The final morning in Alyja’s cradle arrived. They had spent long enough enjoying the city and now it was time to continue onward with the journey. The party arose at different intervals. Voulin had been unsurprisingly the first to come down, but they all made it into the main area within one hour of the Voulin getting there. Everyone was prepared and ready to continue the journey. Surprisingly the second person down was Misen. Frey and Raffie came down soon after, a little surprised that Misen had arrived before they did.

“As nice as it would be if we could stay here forever. I would like to visit the other holy grounds and pray to them. I would have loved to meet Alyja but I don’t want to complete my journey.” Frey was bummed she didn’t get to meet Alyja, but she was ready to continue moving forward.

“Alright, from here I believe the next best destination would be Obus, the territory of the god of land.” Voulin said, showing off where Obus is on the map.

“Sounds good.” Misen replied. The party of four grabbed some breakfast before making their way to their wagon they had parked. Everything looked correct from a brief inspection. They sold their horses and bought new ones and once everyone was inside Voulin took the reins and began to move the wagon. The journey to the main city in Obus was going to take some time so they wanted fresh horses.

As they left the gates of Alyja’s cradle Misen noticed a woman seeing them off from above. On top of one of the gates.

“Alyja’s come to see us off from up there.” Misen pointed at Alyja’s location then waved goodbye. Frey and Raffie finally got to see Alyja from a distance. Despite the distance Frey immediately recognized Alyja’s godhood and prayed to her. After she finished her quick prayer she went back to the center of the wagon with Raffie.

“Well she fulfilled your wish and you were able to see her. How does it feel to lay eyes upon a god?” Misen asked.

“It was wonderful, I’m glad my faith was proven correct.” Frey happily wagged her tail. She was very visibly pleased that she got to see a god with her own eyes. “I shall pray even harder to the gods.” Everyone was having a great time talking and laughing. The sky was blue, a nice gentle breeze danced through the air. It was a good first day of traveling. Misen was drinking a bottle of liquor whilst enjoying the scenery while traveling. Even though everyone was enjoying themself they still were alert as one can never know what happens.

They were right to remain alert as a group of monsters surrounded them on the road. The monsters were tall ape-like creatures. They had glowing red eyes and white fur. Voulin stopped the horses and prepared himself.

“I got this, you three stay on the wagon.” Misen said as she drew her sword. She jumped atop of a monster and plunged her sword through its heart then drained it. She repeated that sequence before realizing it was taking too long. So she just sliced through their body along with their arms as they attempted to shield themself. After they were all dealt with she drained their corpses.

“No matter how many times I see you drain the blood from a creature I can never get used to it.” Voulin sighed, as he made the horses move once again. Misen hopped back into the wagon and sat down. Everything went back to normal on the journey. They didn’t run into any monsters for the rest of the time going to Obus.

Obus was a special region as the landscape was very unique. It did not hold a consistent theme throughout but was instead a mix of different landscapes and regions. There are dry valleys and next to them there are lush rainforests. Some areas are even snowing constantly even when it’s no longer in season to be snowing. This makes Obus a wonderful place for adventure, but those unprepared can quickly lose their life. Luckily this party’s navigator is Voulin who has an excellent sense of direction and navigation. He was navigating a safer but slower route as they weren’t in a rush. The fastest but most dangerous route was one that went from hot scorching valleys to icy mountains. If you can survive that route it is the technical fastest one.

By the time they made it to the main city two weeks had passed. The city was in the shape of a circle and located at the base of a mountain which had water connected to the main water source. The water source is heavily guarded so that no one can tamper with it. Despite all the hardships that were necessary to create a city in Obus the result was beautiful. The struggle then success that was had in Obus can only be described as impressive. The city was a symbol of resilience and hope to many people. Which earned the city the name Iron hope.

