Walking along a long gravel path with nothing but a large backpack hoisted on her back was a beautiful young woman. She walked with her head held high, taking in the beautiful sight of the natural spring landscape around her.

To her left were giant redwood trees that dwarfed any other tree around as they were one of the largest types of trees on the continent. The name was a little misleading as the trunks of the redwood trees were more a dark brown color, it was only when you split the trunk open that the name would reveal itself as the inner wood had a nice red hue. What was really red were the crimson leaves hanging off its branches that encompassed the entire forest in a beautiful color.

To her right was a large open field of purplish-red grass that extended into the redwood forest itself, and continued further past it. If you looked at a colored map, you could see a tiny splotch of purple called the purple plains. It wasn't the most unique name but it was where the small town of Redwood stood in the center of.

Accompanying the gorgeous redwood forest was a large winding river that weaved in between the trees and headed towards the town faintly in the distance. Even from afar you could spot the shiny scales of multicolored fishes swimming along the river and If you waited for a minute, you would see them dance through the air as they leaped out the river looking for food.

The woman’s long black hair was kept loose and it gracefully fluttered behind her from the gentle breeze brushing past her, falling onto her azure blue short-sleeved shirt. Her shirt was plain, but it tightly fit around her body making her muscular frame stand out a little more than normal.

Below her shirt she wore similarly tight black jeans and thick black boots that blocked any mud splashes from staining her pants. The most notable part of her appearance beside her gorgeous looks were a pair of golden bracelets shining in the evening sunlight that tightly fit around both of her wrists.

With a deep inhale, Jane Bluegold took in the smells of the familiar land around her. It had been four years since she left her hometown Redwood to go to the capital city of the Trinium kingdom.

In that time not only was her choice of clothing different but her body itself changed a lot. Besides no longer being a teenager, her slightly chubby appearance became toned and sleek, she was taller, her frame was muscular and well— she was all grown up.

There were some things she wished grew a little more— somewhere right around the chest area, but nonetheless she was happy the way she looked. Her face looked a little more mature and was accompanied by a sharp jawline and a cute nose that had a few freckles sprinkled here and there. She had thick thighs, wide shoulders and a larger and more defined ass built from her years of training at the academy that radiated strength. The last bit was something she was quite happy about.

It wasn't exactly her choice to leave Redwood, more so a requirement from the kingdom, but that didn't mean she hated it— in fact, she absolutely loved her time at the academy.

But now she was back home, definitely different, but very much the same person that had left. It sucked that she wasnt allowed to visit at all for the entire time she was at the academy, but she would make up for the missed time.

She missed her parents, her home, and her old friends, but while four years seemed like a small amount of time, her life had changed drastically after leaving. No longer was she a small town 16 year old who didn't know about the wider world, but instead a full fledged adult who had graduated from the Academy of Classholders.

Not only was she a graduate, but she did so with one of the highest grades in her entire year and she was ready to live her life the way she wanted— and that involved coming back home.

The first thing she was always going to do after graduating was to come back home, but she had debated with herself if she should go back to live in the big city after visiting home for a few years. In the end, while the big city was nice, it didn't beat the feeling of being near her family.

It was also a little cozier to not live in a jam packed city with a few million people always out and about. Now with her newfound skills and unique power that no one else had, she was ready to truly start her own life that she could be proud of.

She rubbed the bridge of freckled nose and felt her eyes start to water ever so slightly as the entrance to Redwood was inching closer and closer; she could even faintly see people in the distance that looked like little ants crawling about.

‘Can't get emotional so soon.’ She sucked in the tears that were on the edge of spilling out of her eyes and composed herself. As a classholder and an enigma at that, she needed to be strong and unwavering in the face of challenge.

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Closing her eyes for a second, she opened them with newfound confidence. The distance shrank and shrank until, finally, she had made it to the entrance to her hometown.

The town of Redwood itself was neither small nor big. The capital had millions of citizens while Redwood might have a few ten thousand at best. It didn't even have a stone wall surrounding it to protect against beasts or a gate to enter to get inside, it was a completely open town.

Not that there were many dangerous beasts around here, but even if there were, the people of Redwood grew up with the freedom of being able to run from their homes right into the woods. It would take a whole heaping of work to get everyone on board with building a wall around their home.

As Jane took her first steps back into her hometown, she noticed it looked a little different than before she left. A shop she used to frequent, The Little Goose, had a new signboard, the roads through town were better paved than before and even the amount of folks around were a little more than before— unless there was some sort of festival happening, but according to her memory that was not the case.

Lots of small changes had made the grand picture a lot different.

She surveyed the town while walking down a familiar route, heading directly for her home at the top of the only hill located in town. Her home was a simple two story place, spacious enough for her family of three, with plenty of extra space for visitors.

