Chapter 4

Two hours later he was awoken from the creaking of the front door and the exhausted sounding voices of his friends. The pain of his wound now had finally set in as the adrenalin and mana that had kept him going all this time were now ineffective. Slowly and careful to not putting much weight on his injured leg he moved towards the voices.

He found his friends in the kitchen, their clothes were still covered in blood. “Hey, Alec! Guess what, we were able to clear five rooms today.” Marie said as she turned around after he had opened the door. “What the hell happened to you!” She exclaimed when she saw him limping to a chair.

“I underestimated the beasts of the second floor. Those bastards are tough.” He said while he sat down. For the next hour they exchanged their stories. Marie, Peter, Will and Sarah got almost perfectly through their five rooms, no one had any serious injuries only some shallow scratches, but they had gotten tired too quickly to continue onward.

“Do you guys know someone called Anyu?” Alec asked after they had finished their previous talk. “The stinking Lady? Sure, everybody knows her. She buys bunny pelts and sells leather gear.” Peter said. “That might be a fitting name for someone with her rather unpleasantly smelling profession, but it really isn't nice to call someone that.” Alec said. “She calls herself like that and its her shops name.” Peter retorted, “She takes life with humour.”.

His friends helped Alec to carry his loot to her shop, which could be smelled from three blocks away. Luckily the smell wasn't as bad as Alec had imagined, but it still got rather intense when they entered the shop.

“I will be right there, I just need to clean my hands.” A woman's voice could be heard from the back of the shop. Seconds later a bulky woman wearing a leather apron appeared in the doorway behind the counter. “Oh its you guys! Are you bringing me more bunny pelts? Oh and is this a new guy?” She exclaimed happily.

“Not exactly new. He is way above our level. Also no, no bunny pelts today. Alec here has something else for you thought.” Marie said and pointed towards the bag Will and Peter had carried here. “Oh let me take a look then!” she said excitedly.

After she had rummaged through the bag she asked “Might I test this fur? I only need to cut it a little bit.” “Sure go ahead.” Alec said. “Holy hell this stuff is tough and it ain't even tanned yet. What do you want made from it?” She asked. “An armour, if possible with some plates of chitin in it. Especially some arm and leg guards would be nice.” Alec answered.

“And the leftovers? Oh, also who killed these monstrosities? This spider must have been huge!” She asked. “I killed them and you can have the leftovers as part of your payment.” Alec answered. “Stronger than you look aren't you? And you seem to be a fighter! Hmm.... Would you considering teaching in the dojo for a while? We could really use someone who can teach our greenhorns how to fight and the tanning and sewing will take quite some time anyway.” She suggested. “Sure, why not? I am wounded at the moment and won't be seriously fighting soon, but I can give advice and show them the correct movements.”Alec answered. “If you don't know where the dojo is I am sure your friends can take you there. I have work to do, so if you would excuse me.” She said and dragged the furs and chitin with her.

Chatting his friends led Alec to the dojo, which was a eastern styled building with a big plaza in front of it. The whole complex was surrounded by a 2 meter high wall. As they entered through the gate they were greeted by an attendant from the adventurers guild. “Welcome to the training grounds, at the moment there is only a teacher for archery, so if you want to train melee combat all I can help you with is some training gear.” He said. “We are here exactly because of that. I could teach some swordsmanship if it would be alright.” Alec said. “Do you have any recommendations or something that can identify you as an accomplished fighter?” The attendant asked. “Yes, I have these badge.” Alec said and gave his dungeon badge to the attendant for a close up inspection.

“This is.... When can you start?” Asked the shocked attendant after recognizing the item. “Right away. Although I won't be able to spar with the trainees as I am wounded.” He answered. “That won't be a problem. If you would follow me?” The man said and led the way to a small office. “Here is the contract. You will get a silver for every day that you teach for at least two hours and additional 50 Coppers for every additional hour.” He said. “Sounds fair.” Alec said after reading the contract, which he could end at any given time. He signed it and then was led to the room he would teach in. “I will go and check if there are any willing students in the open practice range.” The attendant said.

He trained for himself for half an hour and tested his new ability. He even managed to shoot out sword beams! But it cost him mana, which he normally used in a closed cycle in his body. It wasn't too much thought and he could quickly replenish it.

