379 Issanor [1]

Issanor. That was the name of the capital of the elven domain. 

Situated on the northern and central hemisphere of the new world, one would think it to be a very cold place filled with snow. 

They couldn't be any more wrong. 

If there was one thing humans knew about the elven domain, it was that it's beautiful.

Thanks to the elven magic, which was closely related to nature itself, an expansive land that was filled with greenery and the most breathtaking scenes came to be.

All the humans that had ever crossed this land said the same thing: 'It's the most beautiful place that I've ever seen.'

"Ukh."

Stepping out of the portal and suffering from the usual nauseating feeling that I'd get whenever I came out from one of those things, I stumbled a couple of steps. 

It had to be said that the distance we traveled was incredibly far. The side-effects of the portal were much stronger than before. 

I felt a sensation akin to having my own stomach turned and rolled multiple times. It was anything but pleasant.

Fortunately, with my now improved body, I was quick to recover. 

"…wow."

The moment I opened my eyes and saw what laid ahead of me, I lost my breath, as if it was snatched away.

"Is that… Issanor?"

A city surrounded by large canopy trees built upon low, rolling hills appeared in the distance. Short and wide towers were built along the side of the city, overlooking everything in the distance.

The walls of the towers were made of a marvellous murky-coloured rock, as if they were sculpted in a way that supported the infrastructure below the city. 

Behind the city, in the background, water poured down towards the smaller towers in a narrow waterfall. The faint water particles that lingered in the air refracted the light coming from the sun and drew a beautiful multi-coloured rainbow that added vibrancy to the city. 

Below the waterfall was a large lake encircled by beautiful white buildings. 

In the middle of the lake was a small island where an enormous white building adorned in silver and gold stood. The light coming from the sun was perfectly reflected by the gold-coated areas of the building, further adding to its elegance.

"Welcome to Issanor."

A melodious and crisp voice rose in the air, waking me up from my daze.

Then, turning my head, I saw a beautiful elven lady greet us at the entrance of the portal.

With delicate features and beautiful hair that was a mix between gold and silver, I could immediately tell that she was a high-ranking member of the elves.

She wore a white tunic paired with breeches covered by long, thin robes. 

Smiling kindly, she turned and extended her hand towards the city in the distance. 

"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you humans. My name is Aselia, and I will be bringing you to the city."

Then, turning around, she elegantly walked over a small pathway. 

"Let's go."

The first one to follow her was Douglas, who stared at the city in the distance with a rare sparkle in his calm eyes. 

Behind him, Waylan was the second to follow as he too looked at the city with a rare excitement.

'He must be missing Emma quite a lot, huh?'

It was understandable. After having not seen his daughter for such a long time, he must for sure be wanting to meet her at all cost. Especially since he heard about the things that she was going through.

'The others should also be there, no?'

Gazing at the city in the distance, my lips tugged upwards.

"I guess I'll be seeing them soon too."

Lightly pressing my toes on the ground, I followed the others towards the city. 

With a grin, I thought, 'I wonder what kind of face he'll make when he sees me.'

"It's that face again, step back."

"Hm?"

Snapping me out of my thoughts was Smallsnake's voice.

Turning around, I found him staring at me with a deathly pale face. 

"What's with you?"

"Stay as far away from me as possible." Smallsnake said as he took a couple of steps back, dragging Ryan and the others behind him.

I shook my head at his reaction.

'So extra…'

***

The city wasn't located far from the portal. It was about a half-an-hour walk.

The reason why the portal was located so far off from the city was because the elves wanted to avoid a scenario where instead of allies coming from the portal, enemies would appear.

Of course, the enemies could very well set a portal in the city, but that was a lot harder to do.

Walking through a small forest, penetrating the leaves of the trees, a net of light appeared on the ground beneath us.

The air was a bit chilly, but whenever I passed through the small net, a gentle warmth would envelope my body, prompting me to move towards where it was. 

"We're here."

Halting her steps, Aselia, the elf that was guiding us to the city, looked behind her, in our direction.

She then pointed ahead of her, where a long bridge stood. 

"This over here is the bridge of Eislin, and there is one rule that must be kept at all times when crossing this bridge. That is, only one person can cross it at the same time."

"Only one person?"

Douglas raised his brow. Leaning his body forward, he looked at the bridge in the distance.

Retaining the smile on her face, Aselia nodded.

"Yes, only one person. It's our tradition."

"We have no problem with that."

"Thank you."

A soft wind suddenly flew, and Aselia's hair fluttered. Taking a step to the side, she motioned Douglas to head to the bridge.

"If you would, please."

"Okay."

Smiling kindly, Douglas didn't say anything else and moved towards the bridge. 

It was then that something suddenly happened. The moment he stepped onto the bridge, the outline of a barrier suddenly appeared in our vision, completely enveloping the city. 

