I looked behind me to see if Eric was about to join us, as I tried to think of a quick way to explain the general idea of preservatives. This wasn’t really a subject I could talk about freely in his presence.

“Why does food spoil?” I asked, but before anyone answered I decided to do it myself. “It’s because of tiny organisms, ones so small that you cannot see them with your eyes. They eat it, and multiply incredibly quickly. These little creatures are also the reason behind many diseases and illnesses. I hope that, one day, I’ll be able to create the instrument needed to view them, just to show you.”

I smirked as I gave my friends a little time to take in the information before I continued.

“Now, there are certain things that don’t spoil. Take sugar as an example, or honey, or even alcoholic drinks that contain above a certain threshold of it. I’m sure you’re familiar with these.”

“Seralyn is an expert on alcoholic drinks I heard,” Velariah said, grinning.

“Well,” I continued, knowing I didn’t have much time. “Sugar and alcohol prevent these things from multiplying, or they outright kill them. We call these substances ‘preservatives’ when they are used for the explicit reason of acting as such an agent.”

“And the lemon powder does it as well?” Draco asked.

“Yeap,” I replied. “To a certain degree. Of course, you can’t keep bread from spoiling forever, but you all know a couple of ways to preserve food already. Drying and smoking are very common ones. This just adds one additional method to one specific type of food.”

“Very interesting,” Draco said. “So what if you take the alcohol out of, let’s say, wine, and then add it to something else?”

“How the hell are you going to take alcohol out of wine?” Seralyn said.

“You don’t know how to?” I asked in surprise. “Everything needed for that was present in the room in which I had the ritual. I find it hard to believe they don’t know about this.”

“Perhaps they do,” Velariah said. “But I’m certain they keep it a secret. They hold many, and as nice as some of them are, they protect them well.”

“That makes sense,” I replied. “And it’s not something we can simply ask either, lest we draw suspicion.”

I shrugged. “But yeah, you’re right, Draco. You can use alcohol as a preservative, if you can separate it. To be honest, it’s not even that hard.” I smiled widely. “Not with the right tools, as is the case with many things.”

“What do you miss most?” Velariah asked softly, seeing how enthusiastic I was getting talking about things that were considered new principals here.

“Not sure what I miss most. I suppose the most convenient thing to have around at all times was probably my phone.” I smiled and looked at the treetops. “Gods, if you hear about all the things it could do, you’d never believe it, not in a thousand years.”

“I’m going to have you tell me all about it someday,” Velariah said happily.

“I knew you’d say that,” I replied.

Movement behind us caught my attention and Eric came running until he caught up. Without a word, he drew his sword and started moving forward in the same manner the soldiers did.

“You silly,” Velariah said. “There’s no need to show off. You’re only going to hurt yourself.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, clearly confused.

The white-haired elf shook her head.

“Just put your weapon away. Your arms will be sore by the time a fight is about to break out.”

“Oh,” He let out as he heeded her advice and sheathed his sword.

“I guess I might as well mention that in our group, we don’t try to show off. I say try, because somehow Elania always managed to do it anyway, but it’s not our intention. Remember my father’s words.”

“You’re right,” He said with a nod before turning his head to look at my weapons, all three of them. “I can see what you mean.”

“Hey, I can’t help it,” I said in response. “Not like I got much choice in having four arms and whatnot. Might as well put them to good use, no?”

“And that she does,” Seralyn added with just a bit too much of a devilishly wicked grin. I shook my head knowing exactly what she was referring to, causing her to grin even louder.

Velariah merely sighed at the comment, and I wasn’t sure if Eric had gotten the deeper meaning of it. If he did, he was great at hiding it. I merely sighed and kept my mind focused on what was before me. An area with more vegetation was coming up, and I didn’t want to be the victim of an ambush.

My companions recognized the danger and ceased their talking, staying alert in case of attacks. It proved to be unnecessary as there wasn’t a single goblin to be found for the next few hours.

“I’d have expected something by now,” Velariah said.

“Just shows you how well the other parties have already done their job,” Draco replied.

“True,” The elf replied.

“Don’t forget that according to the latest information, the only resistance is up north. I doubt we’ll find anything, to be completely honest,” I added.

“Easy money,” Seralyn said in a carefree manner. “Just the way we like it.”

“Didn’t expect this kind of quest,” Eric said. “Not in the slightest. Not with the effort put into this by general Valtheril.”

“You’re talking about us not running into anything, right?” Velariah asked for clarification.

“Sorry,” He said. “My elven isn’t the best. I meant to say that I expected to face much more resistance. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense to put in this much. Does that make sense?”

