Night had fallen. Josh was still waiting in front of the empire. He was hungry, and so was Felicia who was still with him.
Josh started to get very anxious and scared that Naveah will never come back to him. After twenty minutes he started to get anxious. A few hours his anxiety grew more and more.
Josh tried to recall the one time a main character who has had their harem leave him and never come back?
A few times he did recall scenarios where in the beginning of a story the main character would get humiliated and abandoned by his girlfriend for a rich douchebag, but shortly after that something happens to the main character that changes his life for the better:
The main character either gets some kind of divine power through convenient methods(either a system or wise loli/milf teacher sometimes both but rarely a male teacher), meets a hot girl who is in love with him, but has a rich and powerful but sick grandfather than only the main character can cure, then gets a harem and so on.
But Josh can only recall that only happening to the main character in the beginning of his story, not in the middle of the story. And Naveah left him for reasons he couldn't understand, not because she found some rich douchebag.
And most importantly, Josh cannot recall the time a main character has ever gotten an innocent person like Peter killed because of his selfish desires. Usually everything works out for the main character because the plot demands it.
(Author's note: I'm not saying there aren't stories out there that have this kind of plot in them, it's just that Josh really cannot recall anything similar to what he is experiencing.)
Josh knew what he did was wrong which is why he is in hiding and wants to avoid the Reyes kingdom for good.
Meanwhile…
Will was on his bed in the kingdom. It was a weird feeling for Will to sleep on this bed when usually he would sleep on the bed that was in a hidden room somewhere in his cave. Whenever he lies down on a bed a new spawn point is placed on that bed, every time he could hear Morgan Freeman's voice in his head saying the exact words 'spawn point set.' Why Morgan Freeman of all people? Other than his soothing voice Will really had no idea.
Will hasn't tested out what would happen if his bed is moved or destroyed, but after playing minecraft and Terraria for years he has a pretty good idea of what might happen, but then again he might be wrong but it was better not to test it out.
For some reason, he just felt like sleeping in this bed today. It was a king size bed, fit for a king.
"Oh, hi." Sandra entered the room not expecting Will to be lying down.
"Hey."
"Haven't seen you there in a while."
"Yeah, I've been busy."
"I know, with your hobby. I've been busy as well so I understand. I'm just gonna take a shower."
Will and Sandra felt awkward seeing each other after what happened earlier that day.
Sandra went to shower. The shower was a very, very luxurious and spacious room that Will spent a lot of time on compared to other rooms. Will doesn't like decorating much, but he knew how much Sandra, or really anybody, enjoyed long showers in a bathroom with a lot of space.
Will was drawing ideas for his Golems on the {Holographic platform} that only he could see. After what happened with the giant scorpion thing, whatever it is, Will realized his Golems had a few flaws.
They are strong, without a doubt especially now with titanium bodies. But their humanoid bodies limited their options when they couldn't chase after the scorpion thing after it escaped by climbing a wall and making a hole on the roof.
Will then had an idea, why not make other types of Golems that aren't humanoid? Will thought about making insect type Golems, like his spider but bigger but with sharp pointy bodies, blades everywhere, and perhaps even add turrets to their bodies.
But just insect Golems wasn't enough, why not make vehicle Golems for transportation, or perhaps very large Golems like the Iron Giant, or movement Golems that can crush anything by transforming into a ball and roll everywhere like the machine from the first Incredibles movie.
The possibilities were practically endless. Will realized this long ago but still hasn't realized just how far he could take it.
Will had already come up with some Golem designs and drew them, but he cannot say he did a good job until he tested them out. He placed the {Holographic platform} away.
'I need to go somewhere far away tomorrow. I'll place another waystone somewhere and teleport there whenever I need to try out a new Golem design. That seems about right.' Will thought. Testing it out near his base seemed too risky for the ideas he suddenly came up with, and he really liked his ideas.
Sandra exited the shower fully clothed but with a towel wrapped around her head.
After a while the two were sitting on the bed.
"Let's discuss where we left off earlier today." Sandra said.
A key part in having a relationship last is communication. And Sandra feels that they need to talk about a few things now that they are together in the same room.
"Do you feel like getting married?" Will asked up front.
