Eric glanced down at the parchment in his hands, double-checking the information recorded there. He was nearly at his destination, he thought. It didn’t help that he’d never been in this area of the city before. Letting out a long sigh, he glanced around at the nearby buildings. There was the blacksmith’s shop mentioned. And there, on the same side of the street that he was on, was the herbalist’s shop. It smelled very strongly of drying herbs and poultices.

This must be it, he thought. He turned down the alley, giving the herbalist’s shop a wide berth. It was a very narrow fit, he thought. No more than one person could walk through this alley at a time. But of course, it was all he could afford at the moment with what was left of his savings. After he’d spent most of his gold paying the survivors of Moran’s company, he’d only had about a hundred gold left to his name. That was gone, spent on this house.

There it was. A simple, single-story building. If he wasn’t looking specifically for it, he wouldn’t have ever known it was there. The walls were extremely shabby, and the silent, squat building did not radiate an aura of comfort. It had been uninhabited for nearly thirty years, they said. Well, he knew it would take some work. There was no avoiding it.

The key he’d been given slid into the lock and turned easily. He was surprised that the door even had a lock. He pressed open the door, and was immediately greeted with a wave of dust and mildew. He jumped back out, coughing, his eyes streaming. The air was choking with dust. He pulled the sash off of his waist, and, after tying it around his face like a mask, stepped back inside.

There was no furniture in the small building, which consisted of two rooms. The larger of the two served as a living and sleeping area, with a corner devoted to a stove. At least he didn’t have to worry about floods, this far from the river. He checked from corner to corner, finding no bed, though he did locate a quaint little fireplace, with a small pile of dried logs as fuel. It was perhaps the most attractive part of the entire structure.

“Right,” he said to himself. “Good thing I can rebuild it.”

He stepped into the kitchen and set his rucksack down. He leaned the sword Arcana had given next to it as well, then took off his thick outer coat. It was about to be coated in even more dust than it already had, but there wasn’t anything he could do to avoid it. He let out another long sigh.

“Alright, Hunter,” he said, his voice muffled by the sash. “Let’s get to it.”

The wolf appeared out of nowhere, nearly completely filling the space. Its white fur was still streaked with red, which seemed to be a permanent feature since Arcana had given him the sword. It let out a low growl of pleasure, pleased to be moving around. Then almost immediately, it sneezed as it inhaled some dust. Hunter looked around at him, growling in frustration.

“I know,” Eric said tiredly. “It’s frustrating me too. So let’s knock it down.”

There was a flash of gleeful light in the wolf’s eyes, then it moved without hesitation. It dove forward, as fast as it could in the cramped space, and smashed into the wall furthest from Eric. The wood there bowed under the impact. With another growl, Hunter hit it again. The wall couldn’t stand against the second impact, and a huge chunk of it was smashed open. The house creaked ominously. Hunter glanced back at Eric, as if unsure if it should continue or not.

“Keep going,” Eric said with a little wave. “I’m rebuilding from scratch.”

That was all Hunter needed. With a roar, he bashed into the wall again. He moved in a flurry of claws and teeth, opening great gouges along the wall. The house creaked once more. Nearly there, Eric thought. Hunter turned in place and hit the other side, flashing past Eric as he savaged the other side of the house. Another deafening groan from the supporting timbers, then a loud crack.

The entire building simply gave way, crashing down a few feet now that it no longer had any support. Eric heard a scream from outside. Hunter stopped at the sound, his nose sniffing the air. He sneezed again, then growled, and hit the roof, opening a hole for fresh air. Eric stopped him for just a moment, climbing out through the new hole, curious what the noise was.

A woman was standing beside the herbalist’s shop. She was wearing a long and simple green dress, almost identical to the garment she’d been wearing when they first met. He stood on top of the roof, his mouth hanging open, his heart too full to speak. Somehow, she seemed even more beautiful than he remembered.

“It’s true,” Emma said, her voice rough as if she too was barely able to speak. “You’re really back. I guess I didn’t believe it until now.”

Eric jumped off the roof, stumbling a bit as he landed six feet below, then ran over to her. Before she knew what was happening, he’d thrown his arms around her and picked her up. She gave a little squeak of surprise but made no move to avoid him, even as he spun her around a few times. She started to laugh, and he joined in. Finally, he set her down, still holding her close, his nose buried in her hair. She put her arms around him in turn, hugging him just as fiercely as he did her.

They could have remained like that for hours if it wasn’t for the other arrival clearing his throat. Eric jumped and broke away from Emma to see who’d arrived. It was Master Ehran, clad in his informal Issho-Ni attire. He’d left his Master’s sash behind today, but his wolf Thunder was with him, its large head turned towards where Hunter was continuing his attack on the building. He glanced down at Ehran, who gave a tired wave.

“I hope you weren’t wanting to salvage anything out of there,” Ehran said, as Thunder dove at the house. His massive weight was able to do much more damage than Hunter, and he promptly collapsed half the building with one leap. “I think Hunter and Thunder are still eager to smash things.”

Eric let out a quiet chuckle as he moved forward to embrace his Master. “I need it all gone anyway. Might as well add another to the demolition team. How are you, Master?”

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“I’m fine,” Ehran said, grimacing as he rubbed his ribs. He’d gained a new scar there from a rather nasty wound, but it was almost completely healed by now, thanks to the healers from Issho-Ni. “I think it’ll be stiff for a while, but I’ll survive.”

“They couldn’t heal it completely?” Eric asked, eyeing the hint of bandage through Ehran’s tunic with some concern. “It’s almost been an entire week.”

