I spent the afternoon so focused on recording what I managed to learn about the Fodlan's religion that I wasn't alerted to the arrival of nightfall until it became dark enough for the pages of my [Journal] to be obscured.

Fortunately, unlike YGGDRASIL's extensive and intricate web of lore, Fodlan seems to only have one deity. The presence of Saints such as Cichol did make understanding the religion's structure a bit more complicated but hopefully I would be able to learn more about the Church and its inner workings in Arianrod or Fhirdiad. In a bigger city, there should be more information to spare alongside less scrutiny on newer faces.

Knock. Knock.

"Ms. Libelle, it's dinnertime."

"I'm coming."

I tucked my [Journal] into my [Inventory]. The feminine voice which called for me was too matter of fact to match Elsie's joyous tone, so it had to be Lina's turn for roll call. I locked the door to my room, testing the knob before I headed downstairs with quickened steps.

The faint smell of smoke greeted my nose alongside gently swaying orange light and shadows that spilled across the doorway at the end of the stairs. A fireplace I hadn't noticed on my first night here was vigorously burning and the soft glow of its flames illuminated the tavern floor.

With the warmth of the fire and the absence of customers, the tavern felt less like a bar and more like a cozy refuge. Rather than sitting at the bar again, I choose a seat at a table closer to the fireplace.

I wasn't seated for long before Earnest came out of the bar's backroom with a glass bottle and handkerchief in hand. As he leisurely made his way over, he wiped down the neck of the bottle leaving its label exposed to my sight… Oblivious Lion?

That was an odd name for a drink.

"This rainfall came so suddenly that Elsie and Lina didn't have time to pick up some of the ingredients for tonight's dinner, so we're not going to be able to serve the Two-Fish Saute I had planned for tonight." He greets with an apologetic smile.

"Oh? Well, I'm not a picky eater. I'm sure anything you cook will taste delicious."

"You flatter us, Lass! Even so, dinner won't be as hearty as our usual servings, so I've decided to compensate you with some fine spirits."

He took a seat at the opposite end of the table before popping the cork off the rather large bottle. After glancing at the label again, my curiosity got the best of me.

"The Oblivious Lion is an odd name for alcohol…"

"Well, I'll let you know that I named it myself! This is my finest and most famous brew, named for the strength of Loog, The King of Lions. It's strong enough to even stagger the Blade Breaker!"

Thump.

"Not before he staggered you."

The sound of a wooden mug clacking against our table and Lina's disgruntled voice interrupts Earnest before he could continue. To my surprise Lina also takes a seat at the table, setting down a tray with other empty mugs beside the one she already placed. Compared to the messy bun she maintained while working on the tavern floor, this evening she opted to leave her lilac hair down.

Nonplussed by Lina's snipe, Earnest continued.

"This bar isn't named The Broken Breaker for no reason. With how high he racked up his tab, he'll be lucky to still be standing when I'm through with him. I was a renowned mercenary in my own right back in the day!"

"Forgive my ignorance, but just who is the Blade Breaker?" He must be someone important if he has a moniker. Perhaps he's a famous soldier of some sort based on his name alone.

"Jeralt Eisner. He's a renowned mercenary and former Captain of the Knights of Seiros. He's also the leader of his own mercenary company which shares his name." As Lina shares this information with me, she takes the bottle of Oblivious Lion from Earnest and pours the drink into the empty mugs.

After the first mug is filled, Lina passes it over to me before allowing Earnest to reach over and take the second for himself. The third is set aside in front of the final seat of our table. It was likely for Elsie. After filling the fourth mug to the brim, she astonishingly tilted back the entire mug, guzzling the drink down with nary a second to spare.

"Lina! You were supposed to wait for me!" The sound of the kitchen doors closing on themselves accompanies Elsie's voice.

With a few swishes of her skirt, Elsie made her way across the room with a tray of six bowls of soup and some cutlery.

"You were taking too long, and Earnest rarely ever brings out a bottle of the Oblivious Lion."

"You and I both know what kind of drunk you are!"

Despite the verbal sparring she was engaging in, Elsie impeccably set the table, placing two of the bowls of soup before myself and Earnest and the remaining two for herself and Lina.