As he tested the beams on the training puppets in the room, which, as he had been assured by the attendant, would repair themselves, he noticed a couple things about this technique. First of all its destructive capabilities were huge. They easily cut through wood, stone or metal, which represented the different ranks and material of the training puppets. Secondly the range was abysmal. After just twenty centimetres the beams already had turned completely blunt. The mana just dispersed too quickly. Still it increased his range without adding weight to his weapon, so he was still very happy about this new-found technique.

He was still testing his abilities when the slide door to the room was opened. When Alec turned around his totally shocked new students were still looking wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the metal puppet he had turned into small splinters.

“Let me guess, you immediately want to learn that, right?” Alec asked. They nodded. “I doubt that this will happen anytime soon, but we can at least try, right?” Alec asked, “What are you all still standing there for? Come in!”

In the next following two hours his students lost a lot of their initial enthusiasm as Alec drilled them through many different exercise to gauge their fitness and skill level. When they asked if this was really necessary Alec responded with a trick where he had taken a one armed handstand position and then somersaulted back in his original standing position. “Yes it is, if you plan to fight for longer than five minutes and against something bigger or stronger than an average human that is.” He answered.

“There are two gruesome ways I can offer you, in order to reach my point of mastery and capabilities you need to master both of them to a certain degree. The first is the path of the body, in which I will teach you how to train and how to wield your weapon. The second is the path of the mind, it will teach you control over your body and mana. You decide what I shall teach first, but be prepared for the most tiring months of your life if you choose the second path.” He said to them.

After a quick poll it was decided that he would first teach them the path of the body. For a full month Alec taught multiple groups of students and overall made 100 silver or one gold. In that time his injury had healed and only some big scars remained on his right leg. He also ended his contract at the end of this period, as he had gotten a note that his armour was ready and Alec wanted to finally depart towards the capital in order to find his parents. But to not let his disciple be without any guidance he left them a booklet he had written which contained all training methods he knew.

In the afternoon he arrived at the 'Stinking Lady' and was greeted by Anyu. “Finally you are here, let me see if everything fits.” She said. The armour was a snug fit. “I don't know if I should call it my master work or the most annoying thing I ever worked on. Do you have any idea how many needles and drills I broke while making this thing?” She said while admiring her work. “How much do I owe you?” Alec asked. “Nothing. Seriously. The leftovers are way more valuable as I initially thought and much more numerous too!” She exclaimed. “Then I will be on my way.” He said and left. His friends already awaited him at the cities gate. They wanted to come with him and had improved a lot in the past month, also they had prepared everything for their journey days ago. Even the house had been rented cheaply to a newly-wed family, on the condition that they would take good care of it. The guild would collect and transfer the money, for a small cut of course.

“Wow looks good.” Marie exclaimed when he approached the group and immediately began to give Alec's new armour a close up inspection. “Is everything ready?” Alec asked ignoring the girl that had started to enthusiastically knock on some parts of the armour to try and find the chitin plates on its inside. “Yes we have everything. Would you now say us which route we will take?” Peter said. “Sure. We will go through the forest towards the elven village. It is en route to the capital and we would have to circumnavigate the forest otherwise.” Alec said already moving out of the city gate. He had thought about that decision a lot and hadn't found any reason to avoid going home.

“Yay! I am going to see elves.” Will exclaimed happily. “Don't get your hopes up. They are different from what you expect.” Alec said. Happily chatting, but also always checking their surroundings, they moved through the meadows. After two days they reached the forest. “Hey look Sarah! That's the rock you created to save us and also where we met Alec.” Peter exclaimed.

“It has only been about two months, but look how different everything looks now that it's so late in autumn. All the leaves are gone from the trees.” Sarah said. “That is good for us thought. The under brush is much thinner now, so I expect that we can reach the village in about a week. We also have way more provisions with us than I did back then. We even have a mule to carry them. So it should be easy to beat my old travel time.” Alec said.

Their travel through the forest was more or less uneventful, besides the shenanigans among the five friends of course.

Then finally Alec recognised their surroundings and excitedly led the others towards the village. But when he saw it he couldn't recognize it at all! All the buildings he knew were gone, replaced by giant trees, with windows in their trunks. “Hahaha seems like they discovered themselves how to use their nature affinity!” Alec said and led his friends towards the new village gate.

