Corrupt Creations

The elf realized that Seth has probably passed by some difficult situations, because the way he spoke seemed to be filled with experience of the hardships he faced.

Suddenly, the elf felt like befriending Seth. The human seemed to be a really good person. He could have robbed him or killed him in the middle of this huge forest, where not a single soul would know what actually happened, but here they were, sitting at the side of a campfire while talking friendly.

"Uhmm... Would it be alright for you to tell me your name?"

"Oh! That's right! It was rude of my part for not introducing myself after such a long talk. My name is Seth Caesar, you can call me Seth."

"Seth... Seth would you mind if I asked you a favor?"

"Not at all. What is it?"

"Can we be friends?"

"Huh?"

"We can't? I'm sorry, I overstepped my boundaries..."

"What are you talking about?" Seth gave a light slap on his shoulders.

Seth continued to talk: "I was surprised because I never thought you were going to ask something like that. Of course, we can. Why not? It's just that I'm not one of the best friends to have out there."

"That's good then." The masked elf was expressing a smile of happiness, but the mask wouldn't let Seth know about it.

"Heh... That is something I should be saying. Since you are my friend now, I will make you accompany me in many places inside the Ereinrith city and I will even flaunt on having the Golden Archer as my friend."

"..." The elf didn't say anything.

"Hm? How could I forget? With your shut-in habits, there is no way you would be able to know the best places inside the Ereinrith city." Seth facepalmed after realizing his mistake.

"Don't worry, I at least know where are some important locations."

"Alright then. Let's rest tonight and wake up early tomorrow and go towards the city."

After deciding to rest, they put out the campfire and went to sleep inside the cave. Seth got surprised when the elf took many things out of his high-tier storage ring and immediately set them around, mounting an entire luxury room for sleeping.

Seth just took some fabrics from his ring, putting them on the floor. Although he said he would be sleeping, at this cultivation level, that was a thing he only needed to do once a week or even less, so he just sat on the fabric and closed his eyes. He started to channel his cultivation technique, silently entering a mild state of cultivation.

He thought the elf would do the same, but after thirty minutes, he realized that the idiot has really gone to sleep. That was not something a person should do in the middle of the forest and near a person he just met. It was too risky.

'This Golden Archer is really something out of the ordinary.'

The night passed in the blink of an eye and early morning, Seth and the masked elf were already up and ready to travel.

"Do you know exactly where we are?" Seth asked.

"I'm sorry but I don't really know. I wasn't planning to come so deep inside the forest before feeling the medicinal aura of that herb. When I felt it, I just forgot about everything and came after it. However, I know that the city is towards that direction, since it is where I came from." The elf pointed towards the west.

"That's better than nothing. Let's go."

The duo traveled through the forest, passing by many different kinds of beasts.

"Hey, Elidyr. I have been thinking about it. Why didn't you use your bow to fight those beasts that attacked you yesterday? You're so famous for being an exceptional archer, that it would have been easy for you to deal with them."

"Eh... I forgot to bring my bow."

"You forgot to bring your bow? The heck!? You never stop surprising me."

"Yeah... I left it home."

"Well, that ability you used though was really cool. I've never seen someone use a technique as unique as that before. However, I felt that it wasn't an ability meant for a fight, am I wrong?" Seth was observing from the side at that time and he could perceive many things about that ability.

"No, you're right. It is a very good ability that has an affinity with the nature and life. It isn't meant for attack, but I was trained to use it that way if I ever needed one day."

"No wonder." Seth nodded in approval. The person who trained him was very considerate, since the situation he feared to happen, actually happened.

"What about you? How did you achieve such a level on your cultivation?" The elf was very curious about Seth's story and asked about his strength.

Seth would never tell something that concerned about his private life to a stranger, however after talking with this elf for almost an entire day, he felt like he could trust him a little bit. It was not only that, but a feeling that was telling him that the elf was actually harmless.

"My cultivation? Sigh... it's a long story. I will simplify it all and tell you a bit of my past routine. I was found by a very powerful cultivator and he brought me to his clan. He taught me some of his clan cultivation arts and assigned some people to train me in the cultivation way and on how to fight. However, it was not as beautiful in reality as I am making it sound..."

"Was it hard?"

"Hard? It was hell. I had to train and achieve a certain level on the cultivation path, or else they would not feed me and I would die of starvation. I had to get stronger reflexes and sharpen my instincts, or else I would die while pierced by a knife when training. I was pushed to the limits of pain so I would not get distracted if I were to get badly hurt while fighting. But in the end, I consider that a very good part of my life, because there was a person cheering for me on every single moment. And honestly, I have had it worse than that."

'He had it worse?'

The elf felt that Seth's life was very bitter and there was something clenching the middle of his chest when he thought that he had ran away from home, just because life was a bit boring. There was absolutely nothing that the elf didn't have, but he threw a tantrum a fled from home, hidden from the experts that were in charge of protecting him.

On the other side, there was a man that was happy and easy going. He had already won at life, because the past wasn't able to affect him at all. Seth should have been a really dark and cruel person, considering the things he had been put through. It was his luck that there was a person like Serene on his path, or else, he would have turned into a cruel killing machine.

"Don't worry Seth, I'm sure life will compensate you in the future."

"You're wrong. Both of you should be worrying." A female voice came from above. Together, there was a crushing pressure that descended on Seth only.

"Argh!"

Seth spat a mouthful of blood and fainted instantly.

"Stop!" The elf screamed towards the person that just arrived, but the pressure didn't stop, even though Seth had already fainted.

"Stop! Allannia! He is my friend!"

"Friend? How are you able to trust a human so easily princess?"

After being certain that Seth was knocked out. Allannia finally stopped releasing her pressure. She was a Profound Mana realm cultivator and her aura alone was enough to put Seth to sleep. She moved her hand and the large cloak covering the mysterious elf flew away, revealing a female graceful body. However, Allannia didn't dare to remove her mask, because her face was capable of bewitching even a female expert like her.

"Actually, that doesn't matter. Her highness entrusted your safety to me, but the first time I leave to take care of business related to the Wild Games, you actually ran away from the castle... Do you know that half of the city would be dead if your mother found out about that?"

"I know that she does it to protect me, but... Why is she like that?" The elf princess had a bitter expression. From time to time, she looked towards Seth, lying on the ground.

"Sigh... Just like her powers, yours are special too. Actually, you're even more special, so she does it to hide you from certain eyes, especially the eyes from the other races. You do not understand yet. Let's go back."

"Wait! Let me..."

"No! You don't need to worry. A Mana Control practitioner like him won't suffer any permanent injury from that."

"But... Are we going to leave him in the middle of the forest like that?"

"Your Highness, you are too kind. Sigh... I'll drop him in a safer place, is that alright?"

"That's good."