They left their wagon outside of the wall because they didn’t want to look for nor pay for a spot inside. Frey wore her holy robe hood to hide her ears. Once they made it to the front entrance they showed their identification. Voulin’s mercenary one, Misen’s adventurer tag, Raffie’s mage identification, and lastly Frey’s Church identification. All of which were quickly approved and they were able to get inside. As nice as Iron hope is, it has strict rules and isn’t a great place to have long stays at. So Frey and Raffie immediately went to the cathedral. It was quite grand. It was just as nice if not nicer than the one in Alyja’s cradle.

Many believe that Chobus made the landscape the way it is to be a test for humanity. However like anything with the gods there isn’t concrete proof or evidence to support or prove that theory. At the most the party planned to stay in the city for a week but no more. Frey was also being careful to hide her wolf features. Because of the rarity of red wolfmen the so-called preservation organizations may attempt to kidnap her. While she had faith her party could rescue her if needed, she didn’t want to get kidnapped once again.

After praying with Raffie they met up with Misen and Voulin who were eating lunch. It wasn’t hard to locate them because they were eating near the cathedral. When they were eating and drinking. They eventually stopped serving drinks because of regulations that limited the number of drinks per person. After drinking to the limit Misen wasn’t even buzzed. The drinks were also only three percent alcohol content.

“Sorry ma’am, but I can’t serve you any more drinks. It’s because of the regulations here.” The waitress had said after Misen attempted to order more.

“The limit is that low? Man, whoever created that policy was a lightweight. The drinks here aren’t even that strong.” Misen grumbled. She was visibly disappointed. “Fuck staying a week, I don’t want to spend any time here. You two finished your prayer to Chobum right?” She rudely said.

“I get that you are upset but don’t insult the gods.” Frey reprimanded Misen, as she was finishing her food.

“What’s he going to do? Smite me? It’s not like he can kill me. If he could, I'd thank him.” Misen retorted.

“Oh shut up you depressed alcoholic. You have yet to even live a full life span.” Voulin shook his head.

“I was already depressed and an alcoholic before I became immortal. I got my revenge and my life became worthless without purpose.” Misen argued.

“I get that, but you got a second chance at life, at least enjoy the first hundred years. Then you can be annoying. Do you still wish you had died then? You are a grown ass woman, stop acting like a child. Find a new purpose in life, there was no reason you had to end your life the moment you finished your revenge. This world is full of some crazy things, or need I remind you that you went on a date with Alyja. I believe there are plenty of things that you can choose from as your new purpose in life.” Voulin lectured Misen.

“Haaa, you’re right I’m a grown woman. I’ve got eternity ahead of me. I might as well not spend it depressed over an anticlimactic revenge that I completed. I shouldn’t let just a small portion of my overall lifespan get the best of me. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone put me in my place. Thank you Voulin, and Frey. I'm sorry for insulting Chobus. Raffie I’m sorry for bringing down the mood. I’m still peeved about the alcohol limit though.” Misen at first, sighed realizing that Voulin was right. However, she finally got some emotional closure on her revenge that was not granted on her suicide.

“While I appreciate the apology, though that one should be the last time you apologize to us. We are your friends, and friends butt heads sometimes. You just gotta be your best self and correct any mistakes along the way. Just don’t become too annoying while we’re here haha.” Raffie spoke up.

“Well said, Raffie. Also for your punishment, no drinks for the rest of the night for you.” Voulin remarked.

“Come on.” Misen, the less depressed, but still alcoholic pouts.

“Voulin is right, you did great, Raffie.” Frey proudly gave Raffie a quick kiss. However in the process she revealed her red wolf ears. Instantly for the brief moment they were revealed Voulin and Misen felt eyes on them.

“It seems like your wish will be granted, Misen. It seems this place is no longer friendly. Voulin quickly paid for everything, and calmly led the party out. The moment they stepped outside others followed them. Along with those who followed them out, more appeared to attempt to surround them. Misen attempted to ready her sword. However, Voulin signaled for her to put it down.

