Chapter 66: The journey to Zenith city IV

I bring my plate to the kitchen since I'm the first one done with my food. Now that I'm good and full I can hop back on Ancients World, not needing to get off to sleep is an awesome thing. "I'm heading back upstairs, let me know if there is anymore news I should know about when I get off later." My parents are still enjoying their chili cheese dogs and watching the news. They both tell me goodbye and to have fun, I'm sure they will have a blast playing all together today. I make my way upstairs and find that Hailey was listening to us have fun the whole time. I look at her with understanding, she must still feel bad about something. I don't know much about women, but sometimes just being there to listen is all they want.

I walk up beside her and look over the living room with her. "You know you're a part of this family to, and that you can tell me anything." I wont force answers out of her, but putting that information in her head is a good thing. I don't want her feeling alone and isolated. She just stays silent as she watches mom and dad have fun and laugh. "I really do hope you give Ancients World a chance Hailey, this is an opportunity to make up for all the missed moments as a family. I get that being an actress is your dream, but the world is changing. I don't think actors and actresses will have a place anymore." She looks down in sadness from my words, the truth comes in many forms. Its the truth that she can pursue her dream as much as she wants. Its also the truth that the job she's chasing is not going to be around.

Her eyes begin to water and her face scrunches up in emotional pain. Giving up or losing your dream is never easy, instead of just watching her cry I give her the best hug I can. She returns it with a tight grip I didn't know she had. I just let her silently weep into my shoulder, I look down at our parents and see they are talking about other things. I just listen to my instincts and pick her up, I make my way to the stairs and take her downstairs. My parents notice me and mom is the first to get up and rush over to make sure everything is alright. "She is okay, I just think she needs some family time with you guys. I found her upstairs watching us, think you guys can stay up later and hang out with her?" Dad walks over and takes Hailey out of my arms, she is still silently crying.

He takes her back to the couch and sets her down, I look back to mom and I can tell she is also hurt. I don't know why and I think it would be foolish of me to ask, I turn around and make my way to the stairs. Before I can make it I'm stopped by my mom and hugged from behind. I guess I did something right, she lets me go and I head back up to my bedroom. Instead of hopping on Ancients World immediately I check the forums to see if there is any information about what's happening. I don't find anything on the top thread because they are all about things the players care about.

I click on the news tab of the forum and see different post about what I need. One draws my attention more than anything. It talks about theories on what's happening at J&X, and I must say there are some outlandish claims as well as some sound ones, but none of them correspond with the decision making at J&X. Focusing on this is giving me a headache so that's enough news for one day. I make my way into my gaming pod still in my pajamas and I load into Ancients World. I wake up in the same place that I logged off. Time to cover ground, I can make a lot of progress before everyone who got a gaming pod starts making new characters.

I cant help myself at being annoyed that I have to travel such a long distance without a mount. This is what its like for everyone though, the beginning levels are the hardest since we cant get around so well. I wont lie, my desire for wings is beginning to become a need in my mind. This is a quest that I know nothing about and it could prove impossible for all I know. Some of the quests you can get in Ancients World are like that, even tier up quests are like that. That lore tablet is looking better and better, I have to make a decision on what I want to use it on. I can ask for the solution to my tier up quest and get my wings, or I can wait and use it for the divine mana aura. In the long run the mana aura is what should be my top priority.

I just cant stop thinking about how convenient wings will be for me. I should just wait and see, if push comes to shove I'll use it for my tier up quest. If I end up fighting bosses I cant hope to beat on my own I still have Fenrir I can call on. I finish packing up my camp and continue making my way to Nelmorp, I run at the highest speed I can that doesn't exhaust me. Traveling through these vast woods and flat plains is a serene solitude that I didn't know I needed. I'm happy that I get to be the first to tier up, I need to be careful in the capital however. If people find out who I am they can put the dots together. After about an hour of traveling I listen to a world announcement that is bound to make things harder for everyone and everything.

[World-wide Announcement: The orcs and non humanoid creatures have come to an alliance! War on the same scale as the great war is coming! All humanoid creatures are performing an emergency meeting in the neutral Holy City! The coalition and the church are putting aside their differences and are preparing for the upcoming war!]

The announcement rings out for the usual duration and I can say in all honesty that this might turn out bad for the NPC's, but great for the players. This means the country of the elves and other humanoid beings like them are coming together for this war, this hasn't happened in centuries. I bet once the war officially starts the system will tell us what level we need to be to participate, I'm sure the people fighting against the non humanoids will welcome immortal fighters. The players will be treated as expendable and put on the front lines, which is what players want since they get access to experience.

As Cera travels to the city of Nelmorp to met up with his family, there is an emergency meeting between all the humanoid beings. This is a first since the great war, and all the leaders here stand to lose a lot. The first one to start this meeting is The Pope. I cant say I expected them to rally their forces so soon. Many old enemies are gathered here together, the one I'm wary of is the elves. There was a massive war between humans and elves at one point, and many don't wish to let that go. Despite the centuries of peace, I wait for all the conversations to die down before I begin speaking. "Now that the orcs have rallied the entire non humanoid population in favor of war, now is the time for all of us to come together and defend our races." Many nod and agree with my words, its an obvious fact that genocide will occur if the orcs and their armies win. It helps that nobody in this room is on remotely good terms with the orcs, that means every race in this meeting is a target.

I look at the fairies and I can tell that they are the ones that are going to be the hardest to convince, with Fenrir defending their country they have no need to join our war. "I want to start off by saying now isn't the time to dwell on past aggressions, today is the day we come together and faces this evil head on." I can see my fellow humans are in agreement with me, but the Elven Queen Syndra Rozeiros is not expressing anything. I'm about address the goals this council needs to fulfill, but I'm interrupted by said queen.

She stands up and takes the stage along with her 2 warrior princess daughters. I'm not going to stop her from speaking, this is a place of discussion after all. "I just want to lay the stakes for the elves cooperation, since we stand to lose the most from this war I want a reward for our involvement. The non humanoid and monster races love our females, we will lose countless innocents to this war." I can see where she is coming from, I'm sure that whatever she requests can be fulfilled. What I hear next puts anger in me. "The price for our cooperation is The Son of Arch-Angel Michael. Once his identity is revealed the country of the elves will take him to marry one of my 2 daughters." I'm about to stand and object, but Lucy beats me to it.

She stands and jumps on the stage with a type of fury. "SUCH INSOLENCE!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE EVEN SAYING!!!" The Saintess draws her sword ready for combat, and as do the 2 daughters of Syndra. I get up and place myself between them, I have a feeling that this meeting is going to be a lot of headaches from the elves. All I can do is listen and try to answer their demands, but the son is absolutely something that cant be given away. Its a great offence to even talk about such a being as if he is a bargaining chip.

Saintess Lucy calms down and sheaths her blade. That's one problem fixed, I now turn my attention to the elven queen. "It is foolish of you to presume that such a demand can be fulfilled, the son isn't some object to be given away. You are lucky you don't share the same fate Harold Marcus the II did." The queens graceful face turns extremely sour, this is the first time I have seen her face change. I would count her lucky that The Almighty Father didn't punish her like Harold, only confirms the rumors that she is protected by some deity. Whatever deity it is probably took a lot of punishment for what she just said, that's probably why her face went sour. I'm growing tired of this meeting already and it isn't even close to being over yet either.