Several minutes later, the doors opened again, and exiting from the royal library was Elaine absentmindedly walking forward, not even paying attention to her surroundings.
"I know the manual is interesting, sister, but at least pay attention to where you walk, lest you trip again." Said Elif, waving his hand, catching Elaine with his Qi before she landed face-first on the ground.
"Sorry, brother, but the Cultivation Manual is so interesting, even if I can't fully understand it. Now I'll be able to cultivate like everyone else." Replied Elaine, feeling slightly embarrassed at having tripped before everyone, though the embarrassment she felt was quickly replaced by excitement.
"Well then, dear, come with me; we must prepare some stuff before you can begin cultivating. Marcus, mind tending to the special guests that have arrived while I'm helping Elaine." Said Maria, carrying Elaine in her arms before disappearing along with Elaine.
"What's mother planning to do? Also, when did we have guests arriving?" Asked Elif, turning around and looking at Marcus in slight confusion.
"Maria is going to help Elaine prepare resources that will increase her sensitivity to Qi, and to be fair, I didn't know we had guests until they arrived in Yggdrasil. However, come with me since our guests are special; you should also greet them." Replied Marcus, having teleported Elif and himself back to the castle while Tiana and Tyler had quietly vanished.
'Guests that require father and me to greet them personally? They must indeed be special; however, how come I didn't get any resources that increased my sensitivity to Qi?' Pondered Elif while following behind Marcus as they made their way to a room specially meant to house guests.
After a little bit of walking, we arrived at our destination, to which father swiftly opened the doors and entered inside, with me following right behind. The room was quite large, with beautiful decorations placed everywhere, along with several seats to accommodate a significant number of people. Currently, there were a couple of people occupying said seats.
Sitting closer to me were two people, a beautiful young girl who looked to be the same age as me and an older man, most likely around father's age; however, they both radiated a dignified demeanor. Though they weren't Elves, far from it; in fact, their see-through bodies and large beautiful wings on their back were enough for me to deduce they were Fairies; however, that wasn't surprising as there are a good amount of Fairies residing in Yggdrasil.
Now the two sitting across from the Fairies consisted of a young boy and an older woman, both being similar in age to father and I, and just like the other group, they weren't Elves either. Their constitution resembled an Elf's, but the long green vines for hair atop their head and leaves protruding out of their body informed me they were Druids, which, once again, many druids inhibit Yggdrasil.
"Queen Nerthus, Patriarch Aasveig. It's good to see you both, and you didn't come alone; if you had informed us of your arrival, we could've prepared a banquet of some kind ahead of time. Stated Marcus with a smile, nodding at both adults as he walked past them and sat down, while Elif copied his actions with a curious expression.
"We must apologize for that, Emperor Marcus; we knew today was an important day, so we didn't wish to intrude any more than we already have." Said Patriarch Aasveig nobly as his dignified demeanor vanished and was replaced with a gentle one.
"Patriarch Aasveig is right; we had arrived unannounced simply for that reason, though as today was an important day, we had come bearing gifts. We hope you'll accept them." Said Queen Nerthus calmly as two-spirit rings suddenly appeared on the table before Marcus.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I won't be able to accept them, though I'll gift them to my daughter as a birthday gift if you will." Replied Marcus as he took the two-spirit rings and stored them in his own.
"Well, that's fine; we expected that would happen anyways; however before we continue, how about letting the younger ones introduce themselves?" Said Patriarch Aasveig with a smile before looking at each of the children.
"Ahh yes, of course, Elif, introduce yourself." Said Marcus, signaling Elif to introduce himself first.
"I'm Elif, the Crown Prince of the Immortal Elven Empire; It's a pleasure to be of your acquaintance, Patriarch Aasveig and Queen Nerthus." Announced Elif, standing up from his seat, smiling, and greeting them with a slight bow while removing the quạt tay covering half of his face, allowing everyone to gaze upon his charming features, resulting in a certain young girl blushing.