“As much as I wish to take care of these bastards, they are technically a legitimate organization, and they are protected under the law. It’s messed up but what they are attempting to do isn’t illegal under the excuse of preservation.” Voulin sighed, as he grabbed Frey’s hand and ran. They party quickly ran towards the front gate where they had left their wagon. The guards however closed the gate while they were running towards it.

“Raffie, we need a boost.” Misen ordered. Raffie complied, and used wind magic to launch the party over. Arrows flew at them while they were midair. However, Misen quickly drew her sword then sliced through them all before sheathing it once more. Misen then lifts Raffie and Frey and quickly acrobatically lands past the wall. Voulin also excellently makes his way down into the other side. They retrieve their wagon and make haste to leave. Their pursuers stopped following them the moment they left the city grounds. They had seen what Misen did midair and smartly decided that it wasn’t worth risking their lives to retrieve Frey.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault.” Frey apologized, saddened by their sudden departure.

“Don’t apologize, with Misen’s alcoholism there was no way we were going to stay long.” Raffie comforted Frey.

“That’s true, any place with that strict of a limit on alcohol is not a place for me. Any bastards who make bullshit regulations like that and who let assholes legally kidnap people aren’t good in my book.” Misen laughed. “There is no need for you to be upset, and you got to pray to Chobus. That was the only thing we were really there for. Their alcohol isn’t even good enough to warrant a longer stay.” Misen commented.

“Even in a situation like this you’re still thinking about alcohol haha. Thanks to that I feel better about our sudden departure. Anyways, what’s our next stop?” Frey was no longer feeling bad about the departure.

“The next stop shall be the beautiful land of the goddess of harvest, Dione.” Misen excitedly said.

“You seem rather excited? Have you been there before?” Frey asked.

“Yep it’s beautiful, they have the freshest crops. Their wheat makes for the best whisky and vodka. Plus the view while drinking is incredible.” Misen started daydreaming while talking.

“Ah of course it was about alcohol.” Frey chuckled. “I can’t wait to see it and enjoy it.” Frey wagged her tail a little.

“Frey, your tail got a little messed up from the wind magic, let me brush it.” Raffie said, pulling out a brush. Frey sat in front of him and presented her tail to him. He then proceeded to masterfully groomed her tail. Which felt nice for Frey who hadn’t had her tail brushed by someone else since she was young.

While those two were getting closer Misen went up to the front where Voulin was. In order to give those two some space.

“How long do you estimate it will take to get to Dione?” Misen asked as she sat next to Voulin.

“Not long, if we have no issues then probably four days at max.” He replied, he kept his eyes forward. Even though it was now dark, he could still see a little. Enough to guide the horses in the right direction. After a couple more hours they stopped and took a break. They slept inside the wagon although Voulin and Misen kept their ears peeled and weren’t fully asleep. While Frey and Raffie were completely passed out. They were sleeping while sitting together. Misen had put a blanket over the two. Just like Misen and Voulin were worried about, they heard someone attempting to approach their wagon. They looked at each other before Misen signaled for Voulin to pretend to sleep. While she took care of the source of the noise. Misen peeked through the wagon and noticed there was a demon approaching their wagon. She then whispered to Voulin that the enemy was a demon.

“Frey, I need you to bless my sword real quick. Don’t wake up fully, you can go back to sleep as soon as you’re done.” Misen whispered as she lightly roused the sleeping Frey. Frey obliged and put her hand onto Misen’s sword and began to pray. The sword faintly glowed, and Misen let Frey go back to sleep. She snuggled up to Raffie who was soundly asleep. Misen then went out to greet the demon who was outside the wagon. The demon was a humanoid demon in a black suit.

“Can I help you?” She politely asked, while keeping her hand ready to draw her sword.

“Hello human, I was wondering if you’ve heard of an immortal swordswoman? I heard she was in the region of Obus.” The demon asked, eyeing Misen.