"Who else is going to look out for you? Earnest!? He's nearly just as bad!"

Upon hearing his own name dragged into Elsie and Lina's banter, Earnest chuckled in amusement before sharing a smile and a question with me.

"I never got the chance to ask, but why did you choose to stop in our quaint little city? I hate to admit but we don't have much in regard to things nobles like to do."

"I'm not a noble."

Earnest nods his head clearly unconvinced, as his hand makes a gesture urging me to continue.

"And to answer your second question, I'm looking for someone."

Sothis's visage quickly came to mind. In the game, we did nearly everything together. Raids, exploration, tournaments, shopping, the list can go on and on. When YGGDRASIL's end was announced, she was the first person who came to mind when thinking of how the end of the game may mean never meeting again. Not [UnsacredBlacksmith] who crafted much of my gear, not [Dismister] who paved the way for so many of our guild's combat strategies, but [Sothis]. Assertive, daring, and the most brilliant person I've ever met. It's truly ironic that even in this world we ended up separated only moments after promising to meet again.

Unconsciously, my grip on the mug of whiskey tightens.

"If you came all the way to this small territory to look for someone, they must be important to you Ms. Libelle."

The warmth of a calloused palm tentatively overlapping my clenched hand drew me away from my thoughts as I focused on Elsie's voice and small smile of comfort. Although… my focus on Elsie was stolen by Lina who had draped herself across Elsie's shoulders in a rather loose hug. It seemed like she was quite drunk at this point.

I nodded in thanks at both. While Lina shared a dopey smile with me in response, Earnest, who had been quiet during our interaction, apologized. He set his mug aside to clasp his hands together before resting his chin upon them and sighing.

"I'm sorry if my prying brought back some unpleasant memories, although perhaps there's some way, we could help you? If you tell us what your friend looks like we can keep an eye out for them. If you came out here to look for them then perhaps, they even passed through this city."

"She has long, wild dark green hair and eyes. She's slightly shorter than I am too. She loves to wear elaborate dresses and tie ribbons into her hair as well. She's also a talented mage." I listed and sighed, pushing one of my bangs to the side. "I have to admit that I'm pretty much grasping at straws as I search for her. At the moment I'm hoping to reach a larger city to continue looking as I'm sure that's what she would have done were our situations reversed."

Earnest shakes his head after hearing my description of Sothis, "Nay, I'm sorry to say that I haven't seen or heard of anyone matching that description around town. From your description of her, it seems as though your friend would stand out though, so if the larger city you were referring to is Arianrod you may have better luck there."

Elsie nods in agreement with Earnest, "If we ever do see such a person though, then we can be sure to inform you if you pass through town again."

I sighed again. I already had the feeling that things wouldn't be so simple as to find Sothis on the first try.

I had already been through a whirlwind of emotions today with Earnest's assumptions about my identity, my slip up at the church with the bishop and my dampening mood at the reality of this all. With how large the continent is, I know that finding Sothis is going to be nowhere near easy and looking back at the past few days… perhaps I missed an opportunity by not asking that merchant, Darius, if he had heard or seen anything about Sothis during his travels...

I glumly swished the mug of Oblivious Lion around. The amber-colored liquid and strong scent of alcohol were all pointing towards a prediction of it tasting horrible. Although, with how Lina chugged it down earlier it couldn't taste that bad.

I swung my arm and took a gulp of the drink.

Immediately afterward, a burning sensation ran across and down my throat as I struggled to down it. I coughed, managing to narrowly keep my composure… or not. One peek at Earnest showed his lips were tightly pursed and eyes crinkled from how hard he was trying and failing to hold in his laughter.

A sigh escapes my lips as I feel warmth spread across my cheeks. My prediction came at the cost of some embarrassment but… Earnest's wide smile as he finally erupts into laughter causes my body to unconsciously relax.

I took another sip of the drink this time choosing to listen to the banter of the three people sitting before me. The crackling of the fire, the warm feeling of the alcohol settling in my body, and the occasional burst of laughter from my company were just enough to deafen the sound of the unrelenting downpour of rain.

