All of the elves, even including the one who had been here before were captivated by the border, marvelling at the beauty of the sight that lay before their eyes. This was a face of the forest most of them had never seen before, one which felt foreign yet familiar at the same time.

The forest before them was a far cry from the forests of the pictures, but it lit a fire in the young Alz's heart, towards the vibrant sights he would be able to encounter as he went on with his adventure.

Before this, it would be a lie to say that he didn't hold any doubts towards his adventure. Many of the details he learnt in the archives didn't quite add up and he had no way of verifying most of the information either.

"What if everything was false, if nothing was left?" There was always a voice in the back of his head constantly asking himself, a manifestation of the fear and uncertainty he held towards his adventure. Now, the last of his concerns were finally dispelled, greeted by the majestic sight before him.

The group had quickened their pace and was rapidly approaching the border from when they caught sight of it, but the warriors leading the way suddenly raised his hand and stopped. Seeing this, the warriors behind quickly readied their weapons and threw cautious glances ahead.

Meanwhile, several sounds began to spread out from diagonally right ahead of them. A visible tension filled the air as the sound quickly increased in volume, indicating that its source was rapidly approaching the group.

The warrior's gazes were filled with confusion as they looked ahead, unable to make out what was causing the sound. From their years of experience in the forest, it was immediately apparent to them that something was approaching.

However, the sound was nothing like the silent strides of wolves they were used to or the light steps of their fellow companions. The steps sounded heavier and foreign, unlike anything they had heard before in their years of hunting.

The only exception was the elf who had been to the capital once as a messenger before. He was looking ahead with his eyebrows crinkled in thought as he mumbled softly to himself, on the verge of recalling the creature that made this sound.

He knew he had definitely heard it before but was somehow unable to remember what it was. Despite this, there was clearly no fear in his eyes because while he couldn't recall the creature, he did recall that it was not dangerous, which also contributed to his weak memory of it.

Before he could recall, a herd of four-legged creatures entered their sights from their right, galloping leisurely towards the left. They had greyish brown coats on the parts facing the outside with white coats on their bellies and parts that faced inwards.

Their legs were thin with black hooves at its tip, but their appearance belied its strength as they carried the creatures gracefully along the wind, forming the distinctive stomps that the group had heard from afar.

"These are [deer]!"

Alz's eyes started intently as the creatures with widened eyes, his heart beating faster with every extra detail he noticed on its body. He desperately resisted the urge to reach out for the book in his bag as he tried to memorise as much as he could with his eyes.

The herd paid no heed to the group of elves, continuing on in their stride as they galloped on without rest, slowly disappearing into the forest towards the left. The elves stared curiously at the direction the creatures went off in, intrigued by this foreign creature.

"Ah! That's it, these are deer. They are one of the most common creatures in this forest and are not aggressive so don't worry. Also, I didn't have the time to try before, but I remember other elves mentioning that their meat is delicious." the elf finally recalled, explaining to the group.

Alz silently mouthed the term for deer in their native tongue, committing it to his memory. The other elves began to raise more questions, asking for more details so their trip would become smoother.

The elf simply shook his head helplessly at most of them, unable to provide an answer. After all, he had only been to the capital to deliver a message and had only rested for a day there before hastily returning to the village.

He had already shared all that he knew in the previous days and all that remained was pieces of information that he did not possess much details of and was unable to put clearly into words, causing the elves who approached him to return with disappointment.

After the short intermission, the group crossed over the border and continued making their way towards the capital.

In the week that followed, the group began exploring the unfamiliar forest that surrounded them, finding many surprises that brought them greater expectations towards their futures.

During this time, there was one notable discovery they made which brought much joy to the expedition. The discovery of delicious fruits. This created a huge uproar within the expedition and some elves even went so far as to shed tears of joy at the discovery.

It wasn't just Alz and Polon who hated the taste of pops, most of the elves did not like them either. However, they had no other choice but to rely on them to substitute for water over long distance trips such as their current one.

This discovery came as a pleasant surprise and was a large cause of celebration as it finally provided an alternative to the awful tasting pops, bringing the spirits of the expedition to a new high since they left the village.

Apart from this, they also found themselves encountering a variety of wildlife frequently, causing the expedition to be alarmed each time as they looked nervously towards the foreign creatures before them, only to awkwardly put their weapons down moments later.

Over this time, they began to realise that none of these animals held any hostility towards them, something they were not used to. Rather, the animals would usually blatantly ignore the elves and continue with whatever they were doing.

This behaviour brought much puzzlement to the warriors at first, having only ever interacted with the hostile wolves. However, they happily came to accept this as they began to loosen their muscles and wore relaxed expressions on their faces as they moved onward.

They were also intrigued by the many new species they saw along the trip, but they slowly became numb due towards them due to the frequency of encounters and no longer thought much of it eventually.

However, not all of the elves were this way. Rather, one elf managed to keep his enthusiasm burning throughout as his shining eyes glued onto any foreign species they encountered, examining their features with a focused gaze.

His strong reactions garnered much attention from the expedition, causing them to chuckle in response to Alz's childlike innocence and curiosity. Hence, they unanimously decided to slow down their pace each time a new species was encountered even without any discussion.

Meanwhile, Alz himself remained oblivious to these changes as he was completely absorbed by the sights around him. He was only barely able to contain the excitement he felt, but not for the reasons the other elves thought.

These animals all bore resemblance to those which he had seen in and read about in the books from the archives, causing his heart to pound furiously at each encounter while increasing his longing towards his adventure beyond the forest.

This period of time had also allowed them to gain a deeper understanding towards the abundance of the central forests, raising their expectations towards hopeful futures in the capital.

The expedition progressed smoothly, not meeting with accidents. The group of elves marched onward in high spirits, following the directions of the trail given by the tribe.

They started to encounter several groups of elves heading out from the direction they were heading towards as well, but these groups usually kept to themselves and did not approach them, to which the expedition decided to follow suit.

About nine days after they crossed the border, they finally exited the sea of trees and stood before a large majestic city that was surrounded by thorny vines that reached up beyond twice of Alz's height.

They could also vaguely make out a tall structure deep within the tribe that towered over all others, standing out in sight even from this distance.

The city was very large, occupying a vast area even the sum of the all their villages combined could not hope to match up against. The elves observed the city before them with awe as their eyes wandered across the city.

Even the messenger who had came before was no exception as he stared deeply at the capital. Alz however, managed to keep his composure despite seeing it for the first time, having known of the existence of cities that were far larger than even this.

"Finally, my first destination. The Elven Capital, Alvein"

Nonetheless, he could feel his blood heating up from the excitement as they raced through his veins, looking at the grand spectacle before him.

After staring in silence for half a minute, the group resumed their movements and began to circle around the fence towards the southern gate of the city.