Looking at Amanda, I nodded. “I know.”

Amanda raised an eyebrow. “You know? How?”

Realising I had spoken without thinking, I tried to find a reason before Amanda just shook her head. “I guess you were told by that ‘powerful woman’ that had been seen wandering around. I'll chalk it up to the Branch Master telling you instead. What do you know?”

“Just that the army looked like it had been preparing to defend the city.”

“Ah, well that is still the case. It’s not likely to happen within the next year or two, we do expect it within the next three or four though. As you may have guessed, Alexander is currently occupied. Although he is the Branch Master, he also cares for this city so he is working with the King’s diplomats to persuade the country of Harrington, though it does not appear to be working.

“See, Vale is a lone city, it is not connected to any countries. You can also think of Vale as its own country. Now, I am warning you of this impending war because you are an adventurer. Adventurers are neutral to any wars, however they can undertake requests on behalf of the participating countries. The other option is you ignore the war and let it happen and you yourself will not be affected. Of course, if the city is lost then so is your place of residence, most likely.

“Vale is being targeted because it is very rich in resources. With seven dungeons within the city and massive amounts of land surrounding it, it is very profitable. Thankfully the Royal Family has for generations kept the peace with the surrounding Kingdoms and Countries, ensuring equal trade. However, Harrington two years ago elected a new government that seeks to expand their land, and they have their eyes set on Vale. They command a very powerful army that has many who have passed the Crossroads.

“In light of this news, we are slowly informing what we refer to as ‘High-Value Adventurers’ and informing them first. We anticipate that these adventurers will in some way either participate or influence the outcome of the war and we are gauging their response. You, along with several dozen more, are a High-Value Adventurer because of your latent potential. This applies to you as well, Xia.

“You need not make a decision right now. If you wish to make arrangements to leave Vale so as to not be caught up in this war, you need only seek out the Guild and they will assist in the best way possible. The unfortunate part is that the amount of time to travel to another city with a Guild is large, about four years on foot. This is also why the teleportation gates have been shut down.

“The nearest town that won’t be caught in the crossfire is about six months from here. I don’t recommend this, you’ll be left stranded. What do you think? I know your ultimate goal is to reach Crater and your best bet is to achieve Black Grade and gain possible access to the teleportation gates, though I think you’d be better off aiming for Sapphire Grade. You can achieve Sapphire Grade even as a Platinum Grade, though the requirements to do so are ridiculously impossible, but with Sapphire you’d be able to travel wherever you please with teleportation gates.”

Leaning back, I frowned slightly while sharing a glance with Xia. I could see her face slightly pale at the mention of the war, and I knew why. Vale is her home after all, and to hear that it might be destroyed would be devastating to hear. I made my decision from that.

“I’ll stay, probably end up fighting for Vale as well.”

Amanda looked surprised. “Are you sure? You don’t need to make a decision now, but if you do you can always change your mind.”

“I’m sure. I live here too, you know. I don’t have any other home, at least from what I remember. If I do remember my past, I’ll work on trying to get my friends to Vale instead, I’m sure it’ll be best for everyone.”

“I understand. I’ll let the others know.”

“Oh, and I wanted to talk to you about…Xia, can you take everyone and wait outside?” Xia nods and leads Alice and Olivia out.

“Is this regarding the underground lake? Don’t utter a word for a moment. I, Amanda the Firespinner, hereby request the System to amend the Oath sworn by Alisha ‘Starcaller’ Nocturne and declare that I hold knowledge of the Oath and she is free to speak of it with me.”

Amendment Accepted. You may share the information granted by Elise through your Oath with Amanda the Firespinner.

“Did the System accept?” I nod. “Good. We refer to Oaths given by attendants here as ‘Branch Oaths’ and we can request for them to be amended as long as the person requesting it also holds an Oath for that information.”

“Oh…That’s helpful.” I was a bit surprised that Oaths were that flexible. “I wanted to know when I would be able to access the lake.”

“Anytime, but if you’re heading out in three days, I would say to wait till you come back. You’ll be out for a few months and it’ll take about a week in the lake to do whatever you want to do.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that then.”

“Oh, and go buy some big dimensional bags, preferably about the size of a house. The others have bought some as well, you guys will make a lot of money as long as you fill them all up. The monsters in those hunting zones don’t provide a lot of experience, but a few months out there and you’ll reach level 80 with no problems.”

“Oh, another thing. I forgot to ask Elise, but I’ve promised two twin elves that I would help them with a problem.”

“Ah, those two. Alright, I’ll let them know. I’ll send them to your house, do you have anything else to do today?” Shaking my head, Amanda smiles. “They’ll be over before midday then.”

Standing, Amanda gave me a look over. “It’s good to see you’re still as determined as ever. We had been worried when we heard you went into closed door training. A lot of adventurers fail to pick themselves up after an incident like that. Good luck out there.” With a final smile, Amanda disappeared into flames as I walked out of the room. Meeting up with Xia and the others, we left the Guild and returned home. As soon as we got home, I remembered I hadn’t given Elise the letter and sighed. I figured I’d give it to her later.

