It has not been long since we left the food stall. Rishi would not admit he has fallen for Eliza but I just keep pestering to him, like any annoying friend, about it as we walk through the Red Light District. We were almost to where we would have to depart which was just across the street. Waiting for the traffic light to change from the red hand to the blinking walking man, cars zoomed past us from all four directions. It was already late but the streets were this lively.

"Shorelock is completely different from Greenfield." Rishi began to speak as he glanced up at the towering skyscrapers.

"It really is. It has better food, more things to do, the nightlife is amazing, and it's more diverse than Greenfield. After all, it is the capital of the Eastern Continent." I said folding my arms behind my head. The scent of ashes still lingering on my clothing.

"Do your parents already know about this?" Rishi asked.

"Yeah, I called them when we left the stall," I told him holding my phone proving to him that I did.

The light changed. We began to walk across the street. Silence. Lights flickering from above of the towering skyscrapers, the inaudible voices of citizens walking in all directions as the night went on. No worries. It seemed so peaceful, too peaceful to be true but I knew, one day, it would all end.

We reached the other side.

"I guess we go our separate ways." He yawned.

"Yeah, Hatsu here is also tired," I said patting Hatsu's sleepy head.

"But man, what a day." Rishi sighed while patting Hatsu on my shoulder.

"Agreed," I nodded.

He ran off then turned back around waving to me as he did. 

"I'll take my leave first. I talk to you later when things settle down a bit." He yelled before continuing to run off.

"See ya," I hollered back.

With that, he was gone. I pat Hatsu again who whined a bit, nudging his paw at my face.

"You're sleepy aren't you?"

"Arf!" He barked weakly.

"Don't worry we're almost home," I reassured.

I continued walking straight on the sidewalk, turning my head left and right until I saw a huge stone sign that said "Bluesky Condos". I was home. I made a left into the condo area courtyard. It was the same as it was ten years ago. Cafes and restaurants decorated the courtyard but they were closed for the night. However, the pubs were still open and filled with rowdy citizens and I could even make out a few Adventurers wearing their armor. Of course, the pubs are one place I would not go to since I cannot handle the stench of alcohol. In one of the pubs, a fight had broken out between a couple of drunk Adventurers, the one with the sword at his side punching the other. As I always do, I just ignored them and continued to search for the condo building my parents were in.

In the middle of the courtyard was a huge fountain of a stone Dragon that spewed out water for flames while a patch of grass, extending to the concrete sidewalk, surrounded the fountain. Nothing has changed since I left.

On my right, I carefully scanned the building numbers.

"6, 7, 8, 9! Found it!" I exclaimed.

I speed walk over to the door of the building complex with the plaque 310. It was a twelve-story building each window protruded a balcony where the neighbors left out their plants or laundry. Some were even sitting outside just to get some fresh air or drinking beer on their balconies, some socializing with other residents. This was the place that I called my home for seven years before I departed for Greenfield.

On the complex's doorstep, was a nice doormat with an image of a flower basket. Below the flower basket, there was a 'Welcome' written in fine cursive. Now looking at the door, there was a keypad with nine digits. On the screen, it asked me to type in the condo number and it would send a message to that condo notifying them that there was a visitor. Then the screen would send a live video from the security camera to the condo of who is outside. I typed my parent's condo number, 706, onto the keypad and pressed enter.

"Please wait as we contact the owners of condo 706." The screen replied in a monotone female voice similar to Iris.

I stood there in silence until the keypad speaker clicked.

Running over to the speaker, I hear the warm voice of an older female.

"Andrew!" She exclaimed.

"Mother." I smiled.

"Don't just stand there! I'll unlock the door. Your father and Ethan are also home."

"Thank you."

The keypad's flashing red light turned green signifying that the door was open. I pulled the steel handle and opened the glass double doors. The first thing that welcomed me is a huge elevator to my left and an emergency staircase to my right. I approach the elevator with long strides and pressed the button with a black arrow pointing up. Its soft orange glow made me feel anxious as I haven't stood face to face with my parents in a decade. My leg was bouncing up and down. Then, the door opened.

