Chapter 704: Relic Of The Past. Meeting The Official.

Moon chuckled and shook his head.

"It’s not a date. We made a deal after the first gate that we’d get dinner to catch up once we cleared it, so I offered, but she said no anyway, she was tired." He leaned back, missing entirely the way Selene’s shoulders eased at that last part.

"Oh." Selene tried to sound unbothered and landed somewhere just short of it. "Well. That’s... that’s fine, then. As long as it’s just friendly. I was only asking."

"You’re asking a lot of questions about her," Moon observed mildly.

Selene’s cheeks colored. "I’m making conversation along the way, that’s all."

Yara made a small sound that might have been a cough and might have been a laugh, and turned to look very intently out the window.

Moon glanced between the two of them, sensing he’d missed something but unable to place what, and decided it wasn’t worth chasing.

"Anyway, what are we having for dinner?"

Selene’s expression brightened instantly, "I’m craving some juicy second order steak..."

Her mouth almost watered at the thought.

After landing, the three friends made their way to the restaurant Halvern had recommended. He was a local, after all, and he knew exactly which establishments in the region were worth the visit.

The meal lived up to the recommendation. When they finally walked out, full and satisfied, all three of them wore contented smiles. The food had been incredible, the service attentive, and the view from their table, overlooking the city as the evening lights came on, had been phenomenal.

"Are you tired?" Selene asked, glancing at Moon.

He shook his head. "Not really. Why do you ask?"

"I want to explore the city a little." Her eyes lit up. "I heard this region has a lot of relics from the previous civilization. I’ve always wanted to see some in person, it’d be cool to look around while we’re here. What do you think?"

"Sure, why not." Moon nodded. "We’re not here every day, and the capital doesn’t have many relics. Most of them got cleared out or built over ages ago. Let’s go take a look."

They wandered the city as the darkness took over, and eventually they came upon one of the ancient relics of the previous civilization.

A massive statue rising from what had once been a harbor, now a preserved historical site. A towering figure of a woman, green with age, holding a torch aloft in one raised hand, a tablet cradled in the other, a crown of spikes ringing her head. Time and the changing world had worn her, but she still stood, gazing out over the water with the same patient look she’d held for centuries.

Moon, Selene, and Yara stopped and stared up at her.

A worker in the site’s uniform, noticing the three visitors, approached with an easy smile.

"Beautiful, isn’t she? You’re looking at one of the oldest surviving relics of the previous civilization. The people of that era called her the Statue of Liberty." He gestured up at the figure. "She was a gift, from one nation to another, back when the old world was divided into hundreds of separate nations rather than the kingdoms we know today.

She stood at the entrance to a great harbor, and she was meant to welcome travelers and newcomers arriving by sea. That torch she holds was a symbol of freedom, and the tablet in her other hand was said to carry the date of a nation’s founding."

Yara stared up at the towering figure, fascinated. "It’s cool."

"What makes it cooler was that they built this without any special powers, using their minds, hands and machines. The previous civilization accomplished remarkable things with nothing but human effort. Some scholars believe they were more advanced than us in certain ways, before the awakening reshaped the world. Structures like this are how we remember them. Monuments to what people could build when they had nothing but each other."

Moon studied the green figure, something thoughtful crossing his face. A relic of a world that had existed long before classes and gates and Surpassers, a reminder that the ground he walked on had held whole civilizations before his own.

"It’s humbling," he murmured. "All of that, and it’s just a name in a history book now."

Selene stepped closer to him, gazing up at the statue beside him.

"Makes you wonder what the next civilization will say about us a thousand years from now. Whether anyone will stand in front of something we built and wonder who we were."

The three of them stood together in the evening light, looking up at the monument of a vanished world.

After exploring the city for a few hours, Moon booked one of its most luxurious hotels, the total running close to a hundred thousand dollars for the three of them across the night. After everything he’d walked out of the gate with, the expense didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to have his friends sleeping in anything less than the best the city offered.

After arriving at the hotel, the three slept peacefully and deeply.

The next morning, Moon woke to the soft chime of the room’s door signal. He rolled out of bed, stretched his body, and made his way across the room to answer it.

The moment he opened the door, Selene and Yara rushed in, already dressed and clearly awake for a while.

"Morning," Moon said, stepping aside to let them in. "Give me a bit. I’ll wash up, and then we can head downstairs for some food. Sound good?"

The two girls nodded and made their way into the lounge area to wait.

It was a sprawling suite with a wide central lounge opened onto a private balcony that overlooked the city, floor-to-ceiling windows framing the skyline. Plush seating surrounded a low table already set with a fresh arrangement of fruit and flowers. A separate dining area sat off to one side, and multiple bedrooms branched off the main space, each one larger than most penthouses. The furnishings were rich, every detail chosen to make a guest feel like the most important person in the city.

Selene and Yara sank into the couches with contented sighs.

After washing up and changing into fresh clothes, Moon headed downstairs with Selene and Yara to eat.

They could have ordered breakfast to the suite, but the hotel’s dining hall was too beautiful to pass up.

Once they’d finished, Moon stepped aside and gave Halvern a quick call.

The conversation was brief and easy. Halvern had been expecting it, and by the end of the call, arrangements were already in motion. A private Association shuttle would collect Moon, take him to the main branch for the debrief, and then carry all three of them back to the capital of New Avalon once his business was concluded.

Moon pocketed his phone and returned to the table where Selene and Yara waited.

"Shuttle’s on its way. Once I’ve handled the debrief, it’ll take us home."

The two girls nodded.

It was time to sit down with the association officials and tell them everything that had happened inside the frozen wasteland.

Inside a tightly secured office at the Association’s main branch, an official recorded everything Moon said with a focused expression.

Moon told the story cleanly. He walked them through the frozen wasteland, the beasts, the two spires and their hordes, the lesser elf commanders, and the true elf hearts that anchored each structure.

He explained how he’d turned the two hordes against each other, how the northern commander had consumed its own heart to ascend to Surpasser rank, and how the team had ultimately brought it down.

He described the clearance, the loot, the crystals, and the hearts, honoring the transparency clause he’d signed.

He left out the parts that were his alone to keep and the official did not ask him about his methods, accepting what he gave them at face value.

When Moon finished, the man set down his pen and folded his hands.

"Firstly, on behalf of the Association, I’d like to thank you for your service to humanity. What you and your team accomplished in that gate cannot be overstated. Had it breached, the destruction would have been catastrophic. You’ve saved the lives of thousands and protected the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands more. That is not a small thing. The kingdom is in your debt."

Moon inclined his head.

"It’s my duty as a citizen of this nation. I did what anyone in my position should have."

The official smiled slightly at the modesty.

"Well said. Now, let’s talk business, shall we? I won’t beat around the bush. The Association wants to acquire two items from your haul specifically. The body of the ascended Lesser Elf, and the Heart of the True Elf. Both are of significant research value, and both fall under the first-purchase clause you signed before entering the gate."

Moon smiled.

He’d been waiting for this moment since the second he walked into the office. The true elf’s heart alone was worth more than everything else he’d pulled out of that gate combined, and the Association wanting it this badly gave him exactly the leverage he’d hoped for.

"Well," he said slowly, leaning back in his chair, "that’s quite a difficult question. As you know, treasures like these are extraordinarily rare. A true elf’s heart, an evolved lesser elf’s body, these aren’t things that come along often. I’m not sure I can part with them so easily. There’s a great deal I could do with them myself, after all. Research value cuts both ways."