It took two days for the inhabitants of Ossara’s forest to complete their migration to Mount Boom, and the place had suddenly become much livelier. Using nature magic, the Dryads, Treants, and Ossara herself had transported the Dryad’s heartwood trees from the forest. The Elven attack had been devastating, and only around thirty Dryads and fifteen Treants survived. The thirty trees dotted the once plain grassy landscape, creating a mini forest in and of itself. They were varying in size, based on the age and power of the Dryad, Ossara had told me. Tall, gray wood extended into the air, with arching branches and arrowhead-shaped green leaves.

  There was an air of somberness to our new guests, having lost so many of their people in the attack.

  “Thank you again, Lucivar, for allowing us to intrude on your territory,” Ossara said, bowing her head in gratitude.

  “Oh, it's nothing really, we have a lot of empty space, and we needed people who could build houses anyway,” I answered, gesturing towards the now insignificant pile of logs that once made up our first building.

  “We will get right to work!” Druval, the once-hostile Treant I had met in the forest, shouted out happily, carrying massive logs from the forest as he worked with the other Treants to construct some basic buildings. The Dryads assisted in the process, willing vines from the earth itself to tie the lumber together.

  Ossara nodded her head, agreeing with my sentiment. She clucked her tongue disapprovingly at the ‘house’ Viressa, Fang, and Zorrack had built before moving to assist the Treants and Dryads in their construction efforts.

  Speaking of those three, where are they?

  I made my way towards the Warg Den, now covered in a massive shadow by the heartwood trees. Zorrack lay on the ground, barely able to speak, as Fang curled up beside him. Viressa sat, cross-legged, staring worriedly at the large demon, whose massive stature pushed at the walls of the den.

  “I can fight! I just need to—” Zorrack began, slowly trying to push himself up, but he winced in pain, falling back to the ground helplessly.

  Even though his HP has regenerated, he still seems affected by the attack…

  [When I got hit by that Elf, it was like my insides were being torn apart.] Joshua chimed in.

  “You're in no condition,” Viressa said firmly, then turned to Fang. “You, make sure he does not get up. I have mayor duties to attend to.” She rose, nodding at me in greeting as she pushed past. I had instructed her to work with the forest inhabitants to facilitate the new constructions, and her efforts were rather successful.

  “Still not feeling too good?” I asked, kneeling to stroke Fang’s head. His tail wagged slowly, but his sad eyes stayed trained on his demon owner.

  “No,” Zorrack admitted, grimacing with regret. “Whatever that bastard Elf did, I can barely even move without pain.”

  “It must be some sort of skill of his,” I speculated out loud, internally telling myself that I should avoid being hit by him at all costs. I decided to switch the subject. “Zorrack, have you gotten any rare tier gear since I accidentally went to Hell?”

  He shook his head.

  We need to find something for Zorrack and Azazel, so I can complete the quest.

  [Let’s go kill some Elves.] Joshua said cruelly, clearly looking for revenge on the Elf who had so easily beaten us.

  We don’t even know why they attacked Ossara in the first place.

  [Who cares.]

  By the way, how do your quests even work?

  [Who knows?]

  [I also don’t know!]

  […]

  …

  Despite the anger I felt towards the Elves, it was still unclear what their motivations were. Ossara’s story made it seem that they were unfriendly with each other, sure, but at the same time, they didn’t seem to have a direct reason to suddenly wage war.

  We’ll figure it out… in the meantime, we need to get stronger in case we have to fight Lirien again.

  [At least we agree on something.]

  “Fang, stay here with Zorrack. Azazel and I will go try and find some items to fulfill one of my quests.” The Warg nodded, laying his head lazily against the ground.

  “Where are we going?” The dragon asked curiously, curled in a tiny ball at my shoulder. I opened up the panels showing my quests, relaying the information to Azazel.

  “Well, now that Ossara has joined us, the level 10 or higher follower part has been completed. We still need two items for you and Zorrack, and another Epic item for the first quest.” I explained.

  “But where are we gonna get those?” The dragon responded.

  “We could explore the area near your sister's ravine?” I offered.

  “Sounds good to me. I won’t let her mess with you anyway.”

  As we made our way out of the Den, we ran into Cedric, who was pacing around the newly planted trees of Mount Boom. “Cedric! Would you like to join us?” I asked.

  “Where are you going?” The small demon replied, stopping in his tracks and shaking his head, as if he were deep in thought.

  “Back to the Dragon's trench.”

  Cedric shivered, then sheepishly replied, “Uhm, maybe some other time.”

  Guess he’s still afraid of the dragon.

  [What a bitch.]

  Don’t talk about my friends that way.

  “That’s fine,” I smiled, walking past the demon. I heard him mumbling something behind me as I made my way towards the west, crossing past my territory's borders.

  “How did he see me? I gotta figure it out…”

  Guess he’s also shaken up by Lirien.

  Azazel and I eventually made our way to the edge of the ravine. I scanned the horizon, checking to see if any dragons were near, but saw nothing. I felt confident enough now to not climb down like I had in the past, instead leaping from the top and landing with a heavy thud at the bottom, directly next to the small stream of water. The same rocky outcropping that I had stolen Azazel’s egg from was directly in front of me, and to my right was the direction of the ruin, which I now knew was connected to the Justice Aspect, Zerethiel.

