A mistake.

I'd made a huge mistake.

I woke up after sleeping a few hours. I wasn't quite sure how long it had been but I was still exhausted.

I may have just introduced something far more dangerous than a simple weapon, what was I thinking?

Was it the alcohol from before? I sincerely hoped it wouldn't make me take stupid decisions. I'd never touch it again. Never!

I was naïve.

Of course, I meant to do good but the ''technology'' I had shared today could surely revolutionize things even if it was as crude as a glorified road. The only good thing about it for now was that the knowledge about it was limited to a few people. Even if the info would get out, I doubted there were many people with the means to undertake something of this scale, not without knowing all the info that I was still withholding.

If people even tried to make railroads they would most likely fail. I doubted they took into account that steel would expand under high temperatures and shrink in low temperatures. Without that seemingly simple piece of modern knowledge, this entire thing would result in disaster.

Valtheril was a good person. He wouldn't let this transpire as easily, would he?

He would get Dworag's input but I doubted he'd talk to him without my presence.

I would like to believe this knowledge would be used for good but there would be plenty of room for malicious actors to turn it into something that could invite evil.

Seriously, how had these people not thought of this idea yet? Did they not use mining carts in mines or anything of the sort?

I hoped relations between kingdoms were strong enough to not see this as a potential weapon...

The amount of convenience this would bring was going to be nothing short of miraculous.

Yet, I couldn't shake of the ominous feeling that this had all been a mistake. Maybe more effective roads should have been a first step...

This new world was such a hassle. Modern knowledge was going to do me more harm than good at this rate. I never imagined it would turn out like this...

I always thought it would be cool to be many steps ahead of an ancient civilization, yet here I was questioning my irrational decisions.

Science, why have you failed me?

Though, I had to admit. Through all the doom and gloom, this could perhaps also result in a few good things. If things went beyond this simple line to the Searing Peak and eventually evolved to transport between cities, I could see bonds between cities strengthening because of the increase in traffic. Besides that, trade would flourish as well as more exquisite goods could suddenly be made available in certain regions.

That was a huge if.

Maybe I should just scrap the idea entirely.

I'm truly an idiot.

This would likely take years to develop but still...

Maybe I should have them start with the idea in the mining industry and then let them work their own way up from there. Start on a small scale, let them solve the issues so that they would understand.

That would require far lower resources and pave the way for more natural development. They can fix the thermal problem themselves and increase the efficiency of mining iron and the likes in the meantime as well.

Shame about the fertilizer, though. I'd have to look for another solution for that.

That seemed like a much better idea to me. I should inform Valtheril of that idea tomorrow instead. I'll just pretend that there is a major flaw that I can't seem to remember or something like that. They don't know. Technically there was with regards to the thermal thing, I didn't quite know everything there was about railways. I knew you'd have to leave small gaps in between the beams but there was bound to be something that I forgot...

That put my mind a bit more at ease. I was still exhausted, hopefully I could get some more sleep now.

I was so not looking forward to tomorrow. I'd have to come back on my idea. Well, at least 90 percent or so.

Maybe I should think about things more before making such stupid decisions. Also, no more alcohol for me. Maybe ever.

I grabbed the pillow I was holding in a tighter hug.

…

Wait, why did my pillow smell like roses?

When did my pillow grow hair?

What the hell?

That's no pillow.

I rubbed my eyes and then clapped two of my hands to turn on the lights.

Ugh, why is the light so bright.

Why is Velariah in my pillow pile? In my arms, even?

??????

It seemed my clapping had woken her up.

''What the hell Vel? What are you doing here?'' I released her with the last of my two arms and stared an elf in nothing but her underwear.

What the hell was she doing here? How the hell did she even get in?

Oh, I forgot to lock the door again, damn.

''Hmmm.'' She let out as she casually stretched her arms and put her head back against me, ignoring my question.

Sleepy Velariah was quite a cute sight to behold.

Wait, what was I thinking?

''Vel!'' I said in a slightly louder voice than normal.

''Hhmm, It's Velariah.'' She said with a half moan. ''What's with the commotion?''

''What do you mean what's with the commotion? What the hell are you doing in my bed?''

''Hmm, I couldn't sleep.'' She leaned in closer and I had to push her away.

What time was it, then?

Wait, that didn't matter.

''So, you can't sleep and then decide to sleep next to a nightmare, seems legit.''