“Halt! Who goes there? Wait! Is that you Alec?” A forest elf covered in wooden armour asked. “That voice....” Alec mumbled. “Quarc?” He asked back. “So it is you!” The old man said, took of his helmet and went of to embrace his disciple. Alec's friends gasped when they saw Quarc's face.

“You were right Alec, I didn't expect that.” Will said. “And who might these rudely staring fellows be?” Quarc asked with an amused voice. After a round of introductions Alec asked “How is everybody faring? And how did you discover how to use magic?”

“A child discovered it when it played with a flower, that was shortly after you left. And everyone is doing fine. And before you ask separately, yes Quini is fine too. She is a bit unhappy that she can't train as much as usual in the moment though. But we do our best to entertain her.” The old elf said.

“Who's is Quini?” Sarah and Marie asked almost simultaniously. “In our terms we would call her my wife, but the elves don't have a concept like marriage.” Alec explained, “It was more or less a shotgun wedding too, but I do love her. I just wouldn't have made this decision so fast....”

The four friends looked silently and slightly shocked at each other and then burst into laughter. “I guess, albeit a bit late, we should congratulate you then!” Peter said. “Congratulation to the newly wed!” The other three followed up.

“You people have strange customs.” Quarc mumbled almost inaudible. “We shouldn't stand here all day! Come on in!” He followed up and led the five into the new City. As they walked among the elves Alec noticed something incredible. For one many of the elves looked at his group with wide eyes, secondly those same elves had different ears!

“Hey Quarc! Did another tribe join you?” Alec asked. “Not just one, but ten. They too were transferred into the forest, but more to the north. They lived about one month on foot away from us, and since we can generate absurd amounts of resources through our magic we decided to flock together. By the way this forest is damn huge and the Quns aren't the biggest danger in it. But those threats tend to prefer the north and rarely stray south. And this part of the forest is our domain, its satiated with our mana and the plants will keep us safe, if the need arises.” Quarc explained.

“And this here is Quini's and your home!” He said and pointed at the biggest tree in the whole valley, “She is our strongest mage, surprising right? She fully focused on mage training after we forbade her to train as a warrior and she has a lot of talent.” “Wow if you have a house like that you must be loaded!” Will exclaimed. “They also don't know nor want to use money. I once tried to explained the concept to them, but they just said that its a useless thing that overcomplicates everything. And I understand their argumentation, but like that they will never be able to trade outside their tribes.” Alec interjected.

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Together they entered the tree mansion. They found themselves in a big hall, that was decorated by a lot of diverse greenery. Shortly after they had entered a young female elf without catlike ears greeted them. “Master awaits you. Please follow me.” “How often do I have to tell you that it is unnecessary to be so formal, Kana?” Quarc said amused, “And how is your apprenticeship under Quini coming along?”. “Master says that I will soon master the control over my magic.” She replied and led them through doors and corridors.

Then suddenly, just after they had entered into a big room, a green skinned figure, that was draped in a light green coloured dress ran into Alec and hugged him. “I missed you!” Quini said. “I missed you too... You have been rather busy haven't you? I must say I am really impressed.” Alec said while hugging her.

After they had separated he could finally behold her in all her beauty. The dress really accentuated her body, which had been hidden under armour most of the time. The dress itself looked like it was made out of living foliage, which was probably really the case. Her belly had already started to swell, but wasn't big enough to impede her in her movements yet.

“Come, tell me about your journey and your new friends! She said and walked towards a big lounge in one of the corners of the room. “Is she pregnant?” Sarah asked Alec with a whispering voice. “Yes.” He replied with a slightly reddish face.

For the next two hours they exchanged stories. When they had caught up to the current date, Alec took a sip of his tea and asked “Quarc? There is something that has been bothering me for a while now, how old are you? And how old does your kind get in general?”. “I am about 250 years old right now, on average I should have another 50 years to live.” He answered. “Holy cow!” Will exclaimed, “They are really just like elves, they just don't look like those in our tales!”.

