211-220

211 Elanor joins the party

Clara was the first to wake up and when she did, her face was smothered into Shaman's chest. Trying to move away, Clara found herself stuck as Elysia hugged her from behind.

Clara had been sandwiched while asleep and didn't know what to do.

'I don't want to wake them up.' Internally sobbing, she laid there until suddenly Shaman pulled Clara closer.

'Oh no my horns!' Realising the kind of position she was in, her horns were going to stab Shaman right in the face. Although they were not sharp like a blade, the tip of the horn was quite pointy.

Clara's horns stabbed right into Shaman's chin and caused her to instantly wake up while grabbing her chin.

"Ow fuck!" Tossing and turning around in the bed, it took her a moment to settle down before looking around to see what happened. Seeing Clara awake and a guilty look on her face, Shaman pieced together that she was stabbed by her horns.

"Sorry, it just sort of happened and I couldn't really react in time to stop it." Clara spoke quietly and quickly, unsure if she was going to get punished.

"Haha, no need to be sorry, I can see you didn't intend for it and if anything it's my fault for wanting to sandwich you with Elysia as a surprise for when you woke up." After Shaman and Elysia finished last night, they decided it would be a good idea to squish Clara, hoping she would freak out.

.....

*Yawn* "What's going on?" Elysia pushed herself up in a half-dazed state and leaned on one arm.

"Ah-." Clara went to face Elysia, but her chest was right at Clara's head level and got smothered by them, cutting off her surprised yell.

"Oh? Whoops, sorry, Clara." Elysia heard the small cut-off yell as she felt something hit her chest.

"I'm going to have a chest overload at this rate." Clara sat up straight completely red, getting almost overwhelmed by all these accidents.

"Fufu~ you just have to get used to it, plus with Elysia around, it's hard for things to not be… let's say horny, wait no that sounds bad, especially with your horns, how about sexual." Shaman tried not to be too blunt, but the casual term she used in her original world didn't quite fit.

"I can't help it, I blame Shaman for all the fun we had when we first got together hehe~." Elysia shifted the blame as in reality it was Shaman's fault for introducing such activities into Elysia's life.

"Oi! We only did it like twice back then, not my fault you became some nympho always at your knees begging we keep going." Shaman refused to take the blame as she never thought it would turn out like this.

"Pffhaha, I guess we will see if I turn into one and if I do I blame you Sha~." Clara knew this would be a great excuse for more action as well as a chance to join forces with Elysia to tease Shaman.

"Tsssk fine." Shaman accepted, not realising what will be in store for her in the future.

"Mothers!!! Kiruya wants to see you."

'It sounded weird to say mothers.' Silver yelled out from behind the door, but found that it did not really roll off the tongue.

"Coming!" Elysia responded, hoping Silver wouldn't enter as the bedroom was a complete mess with clothes everywhere and stained sheets.

"Good thing magic exists." Shaman had the same thought and got to cleaning right away.

Conveniently, the room had a magic circle in the corner and underneath the bed for cleaning. These magic circles replaced washing machines and were 10x faster, especially since they could also dry clothes.

After cleaning up and putting on their clothes, they made their way to the lounge. Kiruya, Silver and Elanor were at the table eating, waiting for them to come out.

"Finally, eat up and it will be time to take on the 2nd floor and enter the elf palace." Kiruya spoke quickly and seemed like she was in a hurry, which didn't go unnoticed.

"What's the hurry, something happened?" Shaman sat down while asking, wanting to know if they should try and hurry.

"Himeko could be in danger, the pope is making a move towards the demon lands." Kiruya received a report in the morning from Freya, informing her what was going on.

"Wait what?" Clara was the first to react as although her relationship with Himeko was rocky, she still hoped to meet her and find out why Himeko sealed her memories.

"One of our informants that follows the human generals told us they were summoned by the pope to form an elite party to raid the demon lands." Kiruya kept the explanation brief and finished her food.

hearing the news, the others quickly started on their food as it was urgent they get what they had to do here done.

*

Everyone finished up and followed Kiruya towards the dungeon including Elanor who was still confused, not really knowing the full story.

"Once we are at the palace we will see the king right away! Elanor, if you can't sort out things with your family, you will have to make a choice." Kiruya needed Elanor to make a decision as they cannot delay their trip any further.

"What are my choices?" It was a rather grim realisation as she really wanted to be back with her family, but there was also a part of her wanting to leave.

"You can either continue your life here or you can come stay in the Freya forest and serve Freja, the ruler."

"Any other option?" Elanor was still looking for an out, as serving someone else didn't suit her taste.

"You can join our group and adventure with us, but I must warn you that it won't be easy and you could very well die the next day." Shaman answered, turning back to explain as she knew what Kiruya would say.

'I didn't want to take Elanor in since she is weak, but it seems like I won't have a choice.' Shaman didn't want to take Elanor on such a dangerous journey since was not used to these types of hardships. Shaman also only considered taking Elanor if they could boost her power similar to what happened with the eggshells.

This came as a shock to Elanor as she had very little combat experience and felt like she would be a burden. However, this was the kind of offer she wanted, something that would let her be free and not worry about who she is.

'If they are willing to take me then I should take the opportunity.' Knowing this will be her only shot at getting strong, Elanor decided what she was going to do.

"Shaman, if you are willing to take me with you then please, I want to get stronger. I don't care about my family and if they are no longer willing to take me, then my new family is here with you all." Elanor gave her answer and everyone was impressed with her response.

"Make sure you train her well." Kiruya smiled and let Shaman take over the conversation while she led them to the dungeon.

"With an answer like that, I can't really decline… If I'm honest I was going to reject you joining since it would be too dangerous, but I'm sure we can work around that." Shaman figured giving Elanor a system would be able to boost her.

[Elanor is now suitable to receive a system]

Getting the notification confirmed Shaman's thoughts and wondered if Rea could do anything about getting Elanor's level up.

"I-I understand, I half expected to be rejected, but I will work hard to catch up." Elanor felt relieved that she was accepted, knowing there was a real chance of her not joining at all.

"We will get you a weapon and once we are in the dungeon I have something to give you, so before we get there, try to think of a weapon you want to use." Shaman would deal with the system once they are in the dungeon as they wouldn't have any eyes on them.

"Mhm." Elanor nodded her head and the excitement was kicking in.

"Elysia, Clara and Silver, you have no issues with this? I should have asked before." Shaman turned to the others who had kept silent, letting Shaman take lead.

"I have no issues." Clara didn't see a problem with Elanor joining but was actually more worried about Elysia.

"No issues Mum!" Silver smiled, happy that Elanor was joining as he enjoyed her presence.

"Mmm fine." Elysia pouted, as it was another woman in the group, but thanks to Clara, Elysia was a lot more open to Elanor joining.

"Thank you." Elanor was nervous while hearing their responses, but the positive response she got fueled her excitement.

"Good, we are almost there so try to make a decision on your weapon of choice." Shaman, getting their approval, then made sure Elanor focused back on thinking about a weapon as they can't spend a lot of time playing around.

212 [Halloween] – Haunted House

[A/N: Happy Halloween everyone, hope you have enjoyed your day. I'm here to present you with a fun chapter in which the events of these are half cannon, don't know what that means, but take it as you will. Happy reading and I hope you got a good laugh. (Also do note I did not edit this chapter so sorry for any mistakes.)]

Chilling inside one of the rest spaces, Shaman, Clara, Elysia, Silver and Elanor were taking a moment to relax before Freja sent them on another mission.

"Now that I think about it, do you guys have a thing called Halloween?" Shaman guessed it would be around that time, but wasn't sure if this world had such a holiday.

"Hall-o-ween?" Elysia tried pronouncing the word since it was something completely foreign to her. Everyone else tried as well since this was the first time hearing such a word.

'I forget that no one other than me and Freja is aware of the world we come from.' Shaman got a small slap of reality that pretty much everyone she knew was unique to this world.

"It's when everything is spooky and you make faces on pumpkins. You even go knock on people's houses to ask for candy which is what the kids do." Shaman gave a bit more detail and it clicked to the others what she was talking about.

"Ohhh you mean the day of the Hollow." Elysia saying the equivalent of Halloween, Shaman wondered where the origin of the name came from.

"Oh that, I haven't celebrated that for years." Elanor didn't really have a chance to celebrate it when she was a teenager, but she did have some memories of when she was a child.

"It was never a thing in the demon lands or something I did with Himeko, but I did see it happen." Clara watched from afar when it came to these events as Himeko didn't want her outside.

.....

"Haha yeah I was homeless for a long time so I couldn't really participate." Elysia was just like Clara, watching from afar, but instead of a tower, it was on the street.

"When is it?" Silver was really intrigued by this idea and wondered if they were going to do something about it.

"It's actually tomorrow." Elysia opened up the system which gave the time and date.

[11:30, 30/10/xxxx]

"Really!" Silver's eyes lit up and everyone knew what the next question was going to be.

"If we are not getting dragged around by Freja then yes we can go out tomorrow night." Shaman answered before he could ask.

"Yesssss." Silver raised his arms up in the air and cheered happily since they were going to do something fun for once.

"Can't say no with that kind of reaction." Clara dying of cuteness couldn't see herself refusing Silver.

"Mhm." Elysia nodded in agreement as she could spend all day looking over Silver and never get bored.

"Well, what should we do then? Does the forest even set up events?" Elanor wasn't accustomed to the fox realm so she wasn't sure if this sort of thing was celebrated.

"I think so, I mean Freja is aware of Halloween so I would be surprised if they didn't." Shaman figured Freja would impose this sort of culture in the Freya forest.

"I mean don't you find it odd she has let us off work around this time? Usually, we are always out on a job." Clara pointed out a very key detail which lined up well with the fact it's the day of the hallow tomorrow.

"Maybe she is setting up for the event and now that I think about it. When I walked to the front I was stopped by a maid." Elanor was going to head out for a walk but was turned around by a maid as there was "work" being done.

