"Kid?" The word was spoken in almost a whisper, but the venom it contained caused it resonate outwards with incredible clarity, even over the noise of the passing refugees.

Elelth's voice continued to rise, and her right eye twitched as she hooked the hair tickling her face behind one ear. "You're calling me a kid? Human."

Even a three hundred and seventy-thee-year-old, socially inept, ex-death squad killer that had murdered eight of the closest beings to a god that his world currently had, as well as devouring the demon lord, literally, could tell he had made a grave mistake and could only grimace as he slowly turned around. "I forgot how much of a pain in the arse it was to deal with other people."

"Ah, you're an elf. My bad. I'm not good at guessing any species' age other than humans. Doesn't help you all age at different rates but look so similar. Oh, and I doubt I am human anymore." 

An awkward silence hung in the air. "... Why didn't I just keep my big mouth shut? This is why I let Alice and Jake take care of the talking."

"I'll have you know that I am twenty-eight years old," spat Elelth, ignoring most of what he said as her fingers turning white from how hard she was clenching her fists. "And I am not an Elf... I am a Dark Elf and what the hell do you mean we all look the same?"

The meek girl in front of him suddenly became a raging tiger, and the man couldn't help but sigh and hooked his thumb into the crowd. "Save your anger for someone who deserves it, not some innocent bystander."

Behind him, milling about in the crowd as they watched what was happening, was the children that had previously run away.

The man scratched his beard, apparently irritated by its presence, and as he was about to turn away, he hesitated. "Anyway, since we are already talking. What year is this?"

"The year of the Fisher, 1923," replied Elelth still seething but confused enough by his response to answer promptly.

After thinking for a minute, the man revealed a dazzling smile, finally getting an answer to the most insignificant, but equally important issue that had been bugging him since his escape. "Three hundred and sixty-three years young huh."

The smile rapidly vanished as a blue glow started emanating from his eyes and skin, unnoticed by everyone other than Elelth as the man was facing towards her with his mantel pulled up, his back to them. "Three hundred and fifty-five fucking years."

It was then she noticed the black spots on the man's arm, that had started slowly spreading, as if alive.

Noticing the movement from her eyes, the man looked down and, almost as fast as it appeared, the glow disappeared but the black marks did not shrink.

The few people in the crowd behind were warily watching the man's back. They did not see what Elelth had, but they had trained their mana manipulation high enough to sense the alarming increase of mana around the man.

They already thought that the man could be dangerous, but now it was certain. A few of them slipped off to hurry their families away from the danger as the rest waited to see what would happen. They knew that if a mage with that much power were to decide to attack, there was little they could do. Thankfully, all mages were required to register with the government and tightly controlled so although they were scared, they did not panic.

Turning his head slightly and spotting the terrified looks of those watching him the man bitterly laughed before returning his gaze to the girl in front of him only to find her eyes sparkling with interest.

"That was cool! What spell were you using? Are you a high tiered mage? I hear only those at the peak of power can materialise mana and even then, it's typically faint and hard to see. The dark blue is as close to pure mana as you can get! Will you show me again" Elelth bombarded the man with questions about magic, ignoring everything that he had previously said.

The man stared at her for a bit, making her feel like a sheep standing before a Wolf, before silently turning and walking off. "Thanks for the information Kid."

Though she normally took offence at being called a kid, it was only when compared to the other races. To her own race, she was still extremely young, but to most of the others, like humans, she held the mentality of what they would find in an adult of their race... most of the time. Now she thought about it, the man gave off the same vibe as her elders and that no human mage had ever reached the higher Tiers of their class so, she decided to let it slide this once.

Suddenly, her skin prickled, and she felt like she was being watched. Carefully looking around, she spotted the other children, as well as a few adults, moving in, casting nervous glances at the man they knew as the Bloody Monster Ripper.

"What the hell did you do brat?" hissed an older lady. "You trying to get us killed by upsetting that freak?"

"Everything that happens in life is for a reason. Every opportunity the goddess of fortune gives must be received without question, not matter the source." Muttering the words of her father, she started sprinting after the strange man, ignoring the woman. "They won't touch me while he is around and he is the first not to notice, or at least mention, my disability."

Due to her circumstances, most parents, especially those of noble birth, would have distanced themselves from her and although they did publically, they more than made up for it in private, at least in her eyes.

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They spent as much time as they could with her, made sure she had everything she wanted but at the same time, kept her grounded and realistic. They even spent a small fortune in an attempt to mask her disability, not out of shame, but so that she wouldn't be picked on and could live a normal life. When things started getting hard for Elelth, they decided to live outside the noble district as wealth more than made up for lack of magical power in the poorer areas giving her some security and equal standing.

That decision, in the end, had lead to their demise. Their home was outside the best barriers, only offered to those inside the inner walls of their town, and so when the sky turned blue, and everything was irradiated with mana, they could do nothing but sacrifice their life erecting a shield to protect their only child.

They had provided her with a solid foundation so she could thrive when she grew up, but that had an even greater advantage now that she was alone. Somehow, she instinctively knew that the strange 'Blood Monster Ripper' was her best security and defence against the other children and even some of the adults.

