I liked Ascentown, but now they were set to grow without me, I finally felt free. I reminded myself that it wasn’t the wrong choice, collecting people and protecting them while teaching them the first steps to survive this new world. I would do it all again exactly the same if I had to, however there was definitely a piece of my new existence missing.

The first steps out of the boundary, not knowing when or even if I would be able to return was terrifying. Entirely by accident, I had ended up with an anchor around my neck. Removing the chain was uncomfortable, but for this was not just something I had to do, it was the right choice for the future of the people. With me handling every big threat, no one else would be able to rise to the occasion, after all.

It was somewhat flimsy logic, but it held up even as the procession continued. Joining Naea and I for the first leg of our journey was a group of fledglings under Luke’s command, along with the man himself. I found it impossible to refuse when the hollow-eyed ranger had asked me if they could come with us. Of everyone impacted by my new familiar, Luke was hit the hardest.

As he had been out hunting by himself, his absence was nearly impossible to spot. Five days was nothing in the hectic world we now had to survive, but for him it was torture. Steel had manipulated his pain responses and methodically used him as a tool to understand humans. It was as unpleasant as it sound, and then many times more if I had to guess.

“So, I heard you spoke to that monster?” He finally asked the question on his mind. His voice was still hoarse, even days after the events. Could trauma influence healing even now? Luke had been hovering nearby, not quite involving himself in the light conversations during our journey so far. I took an intentional break to create some space between myself and the others, which Luke capitalised upon. When I nodded, he shivered visibly. “That thing is dangerous.”

I had no argument there, nor was I interested in making apologies for actions I didn’t commit. “Very,” I agreed. Luke grunted, sitting himself down hard. He looked small in his cloak, from posture not from loss of weight. The physical effects of his imprisonment were nowhere near as impactful as the mental ones. However, he surprised me by smiling a large genuine smile.

“And now it’s your pet? You were already scary, Grant, no offence, but now it’s just, like, ahh! You know?” Luke spoke quickly once he got started, and I felt like it would be good to just let him go with it. Seeing my raised eyebrow, he held his hands up in a defensive gesture. “I don’t have a problem with it! Whole fucking world is dangerous, so guess we have to be, too.”

I didn’t interrupt his flow, staying quiet as a bow appeared in his hands. He took aim at a nearby tree and shot an arrow. Raising another shot, he continued speaking. “I saw the metal trees and felt the world get all sharp around me.” A released the held arrow, splitting the first. “Hadn’t felt that before, but I had felt something similar. In the tower when you were fighting the ratman boss.” With each sentence, he knocked or shot another arrow.

“As messed up as it is…” Mana began to gather in the archer’s shoulders and down his arms. The whispers of his Dao said nothing would stop this shot. “Spending time under that pressure? Made me feel like you.” Luke’s fingers fell from the bowstring, the arrow vanishing from sight. Even my high stats were unable to keep up with it. I only knew it hadn’t been taken into Luke’s inventory when the tree he was punishing started to groan. Luke turned to me, his hollow-eyes now burning with a fire within.

“So while I’ll never like that thing, as long as it’s not my enemy… I guess I’m glad?” He turned to me, making the bow vanish and producing a surprising weapon.

Item - Crescent Moon Kusarigama

A sect of cultists turned assassins refused to remove the telltale mark of their beliefs. These stylised sickles have a heavy weight attached via chain. As they’re obviously incredibly conspicuous, the order of assassins was quickly routed out.

Effect: When infused with mana, the chain of this weapon becomes much more controllable.

“I thought you weren’t interested if it wasn’t the bow?” I asked with a grin. Luke at least had the good sense to look sheepish as he began to twirl the weapon around himself. His Dao started to shift, not away from the Dao of Force, but the whispers now spoke of unceasing momentum instead of unstoppable damage.

“I had a lot of time to get used to my Dao under that monster’s pressure.” Those eyes, still touched by the horror he had undergone, became hard. “Don’t worry about things here. Seriously, big man, you’ve done a lot already. No one was treating this whole thing properly before you did. So… thanks.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was touched. The tree finally fell and I realised something I had been wanting to do for a while. “Oh, you should take these, I thought I’d be able to use them but I kind of forgot about them, I guess.” Finally, the Storm Arrows were removed from my inventory. Hundreds of the magical projectiles swapped between our inventories as Luke’s eyes glittered. I explained how they worked as we returned to the group, where Naea and I finally split away.

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Due to Steel I knew I could maintain a bridge to Home Base - if I so chose. The line remained open from its end, an open maw waiting for my hand or head. I ignored it at the moment but the desire to get reports about The Ascent and my towns would surely grow. At least for now, the novelty of freedom, the knowledge that the people could take care of themselves and the call of the open road kept me from worrying too much. I’d circle back around to the idea next time the System pulled a fast one, I expected.

However, the familiar forest soon disappeared completely and just like that, Naea and I were alone again. For a time, we just ran. Neither of us tore up the earth like we had in the past, but we covered a vast distance all the same. Now that we ran further afield, it seemed that we were fairly lucky in our placement. Ascentown’s location amongst rolling hills and golden fields was a lot better than the swampy moors which apparently surrounded my lands.

