Remembering

After the happy and joyful occasion, Jay led everyone to the Bear Paw Guild Hall and told them to find a spot to relax.

"Jay, are you sure the people here won't mind?" Abyssal Angel asked.

"Don't worry, I am currently a part of this guild. I don't think the people here would mind if I let some friends in."

Just as everyone was finding a place to sit or lie down...

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?"

Mel suddenly came down from the cellar door that was connected to the tavern. Together with her were Jessica, Vex, and Frallia.

Jay did not waste any time and introduced everyone to each other.

"Nice to know all of you. But I am afraid you guys need to stay at the tavern for the meantime. Our guild master is about to return and the members of our guild must gather here due to some important stuff." Mel said and apologized.

"No need to apologize. We understand." The Chicken Lord said and led the group back to the tavern, leaving Jay with the people from the Bear Paw guild.

...

Outside of the Bear Paw Tavern...

Roasted Boar and Luna were currently sitting on the rooftop of the tavern.

"Not gonna sleep human?" Luna asked curiously as she looked at Roasted Boar, who was staring at the night sky as he lied down and took of his triangular wizard hat.

"Nope. I am just going to chill and practice some of my spells, just like always."

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the Chicken Lord was already lying down beside Roasted Boar.

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

Roasted Boar was pretty much used to the Chicken Lord suddenly popping out of nowhere, but Luna was a bit surprised.

"What do you mean it's not possible?" Roasted Boar asked.

"Try it out and you will know."

Roasted Boar was wondering about this and tried to use a simple illumination spell called 'Magelight.'

But it did not work obviously.

"So no magicka particles are present. Damn."

"What are magicka particles?" Luna suddenly asked as she sat down beside the two.

"Huh? You don't know?" Roasted Boar was surprised since he sensed traces of magicka in Luna's body when they were still at Aexelor.

"I kind of forgot to explain it to you, so I suppose I can tell you now." The Chicken Lord said as he sighed.

"Magicka is the medium used in the Fatelord Plane in order to cast magic. Throughout the innumerable planes in existence, the medium used in order to cast magic is called differently. If not, it is an entirely different process."

"Medium? So in other words..." Roasted Boar said but the Chicken Lord continued his sentence.

"Every spell or skill you know that uses magicka can only be used in the Fatelord Plane."

Before Roasted Boar could ask something else, Luna spoke up and asked her own question.

"What's the difference with those three you've mentioned? Skills, spells, magic... it all looks the same to me."

"A common misunderstanding. Let me clear it up for you.

Magic is basically the term mortals use to describe something that looks impossible for them.

Skills are anything you do that surpasses your mortal limits and comes into three forms; physical skills, mental skills, and soul skills.

Spells are the end result of someone capable of channeling their 'magic medium' and turn it into something else. Like a fireball or a spark of lightning. It also comes into three forms; physical, mental, and soul spells."

"Mortals?" Roasted Boar asked since he was a bit lost in the Chicken Lord's discussion.

"I should have just brought them to a library..." The Chicken Lord thought to himself and sighed. But he still answered Roasted Boar's question.

"Living beings are categorized into three. The mortals, mythics ,and the immortals.

Mortals are the common folk who does not know any form of magic or skill. They are also the ones who are mostly affected with the planar wars since they do not even have a slightest clue about what it is. They are the ones who suffers endlessly because of the mythics.

As for everything related to magic, every being that knows at least a single skill or spell, they fall under the category of Mythics.

As for the immortals, just like how it sounds like, they cannot die. Immortals never takes part in the affairs of the mythics or the mortals. The only role and responsibility they have in the world is to maintain the balance of the plane they are in charge of. As for what they do for fun since their role is obviously boring as fuck, who knows what they do."

Roasted Boar and Luna was starting to get a headache since this was a lot to process. While these three were having a nice time just talking on the rooftop of the tavern, a tall and slender lady wearing a white fitted robe entered the tavern. The only one who noticed her was the Chicken Lord but he just ignored it since he was still busy 'educating' Roasted Boar and Luna.

...

--- Bear Paw Guild Hall

Everyone who was part of the guild were currently gathered here and was seated down somewhere. Jay was also one of the people here since he is technically a part of the Bear Paw guild.

Except Jay, everyone else waited expectantly for the guild master.

"I wonder how long this would take? I still have to talk with the Chicken Lord regarding the book about the Great Millennia." Jay thought to himself and sighed.

Then suddenly, the tall lady in white robes came down from the cellar door and dropped down in the middle of the room. While everyone was focused on what was about to happen, Jay's face started to redden since the moment the tall lady dropped down, he accidentally saw something which he knew he shouldn't have seen.

"Goddammit... why the hell is she not wearing any panties?" Jay thought to himself as he still remembered the clear view of the tall lady's 'privates.'

"Sorry for interrupting whatever everyone is doing, but something important came up." The tall lady said as she looked at everyone present.