"I've been thinking about it, and I really don't know. If this were before in our old world, I would have probably said no, not because I don't love you, but because I would have felt that it would be too soon when we still have our life ahead of us. And also I feel that if we get married or not in this world doesn't seem much of a big deal compared to our old world. I mean we aren't just ordinary people anymore, you're a king with a kingdom and people living under you, and I'm a hero with powers."
Sandra has had all day to think about it. She doesn't see marriage as a big deal anymore after thinking it through.
"Yeah, you're right. And I don't think I would have ever brought up marriage in our old world. I mean you know how I was, I was still immature, a kid who was lucky enough to have a good family in a good life. But I feel like I've matured at least a tiny bit compared to my old self."
"Without a doubt." Sandra agreed.
"Without a doubt that I matured or that I was still basically a kid when we were first dating?"
"Both." Sandra couldn't contain her playful smirk.
"But, what about you, would you want to get married?" Sandra asked, hugging her legs while resting her head on her arms.
"Well… kinda. I agree with what you said, getting married now wouldn't be a big deal since I am certain we'll be together for a long time either way."
"I mean you would look good in a tux. I haven't seen you wear one since prom and you looked really nice, very handsome even if you hadn't developed muscles compared to right now."
Due to Will being more physically active, especially in the beginning, he began to grow muscles as a result of his hard work.
"I mean that red dress you wore was really sexy and it showed your legs and a bit of your cleav-."
Sandra hit Will playfully in his shoulder. Now that Will wasn't wearing his usual armor he felt it.
"Stop."
"What? You know I love your legs."
Sandra kept playfully hitting him as Will used a pillow as a shield.
After a while of chatting and playing around, they found each other cuddling each other in each other's embrace. Will was stroking her hair while Sandra's face was planted on his chest.
"I'm really glad you're here with me. I don't know what I would be doing right now if I were alone in this world." Sandra said, and she couldn't help but tear up.
"Same." Will couldn't help but hug her closer as if he was afraid if he let go she would be gone.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
They were in each other's arms the whole night. Nothing had happened. Just a couple in love cuddling throughout the entire night.
Morning rose. Will woke up. He didn't see Sandra beside him. What he was instead was a portable table beside his bed, with a tray of food and a note saying:
"Morning. I made food for you. I wanted to wake you up but you were so soundly asleep I couldn't wake you up. Take care not to hurt yourself while working on your 'hobby' I love you. :)"
Will couldn't help but smile.
'I'm so lucky to have you in my life.' He thought.
Eating his food, taking a shower, putting on his armor, giving Adaline food, increasing his max HP, and setting up a new spawn point in his hidden room, Will brought a waystone with him, made a new advanced-tier Golem core, also made a few mid-tier Golem cores, brought an abundance of iron with him, and flew somewhere far away from his kingdom.
Everything he brought with him was necessary to make his new Golem ideas come to life.
Meanwhile…
Josh fell asleep. He woke up with horrible back pain.
"Ahg… I miss having a bed. Naveah, Felicia, let's go find something to eat. I give up, let's go somewhere with a bed, and warm food."
After a night Josh didn't feel like waiting anymore for his 'plan' to work, which would have never worked either way.
Some guards switched night shifts and kept a close eye on Josh. They all had the same thought: how many times did his mother drop him on his head while he was a baby?
Apparently not enough times.
"Hero." Felicia also woke with terrible aches on her body. It's the result of sleeping on rough and uneven surfaces.
"I'm cold. Naveah, can you get some wood and I'll just burn it up using my powers to keep us warm? I probably should have done it last night but I forgot. Naveah?"
Josh looked around. To his horror Naveah was gone.
"Felicia, where's Naveah?"
"Don't you remember, hero? She left."
"I thought she came back while I was sleeping."
Felicia shook her head.
"But, but… heh."
Josh couldn't help but chuckle. Did she seriously leave him? A hero? The main character of this story?
"Well… fine, whatever. She can go fuck off for all I care. How stupid was I to not see who she really is? Hell, I bet it's her fault Maid died, it's her fault I never got my hands on a slave elf, it's her fault I nearly died in the forest, it's her fault we are broke, it's her fault I don't have a magical item. She had brought nothing but bad luck! Come on Felicia, we're better off without her."
Josh felt rejected. Some people can't handle rejection, like Josh, and sometimes makes up excuses for himself while blaming and calling the other person harsh and insulting names to make himself feel better, when really it's all his fault.
