Favor

He made do in the living room for the night. The next day, he had the slaves clear out all the clutter and bought all new furniture. He also needed to look into Sun Sail Harbor's logistics. A trade ship had just returned to port, and some of the resources passing through were exactly what Shane needed.

After cleaning himself up and enjoying lunch, he headed for the docks feeling refreshed. High elves had largely been freed from manual labor; at a glance, all those moving cargo on the docks were mechanical constructs. He quickly found the Dawnblade berth, where several constructs were at work.

"Lord Shane?" The elf managing the constructs spotted Shane.

"It's me." This was where the importance of rank showed. Spellcasters stood at the top of elven society, sharing the nation's power with military nobles such as rangers.

"Welcome to inspect our work." Transportation work at the docks would never be left to spellcasters. Someone else would be assigned to handle it.

"I heard he's entered the library. If I'd worked harder back then, perhaps I could have been called a mage as well." The dock manager thought enviously.

"Show me the cargo manifest for the docks."

"Please, take a look."

Before long, the managing elf brought over a stack of forms. Shane immediately crossed out everything that was not material-related, leaving only metals and arcane dust.

"Mithril, thorium, and dust essence—leave twenty percent for me. I'll take all the steel ingots and half the black iron." He swiftly scribbled annotations onto the forms.

The managing elf opened his mouth but said nothing.

"I'll compensate you with golden ginseng produced by the nursery."

Only then did the dock manager leave. The family had entrusted logistics to Shane in the first place to win him over and cultivate him, so he decisively took a share for himself.

When he returned to his cottage, the newly delivered furniture had just been piled outside the door. Shane personally used Levitation and Mage Hand to arrange it on the second floor.

When he returned to the first floor, something about the environment seemed to have changed. It did not feel quite natural.

"Report: a female elf has intruded. Hostility detection: slight hostility." The Eye of Truth issued a warning as well.

"Detection. Temperature Measurement." Two points of arcane light fell to the floor, stirring up circular halos. Before the spells could return any feedback, the hidden shadow emerged on its own.

"I have never seen an elf so decisive and so shameless." The newcomer had a swan-like neck, her chin slightly raised.

"Uh... Lady Alleria." Why did both sisters have a habit of following people around? Shane grumbled inwardly.

"I came to find Vereesa. You took her back from here a few days ago. Why am I telling you so much? I'm leaving."

With the Eye of Truth's help, Shane detected that Alleria had not gone far. It seemed she had treated him as a beacon for finding Vereesa. The night was very quiet, aside from those eyes constantly watching the cottage.

On the balcony, three arcane spheres circled above Shane's head. He slowly spread open his left hand, and three more spheres appeared, moving in concentric orbits. His control had improved a little. Shane moved the spheres in his hand above his head as well, and the attempt succeeded. The two sets of spheres revolved around each other overhead, though the later set moved somewhat slower.

"I wonder what Vereesa is doing right now?" Shane leaned back in his chair, maintaining the rotating spheres as his thoughts turned to the youngest Windrunner sister and the problems ahead. With the Eye of Truth, could he alter his former plans? "Ah... achoo... Who's cursing me?"

"Running out in the middle of the night to find a man? My dear little sister."

"I wasn't looking for a man. I only came to see Shane."

"What is your relationship? You think about him every day."

"We're... friends, bros... yes, that's right, bros."

"What's so good about that shameless male elf?"

"Ah... achoo." The two sisters' voices drifted over on the wind. Shane put away the arcane spheres and looked in that direction. The woods were pitch-black, and he could not see anything. He did not dare cast a flare or any similar spell, fearing he might enrage the female tyrannosaur.

"Night Vision." The second-circle spell settled over him, allowing him to see in the darkness. Two female elves stood confronting each other atop separate tree branches.

Whoosh. A long arrow embedded itself before Shane's feet, accompanied by the female tyrannosaur's gaze, fierce enough to pierce his heart with ten thousand arrows.

All right, the female tyrannosaur was already furious.

Vereesa seized the chance to flee. The two sisters moved with graceful figures, weaving and leaping like elegant mana dragons. Only after they both vanished into the night did Shane withdraw his gaze.

The arrow embedded in the floor reflected the moonlight. It took some effort to pull it out. Its arrowhead was made of mithril and bore the Windrunner emblem. Shane put it away; perhaps it would be useful someday.

At that moment, fireworks went off in the neighboring manor. That neighbor was a wealthy man who loved parties and banquets, making friends all day long or inviting passing travelers to join the revelry. He had invited Shane before, but Shane had refused.

Over their long lives, pleasure had become the main theme for most elves. Shane neither wanted nor could live as they did. Class divisions among elves began with their ways of life.

"If I didn't have memories of my previous life, perhaps I would be like them, drinking fine wine, holding female elves, and indulging my energy." Shane lay back in his chair again, honing his spellcraft with the stars for company.

"I'm still missing a power core and an intelligence core for construct-making materials. Tomorrow, I'll visit the family elders and my mentor to see whether I can ask for some." Shane knew that even privilege had to be used with restraint, so he decided to visit Silvermoon City.

Under the radiance of the Sunwell, Quel'Thalas was always blessed with fair weather, and today was no exception. As he walked along a side road in Silvermoon City, he came across a female elf sitting on a roadside stone, her mood just as bright as the weather.

"Vereesa! They didn't catch you and take you back?" Shane smiled in the sunlight.

"My eldest sister hurriedly left Silvermoon City today, so I came out." Ease was written all over Vereesa's face.

"Where did Lady Alleria go?" Shane remembered that Alleria had left to help the humans. That would have been during the Second War.

"My eldest sister went to the Ghostlands. The trolls over there have been very restless lately."

He still could not determine the exact point in time.

"I'm heading to Silvermoon City. Want to come along?"

"Sure, but wouldn't it be especially strange for a Windrunner and a Dawnblade to be together?"

"I don't think so. Any elves who see us will probably think: Look, the Windrunners are butting heads with the Dawnblades again."

Pfft. "That's a very vivid way to put it." The two clans' family traditions were simply too incompatible, and their petty rivalries had been sung of by elves for ten thousand years. Ten thousand years. "What are you going to Silvermoon City for?"

"I'm studying Construct Biology. I've reached the practical stage and am preparing to find a few construct cores."

"Huh? You got there that fast? Are you even an elf? You only entered the library not long ago, right?" Vereesa's ears stood straight up as she cupped Shane's face and looked him over from side to side.

"Stop it." Shane knocked Vereesa's hands away. "I'm very confident when it comes to craftsmanship."

"Looks like I need to work harder too. Mm, mm." Vereesa encouraged herself, then patted her chest. "I know where to find construct cores. Leave it to me, Shane."

The Windrunner family held an unparalleled position among rangers and sentinels, and their forces possessed many mechanical guards. Over countless years, they had accumulated considerable resources.

Vereesa's solution was to salvage old cores. There was no need to enter the city. After making one round through the construct graveyard guarded by the Windrunner family, they obtained five power cores and two intelligence cores.

"User, even after repairs, performance will be reduced by ten percent compared to new cores. However, the design has a twenty percent performance margin. Reducing it to ten percent will not affect final performance." The Eye of Truth reminded him when he acquired them.

There was always a reason they had not been recycled.

"You really helped me out again. Thank you, Vereesa." Shane spoke to the elf at his side.

"No need to be so polite. We're... we're... we're good bros!"

Shane saw that Vereesa's face had reddened slightly. "As thanks, let's go back and have a feast."

"Yes, yes, yes! You have to make it yourself. I want apple pie."