The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

Sigismund decided to follow the Guild Master and the three Half-Elves, or, as the King had been calling them, the Flower Girls. He had seen what the Guild members were capable of, and he was impressed until he saw Marie in action. Now he had to know what they were capable of.

The girls went for their combat gear, and so did Sigismund and Knys. The dwarf, in his plate armour, was rather surprised to see Knys in light leather armour, wielding just a war axe. They talked for quite a while when they were surprised by the ladies, who snuck up and were now standing next to them. Both men had to swallow. Just by the look alone, their gear was not only breathtakingly beautiful, but also of incredible quality.

Iris was wearing a full plate with chain mail elements, so there was no weak spot between the plates. However, her armour, compared to the one worn by the Dwarven Lord, was not in any way cumbersome. It was a sleek profiled armour made to match Iris's body perfectly, with every curve and overlapping plate fulfilling its role with precision, pronouncing Iris's body lines. The armour’s metalwork was unbelievable, and the masterwork smithing and embellishments amplified the natural beauty of the Half-Elf. On her head, she wore an intriguing piece of headgear that looked almost like a metal tiara. She was dual-wielding two incredible arming swords. Her entire gear was dark green with silver and gold ornamentation.

Rose and Lilly wore similar dark green robes, adorned with silver and gold thread. At least, they thought they were probably robes; both men had to guess since they had never seen such thin material made into such short, loose garments before. The robes fit their bodies perfectly and the hems landed just over their knees. They wore strange white pants underneath, which were almost translucent, along with tall, almost knee-high boots. Their robes didn't have sleeves at all, but instead, Lilly and Rose wore long white gloves with the same dark green-coloured detailing as Iris's armour. In their hands, they had masterfully carved staffs made of white wood. Even the men could sense a tremendous power swirling inside the staff that was just waiting to be unleashed.

"So, how exactly do you want us to display our skill? This area is just not worth mentioning. Didn’t the King make it so low-level adventurers can train gradually?" Lilly questioned in a melodic voice that was somehow enhanced now.

"Hmm... I must agree. So where normally do you train?" Knys asked in turn.

"Oh, we have our own training room made to help us hone our skills. But you can't go there with us," Rose answered with a smile.

"Why not?" Sigismund asked in confusion. It was obvious he wanted to see the place where such powerful warriors trained.

"Because you are not allowed to enter the Middle Castle yet. But most importantly, the denizens of Avalon that dwell there would kill you faster than you could blink an eye," Iris patiently answered.

Sigismund noticed that girls always replied in turn and never disrupted each other, which only showed their extraordinary companionship. Iris smiled and pointed somewhere afar.

"Looks like Avalon wants to help. That's a skeleton Paladin, three Guardsmen, and three Archers. I think they are level 55."

"So we better take them out." Rose raised her staff in front of her and two very complicated red-coloured magic circles formed on either side of her. A white tiger with blue stripes so dark they almost were black emerged from each circle. They were both as tall as Rose herself.

Instead of attacking the monsters, Iris jumped into the air as if she was wearing just a light dress and not the heavy armour. But instead of just falling, she hung in the air, pirouetting once, arching her body a bit and raising one of her swords up in the air. She repeated this several times, and every time she did, another phantom copy of her sword was dancing with her arched body as the centre of its phantom blade changed colour each time. When she dashed towards the enemies, she was blindingly fast.

Iris's dance influenced all three women as well. The summoned tigers dashed to catch up with Iris and help her with the attack. Sigismund was surprised to hear a wonderful and captivating voice nearby, discovering it was indeed Lilly who had started singing in a strange tongue. Behind her, two moderately sized magic circles grafted with runes formed, which neither of the men had ever seen before. But this last part was slowly becoming a norm for them in Avalon.

Iris was not only fast, but her attacks were elegant and precise, with each thrust and cut appearing deceptively weak, but was delivered with staggering power. Iris focused directly on the Paladin, who wasn't able to block her every strike. He had to step back with every strike Iris directed towards his vitals, unable to switch to the offensive.

