For about a week after that, I spent my time right outside of the town of Westfall, as Praxa continued to recover from her wounds, and Roger tended to all of the young men and women who had been wounded in the war against the City of the Red Tower.

I spent most of those mornings by myself out in the dungeons, as I continued to train a little, and to practice. But, because I had already made it up to Level 49 by then, I didn’t receive much of a boost to my EXP, and I didn’t gain any more levels during that time. So, I mostly contented myself with playing around a bit, and trying to keep in shape, as I continued to explore the 48th, and the 49th floors of the dungeon.

I was curious about the 50th floor too, of course. But, I didn’t really want to go there for the first time without Praxa at my side… and I didn’t mind waiting for her to recover, and for her to get back to the way that she had once been, before the two of us completed the dungeon together, and saw what was at the end.

Fortunately though, it didn’t take her that long to begin to do a lot better.

By the end of the first evening, she was able to walk a bit, and to move around on her own. And by the second day, she was walking around pretty normally, and she seemed not to be in too much pain at all.

Of course, she wasn’t ready just then to go running around at full speed, or to start fighting through the dungeons. But the two of us could certainly go on walks together at least, and so we spent a lot of time making our way through the quiet and secluded woods, as we enjoyed the sights of the forest together, and continued to get to know one another.

There was an especially beautiful little spot that we found on the second day, where a small, meandering stream cut through the forest, and then petered out in front of a small ravine, just to the side of a little cave… and the two of us would spend a lot of time out there, sitting by the side of the stream, as we talked together, and held each other close.

I didn’t have any doubts that I loved her, If I ever really had. And she didn’t seem to have any doubts that she loved me, either.

The way that she looked at me now that we were a couple… I had really never felt that kind of warmth or tenderness in all of my life. And it was honestly kind of overwhelming at first, the way that she squeezed my hand, and held me tightly in her arms.

But at the same time… I knew that she was still just Praxa, you know? Even though we were a couple now, she was still my best friend, and the person that I had spent this last month exploring with, and talking with about everything that was on my mind. And so even though being her boyfriend was strange at first, it all started to feel a lot more natural, and a lot more familiar – although it was surreal somehow, too, to know that she really loved me that much, and to know that I loved her that much, as well – and that being with her could be such a source of peace, and of joy.

At any rate…

… the two of us spent a lot of time with in that quiet, and secluded forest… and we spent a lot of time in Westfall, too, as we looked out at the remains of the town, and tried to help with its recovery, and to be there for the young men and women who had called that place their home.

The first time that I made my way out there, I was pretty surprised by what I saw. The town had suffered a lot during the battle, and it had been burned quite badly by a siege attack that must have come well after Praxa and I had been knocked out. The large, wooden gate had been ripped off of its hinges, and many of the buildings had been left charred, or destroyed, as the circular stone wall crumbled in several different places, and began to fall to pieces.

Fortunately, not that many of the citizens had been killed, although quite a few had been wounded. But the injured were at least being treated now by all sorts of different mages, who had come in from all over the world to help out the town, and to lend the people their aid.

As you would expect, the actions of the City of the Red Tower were met with quite a bit of condemnation. But, there hadn’t been any sort of counter-attack – and while the Blue Tower had sent out a sternly worded letter, they certainly hadn’t sent out any steel, or arrows… and that bode poorly for what might come, in the future – and for the extent to which the Red Tower might be able to continue to expand the scope of its ambitions.

Still, with how much still needed to be done around the town, it was hard to really think of any of those sorts of things right then. And so Praxa and I would spend a lot of hours walking around, and offering up our services, as we tried to get the town back on its feet, and to help out anyone who might require our assistance.

Occasionally, as we made our way through the town, we would see Roger tending to the wounded, and we would talk with him for a little while. But he was pretty busy during that whole week, and he would only return home in the evenings, when he would join us all for supper… and so, I didn’t get the chance to talk about the vaults anymore with him – or to think about that much on my own, with everything else that demanded my attention.

As we soon found out, however, Roger hadn’t only been busy with healing each of the wounded townsfolk.

After what had happened, most of the residents of the town felt that they would need to leave the city fairly soon. But unfortunately, most of them didn’t really have a place to go, and a lot of them were scared, and confused, and uncertain about what would happen next. The students there really didn’t want to leave their friends behind, either… and there was a lot of sadness in the town, and a great sense of loss, and of tragedy.

And so, Roger took the initiative to contact the leaders of the town of Riverdale, and to ask if the capital of the Free Folk could open up their gates to the citizens of the town of Westfall, and to take in anyone who wished to go as a refugee, and to provide them with aid.

After a few days, those communications were successful… and the town of Riverdale officially offered to sponsor the town of Westfall, and to help to re-build the entire city, and to re-construct all of the guilds, and the academies that had been lost, and all of the different training grounds and farmlands.

By the sound of it, the city of Riverdale had a Beginner’s Dungeon nearby, and even an Intermediate Dungeon, too – which was quite good news for me and Praxa – and so it sounded like it would be just about a perfect location in all respects.