"I think Freja has something planned." Shaman put the dots together that something fishy was going on.

"Ooo I wonder what she is doing." Silver was even more excited as there may be something waiting for them in the morning.

"I guess we just have to wait." Elysia knew there was no point in trying to poke around the mansion as Freja would most likely stop them.

"It is late so we can sleep it off." Shaman saw the time and there was no point in staying up any longer.

"Hold it right there, it's just about midnight and I need some guinea pigs." Freja kicked open the door to the room announcing what she needed.

"Ahh! What the hell!" Elanor screamed as the door was behind her and the loud bang spooked her.

"Fufu~ not sorry. Anyway, I need you to come with me." Freja didn't let any of them talk back as she already turned around and opened up a portal.

"Fre- dammit!" Shaman tried to call out, but Freja vanished before she could even say her name.

*Sigh* "Let's just follow her." Elysia saw no point in sitting around and it most likely had something to do with tomorrow.

Being annoyed at the sudden entrance, they all still got up and went through the portal that replaced the door.

Appearing out in the garden of the mansion, a massive house was present in the middle of it. Looking abandoned, Shaman instantly knew what it was and what Freja wanted them to do. The house itself was completely rundown and there was this aura screaming at them not to enter. It was clear it was infested with insects and possibly ghosts as movement could briefly be seen in the windows.

"It's a haunted house isn't it." Shaman wasn't one to be scared often, but that's because she hides it.

"And you would be correct, I want you all to go through it before I open it for everyone on hollow day." Freja smirked as Shaman and her group were the first to try her original haunted house.

"U-Ummm are you sure?" Elysia tried to not act scared, but her stuttering voice and trembling hands suggested otherwise. Elanor was much the same as she didn't handle scary things well.

Silver and Clara were completely unaffected by it and even looked more excited than scared. Shaman tried not to be scared to keep her image as the leader of her group, but her hands were shaking slightly.

"Of course, don't worry you won't have to fight and even if you tried, I put mana inhibitors all around the place." Freja knew that it may be their reflex to use magic, so she made it impossible to do so.

"Come on guys, let's just do it, I'm sure it won't be that bad." Shaman, building up the courage, walked forward hoping her nerves would go away.

"I-I don't think we should Shaman." Elysia quickly latched on to Shaman causing her to jolt as she was on edge.

"It's fine, come on let's go." Shaman patted Elysia on the head trying to calm her down.

"Come Elanor, it will be fun." Silver saw Elanor try to sneak away, but was dragged by Silver by the arm.

"Nooooo! Pleaseee." Elanor didn't want to go in, but she couldn't fight back despite him being much younger, he was much stronger than Elanor which was an amusing scene.

"Have fun~ can't wait to hear your screams." Freja clicked her fingers and disappeared on the spot leaving them all alone. She also put up solid blood walls leading to the entrance, making the only exit through the haunted house.

"Looks like we don't have a choice." Clara walked right up to the entrance without an ounce of fear. Shaman followed behind Clara while Elysia was attached to Shaman's arm like glue refusing to let go. Silver, excited for what was to come, held Elanor's hand and followed behind Shaman.

Going through the entrance, it was completely dark, but there were 5 candles already lit up on top of a drawer.

Grabbing 1 each they were able to see some of their surroundings and noticed a light in the distance. Walking towards the light, they realised they were in a hallway now.

*Creaaakk*

"AHH!" Elysia and Elanor screamed, hearing the creak of the floorboards and holding onto the closest person even tighter.

"I-it's just the floorboards, don't worry." Shaman was also spooked but kept her cool still keeping the fearless image she had.

*Sigh* "Please nothing scary has ev-." As Clara spoke suddenly a door between them slowly opened. Shaman, Elysia and Elanor all held their breath waiting for something to happen, but nothing came.

"Just a door." Shaman, relieved nothing happened, tried to make everyone continue forward.

However, just as Elanor passed the door, she felt a breath down her neck.

"AHH! WHAT THE FUCK!" Jumping forward she pushed Silver over causing the both of them to fall over.

"Ow!" Silver hit the ground and tried to get up, but when he lifted his head felt something soft.

'Is that Elanor's chest?' Having his thoughts instantly go to the most likely spot, he quickly lowered his head embarrassed, but Elanor wasn't paying any attention and smothered Silver despite his attempt in trying to avoid touching.

Everyone else turned around to see what happened and saw Silver getting crushed by Elanor.

"You okay?" Clara quickly ran over and helped Elanor off Silver who was more or less enjoying it, but it was something he wouldn't admit it.

"I'm fine." Silver was glad that it was dark as his face was completely red. He then quickly got up from the ground while dusting off his clothes.

"Y-yes, but I felt something breathe down my neck." Explaining what happened, everyone froze for a moment and looked back at the door that was open. A hand then reached and smacked the floor as if it was crawling.

"Oh, Shit!" This got a reaction from everyone and they all began to run. Elanor and Silver dropped their candle, now relying on the light in front of them.

However, the light in front of them turned off leaving them in complete darkness making the candles the only source of light. But Since their backs covered the light Silver and Elanor lost their sense of direction and got themselves in a different part of the house.

Elysia, Clara and Shaman still having their lights made it to the end of the hallway making it to the kitchen. Looking back they saw no one was following and shut the door, but then noticed they were missing two people.

"Shit! Silver! Elanor!" Shaman yelled out their names, but Clara quickly covered her mouth.

"Shhh! We don't know if we will be chased down." Knowing there were "Monsters" in the building, they now had to be quiet in order to not get caught.

"Grr, o-only if I could use my fire." Elysia, still trembling while holding onto Shaman tried to use her flames, but Freja didn't lie about mana not being able to be used.

"It will be fine, we just need to get through the house." Shaman hit her legs as they were shaking and the added stress of Silver being alone didn't help with the nerves.

"Once we get out, I'm sure we can help." Clara ended up taking the lead of the group and started to investigate the room they were in.

Opening up the fridge, fake guts and body parts fell out causing Clara to almost vomit.

"Oh god, that is just disgusting." Instantly shutting the fridge and stepping away from the gross mess she accidentally bumped into a wall.

"AHH-!" The wall then spun taking Clara away from Shaman and Elysia.

"Clara?!" Shaman called out her name, but no response came suggesting she was taken away.

"A-are we alone?" Elysia hoped the answer was no, but the fact that Clara vanished meant it was just the two of them.

"I-I think so." Shaman was feeling uneasy and was hating the situation more and more.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Ah! Who is it!?" Shaman raised her light to the door where the knocking came from and waited for a response.

*Bang*

However, the door was suddenly kicked in when a man that was 2 metres tall with a chainsaw came in.

"RUNN!" Shaman instinctively ran away while screaming and found a door that led out of the dark kitchen. Elysia held on tightly refusing to let go, but then she felt her leg get grabbed from below.

"AHHH!! THEY ARE IN THE FLOOR!!" Seeing the holes that perfectly fit a hand, Elysia tried to shake off the hand while kicking it with the other. The man with a now revved-up chainsaw chased the girls and almost caught up to them.

Elysia got free and continued to run down the hall while trying to avoid the hands that were emerging from the ground.

.....

Seeing a door with light seeping underneath, they dropped their candles and ran at full speed to make it to the door.

Both bashing through it, they made it outside but fell to the ground with Elysia stacking on top of Shaman.

"AHAHAHAH!!! What a beautiful show!" Freja was on the other side looking down on them.

*

"Shit we don't have any lights." Silver held on to Elanor's hand as they slowly walked through the dark room. From what Silver gathered, they were in some kind of bedroom but he wasn't sure.

"A-are you sure we will be okay?" Elanor was shaking as not being able to see made her extremely paranoid and the only thing keeping her sane was Silver's hand.

"Hehe~ don't worry we will be fine." Silver was confident that he could get out and found the whole thing thrilling.

*Bang*

The sound of chopping wood echoed out in the room which sounded like it was coming from the door.

"We need to hide." Silver gathered someone was breaking into the room, so he went along the wall until he felt something that resembled a closet. Opening it and pulling Elanor inside, they were squished up together while the person broke into the room.

With one last bang, the door was broken and the sound of boots echoed out in the room. Walking around and searching the place the sound of ragged breaths got closer to the closet.

"Where are youuu~ my prey~"

"Come out to play-ay-ay." Chanting a few words the person got closer and closer. Elanor hugged Silver tightly, smothering him completely in her chest leaving no room to breathe.

"Are you in here~!" Yelling just outside the closet, Elanor pushed up against the back as hard as she could and suddenly the wall flipped as the person opened the closet.

"AHHH!!!" Sliding down a chute, Elanor and Silver were launched out of some vent to the outside landing next to Shaman and Elysia.

Elanor was still hugging Silver who was on the verge of ascending as he hadn't experienced such a sensation before.

"Oop more victims arrive~." Freja welcomed the 2 who were still processing what the hell was going on.

*

"Ow! Why the hell was there a wall that could be spun." Clara got up from the ground as she was just shot out of a chute to some underground.

"Am I in some basement?" Clara tried to make sense of where she was, but her candle was out making it harder to see.

'What am I even standing on, it feels mushy…. No, don't tell me.' Clara walked off the platform she was on, but it felt like she was walking in some thick liquid. However, when she reached down with her hand she realised what it was.

"EWWWWWW!!!!!!" Realising she was in a pool of fake guts and blood Clara screamed. Feeling absolutely disgusted she tried to get out, but each movement only made Clara want to puke.

After a few more steps Clara could no longer take it and started vomiting.

*Cough* *Cough* "I wish I could kill Freja right now!" Clara hated this and only wanted to get out, but an even worse fear just became a reality.

Something slithered across her feet making Clara jump up and scream again.

"NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, I AM NOT DEALING WITH THIS ANYMORE!!!" Clara rushed to find an exit and luckily there seemed to be a hatch in the ceiling that leaked some light. Finding the ladder she climbed out and crawled out onto the grass.

