Alz's grandfather swallowed the words he was about to utter back into his stomach. A dead silence enveloped the room as the entire council focused their eyes on the elf who stood at the front.

Polon lowered his head slightly to conceal his lonely smile and the crystal droplets that formed in the corners of his eyes. He might have been persuaded along the way, but he still felt reluctance towards the departure of his dear friend.

Alz slowly felt his mind being devoured by the deafening silence. He grasped his amulets tighter within his right palm, standing strong under the sharp gazes that surrounded him. His resolve was strong, he wouldn't falter here.

Along the way here, he had faltered several times, but he still decided to proceed on. Compared to that, how could the opinions of twelve unimportant elves even sway his mind in the slightest?

The silence continued on for a full minute, with Alz staring at the tribal leader and the entire council staring back at him. The tribal chieftain's gaze started turning cold when realised that the light in Alz's eyes showed no signs of weakening as time went by.

He suddenly released a deep sigh, breaking the stillness that filled the room. He looked straight and Alz and began to admonish him, "Do you know how important every warrior is to the tribe? Do you know how many lives will be lost because of your foolish decision?"

In response, Alz calmly replied, seemingly not shaken in the slightest by the harsh tone of the tribal chieftain, "The village has been doing fine in the five years I went missing and will continue to do so even if I'm gone."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO SELFISH? The tribe has just begun to rebuild the fourth village has a dire need for warriors, we cannot allow you to leave at this crucial point in time!" the tribal chieftain bellowed.

Alz felt like fire was coursing through his veins as his blood began to boil. He had only barely suppressed his emotions when the chieftain blamed the future deaths on him, but this time, he snapped, and the rage and resentment he kept bottled up began to leak.

A stubborn look surfaced on Alz's face as he began to argue with the tribe leader, "I was an elf who was supposed to be dead, why is there a problem if I leave!? It was the tribe who abandoned us first, what right do you have to keep us here!?"

The chieftain first stared at Alz with wide-open eyes, but his complexion slowly became paler with pain reflected in his eyes while the other council members began to revealed expressions which were filled with sadness and helplessness.

He had clearly voiced his dissatisfaction towards the tribe, the resentment he felt towards them. They did not think they were wrong, but this didn't mean that Alz wasn't right. This was the sin they had to shoulder as the highest authority of the tribe, one which they silently accepted and were unwilling to defend.

Alz's heated words painted a sombre mood across the room, dampening the spirits of everyone present. The gazes directed towards Alz only contained grief and empathy, showing no signs of anger towards his words.

Most of the council members were old, but they hadn't gone senile. On the contrary, they were elves that were handpicked for their wisdom and feelings towards the village and only had the best interests of the village at heart.

Naturally, they wouldn't hold the angry ramblings of pitiful child against him, much less when they knew the truth behind his words. The chieftain sighed inwardly as he looked at Alz, dousing his desire to hold Alz in the tribe. Alz's resentment towards them was clear, and he was beginning to think that it might be better to let Alz leave.

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While he was thinking, his eyes suddenly swam to Polon as he realised something. He hesitated briefly before straightening his expression and said, "As you know, the fourth village is currently being rebuilt and we cannot afford to allow any warrior to leave the village now. Alz, can you consider leaving only after the village has been rebuilt."

The chieftain switched from the harsh, cold tone earlier to a softer tone as he spoke. However, he ended off in a statement, not a question. It was clear that he was intent on making Alz stay, not willing to compromise further.

The other council members were slightly taken aback by this. After what happened earlier, most of them were more inclined towards letting Alz go and they believed the chieftain felt the same.

However, they quickly understood his intent when they took another look at the two elves who entered the room. Many of them grimaced, but they chose to remain silent at this. They felt bad for Alz, but their duty was ultimately to consider the best interests of the tribe.

This was the main purpose the council was founded, entrusted with making the decisions that benefited the tribe at all times. To go against this would be to go against the faith of the elves and previous generations that placed their trust in them, something none of them would do.

Alz felt his anger rising to his head and his nails started to dig tightly into his left fist. However, right as he was about to release another outburst, a hand reached out from his side and pulled him back.

"Let him go. I'll stay, I'll make up for his share. The fourth village will not fall as long as I'm standing." Polon stared at the chieftain and loudly declared as he moved to Alz's spot.

Ironically, with Alz overcome with rage and the council's surprise towards the sudden developments, he was probably the most level-headed elf in the room now. He had been silently observing the changes in the room the entire time.

He had noticed immediately when the chieftain's eyes fell on him, and the council's reaction after the chieftain had spoken. He was slow, he was lazy to think, but he was not dense. Hence, he did what a friend should do in this situation, what he needed to do.

The chieftain was naturally joyous at this, but he also felt conflicted at this. The Polon who currently stood before them felt like an entirely different elf from the recent years and it was apparent at this point that it was Alz that changed him and not returning to the fourth village, making him more reluctant towards releasing Alz.

Seeing the council fall into silence, Polon's expression slowly started to become impatient. He had initially thought that him standing out would be enough for them to release Alz, but nothing was happening.

Alz's grandfather saw that the chieftain was still indecisive and sighed inwardly before making his decision to speak. Regardless of how the chieftain thought, he would never allow Alz to remain in the village after the resentment towards the tribe he displayed earlier.

"I have a suggestion... As I recall, the tribute to the capital was planned for departure in three days. Alz, would you be willing to join them as a warrior of our tribe?" Alz's grandfather suddenly started to speak.

Polon's eyes widened with anger at this but this time, Alz held him back with a look of contemplation. He managed to cool his head when Polon pulled him back earlier and finally realised the council's motives as well as where his own mistake lay.

He had already tried to reduce his value by hiding his combat abilities and knowledge, but he failed to account for Polon's importance to the village which ended up making it more difficult for him to leave.

Nonetheless, all of that was now in the past and this new suggestion by his grandfather got him interested. In truth, he hadn't planned his next destination either and was just planning on leaving the forest first.

This was because he lacked information on anything outside of his tribe and he was well aware that there were very few things he could learn about the outside from within the tribe. Hence, he hadn't thought of being able to obtain any information about the outside world from the forest.

However, this suggestion brought on new possibilities. The Elven Capital of Alvein had contact with settlements outside the forest and he could probably obtain information on foreign settlements near to the forest at the very least, making it a great first stop for his adventure.

Being an elf, he was also naturally drawn towards the idea of visiting Alvein at least once before he left the forest, to witness what the Capital of their race looked like and how it compared to the settlements of the old.

Furthermore, it was a good reason to get out of the mess he was currently in and the capital was also much larger than their tribe. It was hard to imagine that they restrict him too heavily when he wanted to leave as long as he played his part properly, something he was confident in.

These thoughts raced through his mind, causing excitement to well up in his heart as he decided on the first destination of his journey, the Elven Capital, Alvein.