Noah sprang into action, rushing the elf from the side. The elf’s eyes went wide at Noah’s approach and he immediately dropped his arrow and stepped away from Julie. He held his hands up, displaying empty palms in an apparently universal sign of peace.


    “Wait please, spare me, I didn’t know!” The elf cried as Noah closed the distance. Noah blinked. The fantasy elf spoke English. Huh. He put on a stern expression and glared at the elf.


    “What do you mean you didn’t know?” Noah demanded. The elf shrunk back and stammered out a response.


    “You-you’re an Evolved.” The elf man explained. Noah considered that.


    “An evolved?” He asked. The elf stared at him, open-jawed.


    “You mean you don’t know?” He said, clearly put off by that idea.


    “If you mean that I am an Iron, then yes I am aware of that. But how could you tell?” The elf nodded sagely then.


    “Yes, yes Iron is what the System calls it. An elf would have to be blind not to recognize an evolved.” He explained, having regained his composure. The whole ordeal was throwing Noah off. He looked to Julie and she shook her head.


    “What do you want from us?” Noah finally asked.


    “Want? Nothing. I was mistaken.” The elf replied. Noah scratched the back of his neck.


    “What did you want before I arrived?” He asked, trying again.


    “Ah, I see.” The elf started, his eyes lighting up “I wanted levels.” Noah frowned.


    “You were going to kill them?” The elf’s head teetered back and forth.


    “That or bring them back to the village.” He shared. Julie tensed and Noah noticed Kyle’s eyes go wide.


    “But you don’t want to do that anymore?”


    “Absolutely not! I am unevolved, I wouldn’t dare touch the property of an evolved! On my honor as an elf of the purple grove!” The elf stamped his foot and stood ramrod straight as if to emphasize his point.


    “I see,” Noah said, massaging his temples. They were speaking the same language but they weren’t the same. The elf slowly began to sport a quizzical look and he cleared his throat.


    “How did you manage to progress your race so quickly? It should have taken a considerable amount of essence,” Noah stared blankly at the pointy-eared man.


    “I didn’t progress my race, the System assigned us the F grade and that hasn’t changed.” Noah shared. The elf’s mouth opened and closed and Noah worried that he broke him. As he waited he found a seat by Julie and they watched as the elf continued his mental battle. He finally came to and turned toward them.


    “You. Female. Are you also F grade?” The elf asked looking pointedly at Julie.


    “That’s right.” She answered curtly.


    “You lucky creatures. Do you know what elves are born as? H grade! We don’t become G grade until maturity and some never do! Only the great ones have evolved or achieved F grade as the system calls it,” he practically spat the last bit. He continued to mutter to himself as he shook his head. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    “What should we do with him?” Noah asked Julie. She shrugged.


    “I don’t know, Levels?” she replied. He guffawed.


    “I’m kidding! Just kidding!” She said, bursting into laughter. “Did you hear him though? I am not sure what to be more insulted about, the fact that I was XP to him or that I suddenly became property when you showed up.” Noah laughed and received a quick elbow to the ribs.


    “Hey! You can laugh but I can’t?” He protested.


    “Because you didn’t correct the elf in the first place.” She accused, giving him a suspicious glare.


    “Fine, fine. Not funny” He acquiesced. Noah turned his attention back to the elf.


    “So what were you saying about a village? How many of you are there? Is it nearby?” Noah peppered. The elf stopped muttering and met his gaze.


    “Ah yes, the village. It is a couple of hours by foot, and there aren’t many of us yet. Though I expect more to arrive as the days pass.” He replied.


    “Why would you think that?” Noah asked. The elf shrugged.


    “We are elves, everyone knows how to find the village. It’s only a matter of time before those nearby arrive.” Noah nodded at what the elf seemed to consider common knowledge.


    “Do you have a name?” Noah asked him.


    “I do. It is Balkendar” He said with a proud smile. “Do you have a name?” He returned.


    “Noah. And this is Julie, Kyle, and Matt.” He said as he pointed respectively.


    “It is my honor to meet you, evolved Noah. I do apologize for threatening what’s yours.”


    “Look, Balkendar. Julie isn’t my property, none of them are.” Noah explained. The elf looked at him, confused.


    “Does that mean I can take her?” Balkendar asked. Noah could see that he wasn’t getting through to the elf.


    “No. It means that while I don’t own her, I also won’t let anything bad happen to her.” The elf nodded, seeming to get it this time.


    “Very well. I will leave now. Perhaps we will meet again, or perhaps not.” He said, already making his way into the forest. Noah watched, bemused.


    “That was crazy,” Kyle said, “did you see his ears? Was he really an elf?” He looked to Julie and then Noah.


    “I think so…” Julie replied. Noah nodded.


    “Wow.” Kyle exhaled.


    “We almost died. Again.” Matt said in a deadpan tone.


    “But we didn’t!” replied Kyle enthusiastically, “Did you see his face when he saw Noah? I think he almost peed himself!” Matt shrugged and sat back down against the tree. Kyle bounded over to the adults.


    “Soo what did he mean that you are evolved? And what did you say about being Iron? Isn’t that metal?” Kyle asked. Julie sighed but Noah only smiled.


    “I think Balkendar was referring to being Iron though our grade being F  appears to be rare for their kind. I assumed it was a bad thing when I first saw my status but it sounds like we started ahead of them. Iron is my caste, I had what the system called a breakthrough when I hit level 10. And speaking of which, we have a lot to talk about.” Noah finished.


    “I’m still level 0.”Kyle replied, deflating a bit.


    “We can work on that” Noah responded.


    “Really?”


    “Really.” Noah saw Julie smile in the corner of his eye.


    “First things first though, let me tell you what I learned.”


    Noah shared about his system messages and the choice he had been given at level 10. They speculated on the domain and debated the best path to take. Matt had even contributed to the conversation, excited about the non-combat potential. Julie had been as surprised as Noah about losing the ability to gain XP from non-combat sources. For her part, she was unsure which path would be most conducive to healing as it was dependent on injuries from combat but wasn’t in itself violent. They spent the rest of the afternoon around the fire, appreciating the normalcy of the moment. Eventually, though hunger won out and Noah set out to retrieve the deer he had left in the clearing. At first, they seemed hesitant to let him leave, but he assured them that he wouldn’t be gone as long this time around.


    By the time Noah returned, it was nearly dark and the crew looked restless. Kyle jumped up and ran over to him as he neared camp.


    “What took you so long? Were you attacked?” He asked, more excited than concerned. Noah shook his head, dropping the cleaned animal near the fire. Julie smiled at him and mouthed ‘thank you’ before starting to process the deer.


    “Just took some time to make the trip. No fights this time.” Noah explained to a disappointed Kyle. He would have to talk to Julie about showing Kyle the ropes. Matt may want to stay in camp but Kyle was eager to try his hand in a fight. Julie volunteered to cook the meat and they sat around the fire as they eagerly awaited the meal. This would be the first meal of the day for them. Julie mentioned that they tried catching fish and looking for edible plants but were hesitant to venture back into the forest. Noah didn’t blame them but he knew that would have to change. There were more people out there who needed help, and he had to prepare to face the lady from his vision. That meant he needed to level and explore progressing his grade and meditating on the next gate. If what the elf said was true, then he could reason that all of those factors worked together to form his caste. Perhaps if he became valuable enough to the System the woman wouldn’t be able to touch him.


    They ate the deer, which was leagues ahead of its canine predecessor, and bantered lightheartedly. Noah did his best to enjoy it, but he felt uneasy as he considered their lack of progress. But that could wait for tomorrow.