Chapter 156: Elf Kingdom (Part-1)

Disappointment. That’s what I am feeling right now.

I thought I would just step inside the teleportation gate— and bam! A beautiful Elven city, as I’ve seen on the internet, will appear before my eyes.

But that didn’t exactly happen…

First of all, this teleportation gate shit is not nearly as cool as it sounds. I mean, it kinda is, but the experience itself is not comfortable at all. It felt like someone has put me inside a strong compressor and my body is being crushed from all sides. Even after coming out, I am feeling really nauseous, barely able to stand on my feet right now.

Secondly, instead of a beautiful city, I am currently standing in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by a dense forest. Honestly, I would’ve started panicking, thinking that something has gone wrong if there weren’t a bunch of fancy-looking cars parked right in front of us.

“You might a feel a bit queasy, but don’t worry. Nothing’s wrong with your body,” Naomi says, addressing our group. “Teleportation isn’t exactly pleasant for people with low-level systems.”

Now that I notice it, everyone except the humans looks completely fine. On the other hand, we look sickly pale and utterly exhausted.

“Let me help you out.”

Naomi raises her hand and waves it at us. Instantly, the nauseous feeling in my stomach vanishes and my body starts feeling strangely energized.

Hah~ this is better…

I think I need to level up quickly if I want to learn Space magic in the future.

[Eh… you need to have the affinity if you want to use any Primordial magic? Remember?]

Who knows, maybe I do?

[Oh, come on. I told you, didn’t I? It is extremely rare to have an affinity with a single Primordial element, and you are thinking about having it with two? If you want to dream, then dream about having a bigger dick. You can at least have that someday.]

Never mind…

…

“Please listen here,” Ilyrana speaks up next in her dignified and calm voice, gathering everyone’s attention.

“We’re currently an hour away from our capital city, Ieproalia. Sorry for the inconvenience, but the barrier around the capital city makes it impossible for the teleportation gate to materialize within a hundred-mile radius.

“So, as you might have guessed already, we’ll be traveling by the cars you see here. For security reasons, these cars only take in registered individuals, limiting to only two passengers per car. In a few seconds, your names will appear floating above the car assigned to you, so search for it and get inside. We will leave immediately afterward.

“Oh, and a little warning; please don’t try to forcibly enter any car other than the one assigned to you, or you might get seriously injured,” she informs us.

The moment she stops speaking, brightly glowing letters appear above the cars, assembling together into different names.

“…? Instead of so many cars, why not just arrange a bus for us or something?” I ask in a low voice, shaking my head.

“We’re traveling with the royalty, Jacob. You think a bus will look good?” Kate says with a chuckle.

“Buses can be fancy, too, you know…” I mutter with a shrug.

Naomi and the princesses move first. As their cars are parked closest to the teleportation gate, they quickly enter them along with one of their bodyguards (in Naomi’s case, with her apprentice, Mia). And the moment they close the doors, the names glowing above their cars vanishes.

Following them, the rest of us quickly spread around the clearing as well, searching for our assigned cars. As the names keep vanishing, it’s not much difficult to find them, and luckily, mine is not too far away, either.

“Oh, Maya. Looks like we’re in the same car,” I say as both Maya and I arrive next to our car at the same time.

“Ah… N-Nice,” she says quietly with reddened cheeks, taking a step back in surprise.

Now that we’re alone together, Maya is obviously reacting a bit awkwardly— and I think I know why. After she kissed me at the hospital a few days ago, there hasn’t been a proper conversation between the two of us. In fact, with me being so busy with the tournament and her not initiating anything, we haven’t talked that much at all.

And thus, we still haven’t actually defined our relationship. What’s worse, she might even be overthinking things because it kind of looks like I am trying to avoid the subject, which isn’t true.

So, I really need to step up and make everything clear to her. And this is the perfect opportunity to do so…

I open the door of the car, gesturing Maya to get inside— though she doesn’t move from her place, her eyes widening in surprise. With a frown, I trace the line of her sight and look inside the car.

“What the…?”

“Wow!”

Am I tripping!?

Instead of normal car seats, there’s a really cozy-looking couch that is large enough to seat at least four people. With more than enough legroom, there’s even a table in front of the couch full of fruits and snacks— of course, followed by a large monitor screen attached to the wooden wall in front. The driver is probably on the other side of this wall.

But these luxuries aren’t what surprising us; it’s the fact that all of them can fit inside this relatively small car. The dimensions of the inside of the car don’t match that of the outside at all.

[Space magic, again. These Elves sure are overworking their Primordial magic-user.]

Magic is amazing…

Feeling excited and a bit nervous, Maya and I enter the car and sit down on the couch. Looking outside the window, I note that everyone else has entered their cars as well. That means, we’re ready to move.

Hmm… wait a second…

“Hey, Maya, did you see any road or path leading to this place?” I ask.

“… No, not really.”

She thinks for a while before answering with a frown.

…

“Then how exactly are we going to get out of the forest? No, wait, how did these cars even come—”

Before I could finish even my question, I get the answer. Shaking slightly, our car starts moving, and the scene outside the window changes.

But the thing is, the car is not moving forward or backward— it’s fucking moving up!

“AAAAAAH!”

Maya lets out a short scream and grabs my arm in fright. Holding her firmly, I look outside the window again, only to see a marvelous sight. Simultaneously, all the cars in the clearing are rising up in the air, going above the forest.

“Holy shit… we’re in an actual flying car. I-I cannot believe it,” I mutter in amazement, my mind blown completely.

I’ve seen flying cars before, but only on the internet. They are extremely rare and are strictly available only to the super important people. In fact, I don’t think anyone in the human countries even owns one, not even bigshots like politicians.

But well, I am inside one right now… God damn…

Once at a certain height, the cars stop ascending and start moving forward instead. Like a little kid, I stick my face close to the window and giddily stare outside with a wide grin on my face.

Sorry, I cannot help it. This is a dream-come-true moment for me.

…

“Wait, what’s that?”

Suddenly, I notice a tiny ball of light flickering unsteadily at a distance. Interestingly, I can clearly see it even though it’s daytime. We seem to be heading towards that ball of light.

Is Ieproalia near that thing?

{Correct, master. You’re looking at the World System Tower.}