Her actions confused the hell out of me. I swore the goblins' decisions were beyond me, but this was even further away from rationality.

''You're no monster, Elania.'' She said softly, still not opening her eyes.

Great, she's drunk too.

''I think you're cute.''

Correction, she's completely smashed.

''You can't be serious.'' I accidentally whispered instead of thinking it.

It seems Velariah heard it too, woops.

''Nope, I'm serious.'' She finally opened her eyes and I saw her green and blue irises peer into mine.

''I think you're cute.'' She whispered.

She wasn't actually serious, was she?

Her eyes didn't seem to lie.

But how? Why?

I'd known her for a week. How the hell did that happen?

'Why?' I asked myself again. How could someone find me cute? I was almost certain she was messing around, but her actions said otherwise. Had she even looked at my lower half?

She closed her eyes again and hugged me, seemingly ready to fall asleep again.

This elf...

Maybe she wasn’t so evil, after all?

I was left confused. What was I supposed to feel? Sure, she was beautiful, loyal and smart, but I'd never prepared myself for this...

My feelings were all over the place. Did I like her in that way?

Was I okay with feeling this way with women?

What the hell Velariah, why are you doing this to me?

I can’t say I was against this feeling. It was nice to have somebody not see me as a monster and she wasn't scared to admit it. She went as far as calling me cute and hugging me at night to be able to sleep.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

This exhaustion really didn't help me with putting my feelings into place.

I decided to let it slide for now. I was too tired to deal with this right at this moment. I wanted to be sober, maybe talk about this with her tomorrow, or at least whenever I wasn't feeling so lethargic.

I put her hair behind her long ear, earning a slight smile from her as I did so.

Gods, she was beautiful from up close. I didn't have the courage to tell her, though.

I turned off the lights and I swear I saw her ear twitch in reaction to the sound when I clapped. That had looked quite funny.

I decided to return her hug for unknown reasons and felt myself fall asleep quickly.

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

When I woke up and turned on the lights, I found myself hugging a pillow again.

Had I dreamt all that?

I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or sad if it had been a dream. It had all seemed so real.

I found my heart beat in my chest thinking about what Velariah had said.

I tried to ignore the feelings as I went over my morning routine, but my mind kept getting distracted by thinking about the white-haired elf.

This was just torture.

I decided I'd check the door. It turned out to be unlocked still so I locked it. I decided to stick to what I had promised myself yesterday and actually take that bath. Maybe it would take my mind off things.

I heard Velariah knock after locking myself in.

''Elania, what are you up to?''

''Just gonna take a bath, if you see Valtheril tell him not to share anything with Dworag yet.''

''Okay?'' She replied with a question.

''If you say so. I believe he will be here in an hour or two with the dwarf.''

Great, that gives me some time to get things sorted.

''I'll be with you then.'' I said as I let the water start to flow into the huge tub.

''Alright, I'll head out. I'll warn the others at the guild that you won't be there for a while.''

Shit, was it that late already?

''Vel?'' I asked.

''It's Velariah, what's up?''

''If I ever propose another idea like the one I did yesterday, please just slap me.''

''Aw, I could never hit you, Elania.''

The way in which she said that made me think that what happened this night hadn't been just a dream.

''Anyway, I'll see you later.'' She said cheerfully as I could hear her open the doors leading into the hallway.

I was left questioning my feelings... again...

I absent-mindedly prepared the next set of clothes and towels for when I would be finished. I put them in the sink and had already forgotten the colors by the time I stepped into the tub.

What a mess I found myself in.

I hoped my fresh exoskeleton would have no issues being scrubbed. It seems I had some dried-up goblin blood here and there, some mud at the ends of my legs but besides that, everything was still brand new, literally.

After cleaning I plugged the drain and just relaxed, or so I tried.

This elf just wouldn’t leave my mind. More than once had I tried to distract myself by thinking about the mistakes I had made since coming here and how to prevent them going into the future, but every time my mind wandered back to the events of last night.

How was I supposed to focus when she went and did things like that?

I take back what I thought earlier. She was evil.

The water lifted up my oversized butt again. It actually brought me to an idea. An idea that would be far simpler to execute that building a railroad. An idea that was so damn simple, there was no way that it didn't exist already, maybe to a lesser degree but I was absolutely positive that it existed. I smirked. There was no way I was going to screw this up.

There was no way this would fail. I was convinced that if the elves had known about the properties of volcanic ash, they would have thought of this themselves.

