113 Chapter 113 Elven Capital (1/2)
Elves sleep for only 4 hours a night. Ironically, that meant that Stella and Joseph were up before them.
Joseph started to warm up the soup as the elves slowly got up. It was very interesting to him, as he observed them sleeping. It was more of a trance than a true sleep. He would have to look into that more some time.
”Aren't we in a hurry? We've been up for almost an hour and prepared breakfast and I've even been working on spells,” he said to Stella.
Stella didn't reply as she finished sharpening her blades and putting them away. The elves had no response to his comments either.
He decided to set up his next spell priorities while he waited. STONE MISSILE for another attack spell, STAFF so he could start making them for himself and his apprentices, BANISHMENT from necromancy to force any demons they came across to go home, and COOK because he was surprisingly annoyed about not being able to do that. He had long since stopped worrying about the elves being startled by his constant use of magic.
As they were leaving the camping area, he glanced one last time at the orange trees and almost stopped. Every single orange was gone. Glancing at Stella, he chuckled. He made them for her, after all.
If he hadn't been told by the elves that they had pa.s.sed into the eastern kingdom, he wouldn't have known. The border wasn't even marked. Stella wasn't very impressed either.
”I think if I were going to attack, I would send a group around, under the edge, and pillage the heart of the kingdom before there was a response. Then, if the kingdom finally responded, I would have a large group of criminal slaves and force them to march far enough into the wasteland that the pursuing troops all died.”
Stella shook her head in disagreement. ”I would send several groups of a.s.sa.s.sins under the wall where n.o.body was watching, and murder the officials in the kingdom, or kidnap their loved ones and force them to obey.”
Elwin said, ”Many things the humans do confuse us. We had fully expected there to be patrols along the borders but found none.”
”No wonder it was so easy for you to get so many elves to my father's new home.”
”You would think that they wouldn't be so scared of the wastelands,” added Stella, shaking her head. They all agreed.
Soon after that, they finally arrived at the border of the elven forest. Joseph was amazed. The mana simply stopped at the elven forest, almost like an invisible wall was blocking it. The gap was where the elves had drawn runes to prevent the humans from crossing the border. The barrier looked to be a modification of the PROTECTION rune, but Joseph didn't recognize the spell. He had only achieved basic understanding of PROTECTION and hadn't studied farther into it just yet.
On the other side of the border, the forest had very weak mana, and almost as soon as the mana was released from the trees, it was being reabsorbed by other trees, with only a small trickle being bled off to the runes powering the barrier.
”Virion?”
”Yes, Joseph?”
”Is there any special reason the elven forest has a ring around it that prevents mana from getting in?”
”I am not aware of such a ring.”
”The mana comes to the edge of the forest, and then there is almost a magical dead zone. The runes composing your barrier are there, and draining a trickle of mana out of your forest. All day, every day, for thousands of years.”
”That is very interesting. We should get you to our king quickly.”
”Give me a day to experiment if you would please.”
”I think it would be better to have the king aware of the situation first. Otherwise I don't know what they may think you are doing.”
”Ugh. Alright. Stella do you mind being a bit of a battery?”
”I…don't mind.”
”Hand,” he said with a smile. She held out her hand, palm up. Joseph switched to a language from their last lives. ”Let me know if you feel any discomfort. The area in there has little free mana. I won't be able to recharge easily. You need to hold extra mana for me in case we need to teleport out.”
”Yes, Master Joseph,” she responded, in the common language of this realm.
Joseph slowly channeled the mana from around them, into himself, and then into her, like when he was feeling her mana circuit out. This time it was just flowing through her without affecting her mana.