Pressing his forearm harder into my neck, Gryphon irriated “I won’t ask again, who are you?” And as I struggled to breathe, Odelia hastily came up from behind him, grabbing his shoulders and throwing him away from me.

Catching me in her arms, Odelia concernly asked “Are you alright, my Lord?”

Coughing and rubbing my neck, I said “I think so...” trying to catch my breath.

“Odelia, what are you doing!? Are you really protecting him after he said my true name?” Gryphon angrily questioned, stomping towards us.

Positioning herself in front of me, Odelia spoke with the same cold and serious tone she used in the barracks prison, saying “Gryphon, calm down.” at the same time readying herself to reach for her bow to show she was truly serious. “I do not know how he knows of your true name, but I cannot allow you to threaten or hurt him any further—even if you are an old friend.”

“What are you talking about? This isn’t like you, Odelia, just who is this elf?” He stared daggers directly at me.

When Odelia noticed that the other people in the chamber were all drawn in and attracted to the sudden commotion, she said to him “I cannot say, there are too many listening ears here.” Nodding for him to look around.

Turning to see all the eyes in the chamber on us, Gryphon nodded back and cupped his hands together saying “Barrier.” creating a small see-through dome in the space of his hands. “Silence.” As he then blew a purple coloured magic into the dome—giving it a purple hue—and pulled his hands apart to cause it to expand to the size of the whole alcove. “There, they can’t get in and they won’t hear us. Now tell me what’s really going on, Odelia.” He demanded.

“Always so quick to act, we could have just left the building, you know?” Odelia mentioned, relaxing her stance and explaining the whole situation about me being the Heir to Gryphon.

Listening to the whole story, Gryphon's anger calmed and he surprisingly became nonchalant, saying “Odelia, that's impossible, and I can’t believe you’re still on this after all these centuries.” continuing, “We already know the Great King Ven’Thyl never had children, you’re just believing what you want to believe, and I especially can’t believe Drune got roped into it too.”

“Actually, the Great King Ven’Thyl did have children, and grandchildren.” I corrected him, remembering that there were still two descendants alive somewhere.

“I told he was the Heir.” Odelia smiled, while Gryphon seemed to be more than skeptical about it.

At that moment five guards came knocking at the dome, shouting something to us that we couldn’t hear at all. “I think we’re in trouble, what are we gonna do now?” I asked them.

“I wonder if I’ll get fired for this." Gryphon said, ripping the tickets and causing the runes to manifest from them and travel into his head. "Too bad, this job paid really well, even if it was extremely boring.”

“If you believe in the Heir, I am sure he can find you another high paying job when he becomes the King.” Odelia smiled again.

Rolling my eyes at her, I refocused my attention back to Gryphon who was now beginning to mumble a long incantation to himself; and as he did so, runes floated out of his mouth and around the space, with the runes on the ground slowly lighting up by the second. After a minute of speaking the incantation, Gryphon announced “Teleportation!” and the whole teleportation circle erupted with an intense blinding magic light.

Covering my eyes from the intense light, I suddenly felt the ground beneath me disappear, causing me to feel as if I was falling; but just as quickly as it disappeared, I suddenly felt the ground reappear beneath me again. Right afterwards I heard Odelia say, “You may uncover your eyes now, we are already here.”

“Odelia, was that his first teleportation? How can you truly believe that he’s the Heir?” Gryphon asked, but Odelia quickly shushed his words.

Uncovering my eyes, I found that we were standing in a similarly structured chamber as the previous one, but instead of stone brick floors and walls, everything was simply made out of wood. However this chamber was quite a bit larger than the other, seeing a total of 18 teleportation circles inside, as well as no one attending to them. Curious, I asked them “Why are there 18 circles here? and why isn’t anyone attending to them like before?”

“Look at him, Odelia, he doesn’t even know that.” Gryphon said, shaking his head.

“You will sadly learn he does not know much.” Odelia replied, giving me a teasing look before answering, “It is because we are in the Arrivals chamber, Eyes. There needs to be more circles here because people can come from all over the continent, and the circles are not attended to because people just arrive here and do not get teleported here.”

“So I suggest you get out of the circle before someone teleports onto you.” Gryphon mentioned, as I noticed they were already both standing outside the circle.

Quickly running myself over to them, I followed Odelia and Gryphon to the central chamber where people bought their tickets. Looking around, everything was pretty much the same except for the structure being made out of wood, but I did notice that the guards here were all significantly higher level compared to the ones at Leon—all ranging from Lv.45-50. They continued to lead me outside the building, and I looked back to see that it wasn’t actually a building that we were in, but instead 3 hollowed out giant trees grown into each other, and to my surprise they still seemed alive and well—seeing the bright green leaves on their branches.

Abruptly stopping just outside, Gryphon said “Well it was fun catching up, Odelia, but I can’t blindly trust this suspicious elf like you can, so I’ll be going now.”

“Will you not come back to Ven’Thyl?” Odelia asked, "How long has it been since you left?"

“Left? Hah! You know very well that I didn't choose to leave, as you should know what would happen if I returned." Gryphon spoke with a sadness to his voice, "I’m not accepted there...”