Screw railroads, we should dig a canal.

Thanks again, grandma.

The blood of my ancestors flowed strong within me. I would not disappoint them.

I enjoyed everything that a hot bath had to offer. Rest and relaxation were just two of those things. It seemed a few more small pieces of molting were removed from my exoskeleton as I scrubbed everything clean. Once I was happy with the results of my cleaning and I heard the front door open I decided it was time to get out.

A few minutes later I walked into the dining area where Velariah, Dworag and Valtheril were already seated. I had a hard time believing Dworag could have lifted himself up the chair, that caused me to giggle inwardly for a second before realization dawned upon me. Now came the hard part of telling them that the plan had to be scrapped. I didn't have the heart to do so, but there was no other way around it.

''Ah, miss Elania, looking more beautiful every day.'' Dworag had said and I swear Velariah stared at him. If only looks could kill... Was that... Jealousy?

She hadn't shown that before.

I shook my head.

''What have you told Dworag?'' I asked the general.

''Nothing yet. I'd like you to tell of the plans, you're the expert here, after all.''

Yikes, I didn't like being called an expert when I only had slightly above the average person's knowledge of the subject.

''Good.'' I spoke. ''Change of plans, we scrap what I explained earlier entirely.''

''Pardon?'' Valtheril let out as he and the others looked at me with wary eyes.

''Oh, don't worry. I came up with something else. it's just what I explained earlier, isn't really feasible. I found out that I do not know how to solve certain issues that existed. If we were to execute it without that knowledge the whole thing would fail entirely.''

I didn't necessarily lie. Actually, it was the truth. It probably would fail.

Valtheril scratched his head. He seemed more understanding than the dwarf who was left with a questioning look as to what was going on. Velariah looked disappointed but understanding.

''Something else?'' Valtheril repeated what I had said.

I wasn't sure if I should say it in presence of the dwarf. It didn’t seem like something that could hurt but I would prefer not to make the same mistake twice. There was no way I was going to make myself regret this in hindsight.

''Uh, I'm not sure how to put this. I'm not exactly if I can share it in front of Dworag.''

''Understood.'' Valtheril said.

Dworag seemed to get the notion and jumped off his chair with obvious disappointment in his eyes.

''I'm sorry, Dworag. I'm sure we will need your help soon enough.''

''Aye, missy, I understand. Don't hesitate to come to me for help. I'd be more than happy to help you out.'' He winked.

At least he was understanding of the situation. Wait, did he just flirt again?

This dwarf was insufferable.

When the dwarf was out the door Valtheril was the one to speak.

''What was that all about?''

I apologized and explained why we would have to scrap the plan that I had laid out earlier. I just lacked certain knowledge that was pivotal for the project. I'd suggested to try out the idea first in mines on a small scale and then have this world's civilization experience a more natural progression. They would find out about the shortcomings sooner or later and look for ways to fix them. I didn't have that knowledge at hand. Trial and error was going to be the only way to solve it.

Besides that, it would be a massive waste of time and money to build something of that scale only to have it collapse. I'd rather not have myself or Valtheril known for spearheading such a massive failure.

The elves seemed to understand.

''And what about this other idea of yours?''

''Canals?'' I let out. ''Please tell me you know what I am talking about.''

I almost pleaded.

''We're familiar with those, yes.''

Bingo.

''In that case, it’s easy. Dig a canal to the mountains and use it to float things back to the village, either with horses dragging floating platforms or in whatever other way you can make things move over water.''

''We could have thought of that ourselves, if I have to be quite honest. The river flowing through the village will make this a very viable option.''

''That's what I thought as well. I believe you would have been able to come up with the same idea if you’d known about the value of volcanic ash.'' I said, wondering what Valtheril's reaction would be.

''And I believe you would have been right about that.'' He simply stated as he stood up from the table.

''This is far easier and far cheaper to do, maybe not as fast but this will work. Thanks once more Elania. I'll go talk to a few people, I hope you don’t mind me stealing your ideas.''

That sounded funny. it's not like I was the one who invented the concept of canaling.

I shook my head. ''Happy to help your village, sir.''

He laughed as he walked out the building. I was left behind with Velariah.

Elly came walking down from upstairs and asked us if we required lunch. Velariah had simply nodded and I started moving two chairs aside in preparation. We'd be sitting here, talking for a while, anyway.

