Morning came far sooner than Azrael would have liked.

It was a new dawn and a new day, along with all the problems he’d put off until tomorrow. The only problem was it was tomorrow and he had to face them.

Unwilling to do so, and hoping for a sleep in, Azrael hid under his blankets, until one of the problems walked through the door.

“Good morning! Wakey wakey!” said Zen, in a far too chipper voice. “We’ve…”

Zen’s voice trailed off and Azrael peeked out from under the blankets. Zen was standing in the middle of the room, his gaze caught on what had once been a wooden table. Azrael just hid back under his blankets.

“It wasn’t me and if it was, I was asleep.” He grumbled. He really could have gone another hour, or two, or three without seeing Zen.

So far Zen seemed like a nice guy, but the problem was he was a player. He was real.

Zen however didn’t share any of Azrael’s anxieties and whipped the blanket off the bed. Shivering in the slightly cooler morning air Azrael had to face reality, that it was cold and most times you were never prepared for it.

“We have to talk.” said Zen. Azrael could only agree.

“Yes, we do.”

Following Zen out of the room, they exited the infirmary building. On the way out, Azrael passed several larger rooms, with other soldiers still in recovery. There was a scent of death and illness in the air, that was not quite covered by the scent of disinfectant and flowers.

Gazing into one of the rooms, Azrael saw nurses and healers scurrying around. It was then that he realised how lucky he had been. Here in the main infirmary there was little privacy between soldiers, and many of them had red bandages on, while some were missing limbs.

It seemed that Zen had given him priority in healing and accommodations. Rushing after Zen, he exited the building.

In the early morning light, the towering trees cast long shadows across the forest floor. Rare beams of sunlight illuminated the warm yellow and oranges of the sandstone buildings and morning songbirds heralded his way.

As they crossed the grounds, Azrael saw aides, soldiers and other staff stop and watch the two men walk. Whispered conversations took place behind raised hands, while a few of the soldiers saluted them as they passed. Azrael just followed Zen, his mind on other things.

Finally, they entered a different building and the two men ascended a flight of stairs and entered what seemed to be an office. Amelia was inside, sorting papers.

The two took a seat at the table and Amelia moved some papers to make space.

Azrael decided to take the initiative.

“What do you need?” He asked.

“Nothing. The elder council has received my report and I’ve been recalled to make a report. Amelia and I will be leaving for the capital before the midday bell.”

“I see…”

“As such, I would like to know your plans and what you intend to do from here. As it stands, the fort is in your debt. You saved not only the soldiers by identifying the spiders’ poison, but also played a crucial roll in defeating the wave boss. Whatever you need, if it is in our power, we will help. If you desire a place to stay and play the game, I am sure that the elven council will welcome a hero, even if you are a human. If it is rewards you want, I have enough pull in the military to give you a medal and monetary rewards. Or if you wish to travel, then I can help finance travel expenses. The choice is yours.”

Azrael listened to the proposition quietly. It wasn’t a bad offer. Land, wealth, or fame. Zen could offer it all. Even with his misgivings Azrael could see that the commander was genuine with his wish to repay Azrael.

What did he want to do? The medal and recognition for his help was a no-go. Too much exposure. He didn’t want that. He could still take the money though. Get some land, start over. Maybe figure out how they made the enchanted bow and the communications device. He could open a store, or build a cabin in the woods somewhere. Dungeon diving also sounded like it could be fun.

Despite all this, those dreams rang hollow. Azrael could feel it in his soul. Quite literally.

Alena’s soul link was tethered to his soul. Despite the distance, he could still feel her connection. It pointed the way home.

Home. He tried the word, testing how it felt in his mind. Honest Cairn, Humble Hugh, the spear squad, the villagers and Alena. He looked out the window and up at the morning sky. She would have finished her morning training by now.

No. He wasn’t getting sentimental. They were just there for him to use, to level his [Lord] class. To… To… To... Who was he kidding? Just the thought of leaving them felt bad. He told them that he would be there for them. He’d promised Alena to get revenge. Leaving them without a word would be a form of betrayal. He knew how they would feel. He knew the feeling all too well.

They would never know though. They were just NPCs, lines of code. Azrael made up his mind.

“…home.” He said with a weary voice. “I want to go home.”

Zen looked at him a bit puzzled.

“Real life or here, in the game?”

Azrael stayed silent for a moment.