So far, he was in a pinch and other monsters couldn't help him. The skeleton Guards were fighting for their lives against Rose's tigers. The giant felines disregarded their own safety and pummeled the skeletons with their claws and tried to bite them. But despite many successful attacks made by skeletons, the tigers did not shed a single drop of blood, nor did they weaken their attacks.

The Archers would have helped their front lines, but they were constantly bombarded by Lilly's spells. Lilly and Rose started moving toward monsters with Lilly still singing a strange but extraordinary melody and with each step forward, her spells hit closer and closer to their mark. Rose, on the other hand, raised her staff one more time and started her own ice-based spells. Icicles started hitting archers who had no other option, soaking all the damage from both casters. Not before long, the skeleton Longbowmen were defeated and were now crumbling into dust.

With the Archers gone, Rose and Lilly focused on the guards. Lilly's song changed its pace and the rhythm, becoming faster and more passionate. In turn, her spells changed as well, from weak water arrows to the pillar of water about one and a half metres in diameter and six metres tall that encased one skeleton guard, shattering his bones and killing him quickly.

When Iris saw the water column killing its target, she lightly jumped and bounced off the skeleton paladin's shield, landing a dozen metres back near Rose and Lilly. Lilly's song changed one more time and the water pillar exploded in all directions, calling forth large icicles that impaled the last two guards and badly wounded both the Paladin and Rose’s tigers. The tigers shielded all three girls using their bodies. But it seemed like Rose was just waiting for that.

"Astral light!" For the first time, Rose called the name of the skill from the beginning of the fight.

Two pillars of soft, golden light touched both tigers, and their wounds started fading away. The Paladin, without any help left, tried to focus on both large tigers, forgetting about Iris herself. She used her captivating dance once more, and with her speed boosted, she attacked the skeleton from behind.

Both men looked nervously at each other. They knew that Marie was strong, but Iris, Rose, and Lilly were at a different level. Their individual power was unthinkable not so long ago, but their team play was on a much higher level. What's more, Marie never showed them her armour or weapons and now it was obvious why. The weapons and armours of Avalon were incredible. They saw how Lilly's armour allowed the slim woman to dance gracefully around her target, never once hindering her motions or blocking them, as Sigismund's armour would.

"Was that acceptable, Guild Master?" asked Lilly.

•••

Watching my Flower Girls fight was like watching a beautifully choreographed play or opera. All their moves are elegant and efficient, yet full of exquisite beauty. The girls also used their old equipment, which was a very wise move to not show off all their cards at once. Besides, I was fully aware they could fight such a small group of enemies even faster. I had to find them a dedicated healer.

I sighed.

I moved my attention elsewhere and focused on the garden where the two last food nodes from the Earth sat. I bought their seeds, however my stupid ass forgot to plant them. From the 5 seeds of each plant, only one of each had started growing by pure luck alone. So... Now the problem, of course, was the climate here. My response to that was building a large, tree-sized greenhouse adjacent to the Palace wall.

The two doors lead inside the Palace- one at ground level and the second one leading to the balcony level of the greenhouse. It wasn’t just a greenhouse, but also an all-season enclosed garden that I was very proud of. It was good I could freely move my food nodes around with a little help from Ian. Now I had one of each orange, apple, pear and nectarine trees in the greenhouse. And perhaps the most important node of all: the cacao tree.

The greenhouse itself was quite large and looked incredible inside, with pavements placed near flower patches and wonderfully shaped bushes. Even a small pool is hidden between the greenery. From time to time, you could sit down on comfortably shaped benches that perfectly fit the atmosphere of this place. Bjorn, as always, had done an excellent job. Since we used materials my residents created, it took just a bit of mana, but took much more time to complete. Building this place took us almost three weeks.

Three weeks...

So that means I've been here for over a month... And I think I'm starting to get comfortable here. There was no turning back, even if, according to Sigismund's story, some previous heroes returned to their worlds.

...But...

