“You are responsible for the death of 643 elves, and the destruction of a 3000-year-old life tree and a large amount of forest around it.” said an elder elf that led the council of elders that reviewed the case, as he tried to stay rational
“Even if you're just a child, this is inexcusable, and I will have to give the maximum sentence” he continued as all his instincts screamed not to do it
“I hereby sentence you to death, do you choose to brave the challenges of this world to make up for your crimes or do you choose death?” he said holding back the tears of shame for sending a child to their death
“I choose to be a challenger.” the little girl answered with her mind still focused on the image of her dead mother
“Then I hereby banish you from ever setting foot in any elven territory ever again, you will leave at once.” the elder finished as he and the other council members quickly left
“This girl had nothing but the clothes on her back and the one item that wasn’t destroyed in the incident, a conduit-staff that used to belong to her father.” said Eliz as she stared of into the horizon
“I see.” I said as I realized why she looked so distraught when I mentioned I didn’t have a name
she must have been alone for a long time, fearing for her life, never being sure if she’ll live another day, all the while mourning her family and friends, blaming herself for what happened even though she was just a small child that couldn’t possibly have predicted such an outcome.
“What happened to that girl after she became a Challenger?” I asked
“She started walking, and didn’t stop until she had completely left the forest behind, she took one last look back and spend the next 10 years wandering around taking contracts to live another day in which the entire time would be spend crying and hoping for a redo” Eliz answered
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“but after ten years her tears had all dried up, and she grew bitter toward the world, hoping for death, but instead of death she found understanding as she found a person who knew her pain and supported her this person became a friend and then her new family.” she answered as a smile reappeared on her face
“enough sadness, tonight we’re gonna’ party like it’s our last night alive.” said Grog as he gave her a reassuring slap on the shoulder
We reached the gates of Azure tower just before sun set, I shrunk down to my more human size and did the same with the basket so we could enter the city and sell our product. We first went to the Challenger center to deliver our proof of completion in the form of the brood queens head and then we went to a high-quality tailor to sell our spider silk for some “party money” as Grog was referring to it.
(*Ding, ding*), a bell above the door rang as we walked through it
“What can I do you for?” asked an older lady that was sitting behind the desk
“We have some product that might interest you.” said Vigil as I pulled a small amount of the silk from one of the baskets and returned it to its original size
“My my, you seem to have some high-quality products, how much do you have?” she asked with an impressed smile
“we’ve acquired about 900 kilograms” I answered
“Oh, your golem talks, the silk will sell for about 450 Golds but if you include that golem, I'll pay you 900 Golds” she said surprised
“That is a tempting offer, but I don’t think we’ll sell our party member” Vigil said with a smirk
“And I think this silk is worth at least 500 Golds” he continued
“I guess we have a confident one here, look I can’t use all of this myself, so I'll have to sell it to some other greedy merchant that won’t give me anything near that amount for it, ya get it?” the lady bargained
“475, take it or leave it.” Vigil said
“Mhhh... alright I can work with that.” she said as she counted the large gold coins
When Vigil had recounted all the coins and was assured of their validity I went to the back and into a large pack house where I removed all the silk from my baskets and resized it.
We left the store with more than enough money for one day, so we went back to the inn to party instead of selling the chitin, Grog also mentioned there was a way better place to sell the chitin somewhere in the mountain anyway so we had to wait till morning anyway, and as night fell, we started feasting and drinking like it was our last night alive.