“The End Forest. How long would it travel to the End Forest?”

Zen pulled out a map and both Amelia and he looked through the map. Eventually, Zen found it. He paused, checking where they were and where the End Forest was.

“How did… No. I mean… Actually, you know what? I’m not going to ask.”

Zen pinched the bridge of his nose, holding his silence for a few moments and thinking things through. In the end he turned to Amelia.

“Amelia?” He asked. They both turned to her, as she started to think things through.

“Assuming that it took Ch…players over two months to reach here from the center of the first ring and the distance is doubled to the End Forest, then that’s five months moving in an expedition. Subtracting delays from terrain, beasts, and logistics, then that’s around four months on foot. Since roads and villages have been built in the meantime logistics and route have been solved. Assuming that a person travels directly from here to the center and then out to the forest, following the shortest route and with no delays and taking terrain into account, then… a little over two months on horseback.”

Both of the men looked at her speechless and she pushed her glasses up her nose.

“That’s not taking magic into account either.” She stated.

It was Zen who broke the silence first.

“Thank you Amelia.” He turned to Azrael. “Your thoughts?”

Azrael just nodded.

“Perfect! Amelia, where’s the closest place that links up to a main road heading towards the center?”

His secretary drew out a second map from a stack of scrolls and laid it out onto the table.

“Here.” she said, pointing to a spot on the map. “Niversbrook. Two days travel. It’s on our route to the capital.”

Zen glanced up at Azrael.

“It seems like you’ll be stuck with us for a few days more.” He said with a smile.

“Yeah, it seems like it.” Azrael replied, with a lot less enthusiasm. Zen didn’t seem to notice.

A short while later Azrael, Zen, Amelia and a contingent of six soldiers found themselves ready for departure.

Preparations for the trip had been quickly organised and currently all soldiers who weren’t on duty had gathered by the gate to see them off.

Lining up on either side, soldiers saluted in respect, while the aides and servants waved.

Zen at the moment sat high upon his horse, waving at his troops. Amelia, Azrael and the soldiers were similarly mounted, trotting behind him. As the group passed the soldiers a few began to shout Zen’s name.

“ZEN. ZEN. ZEN. ZEN.”

More voices joined in an eventually another name joined the call.

“AZ-RA-EL. AZ-RA-EL. AZ-RA-EL.”

Previously hoping to avoid attention Azrael suddenly found himself shrinking back from the noise and attention. The entire group on horseback halted, as Zen trotted back beside him, still waving.

“They’re waiting for you to do something.”

“Like what?”

Zen shrugged. “Anything. A speech? The bigger the better.”

Azrael looked at the cheering faces of the soldiers. Despite originally not wanting to draw attention to himself, he now realised that his plan to leave unnoticed was no longer viable.

The soldiers wouldn’t let them go until he did something. And as Zen said, the bigger the better.

Azrael figured that he would never see these soldiers again and decided. And there was nothing bigger and better than a ball of flaming destruction. Raising an arm up to the sky, Azrael unleashed a massive [Fire Bullet].

Burning with golden light, the large flaming projectile shot up, above the crowd. Like a blazing star of burning glory it ascended, bathing the onlookers in a fiery golden light.

A silence fell over the onlookers. Then, in an almighty explosion, the small sun tore itself apart. The blast echoed through the giant trees like a cannon shot and was returned and rebounded from all around.

Thousands of golden sparks rained down, like flaming snow, as the symphony of cannon shots reverberating through the trees slowly quietened.

When the onlooker finally managed to turn their eyes away from the last flakes of flaming gold, they noticed that the group had departed. They had left to the farewell of a hundred blazing cannons. The cheering, momentarily forgotten redoubled until it filled the fort.

Further down the track, out of sight of the cheering soldiers. The horseback riders regrouped themselves, calming their frightened horses. Though trained as soldier’s mounts, the horses had been so startled by Azrael’s stunt that they had bolted away from the sound, away from the masses, into the peaceful forest.

It had taken them over a hundred of more meters just to be able to slow the horses down a little and a good few minutes more until the frightened creatures calmed down.

Amelia threw Azrael the stink eye, while Zen tried to hide his grin from his unamused secretary. Azrael could only look away.

Zen had said the bigger the better, but he still found it better to avoid Amelia’s gaze. The look she was throwing him could have withered roses.

Seeing that the horses had settled, Zen called for them to trot onwards.