Tropical island

Both men attacked Nathan one after the other, leaving him no choice but to defend himself against their attacks. He really didn't want to hurt them, he was supposed to be looking for a place, but he had run into unexpected problems.

Nathan blocked the first man's attack and parried the other's before retreating. Fighting in a blizzard was difficult and, to be honest, Nathan found it hard to breathe and see properly through the snow, as did the two men.

Suddenly, from behind the two men, Nathan saw a crack open in the air.

'A rift?'

Confused as to why there was a rift there, Nathan increased his caution as a dozen people dressed in the same uniform emerged from the rift, all with different weapons. Swords, spears, bows, even guns.

Nathan didn't think twice and stepped back before raising his hands in surrender.

'No... definitely not. I can take these two, but a dozen... that's another matter'

The two men in front stopped their attacks as soon as they saw that Nathan had no intention of continuing and stepped back to regroup with the others.

A few seconds later, another person emerged from the rift. His uniform was slightly different from the others, with a few more details and, most importantly, two stars on his chest.

It was some sort of military uniform, so Nathan couldn't help but wonder where the hell Boreas had sent him.

The man with the two stars looked at Nathan with narrowed eyes to see better through the blizzard, then pulled a communicator from his pocket and started to say something.

Obviously, it was impossible for Nathan to understand what he was saying. But somehow things had calmed down.

'What now? ...Do I have to wait?'

Nathan was getting tired of the blizzard and wanted to find shelter. But the conversation between the two-starred man and the person behind the communicator was taking longer than expected.

Standing still, the snow had started to accumulate in his hood, so Nathan had to take it off, revealing his mask.

Several of the soldiers frowned at Nathan's action but did not move when they realized he was doing nothing wrong.

Nathan watched them boredly but was surprised when one of them pointed at him with a surprised and slightly frightened expression on his face.

'What's wrong with him?'

It looked like the man was shouting as his expression was a little exaggerated, but what Nathan didn't expect was that one by one the other soldiers started to look at him with similar expressions.

'Seriously... I've got something behind me?'

Nathan turned and saw nothing but snow, so he looked back at the group of men. Now even the two-star man was looking at him, somewhat dazed.

Nathan crossed his arms, still holding his sword, still not understanding. His first encounter with humans outside was... a bit strange.

Minutes passed and the group remained surprised and visibly alert.

Suddenly, another person emerged from the crevice. This time the man had not two stars... but four.

'Are you calling your superiors? Am I that important?'

Mocking himself for his sudden display of ego, Nathan continued to stare at the group, and in particular at the man with four stars, who suddenly began to walk towards him.

'Oh? Finally...'

Nathan noted that the man did not appear to be armed, but Boreas had taught him to be wary of everyone. At a glance, it was impossible for Nathan to tell if someone possessed a technique or not.

The man came a few meters in front of him and held his ground before speaking.

"May I know your reason for being here?"

Nathan couldn't help but notice the respectful tone the man used. He didn't know what the ranks were within this strange group, but usually the more stars the better, so Nathan assumed the man must be important in some way.

'No, really... I'm that important? Nathan touched his mask gently 'They haven't found out who I am, have they?

Nathan cleared his throat and slowly, so as not to arouse suspicion, pulled the map out of his coat.

"I'm looking for a place"

Nathan tossed the map to the man who caught it and opened it before reading it. A few seconds later the man closed the map and handed it back to Nathan.

"Yes, this is the place you are looking for... May I ask you two more questions?"

Nathan shrugged.

"Sure"

The man stared at him and asked.

"What's your name and where did you get that mask?"

Nathan listened to the man's questions and felt confused.

'My mask? What's wrong with it?' he thought before answering.

"My name is Nathan... and this mask was given to me. If you ask from whom, it can only say a curmudgeon old man"

The man's eyes widened visibly, and he pulled out his communicator again.

"Sir... What do we do?"

Nathan could barely make out a low whisper from the communicator.

"Bring him in..."

"Understood!" the man replied firmly.

The man put the communicator down and looked at Nathan with serious eyes.

"Follow me, please"

Nathan nodded before putting his katana back in its scabbard and stuffing it into the black bag. He then followed the man to the group of soldiers who were still staring at him in shock.

Nathan looked at them all from behind his mask and couldn't help but sigh.

"Hmmm, hello..."

Then the man stepped into the rift and Nathan followed. 

He felt everything around him spin, it had been 6 years since he had entered a realm and the feeling was still the same.

Nathan hadn't had good experiences with realms, in fact he was a little reluctant to enter one again, but as he stepped through the rift completely, he couldn't help but sigh in surprise.

'A tropical island?'

In front of Nathan was a view of the ocean, a vast, vast ocean that stretched to infinity. But the strangest thing was the location of the rift itself, for it was on a metal platform at the top of a volcano on the island.

Nathan opened the collar of his coat a little, the sudden change in temperature making him sweat. 

The four-star man walked on until he reached an elevator guarded by two other one-star soldiers. More guards were stationed around him, ready for any inconvenience.

Nathan didn't miss the curious looks at him, but he had no idea what they meant. So, he had no choice but to ignore them. 

They both entered the elevator, and the man swiped a security card before pressing a button. The doors closed and the elevator began to descend rapidly.

Nathan walked over to the elevator window and stared in amazement at the view. The blue sky, the infinity of the ocean and then the jungle of the island passed by, but suddenly everything went dark, they had entered the underground. Seconds later, new sights opened up before Nathan, revealing a large cavern with blue crystals illuminating its interior.

'Is this really a realm?'

Inside the cavern was a large complex, with buildings dozens of stories high merging into the great, wide walls of the cavern.

It was nothing like the crumbling village he had visited years ago, what he saw was nothing short of incredible.

Suddenly everything went dark again and seconds later the elevator stopped. The doors opened and the man with the four stars stepped out, Nathan following him.

Bad memories flooded his mind as he looked around. White floors, white walls and white ceilings lit by white lights, long corridors and soldiers walking up and down.

After seven years, Nathan had returned to a military facility.