Chapter 307: "Let Me take you on a Journey~"
"Looks like it's my turn now. I will… not… be able—" Noah felt his mind slipping away while speaking those last words. Everything around him was so dark. He did not have the time to look around as he felt his conscience drifting away slowly as if it were being pulled somewhere.
"Let me take you on a journey before you and I have a talk~" Hearing the words from the familiar voice, Noah felt his consciousness being drowned by the darkness and swallowed whole.
***
*Clank!*
As the door to the grand room opened, four figures walked inside carrying different weapons in their hands. Leading the group was a man with lean muscles, adorned in gleaming armor and wielding a massive sword. As he walked forward, he exuded an air of strength and determination. With each step, the shield strapped to his arm would clank against his armor, producing an annoying noise.
He was followed by two beautiful women. One of them was a nun, clad in her religious outfit. Her golden hair flowed and rested on both of her shoulders. She exuded an aura of compassion and serenity, while her eyes blazed with determination and ambition.
Although the girl beside the cleric was not as tall as her, she was nimble on her feet. Dressed in her short and breathable clothes, the little girl moved with quiet and piercing eyes. There was an aura of caution and danger around her.
Moving in the back was the mysterious figure of a man. His body was covered in white mage robes. Coupled with the huge staff made of wood and adorned with a valuable-looking gem at the top of it in his hands, it was clear that he was a Mage; one of the many gifted people who could use their magic to conjure different elements to fight against their enemies.
The only visible feature about his body was the purple hair flowing from his robes, as the wooden mask on his face hid his appearance from others.
In the center of the room, a beautiful man sat on a grand throne placed atop a raised dais. Just like the others present in the room except the newly arrived people, he too had pointy ears and a natural charisma pointing to his pure elven lineage.
Arriving in front of the man, the four of them bowed in proper elven greetings as a show of respect to the king of the elves.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of the Elves, dear guests," the man sitting on the throne addressed the four guests who just arrived. "I am the King of the elves, Nhalos Omara!"
As he spoke, there were no signs of haughtiness and royal pride in his voice. He appeared a compassionate and clear-headed king.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!" the leader of the group walked forward and addressed the king on behalf of all of them.
"I am Lucian, this generation's hero and these are my party members. These two girls are Elena and Lila." As he started introducing the whole group, he pointed to them while giving short descriptions alongside their names. But as he came to the last member of the party, he became a little hesitant to speak. Feeling the attentive gaze of the cloaked guy, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth,
"This is Nathaniel Emberforge Spellbinder…"
Hearing his name being called out, the man gave a slight nod of satisfaction. But the rest of the people in the hall looked at him with a weird look in their eyes.
"Ahem! What a special name," Nhalos's lips twitched hearing the name; he could clearly tell that the name was made up. Not just him, everyone could tell that. Shaking his head, he changed the topic, "I believe you have a letter for me from the king of the Human Kingdom…"
Nodding, Lucian came forward and presented a letter to the guard nearby the king, who then passed it on to him.
"Very well, from every elf across the kingdom, I am grateful for the support you would be providing us in fighting against the Demon King's army." The King lowered his head a little to show his gratitude. Seeing their king lowering his head, everyone in the room lowered their head towards the hero's team.
Seeing the sight, three of the party looked uncomfortable beside the masked mage. His expressions were unknown to everyone.
"You do not need to lower your head, your majesty. This is our duty to help and save the world from the demon king." Lucian hurriedly waved his hands in embarrassment. He looked like he was going to be overwhelmed by all the people bowing to him.
"Even then I must thank you." Shaking his head, Nhalos got up and added, "I have arranged a welcome banquet for the hero party; you must join us to show our gratitude then!"
Lucian looked at his teammates, seeing that none of them had problems, and he agreed to attend the banquet instantly.
"Then please follow Aanna here; she will lead you to your rooms. If you want to look around the capital city, you can just ask her, she will show you around." Nhalos pointed at a mature-looking maid standing in the corner of the room. Despite her mature figure, she looked quite young and youthful.
Hearing her name, Aanna bowed with a smile, accepting the task. The four of them followed the woman out of the room.
Walking out of the throne room, Aanna led them through the empty hallway. As Lucian was trying his best to keep his eyes away from the two jiggling things in front of her, he felt two glares from his back causing him to tremble in fear.
In next to no time, they arrived in front of a massive-looking gate. In the hallway, there were many such gates.
"These are the rooms reserved for the guests of the royal family; you can take one of each of these rooms. You can rest as you must be tired from all the traveling." Aanna turned around to face Lucian and the members of his party.
"I do not want to sleep!" As Lucian was about to nod, a youthful and serene voice interrupted them, causing Aanna to tremble.