Reiki saw a town, numerous buildings that were either two or three stories high with the walls being made out of stone with a wooden roof, a cobblestone floor that was connected to everything single house and lot, looking up he saw a few round wooden bases that were the same size of a small thatch hut on the trees with a vantage point on the edges of the town.

He said. "We're still in the forest… Right?" As he looked at the town and the forest behind him in confusion. Melanor chuckled and said. "What did you expect? We would be living in huts and wielding longbows every time someone comes close?" She let out a soft laugh and continued. "Maybe a few hundred years ago, but seeing how you humans build your 'countries' we decided it would be an excellent idea to give our future descendants a place to call home."

He turned to face her and said. "Your generation built this?" With a proud smile on her face, she said. "Correct! At first, everyone was against it because the safe decision would have been to increase our defenses. After a few… How you humans say 'removing' the competition and majority vote combined with the support of the queen. It was decided to improve our economy first and foremost."

Looking around the town on the horizon he saw a large castle made out of solid stone and a tall wooden fence surrounding it. He also noticed that there weren't any of the round bases on top of the trees that were near the castle. Keeping his gaze on the town he said. "Where is everyone?" Melanor started walking towards the town which made him walk closely beside her, she said. "Well, it's early morning, and everyone should either be doing some overtime work or having the day off. At this time of day, everyone here on the edge is sleeping and most of their families are in the center shopping, going to their job or part-time, or everyone below the age of 180 is going to school."

Walking closer to the houses and cobblestone floor he noticed it looked like a solid piece of stone in one and the cobblestone floor was maintained regularly, he didn't even see a single grass growing between each stone. Walking beside her Reiki said. "School? Didn't you say Moranor was reporting to her superiors? And what age does one start going to school? And why is there school on a Saturday?"

Melanor let out a small laugh and said. "We have plenty of time, Reiki, one question at a time. An elf regardless of gender is taught how to hunt, fight, magic, and… Household chores, depending on their household. My daughter Moranor showed extraordinary aptitude in archery and intelligence, so my husband taught her everything that she knows. Our deal was he was going to teach her about what he knew for the first 80 years and the 20 years I was going to teach her how to… Know something that doesn't involve weapons."

She let out a sigh as she placed her hand on her cheek, she continued. "Had I known she would refuse to learn any of the things I tried to teach her I would have taught her when she was still younger, and then allow him to teach her." Staring at the houses that were slowly getting closer he said. "Then how about her education? Didn't you say she was about 172 years old? Then shouldn't she be in school?"

Melanor had a smile of pride on her face and said. "Accelerated courses, like your schools, also provide such things. Though don't be confused about such courses, what our school provides is nothing like yours." As she turned her head to face him and flashed him another mysterious smile. Before Reiki could say another thing as they were approaching the first pair of houses, two male elves wearing green tunics, dark brown pants, and leather combat boots were suddenly blocking the path.

As the two of them were walking he heard their boots hit the cobblestone path, with his hearing he heard the sheer weight of them hitting the ground, even if both of the elves were walking like normal he was able to hear the sound as if they were smashing iron against the floor. He thought. Those boots they're wearing… The elf on the right coldly said. "State your village and reason for visiting." The male elf next to him let out a yawn as he rubbed one of his eyes. Melanor turned her head to face the elf who spoke and looked at his face, she calmly said. "You're new aren't you."

The male elf instantly took a fighting stance as a layer of maa surrounded him as his pupils started to glow blue, he said. "Final warning." The elf next to him let out another yawn as his left eye slowly opened, as he slowly regained his vision he saw Melanor with an expressionless look and was staring down at the elf next to him. The elf's eyes widened as his hand was enveloped in a layer of mana as he made the elf that was in a fighting stance make a deep bow effortlessly.

The elf also made a deep bow and said. "C-Commander! I apologize for these recruits' manners! He's new so please pardon him on my behalf!" Melanor slowly turned her head to face the man as she calmly said. "... Who are you again?"

The man hastily said. "Commander gave me critical information 50 years ago and it was due to that information you were able to annihilate the group of beastmen under the queen's orders!" Melanor placed her hand on her cheek and was thinking for a moment, she had a weird expression on her face as she tried to recall her memory. Reiki turned his head to face her, seeing her expression he thought. She doesn't remember him…

Melanor softly scratched her cheek and said. "... Were you the one whose body was burned when a fire spell started to rain from above?" The elf said. "Y-Yes!" Melanor scratched her cheek and said. "It's fine, he was just doing his job. Just make sure to let the recruits know how the other leaders look, to avoid things like this in the future." Melanor walked between them as the elf dragged the recruit to make way for her, she also dragged Reiki by the hand when she was walking inside the town. As they were walking down the cobblestone path, when they had enough distance Reiki heard the elf let out a long sigh of relief.

The recruit turned to the elf who recognized Melanor and said. "Commander? I've never seen her with the leader before." The elf next to him rubbed the back of his neck, he said. "When you think of the name Amthir, who's the first one that pops into your head?" The other elf said. "Elor 'Long Shot' Amthir, they say he can effortlessly shoot an arrow up to 600 meters using a regular longbow. His unbeatable record in the shooting range is 3,579 meters, with his ingenuity he was able to use his elemental affinity of wind to prevent his arrows from making a sound mid-shot and increase its speed making it possible to pierce dwarven steel. He was the most respected archer in elven history despite having no units under his command."

