Shaun was in his room alone. Unlike the rooms of the other heroes his was bigger and more decorated. It had various weapons and armor everywhere. There was even a heavy dummy made out of pure steel that was a punching bag for Shaun to use. On the side of the wall was a military uniform that was maintained well and cleaned that he never used.

Shaun was just angry at how soft and weak these new heroes are. He picked up a cigar, lit it, and started taking many puffs. It was like his way to cope with stress.

"What the hell is the matter?" A voice rang inside Shaun's head. The Great Sage appeared in front of Shaun levitating.

Shaun wasn't even startled by the voice. He is used to it.

"Have you seen the new heroes? Have you seen how disappointing they are? I wanted strong warriors, not them!" Shaun said.

"... I don't see 'heroes' all I see are a bunch of kids who have been kidnapped from their home and are trying to get used to this new life. Obviously they had a peaceful life before. They may not be what you expected, but give them time. They'll learn to adapt like we did. I wasn't a soldier when I was brought here, but I got used to" The Great Sage A.K.A. the most powerful hero said.

"And how long would that take? Years? Most likely. I cannot assure them that they will be alive by the next few months. This world is cruel, it could literally eat them up if they are unprepared. I cannot believe how they turned out to be. After fighting in the war…"

"According to what I know, they had many years of peace. Isn't that why you fought in the war? For peace?"

Shaun paused and went silent. It's been so many years that he had forgotten why he fought in that war.

"Yes, that is why I fought in the war, but as it turned out it didn't matter because the 'peace' I fought for didn't last long." Shaun was depressed.

"What do you mean?"

Shaun took another puff, waited for a second and said,

"I was recently told that there was another major war not long after the one I fought in. I thought after 'that' war was over we had achieved peace for good, but I was wrong. First there was something called 'the great depression' that caused a worldwide economic depression. That means that my family and my brothers most definitely suffered or died during that crisis.

And if things weren't bad enough not long after another major war had occurred, which was even WORSE than the war I fought in. And I don't even know how my family and friends survived during those terrible times… I just thought that after fighting that war there would be peace for a long time, long enough for my family to live a peaceful and long life.

For the longest time I thought that was true. I could never go back to my old world and I made my peace with that, because I thought that they were safe from harm even without me there. Now I don't even know."

"Hmm." The Great Sage stood there, not saying anything. He didn't know what to say to make him feel better.

Shaun was angry indeed, but was taking it out on the heroes and called them names and everything else, and some of them cried.

Shaun easily gets angry but never uses violences on others to vent his anger, he either punches objects or curses people to vent his anger, or smokes cigars sometimes.

"You know, I had a son when I was 17. We named him Roger. When I turned 20 in 1914, that was when I enlisted in the army because I couldn't afford to properly raise them with the crappy job I had. So I chose to fight for him, and for my country, and my darling wife, Liz. He was around 9 years old when I was kidnapped from my world. He wanted to be a soldier like his 'daddy' but I didn't want him to be one. By the time world war 2 happened, he'd have been 28 or 29 years by then. Most likely he enlisted in the army before, like I did."

Once Shaun realized that being in the military could earn him more money compared to his previous job, he enlisted himself despite his wife being against it. But Shaun had no skills, no connections, no funds to support a family. He knew what he had to do in order to give his family a good, decent life.

Most children tend to follow their parents footsteps. Shaun knew that which is why he thought his son actually enlisted in the army. But they will never know.

WW1 lasted from 1914-1918.

WW2 lasted from 1939-1945.

"But maybe he didn't." The Great Sage said.

"Maybe he did. Who's to say? No one knows! I forgot what they sound like, their touch, their scent. One time I almost forgot their names and faces. I had to try my best to remember their faces and draw them so I won't forget! I even had to write their names down so I won't forget! But what I remember most from that world, that's still fresh in my memory, will always be the-the damn war!"

The deaths of his brother in arms were still fresh in his memory, he could see them dying or being torn to shreds, he could still remember that fear he felt 100 years ago, as if it just happened yesterday. That trauma he suffered is still lingering in the back of his head. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't forget it.

2.1 million American soldiers were dispatched to aid the allies in WW1, 116 thousand of those men died, along with them were most of his closest friends. That means that they had a literal 5% chance of dying in the war. His friends just weren't lucky. But then again they and Shaun were sent first to war which meant that they had a higher chance of getting killed than most others.

The Great Sage stood up and gently placed his palm on Shaun's shoulder.

