As they aimless walked down the streets, everyone seemed to be staring at them. Alex assumed that people were just curious about them, they were new in town, after all.

"Or maybe they're staring because your entire front is covered in blood?" Elara said, which made Alex look down. His entire front was almost entirely red, his adventurer clothes soaked in the clone's blood.

"Uhhhhh... is there anywhere I can clean myself nearby?" Alex asked, looking behind himself and seeing the trail of blood on the road.

"An inn, probably." Elara responded. The people around them were looking at them, but nobody looked interested or worried. After all, with the guild building and the arena so close to them they became numb to such sights.

"Then lead the way." Alex said.

"I have no idea where an inn is." Elara replied, looking around.

"Excuse me, where is the closest inn?" Elara asked a passerby, who looked at Elara, then at the blood-covered Alex, and then back at Elara.

"Go forward, turn left when you pass that bar and then all the way forward until you're near the wall. There, on the right side will be an inn." The man said before going on his way.

"Heard that? Let's go so you can take a shower." Elara said, already walking away from Alex, who caught up to her a moment later.

"You stink of blood, it's disgusting." Elara suddenly said, pinching her nose.

"Not my fault. Can't you teleport us there or something? It'll be faster." Alex responded, clearly not in the mood of walking through the entire city as blood dries on his clothes.

"I'm conflicted. On one hand, I can make you suffer by making you walk in these clothes soaked in blood. But on the other the scent you have right now as well as your overall look is disgusting." Elara said with a completely serious tone, as if she was really conflicted.

"Your honesty about how I look is insufferable." Alex said, holding the hem of his shirt away from his body so it won't stick to him after the blood dries.

"Thank you for the complement." Elara replied with a shrug and a smile.

"It wasn't a complement. You're insufferable as a person, actually." Alex said.

"Just a reminder that I have all your memories, and I'm not scared of revealing them." Elara responded, which Alex took as an obvious threat.

"Hey now, that's blackmail and it's illegal." Alex said calmly, but he got slightly scared on the inside. He knew that she was just messing with him, and that she wouldn't do it, but just the idea of it happening scared him.

"Whatever. Back to the teleportation, I can't do it through walls, only where I can see." Elara said as they neared the bar slowly.

"Then just teleport us near the bar, and then to the wall. Is it that hard?" Alex said, annoyed that his clothes were becoming more and more sticky every second.

"I know." Elara said before teleporting them near the bar at the corner. Then, she teleported them close to the wall. To their right, just as the man told them, there was an inn, advertised by the sign above the door as 'Kria's Inn Housing'. They went inside and the bell rung as the door opened.

The door opened to a small and cozy reception room, with only one person behind the desk in front of them. Candles lit the windowless room with a warm light. The receptionist, who had a welcoming smile on her face, appeared to be a normal human, but her ears were slightly different. They were long and pointy, as she was of the elf race. She wore a small badge with the name 'Kria' written in bold letters.

"Welcome. What can I get for you?" The elf asked softly, her welcoming demeanor never leaving her.

"A room for two." Elara said, taking the initiative as she approached the desk.

"One or two beds?" Kria asked. Elara looked in Alex's direction, who shrugged, clearly more interested in his blood-stained clothes.

"Two beds." Elara responded. Kria nodded and turned around, opening the shelf and picking up one of many keys before she turned back and placed the keys on the desk.

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"How many nights do you plan on staying?" Kria asked, which made Elara look back at Alex.

"One night." Alex said, and Elara looked back at the receptionist.

"That'll be 11 silver coins." Kria said calmly, her expression still welcoming. Elara looks at Alex, and Alex looks at Elara, Elara's expression asking 'Now what?' while Alex's expression says 'Just pay already'.

"Come on, just pay for the room so I can finally take a shower." Alex said, considering taking off the shirt right then and there just to not feel the blood for any longer.

"I don't have any money." Elara responded telepathically, leaning forward so her elbows rested on the reception desk.

"Huh? What do you mean you don't have money?" Alex asked, confused.

"I mean exactly what I said, I have exactly zero money." Elara replied, Kria watching them from behind the desk as she waited to be paid.

"Then create some? You can do that, right?" Alex asked, hoping that Elara would stop messing with him and just pay.

