Three days later and the tactical grade spellcraft was about to begin. It’s honestly amazing how much can change in just three days… or at least that was what Van was thinking at this time.

After that long discussion, Gloria and Zartashia had reinstated themselves as rulers with Amie and Xenith being sister queendoms of sorts, while at the same time swearing fealty to their own daughters in front of a large group of their noble peers to make it clear who technically had the real power, and that they were serious in making Amie and Xenith the true rulers of their respective queendoms should anything happen to them…

once that was settled, and they were able to open up a portal covertly, most if not all those who had fled to take refuge in Van’s soul realm left to new forests promised them by multiple organizations and guilds.

What at first was a little over a million residents in Van’s soul realm… has now shrunken to a little under fifty thousand… there was the thousand that Van was able to recruit and produce on his own. The six to seven thousand of Lyn’s. The eleven to twelve thousand of Amie’s that stayed behind. And the twenty-four to twenty-five of Xenith’s, alongside all of her sisters who decided to stay in the hopes of adventure, which helped contribute to her numbers. Even a few of the newer converts of his own religion left, to stay with their families who were also leaving.

To which he couldn’t really blame them for… it hurt a little… made him feel a bit bad after all the effort he went through to save as many people he could. But in the end… it just made a lot of sense… After all, Xenith and Amie were untried rulers, more born out of a sense of desperation than anything else, and newly crowned on top of that. There was also the other matter of what would happen to the people who live in a person's soul realm when that person dies… no one wanted to stay and find that out… there was also the matter of trying to sustain all those people, with food stores already starting to run thin…

Van knew that it wasn’t that they were unthankful for what he did for them, it was that they just wanted to start anew somewhere safer… and it wasn’t like he could take care of them all anyway, but it still felt pretty bad that so many left. And the once almost cramped soul realm, if only in the forest, now felt very empty…

Leaving only a fraction of the once crowded forest left… This of course did not include the many wild animals that they were able to save and bring. Which he supposed was nice all things considered, the bright spot in all of the others leaving.

After they were able to squeeze everyone out that wanted to get out of his soul realm. Zartashia and Gloria agreed to leave in separate ways, but on good terms, all things considered… But not before staying around until the spell that would essentially destroy their precious forest was done. They had to see it through with their own two eyes, the actions that caused their homes death never spread and hurt anyone else.

This led to this moment right now. Where Van and everyone else was sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the mages to fire their doomsday spell. His parents had wanted him to leave, but he and Luna were being stubborn about it, they too, wanted to see this through to the end.

It was during this time of waiting for the spell to fire, that Alv began telling them what was going to happen in detail next when Van asked where Lore was, considering he thought Lore would be the one to help fire the spell.

“Lore is at another site.” Alv began to explain. “There are seven other sites surrounding the forest at eight points. Each one requiring mages of a certain skill level. Once the spell is ready to fire, eight points of energy will converge right above the mushroom, before firing a devastating beam that will destroy and burn everything within a certain radius of the final beam’s epicenter.”

“Once that is done, we will use what Alecto and Pepper have shared and create many more batches of the serum they have been able to make to destroy the rest of this ‘red knife’ threat once and for all. It will take an extra month to produce the required necessary, but once done, a rain spell will be used with the serum as it’s core component. Rain infused with the serum's anti-corrupting effect will rain down on what’s left, making sure we kill this thing once and for all…”

Alv then put a reassuring hand on Van’s shoulder. “Finally, after all of that, the druids and environmentalist guilds will work together to restore the forest back to how it was as soon as possible. Which might take a little over fifty years… the restoration of which will be largely funded by house Umbra free of charge… but putting us in her debt… in another meaning… ” his slightly upbeat demeanor of trying to reassure Van slowly losing momentum.

Alv shook his head and began to tell Van the rest of the plans for the future. “Once this is all over, Sheri will resume command of your studies and make sure you are ready for school. When you have completed her tests satisfactorily, you will be sent to the east branch of the bloodhaven academy as planned, before the semester starts so you can settle in. Along the way, you will have to pass through Gleam Forest, where Yesi and Yassan, those who helped you before, will escort you safely through before moving on to do their own things.”

“Wait? Why do I have to go through Gleam forest?” Van asked, “wasn’t I going to go through Torsa? And now that I think about it… what was the name of this forest again?”

“You lived in this forest for almost six months and you don’t even know the name of it?” Alv asked back in surprise.

“No one ever mentioned the name of the forest,” Van replied defensively.

