When I was finally able to log back into Road to Purgatory, the first ten seconds were a little weird. I could perceive my surroundings and look around, but I couldn’t move the rest of my body. Nor did it look like my companions noticed me, with Adra sitting nearby, resting against the cave-wall.

After those few seconds to orient myself, I became able to freely move, fully part of Mundus again. Instantly, I could feel Lenore, who obviously became able to feel me in turn, bombarding me with a cacophony of thought, worries warring with curiosity. Similarly, I could feel Sigmir through our connection, radiating joy, but mixed into it were darker emotions, worry, guilt and a bit of anger. My appearance must have made a bit of noise, Adra’s closed eyes snapped open, focusing on me.

“You are back.” she simply stated, her voice relieved. There was something in her gaze that I didn’t recognise, but it quickly vanished, when she shook her head and closed her eyes again.

“We’ll need to move soon, your…problem cost us two days, and the Manticores found us yesterday.” she explained, before trying to get back to her rest. As I was still a little distracted by a couple blue boxes in my log, I was hit by an unstoppable force in the form of Sigmir, who wrapped me in her arms, lifted me off my feet and almost sent me back to respawn by squeezing the life out of me. So close up, the emotions coming over our connection were clearer than ever, almost sweeping me up. I tried to project comfort and security back at her, to show that nothing had really happened, that I was fine. I could hear her sniffle a little, as she held me in her arms, her face pressed into my hair. For a few minutes, we simply stood there, basking in the presence of the other.

Curiously, there was one more connection I hadn’t noticed before, lesser in comparison to the one to Sigmir and less clear than the connection to Sigmir. A gentle tug and a bit of focus revealed that I had somehow formed a connection to Ylva, too.

“We should let Adra rest.” Sigmir suggested, after giving me a deep kiss that consumed all my focus for a moment. Mumbling my agreement, I let her act as she pleased and she carried me out like a doll. It gave me a few moments to glance over the blue boxes that had distracted me earlier.

Skill increased You increased your skill: Blood Rune-Mastery [62/100]

Skill increased You increased your skill: Astral Meditation [51/100]

Skill increased You increased your skill: Blood Magic.[75/100]

Trait gained You gained the trait: Mortal Hubris Nothing is sacred to you, nothing safe from your curiosity. To some, that trait is admirable, to others, it is blasphemy and worthy of any punishment.

When engaged in your chosen field of study, you gain a 50% bonus to all attributes.

Trait gained You gained the trait: Connection of the Pack Some families are bound by Blood, others are bound by choice. Yours is bound by both, forming a unique connection between all of its members..

Divine Grace - Your death saddened a deity, who decided to spare you from the consequences of your actions. There is no penalty for this Death. Be more careful in the future, mortal.

“What exactly happened?” I asked Sigmir, once we were in the front-part of the cave, able to see a bit of daylight. Not a lot, I noticed that the entrance to our cave was greatly narrowed, mostly blocked off by rubble, as if someone had tried to close off most of it by causing a partial cave-in.

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I could hear Sigmir take a deep breath, preparing to answer, while Lenore’s response was a lot simpler, she pushed her memories at me. Focusing on them for a moment, I experienced the few moments from her point of view, how there had been a massive drain on my Astral Power, how she had pushed some of her power to me, in an attempt to help, how even Sigmir who had been watching had felt in, and pushed some of her power at me, essentially using my own Blood Magic, which had been thick in the air, to lend me a bit of power and support.

And how it hadn’t helped in the slightest, with me suddenly dying, leaving her scrambling to get out of her Hallow as it faded with my body. The memory cut off at that point, but right at it cut off, her focus switched to Ylva, who was glowing with a strange light.

“I could feel your fear and tried to help.” Sigmir responded to my question, sounding both sad and guilty. “And I failed.” she added, her voice breaking a little.

“You didn’t fail. If anyone failed, it was me.” I told her, shaking my head as I gently placed a hand on her cheek.

“What I did, didn’t quite work the way I had intended. I have really no idea how it happened, or why or anything of that sort, I’ll have to look at it with Lenore for a bit, but I somehow managed to forge a connection to someone else. Or maybe somewhere, or something, I’m not quite sure.” I admitted, still not sure what had killed me, but certain that SIgmir had no fault. Even checking the combat-log, it simply told me that I had died, nothing about taking damage, nothing about a source, simply, ‘You died.’.

It was obvious that Sigmir wasn’t quite happy about the whole situation, and once we were out of the cave, she’d likely have something more to say about it, but for now, she accepted my explanation.

With a sudden glint of silvery light, Ylva appeared next to Sigmir, looking at me closely. Now, I could feel her even more strongly than I had earlier and her eyes were reminiscent of a pair of golden Eyes to the point that it sent a shudder down my spine. And those eyes weren’t the only change, visually, they were the biggest one. Otherwise, she was just a little slimmer, though her muscles were more pronounced, making her look a little more dangerous and hungry. But while her look hadn’t changed a lot, the feeling she gave off had an air of power surrounding her.

“I can explain some of it to you.” she growled, my connection to Lenore allowing me to understand her, even while our newly established connection helped with the emotional nuances. There was pride and gratitude within her, but also quite a bit of worry.

“What you did pushed open a door deep within me, a connection to my Divine Ancestor. I can’t quite explain how it worked, but He gave me, and in a way all of us, His blessing. For that, I thank you, sister.” she explained, and the gratitude I had felt earlier surged.

“On the other hand, he also asked me to pass a warning to you. While he regards you as extended family, trespassing into the realm of the Gods is something to be avoided, even by accident. He decided to give you a warning, as death is only a temporary annoyance to you, He felt you needed to suffer some consequences.” she added, concern now obvious in her tone.

There were so many things I wanted to ask about, so many things I needed to think about and discuss with Lenore. Latching onto one of the easier things, I asked Ylva why she referred to me as Sister.

“You forged a bond of Blood between all of us. We are pack.” she told me, looking between Lenore and Sigmir. I noticed, when she said pack, it contained all the associations I would normally connect to family, but there was more to it, an even closer link that even Lenore’s ability couldn’t quite translate.

“I guess that means we are married.” I told Sigmir, a cheeky grin on my face. It was the only word I could think of to describe an official family-connection for a relationship like the one I shared with Sigmir. Though, a part of my words was spoken due to curiosity how she would react.

When her reaction was merely a shy nod, before pulling me in for a kiss once more, that mischievous part of me was a little disappointed, but the sensation of love pouring over our connection more than made up for that small disappointment.

“You are back, good. We’ll need to talk about our further plans.” Olivia’s voice pulled us out of our small cocoon of contentment. Letting out a sigh, I stepped back from Sigmir and looked over to her. The look of concern on her face didn’t fill me with confidence.