Eryll dashed out onto the sandy beach. He had already taken his shoes off before he had gotten to the boardwalk. the sand felt nice under his toes, warm from the mid-morning sun. Eryll had arrived in Hargeon and his first move hadn’t been to go check into a hotel, no. It was to make his way to the beach. Eryll collapsed into the sand. Oh, it felt so nice. His jacket was Still around him because the winter breeze from the ocean still gave a tiny bite. Though, it was certainly warm enough that swimming in the ocean would likely not be that bad. Eryll lay in the sand for quite awhile. He had missed the coast these past few months. While he had been in Stella he had been farther inland than anywhere else. Stella still had stunning woods, but Eryll had an affinity for the coast. He had gone to school there for quite awhile and his magic was connected to the water and moon itself so his love for it seemed fairly reasonable.

After awhile Wryll stood up and walked to wear the waves crashed up and climbed up the sandy beach. Eryll walked to where he and Kerii would
Meet, a little peninsula that stuck out into the water and was the closest point of land to the island where the two elves needed to swim. As he walked there he let the water crash up against his feet, it all felt very nice. The water was cool, but not freezing so swimming would be fine. The sun was shining down warming the sand. And the wet sand squished as Eryll walked down the beach.

Eryll had no idea how much Kerii liked the ocean. She could like it just as much as he did, more, which was unlikely, or she could not like it, despise it even. Eryll really hoped that she at least knew how to swim. If she didn’t, then that would be a slight problem that the Eryll would need to bring up with her. Eryll didn’t know if he could teach her to swim that quickly. But she was smart, so even if she couldn’t swim, she’d learn to cope and learn how to swim quickly. Their schedule depended on it. Eryll was confident in his own ability to swim far, he and his friends had spent many days swimming along the coast in Astera.

Eryll saw the peninsula in the distance, it stuck about 300 meters into the water before the waves cut it off. Eryll walked out to the very end. The peninsula was up high, so anything the left hidden would be safe from water damage. Though clothes being wet weren’t a huge problem, they were going to get wet anyway. Eryll sat down and waited for Kerii.

Wc:471/3000

Kerii looked out the window of her room at the inn and couldn't help but smile. Hargeon was a rather lovely town. There was no wonder it was home to the luxurious guild known as Blue Pegasus. Kerii wouldn't mind it at all if Lamia Scale had been stationed there instead, but she loved the vast greenery there just a smidge more than she did the relaxing beaches. The elf could safely say though that she could get used to the warmth Southern Fiore brought with it. If it was one thing she didn't like about Orchidia, it was its harsh winters. So, when she gradually came into warmer areas from the Sieghart Mountains, she was thrilled to be able to shed her winter coat in exchange for a lighter jacket or hoodie.

Sipping on a cup of coffee, Kerii was disappointed that the mild temperatures of Hargeon would be short-lived. The warm liquid made her want to get back in bed and curl up under the warm covers, but she had to do her challenge with Eryll. After draining her mug of the last drop of coffee, she decided that she had been procrastinating enough. Chances were, Eryll would be at the peninsula soon, and she would have to make him wait very long. She definitely didn't think she would be as late as she was for the Sieghart Mountains though. Hargeon was far from foreign to the mage, had she had done several requests there before, so it was unlikely something would capture her attention so much that it deterred her from the task at hand.

Kerii walked over to the peninsula she was to meet up with Eryll at. Not surprisingly, she saw a familiar black-haired fellow sitting there, awaiting her arrival. She waved to the other elf and jogged to catch up. "Are you ready for this?" she asked, remembering what their assignment had entailed. Not only would they be swimming in the freezing water, but they would be doing it in waters that boats were not allowed to go, for they were ridden with dangerously sharp rocks. If one of them wasn't paying attention, they could end up gravely injured, not to mention the high risk of hypothermia on top of that. Hargeon's waters were warmer than the waters in many other parts of Fiore, but in the winter, it was still much too cold for most peoples' taste.

WC: 404/3000

Eryll was letting the little bit of ocean spray that was flying up as the waves crashed against the peninsula splash against him. He had stored his trench coat and shoes in between some rocks, they would not be useful where they were going. The water would be cold, but a jacket would weigh him down in the water. When swimming in the ocean, it was always better to weigh less. Eryll was wearing normal clothes for this test, he could have bought special clothes to go swimming, but these tests were about learning to survive the unexpected, so that was what Eryll was going to work with.

