X
Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the Server“Little elf sister, a new face, aren’t you a pureblood?”
The short-haired man with golden hair pinched his chin, scrutinizing Hilvyn’s face with an expression typically reserved for a rare species.
Hilvyn glanced at the man. He was quite handsome, with an air of self-confidence in his eyes.
Yet, she remained silent, for Elara had taught her not to speak casually with strangers.
Her blue eyes flickered towards Elara, who was currently receiving an introduction to magic tools and potions from Serene.
However, Elara had also instructed her to remain polite.
Thus, Hilvyn uttered a soft “Mhm,” offering it as a reply.
‘How did he know I was a pureblood elf?’
She was rather curious.
“Are you perhaps wondering how I guessed?”
The next moment, the short-haired man began to explain, unprompted. “It’s because I can sense your incredibly vast magical reserves, so potent that even your hair hums with magic.”
In truth, the magic in her hair was merely a byproduct of a color-changing spell.
“If you’re alone, would the great Aedric be willing to let you tag along on a quest?”
Aedric struck a pose he evidently considered quite dashing.
“Uh, I have a team.”
“Oh, what a pity! If such a cute little sister were to accompany me, I’d be even more energized fighting monsters.”
Before he could finish his sentence, Elara stepped between the two, shielding Hilvyn behind her.
“Oh~ Is this your teammate?” Aedric raised an eyebrow, beginning to scrutinize Elara.
Hilvyn poked her head out from behind Elara, quietly correcting him. “This is my captain.”
Then, she whispered to Elara that the man seemed harmless, just a little eccentric.
“Oi oi oi—I heard you talking bad about me.”
Despite this, Aedric’s face remained unperturbed, maintaining his smile throughout.
Elara had never been fond of such frivolous men. She was about to lead Hilvyn away when her eyes were drawn to a blue-haired figure behind Aedric.
It was a tall woman descending the stairs from the second floor. Her gaze swept the room before heading directly towards them, her eyes flashing fiercely!
“This captain’s magical reserves are also outstanding, how does her hair also have magi—”
Under Elara and Hilvyn’s watchful eyes, the blue-haired figure rushed behind Aedric and delivered a punch! It landed squarely on the back of his head.
“Agh! Who dares to ambush this great one?!”
Aedric cried out in pain, turning around. His face instantly plastered with a smile, demonstrating a truly impressive speed of transformation.
“Haha, Lorraine, you arrived so quickly.”
“Aedric! Are you flirting with other adventurer sisters again? Have some shame!”
“Wasn’t I just evaluating the strength of these adventurer sisters?”
Lorraine gritted her teeth. She was half a head shorter than Aedric. Grabbing the back of his collar, she began to slap his short-cropped hair without another word.
“Hey, hey, hey, go easy, go easy! So many adventurers are watching.”
Unexpectedly, this comment only made Lorraine slap him faster.
“Why didn’t you two warn me just now when you saw her?”
Seeing that he couldn’t avoid the beating, Aedric instead whispered a “reproach” to Elara and Hilvyn for not warning him.
Elara now realized this man wasn’t merely frivolous; he was more like a clown.
A slight smile threatened to break through.
Lorraine, tired from hitting him, stopped and rubbed her stinging hands. She commanded, “Go, apologize to them.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Didn’t you waste their time?”
“Fine.”
Aedric turned and formally apologized to the two.
“My apologies, ladies.”
However, the expression on his face clearly showed him making a goofy face at Lorraine behind his back.
“It’s fine.”
Elara politely replied.
Aedric then turned and left with Lorraine, rejoining their other two teammates.
What an odd man.
Elara no longer paid attention; it was time to prepare for their commission.
After emerging from the dungeon, they hadn’t yet restocked essential supplies like potions.
Such items could be purchased directly at the guild.
“Serene.”
The two returned to the reception window.
“Do you two have any other needs?”
“First, let’s get…” Elara mused briefly. “Six bottles of Advanced Life Recovery Potion.”
To stock up on six bottles at once surprised even Serene.
“Alright, that will be 600 gold in total.”
Potions wouldn’t expire anyway, so it was best to be prepared for any eventuality.
They proceeded to buy a few other potions, paid, and then waited for the warehouse manager to retrieve their order.
During this short wait, Serene chatted with them again.
“Miss Black Rose, do you know who that Aedric was?”
“No.”
To Elara, he felt like he possessed considerable strength.
“It’s perfectly normal for you two not to know, having been in the dungeon all this time.”
Serene wore an expression that said, “I knew it.” “They are the S-rank team that arrived in Wind Whisper City before the dungeon opened.”
Elara was slightly taken aback. An S-rank team? Him?
“The golden-haired one is Lord Aedric, the S-rank Thunder adventurer, and the blue-haired one is Lady Lorraine, the S-rank Dual Water-Wind adventurer.”
“They came to assist with the forest’s corruption. And situations like just now often play out during this period since the dungeon opened.”
This was why the onlookers had seemed unfazed, though they dared not openly discuss S-rank adventurers.
“Can S-rank individuals perceive someone’s total magical reserves?”
Hilvyn, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
“Very few can, but Lord Aedric is an exception. He is exceptionally sensitive to magic.”
Serene shared everything she knew; anything deeper was beyond the knowledge of a mere receptionist like herself.
“Thanks, Serene.”
At least now they knew this group wasn’t malicious, and had no reason to target minor figures like themselves.
“You’re welcome.”
Just then, the potions were delivered. Elara put them into her leather pouch. Next, they needed to purchase some purifying fluid before officially embarking on their commission.
The two went to the temporary temple set up by the Wind God’s Temple at the North City Gate and bought over ten bottles of purifying fluid—which were surprisingly cheap.
Only after completing these preparations did they officially set off.
****
At the outer edge of Wind Whisper Forest.
The two first reviewed their magic in a very peripheral location.
Elara, meanwhile, was focused on studying her new spell, ‘Spatial Displacement.’
This was a high-tier spell that allowed her to swap places with an object.
However, it had a one-hour cooldown and a significant drawback:
If she swapped with a living creature, it would consume a proportional amount of her magic based on the creature’s magical reserves.
She only had one chance to test it, so naturally, she sought to test its upper limit.
And for an upper-limit test, a perfect target was right in front of her.
“Hilvyn.”
“Mhm?”
Hilvyn stopped the magic in her hands and turned to look back.
In an instant, her vision shifted dramatically. She felt as if she had teleported a short distance towards Elara.
Elara, in turn, appeared in front of her, having materialized from behind.
As for why Elara had fallen to her knees, Hilvyn had no idea.
Wait, why was she kneeling?
She quickly rushed forward. “Sister, what’s wrong?!”
Elara’s face was pale. She waved a hand, quickly downing two bottles of magic recovery potion.
She rested for a few more minutes before finally recovering.
Swapping with Hilvyn had instantly drained 80% of her magic. If it had been a normal expenditure, leaving 20%, she would have merely felt a bit tired.
But experiencing such an instantaneous, massive drain was a first for Elara, and it was far from pleasant.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, The Moon Reflected In The Water is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : The Moon Reflected In The Water
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