A couple of hours went by before the sun finally decided to shine its blinding light on Hazel and the others within her group. Seeing beams of light peek through the endless leaves above them, Hazel noticed that Nycteris started groaning, and his momentum slowed as well.

Astrid, Chegyaeyi, and the Elves noticed that Hazel and the other two were slowing down before following their pace.

"Is something wrong?" Tine asked.

"Yeah, the sun," Hazel explained while looking at her familiar with a worried expression. "My familiar is weak to sunlight, much like a vampire. I need to desummon him before he becomes any weaker."

Tine nodded along with Runa. "Understood. Let's stop here for a moment."

The elves then got their griffin mounts to descend and land as soon as possible. Hazel followed suit, getting Nycteris to do the same. Once the group made it to the ground, Hazel and Evelyn soon got off her familiar, allowing her to quickly desummon him so he could rest for the time being.

A magic circle appeared before, causing Nycteris to disappear in an instant, leaving the group with one less mount to ride to the Mapleash tribe. Hazel turned and faced the rest of her members, looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry about this."

"It's fine," Tine assured with a firm nod. "There's no helping it, anyway. For now, we'll do a bit of walking and make our way to the closest village. We should be in the elven territory, so there's likely a settlement nearby we could go to."

"Just out of curiosity, how are the elves going to react to me and my mother? Since we're both humans and also outsiders, I'm guessing we're likely not going to be welcomed?"

Tine and the others paused for a moment, considering Hazel's question. After a few seconds of silence, Tine finally spoke up.

"I'll be honest, you likely won't be viewed in a...good light. And yes, there will likely be those who will view you negatively. However, once we vouch for you, then none of the residents of the village will try anything against you."

Hazel felt a bit relieved by this. While they were expecting some resistance, she at least knew that none of the residents of Meir would try anything while they tried to stay there. As for whatever discrimination they were going to encounter, Hazel would just try and ignore it for as long as possible. At least until they could leave the next night and get to the village.

"By the way," Tine continued as they walked. "Why did you choose a vampiric familiar in the first place when it possessed such a glaring weakness?"

"Well, I first summoned him in the Tutorial Dungeon that Astrid and I were stuck in. The dungeon was this fractured world, essentially in space or something, with fragmented parts of the world floating around. It was very difficult for us to move around since there was a risk of falling into the abyss. So, when I was trying to pick a summon that would aid us in our journey, I picked Nycteris since he could fly."

"Ah, that makes sense," Tine nodded. "Sorry if I pressed you to answer."

Hazel shook her head. "It's fine. Your question was valid and reasonable, considering the circumstances. I do plan to see if there is a way to make Nycteris immune to the sun. Or at least resistant so it doesn't pose too much of a problem."

While she wasn't certain, there should be a rune or a runic formula that could keep the sun from affecting Nycteris. If she could find a way to do that, then she didn't have to worry about desummoning her familiar when day breaks. From what she read in the book, runecrafting was an incredibly versatile art that had endless possibilities. All Hazel needed to do was research and exploit those possibilities to the best of her capabilities.

The group continued their trek through the Great Forest of Meir, slowly making their way to the nearest elven settlement. According to the Elves and Astrid, the elven territory was located on the eastern side of Meir. The Dark Elves were located in the center, and the High Elves were on the far west side.

And while there were other residents within Meir aside from the elven species, all three elves were the ones who had the most power and influence. This was mainly due to their long lifespan, which allowed them to expand their power and authority throughout Meir. The High Elves especially took advantage of this and made their rise to power with relative ease.

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Once they got to Mapleash, their next objective would be going to the Dark Elves' territory, or more specifically, the Greyvolk village where Astrid's people were. There was a chance that Astrid's family could be hiding in that territory somewhere. And Astrid planned to investigate it and try to save them.

A little while passed until they finally arrived at the nearest elven settlement. In the distance, a village could be seen with a large wooden wall surrounding it. With the use of her Astral Eyes, she got a better look at the place. Looking up, Hazel also noticed that there were homes built into the trees as well, almost like treehouses. There were also bridges connecting all the trees together, making it easier to go from one spot to another.