“Makes perfect sense,” The white-haired elf continued. “And don’t worry. You speak the language better than the vast majority of humans. Far better”

“Thank you,” Eric replied with a smile. “I do my best to learn it. Speaking of, how did you learn it, Elania?”

Crap.

“I… I…” I stumbled. I had no idea how to explain any of this to him.

“She prefers not to talk about that. About any of her past,” Velariah chimed in.

Thank you for saving my butt there, Vel.

“I see. I’m sorry,” Eric apologized. It made me feel bad because he couldn’t know. Now he probably thought I went through several traumas, which were obviously untrue. Well, that was if one didn’t count the first moments I woke up as this.

I merely nodded when he looked my way as we continued our journey. We came across nothing but usual forest wildlife in the forms of birds, squirrels and the like. Seralyn, for once, left them alone. I was half expecting her to shoot some for dinner, but I imagined that her firing arrows could be conceived the wrong way by nearby soldiers.

I swore, as lighthearted as we were, there was a certain tension that was starting to build up. The longer we went without running into enemies, the closer we got to our goals, but it also made me fearful for when we did eventually run into trouble. What if there was a large alliance of goblins and trolls that somehow went unnoticed? Either way, it was unlikely we’d run into them until we had joined forces with the human kingdom to push north.

“By the way,” I started, completely changing the subject. “Where are the rangers? I expected them to join as well.”

“Defending the village,” Velariah said calmly.

“That…” I let out. “Makes complete sense.” I shook my head. “I’m such an idiot.”

“True,” She said with a grin. “But that’s fine.”

“Why thank you.”

Eric alternated his gaze between the two of us and seemed confused. Both of us ignored it and simply moved forward until the signal was given for a break.

A quick and quiet lunch followed, and after that, we kept marching until night started falling. The second day had passed without seeing any action, but at least Eric had gotten more comfortable, as was shown that evening when we were sitting near a campfire.

“I still can’t get over how Elania decided to use the palisade as a weapon in that battle. Does she always have ideas like that?” He said during dinner.

“Yup,” Velariah said.

“Here we go,” Seralyn commented, her eyes growing wide in excitement, knowing full well what Velariah was going to say next.

“This one time, near the new dungeon near Dawnleaf, we were exterminating huge spiders, and Elania used a fire crystal in the best way I’ve ever seen it used,” Velariah continued, ignoring the other elf’s remarks. She started grinning, unable to contain herself as she recited the story once more.

“She strapped it to the tip of a spear with her silk, activated it, and then shoved it down the queen of the spiders’ throat, causing it to explode and burn the creature from within.”

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Seralyn chuckled.

“That’s… one way of doing it, I suppose,” Eric said in amazement. “Pretty smart, too.”

“Except she used me as bait. I wasn’t so happy with her plan at the time, but looking back at it, it’s kind of hilarious.”

“What can I say?” I said with not entirely feigned pride. “I see opportunities, I take them. Speaking of opportunities, have you checked out the new dungeon?”

“I have. A while ago already, in fact, with my old party. It’s smaller than I expected a dungeon to be.”

“Was it your first?” Velariah asked.

“Yeah. It wasn’t like what I’d been told. Enemies came at us instead of us having to fight our way through to advance. It was… quite the experience.”

“Glad you liked it,” Velariah said with a smirk. “We’ve had several trips to it now and each time we were presented with a different challenge. Proved to be quite fruitful in so many ways, learning how to fight as a team, finding weaknesses… staying alert.”

“Quite an important one,” The ever-so-silent Draco suddenly spoke up.

Velariah chuckled at his remark.

“And yes,” She continued. “We’ve even been able to evolve our inherities.”

“All of you?” Eric said, his eyes wide in disbelief.

“Well, all of us except Nira. She’s undoubtedly next on the list. Ain’t that right, Nira?”

“Huh?” The harpy looked surprised to have a question directed at her. “Yeah. I hope so.”

“That’s pretty crazy. How much did you kill in there?”

“Quite a bit, to be honest.”

“You got me all excited for some exploration of my own in there now.”

“Hope you can still sleep,” I grinned. “Guess it’s about time to say good night. Who will take the first watch?”

“Eric and I will take care of that,” Seralyn said. “We had our rest last night.”

“And Miss Velariah and you can sleep all night if you like,” Draco added. “Nira and I will take the second watch.”

“That sounds great,” I said before yawning. “And with that, I think it’s time to call it a day.” I started leaning back, my head against my abdomen, trying to find a spot that was comfortable. “Good night everyone.”

Velariah stretched, stood up, and sat down at my side, resting her head between two of my legs.

“Good night everyone,” She said.

Draco wished her and me good night, and the others followed. I let out one last yawn and soon found myself drifting off.

