Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 463: Elven Party

CH463 Elven Party

***

”Loot?” Alex raised an eyebrow. ”What loot?”

”Your kills,” the Night Elf replied quickly. ”You leave good parts behind. We figured you didn’t need them, so we followed you and picked up whatever was left. That way, we ensure you don’t waste your efforts, and we don’t risk our lives fighting monsters.”

Alex almost rolled his eyes.

’What do you mean you ensure we don’t waste our efforts? You just want the free gains,’ he thought.

But something in her words caught his attention.

”We?” he asked at the same time Udara did.

”You’re in a party?” Alex pressed.

The Night Elf froze.

”Oh no—” she realised too late.

She clamped her hands over her mouth as if she could shove the words back inside.

Alex didn’t let the moment slip.

”You’re just the scout, aren’t you?” he said calmly. ”You use an invisibility ability or spell to tail us, then relay our kill locations to your party so they can come later and loot whatever we leave behind.”

Her eyes widened.

”No! I won’t tell you anything. Kill me if you want!” she blurted out.

’She doesn’t just look like a child,’ Alex noted coldly. ’She behaves like one too.’

An idea surfaced.

”There’s no need to kill you,” Alex said, a thin smile forming. ”Why would I do that?”

His voice dropped.

”I hear there are slave markets in the Wildlands. A beautiful elf like you would fetch a very high price—enough to recoup our losses.”

The Night Elf’s breath hitched.

”I wonder who you’ll end up with,” Alex continued lightly. ”And what kind of things they’ll do to you.”

He leaned closer.

”If you don’t want that, tell me how to contact the rest of your party.”

The Night Elf began to tremble violently.

Even Udara felt a pang of pity and she had a soft look of reproach. She removed the blade at the girl’s throat—though her grapple remained firm.

”Hey, Alex Fury! What are you doing?!” Zora’s sharp voice cut in.

Alex turned to see Zora and Eleanor approaching. Their expressions were far more displeased than Udara’s—bordering on outright disgust.

”How can you say something like that to a child?” Eleanor snapped.

”She’s not a child,” Alex replied evenly. ”She’s an enemy who’s been spying on us. I’m extracting information.”

”High... elf?”

The Night Elf’s eyes went wide.

Eleanor’s veil could not hide her presence from someone sensitive to spiritual/racial hierarchy. The girl felt her hidden nature instinctively.

She tried to bow on reflex, but Udara’s hold stopped her from moving.

”I am Aylora Lunahelm. May the sun, moon, and stars guide your light, my lady.”

Despite Udara’s hold, the Night Elf stubbornly bowed as much as she could.

Almost immediately, Alex and his wives exchanged a brief glance.

They all understood what needed to be done.

Eleanor stepped forward –Udara released her right on cue—and she wrapped her arms around the Night Elf.

Aylora found herself enveloped in Eleanor’s bountiful bosom.

Warmth—pure, radiant warmth—washed over her. It felt like standing beneath gentle sunlight after a long night. Powerful, yet soothing. The strongest light she had ever felt... and the most soothing.

”This is the first time I’ve met another elf during my travels,” Eleanor said softly. ”Are the other members of your party elves as well?”

”Yes, my lady,” Aylora replied, still held within Eleanor’s embrace. ”We are members of our village’s Lightfinders.”

”Can you call them here so we may talk?” Eleanor asked kindly.

Aylora finally lifted her head from Eleanor’s embrace and looked at Alex with open suspicion.

”Don’t mind my husband,” Eleanor said reassuringly. ”What he said earlier was just a joke.”

She shot Alex a sharp glare.

”A very bad joke.”

Alex could only chuckle wryly.

”How’s Mogal?” he asked Zora.

Zora rolled her eyes.

”He’s fine. The Dune Croc is confirmed dead,” she replied.

”He didn’t break through, did he?” Alex asked, a hint of hope in his voice—though, tempered by realism.

”Not in rank,” Zora said. ”But it seems he achieved a different kind of breakthrough.”

”I see... That’s still good,” Alex shrugged.

”Let’s regroup,” he added, already walking back toward the party with Zora beside him.

It took some effort, but Eleanor eventually coaxed Aylora into summoning the rest of her party. The Night Elf raised a small whistle and blew into it—no sound carried through the air.

She explained it was her party’s emergency signal.

They would arrive soon.

Eleanor brought Aylora along to rejoin the expedition group, while Udara remained close at her side, her posture relaxed but vigilant—just in case.

Aylora watched as the Fury knights efficiently skinned the Dune Croc. They harvested its beast core, heart, spine bones, teeth, and a few select materials—then moved on.

They left behind far more than they took.

’So much waste...’ she thought, gritting her teeth.

Then she turned her gaze to Alex’s followers.

Every one of them radiated danger.

Even though she herself was a Peak Gold-rank combatant—technically stronger than Mogal and most of the group—she felt genuine pressure from each of them.

And no matter how she tried to rationalise it...

She still couldn’t believe Mogal had killed a Dune Croc with a single punch.

’Doesn’t that mean he could kill me with a single punch as well...?’ Aylora swallowed.

After all, if she had faced that Dune Croc head-on, she would have struggled to kill it—if she survived at all.

She conveniently forgot that she and Mogal were fundamentally different types of fighters.

Still, the thought alone was enough to keep her firmly in check as she stood quietly, waiting for her companions to arrive.

A few minutes later, Aylora’s ears twitched.

Almost simultaneously, several members of the expedition party turned around.

Three figures were sprinting toward them.

”What are you doing? Release our companion immediately!” a middle-aged male elf shouted as he closed the distance.

”Calm yourself,” Alex replied evenly. ”We aren’t holding anyone captive. We merely asked her to invite you here so you could explain why she had been stalk—”

”Don’t worry, Uncle Sunbow!” Aylora suddenly interrupted. ”They have a High Elf!”

”A High Elf?”

The middle-aged elf froze mid-step.

His gaze snapped to Eleanor.

Shock, disbelief, elation...

A turbulent cocktail of emotions rippled across his face.

”You...” a Dark Elf male beside him muttered, his eyes fixed on Udara. ”Such a dense Dark Elf bloodline...”

Without warning, he lunged forward, reaching for Udara’s arm.

[Abyssal Conqueror’s Step: Third Step — Wraith’s Crossing]!

Alex moved first.

He appeared between them in a blur and seized the Dark Elf’s wrist mid-motion.

”How dare you try to touch my wife?” Alex said coldly. His crimson eyes locked onto the elf’s face.

”Do you have a death wish?”

The Dark Elf stiffened, a chill running down his spine.

”Please, wait!” the middle-aged elf hurriedly said. ”He meant no harm!”

”I know,” Alex replied icily. ”Otherwise, his head would already be off his neck.”

Alex had activated his Spirit Sight at Lv 2 the moment the elves came into view. He had already confirmed that they harboured no premeditated hostility toward his party.

He released the Dark Elf and pushed him back.

The shove jolted the man awake to the reality of his situation.

”I—I apologise,” the Dark Elf said hastily. ”I was just... startled. I’ve never sensed such dense Dark Elf bloodline—not even from our tribe’s chief. And yet, she also carries other similarly potent bloodlines, all in perfect harmony. That shouldn’t be possible.”

”Shut up, Drais!” the middle-aged elf barked.

”Ah!”

Only then did Drais realise what he had done.

Udara’s cold stare confirmed it.

He bowed deeply in apology and, without uttering another word—clearly afraid of revealing anything further—stepped behind the older elf.

***