Chapter 3: The Kingdom of Elenoir

(Author's note: there might be a lot of copy paste in this chapter simply because there was a lot of things that I can't change. So i made this chapter a bit bigger so hopefully it can make up for it)

I might have underestimated the size of this Forest, we've been traveling for days, but the landscape hardly changed. It might be bigger than any other forest that was on my previous world.

Our slow pace was starting to annoy me. I don't need to eat or rest but my guide constantly needed them and we ended up wasting more time looking for food and resting than we did actually traveling!

'What a pain'

It was then that the little Elf, Tessia, spoke up, "we're close, it won't take more than a day's travel to reach the city"

My face brightened up at her words at the possibility of finally seeing something other than trees and mist, "Well done Tessia, i knew you could do it!" I praised.

She blushed and looked away but still responded with a voice full of pride, "Hmph, this is nothing for me, i could probably do this in my sleep" but her expression reminded me of a girl who got a compliment from her crush.

'So she already has those feelings for me, even though she's a child and a lesser on top of that, i thought brainwashing her might be a bit more complicated'

***

"We're here"

Confused by her words, i looked around. All I could still see was trees and that annoying fog, "Are you sure? There's nothing here" i asked.

"Hehe, watch this" she giggled. She then put her hands on a tree and started muttering a chant. Suddenly, the fog started getting sucked into that tree. It was painfully slow at first but it steadily picked up speed.

After a minute or two the fog was completely gone and what came into vision was a giant wooden door that seemed to be propped up by itself on the ground.

Tess grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. When she opened it, I was reminded of the portal that my Mom pushed me through. The experience didn't feel any better the second time but I at least knew what to expect. As we softly landed on our feet, arriving at our destination, I immediately rummaged through my bag to make sure I still had the my sister's stone That i was entrusted with. It was only after confirming that it was still there did I finally look up and take in the scene around us.

Pristine.

That was the word that popped into my head as I looked at the elven city. It appeared we had directly teleported right past the gates. What I saw before me were buildings that seemed to be built out of a jade-like material. These jade buildings were so flawless and smooth that each seemed to be carved from a single, huge stone.

Making this place look even more awe-inspiring were the huge trees that intertwined with the buildings, filling this whole city with a more distinctive and organic ambience. Looking up, I saw homes built on unnaturally thick branches extending out of the massive trunks even larger than the buildings with smoke drifting out of their chimneys.

The entire ground inside this city was covered in a lush field of soft moss, with only the narrow sidewalks and the main road paved with smooth stone. The dense array of branches that fanned out from the trees covered most of the city in a canopy of shade, but there was a warm, luminescent glow throughout the city thanks to numerous floating orbs of light situated in every corner and street.

While i was admiring the architecture, a group of elves wearing coordinated black armor with green lining, which all had a rapier attached to their wastes appeared out of nowhere.

Surprisingly, some of them had mana cores almost the same level as me. 'They're probably weaker due to their lesser bodies though'. But, with enough of them they could even threaten me.

Ignoring me, they all bowed in unison and shouted, "we welcome back your highness". I was a quite surprised at this, who'd have thought a child which was captured by slave traders would actually be a princess! These, who i assume are the Royal Guards, are quite powerful mages but yet those weakling managed to kidnap their princess from right under their noses?

'Maybe I overestimated them'

"You may rise" said Tess as the Guards stood up uniformly. But before they could utter a word, i heard a cry from somewhere close by.

"My baby! Tessia, you're okay! Oh, my baby!"

Running towards us was a middle-aged man and woman. From the crown on the man's head and the tiara encircling the woman's forehead, I assumed they were the King and Queen.

The King's tall, built body was uniformed in a loose, decorated robe. His emerald eyes were pointed upwards and his thin lips were tensed, matching his short, military-style hair.

While the King had a dignified but somewhat reserved appearance, the Queen was breathtaking. Although she was a bit past her youthful stage, her age couldn't mask the beauty she was. Her round eyes shimmered a light blue hue, contrasting well with her lush, pink-colored lips. Her silver hair was curled down, flailing past her back as she ran towards us, her well-proportioned figure visible underneath her dress.

The mother's cheeks were lined with tears as the father had a tense expression that looked like he was holding back tears as well.

I turned my gaze to see Tess's face visibly soften as she started tearing up as well. I let go of her hand and gently pushed her towards her parents.

Tess landed in the arms of her mother, both starting to sob at this point on their knees, both burying their faces in their daughter's shoulders.

The last to arrive was an old man well past his prime. His facial features are all sharp, with a gaze that could kill someone on contact. His hair was pure white and was tied in the back, face cleanly shaven. This elderly man didn't say anything, but his eyes did warm up a little when he saw Tessia.

It took several minutes for Tess and her parents to settle down. In the meantime, the guards were glaring at me with daggers in their eyes, and even the elder was eyeing me curiously.