“Well I’ll tell you what I know if you can beat me in a duel.” Misen drew her sword which revealed the faint holy glow of the blade.

“You came prepared. I wonder why you are so eager to fight me? Perhaps you are just a battle junkie or you know something and wish to keep that information hidden. However, I shall accept your challenge.” The demon readied its claws. Misen wanted to finish this as quickly as possible.

If I get hit once it’ll reveal that I have a healing factor and I don’t know what they plan to do if they learn who I am. Having a duel is the best way to settle this because I don’t know if they would just politely walk away if I denied knowing anything. Misen took a deep breath and projected her bloodlust towards the demon.

“How scar-“ the demon wasn’t taking Misen seriously and Misen went to decapitate the demon. However, the demon dodged out of the way, but their neck was grazed because they underestimated the length of the sword. “That sword of yours is rather troublesome. It’s longer than the average sword of that style.” Misen did not let up and went for two slashes in quick succession. But again they didn’t make a deep enough wound. Instantly after the second slash she made her sword bleed. Then went for another diagonal upward slash to launch the blood into the demon’s eyes. She then pierced through its heart. Then attempted to drain the demon, but before it could be drained and killed. The demon slashed Misen’s wrists with its tail in order to make Misen lose grip of her sword.

“Shit.” Misen cursed as the demon saw her wound instantly heal. The once concerned demon was now smiling big.

“So you’re the one we’re looking for. It doesn’t matter if I die to you now. I’m only a scout and I’ve sent over information about your face to headquarters. It’s too late now, there will be a party coming to pick you up. Please don’t resist too much.” The demon’s laughter echoed into the night as its body dissolved into nothing. Misen quickly went back into the wagon.

“Voulin, they were looking for me, and they’re going to send a party of likely higher ranked demons to come after me. It’s dangerous for me to be here with you all. I messed up, I forgot about his tail and revealed my healing factor.” Misen was panicking. She was afraid of losing the party she had grown to care about.

“Calm down Misen, you don’t have to worry about us. We are all pretty strong after all. I am worried if you get taken that we won’t see you for a while though. Do you know about the demon realm?” Voulin was trying to calm Misen down.

“What about the demon realm?” She asked.

“From what I know, the deeper you are in the demon realm the faster time moves. In the entrance of Edinmaw there isn’t any time distortion. However directly below that for every hour you spend there it will be one day in the human realm. If they bring you to the bottom layer I don’t know how time works there.” Voulin explained. “We’ll just have to prevent you from getting caught. I don’t want you to meet my grandchildren so soon.” He laughed. The party was asleep not too long after.

Morning hit and the party was once again on the road. Misen explained what happened last night to Frey and Raffie.

“Misen we won’t let you get taken into the demon realm. I’ll pray to the gods for additional strength and protection.” Frey confidently said.

“I’ll blow those demon bastards away with my magic. We won’t let those demons take you.” Raffie confidently said.

They made it to Dione after three days of traveling. Unfortunately it was currently under siege by monsters. The beautiful fields were filled with humans fleeing for their life. Misen saw the destruction and became pissed. She really loved their liquor and for an alcoholic like her. Messing with such a wonderful place means annihilation.

“We are going to kill every last one of those monsters.” Misen was extremely mad. All the stress from yesterday’s events, she was going to channel it into the battle she was going to have. Misen quickly drew her sword then sliced an orc to ribbons. She encountered a lion headed humanoid beast. The beast attempted to introduce itself. However, it was cut in three before it could begin.

“Wow she’s really going at it.” Voulin was watching from the wagon. “Might as well just park the wagon here and get ready to fight.” Voulin parked the wagon and gave the horses some food and then jumped out to fight. Raffie was using magic to obliterate enemies. Voulin went in with a sword and killed a large amount.