She then rolled over and saw that everyone was also on the ground.

"Oh my, you found the worst route to get out… the Kitchen meat dumpster fufu~." Freja struggled to keep her laughter as Clara found the most disgusting exit of them all.

"I HATE YOU!!" Clara yelled out, but she had no energy to get up and try to fight Freja.

"Seems like this was a success, I hope you all enjoyed your time~. Now I must leave and get this moved into the town square, bye bye~." Disappearing before the group could complain about the haunted house, they all laid there in shock.

"I don't know if I want to do this again next year." Elysia didn't realise how scary it would be and preferred it if it didn't happen again.

"You can say that again." Shaman was all for it and hoped Freja didn't have something even worse planned for next year.

"Hehe~, ahem that was great, I would do it again." Silver managed to not ascend and got out of the hug from Elanor. Still a little intoxicated by the sensation he almost let slip how much he enjoyed the haunted house, but for different reasons.

"Never again." Elanor shook her head as it was way too much for her to handle.

"Tch, never ever doing this again, now I'm all filthy." Clara looked down at herself which was covered in chunky bits of meat.

"Happy Halloween I guess." Even though it was a terrifying and disgusting experience, it still was an experience that they would never usually have. So Shaman still wanted to treasure it as she got to learn a lot about her party members.

213 Gearing Elanor up

Arriving at the adventurers guild, the group made a detour to the auction house section to pick out a weapon for Elanor. They also sold the remaining elf cores they had which gave them plenty of money to get a high-class item.

[551 gold coins]

"Have a look through this tablet and if anything catches your eye let us know." Shaman passed over the stone tablet that was showing a detailed list of weapons.

"Geh, there are so many." Elanor saw the vast list and wondered how the hell she was going to choose.

"There is a small image of the weapon so just use that to see if it interests you." Elysia pointed to the small image of a sword and clicked it, enlarging the image.

"Guess I'll start looking." Elanor knew everyone was in a hurry so she was going to buy the first thing she liked,

Scrolling through the different weapons and looking at the images, Elanor finally found something that stuck out to her.

[Foldable fan blades]

"Ohh this looks good." Elanor clicked on the category and was met with a list of fans of varying grades.

.....

"What did you find?" Shaman looked over Elanor's shoulder and was surprised to see the kind of weapon she chose.

"I like these fans, they are discreet but also deadly." Elanor imagined herself using them and was getting impressed by herself.

"Ah I'm not sure if that's a good idea, the fans are extremely hard to use." Kiruya, hearing the weapon Elanor chose, was sceptical as the fans were a very rare weapon to see.

"No, it's fine Kiruya." Shaman knew the system would be able to solve any issues that may occur and if her assumption was right, Elanor might have a blessing of a god related to fans.

"If you say so." Kiruya, being aware of the system, figured it had something to with it and the fans may not be as hard of a weapon as she thought.

"Alright, now let's choose a good one for a tier 7 dungeon, so at least you can defend yourself. Even if you are tier 4. Hell, having a strong weapon could even allow you to do some damage." Shaman planned to see how Elanor would fare against the basic mobs of the dungeon.

Elanor nodded her head and let Shaman scroll through the list of fan blades.

'Damn this is going to take all the gold we got from those elves.' Shaman knew it was going to be expensive, but it still didn't mean she was happy shelling out at least 400 gold for a suitable weapon.

Luckily though, the system allowed her to inspect the weapons from the images directly, providing the actual statistics of each weapon. A common thing she noticed about the higher-priced weapons is that they were labelled at the wrong rarity. Even if it said rare or epic, they were usually one rank below what they actually were.

However, next to the rarity enclosed in brackets was the weapon's potential, or at least that's what the action house claimed.

'Hmm, it seems like weapons can also evolve. These are from the dungeon so they must have some special properties… Wait, didn't we get a demon sword from the dungeon.' Shaman recalled the demon sword they got from the elf dungeon which was similar to Silvers.

'If my guess is right, it should shift to the desired weapon of the user and link itself with him. Silver did have the system though, so it's probably best I give Elanor the system before handing her the weapon. Don't want the demon that's inside taking over her mind.' Learning from Clara the potential origins of the demonic weapons, it was rather risky to hand the sword to Elanor.

'For now, I will buy this one that should be good enough for the dungeon and once we are inside we'll have her try the demon sword.' Shaman clicked on a rare fan blade that had the potential to become stronger and selected 'purchase'. It came to about 350 gold which was more affordable than the 400 to 500 price tag she saw on a lot of them.

Elanor was smiling seeing Shaman had picked out a weapon for her and couldn't wait to see it.

A female elf came walking out in a suit while holding the box that contained the fans. Shaman walked over, paid the gold needed and took the box.

Reaching out for the box, Elanor wanted to check out her new weapons immediately, but was quickly stopped by Shaman.

"You're not allowed to pull out weapons, so be a little more patient." Shaman didn't want to get kicked out if Elanor accidentally hit anyone, so it was better to wait until they were in the dungeon.

"Shaman! I got some clothes." Elysia, who vanished somewhere while they were looking for a weapon, came running back with clothes in her hands.

"What?" Shaman was confused at why Elysia went out to get some when they had plenty in their inventory.

"Well Elanor can't be fighting in that expensive dress, so I went ahead and got something more manoeuvrable." Elysia thought ahead and, having similar proportions to Elanor, did not struggle to get the right size.

"Good thinking Elysia, go get changed Elanor and then we can head inside." Kiruya didn't like the number of delays, but as long as they cleared the dungeon today she wouldn't mind as much.

Elanor took the clothes and left for the changing rooms at the back of the auction house.

*

Walking out of the changing rooms, Elanor saw everyone standing around waiting for her.

Elanor wore a white shirt that was tucked into her black pants and a corset that went around her stomach. The corset was made out of leather and was held together by some strings at the front. She also wore a small black cape which was lined with green.

"Oh wow, your fashion sense never fails Eli."

"Hehe~ thanks Shaman."

"Ooo you look great big sis Elanor."

"I expected something worse since it was Elysia, but it actually suits her well."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?" Elysia squinted at Clara for her off-hand comment, but it was also a compliment so she wasn't really annoyed.

"T-thank you." Elanor blushed, having never worn something like this before, and was happy it was received so positively.

"You look like a real adventurer now, speaking of which we need to get you registered and then we can enter." Kiruya wanted to get a move on, so with only one task left she tried to hurry everyone.

"Let's go." Shaman nodded and they made their way to the reception desk to get her registered. However, while the elf at the desk was checking the information he raised an eyebrow.

"What's the forgotten daughter of Aulfiem doing here registering?" Recognising the last name of Elanor, she froze in place hearing it.

"None of your business." Shaman spoke up while glaring at the man as there was no rule stating royalty can't sign up.

Grumbling, he finished the registration process, still giving Elanor a sour look.

"You can get out now." As the receptionist unceremoniously dismissed them Silver looked like he was on the verge of pouncing, but Elysia grabbed him by the hand as there was no point in bothering with him.

Moving on, they all walked towards the dungeon entrance and got in line to enter. Since they were entering at peak time, it took a while for the guards to check every person waiting to enter.

"Seems like the discrimination runs through the people as well." Clara thought it would have just been Elanor's family, but it seems that anyone who learns her identity shows quite a bit of disgust.

"It's only the older ones that hate me, the younger generation treats me nicely." Elanor, being used to such treatment knew how it was, but it still hurt every time it happened.

"Don't stress, you won't have to worry about that when we leave this place." Shaman placed her hand on Elanor's shoulder to reassure her that things will be different from now on.

"Sheesh, you're going to make me cry." Elanor felt herself getting emotional again, but she knew that it wasn't the time for it.

"Oop sorry." Shaman didn't mean to get Elanor all emotional and instantly stopped as she didn't want to make a scene.

Moving forward in the line, it was finally their turn to get checked. Inspecting the party's adventurer records, the guards were concerned about Elanor going in as she was tier 4.

"Are you sure?" The guards knew the other girls were strong, but bringing in someone that weak would be a burden. There was also the fact she was royalty, but the guards didn't care as like Elanor said, the younger ones were not discriminatory.

"We will be fine, Kiruya here watches over us and will protect her if things go wrong." Shaman explained to the guards the situation and they nodded their heads while letting them through.

"Stay safe then." Confident that Elanor would not recklessly die due to the power gap, they were fine letting her in.

Walking inside, they made it to the usual dirt path that led to the small town of elves.

"Now that we are here, I have a gift for you Elanor." Shaman opened up her system menu and verified that the notification that Elanor was eligible for a system was still there.

214 God of Fans Lin

Elanor looked at Shaman wondering what it could be, but when Shaman got closer, Elanor started to get nervous.

"Don't worry, It won't hurt." Shaman saw the look of worry and tried to reassure Elanor, but it seemingly made her even more worried and confused.

Shaman knew saying anything more would just confuse Elanor, so Shaman just went ahead and raised her hand. Opening up the system, the prompt to give Elanor the system came up and Shaman pressed yes.

Elanor closed her eyes waiting for whatever was going to happen, but nothing came.

"Huh?" Opening her eyes, she looked around to see if anything changed, but everything was still the same.

"Pfftt." Shaman wanted to explain, but watching Elanor's reaction was too adorable and funny, she left her confused a little bit longer.

"What did you do!?" Elanor pouted and glared at Shaman as she felt like she was getting tricked.

"Okay, Okay, first things first, say status." Shaman felt bad, so she dropped the silent treatment and got Elanor to open the system.

"….Status." Elanor glared at Shaman, still sceptical, but said it anyway.

.....

[Elanor Aulfiem]

[Race: Elf]

[Level: 90]

[Tier: 4]

[Elements]

Wind: Tier 4

Holy Nature: Tier 4

Elanor looked in shock at the holographic screen as it displayed all of her information and things she didn't even know.

"W-what is this?" Feeling like her brain was going to explode, she desperately needed an explanation of what was going on.

