Reincarnated as a Dark Elf

  Chapter 1 Starting over in another world

  A Guy living in California who was in the middle of a big move was in a car with some family members driving on the freeway.

  He was talking with his young nephew in the back of the car with his brother n sister driving in the front seat. He was talking a little bit of history with the little boy. The guy loved History an Mythology and said as much to his young nephew.

  Then and Earthquake hit the freeway. The ground shook. Part of the Freeway gave way. The Car Stopped. Then Backed up.

  The nephew got out of the car over the family's objections. The guy got out and ran after the nephew and stopped him before he got too far. But part of the freeway ground starts to give way under the boy's feet. The guy grabs the boy and throws him clear in time. But the guy isn't so lucky. He falls.

  He grabs a ledge and sees his nephew looking at him with distraught fear on his face. The guy says as reassuringly as possible "Don't Worry, Pal."

  But then he sees the ledge giving way and the situation is obvious to the guy. He looks at his distraught nephew and he says quickly "Do me and yourself a favor buddy, Live Your Life."

  He smiles at the boy just before the ledge gives way and he falls. He noticed as he was falling that he was heading towards a dark pit. And he thinks "This can't be helped. I did the right thing."

  He was convinced that he was going to die. And he did. But that wasn't the end.

  The next thing the guy knew he turned into a glowing blue fireball. He didn't know why.

  "Good, you've arrived" came a female voice.

  The guy then realized he was in a magnificent looking chamber surrounded by several different looking men an women dressed in colorful outfits. Several of them didn't quite look human. Some looked like different types of creatures. All of them appeared to be divine.

  "I'm guessing these people might be gods n goddesses" he thought. "Who are all of you" he asked.

  And one by one the Gods n Goddesses introduced themselves with names one would expect for them to have. Mostly.

  At the end of the introductions a large divine dragon beast that kept changing colors introduced himself as "Gral" the dragon god.

  Finally "And I am Senoma, Queen of the Gods" a beautiful regal looking woman said sitting on a wonderful white throne.

  "Please to meet you, your highness I would bow, but I happen to lack a body to do so, please forgive me" the guy said then he moved on to business "Why, have I been brought here" he asked.

  "By order of the supreme being known as the Lord of the Universe we have a task for you mortal" Queen Senoma replied.

  "We are in need of your aid, mortal" Gral added in.

  "I see, but I'm just a normal guy who loved history, mythology and all things nerdy while I was alive, what could I do that you cannot" the guy asked.

  "I'm afraid that we have no choice under the circumstances" Queen Senoma began. "In the world of Argea exists a device that the Lord of the Universe used to create a Universe but has been lost in that world and someone in that world is aware of the device's existence and is actively hunting for it in order to destroy every universe ever created" the queen said.

  "Yes, well, again, why me?" the guy asked.

  The gods and goddesses present seemed reluctant to answer this question.

  Queen Senoma took it from their "We did send the Goddess of War Aries to Argea to stop the person searching for the Universe Destroyer but she was killed by a sacred weapon" the Queen of Gods explained.

  "What, Gods Can be Killed" the Guy exclaimed in surprised. Then he calmed down "So that means, I'm your second choice" he added in.

  "Yes, the person you would be looking for is Medea the Spirit of the Goddess of Death who arranged for the Death of Aries and is now manipulating the spirit of someone you knew, while you were alive" Queen Senoma pointed out.

  "Well that's news to me. I had a fair number of friends while I lived but more importantly how did the Goddess of Death become a spirit" the guy asked.

  "Goddess Medea was responsible for terrible crimes against the gods and to prevent herself from being punished killed herself with a sacred blade we kept and used the spirit of a human that recently died to become reincarnated on Argea. Now they both occupy the same body in that world" Gral explained.

  "So who is it that Goddess Medea is manipulating?" the guy asked.

  "WE CANNOT TELL YOU" all the gods and goddesses present answered.

  "But why" the guy asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

  "The rules forbid us from revealing too much" Gral remarked.

  The guy really didn't like having things kept from him.

  "Again, will you take up this task for us?" Queen Senoma asked. "We promise that should you take on this role your family in your previous life will want for nothing" she added in.

  "But remember that all are in danger including your family" Gral added in his two cents.

  The guy grimaced or would've been if he still had a face. "I feel like I'm heading into a trap, but even so if they were telling the truth then a crisis of monumental proportions was brewing that threatens to destroy my family in my last life, and this is almost like an anime too where you save the world or all of them in the case maybe. Okay I guess my decision is clear" the guy finished with his inner monologue.

