Rook imagined a person being conjured here as an elf, instead of a human. The initial isekai screen didn’t even have the option of race selection. Here this elf was, last of his squad, depending on the answers we find, a surviving member of his race, from what Rook gathered. Alderion Kai, a dawnblade, faced problems of finding his people and now blindness. Talk about a trauma dump.

  “What are the Dawndrasil like?” Rook tilted his neck to one side, then the other, cracking the stiff joints.

  Al held the reins straight and frowned. “The Dawndrasil are a mighty clan of elves, technologically advanced. We worked in harmony with most races, and worshipped the dawn,” He said with a sniff. “If I had my old power, I would have swept the lot of them with my Dawn Blade. However, I was trapped in that dungeon for the Dawn knows how long.”

  “What was your old power level? Your stats?” Reina asked, journal out.

  “I was on my way to level ninety-three, my statistics were all above fifty. From what I can remember…However, now I am currently sitting in the twenties.”

  There was a long silence. Each of them is processing the information on their own.

  “Ninety Three!? What’s your rank? I couldn’t identify it,” Reina asked the elf.

  “I’m gold-ranked,” Al responded, bringing on another long silence. “I need to find my people. Help me.” Al faced Rook.

  “You got it, Al.” Rook smiled at the elf, knowing he’d never see it.

  Opportunity Quest

  Reunite Alderion Kai with the Dawndrasil 0/1

  10000 experience

  I was gonna help before, but fuck yeah I’m helping now.

  Rook found the whole thing difficult to understand, though. How one person could go from so highly leveled and skilled, to losing nearly all of his levels and stats. With a sigh, he decided to break the tension. “If you and your buddies were so high level, where do the Bloodstone elves come into all this?” Rook asked.

  “Those dogs!” Alderion growled. “They are a disgrace to elves, believing in nothing but fighting and conquest. We tried to reason with them, their leader, the Scarlet Queen, a century ago. But the blood god worshipers turned in their souls for power to manipulate the blood within the body,” Al said, seething his words.

  That sent a shiver down Rook’s spine; it was the same as when Teru asked him to be a champion. Those nightwalkers. Had he taken the deal, he might have turned into one of those things. Fortunately, he took the champion’s power without actually agreeing to the deal. What could he do? He was a sucker for cheating a deity.

  “The Bloodstone used their elvish combat prowess to come in and challenge the best warriors. They became especially powerful during the Orcish wars. One by one, they took over territories by force. They fought the Sentinels, and that ended in a stalemate between one of the previous commanders and the current General Krai.” The carriage hit another pothole and Reina sucked in a breath. “Well, that’s what the records say. They start with the poorer territories, gain support, and people. Almost a century ago, they came into the impoverished towns. The Ollar City you knew has changed a lot,” she said, looking at Al.

  “Despite the flaws, Ollar City thrived and accepted others into the gates,” Mara said, with a wistful glance at the city walls.

  Reina leveled a glance at Mara. “Ollar thrived because those who began healing the sick with their medicines and giving out food and other commodities. Then, when trade started, people from all over came to spend their gold. For a starving city, that’s all you can ask for,” she said.

  Alderion was clearly confused. “What is the point of wealth? Take what you need from the land and replace it through farming and breeding, and starving places can thrive like that, right?”

  Reina smiled at him. “We do things differently here, you must have coin to afford food. It’s a thing for that society here, purely quid pro quo. You do what you can for your family, for your people, your interests. I left the historical research society, leaving behind the life of ease and silver to help my father. It doesn’t always work out in the end, sometimes you get burned in the process. In my case, I think it worked out all right,” Reina said, patting the elf on the shoulder.

  Alderion swept his shoulder, as if a bird had just crapped on it. But aside from the offense, Alderion seemed to mull over what they were saying.

  “I can’t really explain human nature to you, but I’ll try. People are sometimes inherently bad, is what it is. When a bad person wants something they will find a way to get it, when people have gold or silver coin they will buy it, when they don’t they will steal it. That means things, property, and even people, here anyway.” Rook’s mouth grew bitter thinking about the conjured.”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  * * *

  The Yorthon sky was a beautiful salmon as the sun bled into the horizon. The stone tips of the western mountain pass were a mere suggestion to the world, and from this distance, just a suggestion of the world further beyond. As they approached the gates, a guard stepped away from his position and eyed them. Rook straightened out his grimy armor and attempted to slick the stray strands down. Can’t be professional with a cowlick.

  His Squad Leader, SSG Buck, preached that the squad should always be presentation-ready or look cool. There were four general rules for success in the Army: Be at the right place, the right time, in the right uniform, and look cool. So even if you are late to formation or at the wrong location and in the wrong uniform, at least you look cool.

  Assuming the guard did not strike them dead with that poleaxe he wielded, he would need some serious recovery time at the Stumbling Ogre tavern.

  Nothing good hides in the dark, but the same things that plague the night also hang around in the daylight. No truer phrase was relevant than when they walked up to the gate guards, fearful of the blind elf.

