A short distance from the central village.

"Hey Alz, if you can make the meat taste so good, can't you do something about these pops?" one of the elves ranted to his companion while looking at the half-eaten green berry in his hand.

Meanwhile, his companion's face eyes were squinted tightly and his lips were puckered after throwing an entire similar-looking green berry into his mouth.

"How many times are you gonna ask that? I only learnt how to smoke meat so it can last longer, I don't know how to cook." after he recovered control over his facial muscles, Alz replied with a grimace on his face, lamenting his lack of consideration before they sat off.

When the pair first set off from the fourth village, their minds were preoccupied with other thoughts and it hadn't struck them then, but they had forgotten to refill their bottles back at the lake.

However, they couldn't completely be blamed for forgetting. Alz had been living close to a lake in the recent years and he always made sure he had an adequate supply of water in the archives, so he never had to worry much about water.

Polon also wasn't used to worrying about water as the tasks that he was sent for were primarily scouting and hunting tasks close to the village where his bottle was more than sufficient.

They only realised the problem when they stared at each other awkwardly with their almost empty bottles in hand on the first day they set up camp. They decided to head back for water if needed but thankfully, they noticed a bush with green berries right by their camping spot.

Alz immediately heaved a sigh of relief when he identified these berries. They had been taught of these berries in one of their early lessons and Alz vaguely remembered Lein mentioning that these berries were juicy and could be eaten to substitute for water.

In fact, this was the main solution for elves on long expeditions and couldn't find nearby lakes as these bushes were more common and easier to find than lakes. Alz and Polon had also seen these before several times but never had the chance to eat them.

Little did they know, how much they would come to regret this decision they made. They finally ran out of water on the second day that they ran out of water and took out the berries they plucked from the bush the previous day, preparing to eat them.

At the first taste of these berries, even Polon managed to remember the lesson Lein had with them on these berries vividly. In particular, their memories of Lein's facial expression back then were extremely vivid. His complicated expression that had traces of fear as he talked about the berry.

It was true that these berries could be used as a substitute for water, but its juices were extremely sour and bitter at the same time, enough to even bring fear to Lein's face.

Polon had been ranting about the taste of these berries since then and Alz had been repeatedly berating himself for not considering the problems of water before they left.

The two friends continued their friendly banter along the way, but they started slowing down and the mood began to change as they moved forward. The two elves started talking less while the mood got heavier, eventually falling into silence yet again.

They hadn't reached the central village yet, but it would appear within their sights in about 50m more, concluding their short trip that was filled with excitement.

As much as they would have liked for the journey to last longer, they also had to consider how the village would react if they took too long for the trip. They had been moving very slowly, but there was a limit to how long they could take.

Alz had considered this at the start and initially decided to take four days for the journey as any more might have been pushing it. Their pace had also been adjusted accordingly to reach on the fourth day, but Polon began to slow down on the third day.

When Alz noticed this, he couldn't bring himself to ask his friend to speed up and slowed down the pace instead. Although, Polon also knew that they couldn't delay too much, so he was still moving at a reasonable pace, bringing the pair here before the second light of the fifth day.

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"Polon." Alz suddenly stopped in his tracks and called Polon. After this, Alz opened his backpack and took out a book. This was the book which he had prepared to leave with the tribe, containing what he felt would come in useful to the tribe translated from the archives.

This book contained more than just writing, it also had many tiny pictures meticulously drawn by Alz to identify some terms used which were not defined in their script. He had spent many long hours preparing this, intending to use it to repay whatever he owed to the tribe.

Alz looked at the book with a gaze filled with love as his fingers gently caressed the book a few times. Polon looked at the book curiously but took no action as he patiently waited for Alz to continue.

"Pass this to the council a week after I leave." Alz said after he finally hardened his heart, holding the book in his hands out to Polon.

Polon tried to take the book gently but his attempt was met with an unexpected resistance. He immediately looked up at Alz with a questioning gaze but saw that Alz was staring at the book in his hands with a pained expression.

