After we talked about my previous life to the fullest, my anxiety had gone down and things were looking better. Almost two weeks passed, we had long gone through the Edden’s border, days went by with questions and answers between each other, nothing was hidden by me, if they were able to understand me and forgive me for taking the place of a blank and immaculate Soul, then I couldn't hide anything from them, that would be shameful and so our bond as parents and child only grew stronger.

One the same day of ‘the talk’ that we had, I also learned where my mother and father were headed. It turns out there is a city, not considered a Kingdom nor Empire, but what would be called The Principate of Nokt to the south, while other countries surrounded their borders, it had remained neutral and independent.

From what I was told as we were traveling, it had a very strong standing because of the mixed races. Not only it had various types of Elves but also Dwarmen, High Humans, The Beasten Race and even mystical beings like golems and fairies, just to name a few. The diversity occurred because of various factors, but the most prominent was the commerce and the Exploration Guild.

While it was located in between the Higher Humans, the Elves and the Beasten race territory giving them top-notch strategical position, it also had the Guild, there were many guilds but this one was different. While the Adventurer’s Guild was designed to kill sentient monsters, this guild was made to explore beyond the charted continent and even sail the almost whole unexplored sea. While killing monsters was appealing and lucrative to an extent, the real money was made while exploring and discovering ancient artifacts. The mirage mirror was actually a discovered technology that after almost a millennia of reverse engineering was able to be used again.

Due to the reclusive nature of the elves and the low birth rates we had almost no Explorers on the Guild, while the ones that had the talent or strength to be high ranked were fighting on the frontlines. Of course, there were elves living normal lives in Nokt but not everyone was from the higher clans or had the resources merchants or experts in their fields had.

As I gaze at nothing while piecing the information given to me by my parents and the merchant's bodyguards, I am startled by the cries of a female voice, turning my head to look at the woods I see a small child running directly towards the caravan while snot is falling down her face in impossible amounts. Father who is napping and mother who is reading are both startled by the screams and immediately run out the back of the caravan, then I hear a commotion of squeals and shrills.

Poking my head out, I see my father impaling goblin after goblin while the bodyguards and mercenaries take defending positions and gawk at his strength awe.

“Truly these annoying little pests are everywhere.” A voice startles me from my daze, turning I see a pungy and affable man.

“Mr. Nero!” I look at the merchant with a confused look, not expecting this heavy man to be so silent in the way he walks.

Seeing my face, he chuckles while almost closing his eyelids. “You didn’t expect me to be this nimble did you Ragnar, my boy?”

My face turns hot as I realize what my expression must have looked to him. “I'm sorry Mr. Nero, I didn’t mean it in that way.”

“Ha-ha!” He laughs harder as he sees my flustered face and says. “Don’t worry, even if you’re a little genius at most things I wouldn't take offense from the words a child, I am not that petty.”

Then I realize that the screams and shrills are gone and turn my head towards where my father was fighting, only to see him standing in the middle of over fifty goblin corpses.

“It was a good deal, yes sir!” The merchant smiles like an old fox while looking at my father. “Giving you guys such a long ride and food in exchange for protection is one of the best deals I’ve ever done.”

I can help but smile while this weird man is always around, he is charismatic and at the same time cunning to a manageable degree. The first time bonding with the Nero Company of trading, they all saw me speak like an adult, of course with a few errors that couldn't be helped as I haven’t mastered this difficult language to the adult level. But even after seeing that, they did not alienize me nor they were afraid because I was such a small and capable child, instead, they were very welcoming of not only me but my parents too.

“Well, now that we have stopped...” Sighing, Nero gave the command to unpack the tents and other utensils to have lunch. “ Alright, I have to go interrogate the little child your mother is tending to.”

I nod while getting out of the caravan and touching the dusty road with my small feet. ‘Aaaaah this is bliss, after half a day inside that meat grinder nothing beats firm land.’ Smiling I head towards my father who is cleaning his sword. Walking past the bodies, the smell of blood turns pungent and difficult to bear, but I still preserve until reaching father.

“Ragnar, how do you like my swordsmanship?” Turning his serious face into a smiling one father asks.

“I love the way it is so elegant while other times it is so explosive, dad.” I nod in a knowing manner as if I’m a sword connoisseur.

"Ha-ha" He laughs while pointing a finger at me. "You really think you that?"

"No..." Disappointment flashes through his eyes, but in turn, I smirk letting him know it was a joke.

Our bland banter keeps flowing in an unhurried manner until mother approaches us with the running little girl. Looking at her small face I notice the red eyes, a small nose, the ruffled brown hair and the slightly swollen lips. But the biggest impact is made by her blue eyes and numerous freckles. ‘When she grows, she will become an unparalleled beauty.’ But then, I stumble when I notice her most redeeming feature of all, her ears. They aren’t pointy in the top, but round and smooth. ‘She’s a High Human!'

Everyone in the convoy that is headed to Nokt are either Elves or Elven-kin of some kind. Although they are different to some extent they still keep the most basic and redeeming features of the Elven race, like the ears or the hight. As we traveled we hadn't seen any other races, later my mother explained that this road was used mostly by merchants from the Elven Kingdom and the surrounding Clans to trade with Nokt so there were not a lot of diversity to be found while transversing.

Noticing my intense stare, the girl who is a mess of bruises and tattered clothes avoids my gaze and looks at the ground. Coughing I restrain my emotions.

“She’s from Nokt, her name is Gabriella and she had been traveling for tree day’s heading towards the Shuman Clan territory until her entourage was attacked by a Wivern. Apparently, her mother is in Elven territory for medical treatment and father is with her.” Mother sighs and shakes her head in sorrow. “The head guard, feeling they were losing, had ordered her to run while they fought, she could only take a small amount of food. She had been wandering the forest for two days, not eating nor drinking anything for a day and a half until she stumbled on a river, unfortunately, there were goblin patrols and they spotted her.”

“Aaaaah...” Father puts a hand on the girls head, and in turn, Gabriella concentrates even more on the floor, as if it was the most dazzling painting she’s ever seen. “Such a small child getting lost in one the Raktack forest, don’t worry you’re safe now.”

Mother look’s at me. “Ragnar stop staring, she’s scared as she is and you're not helping.”

“I-i had never seen a High Human before.” Shaking my head I say. “I'm sorry for staring.”

The girl named Gabriella nods her head but doesn't say a thing. I feel somewhat sad at the sight of such a child being helpless and scared for two days in an unknown forest.

“Are we taking her to Nokt?”

“Yes, we will take her to her house and explain what happened to her and her convoy,” Father says whit a righteous tone, while he shoots mother a wink.

In the end, we had lunch and proceeded toward nokt hoping to reach the City-state at sundown the next day.