I returned to the teleporter and started to dig around the base of the platform. It was only then that I confirmed this was still Yetera. There were murals, and a scene depicted that I had seen before in the Hidden Jungle.

The mysterious and powerful-seeming man was depicted here as well, holding his staff triumphantly. I suddenly thought maybe I had returned to the Hidden Jungle. But the foliage and growth here was much more unrestrained.

I had intended on looking around more when something stopped me dead in my tracks. A soul signature was approaching that burned so strongly my body started to quake in fear. It was coming directly towards me and tearing through the foliage like it was paper.

Whatever this creature was, it would pull me apart, limb from limb, effortlessly. There was no time to plot or plan, all I could do was rush through the teleporter back to the cave. The portal was only a few feet away but that distance seemed infinitely far.

The creature coming towards me was unbelievably fast, and by the time I reached the teleporter it had already made its way to this area. There was a sudden flash as my world spun and I appeared in the cave.

I didn’t hesitate to reach down and fuddle about for the mysterious stone powering the teleporter. Almost immediately after gripping the stone, an arm come through the teleporter and reached for me. I pulled the stone away from the socket.

The teleporter closed and the hand was chopped clean off before falling to the floor. Was it an arm at all? It was shaped like a human forearm but morphed in odd ways on the floor. It squirmed as if alive and almost seemed plant-like.

Its color started off brownish green but rapidly changed. It shriveled as if decaying, until it turned completely black. A touch from my foot caused it to break apart into millions of pieces. It scattered like a decayed leaf with the slightest breeze.

The sudden curiosity helped abate my growing nausea. It was definitely not human, that was for sure. I racked my brain for memory of any plant-like humanoids, maybe a dryad? If it was plant-based, then the damage of losing a hand was not going to be crippling, let alone fatal. Whatever was on the other side of the portal would probably remain alive despite the loss of its hand.

My nausea grew to be too much and I curled over and started to vomit. A rush of dizziness and vertigo assaulted me. Not from the hand that lay severed on the ground but from a sense of dislocation that probably came from having used teleporter again so quickly.

Taking deep breaths as much as I could, I rolled up on the floor. The dizzy, unsettled feeling didn’t pass for two to three minutes, and only then could I stand up.

I had never felt a soul signature that powerful, and even the one in the room over in this cave could not compare to what I’d just encountered. Assuming that place beyond the portal was Yetera, then perhaps I had found myself somewhere in the West Abithos continent.

The West Abithos continent had been a no-go land for the past several hundred years. Those that ventured there didn’t return and maybe I’d just gotten an indication of why.

I had never heard of a teleporter being able to take you to West Abithos.

The portal had been of no immediate benefit to me at all, and I felt disappointed at this realization. After all my efforts in this mountain I had been hoping discover some special item, or power, or anything to boost my strength.

I needed to return to Arturii as soon as possible and regroup with the Valkyrie guild. I didn’t even know the situation anymore on the North Maledith continent. Had the boss been dispatched or was Arturii currently under siege?

It was time to leave the mountain. I made sure to pocket the mysterious stone and patted myself down one more time to ensure I wasn’t leaving or forgetting anything. With two days of rations remaining I could surely reach the forested area and slowly work my way back.

I felt a weight had been lifted off my chest as I stepped along the stairwell and towards the cave exit. Death had come for me many times, and like a cockroach I had dodged it each time. The cold air beyond the tunnels didn’t bite at my senses as much as it used to.

As I headed directly away from the mountain and towards the snowy horizon, I couldn’t stop myself from turning and looking back one last time. The place I had considered my home for the last week slowly disappeared with each step.

***

It took me a full day of travel before I saw the tree line. The discovery couldn’t have come at a better time. The sun was falling and night was soon approaching. I didn’t want to dig another snow pit and sleep inside it like I had done previously.

Pushing myself hard, I reached the forest with the last of the twilight and found a tree branch to rest on for the night. It was still cold, but not nearly as harsh as being exposed to wind chill on the Frozen Wastelands had been. My sleep that night was peaceful.

The following days were odd. As I continued south towards Arturii I encountered no monsters and no Adventurers. There were no soul signatures anywhere as far as I could tell.

Had we extinguished the threat and returned to Arturii? Or had the invasion advanced on to the walls of the city? I couldn’t be sure, as the return journey would take at least two more days. At least by now I had reached familiar territory.