"Obviously you're angry right now. I am sorry for everything that has happened. I cannot tell you what happened to your family as you and I both know I would be lying if I said I knew. Take a break. Take a day, a week, a month, however long you'd like. I'll have someone take care of the heroes training."

Shaun didn't say anything. He just covered his face with his hands.

The Great Sage just remembered the first time Shaun was summoned. He was the oldest of the group. Shaun, just like many other heroes, had deep connections back in their home world like close friends, families. He remembered that Shaun was also the most fragile hero compared to the other heroes.

The Great Sage cannot recall any other hero who has worked harder in order to return to his home. But as the years flew by Shaun convinced himself that it is impossible to go home. For over 50 years, half a century he held onto the thought that he could return to his normal life. He had fully convinced himself that they're fine, that they are at peace, that they will be well fed, clothed, and protected. This thought and self comfort gave him a peace of mind for the next 50 years.

So he had dedicated himself whole to this world, to the kingdom, to the king, just like how he dedicated himself to his country.

But hearing the disasters that followed right after he was kidnapped triggered those old emotions and memories and it made his already fragile mind close to breaking. The Great Sage didn't know if this world made Shaun's mind stronger or weaker, he just can't tell. But he knows he's fragile.

"And remember, what you fought for, peace, you made it happen, you and your brothers must be proud. The fact that the new heroes are like that is because you all managed to achieve peace. You may think that your contributions were insignificant, but I can assure you that they are not. I am sure that the people from our world are thankful for your sacrifice, your family and brothers as well. They all are. Or at least they better be grateful."

The Great Sage left the room, leaving Shaun alone to his own devices.

Shaun was just angry because he thinks his sacrifice in WW1 was for nothing when all this time he thought he and his friends made a difference. He thought that with the war over there would be peace for many, many years to come, but that didn't even last long, barely a decade. And now that he knows about the crises that happened 90 and 70 years ago. It made him think of the harsh times his family had to go through. What was worse is that he wasn't there for them, nor does he know what fate had befallen onto them.

Many things affected Shaun's mood, his family, his age, this world, fighting in the war. Most soldiers that come back alive from a war suffer from depression and mental health issues like PTSD. Shaun doesn't suffer from PTSD, but the war did affect his mentality.

"If only… you weren't alive I wouldn't have been kidnapped and been taken from everything I loved." Shaun said to himself. He is the type to push the blame on others, but he really knows that it's no one's fault. It's more like a coping mechanism.

If a hero said that to the Great Sage it certainly wouldn't be the first time. Many heroes have felt the same way, often forgetting that he too was kidnapped from his world, just like every hero that came after him.

Meanwhile…

A certain heroine was chuckling to herself. It was Victoria strolling around the kingdom's halls. She wore very loose clothing, very identical to what a sorcerer usually wears. Since she is very fat and usually stains or rips her clothes, the king decided to give her some sorcerer robes. Since they couldn't find one her size they had to stitch together 3 different robes in order for her to fit in it.

She was the one who told Shain of WW2 and the great depression. Many heroes didn't think it was right to tell Shaun what had happened before he was kidnapped. Not like they had to as most of their knowledge is limited, so they don't even know much about WW1 or WW2, much less about the great depression. But those who did know all decided not to tell Shaun or mention anything about it because it didn't feel right.

After all he is a WW1 soldier and didn't think it was necessary to tell him. Victoria thought otherwise and just told him. Victoria might be a bully, but even she knows her stuff. Sometimes bullies read or listen in class.

The reason she told him is because she simply didn't feel like training today so she told him in order to skip training. And also because she's a sadist. Shaun would usually focus on her and another fat hero named 'Chandler' so they could lose weight, because obviously having that much weight would impede their movements and whatnot and would put them at greater risk of dying. Shaun was only doing it for their sake.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It was shocking to see how much it affected Shaun. He is always this tough man who looks like he doesn't have any feelings, like any other drill sergeant. But quite the contrary she accidentally hit a weak spot, and she loved it.

It didn't help when she over exaggerated the total deaths of the war and the destruction it had actually caused.

Victoria is in the kingdom simply because none of the other sorcerers or nobles wanted to team up with her. They all thought she was too sadistic, often torturing monsters she finds and almost never killing them. After torturing them, she'd leave them alone to suffer. Those injured monsters, who were minding their own business, all they could do is either wait for something else to kill them, or bleed out, or starve to death. They all suffered a long and painful death.

