Alz lightly pushed on the door and entered the room, taking in the familiar scenery before him. The layout in the room was exactly as he remembered, triggering memories of the last time he was here with his tribe.

When he entered the room, he immediately felt a sharp gaze sent from behind the desk, turning to meet it directly without any signs of cowering as he saluted the captain. The captain lightly smiled when he saw this, observing Alz with an even greater interest.

"It seems I've really underestimated you." the captain lamented with a rueful sigh as memories from their first encounter flashed through his mind.

Back then, he recognised the ambition and drive in Alz. but had thought that he was just an immature elf who didn't understand his own limitations, but he knew now that this was far from the truth.

When he had first heard from Colt that Alz had chosen to live in such a secluded area, he was slightly displeased. However, he chose to leave the matter alone, expecting that he would soon give up and return to live with his tribe in the bunks.

As the days went by, this incident quickly became a thing of the past for him, not concerning himself with it at all. After all, this was only a small thing to him, and he had many more important issues to worry about than a young conceited elf.

Yet, a month later, he received numerous reports of a new weapon that suddenly appeared in the guardhouse, in the hands of the newest guards. Initially he hadn't thought too much of it, but that quickly changed when he witnessed the power of the weapon, leaving him in shock.

Following this, his interest in the new weapon spiked, ordering for many of those he trusted to observe the functions and limitations of this weapon, eventually obtaining a detailed report that left him at awe with the weapon's performance.

At the same time, he naturally also paid close attention to the source stated in the report, an elf that went by the name of Alz from the Calla tribe.

He didn't have any recollections when he first saw this name, not until he read the brief description of this elf, stating that he was a youth. It was only then that it came to his mind, the figure of a young elf that once stood before him.

In the subsequent months, he did much more research on these weapons and also on the elf named Alz, finally making up his mind to call him over today.

"You've really surprised me with this... crossbow, you call it?" the captain asked as he looked down and started tinkering on the crossbow placed on his desk with a look of great interest.

"Yes, it is called a crossbow." Alz affirmed the captain's words.

"You made this?" after a short pause, the captain asked.

"Yes." Alz nodded and replied.

The captain's eyes lit up when he heard this, looking expectantly at Alz. However, Alz simply stood with his mouth shut once again, not intending to explain further.

"This youngling!"

The captain felt an urge to shout at him, but quickly held himself back as he knew that getting angry here wouldn't do him any good. He continued to stare at Alz but Alz remained unfazed the whole time, wearing an innocent expression as he met his gaze.

"It looks like... I've really underestimated you." after several minutes, the captain finally said in an exasperated tone.

Alz smiled inwardly when he heard this, but he continued to look back at the captain with the same innocent expression.

"Tell me, what do you want?" the captain leaned back and asked.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"I'm sorry? I don't understand what you are asking?" Alz looked at the captain inquisitively, as though he got lost in the flow of the conversation.

The captain clenched his fist tightly, nearly slamming it on the table. After a few moments, he slowly loosened his fingers with a powerless sigh as he looked at Alz, speaking in a tired voice, "Stop fooling around, you know what I mean."

"This should be enough.”

Alz was indeed fooling around, partially in spite of the captain's overbearing attitude during their first meeting and partially for the negotiation, but it was about time to get into the actual topics.

Looking at the deep crease between the captain's brows, Alz determined that it was about time and started getting serious. he was indeed fooling around, partially in spite of the captain's overbearing attitude during their last meeting, but he also didn't want to take things too far.

"Captain, it's not that I don't want to help, but it is really too much work. I can only make a maximum of two of these per month and it is really too exhausting to make more." Alz said after a deep sigh, speaking in a helpless tone.

The captain face turned beet red, fuming from his seat. If he could, he really wanted to smack Alz right this moment, but he knew he couldn't. After all, Alz was the one who held the initiative here, and he was on the side that needed Alz more.

Disregarding the fact that Alz was openly lying since he was already giving out three crossbows per month, it was also no secret to him that Alz spent ridiculous amounts of time at the library, so there was no way the captain would buy his story.

Besides, what he really wanted the most was not for Alz to make the crossbows, but the method to manufacture them instead. However, before he completely lost his patience, Alz quickly continued to speak.

"But... I can spare more time to make crossbows if you agree to help me out with one small thing." Alz continued.

"What. Do. You. Want?" the captain gritted his teeth tightly and barely squeezed the words out of his mouth.

"I want unrestricted access to the military library." Alz flinched momentarily when he sensed the intense rage behind the voice, but he still continued on without fear, finally stating his intent.

The captain felt some surprise at this request, but he soon furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought.

"Why do you want to go there?" the captain slowly asked, staring towards Alz with a guarded expression, looking directly into his eyes as though trying to peer into his mind.

Alz revealed some a slight hesitation, but his expression quickly hardened as a strong determination burned in his eyes, replying truthfully, "I want to learn about the outside world, the world beyond the forest."

This time, the captain's eyes immediately widened with surprise, having been completely caught off-guard by his answer. Looking at the expression on Alz's face, he finally understood the intent of the request, and what he planned on doing in future.

"I can grant you permission, but I will need you to give us with the method of manufacturing the crossbow." the captain relaxed his expression and answered.

"I cannot agree to that, I will only provide you with crossbows." Alz immediately refuted the captain's offer, not even sparing a second to think about it.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" the captain immediately stood from his seat and shouted, bursting with rage that had been accumulating since the start as he looked towards Alz.

However, Alz adamantly looked at the captain, his gaze not wavering in the slightest.

The captain panted several times before calming himself down, asking Alz coldly, "Give me a good reason."

"I don't want my weapons to be used against elves." Alz replied without a moment's hesitation, staring back at the captain with an equally ferocious gaze.

The captain instinctively flinched back when he heard these words, his fury completely replaced by shock. Soon after, he powerlessly fell back on his chair with a look of tiredness, as though all the energy was sapped from him in an instant.

"I did hear that you have been visiting the library frequently... what did you learn?" the captain's eyes suddenly sharpened as he asked Alz, but there was a clear sense of helplessness in his gaze.

"..." Alz stared back at the captain in silence, but silence could convey many things at times.

"I've really... underestimated you." the captain spoke with a bitter smile, looking at Alz with a deep expression.

"I can promise eight crossbows every six cycles to the guardhouse, on the condition that the northern elves are not issued any of them." Alz paused for a moment before he spoke, looking towards the captain with some pity in his eyes.

"Fine, fine, just go." the captain's expression became slightly more bitter as he noticed this, replying with a strong fatigue in his voice, slumping into his chair without looking at Alz.

"Thank you." Alz thanked the captain sincerely with a deep bow, his eyes resting on the captain for several moments before he finally turned around.

"Do you want to come work for me?"

Right as he was reaching the door, the captain's voice suddenly drifted into his ears again. However, Alz hastily left the room, not even looking back for a moment.

The captain looked towards Alz's exiting back before shaking his head and letting out a deep, powerless sigh as he slumped on the back of his chair.