  "Alright I'll take on this task and find the Goddess of Death for you" the guy agreed reluctantly.

  Everyone present seemed a bit relieved at this agreement. "I wonder if that look of relief is genuine" the guy thought.

  "Good as a bonus Aries the Goddess of War will be with you in your task as a Mentor and Guide" Queen Senoma said.

  "Wait, if Aries is coming with me, won't that be a problem?" the guy asked.

  "If she wishes to be reincarnated then she will not be a problem for you" Queen Senoma said firmly.

  "Mortal, I want you to remember this symbol" Dragon God Gral said and he puffed out a fireball that turned into the shape of a Spider standing onto a building with a web in the background "Remember this symbol well" he finished.

  Then all the gods and goddesses present all raised their hands power emitted from them. And for the guy everything went white.

  "So this is what it means to be reincarnated" the guy thought. He had seen white just until this moment.

  He was seeing a man and a woman. The man dwarfed the woman like a giant. But both of them seemed overjoyed to see the guy. They were both speaking in an incomprehensible language the guy couldn't understand.

  "Wait, I'm being carried like it's nothing" he thought. Then he realized with a gasp "I've been reincarnated as a baby, which means this giant of a man and this short woman are my parents in this world."

  The man gave the guy a kiss as did his mother they were both overjoyed. And they kept on repeating one word over and over again "Grace."

  "Wait is Grace my name" he wondered. "Well that might not quite be a girl's name in this world, but just in case" he thought.

  He reached down when the parents were looking for a moment and gave out an even bigger internal gasp "Ugh, I'm not feeling anything down there. Nope I'm not. Which means I've been reincarnated as a Baby Girl. Now this is going to suck."

  He, now she then began to cry like any baby would. The parents thought this was normal as they tried to get their daughter to calm down. And thus this was how the guy found out he had been reincarnated as a girl.

  "I've been in this world for only a few months and my name is now Grace Von Kurtz, the daughter of Haakon an Kerone Von Kurtz but why have I been reincarnated as a girl? What reasoning did the gods have for this" Grace thought.

  But she knew no answers would be forthcoming.

  "But now it's time to concern myself with other things" she said as she tried to reach for something in her crib "It's possible for me to lose my mind before I get any older, it's a lot like being put in solitary confinement in jail. One can easily go crazy. Unless you find a way to keep yourself busy. And I have been grabbing things, trying to roll over, sometimes I made it to my side, and I've practiced speaking. Anything I could think of to stay busy everyday I've done it. Even if it was for a little while. It's been nothing but a trial" Grace monologued.

  "Hey baby girl" Haakon said after he appeared at Grace's crib.

  He picked her up very gently. He smiled at his daughter with the loving eyes of a caring father. Grace felt love for her father at this moment and attempted to smile.

  "Ahh isn't that cute" he said about his daughter.

  Consequently Haakon was a member of the Barbarian tribes and all Barbarian men an women were very large and very muscular giants capable of some very heavy lifting and Grace's father was no different. He also had a handsome face.

  "Honey, I think Grace smiled at me just now," Haakon said to his wife Kerone. He seemed to really love his wife.

  "Oh isn't that adorable" Kerone remarked as she took Grace into her arms.

  Kerone was a Dark Elf from the Dark Elf Isle. She might've been much shorter than her husband but was of average human height. She moved with Grace n Finesse. She was strikingly beautiful with a warrior's demeanor. She had white hair, red eyes, and dark skin. And she clearly loved her husband.

  Both were very loving to each other and their infant daughter. "Lunch is ready honey," Kerone announced.

  "Excellent," Haakon remarked.

  They were soon sitting at the living room table eating lunch. They were eating lunch while arguing over something but not getting too angry at each other.

  Grace was trying to follow their conversation without looking like it. She was reluctant to let it out that she was reincarnated.

  A persistent thought was going through her mind and had been for quite sometime "Dad you seem familiar. Like I know you from somewhere. But I can't place where" she thought.

  She couldn't ask anyway. Not now. She couldn't talk yet.

  "Yeah know Grace seemed to be following our conversation" Kerone remarked and they both looked at their child.

  Grace tried to be a baby by grabbing her foot and trying to smile at her parents.

  "Maybe but I don't know," Haakon remarked.

  "It wouldn't surprise me at all if she was starting to comprehend what is going on at her age, she is Half-Dark Elf after all they develop much differently than humans" Kerone pointed out.