"I'm Birger, the Crown Prince of the Divine Druid Kingdom; it's an honor to meet you, Emperor Marcus and Prince Elif." Said the young Druid boy, though he seemed to hold a lot of respect for Elif with how he looked at him.
Once Birger sat back down, we looked over to the young Fairy, yet we noticed she seemed to be staring at me in a daze while blushing; of course, it was pretty easy for everyone here to figure out why she was in such a daze, though no one pointed it out, most likely didn't wish to embarrass her before such an audience.
"Eyvor, do you plan just to sit there? Introduce yourself." Said Patriarch Aasveig, feeling slightly embarrassed at his daughter's actions, though he couldn't blame her as she had just entered that stage in her life.
"Ahh, s-sorry, father. I'm Eyvor, the current heir to the Divine Fairy Clan; It's a pleasure to meet you both, Emperor Marcus and Prince Elif." Said the young Fairy, feeling embarrassed at getting caught staring at Elif, though she would constantly peek at Elif after sitting down.
"Well then, now that the introductions are out of the way, why the sudden visit?" Asked Marcus, as his demeanor went slightly serious.
"Before that, though, how about letting the younger ones get to know each other? I'm sure they won't be interested in hearing what we have to discuss." Mentioned Queen Nerthus, though Marcus was perceptive enough to understand her hidden meaning.
"Yes, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Elif, give Birger and Eyvor a tour of the castle or city." Said Marcus, patting Elif's shoulder.
I don't know about the other two, but it was pretty apparent to me that they were going to talk about something somewhat important if they wanted to get rid of us, though honestly, I wasn't that interested currently, so I didn't bother asking father about it and just stood up while signaling to both Birger and Eyvor.
"Follow me; as the host, I believe it's only right to give you a proper tour of the surroundings." Declared Elif as he walked past everyone and headed to the exit, with Birger and Eyvor following behind.
'Ok, now what do I do? There isn't anything interesting happening in the castle, nor is there much going on in Yggdrasil, but I guess exploring the city would be more fun than walking around a palace.' Thought Elif as he began walking in the direction of where his carriage is at while talking to Illumia via divine sense.
"So, seeing as the both of you arrived together, do you two perhaps know each other?" Asked Elif as he turned around and started walking backward.
"No, today is our first time meeting each other." Answered Eyvor swiftly, only to feel slightly embarrassed shortly after.
"Well then, what about your age? I'm sure we are rather close in age?" Asked Elif, trying his best to lighten the awkward atmosphere that Eyvor created while also being a good host, though since it was his first time, he didn't really know what to do.
"I'm eight years old, Prince Elif." Replied Birger.
"I'm also eight, Prince Elif." Answered Eyvor, less hasty this time.
"I hope this isn't presumptuous to ask of me, but if you don't mind, I would like to experience your strength, Prince Elif." Asked Birger, full of curiosity and expectation.
That wasn't something I expected to hear from them, well at least not this quickly, though I figured it would provide more entertainment than venturing throughout Yggdrasil.
"That is quite a disrespectful thing to ask while we are-" Stated Eyvor, who was also surprised at his sudden request for a duel, and even though she was admonishing his actions, she, herself, was also interested to see how powerful the Prince of an Immortal Empire was.
"Hmm, why not? A little spar would definitely be more interesting than exploring the city; follow me." Said Elif, a smirk appearing on his face, though his quạt tay quickly concealed it.
With both of them following behind me, we made our way to the training grounds, and as we walked through it, everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed toward me, which was nothing special for the three of us, considering our status.
"Your highness, Prince Birger, Young Mistress Eyvor." Said Illumia, who had been waiting at the entrance of the royal training area for their arrival.
"Prince Birger and I will have a little duel, so you'll be the judge." Said Elif, walking into the training area before suddenly disappearing from his spot and appearing inside the arena, internally shocking both Eyvor and Birger at his casual display of speed.
"What are you waiting for, Prince Birger? let's try and make this quick, don't want father to know what we were up to." Said Elif, putting his quạt tay in his dimension ring while hurrying Birger.