Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Cold Forest

Elora said. "I've already had a few things in mind… To prevent something like this from happening…" With a scrutinizing gaze, she stared at Reiki who was rummaging through his pouch, and took out one of the burgers from the brown paper bag. She continued. "Is there any particular item you had your eye on or?" Moranor and Enora were looking at each other having a mental conversation while Melanor let out a yawn beside Elora. 

Reiki pretended to think for a moment and said. "Can you give Haruka access to the second floor?" While he was unwrapping the tissue from the burger Moranor appeared beside him as she quickly placed a hand over his mouth. Moranor faked a nervous chuckle and said. "Even in times like this, he does love to joke around."

[System: User has received 32 Damage.]

Moranor elbowed Reiki in his ribs as he rubbed the spot where he was hit using his left hand. Enora looked at him with an odd expression as if she was trying to figure something out while Melanor and Elora were in the middle of thinking. Melanor leaned on the wall behind her and said. "Your reason?" Reiki tapped on Moranor's hand that was on his mouth preventing him from speaking, she reluctantly moved her hand away. 

He said. "If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have been able to tell you as early." Elora nodded as she crossed her arms making her breasts press against each other as Melanor took a peak just like Reiki. Elora said. "True, but the result would've been the same. Albeit a good fifteen-minute difference."

Reiki stopped himself from taking a bite from the burger in his hands as he rummaged through his pocket, he pulled out his shiny gold library card and said. "Then what if I traded mine for hers? And ask for it to be delivered today?" Melanor moved her gaze to Elora who was surprised by his suggestion. Moranor, who was standing on his left, picked him off the ground by the collar of his tunic, she said. "Why are you going out of your way for her? If you don't have a good reason I'll-." 

Her mother appeared next to her as Melanor tapped on her shoulder and said. "Honey, give him a chance to talk. I know you… But no need to do something drastic." Moranor's cheeks turned red, she let go of his collar as he landed on the ground and said. "I. Do. Not. He could die in a hole filled with insects for all I care!" She crossed her arms and leaned on the wall next to him.

Elora let out a small laugh, she said. "What is your reason for returning your card?" Reiki took a couple of bites from the burger he was holding and swallowed, he said. "I looked around and didn't find anything interesting or of use to me." Elora flashed him an enigmatic smile, she said. "Is it because it's already in your notebook?" Reiki nodded, he said. "Yup, wanna see?" Which stunned all of them as he snapped his fingers as Kaita appeared floating in the air with a simple dark blue cover. 

Melanor's pupils were glowing as she stared at it with fascination in her eyes, she said. "Soulbond…" Which surprised both Moranor and Enora who's gaze was glued to the notebook. Reiki waved his hand as the notebook floated toward Elora who caught it with her right hand. Elora glanced at the notebook in her hands and looked at Reiki, Elora said. "Are you sure about this?"

Reiki looked like he was inhaling the burger as he nodded, Elora slowly opened the notebook as Melanor who was beside her was slightly bending towards her to take a peek inside. Moranor and Enora moved closer to them to see what's inside, a moment of silence passed as Reiki finished off the burger in his hands and pocket the tissue. The sound of pages being flipped was the only thing audible, the four elves looking at the notebook had either a look of confusion or a small frown on their lips.

Elora continued to flip through the pages while Melanor's pupils glowed trying to see if there was anything hidden. Elora said. "Early beast tongue… Olden dwarven tongue… And… Is this dragon tongue?..." Her eyes narrowed as she skimmed through the languages inside the notebook. Elora beside her pointed at a page and said. "Doesn't this… Look familiar?" Enora's hands were getting restless, she said. "Can I borrow that for a moment?"

After flipping through a couple more pages Elora passed it to her daughter as she and Melanor had a mental conversation with each other. Moranor walked beside him and said. "How do you even read that?" Reiki had a genuinely confused look on his face, he said. "What do you mean? Isn't it written in Japanese?" Enora pupils were glowing as she turned the notebook upside down and sideways trying to figure something out. 

Moranor looked at him weirdly while Enora started flipping through the pages at a fast rate. Elora walked in front of him, with a slight tinge of uncertainty she said. "Can you… Help me with something?... I'll be sure to pay you for your time regardless of the outcome." Reiki nodded, he glanced at Enora who was still flipping through the pages, and said. "Sure, but it'll have to wait until Enora-san is finished examining my notebook."