"Apart from tradition, the barrier over here is set up using an ancient spell that enables us to determine individuals who have demonic energy inside of their body," Aselia said without a change of expression.

Following her words, she turned to look in Angelica's direction.

"We've already heard about you from the dwarves and have made a special exception. Here."

Taking out a small bracelet from out of nowhere, Aselia handed it to Angelica. 

"The bracelet is coated with a special spell that will tell the others that you are on our side."

Taking a couple of steps forward, Angelica extended her hand and took the bracelet. 

Putting it on, a white glow suddenly enshrouded her whole figure. 

"You're all set. You should have no problems entering the city now."

Turning her head, Angelica gave a small nod of appreciation to Aselia.

Replying with a small smile, Aselia's ears suddenly twitched before she turned to face our direction.

"It looks like he's already made it, who's next?"

"I'll go."

Waylan offered himself up as he took a step forward and passed through the bridge. 

The bridge's length wasn't long, about 100 meters or so, and thus, before long, Waylan soon appeared on the other side of it.

Following him, the others also went one by one until, finally, it was my turn.

"Your turn."

"Mhm."

Without saying anything else, I took a step forward and also started to cross the bridge. 

Right as I took a step into the barrier, a warm glow enveloped my body. 

Ignoring it, I kept moving forward.

'I can't see the end of this.'

Walking forward and staring below the bridge, I swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The bottom of the bridge was incredibly deep, and without a doubt, if anyone fell from it, they'd end up dying instantly. 

Only <S> ranks could survive such falls as they could somewhat fly.

'I wish I can fly.'

I enviously thought as I looked below the bridge. For one to be able to fly, they must have an incredibly amount of psyon control as well as mana. 

The principle was the same as when coating my sword with psyons, but instead, rather than coating the sword, I had to coat my body, which was a lot harder to do.

That aside, once I finally crossed the bridge, I moved to where the others were, inside of a large square. 

The inside of the city were just as beautiful as the outside. The streets were made of pasty-coloured pebbles and single lines of grass crossed in-between every couple of meters of the road, further adding vibrancy to the environment.

Sophisticated buildings in white coated with gold and silver appeared by the side of the road, further adding to the elegance benefitting elven creatures.

Around us, elves appeared everywhere. Despite our appearance, none of them seemed to be bothered by our presence. They just went about their business, treating our existence as nothing out of the ordinary. 

"A couple others humans have entered the city before you guys. This is why they aren't shocked by your sudden appearance." Aselia said as she appeared behind us. 

Seeing our reaction of the city, her lips curled up slightly before she pressed her foot on the ground and followed a certain path.

"Follow me, I will be bringing you to your residences. It will be right next to the dwarven ones."

"Are we not going to stay with the other humans?" Waylan asked, hope filled his eyes.

Turning back, Aselia shook her head.

"Unfortunately not, you guys are guests from the dwarves. They requested for you to be with them. Of course, if you want to see the other humans, you may be able to do that during the inauguration of the Conference where we'll host a banquet for all the races to join."

Pausing and placing her finger over her chin, Aselia's brows knit slightly.

"The ceremony should be in about a week's time when everyone is here, so you won't have to wait long. Of course, you can also meet them in their residence, but they'll be coming at different times, so I'm not sure if the people you're looking for will be there."

"…Alright." Waylan replied with a simple nod. Undisguised disappointment could be felt from his voice.

Walking up to him, I tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, "I think this is for the best."

"Why do you say that?"

"I know you miss Emma, but what do you think will happen when you suddenly show up in front of her after not having seen her for a few years?"

Waylan's face froze at my words. Nodding my head, I continued.

"That's right, she will most likely be very angry at you. Not that it's bad, but you should also take this chance to properly analyze how the situation in your family is. I'm quite certain Emma is not the only one that got invited from the Roshfield family. Try to get a better understanding of the situation before you act."

With Waylan's brother? Cousin? Honestly, forgotten how he was related to Waylan, but with him having taken the reins of the family for quite a while, even if Waylan suddenly showed up again, there was a chance that the divide in the house would continue. 

After all, he must've already bought some of the people's loyalty after having stayed in that position for that long.

Exposing his existence right now was not ideal.

"You've managed to not see her for what- Three to five years? What can an extra few days do? Get a hold of your house before anything else."

"Huuuu."

Listening to my words, Waylan suddenly let out a long breath. 

"You're right. I was being too impatient." 

"You were."

Patting him on the shoulder, I smirked. 

'Knowing Emma's personality, there's a high chance she's going to be more pissed about the fact that you didn't meet her as soon as you knew she's there…hehe.'

He didn't have to know this part. 

Patting him on the shoulder more, pity flashed across my eyes before I followed Aselia towards our residence.