I took a deep breath. 

Here we go. I thought as I stepped through the door.

Moments later, I arrived at the seventh floor shifting my head from left to right I scan the numbered plaques for the condo. 702. 703. 704. 705. 706! I found it. I stood in front of the wooden door. Residing next to the door was a vase from the Western Continent with a Blue Lily, a tall flower that never dies, from Shorelock Woods. A symbol of family and hope. Behind the Blue Lily's long petals was the doorbell. Brushing the petals aside, I pressed it.

From the outside, I could hear the sound of wind chimes coming from inside the house. Footsteps approached the door my breathing stop then my heart. There was a creek sound. The door opened and face to face with me was a light-skinned, middle-aged woman with her brown hair wrapped up neatly into a bun. She wore a kitchen apron with a huge pocket that was embroidered with flowers. On her feet, rested cute bunny slippers with the ears puffing up. Her face formed a sad little smile, revealing the signs of aging and stress over the years.

Nevertheless, this woman was my mother.

"Andrew." She spoke softly not wake up the neighbors.

"Hi, mom," I said.

Turning her body away from the door she gestured with her head, "Come in."

I came inside as instructed to and removed my shoes placing them next to the entrance.

"Come sit, it must have been a long day for you." She guided me to the encirclement of white sofas surrounding a TV screen. It was off. I sat down placing my bag next to me.

"Where's Dad and Ethan?" I asked.

Suddenly, two doors slammed behind me from a nearby hallway. Two figures, a pale-skinned, middle-aged man with similar brown hair wearing a T-shirt with a durian on it and shorts and a guy, an almost exact duplicate of me but a head taller, with wild brown hair wearing similar attire as the older man, came out of the hallway.

"Who's here?" The elderly man yawned with his sloppily shaved, stubbled beard walking into the light of the living room.

"Mom, it better not be another loan shark." The doppelganger yawned in a similar fashion.

"No," my mother shook her head, "you'll be surprised."

The elderly man opened his eyes but just stood in the middle of the hallway staring directly at me with the same lively green eyes, dumbfounded.

"What's wrong?" The younger figure asked towering over the elderly man's shoulder able to catch a glimpse of me. He also froze in his spot. Jaw dropped to the wooden floor.

"Andrew, what are you doing here?" The elderly figure asked.

"Hi, Dad, it's been quite some time." I gave a sad smile.

"Little Bro! What are you doing here? I thought you were in Greenfield."

"Hi, Ethan." I waved.

Suddenly, mom came over with a tray of piping hot green tea. 

"He'll tell us everything." 

Understanding her, they both took a seat down on the sofas. My mother was the last one to come. In her hands was a tray of hot tea which she placed on top of the living room table. At last, she sat down.

"I'll start from the beginning."

I told them the same thing I told Old man Sam and Homeless Joe and their faces contorted to one of pain and sadness.

"Greenfield was destroyed by a wyvern attack? I don't believe this. This has to be a lie!" Ethan shook his head in disbelief.

"If you don't believe me, you'll see it on the news tomorrow," I replied.

"Actually," My father interrupted pulling out his phone that was buzzing, "we received a notification from the Church just now." 

My family gathered around my father's phone staring intensely at the notification.

"It's real." They gasped.

My mother, who was the most surprised, slumped back on to the couch swirling her hot cup of tea.

"This is just too much to process." My father sighed placing his chin on top of his folded hands.

"Father." My brother cried.

My grandfather was my mother's father and she was also raised in Greenfield before she came to Shorelock so Greenfield was her second home and that home, was destroyed.

Ethan was speechless.

"How long do you plan to stay here?" My father asked.

"Until the Church arranges residency for the refugees here in Shorelock, I'll be here for some time," I said.

"Come," my mother waved recovering from her shock, "you've had a long day."

"I didn't think I'd be seeing Lil'bro like this..." Ethan stuttered.