The memories of her recently deceased parents caused her to stifle a small sob as she repeated the only phrase to give her comfort in these trying times. "Only the living have to worry, the dead have an existence of blissful ignorance."

She quickly caught up the man, who didn't seem to be in a rush, only to hear him grumbling under his breath in a strange, foreign language.

She was confused at most of the man's words but didn't want to bother him, and after finally matching his pace, walked beside him.

As they walked, Elelth became entranced as the man's face continually contorted, displaying more emotions than she had probably seen in her entire life, constantly muttering to himself, mostly inaudible but there were times where she could tell he was pissed at something or someone.

His constant ramblings, occasionally halted as he discovered something that most would consider normal or mundane, like the communication crystals, a hawk flying overhead or the magic propelled waggons that passed with the army, causing Elelth to frown. "Was this man living under a rock at the bottom of the sea? These things are common, everyday items. The only reason we haven't seen any until now was that mana blast destroyed all of the magical arrays and foundations."

As she watched what took his interest, she started to suspect that maybe he wasn't a hermit but a foreigner, but as the only nations outside the Alliance were far in the north, and at war with the Alliance, she dismissed it quickly.

The Alliance was the largest collection of nations, and decades ahead of the other countries regarding technology. Some rumours stated that after the Dark War when the Demon Lord fell they found collections of secret forbidden knowledge. Others said the information was left by the summoned heroes. Beings from another world that was much more advanced than theirs. 

Elelth sighed, thinking about how she would love to meet someone summoned from another world and all the knowledge she would gain.

After a few hours, the man still did not acknowledge her presence, and as she was mentally preparing to talk to him, wondering what would break their awkward, one-way silence as he was still muttering about incomprehensible things from time to time, they started passing small stalls, mainly recruiters attempting to draw refugees in with the offer of money and lodging for their families.

Elelth glared at the recruiters, hatred in her eyes.

It was a typical ploy for any of the guilds or unions to set up recruitment booths in disaster-stricken areas and poach the best potential from the refugees, offering subpar wages and diabolical living conditions for their families. Once signed up, people found it extremely difficult to leave making them almost unofficial slaves. "Damn vultures."

The man, ignoring her and her comment, seemed to analyse each stall carefully, slowing his pace significantly before coming to a stop before talking to no one in particular. "I wonder where the Adventurers Guild is?"

Elelth frowned at the question, but at least she had something to talk to the man about as well as a use for all those boring history lessons her father forced on her. "The adventurers guild disbanded hundreds of years ago. They split up into different fields as specialised competitors started taking over more and more of the market. The closest thing you will find to what they once represented is the mercenary guild. They only take the dangerous requests that focus on fighting or protection. The other guilds and unions are pretty self-explanatory by their name."

Noticing the man looking at her, Elelth nodded towards one of the stands where a wooden board held the golden letters, 'Blacksmiths Guild'.

Next to it stood a similar sign that read 'Herbalist and Alchemist Association."

"Sounds... tedious," sighed the man, noticing there was no booth for the Mercenary Guild, before turning and looking down at Elelth, who was no more than five foot three and barely came up to his chest. "What are you doing anyway? Shoo."

Elelth glared back at the man who only humorlessly laughed and turned back around and started walking. "Right, not a kid... Please leave."

Looking over his shoulder and seeing that she was still following him, the ex-hero decided to get some information before ditching her. "So, where is this mercenary guild and do they have information on dungeons?"

"You're interested in dungeons?" asked Elelth, surprised at his question. Most of the guilds and commercial alliances used them to harvest resources, and so, unless you were associated with one, it was almost impossible to get in."

"Only in what lies at the end," replied the man as he continued walking, scanning the makeshift stalls. "So do you know anything?"

Elelth stopped and gave the man's back a hard look. "My uncle runs the mercenary branch in the next town, Yelve. It's where I am heading." She paused as she watched the man's steps falter. "Take me there, and I will put in a good word for you. They have access to a few low-level dungeons in the surrounding area that I am sure you could use if you register."

"Ahh, miss," the man turned around, holding out his hand, as the intensity of his grey eyes caused her to flinch. "it seems we have an accord."

Quickly regaining her composure, Elelth straightened. "A what?"

Sighing the man shook his head. "I swear, the only thing worse than being the last of your kind, or the first, is that no one gets the references, or for that matter, ever will."

Sadness flashed across the man's eyes as he showed a sad smile. "It's always the simple things in life."

"Definitely not sound of mind," thought Elelth as she took the strange man's hand and shook it. "Though he should be able to get me to Uncle safely, and uncle will be happy that I managed to bring in such a powerful mage."

Suddenly, an idea came to Elelth. She didn't think she would get any answers out of him if asked directly, but she could gauge his responses. He seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve when it came to his emotions like had forgotten people could see what he was really thinking. "Oh, you will need a few gold and identification papers of your eligibility to work in the Southen Regions and being a member of the alliance. Anyway, if we are to be travelling together, we should exchange names mine is El-."

"That's two."

His interruption, once again, confused her. "Huh?"

"Actually, if I add you, that makes three." The man looked behind them into the crowd, a strange smile appearing on his face. "Bad things... always come in threes."