----------------------------------------

I woke up to the sound of horns for the second time, but I felt refreshed this time, energized by a full night’s sleep. The campfire was extinguished and we prepared for breakfast. During that, I decided to ask a question that had been on my mind.

“Vel, I’ve been meaning to ask this, but if we’re going in a straight line, don’t that mean that we’ll have to completely redo the line, as in, send people back where we came from, after meeting up?”

“You see the soldiers at the sides?” Velariah asked. “They lead where we go, and I don’t think we’ve been going in a straight line. I think we’re creating a fan, but I’m not quite sure. I trust my father in this.”

“If that’s the case,” I said. “Then that means we’re walking far more than the groups on the other end of this line.”

I shrugged. “Oh well. Doesn’t matter too much, I suppose.”

“It’s the end that matters, right?” Draco asked. “But come, I think we’re moving again.” He tilted his head to the nearest soldier who stood up after his breakfast and was watching to his left, waiting for a signal. When it had apparently come, he signaled us with his sword, and Velariah relayed the signal to the soldier to our right.

I was mentally prepared for a long, actionless day, but it didn’t take much longer than two hours before the first change in rhythm.

Thanks to the openness of the terrain in front of us - there was nothing but dirt and trees - we were able to see soldiers approaching us head-on. They seemed to be less equipped to a degree, at least I thought they were due to the missing decoration on their armor, which was mail instead of plate. They didn’t seem to carry enchanted blades, either, but I doubted they were as professional as the battalion that Valtheril had called it. Nevertheless, I was confident they were more than well-equipped to deal with goblins and with a little help, I didn’t think trolls would be an issue either.

Their tactics seemed to be the same as ours; a long line spread out to comb and make sure no spot went unchecked. When they neared, they greeted us with gestures, to which one of our soldiers replied with gestures that I understood as “Hello”, immediately followed by “We go that way now,” as he stretched out his arm to the north, to which one of the human soldiers replied with a thumbs up.

They rearranged their battle line, as did our knights. I was slightly confused, but as long as we just held the position we had before, we should be fine.

The battle line started being rearranged when the sound of hooves, joined by slight tremors in the ground, made their presence known. From the east came a mounted soldier belonging to the human faction, who exchanged a couple of words with one of their own. When he finished, he nodded and made his way to the west. I imagined he was either an officer or someone who relayed messages over the battlefield.

In the meantime, we were told to wait.

A few minutes later, I heard the horse coming back, but when I looked, it wasn’t the normal, one-headed horse, but an elven one with two, ridden by one of Valtheril’s knights.

“We’re halting for the time being while communications are underway. Wait for the signal to advance,” He told us before moving to the next person.

“It seems that there are the answers I was looking for.” I said as I watched him leave.

“Told you my dad would take care of it,” Velariah answered. “I think there were a few things he just didn’t tell.”

“As is expected in warfare,” I said with a nod. “I get it. Want to eat something while we wait?”

“Might as well,” The lizardman said, his arms crossed and a small smile on his snout. “Who knows how long we have to wait. Things like these tend to take a while.”

Communication… a classic problem of warfare, especially in low-tech civilizations such as these. Whereas signs, flags and perhaps signal fires could do the trick normally, in here, everything was made harder by the trees and how they limited vision. I thought about it for a few moments and wondered if I could, perhaps, come up with something resembling a basic electrical telegraph. I mean, I could make steelthread, after all. If it could conduct electricity, I was confident I could experiment some and ultimately get there.

Experimentation and discovery was fun, but I would probably be better off not bringing something like this into this world. Besides, electricity could be a problem. Now I knew there were spells that used lightning, and thus electricity, but I didn’t know if they would be appropriate for instruments like these.

Still, it was interesting to think about the limits and moreover, the possibilities of the things I could do with these inherities.

“How is that thinking going for you?” Velariah’s voice ended my daydreaming.

“Ah, I don't know. Was thinking about some applications for my silk.”

“Came up with anything?”

I shook my head. “Nothing, really.”

“Alright,” She replied. “Want something to eat?”

“Nah. I’m okay.”

“You don’t seem to eat a lot,” Eric commented. “Are you sure you’re getting enough?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Seralyn said with a chuckle. “You should have seen her before we left. Trust me, she’s eaten enough for days.”

Velariah sighed and clarified what the other elf meant.

“Elania can go for long periods without food.”

“It’s pretty useful,” I added. “Means it’s one less worry when we go out on journeys. The amount of extra weight I’d have to carry just for food would be exceptional.”

I chuckled as I shook my head. “Oh well. What shall we do while we wait?”

“Perhaps share some stories?” Eric suggested politely. “I enjoyed that last one. I imagine you have some more.”

“That’s alright,” Seralyn said with a smirk. “But why don’t you share one first?”