Lana was a princess—not just any princess. She was Princess Sunny, the Jewel of Lumin. She became so popular that she started wearing styled pauldrons, and the world adopted her fashion. The princess disrupted the entire gear score system, and estimates took nearly a year to adjust to the new style.

I couldn’t hold back my smile as I sorted through all of her cores, credits, and gear she stored in her ring. The ring was probably worth a small kingdom, and it contained enough wealth inside that Lana probably could’ve bought a few kingdoms. Needless to say, she was wealthy beyond belief.

The most peculiar item in the ring was a plain note with my name on it. I summoned the letter out of the storage ring. I could practically hear Lana’s smooth-accented voice reading her words to me.

Hey Bear, I am sorry I am no longer with you. There was so much more time I wanted to spend with you. Most likely, my past caught up with me, putting you in grave danger. If you are reading this, though, that means you managed to escape the disaster somehow. Good! I am so sorry I endangered your life. I never wanted to hurt you. I should have kept my distance from you but could not summon the strength to leave.

My past was one of tragedy and sorrow. I tried my best to leave it all behind. Then I found you and my world became whole again. I couldn’t let you go. It was selfish and reckless.

I cleared the lump in my throat as I read through the details of Lana’s past: the fall of her Kingdom, the betrayal of the High King, her escape, and years of hiding. She wanted to tell me everything—to include me in the life she was trying to escape—but Flint, her guardian, convinced her otherwise. It was easier to hide two people than it was to hide three.

All things considered, I was at peace with Lana’s secret. Sure, it would’ve been nice to be included, but that puts so much weight on my shoulders to keep their secret safe. I think I’d make a similar decision if the roles were switched. It was a terrible position, and the two did what they thought was best. Besides, how would I even help them? I had nothing to offer to their concealment. No, I didn’t feel any ill will or betrayal for the secret, nor did I think I deserved to. Sometimes, life was just rotten, and all one could do was deal with the mush.

The treasures in the ring are all yours. Half would have gone to Flint if he had survived, but if I am dead, so is he. You probably do not feel right about taking all of my possessions. That is silly. I am dead, and I owe you. Besides, I was going to marry you; I just needed to sort out some of my issues first.

Unfortunately, some of my issues are now yours. Primarily a pesky band of secret assassins. They are the High King’s Jesters—one of the most powerful cabals in the world. I can no longer keep you safe from them. You now have enough resources to buy wards, guards, and gear to keep you safe from most of the Jesters. I do not think they will send their mages at you. This may sound like a lot, but I am sure you will be fine. You are a survivor—even more capable than me.

Now, shed a few tears for me, and be done. We lived as best as we could together. Cherish the memories and move on. I know you will not be able to forget me, as I could never forget you, but I want you to find happiness. I want you to live a long and happy life. Start a harem with Betty and have a bunch of wild and crazy sex with her coven… for the both of us.

I chuckled a moment over her last bit. For a small moment, it felt like Lana was standing right next to me, making the familiar sex joke in person. I could feel her warmth, smile, and sparkle in her eyes. I had to look away from the letter to regain my composure. The reality of the empty forest almost hurt as much as the illusion.

I love you, Kainoa. Not even death can separate my heart from yours. You are my soul. I am so sorry I will not be there to fight against the world with you. Keep fighting the good fight. You know I am forever on your team, and if you get lost, you can find me in the golden sun.

Forever and always, I cherish your love and patiently wait to meet you and your harem on the other side.

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Love, Goldi.

I didn’t move the letter fast enough to keep a tear from staining it. It took a hard swallow to clear the lump in my throat, and no matter how many times I beat my chest, I couldn’t scratch the deep pain that wallowed inside. I folded the letter and gave it a kiss, held it close, and then unfolded it to read it again and again. Call it cliche, but the letter meant more to me than all the riches inside the ring. I let myself be sappy for several more minutes, then folded up the letter and put it in my boot—an old habit formed over years of service in the Alderi military.

“Hang in there, Goldi,” I said to the pile of rummaged ashes. “We’ll be together soon enough. Then you can personally pick my harem.” The joke brought a hollow smile.

Besides credits and cores, Lana had a healthy stash of potions, runes, weapons, and armor. That she held items for Flint and me didn’t surprise me. She often carried our gear in her storage, and the light cultivator loved giving gifts.

First, I pulled out a pair of mana pistol axes. They looked similar to the repeating crossbows that were becoming popular because they could fire multiple rounds. The size was nearly the same, and like the crossbows, the ax pistols were covered in runes.

The similarities ended there. Instead of firing bolts, pointed pellets were stored in a chamber. The pellets themselves seemed to be solid mana-resistant material. There was no string mechanism to launch the pellets, and at the bottom of the handle was the head of the ax. Conveniently, the end of the barrels of each pistol was semi-fashioned into a handle. I never saw these pistols in action—never heard mention of them except for the times Flint made references to missing his axes. I’m surprised the shield druid didn’t have the axes attached to him like the plethora of accessories he kept on his belts and bandoliers. The man always joked that part of the reason for his plus size was so that he could wear more equipment.

There were dozens of pellet pouches inside Lana’s ring and other Flint weapons I was more familiar with. A long, thick staff, ebony shields, a beater stick—which was sort of a club and a sword, and repeating crossbows that could be worn on the wrist. Along with weapons were a set of extra clothes for Flint. I didn’t bother looking through those. Not only would his clothes not fit, they were far from my style. Flint was a druid and believed wholeheartedly that he needed to look the part. He managed to make it look classy somehow. I was confident I couldn’t.

It took some time to sort through all of the runes. There were twelve sets, each with at least a hundred runes. Three runes were utility, providing warmth, coolness, and healing. The rest were combat-focused: flash, smoke, explosive, silencing, burning, darkness, freezing, buffing, and shocking. I’d seen a few of them in action. Flint was particularly fond of the explosive and smoke combo.

My stored collection was a mix of my simple black and gray clothing style and Lana’s pick of hats, pauldrons, accessories, and weapons. There were a half dozen black pants that were made from spider thread. The pants were rugged, providing tactical purposes for adventuring, and somehow managed to look casual. Some people went a lifetime without finding their perfect pants. I found mine soon after opening my map shop.

I pulled out a set of clothes and equipped them, including a dark gray tunic, forest green cloak, belt, bandolier that connected to a quiver, and Light’s Edge, which fit on my back as well. After a few adjustments, I was able to add a variety of runes to the bandolier and belt, as well as two ax-pistols and a pouch of pellets, all of which were concealed inside my cloak. Together, I looked like a well-dressed adventurering ranger. Lana would be proud.

It felt good to be equipped appropriately once more. Relying on mana to summon weapons was never a good choice, especially when every sleeper knew a silencing spell and devices to cut off mana were becoming more prevalent. After my collared experience, I didn’t want to travel into towns without proper protection.

For two days, I practiced with the pistols until I became proficient, tinkered with my gear some more to get the perfect fit, meditated, cultivated, and exercised. I was just about to head back to town, but then I decided to spend one more day training. It was good to be safe about these things, and I wanted to avoid any encounters with Purity if possible.

The next day, I got up before the sun and rushed to Cyanne. By the time I got to town, the sun was up, which meant the guards were much more relaxed about their duty.

I slipped past the gate without any hassle—barely sparing a nod for the guards—and made my way to the teleport in the town center. I paid the fee and portal to a city near the capital.

Lana had many treasures in her ring, but she was missing a few valuable items. I was going to remedy that.