  The living room that gave off a cabin in the middle of the forest vibe, it had tables and chairs made of wood, a wooden bookshelf, and what appeared to be a crude sofa with green cushions, somewhere in the center. The atmosphere of the place was meant to be pleasant and comfortable.

  The atmosphere was interrupted when Grace and only her heard an angry female voice say "Ugh, this is unacceptable."

  The area suddenly went dark and Baby Grace found herself in a dark mindscape and face-to-face with Aries, the now dead Goddess of War. And now a spirit. She was sitting on a throne of skulls inside a jail cell. She was totally naked. Except for two long metal straps going down over her body covering all of her naughty areas. She was a beautiful red-headed woman with an angry pissed off look on her face. It was obvious to Grace.

  "Couldn't they pair me with a warrior and not a weakling like you?" she demanded angrily.

  Grace didn't care for Aries attitude but she felt that it was better to act as the adult in the room, so to speak "Look, I'm sorry you were killed by a Sacred weapon" Grace started.

  "Yeah, Imagine being an all-powerful Goddess only to be taken by surprise by a random woman wielding a sacred weapon and not only losing your immortal life to her but your divine status and rank to her" Aries angrily interrupted. "And FYI the Sacred Weapon I was killed with had Hinds blood on it, you might want to look out for those, Argea has dozens of Sacred Weapons" she added in.

  "Thank you for the warning" Grace began again. "But that aside, I think you and I should make a real effort to get along with each other, we're going to be stuck with each other for the foreseeable future," she said.

  "Where are we?" she asked Aries.

  "Were inside your mind" Aries replied "And I just woke up for the first time" she added in.

  "Were inside my mind" Grace exclaimed.

  "Yes the gods put me inside your mind as punishment for letting myself get killed" Aries said.

  "And thus, I've been made your unassuming jailor, oh joy" Grace finished with a lament. "But why do this to you, it seems like cruel and unusual punishment" she asked.

  "The Gods love to play games with each other just as much as they do mortals just to elevate their incurable boredom" Aries explained.

  "Sounds like this is going to be a lot of trouble," Grace remarked.

  "It is and will be" Aries said then she yawned.

  Grace shook her head "I think it's time this conversation ends" she suggested.

  "Agreed" Aries said.

  The atmosphere changed back to the living room and Grace came out of her trance or that's what it looked like to her concerned parents. It was obvious they loved their infant daughter by how they fussed over her in her condition. To them something had obviously happened. But Grace being an infant couldn't tell them what it was. Now she was convinced that there was something very familiar about her father.

  "I'm now a year old with the body expected of a toddler" Grace thought.

  She looked more half Dark-Elf. She had the long ears and dark skin of one. But she had dark hair and dark eyes which showed that she wasn't a full-blooded Dark Elf like her mom.

  "I've just learned that my family home is a large log cabin house that's set in the middle of the Dark Forest as dangerous a place to live in as you can imagine" Grace remarked in her head. "But why live here" Grace asked herself quietly "One of many things I intend to ask my father today among other things" she added in.

  Recently Grace had gotten good enough to speak regularly or pretty close to it and now she wanted to ask her dad a bunch of questions about this or that.

  "Recently I spoke to Aries again and she explained that both Barbarians and Dark-Elves in the world of Argea were very combat oriented. Strength n Fortitude for Barbarians. Speed, Agility, and Battle IQ for Dark Elves. Aries promised that she could work with that. But that was for when I was a little older" Grace inner monologue.

  Grace barely managed to open the front door to the family home and walked outside. Stepping out onto a front porch with a picnic table and benches in front and surrounded by a small wooden fence. The area around the house had been cleared for dozens of yards of tree's n brush making it easy to see anyone coming. Only grass was left and kept short somehow. It was a nice open field immediately around the house.

  A shed was outback behind the house and Grace was heading there. Her dad liked to work there. Her mom was off on a trip somewhere. It always seemed that one parent or another seemed to be gone while the other was present at home. It seemed strange to Grace.

  She found the shed. Its door had been left open.

  Going inside Grace found something awe inspiring. Inside stood her father with a happy look on his face stirring something in a big metal pot. It was glowing with some sort of mana as was Haakon. He looked blissfully happy. Grace saw this and had stars of admiration in her eyes not to mention the biggest smile on her face.

  Running over to her father, she hugged his leg tightly and asked "What 'cha doin" like a certain cartoon character child she had watched in her last life.

