Free Web NovelChapter 4: Journey
The next morning, Adam and Elena were awakened by the first rays of sunlight.
After extinguishing the fire and eating a quick breakfast of the leftovers from their hunt the previous day, they set off again towards the Duchy of Valoria.
The journey promised to be long.
Enjoying the quiet of the road, Adam continued to ask the many questions that were swirling in his head.
The first concerned something he had noticed since his arrival.
"Elena, there’s something that seems strange to me."
"What is it?"
"Since yesterday, I’ve encountered almost nothing but women. Even the goblins we fought were all female."
Elena seemed surprised.
Then she chuckled softly.
"Now that you mention it, I also find it strange to encounter a man here."
"Huh?" "With everything that happened yesterday, I completely forgot to ask you."
Adam frowned.
"What question?"
"Why would a man travel alone in such a dangerous region?"
Seeing his confusion, Elena continued.
"In this world, there are far fewer men than women."
"How many fewer?"
"On average, there’s one man for every three women."
Adam nearly tripped.
"One for every three?!"
"Yes."
She nodded.
"Furthermore, men generally have a weaker constitution."
"Seriously?"
"It’s a well-known fact. Women are generally more resilient and better suited to dangerous professions."
Adam remained silent.
That explained a lot.
"That’s why the majority of adventurers, knights, royal guards, and soldiers are women."
"And the men?"
"They generally hold safer professions."
Adam was beginning to understand why Elena had been so surprised to see a man able to survive alone near Mirkwood.
"Of course, there are exceptions."
"Like what?"
"Some men become great scholars, merchants, mages, or administrators. But male fighters remain rare."
Adam immediately thought back to his fight against the goblins.
Given the standards of this world, he had probably already caught Elena’s eye.
The young woman continued:
"The biggest exception is the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire."
"The Pope?"
Her expression hardened immediately.
"Yes."
"You seem to hate him."
"Because he’s dangerous." "
Elena’s tone was icy.
"Behind his religious rhetoric, he justifies all sorts of atrocities."
"Like slavery?"
"Among other things."
She clenched her fists.
"The Holy Empire uses religion to legitimize its conquests and persecutions."
Adam nodded.
This nation was becoming increasingly suspicious in his eyes.
After a few minutes of walking, Elena brought up another topic.
"You should also be familiar with our monetary system."
"Good idea."
After all, he now possessed a thousand gold coins without knowing what they were actually worth.
"The common currencies are copper, silver, gold, and platinum."
"What are they worth?"
Elena started counting on her fingers.
"One hundred copper pieces are worth one silver piece."
"Okay."
"One hundred silver pieces are worth one gold piece."
Adam nodded.
"And one thousand gold pieces are worth one platinum piece."
He remained silent for a few seconds.
"Wait..."
Elena smiled.
"Yes. You’ve just realized that one thousand gold pieces already represent a small fortune."
Adam nearly choked on his saliva.
"How much does a meal cost at an inn?"
"About fifty copper pieces for something decent."
This time, he truly understood the value of his reward.
The starter chest had just given him far more than he had imagined.
The rest of the day passed peacefully.
This time, it was Elena who started asking questions.
"And you, Adam?"
"Me?"
"Where exactly are you from?"
The young man remained silent for a few seconds.
"Honestly... I don’t remember."
This answer wasn’t entirely false.
"All I remember is waking up on this plain."
Elena watched him discreetly.
From the beginning of the journey, something had been bothering her.
Adam had been walking for hours.
Yet, he didn’t seem tired.
Not the slightest shortness of breath.
Not a single complaint.
Even after their fight the day before.
And above all...
He had learned a healing spell in just a few hours.
He had fought like someone who had received real training.
And his physical recovery far surpassed that of an ordinary man.
But Elena kept her questions to herself.
After all, Adam had saved her life.
And so far, he hadn’t shown any ill intent.
Quite the opposite.
The more she observed him, the more mysterious she found him.
And surprisingly reassuring.
"Perhaps I’ve met someone exceptional..."
she murmured to herself.
The sun was already beginning to set when they decided to stop for the night.
They found a small clearing sheltered by several rocks.
Adam quickly set about making camp.
Thanks to the experience he’d gained from his extensive reading and his new, more resilient body, it didn’t take him long to light a fire.
Meanwhile, Elena prepared the two rabbits they had caught earlier that day.
Soon, a delicious aroma of grilled meat filled the air.
The flames danced gently beneath the twilight sky.
After the long day’s walk, the two travelers finally enjoyed a moment of peace.
But as Adam turned the rabbits over the fire, his Analysis skill suddenly activated.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Alert
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Unusual presence detected.
Estimated distance:
127 meters
Danger:
Low to Moderate
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Adam froze.