When Kerii showed up behind Eryll turned to greet her, his hair was slightly moist from the ocean spray. She asked if he was ready for this. Eryll grinned, "Very, I've missed the ocean." Eryll said. Eryll's friends used to joke that he was born the wrong race because he enjoyed the ocean so much. "I would leave any of your heavy winter gear and your shoes here, they'll just slow you down in the water." Eryll said. Coats took a long time to dry and shoes were kind of a pain to swim with on. Eryll made his way down to wear the waves crashed against the rocks. The water they were about to swim through would be almost impossible to bear, the waves would be rough and they would have to look out for any riptides near the coasts, those could be deadly. Eryll looked back at Kerii, "How good of a swimmer are you?" He asked. He was sure that a mage was perfectly fine at swimming, but he didn't want to assume anything and regret things later, better safe than sorry.

There were no clouds in the sky today, which meant that the water would be a tad warmer, though still cold enough to be less fun. Since they were on the ocean brisk winds blew on them every once in awhile, that would likely be the worst part, especially once they reached the island, the cold winds would make the two elves even colder.

Eryll waded up to his waist in the water, trying to judge how cold he would be when he got out in a bit. Eryll assumed that he would be could when they reached the islands, but it wouldn't be freezing, like swimming in the Orchidia river during the winter.

WC: 407+471=878/3000

When Kerii asked Eryll if he was ready, she expected him to say that he was, but not because he missed the ocean. Although Kerii missed the sea as well, she liked it much, much more in the summer. Given that it was winter, she could care less about dipping her toes in the water or tanning on the golden sands. The only thing calming about the ocean this time of year was its view, and even that often had a grayish, unsaturated appearance to it during the colder months. It gave it a harsher look to complement its icy coldness.

Eryll advised that before they enter the water, they strip themselves of any clothes that would make their swim more of a burden, which she agreed with. Since it wasn't too cold in the first place, Kerii didn't bring any heavy winter gear with her, but she did take off her shoes and set it on the edge of the peninsula. Chances were, they wouldn't be stolen. Not many people seemed to come out to this part of Hargeon, probably largely due to the fact that being near the ocean it was significantly colder than it was further inland. And besides, Kerii had a feeling that she and Eryll would be finished with this challenge sooner than the others. For what this one lacked of in length, it more than made up for in intensity. The cold waters would make their swimming both dangerous and exhausting, but it was doable. The swim back would be even harder, as they were supposed to be carrying a certain fruit back to the mainland. Speaking of all this swimming, Eryll asked Kerii how she fared in the matter. The elf shrugged and said, "I can swim well, I guess." It's not like she was exceptional, but she wasn't mediocre either. If he was talking about speed, than she was probably average, as she didn't practice strokes all the time, but she could definitely keep herself afloat. Not needing to ask him the same question, as he already implied that he swam due to liking the ocean so much, Kerii decided that it was time for them to start. "Let's get to it." She put her foot in the water to test how chilly it truly was. She took her foot back out and braced herself as she jumped right in. If there was one way to face the cold, it was head on.

WC: 404+411=815/3000

Kerii took off her shoes and said that she was fairly good at swimming. Eryll gave a little smile, "Good, I guess we should leave now then." Eryll said, agreeing with Kerii's statement that they should get to it. Eryll dipped his head under the water. He liked the silence of the underwater, there was little noise and it was calm. When Eryll came out of the water he gave a little shiver, "Here we go." He said. He dove first into the water, he would start off slow. They would want to save the harder strokes for when they were in deeper water, where tides would be stronger and hold more strength. Waves crashed against the rocks, no wonder ships weren't able to make it this way, If the waves smashing the boats against rocks didn't kill them, the channel was far too small for any large boats to make it into. At one point Eryll decided that he wanted to see what was below him. Taking a deep breath he went underwater. Once underwater he blinked a few times, it wasn't perfect vision but he could make out shapes. The water was clear and the water beneath them was about 24 feet deep. Eryll swam underwater for a little while, watching fishes swim along the floor. Finally, his lungs required air again and he surfaced, treading water for a moment before looking to make sure Kerii hadn't left him.

The swim to the Island would not be long, as the test had stated, finding the apple would be the hard part. Eryll looked ahead, they would soon be approaching the harder part of the channel, in which strong waves swelled up and down constantly. Eryll looked over to Kerii, "This is going to be the hardest part, be prepared to swim with strength." Eryll yelled over the the crashing waves. Eryll made himself horizontal and prepared to start swimming quickly and strongly between the large waves. The island was not to far from the raging section, then they could rest.