"Alright so…" Shaman then proceeded to explain the system to Elanor and all the risks that come with it. The main one being if Elanor ever betrays the group she will lose all the power she has obtained.

"I-I think I understand." Elanor got the general idea of it, but it sounded surreal and felt like she was granted cheat codes for life.

"Good, now we will let you take on the weakest mob here and see how you fare. Also, don't worry too much about the danger as we will be right next to you." Shaman hoped Elanor would not be frozen in fear as the elves were rather weak despite being tier 7.

"Mhm." Elanor felt anxious hearing she was going to fight, but she needed to take a step forward and prove to herself that this is the right path for her.

"Now before we start, I want to try something, I want you to hold this." Shaman pulled out the demon sword while covering her hand in ice, as she didn't want to take ownership of it.

"Wait, are you serious? That's crazy!" Clara freaked out as the sword would take control over Elanor.

"Yes I am, if Silver was able to do it, I believe Elanor can too." Shaman was confident the system would be able to handle it thus allowing Elanor to obtain a strong weapon.

"Hmmm fine." Clara wanted to trust Shaman as it was true Silver was in possession of a demon weapon, and if it worked once it could work again.

[And you would be correct, if Elanor grabbed the sword before she had the system, she would have died.] Rea chimed in to confirm Shaman's thoughts and affirm her confidence in the system. Clara, also hearing what Rea said, now had zero doubts about the process's safety.

"Then did we just waste 350 gold." Elysia, more concerned about the money they just lost on buying fans, hoped Shaman had a plan.

"We can just sell it back, plus who knows if it will transform into fans." Shaman wasn't sure what form the weapon would take, but it would give her an indicator of what god she is blessed by.

"So it's okay to touch?" Elanor looked at the sword, curious why Clara freaked out about it.

"Yep, it's all yours." Shaman held out the sword to Elanor and she reached out to grab it.

As soon as her hand gripped the handle dark energy spewed out of the blade. Elanor fell to her knees while still holding the sword tightly. Everyone freaked out as this was very different from Silver's experience.

However, their worries would be for nothing as the energy suddenly turned white, soon shifting to bright green. The energy then suddenly pulled itself back into the blade engulfing it in a green light.

Its form shifting and changing, a few seconds passed when the light finally peeled away to reveal Elanor's new weapon.

Just as Shaman suspected, a pair of black and green fans appeared, embroidered with a painting of a mystical, supporting Shaman's assumption that Elanor most likely has an innate skill for fans.

"I really hope we can refund those extra fans." Elysia cried internally as the money they spent was pointless.

"Sheesh, it will be fine." Shaman waved it off, confident there was a refund policy.

"Anyway, how do you feel, Elanor?" Shaman saw that Elanor was holding her head and hoped everything was okay.

"Y-yeah, just a really bad headache, heard someone talk in my head, but it suddenly vanished." When she grabbed the sword, Elanor felt the demon within try to take control over her.

"The system must have stopped it then." Glad there were no side effects, Shaman then wondered what happened if someone without a system picked it up.

'Would they get taken over like that elf commander or would something more dangerous appear.' Recalling the words of what seemed to be the demon god, the dungeons seemingly acted like a seal for them, so if one were to get out then it would cause havoc.

"I'm surprised the system can suppress the demons, if we can get the rest of the weapons, we could create something incredibly dangerous." Clara couldn't imagine the destruction they could cause if they let all the weapons go rampant.

"Just be glad it does, but right now we need to get Elanor fighting some elves." Shaman would love to think more about it, but they shouldn't be wasting too much time.

Shaman then helped get Elanor up on her feet, now that her headache was almost gone.

"Thanks."

"Before we begin, try out the fans and get a feel for them." Shaman had no idea how they would work and bet on the fact that Elanor has the talent.

"So just anywhere?" Elanor held the 2 fans in her hand and opened them which revealed the thin blades at their ends.

"Mhm." Shaman nodded and stood back where the others were.

Taking a deep breath, Elanor gripped her foldable blade fans and tried to imagine how to use them. Suddenly information flowed into her head as her body started moving on its own as if there was someone else controlling her.

Slashing upwards with the fans, a gust of wind followed making her cape flail in the air as well as lifting Clara's dress and Elysia's skirt.

"OI!" Both Clara and Elysia yelled out as it felt like it was on purpose.

"Oops~." Elanor turned around, seeing Elysia and Clara pushing down on their clothes while Shaman was sneaking a look. Having no reason to complain about the situation, Shaman gave Elanor a thumbs up.

Concentrating back on practising, Elanor swung down causing the wind to crash into the ground. jumping forward, Elanor spun in the air, fans fully open, and once she landed let out a wind slash from the blades.

Shifting her focus to her elements more, she swung one fan across, sending out a gust of wind. Following up with her other fan she swung upwards, but this time a tree root came out of the ground in the form of a spike. The tree root had white veins and one could only guess that was because the nature element she had was holy.

Everyone was pleasantly surprised as Elanor showed a range of capabilities, not only at long range but for shorter ranges as well.

However, Elanor did not stop and swung both her fans at the same time. One produced a wind slash while the other shot a wooden spike. Realising that each fan controls a different element, Elanor wondered what else she could do.

Swiping up again with her nature fan, vine roots emerged from the ground to try to grab something, but there was nothing to grab.

"So depending on what I want, I can use different plants." Elanor, figuring out what her fighting style would be like, continued to practise moving around and using the tree roots as dummies.

Without even realising it, Elanor had partly mastered the fans and would now be able to actually use them in combat.

*Ding*

A system notification went off scaring Elanor, which made her jump back in fright before realising what it was.

[Call of Lin]

"Call of Lin?" Elanor wasn't sure what it was, but Shaman hearing it knew it was similar to Elysia's [Call of Artemis].

'No idea what god this is from, but I'm glad for its help nonetheless.' Shaman tried to think of any god from her world, but couldn't think of one and could only come up with a video game character with a similar weapon.

"Great Job Elanor, you ready to go kill something?" Shaman shook her head as they needed to move on.

"Mhm!" Elanor closed the system window not worrying about what the call was and nodded her head furiously in excitement.

215 First kill

Approaching the farmlands of the elves, Shaman spotted a few young dark elves towing the land. Elanor and Shaman both went up to the cobblestone fence that surrounded the farm, using it as cover to hide from the unsuspecting elves.

"Alright, they will be your target, there is no reason to hold back so go as strong as you want." Shaman didn't expect Elanor to be able to fight for long as the mana required to kill a basic tier 6 was a lot.

"Got it." Elanor trembled a little as although they were just basic mobs, she knew they were tier 6, which was 2 tiers higher than her. She also felt a little uncomfortable as they reminded her of her own race, but then she imagined the faces of the nobles who harassed her, turning that uneasiness into anger.

"We will be right here, so if you think your life is in danger, scream out and we will come." Reassuring Elanor that she won't be in danger, Shaman hoped Elanor wouldn't hesitate in the midst of battle.

"Alright, I will yell out if need be, but I think I should be fine." Confident in her power, Elanor looked ahead, determined to beat the elves.

"Good luck, you can go whenever you are ready." Shaman saw the confidence and didn't want to get in Elanor's way anymore, so Shaman took a step back to let Elanor free-rain.

Taking a deep breath, Elanor looked at her fan blades, going over in her head about how she would go about it.

Plucking up the courage, Elanor stepped up and rushed towards the elves who were yet to see her. Jumping over the fence while opening up her fans, the wind began to swirl around Elanor which alerted the elves.

However, before they could turn and run to get reinforcements, Elanor swung up with her left fan raising a wooden wall. Delaying the elves from retreating allowed her to get close enough to use her fans. One of the elves turned around to try to slow down Elanor while the others tried to get away.

.....

Spinning on her feet she slashed across the neck of the elf and made a deep cut, but it didn't kill the elf nor stop him from retaliating. Lunging forward with the pitchfork in his hand, he aimed for Elanor's head.

Leaning back, Elanor barely dodged the pitchfork. She continued with the momentum and did a backflip while kicking the elf in the chin.This worsened the cut, enlarging it further and dropping the elf to his knees as he bled out.

The other 2 elves seeing their friend being murdered became enraged! Instead of alerting the other elves, they went on the attack.

Elanor panicked for a moment as she didn't expect both of them to charge at her. Quickly slicing up with her right fan, she sent out a wind slash while also swinging down with her left fan causing vines to emerge from the ground.

Restraining one of the elves with the vines while the other one attempted to block the wind slash, Elanor used this time to move back and prepare her next attack.

The elf managed to block the wind slash with their pitchfork, which surprisingly was the equivalent of a basic tier 6 sword. However, the other elf struggled to get out of the vines as his skin would burn merely from touching them.

Elanor, only having to deal with one elf for the time being, dashed forward. The Elf stood still with the pitchfork in front of him waiting for her to get closer. Once she was a couple of metres away, the elf stabbed forward aiming for her stomach.

Using the ends of her fans she was able to deflect the elf's attack, but not without consequence. She felt her arms almost break from the short clash as despite the elf being weak for its tier, the difference in base power was still significant. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she swung up with her left fan creating a wooden spike underneath the elf.

Piercing the elf, the wooden spike emerged from its mouth killing him instantly. Meanwhile, the insides of the elf were being purged with fire, making Elanor realise something.

'Is it because it's holy nature?' Knowing her element had a holy effect, she deduced that since the dark elves were of a corrupted origin, she was in a sense purifying them.

The other elf was still stuck in the vines and some of his body parts were close to melting through. It was a rather gruesome scene, but it confirmed that the nature element she produces is for the dark elves harmful to the touch.

[Level up!]

[Tier up!]

Notifications popped up in front of Elanor and she was confused about what was happening. Shaman, seeing that the fight was over, came out from behind the fence.

"Great job Elanor! Despite the power difference, you made short work of them. It seems like your nature element is their weakness." Shaman came to the same conclusion about why the elves' skin was burning and was pleasantly surprised that it had such an effect.