  Haakon was briefly taken by surprised "Oh Grace, I'm just mixing something in my Alchemy Pot" He said. He had spoken often in a drawl that Grace found familiar and loved.

  "You've got alchemy," she said gleefully.

  "Yes it's a very lucrative profession in this world, it can be used to make potions, craft weapons, armor, and items, it can even be used to cook food if need be" Haakon said to his daughter.

  "It's so cool, I want to be an Alchemist," Grace said, putting a hand on the alchemy pot and rubbing it slightly. She was all smiles.

  "Well you would need to go to Alchemy School like I did. I went to St. Rava on the Southern Continent" he pointed out to her.

  "So this world has Alchemy School too. I played a video game where you got to go to Alchemy School, and learn a bunch of things and had a ton of super cool adventures, loved it" Grace said with nostalgia.

  "A video game, huh" Haakon said knowingly.

  "Oh crap, I get the feeling I just made a stupid mistake" Grace thought with a mortified look on her face.

  "Kerone and I had a feeling you were reincarnated, you never acted like a normal child even if you were half-Dark Elf. So who were you in your last life, Young Lady" Haakon asked.

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  He looked as if he expected an answer.

  Grace feared a negative reaction. "Who were you in your last life, you had to be reincarnated from Earth to know what video games were" Grace said barely managing a deflection.

  Haakon sighs and tells her his name in his last life.

  Now Grace went white with total shock and awe. "I can't believe, I just heard that" she thought somehow.

  "Now who are you again?" Haakon asked.

  Then he noticed Grace's face and looked surprised. Then she began shedding tears and told him what her name had been in her last life "In my last like I was your son" Grace said then she hugged Haakon's leg again.

  "My Son," he exclaimed in surprise. Now it was his turn to be surprised. "I have my son with me again," he remarked with surprise and joy.

  "Dad, I'm your daughter now" Grace corrected as she looked up at her father with love in her eyes.

  "Um yes, that's true" sounding a little embarrassed.

  "I'm overjoyed to see you again, I never imagined this would ever happen" Haakon said with love in his eyes and hugged his child for the first time in so many years.

  "Just out of curiosity, is mom reincarnated too" Grace asked.

  Haakon only gestured and a pair of arms grabbed Grace and hugged her from behind. They belonged to her mom Kerone "Yes, young lady" Kerone said with her arms wrapped around Grace. It seemed that her trip had been completed "In my last life. I was your father's girlfriend. And I would've stayed with him if I hadn't been run over by a truck" Kerone said.

  "Truck-Kun" Grace remarked knowingly.

  "Pardon," Kerone asked.

  "Not important" Grace replied. "So you two were together in your last lives" She remarked.

  "Yep we were" Kerone replied "But I guess I shouldn't be surprised that your father went on to other women" Kerone remarked.

  "Dad was sort of notorious for going after other girls," Grace added in her two cents.

  "Oh is that so," Kerone teased.

  Haakon looked flustered. "Hey C'mon I was trying to find true love again but I always failed" Haakon said defensively.

  "Oh they weren't good enough for you honey" Kerone remarked slyly.

  "No, none of them were you in the end," Haakon said looking at Kerone.

  Both of them smiled at each other. And then all three of them had a nice laugh. It turned out to be a nice family bonding moment.

  "But still, I wonder what's going on with mom n dad in this world" Grace thought. But she didn't get the chance to answer at the moment.

  "Lately things have been wonderful," Grace thought blissfully. "But I haven't asked my parents what they've been up to. I've been lazy about it. But it should be fine" she added in her thoughts.

  Grace and her mother Kerone were on a small training field near the house. Both Aries and Kerone had insisted to Grace that she start learning the sword.

  And learning it she was right now. With what looked like a Bamboo Kendo Sword.

  Grace for some reason spoke about her mom in her last life. "My mom in my last life was a bit of a mixed bag she scared away all the bullies for me and protected me from being harassed by other kids my age when my teachers wouldn't, but she was a very fiery woman and was notorious for yelling at me over mistakes that I made as a child" Grace said. It sounded a bit ironic coming from Grace who was a child again.

  "Well my mother in my last life was no prize but no demon either, but I prefer to focus more on my second life rather than my first one and you should too young lady" Kerone said.

  "Yes mama Kerone" Grace replied.

  "Now in this life, Before I left the Dark Elf Isle of Jamon, I was considered one of its great warriors along with many other female warriors because women were mostly allowed to become warriors" Kerone remarked.