All of them looked at Enora who was still in the middle of flipping through the pages, she had a serious expression on her face as she examined the notebook with scrutiny. Elora said. "Dear, is anything the matter?" Enora eventually slowed down on flipping through the pages, she said. "It doesn't end… I thought it was the same pages being looped… This notebook has an infinite amount of pages…" Reiki's eyes had a hint of surprise in them, he thought. She figured it out… Elora noticed his reaction and said. "Reiki, is that true?" 

Reiki moved his gaze onto Elora, he said. "Yes, just close the notebook and open it from the back to see the index." Before Enora closed it the notebook vanished from her hands, Elora took it as she closed it and hurriedly opened it from the back and saw a long alphabetized list. She furrowed her brows and said. "It's in…" Elora passed it to Melanor who was beside her, Melanor looked at and for a moment and said. "In…"

Melanor passed it to Enora who then passed it to Moranor as she passed it to Reiki. He held his notebook with his right hand and gave everyone an odd glance, Reiki said. "What's the matter? It's in Japanese… Right?..." He opened it from the back, in his pupils there was a thin ring that was adjusting in width. Melanor gently elbowed Elora's stomach and nodded at him, Moranor and Enora noticed this gesture as they started analyzing Reiki. 

All four of them saw the glowing ring in his pupils that was constantly changing in thickness and opened the notebook and started reading a few things. He said. "Theory of magic, Theory of mana, Blacksmithing, and-." He turned the book around toward them as he pointed at the word he was about to say, to the elves, it looked like complete gibberish. Reiki continued. "Plantation." The elves looked at each other while Reiki turned the notebook to face him, he flipped through a couple of pages and said. "There's even something about being a treasure hunter!"

He thought. There were also things like classes, level, spells, titles, and promotions… But I'll keep those a secret until I've learned the 'standards' of magic here. Reiki closed the notebook and handed it to Moranor who looked at him and shook her head, she said. "I'm good-." Enora snatched the book from his hands as she started examining it again with her flowing pupils. Melanor said. "Can you-." 

But was stopped by Elora, she said. "Melanor I've seen enough." Melanor rolled her eyes and said. "Fine." Elora nodded, with a serious expression she said. "Reiki, hold out your hand." He moved his left hand closer to Elora who placed her right hand on top of his, his entire vision turned dark.

…

Reiki's vision was almost completely dark as he could only see a faint light that looked like it was miles away. His vision slowly returned to normal and saw a single huge and tall tree that reached the clouds, he took a step back by reflex and felt something softly snap under his step. He looked down and saw grass that was broken into pieces, Reiki crouched down and felt it with his left hand. He thought. It doesn't seem like fake grass... All of a sudden he heard Elora say. "Quite the sight, isn't it?" 

He stood up as he picked up a single string of grass and grind it using his fingers. The grass in his fingertips easily snapped turning into powder, Reiki said. "Where are we?" Melanor appeared beside her along with Moranor and Enora appeared shortly behind them. Reiki noticed his breath was visible because of condensation, he thought. It's freezing here... A slight shiver went down his spine as he felt a soft breeze pass through him.

Melanor had a smirk on her lips, she said. "Welcome to the tribulations." Reiki stared at them for a couple of seconds, he said. "Not a place to invite your guest, unless your goal is to cause them suffering then it's working. What's the test?" Elora smiled, she said. "It's not you who's getting tested." Enora's eyes slowly widened in realization, she said. "It's real?!" Melanor appeared next to Elora. Elora said. "Stay close." As they led the way heading into a forest, Moranor grabbed Reiki by the collar of his tunic and dragged him. 

Enora was behind her mother, with an excited expression she said. "Does this mean I get your weapon?" Elora's long hair was being pushed back by the gentle yet freezing wind, without turning her head she said. "Assuming it succeeds." Melanor used her hand to protect her eyes from the glare of the sun so she could see the horizon. Melanor said. "Roughly half a day in this space."