"Hehe, thank you." Elanor hearing the praise did a small jump in excitement.

Clara, Elysia and Silver all came out as well, proud of her achievement in killing a tier 6.

"So, what level are you now?" Silver was curious if she was already ready to evolve as killing something 2 tiers above must have given a lot of experience.

"Hmm, it says I am level 127. It also said I went up a tier, but I'm not too sure what that means." Elanor opened up her system menu and read out the notifications which caught everyone's attention.

"Wait, wait, it said you tiered up?" Shaman was confused as Elanor should have been stuck at level 100 and should not have broken through until she evolved.

"Yes, it says I'm tier 5 now." Elanor didn't know why everyone was looking at her with shocked looks, but suddenly a voice echoed out in everyone's head.

[That's because Elanor is naturally a tier 7 elf, so she doesn't need to go through the process of evolution like you all.] Rea had a cheeky tone as if she was holding in a laugh while she explained.

"Ehhh?! This is so unfair, why am I not a naturally higher tier? I am royalty after all" Shaman felt cheated as she just realised that both her and Elanor are nobles, but Shaman wasn't naturally a higher tier.

[That's because you are a "different" person so you had to start from the beginning.] Because Shaman was from a different world with no magical power, it correlated over to her new body making her go through the process from scratch.

"Hmph, it isn't like it's linked to the soul right?" Shaman refused to accept the explanation. She already had a cheating system so why couldn't she cheat levels?

[Sorry, can't help you, now byeee~, also hi Elanor I'm Rea the system assistant. We can talk later but I need to put in some earplugs before Shaman starts screaming at me.]

"O-oh hey." Elanor was confused as to why she could hear a voice in her head, but it seemed like everyone else could hear her as well.

"Oi! Don't run!" Shaman squinted while looking up into the sky, hoping her stare could be seen.

"Pfft, calm down Shaman, we also have to go through it so at least you are not alone." Elysia hugged Shaman from behind hoping it would calm her down.

*Sigh* "I guess I am overreacting for no reason." Shaman figured she should be happy instead of annoyed as now they can easily get Elanor to the right level before they get to the tier 7 floor.

"Anyway, shouldn't we get Elanor to continue killing the elves? The closer she gets to tier 6 the easier it will be." Clara getting everyone back on track wanted to continue Elanor's level grind.

"Yes, sorry for acting like that, Elanor." Shaman felt bad since Elanor had no control over it and there was no reason to act like that.

"It's okay, I don't really understand what's going on so it went over my head." Elanor tilted her head while smiling as she was struggling to comprehend what the hell Rea talked about. It was certainly news to her that she was apparently somehow stronger.

"Okay good, now spend your attribute points which are on the status page and then we will continue killing some more elves." Shaman directed Elanor to her attributes and she began to put her points in.

After Elanor spent her points the group moved on to the next set of elves, but this time they assisted in killing them to speed up the process. Still, they would leave the smaller elves to Elanor so she could practise some of her combos.

Making quick work of the town, they were about to kill the last elf which was a child.

"He is kind of cute." Elanor kneeled down looking at the child dark elf that held a stick in his hands.

"It's a bit morbid but as you saw, they are not really children, so don't feel bad." Clara, who struggled to kill the younger elves, thought it must be a little difficult for Elanor since they are of a similar race.

"I know, but it still hurts a little to see." Elanor did feel her heart hurt, but she knew there was no point in feeling sympathy.

While Clara and Elanor were talking, the child took the opportunity to run up to Elanor and hit her head with the stick.

"Ow!" Jumping back, Elanor held her head as it was a rather hard hit. However, the child didn't give up and continued to chase her.

"Wait no." Elanor wasn't ready and so she ran away from the child while she fumbled to get her fans out.

Everyone else looked in amusement and found the situation hilarious, so they let the chase continue.

"Guysss help me pleaseee." Elanor struggled to use the inventory where she stored her weapons while running around the town, struggling to escape from the child.

216 Tier 7 floor

"Ow, my bloody head hurts! How can a child even bonk that hard!?" Elanor, managing to pull out her fan blades, finished off the child that had hit her with a stick. The group had watched on in amusement seeing a small child chase an adult elf in circles. Now Elanor was sitting on the edge of the fountain getting a small heal from Shaman

"Never underestimate a child, they may look weak, but they are still tier 6 monsters." With a smug grin, Elysia poked Elanor on the side of the head. Elanor pouted while glaring at Elysia knowing full well she was being teased.

"Don't bully sister Elanor!" Silver, who felt bad the most, tried to protect Elanor and pulled Elysia back by the waist. Elanor was happy to see Silver come to her rescue and found him very adorable.

"Oho? Someone's a little protective." Elysia, now turning the teasing on him, saw him instantly turn red.

"I-it isn't like that." Silver tried to deny it, but Elysia just gave him a look of confusion.

"Isn't like what? I never said anything." Elysia acted like she didn't know, but her grin said everything.

"Okay Eli, you can stop the teasing, it's time to head to the next floor." Shaman, who just finished using [heal], did not like the direction of the conversation and decided to stop Elysia before there were any misunderstandings.

"We should really get a healer, that way we can be a bit more aggressive and not rely so much on dodging." Clara thought about their group's composition and realised they did not have a tank or a healer.

"I have thought about that, I was hoping to pick up more healing skills, but it feels like a waste." Shaman wanted to be a jack of all trades, but she realised that it would be impossible.

.....

"I do recommend getting a dedicated healer, but sadly we don't have anyone in the Freya forest who can join you right now. Still, you should definitely try to get your hands on one. Usually, they are of the priest class, so maybe heading to the fox realm chapels when you get the chance is a good idea." Kiruya, who had been relatively quiet the whole time, spoke up to give a suggestion.

"After heading to the demon lands and getting Himeko out we will see." Shaman agreed, but their mission took priority for the time being.

"Let's get going, we have spent too much time talking." Clara sat up and dusted herself off.

"Hopefully we can speed through the enemies, but if any end up like the greatsword and dual-blade elves we will have some trouble." Elysia remembered the gruelling fight against them, so if they had to fight a group, it could spell trouble.

"Just have to wait and see." Shaman didn't worry too much about it and walked towards the same secret entrance as last time.

*

Clearing their way up to the pool chamber, this time the elves with the greatsword and dual swords did not come out. This was a major concern as they could be a part of a larger group that had more variants of elves.

"Before we enter deeper, Kiruya can you watch over Elanor while we clear the next room? We will try to capture some so Elanor can get the final blow and get some free experience." Shaman wanted to see if they could boost Elanor even more and maybe even get her to tier 6 which would let her fully catch up.

"Sure thing." Kiruya didn't mind as long as they kept moving closer to the boss.

With Kiruya's confirmation, Shaman then walked up to a stone tablet that was by a wall that had an unknown language on it. Pushing on it and hoping for the best, suddenly the stone wall began to open, creating a mini earthquake.

On the other side of the wall was a long hallway where tree roots covered the walls with all kinds of vegetation filling in the gaps. At the end of the hall, an elf priest was seen kneeling while maintaining a green barrier. There was also the greatsword and dual blades elves standing guard, however this time they were accompanied by a bow user.

"This must have been where they were last time, but they ended up coming out before we arrived." Clara noticed how the roots led to the tree and guessed there was some pathway that led into the pool.

"The hallway is rather narrow but it's still better than luring them to an open space where they could go after Elanor, so let's try to fight them head-on." Shaman, much more confident in her group taking on the elves, believed they could take them all at once.

"I don't think the priest will move, he will be busy with that barrier." Silver squinted his eyes looking at the priest and saw magic circles very slowly being formed.

"Let's not waste any more time, I think they are coming." Elysia pulled out her bow, intending to take the ranged roll for this fight, especially since the elves had their own archer.

"Silver, you stay in the shadows and attack whenever you can. Clara, you will be with me attacking, so listen out for calls or otherwise use your better judgement." Shaman explained their formation, organising their attack plan.

Shaman then dashed towards the elves alongside Clara while Silver merged into the shadows. Elysia stayed back taking aim directly at the elf with the bow as her competitive spirit was flaring up.

***

"Are all the admirals here yet?" The Pope was sitting on his throne asking for a report from the guard in front of him.

"W-we are yet to see Jane and of course Himeko." As he mentioned the name of one of the admirals, there was a clear look of disdain.

"Tch, she was friends with that bitch Himeko, so no wonder she might not want to come." Knowing the motive for her late arrival, The pope contemplated if he should go out and kill her or drag her to the mission.

"Nevermind sir! Jane just arrived and is with the others, apparently she had some city issues she had to deal with before coming." The guard receiving a message through a talisman relayed it to the pope.

"Tch, she lives this time, guess it's time for me to explain the plan." Getting up from his seat he clicked his fingers, disappearing from the spot. Reappearing at the same oval table where they had a meeting not too long ago, everyone went silent as soon as the Pope appeared.

Scanning each of the admirals, it was clear they all didn't want to be there since it was taking time away from their duties.

"Good, now you are probably all wondering why I have brought you here. Unfortunately, I will be taking more of your time as I have a group mission for us." The Pope took his seat at the end of the table while putting his hands together and smiling as he waited for their reactions.

With the mention of more of their time being taken, a few groans and grumbles echoed out, but it was still too early to be annoyed.

"My plan is to attack the demon lands." Cutting right to the chase, everyone was left speechless as it was very unexpected.

"Why?" Many of the admirals were still sceptical of the Pope's plans and didn't want to jump to conclusions yet.

"I'm on a hunt and I want to take it over, so all of us will be going over to raid the place." Elaborating further, Jane flinched a little at the mention of a hunt, as she assumed it was Himeko he was after.

"Are you stupid? That will break the 400-year-long treaty with the demon lands!" A very muscular man in a yellow uniform stood up, outraged they were doing something so absurd.

"Calm down and let me finish." The Pope glared at the man that stood up and a wave of fear washed over him, forcing him to sit down.

