Sora was able to respawn instantly and gained a level. His EXP bar was already almost full due to fighting the creatures that fell from the rift so he almost leveled up twice from just eight hours of playing. For him, that was a pretty good reward but lower levels that can already level up that fast might think it was a little underwhelming for the effort they put in.

-Faction Announcement-

That Goddess of Chaos was impressed by the power of our faction. She has agreed to send Chaotic Warriors to help claim a demon territory. The king would like to thank you all for your effort.

-Faction Announcement-

The Eastern Legion has taken control of The Sky Branch Forest. The humans will once again be united with the elves! Long live The Eastern Legion!

A lot of people had a sudden epiphany when they heard about the elves and already started heading towards the forest. Who didn’t know about the Elven Dew Drops at this point, they were in high demand and everyone wanted to rake in the profits. When the word elves was heard everyone seemed to piece things together and wanted to see if they were right. A large group of people took off towards the new territory with high hopes.

Sora dismissed the members of Phoenix Rising, with only a few people staying behind. Lone Shadow and LeeLee went to the arena again to train, Blossom joined in on the fun and watched from the sides. Nobunaga and Athenes went back to Frost Peak Mountain to run through the dungeon more. Sumi was the only person left next to Sora, she was about to say something but was interrupted by the call from her friend.

“Suuuumi! We won! I thought we were going to lose for sure. Hey, let’s go celebrate a little!”

Sumi was dragged away by her friend before she could say anything else. Sora stood there alone and decided to take a stroll through town, going through various alleyways and eventually finding himself in The Night Bound Garden. The moon hung high in the sky once again as he traveled through the pathway, relying on the moonlight to guide his way. He looked towards the same spot where Blossom had been the night her sister showed up and saw another figure. The figure was holding a few flowers in their hand, occasionally throwing one into the pond to let it drift towards the reflection of the moon. Sora walked up to the figure just as they were about to throw another flower, the figure stopped mid throw and looked towards Sora.

“Good job on the battlefield today, Spring.”

“... Same to you.”

Sora already had a hunch that it was her but only confirmed it when he saw her face. Sora sat next to her, almost in the same way he had sat next to Blossom. Spring continued throwing flowers, the silence remaining unbroken except for the occasional bell sound from the flower being thrown into the water. She finally ran out of flowers and broke the silence.

“How is she?”

“If by that you mean your sister, then she is doing just fine. Although I think it would be better if you asked her yourself.”

“... It’s better if I don’t.”

“Alright, stop the act. You may be able to fool others but I’m not as easy.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“You were looking towards her so much in the battle that it was hard not to notice.”

“I see…”

“So tell me, why put on such an act? It’s hurting you and your sister. Wouldn’t it be easier to just get along?”

“If I drop the act, go back to the way we used to be, and act like it all didn’t happen; could you assure me everything would be alright?”

“...No, I guess I couldn’t.”

“If I go back to the way it used to be, she would hate me even more than she did now. At least this way, she won’t hurt herself.”

“I didn’t mean to pry. Sorry.”

Spring was tense as she talked about the past, her eyes seeming to look into the distance blankly. Sora was acting a little presumptuous by talking about it so easily, it seems that the reason behind everything was a lot more complicated than he first thought. Spring realized how she was acting after Sora said sorry, slowly releasing her tension and rubbing her eyes a bit to try and regain clarity. She sighed lightly and prepare herself, it had been far too long that she had been keeping all of her emotions in.

“It was selfish of me to make her hate me. It made my life so much easier, don’t you think that’s a terrible thing to do? To make your own sister hate you so your life will be easier. Even now, when I say it so bluntly my stomach turns.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“She always followed me around when we were young, back when we were still on good terms. At first, I would just do things that I loved to do. I used to paint a lot when I was younger. The pictures I made helped me escape to my own little world, where the expectations people had on me would disappear. Then Serah wanted to be like her big sister… She struggled so hard to get better but it just wasn’t suited for her. I tried to tell her to find something else to do, something that would make her happy… but she just looked at me with hate in her eyes every time I tried to do so. I finally gave up painting and moved to the next thing, hoping to find something that she could keep up with. I tried writing next, only to have her follow me again. She would stay up all night, sometimes missing school just so she could write more. I thought I had finally found something that she was passionate about, yet when I finished my story, she read it… the next day she tore up all of her work, only to start all over again. I kept trying new things until eventually, she ended up collapsing while we were playing volleyball. The doctors said she had overworked herself and just needed some rest. I stayed by her side until she woke up and when she finally did… the first thing she said to me was ‘I hate you’.”