  "Impressive, I'm guessing that I might've inherited some of those talents" Grace asked as she kept swinging the bamboo sword.

  "I wouldn't be surprised," Kerone remarked. "Stop swinging that for a moment and let me show you something" she asked.

  Grace stopped swinging. As Kerone went over to a wooden carrying case and took out what appeared to be a Katana.

  "This world has Katanas," Grace remarked feeling happy. "I loved Japanese History in my last life" she thought.

  "Well this is the Dark Elf version of a Katana, now quiet" Kerone said.

  Then she got into a stance with the sword and its hilt. She drew her left leg behind her and put her right hand on the Katana. Then she seemed to suddenly disappeared into thin air.

  Grace then noticed several nearby straw dummies get sliced or slashed into pieces.

  Then Kerone reappeared.

  "Wow, do it again, do it again" Grace urged, sounding like the child she was supposed to be.

  "Yeah you're Haakon's kid alright. He reacted just like you did when he saw me do that for the first time" Kerone remarked non-chalantly.

  Grace looked embarrassed. "What's that called?" she asked. "The ability I just used is called "Quick Step ". It's been used by many great Dark Elf Warriors and I was called the Speed Master, for how strategically I could use the ability because it can only last for three or four seconds" Kerone explained to her daughter.

  "And I will teach you how to do it too," she added with a smile. "OHH, I love that idea" Grace said with glee.

  "But before I do, we're changing the subject just for a moment. I need you to open up your magical screen. I need you to check something" Kerone asked.

  "Oh of course no problem" Grace said.

  She had only recently learned to bring it up. Grace made a swiping gesture and a blue magical screen appeared.

  "Why do you want me to do this?" Grace asked.

  "I saw your magical screen the other day and I want to satisfy my curiosity," Kerone replied to her daughter.

  She stepped behind her daughter and read what was on the magical screen. And she gasped at what she read on the Job list "Weapons Master." She remarked as if she wasn't believing what she was reading "Can weaponize anything" she also remarked.

  Grace could tell something was wrong. "Mom what's going on" Grace asked. But she was ignored at first.

  "Oh my dear" Kerone said and sympathetically hugged her child. But she did answer Grace's question "Weapons Master is an incredibly rare job class in this world to acquire let alone be born with. We haven't had one in over a century. And “Can Weaponize Anything” is the rarest skill one can acquire. Only a handful of weapons masters have ever acquired the skill and I can't recall any of them being girls."

  "So that's good," Grace asked.

  Kerone sighed "Yes and No young lady" Kerone began she released Grace from her hug "A Weapons Master Class can potentially Master any and all weapons in the world to their fullest potential and Can Weaponize Anything can allow you to turn anything into a weapon you name it and that skill allows you to weaponize it into something powerful, it's the rarest job skill in the world and equally powerful" Kerone explained.

  "That sounds wonderful," Grace said happily.

  "But there's a downside, people might choose to exploit you for their own ends or they might see you as a threat to them and kill you as soon as they can manage it and since you have the body of a child you are especially vulnerable to either one, never show these to anyone or see terrible things happen before your eyes" Kerone warned.

  Grace felt scared of this and partly attributed it to being a child again. "Will this help?" Grace asked, pointing to another skill on her screen.

  "Ultimate Conceal" Kerone remarked. "Yes if you max out the skill you should be able to hide your true job class and skills as something less dangerous but you must beware of a special scanning spell that can overcome Ultimate Conceal. It's called "Reveal" , Kerone said.

  "How common is this "Reveal" Spell" Grace asked.

  "Not very common but you should be wary regardless," Kerone replied.

  "Yes mom," Grace said.

  "Well that's enough serious talk. It's time for me to teach you Quick Step" Kerone announced.

  Grace nodded and at her mother's behest took the same position she took earlier. Her efforts to learn Quick Step were less than stellar but it was only the first day.

  It was the end of the day. And Grace was walking out to the shed.

  "Dad, Mom said dinner is nearly ready" Grace announced as she entered the shed.

  She expected her Dad to be working with the Alchemy Pot again. Which Grace had been enjoying a lot lately.

  But instead Haakon was cleaning what looked like a large saddle with a collar attached. Except it was much larger than a horse's saddle. It was large with leather straps, and turquoise metal belt buckles.

  Grace had stars in her eyes and a smile on her lips at seeing this. "What's that, what's that?" Grace asked with child-like excitement. She even ran up to it.

