The room they were led into seemed to be a library with several tome filled shelves and neatly placed standing cases. Once everyone was there, the woman pointed at the first 4 glass covered display cases.

“As per Lord Verner's promise, all of you can select a skill crystal from the ones displayed here. You have 5 minutes to pick your rewards, so get to it.”

Everyone began to look at the different coloured and shaped crystals in earnest. Amanda quickly turned towards the woman with a deep red stone in her hand.

“I’d like to choose this ‘Blazing strike’ skill. I should be able to use it since I wield a hammer for weapon and I’ve already absorbed the required ember seed to help with forging.”

Chera touched the crystal to make sure it was as she said before nodding. After another minute or so, both Sophie and Khan made their choices as well.

“You’ve chosen the blade storm and spinning arrow skills? They are both quite rare, but it’s fine. What about you?” She looked at Quentin, whom seemed to be torn between two choices.

“I’m not quite sure,” he admitted. “This shield wall skill seems to be quite suitable for me, but this other one is a decent enough attack skill. I just don’t know which one to choose.”

“You should pick the shield skill,” Regis said. “You’ve said that you want to become a guardian. If you get a good enough starting shield skill early on, then you’ll be able to evolve it into a real ace through some effort. We can always get you a few attack skills later on, but shield skills seem to be quite scarce.”

“That’s true,” Chera agreed. “We only have a few ourselves, so if you wish to become a knight or a guardian, then I too would suggest taking that one while you have the chance.”

“Then I will pick this one, your ladyship.”

“And what about you?” she turned towards Regis. “Lord Verner allowed you to pick 2 crystals, but I only see a single spell gem in your hand.”

“That’s because this is the only one I find useful. You don’t seem to have any spear or halberd skills, let alone one meant for bladestaves.”

“Well,” she cleared her throat. “Those count as true rarities, so you can’t take them. Did you find any other crystals that would be acceptable?”

“No,” the young man shook his head. “But I hope that you could grant me something else in return for that crystal.”

“Oh,” Chera got intrigued. “What would you like to trade those in for?”

“I’d like to learn about runes.” Regis answered.

“Runes?” the wizard asked surprised before taking a look at his bronze coloured staff. “Is that a soulbound staff?”

“Yes. I’ve managed find a chance to create one, but even initiate ranked magic knowledge seems to be scarce around here, let alone runes.”

“Runes are quite valuable knowledge indeed. I’m not sure that a single skill crystal would earn you much. Then again, we do have books for beginners that would surely suffice. “

With that thought, the woman headed over to one of the bookshelves. She searched for a good minute before she brought back a small leather book that couldn’t have more than twenty sheets in it. Chera handed it over with a bit of hesitation.

“This is a copy of our neophyte rune practice book. Take good care of it and try to memorize its core content well. I truly hope that you succeed in becoming a capable enchanter. We have lost too much knowledge to this damned war, along with the people that knew how to use said knowledge.”

“You’re giving it to me?” The elven youth stuttered.

“I’m only allowed to do so because we have three other copies. While his lordship would surely want to keep one of the copies here for future apprentices, the rest is for the spell weaver’s guild to decide upon. I’d like to keep it for ourselves, but we can’t bring every tome and scroll with us on the journey back inlands, or we wouldn’t have enough space for the other necessities. As for your spell gem…”

“It’s a rain seed. If I can get it, then I’ll have all four of the basic elements. Not to mention the plus one point for arcana regeneration.”

“If that’s what you’ve decided, I won’t talk you out of it. I hope that you’ll take my advice though. If you spread your attention too thin, you’ll end up with dozens of low level spells and nothing strong enough to face the true horrors out there. You should go now. I have other duties to attend to.”

“Farewell, lady Chera.” They bowed slightly before leaving the lord’s manor through the side entrance.

Once outside, they’ve picked up their respective loot bundles and headed towards the side gates. Several guards ran towards the building with a lavishly dressed man on the front. The man seemed to be both excited and worried as he stopped by the entrance of the lord's residence.

“They’re here,” the man wheezed. “The ship of the Exiled Court’s envoys just docked!”

When the door guards heard his words, they’ve immediately opened the door and one of them ran inside. Regis followed his group towards the gate separating the commoner district from that of the nobles’ when the crowd in front of it began to open and several fully armoured guards walked through to protect the first carriage he had seen in this world. The guards had dark ash grey skin and long ears.