I had been hoping to engage in some battles here and there to polish myself and gather more EXP, but there was just nothing. My ambition had been to reach level 40 by the time I returned to Arturii. That would have at least put me in the ranks of the middle-level Adventurers. Disappointingly, however, it wasn’t to be.

Only when I was about half a day out from Arturii did the true picture presented itself to me. The guilds hadn’t thwarted the invasion, it was knocking at our doorstep. Soul signatures began popping up incredibly frequently. Arturii was under siege.

To avoid running into the absolute mass of monsters and beasts waiting to attack the city, I ended up extending my journey by half a day, skirting around to the far side, where there were spaces between the clusters of monsters and I could get close to the city.

“Halt!” A voice came from a guard waiting along the wall. His voice was anxious and more than unsteady. There was a jittery nervousness to his demeanor. “Who are you?”

“I’m an Adventurer! I was with the Valkyrie guild!” I yelled up. The guild leaders hadn’t given me any insignia or anything to prove this. But what else could I say?

“Every party was recalled well over a week ago!” He shouted down.

“I met with some unfortunate circumstances and had to detour.” I was expecting him to shoo me away, but it seemed that he accepted my statement and soon the door opened and I was allowed entry.

The streets were filled with people rushing to and fro. The energy in their movement and the concern in people’s faces made me realize the seriousness of the situation. Arturii was preparing for a massive assault on these walls.

I headed towards the Adventurer’s guild in the hopes of collecting my Zeny and EXP potions. A hundred thousand Zeny was nothing to scoff at, but I was much more excited for the potions. There was also something else that I could put off no longer.

The small shop serving food from Earth was a top priority for me. As soon as I finished my business, I would head there and meet the owner and try to get whatever answers I could about the connection with Earth.

Once inside the hall I took my place in line and eventually reached the clerk behind the counter. The entire city was working in overtime and every possible lane was packed, but the amount of people working behind the scenes was also many times more than it had been previously.

I gave my name and information and was told to wait off to the side. Fifteen minutes of waiting later and the clerk finally reappeared.

“Here are the potions and Zeny you were promised.”

“What’s this?” I asked. There was something else.

“A letter from the Valkyrie guild.” I pocketed the Zeny and potions immediately. I held the letter in my hand and broke the seal as I took to the streets. It was a list of directions: instructions of what I should do if I returned to Arturii.

There was an odd urgency in the letter that led me to want return to the Valkyrie guild immediately without delay. I suddenly had a bad feeling. But seeing as the small restaurant was nearby, I decided to visit it first.

Unfortunately for me, the cafe was no longer in business. The shop was boarded up. I pushed my head against the wooden boards and peered through a crack inside, empty. My only lead to someone from Earth was gone like that.

I contemplated going to Josh’s enchanting shop and seeing what I could buy to continue pushing forward my skill in that craft, but the letter from the Valkyrie guild scratched at the back of my neck. It was an ominous feeling, and I had learned to trust my gut in these situations. I rushed towards the guild building without delay.

“Joseph?” As I hurried up the steps to the guild entrance, I heard a woman’s voice and I turned my head drawing a blank for a moment.

“Joy?” I recognized her as a member of the Valkyrie party to which I’d been assigned. I had not seen or heard from her since the night we fled from those level-sixty beasts.

She smiled at me. “I can’t believe you’re alive.”

“I also… can’t believe I’m alive.” I confessed. “Where are the others?” And then there was an awkward pause.

“They didn’t make it.”

I immediately wondered if that was partially my fault. “Was it that night?”

“No, we managed to rendezvous after the mobs chased you. It was a group of Tyrant members who ambushed us.” As soon as she said this, I could feel my blood start to boil. “We fled from them and I was on my last legs when I ran into a group of Adventurers who protected me. When Rhea found out she nearly declared war against Tyrants. The others were all dead, murdered by those traitors.”

I didn’t know how to respond. Julian had been an asshole, but even he didn’t deserve to be slain in such a manner. It seemed that everyone I befriended was destined to suffer in some way. I felt like I was a walking curse.

Joy noticed my silence and broke the atmosphere, “Sorry, you must be here for something. Rhea has been waiting for your return, so I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” I nodded my head in response and entering with her, took the seat to the side that she gestured at.

I waited for around ten minutes before Rhea appeared through the backroom. She had a smile on her face that suddenly turned putrid. I was confused at first, until I heard the front doors bang open.

