I have been practicing fire Dragonvein for several weeks now. It's day 268 and I feel like I’ve mastered it by now. Lia gave up coming with us halfway because it was too hot and draining on her wallet to keep buying potions which meant I could use my tails for the latter half of my training.

“You seem content with your results.” You too, you seem to have nailed down how to fight these magma monsters.

“At first it was to kill time but I realized that I have no idea how to fight these things so it made for good practice, I sincerely hope I will never have to fight in a hostile environment like this but it’s good to have practiced it.” We were done for the day and climbed out of the pit. Lia didn't join us but always made it a point to wait with refreshments together with the Scholar who I promoted to Creep. He was making it clear he was interested in Sylvana and being creepy about it. He didn't even know she is an elf.

Thanks, Lia, that was our last magma pit visit. I paid Sylvana, she seemed confused but still accepted the 1 gold. I wanted to give Lia 1 gold too but she refused.

“Nono! I did this because I wanted to!” Just take it! That stuff you kept buying wasn't cheap!

“You can pay me!” I looked at Creep with a disgusted face. You? You should pay Sylvana for the distress you caused her!

“You said that you would put in a good word for me!” Then be worthy of them!

“Sylvana! Help me!”

“Hey, don’t come so close!” Creep grabbed at Sylvana, she tried to dodge but he managed to grab her cloak and pull it off.

Ugh, Creep, you idiot. Sylvana’s ears got exposed and I pulled her into an alley.

“Did anyone see them?” I don’t know but I’m going to wipe everyone's memory. My eyes glowed.

“No don't! An effect that is powerful has side effects. Maybe nobody saw them…”

“Hey, Agnis what’s going on?” Lia came to us and saw Sylvana’s ears before she covered them up.

“Oh, an elf… I didn't know... Why do you always need to be so forceful Etienne!”

“H...how was I supposed to know she was an elf! She’s pretty though…” I flicked a pebble at his forehead.

“Ow!”

“She is not going to get hunted down now, is she?” If someone with bad intentions saw her, she might… unfortunately I don’t know if the Adventurers Association is safe. Who all knows that you’re an elf?

“Only Rubert, the healer that made me bodyguard you. He told me not to show or tell anyone because apparently elves sell for a lot on the slave market.” Ugh, the slave market, that place sucks.

“You… you’ve been a slave before?” I got lucky and got treated nicely but it's unpleasant nonetheless. I think we need to get you out of here.

“I'm so sorry…” Creep bowed his head.

“Go reflect Etienne!”

“Yes, sis…” Wait? Creep is your brother?

“Younger half-brother yes.” You have it hard.

“I will gather my belongings and say goodbye to Rubert, can you meet me at the south gate in 30 minutes?” Sure, I will attempt to find out who saw and sow chaos if needed. Sylvana disappeared.

“Let me help!” I appreciate it but I think that this is where we say goodbye. I’m going to help her escape. I don't think you will be able to keep up. Thank you for your help and kindness. I pressed another gold coin in her hand.

Please don’t come and look for us. I disappeared using some illusions and tried to find out who saw Sylvana. It seems Creep was attracting quite the attention with his behavior so a lot of people caught the moment when he pulled off her cloak. A lot of people seemed to be talking about it. I used some illusions to cause confusion but the word was already out that an elf was spotted. Even if it remained as a rumor, those with bad intentions would attempt to find out how what and why. That’s why I wanted to wipe their memories but it's too late now. The rumor was spreading like wildfire. I haven't heard any names dropping but the speculation started and the first that were targeted were the ones that were always hooded in public. This is exactly the reason why I don't walk around with my tails out. I started hearing tasteless comments, some even of discrimination. The relationship between elves and humans is neutral yet…

“Let’s go catch her! I bet she’s pretty! We can become rich”

“I want to have fun with her first!” Comments like that, at least they would only try to kill me if they discovered and caught me, unfortunately, Sylvana wouldn't be that lucky if she ever got caught. It reminded me vaguely of something that happened before we got captured in Hourai.