The King finally stood up and while his eyes were red, he still carried an air of dignity. "As the King of Elenoir and the father of Tessia, I must apologize for this unsightly appearance of mine and more importantly, I wish to thank you for escorting my daughter back home safely," he stated, his voice coming out a bit hoarse. "Please accompany us to our home so that you may rest. After, you can tell us what happened."

I simply nodded, knowing that the King didn't mean it as an offer but rather an order. There wasn't much to lose but rather being acquainted with a King might prove beneficial.

We got on a carriage together and after a trip that lasted way longer than it should, we finally arrived at their Castle, which was more like a giant Tree that reminded me of Yggdrasil from the video games in my previous world. Only this one was made out of what seemed ti be petrified white stone.

I had told the King and Queen that it wasn't necessary for me to rest and would rather tell them as soon as we arrived, so that's what we did.

Not even washing up, the welcoming crew was all situated around the rectangular dining table downstairs. Tess's father was on the far end of the table with me directly opposite of him. Tessia's mother sat perpendicular to her husband, with Tessia seated right next to her. The grandpa was sitting across from the mother and daughter, leaving a pretty big gap between us, while the five guards stood off to the side behind the King.

With both his elbows resting on the table, fingers intertwined, the King was the first to speak. "Child. What did you say your name was?"

"I apologize for the late introduction, my name is Arthur Indrath, and i come from the outskirts of Sapin. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance" it seemed they didn't expect a child to be capable of mature speech as hints of surprise showed on their faces but they quickly hid it.

"So Arthur, how did you arrive in Elnoir when you're from Sapin? And more importantly, how did you come to meet my daughter?"

I decided to come up with a lie that'll serve as my origin, "long story short, I am an orphan, my mother died at my birth and my father abandoned me soon after i turned 3. I survived off of eating scraps and sleeping on the streets. I think it was after my 4th birthday that I awakened. I was ecstatic but it soon came back to bite me in the ass. instead of waking up on the usual streets, i found myself in a cage.

"I was caught by slave traders, one of them who was a mage sensed my mana and they decided to kidnap me. I later overheard them saying they found a customer in Elenoir, so they probably were going to sell me.

"It was a few days after we entered the forest when we were attacked by a pack of mana beast and i was able to escape in the confusion." It was a story i hurriedly created since i came to this city so my hopes for it were low.

But what happened next shocked me. The Queen was struggling to hide her tears, while Tessia didn't even make any attempt to do so. The rest all had sympathetic and sad expressions including those of the guards who had been glaring at me with open hostility earlier.

'Am i this good at lying or are these people idiots? I can't tell but it works in my favor so I'll consider it a stroke of luck'

"Did you just say you've awakened?" One of the Guards spoke up, "you look at most 5 yet you say you've already awakened? How dare you lie in the presence of the King and Queen!?  Others joined in with murmurs of agreement .

"I guess you won't believe me unless i show you" i conjured a simple orb of pure of above my hand that i then chucked at the Guard. He easily blocked it but i threw it more to annoy him than to harm him. Gasps of surprise sounded from everyone in the room.

"Anyways, Princess Tessia was later captured by them, they were probably desperate so i tracked them for days and later freed her when they weren't looking"

"I should have know it was those humans!" The King shouted. Turns out he was pretty racist towards humans.

(Note: no Arthur isn't being hypocritical here. Asuras are a completely different species from the humans and the others. So he can't be racist if he thinks of them as lessers)

Surprisingly, it was the Elder who reprimanded him, "Watch your mouth Alduin, after all the person who saved your daughter is a human."

The King didn't respond but he clearly looked ashamed. "You saved the Princess of this Kingdom, so you'll surely be rewarded for it. Tell me child is there anything you want?"

'Something that i want huh? Well it would certainly help if i had a house. It would be quite annoying to not have a peaceful place to meditate so let's go with that'

"I may be overstepping my boundaries here but if possible I'd like a house. A small shack is fine as i just need someplace to sleep." I said even though i doubt they would agree. Judging from their behavior they despise humans so letting one live among them may be too much even if i saved the princess.

"Wait what? That's it?" said The King, Alduin

"I knew it's too much, I- wait did you just say that's it?" I was perplexed. 'Don't the Elves hate the humans because of the previous war with them? How are they so accepting of a human just living amongst them so suddenly?'

"Forget that, how about you live with us? You'll be under my protection so no one will dare do anything to you and I'm also curious about your potential as a mage so how about you become my student? Not a bad deal eh?"

This offer was beyond my imagination and anything i had been aiming for from the start. I nodded immediately, this Grandpa here was more formidable than i thought, his mana core was at a level I couldn't sense so having him as a teacher doesn't sound so bad, even if he is a lesser.

"Good, I'll start training you first thing in the morning. Don't be late brat."