“That's as far as you can go. Another step and we will pepper you with arrows lizard scum,” a voice stated.

Ves'ra stopped, and Arvog started circling above them, his eye from the air allowing her to spot the beings surrounding them. All twenty of them.

“And you are?” She asked cooly, pouring mana in her core.

“We are the seventeenth scout squad. And you are trespassing our territory. But you know that already, don't you?” The being said.

“I don't really. It’s not like you put a sign anywhere,” she said with a shrug.

“A SIGN? You try sneaking into our territory, and have the audacity to ask for a sign!” She yelled.

“We weren't sneaking,” Ves'ra stated. “We just moved on. We are hunting.”

“Yes. Hunting us,” the being snorted.

“Why would we hunt humans?” Ves'ra wondered. “You're neither powerful, nor are you a monster. We don't care about humans.”

“HUMANS? Now you are just mocking me! WE ARE PROUD ELVES!” The voice yelled.

“Humans, elves. You're all the same, hell you even look the same, if you ignore the ears,” Ves'ra complained.

“You're a very a typical lizard, lizard,” the voice said.

“I'm not a lizard. I'm a kobold,” Ves'ra stated. “And if you insist on insulting me I will be cross. It’s not like the twenty of you can offer any resistance if I decide to go serious on you,” she threatened, annoyed at the rude being.

Not that she would actually kill them for annoying her. She avoided killing other intelligent beings whenever possible. The other didn't know about that though.

“Now you show your true face, lizard scum. Leave, or die!” The elf threatened back.

So Ves'ra allowed some of her mana to leak into the surroundings. Arvog saw as all elves lowered their weapons, so she grinned a toothy smile at the elf that had been speaking, hidden in the forest around them.

“You are an archmage,” the elf stated.

“I am,” Ves'ra agreed.

“Where did you come from?” She asked.

“We hunted the roc in the mountains, and moved past them, to find other worthy prey,” she explained. “Though we wanted to make a stop first, and process our materials.”

“You killed the roc? Impressive, we already wondered why we didn't see it in the last week,” she said. “We came off at the wrong foot here, how about we start anew?”

“Sure,” Ves'ra agreed easily, as the elf walked out of the forest around them.

“What do you seek here?”

“Prey,” Ves'ra answered.

“Prey? Deer or something like that?” The elf asked.

“No. Prey like our previous prey. Powerful monsters filled with mana,” she explained.

“Powerful monsters. We may have something for you there,” the elf said.

“You do? Do tell,” Ves'ra said.

“There’s an earthworm plaguing the countryside. It staked its territory, and simply kills everyone entering it, it’s been quite the annoyance, but none of our earth mages have the time to go and deal with it. And warriors aren't suited to fight an enemy that can vanish in the ground they stand on,” the elf explained.

“So the only monster you know about is one you want to get rid of? What’s in it for us?” She asked.

Hunting prey was a reward in itself, but if there were a bunch of humans nearby that you could get more stuff from? Why not use the chance! Of course, the stuff humans found valuable was mostly useless, but they had centuries to gather knowledge and information, and were far easier to convince to let go of it than they were of their useless material possessions.

“What would you want?” The elf asked. “There is a bounty on it, but that’ll not be enough for a group as big as yours.”

“Easy. We want someone to show us how to get the most out of our roc materials. And any information you have on powerful beasts nearby. All that before we hunt your earthworm, because we will risk our lives for you,” Ves'ra demanded.

“That doesn't sound too bad. But I am in no position to negotiate for my lord. I can take you to him if you want to, I'm sure he will be delighted to have you here,” she explained, turning around. “My people will stay here and continue to watch for sneaky lizardman trying to infiltrate our borders.”

“Lead the way then,” Ves'ra said, following the elf.

She wasn't all that worried about being ambushed later on - Arvog had their back from the air after all, and their host didn't know about him. No need to risk anything, so she cast a powerful shield on all of them. Just to be sure.

Soon enough, Arvog spotted a settlement in the distance. Quite a big settlement, but still smaller than the human cities she had been to before.

“So, tell me more about your country,” Ves'ra said. “And those lizardmen you took us for.”

“The last question is easy. We have been fighting a large tribe of lizardmen for the last months. They raid our villages, take our people and retreat. They flee from any force send to punish them, so we just placed patrols all along our borders,” the elf explained. “And my country? What is there to say, we’ve been founded some two hundred years ago, by our ancestors. We started as a single town, but are now a proud kingdom with two cities, three towns and several dozen villages. Well, until we lost nearly a dozen villages to those damned lizardmen. But the king will do something about it soon!”

“I see. Well, I wish you good luck in dealing with the invaders. The country I was in last got invaded too, though by an army, not a tribe,” she recalled.

“So that's why you left?” The elf asked.

“No. I was just visiting, finding more powerful monsters to grow, to evolve. And they had a very convenient system in place. One that allowed me to know about such monsters from more than a month’s journey away,” she explained.

“You seek even more power? What for, there are few beings in the world that can fight an archmage in open combat,” the elf said.

“I have a certain problem that needs addressing. A problem I need more power for, but that's all I'm gonna say about it,” Ves'ra said. “And we are here anyways. Your city is quite pretty.”

“Yes we are. How did you know, it’s still out of sight,” the elf said.

“I am a powerful mage, I have quite some tricks up my sleeve,” Ves'ra explained.

The elf nodded, her explanation made sense after all, and she now had to talk with the guards, to allow them to enter the city and work for them. Sleeping in a real bed for change would be quite welcome.