Ambrose was caught of guard. He had still been worried about whether to get involved or try to back out of things. However, it was clear that he wasn't going to get an easy way out of it. He figured the best option for him would be to accept the task and make the most of it. After all, he'd at least get to see and do things that no ordinary Human would ever have a chance to. After a little thinking, he decided on what his next move should be. "I'd like to visit the region and talk to the local authorities."

Frode nodded. "Very well, I'll try to get you into contact."

Only a few days after that, they set out towards the autonomous zone. The journey was pretty uncomfortable, although not due to their means of transport, which were comfortable wagons. They had even been assigned a few guards. No, it was due to the tension between Itzal and Maiara. The latter had decided she'd be unable to get a grasp of the situation if Itzal would be running around to mess things up and that she'd have to forsake the idea of making thorough preparations. While those two avoided each-other, the people they had brought along seemed a bit more talkative. It's why Ambrose decided to let curiosity get the better of him and approached them.

Ambrose managed to strike up a short conversation with Luna, after she had asked him how he'd gotten involved in all of this. He wasn't entirely sure what to think of Forest Elf. She had quite a charming appearance and the mannerisms to back that, but something about her automatically put Ambrose on guard. It wasn't just the fact that she murdered someone. There was something else about her that told Ambrose to be weary.

The same applied to his contact with Qadir. The Desert Elf mostly avoid interacting with the others, but on a few rare occasions, he'd approached Ambrose to ask him for help with food preparations. It seemed like Qadir had automatically decided that Ambrose was the safest person to interact with in this odd group of people. In turn, Ambrose had been able to pick up a surprising amount of tricks when it came to cooking food. All in all, he respected the Desert Elf a fair bit, but the respect was tainted by a sleight fear. The Desert Elf was constantly on guard, shown by his alert eyes and the curved sword that never left his hip. It made Ambrose feel like he could be struck down by Qadir for making a single suspicious move.

In a shabby attempt to get to know her better, Ambrose had offered Maiara to help out with some of the papers she'd brought along to study. She'd brushed him off with the excuse that she worked better whenever she could look over everything on her own. He felt like it was just an excuse, and that she didn't really trust him enough, but he decided not to pursue it further.

To his surprise, the one he got along with the most was Hedgefield. While the fact hat Ambrose had saved the man's life probably played an important role there, his personality was also genuinely more pleasant to be around. The Corporal was surprisingly open about how he rolled into this situation on accident, but he was planning to stick around. He was also pretty open about his motivations; a promotion into the army. In general, most people who wanted to join the army started off as guards in one of the cities. The guards had only four ranks, Corporal, Sergeant, Sergeant Major and General Guard.

Corporals either had a small team of other guards to watch over or they had been given some special permissions and duties to justify their rank. Sergeants were often in charge of a particular part of the city, often a few blocks or streets. Sergeant Majors were in charge of one or more districts in the city. A city as big as the capital, for example, had a Sergeant Major for each of its five districts. The title of General Guard was reserved for the guard overseeing all other guards in a city. In practice, their rank was lower than that of an actual General in the army, especially when they were in charge of a relatively small city.

Hedgefield wanted climb the ranks among the guards to transfer to the army and to start climbing the ranks there as well. He was from a long tradition of warriors with many high ranked ancestors, and he wanted to surpass them all. That's why he'd been working with the guards for most of his life, becoming a Corporal at a surprisingly young age. However, he'd been stuck on getting promoted to Sergeant. Having been able to work directly under Sergeant Major Rockforte showed some promise, mostly due to the Sergeant Major being a retired army veteran. Hedgefield once hoped to join the army through a recommendation by Rockforte. The current situation had utterly destroyed that hope. That's why he figured he'd try his luck again, but this time through the aiding none other than prince Frode himself. After all, there were few better people to get a recommendation from than an actual prince.

They were only a few more days of travelling away from the autonomous zone when things suddenly went wrong pretty quickly.

"You have absolutely no reason to be here!" The voice came from a surprisingly angry Qadir, somewhere inside the wagon Maiara was travelling in. Ambrose didn't think he had ever heard him be this angry before, so he was wondering what in the world was going on.

The answer came through the voice of Itzal. "Of course I have, it's called curiosity."

The comment only further angered Qadir. "Leave now, or I will make you!"

As Ambrose could hear a blade being drawn, he realized that Qadir was serious, so he quickly ran around the wagon to try and stop them if necessary. He was just in time to witness Itzal stepping back and drawing his own blades. He was currently wielding a short-sword in his right hand and a dagger in his left. Qadir stepped out of the wagon with his curved blade drawn and ready. They were staring at each-other for now, but they were ready to spring into action.