Knowing much more than I do, Odelia expressed a face of pity to Gryphon, but she suddenly dragged the both of us behind the building, and said "Silent barrier the area again." Not questioning her, Gryphon repeated the same magics he casted earlier, creating a purple dome around us again. “Listen to me, Gryph. I am telling you he really is the Heir.” Pointing to me, “Things in Ven’Thyl will surely change for you, Drune, and everyone else when he finally takes his rightful place on the throne.”

“Your House is always so hopeful when it comes to the missing Heir, it‘s very admirable." Gryphon smiled only a little.

“I don't understand the problem here, I thought Humans and Dwarves were allowed in Ven’Thyl, how exactly is he not accepted there?” I asked, trying to figure out the situation.

“The other Races are allowed, but this is not a situation entirely about Race." Odelia clarified. "And regardless of how he calls himself or even looks, Gryphon is not Human.”

“Oh, I just assumed since he was aging and looked like one.” Curiously observing Gryphon’s pretty human appearance to me, “So does that make him a really old elf then?”

“Why’d you go telling him that, and I’m not old.” He stated, “I’ll have you know, I’m actually younger than both Odelia and Drune.” Pulling his hood down to fully expose his aging face, his short blonde greying hair, his sapphire blue eyes, and his pointed ears. “She’s wrong though, I am human, but I’m also an elf.”

“I see, you’re a Half-Elf then.” I figured, then thinking “I just assumed they weren’t a thing because there wasn’t an option to pick one in the Tutorial.”

“That’s right, I'm a Half-Elf, and we’re even more ridiculed and discriminated than the Dwarves in Ven’Thyl.” Putting his hood back up to cover himself.

“Why’s that? Aren’t you Elven too?” I questioned.

“I told you, Gryph, change will come." Odelia pointed at me again, "Our future King believes that you, a Half-Elf, is Elven too.”

Gryphon scoffed at her words, “Tell me when change is already here, until then I’ll be going elsewhere.”

“Wait.” I said, stopping him for a moment. “Have you decided where you’re headed to?”

“Probably somewhere in the Human Kingdom again for work, people are always looking for useful Mages like myself.” Looking at me with curiosity, “Why do you ask?”

“I just so happen to be one of those people.” I smirked, explaining “I need someone who I know can be trusted to stay and use the teleportation circle in my castle, and you seem like the perfect person considering Odelia seems to trust you enough to tell you the truth about me.”

Gryphon chuckled in disbelief, “You have a castle?”

“Oh what a fantastic idea, Lord Eyes!” Odelia gushed, loving my idea. “With Gryph there I can spend even more time with Drune and come back to Ven’Thyl right away!”

“He really has a castle?” Odelia excitedly nodded yes.

“Drune will also be in the town nearby if you ever wanted to visit him, so what do you say? ” I eagerly waited for his response.

“This is too much right now, I’m still at the part where you have a castle.” Gryphon said, trying to wrap his brain around the idea.

“We started off on the wrong foot, Gryphon, but if Odelia and Drune truly consider you a trusted friend, that's really enough for me.” Sending him an invite to be a Resident, “Don’t overthink it too much, accept my offer. Odelia and Drune already have.” The same confusion about the invitation that Odelia and Drune had also came to Gryphon, who then looked to Odelia for an answer.

“Gryph, you may not trust him after learning he knows of your true name, but know that Drune and I already do. And if that is enough for you, then accept. If it is not, then decline.” Odelia gave him a slow trusting nod, and Gryphon nodded back.

“It is enough, but I better not regret this, Odelia.” Gryphon then said to me, “But before I accept, I want you to know that I only work for 100 Gold a month. That should be nothing for someone who owns a castle.” He smirked mischievously.

“Gryph, you know that is way too much, and I know for a fact the Mages working at the TC only earn 50 Gold a month.” Odelia stepped in.

“100 Gold?! Even 50 Gold is a lot more than I expected.” I then decided to ask, “What about all the public teleportation circles, do you know all the exact runes for them?”

“Of course not, I’ve only ever bothered to memorize 3 of them after all.” Gryphon mentioned.

“And you want me to pay you 100 Gold a month? I don’t think so.” I shook my head.

“Hey, no one knows all the runes." He stated, "And you only really need to know 1 from each of the 5 major cities, anything more is redundant—plus the cost for even just one of them is absurdly high.”

“Here’s my offer then: 20 Gold a month, free castle lodging, and I’ll get you all the runes for the public circles, maybe even some other ones if I come across some.” I offered him.

“All of them?! You know that the True Runes cost 1,000 Gold each, right? Meaning it would cost well over 100,000 Gold to have all of them.” He then gestured to my appearance, “And I don’t think you’re that rich to be able to spend 100,000 Gold like nothing, especially since you're only offering 20 Gold as my pay.”

“Wait, how much Gold!?” I exclaimed, “What about the tickets, can’t you just use the runes for them? Or what about copying the ones on the ground in the Arrivals chamber?”