My focus shifted from her to those entering the Valkyrie guild hall and immediately understood her transformation. Four Adventurers walked in, all with the Tyrant emblem on their clothing, and I even recognized one of them. It was the young man and his two party members who had chased me into the Frozen Wasteland.

They walked behind a tall gentleman of refined stature who appeared to be in his fifties. The young man’s faced changed from scorn to surprise as he recognized me. I saw him tug on the elderly gentleman’s cuff and nod in my direction. The man’s neutral face immediately grew excited.

“Rhea! It’s so good to see you.” He spoke sardonically.

“Cut the bullshit. What do you want Dominik?” Rhea didn’t give him anything back but hostility.

Seemingly unconcerned by Rhea’s harsh attitude, the man she had called Dominik said, “Now, that’s not a nice term to say to your senior.”

“What. Do. You. Want?” Rhea enunciated every word slowly and was evidently close to losing her temper.

“Alright, I just came to collect a debt.”

“A debt? You should be paying a debt, no? Did you forget what your Tyrant group did?”

“Are you forgetting Rhea? Those people are all dead, their debt has been paid. I’m here to collect a different debt.” He paused, “actually, he’s sitting right over there.” The elderly man looked in my direction.

Rhea looked at me curiously and I could tell by her eyes that she was internally screaming, What did you do? There was an awkward pause for a few moments before she spoke up, “Whatever he did, you can’t have him.”

“That’s a problem then. I’m sure you didn’t know, but my nephew was murdered recently.”

Rhea’s eyes grew wide as if realizing the crisis at hand was growing out of control. I wasn’t sure of my rights or who would listen to my side of the story, but a debt of blood, specifically for having killed a direct family member of the Tyrant leadership… I doubted that was something Rhea could pay off with Zeny.

“Are you suggesting he did it? Do you have proof?”

“I knew you would say that.” Dominik smiled. “These three boys behind me are all witnesses to the murder.”

“What good do three Tyrant boys as witnesses do? That proves nothing, they’ll say whatever you tell them.”

“I also knew you would say that. Which is why I hired a seer just in case.”

I could see from her expression that Rhea felt trapped. If Dominik had hired a seer and was acting which such confidence, then he was one-hundred percent sure he could prove me a murderer. She was audibly frustrated as she let out a grunt.

“So what do you want then? How much?”

“It’s not about an amount, but a person. I want him. You know the rules, it’s an eye for an eye.” Dominik said.

“Absolutely not.” Rhea spoke confidently but I could hear the bravado in her words. Remembering how I’d coldly planned their deaths, the law most likely wasn’t on my side. It would be hard for her to protect me.

“Do I have to declare war on the Valkyrie guild to get what I want?” Dominik’s cheerful face finally grew more severe.

Rhea’s face grew darker as well, and I suddenly had a terrible feeling. It was unlikely this was related just to his nephew. Someone that high up in Tyrants had to be heartless. He wanted me for something other than the murder and most likely bad news for me.

Rhea grew silent and couldn’t help but look at me with a guilty countenance. I felt that declaring a guild war in the face of the siege was absolutely foolish. Yet they weren’t called the Tyrant guild for nothing; I believed they would be prepared to start a civil war in Arturii.

It seemed like I would be leaving here shortly, but not a free man. My mind was racing through millions of things to say that might fix this situation. Rhea continued to stare at me, and I couldn’t help but feel her expression was growing a bit guilty.

The door opened up behind her again and a familiar face came into view. It was someone I hadn’t seen in a very long time: Lady Briele. She walked up to Rhea and began whispering in her ear for dozens of seconds. Afterwards she looked in my direction with a smile and wink.

“Well? Shall we go to war, or will you hand this boy over?” Dominik pressed. He had grown impatient to the situation. Perhaps too, Lady Briele’s appearance had made him feel uneasy.

“Send the papers if you must. Valkyrie will sign them,” Rhea suddenly said.

“That’s goo—wait, what did you say? You will go to war for this boy?” It was clear Dominik could hardly believe what he was hearing. Neither could I.

“I said we will go to war. He will not be leaving here with you today. You may leave.”

“You… you will regret this!” Dominik could muster only these clichéd words before turning and leaving with his group.

I was still in utter shock. I never considered Rhea a bad person, but going to war for someone you barely knew, in this climate? It immediately made me curious as to what Lady Briele had said.