That proposal of Roger’s ended up being met with quite a bit of enthusiasm from many of the students of Westfall, and from many of the teachers as well. The whole town had more than a little sympathy for the Free Folk already, and that sympathy had only been increased by the kindness of Roger’s actions, and by the brutality that they had witnessed from the City of the Red Tower. And so, after talking it over for a little while, many of the town’s students and teachers ended up deciding to relocate to Riverdale, and to continue their training and their education there, right from where they had left off before.

All of that news ended up making Praxa really happy, I think. She had just been starting to get to know a couple of the students in Westfall, and she had really liked a few of her classes as well. And so when she had run into a few of her acquaintances, and a couple of her favorite instructors – and when she had found out that all of them were planning to go to Riverdale in the next few days – she had been kind of overjoyed, I think, and gladdened to know that she would be able to continue to learn with them, and to get to know them better in the days ahead.

I was honestly really glad about all of that as well. I had grown very attached to Westfall during my time there, and so I was glad that I was going to keep having a lot of other students to interact with, and I was excited by the chance to have a lot of different teachers to learn from as well, and to get a bit more of a chance to see what kind of education this world could offer.

And I was glad, too, that the spirit of the town would be preserved... and that, even if the City of the Red Tower had destroyed its buildings, and scorched its lands, that the spirit of the town would not fall so easily, and would be able to continue on, in those distant plains and valleys.

For now, however, the two of us continued to do our best to help with the recovery… and Praxa and I spent a lot of our time helping to minister to the wounded, and to help all sorts of different students to pack their belongings, and to carry them out to the wagons, and to do everything that we could to assist the students, and the teachers of the town. And in the afternoons, after we had spent a while doing everything that we could to help, Praxa would hold me tightly by the arm, and learn her head against me, as she told me how glad she was to have met me, and how happy she was with who I had become, and with the life that we were leading.

At any rate… that was how I ended up spending most of my time back then.

I spent a lot of time with Aaron and Lily too, and both of them came out a couple of times to Westfall to help, and to do what they could for the town. But mostly, they were rather afraid to go outside of the house, and they seemed eager to move on from here, and to get to Riverdale. And after what had happened a few days before, I certainly couldn’t blame them for that.

Then, after six days in total, everything seemed to be nearly restored.

Almost all of the wounded had been healed… and after letting her body recuperate, Praxa seemed to finally be well enough to run again, as well - and she seemed to at last be up to fighting.

And so, that morning, the two of us headed off through the farmlands, and made one last trip out towards the beginner’s dungeon.

And then, for two or three hours after that, we made our way up through the final floors of the dungeon, and fought our way ahead.

There was something so graceful, and so elegant about the way that she moved… and now that I didn’t have to conceal the way that I felt about her, I found myself often looking off towards her, as she ran, and weaved, and darted through the floors of the dungeon.

That made our fighting significantly worse, actually. And we each had to spend a while reprimanding the other, and begging each other to focus, as we tried to figure out how to fight together as a couple, and to return to the rhythms that we’d had before.

Eventually, though, we seemed to have found a way to return to the same patterns that we had been practicing for so long now… and the next thing that we knew, we were stepping up onto the final floor of the dungeon, as a wave of notifications came over us.

Congratulations! You have reached the top of the Beginner’s Dungeon. You have gained a permanent +10% to all damage dealt within the dungeons. You have gained a permanent -5% to all damage received within the dungeons. You have unlocked the ability to enter into the Intermediate Dungeons. All doors to the Intermediate Dungeons shall now be opened.

Apart from all of the achievements, I had kind of been expecting some sort of a treasure chest, or some sort of special boss fight, or something.

But, instead…

There was just a tiny, tiny circle of land – surrounded by a vast, and beautiful ocean, with a thousand glimmering rainbows all across the sky, and bands of golden light dancing above the waves.

It was maybe the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen in all of my life.

And the two of us just stood there together, for quite some time, as Praxa gave me a warm, and joyous smile – and kissed me softly on my lips, over, and over again… and wrapped her arms around me, and held me tight.

That evening, the two of us made our way back to the town of Westfall, and picked up all of her belongings from her room.

Then, we carried them back to Roger’s house, where the old mage was waiting for us, and enjoying his evening supper.

He told us that the preparations were nearly complete, and he asked us if we would be ready to leave in the morning, and to continue on to our destination. He had long since agreed to take Praxa along, of course, and didn’t seem to have the slightest objection. All four of us were quite ready to go by then, too. And so, we all voiced our eagerness to leave that next morning, and then spent that evening relaxing together, and chatting, and laughing, as we thought about the trip ahead.

That night, for the first time, Praxa felt comfortable enough to sleep in the same bed as me… and I felt her soft, red hair pressing against my chest, as I held her close, and fell asleep with her at my side.

I fell asleep that night thinking about her, and about the days that we had spent together. But almost in spite of myself, I soon found my mind drifting towards thoughts of the war that lurked ahead, and of the vault that lay out there in that ancient, and forgotten canyon… and I found myself quite ready to set off towards the town of Riverdale – and to see all that would lay ahead.