And run I did, for weeks. A few times I saw cities and towns, but I never drew close, just skating around them while keeping them in view. I avoided roads, people, and even the best travel hours, beginning my run at dusk and running until the late morning. Always, my run began by sprinting into the setting sun; it was rather calming to behold each evening. Sometimes I would nearly cross paths with a monster or some stranger, but I simply used [SHADOW STEPS] and let no one halt my journey. Two and a half weeks into my journey, I smelled salt in the air and finally broke through the tree line to see the ocean.
I breathed deeply, inhaling the pungent ocean air, and memories of home drifted through my mind. Biking past rows of skyscrapers, sea spray flying as my brother and I yelled to push the boat faster, diving for scallops in clear, warm shallows. A single tear fell down my cheek, but even as it did, I was taking a deep breath, and resolving to build a life I would love here, in a world where I could finally be myself. Well, at least that’s the theory. I kind of needed to find a town first in order to get started. I shook myself out, and kept going.
Off I went, tracing the coast looking for settlements. It was two days before I found one, and it was a large castle city. Judging from the size of the buildings, the castle, and the dense population, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the capital of whatever nation I was currently in. This was decidedly not the type of quiet village life I was looking for. Further I went, and it was another four days before I was greeted by signs of civilization. This time, however, I had struck gold.
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Rising up from the forest, a large stone hill stood against the shore, and on its mostly flat top sat a quaint little town, beginning to bustle with life at the call of the sunrise. A set of wide stone steps wound down the side of the hill’s cliff that faced the ocean. Already by the dock, a few sleepy crews of fishermen were rigging their boats for a day on the water. Not far from this shore sat an island with a near identical cliff face, making a channel between the two. All said it was both a scenic and highly functional place to build a town, and it was looking more and more like the place for me.
It wouldn’t be long before I neared the stairs to the town proper, but before ascending them, I took off my bags and coat and put them back on in the opposite order, so that my bags of holding were hidden beneath the dull brown duster. It wouldn’t do to have a valuable magic item on full display, much less four of them. Additionally, after a little rummaging, I procured some brown hair dye and my small case of color contacts. My one remaining eye was a color that could only be described as “Violently blue”, akin to window washing fluid, even, and I had needed to find a way to cover up that striking characteristic.
The same went for my newly silver hair, which would have been fine if I had aged a damn day since being summoned, but in the 70 years or so that had passed, I still looked questionably at drinking age. If I had to hedge my best guess, after being summoned at 20, I had only physically aged to maybe 22. This was most likely from my class of hero since I didn’t possess any high-level recovery traits (Which are the ones that primarily prevent aging) until about 5 or so years into my… job. Let’s go with job.
My disguise, or rather new identity finished, I started off again, walking this time and suppressing my stealth skills. Finally, I reached the bottom of the stairs and began the ascent to my new life.