“Dark elves?” Sophie couldn’t stop herself from asking.

The so called ‘Exiled Court’ seemed to be a gathering of dark elves from the looks of it and they were quite well equipped. Most of their guards wore full sets of brass armours with the remainder having iron equipment, all polished to mirror shine with their leader’s ceremonial armour made from steel. Even Regis understood that having a full set of steel equipment in a refugee filled port-city was an obvious sign of power and prestige.

As the carriage stopped, the steel garbed soldier opened its door and raised his hand to help down a slightly older looking elven woman who was then followed by a pair of lavishly dressed serving girls and other women. One of the last ones to get off from the carriages was a young woman with a pale silver hair and ruby red eyes. She looked regal, wearing a unique dress with a family crest on her back. As she looked around, her blood like eyes fell on Regis.

The faint smile and the curious glint in her eyes made the rest of the guards fawn over her with obvious staring while Regis only felt dread course through his veins. The group of elves then headed inside the lord’s mansion, leaving most of the guards behind to protect the carriage.

“Phew,” Khan whistled. “That chick was hot.”

“When she looked at me, I’ve felt a strange urge.” Regis admitted as they walked towards the side gates with the rest of the group.

“Oh, I can understand you,” Khan chuckled. “Not only was she gorgeous, but she’s also a dark elf like you, which makes her more appealing. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d pop a boner.”

“Ugh, men.” Amanda rolled her eyes with disgust written all over her face.

“I didn’t feel aroused,” The young dark elf said. “I felt an urge to rip her throat out.”

“Okay,” the blacksmith turned back with a shiver running down her spine. “That went dark pretty fucking quick. Why would you want to kill a woman you’ve never met before?”

“Because your friend has a good intuition and can sense how dangerous that bitch is.” Another feminine voice came from their left.

Turning towards the gates that separated the districts, they’ve noticed a pair of cloaked figures standing there, one of which was obviously a woman. She was leaning against the stone wall of the gate with only half of her face showing. Her skin was between a pink and reddish colour. The blood red hair and ice blue eyes making her look more exotic. The group involuntarily walked forward to meet the strangers with Khan already drooling slightly.

“Do you know that woman?” Sophie asked shyly.

“Sure,” the crimson skinned young woman nodded. “Her family crest and that ‘I rule the world’ look on her face is a dead giveaway. Her name is Natalie Argent.”

“Argent,” Regis looked at her with a glint of distaste running across his face. “As in the French Argent family?”

“That’s the one,” she nodded with a smirk. “It makes it easier that you’ve heard about them. And Natalie, well deserving her family’s infamy, is a top grade psycho bitch. My name’s Valerie by the way. It’s nice to meet you, strangers.”

“I’m Fabien and likewise a pleasure to meet you!” Her companion nodded.

“Hi, I’m Khan.” The young man cut in front of the others to shake Valerie’s hand.

“I’m Regis.”

“Amanda.”

“Sophie.”

“My name is Quentin and I’m glad to make your acquaintance!”

“Anyway, you’re saying that the woman from before is bad news?” Amanda stepped closer with her voice slightly lowered.

“Like a plague in a kindergarten. But we shouldn’t talk about her out here. I’d hate to get shanked for being honest.”

“We were heading towards the church to get healed. Want to join us?” Sophie chirped with an energetic smile as she tied her loot bundle tighter.

“Sophie,” Regis looked at her sternly. “It’s not wise to tell people you’ve just met about where you’re heading to, or what for.”

“But they’re from Earth like us.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re bound to be friendly or trustworthy," Fabien spoke up as he looked at the dark elf with a knowing expression. “He’s right to be bit cautious, even if we are actually friendlies.”

“You didn’t have trouble trusting us at first sight.” Amanda chided as she gently patted Sophie’s head.

“That’s because you two looked as harmless as a fly, even with you being a lot taller than me. Now we have people from the bloody Argent family on the loose in Hunor and two infernals just pop up from nowhere, turning chatty the moment we meet.”

“You’re right to be vigilant handsome,” Valerie chuckled. “But we really are not here to cause trouble for you. If anything, let me give you a warning. Natalie rarely finds anything that interests her, so I’d be careful in your stead. I’ve seen the gaze she gave you and that’s never a good sign. As for your invitation dear, I’m not sure that they’d let infernals inside. Although we do need a patron god to get some early stage bonuses.”