I assassinated some scumbags but the number of these guys started to increase. I headed over to the gate and waited for Sylvana. I waited 5 minutes; I waited 10 minutes. Shit!

I entered the Adventurer’s Association and there was a big battle going on. Some adventurers were defending Sylvana, a large group was trying to capture her but the largest group was just watching and not doing anything. Either because they were non-combatants or too afraid to stand up for what they believed in. A large part of those trying to capture Sylvana, were Silent Nights so I couldn't sneak her out. Lia was in the group trying to defend Sylvana.

All right assholes you have 5 seconds to clear away and let Sylvana through. Lots of of laughter and mocking. I nodded to Sylvana and she blew all the allies to the side and made an evasive maneuver. I took my stance and used a skill I created as a memory for this training. I used [Fernys’ Magma pit], which creates a magma pit as its name suggests. Easiest win of my life. Maybe went a bit overboard because everything was on fire and created a huge molten pit in the middle of the hall and anything close to my attack had melted. Anyone caught up in it got turned into a human torch and the familiar smell of burnt flesh and the familiar sound of screams of agony started to fill the hall. I am no stranger to burning people to death. Lia had protected the friendlies with an [Earth wall] which was now a magma puddle.

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Woops, and here I thought I was holding back, come on Sylvana let's go! Lia gave a gesture that she would take care of the situation and we ran off. Sorry, I was late

“Don’t worry, you were probably waiting for me…” We slipped into stealth and avoided some shady characters. Where did these guys come from?

“This city has a large zone that's a lawless area. I see that you have some Silent Night skills” Yeah, I want to get more into it after I finish my Dragonvein training. We left the city and I lowered us into a nearby magma pit and kept Sylvana cool with ice.

“In that case, whenever you want to hone those skills, show this at the counter in the Loud Sun bar in Daggerfall a town west of the Penumbra mountain range and close to the Zanyr river.” She handed me some weird black trinket. Penumbra mountain range as in the one to the south of the Umbra mountain range?

“Exactly.” Thanks, but let's escape first. Do you have any destinations?

“I think I should visit home for once but that's too far, all the way in the Igrini Kingdom.” Ah right, it has one of the 4 elven forests. That's indeed far.

“I think it’s best if I take a ship to Igrini Kingdom.” We have to go quite south for that but that works I could practice water in the ocean. But a boat ride to Igrini, that’s going to take very long.

“It does decrease the chances of some of the people after me finding me. I just have to deal with those on the ship.” I will accompany you till you reach the port.

“And then you'll jump into the ocean?” Yup. The coast was clear and I grabbed Sylvana and teleported as far south as I could without preparations. Hmm only 2 km then again it is called a short-range teleport.

“This will give us a good head start, thank you.”

I asked if she knew how far the ocean was and judging by her description the ocean was almost as far as the distance, I ran to get from Ainahs to the border. Ugh, nobody has time for that! Do you mind if I cheat a bit?

“Another teleport?” Don’t be silly I can’t teleport that far unless my tails run simulations for, I don't know how long. I hope you don't have motion sickness.

“Huh?” I covered us in a 7 layered illusion and got out my tails.

“Oh, they look so fluffy!” Hey Sylvana focus! I’m going to run.

“Ehh, ok, I think it’s a waste of energy though…” You’ll see. I picked her up with my 5th tail and took off my shoes.

“Why are you taking off your shoes?” I like these shoes. I connected to the air leyline currents and went for the modified [Accel step]. No mana needed! Dragonvein builds lightning faster than the mana version though so I need to store the excess into my tails else I would become a dangerous ball of lightning. I sped up and I could notice that Sylvana was freaking out. I didn't go as fast as last time so we came close enough to the ocean to smell it after 20 minutes. I stopped and we could see a port city in the distance.

“Whoa! That surprised me! Were you foxes always this fast?” Nope, it seems that I’m an anomaly.

“We are a bit off course but still close enough to Gavin, the port city I was aiming for, thanks.” There shouldn't be any assholes trying to catch you here. We walked toward the port town.