I ended up staying awake late into the night with Earnest, Elsie, and Lina. Consequently, I overslept again. If this were back on Earth, I would be fired immediately with how strict companies were on maximizing the number of hours employees worked. Then again, I've already been fired once before.

I let out a short, sardonic laugh as I pushed my blankets to the side.

The bright rays of light streaming in from between the open curtains of the window showed that midday was rapidly approaching. It was time for me to go.

I got dressed quickly, shrugging on the robes and dark cloak that made up my ensemble with a quiet cast of [Equip]. I slid the strap of my bag over my shoulder as I did a final inspection of the room.

I had everything I needed.

I left the room, closing the door behind myself as I made my way down the stairs.

"Mornin' lass!" Earnest greeted with a wave as he took his focus away from a piece of parchment he was writing on. Despite the many mugs of Oblivious Lion, he had last night, he didn't seem any worse for wear nor did he seem tired after staying up as late as I did in combination with waking up earlier.

As I walked closer to the bar, I could tell that the paper he was writing on was a checklist although I couldn't recognize most of the ingredients on the list beyond Noa fruit and Albeinian berries from the drinks the tavern offered. Although I wanted to ask Earnest about those ingredients, it would only make my already flimsy cover story even more suspicious. I settled my gaze away from the list and towards the empty tavern floor.

Elsie and Lina were both absent this morning, but they were likely cleaning or running errands at this time of day. But considering how much Lina drank last night, I wouldn't be surprised if she were still out of commission.

Earnest's next words confirmed my prediction.

"Unfortunately, it was Lina's turn to prepare breakfast this morning and she drank herself sillier than a nobleman after eight betrothal rejection letters." He sighed as he tucked the parchment into the pocket of his apron before continuing, "Elsie went out to buy her some medicine. I can reheat some of the leftover porridge in the kitchen if you want a light breakfast before you go."

I shook my head in refusal. "As much as I would love to stay, I have to go now. I bought enough provisions to eat as I travel."

Earnest nodded in understanding, and I thanked him for his hospitality before walking towards the tavern doors.

His voice interrupted my exit just as my fingertips brushed the doorknob.

"One more thing lass! It occurred to me this morning that if your friend is a mage and you're heading to Fhirdiad then perhaps you can try the Fhirdiad School of Sorcery. Many of the Kingdom's magical talents have ties there, although I'm sad to say that I can't tell you more about it."

A school of sorcery? That does sound like somewhere Sothis would go.

Although he couldn't tell me more, Earnest's tip gave me a push in the right direction.

"Thank you." I flashed him a smile before opening the tavern's door. Sunlight and street chatter spilled into the tavern as I raised my hand in goodbye.

"And if I ever run into that Blade Breaker of yours, I'll be sure to tell him what you have waiting for him.

Compared to the guards at the entrance gate of Aberdeen, the soldiers at the Northern Gate Guard Post were far more amicable. I retrieved my lance easily, no questions asked.

Inspecting my lance showed no signs of tampering and I thanked the guard before walking out of the garrison attached to the tall stone walls of the city. With a similar attitude to their garrison compatriots, the soldiers guarding the exit to the city nodded seriously, before perfunctorily wishing me safe travels.

There was a large stone bridge that crossed the section of the Adel River which sprawled through the Gaspard territory. The map showed that crossing the bridge and taking the merchant's route that went around the lone mountain ahead would lead me north to Arianrod and following Arianrod, Fhirdiad. In other words, there would be a long journey ahead of me.

During my musings, I had already crossed the bridge and made my way close enough to the base of the mountain where the carefully paved stone road ended, and a well-worn dirt path began. I should correct myself. With the amount of rain that came down yesterday, a mud path would be a more accurate description.

I wonder if these leather boots I'm wearing are even waterproof.

I sighed. Even if they weren't waterproof, some mud wasn't going to stop me from traveling with the amount of water magic I knew.

I trekked forward tossing my lance into my inventory as I did so. Hopefully, I'll be able to entertain myself by focusing on the nearby sights: the clean air, the surprisingly sparse vegetation, the rugged mountain, and the occasional chirping of birds. Within minutes all these things quickly became monotonous.

When I had to travel long distances in YGGDRASIL, if I wasn't using [Gate] then I was using [Hydro Stride] or [Fly].

