Surviving The Fourth Calamity

In the world of Toril, deities seemed overwhelmingly powerful, yet without their true forms entering, there were too many powerful beings that could stop or even harm these avatars or divine embodiments of the True Gods.

Moreover, it was not worth it for Coron to desperately lead the Elven Pantheon over such a trivial matter!

There were simply too many demons.

These forsaken territories, for the Elves, were actually negligible; Eternity Island was also nice, safe, and far from humans.

However, if one day the humans they once looked down upon managed to completely reclaim Elf King City and rename it as they had other cities, their prideful self-esteem would be somewhat unable to accept it.

Meanwhile, the number of Elves simply couldn't sustain such a huge depletion.

Coron, probably upon discovering the existence of the Undead Tribe, started considering the matters of Ferun.

He, too, knew about that prophecy!

Though the Father of Elves said nothing, it didn't mean he was really willing to see humans trampling over Elves and winning decisively.

In fact, for the World Will of Toril to choose the progeny of Black Staff as the child of the world to reclaim the entire Northern Continent was quite normal, since they were the sole heirs of Mistral.

It was an existence that even the Elves had to admit.

If the twins stood at the highest point as Half-Elves, the Elves, with their fig leaf, wouldn't necessarily intervene.

Elves, deeply entangled with the source of Toril, knew that no matter how they struggled, the outcome would always point towards the prophecy.

But the Undead Tribe had no relation whatsoever with the source of Toril.

They were completely unpredictable, an existence outside of the prophecy.

And Toril never refused people from other worlds; this was a core law written into its source.

Coron was actually a bit hesitant. The entry of the Undead Tribe was a double-edged sword for the Elves.

So he was continuously delaying time. He only hinted at possibilities to William without confirming anything.

But Black Staff Kaelborn's utter denial of his Elven Bloodline this time was sure to infuriate the Elf Chief God.

Coron, who usually liked to do things whimsically, was considering so much only because he was truly uncertain about the emergence of the Undead Tribe.

Skilled planner against the clueless, Coron would probably succeed. It all depended on whether the Goddess of Magic, Mystra, would fall into the trap.

As long as she dared resurrect Black Staff Kaelborn within a year, Coron could go negotiate with the World Will.

Hill touched the map on the Supreme Wastes, in about a year, he would see his long-missed friends again.

Mystra's indecisive, overly protective nature was the very capital that allowed Kaelborn to act so recklessly; the arrival of the Undead Tribe was decided.

Hill picked up the travel journal and slowly began to read, knowing no matter how capable the innkeeper appeared, he could never entrust his safety to someone else's abilities.

And he hadn't planned to stay here for a full five days.

The next morning, after Hill had washed up, he collected two small buns from the bread basket on the table before heading downstairs.

After meeting up with Lynn, they started a pleasant journey in Deepwater City.

Compared to the formal Silvermoon City, the overly open atmosphere of Deepwater City made its shops all the more bizarre and varied, selling many not-so-elegant items.

What Hill wanted to see was exactly this, otherwise the elegance and nobility of the human world wasn't to his liking; what really caught his eye were items of Elven design.

Human preferences often didn't differ much from those of dragons, perhaps this was one of the reasons dragons liked to reside in human cities.

He bought many interesting small items, all handicrafts, seeming to display his casual indifference as he passed the most popular gemstone shop without a glance, convincing thieves that his societal wealth wasn't substantial, resulting in the shadows that followed him becoming fewer and fewer.

Though Hill was ruthless in combat, he couldn't just kill those who followed him at a distance as if they were assassins.

In every world, those of the Kind Alignment were not to be trificked with but could be tightrope-walked.

Thus, the Kind Alignment always remained somewhat mysterious; not wanting the bottom line broken, one mustn't let others easily figure out where that line lies.

Lynn accompanied Hill wandering on Deepwater Road all morning, eventually unable to resist, dragged him to Sword Street.

Upon arriving, Hill smelled the scent of earth and heard relaxing melodies of harps, wind instruments, flutes, and a melodious chorus.

He looked up, noticing a building that looked distinctly Elven; from the wide-open doors, one could see many beautiful plants and trees growing out of the basement.

When Hill and Lynn walked in, a female Elf with a Fairy Dragon perched on her shoulder greeted them at the bar, "Welcome to the Elf Stone Tavern. Please feel free to sit anywhere, and have a look at today's menu board."

Hill glanced over, deducing that the owner and staff must be Moon Elves, all possessing silver eyes and elegant demeanor.

Although different from the Moon Elves of his own world, Hill still felt a peculiar sense of familiarity.