"Nope. All coins are created and issued by the government. The coins are embedded with a special element and infused with Xen, as well as being officially marked by the king in a way that is impossible to fake or copy." Elara answered seriously.

"Then, what now?" Alex asked, his voice defeated but desperate to clean himself.

"Well, let's leave first." Elara said. She turned back the Kria, who was patiently waiting.

"Excuse me, turns out we can't pay for the room. Sorry for wasting your time." Elara said to the elf. Kria nodded and took the key, hanging it back on a hook with the correct number above it.

"No problem. Come back whenever you want, and we'll welcome you with open arms." Kria said as she watched Alex and Elara leave the inn, the bell ringing as the door opened.

"Now what?" Alex asked as they stood on the sidewalk outside the inn.

"How about washing the blood off in a river?" Elara proposed.

"Is there any better, more specifically warmer, option?" Alex asked, clearly not enthusiastic to wash in the cold water of the river.

"Not really, no." Elara responded as she started walking forward again. Alex followed her.

"Alright, where's the closest river?" Alex asked.

"Outside the capital in a forest." Elara said. She created a mental image inside Alex's mind of the capital city from above, and made two markers, one in the middle of a forest and the other in their location.

"That's where the river is." Elara explained.

"That's the forest we walked through where that acidic bird was, right?" Alex asked, feeling scared at the thought that he would have to wash himself while such creatures are all around him.

"Yeah, that's right. But don't worry, I'll make a barrier around us." Elara responded as she imagined Alex wailing around in the water with the bird flying around him while she watches. She chuckled at the thought and started second-guessing herself on if she should put up a barrier after all.

"Honestly, I'm supposed to be royalty in this life, so why am I homeless?" Alex asked in sadness, not wanting an actual answer since he already knew it.

"Because you're not royalty, right now your name is Eward and you're not connected to the royalty in any way." Elara replied, which made Alex roll his eyes.

"I know that already." Alex said. As they walked, they passed several shops and restaurants that were closing for the night as the sun slowly set below the horizon.

"Just teleport us, it'll be faster." Alex complained, still keeping the shirt away from his body.

"I'm not in a rush." Elara responded.

"But I am. Please, just teleport us." Alex said, his voice tired. Elara sighed and gave in.

"But you owe me a dinner at any restaurant of my choosing after this." Elara said before teleporting them straight ahead, right in front of the gate they walked in through.

"Like I have the money." Alex responded, walking through the gate with Elara following him. The knights were still there, watching as the duo walked through the gate and entered the forest.

"Put up the barrier now, I don't wanna deal with anything attacking us as we walk." Alex said. He didn't want to wait any longer, so he took off his shirt, leaving himself in only pants, and obviously boots.

"Us? Look how considerate you are. I'm honored." Elara said in the most dead-serious voice, but she complied and created two barriers, one around Alex's body and the other around her own.

"You're annoying. Anyway, can I throw away this shirt? I don't wanna wash it." Alex replied, holding the bloodied shirt in his hand.

"Sure, I don't care. And it's made of Xen, so it'll just dissolve back to Xen no matter where you throw it." Elara responded, shrugging her shoulders. They could hear the faint sound of water flowing, informing them that they're close. Alex threw away the shirt into the forest.

"How far away is the river now?" Alex asked, closing his eyes to see the mental map.

"About 300 meters away." Elara responded, creating a line between the river's marker and their marker in their mental map, showing them the distance.

"How can I even hear the river, then? Is it some really violent river or something?" Alex asked.

"No, it's a calm river. The reason we can hear it is because I enhanced our hearing and made it more sensitive." Elara explained, at which Alex nodded in understanding.

"Alright, I guess." Alex said, the sound of the river getting louder.

"Wait, since it's more sensitive, how come I hear everything else normally, but the river is louder?" Alex suddenly asked. He heard Elara's voice, the wind, and other things normally, only the river was louder.

"We can select what we want to hear better, so if you really wanted to hear other things louder, you could." Elara explained.

"I'll just stay as I am. I don't think I'd be able to live with everything louder than it is now." Alex responded. The sun has almost entirely set, and they walked in almost complete darkness. Elara created something similar to a flashlight, but it had a small hole at the back. She explained to Alex that it took Xen from their surroundings and converted it to light, lighting up the path in front of them like a normal flashlight.