It is the reason why Josh never asked anybody out in his life, because not only did he fear rejection, he wanted something he knew he could never have in his old world, a harem with girls who love him unconditionally.
And his 'harem' went from 3 to 1 which made him feel very insecure.
"Hey, losers!" Josh looked at the two guards standing guard in front of the gate. They just got there minutes ago after the other soldier's shift ended.
"Tell that fat, bitch, sorry excuse of an Empress to fuck off as well and I don't need her wealth. " Josh flipped them off and left.
The two guards looked at each other. What was that about? They shrugged it off and ignored him.
Felicia had not seen Josh snap like that before. Now she felt something she hadn't felt before since the time those men attacked her when they were hitting on her, it was when Josh saved her and they first met, she felt scared for him like those men.
Still she followed Josh.
Half a day had gone by. Josh had found a village with some people still living in it.
He sent Felicia to get him some food since he was afraid that people might recognize him.
Felicia complied and left to bring him food. After a while she brought over two plates, both plates contained soup, mixed with some veggies, and half a piece of bread on each plate.
"That's it?" Josh asked, very annoyed. Where was the meat, the wine, everything else? He was really hungry and some soup, some veggies, and a bit of bread wouldn't cut it.
"That's all they had. We got it for free because a nice old lady was kind enough to give me two." Felicia felt scared again, and she couldn't help but avoid his look.
"Whatever. Seriously, how have we not found any food to eat? No animals out in the wild I mean it's unbelievable. And the soup tastes like piss water."
Josh ate the food very angrily and fast. Felicia couldn't even look at Josh properly anymore. She felt as if he would hit her, this feeling of helplessness is something she had never thought she would feel with Josh.
"I… I heard something when I was getting food from the old lady." Felicia thought if she said something good to Josh, perhaps he wouldn't be so angry.
"What?"
"There's a… there's a new kingdom somewhere on the west called the Sun kingdom. They have free food, high security, people pay no taxes, and the king of the Sun kingdom is a hero."
"Wait, wait, wait, seriously?" Josh asked. He was doing his best(?) and he's out here eating food like a peasant, while some hero was giving out free food, and is a king? He felt as if their roles should be reversed.
"That's what I heard. I don't know how real this news is but some people have already started to migrate to the Sun kingdom."
"Well, shit, let's go." Josh tossed his food aside and forcefully grabbed Felicia by her wrist.
"Hero, my wrist you're hurting me, and my food." Felicia dropped her food when Josh pulled her, she didn't even get a bite.
"It's fine. Once we get to the Sun kingdom the hero, whoever it is, will give up plenty of food. I'm pretty sure he's a good friend of mine." Josh, the one who has never had a friend, said that.
Josh smiled. Surely, if this hero made a new kingdom, then he must be hiding a dark secret like him. It made perfect sense to Josh, which is why he doesn't think whoever is in charge of the kingdom will rat him out.
Josh knows that a hero is a valuable asset wherever he goes, and no one would reject him, except the empire.
"It's a 4 day trip." Felicia added.
"We'll get there in two if we hurry."
The two left in a hurry.
As for the old lady, why hadn't she left to go live in the Sun kingdom instead of a poor village despite knowing where it is? Because her husband, her son, her daughter-in-law, her 3 year old granddaughter all died in that village, and she was going to die in that village and be buried along with her family.
It didn't help with the fact that her younger sister had recently died when her granddaughter was accompanying a hero by taking him to the kingdom and she never came back. She found out she was killed by monsters on her way back. Her sister couldn't handle the tragic news and died.
Sometimes she wondered how an old lady like her made it this far in life when everyone can easily die. Still she couldn't wait to die and reunite with her family.
Over a week ago…
After the mountain dragon had awoken, every dragon near kneeled before him.
Every time it took a step the ground shook violently. Many of the baby dragons couldn't handle it due to the loud noise.
The black mountains, which were its back and wings shrunk to the size of a ordinary apex dragon.
This dragon is not a king. It is an apex, mutated dragon from long ago. Dragons have an average lifespan of thousands years old, sometimes longer.
He may not be a king, but many dragons consider him to be the strongest, as his ability lets him grow as tall as a mountain. Not only that but his scales are more resilient than any dragon scale or known metal.
"Niaga sdrawkcab gnihtyreve etirw ot evah I, taerg ho. (What woke me up?)
The dragon was still processing what was going on. He was in a half-sleep half-awake state.