“Wouldn’t you think everybody would know the runes and bypass the TCs then? And the tickets are just a one time use shortcut that us teleporters use to speed up the teleportation. Once ripped, they become useless pieces of paper.” Gryphon continued to explain, “They only give us a general idea of the location being teleported, and help guide us to an available circle nearby. And the runes you are referring to simply copy, are all hidden with powerful illusions casted on them centuries ago, you couldn’t see their True Runes if you tried.”

“If you can buy these ‘True Runes’ for 1,000 Gold outright, there must be a record of all them somewhere then, right? So where are they?” I inquired curiously.

“There are, but they’re kept and guarded by incredibly powerful Mages.” Gryphon informed me, “Mages who selectively choose who can buy the True Runes from the Transport Towers in the different cities.”

“Lord Eyes, I hope you are not planning to steal those said runes." Odelia looked at me with concern, "The Mages at the Transport Towers are all at least of a Grand Wizard Class, and are far more powerful than Gryph over here.”

“Hey!” Gryphon shouted, feeling offended.

“Even I would struggle to fight them.” Odelia stated, worried about what I was planning to do.

“Struggle, you say?" I laughingly smiled at her, "That means you would still beat them, yes?”

“Of course I would, Lord Eyes." She proudly proclaimed, "No silly Mage Class could ever beat the greatness of a Trinity Archer, let alone any other of the Classes.”

Gryphon rolled his eyes, saying “Odelia, your Archery Elitism is showing again.” But she ignored his comment.

“Don’t worry, Odelia, I won’t be personally stealing anything from anyone. It’s not my forte.” I assured her, while Gryphon looked at me skeptically again. “So do we have a deal, Gryphon?”

“Hmmm…” Gryphon hummed loudly, thinking over the decision. “The pay’s a bit low, but I guess I can manage it. Especially if you’re planning to obtain all the True Runes of the circles.” I then received a notification.

Gryphon Helvi’Ett has accepted your Invitation, and has become a Resident of your Homestead.

“I guess we have a deal—” But my words were cut short as Gryphon suddenly began to freak out.

“Wh-What’s happening? What did you just do to me?” He questioned, “Why do I feel so much stronger? And what is this new Skill?” immediately recognizing it as the crown’s effect and the Return Home Skill.

I saw that Gryphon’s level changed to Lv.70 from the Lv.65 it was earlier, and asked myself “Does the crown somehow affect people who don’t swear their loyalty to me? Is it really just because I hired him to work for me?”

“Drune and I also had the same experience happen to us, Gryph. We also became stronger and received the same Skill, even skipping 5 whole levels instantly." Odelia said, pausing for a moment. "Gryphon, I am telling you, he is the one we have been waiting for...”

“It’s...impossible…” Gryphon seemingly began to second guess what he thought was true.

“It's not impossible, but I will tell you that I’m not the ‘One’ the Elves are waiting for.” I firmly stated.

“W-What does that mean?” Gryphon asked, left in confusion.

Ignoring his question and changing the subject, I handed Gryphon his 20 Gold for the month, and explained to him where the Return Home Skill would send him. I also told him about Goblex who lived and worked in the castle, and warned him not to accidentally kill him. “You got all that?” I asked.

Gryphon nodded, saying “I think so, but just who are? Are you truly the Heir?”

“I thought I told you when we met, my name’s Eyes, and until the foreseeable future, you’ll be working for me from now on.” Giving him a wink and a smirk. “Now make yourself acquainted with Castle Creedmor, and I’ll tell Drune to meet up with you there and help you settle down.” Sending Mako a message.

Mako Nomura Can you tell Drune that his old friend Gryphon will be waiting for him at the castle?

While I waited for a response, I listened to Gryphon asking Odelia “Will this new Skill really teleport me to a castle? All without needing to draw or be in a teleportation circle, or even speaking the incantation?”

“Amazing is it not?” Odelia replied.

“It’s revolutionary, I have to witness this in person right now!” Gryphon then announced “Return Home!” and in an instant a blue coloured magic enveloped him entirely, then in a blink of an eye he was gone—causing the dome around us to disappear with him.

Odelia sighed, “Always so quick to act, he did not even say goodbye to us.”

“Damn, I never got to ask why he was so worried about me knowing his true name. It didn’t seem like being a Half-Elf had anything to do with it, and I would ask Odelia but it doesn’t feel like she should be the one telling me.” Noting, “I guess I’ll have to remember to ask him when I return to the castle.” as Mako responded.

Mako- I told Drune and he was super happy to hear that.

By the way, are you in Ven’Thyl yet? Drune was asking.

Not yet, we got distracted by the friend, but I think we’re at the outskirts of the city, just outside the teleportation circle.

Mako- Okay, I’ll let him know.

Oh and I forgot to tell you before you left because of Rayna’s crazy party, but bring me back a souvenir.

Sure thing, I’ll keep an eye out for something you’ll think is interesting.

Mako- Thanks, gotta go.

Seeing that I was finished, Odelia asked “Are you ready to go, Eyes?”

“So ready.” I said excitedly.

“Then this way.” Odelia said, leading me back to the front and showing me a long heavily forested road.