Unfortunately for this journey [Gate] was out of the picture, unless I wanted to return to Aberdeen or the Red Canyon, as it only worked for locations I had been to previously and [Hydro Stride] required a body of water. While I could use [Fly] the widespread use of carts and horses suggested that the third-tier spell didn't seem very common. It also didn't help that there was no foliage in this area to hide my figure from being spotted by other travelers. For all I knew the use of such magic could cause a stir if I was spotted. It also didn't help that I don't have any [Invisibility] spells or items. Even if I did have a scroll for the spell, it would be a waste to use it in such a-

Ah.

Any musings or misgivings I had about using the [Fly] spell were quickly tossed as I took in the sight of the blocked road ahead of me.

A large mound of rocks, mud, the remains of a large tree completely covered the entirety of the path. With my current height, I estimated that it had to be at least three times taller than myself, not counting how much dirt had to be between my own position and its opposite side.

Walking to the left and around it also wasn't an option with the cliff that rose with the road to form the mountainside path. From the small rocks that occasionally bounced down the cliff face, the mound didn't seem stable enough to climb over either. I paused and listened for anyone nearby. After hearing nothing, I casted [Fly] in the same breath as my sigh of resignation.

If someone sees me then so be it. I can always fly away.

A floating sensation enveloped my body and with a thought, I hovered over the top of the pile of rubble before quickly flying to the opposite side of the dirt pile. Like the side, I was just on it was full of mud, rocks, and… splintered wood?

Disengaging the flight spell, I quickly walked over to the pile of debris to pick up one of the broken pieces of wood. Although one side was splintered, the other was polished smooth. Too smooth to be from any trees that were also buried in the landslide.

A gleam of sunlight reflecting off metal caught my attention at the corner of my vision. There was something metallic partially obscured in the rubble as well. Brushing away the dirt revealed a long, iron nail also buried in the debris. Perhaps something was buried beneath this pile of rubble.

Although I thought my findings were odd, I wasn't too keen on digging through a pile of dirt and rocks when I had traveling to do. I brushed the dirt on my hands onto the ground before tossing a look over my shoulder to examine the road behind me that led to Arianrod.

Unlike the relatively smooth path I had walked on before, the muddy road behind me was engraved with partially washed away hoof tracks and two parallel grooves in the dirt that curved haphazardly off the mountain road where only the cliff remained.

This doesn't look good.

I stood and peered over the edge of the cliff to find my suspicions confirmed. Half of a wooden carriage was embedded in the riverbank while the other half of it was nowhere to be seen among the rushing waters of the Adel River.

With practiced ease, I jumped off the cliff edge letting the air whistle past my ears as I cast [Fly] again to slow my descent. Now that I was closer, it was easier to see that what I thought was a carriage from a distance was a covered wagon.

The torn canvas strewn across the remaining half of the fractured wood was smeared with dirt although the end of the torn cloth closest to the river was suspiciously tinted red in color.

A cool breeze rippled across the river's surface before reaching the wreckage. As the cloth rustled due to the quiet wind my eyes caught the faint outline of something protruding from beneath it.

I frowned before bending down to lift the cloth.

Immediately a rustic scent overwhelmed my nose, the source of it being the body of a man whose face contorted in the agony of his death.

"Ah!"

Despite my shock, my grip on the canvas remained tight. With a yank, I flung the remaining canvas out of the way to see the full wreckage.

Without the sheet covering his body his twisted legs also came into view along with his dented silver armor. The dirt around him was also disturbed. The marks in soil were smooth in some areas and sharp in others and started from beneath his body before ending a meter or two after his feet. He likely didn't die on impact and tried to drag himself out of the wreckage.

It's unfortunate that he went through such an agonizing death.

I closed his eyes before stepping away from his body. Now that I was standing again, everything else that the canvas hid also came into view.

A silver sword was embedded into the dirt not far from the man's corpse. Considering the armor, he was wearing it was likely that he was a knight or soldier of some kind. The corpses of two horses also rested nearby. Like the man they also didn't survive the fall.

