After a week of absence, I could barely wait to jump back into Mundus. It was frightening, just how much I missed it and how much of it I missed. It wasn’t just the separation from Sigmir that left a hole in my heart but almost as stinging was the absence of Lenore and the conversation we shared. There was more than one occasion when I was looking out of the window or working out somewhere, something that had filled most of my time, the physical activity an excellent distraction, that I had tried to converse with her, only to come up empty. Even Rai and Adra had grown close to me over the long time we had journeyed together, though the longing for them was far lesser compared to the pain being separated from Sigmir caused.

Hell, even the mundanity of my body, the physical and mental inability, quickly became glaring, especially during exercise. On Mundus, I could easily jump three, or four metres high, without the need for magical or physical crutches and could run for hours, without serious repercussions. If I boosted myself with magic, I could do even more. The biggest limitation on my senses became my ability to process information. I had to concentrate on a particular location or sound to fully bring my senses to bear. Otherwise, my mind would quickly become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information pouring in.

And magic. How I missed my magic.

Almost every night, I dreamed of Mundus, of Sigmir, of holding her and kissing her, it was almost torture. Other dreams were of my capsule space, the Frozen Throne on which I rested and the countless runic decorations I had woven into the walls, my very own magical sanctum.

But finally, I could log back in. The familiar sensation of vertigo washed over me and moments later, I felt Sigmir’s presence, our link snapping back into focus. All the longing burst from deep in my heart and briefly, I couldn’t think of anything, only she was filling my mind. But only thinking of her just wasn’t enough, I wanted to hold her, so I needed to interact with the outside world.

Around me was the comfortable darkness of my Hallow, keeping me sheltered and hidden, while Lenore allowed me to perceive the world. To my surprise, what I perceived through her mind wasn’t a ship or even a port-town, all around Lenore was a warm, humid forest, the trees towering while a few, small shrubs fought for what little light could penetrate the dense canopy above.

“Welcome back,” Lenore greeted me, excitement palpable in our mental contact. Focusing on her, I knew that her wings were rapidly flapping, wind-magic boosting her speed, as she carried us back towards Sigmir. Just as I could begin to feel her excitement at my return, she could feel my longing for Sigmir. The distance between us shrunk quickly, and I accepted Lenore’s memory of the past two weeks.

Watching memories was a curious experience, especially if they weren’t just short-term. If not for the vast experience I had when it came to Lenore’s mind, I likely wouldn’t have been able to live them as I did, but after those almost two years, understanding what went on in her mind was second-nature to me.

After I had logged out the last time, she had moved onto Adra’s shoulder, the two of them playing up the nature aspect and having her act as a trained companion to Adra, not a bonded Spiritbeast. There were quite a few rangers and archers who used a trained animal, though mostly hawks or hounds, in their work, so having one more wasn’t a tremendous surprise.

Inside Phalladri, they had asked around and quickly found a captain. As ‘Luck’ would have it that captain was quite amendable to sail for Arbortoma at the earliest convenience, even if she wouldn’t necessarily have the optimal freight, after they shared some of the news they had heard during their journey. Who would have thought that news of large-scale catastrophes would make people want to be elsewhere? A lush, temperate forest turning into a fiery hellscape filled with monsters, one of the major port cities losing almost a quarter of its population in a single night of misty mayhem? Completely unreasonable that anyone would want to be somewhere else.

Driven by such motivation and some coin, they had set sail within twenty-four hours of entering Phalladri, basically, as soon as the captain had been able to verify enough of their tales to be scared, they had left.

Their passage had been quite easy in comparison, no monsters had harassed them and they even caught a favourable current, the trip that would normally take a week only taking them four days. Lenore’s memories of the journey itself were quite simple, with little difference from the journey across the Mare Tempest. A lot of staring at the wooden hull while sailors were working all around them. Sigmir did have some troubles but there was little anyone but I could do and I hadn’t been there, leaving her to suffer in silence.

Mociabi, the port they had arrived at was quite impressive in her memories. It was located at the mouth of a strangely shaped bay, the mouth incredibly small before opening up into a massive body of water, large enough to almost be called a small interior ocean. Sitting at the mouth, Mociabi controlled access to that body of water and its natural bounty.

Most impressive of all was the magical significance and the sheer amount of Storm and Lightning-Magic infusing the area. From what Lenore had seen, there was enough power in the air to make casting spells of that nature almost trivial, allowing even the weakest spellcasters who could wield such magic tremendous power. Thanks to that, Mociabi was one of the most powerful cities on Arbotoma, as any assault on its walls could be met with tremendous retaliation. Similarly, they had incredible wealth, thanks to their access to one of the few not monster-infested oceans.

After the others had debarked from their ship, they had explored the town a little, looking for quests and information, before starting their way south, moving at a slow pace due to their lack of information. They knew I needed to travel south-west but our exact destination was a mystery to them. Given that it was a mystery to me, too, that wasn’t too much of a surprise.

Lenore also gave me her impression of the elves of Arbotoma, mainly that they were weird. A little snooty and arrogant but also whimsical and stupid, generally unable to stay on track long enough to get anything done but capable of impressive feats if they truly put their minds to it. An odd dichotomy that we would have to explore further.

It felt a little weird, theoretically, I would be an elf amongst elves but somehow, I didn’t think things would be that easy. But only time would tell how the nature- and forest-inclined elves of Arbotoma would react to an elf of Ice, Darkness and Death.

Just as I was quickly sifting through Lenore’s memories of the last few days, a leisurely journey through a hot and humid tropical forest, we reached the others, who were in the process of making camp, despite it being the middle of the day.

The moment we arrived, I shoved myself out of my hallow, dropping the last few metres to the ground. I simply didn’t want to wait and, from the way I never reached the ground, neither could Sigmir, who caught me in mid-air and began to take away my breath.

For the next few minutes or maybe hours, she held me in her arms, thoroughly kissing me and showing just how much she had missed me. It didn’t take long for our reuniting to shift from the vertical into the horizontal and I briefly noticed that Lenore and the others had taken their distance, giving us privacy.

By the time we were done reuniting, I was quite sore and tired, but also very satisfied. The longing for Sigmir was somewhat abated, though I wanted nothing more than to snuggle into her arms and get some rest. Somehow, sleeping without her just wasn’t as restful, the gentle beat of her heart the best lullaby there was. Given that the sky above us was already getting dark, I wouldn’t have to wait for long but first, we called back the others and began to prepare dinner.

Over dinner, I listened to the others about their experiences on the journey, their perspective subtly different from Lenore’s but just as interesting. Listening to Adra describe how she had negotiated with the captain, or how Rai had managed to get into trouble in Phalladri because he had run into a few sneaky criminals was quite amusing. During dinner, Sigmir said the least, mostly she just physically demonstrated how much she had missed me, constantly reaching out and giving me a gentle caress and after dinner, I simply sat on her lap, her arms wrapped around me, as we continued talking.

It felt good to be back with them and in the morning, we could seriously begin to take on the last leg of our journey. Further south, through the hot and humid forest, until we could climb the southern mountains and reach the nexus somewhere deep within them.