As he reached the bottom of the rock formation, he channeled mana into his hands and feet. Then, he gripped an indentation and pulled himself up.

In that manner, and with Velvet hovering around him for vision, he reached the top in a few minutes.

He took a short breath of air and looked around.

In between two large boulders, he spotted what he had come for – a nest made out of various, interwoven branches

It was exactly like in his memories, which created a pleasant feeling in his body. If everything continued this way, he was certain to succeed in defeating anything that crossed his path. Including whatever had previously killed him.

He inspected the nest. It wasn't filled with eggs. Instead, there were many shiny things.

Vern took his backpack off and pocketed the treasure that the bird had collected in its lifetime.

Among them were various cups and dishes in gold and silver as well as some unidentifiable rusty metal parts.

Regardless of its looks, Vern didn't want to leave anything behind and took it all.

›I've found what you are looking for‹, Velvet declared, standing a few meters away in the nest.

Vern hurried over and saw a golden shimmer in between the branches. He slowly reached his hand out and uncovered it.

It was a golden ring with a red gem, and Vern held it up against Velvet's body to have a closer look.

A happy smile appeared on his face as he had recovered something valuable that he hadn't seen for so long.

He put it onto his ring finger, perfectly complementing it.

›I hate to burst your bubble, but there is a problem‹, Velvet said.› The second one is missing.‹

Vern turned around. ›Hmm … the second one should be …‹

He looked around, trying to remember where it was supposed to be.

›I know myself since I have your memories.‹ Velvet pointed with his paw at a spot in the nest. ›It should be here, but it isn't …‹

After he had come over and seen nothing, he started ripping the nest apart in that spot. However, he still didn't discover it.

›Maybe … it is somewhere else? The bird could've moved it since we're aren't in exactly the same scenario as last time‹, he suggested.

›Perhaps‹, Velvet replied with a hint of doubt.

They inspected the whole nest, tearing it to pieces in the process and not finding anything.

›Hmm, I don't know.‹ Vern gazed at the mess he'd made. ›That something so irrelevant is different … even though my change in behavior shouldn't have such an impact, right?‹

›Well, I don't know either. But we should just let it be. We can't search the entire forest for it, and it isn't that important in the first place.‹

›I guess …‹ He didn't entirely agree with Velvet's assessment but didn't know what he could do about it anyway. ›You're right. We should head back. I've left the others alone long enough.‹

Therefore, he climbed back down, pondering this change and its implications until they arrived. Before he came into view, he made sure to store the ring in his pocket.

»Man, we thought you ran into trouble or something«, Alvyn said as Vern emerged from the darkness. »We were about to follow you.«

»Oh, well. Everything's alright on my end … what about you? Are you ready for the way back?« He took a closer at Kieran, who didn't seem to have problems standing on his own anymore.«

»Wait!«, Alvyn said. »What about the treasure? Didn't you find it or what's the problem?«

Vern forced himself to smile. »I did. I'll show it to you later. Let's first get out of here.«

»But …«

»Alvyn, you'll stay in the back«, Vern interrupted. »You are our main source of light, after all.«

He approached Kieran and Irina. »Do you feel well enough?«, he asked Kieran.

»Yes, it should be fine. Some rest later, and I'll be as good as new.«

»Good. Irina, stay close to him and inform me if anything comes up. I'll be in the front.«

He waited for the others to line up behind him before he moved out.

They traveled the entire night the way back they had come. During this time, they encountered much fewer monsters. And those that did show up were mercilessly slaughtered by Vern before the others could even support him.

Still, the route took a similar amount of time since Kieran needed more rest.

At dawn, they passed the barrier, and all of their focus immediately dropped, making way for their exhaustion to manifest.

Vern turned around and saw that the others wanted to go as much to sleep as he did.

»I guess we will do the debriefing after our well-deserved rest«, he said. »Well done, everyone.«

They fleshed a smile and followed silently behind him. Even Alvyn's curiosity couldn't overcome his drowsiness.

Vern slept until noon. He lay for a bit in his bet before he decided to stand up and eat something.

