The river of time, ancient and eternal, never stops flowing for anyone.

Four days passed quickly. During these days, Nora didn't make any strange requests of Liens, only asking him to accompany her shopping and eating.

Sometimes, Nora would even actively cooperate with Liens' research, and the two often discussed various issues.

Because of Nora's cooperation and help in both the dungeon and reality, Liens' research into the origin of Life deepened, and the idea in his mind became clearer.

Therefore, Liens felt that his gains over these past few days were quite good.

The only thing that made him slightly uncomfortable was that Nora seemed to have developed feelings for him, becoming increasingly proactive and intimate.

He even subtly asked Nora if she was in heat because of this, which earned him a shy and annoyed punch from Nora.

Indeed, no book ever recorded elves having a fixed mating season; instead, like humans, they could at any time.

But this, in turn, raised another question.

Given the elves' long lifespan and the absence of a mating season that only occurs every few years, why is the elves' population so pitifully small compared to humans?

From the perspective of racial continuation alone, population is a very important factor.

Life information instinctively desires to continue, which also promotes the emergence of 'desire', so with sufficient resources, a race's population will certainly grow larger and larger.

But elves are an exception in this regard.

Nora said she had tallied the current and past elf populations and found that the number of elves always maintained a dynamic balance, as if an invisible hand suppressed the growth of the elf population.

Although elves face difficulties in childbirth and have conservative views on that aspect, these cannot be the main reasons for the elf population remaining unchanged for thousands of years.

Nora wondered if this was the 'price of immortality'? But what, or who, caused this 'price'?

She had suspected that supreme existence, but some disrespectful words were still not suitable to be revealed.

God may not care about the slandering of ants, but ants should not presumptuously slander the existence of God. Divine punishment often does not come from God, but from God's followers.

"It's a success."

Nora looked at the armor and sword, which now had a faint glow on their surfaces, and said seriously.

Without surprise, after four days of refining and modification, the once ordinary armor and longsword were successfully transformed into a set of inheritance items, possessing the theoretically infinite ability to grow.

"Try it. It should have the ability to materialize and dematerialize, so you can choose to wear it when needed."

Nora then said to Liens.

"Mm."

Liens nodded, sensing the connection between himself and this set of inheritance items, controlling it to dematerialize, and then materialize on his body.

Looking at the dark silver knight that suddenly appeared beside him, a strange light flashed in Nora's eyes.

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Although her aesthetic, both past and present, remained that of a young girl, favoring softer colors.

But anything on Liens, she found beautiful and handsome.

Her mind had already begun to involuntarily fantasize about Liens, clad in armor, holding her and passionately uttering cheesy sweet nothings.

"Hehe~"

Nora showed a silly smile.

After spending these past few days together, she had already confirmed that Liens and she truly got along very well.

His gentle personality, handsome appearance, extensive knowledge, and strong power were basic elements that went without saying. Most importantly, she felt very comfortable spending these days with Liens.

That feeling of physical and mental pleasure, of her soul being cleansed, was something she had never experienced in her nearly hundred years of Life since birth.

She didn't know if this was what it felt like to like someone, but she liked this feeling, so she wanted to be closer to Liens.

"The items have been refined, and it's time for me to depart."

The calm voice shattered Nora's fantasy, and the content of the words immediately turned Nora's happy mood into one of dejection.

Yes... with the inheritance items refined, Liens would leave, which meant she wouldn't be able to enjoy that beloved feeling again for a while.

However, she was not a childish kid after all, she wouldn't cry and fuss, saying things like Liens shouldn't leave.

"Take care, keep in touch."

Nora, like a wife watching her husband leave on a long journey, gently said to Liens.

She had plenty of time, and once she and Liens both became a Legend, they would have even more time. This brief separation was merely a small seasoning for their long companionship in the future.

She could wait.

This was why she hadn't given up even knowing Liens already had a girlfriend. How could the lifespan of an ordinary human female compare to hers?

In the end, the person who could accompany Liens for a long time would only be her.

Watching Nora fall deeper and deeper into emotion, Liens couldn't help but frown slightly. He was somewhat puzzled as to what exactly he possessed that made Nora so persistent?

Although from a male perspective, being pursued by a beautiful elf was a good thing, Liens did not want to develop that kind of relationship with Nora.

He didn't quite understand why Nora would fall into lust. This world clearly had many novel and interesting things, and more unknowns waiting to be explored.

Moreover, shouldn't the 'path of the maiden' maintain purity, maintain an unchanging 'golden body'?

"Mm..."

A conjecture suddenly arose in Liens' mind.

So-called tribulations are not only visible and tangible natural disasters, nor merely man-made calamities, but also some very special tribulations, such as love tribulations.

"You're falling too fast; it's very likely you've encountered a tribulation. I suggest you carefully examine your recent state of mind."

Liens expressed his conjecture and offered advice to Nora.

Perhaps because she was falling too deeply, Nora held almost nothing back from Liens. She once described her 'path of the maiden' with a single sentence:

"Enduring the Sharpening of time, traversing natural and man-made disasters, the maiden's heart remains unchanged, just as it was in youth."

To maintain 'unchanged', Nora almost every once in a while would experience a tribulation, either a natural disaster or a man-made calamity.

This was also one of the reasons Nora left the Elven Forest to travel around.

Regarding Liens' reminder, Nora's expression was calm, as if she had already known. She nodded and said, "I know, I noticed my own abnormality two days ago."

"But a tribulation cannot be overcome simply by noticing it... The emotions rising in my heart make me uncontrollably love and cling to the feeling of being with you. The more I resist, the more I become immersed."

"So I choose to immerse myself in it, to understand the true meaning of the tribulation within it."

"When I overcome this different calamity, I should not be far from the Legend realm... Of course, if I fail, enjoying that feeling wouldn't be bad either."

"You wouldn't refuse the embrace of a perfect maiden like me, would you?"

Nora pressed her hands to her chest, her eyes filled with affection as she gazed at Liens, her hazy gaze seemingly wanting to pull Liens into some sort of gentle paradise.

"Since you already have a plan, I won't say more."

Having said that, Liens prepared to turn and leave.

This kind of tribulation could only be overcome by Nora herself; he couldn't interfere, nor did he even know how to prevent Nora from becoming completely ensnared in the love tribulation.

Perhaps his distance could make Nora calm down a bit.

Watching Liens turn to leave, Nora suddenly grabbed his hand, then suddenly released it. Liens turned to look at her, and she merely smiled and shook her head.

Seeing this, Liens only gave her a deep look before walking out of the room without looking back.

"I will distinguish between what is love and what is tribulation."

"By then, I will tell you openly and honestly that you are not a tribulation, but the love I have long awaited."

Gazing at Liens' departing back, a firm belief welled up in Nora's heart.

Leaving the room, Liens greeted Lucrezia and Balder, then quickly walked out of Patridge City.

...

"I didn't expect to meet you here. Have you been waiting long?"

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