Chapter 2: Elven city & Elif?

Surrounded by beautiful lush forests was an enormous city with walls lining the edge of the forest to keep the inhabitants safe from potential danger outside. Inside the walls was a beautiful city with magnificent structures as far as the eyes could see, there was flourishing vegetation accompanying the structures, and they didn't diminish the beauty; they instead gave the city a fresh breath of life, enhancing the already wonderful atmosphere of the city.

Inhibiting the fantastic city where people of many different races, some of them walked around with cat ears and a tail, while others walked around with hard scales all over their bodies; some of them even had ethereal bodies, allowing them to float everywhere. This place was a flourishing city without a doubt, but leaving the outer city, we went deeper till we stopped inside the inner city.

The view of the inner city was leagues ahead of the outer city, and if the outer city could be considered a utopia, then the inner city could be compared to heaven; its dazzling architecture was like looking at a painting in awe. The road was paved with gold bricks and bedazzled with beautiful and shiny gems of various colors; further in the distance were mansions hidden inside their land that was separated off between walls and a gate with guards in front that put buildings in the outer city to shame.

The atmosphere in the outer city was bustling and lively; however, the atmosphere in the inner city was quiet but serene, with a very small amount of people present, and the people that were out enjoying themselves were all dressed in fancy clothes that had gold and silver lining stitched on it. Some of them would be sitting in a carriage that various animals were pulling, and others would have an entire entourage of guards following them while they visited multiple shops. But one thing that all people who are present in the inner city have in common is that they all are of the same race, and they are Elves, to be exact; some of the Elves will have dark skin, others will have lighter skin, but they all have beautiful long hair and pointy ears.

Traveling to the deepest parts of the city was a giant Palace, so enormous that even those mansions from earlier were merely one-tenth the size of the Palace. The outsides were surrounded by even more beautiful lush forests, and all that was encased in a large wall that spanned so far you couldn't even see where the wall turned. At the front of the Palace was a giant gate that led directly to the main road, but several guards were guarding the gate, and these guards were far more intimidating than the ones protecting the mansions from earlier.

The Palace itself gave off a feeling of majesty, strength, power, pride, ancientness, life, and nature, but even though it gave off those feelings, no one would notice as they would be so awed and engrossed in the beauty of the palace to think about anything else. Its beautiful architectural design was so marvelously breathtaking that it would be impossible to describe it with coherent words; all you could do was stand still and gaze in amazement at the palace that was in front of you.

The inside of the Palace is just as glorious as the outside, causing anyone who walks these halls for the first time to be shocked. Still, by going further inside and making several turns, passing through the beautiful scenery, you would eventually make it to a single door. While that door seemed quite ordinary compared to the rest of the Palace, one of the most important events that will happen to the city is taking place.

Inside the room is a woman lying on a large bed, with her legs spread open; she is currently covered in a blanket, so you can't fully see her body, but her face alone is enough to give you an idea of how beautiful she is. She has slightly curved eyebrows that are just the right size, her cheekbones are high, making her full lips stand out even more, and her eyes are bright silver, adding to her silver hair. This beautiful lady is clearly an Elf with dark skin, but the difference between her and the other Elfs is the golden mark on her forehead.

Standing opposite the lady is another lady who looks almost the same, but she is a little older with small wrinkles on her face, which gives her a different kind of charm than the younger elf; she also has a golden mark on her forehead as well.

"Dear, just calm down; everything will be fine, you need to stop worrying so much, or something bad might happen." Said the older lady in a soft and soothing voice.

"I know, mother, but I just can't stop worrying about my baby; this will be my first child, and what if something happens to the baby!?" Spoke the lady on the bed, with slight panic in her voice.

"Haa, listen, dear, I was in the same situation when I had you and your brother, but nothing happened, and you both turned out wonderful. Now calm down and push; we can't have the baby staying inside forever."

