Two Months

It took Roy a week to ascend to Perfected. During that time, Emile and Blood continued to enter the labyrinth themselves in addition to constant sparring outside of the labyrinth.

Speaking of, Emile and Willow fought multiple times a day. Out of their thirty-two matches, Emile won zero of them.

That isn't to say the matches were entirely one-sided, most of them were, but a handful of them could have been Emile's first victory.

He eventually managed to dent Willow's armor and draw blood, his strength was the characteristic that improved the most from his ascension.

As a result, Emile had the capability of damaging Willow, it was finding an opening that was the difficult part. Through it all, Willow was faster and stronger than him.

Her technique was superior, her experience greater, realistically Emile never had a chance to begin with. It was thanks to his tenacity and endless essence that he was able to keep up at all.

But alas, the cohort eventually had to leave; Roy and Emile had ascended and it was time to return to the Dead Tree.

***

"Commander!" Mariah yelled from across the settlement.

She hurriedly walked across the bustling camp, past off-duty soldiers and stone stalls constructed for the craftsmen to showcase their goods.

Looking around, the camp changed drastically. The wall had grown taller in addition to stretching further beyond. A clear separation existed between the off-duty and on-duty soldiers and there were a slew of stone huts littered around.

Mariah stopped just in front of Emile and his group, she saluted sternly and began giving a general report:

"We've finished the housing quarters and the wall! Without further instruction, I allowed the builders to build leisure structures such as games and shrines. Also, you missed a summons from King Alexander! Please find Francis immediately," once she was done speaking she maintained her salute and eye contact and waited to be dismissed.

Allowing her to go, Emile walked through the camp and greeted everyone he came across. Noticing his extreme transformation, Emile quickly became the talk of the town and everyone knew he was back.

Due to his surge in popularity, Francis also received word of his arrival and found Emile wandering through the living quarters. After pulling him aside and taking him to the designated meeting room, Francis mentally contacted the head of the Council and got word to King Alexander.

"Two months—" Francis repeated, mimicking the words of the Head of Council who was mimicking the words of King Alexander, "in two months our armies will arrive and we'll storm the Dead Tree. How has the search for an antidote been progressing?"

"My team and I just returned from extended training. We previously entered the Dead Tree's miasma and had to return near the epicenter—the miasma at its core is simply too strong to push through for lower ranked personnel.

We found a couple samples to work with and gave them to the alchemists, but nothing of value has been discovered yet," Emile informed Francis.

"The antidote was wishful thinking to begin with, I won't be disappointed even if you fail. In the meantime, try your best to clear a path for the advance squad. This war will most likely be between Kings and Royals, if we can get there undetected we'll have a significant advantage," Alexander ordered.

"Will do," Emile responded.

Francis stood up and disconnected from the Head of the Council:

"I'll see myself out," he said as he stepped through the stone archway.

Meanwhile, Emile was left alone in the meeting room. He remained on the wobbly stone bench and looked out of the doorway at the busy camp around him.

'Two months' he repeated in his head.

'I'll be free in two months'

***

Emile, Blood, Willow, and Roy stood at the wall of miasma that paralleled their makeshift camp. One after another, the cohort stepped into the red mist and bid farewell to the stationed soldiers behind them.

"I'm gonna die again," Blood immediately said as he passed through the mist.

"You never died," Emile responded.

"It was pretty close."

"I don't think so."

"Will you two stop? We just started," Willow's voice joined the mix.

The two boys simultaneously rolled their eyes and continued walking. For the next few hours they'd be sprinting straight into enemy territory and not only will they be randomly exploring the unknown, this time they're headed straight to the source.

The center of the forest, the home of the Dead Tree, the house of their demise.

As they sprinted through the brush and foliage, Emile gazed ahead. His eyes seemed to be focused on something, but nothing was before him.

Lost in his own world, Emile rummaged through his memories.

'Where can I find a sapling?'