I remember this forest trail, to think it survived 400 years. I am currently in the Miralldi Forest, which is right next to where my house is.

"Aggh!"

Huh? What was that yell, I move closer to the origins of the scream when I begin to see what's happening.

"Hand over everything you got old man! Or your grandson gets it."

Bandits. Why are there always bandits and old people in forests anyways? Is there some kind of rule that states all bandits have to operate in forests, and only mug geezers? Now that I think about it, technically, I'm the geezer here. Anyways, guess I should step in before something bad happens to those two.

"Hey! Let go of the boy now. I'm not gonna warn you twice." I shout at the one holding the kid. "Who in the hell, do you think you are moron? You think you can order me around? If you havn't noticed, there are only 3 of you, and one is my hostage, and the others just old. Kill em!" Says another bandit, whom I assume is the ringleader of this little circus.

Alright, I'm done with these morons.

*Sssssssschk!*

The leader looks at me with a scared look, turns his head, and notices that his left arm is now gone, and where the arm was, is now a giant metal spike poking through the ground.

"Next one won't just take the other arm. Hand me the boy, release this old man, and leave this forest at once!" I shout as a series of spikes explode from the ground. """AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH! DEMON! MONSTER! WE'RE GONNA DIE!""" The bandits shout as they run off into the woods. I dissipate the spikes back into the ground, and approach the two I had just saved.

"My thanks, young man. Assuming you are a travelling mage, what was that spell you just used, and how in the world did you cast it so effortlessly?" The old man asks inquisitively. "It's a spell of my own, and I'm not too keen on teaching it to anyone just yet. Now, for my question, what is an arch-mage level, old wizard, and a little girl doing out in the middle of the woods, while faking feeble to bandits?" I ask back. "I am not a little girl!" The kid yells in a mix of anger and fluster. "Oho, so you can tell that much from just a glance? Who are you? As for what my companion and I are doing, we are returning to our home not too far from here." The old man tells me. "I see, I live nearby as well, or I used too, I've been away for a while. Don't even know if my house is still standing. And to answer your question. My name is Vincent, but please, call me Sage. As for how I figure you both out in a mere moment, well. I can see your mana. As for that future question, I learned {Arcane Eyes} at the age of 9.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must be headed back to what might no longer be my house." I say as I begin to walk away from the dumbfounded old man. "WAIT! My name is Evergreen, and since you already know about my companion's identity, her real name is Felicia, due to certain circumstances, she has been in hiding as my young 'male' apprentice Edgar. Do you mind if we walked with you for the remainder of this small journey home?" Evergreen says. "Sure. It's not like I'm stoppin you anyways." I reply back casually. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been gone, for you to say your house may or may not be the any longer?"

"In 2 months I will technically be turning 424." I tell him.

"424?! By the gods, if you are as old as you claim to be, you must have witnessed the fight with the evil Bailthor. Tell me, what was it like?" Evergreen asks. "HE WAS NOT EVIL!" I shout at the top of my lungs at him. "I'm... sorry, its just that current time's history seems to have gotten the whole battle wrong, but yes, I did witness the battle then. In fact, I was in it. Bailthor was... a victim in that battle, not the villain. He was possessed by an entity known as The Darkness, a formless, purely evil being, who feeds on all, and destroys everything in its path. Bailthor in reality, was kind, he had a daughter, a loving wife.... he was my uncle, and it was I who killed Bailthor that night due to his wish, not the other six." I sadly tell Evergreen the true events. He looks at me, in a mixture of shock, awe, confusion, doubt, and curiosity. "Why was this never mentioned in history then? I know this is the first time we've ever met, but after a couple years, I can easily differentiate between truth and fallacies. So, why was this never mentioned at all?" Evergreen asks, as he pleads for an answer. "Because, officially, it never happened, I never existed to begin with. I was erased due to void magic. Now please, no more questions." And so we continue walking in awkward silence, as Evergreen watches me with some new found respect, and Felicia, staring at me, wondering if I am actually some unknown, mysterious forgotten hero.

After an hour of walking, we finally exit the forest, and I see it. My house. It still stands, exactly as I left it, over 400 years ago. Thousands of protection spells, really do wonders, even if they make me seem, overly paranoid. We approach my house, and I tell me two companions, "Well, it seems my house has still been standing after so long. Even through something as powerful as void magic, which is interesting in itself. Well, being as I reached my home first, this is where we part ways." I wave them goodbye and enter my house. My house is built into a giant elder tree, not on it like a regular tree house. It is actually built into the tree, with the aid of magic, I warped the tree to grow into the shape of a house as it continues to grow. To the rest of the world, it looks like a giant manor is fused, halfway through a tree.

As I begin to walk around and put my stuff away, I hear, "Ahem! Pardon me, but it seems we have been taking residence in your home, while you were gone." I turn around to see Evergreen and Felicia standing behind me. Well, to be fair, if a house remains empty for 400 years, someone would probably decide to live in it. The real question is, how did they unlock the seal on the front door to get in, in the first place. Which now that I think about, I didn't even notice it was missing due to my excitement.

Well damn.