  "Don't Touch," Haakon quickly said.

  She obeyed her father.

  "This my dear is my old Dragon Saddle" He told her. "Sometimes I like to take it out of my old Magical Storage Space and remember my old flying partner," he said.

  "We've got Dragon's in this world" Grace said with extra enthusiasm.

  "Wow, I'm surprised at how much you love this in particular" Haakon remarked.

  "I once saw a movie about a Viking Boy who trained a Dragon so he could ride it. I loved it" Grace answered.

  "I think I saw the same movie once," Haakon said thoughtfully. "Now look at this" He said and he pointed to a jewel attached to a belt on the Dragon Saddle. "This is one of my earliest Alchemy inventions. It allowed me to overcome the language barrier that I had with my dragon and to have a real conversation with him and everyone else" Haakon said.

  “Wow” Grace remarked with wonderment you expect in a child.

  They both had a conversation of their own for sometime until they remembered it was dinnertime.

  "Oh it's time to go" Haakon said and he made a circle gesture with his hand and a blue magical circle appeared and made the Dragon Saddle instantly disappear by going through the circle.

  "Magical storage space" Haakon said before Grace could answer and then put his finger over his lips to indicate to Grace that she was not to say anything more about this.

  "Hey Daddy, can we please visit a town like a family?" Grace asked.

  "What" Haakon said with a fearful look on his face. He looked truly terrified. "We'll talk about this over dinner" he said after a long and scary second.

  That proved to be a long and interesting conversation. Grace ended up at the end of it having a feeling something was off and that her parents were keeping some secret.

  "I'm now two years old and today is my birthday and my parents are taking me to a real human town as their present to me. It seems as if this town is one they've visited several times before" Grace inner monologue.

  She now looked like the cute two year old child she was. She had short dark hair that went to her shoulders. She put on the traveling outfit of a shirt n brown pants and walked out of her room down the stairs and to her waiting parents outside.

  They had on hoods and cloaks. "Put this on sweety" Kerone asked, presenting a hood and cloak that was Grace's size.

  She did as she was asked with a smile on her face. She was thrilled to see a real town in the world of Argea. Grace then noticed that her Dad was a few feet shorter.

  "Dad, why are you shorter?" Grace asked.

  "We're heading into a human town where my unusually large frame would make me stand out, so I'm wearing an item that made me shrink to the size of a regular human," Haakon explained.

  "C'mon let's go," Kerone insisted. Her katana was under her cloak. And Haakon had a hammer under his cloak.

  They went to a well-camouflaged area and uncovered the outline of what appeared to be the outline of a portal.

  "Me or your mother are the only ones that can activate this portal" Haakon announced as he gave it some of his Mana.

  The portal activated and it showed what appeared to be a forest on the other-side but less menacing. The whole Von Kurtz family stepped through the portal to the other side.

  On the other side was a Medieval looking forest and a dirt road going through it. A town with city walls could be seen some distance away. The outline of a portal was well-concealed close by in the forest. It quickly deactivated.

  A farmer's wagon rolled by carrying wheat. The Von Kurtz family soon came to the nearby town. "Allow me to introduce Hickory Town," Haakon announced. "So named for all the Hickory trees in the area" he added in.

  A large gate was nearby with several wagons waiting to be admitted with guards standing guard. A smaller gate stood nearby also guarded with some people waiting to be admitted.

  "This is just like in some fantasy anime" Grace thought.

  The Von Kurtz family were admitted under a false name. This concerned Grace but she kept her silence.

  The inside of the town was busy. The marketplace had a variety of goods waiting to be sold with people buying them. And plenty of merchants were shouting out sales pitches in an attempt to attract customers. The family ignored them.

  But Grace took a good look at them before moving on. She was loving the whole experience.

  "Well I'll see you two later, I have a delivery to make" Haakon announced and he waved goodbye to his wife and daughter.

  Both parents up till now had been holding Grace's hands while she had been sandwiched between them. But now it was just Kerone and Grace.

  Grace kept looking in every direction.

  "From what I can tell it's mostly a Medieval setting with elements of Fantasy worked in" Grace thought. Other than a busy market, there were a lot of neat houses, nice clean streets, pubs, inns, blacksmiths, stables, and other places. A giant crystal was set at the center of the town.

  "See that honey, that giant crystal is used to instantly light up all the light posts when nighttime comes" Kerone explained to Grace. This produced a smile from the child.

  They soon came to the town's largest pubs called "Clara's Hole."