Alv kept his sigh to himself and answered his son. “It’s called Levira. Levira’s forest. It was created by a fairy named Levira over a thousand years ago, using plants and trees from an even greater forest further to the east. She and my ancestors had come to a sort of agreement that allowed her to settle the small forest that was here previously and grow it to what it is now. Of course, she died due to a ‘break’ that fractured the many fairy clans. But everything still seemed to have been going fine until now…”

Van was very surprised to hear this tidbit of information, not expecting it at all…

“Anyway…” Alv began, “the reason as to why you are going through Gleam forest is because Torsa is a bit too close to a certain someone’s territory…”

“Wait… you mean… Karmila?” Van asked worriedly.

“Indeed. Since that incident with you and Karen, we’ve been putting more attention in keeping an eye on her. We don’t trust her to just let you skim the outskirts of her duchy. Wouldn’t put it past her to try to hire bandits to kidnap you… so you are going the long way around, through the forest of Gleam, surrounded by veteran rangers, where it will be harder for her to try anything…”

Van shivered at the thought that Karmila would try anything.

“After that, there is some good news. You will be heading towards Bright city, one of the few largest cities before you truly hit the east side of Alcray. It’s a well-known metropolis, where a lot of goods pass through east to west and west to east, with a well-known auction house where you can buy a lot of amazing things from all over.” Alv said, looking slightly happy for some reason as he went on a little more to describe the city and all its majesty.

“But! More importantly…” now finally getting to his point. “Duchess Rosalyn, as showed interest in your hand in marriage!” now looking excited for his son.

“What!?” Van exclaimed, surprised that someone, let alone a duchess, wanted his hand in marriage. “Why!?” he couldn’t help but ask. Drawing the gazes of a few others due to the sudden shout.

Alv hesitated. “Well… there are a few… circumstances… But! This would be very good for our house if the marriage goes through. Duchess Rosalyn has no love for Duchess Karmila, the two are at constant odds with each other. And Duchess Rosalyn is interested in you for the mere fact that you are an heir instead of just an accessory… She and our house have also gotten along for many generations, so it’s a win-win for all of us.”

Van was having a hard time wrapping his head around everything his dad was telling him. Someone he never met before was showing interest in marrying him, knowing what that actually meant considering he was an heir and everything. Didn’t she know that would cause problems in the joining of their two houses? Or figuring out an heir for the future? What could she possibly see to gain from marrying him? Someone from a small house such as his? Though admittedly, having grown a little bigger since he married Luna and joined his barony house to her county one…

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Alv said after Van was quiet for some time. “Nothing is set in stone, you just have to meet her. You can turn her down if you want, no one will blame you if you do. I just wanted to tell you what was going to happen in the future so you could better prepare for it. That’s all.” not wanting his son to feel pressured or anything like that, Van’s happiness was just too important for him for that.

Van remained silent for a few moments longer, thinking about what his father said. Technically it made sense… though he wasn’t happy about it, his parents were still the rulers while he was still a mere heir. It was important that they set things up to strengthen their house by marrying him off to anyone who was willing. But at least it seemed that his parents weren’t going to force anything onto him. So he might as well meet the women in question to see what everything was about.

“Alright, I’ll meet her,” Van said, showing a brave face and understanding his duty and role to play in all this.

“Thank you, my son,” Alv said, and the two shared a moment before chanting began and they turned around to see the mages finally start the spell that would destroy Levira’s forest.

A group of robed-clad people were chanting around a giant circle, almost a hundred of them, speaking in an incomprehensible language that no doubt was some sort of computer code for spells. Echoes of their chant could soon be heard, even from miles away as their voices began to rise higher and higher in concert with the others scattered around the edges of the forest.

The giant circle in question began to glow red, and soon a small fireball began to grow until it became a miniature sun, formed in it’s center. Waves of energy and mana crashed outward, like a volcano ready to blow, the heat and power buffeted the surrounding people and buildings, some even losing their grip on the ground.

Van had never before felt such raw power before. He could only look through narrowed eyes, one arm raised to block out the harsh light of the spell to be able to see what was right in front of him. His father placed a gentle hand on his back to help steady him.

With a final word, the miniature sun imploded inwardly, before shooting out a condensed beam of fiery energy that flew towards the center of the forest. There it met with seven other beams high above the still growing mushroom and converged. A new spell matrix then was created, expanding rapidly until it covered most of the forest down below like an umbrella of some sort. It then drew in the ambient mana for a few minutes, concentrating it all in it’s center. A few minutes later, a gigantic beam was fired onto the mushroom, burning it down to ash piece by piece, until it hit the ground and a wave of destruction followed soon after, like a tidal wave of death and agonizing fire.