Elora took out five thick brown winter coats and passed them around as she held one in her hands. Elora said. "Thirty minutes in real-time..." She let out a chuckle and continued. "Do you think Enrel would have raided the wine cellar by now?" Melanor held the winter coat Elora passed to her with the hand she used to block out the sun, she said. "Knowing her she should be in your bed ordering your servants for massages and food." Elora nodded and said. "True." As they continued walking down passing the humongous tree. 

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Enora and Moranor quickly put on the winter coats while Reiki held on to his, he said. "It's not that giant tree?" As the three of them made sure to stay close to the two elves leading the way, Moranor shook her head. Moranor said. "It's a marker, it was planted about five hundred years ago in real-time."

Reiki looked up to Moranor and said. "Real-time? Does that mean the time here moves differently?" Moranor nodded, she looked at him and said. "Yeah, this place is-." Enora placed her arm around Reiki's shoulders, she said. "Long story short, this place was created by our ancestor's ancestor. We don't know where it is in the real world and how it was made, magic has degraded so much in the past thousand or so years. Especially the medieval age that you humans call since most recorded magic was burned to the ground by your own doing." 

Reiki looked up to Enora, he said. "Was it that bad?" Moranor had a slight frown on her lips, she interrupted Enora and said. "Worse, it was at the point where magic was… Considered 'new' again since the lack of knowledge a few hundred years later. Other races even went as far as to avoid all contact with humans, it wasn't until the early… Twentieth-century was the drawback caused by the lack of magic knowledge other races slowly started making contact with humans here and there."

Reiki thought. Even when humans are still at the top of the so-called food chain we still have to be wary of ourselves in case of a downfall… How the hell aren't we extinct already? Or worse, slaves… Enora flashed Moranor a smug smile, Moranor had an irritated expression on her face as she glared at her. Reiki looked up to Moranor at his left, he said. "No one answered my previous question." 

Moranor moved her gaze on him, she had an odd look on her face and said. "The tribulations." He let out a sigh and said. "That doesn't answer my question. You just repeated what your mother said a few minutes ago." Elora and Melanor who was leading took a left avoiding stepping on any of the roots of the overgrown tree. When they slightly adjusted their course to the left, Reiki, Moranor, and Enora made sure to follow. He stared at a tree while Elora and Melanor started walking even slower, Reiki knocked on the tree a couple of times using his knuckles. He thought. That felt like-.

Enora and Moranor were watching him, with a smile on Moranor's lips, she said. "Fragile aren't they?" Reiki looked up to her and said. "I was going to say glass, but that works too…" A violent fust of freezing passed through all three of them. Moranor hugged herself as she tried her best to keep warm while Enora wasn't even fazed. Reiki, who didn't even react to it let out a shallow breath from his mouth and saw that the condensation was worse. He thought. It's gotten so cold when we've only walked for a good three minutes… 

The three of them heard Elora shouting. "Girls and... Boy, pick it up. Don't talk too much or you won't have enough energy to walk." She waved her hand at them as Elora and Melanor stopped walking and waited for them. Moranor used her hands to rub her winter coat to produce more heat, she said. "L-Let's go." The three of them slowly made their way toward the two elves who waited until they were close enough to continue walking. Reiki was still holding onto the winter coat with his left hand, he looked up to Enora and said. "And Enrel isn't with us because?..."

Moranor who was slightly shivering said. "She hated it here on her first visit, something about being too cold and being lied to about something to research." Enora nodded in agreement as she jumped revealing her white panties underneath her skirt and making her large chest jiggle, she pinched off a few leaves from the tree. Reiki slightly tilted his head to get a better view, Moranor said. "I-I'll remember that Reiki… S-Since I'm being nice I won't smack you right now."

Enora passed him and Moranor a leaf that was new and small. Enora had a similar one on her lips as she chewed on it, Reiki took one and decided to do the same. Moranor quickly pocketed hers while he started a coughing fit, Reiki thought. And I thought breath mints and cold water were a bad combination! Moranor patted his back to ease him while Enora was laughing as she enjoyed his misery. Moranor glared at her from the corner of her eye to which Enora responded by sticking her pink tongue out for them to see.