Since no one wanted to team with her, she was just hanging out in the kingdom, eating their food, bullying the other heroes. Killing people or bullying others she didn't want to do. She might be a sadistic bitch but she didn't want to bring trouble to herself.

Honestly she was satisfied with killing huge monsters like red goblins or weak cyclops. Killing and torturing insects or bugs just wasn't enough for her anymore. But there will come a time when torturing and killing those monsters won't be able to satisfy her sadistic side anymore.

"Who to kill… what to kill… who to kill… what to kill…" Victoria muttered to herself and she strode through the fancy and huge hallway.

She carried a huge enchanted knife in her hands, almost as big as a machete. She carries it with her because she uses it to cut the limbs off monsters to immobilize them. Victoria likes to use various methods of torture.

"Hm?" Victoria turned around as she thought she sensed someone. Seeing nobody there she was sure that someone was hiding.

She turned her nose to that of a dog to increase her sense of smell, because it's the only animal she knows that has a very sensitive sense of smell.

She didn't know that African elephants actually have the most sensitive sense of smell out of any animal. (True story)

Although dragons also have a sensitive sense of smell, strangely she didn't know how to transform into one. Her power is to be able to transform into any animal she wants, but she can't transform into a powerful animal like a dragon. Obviously she didn't know how her power works. It's the same for every hero, they had to figure it out themselves.

But those who have copies of the past heroes' abilities have an easier time understanding their powers, as the heroes before them have recorded their experiences using their powers, and therefore passed down that information for future heroes to use.

Victoria however is the first hero to have this power. Which is why she had a hard time knowing how to further understand her power.

After pickling up nobody's scent, Victoria continued walking leisurely, but kept looking back over her shoulder. She can't help but get the sense that she's being watched.

In fact there was someone watching her, but from above, the Great Sage was looking at her.

He stroked his long beard, and went into deep thinking.

He was thinking what to do with Victoria, but he didn't know what. He could punish her, but like he said to Shaun earlier they're basically just kids, they don't know the meaning of pain or suffering like Shaun does.

He agrees that this generation's heroes are by far the most 'softest' ones out of all of them. Now that he thinks about it, perhaps he had such high hopes for the heroes that once he saw them, his hopes were instantly crushed and it made him mad. After all, his mood seemed worse when he was training the heroes, and when he failed to save the princess the first time.

By far only 8 of these new heroes have willingly stepped outside the kingdom, 7 if he doesn't count Will. Right now at least 80 of these heroes should have been exploring and getting used to their own powers, instead they're just wasting their time. Shaun already gave most of them permission to go outside but in groups only.

There have been many heroes, many kings, and many people that he has seen grow for over 300 years.

He has seen people like Victoria before, sadistic, and enjoys the pleasure of inflicting as much pain onto others. But a few of those people turned out to become good natured people, he helped some of them but most of them found their way on the right path. A few times they are misunderstood which explains their behaviour, but in most cases they're literally born psychopaths.

He has seen several good natured people grow up to be the worst of scum. For example, the noble who was executed for killing children was one of them. He used to be a good child, only to end up becoming a child murderer. It's the same for a few kings he's had to work with. They promised the people something amazing, then everyone loves him, then it turns out they are just bloodthirsty. It only happened 4 times but those 4 times he's had to remove those kings from the throne. Same for other heroes who have fallen from grace.

The Great Sage cannot see the future, therefore he cannot tell if Victoria will make a 180 degree turn and change for the better. Besides he's been meaning to find a hero to replace his spot, and who knows if Victoria might be the one, but that's a big if. Besides, he thinks Shaun would be the perfect replacement because of his hero ability, but is worried about his mental state.

Then again there has been no other hero who has come close to matching his power.

After thinking about it, he decided to keep a close eye on Victoria instead of punishing her. He suspects that she could either become a fallen hero, or she might just change her ways and become someone people could rely on. And also he feels too tired to hand out punishments.

"I feel like my end is near. I am growing weaker." He looked at his old hands.

He has long noticed that he just doesn't have the energy or motivation to do hero work like he used to. About 50-70 years ago he had already noticed that he's becoming slower, and weaker, and cares less about basically everything.

There was a time when he used to care about every single life, helping the elves secretly, helping every human, helping make everyone's lives better. But now all he wants to do is rest, eat, and not care about anything.

Nothing he could do could bring him back to his prime. He has grown tired of it all.

Meanwhile…

Will was soundly asleep on the ground in the middle of his base. It was the middle of the day, but the sun was covered by the clouds.

"Will. Wake up." A familiar voice gently called out to him.

