As we waved Myeyl and Jhan goodbye, Odelia made sure no one was around and then whispered, “I cannot believe you, Lord Eyes, I mean I will already have my hands full teaching you. How could you force me into teaching Lady Myeyl as well?”

“Oh you're not really angry, Odelia. But I will say I’m sorry for forcing you to accept her without telling you my reasoning.” I apologized. “Even so, don’t act like you can’t teach us both, Miss ‘Trinity-Maker’.”

“Simply an exaggerated epithet bestowed during my time as a professor.” Odelia explained dismissively. “Though back to the topic at hand, I would love to hear your reasoning, my Lord.”

“It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Having a member of a Noble House indebted to me can only be good for us, and Myeyl’s desperate desire to be your student was the perfect opportunity to make that happen.” I divulged to her.

“Ahhh...I see. What a splendid idea, my Lord.” Odelia nodded in agreement, “You are already planning to increase your influence within the Kingdom.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” I asked, not following.

“For your rise to the throne, of course.” I rolled my eyes again as she continued, “You will undoubtedly need at least one of the Noble Houses’ support to truly bring change upon the Kingdom, and even more so to lead it once again into a flourishing prosperity—as it once was during the Golden Age of Novus.” Odelia relished the thought. “I really should have thought of the idea myself, but from now on I will try to come up with more ways to find support for your inevitable coronation, Lord Eyes.”

“Okay, you keep thinking that.” Shaking my head at her grandiose delusion, “Let’s just hurry up and head to House Ven’Thyl, I want to rest for the day and get to tomorrow’s training as fast as possible.”

“As you wish, my Lord. Follow me.” Odelia said, leading me back up the path I tumbled down and towards the stables she mentioned earlier.

Passing the stables and getting a closer view of the large fenced off field, I took notice of all the creatures kept inside—eating grass, drinking water, and lazing around. There were of course the multiple different breeds of drafting horses, as well as elk, camels, and reindeers; but what caught me by surprise were the large rams, birds, lizards, and beetles along with them. Intrigued by their uniqueness, I focused and saw their names as: Ramstriders, Giant Eagles, Axebeaks, Giant Lizards, Desert Lizards, and Sand Scarabs.

“Wow! Those must be the animals they use for traversing the lands.” I figured, as we quickly passed them by and arrived at the base of the nearest Sky Tree.

Standing at a wooden station beside the tree, I saw a single elven man—dressed in a bright yellow vest—manning a series of levers connected to ropes and a platform leading all the way up the tree. Without speaking a single word to each other, Odelia handed the man 10 silver coins and he passed her back two of the hooped ropes tied to the multiple wooden posts.

“Here, Eyes.” Odelia said, passing me one of the ropes and gesturing for me to stand in the designated area beside her. “Now whatever you do, do not let go.”

“Huh…?” I suddenly saw the man pull one of the many levers and almost immediately my feet left the ground—skyrocketing upwards by the tug of the rope. “What the hell?!” I shouted to Odelia beside me, “Is this even safe?!” tightening my grip around the rope.

“Very!" Odelia shouted back, “Only about 250 accidents happen every year, and only about half of them turn out to be fatal!”

“Half?! Are you crazy?! That doesn’t sound safe at all!” Looking at the ground rapidly shrinking the higher we went, while Odelia simply laughed at my worry. Though before I knew it, we’d already reached the top of where the ropes ended, and did so in under a minute.

Hanging just out of reach above a wooden platform where another wooden station stood, Odelia without hesitation swiftly swung herself from the rope and landed onto the platform below. “This is where most accidents happen, Eyes!” She shouted, grinning mischievously at me. “If you miss the platform you will surely fall and most likely die!”

Not falling for Odelia's obvious goading tease, I confidently swung my legs to gain momentum and leaped from the rope—safely clearing the gap between to the platform. Landing beside Odelia, I smirkingly asked “Was that your way of punishing me for the Myeyl thing?”

Odelia smiled, “Not entirely, but I did quite enjoy the worried look on your face.” explaining “The Express Ropes are the fastest way up the Sky Trees, taking less than a minute to arrive at the top, though they can be slightly dangerous if the ropes and mechanisms are not regularly maintained by the workers.” Gesturing to the woman wearing a bright yellow vest manning the station up here.

“And the other ways?” I inquired, following her around the tree.

“Well there are the People and Cargo Lifts,” Pointing to rectangular platforms a few people waited on, “though their speeds heavily depend on the amount of people or cargo they carry.” She then pointed to a door built into the tree, “And there is always the classic flight of stairs you can choose to climb, which is actually a great way to exercise everyday.”