A few moments passed and Polon finally felt Alz loosen his grip. He gently pulled the book out from Alz hands and began to observe it. He had heard about books from Alz during the trip and even saw the photography book himself, so he wasn't really curious about the book itself.

He also knew Alz well enough to be able to make a rough guess on the contents of book, which was all things that would bore him. What he was curious about was the paper used to make the book, the paper that carried a similar scent to the forest that surrounded them.

"Leave it to me!" after fiddling with the book in his hands for a while, Polon replied with a big smile and a thumbs-up. Alz smiled at Polon's short but reliable answer, thanking him inwardly for not asking any questions.

"Its been really nice seeing you again, thanks for staying alive." Alz softly muttered as he resumed his steps towards the central village's entrance.

Polon stared blankly at the back his dear friend with a lonely smile before he sighed and did a short jog to catch up to his side as he said, "Hey, don't leave me behind."

"Oh, you're finally back! The council has be ---this is? I don't remember seeing him with your group?" one of the two guards stationed at the entrance recognised Polon and called out to him, but quickly realised that he didn't recognise Alz who was walking behind him and asked.

"His Alz, a survivor we found at the village." Polon replied in an emotionless voice, completely different from when he spoke with Alz.

Both guards immediately turned to look at Alz with looks of surprise, having not expected this answer. Furthermore, his equipment and attire were very different from what they were used to seeing, sparking their curiosity.

Suddenly, the second guard looked behind them, but quickly realised that there was no sign of anyone else.

Before he could ask, Alz noticed his gaze and said, "The rest of them are currently securing the fourth village. The two of us volunteered to report back after we cleared out the last few wolves in the village."

Both guard were relieved when they heard this but also felt slightly puzzled at the decision to send only two elves back to report. However, this was not part of their jurisdiction, so they quickly put it in the back of their minds and regained their composure.

"The council has been awaiting your return, go see them quickly." the first guard hurriedly completed his earlier sentence, rushing the two elves as the two guards opened a path for the two elves to enter.

"We'll report to the council right away." Alz said with a light nod and took the lead in walking through the entrance with Polon following by his side.

Right as they entered the village, they saw a group of warriors looking at them nervously from a field nearby. Polon replied their gazes with a light nod, causing them to reveal looks of relief. Meanwhile, Alz's eyes were wandering around the village with nostalgia.

Despite the distractions, the pair continued to proceed deeper into the village without stopping, eventually reaching the most important building of the tribe. This structure clearly stood out from the rest of the structures simply because it was the only one that was not made of wood.

It was neither the tallest nor the largest building in the tribe, but it was definitely the sturdiest structure by far and was the only building in the tribe which wasn't constructed with elven architecture.

Alz recalled reading that this structure was constructed with foreign aid enlisted by the Elven King after the 'Great Wolf Disaster' as an emergency shelter in the tribe. This building, unlike the rest of them, would not fall to the wolves' attacks.

There were also rumours floating around that the building was connected to a large underground space but had never been officially confirmed. The public also never had the chance to confirm the rumours since the frontier village implementation more than a century ago.

Despite this, the council building was still viewed as the most important building of the tribe in both purpose and significance as the building of choice for the tribe council to convene where they discussed the important matters of the tribe.

Alz took a deep breath as he observed the building before him, calming his heart. He had seen far superior construction from books in the archives, so he wasn't awed by the structure before him like most elves in his tribe was.

However, he felt intimidated by what the building symbolised, especially when he thought of what he was about to do. A part of him felt like just running away, leaving the tribe without notice.

Yet he knew that running away wouldn't solve the problem. It would only leave a thorn in his heart stabbing him whenever he thought about the forest in future, something he did not want.

Hence, he steeled his heart to prepare himself for what was to come as he slowly walked into the grey building which seemed to weigh heavier on his soul with each step he took.