Eryll began to swim with all his strength. The large waves picked him up and dropped him, luckily, he was not smashed against any protruding rocks. Eryll made sure to take breaths between strokes. Eryll only submerged once to dodge a large wave that was travelling his way directly. If he did that he would not have to worry as much about it cresting on top of him. After Eryll surfaced he looked back to make sure Kerii made it across the rough section safely.

427+878=1305/3000

The elf's entire body was briefly submerged in the salty water before the top half of her body peaked out over the surface. She was absolutely drenched and could immediately feel some of the effects of the cold water. She tread the water as she waited for her friend to come in. Eryll did not hesitate to dive into the waves, and began to swim in the direction of the island. Seeing that he could obviously handle himself in these conditions, Kerii swam after him.

She was not as fast as Eryll, but not by too much. It was clear though that he spent more time near the sea than Kerii did. He was much more enthusiastic about this whole ordeal than she was. The conditions were far from optimal. There was a chance that the two of them could be caught in a riptide. They could be washed out to sea. They could suffer from hypothermia. They could be impaled by jagged stones. Eryll seemed to be happy about this, simply because it involved the ocean. But then again, that was the whole point of these challenges Guildmaster Shahrbaraz sent them on, right? To test their limits? She knew that he wouldn't assign something knowing that it could not be done, but it wasn't like this challenge was absolutely mandatory either. There were some people in the guild she suspected should rather not complete them, for the sake of their own safety, but that was more the low experience members who had barely entered their new life as an official mage. Most other mages in Lamia Scale should be able to do them. While others would likely struggle more and some less, it was definitely doable.

Eryll was always in Kerii's line of sight, but he paused to let her catch up a bit. Once she did and saw the upcoming waves, she could feel her heart skip a beat. The island was close by, and these were the waves that ships were not to sail on, for it was highly likely they would become shipwrecked among the shale. Eryll let Kerii know that swimming through the large waves would be the hardest part, but that went without saying. Shaking her head, the elf swam towards them along with Eryll. She was tossed around a fair bit, as was her guild mate, but was able to retain enough control of her motions to avoid being slammed against the rocks. After getting over that rough patch of waves, Kerii looked for Eryll. Seeing his dark-haired head bobbing in the water, she swam towards him. "We're almost there." The island was in sight and the water was shallower. They didn't need to do much more swimming to get there, which seemed a little strange at first, but they were not just simply swimming to the island and back. They needed to retrieve an item first.

WC: 815+484=1299/3000

Kerii was a rather adept swimmer as well, she seemed to be pretty comfortable swimming. She made it through all the hard parts with ease. Once on the easier side of the waves the two swam towards the protected island. As they got closer Eryll could understand why this island was so special. The leaves of the trees seemed to be a golden color and the wood of the tree was a light brown. The sand was white and large pieces of quarts jetted out of the ground.

When the two elves dragged themselves onto the white sandy beaches of the island Eryll let himself collapse. "That was an interesting experience." Eryll said. He sat there for a little bit, they would have to search the small island for the special apple and they had plenty of time, it wasn't even midday yet. The sand of the island felt cushy, it wasn't as rough as the other beaches on the azure coast. Eryll assumed the fineness of the sand was because of the strength of the waves around the island. The waves would easily smash rock.

Eryll sat up, "I guess we should begin to look for the apple, you remember what it looks like, right? Gold and white stripes?" He asked. According to Shahbaraz the apple was rather rare and the wizards should spend their time looking for it because they would also want to recuperate before making their way back to swimming. And on the way back, they had to make sure that they did not lose the apple, that would result in a swim back to the island. Eryll clapped his hands together and finally stood up. Eryll reached up and felt one of the trees, the leaves were glossy and slick, like they were almost waterproof. Eryll raised an eyebrow, "This is one wack island." He said. Eryll made his way off the beach and started to walk into the woods of the island, looking for any sign of an apple tree, but for the time being, all the trees seemed to be that same glossy leaved kind of tree. Eryll, tired of the silence, asked Kerii a question, it was rather simple, but would remove silence. "So, how was the walk from sieghart to Hargeon?" Eryll asked. His had been uneventful, which is how he liked it. He assumed that Kerii's was too, but this at least filled up the obnoxious void that had become present.