So, what brought you this far from home by the way?

“The elves as a race are quite stuck up on traditions, I also just got tired of being stuck in the same village and forest so after 1400 years I decided to head out.” Is that as in 1400 years ago or at 1400 years old did you leave?

“On my 1400th birthday, which was 4 years ago. At first, I stayed near the forest but as I got bolder and bolder, I got further and further away and before I knew it, I ended up in Fernys I’m still unfamiliar with most of the human customs so excuse me if I come off as a bit ignorant.” Oh no, I’m quite ignorant too. So, what was it that you set out to do or was it just an adventure?

“I told you elves are the managers of the flora, right?” Yes.

“Then why are there only 4 forests that are inhabited by elves?” Uhh, I never thought about that, why is that?

“I don't know either. It is one of the reasons I set out to find out why. Also, how can we manage the flora if we sit on our asses in the same spot for millennia? Aren’t we supposed to go around and assess the status of the flora all around the continent? Why are we sitting still with our strict traditions and customs to not interfere with other races while we’re supposed to help them?! All the other races that are worse off than us are doing their best and dropping in numbers but we who aren't doing our job properly have a population larger than ever before! Isn't this wrong? Maybe I’m biased, can you tell me as an outsider but still in a similar situation, what do you think?!” Personally, I think if you have a duty as a race, you should do it, now if this causes your population to diminish… that I don't know… If I don't fulfil my role, there is no world to live on so dammed if I do and damned if I don't. So might as well do my best to hold out as long as possible. Although it's the worst for us 9t is not as if we're the only one suffering and dying, all of us are doing our best at the cost of our lives to keep the world going. So, on a macro scale, I think what the elves do is wrong and I agree with you, but on an individual scale, I wouldn't want you to die because your race stopped bothering you.

“Hmm, well I have seen some things in these 4 years and I have a lot to say to the elders of my forest. I will try to persuade them but I’m expecting to fail. I've seen so many sick forests, so many plants that went extinct and we didn't do anything.” Hey, just a question do you know the state of blue ghost truffles? They’re not plants but they fall under your jurisdiction, right?

“They, do, and as far as I know they’re extinct, probably a contributing factor to why you foxes are doing so poorly… I’d like to apologize but I really don’t know how to fix this… if there is just 1 specimen alive there might be something we could do but they have always been rare finding it won't be easy if it still exists.” You don't need to apologize, if you have time there's a jungle close to the north side of the desert, a jungle dragon named Vinny lives there, he has a dark green scar on his tail, tell him you know Agnis Hourai. He has some rare plants stored; you might be able to help each other. You can attract their attention by blasting nature energy, I’m sure they won't randomly attack an elf.

“Thanks, I will remember that. May I ask what you’re doing here on the green floor? Didn't the nine-tailed spirit foxes retreat into their own subdimension?” Oh, the elves call this the green floor, well uhh, this and that happened. I explained what happened to Hourai. Sylvana started to shake.

“This is bad, this is very bad! Why isn't this known?!” Uh, well we’re just with 4… 3 survivors and we have mainly encountered humans and we surely aint telling them.

“Fair point. Most of the tailed beasts are gone… I have more ammo now to confront my elders, thank you.” We talked a bit more. It seems there is a thing called Elvish magic. There is no such thing as nature magic but elvish magic comes very close to it. I decided to lift my ban temporarily and I learned 3 Elvish magic skills. I had nothing to teach her unfortunately because none of my specialties align with her. Although I did give her tips on stealth. I advised her to make sure the stealth also removes her weight and that wind magic can't detect her. She had the wind magic covered but she acknowledged that erasing weight might be useful although a bit tricky. But elves aren't heavy either so it’s not an immediate concern for her. The smell of the ocean became stronger and stronger and we reached the city several hours after nightfall. She got lucky and there was one more ship that was heading toward Igrini kingdom. She got on and waved.

“Don’t die before we get to meet again!” You don’t get caught before we meet again! The ship left and I located the Adventurers Association building in this city which was called Gavin and got a room.