“How do we look in your tales then and how old do you guys get on average?” Quini asked. “Well, a bit taller with more sharply cut facial features and a white skin. And we only get about 80 to 100 years old.” Peter answered a bit embarrassed. “That's rather short. Let us hope that the mana prolongs your life. And what you described sounds like our cousins from the northern snowy plains.” Quini said. “I hope so too.” Alec said.

“So how long do you plan to stay?” Quini asked. “Just a couple of days, if we stay longer winter might block our path. Also I am sure that my companions would like to do some sightseeing and we need to restock our supplies. Also it would be nice to get some better bows for Marie and Peter.” Alec answered.

“Oh that won't be a problem, I myself have a few bows here. And you don't have to worry about the winter. Further north it has already arrived and even there it is really mild.” Quini said.

They chatted for the rest of the day and enjoyed a small banquet together. They thoroughly enjoyed Quini's hospitality.

Late in the night Alec awoke from a dream. Slowly to not wake up Quini, who had insisted that they sleep in the same bed, he stood up and walked to the window. When he tried to remember his dream he wondered why he had woken up. It was so sweet. He was together with Quini and saw his children grow up. Then he remembered what had disturbed this serene scene. His own hand, which had grown wrinkly and had even begun to rot in front of his own eyes. The scene had changed and he saw his children and wife weep at his grave.

Silently tears rolled down his cheeks. 'Distraught about racial differences detected. Subject has already been fully integrated. Calculating solution.....' the already well known mechanical voice once again rung out in Alec's head. 'Solution found! Partial racial adaption available. Proceed?' “Yes” Alec said with a shaking voice and collapsed as his conscious faded.

When he awoke again he was back in the bed again, but now sunlight shined through the window. As he looked around he saw that apparently he had slept for a longer time than he thought as Quini sat at his bed, like one would do at a sick persons bed, and she had fallen asleep while doing so. She used his left arm as her pillow. Tenderly Alec raised his right arm and petted her head. Slowly the worried expression faded from her face and she relaxed.

Slowly Quini woke up. When she realized that Alec was awake she immediately hugged him. “I was so worried, when I woke up you had lost consciousness and nobody could tell why. We couldn't wake you up all day.” She sobbed, still hugging him. “Everything is fine now. It was just the system that gave me a choice.” He said while hugging and petting her head.

“A choice? Now that you say it you did change a bit. Especially you ears. They are pointy like those from our kind, not our tribe's cat ears thought. And your eyes! They are as deep green as the forest! Weren't they brown before?” She exclaimed as she examined him.

Alec immediately checked his status. His strength and speed were superhuman, at least for the humans of the past, now that the limits had been removed he wouldn't be the only one with such strength. To his surprise his race had changed to 'Quarter-elf Human'. It sounded a bit strange, but as he thought about it, it was necessary to mention both parts of the race. The second part obviously stated his original race, while the first showed the influence of secondary races.

“A Quarter huh? Does that already grant me a prolonged life?” He thought, “The system probably tries to balance the needs of its inhabitants, while maintaining the original state as much as possible.” When he further checked his status he noticed that his ability has changed. Although it retained its previous function it also gained the ability to manipulate nature through sound.

In the evening Alec was reunited with his friends and they spoke about their day and worries until late into the night. They had, albeit unwillingly, left his side and prepared everything for their journey. It had been Quarc's idea to distract them like that and he had also helped them in organizing everything.

For the next two days Alec and his friends went sightseeing in the elven city. For example: They watched a group of elves raising a new house through their combined mana. Or they watched some training spares between the warriors. Alec also tested his changed body, but not much had changed, he was still as strong and fast as before, only his hearing had grown a bit sharper.

It had been refreshing for Alec to spar against someone who could actually keep up with him, after he had overshadowed those around him for so long. The elves too had trained beyond their original limits and some of them were equally if not even more skilled as Alec with their weapons. Alec envied them a bit. They were able to always train with each other. Travelling had really slowed down Alec's progress.

On the fourth day the group reluctantly said their goodbyes and continued their journey towards the capital. Overall Alec's friends had really enjoyed their stay and they would be able to learn much if they stayed here, but they didn't want to leave Alec's side and, now that they actually had a chance to do so, they too wanted to find their relatives.