Several of the elves were walking on the bridge, going about their day without a care in the world. Considering that their entire forest was going through a civil war, Hazel found this a bit surprising. Then again, there were likely people from Earth who did the same thing during their wars.

Still, after everything that happened with the Tutorial Dungeons, she didn't expect the elven villagers to act like everything was normal. Especially since her astral eyes spotted several young-looking elves in the mix. A few of them looked to be no older than ten. Then again, the lifespans of humans and elves were very different.

Those elves may look ten years old or younger...but they could very well be in their early twenties for all she knew. It was honestly mind-boggling to her.

As the group approached the settlement, they came across the front gate that led into the elven village. At the gate, two guards were standing near the entrance. Both of them wore green metal armor and wielded spears that were firmly in their grasp.

The two elven guards noticed the group as soon as they were within their line of sight. Hazel watched as their bodies tensed upon spotting them through her Astral Eye. She could tell that they were prepared for a fight at any moment. Sadly, they were far too weak according to their stats. Both of them are below level twenty.

They barely posed a threat to anyone in Hazel's group. Regardless, once the guards saw them, they raised their weapons before aiming them at the group.

"Halt!" One of them ordered. "State your identity and reason for coming to our village?"

Tine slowly approached the guards before taking a brief bow, likely to show respect. My name is Tine Havard, a member of the Mapleash tribe. We are seeking refuge for the day since we have been traveling for some time."

She sounded very professional while saying this, as if she were a salesperson pitching her item to a client. Hazel was a bit impressed. However, the two guards didn't look pleased. And it didn't take long to find out why when their eyes trailed over to two specific individuals; those being herself and her mom, Evelyn.

"And what of them?" One of the guards gestured toward Hazel and Evelyn with a glare. "I can tell that one of them is human. I'm not sure about the one with the veil, though."

Hazel narrowed her eyes under her veil, feeling a sharp anger beginning to build up. She didn't like how they were glaring at her and her mom. If anything, it pissed her off.

Thankfully, Tine soon spoke up before Hazel's annoyance got the best of her.

"Yes, they are both human. And they are currently under our protection."

The guard scoffed. "Protection? And why would you willingly protect these humans?"

Hazel glared at the guard, deciding whether she should cast telekinesis on him and throw him hide in the air.

"You don't need to know why," Tine said sternly. "All we are asking for is a place to rest for the day. We will be departing as soon as the sun sets, so we won't be posing on your for long."

The guards looked at one another for a moment before turning back to Tine.

"You four can come inside," One of them pointed at Tine, Runa, Chegyaeyi, and Astrid. "But the humans are not allowed," He declared with a sneer. "No exceptions."

Hazel clenched her hand tightly, getting more annoyed by the guard's clear hostility toward them. She really wanted to put the idiot in his place, but held back as much as possible to not cause any problems. Picking a fight with the guards wasn't a good idea since she had no idea what could happen to their relationship. So, she simply resisted the urge to fling the guard through the door and let Tine do the talking.

"These humans are our guests, and they will be entering the settlement with us," Tine declared, glaring at the guards. "Or do you plan to go against the orders of Hlif Hávarðr herself?"

As soon as she mentioned the future chief of the Mapleash tribe, the elven guards suddenly tensed in alarm as their faces paled. This seemed to have changed their attitude immediately because now they looked hesitant to try and keep Hazel and Evelyn out of the village.

Finally, the guard spoke up with a reluctant tone.

"T-they...may enter as well."

Feeling satisfied, Tine turned to everyone else with a calm smile. "Alright, let's get inside then."

Tine was the first to enter through the gate as the rest followed along. Just as Hazel and Evelyn were the last to enter, she gave a glance at the guards, just to see the elves glaring at them with disdain.

Hazel didn't like the look in their eyes and decided to teach them a listen. Placing an astral eye in front of both guards, she then cast her Evil Eye ability on them. The guards immediately tensed in response, as if they were frozen in place, unable to move while under the gaze of her Evil Eye.

After she and her mother took a few steps into the settlement, she finally deactivated her astral eyes, freeing the guards from their gaze. Their bated breaths and gasps as they tried to catch their breath could be heard while they questioned what just happened.

Hazel ignored them for now and simply followed the rest of her group, not paying those guards another glance.

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