The elf had a weird face when he was looking at the elf, he said. "Who did he marry?" The elf who had a look of worship on his face instantly said. "He married Melanor 'ThunderStorm' Sylvaris with her lightning magic, she can level an entire village if she pleases……" The elves' eyes widened so much they looked like it was about to pop out of its sockets, he turned around to see both of their backs as they were walking down the path. The elf softly said. "Didn't the rumors say she bathed in the blood of her enemies so much her skin turned red? How about the rumor where she was born she was bathed in lightning?"

The elf looked at Melanor and Reiki who were talking about something, softly whispering he said. "Rumors often come from the truth, on the battlefield she killed so many enemies she was covered in blood and grime all over. Her being bathed in lightning is when one of the other family elves shot her daughter with an arrow to her shoulder, after that… Let's just say there were 12 royal families before…" He looked around the building as his pupils were glowing blue, as it returned to normal he made a gesture for the recruit to come closer, the elf continued. "There was one rumor that the higher-ups are talking about, they say Commander Melanor is also the queen's best friend and her most trusted aide. So close that even both of their daughters have the same birthday."

He looked around again and continued. "Some even say they made their husband drink 'rare' potions which is the reason why both are widows at such a young age. The males gave away their vitality to aid the birth of their children." Melanor stopped walking as she snapped her fingers, a thin layer of mana enveloped Reiki's ears, as she brought a finger to her lips she made a shushing gesture to the two elves as they both felt a shiver go down their spine as they ran into the forest.

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Reiki also stopped as he turned his head to face the elves who were scared off by Melanor, he thought. Fuck… If what he said was true… Should I just call it quits and just try to make it out of here alive… His face didn't have any minute changes of his expression as he saw the two elves running in the forest as he stared at their diminishing figure. Melanor placed her left hand beside her as she snapped as the layer of mana around Reiki's ears vanished, with a smile on her face, she said. "Anything the matter, Reiki?"

As he slowly moved his face upwards to face her, she was reading his expression, down to the smallest detail. He said. "Melanor-san…" As he trailed off looking at the two elves who disappeared into the forest, he continued. "What were the boots those two wore? And how come one of them was so scared of you?" Melanor eyes slightly narrowed as she stared at his face intently trying to find something off, she turned her head to the front and started walking. Reiki walked next to her as he kept his face looking up as he waited for her response. She said. "Have you ever heard or possibly seen a variant before?"

Melanor was using the corner of her eye to look at him as she saw Reiki's pupils widen, she continued. "You do, that makes explaining easier, like other species of elves, humans, dwarves, and even dragons have an oddity pop up here and there. We elves are famous for our archery and affinity with wind magic, but rarely very rarely, a species gene produces an oddball. Those two elves who were guarding the entrance are one of many examples, even though they have the same weight, height, and muscle mass as other elves. Minus a couple of things, they have no affinity with wind magic, they can easily snap a longbow made out of elven steel in two, and they are strong, very strong. I remember watching that elf who forced the other one to bow effortlessly lift a boulder with one hand. This small group of elves is usually responsible for heavy lifting and crafting… Certain things for us. And-."

She stopped to see Reiki looking at a wall of one of the many houses made out of stone. He placed his ear against the wall and gave it a few taps to see if it was hollow or not. He thought. It's solid stone… He turned around and faced Melanor and said. "You can't tell me all the houses here are made out of solid stone."

As he looked at the rows of buildings, Melanor let out a small chuckle and said. "It's not, it's our version of what you humans call 'cement'. Of course, we added improvements here and there, a few trial and error, and a couple of houses collapsing on themselves. We made the final product." With a smile on her face as she softly flicked the stone wall, Reiki tapped the stone wall a few more times as he let out a soft sigh and said. "Where do you usually buy ingredients?"

Her smile widened as she said. "We're closer than you think." As they walked down the path Reiki saw a fountain with a couple of elves sitting on it that were either eating, resting, or waiting for someone. The closer they were the more and more lively the town was, as they were almost reaching the fountain Melanor said. "Welcome to the shopping district."

Dozens of elves were here that were either buying herbs, parchment, and even food from the stalls. As he took a single sniff the scent of everything was so potent and entwined with one another Reiki placed his hand to cover his nose. He thought. Yep, human culture had a great influence on how they moved forward. Looking around the stalls it was similar to how it was during the new year in the evening. There were grilling some kind of skewer with dozens of different vegetables and another was selling a vine inside a green container as that vine was still moving.

He saw a female elf buy it from the stall as she snapped a piece off and thick purple liquid had started to ooze out of it. There were a few more stalls but the smell alone was too much for him to handle. He said. "Melanor-san do you have anything to keep our conversation private? And possibly help me stop from smelling… Whatever it is, I'm smelling." With a snap of her hands, both of them were enveloped by a thin layer of mana as it instantly disappeared, she said. "Looks like they've decided to make some mystery skewers, consider yourself lucky Reiki." As she was staring at the elf who was grilling something with scales on the back.