Muddied trinkets were haphazardly strewn from a wooden chest. In the clothes that were scattered I saw a few torn shirts, pants, and dresses whose size… seemed too small for a lone soldier to be traveling with.

I reached down to straighten up the chest and take a closer look at its contents only for an object to roll out with the sudden movement.

It only took a single glance for my stomach to sink.

A worn, grey doll in the shape of a bunny rabbit had fallen out of the chest. Although it managed to escape the fall unscathed, I don't know if I could say the same for the child who owned it… Mr. Knight over there was unlikely to be the sole occupant of the carriage.

However, I didn't see any other corpses in the victincy beyond the knight and the horses. I also didn't see any footprints leading out from the wreckage on the surrounding riverbank. If the carriage split in half after falling from the cliffside, then the only answer I could think of for where this missing occupant could be was… the Adel River.

The odds were that the child was more than likely dead after such a fall. Even so, if they were lucky enough to get swept onto a riverbank it could still be possible for them to be alive.

Some of the time I spent organizing my journal at Earnest's inn was also spent thinking about what exactly happened on that day I touched the pond while taking a break on my journey to Aberdeen. The connection I felt to the pond and subsequently the river at that time was due to my racial skill, [Sea Dominion]. The moment my skin touched the surface of the water, it felt like my awareness extended not just to my surroundings but to the presence of every other living thing in the body of water at that time. Although the Adel River at my current location is much larger and more volatile than the stability of the pond, I initially used my skill on, I'm sure that with some focus and the support of my maximized skill levels I would be able to find what became of the child.

If the connection became too overwhelming, then I also had the option of flying overhead to continue the search.

I sunk my hand in the cold, rushing waters of the river before me. Immediately, information flooded into my mind. There was a school of fish fighting their way upstream. A crane-like bird that gracefully bent down before precisely snatching a crayfish not far off from my own position. All irrelevant information, too broad in location and far too unrelated to my goal. If the river flowed downstream, then downstream is also where my skill needs to focus its lens on.

My brows scrunch together as I intensified my focus further downstream. Like a net sweeping through a pool, my consciousness traveled with the river waters, discarding irrelevant detail after irrelevant detail until it became caught on something out of the ordinary.

In the roots of a large tree that grew adjacent to the Adel River, there was a piece of torn cloth swaying in the undercurrent. I focused my awareness upwards and felt the presence of a human, a small one whose limpid body was caught in the roots. Fortunately, it seems that their head was positioned above the surface although I had no way of knowing how long they've been trapped for.

Now that the child was found, I needed to get to them as quickly as possible. In YGGDRASIL players without specialized movement skills used mounts or [Fly] spells to move efficiently from place to place when using [Gate] wasn't possible. In my own case, bodies of water are where my character's build is specialized whether it be for fighting or moving quickly.

In this case I needed to do the latter.

I needed to temporarily abandon this form.

If the scale of heteromorphic transformations worked the same in this world as it did in [Yggdrasil], then a partial transformation would work best.

"[Morph]."

Immediately after the spell left my lips, an unfamiliar tingling sensation enveloped my body and with a burst of strength I kicked off the bank and into the river. The initial coldness I felt in my human form vanished as I focused on retaining the child's location. As a player who chose a draconic race, my resistance to the elements was incomparable to that of a child who's been trapped in the river for who knows how long.

If I don't move any faster, then the child I saw… was going to die.

"[Hydro Stride]!" Kicking my legs yielded a burst of speed as I felt the water around me bend to my will and propel me forward. From [Sea Dominion] I could tell that the child's location was right around the final bend of the river ahead of me.

Right as I reached the edge of the bend, a large piece of debris swept towards my body. I refused to lose any momentum.

"MOVE!" Like an extension of my arm, a column of water formed at the tip of my outstretched hand to fling the obstacle out of my way.

Water splashed as I breached the surface of the river next to the roots the child was entangled in. Now that I was closer, I was able to see that the child was a young girl around ten years old. Her silver hair was messily strewn across her face brushing closely to a scattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose that were especially noticeable when her skin was nearly tinged blue in its pallor. Most importantly of all, the weak rise and fall of her chest meant that she was still alive, although barely.

I exhaled in relief before tearing away the roots entangling the young girl.