  Inside men and women were sitting down drinking, smoking, and talking. Barmaids dressed in cute outfits were moving around serving food or drink to bar patrons. It stank of smoke, vomit, and spilled booze. The place had a run down look to it with wooden tables and chairs.

  Kerone got a corner table and sat Grace on her lap as she ordered a mildly alcoholic drink. Grace got fruit juice.

  "I hope you don't mind, honey," Kerone asked.

  "It's fine, I was a tea-totter in my last life, well most of the time" Grace replied quietly. "Why are we here?" she asked.

  "Take a moment and look around, tell me what you see," Kerone asked.

  "Lots of people," Grace answered.

  "Yes, but can you see something more personal about---" and then she looked around for a moment "Him" she said. She pointed to a man in the far corner drinking a beer. "Look and listen carefully then tell me what you can about him" Kerone asked.

  Grace looked as closely as she could at him "He's sad" she said after a minute.

  "Yes , but look closer," Kerone asked. Grace tried to look closer. "Look carefully" Kerone asked.

  "He's also sick," Grace said after a second. "Is it something contagious?" Grace asked.

  "Look for yourself," Kerone replied.

  "No it's a minor cold, but still he shouldn't be drinking beer" Grace said after a second.

  "No, but people in this world don't know any better, well not when it comes to colds now focus on someone else" Kerone asked.

  Kerone n Grace spent sometime discerning secrets about the other Bar Patrons hidden or otherwise. Kerone was teaching Grace to truly read people at this moment.

  After a while Grace asked "How are you able to figure out everyone's little secrets? Was it something you could do in your last life?"

  "No silly" Kerone replied and she tickled Grace who gave out a small giggle. "My family in this life taught me, and I was no older than you when they started teaching me," Kerone said. Then she suddenly got a little despondent and frowned.

  "You miss them?" Grace asked out of concern.

  "A little. They weren't bad people. Well, most of them. But when I encountered your dad and I realized that he was my crush from my last like I knew that I had been given a second chance to be with him and for that I willingly gave up my job, my very high social standing, my family, my reputation, and even the man selected to become my husband all to be with him" Kerone explained.

  "That was brave of you" Grace praised.

  "I know," Kerone replied. Then she remembered something "Grace honey, whatever you do in life don't be afraid to act on your conscious" she said "And also whatever you do never got to the Dark Eld Isle they like to behead outsiders and the children of Dark Elves and outsiders are subjected to terrible cruelties before they die, so promise me you won't go their" Kerone said.

  "I promise, mama Kerone," Grace replied.

  Kerone hugged Grace for that. "Good, it's time to go," Kerone said.

  She looked around the place as she ushered Grace out the pub door. She was trying her best to be alert.

  Outside things were busy with people walking around heading to many different places. They joined the crowd. They walked in the crowd briefly.

  Then Grace's hand slipped out of Kerone's and someone in a cloak snatched Grace away.

  She cried out for help as loud as she could. Kerone called out Grace's name and called for help when no answer came. Grace had been kidnapped.

  Grace kept on calling out for help but not out of fear. She kept doing it so they would draw attention.

  "Quiet, you little brat" the kidnapper demanded.

  They soon took Grace to a rundown alleyway. They weren't alone. At least a dozen thugs were present. They were armed with knives, clubs, and a sword or two.

  "Of course I would end up kidnapped in another world in more ways than one" Grace thought.

  "Why did you take me?" Grace asked calmly.

  Some big guy slapped Grace in the head and she fell to the ground. But quickly got up again after instinctively preventing her head from hitting the ground.

  "That really hurt" she thought. Some blood had come out of her nose.

  The big guy then picked up Grace by the collar of her cloak and hood. She could easily slip out and run for it. But she wouldn't be able to move quickly and Grace didn't want anyone to know that she was Half-Dark Elf. She felt that would be a disaster.

  "Your parents are into something they shouldn't be" the big guy started "And someone wants them" he finished.

  For the moment Grace pretended to be afraid. She was more intrigued than scared. But then she noticed a symbol under the man's cloak: it was of a Spider on top of a building with a web behind it. Grace then remembered Gral's fiery clue. This time she was afraid for real. She looked the big guy in the eye. He looked at her for a moment.

  "Is this the man the gods asked me to find and stop. No. It's too easy. This guy is just someone's lackey" Grace thought after a moment.

  Then chaos broke out. A bunch of tiny objects showed up and began to shoot themselves in every direction. These tiny objects were knocking down thugs right and left. Some even died.