When all was said and done, the lady lying on the bed closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, and opened her eyes once she had calmed down; now that she was calm, she started pushing, and slowly but surely, the baby inside the lady was coming out, about an hour later the baby was finally out.

Cutting the umbilical cord with a wave of her hand, the older Elf caringly held the baby in her hand while she cleaned the child up from all the body fluids stuck to him. Once he was thoroughly cleaned, she could finally get a good look at her grandchild, and what she saw slightly astonished her.

"Oh my, to think my grandchild is a mutated Elf, this is wonderful! But most importantly, he looks so cute with that streak of purple in his silver hair and that purple emblem. Hehehe." Said the older lady in awe and happiness as she moved his hair.

"Mother, now that I've cleaned up, can I hold my child, please? After all, I am the one that carried him in my stomach for the past year." Spoke the younger Elf with a pout adorned on her face, as she had already cleaned herself up and was now standing next to her mother, though you wouldn't even be able to tell that the lady had just given birth if not for the baby.

"That's true, dear, but don't forget that I held you within my stomach for a year as well, so technically speaking, if it weren't for me, this super cute baby wouldn't have been born." Said the older Elf, with a smirk as she faced her daughter.

"Haha, alright dear, I was just joking, and stop trying to use your pouting face; you've long since grown out of it."

Once the older Elf handed over her grandchild to her daughter, she stopped pouting and quickly grabbed her baby, scared that her mother would retake him. When she finally laid eyes on her baby, her mind was flooded with the only thought of loving and protecting him forever; seeing as her child was still asleep even after he was finally birthed, she started playing with him in hopes he would wake up. But while that was going on, a knock was heard on the door before a man opened the door, he had a striking resemblance to the older Elf, but he looked more masculine and had straighter eyebrows.

"Perfect timing, Maria has just given birth, and he was an incredibly adorable boy; you should go and check out your son." Said the older elf in happiness.

When the man heard that, he quickly looked to his right and saw Maria holding his baby while playing with him; when he saw that, a smile instantly appeared on his face as he accompanied his son and wife.

With the door not closed, another male Elf walked through; this man looked like a copy and paste of the younger Elf, but he was older. When the older elf saw him enter the room, she went over to him and closed the door before finally speaking.

"Our daughter gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and he is just the cutest little thing; also, he is a mutated Elf." Said the older female Elf.

When the older male Elf heard that, his face, which was already expressing happiness, turned even happier before letting out a hearty laugh in satisfaction.

"Hahaha, that's my Grandchild! Hahaha."

"Be quiet, father; you might scare him!" Maria said slightly angrily.

But by the time she said that, it was too late as the baby's eyes opened, though when Maria saw that she thought her child was about to cry and she was about to punish her father for that. But when she looked into the baby's eyes, he let out a baby-like laugh so pleasant to the ears that Maria completely forgot about her father. Everyone else in the room wasn't any different than Maria.

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But what they won't know for a few days is that the moment the baby lets out that laugh everywhere that is considered within the Elven domain, every flower bloomed at that instant, trees quickly bearing fruit, and even unique plants growing rapidly.

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Back at the Elven Palace, once everyone regained their train of thought, they looked at each other with an incredulous expression before calming down and looking back at the baby that was now quiet and looking back at them.

"I just felt the barrier in my cultivation loosen." Said the older male Elf in a shocked tone.

"Yeah, I'm the same too." Replied the older female Elf with the same shocked face as the other Elf.

"You guys can worry about that later; we need to figure out what his name shall be!" Said the male Elf with happiness and excitement in his voice, which he tried suppressing but failed at.

Once those words were spoken, the two Elves ignored the other Elves and started talking among themselves; they would constantly say names that neither of them liked until a voice that wasn't there before suggested a name. Although when they heard the voice, instead of getting ready to fight, they all gave a slight bow to an old lady who appeared out of nowhere.

"Ancestor!" Replied everyone in unison.

"How about the name Elif, Empress Maria?"