Brushing Coffees fur, I wanted to snuggle into his fur. It was just too soft. I had sent Xia out to purchase six house-sized dimensional bags as well as to the courthouse to inquire about a large plot of land to build a large farm on. I heard a chime from the door, and getting up, I left Coffee with Alice and Olivia and opened the door. As expected, I saw the twins.

“Ah, Sister, she is home!”

“Yes, Brother, this is wonderful news!”

“Ah, sorry. A few things happened.”

“Elise told us, hero of the slums. It is okay, we knew you would keep your promise.”

Frowning, I could sense the energy they shared had become worse. They too looked in poor condition, like they had become weakened.

“Come inside, I’ll make you guys some food while I hear you two out. Oh, and please call me Alisha.”

“Thank you, Miss Alisha. I am Yin, and this is my Brother, Yang. We are honoured to meet you.”

Leading them inside to the kitchen, I worked on making them some easy to prepare food while Yin told me about them.

“Miss Alisha, my brother and I were born with a unique magic. The elders of our village exiled our family, calling us Deviants. Our names are based on the magic, Yin and Yang magic. We do not know what this magic is, nor have we ever managed to figure it out. Because of that, we have yet to exceed level 20. As you may have noticed, we have slowly become weaker, our link slowly disappearing. We do not seek you to help us understand our magic, we just want to live to return to our village and kill the elders who exiled us.”

Raising an eyebrow, I smiled slightly at her words. I could understand what she meant, after all I had done the same with the Church. Serving them a meal that contained just fruit and vegetables, they both gladly ate. This time, Yang spoke.

“My Sister and I don’t have much money. Our parents passed away some time ago, so we have done what we can to save up in the hopes someone can help us. We saw you at the Guild nearly a year ago and could sense a unique magic that was similar to ours and we thought you could help us.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Smiling, I shook my head. “I don’t need money. Do you guys know anything about why the energy between the two of you is stopping?”

Both Yin and Yang hang their heads sadly. It seemed like they didn’t. Coffee came in and sat next to me, looking at me with expectation. Handing him a fruit, he gobbled it up before laying down.

“We have tried, even a nice man named Alexander tried to help, but he couldn’t even sense the energy. We were joyful when you told us you could sense it.”

Leaning back, I wondered about what I could do. I had no expertise in this matter, and folding my arms I fell into deep thought. I didn’t know much about magic, most of the magic I used had either been taught to me by Selenia or when I used it on instinct. I could tell the magic between the two was familiar though, and a feeling within me wanted to explore it. Looking at the two carefully, I found the energy familiar, yet unfamiliar. Is it connected to Celestial Eclipse or Astral Ice?

Thinking about it, perhaps the energy is something connected to either one, but I simply didn’t understand magic enough to know what the problem was.

“How long do you two have till the link gets worse?”

“About a year.” Yang answered me as I closed my eyes. Thinking about it, I wanted to help them both, but I wanted to be sure first. Opening my eyes, I smile and say “Give me some time. Come and find me in about six months, I’ll try and improve my understanding of my magic. The energy between the two of you is familiar, perhaps it is something I can understand but I need some time. I’m sorry I can’t do anything now, but I’ll search for an answer.”

The two smiled with a bit of sadness. It seems they had been told this several times before, but there wasn’t anything I could do right now. I tried to think of something I could do and at that moment, a familiar message came up from the System. Telling the two to wait a minute, I went into the dining room and shook my head.

Quest Received!

Clap three times: Clap your hands happily three times!

Rewards are determined based on your performance.

“Selenia…” Smiling, I clap three times.

Quest completed!

Clap three times completed. Rewards available:

2x Strange Energy Stones

1x Written Note

‘Alisha,

These stones will not solve their problem, but it will help them for the time being, extending their life. I am only giving you assistance because helping them will be a fantastic learning opportunity thus a chance to grant you guidance. Have them hold these stones for a day then swap it between the two. It will act as a bridge for them.

In the meantime, search for the answer to their problem. I believe in you.

-Selenia’

Looking at the stones, the System said they stored the energy of those that held them and released the energy when given to another person.

“Thank you, Selenia.” I understood she had only done this to give me time to find the answer. Returning to the kitchen, I handed the two a stone each and explained to both of them the use of the stones. Both looked happy.

“Alisha, thank you! We will wait for you to find the solution to our problem. Brother, isn’t this wonderful?”

“Thank you, Miss Alisha. It is indeed wonderful, Sister!”

Taking out two Mithril coins, I handed one to each of them as well. “Take this. Buy a house if you don’t have one and get some healthy food, okay? Look after yourselves.”

“W-we can’t!” Yin looked panicked, while Yang had stars in his eyes.

“Mm, it’s fine. I said I would help you two so I will. Come and find me in six months.”

Leading the two out while they thanked me, I told them once again to find me in six months while also telling them if I found anything I would seek them out. Seeing the two off, I went back to the lounge room and sat in deep thought. I couldn’t place the familiarity of that energy, but it reminded me of the time I had used Midnight. Speaking of which, if I got stronger, I could use that magic again. Is it linked to the energy I had used at that time?

