Invitation

29th of Maious, 1503

Current time: 08:10:49

The royal garden was quiet with just a few elves pulling out weeds and watering the flowers. Every minute or so, a bird would chirp, greeting the warm sun. By the royal garden, under the shade of a large oak tree, sat a white haired youth by a small round table, drinking tea as he watched the elves tending to the garden.

Almost a week had passed since Neoma met the king of the elven kingdom.

The week was uneventful. The king Kyros or his sister Elin hadn't looked for the youth. At some point, he even started to believe that he was completely forgotten by the two siblings, but he was proven wrong the next day when an elven servant was assigned to take care of him.

However, what shocked him the most was when one day he had overhead a group of elven maids gossiping.

"You better treat that human well."

"HUH!? Why should I take care of a human?!"

"Shhh… Quiet down. No one is supposed to hear us."

"We can't treat that human badly because he has His Majesty's protection. He warned the head servants, so unless you want to get on His Majesty's bad side, you can not hurt that human."

Neoma felt a shiver run down his spine as he recalled the conversation the three elven maids had on Monday. He let out a small sigh and brought the teacup back to his lips, taking a small sip.

"Would you like more ginger tea, sir?"

Bian, the servant assigned to tend to Neoma's needs, asked as he picked up the white teapot from the small round table. The youth slowly nodded as he placed the cup back on its plate.

"Yes, please."

He told the elf as he continued to watch the gardeners work hard from early morning.

Neoma wasn't surprised that Kyros and Elin hadn't approached him this week. That was because on Sunday, tomorrow, the last day of Maious and the last day of spring, there will be a festival held in the town square of the capital city of Aekodora. The festival will celebrate the arrival of summer and will bid farewell to spring. Since elves are beings who are close to nature, they place a large emphasis on such celebrations. Thus, the festival will be one of the bigger ones of the year. Many citizens of Aekodora are looking forward to it and elves from smaller villages travel for days just to participate in this celebration.

Neoma understood that the king and princess were busy with preparations for the festival and he truly didn't mind being left all alone. Well, except for Bian keeping him company for most of the time. He felt pity for the servant.

'I bet he was upset when he got tasked with taking care of me… What elf would want to serve a human?'

The youth thought as he grabbed the yet again full teacup and brought it back to his lips, taking a small sip as he thought about the upcoming festival.

Even though the celebration is very joyous every year, this year will be different. "The Elven Hero" started off with the Church of Inferno attacking the town square, posing as the Church of Storms.

The Church of Inferno always held a grudge against Kyros. Elves didn't worship gods, yet their king was blessed by the God of Fire. This infuriated the Church of Inferno.

A group of bishops, led by an archbishop, was formed to assassinate Kyros on the most joyous day for the elves. However, they weren't stupid. They knew that Kyros was strong and knew that there was a chance he would survive the attack. Thus, they decided to completely destroy this joyous day for the elves. Just like fire, they planned to destroy and take away many lives.

These past few days, Neoma was wondering whether he should get himself involved in this attack. He knew the attack would happen and guilt was constantly eating away at him, understanding that if he won't do anything to at least lessen the attack, many elves will die and many of their deaths could be written in his name.

"Bian… I wish to sleep a bit more. I don't think I got enough rest during the night."

Neoma spoke as he stood up from his seat, gently placing the teacup back on its plate. The servant nodded and the two headed back inside the royal palace.

...

Neoma now laid in his guest bedroom, staring at the ceiling. Bian had left him alone to rest.

"Alvis, is there a way for you to find the teleportation circles and destroy them?"

He mumbled under his breath as he continued to stare at the golden chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling in the middle of his room.

╭────── • ◆ • ──────╮

Yes! I can detect the teleportation circles set up by the Church of Inferno!

However, Alvis does not have the ability to get rid of them… But you do!

You can use your anti-magic powers to nullify the magic which was used to create the teleportation circles!

Do you wish to accept this mission?

╰────── • ◆ • ──────╯

Neoma read the text written on the screen and a small sigh escaped past his lips. He thought for a few minutes before slowly nodding his head in response.

"Alright… I accept it."

He replied to the system buddy. He thought that as long as he didn't have to fight anyone, he would be okay. The mission didn't sound dangerous. Plus, he had Alvis just in case he got into trouble.

╭────── • ◆ • ──────╮

Mission: Disable Teleportation Circles

Difficulty: 1/10

Teleportation Circles Disabled: 0/15

Rewards: 100 points

Time left: 25:32:02

╰────── • ◆ • ──────╯

Neoma quickly read through the mission's details and slowly nodded. The screen disappeared before his eyes.

The youth lifted his right hand up and stared at his palm as he began to think of how he was going to execute this mission. A few seconds later, black smoke floated around his fingers.

Neoma had been practising each night of this week, trying to learn how to use his anti-magic powers. So far, he learned how to move the anti-magic throughout his entire body and how to summon it in his hands. He managed to get this far only due to Alvis' assistance. If not for his system buddy, he would still be struggling with moving the anti-magic throughout his body.

Soon, a knock resounded the entire bedroom. Just as Neoma heard it, he quickly dispelled the black cloud surrounding his fingers and Bian walked inside.

"I apologise, sir, but His Majesty and Her Highness wish to see you."

Neoma listened to Bian as he propped himself up on his elbows. He slowly nodded and gave a small smile to the elven servant.

"Alright. Lead the way."

...

"I still don't think it's a good idea. What if he gets caught by the other elves? You know we can't risk having someone else see him. It is too dangerous."

Kyros frowned as he argued with his sister Elin.

"That's why he will be with the royal servants and Bian will be with him. I'll order a mage to put a disguising spell on him as well. That day has to be celebrated with everyone and he's our guest. All he has been doing here is just sleeping, reading, and sitting around in the garden. Plus, other elves will be too busy celebrating and dancing to even notice that he's actually human."

The princess argued back as a sigh escaped past her lips. Just as Kyros was about to reply to her, there was a knock on the door.

"Your Majesty, Her Highness, I have brought Neoma."

Bian's voice rang out from behind the door.

"Come in."

Kyros replied as he glanced at the door which slowly opened. Neoma and his servant walked inside the king's office, both bowing to the two individuals standing in the middle of the room.

"You may leave."

Kyros told Bian as he glanced at the servant and then at the human. Bian nodded and quickly left the room, not wishing to disturb their conversation.

Elin smiled as she walked closer to Neoma.

"I don't know how much you have heard of Aekodora and its traditions, but tomorrow we're holding a big festival in the town square. It's to greet summer and say farewell to spring. It is a very important celebration, so I apologise that we couldn't contact you. We were quite busy with preparations. But Kyros and I wish to invite you to witness and participate in this festival."

She spoke in her usual vibrant voice.

Neoma knew he couldn't decline this invitation. After all, it came from the king and princess of Aekodora. Him declining it would look very rude to the royal family. So the youth just smiled softly in response as he replied to the princess' words.

"I would love to participate in this festival. I don't know much about the traditions and celebrations of elves… However, I overheard some servants talking about this day. They seemed to be quite excited about it. And… It is an honour to be invited by the king and the princess."

Neoma bowed again as he thanked the two royals.

'I liked it much better when I was left alone…'