Iris left Alaster after dropping her shocking announcement, leaving him in his thoughts. Though it took him nearly an hour to locate them. That is where Lord Siphas found him long after the sun had set.

"What are you doing up here? I would have thought you would be rushing around to finalize any preparations you have to deal with." The Lord asked, leaning against the battlements.

Alaster sighed, "I am. My Minions are spread out. I am coordinating them. What do you wish to talk about?"

Elliot smiled, "What don't I want to talk about? Do you remember what I told you before you left this city?"

Alaster grinned and nodded, "Yes. You said that I was a member of your family."

"My son. Whether you want it or not. You might not be my first born son, but I claim you nonetheless, so does my wife. I might not be your true father, but let me do his duties in his absence. So please, tell me everything, anything. Let me know what my son is doing, what he is thinking, what is worries are."

Alaster closed his eyes.

Instead of blackness, in his mind he saw a green meadow that stretched past the horizon. A bright sun cast its warm rays down on the earth below as a few fluffy white clouds drifted through the sky on a light breeze.

The sun was hot without shade, but the smooth and gentle breeze kept it comfortable.

A few steps away, Alaster saw the two people that had begun his journey all those years ago.

They turned to face him.

His mother looked up at him and smiled that beautiful smile full of kindness and love. Her long brunette hair blew gently behind her back. She wore her usual apron that had the several stains it had earned throughout the years and two children.

His father turned to him and nodded with respect and understanding. He wore the makeshift uniform of the Village Guard, Alaster saw the crude sewn repairs of the gambeson. He remembered his father staying up many nights to sew together his uniform after patrols.

Alaster wanted to rush forward and embrace them, but found that he could not move.

Beside him, Elliot and Nora Siphas appeared, smiling warmly at him before walking past him and towards his parents.

The two men shook hands and patted each other's back while the women hugged.

Alaster opened his eyes once more to see the night sky above him, the busy city below him, the cold stone of the battlements around him, and Elliot Siphas beside him.

"You know, I think you and Nora would have been great friends of my parents. Very different, but at the same time, alike.

All these years, I have prevented myself from truly mourning them. I did so in order to keep going, to avenge them and protect my sister. Ironic, don't you think? But over the years, I think I did mourn. Slowly, like a candle burning instead of a bonfire.

But that slow mourning stunted me. I don't really know how to express myself through my words. I haven't really needed to, since I could solve most issues through overwhelming force, but times have changed, as have I."

Alaster turned and dropped down from the battlements back onto the stone.

"While I have been stuck on this one path, the path of revenge, the people around me have allowed themselves to change and grow. My sister has friends and is maybe even in love. My childhood friend here in Onigas is now in charge of her own Knightly Order. My first Party Member is married and I just found out she is soon to be a mother. Hell, even Isabella is climbing the ranks of the Healer's Organization here in Onigas.

Yet here I am, still searching for the man who killed my parents. I haven't changed."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Elliot watched the young man beside him intently, considering his words seriously, before he burst out laughing.

"Haven't changed? Alaster, you went from being this small child with the emotional capacity of a rock, to someone who would actually be concerned about other people's thoughts. In the time I have known you; you went from not having a System at all, to becoming one of the strongest individuals in all of the continent."

"But my goal has not changed."

"So? What does that matter? You know, the day of my Fifteenth, before I got my System, I made myself a promise, a goal for myself, I wanted to be happy without regrets. I haven't changed that goal in all these decades. Because there hasn't been a need.

The goal itself doesn't matter. What matters is that you have one, and are always striving to accomplish it."

Elliot took a breath and sighed, "I have never liked your goal to hunt the person responsible for the death of your parents. I understood it, but did not like it. I always thought that it would be better if you moved on.

If you had, who know? Maybe you would have stayed here in Onigas? Maybe you would have begun courting Iris instead of this other fellow,"

"You don't like Loka?"

Elliot waved his hand, "No no no, he is a good kid. I am just thinking of possibilities. All I am saying is sometimes its good to think of the 'What ifs'. It helps you make future decisions. Decisions that will give you the future you want. So, tell me, lets say the war ends well for us. Lets say everyone you care about lives. What do you want? What is your goal?"

Alaster opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, deciding to take the question seriously.

He thought for a moment.

What did he want?

He had never really thought of it before. He had always preferred to stay in the moment. Deal with life as it was, not what he wished it was. But he could not find a fault in Elliot's reasoning.

At first, Alaster thought his response was to spend his days supporting his sister, but that would not be right for either of him. That wouldn't be his life, and while he would not hesitate to give it to protect her, it would be hers. He wanted to protect her, but he knew that in order for you to grow, he could not hover over her, protecting her from everything.

His next thought was that he would like to grow old somewhere secluded and private, where he could do whatever he wanted without caring about any rules or impact. But he knew that would never happen. He was too powerful. He would never be able to spend his days privately. Besides, as a Master, dying of old age would take several centuries.

The last known Master to die of old age was nearly nine hundred. Alaster knew himself well enough to know that he would grow too bored to do merely wait to die.

He did like researching Magic, so he could spend his days trying to unravel the secrets of existence…until he realized that would make him too similar to Lezrem, who was currently using his Undead Hordes as manual labor in Galmore while Tom and Mike helped to teach trainees how to use their Abilities without the System.

That line of thought brought Alaster to thinking about opening a school in Galmore. Afterall, with Galmore so far from the frontlines, to the point that the Demons aren't even planning to march anywhere close, the city was being used to train recruits. Onigas and Zalar sent their recruits there to train safely. They were taught the basics, then sent back to their respective cities to practice while serving.

After the war, that mindset of training would still be present in Galmore, so it would be pretty simple to create a school and have the most talented individuals attend.

But then Alaster remembered the last child he had spent any real time around…his Fire Magic had been very useful. Probably, not the best idea. Though the various backgrounds of his Death Knights would provide quite a well-rounded curriculum.

His next thought was creating his own little Fiefdom. With his Undead, he could build a city in just a few weeks. Populating it would be a different matter. This idea appealed to Alaster, but then he remembered the long nights Elliot constantly endured as he dealt with stacks of paperwork.

Then again, Elliot was the advisor to the City Lord, maybe Kaylon didn't do as much paperwork?

Alaster decided to shelf that idea for now.

Alaster's thoughts then drifted to Lunaria.

He remembered the days they spend merely passing the time, reading together, playing chess, or just walking around Galmore.

After the death of his parents, the year he spent in Galmore was without a doubt the most at peace he had been. A period of peace that allowed him to sort through his emotions, at least slightly. He came out of Galmore a more focused person. A focus he pushed to the hunt of his enemy. A focus that brought him face to face with his enemy.

But also a focus that allowed Alaster to admit that if there was a future for him past this war, he wanted Lunaria to be a part of it.

"Its not an easy question, is it?" Lord Siphas chuckled, "I'll leave you alone to think it through. But you really should think it through, because I know that once I had a goal to strive for, my thoughts and actions became much sharper in pursuit of this goal."

Bells rang throughout the city as the dawn's light reached brushed against the highest spire of the City Lord's castle, interrupting Lord Siphas' words.

Alaster turned to look over the walls towards the dense forests. Far in the distance, tall Argalon marched out of the tree line, carrying the banners of their army. A second later, rank upon rank of Demons left the trees.

"And these days, we all need whatever boost we can get."

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