MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

It took a moment for Alex to realize that he was looking at Legion Commander Thane and, stretching his void sense further, he realized that he was surrounded by frozen corpses, corpses that belonged to the Skaven Army.

"Captain Hidden One, you did a tremendous job. Now rest and recover," Commander Thane said as he gently pressed a potion to Alex's lips, urging him to drink.

"Take care of your captain," Thane ordered, his voice firm and unyielding as he handed Alex over to Vakkan and the surviving soldiers.

While Vakkan gently took hold of Alex using his telekinesis, Alex spread his void sense as far as he could, trying to piece together what had happened while he was gone.

A look at hundreds of thousands of Skaven frozen to death told Alex that someone truly strong had come to their rescue, but the one thing that bugged him was what happened to the Skaven King.

The entire city was ringing with roars of victory, people cheering and weeping in relief, soldiers embracing each other, and civilians crying out in gratitude. If that demon were still around, no one would dare believe they had survived, not even if he was up against the pillars of the Magi Empire.

Alex's mind was muddled, everything being a blur, but as it began to clear, the chatter of soldiers around him began to filter in, each word sharp and urgent. He didn't have the patience to wait for his body to recover before learning what had truly transpired.

"I wonder how we're gonna clear all this ice," a soldier muttered, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"I don't even know if it's ice. Is it really ice?" Another one questioned, his confusion evident.

"It's cold, idiot, of course, it's ice," came a sharp reply, followed by nervous laughter.

"Man, I thought today was my last day for sure, but I guess God has other plans for me." Another soldier said, laughing happily as he smashed one of the frozen Skaven to pieces.

"Can you believe the Rat King was an imposter?"

"Yeah, right. Makes you wonder why they even needed to cause such a distraction in the first place," another soldier responded, his voice carrying a hint of suspicion.

Alex kept listening to tens of random comments, and no more than two seconds later, he heard what he was looking for. As those words sank in, everything became clear.

Alex felt a deep sense of relief for the survivors, but his mind was clouded with questions. Why had the Skaven sacrificed such a massive force? What was their true objective?

Yet, as troubling as these thoughts were, one concern overshadowed them all, and it was the current condition of Licinia because when he was dragged into the domain, he saw the area under her protection get engulfed by a massive explosion.

Alex listened to the soldiers' chatter, many of their voices filled with sorrow as they mourned the loss of loved ones and friends.

They spoke of the devastating explosions that had ravaged three sections of the city before help arrived, but in all the grief and chaos, not a single person mentioned her name.

As a few more seconds passed, much of the rampant energies were cleansed from his body, giving him decent enough clarity to use telepathy. Without a moment's delay, he reached out, asking the question burning a hole in his mind.

"What happened to Captain Licinia?" Alex asked Vakkan the beastman, who met his gaze but stayed silent for a few seconds.

There was no need for an answer, as his silence gave it away, and for a moment Alex felt his mind go blank, as memories of his short time spent with Licinia flashed through his mind.

Alex had not known Licinia for long, but in the short time they had spent together, she had become more than just another acquaintance from the Ancestral Realm.

She was a friend, someone who was always ready to help, and her willingness to help was not merely a response to the fact that Alex had saved her life, but rather a reflection of her inherent kindness and selflessness.

Alex did not even know when he had started considering her a friend, as all he could remember of their time in the wasteland of Enekia was telling her to stop talking. But at some point, he just accepted it, realizing she was never going to listen.

Alex felt sad but also quickly accepted her death because he understood that death was what completed life since everyone was destined to die their death, and while it made him feel sad at her early departure, he felt content knowing that she died doing the duty she loved very dearly.

Alex had no illusions about the fairness of life, knowing fully well that it was cruel and often cut down the best people far too soon, but even so, he couldn't bring himself to feel anger, since what would be the point?

Alex closed his eyes and took a moment to mourn her death before asking Vakkan if they had recovered her body, only to hear another disappointing answer.

----------------

"Four Months Later"

It had been four months since the clash at the city of Xarentol, and since then not much had changed for the world as the three major threats were growing ever more dangerous in all three empires.

But for Alex, a lot had changed. Not only had his rank in the army grown to battalion leader, but he was also able to secure some well-needed intel on Grand Arcanum Elara, who had been missing for the past six months.

It took a single Ruler wish for Alex to confirm that Arcanum Elara was still alive and currently on a mission to save her daughter, on top of some other secret mission, whose details were not given to him because of the grade of his wish.

Alex also could not meet or get the location of Lady Elara because it required a platinum-grade Ruler wish, and to earn such a wish he needed to win a big champion game.

A champion game with such a reward was harder to enter and even harder to win, but the one major thing was the time each of such games took to complete, and if one failed, all he would earn would be some cheap benefits.

Alex was left with the option to rise through the ranks of the army to possibly extract the whereabouts of Lady Elara, all while waiting for a good champion game that he was confident in winning.

So, for the past three and a half months, Alex had been using the mask to extract intel from strong Skaven, using it to find their important figures or locations, all in the hopes of using it to rise through the army ranks to get intel on Grand Arcanum Elara.

All the while Alex was also waiting to get an ultimate champion game, since only through that did he have the chance of getting in contact with Lady Elara and getting her help to secure the sword he needed in his wager against Zarach to get back his sword.

After months of work, Alex had finally earned himself a platinum-grade Ruler wish, and just as he exited the champion games that took nearly a month to win, he used the wish.