Slowly moving his hand away from his nose he took a small sniff and thought. Finally, I can think straight. Looking around he noticed what the elves were wearing, he saw a female elf wearing a green one-piece sundress, a male elf was wearing a brown hoodie with brown pants, he even saw a couple of elves wearing some type of uniform the male was wearing leather pants with a black belt, dark blue blazer, and a green tie.

The female was wearing a long black skirt reaching to her ankles, a dark blue blazer with a white buttoned t-shirt under, and a green tie. He noticed some of them were almost the same design as what he saw from fashion books but with a few minor tweaks. He thought. Never knew I would see an elf wearing a hoodie… And eating whatever… Mystery skewer… Melanor was suddenly behind him with two green skewers in her hand, she tapped his shoulder and gave him one that had a good char on it with one of the vegetables still slightly wiggling.

She said. "How about a snack before we get started?" Reiki took the skewer she offered and tried to smell it, he remembered that he couldn't because of the spell she casted and took a bite of a black colored onion. He thought. … It tastes like burnt wood. Looking up to Melanor, she already ate more than half of her skewer, as she was staring intently at him, Reiki took another bite. His eyes widened as he said. "It's good." He thought. This time it tasted like leek that was cooked in a stew.

Melanor took a bite of a red root vegetable and said. "They make this by fermenting a large batch and let it sit for an entire week, which is what you're smelling. It's named mystery skewer because it changes the color of the vegetables and flavor." As she ate the last vegetable on her skewer, she snapped her fingers at the skewer in her hand and disappeared. She had an amused smile as she was staring at Reiki who was about to eat a blue pumpkin. He said. "So what kind of dish are you planning on-."

As he took a bite of the pumpkin he immediately thought. What the fuck is this!? His eyes looked at the skewer in his hands as he continued his train of thought. It tastes like I just ate raw bitter melon. He placed his hand on top of his mouth as he was able to prevent himself from spitting out what was in his mouth. He heard Melanor laughing beside him, after chewing it thoroughly he forced himself to swallow the pumpkin and said. "Well, I know where Moranor-san gets her playful side from." He took another bite of the oddly colored vegetable and said. "Are they all the same?"

Melanor shook her head sideways and said. "No, a mystery skewer could be all of the vegetables, taste like meat, or it could be bitter." Reiki ate the last vegetable and said. "And everyone enjoys this?" Melanor started walking as he followed beside her, she said. "With us elves, almost every day is the same thing. Wake up, do your part, and go back to sleep, for others it takes a period before they grow tired of doing the same thing over and over again. This is one of the many things they look forward to, it's random and always a different experience... Well for the minority it is most of the elves just aim to make the lives of our future generations easier."

She stopped by a shop that had a large wooden sign on the top, the male elf behind the counter was wearing a white apron and a long-sleeved tunic underneath. The elf said. "Melanor, the usual I presume?" Melanor flashed him a polite smile and said. "Yes, but this time add a couple more. I have a special guest staying over for the time being."

The elf behind the counter changed his gaze onto Reiki and gave him a nod with a small smile. The eld said. "A human huh, when was the last time someone was able to visit here?" Melanor said. "About three days ago, that female kept on going on wild goose chases to get access to the second floor of the library. At first, it was amusing. Now the queen herself said she'll allow it if she does it for a month or so."

The elf behind the counter was rummaging something as he used both his hands to hand over a medium green plastic container. The elf said. "Since it's his first time here I'll give you something extra on the house." Melanor said. "Then I'll take you on that offer." She reached into the pouch on her belt and placed down 4 silver coins, she took the box off the elves hands and handed it to Reiki. Looking at the container in interest he said. "What's in it?" The elf behind the counter took the payment and nodded towards her and said. "Please remember our store when you buy again."

Melanor gave the elf a nod and turned her head to face Reiki and with a smile on her face, she said. "Open it and find out." Reiki turned his head to face the elf behind the counter and saw his arms were crossed with an intrigued expression on his face. He opened the container to see 8 large tofu inside with some water, turning his head to look at Melanor, he said. "It doesn't smell like anything." With a snap of her fingers, Reiki suddenly smelt the potent stench of the tofu.

He immediately closed the container and said. "That smells!" As he covered his nose again, the elf behind the counter was chuckling to himself while Melanor said. "Doesn't your kind make and eat stinky cheese?" He turned his head to face Melanor and said. "We do but, the stench isn't as… In your face-." He suddenly smelled the mystery skewer from his breath, he continued. "And the skewer stench is in my mouth… Great."

The elf behind the counter laughed and said. "He ate a mystery skewer? Did he get unlucky?" Melanor turned her head to face him and said. "The third one." The elf started to laugh again as Melanor started walking back, she said. "Now a bag of rice." Reiki, who walked beside her, said. "Couldn't you just buy some here?" Melanor kept her gaze in the front as she said. "I could, but I know someone who lets me buy a large one." As they were walking away from the shopping district he said. "Where are you going to buy one?" Melanor said. "Near where we met those guards."