“Infernals,” Amanda looked at her puzzled. “Aren’t those some kind of demon or something?”

“It’s the name given to the race born from someone having daemonic ancestors. There’s a big difference in the moral alignment of daemons and demons, but that’s a story for another day. Suffice to say that people might get unnerved by the sight of folks walking around with horns on their head.” Valerie pointed towards the top of her head where the group noticed a pair of tiny horns poking out from her forehead.

“Neat,” Khan said. “So, one of your parents was a daemon?”

“No,” Fabien shook his head. “One of our great grandfathers a few generations back had an affair with a succubus and she later left an offspring on his doorstep. After that, there were only human ancestors, but the Hearth most likely decided that having some succubus blood in us puts us into the same league as the infernals of this realm.”

“I know the feeling,” Regis sighed. “It decided that having a star sprite ancestor was the foreign equal of a dark elf. Not quite sure about the sun elf part though.”

“Welcome to the tough luck club.” Fabien joked as he shook hands with Regis before the group and its new addition headed out.

The infernal pair grabbed their own smaller bundle of loot from beside the wall before heading out.

“Were you fighting outside the city as well?” Sophie asked as she looked at the bundles.

“We fought at the east gate, but there were too many and we had to retreat inside.”

“It was the same at the west gate,” Quentin stated. “I have a question that might come out rude. Did either of you check before, whether you can even stand divine light in your current form? The church is protected by it and I don’t want you to have an accident.”

“Thanks for the concern love,” Valerie said with a smile. “We had the luck of meeting with a priestess after we got back from the fight from our first night here. She volunteered to go out to help those refugees who weren’t able to go to the church. It was awkward at first, but she listened to our small explanation about our origins and she was nice enough to heal me and my brother.”

“I see. Glad to hear it.”

“Can you tell us about that woman now?” Amanda tried to push their awkward conversation back on track.

“Natalie is the first born of the Argent family’s younger generation. Judging by your friend’s disgust, he already knows about them, so I cut it short. It’s enough for you to know that you don’t want to have anything to do with the Argent family.”

“Why not?” The half giantess pressed on.

“Because they are, or rather were, a very rich and influential family back in France and they’ll want to have the same position here.” Regis said with a dark tone as his gaze turned distant for a moment.

“They don’t care who gets hurt as long as they get what they want. I hoped that we’ll never have to see them again, but if they’re here, then it’s best for Fabien and me to get out of here while they’re still unaware of us.” Valerie shuddered as she explained.

“Were they that bad?” Sophie looked at the young woman’s troubled expression with her eyebrows raised.

“They were, but let’s not talk about such things. What about you lot? We’ve only met with a few outlanders so far and most of them were either crazy or way too conceited about their meagre achievements. You fellows seem to be handling this whole traversing to a different world quite well.”

“It was hard,” the petite elf girl admitted. “I was quite scared at first, but then I’ve met Amanda. We fought together the first night and met Regis the morning after. Khan and Quentin joined us during last night’s sentry duty. We make a pretty good team, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we do.” Amanda agreed as she tied back her hair.

“I can see that,” Valerie nodded. “You have a good team here, but having only one wizard could be troublesome later on.”

“I’ve been telling the same thing,” Khan stepped closer to the infernal girl while walking. “Having a paladin and two fighters up front with a ranger at our back is good, but Regis is a pretty half assed spell caster.”

“Khan,” Quentin raised his voice. “We’ve already talked about this.”

“What’s the problem?” Fabien asked as he looked back at the silently walking dark elf that was picking out seeds from chewed up apple cores.

“He doesn’t understand that magic is a difficult path. It’s hard to get new spells and replenishing arcana is a slow process when any kind of potion counts as a rarity.” He answered as he put away a handful of seeds while tossing the browned apple cores away.

“You’re right about that,” Valerie agreed with a sad smile. “We’ve been using the basic spells we learned back home for the past two nights. Meditation is also a pain in the ass to use, but we all have to start somewhere, right?”

“Okay,” Khan sighed irritated. “So magic is rare and weaker in the beginning. Hold on a moment! You’ve learned magic back home? Does that mean that there was actual magic back on Earth?”

“I thought you’ve already figured that out after hearing about our succubus great grandmother.”

“Well, I mean…” Khan scratched his head as he looked downwards.

“We’re here.” Quentin broke the awkward situation as he looked at the temple that already seemed crowded in the early morning’s light.