Reiki's coughing started to ease up, Moranor looked at him and said. "Y-You good?" He nodded and said. "Yeah… What are these things?" Enora was a few steps behind her mother and Melanor while Reiki and Moranor were a few steps behind Enora. Another strong gust of freezing breeze went through all of them which made Melanor and Moranor visible shiver while Elora and her daughter enjoyed it. 

Moranor was grabbing her winter coat tightly and said. "I-It's supposed to be a regular tree… D-Due to the exposure to cold temperatures and mana-rich soil the properties drastically changed. M-Making it able to survive in the cold, t-the leaves are just one of the changes it might taste similar to m-mint but it's just a concentrated burst of cold mana in your lungs." Reiki looked up to her and said. "Can you give me a few examples of what it's used for?"

Elora, Melanor, and Enora were walking past through the forest easily as they walked on a crooked line to avoid the trees blocking their path. Moranor let out a huff as the air she exhaled was visibly white, she thought for a moment and said. "N-Nothing much… The wood is resistant to cold making it suitable for building materials in cold environments." She let out a mischievous laugh and continued. "You can also give it to someone you hate as firewood and watch them struggle."

Reiki let out a chuckle, he said. "That's a good idea." He looked at her from the corner of his eye and continued. "You've tried it didn't you?" Moranor let out a playful scoff, she said. "A-A f-few times here and there." Enora appeared between them as she pushed apart, she wrapped her arm around Reiki's waist and lifted him off the ground. Enora said. "In all seriousness, I am surprised you're able to tolerate the cold."

She glanced at Moranor who was shivering more than before as the deeper they got in the forest, Enora said. "Unlike a certain elf…" With a friendly smile on her lips, she looked at Reiki and said. "So, how do you like it here so far?" He took a quick look around his surroundings as another gust of wind passed all of them, he said. "It's cold, boring, and nothing to eat… All in all, it's pretty interesting." 

Elora who was in front of them let out a laugh from listening to their conversation while Melanor was trying her best to keep up. Enora had an intrigued smile on her lips, she said. "Not going to wear your coat yet?" Reiki shook his head, he casted. Flash.

[System: User is unable to cast the spell.]

His eyes slightly widened, Reiki thought. What the… He casted a couple of more times. Flash. Flash.

[System: User is unable to cast the spell.]

[System: User is unable to cast the spell.]

Elora and Melanor waited for the three of them to catch up. Elora was casually stretching while Melanor turned her upper body sideways to look behind. Melanor had a sly smile on her lips, she said. "Judging by his reaction he tried to cast that… 'Teleportation' spell of his…" Elora had both her hands behind her hand, she turned her head sideways and said. "None of us can cast magic here, so if you get hurt it'll have to wait until we're out of here." 

Enora placed him down beside Moranor who was still glaring at her from the corner of her eye. Reiki looked up to Elora and said. "How?" Elora flashed him an enigmatic smile as she pointed to her left. He moved his gaze to the direction Elora was pointing at and saw a few small patches of snow-white grass and a tree that had more than half of its leaves turn white. Reiki thought. What the…

He slowly walked towards it as another strong gust of wind passed through all of them. Melanor and her daughter visibly shivered while Elora, who was holding onto her coat, wrapped it around Melanor. Enora let out a yawn while Reiki, who was near the tree with snow leaves and a small patch of white grass. He looked up and glanced at the leaves of the tree for a moment before looking down at a small patch of white grass, Reiki crouched down and stared at it. He thought. I feel uncomfortable being so close to it… 

Moranor had a look of concern on her face while Enora was watching in interest. Elora and Melanor were observing his action, Reiki slowly stood up and walked back to the four elves who were patiently waiting. Moranor let out a sigh of relief as Enora had a small frown on her lips. Melanor looked at him and said. "How was your observation? Did you get a good look?"

Reiki nodded, he looked up to her and said. "Yeah… My instincts told me to avoid touching it." Elora had a small smile of approval on her lips, she said. "That patch of grass could have caused you second-degree frostbite on direct contact." Reiki's pupils slightly dilated, Elora continued. "Don't worry, what you're wearing should be good enough…" She and Melanor started walking again, Melanor let out a chuckle and softly said. "Probably." Reiki looked at the distance and squinted his eyes as he saw a large area of trees with snow leaves and white grass stretching farther than an ocean.

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