As I tore the roots away from her, it became apparent that rather than the roots being what kept the girl from being swept further down the river, a thick piece of rope tied to her torso was the primary factor that kept her alive. That meant that someone else had to have tied her here, but there was no time to wonder who.

Using my bare hands, I tore rope tethering the girl to the roots in half before cradling her in my arms and carrying her to the safety of the nearby riverbank. I had no idea how long she had endured in the freezing waters and as a child her immune system was weaker than others.

"[Boost Magic] [Restore]."

Soft golden light began to emit from the palm I hovered over the girl's body. I sighed in relief as the girl's pallor visibly began to improve and her breathing became steadier. The light emanating from my palm quickly faded as the spell came to an end.

Shortly afterward, the girl's eyes began to flutter open. Her unfocused pale-green eyes met my own blankly as she sluggishly glanced at her surroundings before they widened in shock after resting on the river a few steps away from us.

"ARON!"

The girl surged forward, squirming out of my loose embrace before stumbling after a few steps. I caught her before she collapsed to the ground.

She looked at me in surprise as if finally registering that there was a stranger accompanying her, before tugging desperately at the fabric of my cloak.

"My brother's still in there!" she cried out. One of her hands desperately pointed at the river, "You have to help me find him please!"

The relief I felt from saving her dwindled as I glanced at the freezing waters which she barely came back alive from. Although I found her alive, her brother may not have been nearly as lucky as her.

"Listen. Your brother may not-" The girl's grasp on my cloak tightened and the words on my lips died. If I finished that sentence, then it would only hurt her more. If her brother was alive somewhere in the Adel River… then I was the only one with the power to find him as quickly as possible.

I reached down to gently pry the girl's hands from my cloak before I knelt on the ground and took one of her trembling hands into both of my own.

"Hey there, I understand that you're scared." I gently squeezed her trembling hand. "And I promise that I'll do everything I can to find your brother, but first I need you to take a deep breath for me. Look at me."

I shift my body to block out her view of the river beside us. Now that I had her attention, I took in a deep breath of my own before exhaling. "It's your turn now."

The girl tugged at the hem of her muddied shirt, before sucking in a short breath. Following her lead I exhaled in unison with her, repeating the motion until the tension in her body ebbed away. Although her expression had lost much of its initial panic, I could tell that she was still nervous from how she shifted her weight from one foot to another. It was understandable.

After all she was with a stranger in an unfamiliar place with her brother missing.

"My name is Libelle. Can you tell me what's yours?"

"I- I'm Alba. Alba Ubert."

"It's nice to meet you Alba." I shook her hand before letting it fall to her side. "If I'm going to help you find your brother, I need to go back into the river to search for him. However, … I can't bring you with me."

She swallowed nervously before clutching the hem of shirt again. Although she was clearly afraid of being left alone, she mustered enough courage to argue against my decision. "Father said that we shouldn't stray too far into the woodlands because there are demonic beasts. What if one comes while you're gone? I'll be eaten and then I'll never see Aron or father or big brother again." Her eyes began to water.

"Well, I never planned on leaving you all alone." Afterall there was one method that I could use to ensure that Alba was taken care of while I went after her brother.

Although I didn't specialize in summoning magic, my [Leviathan] racial class allowed me to unlock spells that would call water-based summons to my aid in battle. In [Yggdrasil] I was able to command them to attack and defend in fights and for Alba I had the perfect summon in mind.

"[Summon Nix]."

Alba let out a small cry of shock as water formed and gently surged from above my open palm. Forming a column, the water condensed and the outline of a young woman in a flowing gown took form. As a level 80 summon, Nix was adept at attacking and defending, but most importantly also capable of predicting danger through its' [Premonition] skill. This way if anything dangerous approached, Nix would be able to get Alba to safety beforehand.

"This is my summon, Nix. It will protect you while I go to search for your brother." I introduced Alba to my summon before giving my orders to Nix. "Nix, defend Alba. If you encounter anything which threatens either of your lives, use the river to come find me."

Nix reverently bent its body in recognition of my command (that was new), before gliding over to Alba's side. It always had a robotic manner when I commanded it in-game. I could tell from Alba's expression that she was still nervous, but to my surprise she clutched her fists and firmly nodded at me as I walked towards the river.

