which they’re known as Luminous Elves.

"It’s been a long time, how have you been? Here, let me introduce you to my friends...this is Larrk Stryker, Argent Stryker, Prysm Duralles and Izzozon, uh...wait, do you have a last name or...?" Trailed off Rosary as she glanced at Izzy.

"Hm? Oh, no, I don’t."

"Right, so just Izzozon, then."

"Hm, I see...nice to meet all of you. I am a Light Elf, my name is Iefyr. What brings you all here?" He inquired with a smile.

It’s subtle, but he’s clearly suspicious of us. He’s probably playing nice because he knows Rosary, but he’s definitely being wary of the rest of us.

"Yeah, about that...if it’s not too much trouble, I was hoping that you could hide these four with you guys for a while," Responded Rosary sheepishly.

"Huh? But why?" He frowned apprehensively.

"Well, it’s kind of a long story. Where to start...?" Mused Rosary, before explaining our situation to him.

It took quite a while to give him the whole story, the rest of us sat down on the grass once we realized that this was going to take some time to get through.

"I see, that’s all quite unfortunate...however, you must understand, to house four humans in this place would be problematic. Many of our residents have suffered at the hands of humans, they’d likely be uncomfortable with such an arrangement. I do sympathize with your situation, but I cannot help," He shook his head as Rosary finished explaining.

"Uh, if it helps, it’s actually just three humans...this one here isn’t human," I chimed in as I gestured to Izzy.

"Oh? Then what race is she?" He inquired curiously.

"I’m Half-Demon and Half-Dragon," She replied with a shrug, taking off her wig and rubbing her cheek to wipe off a bit of the makeup on her, exposing her red skin.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, so...she’s a Monster. But she’s a good girl, you have my word on that," Responded Rosary sheepishly.

"No, that’s not why I’m surprised. Seeing humans traveling alongside a Monster is hard to comprehend...very well, then, I’ll let the leaders know about the situation. I’ll be back as soon as they’ve made their decision...unfortunately, all of you will have to stay out here for the time being," He informed us.

"Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it," Replied Rosary gratefully, as the Elf nodded and disappeared back down through the door.

Guess there’s nothing to do now but wait, huh?

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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