“Sien. Not here. We might catch the attention of someone we don’t want to face.” Said Sam as he observed the people in the room to check if someone saw the claws in action.

“How did you do that?” The elf asked with a concern in her voice.

“Well… Um…” Sam tried to figure out a way out of it.

“With these magic claws.” Sien said without a care in the world as he pointed at the rings on his left hand.

The mage suddenly took out a book from under her coat and went through all the pages. Then she suddenly stopped and brought it closer to her face as if she was trying to hide the information inside it.

“Did you find it in a dungeon a day away from here to the north?” The woman asked with a serious tone as if they committed some kind of serious crime.

“Yes.” 

“Hey! Sien. Don’t answer every question.”

“The last dungeon of the north… You were able to get the last artifact from the northern dungeons! You need to tell me about the tests in there. No one ever left that dungeon alive.” The elf was focused on Sien's claws and she got closer to them every time she asked about the dungeon.

“We fell into the hole where we found-” Sien wanted to tell the story but Sam placed his hand on the boy's mouth to stop him from talking.

“We’ll tell you only if we lower the price to five coins.” Sam bargained with the mage.

“I’m fine with that. Let the boy continue.” The mage said, not leaving her sight out of the boy.

Sien told the whole story while they ordered some food and drinks. Sien exaggerated the whole story like it was a tale that every adventurer wanted to experience one day in their life. The elf listened as she wrote something in the book every now and then.

“Wonderful. Now I have information about all the dungeons of the north. Thanks to you I’ve finished my research on them. I might as well tell you the rest of my knowledge about runes for free. On one condition. You’ll let me see the Ink Claws in action.”

“Is that how they are called?” Sien asked as his curiosity was picked by the name the elf said.

“From this moment. Yes.”

“So you called them Ink Claws…” Sam said looking at a proud elf.

“Do you have a better name? And I think as a researcher I have the right to name them.” The elf scolded Sam like he was the kid in this group.

“I think this name fits them very well.”

“Thank you.” The elf said as she smiled at Sien. 

“We’re fine with that condition.” Sam answered.

“Good. We can meet tomorrow. I have a quest to finish.”

“Then we have a problem. We’re leaving early in the morning.” 

“You said you’re going south, right? Then I can accompany you for some time until we reach a town with a guild hall. It’ll give me time to observe the Ink Claws and I won’t slow you down on your journey.”

Sam and Sien looked at each other if they had something against an elven mage joining them on the journey. They both agreed on the terms the elf suggested.

“Great. Let me introduce myself. My name is Celine Greywood. Silver rank mage with an interest in researching the dungeons and artifacts.”

“Nice to meet you, my name is Sien A-” Sam coughed to cover the boy’s surname. “And this is Samuel. My master.”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“So what kind of quest brought you here?” Sien asked.

“It’s the quest I gave myself for research purposes. Just check a few places in the forest and come back.” The elf explained not expecting any sign of interest from the people by the table but she was wrong.

“Can we accompany you? It’s not like we have anything planned and we can talk a bit along the way.” Sien turned to Sam to check if he approved of this.

“Alright. Alright. I don’t see a problem with that.” Sam said as he looked the other way so Sien wouldn’t see his expression. Celine chuckled at that sight.

“Okay. Let me get some stuff from my room and we can go.”

“We’ll be waiting here.” 

Sam expected that Celine would only take around five minutes to get to the room, pick up her things, and go back. He was wrong. Sam was a patient person but if someone says “I’ll just grab my things and come back” he thinks that it's just for a moment. When it’s not, he becomes the most impatient person.

He walked around, making Sien nervous but then he suddenly stopped and whispered “Rock, paper, scissors…”

“What did you say, master?” Asked Sien as he hadn’t heard or rather wanted to make sure he heard correctly. 

“Let’s play rock, paper, scissors. To kill time.”

They played for a few turns and Sien won all of them, only making two draws. Sam decided to change the game where one person had to slap the opponent's hand and the other had to avoid the slap. Sam was unable to hit Sien’s hand even once where his hand was slowly turning red.

“How… How are you this good?” Asked Sam with a shame of defeat in his voice and face.

“I played those games a lot with my sister. I had to learn how to let her win because she got annoyed when I won too many times.”

“You’re that good… that you had to learn how to lose… Let’s play something different.”

They played a game where they had to rhythmically clap each other’s hands. Many passersby watched them as it was an unusual sight. Grown man playing child games with someone half his size. Even the elfen mage froze in place by the entrance, unable to think of a way to talk.

“Finally. Took you long enough… So which way are we going?” Sam asked as he stood up, not knowing that everyone was eyeing him this whole time.

“Ekhm… Right. The forest to the north. An hour of walking and then wandering around the forest for signs.” Celine walked past them showing to follow her.

“Signs of what?” Asked Sien, running up to the elf to be by her side.

“Presence of mana. If there is a large amount of it the forest can change and become a dangerous place. Of course, there is a chance that it can make the forest better and not dangerous at all but it is only a chance that the guild doesn’t like.”

“Why does mana change the forest? I know that mana is a source of magic but nothing else about it.”

“Over time, mana can force a change into plants of the forest making them much different than they are now. Mana also attracts certain creatures, the good and bad ones. A good creature would be a unicorn and a bad one for example a ghoul.”

“Wow. I would like to see a unicorn. And a ghoul too!”

“You don’t want to see a ghoul. Nasty creature. There are far worse monsters than them but by pure numbers, the ghouls are very common. All around the world.”

“You’ve been to other countries?”

“Even to other continents. I’m not from Saradia Kingdom. My country is on another continent to the west of Saradia. It's called Parma. A nation where elves and humans live in harmony. It’s a small but beautiful place.”

“How many other countries have you seen?”

“Elven Republic of Kal’Tal, Kingdom of Fazim, Feline nation Katul, desert nation Fasfar, and of course Kingdom Of Saradia.”

“You’ve been to so many countries!”

“Took me a few years but it was worth it.”

“How long did it take?”

“Hmm… Around twenty years?”

“Twenty years?! You must have traveled since your birth!”

“No. I began traveling once I turned eighteen.”

“Wait. Are you telling me you’re almost my age?” Sam asked, surprised by the elf’s age.

“I’m thirty-nine years old. We elves live two hundred years, three hundred if we take really good care. We reach adulthood at the same time as humans but we grow much slower. That’s why I’m slightly smaller than you, Sien. Once I turn seventy I’ll be as tall as Samuel.” Celine explained as Sien listened with interest.

“You’re my age… And you look so young…” Sam muttered under his nose.

“Thank you.” Said Celine, taking Sam’s cry as praise.