The moment she saw Jay, she crept closer to him and grabbed his face by the chin.

"A new recruit?"

Before Jay could even say something, Mel spoke up in his stead.

"Her name is Jay, guild master. She just joined up a few days ago. Lysa was the one who brought her here if I remember correctly."

"I see." The tall lady moved away from Jay and introduced herself.

"Jessica probably introduced me already since you are a new recruit. My name is Sera, and I am the guild master of this guild."

After that, Sera suddenly gestured everyone to step aside and she suddenly used her Spirit Power. A bluish smoke covered her entire body and an illusory image of three bears appeared. Two of the bears were on her left and right, and the third bear was at her back, standing on its two legs.

Then suddenly, the entire room started to blur. A bluish glow covered the entire room and everyone was suddenly in some kind of conference room. After this, Sera stopped using her Spirit Power and gestured everyone to sit down.

"Woah." Jay said to himself before getting tapped by Jessica on his shoulder.

"Normal guild members are usually not part of guild meetings like this, but I guess Lady Sera has her reasons. You can sit beside Lyndis and Frallia."

Jay did not argue and did as what Jessica told him. After everyone was seated around the long table, Sera started speaking what was on her mind.

"A few days earlier, a powerful evil appeared in the vicinity of Evergreen Forest. I exited my seclusion just because of this. But when I arrived, it disappeared without a trace.

Just like me who got curious about this evil presence, there were also a lot of people who gathered at the forest. The Radiant Army, the Peacekeepers, heretics, and even the 'Mummified Jester' came."

"Wait... evil presence? If Evergreen Forest is the forest where I accidentally released that red mist..." Jay gulped and started to worry when he thought about this.

"Guild master, please don't tell me the forest is gone." Vex said as she sighed. Since those people came to the forest at the same time with Sera, then she was pretty sure that some kind of fight happened already, resulting in the total devastation of the Evergreen Forest.

Just like Vex, everyone besides Jay had the same thought.

"Relax. There was no fight that happened. But the reason why I gathered everyone here today is because of this." Sera said as she took out something from her robes.

It was a poster for an upcoming tournament.

"We deduced that the evil presence that appeared in Evergreen Forest is going to show up at the tournament in Traxxes."

"No, it won't..." Jay thought to himself and sighed.

"There are plenty of rumors about the grand prize in the tournament. An ancient map." Sera said with a serious tone.

"A map? Why would it attract the evil presence?" Frallia asked.

"No, it won't..." Jay thought to himself again and did not know if he should laugh or cry with this current situation he had.

"From the rumors itself, it is said that the ancient map contains information about something related to the goddesses."

"What?!!" Almost everyone was shocked when they heard this. Even Jay became interested and pretended to be shocked.

"Again, it is just rumors. Since this is the case, only a few noteworthy people may attend the tournament. Like the Frost Mistress or the Mummified Jester."

"Milady, don't tell me this gathering is because you want one of us to join..." Lyndis said since it was pretty obvious what Sera was planning.

"Indeed. But aside from that, there is another reason why I gathered everyone today." Sera took out something from her robes again. It was another poster, but this time, it was a recruitment poster.

"By order of Queen Renaline, every guild in the Utopian Region will take part in the upcoming war with the Holy Region, if it comes to that. That damn bitch..." Sera said hatefully, not even hiding her negative emotions against the queen and the order she passed down.

"Frallia, why is our guild master getting angry?" Jay whispered to Frallia since he was a bit afraid to speak up in front of Sera, who was getting frustrated and angry for some reason.

"Just a couple of months back, Queen Renaline gave the exact same order since the heretics from the Wastelands waged war on the Utopian Region. If I told you our guild usually had 500 members or so, would you believe me?" Frallia said and was also starting to act like Sera, frustrated and angry at the same time.

"Out of the 500 members of our guild, only 10 of us remained and was forced to back out from the war. When we returned to Bevelona City, three of us died and Lysa resigned from the guild due to her injuries."

"Seems fishy to me. I think they were used as cannon fodder." Hellson said to Jay as they listened to Frallia.

"Everyone, due to the past events that happened, I do not want you to suffer the same as the rest of our sisters. I would never let you step into the battlefield. Never again." Sera said as she gritted her teeth and crumpled the recruitment poster.

"As the guild master of the Bear Paw Guild, I officially disband this guild."

Tears started to come out of Sera's eyes and tried her best to continue to say something else.

"The reason... why I showed you guys the poster regarding the tournament in Traxxes... I wanted all of you to have an opportunity after we all split ways..."

"Do you think this happened because of the Player's Curse again?" Jay asked Hellson and sighed. No matter where he went, he would always bring bad luck to himself or the people around him. The same pattern over and over again.

Before Hellson could even answer him, Frallia suddenly placed her head on Jay's shoulder and started crying.

"Why... why does it have to end this way..." Frallia said softly as her tears flowed down, wetting Jay's shirt. But Jay did not care and even hugged her, trying his best to comfort her.