While Eryll listened to Kerii's response, he thought of the last test they would have to survive. Eryll had no idea what monsters they would find lurking in the woods, but he was ready to complete these tests, even if it meant risking his life for a night. But, what was being a wizard if you didn't put yourself in constant danger? Eryll continued to look for any sign of the special apple, but he still came up empty handed. Hopefully Kerii saw something.

WC: 495+1305= 1800/3000

The two elves eventually made it to the shore. Kerii sat on the sandy beach and took her time to catch her breath. As the adrenaline rush she got from swimming through the freezing waters began to dissipate, so did the warmth she received from all that exercise. The elf shivered and tried her best to keep herself warm by hugging her shoulders, but it didn't work as well as she hoped. She was soaking wet and had goosebumps all over. No matter how much she vigorously rubbed her arms, she would still remain to feel freezing.

Once she caught her breath, Kerii stood up. It was only at this time that she truly took in the sight of the island. At first glance, it was quite beautiful. The trees were like nothing she had seen back on Hargeon's mainland. The sand was golden and had a very fine texture. It was clear that humans rarely visited this island, which made sense, considering the only way to get to it was through swimming. The mage imagined that all locals were advised not to swim out in the ocean, but especially not to get to an island that was practically guarded by a dangerous compilation of sharp rocks and harsh waves. So of course, it was only natural that two outsiders would happen to come across it, and on a mini quest from their diehard Guildmaster, no less.

Kerii and Eryll began to walk around the island when he said they needed to be looking for the white and golden striped apples. He also tagged on that the island was "wack," as he touched the waxy leaves. "Um, yeah," she began, not really hearing anyone refer to a place as that before. "I've never seen anything like it." Her mind began getting sidetracked again. It was so fascinating to see how different this island compared to the plants that were situated in the rest of Hargeon. There were scientific theories as to how and why this was possible, of course, but it was still incredible to see firsthand. The elf began touching one of the glossy leaves as well, when Eryll asked her how her walk from Sieghart to Orchidia was. Truth be told, she almost didn't hear him ask the question. Almost. It managed to grab her attention though and divert it back to reality. "Oh, it was pretty boring. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. What about you?"

WC: 1299+409=1708/3000

After Kerii finished resting and trying to warm up she joined Eryll in the search. Kerii was just as surprised by the life on the island, so much so that she seemed to be walking in a dimension different from Eryll. She came back to the same dimension when Eryll asked how her trip down was. She said that hers was fairly easy, then asked how Eryll's trip down was. "Oh, mine was pretty uneventful, I was just ready to be near the ocean again." Eryll said. Eryll's trip had been long, but not unbearable, he was just on a binge to get these tests over with so he could return to Orchidia and make some money, while trying to figure out what on earth the runes had been from.

Eryll had still come nowhere close to figuring out who made the runes. While hiking up the mountain he and Kerii had ruled out elves as well as the demonic and the divine. Eryll would do some research on different kinds of runes when he returned to Orchidia and had a large library at his disposal. He might offer Kerii a chance to look into it with him as well, she enjoyed that kind of research he believed. He might offer it to her later. Eryll would also write letters home, he had not done that yet, that was his next step. He might write them and drop them off on his way out of Hargeon to Dahlia. He hoped that his father or mother had any prior knowledge of what had happened to him, they were both knowledgeable people and had been great wizards in their day.

Eryll was still rather wet from the swim, he had hoped he would dry off a bit as he searched the island, but he had underestimated the amount of time it would take him to dry off. Eryll sighed and closed his eyes, he really wanted to find this apple. It felt like they had been searching for an incredibly long time, and all of these trees were exactly the same kind of weird, waxy-leaved tree. The two wood elves had been slowly climbing up the island, this fact made Eryll believe that the island took the shape of a mountain. Eryll gave out a little laugh. it was basically a forest on a mountain, Shahbaraz had just combined the first two tests and added water. As they approached what Eryll thought was the top of the mountain Eryll saw a tree that looked different from the rest of the trees. It was smaller and thinner, its leaves were a natural green and its wood was slightly darker. Hanging from one of its branches was an apple that had golden and white stripes. "Finally!" Eryll said, letting out a sigh. He raced ahead and made it to the apple tree. There were only one or two apples. Eryll wanted to leave the apples for the other groups, so he only grabbed one apple. He turned back to Kerii, "found it. I guess we head back now." Eryll said. Eryll began his descent down the hilly island, back towards the shore. After this the elves would have to make it to Aldenwald, in Dahlia, to finish their test. Eryll decided to bring it up before they had to swim through the waves again. "So, are you ready for the last test." Eryll asked. Both of the elves were fast, and elves were naturally faster, so he hoped it would help them it that final test where they had to outrun any monsters that lived within the woods.