His gaze discreetly swept over the trees surrounding the clearing.
Someone...
or something...
was watching them from the trees.
He immediately activated Analyze.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Analyze
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Target detected
Race: Dark Elf
Danger level: Low
Hostility: None
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Adam blinked.
A dark elf?
He turned discreetly to Elena.
"We’re being watched."
The young knight immediately placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Where?"
"In the trees. About 120 meters away."
Elena frowned.
They both remained on their guard.
A few seconds passed.
Then a figure finally descended from a tree.
"No point in staying hidden any longer."
A woman slowly appeared at the edge of the clearing.
She wore dark clothing suitable for stealth.
Two daggers were attached to her belt.
An elegant bow rested on her back.
Seeing her face, Elena stood up abruptly.
"Lyriana!"
The newcomer removed her mask.
A beautiful face with delicate features was revealed.
Her long silver hair cascaded to the middle of her back.
Her dark skin, characteristic of dark elves, contrasted with her luminous violet eyes.
Her athletic physique was a testament to many years of training.
"Lady Elena."
A sigh of relief escaped her.
"You’re alive."
Before she could continue, Elena stepped forward.
"What happened after I fell?"
Lyriana approached the fire.
"We managed to escape."
Adam immediately noticed her demeanor.
Despite her calm appearance, she seemed extremely tired.
"The other guards?"
"Alive."
Elena’s face lit up immediately.
"No one dead?"
"None."
The young elf nodded.
"Your diversion allowed us to break the encirclement."
Elena sighed with relief.
Since waking up, this question had tormented her.
Knowing that her companions had survived lifted an enormous weight from her shoulders.
Lyriana continued:
"The wounded were escorted directly to Valoria."
"And you?"
"I stayed behind to find you."
Elena smiled slightly.
"I knew you wouldn’t abandon me."
The dark elf looked away slightly.
"It’s my duty."
Adam sensed there was more than just professionalism in this response.
After a few moments, Elena’s tone became serious again.
"Did you discover who was behind the ambush?"
Lyriana’s face hardened.
"Not for sure."
"But?"
"I found several clues."
Silence fell around the fire.
"The weapons used."
"Yes?"
"Their fighting style."
"So?"
"Everything points to the Holy Empire." "
Elena’s eyes narrowed.
"Are you sure?"
"Almost."
Lyriana shook her head.
"Unfortunately, I haven’t found any direct evidence."
"So it’s impossible to officially accuse them."
"Exactly."
Adam silently observed the conversation.
He now understood why the border was under such heavy guard.
The tensions between the two nations seemed far greater than he had imagined.
After a few minutes, the atmosphere relaxed slightly.
Lyriana finally noticed Adam.
"And who is this man?"
Elena smiled.
"The one who saved my life."
The dark elf raised an eyebrow.
Then she looked Adam up and down.
"Him?"
"Yes."
"A lone man in Mirkwood?" "
Adam was starting to get tired of this reaction.
"I know, it’s strange."
"Very strange."
Lyriana stared at him for a few more seconds before finally nodding.
"Anyway, thank you."
Adam simply smiled.
After the meal, they continued chatting around the fire.
At one point, Adam asked a question that had been on his mind since they met.
"How old are you exactly?"
Elena burst out laughing.
"You really don’t ask the right questions."
Even Lyriana seemed amused.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you look about the same age."
The two women exchanged a glance.
Then Elena replied:
"I’m twenty-four."
Adam nodded.
Then she looked at Lyriana.
The dark elf hesitated for a moment.
"Forty-two years old."
Adam remained silent.
"Excuse me?"
"Forty-two years old."
"Seriously?!"
This time, the two women burst out laughing.
"Not all races have the same lifespan."
Adam scratched his head.
"I could have sworn you were under thirty."
"For an elf, forty is still considered young."
Adam’s eyes widened.
Elena continued the explanation.
"An ordinary human usually lives between seventy and eighty years."
"And elves?"
"Around three hundred years."
"Three hundred?!"
"At least."
Lyriana nodded.
"Powerful individuals can live much longer." "
Adam immediately memorized this information.
"So strength also influences longevity?"
"Yes."
Elena confirmed.
"The more powerful a person becomes, the more their body slows down its aging."
"Even in humans?"
"Even in humans."
Adam immediately felt his interest grow.
A long life.
Magic.
Skills.
Blessings.
This world was becoming more and more interesting.
The night continued in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
Thanks to Lyriana’s presence, they no longer needed to maintain such a strict guard.
Before falling asleep, Adam cast one last glance at the stars.
Tomorrow, they would probably reach the territory of the Duchy of Valoria.
And with a bit of luck...
He would finally discover what a real city in this new world looked like."