He had expected the others to still be asleep, so he was surprised when he met Irina in the kitchen.

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»You should probably sleep more«, Vern said as he took a look into the pantry. »After all, we will be on the horses the whole day tomorrow.«

»Yes, I should. I am tired. But at the same time … still somewhat on alert. It's hard to just switch back like this.«

»Hmm. I understand. Shall we make ourselves some breakfast – I mean lunch?«

»Sure.«

While they prepared their meal, Kieran and Alvyn showed up as well, and they ended up cooking and eating together.

After they had finished and still sat around the table in the living room, Alvyn spoke up.

»So, what did you bring back?«

»I'll show you.«, Vern replied and got his back as the others cleared the table.

When he returned, he spilled its contents on the table.

The others inspected the mountain of items that came out and sorted them.

»Hah, that's all?«, Alvyn asked. »Don't get me wrong. This isn't bad but I was expecting something … more special … still there is some gold and silver, so I guess I won't complain.«

»Well, it's just what the bird had collected in his lifetime«, Vern replied. »But technically, this isn't all.« He took out the ring and showed it to the others.

»Oh, it looks really nice«, Irina said. »Is it like a mana ring or something?«

»No, just a ring … well, the last time around, there were actually two there … but I didn't find the second one this time.«

»So, what do we do with this now?«, Kieran asked. »We have to report it, don't we? How did we handle it last time.«

»No, we can't«, replied Alvyn in Vern's stead. »After all, we would have to admit to entering a bailiwick without permission.«

They looked at each and then at Vern, who spoke up.

»Yes, we will report it. The last time around we did it too and didn't receive any punishment. To be honest, they know where we are in the first place and kind of expected us to go in there on our own.

»Oh, well«, Kieran said. »That doesn't sound too bad then. What will we do with it afterward, though? I mean, how should we split it?«

»You can have everything you see on this table«, Vern replied. »All I want is this ring.«

They all looked at him weirdly and in silence.

»Well, we should probably discuss that after we've reported it«, Irina suggested, breaking the silence.

»Yes, sounds good.« Kieran and Alvyn agreed.

Vern put the treasure back into the bag, and the rest of the afternoon they spend relaxing.

Early in the evening, Vern went to bed in an attempt to fix his broken sleep schedule.

However, he wasn't tired enough yet, and there were still some things on his mind.

›Velvet, are you there?‹, he asked, lying in bed and staring at the ceiling.

›Yes, of course.‹ Velvet took his form and walked around the room.

›I've been wondering about the ring … do you think it has something to do with what happened to me? After all, I wore it when I died.‹

›That's possible. But if I remember correctly, when the two rings were inspected in your previous life, they were deemed to just be normal rings, not artifacts.‹

Vern sighed. ›Yes, I know. It just doesn't get out of my head, though. Why would one be missing like this? I doubt that my changed behavior had any impact on it …‹

Velvet walked over and looked down at him. ›Well, we can have another go if you want.‹

›Hmm? What do you mea–‹

But Vern couldn't finish his sentence as Velvet moved back into him, and all of the sudden, the ceiling in his view vanished. Instead, he found himself back in the cave on that fateful day.

He stared at his right hand – no, the place where it was supposed to be, but there was just blood spilling out of his maimed arm. In front stood Alvyn, uttering words in this cold, unnatural voice, and his sword swung down once more.

Vern's head was cut off, and while it fell down everything went blurry.

However, at this point, his view stopped changing as if he was looking at a painted scenery.

›Your theory might have some merit, after all‹, Velvet said in his head. ›Do you see that in the corner there? The light? I think it emanates from your left hand.‹

›What the hell? Just … don't do these things without telling me first! Man, I didn't even know you could do something like that.‹

›Well, now you know. So what do you think?‹

The events slowly moved forward at a quarter of the normal speed, and the light Velvet had mentioned filled more and more of his field of vision.

›Hmm, I thought that was all just a hallucination. After all, I've just been decapitated.‹

›Possible, but the reaction of the … thing … it seems to know that something is off.‹

Velvet stopped the images again when Alvyn's face started to show anger.