Ambrose figured he'd better speak up, now that he might still have a shot at stopping this. "It's not a good idea to fight among ourselves."

He got a glare from Qadir and a smile from Itzal. Neither of them seemed interested in listening to him. Instead, Itzal spurred Qadir on. "Aren't you going to show off your strength to your dear lady in black?"

Qadir finally caved in. "If it is a fight you wish for, I will gladly grant it."

"Wait!" Ambrose yelled as a last-ditch effort, but it went ignored.

Qadir rushed at Itzal with surprising speed, but it was nothing compared to the speed and ease with which Itzal dodged the blade. It was as if Itzal could see the blade coming from a mile away and therefore waited long enough to dodge underneath it only a moment before the relentless swing aimed at his neck would've beheaded him

This didn't seem to discourage Qadir, as he instantly slashed again, this time lower, towards Itzal's torso. Itzal was backing off at almost the same time. When Qadir lunged forwards to proceed his attack, Itzal was ready to sidestep away from the blade and to counter Qadir by slamming his shoulder into him. It brought the Desert Elf out of balance and sent him towards the ground. Qadir's training showed in his ability to instantly roll away and get up, but he wasn't fast enough. Itzal had his blade aimed at the back of Qadir's neck as he spoke up. "Alright, thanks for helping me there~"

"What?" Qadir sounded confused and angry in equal parts.

"Let's just say I've been trying to figure some stuff out, with regards of our odd and newly gained abilities. This little skirmish helped a lot."

Ambrose interfered. "You are risking your life by starting fights with your allies just to test if you've gained an ability as well?"

Itzal smiled it away. "Of course, I figured someone's genuine attempt to murder me would be the ideal way to test the extend at which I could use this power."

Qadir stepped away, sheeting his blade and walking back into the wagon. "You're insane. Don't you ever dare to enter this wagon again."

Itzal ignored him, instead he focused on Ambrose. "You know, if I were you, I wouldn't try to meddle so much into what others are doing. You're still a Human after all." Ambrose gritted his teeth, but Itzal continued. "Did you know that Maiara isn't just a High Elf, but a noble one at that? In fact, she's even an elite among those, based on lineage. For as eccentric as she is, she's only a single rank below being pure royalty. Meanwhile, Hedgefield is of lower nobility, while me and Luna are mere Forest Elves, commoners and peasants, if you so wish. You, however, you're below even us lowly creatures in the hierarchy."

Ambrose was confused. "What are you trying to tell me by saying all that?"

Itzal shrugged. "It wouldn't surprise me if some people that don't particularly like Humans might simply decide to use you for target practice or to test the strength of their sword-arm."

"Are you threatening me?" Ambrose wasn't sure if he should be angry, confused, or disappointed. It turned out that none of those options would be suited.

Itzal sighed. "No, of course not, I'm not that far gone. I'm trying to tell you to wear some sort of sign that shows you're working for prince Frode or something. Make sure you won't get killed for being a Human in the Elven Empire. Something like that might happen the moment we're taking our eyes off of you. You've just shown that you're a meddler and meddlers without someone backing them are quick to die. Take a hint."

"I... thanks, I guess?" For as much as Ambrose hated it, there was some truth to those words.

All of a sudden, Itzal sounded more serious than Ambrose had ever heard him be. "You've got a really special gift Ambrose. A lot of people are going to want that. A miracle cure to any sort of illness, even the ones that were thought impossible to cure."

Ambrose shook his head. "You're wrong there. From everything I've learned so far, it seems like I'm only capable of healing diseases and wounds to the extend that I'm understanding them. The only reason I got better at breaking the crystal's effect was the fact that I've had some people to practice on. Something entirely new might still be impossible for me to cure, unless I figure it out."

"I see." Itzal said, thinking about it for a moment. "Although I fear that's not what the rumours are going to be, as those tend to be pretty bloated. We might want to be on the look-out for people trying to get their hands on you, the miracle worker."

Ambrose felt a shiver run down his spine. "That's rather unsettling."

Itzal laughed. "With great power comes great abduction potential."

Ambrose feared he was right on the mark, but didn't dare to comment on the joke.

Suddenly, Itzal clapped his hands together. "I know! How about you join me and Luna in our training for today? Knowing a few tricks will never hurt, right?"

"I guess?" Ambrose replied questioningly. He wasn't entirely sure where Itzal was going with this, but he figured this might be a good way to get to know him a bit better. Itzal's demeanour might be a bit challenging to deal with, but Ambrose hoped Itzal wasn't a bad person at heart.