"Now, I know we have the treaty, but I say who gives a damn, they haven't done anything for the last 400 years. I want war! So we'll poke our heads in, and if it turns out no one is there, we will take over it." An evil glint appeared in the pope's eyes. Finally realising how serious he is about the plan, everyone else choked on their breath.

"I-I know you want more land, but are you sure we can't go about it peacefully?" A woman in completely white clothes spoke up, but at the mention of peace, it seemingly hit the Pope the wrong way. However, he stopped the aura he was leaking out and looked at the woman who spoke.

"Just look at this small expedition as a crusade against the demons." The Pope smiled joyfully like a harmless child, yet to everyone else it was the look of someone insane.

"Now, I assume there are no objections?" Everyone looked down, not daring to object as their life was at stake if they ever spoke against him.

217 Behind the seal

Shaman and Clara were the first to attack, targeting the greatsword elf. Shaman covered Kotetsu in ice and activated her sword domain, buffing herself. Clara charged her whips with lightning, also receiving the benefits of Shaman's domain.

The greatsword elf held out his weapon preparing to block both attacks simultaneously.

Clara swung her whips first, wrapping them around the elf's greatsword. Letting her whips overcharge, they released a powerful burst of lightning, striking the greatsword elf and paralysing him in place. Shaman leapt forward slashing Kotetsu at the elf's neck, however before her blade reached its neck a knife deflected her blade.

The knife was thrown by the dual-blade elf as he charged at Shaman to save the greatsword elf. However, Elysia intercepted him with her arrow, forcing the dual-blade elf to block with one of his knives and pushing him all the way back to the wall. Her attack deflected, Shaman jumped back before the greatsword elf regained control.

Clara retracted her whips and charged them once again, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Meanwhile, the greatsword elf was able to move again and focused its attention on Shaman who was the closest. Taking one step forward, the elf slammed his sword into the ground causing chucks of stone to fly out.

One of these fragments went straight for Shaman and she sliced it right through the middle. However, as the rock split apart, the greatsword elf was right in front of her striking down.

Clara swung to the side of the elf only to be blocked by the dual-blade elf.

Shaman raised her sword in an attempt to stop the blow from the greatsword elf, but she did not like her chances. Just before their swords collided, Silver appeared from the ground and stabbed into the chest of the elf, piercing its heart.

The greatsword elf's movements completely halted and his body fell limp on top of Shaman.

.....

"Uh oh." Shaman wasn't quite ready for the dead body to fall on her and so she fell to the ground with the elf on top of her.

While Shaman was getting free from the body, Clara was keeping the dual-blade elf at bay. Elysia was also continuing to fire arrows over the top of the group trying to hit the archer elf that was by the priest.

"This. Damn. Archer. Doesn't. Want. To. Get. HIT!" With each word, Elysia fired an arrow that would either be dodged or countered with the archer's own arrow. Elysia got irritated by the second and was channelling more mana into her shots. This made them faster and stronger to the point that the hallway shook from the impact each arrow made.

Eventually, Elysia fired an arrow large enough that the elf couldn't dodge it in time. In a last ditch attempt, the elf fired his own wooden arrow towards the blood-red flame arrow. Before the wooden arrow even got close, it turned to ashes leaving no protection for the elf whatsoever.

With no time left to dodge, the archer took the full force of the arrow. In the end, the elf was hit square in his centre of mass and his body was launched back until it hit the wall next to the priest.

Flames burst out engulfing the elf, making quick work of the body while absorbing its vitality.

Back to Clara, who was holding off the dual-blade elf. She was still keeping him a safe distance away using her whips. Whenever the elf got close she would strike the ground, hitting it with the force of a lightning strike.

The elf was clearly getting agitated as it was unable to get close. Even if it threw knives at her, they would just be deflected easily. Clara wanted to stall as she saw Shaman was about to get out from under the body. As such, Clara intended to try to trap the elf and let Shaman get the final blow.

Stuck in a stalemate the elf stabbed its blades into the ground out of frustration. Clara took this opportunity to dash forward, trying to trap or even kill the elf.

Clara's whips were about to wrap themselves around the elf, when suddenly tree roots emerged from the ground and raced towards her.

"Shit!" Cursed Clara while sliding to a stop so as to not get impaled by the tree roots. With only a metre left she wasn't confident she would stop in time, but on the bright side, at least the roots were covered in ice now, stopping them from getting any closer. Clara finally came to a halt and was only a couple of centimetres away from the tree roots.

Shaman had freed herself from under the greatsword elf and froze the ground around her to stop the attack on Clara. The dual-blade elf averted its attention to Shaman and dashed forward. Shamam raised an ice wall in front of her, but before the elf could even reach it a fire arrow hit directly in its temple.

The elf's head was completely incinerated, finishing off the last of the 3 veteran elves. The only one left was the priest who had yet to move and was completely focused on keeping the seal up.

After killing the greatsword elf, Silver approached the priest, dropping down from the ceiling. Spinning with his scythe, he decapitated the priest with ease and suddenly the wall in front of which he was standing glowed green.

Everyone watched, wondering what it would uncover as the green light slowly faded from top to bottom. What was revealed was a massive open room that resembled the architecture of a cathedral. Green light emanated from an unknown source, but it was focused on one point. In the middle of the room was a sword that was covered in roots.

Everyone's first thought was of a final boss room which would likely be linked to the sword. Kiruya hadn't come out either so they wondered if she stayed back knowing it was potentially the boss's room.

"Before we enter, let's make sure we rest up. Don't want to go in with partially empty mana stores." Shaman called for a regroup and a quick break before going further as this was completely different from the rest of the dungeon.

"Sounds good to me, I don't like the eerie feeling I get from that room." Elysia wasn't going to complain as the only bit of light in the room came from the hallway and the green spotlight on the sword which gave an ominous feeling.

"Rea, am I able to get any information on that sword?" Shaman hoped she could get details from Rea as she couldn't use inspect from that far.

[Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… Nope.] Giving Shaman a few moments of silence for some suspense, she was eventually met with rejection.

"Grrrr where did the shy Rea go!?" Shaman didn't like the suspense and could tell by the tone that Rea was back to her teasing self.

[She is right here, no idea what you mean.]

"Pfft, looks like we have to go in blind." Clara chuckled watching Shaman yell at the air as out of context she would seem pretty crazy.

"Well if KIRUYA would like to come out and tell us, it would be much appreciated." Elysia looked down the hallway and saw a pair of ears vanish, which showed that Kiruya was still around but was purposely not helping them.

"Well, it would be too easy if she just told us the answer." Silver liked the challenge as that was what he found the most enjoyable.

"True and if it was something she wasn't aware of then she would have most likely come forward to help." Shaman, remembering how Kiruya helped when they encountered the variant commander elf explained why she isn't coming out now.

"That makes sense, but I will say those elves were a lot easier than last time." Clara found it amazing how upgrading by one tier makes the battles that much easier.

"Well our attacks scale with our level, so it is expected the fights will become more evenly matched, since we are now closer to the elves' level." Shaman gave an explanation she wasn't 100% sure about, but it occurred to her that if it's like a video game then their strength should passively increase as they level.

"I wonder though, shouldn't it still be really hard since they are a whole tier higher?" Elysia didn't think too much about it, but it occurred to her that they always fight enemies of a higher tier rather than monsters at their own levels.

"Probably because it's just faster to level, no point in limiting ourselves if we can kill a tier 7. However, I am worried we might not be able to do that for much longer since the monsters will be getting way stronger at the higher tiers." Shaman thought of the future battles and couldn't imagine taking on a big group of tier 9 monsters. This thought also made her come to realise that the monsters in those tiers should be considerably less in numbers, but much stronger individually.

"Hope we don't have too much trouble when we get to the higher tiers, the main issue I see is getting a tier 10 core." Elysia wanting to get stronger as soon as possible hoped the opportunity would arise where they needed to kill a tier 10 monster.

"I hope so too, but we should get moving if we ever want to get to that point." Shaman looked at everyone's stats and saw they were all full, so it was time to move. Nodding their heads, they all did a few stretches and stood just outside the next room.

"Stick together until we figure out what this room is." Giving instructions, Shaman took the first step as the roots on the sword began to move.

218 Excalibur?

As Shaman took a step inside the room, the vines came off the sword taking on a new form just behind it. Having no noteworthy features, the figure simply looked like a normal-sized male adult. And yet, that was still worrying enough for the group who were not expecting a being to come out of a sword.

"I need to get closer, so everyone, we will stick to the same formation as last time and slowly move forward." Shaman wanted to use inspect, but she wasn't quite in range.

Elysia walked off to the side with her bow in hand while preparing a thin yet condensed arrow, focusing on precision rather than massive explosions.

Clara walked right behind Shaman, waiting for her to find out more information about the sword in front of them.

'Inspect! inspect! inspect!'

[Out of range]

[Out of range]

[Out of range]

Shaman kept using her skill until she was finally in range and an information sheet came up telling her what it is.

.....

[Elfcalibur]

[A sentient sword that wields itself and is the protector of the Elfheim royal palace.]

"Excalibur? Wait no it's slightly different." Shaman assumed it was the legendary sword since the name closely resembled that of Excalibur, but this time it's elf themed.

'Rea is this a real thing or do you have nothing better to name this enemy?' Finding it hard to believe that this was a real thing, Shaman thought this was something that Rea put together at the last minute and is the real reason why she couldn't use inspect.

[…]

Seeing a bunch of dots appear in front of her face, Shaman didn't know if she should be mad or amused.

'Okay, whatever.' In the end, Shaman didn't care. She has already found several parallels to her old world and at this point it no longer surprised her.

The wooden being formed a hand and grabbed the hilt of the sword that was stuck in the ground. It gave one big pull, yet the sword barely even budged, remaining deeply planted in the concrete floor. The being tilted its head confused why the sword didn't come out, but it tugged one more time and this time it worked.