Back on the beach, the sun was about three hours past midday, they would easily finish this before dinner. Thinking about it, this had been the shortest test. Eryll waded into the water and prepared to go for another swim.

Wc: 644+1800=2444/3000

It seemed like Eryll's journey to Hargeon was uneventful as well. He was just eager to arrive at the ocean the entire time, which was understandable, but she was sure he would rather not be doing what they were trying to accomplish right now. Kerii certainly was not. That being said though, she was rather interested about the flora of this island. The leaves had a waxy coating on them, which she found interesting, as it wasn't reminiscent of the majority of plants on the rest of Hargeon. Her mind went back to a book she had read on plants a while back, simply because she was bored and at the time found the subject at least somewhat interesting. Those kinds of shiny leaves were best suited for retaining water, quite notably in very hot environments. Since they held in water so well and Hargeon's winters were relatively mild, that was probably why they were still green. Plants like that weren't uncommon to see in tropical areas, but Kerii didn't think this would really count as "tropical." With humans residing in Hargeon, she wasn't sure which plants naturally grew there, and which ones were brought in and luckily flourished, but she doubted the native ones were much like this. She would be seeing more of them if that was the case.

Kerii was on the lookout for the white and gold striped apples, but she was simultaneously admiring this island's environment. It occurred to her that she hardly saw any animals, but that could be explained by hers and Eryll's presence alone. Not a lot of humans came to this place, as it was simply too dangerous to arrive via boat. Swimming still posed a threat as well, but the two elves being there, and any other guild members who accomplished these challenges, just proved that it was definitely possible. Still, Kerii didn't think that she would be telling anyone about it. She would hate for humans to come and somehow turn this into a tourist attraction. While the expansion of habitable land was inevitable, there were parts of nature that still had to be preserved. Perhaps humans would reach this island some day, but not now.

It seemed like the two were looking for the apple for a while. Kerii's clothes had only partially dried when she heard Eryll make an exclamation. She went up to him to see a tree that looked notably different from most of the others on this island. She grinned with delight when she saw the golden apple they spent so long looking for. Eryll said that they could head back and Kerii nodded her head. "Yeah, can't wait to get back. Just please be sure not to drop it." It was needless to say such a thing, but Kerii was still worried about losing the apple in the torrentuous waves. They were rather rough after all, and it took quite a bit of strength and concentration to not get thrown into the dangerously sharp rocks that protected the island from people such as them.

As the elves approached the shore, Eryll asked Kerii if she was ready for the next part of the challenge. "As ready as I'll ever be," she said with a shrug. Folding her arms across her chest, she considered where it would take place. "Dahlia, huh." Everyone across Fiore had heard rumors about that town. It was supposed to essentially be supernatural central. She didn't know how true the rumors were of course, since she tended to steer clear of Dahlia, but evidently it contained a large number of vampires and lycans. She wasn't exactly afraid of them and didn't believe that all were evil, but chances were, if she was going into a town with a large concentration of them, there would be a higher number of them that weren't too friendly.

Kerii shivered as she walked into the water with Eryll. "I can't wait to get back to Hargeon," she muttered. She needed to get back to her room at the inn and take a nice hot shower to warm her up and wash off all this sea water. Only then would she proceed to travel to Dahlia. And besides, she didn't even need to arrive until later. Their final task would take place at night, which didn't exactly help, but it would make things interesting, to say the least.