As I was thinking, I heard a clutter next to me, and looking at Olivia with Coffee’s head on her lap, I saw her with clarity in her eyes, and fear.

She stood quickly, looking around. “W-where am I?!” She looked around as if in a panic before she screamed and crawled into a ball.

“No! I don’t want to die!” Screaming at the top of her lungs, she held her knees while trembling. Getting up quickly, I knelt beside her.

“Olivia! Olivia! It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re safe!”

Olivia looked up at me, tears in her eyes, lip trembling. “W-who are…” Slowly, she looked around again before looking at me, reaching a hand up to my face. Touching it, she looked shocked. “Y-you’re real…Alisha, you’re r-real?!”

“I am. You’re safe, Olivia. We saved you.” Olivia looked confused as she put a hand to her own face.

“I was dreaming…”

Coffee barks and nudges Olivia’s head. I pull Olivia into a hug. “What was the dream about?” Being careful with my words, I followed Summer and Halone’s advice. I needed to calm her down first and ease her into the idea that the ‘dream’ was real.

“I-I dreamt that you saved me…that a nice girl with blue hair gave me food and gave me a strange pill. Then I dreamed that you killed a lot of people in your monster form…that happened, didn’t it?”

Not saying anything, I continued to hold her and pushed her to keep talking. I couldn’t let her panic so I focused on keeping her calm while avoiding speaking too much so as to not agitate her. Alice came over and tried to offer Olivia a ration cube. I had to wonder where the hell Alice pulled it from, I hadn’t made any in months! I knew Alice was only trying to help though, so I didn’t disencourage her.

As Olivia spoke, she relaxed slowly as I continued to hug her. She now sat on my lap with Coffee’s head resting on her knee. Over a few hours she spoke of her ‘dream’, which had been the events of the last half year. Slowly she stopped speaking before turning her head to me.

‘It wasn’t a dream, was it? I remember parts of it, like I had woken up, but it was only for a few seconds…”

“Mm, it wasn’t. You’re safe now, Olivia. You’re safe.”

“What happened to him?”

I knew who she meant. “I killed him.”

“I wanted to kill him. I’m sorry, Alisha, I need time.” Olivia stood unsteadily. Looking at Coffee, he barked and followed Olivia to her room. I felt relieved. I knew that if she had been this aware for so long, she had snapped out of her dream-like state. I planned to give her the time she needed to fully adjust and left it to Coffee to keep her company.

“Mummy, Vi Vi ok?”

“Mm, she is. Are you worried, Alice?”

Alice nodded as she laid on my lap. Looking at the sky, it was turning to late afternoon. We had planned to head to Xeno’s house in a few hours, but I didn’t want to leave Olivia alone. Xia had come home some time ago, but had purposefully stayed out of the room. As I stroked Alice’s hair while Xia sat on another couch, I heard a door open and turned to see Olivia walk in, her eyes red and puffy.

Sitting next to me, she leaned her head against my shoulder. “I’ll never see my parents again, will I?”

“One day, Olivia. We’ll get you home to see them again. It’ll take time, but you’ll see them again. We just need to get stronger.”

“I’m scared, Alisha. I’ll be betrayed again if I join others.”

“Then don’t. I’ll help you, but you need to do a lot of work yourself, I can’t just kill monsters for you.” Olivia trembled as she moved closer.

“Thank you for saving me.”

***

Standing just outside of the gates of Vale, I looked around. Originally Bloom’s team had been waiting for us, but they had decided to go to another hunting zone. Bloom had gotten impatient and headed out, but they would be joining us later. We had six carts, with each one of us pushing one each. Olivia and Alice sat on the cart that I would be pushing and as I grabbed the bars, I lifted it as I felt a familiarity in the movement, causing me to pause in hope of memories coming back, which they didn’t.

Olivia and I had gone to Elise and Olivia had given her the letter she had. Elise had read the letter with a lot of fondness in her eyes and thanked Olivia for bringing it to her. Elise had also become Olivia’s advisor, and thankfully Elise had looked a lot better after a day's rest.

Turning to my left, I smiled at Aubrey who returned the smile. She hadn’t changed much, but I could feel a tranquil feeling radiating from her. Even I could tell she was full of lifeforce. While she hadn’t gained any new magic, she had a whip on her belt, along with several magic tools and a shield on her back. She also had a lot of confidence, something that was new to her aura.

The trip would take about a month and a half for us, a month if we pushed it which we planned to as Alice and Olivia were comfortable. Coffee stood by my side, seemingly excited for the trip as well. Summer spoke up.

“Everyone all set? We won’t be returning for a while.” Smiling, I gave her a nod. “Good. Alright, let's set forth, Celestial Seekers!”

Third Person PoV

Looking into the night sky, The Blade smiled.

“Finally. Let me see how much you’ve grown. Show me you’re worthy of facing me.”

Behind him, thousands of monsters and cultists awaited his order. He would wait patiently until the time was right, he knew she had been delayed and he had grown slightly impatient, but he would wait. After all, he wanted only one thing. A good fight. He continued to wait until she came, at which point he would send the army that awaited his order to meet her.