“Return safely! I will be waiting for you!” Those words, that Quini had spoken when they had parted ways, echoed through Alec's mind for the following days. Their march through the forest was even easier than the first half of their journey, since the elves had found an adjacent road at the forest's border and had cleared a path towards it. Coincidently this road led straight to the capital.

Still they had needed twelve days to reach the road. After they had walked for another three days they met other travellers. The day neared its end and Alec's group had set up camp at a crossroad next to a bridge that led over a small creek. The place they had chosen was protected from the wind and granted them easy access to fresh water.

Just as they were cooking their supper the travellers came into view. When they saw the shine of fire in the distance their group of twenty humans and twelve mules increased their pace. Alec and his friend had noticed them as soon as they came atop the hill, as they had been watching the sun set behind this very hill.

“Hello fellow travellers! Do you mind some company at your fire?” A man that walked in front of the small caravan shouted as soon as he had come within earshot. “We don't mind, there is more than enough room here for everyone.” Alec shouted back. That group looked very much like a trade caravan and those groups also tend to gather informations most of the time. It was beneficial for business where one should sell their wares and where they might be almost worthless.

The man that had asked for their permission joined them at their fire, while his companions set up camp. Alec served him a cup of water and a small snack. “Thanks.” The man said. “Might I ask what your destination might be?” He asked after he had drunk the water. “The capital Alderich.” Will answered. “I thought so. You don't look like someone coming from there. And there aren't any other worthwhile destinations around here.” he said while he nibbled on the half sandwich Alec had given him.

“What do you mean we don't look like someone coming from there? How are the guys from the capital different?” Peter asked slightly offended. “Calm down boy. I can't believe that you haven't heard it yet. There is a war going on in Alderich. As far as I heard a guy named Friedrich named himself king and declared war on the adventurers guild.” The merchant said. “And we don't look ragtag enough to be refugees.” Alec concluded. “Nor scarred and traumatized enough to be bandits.” The man added.

“Bandits, huh? Let me guess, you asked us where we go because you want us to accompany you through the dangerous area around the town, right?” Peter asked. “Sharp boy. You are right. Strength in numbers is still the best protection against those damned opportunists and psychopaths.” He replied. “Sounds like a good plan to me. What do you think?” Will said and asked the rest of the group. Who readily agreed.

“Then it is decided. If you would excuse me? I should join my companions.” The man bade them farewell for today. Nobody except the watch stayed awake for much longer. Alec had volunteered to take the last watch, since he would rise earlier than anyone else anyway. He used the time to train and listen to the sounds of the waking nature. Ever since he had changed races he had been more sensible to the subtle sounds of nature.

His morning routine drew quite some curios stares from the early risers among the merchants. Especially his gymnastic training was apparently rather entertaining. “You are quite agile aren't ya?” The leader of the merchants asked.

“It is needed to be a good swordsman.” Alec said. “Good? From what I saw you could easily give those self-proclaimed sword masters a run for their money. Although I can't say that for sure. I have rarely seen them in action. Nonetheless I am rather sure that none of them would even be able to absolve your training and definitely not as tirelessly as you. The few I have seen were dead tired after half an hour of fighting.” The man said.

The groups packed their tents and other supplies in a routinised manner. Then they set off. Alec and his friends walked at the front part of the caravan. They always were on lookout for any signs of danger. They were already rather alert most of their journey up till now, but now that they knew of a threat they were even more so.

Alec was listening to the sounds of nature around them, searching for any dissonances. And then he heard it or rather he didn't hear it. A part of the small forest they had just entered was completely silent. He quickly and silently gave a warning throughout the caravan. Then the snapping of several branches confirmed Alec's suspicion. They had company! Alec drew his sword and everybody else followed his lead.

“Should we turn around?” Alec asked the lead merchant in a whispering voice. “No. The mules are too heavily loaded to run away and even if we leave them behind, they probably have horses. In the forest those are more or less useless, but as soon as we leave it ,and we have to at some point, they would easily catch up to us.” He answered. “Get ready for combat we will await them here. Archers, get in the trees!” He commanded.

Marie and Peter immediately started to climb. The other fighters got in a loose formation. Just when they were ready their adversary arrived. It were about fifty bandits, clad in rough fur armour and carrying all kinds of weapons. Their leader stood in front of them. He yelled “And here I was wondering what took you so long...”