WC: 1708+733=2441/3000

As Eryll stepped into the water he gripped the apple. The rough section of the waves would be the hardest part to retain grip of the Apple, it would likely be best to go under and go deep for that part. That way the power of the waves would not be as strong. The water was a tiny bit warmer than it had been in the morning because of the warm sunlight heating it up over the day. It was nothing close to true warmth, but the elves would hopefully not be as cold when they got out of the water and back onto the peninsula. Eryll would occasionally look back to make sure Kerii was close to him, Eryll did not have to worry, but they were doing these tests together so it was best that they stayed close. As they got to the rough patch Eryll stopped swimming for a moment and tread water. “I’m going to swim under the waves, I’ll be more protected from the waves that way, and so will the Apple. I’ll see you on the other side.” Eryll said before he submerged and swam down. He could feel the pressure growing in his ears as he made his way down. The pressure wasn’t too bad and the power of the waves didn’t extend to deep into the water. Once at a safe distance Eryll swam towards the peninsula. Underwater everything was quite. Every once in awhile he’s could hear a muffled slam of water hitting rocks. Once he was safely across Eryll swam back up to the surface and took deep breaths. He looked around for Kerii and would swim over to her when he found her. After that he swam back towards the peninsula. Slowly the waves got less front and the water shallower until Eryll could stand in the water. Eryll dragged himself back up onto the shore. He took deep breaths for a little while.

“I’ll take this to Shahbaraz and pick up the bracelets that we need for the last test. I guess I’ll see you there.” Eryll said. He stood up and removed his jacket and shoes from the rock he had hid them behind and made his way down the peninsula back to the mainland. He had enjoyed today’s swim, it had been physically tiring, but worth t. Eryll had enjoyed his time at the ocean and could not wait to return to Hargeon or Astera in the spring or summer time when it would be significantly warmer and he could enjoy the water and the beach to its fullest. And maybe in the summer he would return to this small island and explore it again to see if he could find out anything interesting about it.

Eryll was making his way back to the fields of Hargeon so he could he make his way to dahlia. Eryll walked quickly to the edge of town where he hadn’t left some dry clothes to change into once he was done.

After he had changed, Eryll quickly changed and slipped on his coat, the temperature would be dropping again as he left Hargeon, Eryll laughed at the idea of returning to a colder place. It felt kind of stupid, but he would survive just fine.

The sun was close to setting now but Eryll wanted to make it to Dahlia in plenty of time so he could easily finish the test and then return to orchidia to complete quests and study the runes.

Exit

Wc: 584+2444= 3028/3000

The elf progressively waded deeper into the water until she was far enough to start swimming. Luckily, they would be able to get the toughest part of the swim over with first. Now that she was familiar with how the waves would be like, she would be able to deal with them better. They both would, but Eryll's job was a little more difficult since he was carrying the apple. Right before they approached the waves, the two of them stopped and began to tread water for a bit in order to communicate. He said that he would be swimming under the waves so that both he and the apple would be more protected. Kerii had tried to do that before, but still managed to be thrown around by the sea a fair bit. "Alright," she replied before continuing to swim towards the rough swells. As she swam through them, she managed to stay clear of the jagged rocks easier than she did the first time. It was still a difficult feat though. She was sure that she would have been able to do it while carrying the gold and white striped apple too, and as such was confident in Eryll's ability to do the same. After making it through the waves, she looked for him and was relieved to see that he was still carrying the rare fruit. Neither of them had bothered with talking until they reached the peninsula.

She hoisted herself onto dry land and sat there for a few moments to catch her breath. Eryll safely made it as well and said that he would be taking the fruit to Guildmaster Shahrbaraz while she got the bracelets. "Yeah, sounds good." The bracelets would be for their Guildmaster to determine their location within Aldenwald. Evidently, it was an incredibly dangerous part of Dahlia, especially in the night. While the other challenges posed environmental dangers, the real threat of this one would be what bloodthirsty living creatures resided within the forest. The most vicious and common animals she could think of that lived in Orchidia's forest would be wolves or bears, but they tended to shy away from humans. Whatever was in Aldenwald was rumored not to be afraid of humans in the slightest. In fact, they saw them as a potential meal, hence why people hardly ever went in there. So naturally, Guildmaster Shahrbaraz was more than happy to send them there at night for their training.

Both Kerii and Eryll put on the clothes they took off to go to the island. Just as Kerii had expected, nothing was stolen. Nobody probably even came to the very edge of the peninsula in the first place. As she elf returned to the inn, she got a few odd stares from people walking along the street. Normally she would get a few glances here and there being an elf, but this wasn't because of that. It was because she was drenched in sea water and looked terribly cold. When she returned to her room at the inn, the first thing she did was strip off her wet clothes and hop in the shower. The warm water felt nothing short of amazing. Once she got out, she began preparing for her departure to Dahlia. This would probably be the most deadly task out of all of them. As much as she didn't want to do it, it would be cowardly to stop now.

WC: 2441+574=3015/3000