  "What’s happening?" the big guy asked out of fear.

  Everything around them seemed to be getting wrecked. Most of it was trash to begin with but it contributed to the chaos. And there appeared two figures in hoods and cloaks.

  Grace just knew who they were. "GIVE BACK OUR DAUGHTER" they both shouted in unison.

  "Yep that's them" Grace thought.

  "Don't move," the Big Guy demanded, holding a knife to Grace.

  "Oh I forgot I was being held off the ground by this moron. What a small and pathetic looking knife" Grace thought.

  She finally slipped out of her cloak and hood and began running. But she didn't get far.

  "Oh no you don't" the Big Guy started when he grabbed Grace's shoulder and surprised her. "What the" the big guy said when he noticed Grace's skin color and long pointy ears.

  This caused her to take a deep breath and focus on her Quick Step training. Something finally clicked into place and she was able to use Quick Step to slip out of the Big Guy's grip in a flash and ended up behind her Dad.

  Her mom used her Katana to slay the Big Guy. He quickly died.

  Kerone quickly retrieved her daughter's hood and cloak and handed them back. "We're leaving," Haakon announced.

  "Daddy, the big nasty man had some really weird symbols under his cloak. It was of a Spider on top of a building with a web in the background" Grace described quickly.

  Haakon stopped and went over to the dead man's body and stomped on it till it was destroyed. "We're leaving now" Haakon repeated.

  He, and Kerone were in a hurry to get Grace out of Hickory town. Soon they were outside of town and they quickly found the portal to home and used it. They would just as quickly end up back home in the dangerous Dark Forest.

  They walked towards the house. "Dad, what's going on?" Grace asked.

  "Later Grace" Haakon replied.

  He and Kerone looked unhappy.

  But Grace looked most unhappy of all. She used Quick Step to quickly grab the collar of her father's outfit forcing him to hunch down a bit.

  "Wow, you're getting better already," Kerone remarked.

  "Dad, I might look like a child, but we both know that I have the mind of a fully grown adult. So whatever it is I can accept the truth. Just tell me before something else happens" Grace demanded.

  Kerone spoke "Grace, what we're involved with is bigger than both of us, it involves the freedom of all people's, freedom from the machinations of an organization that's far too obsessed with the idea of control" she explained.

  "We've been trying not to involve you in this sweetheart, because it's way too dangerous," Haakon added.

  "As Dangerous as losing Argea, Earth, and every other universe that's been created," Grace asked.

  "WHAT" both said in unison.

  "After that I explained to my parents exactly why I was reincarnated into this world. I'm sure you can imagine their reactions. Afterwards my training picked up considerably. But they still didn't tell me everything they knew from their side. It was annoying but I couldn't do much about it" Grace inner monologue.

  Three masked and hooded individuals were walking down the run down alleyway in Hickory town. They were flanked by a large entourage of well-armed guards with hoods and masks over their faces. They were surveying the chaos left behind by the Von Kurtz family.

  "What a mess" the masked young man with a Frog on his mask said.

  All three masked individuals sported the Spider Symbol on their cloaks, the one standing on a building with a web in the background.

  "But it wasn't all bad, we now know that our enemy visits this town, most likely to make deliveries, we should leave someone in this town to make and tail Haakon Von Kurtz should he return" the woman with a Swallow on her mask said.

  "But he also might deliver to other towns" the Frog replied. He was younger than the woman and her son.

  But the only one clearly in Authority was the third hooded individual. He was the Frog's father and the Swallows Husband. He was known as the Golem.

  Not only did he have a Golem on his mask but a Golem Arm for a left arm. The result of an unfortunate encounter some years ago. "We must redouble our efforts to find Haakon Von Kurtz and his terrible wife" the Golem pointed out.

  Some of the thugs the Von Kurtz's knocked out were heard in the background moving and groaning. "Some of the thugs we hired are still alive," the Frog pointed out.

  "Oh what to do," the Swallow said, pretending to be confused.

  "Kill them. It's their punishment for their failure" The Golem ordered.

  The Frog went off to give the order to the guards present and aid in its execution.

  "So what has the Grand Spider ordered us to do again?" The Swallow asked.

  "The Grand Spider has ordered us to find Haakon and Kerone Von Kurtz kill them and steal as many of their secrets as possible," the Golem announced.

  "Oh Honey, you're so ruthless" the Swallow said affectionately.

  "Proud of it" the Golem replied just as affectionately to his wife.