Hill pulled Lynn to sit at a table under the shade of an oak tree, where the scent of the flowers and grasses elsewhere was too strong.

Lynn glanced at the silent Hill, realizing he might not know what to order, and smiled as he spoke, "Two Guldagan nectars, two Silverfins, ten skewers of rabbit meat, ten skewers of deer meat, one serving of crab meat, and one serving of mint sauce biscuits."

The proprietress nodded happily, "That'll be seventy-four gold, and the bread is free, please help yourself."

Hill took out seventy-five gold coins and handed them to the beautiful waitress standing next to him, as the taverns in Deepwater City always required payment first.

Lynn sighed softly, "If it weren't for you being here, I probably wouldn't have the courage to order such expensive items. I'd be satisfied with just the two gold coin Eternity Spring Water. This is fourteen gold coins a cup!"

Hill was a bit puzzled, "You shouldn't have a problem with this amount of money, right?" Lynn's monthly salary as a sheriff was also two hundred gold, and he owned that tavern.

"It's just hard to part with! A third of my monthly salary! And I didn't even order the most expensive wine.

That one is actually just a weaker version of your Elf Wine, unnecessary.

When I first started out, I used to spend freely, but at my lowest point, I didn't even have ten copper coins to my name. I had to hunt in the forest for days before I had money to spend.

Since then, I've realized just how precious gold coins really are," he explained.

Hill couldn't help but laugh.

It wasn't that he didn't understand the importance of money, but when one becomes the person printing money, the value of it doesn't seem so significant anymore.

In a gold-standard world, Hill would never be short of money.

The food was served quickly.

The first to arrive was the Silverfin, covered with caviar and shrimp, with a hint of sweet and sour taste, and two large glasses of pale green alcoholic drink.

Hill, with a fork and knife in hand, happily took a bite. It must have been a cold-water fish with only one main bone, very tender, and the seasoning sauce very comfortable to his taste; he ate contentedly.

Then came the skewers, served on a large iron plate. Hill looked at these skewers, covered in green sauce and fried, and blinked.

If it weren't for that little hope in his heart, he would find the skewers quite delicious, but unfortunately, they were mustard flavored.

The glasses were large, and the drink was a mixed wine made from fruit wines, which Hill found quite similar to sparkling wine and paired well with the skewers.

Hill was very satisfied with his meal, but the surrounding environment made him uncomfortable.

Lynn was likely three-quarters Elven Bloodline, and apart from his ears not being so pointed, he looked just like an elf, while Hill, wearing a blue-gray Mage Robe, looked entirely human.

The pointing and disdainful glances from the Elves annoyed Hill.

He suddenly stood up, and a deep magical pressure filled the tavern instantly. Several elves hiding under the banyan tree dropped their glasses straight to the ground, trembling as they crouched on the tables.

"Respected guests, may I ask you to restrain your aura? These people have received their lesson," the proprietress said, no longer able to maintain her noble and elegant demeanor, she walked over to Hill with difficulty.

Glancing at the panicked Fairy Dragon on her shoulder, Hill sneered and withdrew his power.

The Elves found themselves in this plight, and no one else to blame; they were still daring to look down on Half-Elves and Humans.

Lynn's expression turned grim. He spent most of his time near Silvermoon City and truly did not know that there was still racial discrimination among the Elves of Deepwater City.

Under the rule of the Mage Lord Black Staff, who was a Half-Elf!

If initially, he was very angry and puzzled by Black Staff's selection, now Lynn could somewhat understand Kaelborn's hatred towards the Elven Bloodline.

He only knew before that the Elves of Deepwater City followed Black Staff because of Kaelborn's Mistral bloodline, but were these folks truly following Kaelborn while also despising Half-Elves?

What kind of mindset could lead to such foolish actions?

Even if these Elves showed great respect towards Kaelborn, it meant nothing!

Kaelborn was an Archmage! Could he not see through what was happening?

Lynn couldn't help but close his eyes, "Although I still don't agree with Kaelborn's methods, I can understand him better now. Does Coron know about this? Don't the Elves of Deepwater City have a normal leader?"

"The normal ones were driven away by Kaelborn," the proprietress interjected. "He was never innocent. Kaelborn was not always the Mage Lord of Deepwater City.

The competition for power in Deepwater City has always been brutal; after he rose to power, he drove away everyone who could compete with him, especially the Elf Mages.

He drove away those with brains, leaving only the Elves who had nothing but their bloodline to be proud of! Therefore, the criticisms are a result of his own actions; Coron sees it."

Hill and Lynn considered the logic for a while and exchanged a helpless look.

Suddenly, Lynn spoke, "I just hope that these are the exceptions and not the majority."