By the time the battle was over and Misen came back. She was covered in blood. “This isn’t my blood.” She laughed. The hundreds of monsters were all now reduced to corpses. Thanks to the efforts of mostly Misen running in like a berserker. However, once the tides of battle began to shift the townsfolk and other adventurers had begun to fight back. Raffie used water magic to wash off all the blood Misen had on her.

“Thanks Raffie.” She said, shaking off the water. Raffie then used wind magic to dry her off. Which dried her completely but her hair was all messed up and frizzy now. Thanks to the work of the townsfolk and the adventurers. The mages used their magic to help rebuild as well. The repairs were finished in a couple hours. Once everything went back to normal Misen got to bathe and then as a reward for saving the town. Misen got a lot of alcohol for the road. She also got free alcohol for the rest of the night.

The tavern was full of adventurers and townspeople drinking away the day. Everyone was glad to be alive. Misen was given a barrel and started chugging it. The crowd of people were cheering for her to chug it. The barrel was full of strong alcohol. However, it stood no chance against the immortal alcoholic Misen. She finished the barrel and everyone cheered. Then everyone raised a toast for surviving the day.

While she was eating and drinking she ended up drinking multiple bottles and barrels of alcohol. She was completely hammered and as she was watching the sunset with a glass in her hand.

“This is nice, being with people. Enjoying the pleasures of life along with the company truly is the best. I wish this would never end. We might be saviors to this place, but you guys are my saviors. I don’t know where I’d be without you guys.” She said, Then she passed out in her chair. She still had her glass in her hand. Voulin took the glass then grabbed a blanket and put it on her while she slept.

“I can’t believe you drank even more than your previous highest amount. I will admit the alcohol is pretty good. You earned it though.” He said then finished his glass. He took both glasses inside, once inside he was greeted by the sight of a tavern full of people passed out. He brought the glasses to the front before leaving money for his glasses and the food. He rented a room in the inn and passed out.

Morning rose and the sun beamed into Misen’s eyes. She noticed that she had a blanket on her. Must’ve been Voulin. I’ll have to return this to him later. “Man my head hurts, it’s been a while since I had this strong of a hangover.” Misen rubbed her forehead. She splashed water on her face to relieve the symptoms a little. She then walked around the town, enjoying the early morning air. She had completely forgotten about the whole demon situation. She was enjoying life again, she was ready to keep the journey going. After exploring on her own she eats breakfast with the party. The days pass peacefully until it’s finally time to leave.

While on the journey to the next region. They could feel a dark presence approaching them. Frey’s fur tensed up on her tail and ears. Voulin and Misen went off of the wagon to confront whoever the dark presence belonged to. Before Misen could draw her sword, dark spikes pierced through her body. Which restricted her movement. She vomited blood and dropped her sword. She tried to move herself off of the spikes but was only pierced by more.

“Shit! Fuck, what is this stuff.” Misen cursed trying to break free. However, she started to sink into the ground. The demon was still nowhere to be seen but they were watching from somewhere. Voulin and Raffie were desperately trying to destroy the spikes to no avail. Voulin’s usual calm and collected demeanor was replaced by sheer panic and desperation. Frey was desperately praying to the gods for strength, but it didn’t help one bit.

“Alright, that’s enough. Don’t waste your energy anymore. I’ll escape from the demon realm and I’ll see you all before you die. So stay alive and finish the journey without me. Just, please don’t forget me.” Misen forced a smile as she sank into the demon world.

Voulin was uncharacteristically frustrated, and slammed his fist into the ground where Misen sank. “Damn it, after we promised to prevent this very thing from happening. After you finally started to enjoy life again.” Voulin repeatedly punches the ground in frustration. His knuckles became bloodied before Raffie and Frey held his hands back.

“Enough, Voulin. She told us to keep going. I’m sure we’ll see her again. It’s not like she’ll die.” Frey said, attempting to comfort him. While holding back her own tears.

“I know we’ll see her again. We have to. I know we will.” Raffie said, holding back tears.