Will woke up from the voice calling to him. Waking up to that familiar voice brought back some memories, pleasant memories.

He turned and saw Sandra, his ex, calling out to him. She looked so beautiful that he was mesmerized for a second.

Will got up and realized just how tired he was. He didn't get enough sleep.

"Morning, Sandra." He remembered that he had messaged her for help before falling asleep.

Sandra looked up and noticed it wasn't morning, not even close.

"I came as soon as you messaged me. Thanks for the heads up, by the way." She was referring to the Empress's men. If she didn't know about them she'd thought that they were enemies or something.

She did confront them, but they weren't hostile. She just walked around them and entered Will's base.

"What? Oh, right, the Empress." Will yawned and stretched his arms and legs.

"Is that guy with you? Or…" Will saw that Bruce wasn't here. He vaguely remembered him as the one who accompanied Sandra.

"Bruce? No. I came here as quickly as I could. Also brought you what you wanted."

Sandra brought a pouch full of seeds which were basically given to her because of her hero status.

"I love you." Will was overjoyed. He could replant his farm.

"Yeah… so this is your base. Nice work. I like it."

Sandra looked around his empty, messy looking base. There was a lot of rubble everywhere but she didn't pay any mind to it. It reminded her of his room the one time she visited him.

"It's… not my best work. It would have been nicer if those scorpions didn't wreck the whole place." Will stood up to stretch.

"Yes, you told me. I even saw some of their corpses on the way here."

Remembering those scorpions made her shiver in disgust. She doesn't fear them, but she finds crawlies disgusting.

As for Will, he is afraid of giant monsters, especially sea monsters.

"Yeah… Do you want to help me build a castle or even a kingdom?" Will felt like he had to ask her that.

Sandra suddenly remembered something and smiled.

"You mean like the time we wanted to build a castle in minecraft but never got to finish…"

Halfway through her sentence she stopped. As she remembered the reason they didn't finish building the castle and her face got gloomy.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Sandra apologized. She knew how much Alex's death affected the both of them, especially Will.

"It's fine, Sandra. I am asking you to help me because of him." Will was still gloomy over Alex's death, but not as much as before.

"What do you mean?"

"I just thought since we never got to finish the castle with Alex, and that was the last thing the three of us did together, perhaps it'll be nice if we got to finish it, for him and us."

It was the reason Will felt so angry when those scorpions destroyed his castle. True it was annoying having to rebuild what they had destroyed, but they basically pissed on his memories of Alex. That he cannot forgive.

He regrets never having finished the castle that the three of them had built. It brought him painful memories at the mere thought of it. But once time passed that pain became less and less, and he wanted to finish it. But now that time will never come again.

"That's nice. Yeah, I like that idea." Sandra agreed without hesitation.

Out of the three of them, Sandra has always been the better builder than the rest of them. She would think of something wonderful to build and she'd be able to do it. Will could never build something as great as hers. He was always envious of her builds.

"We can even build a statue of him once we're done. Or something to keep his memory alive. But first we can build the farm, the things, everything!"

"Okay, fine. But it'll be difficult with just the two of us."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Just leave the heavy work to me." Will felt overjoyed to actually say this.

In the past, Will couldn't get a well paying job because he didn't have the skills or experience to land a good job. The best he could do was work at a fast food restaurant or clean the place as a janitor.

They're respectable jobs, but for Will he felt like he had to do better for Sandra. And also because his parents were rich so they wanted him to have a well paying job, like them. His parents are scientists.

One day he'd inherit their money, but it didn't feel like he'd earn that money, so he didn't feel accomplished.

But now that he could actually do something, something that only he could do himself, he felt mighty proud of himself.

They divided their jobs. Will built the farm room first, which was easy and was able to replant his seeds.

Next he built his castle, which they both agreed to do first. With Sandra's vision and with Will's 3 months of experience building buildings, it was easier and better than last time.

Honestly, the house was coming a lot better than Will could have ever hoped to build.

Before the castle was destroyed by the scorpions, it was merely just a giant stone, rectangle building with a gold throne in the end of the room.

With Sandra's imagination, there were steps added, fancy iron, wooden, granite floorings, fancy strong pillars made of various metals were also added. It was still rectangle shaped but the stone walls looked fancier than ever. It looked more like a castle than before.

If Will didn't lack more materials then he couldn't imagine what more stuff she would have added to the castle. And he loved all of her ideas, not because she is her ex and still has feelings for her, but because he could see that her ideas were already better than his own.