›Yeah, seems reasonable. The reaction makes more sense, and also that smoke coming at me … maybe an attempt to take over my body?‹

›Hmm … that … could‹, Velvet mumbled in his head as he slowly moved the images forward to the scene Vern had described. But they couldn't get any good images since the blurriness had turned into almost absolute darkness.

As suddenly as he had been transported into his memories, he was back in reality, his eyes fixated on the ceiling.

He rubbed his hand and neck, making sure everything was alright with them.

›That's … way to realistic‹, Vern said. ›I didn't feel anything, but just seeing the images … it's very uncomfortable.‹

›Yes … I am sorry …‹, Velvet replied.

›What? You're sorry? Never heard you say something like that. Are you sure you're alright?‹

›Hmph, stop that. I was just in thought, so don't give it more value than it has. It's just an empty phrase.‹

Vern smiled and closed his eyes, finally feeling like he needed that sleep. ›Anyway … I should probably hand in the ring again … let them see if there is something off about it … who knows, maybe it is changed now … maybe activated in the years I wore it … maybe the second one is still in that cave … something like that …‹

As Vern shared his train of thought with Velvet, his mind drifted into the realm of dreams.

On the next day, Sunday, they traveled back to the capital. It was an eight-hour trip by horse, and as they started early morning, they arrived in the afternoon.

After they had separated, Vern and Alvyn headed to the mansion.

They knew beforehand that their father currently stayed there too, so they weren't surprised when they met him in the entrance hall.

»I am glad you're both well and managed to make it back in time«, he greeted them.

»Yes, but we have something to report«, Alvyn replied.

»Oh? Is that so? Well, then follow me.«

Vern and Alvyn followed, and shortly after, they arrived in his workroom.

»So, what do you want to report?«, Grewis asked after he had taken a seat. Alyvn recounted their adventure in a way he had conferred with Vern beforehand.

Afterward, he showed Grewis their spoils.

Their father had listened silently to the whole story, and as he took a look at the various items in front of him, he spoke up again.

»Well, that's certainly some good stuff you found in there. But I hope you know that you have to hand it in for examination. After all, they could be some ancient artifacts among them.«

»Yes, that's alright with us«, Vern replied and briefly looked at the ring in the pile. He had decided to just add it in to find out if something about it had changed.

»Of course, you'll get it all back afterward, most likely at least. But for now, let's talk about your punishment.«

»Pu … Punishment?«, Alyvn asked, stunned, and glanced at Vern, who was equally surprised.

»Yes. Did you think you could just go into a bailiwick on your own without permission, and there wouldn't be any repercussions?«

»Well …« He looked over to Vern again. But he didn't know what to say and just shrugged.

»Hmm … so what would be appropriate … ? Ah, I know. You will participate in the housekeeping work. Maybe that will help you appreciate the position you're both in. You're apparently too used to being looked after, and it will be a great way to make you more humble. I'll let you know the details later.«

»Well, alright.« They both agreed. Alvyn didn't seem to mind too much and had recovered from his initial shock.

Nonetheless, he approached Vern while heading back down.

»What was that about? I thought you said we wouldn't get punished?«

»Yeah, well. I don't really know what has changed. But … last time, you were much more apologetic in telling the events and all. Maybe that changed it.«

»Hah, you should tell me that earlier next time. But it's alright, I guess. Not that we got any real punishment anyway. «

Vern smiled. »Yes, I think it will be alright. Seems like just matter of principle stuff. Either way, I'll take the bulk of it if you want since it's kind of my fault.«

»Ah, don't worry about that now. By the way, will you leave immediately?«

»Yes.« Vern nodded. »I want to get some rest and prepare for training tomorrow as well. But I'll probably come over on Sunday again.«

»Hmm …« Alvyn pondered for a moment before saying goodbye. »Maybe we can get some more time together. I'll see what I can do.«

»Sure. See you then.« Vern took his leave to make his way back to the fort.