“Hah, with the size of these trees, no thanks.” I said, following Odelia onto a stable and long rope bridge leading across to a different Sky Tree. However I started to lose myself staring at the beautiful higher point of view of the city, and the equally beautiful elves we walked by. “Are there any elves that aren’t good looking, because I haven’t seen any yet?” I asked, remembering how all the elves I’ve seen so far were pretty good looking.

“I guess that depends on your tastes. Speaking for myself, I do not find elves that particularly attractive like most people do.” Odelia revealed.

“Does that mean you find me ugly?” I jokingly asked.

“Uhhh...no, of course not!” Odelia began to stammer, “Yourrr...beauty knows no match, Eyes!”

“My beauty knows no match? Jeez Odelia, I didn’t know you were such a bad liar.” Amused by her reaction.

“I am sorry, Eyes,” Assuring me, “I promise that I am only a bad liar when it comes to non-important things, so please do not lose your trust in me.”

“I doubt I could ever lose my trust in you, Odelia.” My words caused her to smile, yet all I could think was “But I’m not sure you’d feel the same if you found out who I really was.” Walking with that thought in mind.

Continuing from bridge to bridge, and tree to tree, we passed many buildings and shops in the Tops which mostly confused me. I couldn’t tell whether some of them were one huge building taking up and spanning the whole tree, or just multiple separate buildings taking up the same tree; as they didn't all have doors or platforms to enter from. I leaned towards them being separate buildings when I saw multiple different looking elves entering the same doorway, and thought of them as very much like apartment complexes. But before I knew it, we arrived at a Sky Tree standing right at the edge of the peninsula—about 6 trees away and left of the Roots—and with the sun finally beginning to set in the horizon.

“This is it. This is my home. And hopeful yours, Eyes. ” Odelia voiced proudly, “Welcome to the House of Ven’Thyl!”

Carefully observing the tree in front of us, it didn't look much different than the other trees, except that the top seemed to have something up there—as the thick branches holding the leaves above the trunk left a large open hole to the sky. Other than that, there were a few structures, balconies, and windows built into and protruding all along the tree—a few above the level of the double door entrance, but the rest being under the platform level we stood on.

Genuinely curious, I asked “This isn’t all our House, is it? We share it like the other Sky Trees, right?”

“Not at all, Eyes. This Sky Tree is purely owned by House Ven’Thyl, bought by the Founders of the House over nine centuries ago.” Odelia stated the fact.

“Over 900 years?! This place is ancient!” I thought, as I then said “I assume all the Founders passed away, yes?” Odelia nodded yes, “Then who’s leading the House? Don't tell me it's you?”

“Thankfully I am not the Head of the House, but in the future I hope it will be you, Eyes." Odelia answered hopefully, "Though as of right now that title is held by the oldest member and matriarch of the House—Verana Ven’Thyl.”

“You're not the oldest member? Wait, I don’t even know how old you are, Odelia?” I realized.

She simply smiled and said, “Now let us head inside, the others are probably already home.” ignoring my question as she went ahead and walked up to the entrance.

Walking up with Odelia, I tried to read the cursive engraved letters above the door, but I couldn’t as they were spelled out in what I assumed to be Elvish. Too embarrassed to tell Odelia I couldn’t read Elvish, I decided to focus on the ivory inlaid wooden doors, which I noticed to have very similar runes to the ones the Stronghold entrance had. “Does it need the—”

“To fulfill a promise to a friend after his departure on their odyssey,” Odelia whispered to the doors in Elvish, “in search to inform his eccentric and elusive loves.” Instantly the runes on the doors lit up green and we could hear the locks inside unlocking, until finally the doors swung open inwards.

“That was clearly the words to unlock the doors, but what an unusual phrase they chose…” Heavily pondering the words.

Though pulling me out of my thoughts, Odelia tugged me inside and shouted “Verana! I’m home! Where are you!”

Having lost my train of thought, my attention was drawn to the welcoming sight of a very cozy and rustic wooden-styled home, somewhat reminiscent of cabins in the other world. But suddenly stealing all the attention, an almost perfectly ageless woman turned the corner and entered the large open room—wearing a well-fitted light blue dress and a white apron over top.

“Well someone’s excited to be back. Welcome home, Odelia.” She said, drying her hands on her apron before giving Odelia a welcoming hug. “How’s Drune doing? And I see that you brought a guest with you.”

