We follow the road and eventually come to a bigger door. "We should get out of here now. I'm betting all those bodies are being found right about now." Sally nods her head in agreement, and we approach the door. I push it open, and a new narrow path has opened up. "This path is the most likely to lead to the surface, it has the most foot traffic, and since it's dark out, we won't have so much trouble getting around. If someone sees me covered in human blood like this, then I'm sure we'll have no chance at getting into the treasure room. So we are going to stick to rooftops and dark allies." I unequip my leather chest piece, and my bare chest shows. My chest piece has the most blood on it. If someone does see us, it won't be so obvious now.

They'll have to look at my pants deliberately to see the blood. As we walk the long dirt path in the narrow tunnel to the surface, I can't help feeling Sally's strong gaze. I try to ignore her, but she makes no effort to hide her interest in my topless area. I have well-defined muscles, and I can see why they'd be attractive. "You know, many people would consider starting rude. How would you like it if you didn't have a top and bra on and I was staring?" She turns her head away in embarrassment. I chuckle now that I got my point across. I'm not obsessed with physical characteristics. In fact, I'd say I'm way more interested in what's on the inside. Many wouldn't believe that, though, and I don't know why.

Still being a virgin and never having a romantic relationship attests to that. Being an attractive member of the male spieces, I've had plenty of chances for romantic and physical encounters. I rejected them all, and many would question my sexual preference from my actions. I'm straight, but I don't find myself getting hot or bothered around beautiful women. I don't see the same appeal as others. I'm too much of a control freak to ever open up to someone like that, even if it's just for sex. "I wasn't staring like the way you think I was..." My thoughts are interrupted by Sally trying to explain away her ogling earlier. "It's just different with you... I can't put into the right words..." She has come along wat from the person I started this journey with.

The time I've spent with Sally has taught me a lot about people and women. She has suffered greatly and despite her harsh past. She has not let any of that get in the way of her life and happiness. The willpower she has shown is greater than anything I've ever seen before. I'm not capable of such strength if I went through what she went through. I wouldn't have come out nearly as great as she has. I would have given up a long time ago. "It's not a crime to stare at me. It's just not something I'm used to experiencing. I've been looked at by people before, but I saw it up close until just now. Besides, I was messing with you. I know that it's different for men and women on what to take on and off." I'm smart enough to know the obvious differences.

People can say whatever they want. Women have it harder when it comes to physical body confidence. It's not because of what you think, despite the social differences in the 23rd century. The main enemy of women was, in fact, women, while men hold blame as well. I have seen some really nasty things happening between women and their views. They judge each other brutally and have passive-aggressive behaviors that, in honesty, scare me. The whole situation is beyond my full grasp since I am a man. I have concluded from the treatment I've seen other women put each other through. Not to mention the type of power women have over men. A woman can say that a man raped or sexually assaulted her when it never occurred.

There will be no trial for the man, at least not a fair one. They lock him up and throw away the key on baseless accusations. This happened to a kid in my high school. He broke up with his girlfriend, and a few weeks later, she accused him of rape and harassment. He was sent to federal state prison, only to be found innocent after the woman he dumped came forward out of guilt. He spent two years in that prison, and he was an innocent man. Another reason I don't find myself with women, not all women are the same. However, that kind of power is scary to me. "You've had a serious look on your face for a while now... Is everything alright?" Sally interrupts my thoughts about what I've come to learn about men, women, and relationships.

I got really distracted, in honesty, while what I said has merit. It's not like men haven't hurt women. So in retrospect, it's a cycle that we have all created. I don't have relationships because of this cycle. While I believe true love exists, damn, is it hard to find in all the deceit, hate, and mistrust. "I was going through my thoughts, Sally. Where I come from, there is a huge divide between men and women anymore. Our conversation sparked memories of that place, of home. In truth, this world is so much better. While there are conflicts, the way to hurt each other is limited here. There are no ways of instant communication to send hate here. I hope there never will be." The technology of the 23rd century allowed many great things. It created a lot of problems too.

She looks at me in confusion. Describing some things from my world isn't fair. I could give context, but we are almost to the surface. I can see a new door up ahead. "We can talk about this another time. I'm in the mood for a meal and a soft bed." She smiles and nods her head in agreement. What opinions I've developed are controversial in the 23rd century. However, they are deductions I've come to on my own. The 23rd century would be the last before humanity died out anyway, so it really doesn't matter what I think now. All those problems disappeared when we did. There are no issues like that at the current time here on Gaia. The problems we as humans created are now gone, and they will stay gone for a long time.

Hopefully, this leads to a great new start for us here. "You have lots of stories, don't you? You speak as if you are much older than you look. What exactly were you thinking about anyway?" In simple terms, the stand of men and women in the 23rd century. In more complex terms, the great schism between what once was two species working together to solve problems and love each other. "Nevermind, you have that thinking look in your eye, and you aren't very good at explaining things from your world." I laugh and enjoy the truthful words she speaks. It's hard to explain something you are unfamiliar with, after all. So my opinions of my time probably have to merit, since I know nothing of the real problems in my time.

We make it to the door, and I push it open. As soon as I do, a notification goes off. I look and see that my legendary quest to free the dryads has had some objective changes now that I'm officially in the capital city of Bellvia. I try to pull up the quest, but a voice interrupts me before I do. "I don't recognize your faces. Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you both right now." I turn and see some officer in the Bellvian army. He must be a bribed official to let people come through this way. This means this is an exclusive route, and we took it not knowing it was. He reaches for his sword as we stay quiet. We are in a basement, probably under a property he owns. I toggle my wings on and dash forward. I kill him by chopping him into three pieces. He tried to say something. I didn't give him a chance to speak.

Sally cringes in slight disgust, and now my torso is covered in blood. That's just great. "Let's go upstairs. I want to clean this blood off me before we go anywhere." She nods her head in agreement, and I focus back on my new objectives on my quest. I pull it up and start reading.

[Quest: The False One]

[Description: You have found the truth about Bellvia and their involvement with the Dryads, and you have found out about the curse and who made it. You will have a choice to make. Only one of the following objectives can be completed.]

[Objective 1: Expose the Kingdom of Bellvia and have them pay for their crimes.]

[Objective 2: Find the weakness of the curse and use it to free the Dryads and return them to Ancients World.]

[Objective 3: Now that you are in Bellvia, finding the right person to talk to is important. How you do this is up to you.]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Rewards: Hidden]

I sigh as I read the new objective, just like my chain mana aura quest to find The Secret Keeper of Titans. I already have a plan for this, though.