The group continued their walk towards the clan centre. Ray spent the first five minutes of the walk deciding on a number of questions to help him understand the new world he was in. He quickly learned the names of all the elves accompanying him. Aside from Ilaria and Arj, the elves names were Maethel, Jarl, Alif and Rayleigh.

“Hey, Ilaria, out of curiosity, what was that metallic tasting orb you shoved down my throat?” Ray asked.

“Oh that, it was a common orb of language. A large number of skills can be absorbed by swallowing those orbs. It’s not a pretty sight but it’s effective for quickly gaining new abilities. To be honest, aside from the System shop orbs, they’re pretty rare.” Ilaria stopped for a second and pondered.

“Oh, that reminds me, you owe me 1,000 Arkus coins. I had to buy that from the damn shop out of my own cash” she said.

“Wait, you didn’t just have one lying around?” Ray asked

“What are you some kind of idiot? Why would I just carry around a skill orb for a language I already speak? No, I bought it from the shop when I realised you couldn’t understand me”

“You can access the shop from anywhere? That seems a little overpowered”

“Yes, we can access the basic System shop from anywhere. We just have to think the words ‘System shop’ and we’ll gain access. Though, the System shops only sell the most basic of items and are extremely overpriced”.

Ray stopped for a second and tried to access the shop. When he did a system message appeared.

[You are hated… shop access declined]

“Damn it” Ray muttered under his breath, before speaking louder “Can’t access any shop, System hates me. Are there any other commands I should know?” Ilaria proceeded to list out the known System commands. In addition to the ones Ray already knew, he found the following extra commands:

Shop

Not accessible by Ray – brings forth a System Shop. These are run by the System Merchants.

Clock

Provides the date and time.

Resistance

Provides a listing of resistances. This includes physical and magical

Party

Provides a party list. You can also add and remove people to your party from this screen.

Snapshot

Provides a snippet of a particular window or item. This allows you to show this to other people. This can be forged with deception skills, so is not usually considered too useful.

“You can also permanently attach certain things to your vision. When you bring up a command, simply think permanent. It will lock to your vision, and you will be able to mentally resize and move the information” Ilaria said.

“Thanks for the info… this’ll help in the future” Ray immediately tried to permanent attach the status window to his vision. Unfortunately, this too was blocked by the system. He guessed that it was considered help. Luckily the clock worked. He realised it was approximately noon.

“Oi, dipshit. We’re almost there. Ya best be ready. Personally I hope you kark it. It’ll be entertaining to experiment on ya” Maethel suddenly piped up.

Ray immediately didn’t like Maethel. He could tell that the elf would rather have just shot him and been done with it. He seemed like the kind of individual that would work for a mobster and enjoy the work.

“No worries mate, anything I need to know before going in?” Ray Said

“Yeah, you’re a worthless asshole. Never forget that” Maethel said

Before Ray could respond, Arj butt in “Relax Maethel, it’ll all be dealt with. Ray, just remember, you will be under interrogation when you get into the centre. Be polite and honest and just tell the elders what you told us. You should be fine”

“Thanks Arj” Ray said. They continued to walk for another ten minutes. When they crossed the threshold into the border of the Aliri Clan centre, Ray could immediately tell. It was like crossing a biome in Minecraft. The land went from thick woodland to darker forest and grassland immediately.

Movement was also immediately noticeable. There were other elves scurrying about. To his left, he noticed a large swathe of farmland, though, he couldn’t tell what was being farmed. To his right was clearly a practice field. Elves were swinging swords and shooting bows at dummy targets. There were even sparring matches happening.

They approached the clan centre itself. It was nothing too special overall. Just a cluster of houses spreading out from what looked like a marble courthouse in the middle. Ray was disappointed to learn that the elven village wasn’t some treetop fairy-tale but rather a group of wooden and clay houses across a vast strip of land.

The village was neatly arranged with squared streets. Blocks of houses were no more then a 2x8 stretch before intersecting streets criss-crossed. There were clearly marked sections for housing, and commercial districts and Ray could not see anything that resembled electricity poles. He could however see magical lanterns floating in the air throughout the city to provide light.

