It's pretty huge, the building I mean. Rike's spire, just as the barman had told me, was the tallest thing I had ever seen in this world, even in my own world.

Looking up, it must have pierced into the clouds themselves. Who knew how far it went beyond them?

The golden tiles, which lead up to the spire in some sort of road, were in immaculate condition, none of them were damaged or broken even the slightest.

Grass, which usually crept its way through the ground, wasn't even touching them.

I only assumed it was gold because, in my subjective reality, they were green at the time. I only recently discovered that, in this body, I was unable to distinguish between the colors green and gold.

It wasn't particularly bad, just strange. Color blindness usually came in red-green, blue-yellow or complete blindness to color, not green-gold. I wonder where that came from. Do all elves have this? Or maybe it's just in the high-elven subgroup. There could be a weird genetic code in these fantasy races.

In a world like this, I'm not sure that the general rules for genes don't apply exactly.

What was even more strange was the lack of life that pervaded the area for at least a kilometer radius. No other plants were present, except for the black trees that grew at the very edge of this radius.

And even though I hadn't spotted a single animal close to the tower, the region didn't feel particularly 'dead' or 'alive', exactly. A middle-ground of the two was more accurate.

Man, this place was weird.

Up a gigantic stone stairway, I could finally see the entrance to the citadel and its door was just as massive as it was.

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Once again, it was made of a strange stone that I was unable to identify. This time instead of gold it was a very matt gray, a stark contrast in color.

I was sure that one man wouldn't be able to move it, but before I could even knock, the door opened by itself.

Inside, the entrance hall was made out of perfect white marble.

What should I call this place? Magnificent because of its beauty or mysterious because it was unclear how exactly this all was created?

Though it was nice here, every other place in this world, in my tastes, is uglier than this.

It had a futuristic feeling the people from my world would have imagined.

Flying cars and sci-fi buildings and the like, you all know what I mean.

A tall man, with, which seemed to me, were green hair and eyes, but in reality must have been gold, draped in a long black mantle that almost touched the ground beneath him, was standing by the foot of another set of stairs.

He welcomed me immediately in a strange language.

I heard once that specific elf types greeted other with a special greeting, but this was the first time I heard one for myself.

I couldn't respond because I didn't speak the language. I just stood there not knowing what to say. Even if I just spoke a little elfish, with how quick the elf-man spoke I couldn't even remeber exactly what he was saying.

If I used a translation skill, he'd instantly know that I wasn't a 'real' high-elf and make myself look like a complete jackass in front of a real king.

I was in a pickle. I think I'd be best if I just didn't respond.

Then, in a language I could understand, he asked, "are you a slave to your vices?"

Pausing for a moment, I was unsure of how to answer.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to admit my shortcomings ... but I wasn't ashamed of who I was, so I finally answered, "sure I am, isn't everyone?"

"Oh, a truth teller, quite rare in this age," he said in response, "usually, the ones that travel here proclaim themselves to be virtuous, with goals just the same. My soul is weary because of them." Then he said with a warmer tone in his voice, "though you are not your vices."

Am I supposed to feel inspired by these words? He sounded like a guru with online blogs when they post their daily motivational quotes.

'You are not your vices', yeah, no shit I'm not. I'm a person, not a concept like a vice.

Should I tell him that? It would be rude, no doubt, but elves were rude to each other, right?

Maybe high-elves didn't?

Aww dang, I should have studied up on high-elven culture.