Even though I might have wished it wouldn’t, the day continued to pass. The sun reached its apogee and began to tumble through the sky as it was wont to do. As I walked leisurely, fairy on my shoulder and sun on my hair, I thought about the state of the world. It wasn’t something I enjoyed picturing, mostly due to the very real chance that there wasn’t much of a world left. Until I had seen the map on the computer in Newtown, I had barely believed that anything or anyone else survived the Shift. The hour since leaving Luke and the fledglings had passed without any threats appearing, which meant I could actually appreciate the surroundings.

The natural world was fighting its own battle for survival everywhere. The local growth of the sterile English countryside was not built for such a fight, and was being quickly driven away by the more powerful and invasive plants. In the distance to my south, the huge Everbloom Evergreen was visible, proving my point completely. The last few months had disappeared through my fingers so fast, and the signs were everywhere.

Due to the speed we were able to travel, even when taking it easy, we covered a lot of ground almost by accident. Naea was more than happy to spend time wandering through the various small and quirky areas which had appeared in the wake of the Shift. I was having fun showing Naea the various natural geological features which we hadn’t come across up to this point. The pair of us were hovering over a particularly boggy patch, with Naea bullying me about my ability in the air.

“You’re so loud!” She shouted, zipping around my head using the air currents I needed to keep me aloft. Unlike the biologically gifted Naea, I did not have wings and could only fly using Air Manipulation. However, due to the fact I was only really able to get lift by shoving myself around with wind, Naea wasn’t wrong. It was loud, like being in a wind tunnel.

With a flick of concentration, I send a small concussive burst of air at Naea. I expected it to throw her off a little, but she expertly wove into her own movement. I stuck my tongue out, not bothering to shout back. I was enjoying the alone time with Naea, something we hadn’t had much of outside of Dungeons. In the first dungeon it was a mostly constant fight for survival, and then The Ascent joined us. The second dungeon was the destroyed world Badaila, not the best for quality time, and in the third we were joined by Julianna, so didn’t count according to Naea.

I felt similar. I wanted to stretch my legs, both literally and magically. After all, Naea was the only one who could keep up with me. We raced, explored and when we decided to slow down and take a look around, we talked about anything and everything. That fight evening, I set up a pretty decent camp. Due to the inventory within my spirit, I wasn’t limited to what I could carry in an oversized backpack, after all.

I lounged on a large leather sofa, looking up at the stars as a campfire crackled nearby. To my great surprise and her absolute delight, Naea cooked a meal. She told me she had been practising and I had to admit, it showed. The ingredients were nothing too special, just some scrambled eggs and onions fried in a pan over the fire, but I almost teared up as I took my first bite. As we ate, we talked some more. “What is your family like?”

“Oh… They’re nice.” I hadn’t expected the question, but I should have. My emotion at the scrambled eggs must have slammed into our connection pretty loudly, after all. Naea could feel my emotions whether I lied about them or not. Her raised eyebrow was enough of a prompt to continue. “Well, I mean, they are. All of them are lovely in their own way. Just… not ways that I love, you know?”

“Not really?” Naea didn't have siblings and though she felt like a younger sister to me, my actual sisters were far more alien than the insectoid looking fairy.

“Fine,” I moaned, extending the word. “Time to tell you about the Kaeron clan anyway, you’ll hopefully be meeting them soon. First thing to know is that my family have lived in the same part of the world, Ireland, for longer than most countries on Earth had existed. That might sound nice to some, but what it really means is that nothing ever changes.

“My dad and I never really got along because he’s more of a physical worker and looks down on the act of being intelligent. Or, at least, treats intelligence as an insult to himself, I guess? He’s a good dad, but he never understood me, which led to more than a few arguments. Two of my brothers, Liam and Conor are just like him. Then again, I mean, they’re probably all way different now, right?” I looked at Naea and she just shrugged, looking fascinated.

“Niamh and my mom were a bit of a pair, too. Niamh’s the eldest daughter, and it took four tries for my mom to get one, so she latched on. They’re both pretty judgmental, and I guess I got some of that. Niamh is younger than me, so are Sean and then Sinead. They were both good kids, but I haven’t really seen any of them in a couple of years. When I first moved here, I went to visit on holidays. That stopped on the second Christmas because of a big argument. All of it is a bit hazy… dream-like because it didn’t happen with my new and improved memories.”

“That’s a shame,” Naea offered, and I nodded, then shrugged.

“It is and it isn’t. It’s not the worst thing in the world to forget the past. The System is a new start for the world, and maybe it can be a good thing for me and the family.” If nothing else, just let them be safe, I added in my head. There was always a chance things would get better now, as long as they were alive. A crash from nearby interrupted my thoughts and I was moving before I even knew what was happening.

Naea zipped ahead, lighting my way in the darkening night as she shot through the air with yellow flashes. We didn’t have to go far back the way we had already walked to find quite the scene. Water, mud and stinking bog muck flew in all directions as a fight broke out. The thin clouds above parted gently showing the moon fat and full in the sky, which in turn illuminated the battle even more. I felt my heart jump to my throat in excitement, with a little touch of fear.

“Grant, is that a wolf or a person?” Naea asked.

“Actually, that’s a giant fucking turtle, but I can see how you’d be confused.” I wish I had a better answer for Naea but there wasn’t one to give. I knew she was talking about the other combatant in the brawl, but my mind was still going through a list of all the more reasonable explanations and coming up false. Giving up, I beamed at Naea happily. “That, my darling Naea, appears to be a werewolf.

“A goddamn werewolf fighting a giant turtle.”