Overall, it seemed more like a medieval town with modern magical living then anything elves would normally build in his stories. Even though he was disappointed for not getting the immersive fantasy land he had hoped, Ray was still excited. He could see that there were many applications for magic and he longed to learn some of these for future reference.

Arj led them through the commercial district toward the town centre. As Ray passed shop by shop, the sights and smells drew him in more and more. They passed by one shop that looked particularly rich. The store clerk was clearly not and elf but a human. Within the store he noticed cages of beasts, and even people. Clearly slavery was allowed here, something Ray did not particularly like.

“Fuck, is that a chained dragon in the back?” Ray asked in surprise.

“Yeah, no one likes that shop. Unfortunately, we are a weak clan overall and have been forced to allow slavery wares to be sold here. Most elves stay away from it but that dragon always draws people in.” The owner says if someone manages to bond it, they can keep it. He’s been trying to get rid of it for nearly two years now” Ilaria responded, looking forlorn.

“Are you being forced by humans? Wait are we the bad guys on this world?”

“I wouldn’t say humans are the enemy, but they are definitely morally corrupt. Your race only cares about power and is willing to anything to obtain it, even enslave the noble dragons. A large portion of the human population has already fallen to the System.”

Alif poked Ray in the back. “Keep moving handsome, or else you’ll end up flat on your face again, we’re heading to that building right in front of you”.

Before Ray could say anything back to Alif, a male elf with scars running down both eyes stepped out of the building. He ran over to their group and ushered them as quickly as possible inside. He clearly didn’t want Ray loitering for too long. Humans obviously weren’t very liked in the Aliri Clan.

The male elf looked at Ray with disgust, like he was three-day old rotting food “Greetings Ray, the elders will see you now. Please enter through that door”.

Ray looked at the elf group that had escorted him through the forest and smiled. “Wish me luck” he said as he started to walk towards the door.

“Hold on” the scarred elf said. “Ilaria, you’re in charge of this human. You need to go in there as well. It will be your job to make sure he is honest”.

“Yes, elder” Ilaria said sullenly.

The elder turned and opened the door for Ilaria and Ray. They looked at each other, nodded and walked through. Ray was dumbfounded at what he saw. From the street, the building looked no bigger then a two or three-story apartment, when he walked in though, the only way he could describe it was overly luxurious.

The inside of the building was clearly still wooden but there were intricate carvings and artworks all throughout. The ceiling was at least 5 stories high. Ray noticed runes carved on the ceiling and realised he could read them. The dark elves must use a runic language, rather than letters.

Ilaria and Ray were directed to turn and walk through a corridor. It was clear that Ilaria was uncomfortable being here. As they passed through, the room opened into a giant auditorium. Ray and Ilaria were at the bottom, near a large lectern with two highchairs. They sat down and waited for the elders to arrive.

There were twelve elders of the Aliri Clan. These elders were split between roles. Some handled the military aspects of the clan; others finance and others even farming and civil duties. Deliberations of all twelve elders only occurred in events of utmost security. Ray being an off-worlder was one of these potential national security threats.

Ray turned to Ilaria. He spent some time looking at her face and taking in her emotional state. She was clearly not happy to be here, but Ray could see some fire in her eyes. There was a determination there that he hadn’t spotted before. Ray knew Ilaria was young for a dark elf but didn’t even know much more then her name at this point.

“Is something wrong?” Ray asked hesitantly.

Ilaria contemplated for a moment before answering “Well… truth be told, I’m nervous. I’m the one who had been charged with your responsibility. If this interrogation goes poorly, I could be demoted or even face similar punishments which may be inflicted on you… Up to and including the death penalty”.

Ray frowned at this “Why would any legal system punish someone for the actions done by another individual? That seems barbaric to me”

“You don’t understand. I broke the elders command by vouching for you. Arj ordered me to kill you when we watched you wake up by the stream. Honestly, I saved your life back there…. I would do it again too. I think some of our customs need to be changed. Our clan is already on the verge of collapse and yet we’re too scared to do anything about it”

Before Ray could respond, a procession of 12 elves along with attendants entered the auditorium from the upper decks. All elves were garbed in what looked to be battle gear, swords, bows and all. One even had something that resembled an early musket.

“Well… I guess it’s judgement day” Ray laughed at the clear attempt at intimidation by the elders.