We followed him to an area not far from Elecya, located on the kingdom's coastline, in a state that could not be described as good.

The beautiful golden-leaved trees were not seen here. There were only dry, brown, almost bald trees with scattered withered leaves lying beneath them, forming thick piles of leaves that created a noisy sound when stepped on.

From the expressions on the faces of the two people in front, it could be guessed that they were also experiencing this place for the first time. It was a hidden area that was unexpected within such a grand and beautiful elven kingdom.

It was difficult to imagine that their inhabitants would live in such desolation, yet somehow, the young elf managed to smile.

"I never expected that the elven race also has this side within their world," the black hair said while observing the surroundings, still struggling to comprehend what his black eyes were witnessing.

The gray hair sighed deeply. "I suppose, in any world, there will never be something called justice. If even in the elven world, renowned for their grandeur and balance, they still have hidden sides like this, then there is no hope for other worlds."

Once again, he sighed and shook his head, disappointed with the reality. "Then what about our hope of building a just and peaceful world in Shenzhen? I believe it is nothing but a mere dream."

"Wait! Are you from the Murim world??" asked the young elf with curiosity, clearly visible from a pair of hazel eyes that are now sparkling "That... Wow! I never expected to meet one of you!" He shouted, then turned his face, trying to hide the blush on his adorable face.

"I know it might sound strange coming from an elf, but I really admire how you gather mana—uh, I mean chi—and use it without needing to recite spells. Not all magic needs to be recited beforehand, but your powerful abilities can be used so effortlessly! Meanwhile, for us to use Ancient magic, we still have to recite it first."

The gray hair nodded in agreement. "That's true, but..." Then hw turned to the young elf who was looking at him. "You also have your own strengths. Like, you only need sufficient chi capacity—uh, I mean mana," he quickly corrected themselves, causing not only the young elf but all of us to chuckle softly. "With enough mana and memorizing the spells, you can use powerful magic."

"While we have to go through various rigorous training that can even be life-threatening if not well-prepared in order to achieve such power."

"What our friend is trying to say is that each of us has strengths and weaknesses, depending on how we make use of our strengths while learning from our weaknesses to avoid falling into the same pitfalls," the black hair continued, trying to explain so that the young elf would understand, who nodded in understanding.

As he looked ahead, his eyes widened with enthusiasm.

He pointed over there, showing a shack that looked like it would crumble in a storm. It had holes here and there, not to mention the wooden walls that were so old that they were starting to rot in some places.

For the young child, it might be safe, but the three of us were actually afraid of accidentally damaging it if we touched the walls.

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However, how could we refuse his invitation adorned with such a wide smile? Reluctantly, we entered, having to slightly lower our heads to avoid bumping into the door frame and found two even smaller elves inside.

A girl and a boy were playing with wooden dolls crudely shaped like little people.

Our hearts ached as we witnessed it, realizing that there were still those who lived in hardship even though they had transitioned to a different world. We understood that just because the world changed, it didn't mean your life would instantly improve. There would be certain things that remained the same even as the world turned upside down.

One of those things was this heart-wrenching sight before us, multiplied by the innocent smiles of the two little children. They lived in their own world without being bothered by the outside world, truly still naive and pure.

"Elfa! Elfo! I've brought three people with me! Behave nicely and I'll give you these!" The older sibling pulled out two fresh apples from his large bag beside the entrance. He placed it outside because it was impossible for the bag to fit inside.

Their eyes immediately lit up watching the fresh food that they rarely get and they ran towards the older sibling who intentionally raised his left hand. "Apple! I want an apple!" shouted the girl, reaching for the apple.

"Elfa is right! We want apples!" chimed in the boy, agreeing with his sister while putting on a menacing face that actually looked adorable, requiring a strong heart not to pinch those cheeks.

"Ah ah! I won't give it to you until you behave. Remember! These three handsome guests are our visitors, so as I've taught you before, we should..."

"Be polite..." they said in unison, slightly annoyed by their older brother request but not arguing.

The young elf nodded satisfactorily, then continued, "In that case, the first thing we should do when meeting someone new is..."

"Introduce ourselves!" They answered in unison, this time filled with enthusiasm.

"Get ready... Begin!"

The girl jumped to the left, striking a pose with her hands on her waist as she shouted, "My name is Elfa!"

Next, her brother jumped to the right, posing with folded arms, "I'm Elfo!"

Now it was the young elf's turn.

He turned around, stood upright with his hand placed on his forehead in a salute-like manner, "My name is Elfi! And together with us is..."

"The Elfes siblings!" they all chimed in simultaneously, then bowed as a final touch that made the three of us applaud proudly.

The three of them smiled happily at our response and clapped their hands together, forming a small triangle before turning back to us, with the two little elves tugging at the older sibling's clothes, pointing at the fresh red apple in their hand.

Elfi laughed and immediately handed the apple to the two children, whose mouths were watering with saliva. "Alright, alright, you can eat this apple. But remember, throw the waste into the incinerator, not on the floor, or we'll be sleeping with ants."

The two younger siblings nodded, grabbed an apple each and were about to eat it. However, they changed their minds upon seeing the three of us.

We felt guilty because they might have been embarrassed to eat in front of strangers.

But as they approached and Elfa said, "Would you like to eat it with us? We can share," our hearts, already as strong as steel, instantly shattered into pieces.

The gray-hair walked towards the two siblings, knelt in front of them, and placed his hands on each of their heads. "Calm yourselves and trust me."

Soon, a green light emanated from his hands, giving them a comforting warmth that almost made them fall asleep before standing up straight again, looking refreshed and energized as if they had just been replenished with energy.

"Brother! We're healed! We're healed!" They exclaimed joyfully, causing the older brother to collapse weakly on the floor, unable to contain happiness with a burden that now feels so light.

The two of them ran towards their brother, looking concerned, especially when he cried, releasing tears that had been held back for so long, for the sake of his beloved younger siblings' survival.

The three of us who were standing behind them exchanged glances and realized that we too were crying along with them, unable to contain the infectious joy from the three siblings in front of us, creating a crying hut that would later become a terrifying legend. Because the three elven warriors who were on patrol happened to be around and immediately ran, escaping from there.