  I wonder what could be in the other direction?

  I walked along, chatting with Azazel as I did. “So, in your dragon booklet, is there any other important information that you’ve read so far?”

  Azazel yawned, stretching his tiny arms before replying, “Oh, nothing much. It told me some basic history and how I should train with my brother and sister, but honestly, you're way cooler.”

  I smiled, peeking at the dragon from the corner of my eye. “That's nice of you.”

  “Kyr seemed kinda lame, and this Thaleres fellow sounds boring.”

  “Does the booklet tell you about those two?” I inquired.

  “A bit,” he nodded. “There are three True Dragons: myself, the dragon of Will. Kyr, the dragon of Fate, and Thaleres, the Dragon of Truth. Thaleres is the eldest, and I’m the youngest. But it doesn’t really say much past that.”

  “Interesting. You know, that Eldros guy, he used a skill called ‘Truth Dragon’s Blessing’ or something? What’s that all about?”

  “The booklet says that Dragons can choose a being to bond with, and with that bond, they can share certain skills and stuff,” Azazel answered, looking up into the sky, likely reading directly from his booklet.

  A sudden voice cut through the air.

  “What do you mean you forgot the map?!” The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

  “I didn’t forget! I just grabbed the wrong one!” A second familiar voice.

  I turned the corner, and was suddenly met with two of the adventurers who were with Eldros a couple of days ago. I struggled to remember their names, but Azazel spoke first.

  “Tyrien, Conrad. Pleasure seeing you two again.” The dragon greeted, and I recognized them as the Paladin and Arcanist, the advanced classes that Eldros had introduced them as. The pair whirled around in surprise, and the wizard nearly dropped his wand, fumbling with it like a hot potato.

  “Oh, it's you, demon,” Tyrien spat, eyeing me cautiously.

  “Now, now, don’t you remember? Eldros used his lie detector machine and everything.” I said, raising both of my hands into the air defensively. “What are you two doing out here?”

  “None of your business,” Conrad said viciously, finally regaining control of his wand.

  “Alright then!” I said cheerfully, walking past.

  They didn’t respond for a second, confused expressions spreading across their faces.

  Maybe they were looking for a fight?

  [I think you confused them with your stupidity.]

  “Wait!” Tyrien shouted, and I saw Conrad glaring daggers at the Paladin.

  “Hmm?”

  “Can you… Help us?” The Paladin said shyly. Conrad threw his arms up in resignation.

  “Happily! What's the issue?” I said, turning to face the duo.

  Tyrien shot Conrad a look before addressing me once again, “We are searching for the Mercy Aspect's Sanctum. Someone told us it would be around here. Do you happen to know anything?”

  I know about the Justice Aspects, but seeing as they seemed to be a duo, I guess it would make sense if they were near each other…

  Azazel pushed his snout forward. I followed its path, and suddenly saw a crack in the wall similar to the entrance to the other ruin. “Have you checked over there?” I asked, pointing a finger.

  “Of course we did!” Conrad shouted indignantly.

  “But he’s too scared to go in,” Tyrien added.

  “So are you!” Conrad accused.

  “I need to cover our retreat!”

  “Alright, alright, how about I go first, and you guys follow me?” I offered. The duo stopped their argument, staring at me dumbly, then at each other. Tyrien shrugged his shoulders, and Conrad hung his head.

  [We should kill them.] Joshua suddenly proclaimed.

  You need a therapist.

  I slid through into the crack, shimmying against the rock as the four of us made our way in. Similarly to the Justice Aspect’s Sanctum, we found ourselves in a large room; however, this one was in pristine condition.

  [Location Discovered: Mercy Aspect’s Sanctum]

  [Exp +250]

  Four marble pillars were placed a few feet from the walls in the corners, stretching towards the ceiling. Carved stone surrounded us, depicting the graceful angelic being, Seraphael, I remembered, flying between humans and bestowing blessings upon them. The other end of the room had two statues of angels, their wings extending widely like an open embrace, as well as a massive gateway of pure stone.

  “It’s beautiful,” Azazel gasped breathlessly, and I nodded in agreement.

  “We found it!” Conrad shouted in excitement as Tyrien rushed towards the huge gateway.

  More like I found it.

  Then, the statues came to life.

  “Who dares attempt to enter Seraphael’s domain?” One of the stone statues demanded.

  “We are adventurers of Elurien! We seek the Mercy Aspect’s blessing!” Tyrien said hurriedly.

  “Then you must pass her trial.”

  The stone statues burst into action, lances of light suddenly appearing in their hands. Their wings flapped slowly as they circled the four of us dangerously. I readied my stance, suddenly thrust into a battle against unknown opponents. But I barely had time to think before one of the stone angels threw their beam of light.

  Time slowed as it flew through the air, and even with my now enhanced processing speeds, I didn’t have time to react.

  The lance of light energy impaled me through the chest, and my blood splattered against the marble floor as I gasped for breath.