This got a chuckle out of everyone as they let down their guard, no longer seeing the being as intimidating asbefore. This, however, was their first mistake as the being immediately appeared in front of Shaman.

No one even saw the being move from its spot, as if its movements hadn't even registered in their heads.

The being slashed down with its sword and forced [Lover's call] to activate. Shaman vanished on the spot and teleported right next to Elysia.

Shaman blinked for a moment, noticing she was much further away now from the room's centre, and took a moment to piece together what had just happened. A wave of fear ran through her body as the realisation hit her that she would be dead if it wasn't for her free getaway.

Clara, who was still by the wooden being jumped back to put some distance between them. She also spotted Shaman off to the side which calmed her down. After all, a moment ago she thought Shaman had just evaporated.

Elysia felt her mental state shake as sadness and anger invaded her mind when she saw the sword slash down. And yet once Shaman appeared next to her, relief washed over Elysia.

Her heart still beat like crazy, but she narrowly avoided losing her mind from the thought of losing Shaman.

Shaman simply shook her head, snapping out of her daze.

Seeing Clara alone with the strange being, Shaman rushed forward knowing there was no chance Clara could fight it head-on. Meanwhile, Elysia prepared to fire her arrow, waiting for a good opportunity to hit the being.

The being stood up straight wondering what happened with the fox girl that disappeared and pondering whether she died. However, the demon girl took the chance to attack, aiming for their head.

Clara swung with full force expecting to hit something, but nothing caught onto her whips. She saw them go right through the being's head, but it was as if there was nothing there. Continuing the momentum of her whips, she spun around and striked once more, only this time she paid more attention to her opponent's movement.

Just before her whips made contact, the wood that made the head detached, leaving enough of a gap for her whips to pass through. Clara was able to react in time and discharged her whips, releasing a lightning strike inside the being's head.

After the brief flash, Clara saw the result of her attack. However, to her surprise, nothing actually happened. The only thing that changed was the wood releasing some smoke, but that was it.

Clara stared in shock and confusion as she didn't think her attack would do this little damage.

"Clara!" Shaman came rushing in, calling her name as the being was going for an attack and Clara has yet to move.

Clara tried to step back, but she stumbled a little, just barely avoiding the blade that suddenly appeared next to her.

'What the hell is going on, I've never been this distracted.' Clara felt odd, as if her mind was always foggy whenever she looked at the being. This slowed her decision-making and at times even prevented her from seeing what was happening.

Shaman activated her sword domain and coated her sword in flames while swinging Kotestu at the being. Similar to Clara, Shaman's mind got distracted as soon as she saw the sword and her strike completely missed the being.

Shaman instantly picked up on this and tried to use her fox blessing, but nothing came of it.

'What the hell?' Shaman was confused as she thought it was some mind magic, but if her blessing wasn't working then it was something different entirely.

The being took a few steps back and stood there as if it was observing Clara and Shaman. Although it was hostile, it also seemed like it was treating the group like test subjects, trying to see how they would react to certain things.

While the being stared at Clara and Shaman, Elysia lined up her shot and fired her arrow. The arrow went as fast as a bullet and was about to hit the being, but suddenly the arrow stopped in mid-air.

The being had grabbed Elysia's arrow bringing it to a complete halt. This shocked her as it was one of her more powerful arrows. If she herself tried doing that, her arm would be completely gone.

However, the properties of Elysia's fire started doing damage to the being. The wooden hand that held the arrow started to wither away as the flame worked its way up. Without hesitating it chopped its own arm off to stop the fire from spreading to its body.

It then tried to regrow its arm, but the roots that were coming out of its shoulder couldn't form anything. This made it focus its attention on Elysia, who was across the room preparing another arrow.

Shaman and Clara took this opportunity to figure out what was causing them to be so absent-minded when they went to attack. Their first clue was the fact that when they looked at the being within a certain range, their heads would feel foggy, making them unable to make decisions quickly.

Shaman closed her eyes and, to her surprise, it worked! The effects immediately disappeared and she could think straight again. Opening them back up, the fogginess returned, its effects quite noticeably.

"Clara, something on that thing is causing this effect when we look at it." Shaman explained her findings and this gave Clara an idea as to what could be the reason.

"It's the sword!" Caught up in the fight, they have almost forgotten that the being only exists thanks to the sword in the first place. It must mean that the sword has some sort of passive effect causing all the brain fog.

Shaman nodded and now knew what to aim for, but the only issue remaining was that the sword was fused with the being's hand. So without being able to concentrate, getting rid of the sword is going to be an impossible task.

There is also the factor that the being came from the sword itself, which implied that it has infinite regeneration as long as the sword remained unbroken. However, Elysia's fire might be able to counter this ability as it prevented recovery of any form.

The being had finished its observation and vanished on the spot. In a similar fashion to how it started the fight, it appeared in front of Elysia, but this time it didn't immediately strike.

Elysia took a preemptive measure and covered herself in her fire as she realised her flames were its weakness.

The blank face of the being just stared at Elysia. Even though it had no eyes, Elysia still felt like being stared down by a predator.

For a moment she thought she was going to die, but suddenly a massive door began to open at the other end of the room. A small figure that seemed to belong to a male elf stood there holding a sword.

"Seems like the guests have arrived and haven't died to our security measures yet, how impressive."

219 Elanor's brother

Everyone stopped to look at the person that arrived through the opening wondering who it could be. Surprisingly, Elanor, who had been kept hidden by Kiruya, came out running towards them.

"Brother!?" Elanor was sure it was her brother Ren as she recognised the voice.

"Wait Elanor!" Shaman saw her running straight towards her brother, completely ignoring the wooden elf. Grabbing Elanor's arm, Shaman pulled her back right as the wooden elf attacked.

"Brother?" The young man at the opening looked confused, having just finished swinging down with his sword.

"Ren! It's me, Elanor!" Tears began to form in her eyes as Elanor struggled to get out of Shaman's hold.

"Elanor he clearly doesn't recognise you." Shaman refused to let go and pulled her further away while the wooden elf seemed stuck in place.

"Elanor? Where have I heard that before? Oh, that's right, it's the bastard sister that was abandoned." Ren's eyes glowed green and the wooden elf moved again, mimicking Ren's actions.

"No… Not you too." Elanor could no longer hold back tears as she came to the realisation that her brother also had the same ideals as her mother and grandfather.

"Not my fault this is what grandfather wants." A glimpse of sorrow appeared on Ren's face which was not missed by Elanor, giving her a glimmer of hope that maybe this isn't what he truly believes.

.....

"Sorry." Ren, controlling the wooden elf, made it swing down its sword directly at Elanor, ignoring everyone else. Shutting her eyes she braced for impact, expecting to get hit as she knew Shaman, who was still holding her, would not be able to move her in time.

However, the blade never came. When she finally opened her eyes she was greeted with a short silver-haired boy.

Silver had blocked the attack. In fact, as soon as Elanor entered the room, he was already following her to make sure she was safe. So when the wooden elf attacked, he was the only one close enough to block its assault.

Shaman moved to block as well, but the wooden elf's speed was even faster than before. Her heart almost dropped seeing she would be unable to make it, but as soon as she saw Silver take the hit, she changed her intentions to attacking the wooden elf.

Clara and Elysia were of the same mind and all attacked at once. Ever since Ren took control, he tunnel-visioned on taking out Elanor, so much so that he didn't realise the others were about to attack.

Shaman raised ice spikes from the ground and aimed for the wooden elf's chest. Clara aimed for its back and swung both her whips, lodging them into the wood. Elysia aimed for the head, using a similar arrow to the one she shot before.

Each of their attacks went off simultaneously and the body of the wooden elf was destroyed. Shaman's ice kept it in place, Clara's whips prevented it from moving and Elysia's arrow did the finishing blow.

The fire consumed its body, leaving only the sword which fell to the ground. Ren, who didn't even bother to fight back, fell to his knees.

"Finally." His attitude had completely shifted as soon as the wooden elf was gone, which got everyone curious about what the hell was happening. The group figured it was safe, so they approached Ren slowly, keeping a safe distance just in case, still sceptical whether Ren is friend or foe.

"I'm so sorry about that, but that fake elf you were fighting was actually grandpa, but since you defeated him, he can no longer see us." Ren explained what they were up against, which explained why he pretended to be so hostile to Elanor when she appeared.

"S-so you are back brother?" Elanor didn't know how to feel about it all. Was her brother sincere or was it just another trap to catch her guard down.

"Yes, Father told me the entire truth of what had happened. I understand if you don't trust me so I won't come any closer." Ren Saw the distrust on Elanor's face and how everyone was on guard.

"I can assume these are your friends Ela?" Ren looked at each of the group members, easily able to tell they were stronger than him.

"Yes, they helped me get here as I want to see my father one last time." Elanor explained why she came along in the first place since now that she was going to travel with the group this would be her last chance to see him.

"One last time?" Ren was confused as he thought his sister would be anxious to join back into the family, but it seemed like she had different intentions.

"I will be staying with my friends, I no longer need to stay here." Elanor got very passionate in how she spoke since now she had people that cared for her and felt closer than even her own family.

"Oh I see, makes sense." Ren didn't know how to feel about his sister going away, but then he remembered he was meant to leave the city with a group of adventurers.

'Hang on.' Looking over the group again, he recalled the descriptions of the people he was meant to travel with. However, before he could even open his mouth again, a green light emitted from the ground.

Everyone tensed up ready to fight again, but then they saw Ren's body started turning translucent.

"Grandpa no!" Ren knew exactly what was happening and tried getting out, but there was a barrier blocking his way.

"Ren!" Elanor pushed past everyone and went up to the barrier, hurrying to reach him before he disappeared. As she put her hand up against the barrier, Ren did the same thing and aligned his with Elanor's hand.

"Don't worry about me, go see father while you can." With his final message, Ren was teleported away from the group to Elanor's grandfather.