"Frallia..." Jay did not know what to say and when he glanced around the room, he saw that everyone was also crying.

Jay did not know what he should do at the moment besides trying to comfort Frallia. Then suddenly, Jay's head accidentally bumped Frallia's head. Just as Jay was about to apologize, a bright glow suddenly covered his eyes.

"What? What the..."

"Frallia? Jay?" Jessica was the first to react when she saw a white glow that enveloped Jay and Frallia.

...

"What the hell just happened?" Jay thought to himself and saw that he was now at some kind of withered forest. When he looked at his body, he saw that he was still in his female disguise.

"Wait, this place seems familiar? Or is it just my imagination?"

Jay walked around trying to make sense of what just happened. Then after walking for a while, he saw a gigantic withered treant on the middle of a lake.

"No way! Isn't this Murkwood Passage? How the hell did I end up here?" Jay was shocked and decided to get closer to the lake. He then saw a group of people at the lakeside. Probably due to his gamer instincts, Jay decided to hide behind a nearby tree as he observed these people.

Then suddenly, he heard one of them shouting.

"Hey Jay! What the hell happened to Bob! Hey!" A skinny guy in leather armor shouted.

"Huh? What the..." Jay was getting bewildered by the situation and was already making guesses of what is happening.

"It's his fault. Told him to accept. What about you guys? Did you go over the quest details yet?"

"No way! Isn't this..." Jay was stupefied when he saw 'himself' with these people.

"If my gaming instincts are correct, then this is probably an illusion spell that shows me the past or my old memories. But why did it happen?"

Jay decided to approach his 'cloned self' and the noobs he met before.

"So they can't see me? Then what if..." Jay was starting to think that he was some kind of ghost in this 'illusion spell' so he tried walking on the lake, and it worked. So he quickly crossed the lake and went beside the gigantic withered treant, Fellis.

"Frallia?" Jay tried speaking to Frallia who was lying down peacefully beside the treant.

"Huh? Jay?"

Frallia opened her eyes and looked at Jay.

"You can see me right?"

"Yup. Why are you asking such a strange question?" Frallia was about to stand up, then suddenly, her head started to hurt. Memory after memory filled her head. Memories of her life in the Fatelord Plane.

"Huh? These memories..." Frallia did not know why but she started crying as her memories returned to her.

Jay saw that Frallia was acting strange so he sat beside her and gave her a shoulder to lean on.

"So, why are you crying? Is it still about the Bear Paw guild disbanding?"

"No... it's because of..." Frallia tried to wipe her tears and calm down before continuing.

"I remembered everything. I am Frallia, a princess of Wildergreene Kingdom, a citizen of the Fatelord Plane."

"What?! Impossible?!! She actually reincarnated? But how?!!" Hellson shouted like a crazy old man in Jay's head.

"Then, do you remember me?" Jay said as he transformed back into his original state. A guy with an average body and black hair.

"Jay..."

Frallia started to remember about how Jay freed her from her curse. She also remembered sacrificing herself to revive the forests. When she remembered her sacrifice back then, she wondered how much of a fool she was, sacrificing herself for a simple thing when there are countless planes in existence.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a bright glow covered the both of them again. But before this short event was over, Frallia suddenly wrapped her arms around Jay and kissed him.

...

--- Bear Paw Guild Hall

"Frallia! Jay! Wake up!"

This was the first thing Jay and Frallia heard when that strange 'illusion spell' was gone. It was Vex shouting. When the two looked around, they were still in the same conference room.

"What happened to the both of you? You scared the crap out of me!" Jessica said loudly.

Jay realized that even though that 'illusion spell' happened for a couple of minutes, it was as if time never moved. But before he could even speak up, Frallia moved away from him and spoke up.

"I'm sorry for worrying everyone."

"What was that glowing light?" Sera immediately asked as she told everyone to give Jay and Frallia some space.

Before speaking any further, Frallia first looked at Jay since she was not sure if she should say what just happened or not. But seeing Jay nod at her, she went ahead and told everyone.

...

"Wait, hold on... what? Could you repeat what you just told us? I am a bit confused..." Sera was the first one to react after Frallia told everyone about her past and how she recovered her memories through the 'illusion spell.'

"Since it has come to this, I have something to confess." Jay decided to speak up and changed back to his original form.

"My name is Jay Castle, an inhabitant of the Fatelord Plane, just like Frallia. A lot of things happened which caused me to end up here in Ashnakara. Besides the two of us, my friends who are resting at the tavern above us are also from the Fatelord Plane."

Everyone, except Frallia and Jay, were speechless. They just sat down and tried to process what Jay and Frallia just said to them.

"How is this possible? Frallia died and reincarnated here in Ashnakara. As for Jay and his friends, there are just too many of them that entered our world, so how come they are still not banished?" Sera thought to herself and her head was starting to hurt thinking about this.