A lone figure could be seen walking through the Everglade Forest, daylight pouring through the leaves. The widely dense forest was peaceful during this time, the midst of Sommar. The season of sun and peace time.
'Peace in our time...'
The lone figure had reached a stream, placing what seemed to be a skull down on the ground near a dying tree, he removed his tattered armor on the ground and the rest of his clothes before plunging into the cold water. Cursing from the sudden change of temperature, Ash lost his breath momentarily, before smiling. Its been too long since he felt this sort of freedom, of course he was alone right now; he couldn't wait to get back to the Capitol and to his team. But in this moment he was alone and free. The skull itself had acted as protective charm, warding off any creature that may have come across his path.
'Smooth sailing...'
Washing his face, he pushed water into his armpits and chest- but on doing so, he felt a rough surface on his chest. Looking down, he saw his scar- running along the left side of his chest, diagonally down, ending by the top of his midriff. Ash frowned, usually scars heal- with the help of mana, one could choose to keep the scars on their body or heal them.
He didn't have a choice, that scar would stay with him for as long as he lived. It brought his mood down, but it was small price to pay for victory. Climbing out of the steam, Ash had set up a fire to dry himself off, spending the rest of the night watching the flames dance in the darkness of the night.
---
It had been a month since he had defeated the Demon lord, Ash still trekking across the Everglade Forest, had one looked at a map- you'd see that where the once beautiful cliffs of the Everglade, where Ash had started from and compare to where he is currently, he wasn't even a quarter of the way through.
The Everglade Forest spanned a huge distance, covering a twin peak mountain. It bordered on the country of Blackhaven, where he first entered the battle against the Demon lord. Back then the Demon Lord had nearly destroyed a a whole region, leaving it to be deserted. Eighteen million inhabitants... three quarters decimated. nearly 200,000 km of bright lustrous land vanished within the space of a month. The demon lord took no time to defeat Ash and his party that by he was ashamed to be called a Hero...
The Demon lord, vanished and continued to destroy the country...
In the season of the Frost, Having left his party behind, Ash had trekked and saw the damage the Demon lord had caused. Bitterness had left a bad taste in his mouth. Rage had filled his mind. He spent another two months trying to reach the Demon lord and had spent another two in a constant battle to keep his sanity and stamina.
His victory against the Demon lord would go unnoticed for a while, assuming the rest of his party and the neighboring kingdoms provided aid- Ash would have to get out of the forest by himself. Since he couldn't scale the cliffs as it was too delicate and he wasn't exactly happy to be buried in rubble again, he chose to venture into the forest and find a way back home.
The Everglade forest itself spanned a few hundred kilometers, after the fall of Blackhaven and the cliffs, there were twin peak mountains that the forest surrounded, the other side of the forest bordered the Silent Sea.
A landlocked inland sea between southeastern kingdom of Anatolia and the Republic of Feysanc; connected to the ocean by the straits of Zans and Otmar. Currently, Ash was in the Republic of Feysanc, the now ruined Blackhaven being part of the republic. Ash chose to head to the landlocked sea, hoping to find some people or even making a raft himself. Having spent time gathering wood and hunting a large quadrupedal animal, Ash climbed onto a very tall tree, reaching the top to roughly guess the distance.
'The twin mountains aren't that far from me, maybe a day or two- I could get there before daylight and camp there for the foreseeable future. Starting to think, I should've just climbed the cliffs.' Grumbling to himself, Ash climbed down and started the fire, roasting the meat of the animal he had hunted. After having his fill, he climbed back on the tree- finding a suitable branch and laid down.
"Goodnight Ash"
"Goodnight"
Ash closed his eyes and slept. The wood cracking in the fire, the flames reflected off the skull.
---
The lone figure woke up, stretched his body and got up- it was particularly cold today, wasn't much he could do for that. He walked out of the cave and looked across.
The Silent sea looked beautiful from this distance, Ash loved the view from there. He had been staying in the mountains for a month or so by now, taking his time. By now, he'd realized that there were no rescue efforts taking place, the public as well as the kingdoms, assuming he had perished against the fight against the Demon lord and that it was too injured to attack any further... not that he cared of course. He was from the countryside, just from a little town called Nomar, outside the city of Pilant. He was more or less used to fend for himself and survive.
He was trying to get back to the Federation of Sanct, a multitude of states forming one political government, hosted within is the Capitol, the design itself is on par maybe even more so than the City of Stormhold. Having spoke with the skull for several days now, he contemplated his life after his victory...
'Maybe it's time I get out of here...I think I'm starting to lose it.'
"Why would you think that Ash, if you want to, just circulate your mana- gather you strength and get moving already"
Ash nodded his head, and did so- for the past few months, he's been struggling to maintain his mana. Its been too sporadic and too weak, his body didn't seem to handling his mana well causing fluctuations- he had to spend the extra time in the mountains to gather his strength. His gut was telling him he should't circulate mana too much. But after hearing the advice, he decided to not follow his instinct; he wanted to go home.
He felt the mana gathering, grabbing the skull from inside the cave, he turned and ran out... jumping as soon as he reached the edge. He shot out like a mana blast covering kilometers from that one jump.
Soaring through the skies, no care in the world...