Leaving me speechless from her smile alone, I noticed the slight wrinkles around her mouth and eyes—to her otherwise flawless fair skin—as well as her loosely braided practically greyed blonde hair, and thought “I can tell she’s on the older side of an Elf, but my god is she still drop dead gorgeous.” The rest of her facial features still being very sharp and defined, and her clear sky blue eyes still brightly captivating, only really making her appear to be in her late 50s or early 60s.

“Drune’s fantastic, Verana, but is everyone home yet?” Odelia eagerly asked.

“That’s great to hear, and I better make more food for dinner now that there'll be two more mouths to feed.” Walking away from us, “Would you mind closing the doors for me, young man? And welcome to our home!” Odelia followed her while I closed the doors behind us and they magically locked themselves again.

Catching up to them in a large kitchen room, I walked in to the woman telling Odelia “Aelthar finally had a day off today so he’s been sleeping in his room for most of it. As for Shurtyrr, he just got home before you did, and should be freshening himself up and waiting in the library. Amariina on the other hand still hasn’t returned from the TCs yet, but she said she should be arriving before dinner time.”

“Oh, if I’d known Ama was working today I’d have asked her to send us here right away, and I wouldn’t have had to run into Myeyl Fre’Nddare again.” Odelia mentioned.

“Still avoiding and rejecting her?” The woman asked while chopping some vegetables.

“Apparently not anymore.” Telling her, “My student here heavily persuaded me to accept her request, and we’re actually going to be training together starting tomorrow.”

The woman immediately stopped her chopping to look at Odelia, “Is that who this young man is, a new student? And are you saying that you're going to be teaching again?” Odelia nodded yes and they exchanged smiles to each other, “Well this is a cause for celebration, and I better cook up your favourites then! Now why don’t you go show your new student around the place, I’ll call for everyone when dinner’s ready.”

“Okay, thanks Verana, but after dinner I've even bigger news all of you need to hear!” Odelia replied back, guiding me to the next section of the house—leaving the woman wondering what Odelia had to tell.

While Odelia guided me around the House, I mentioned to her “I only heard 4 other names excluding yourself, does that mean there are only 4 other members in House Ven’Thyl?”

“Uhhh...Well there used to be more in the past.” Odelia hesitantly replied, showing me to a whole floor of bedrooms.

“How much more? and what happened to all of them?” I curiously inquired, peeking a little in each room.

“Over 100 more at the Houses’ peak, though most of them have passed away from old age, while others have died in dangerous places searching for clues about the missing descendants. And disappointingly some have simply given up that a descendant ever existed, cutting ties and quitting the House all together.” Odelia chuckled at the thought, “Oh, how wrong they were to have given up on you, Lord Eyes.” Leading me up another flight of stairs.

From just the quick passing of the 3 floors above the entrance floor, I learnt that they were all basically the same, being just a series of empty and unused bedrooms; opposed to the floor we entered on, which was more of a traditional home, with a giant kitchen, an even larger dining room, and a huge living room that took up half the floor. Odelia also explained to me that the floors were counted from the top to the bottom because the lower floors weren't all bedroom floors. “Verana occupies the 2nd floor to herself, while the 3rd is mine, leaving this whole 1st floor to yourself if you’d like? It even leads to Verana’s beautiful garden on the rooftop for some late night sightseeing.” Odelia informed me, pointing to a door at the end of the hallway.

“You don’t all live on the same floors? Which floors do the others stay on then?” More curious about that than seeing a garden.

“Well there are very few of us, why waste floors that can give us a lot of personal space to ourselves?” Odelia rationalized, leading me back down the floors.

“I don’t know how it works, but have you ever considered inviting more people to become members of our House to make it thrive more?” I suggested, “Or is there like some type of test that people have to take and they just keep failing to get in?”

“Hahah...no, no test." Odelia stated, amused at the thought. "You see House Ven’Thyl is not really a House that aims or cares to be recognized within the Kingdom, we simply wish to find and serve the Heir for the Kingdom’s greater good.” Telling me, “Though there is no test to become a member, one would still need to be recommended by one of the current members, and then somehow gain Verana’s approval as the Head of the House. But there has not been any new members since the time Ama joined 80 years ago.”

“She says 80 years like that's not a long time, but I guess elves have a different perspective of time, and just how old is Odelia?” I kept wondering as we arrived at a door on the 5th floor.

Odelia loudly knocked, shouting “Ael! Wake up and get decent for dinner! And come introduce yourself!”

Behind the door I could hear the floor loudly creaking as a person walked towards us, replying in their low deep voice, “O’de, you’re back already? And what’s this about introducing myself?” A huge, intimidating, and heavily sweating muscular man then opened the door to us—standing at least 7ft in height and barely fitting through the door frame. “Oh? Who’s this?”