And thus we return to the castle.

Some puzzled mercenaries, a seemingly slightly annoyed Wolfie, and an as-calm-as-ever albino guy, are all there to welcome us. I take a solemn voice.

[Everyone I have good news and bad news]

"Start with the bad news."

They are all looking at me with serious expressions.

[You guys. I'm afraid all your death monologues are going to be wasted.]

"Wait…"

"You mean?!"

"Seriously?!"

"We are saved?!"

[Yep, our friend here can open a portal to the earth realm. We are officially going to be fine! That is the good news by the way.]

"Hell yeah!"

"This is great!"

"So there is no bad news? I feel cheated!"

"Who cares?! You get to live, shut up haha!"

Everyone is in a joyous mood, celebrating. Well, all except our host who is pensively playing around with a chess piece in his hand. I address him.

[How about it? Will you join us?]

"I truly can't. Not right now at least. Maybe one day."

[I understand.]

I turn to the unicorn.

[You can open the portal whenever right? Is it always at the same place?]

"Yes, why?"

[I was thinking of maybe training here for a while. This is a golden opportunity. Infinite training partners. Even once broken they can still be used after a short wait. Could you bring everyone out and come back later for me?]

"I understand! I will do as you wish. I would always come back for you!"

That sounded overly dramatic and passionate, but that's fine too. Guess it is the way unicorns speak by default.

We share some words. Promising how we will meet up later on for sure. Still, they have some stuff to deal with on their side. I have my training to do. I do receive a map describing how to reach my chosen destination for when I do get out of this realm.

As they are all about to cross the portal, the mercenary leader turns back.

"Hum, can I ask you something?"

[Anything. What is it?]

"Well, you said something about a sect before, right?"

[I probably did, why?]

"Could me and my brothers join?"

[What about your mercenary band?]

"Meh, who cares about that. So, can we?"

[Of course! It would be my pleasure!]

This is great, I somehow recruited a few rank 2 and a rank 3 mage!

"Also we might have a few friends that might be interested in joining would that be fine too?"

[Of course, but I'm kinda broke at the moment. I can't very well pay a salary. For now, it's more of a cool community rather than a serious faction. Are you still fine with that?]

"Of course! Well then, I will see you later Sect Leader! I wish you luck in your training!"

[You too! Take care, you guys!]

And thus they all depart. Wolfie gives me one last glance before going through. She and the unicorn will be waiting for me on the other side. The purple light disappears leaving me and my white-haired friend alone. He pats my shoulder.

"You will see them soon enough do not worry."

He is right I should start training already. I give him a small nod and I make my way toward one of the skeleton armies.

I plan to train for a month here. One big continuous session. I will be trying to scout while remaining in the skeleton army and dodge all the attacks. This will be a mental test, a physical test, and also one of resilience.

And thus starts a training regimen. The skeletons are the perfect partners. Relentless and extremely motivated. No matter how much I beg they won't stop. There is no safe word here.

Hours and days pass. From time-to-time, Vlad comes nearby and we talk about various subjects. Apparently, that is his name. Or nickname anyway. His real name is supposed to be so long it's a pain to say even for him.

For some reason the skeletons never attack him. It probably is related to why he is stuck here. The skeletons prevent me, an outsider, from moving about as I want. That doesn't apply to him. At least that's what I roughly understood.

Sometimes I have a bit of trouble focusing on both our conversations and the scouting and also the enemies right in front of me. This is lowkey really hard. Then again if it was easy it wouldn't qualify as training at all.

In such a way my time here comes to an end. It is time to say each other goodbye. My friend seems to be fidgeting. Is he not sure what to say? Is there something he wants to ask me?

[What is it?]

"Hum, you know how I am stuck here?"

[Yes, what of it?]

Is there a way to bring him out somehow? If I can I'll help him. Him exploring the earth realm with me would be fun.

"Initially I wasn't the only one here. There were many others. In fact, they are still here. All in a death-like state."

[Seriously?! Any way to help them?]

"Well, yes, but it may sound extremely weird and quite possible repulsive. You see they almost died from lack of blood. I used a spell to stop their time somehow, but it won't last forever either, at some point they will…"

[Wait, so you have friends somewhere here that are about to die, and to save them you need some blood transfusion?!]

I didn't know people of this world knew about such a method?! Well, he did say it sounds repulsive. Maybe blood transfusions are unpopular or seen as something evil?

"That…yes. I tried my own blood but for some reason it…"

Of course. If the blood type is wrong, it won't work. This is probably something most people are ignorant of, so I guess that's why he's ashamed of asking. But I come from a world with advanced medical science! Something as simple as this won't phase me!

[Do you have a container anywhere?]

He leads me to a bathtub in the castle. It is huge and can fit many people for sure.

"Just a bit will do, make sure not to overdo it!"

[Gotcha, don't worry about it!]

He leaves me alone. It takes me a while but I finally manage to pierce my own wrist. Blood starts slowly flowing, then faster. I use divine energy to regenerate it as it drips out.

Not long later the huge bathtub is completely filled. Guess that should do the trick, hopefully. He did say he doesn't need much.

I join him outside, he doesn't even look inside. I guess he trusts me enough not to doubt my resolve and he doesn't want to make things awkward between us.

We reach the portal and wait until it opens. Then I confidently cross it.

[I will meet you later on the other side Vlad!]

He nods.

Earth Realm, your father is back!