At this point Spring started to choke on her words, her eyes reflecting the moonlight. She bit her lip and pulled herself back together. It took a while but she eventually became calm again and continued her story.

“I know she was still young but those words really hurt a lot. The envy she felt pushed her to the point of collapse, doing something she didn’t even like. A few weeks went by and she went back to the same thing, following my footsteps and hating herself due to her inability to keep up with me. I had already given up everything I loved, hoping I could find something she would stick with so I could be free again. That’s why I finally snapped... She tried cooking something I made once, cutting herself a few times, nearly setting the house on fire, and failing many times. It wasn’t disgusting, it was probably delicious. If she smiled even once while making it then I would have tried it but the look of disappointment on her face made it look disgusting to me!”

Spring became a little hysterical as she recalled her breaking point. A sense of regret lingered on her face. Sora didn’t know what to say, he had listened to Blossoms side of the story but never knew the full details. Spring gave up everything she loved trying to find something Blossom would enjoy, Sora could only wonder if he could do the same.

“After that, she stopped following me for a while but still returned after a few weeks. I felt so free during that time, I felt bad about what I did to Blossom but when I saw her doing the things she wanted to I forgot all about that. I kept acting like a terrible person to enjoy my freedom while Blossom eventually detached from me, doing things she wanted to without any competition to be better. When I had grown up I realized the price of my freedom, Blossom hates me now but that’s ok because she smiles a lot more. Mom and Dad hardly ever talk to me anymore too, only seeing me as a terrible sister. The only person that stills talks to me in my family is one of my cousins, he was the guy who tried to stop you at Frost Peak Village while we were doing a guild event.”

“Why don’t you tell Blossom everything you just told me?”

“I’m honestly scared of what would happen after that... Anyway, don’t feel obligated to try and comfort me, this is the punishment I get for being selfish. I just hope you can continue to look after her in my stead. Besides, I would rather have her openly hate me and secretly love me than to have her openly love me and secretly hate me.”

Spring got up and started walking away from the pond, dusting herself off as she left. Sora watched as the last flower she had thrown entered the center of the pond, merging into the other flowers that had already made it. Sora rubbed his head as he tried to compile the whole story in his head. He flopped onto his back and looked into the starry sky, resting for a moment after the long day of battle and emotions.

Sora eventually logged out at the garden, he felt drained since he didn’t take a break before the chaos event had happened; meaning he had been in the game for many hours. Talking to Spring had only given him more of a headache so the break was needed. He rested for a moment and checked the game forums for anything interesting. An entire video of the tournament Sora had hosted was one of the top posts, with commentary on the entire video as a bonus. Another video that was trending was the fight between Lone Shadow and Sora, the video was simply titled ‘The Dance’ and had music added over it. The movements went well with the music, making it truly seem like it was choreographed.

Sora skipped over all of the news happening in his own faction and looked at what was happening in the other factions. All of the losing factions were complaining about the punishment from the chaos event, especially The Northern Summit who had lost by seconds. They all felt that the magma boss was extremely unfair and wondered how The Eastern Legion had been able to survive. Players from The Eastern Legion were taunting the players from the other factions, creating a bad image for the entire faction. Sora was irritated by those people since it would mean more enemies to fight when the faction territories touch.

The only other news was about the guilds that have been starting to form. The Northern Summit and Southern Flame both have one guild that has been created while The Eastern Legion had two. The Western Kingdom was far behind everyone else and was even the faction that placed last in the chaos event. Sora closed the forums and decided to head back in the game with a new goal in mind.

[Welcome back, Ethereal]

Sora appeared in the garden and headed towards the flight service. He would need to go back to Tidal Wave Pass since his destination was in The Sky Branch Forest. The line was pretty long but it was still better to take the flight rather than to go on foot. He landed in Tidal Wave Pass and made his way to the forest, skimming along the outskirts until he found a small dirt path that went inwards.

The path seemed to wind through the forest aimlessly, not appearing to go anywhere special since the path stopped randomly with nothing around it. Sora went towards a bush that was near a tree and found a small branch near the base that seemed out of place. After pulling on it, the tree opened up, revealing a bronze door that glowed slightly.

[You have discovered a dungeon]

[‘Explorer’ title obtained]

-Faction Announcement-

A level 55 dungeon has been found in The Sky Branch Forest. The royal army will help clear the area so adventurers will be able to enter. Please wait one week for the dungeon to open.