"Don't worry about it, I'm alive aren't I?" I smiled.

"On the bright side, our little Andrew is back as a fine young man. He's even got a cute little wolf pup as a pet." My father returned to the jester of a man he always was, patting me on the back.

"You just realized Hatsu on my shoulder now." I laughed lightheartedly.

I pushed his hand off my arm and walked over to mom. She was weeping but trying her best to hide it. Opening my storage space, I took out a small wooden box with swirling vines engraved on its lid.

"I didn't give this to you at the funeral but grandfather wanted me to give this back to you when I came back to Shorelock," I said handing it to her.

She took the box, staring at with nostalgia. Tears fell from her eyes like waterfalls and she snatched it out of my hands. She opened its sliding lid and it was a small glowing flower. It had twelve crimson petals with a delicate golden center. A thorny stem rested below the glowing flower that could prick a finger if not careful. It was the rarest flower in the world, the Dragon Rose. The Dragon Rose is a plant that grows from the Red Ginseng that takes thousands of years for the flower to bloom because it needs to absorb a lot of mana. The effects of the flower are unknown but it is not poisonous or harmful to the touch and similarly to the Blue Lily, it never dies.

"Thank you." She smiled as she embraced the flower then gave me a hug.

"You're welcome."

"Alright, since that's over," my father interrupted, "let's welcome little Andrew home and... drumroll please."

He pointed to Ethan who was still in shock.

"Drumroll!" He yelled at Ethan.

Ethan shoot up like a bamboo shoot and slapped his hands on the table to create a drum sound. My father ran to a closet in the middle of the hallway and pulled out something long and thin wrapped terribly in silver gift wrapping. He shoved into my hands and my mother placed her hands on my shoulder.

"It's okay, open it." She said.

Tearing the wrapper like a ten-year-old, I unraveled the tall object. I was elated. It was a wooden staff that was straight and round towards the bottom. Towards the top, the wood arched like a question mark and was flat. Inside was a floating, fist-sized, red orb. I knew what it was. It was a mana stone! A full mana stone! Not some cheap fragmented mana stone. A full one!

[System Notification: You have obtained the Bronze Rank Staff, [Ghostwood]]

A Bronze Ranked piece of Equipment! It's so light! I exclaimed silently. 

I gave my parents a look of disbelief as I held the staff in my hands.

"Thank you so much!" I burst with happiness.

"You're welcome." My parents smiled.

"They were supposed to give it to you when you graduated from the Magic Academy but stuff happened so they stowed it away in the closet until you came back next year." Ethan elbowed me.

"You don't do that to a staff!" I yelled.

"Yo! It was safe along with my stash of swords I broke when I was in the Swordsmanship Academy." He whispered.

"You keep it in a place where it won't get damaged or gather dust! And were you being suicidal when I was gone?!" I interrogated yanking his shirt collar.

Ever since Ethan entered the Swordsmanship Academy, he became reckless causing him to gain a bad reputation. As a result, the Academy's students gave him a nickname, the Suicidal Swordsman, known for his suicidal moves during monster raids. I'm not going to list them as they seem pretty obvious.

"No...okay yes! I may have tried to kill some orcs before you came back today. Now can you put me down?" He yelled.

"You sure?" I cocked an evil grin.

"No! Okay, fine! I went out on my own every day to do so!" He admitted with a hint of guilt.

"You did what?" My parents overheard out conversation.

"Nothing!" He said putting his hands up.

"He went hunting orcs alone," I said bluntly.

"Young man," my father pointed, "you are in big trouble."

He cracked his knuckles and his face grew dark. Orcs are bigger and faster versions of goblins who wield heavy clubs with enough power to crush a skull of a Gold Rank Adventure. Ethan was only a Bronze Ranked adventurer so chasing after orcs were the equivalent of courting one's own death.

"No," Ethan shriveled up as beads of sweat dribbled down his face, "no."

"Noooooo!"

A shrill scream rang out in the night from condo 706.