Her parents were livestock farmers so beside the house, there was also a large barn where tons of farm animals lived. They would sell the milk, eggs and meat from the animals which made them a lot of money, but working with animals was never easy. You would have to feed the animals, care for them, treat them if they got sick or injured, clean up after them. The list could keep going on and on.

The property encompassed most of the hill which is why they could own so many animals since there was a lot of space for the animals to graze. The hill was an expensive property and along with the job, they were one of the few well off families in town, but it was no easy shindig. It was tough and honest work, something Jane was proud to have helped with while growing up.

It was a little rough when she was younger but looking back on it she could only see mostly happy times. A few mishaps like slipping on cow shit was unavoidable but even then, she got a little chuckle thinking about it now. Growing up around farm animals made her very comfortable being around large animals and she had no problem getting a little dirty from working with them.

She sighed as her mind played back through her old memories. She wished she could have told her parents all the good and bad that occurred during her time at the academy and get similar news back from them. Unfortunately during her entire four years, academy policy dictated that there would be no communication going to or from the academy.

That meant besides not even being allowed the visit back home, she hadn't even had the chance to send letters to her parents. She had no idea what had happened during their four years and they had no idea about hers.

She crossed her fingers and wished nothing bad happened.

She knew she spent her years well, she did many things, met many people, and studied hard to end up with one of the highest grades in the Academy.

Thinking about all the stories and things she could talk about with her parents, she found herself standing a few feet away from the door to her home. The familiar smell of farm animals and all its stink and glory came sailing into her nose once again, bringing her back to her senses.

‘Oh boy, here goes nothing!’ She siked herself up and knocked on the door.

She took a step back and placed her backpack on the ground. She was too anxious to notice the difference her home had over the years and nervously waited while fidgeting her hands together.

“Coming!” Her mothers sweet voice came from behind the door and just hearing it gave Jane chills. She hadn't heard her mothers voice in so long.

The door opened with a creak and her mother’s smiling face appeared looking outside to see who it was but the second she saw Jane standing there, she froze in place.

“H-hey mom..” Jane awkwardly grinned and then looked down to see something she didn't expect resting in her mothers arms— A little girl. She was maybe two or three years old and had the same dark hair and midnight purple eyes that Jane had.

Her mother Rosalie, put the little girl down gently and ran straight at Jane. She didn't know why, but Jane panicked and closed her eyes but suddenly felt a powerful and soothing embrace wrap her body up tightly.

“My baby girl!” Rosalie cried out with tears dripping down her face.

Jane couldn't hold back anymore and her own tears rushed out her eyes and onto her mothers shirt. She hugged her mother back and felt warmth and relaxation she hadn’t felt since leaving home four years ago— a mothers embrace.

“...It's been a while. Sorry it took so long” Jane's voice came out muffled as her face was stained with tears.

“Shh, it wasn't your choice to leave for four years, but you're here now.” Rosalie reassured her by wiping a tear from her face. “Look how tall you’ve become!”

The two spent another minute hugging in silence before another voice interrupted them. “Who's here Rosalie? It's almost dinner time— ” Her father, Jeffrey— or Jeff Bluegold paused mid sentence.

He ran up to Jane who had stopped hugging Rosalie, and scooped her up in a big embrace. He quickly put her down and stepped back to get a good look at her.

“You're all grown up huh.” Jeff patted Jane on her shoulder and gave her muscles a squeeze with a big smile. “My lord, look at those muscles! You shoulda told us you were coming, we would have cooked you a feast!”

Jane wiped the last remaining tears out of her reddened eyes and said, “Well… I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“It sure was a surprise, ye almost gave me a heart attack!” Jeff boisterously chuckled and scooped up Jane's backpack off the ground, “Come on in, dinner's almost ready and there's probably a lot to talk about.”

Her mother grabbed her shoulder from behind and nudged her through the entrance before picking up the little girl she put down.

The house— her home was familiar of course but like the town, it had its little differences from before. Furniture had been replaced and shuffled around, certain decorations were new and she noticed the old creaky floorboards had been replaced.

Following her memory, she weaved through her home and into the kitchen where an aromatic smell was drifting out of. Her father shoved her backpack in the living room and rushed over to the kitchen to finish dinner.

Rosalie, a little more hands on than ever before, guided her to a seat at the dinner table and not to the one that used to be hers. She then placed the little girl in her old seat which was raised using a puffy cushion.

Sitting in the chair next to Jane, Rosalie seemed to want to say something but it was stuck on her tongue. It took a moment before she composed herself and explained to Jane something quite life changing.

“This is… your little sister, Abigail.”