The scenery reminded Van of one of his past lives. Seeing a video of a great and deadly bomb going off in the middle of a city, vaporizing it all in one go. What he saw was no less destructive… for everything within the epicenter of the blast was gone, and everything near might as well be. The forest had a giant hole now in it’s center, and fires raged at it’s outskirts. The beautiful lake that connected the forest had been vaporized as well, leaving a barren bowl with only a few puddles of water, if even that.

Van had never before been so afraid for his life. The sheer annihilation of a place once so filled with life, left its mark on his psyche like nothing else could. Not even the rape by Karen could compare to the nihilism he was feeling right now…

Luna, in a daze, walked up to him and hugged his arm for support. The two just staring in despair at the sight before them. All the things they made, all the fun they had, the good times and the bad, had been wiped away with a few chants…

It never before really hit him till now… how truly dangerous this world was. And that he was not it’s protagonist. Nor ever will be… if he wanted to survive, he had to fight and grow stronger, no matter the cost. If he made enemies with the wrong people, then who is to say that they wouldn’t do this to him or his family…

Van and Luna stared at what used to be a beautiful forest in stunned silence. They stayed like that for a long while, even as others began to move and pack up. Lyn, Amie, and Xenith joined them, and Anna herself popped out to provide some comfort. The group stayed hugging each other for a long while, before even they had to admit, it was time to move on… they had work to do…

Suffice to say, the carriage ride back home was a quiet one. His parents were wise and kept quiet, giving their children the time they needed. Even as they passed through the castle town, the streets were subdued as they saw from a great distance what happened. Worried whisperings of what this could mean spread like a plague through people's lips.

And once they finally arrived home, it was late, so everyone went to their rooms for the night to get a well-deserved rest. For Xenith and Amie, this was their first time in their new home. But sadly, now wasn’t the time to enjoy a new place to explore or settle into…

That night, they simply changed and went to bed. None felt like celebrating their return home or making it out of the forest alive. Their hearts were too heavy and filled with the burden of what they felt they had caused.

They fell into a fitful sleep, not waking up until first light the next morning.

Once they got up, it was almost as if nothing really happened. The maids did their chores, the cooks made breakfast and Van and everyone else were escorted to the dining table. Almost as if nothing was wrong and it was just another day. Like they never left at all…

Sheri and Lore were there as well, and while the atmosphere was heavy. The grown-ups tried to lighten the mood by talking about other things.

During this time, Van introduced Amie, Xenith, and Agnès to Sheri and Lore, introducing them as his new wives. Pleasantries were had, plus congratulations were given, and Van slowly also tried to act like it was just another everyday day, though his heart wasn’t truly into it…

Sheri then began explaining everything that they still needed to study before leaving for the east branch of bloodhaven. Thea then brought out a stack of envelopes and passed it out to Luna, saying they were the letters that piled up while she was away, sent by Leiah, asking how she was doing.

Conversations slowly became more normalized, though Xenith, Amie, and Agnès still felt a little subdued, considering their home and everything they knew about it was gone and burnt to ash. They still tried to do their best to make a good impression on those around them, though one could see how hard it was for them to do so.

After breakfast, they were given the rest of the day off to recover and relax before studies resumed. To which everyone was really thankful for. Van and Luna then went around showing off the castle and everything it had to offer to their new friends and family.

As they did so, they couldn’t help but overhear that rumors were already spreading about what happened to the forest and what this could mean for the barony’s future. Making Van and Luna feel a little bad, before being reassured by everyone that it was going to be okay.

The day went by quickly, there wasn’t really anything to do. All the plans they did have when Van and Luna finally arrived home felt silly and like a waste of time. For the most part, they just showed off the castle that day and just… stayed around doing really nothing until lunch and dinner were called.

His parents, plus Lore and Sheri, tried to help them get out of their funk, to no real effect. It was clear that, though outwardly they pretended that they weren’t really affected by what happened, they all were deeply hurt by it.

But time heals all wounds…

And slowly… as the days went by… things started to go somewhat back to normal… though a new resolve was born within everyone affected. A growing fire of determination to become as strong as possible was lit. and they all inwardly swore to themselves that they wouldn’t be so weak as to let what happened, happen again…