I finally got some more info on how this world looked with regards to the different races. She hadn’t seen much of the word herself but Valtheril had shared a lot of information with her from his own experience.

It seemed that most sentient races were at peace with one another. I knew of the humans and the elves but it appeared there were several smaller nations that consisted of demi-humans. They would be much like Draco, humanoid in their behavior but with animal characteristics. Lizardmen, Harpies, Dwarves, several kinds of elves that had all been united in one kingdom and Centaurs were only a fraction of this world's many races.

When I asked about the races that were considered evil, she said that not all of them actually were. It appeared there were both friendly and hostile tribes of goblins. Some settlements even traded with them.

That was interesting to know. I guessed this world really wasn't as black and white as it had seemed.

Then again, that human mage from before had been hostile to me as well, even though he was considered of a race that was at peace with the elves. Technically, I was no elf but I was a member of the guild here and he had disregarded that fact and paid for it with his life. I didn't feel sorry for him at all, if I had to be honest.

Then there were the dungeons. A seemingly endless supply of monsters that would keep spawning from thin air in certain caves, and ancient underground structures. These dungeons held rare plant materials, herbs, roots, fungi and gems that were generated by its core to lure in adventurers. These dungeons would feed on these people's ''mana'' which, funnily enough, was a worthless, invisible resource that all races possessed. These races were unable to utilize this resource themself but through dungeons it could be synthesized into useful resources like the beforementioned herbs instead.

Nobody knew exactly how it worked except that it worked the way it did. Having your mana drained like that turned out to be no danger to you whatsoever. I'd not heard of a concept like this before.

That brought Velariah to her next explanation. The one I had been looking forward to the most: inherities.

It appeared that all monsters spawned in dungeons would possess a certain magical energy that would fuel your inherity if you killed them with anything that utilized your inherity.

She had taken her own inherity as an example. Since Velariah had an inherity that empowered her attacks with swords, it would mean that if she killed a dungeon monster with a sword, a certain energy simply called ''Corium'', referencing to the product synthesized by the dungeon core, would flow from the slain creature into the killer.

This would not be noticeable until your inherity ''evolved'', a sudden spark of knowledge would enter your brain and you would gain knowledge of how to manipulate the energy into an attack that utilized it. This attack would then be performed with built up Corium and whatever your inherity was, in her case, a sword. It seemed the corium would not be expended once it had found its way into a being that was not spawned in a dungeon.

She explained that this was how her father's attack worked. That was, as she had said before, the result of collecting corium and practicing the way of the sword for many years.

She explained that the resulting power of the ability would be the result of one's knowledge about the weapon or ability the inherity empowered and the level of evolution that one had attained.

In other words, if one was an expert with the sword but their evolution level was low, they wouldn't be able to get much done at all. If one was a rookie with a sword but somehow managed to evolve their inherity to extreme levels by getting lucky last hits on dungeon monsters for example, the result would be the same.

Her father, as it turned out, possessed both, which explained the ridiculous amount of power behind his attack earlier.

I had to interrupt Velariah several times in order to process the trainloads (heh, funny) of information that she was feeding me.

I had asked if monsters outside dungeons could also possess this Corium energy, to which she had answered that it was certainly possible, but not a guarantee, and not nearly as much.

So, there was some value to doing normal quests. You could still gather experience and progress your inherities outside of dungeons. That was a good thing to know. If only I knew what my inherity was...

That kind of made me want to get to know it as soon as possible.

We finished up our lunch and Velariah asked if I had any more questions.

''I think I got to know a lot more just now, I'd like to not fry my brain by filling it with even more information, than you very much.'' I said with a smile on my face.

It was true, I would probably forget half of what I had just been told if she were to add anymore on top of it.

Velariah stood up and she seemed eager to head out when I stopped her.

''Velariah?''

''Yeah?''

''What did last night mean?'' I got the courage to ask. I was surprised at it myself.

''What, you don’t like me calling you cute?'' She smiled wickedly.

''I mean, I don’t know, I think I do, but I'm not sure.'' I looked at the ground so I didn’t have to look her in the eyes.

Velariah walked up to me and took me in for a hug, her head didn't reach further than my chest when I was standing at full height.

''That's a start.'' She whispered.

She broke the hug and walked to the doors leading to the hallway.

''Let's head out.'' She opened the doors and walked through them.

I was left even more confused than before.

A start?