It had been a strange experience, spending a whole day in the real world, not logged into Mundus. Partially due to the slight incongruity between my normal body and my avatar but also because the surroundings were so different. On Mundus, I spent most of the time walking while more or less lost in my own head, either thinking or conversing with Lenore. At times, I talked to Sigmir, took in the scenery or kept an eye out for danger but the last was mostly the domain of Adra and Rai, both of whom had skills to detect danger long before it got close. In addition, the area we were travelling in was quite safe, at least for beings of our power. If we were some fifty levels lower, there might have been quite a few predators trying to separate one of us from the group for a quick kill or try an ambush during the twilight hours but that danger had mostly ceased after fighting our way through the swamp-dungeon.

On the other hand, Earth had a lot more distractions, keeping me from getting lost in my head, not that I had some great interest to ponder, nothing that kept me mentally engaged like magic. Maybe if I was interested in learning something new, a language or a mental skill, it might be different but if I compared the mental exercise of studying the dwarven runic patterns, trying to understand them with anything I might do in the real world, it was frankly no comparison. Sure, there were interesting mathematical papers I could read but they driften far too often into what I considered intellectual mastrubation, an author trying to show off just how clever they were, without actually achieving anything of practical use. Of course, if I looked at it light that what I was doing in Mundus would be the ultimate waste of time, a true escape from reality, but somehow that didn’t bother me in the least. Maybe because it was me escaping.

Even sleeping in the real world was a little uncomfortable, partially because I had become used to the outdoor-living, the hard ground covered in soft furs, or maybe it was that there was something, or rather someone, missing that kept me from a good rest.

Ultimately, it didn’t really matter, after almost twenty hours I decided to log back in, on Mundus I would have been gone for almost two days, giving my Avatar time to restore itself. And restore itself it had. There was a slightly uncomfortable feeling, as if I was wearing some itchy garment, pasted straight to my skin, but it was miles better than the previous feeling.

“Finally, you are back.” Lenore exclaimed, moments after I logged in. The mental contact was tinged with quite a bit of anxiety but also anticipation and excitement.

“What did I miss?” I asked, curious what had caused her state. I was reasonably sure it wasn’t something bad, the negative emotions associated with such an event had been missing in her mental voice, but it had to be something big.

“Someone has been quite anxious to have you back.” Lenore told me, amused at my curiosity. At the same time, I reached out, using her senses to experience the world around me only to be a little disappointed. She was flying, which was great, but there was nothing hinting at the cause of her mental state, nothing that could sate my curiosity. When I tried to prod her memories with wordless bursts of curiosity, she pushed back, not giving me anything to go by. There were a few memories of her sitting on a tree-branch just moments before, but nothing actually helpful.

Luckily, I didn’t have to wait for long, after a short flight, Lenore could see the others, her mind supplying that they were our destination. As we were gliding in, I was a little confused, Sigmir seemed to have changed, not by much, but changed nonetheless. It might have been the different set of sensory organs that caused it, but I wasn’t certain.

Before I could inquire deeper into the change, Lenore landed on Sigmir’s shoulder and gave me a forceful mental push, giving me the strong impression I was supposed to leave my Hallow. Pushing my mind outwards, I decided to play a small prank on Sigmir, coming out behind her and giving her a pleasant surprise.

As I dragged my body after my mind and concentrated on the mental image of my Avatar I felt Lenore take wing again. Before I could fully orient myself after appearing, I was engulfed in a forceful embrace.

“You are back.” Sigmir’s voice sounded next to my head, as her arms lifted me off the ground. Twisting a little, I was able to see her face, looking relieved. It made me wonder, I had only been gone for about two days, making her reaction seem a little excessive but on the other hand, we had been together at almost all times during the last eight months, so me, vanishing without telling her goodbye might have worried her. Or rather, no might about it, it had worried her.

“Yes and I’m sorry to leave like that.” I admitted, feeling rather guilty, part of my mind forcefully pushing away any idea about Road to Purgatory being a game and what it might entail. For now, I didn’t want to think about the implications and whether or not what I was doing and feeling was healthy. It felt good and right, which was good enough for me.

“Mhm.” she merely mumbled, her head buried in my hair, while I mentally investigated the odd feeling I had since before landing.

“Morgana, you are back. Just like I told you, Sigmir.” Adra spoke up from nearby.

“Maybe you should leave more often, that one gained quite the boost when she realised you were gone.” she added, causing Sigmir to let out a low, rumbling growl. I felt the vibrations all over my body, making me think of an earthquake. I could feel the power in my bones and when I looked I saw that Sigmir was engulfed in her red aura-armour, only that it seemed to be flaring out strongly, reminding me of her, ripping into the Tzar Bolotnik. At the same time, Adra and Rai stumbled back a little, reacting instinctively to the presence of a powerful predator.

“Calmly, love. I’m here and all is well.” I muttered, unsure just how in control she was. She had told me she was trying to incorporate the strength gained by allowing your feelings to run rampant into her fighting but if she overdid it with that, she might lose control.

“Yes, you are back now. Please don’t vanish again.” she asked me, or rather ordered, her forceful aura engulfing and caressing me without applying pressure.

“I won’t.” I answered, knowing that I might be unable to fulfill the promise. But I was going to try, to the best of my ability, which had to be good enough.

“She was really quite upset, you know?” Lenore’s voice floated over our connection, accompanied by her memory of the event.

In the memory, Sigmir was opening her eyes after her meditation and I noticed a tinge of red at their edges. Standing up, she looked around the camp, searching, before focusing on Adra and asking where I was. Adra explained that I would be gone for two, maybe three, days, that apparently something had gone wrong with my experiment. It had been the wrong thing to do, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Sigmir exploded, her aura flaring even more strongly than it had earlier, even her eyes started to glow red, and she let out a shout, or rather roar. The strength of that roar alone was enough to cause leaves to fall from the trees around her and Rai jumped up, shaken from his slumber, confused but ready to either attack or flee. I had to compliment his reaction, without even knowing what was going on, he had a naked blade in hand and started to scan the surroundings, behaviour I approved of.

In the memory, Lenore flew down to the camp, landing on a relatively low branch, though easily out of range. From there, she spoke, as always using my voice, and explained a little more, that I was merely sleeping in my Hallow and that I would be back and at that point, the memory ended.

“It took her a bit to calm down afterwards and yesterday, she managed to break through the second divide. It was quite the spectacle, you know?” Lenore added, at the end of the memory.

“Congratulations, Sigmir.” I said, out loud, while twisting a little so I could give her a kiss on the cheek. I was a little unsure what else to do, how to react, so I simply let her hold me.