Elanor fell forward and was now on her hands and knees, her tears falling onto the concrete. Her fingers bit into the concrete, drawing blood because of the rough ground. She then clenched her fist and slammed it into the ground cracking it. She could no longer hold back her fury as once again something important was taken by her grandfather.

Silver squatted down next to Elanor to help her up as they needed to get moving soon. The danger may be gone now, but they still did not feel completely safe

"It's okay Elanor, we might be able to get him back." Silver wasn't sure if they would have the chance, but seeing as they were getting close to the palace, it was too early to lose hope.

Elanor, hearing Silver's words, took a deep breath and tried to calm herself as he was right. She couldn't lose herself to anger right now. There was still some travelling to do before they reached the palace and there will be plenty of time to let loose later.

"We should keep moving before the sword reactivates." Kiruya came out from the shadows and pointed at the sword which was slowly inching its way back to the middle of the room. This confirmed their feelings of unease and so they moved into the next room which looked like a forest.

Finding an open space to rest, they all sat down in a circle to process everything they have seen and learnt.

"Jeez Kiruya, you could have helped us a little." Shaman needed to know why Kiruya was rather absent as Shaman felt like Kiruya should have stepped in.

"I knew you would be fine. By looking into the wooden elf's eyes you could tell if it was really trying to kill you." Kiruya, having gone through the dungeon before, knew the gimmick of the fight and could tell from the start they were okay.

"Huh?" In unison, Elysia, Clara, Shaman and Silver looked at Kiruya tilting their heads as the wooden elf nearly killed Shaman, forcing her to use her free escape.

"Yep, its eyes were green so it wasn't going to kill you, only when it targeted Elanor did the eyes go red and I was about to step in, but you beat me to it." Kiruya had a grin as seeing the reactions from the group was rather entertaining.

"Damn, that would have been nice to know." Elysia now felt like that was a waste of time and preferred to not go through such a rollercoaster again.

"Hang on, then why was it mimicking Ren's moves?" Clara noticed when they were fighting, Ren seemingly took control of the wooden elf.

"That's because of his sword, it is linked to the elf's sword and clearly connected to Elanor's grandpa as well, hence why he had to put up an act until the wooden elf was gone." Kiruya elaborated further on what happened and everyone nodded, understanding the situation a bit more.

"Okay, so now we have got a general idea of what happened. What about you Elanor, are you okay?" After going through the previous happenings, they moved on to Elanor who still seemed pretty shaken up by losing Ren right after being reunited.

"Y-yeah I'm fine, still trying to keep calm, but it's hard after finally seeing my brother for the first time in years." Elanor's mind was in shambles. It was filled to the brim with conflicting emotions and she didn't know what to do about it.

"We are on palace grounds now so, let's make this trip quick." Kiruya knew the rest of the way and with a lot of the fighting over she knew they would make it without any troubles. That is of course assuming none of the elven armies comes hunting in search of Elanor.

220 The elven palace

The group made their way through the forest emerging on the other side. Everyone stared in awe as the palace loomed in front of them. It was bigger than anything they'd seen before and rivalled the size of the entire capital city of Elfhiem.

"Oh wow, can I assume the tree roots around the palace belong to the world tree?" Shaman saw how the palace was overgrown with plants and tree roots, but assumed this was the result of the world tree the elves protected.

"You would be correct, currently the tree itself is hidden, but its roots still reach the palace. They are well-kept and match wonderfully with the white walls, but I can't imagine the amount of work needed since, well, they can't stop the tree from growing." Kiruya confirmed what Shaman said and elaborated further on why the palace looked so overgrown.

"So this extravagant palace lets the tree grow into it?" Elysia hated the looks and couldn't imagine the mess it would create.

"Well unless you are an elf, I don't think living out alongside nature is something you would wanna do. It's the faith which most elves follow which lets them look past the mess and perhaps even embrace the tree. Anyway, the point is, they love it." Elanor being an elf herself understood the feeling. However, as of late her faith has been wavering, especially after receiving the system.

"Isn't it just a tree? I know it supplies magical power, but has it done anything other than that?" Silver didn't see the point of the tree and why it became such a religious symbol. To him, the tree was just something that can most likely be easily explained if anyone bothered to investigate a little inside it.

"If anyone else heard that you would be put to the stake and burnt alive, but… now that you mention it, I guess the tree really isn't anything special. Though the only people that can actually get near enough to confirm it are my father and grandfather." Elanor was quite shocked to hear Silver's view, but it also made her come to realise how stupid it sounds to outsiders.

"Hmm there definitely is something more to it than just being a magical tree, but that isn't our priority, we need to get inside before we are found." Kiruya didn't mind the talk about the world tree, but if Elanor's grandfather is on the hunt, they need to get moving before any soldiers capture them.

"Indeed, I'd rather not commit war crimes against the elves. Even if we only harm them in self defence they can still definitely prosecute us." Clara knew that they could face punishment if they hurt the soldiers and nothing they say will do any good. In the end, to the common people they would just be terrorists.

.....

"Are there any entrances other than the front gate Elanor?" Shaman didn't want to just barge in. As long as they sneak in straight towards Elanor's father, they could hopefully finish the mission without any fighting.

"If the place hasn't changed there should be a few passageways that lead inside, but it has been years since I've left." Elanor relied on her memory from when she was a child, but it should be enough unless they blocked off the passages.

"Let's try it." Having no other choice they rolled with it, so Shaman gestured for Elanor to take the lead.

However, Elanor didn't get what Shaman was suggesting and just awkwardly stood there for a moment. Clara, who was behind Elanor, face palmed. Deciding not to make it any more awkward, she gave Elanor a light push.

Stumbling forward it all clicked in her head and she quickly corrected herself.

"Ahem yes, this way." Elanor's face turned red from embarrassment after missing the cue, but she tried to salvage as best she could.

Everyone else got a small chuckle out of it, but they did not judge her too harshly since Elanor has 0 social experience.

*

Crossing the small patch of meadows in between the palace and forest, they reached the palace wall. The group debated about using magic, but that would be a dead giveaway to their location.

"Now we have to follow the wall and we should come across a brick we can push in. I will know when we get there, so just keep an eye out while I look for it." Elanor tried recalling any specific landmarks that would tell her where the passage was, but could not yet find a single one.

While Elanor examined the wall moving along it slowly, the group kept an eye out for any patrols.

"Wait, if this place is securely separated from the outside, why would there be soldiers patrolling?" Elysia found it odd that there would be soldiers around the palace since supposedly the location was unreachable to outsiders as the only way in was either through the dungeon or a teleporter.

"They do all their training here as well, so you could say it's part of their practice schedule. Plus you never know if the monsters from the dungeon might make their way in here so they always have troops here just in case of emergencies." Kiruya knew some of the inner workings of the palace and gave a reasonable explanation to the group.

However, just as she finished explaining, the clinking of metal filled their ears. Shaman and Silver instantly activated [Shadow cloak] while grabbing the others. Silver grabbed Elanor by the waist and Kiruya by her hand. Shaman pulled Clara and Elysia close while going up against the wall.

Soldiers then came running by the wall, constantly looking around for any clues.

"Keep moving, the intruders could be anywhere in the nearby forest or open field." The leading soldier reminded his men what they were looking for.

"Yes sir!" The soldiers responded as they followed, but one elf in the back stopped to look at the wall. Something did not look right to him, as if something was distorting the space. He stopped in his tracks and walked closer to the wall, but before he took another step the leading soldier yelled again.

"ARGUL! Keep moving otherwise you are on shit duty!" The warning from the leader was enough for Argul to ignore whatever he saw and keep running.

The sound of their armour slowly grew distant and once it went silent they released [shadow cloak].

As the group stepped out of the shadows Silver fell to the ground. Kiruya was able to get out of the way, but Elanor, she wasn't able to move with Silver's arm around her. Shaman, Elysia and Clara were all fine, but when they looked over to Silver, they saw a rather peculiar scene.

Landing on his back, Silver opened his eyes, yet all he could see was darkness as something soft pressed against him. Raising his hand to push off whatever landed on him, he heard a moan right in his ears.

"Ah!~" Elanor, who landed on top of Silver, shot up from the ground only to fall on her back. Both Silver and Elanor's faces were completely red. As they tried getting up, their eyes met down the middle. Quickly looking away from each other, they avoided all eye contact and pretended nothing ever happened.

"Shh!" Kiruya tried to keep a straight face but wasn't able to hold back a slight smile.

Elysia and Clara struggled to keep their laughter in, but Shaman was glaring at Elanor. The very idea of her innocent Silver no longer being so innocent didn't sit right with her.

Elysia, seeing that reaction, quickly grabbed a hold of Shaman before she charged at Elanor and ruined this moment since Elysia supported Silver growing up.

"Calm down Shaman, he may have only been living for a year, but he is both physically and mentally a teenager now, so sadly we may have to let go of our innocent little boy soon." Elysia knew the system was involved in Silver's physical growth, but now it was evident that mentally he was also growing.

"The worst thing you can do is treat him like a child and deny his growth. Just like you did with me, accept and help him change for the better." Elysia, using herself as an example, hit Shaman in the right spot calming her down.

"F-fine, but after this I need to talk to Silver." Shaman couldn't fight Elysia on this subject as Shaman knew on the inside that Elysia was right, but just didn't want to admit it.

"That's okay." Elysia was glad that Shaman listened since it was a major concern that she would accidentally stunt Silver's growth.

"Ahem! Anyway, let's keep going! And next time, be better prepared to hide." Said Clara, steering their mission back on course. Silver and Elanor stood up and dusted themselves off. Clearly still embarrassed, they kept their distance and continued to avoid eye contact with each other.

'These girls I swear.' Kiruya shook her head, finding it ridiculous how calm and easygoing the group is despite the situation they are in.

'Gonna miss this when we return back to the Freya forest, but maybe Freja can let me join them after she has finished with the barrier.' Kiruya knew her time with the group was coming to an end soon, but hoped maybe later in the future she could tag along again.