"Mih fo kcis teg ot gnitrats neve m'I .Noos emit yna dellik hsoJ evah dluohs I." (It was a hero. We are sorry for waking you up.)
The golden dragon came up to talk to him. He was scared of him.
"Kcor uoy ,gnieBsuonegortiN." (A hero? What is that? How long have I been recovering?)
"Seid reven edalbonhceT." (350 years)
"Etirw ot saedi fo tuo gninnur." (Much shorter than I thought. But I still haven't fully recovered yet.)
The mountain dragon touched its abdomen and it had a long and deep injury that had healed over time. There was still a deep scar in its body.
Long ago it had a fight with a cyclops who was equal in terms of power. He won, but was heavily wounded in the process. At the time the dragons were weaker so he used its huge body to protect them from the cyclops. It worked as the cyclops could not fly and the mountain dragon's body proved to be useful as a type of fort. And thanks to the mountain dragon the dragons were still there.
Of course the cyclops knew the mountain dragon was injured, and it was the perfect time to strike while it was recovering.
The other dragons brought over food for the mountain dragon. The mountain dragon has to eat while in its regular size, because how else is the mountain dragon supposed to fill up when it's the size of a mountain?
The mountain dragon ate its fill.
"NeewollaH yppaH." (Tell me, what happened during these 350 years while I was recovering?)
A dragon began telling him everything he needed to know.
Every dragon has learned to fear this dragon.
500 years ago, dragons used to rule over the cyclops even without the mountain dragon's help. There was simply no competition. But when the mountain dragon was born, he nearly killed the majority of the dragon population.
Any dragon who dared challenge him would always die. Not only was his mutation ability great, his scales were far too tough and sharp for any dragon to break through its defense.
The dragons feared him, but also needed him to protect them from the cyclops and heroes. Many have had ideas to kill him while he was weak, but if he dies and his body shrinks, they would lose their fortress.
The reason the mountain dragon had killed all those dragons 500 years ago was to prove a point that he's the strongest and it worked. Unfortunately he couldn't control his ability and accidentally squished nearly 80% of the population when he meant to kill 50% of the population as resources were becoming scarce at the time and dragons had to resort to cannibalism.
"SonahT nogard a edam had I dezilaer I ti etorw I taht won." (To think humans have progressed this much when they were such a weak species. As for the elves they appeared to be the same, same goes for the cyclops now that their leader is dead.)
The mountain dragon now knew about the existence of these heroes, especially about the Great Sage and his unparalleled power.
How did the dragons come to know his name and what he's capable of despite the language barrier?
There was once a dragon who could transform into a human, instead of a loli it was an adult man. Once he lived with the humans for reasons unknown and he was there the day the Great Sage was summoned along with the three heroes.
By that time the dragon had already learned to speak in human tongue. Once he realized that the humans were a huge threat to the dragons after witnessing the heroes' power, he told everything he saw to the golden dragon.
The golden dragon heard everything he had to say about the heroes and the humans. And after he realized that he could communicate with the humans, the golden dragon had killed him on the spot by ripping off his head.
The mountain dragon's secret could never be leaked until he has fully recovered.
"Ylenol os m'I." (Guess there is only one thing to do:. Wait until this Sage dies.)
"Reffus ot tsuJ ?ereh llits I ma yhw." (He's been alive for hundreds of years now, he has long surpassed the average human lifespan somehow. A few years ago one of us was destroying this human village and the Great Sage came out of nowhere and sliced him in half.)
"KorangaR raW fo doG rof tiaw t'nac." (Our life span goes over thousands of years. If he doesn't die by the next hundred years I'll deal with him. For now I'll continue to recover. Wake me up when he dies or before 100 years have passed.)
The mountain dragon thought that no one could match him anymore. But the wound on its abdomen was a fatal weakness now. His scales were indeed regenerating, but due to the scales being extremely tough it takes a long, long time to regrow.
And for the past week the mountain dragon had gone to sleep once more.
The dragons sighed in relief. But after they realized that Josh, a human, knows of the mountain dragon's existence every dragon out there flew everywhere to search for him. No matter what they knew that Josh must die.
That was a week ago, and there have been more dragon sightings than before, but no dragon was destroying villages unless they suspect Josh is hiding in one of those villages.
Unknown to Will, there were two dragons approaching his kingdom in search for Josh.