“They could have done a much better job if it were healed right away,” Ehran said with a shrug. “But I used a lot of my Ki after the fact, so the healing process was diminished. They complained my ear off for almost an hour for it.”

He and Eric shared a conspirator’s grin about the healer, then Ehran moved the subject along. “Master Inori and his students are bringing the lumber along, and Megan won’t be far behind. She’ll be destroying the rubble, I take it?”

“Yes,” Eric said. “Her friend Rachel should be coming too. I paid her for the trouble, but Megan refused my coin.”

“That sounds like her,” Ehran said with a low chuckle. “She’s a remarkable girl. Nothing on Lady Ciayol here, of course.”

He turned to greet Emma, who gave him a warm hug. “Hello, Ehran. I’m glad to hear you survived the battle.”

“Ah,” Ehran said, waving a hand diffidently. “You know I’m too stubborn to die.”

“More like too dense,” Emma giggled in reply. “I don’t want to have to deal with your mother again, alright?”

Ehran’s face was tense for half a second. “Fair enough. I’ll have to speak to her soon, I suppose.”

“So what made you come by?” Eric asked. He crossed his arms. “Master Calemviir told you to rest, didn’t he? You’re not here to help with the house. I won’t allow it.”

“You won’t allow it?” Ehran raised an eyebrow. “Me, your teacher, and you won’t allow it?”

“That’s right,” Eric retorted, jutting his chin out. “I could probably beat you with one hand, how weak you are. That’s not good.”

A moment of charged silence elapsed between the two stubborn men, as they each glared directly into the others’ eyes. Then, in a flash, Ehran had Eric on the ground, one arm pinned behind his back. He let out a short bark of a laugh and released his apprentice. Eric jumped back to his feet, shaking his arm.

“That’ll teach you not to make baseless assumptions,” Ehran grinned. “And relax. I have no intention of helping you build your house. I’m just here with a message.”

“Okay,” Eric said simply, the smile fading from his face. “What is it?”

“It’s from Samuel,” Ehran said. “Since you asked. He says that you should get plenty of rest tonight. There’s apparently an honors ceremony tomorrow. Rumor is that the Queen wishes to honor you and young Megan.”

“I was afraid of that,” Eric said dryly. “You Ahyans sure love to honor your heroes.”

“Well, of course. I also plan on being there to watch you squirm.”

Ehran departed not long after that, taking Thunder with him. There was nothing left of the house beside a large pile of rubble now, a pile that Hunter was currently laying on top of. The wolf seemed exceptionally pleased to be free of the dust, and was breathing lightly as he basked in the mid-day sunlight. Eric suppressed a snort of laughter at the sight.

Megan arrived, with her friend Rachel in tow as promised. To Eric’s surprise, the apprentice mage Michael arrived as well. He had a new sword on his hip and seemed even more cooly intimidating than before. Megan kept glancing at him, half dotingly, half wary. Probably making sure he was behaving, Eric thought. He took the initiative as they stopped before the ruined house, and stepped forward, his hand extended.

“Welcome to the future Breeden Estate,” he said, keeping his voice light and friendly. “I promise it’ll look better soon.”

Michael offered a thin smile and shook Eric’s hand. The grip was firmer than was strictly necessary, but it was friendly enough. “Greetings again, Eric. I apologize for my behavior in our last encounter.”

Eric glanced past him to Megan, who rolled her eyes and mouth he’s trying his best. He nodded subtly, then smiled at Michael. “Don’t worry about it. It’s water under the bridge.”

Michael tilted his head slightly, looking confused. “Do all people from Earth speak as strangely as you do?”

“Some do,” Eric replied smoothly. “But I’m pretty strange, even for my people.”

Michael chuckled at that, then clapped his hands. “Right, I’m helping today, as an apology. What needs to be done?”

Eric hesitated a moment, then gestured at the large pile of rubble. “Well, I’m going to rebuild from scratch, with the help of my friends at Issho-Ni. Can you help clear the rubble away?”

“With pleasure.”

Eric remembered his sword and satchel just in time. Rather than risk scratching himself on the rubble, he had Hunter drag the items clear for him. Then Michael, Rachel, and Megan conjured fire to their hands and began burning away the piles of wood. For the stone and other bits that they couldn’t burn, they dissolved them with mana. Despite the size of the rubble, they made good progress. Eric stood back, one arm wrapped around Emma, watching all evidence of the hovel fade away.

“You can leave this to us,” Master Inori said when he arrived with his apprentices. They summoned large piles of lumber and stones from extradimensional storage spaces. “Enjoy your time off with Lady Ciayol.”

Eric was loath to leave while others were working, but Emma tugged on his arm. “Let’s get you some fresh clothes, then go have dinner. I reserved a table at Mandra’s again.”

Eric’s stomach grumbled in agreement with that decision, so he finally relented. “Sounds good. But first, I think I need a bath.”

“You think?” She said, wrinkling her nose in mock disgust as she sniffed him. “You should know. There’s a quiet bathhouse near our shop. Come on.”

She led Eric away, and the two enjoyed a peaceful stroll up Queen’s Road, heading away from the corner of Milagre where his new home was located. The walk was just long enough for Eric to share what had happened in his time away from Ahya, and for her to share the basic details of her journeys across Tyrman, administering aid to the remote villages of the nation. It was a moment of peace that Eric hadn’t realized he’d needed so badly. After a bath and a change of clothes, he felt brand-new, content with his lot in life. There was no way he could give this up. Not for a while.