919 To the Land of the Elves
It's been 5 days since we have been tracking down the direction to the Land of the Elves. Almira has not gone there and she is just trying to use the remaining clues she has learned from her sources to reach the place. The three elves are also there to help whenever we are about to lose our way but other than that, the journey is smooth so far. The mansion rests for a single day before we start moving again. During those times, we go to the Dark Sea and hunt monsters there to increase our levels and to also gather items we will need.
So far, everyone has reached the max level currently available in the "game" but since we have already been freed from that, the Max Level cap has been lifted. So far, no one from us knows what the max level is since during the last life I had, the max level was capped at level 500. I won't be even surprised if the level will be beyond 1000.
So far, the leveling beyond our previous level cap has been a bit harder to proceed, but we are not worried too much. Now that we are back to our former strength, all we have to do is to improve our weapons and our armor. After the incident of the Black Dog Barghest, our armor, and weapons are close to useless and are easily destroyed if not for me using all of the buffs I can get.
Speaking of the Black Dog Barghest, Lucia is still unconscious, and the arm seems to be stable and has not moved at all. It was like Lucia had always had her arm and hands looking like that in the first place. Thankfully, her breathing is stable and she is far from danger. That's all we could ask for. I asked Atlas if he knew anything about it before but he only shook his head saying this was the first time he had seen something like this happen.
We continued to move and we were just relaxing when the mansion stopped moving and rested. We looked around for a bit but we were just in the middle of the forest without any signs that we were actually there. I thought we would be just resting again but Almira and the elves went out from the mansion alongside everyone who was also wondering why we suddenly stopped.
"Almira-san? What's happening? Why did we stop? Are we going to make another pitstop again?" Sora asked.
"Nope. Wait for a bit, you guys will see."
Renatta, Alena, and Labo stood at the edge of the land that the mansion had and they started to perform some magic that I just saw. However, Akira and Sora seem to be familiar with it.
"Ritual Magic?" Akira frowned.
"You know what they were doing, Akira-kun?" Pandora asked.
"Yes. You know that we did mercenary tasks before when we thought this was still a game, yeah? A few of our clients were druids and the way they use Ritual Magic is the same way the elves are doing right now. It's just that their moves seem to be somewhat different, the way they do it in the beginning is just the same."
The elves continued doing their ritual. They looked like they were dancing but with every move they made, they were inscribing runes in the air and honestly, those were quite mesmerizing to watch. But before we could enjoy what they were doing, they stopped and stood still watching in the sky.
After a few seconds, I realized why they were staring, they had done something to allow us to see the real deal.
CRACK CRACK CRACK!
The sky and the land started to crack like a mirror and this caused the others to also go on defensive seeing the cracks.
"Oy, calm down folks. Nothing bad is happening. We are just going into a new area that we couldn't access by normal means. Don't panic," Almira said calmly while watching the situation unfold.
The cracks continue to spread until...
BOOM!
All of the shards exploded and the illusion was broken and everyone finally understood why we stopped in the middle of nowhere. We didn't actually stop in the middle of nowhere, we were just entering the hidden entrance to reach the Land of the Elves.
[You have discovered an undiscovered area: Land of the Elves]
The three elves are laughing as they return to the group, clearly happy that they are back from where they were from.
"I can't believe the silly dance we always knew since childhood would actually do something good for us in the future," Labo chuckled.
"Yeah. I always thought that was a silly ritual as well but that was actually something that I have memorized and is already ingrained in my mind for so long," Alena nodded in agreement with Labo.
"Well, we shouldn't make fun of it now, even though it is silly, the elders would be furious if they knew you guys were calling the ritual silly," Renatta shook her head and only sighed.
"But you do agree it was silly, yeah?" Labo grinned.
Renatta only smiled but she didn't say anything.
"So that is why it seemed like we have been circling around for some reason, this was the main reason why we seemed to be not moving around at all," Almira looked around our new surroundings that suddenly transformed. It was like we got transported from another world to another fantasy world again.
"Yes. It's one of the rituals used by the elves so that the intruders have no other way to find the place and they can't have any way to access it. It is also the main reason why it is not easy for anyone to even locate the place unless they got a guide to allow for passage or someone who knows how to break the illusion," Renatta explained.
"Is the illusion totally broken? Do we need to fix it?"
"No. The illusion is only broken to us as we have removed it from our senses but those who have not been under the effects of the dance would be lost in the illusion. We did remove the effects of the illusion to everyone who was in here. That includes the pets and followers of Manato and Pandora so no need to worry about it."
"Wait, are you guys sure we are good to go here? I mean, we are basically "intruders" in this land of the elves," Riko points it out and she has indeed a valid point.
"No worries. Since we vouched for you all, you guys don't have to worry about entering this place. Besides, even if they have something to say, they can't chase us out without any sort of reason that is valid enough," Alena shook her head.
"Well, I can see the top of the elders blowing off but I doubt they can do anything if we just go in. Besides, I doubt they have even improved at all compared to us who have improved both physically and mentally, plus in magic mastery as well."
"It doesn't matter what they think about. We should do our best to escort everyone properly. Don't worry everyone, despite the views of the people in our village, they can't do anything to us even if they try so don't worry about it," Renatta smiled.
"Then, are we going to walk from here?" Almira asked.
"No, it should be fine to continue on our journey using our mansion. And besides, there are some monsters that attack anything that is moving that is not them so be sure to be ready at all times alright?" Renatta reminded us.
"Don't worry. You know that we always go for the kill if there are enemies trying to threaten us, alright?"
Almira nodded. "Alright, since that is the case, then I will be going back to the control room. Sit tight guys, we will move again into this new place that we will be exploring. By the way, how far are we from the camp?"
"A lot farther in. It's very deep into the forest but we will know that we are approaching once we get into a nearby brook flowing by, that is a sign that we are almost there."
"Then, you guys enjoy yourselves there, alright? But don't forget to defend if those monsters attack. We can't afford to have many broken stuff here. We have to be efficient in repairs," Almira reminded us.
"Yes ma'am!"
Who would have thought that in this timeline, I would be able to visit a place that was only mentioned in quest lines and lore? One of the places that players considered as just part of the legends or perhaps totally hidden or there is some other way to find access to it.
No one knows what we will be happening soon, but sooner or later, I think a huge battle is coming from the horizon, and we will be swept in to it again."
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