It turns out he was correct, although learning this came at quite the cost. Itzal had mostly wanted him to serve as target to show Luna some weak spots and to show her some ways to quickly jab at them, either armed or unarmed. Ambrose learned a few new things from it, but a lot of it was familiar from his work as a medicine-man. If anything, he was more surprised that Luna, who apparently hadn't gone through any training like this before, was a natural at it. That surprise changed into understanding when he learned she'd grown up on the forests of the autonomous zone, where hunting, foraging and athletics were taught from a very young age. While the specific skills and techniques might be new to her, she already knew some basics and she'd stayed fairly in shape despite having moved to the city. Itzal was quick to give up on explaining things to Ambrose once he realised Ambrose wasn't able to follow along with the movements, which proved Ambrose's growing suspicion that this had never really been something Itzal had planned to commit too.

A far more interesting part for Ambrose arrived when they entered the topic of poisons. He was eager to compare his knowledge of antidotes to Itzal's knowledge of poisons, to the extend where they ended up in an odd sort of game where Itzal mentioned a poison and Ambrose would bring up a remedy. Itzal managed to 'win' the game, knowing more ways to create poisons than Ambrose knew remedies. Even so, Ambrose felt like Itzal had been holding back on some of the things he knew about. All in all, the afternoon was one that had been well spent. He learned a few things and he felt like he was finally able to somewhat get along with Itzal.

The next morning, Ambrose got a second surprise. Just as they continued travelling, Maiara approached him. "You told me you wanted to help me, right?"

Ambrose relied a bit surprised. "That's correct."

"Great." She said, taking out a small and worn looking notebook. "This was handed to me by the Head Librarian in the capital. It's a small diary written by a Human explorer that made it deep into the heart of the forest while he was exploring the Forest Elven autonomous zone. I'm able to read a fair amount of it, but some passages remain unclear, as it is written in an older Human script. Some parts are unreadable, probably intentionally so, but I think there might still be some useful information in there."

Ambrose took the notebook with glee. There weren't many books written in Human scripts, especially not after most of them got destroyed during the fall of the Human Kingdom. In all honesty, there were so few books in Human script left that Ambrose wasn't sure if he'd be able to read this one, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He just had to hoped that the scripts were similar enough to the ones he already knew. "I'll gladly take a look at it!"

"Good." Maiara was silent for a bit. Then she suddenly spoke up again. "Oh, and here." She said, as she handed him a very well-crafted dagger. "Qadir mentioned he didn't like the fact that someone with a power like yours was walking around unarmed and untrained. If you want, he's willing to go through some basic combat training with you."

"Ah... I'm afraid Itzal managed to beat him to it."

Maiara raised an eyebrow. "I highly doubt that he can teach you any useful fighting styles. There's too much difference in what he's doing and what a normal person needs to know."

Ambrose wasn't sure what to reply, as he wasn't eager to fail again, after his earlier attemps with Itzal, but he also knew that there was some truth in what Maiara told him. "I'll consider it, thank you." He figured the middle-way was the best option, and considering Maiara pretty much shoved the dagger in his face, he had little choice other then to accept it.

They approached the edges of the Forest Elven forests near the end of the day, where they were greeted by a very shocking sight. Thousands of tents were set-up where the wide open plains met the edges of the vast forests, with at least ten times more Forest Elves inhabiting them in poor conditions. The place had turned into a makeshift city-slum.

"What in the world..." Hedgefield mumbled upon seeing it.

Itzal was far less shocked by the sight. "I've heard rumours that a fair few of the Forest Elves fled the autonomous zone due to an increase in danger there, while the Liberators were simultaneously getting Forest Elves from cities like New Haven to return. The result is this large camp of Forest Elves that got stuck trying to leave or enter."

Maiara nodded. "I've read the same in the reports, although seeing it with my own eyes makes it clear how much those reports underestimated the situation here. We should see if we can find someone that's formally in charge here."

Itzal shook his head. "Do what you want, but I'm going to find out where people here get a drink. Those are the only places to get some real information."

Ambrose figured that, if they were going to split up anyhow, he might as well take the third route. If anything, that was also closest to what he preferred doing, as his usual journeys as a medicine man always had him greet village elders whenever he arrived somewhere. "In that case, I'll be trying to find someone that's taking a leadership position onto them informally, like a former village elder, or someone else the people look up to."

Hedgefield spoke up. "I'll go with you."

It didn't take long for them to split up in three groups of two. Ambrose and Hedgefield were going to ask around to find out who these people listened to by choice, the people they held in high regard. Maiara and Qadir were meeting whomever they were forced to listen to by force, the ones officially in charge. Itzal and Luna were going to blend in with the people here to learn what was happening from an insiders perspective.