Like he said, he was jealous of her imagination. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of builds she'd been able to build if she were to have the crafting system instead.

It was like seeing those amazing builds on minecraft you'd see on youtube, and then compare it to yours. And you realize that you can't ever hope to build one because you're either lazy, or just overwhelmed by how awesome the build is. (I speak from experience :( )

"Phew. That was fun." Sandra lay down on a bed that was in the middle of the castle. Since Will had spare leather, he made a bed out of leather which was better than sleeping in a stone bed. He needed to get a lot of wool, feathers, or soft materials for beds.

Thanks to the scorpions most of his leather was gone, but he picked up whatever he could and made a bed for Sandra.

"Indeed." Will brought a chest filled with cooked meat. It was basically what he had left from the chests that weren't destroyed. Unfortunately the chest with all his fruits were destroyed, which is why he had to ask Sandra for help.

He also brought some fruits with him. These fruits were freshly picked from the seeds that he had just planted. One of the benefits of the crafting system is having fruits and trees grow at an incredibly fast rate.

"What exactly is your ability? It's almost like a minecraft ability." Sandra got curious about his power. But she didn't think he had such an ability because that would be far too unrealistic, even after living in this world for 3 months she wouldn't believe that unless Will told her..

"Haha, that would be awesome." Will's heart almost jumped but acted as naturally as he could. She had guessed his power. Then again he could see the similarities, as would anyone who has ever played minecraft.

"I'd tell you, but the Great Sage can read minds, so…"

"I completely understand." Sandra didn't ask any more questions about Will's ability.

The Great Sage can read minds. It's how he found out about Will, because he read Jasmine's mind.

If Will had known about his mind reading ability, he would have never made that deal with Jasmine. But it's too late to change it.

Seeing Sandra getting cozy in his bed, getting used to his room, looking everywhere and admiring the castle, he smiled.

"It's like the first time you visited my house. You looked like a puppy that I just brought home. Looking everywhere with those big, cute eyes. Like it's the first time you've ever seen a man's room."

"No I don't." Sandra said. Although she'd replaced the word 'man's room' with 'boy's room' instead.

"And, I never stayed over at your room. As much as I wanted to." Sandra always did want to stay over at Will's house, like a sleepover at a friend's house, but it wasn't possible for a lot of reasons.

"Are you saying you want to stay for the night?" Asked Will to be sure.

"Yeah. If you don't want me here I understa-"

"Nonono, you can stay." Will cut her off mid-sentence. "But I don't think it'll be as luxurious or as comfortable compared to staying in an actual kingdom with high class food, attendants, and warm showers."

"It's fine. You have showers?" Sandra doesn't remember seeing a shower.

"Only cold water. And no shampoo…" Will suddenly felt poor, despite literally having a gold mine.

"Better than nothing, I guess." Sandra shrugged, paying no mind to it.

"Now that I think about it, why is it that you never stayed over at my house? My parents liked you." Will decided to move on a different topic.

"Well, it felt weird that I would stay over and your parents knew about it, and wouldn't think that we hadn't done anything we shouldn't do before marriage."

"No, yeah, you're right."

Now that Will thought about it, his parents would most likely think that way.

"And also Alex was always at your house." Sandra pointed out.

"That's because he lived there."

"Huh?"

Sandra had a confused look on her face.

"What?" Will didn't know why she had that confused look.

"Alex lived at your house?"

"Ohhh! That's right. We never told you." Will suddenly remembered.

"Told me what?"

"That Alex lives there."

"Okay, that I already know. I thought you two were friends, not related."

"No, we weren't related at all."

"Was he… adopted?"

"I wish."

"... I'm confused." Sandra knows that friends or even long distance relatives can stay at the house for a few days, but to live in a house?

It didn't make sense to her because Alex was Will's age, yet they're not related. Shouldn't Alex have another place to live with his own family?

Now that she thinks about it, Alex did spend a long time at Will's house. She always thought that he lived nearby and always visited Will's house because they were good friends.

And he never mentioned his family, or where he lived. She never tried to pry into his family situation as she knew it wasn't any of her business. But he would have mentioned his parents, or siblings, but he never did.

"I guess it's safe to tell you. I… or we planned to tell you some time ago about Alex, but weren't sure when was a good time."

"Tell me what?"

"Well… about Alex, his family, everything. Do you want me to tell you?" Asked Will to be sure.

"Sure." Sandra replied without hesitation. It involved a good friend of hers. She had no reason not to hear his story.

"It all started when I secretly went out to buy a video game…"