  “Whoa there, travelers,” An ironclad Ollar guard called out. He stood beside a shorter dwarf guard with a long black beard, braided in two separate twists. “You cannot have Dragon mares in the city, it’s a common law.” The dwarf guard looked the group over, leaving a wary glance on the horses. He squinted his eyes, and once he noticed Rook and Reina, he dropped his guard and gave a salute. “Sentinels Rook and Reina, I didn’t realize it was you. My apologies.”

  “You know who we are?” Rook asked.

  “I do Sentinel. I also received word from Sentinel Jody that he’d be traveling back with you. He said, I’ve got two pups that are growing up, next time you see Rook and Reina Jax, they’ll be Sergeants.” He craned his head to see the occupants of the wagon. “Where is he? He owes me a drink today,” the man said with a chuckle.

  Rook’s face grew hard; the man obviously didn’t know. “Sentinel Jody.” Rook stammered and cleared his throat. Not the time or place. “Sentinel Lieutenant Jody passed away in the Mine of Struggle.”

  The man took his helmet off and wiped the mop of black hair away from his face. “Dead?” The man set the helmet down.

  Rook noticed it now, but the guard was a Lieutenant and realized he’d probably been around the dwarven Sentinel.

  “I’ll wait for official notifications, but thank you for giving me a heads up.” His eyes grew hard. “Did he go out fighting?”

  “Like always,” Rook said.

  The guard shifted his interest from Rook to the rest of the party. “You and your friends can go inside, Sentinel.”

  “Friends?” Al scoffed, as if Reina asked him to eat a turd.

  “What else would you call us?” she hissed back. “You saved our lives, and we saved yours.”

  Al nodded slowly. “Friends with humans…” He glanced over his shoulder at Mara. “And a torokin.”

  The guard walked up, with his poleaxe at the low ready. “Well, now, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a dragon mare up close like this and not in a cage. “This cart, though.” He frowned as he slowly circled the cart. “It’s a goblin cart. Loot one recently?” He asked, with a chuckle. “Nicely done.”

  “We relieved them of their possession of it,” Rook said, with a smile.

  The guard redonned his helmet and nodded appreciatively. “Listen, normally I would have you set your horses in the stables of a nearby village, because these beasts are omnivores and I can’t trust them not to eat the other horses.” He stroked his chin. “For you Sentinels, however, we can have them placed in the southern stables. We used to hold the war foxes in there, but since the decree that war foxes were endangered, they’ve become derelict and dusty.”

  The human guard seemed to just notice Alderion Kai. “By the maker, you’ve got an elf with you!” His poleaxe creaked with the guards’ tightened grip.

  “He’s with us, and that’s good enough,” Reina said, flatly.

  “I apologize for my insolence,” the guard said, with pressed teeth towards Al. “Sentinels, Lady Torokin, have a great day in Ollar.”

  Rook thought he caught, bastard at the end of the guard’s welcome. But the elf prejudice is well understood, since it was only recently that they threatened the city with griffins. Al turned his head in the guards’ general direction, and Rook felt his body tense.

  Relief flooded into Rook as they dismounted the wagon. He was happy to be home and, truthfully, didn’t give a damn what happened to the dragon mares. He desperately wanted to sleep.

  “One last thing, you came from the direction of the Mine of Struggle, right?” the dwarf

  “Yes,” Rook answered honestly. “We just liberated the mine from a goblin tribe.”

  “You what?!” The guard exclaimed. He threw a series of shouts at he guard shack, and a runner took off. “Liberating a dungeon is no small feat. We’ll have the Adventurers’ Guild do a check of the mine and check the validity,” He said, putting a hand up. “Not saying we don’t believe you, but if it’s true. You’ll be heroes.”

  “Fair enough,” Rook said, dismounting from the cart.

  They left the cart with the guards and entered Ollar. Potential heroes or not, Rook couldn’t help but think of the apprehensive expression on the gate guard’s face. As if Al was a starving rabid dog and they just allowed it to babysit at a daycare center. Stepping through the gate immediately brought the smell of savory food cooking at a nearby stall and the thoughts of his comfy, albeit itchy, bed.

  The City welcomed them as a person might welcome a Lyme disease-ridden tick. All around, people stopped their idle chatter to gawk. Rook gazed around the initial vendors of the Western Gate. They had to be filthy from the adventurer into the Mine of Struggle. Maybe we should’ve used the mana wipes to clean up a bit. He glanced at Al, walking straight-backed and tall. Blind and proud.

  Rook figured as he is an Elf, they are most likely looking at him. Reina smiled at several children playing hopscotch nearby. They waved back to greet her, but were quickly pulled inside nearby businesses by their parents.

  “Is there an ogre horn growing out of my forehead?” Rook asked, stepping over a piece of discarded chalk.

  “Really, Rook?” Reina asked with a chuckle. “I think they are looking at you because we’re filth incarnate.”

  “I sense their apprehension. I believe if I don’t understand your expression. They are wary of my presence.”

  Rook sucked in a breath as a rock nearly struck his right foot. He watched as the culprits were about to throw another rock, but fled instead. “What the hell is wrong with them?” He glanced at Al’s pierced ears. Several dangling earrings hung from the extended cartilage. “I think I may have an idea.” Rook gave the broken shawl to Al, glad he still had it.

  “You have my thanks, but how by the Dawn, how does a shawl break?”