She was stronger than she looked.

"I'll do all I can to find him." I assured her one last time.

Water splashed into the air as I plunged into the river and expanded my senses with [Sea's Dominion]. Fortunately, my experience from locating Alba made searching for her brother smoother. I didn't have to swim downstream long before I sensed him. Unlike his sister who was caught in tree roots, Aron seemed to be a bit luckier, as I felt the presence of a human body within the shallow waves of the riverbank just ahead.

Using [Hydro Stride] I was able to smoothly command the water around myself to propel my body out of the water and onto the riverbank where I was able to get closer to the child.

After looking at the child he undoubtedly had to be Alba's brother. Although his silver hair was so pale that it could've been mistaken for white, he shared her freckles and her… pale green eyes.

Moving at a speed faster than I could register, I rushed over to Aron and turned his unresponsive body onto its back.

He wasn't breathing.

"[Boost Magic] [Restore]!"

No effect.

I quickly patted his cheeks to wake him. His skin was as cold as ice.

"[Boost Magic] [Recover]!"

He still wasn't breathing.

"[B- Damn it!"

As much as I wanted to deny it, I knew he was dead. After all, seeing dead people around wasn't all that uncommon in the life I had outside of [Yggdrasil]. As unfortunate as it was, coworkers died from overwork all the time, sometimes even in the assembly line right next to my own.

But this was different. This was right in front of me, and I had the promise I made to Alba looming over me as well.

Bringing back the dead was impossible. If it was something I could do back in my old world then it was something I would have done twice over. Yet, getting stuck in a hyper realistic game world in the body of my [Yggdrasil] avatar was also impossible. Hell, everything I've experienced so far felt too real to even be a game.

In the twists of all these impossibilities, maybe it was possible for me to bring Aron back if this was a world where I could use [Yggdrasil]'s magic. After all [Yggdrasil] was a place where players died and then came back all the time.

I had to try.

"[Inventory] [Resurrection Wand]."

Byleth Eisner had experienced a multitude of changes in her life since coming to Garreg Mach Monastery.

For one, there was the need to train her students into capable warriors. The simplest way to do so was through experience. The Knights of Seiros were more than happy to agree to her arrangements of a mock battle on this day towards that purpose.

The other change in her life was far more audible.

"Byleth, must you insist on rising so early? It's the weekend is it not?" The woman called out as she strode over and sat on the edge of Byleth's desk. Her long and unruly green hair splayed over the fresh ink of Byleth's lesson plan in the process.

Undeterred by the distraction, Byleth continued to write in her instructor's journal. After penning her last sentence, she spoke.

"Combat and strategy are some of my strengths, but to make my students stronger I must learn theirs as well. The morning is one of the most opportune times to do so."

"Ah, is that what you were working on in that journal of yours?" Sothis peered over. "Let's see. Raphael Kirsten, strengths in axes, brawling, and heavy armor; weaknesses in bows, reason magic, and horse riding. Likes food… hmm it seems today is also his birthday. Will you be buying flowers for him?"

"Perhaps." Byleth closed her journal and stood, picking up her now dry lesson plan from beside the woman. Although the parchment phased through the woman's body, Byleth's face showed neither shock nor fear.

"It seems that you're leaving me now… very well…" the woman yawned and slowly curled herself onto the desk before continuing, "Even speaking for short periods of time… tires me. I'll be resting here… good... day… Byleth..."

Byleth walked to the door and opened it, glancing back at the mysterious woman who saved her life with her mysterious ability to turn back time. Although the woman couldn't remember much besides her name and her magic, her constant presence in Byleth's life was one that Byleth was slowly getting used to.

Almost imperceptibly, Byleth nodded back at the resting woman.

"Good day Sothis."

The door gently shut.

Extremely late but it's here! To everyone who has reviewed my story over the past year thank you and to those who stuck with my fic and continued reading thank you as well. I really appreciate all of you.

Normally I would reply to questions from previous reviews here, but I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible after I finished it. If there are any questions feel free to PM me and I'll do my best reply when I can.