As strange as it may sound to anyone else, I didn't want to return. Besides, my previous family has their own lives now and nothing else is appealing to me back there. I never felt I had a place in my previous world; I never fit in and I always dreamed about outer space or fantasy worlds. I was finally home. My dreams would come true here.

Back there, life was boring. Yes, my previous world was beautiful and full of incredible sights to see. Full of wonderful people but... I rarely felt at home there. I tried my best to create a home for myself and my old family. I was almost sure I made a good home for them. I had to die to find myself a place I could happily call home, even if it's an eternal prison for me.

But this is home. My home.

•••

I sat behind our living room table and I sighed heavily from time to time. Amber and Irene were preparing to take a lazy walk to the Magic Tower to attend their magic lessons with Stella. However, I decided to stay at the Palace since I had other matters to deal with today. Amber and Irene must have seen my clouded face because I felt their worried gazes.

It was all because I was facing a problem of great magnitude. I read the report one more time, knowing full well it was all my fault. I sighed heavily before looking at Amber and Irene with concern.

"I have failed... We were so close to greatness, we were this close." I showed them a small gap between two of my fingers. "But I must admit my failure."

"Theon, what happened?" Amber was very surprised that the report from Annika and Sally was a reason for such a reaction.

"Take a look at it yourself." I gave them the report and covered my head in my hands.

Amber read the report and gave it to Irene. Even combining their wits, they were unable to determine if I was joking or if I was serious. Amber finally gave up and asked slowly, "Theon... What is chocolate?"

•••

I called an emergency meeting with Annika, Sally, and Ian. We were sitting in the salon on the first floor behind the big conference table. There was no other way around it. Only they could help to save the day with their priceless knowledge about this world's edible plants and animals.

What's worse, I was fully aware it's all my fault because I hadn't brought cows into this world. Without cows, there was no milk. And without milk, there was no milk chocolate. But that had much deeper consequences. Without milk, there was no cheese. And without cheese...

I shivered with the realisation of the magnitude of my failure.

Without cheese, there is no pizza!

I looked at my experts, having only the warmth of the comforting words of my Queens who left for training with Stella. That and my hopes and trust in my residents that they had a solution to deal with this crisis.

"I will put this straight. Is there somewhere in the outside world someone who is knowledgeable about what animals that can be domesticated to produce high-quality milk?" I asked them calmly.

Annika and Sally looked at each other and shook their heads, but more in an 'I don't know' manner than denial. But Ian closed his eyes before smiling knowingly.

"There are actually a few which can be used in this way, I believe, my King. From what my skill tells me, we can ignore five of the seven animals since they are too far away or too problematic to domesticate. But we have two options very close to Avalon. The first is rock sheep and the second is woolly buffalo. Both of them could be domesticated using my skills, my King."

"Ian, in that case, I think the woolly buffalo will meet our needs. I'll inform the Flower Girls to prepare to accompany you on this quest. I'm going to ask for help from the Guild as well. Avalon’s storm eagles will also be watching over you, Ian."

Ian nervously nodded. “From what it sounds like, this is a matter vital for the very existence of Avalon.”

"You must succeed. Once you return victorious, everything will be explained. I’m counting on you, Ian."

•••

When the King left the room, Ian scratched his head. He had no idea why this was such a big deal, but the King gave him the quest and Ian planned to carry his will or he would die trying.

"Do you know what this is all about?" Ian asked Sally.

"Yes..." She looked nervously at Annika.

"He must know Sally. Ian, this is top secret and can't be talked about with outsiders until the King allows it. Do you understand?" Annika picked from her pocket a piece of white cloth.

"But of course!" Ian would never do such a thing. In his mind, telling any secrets of Avalon to anyone was worse than treason.

"Try this."

Inside the piece of cloth were a few small pieces of dark... something. Ian trusted fully in Annika's and Sally's cooking skills, and without a shadow of doubt, he bit off a corner of one piece. His eyes went wide and immediately after, he threw the entire piece into his mouth. After a long moment of silence, he needed to eat more... No. No, just eat- savour every moment of it! He looked at Annika and Sally with fire in his eyes.

"The Kings' goals are beyond comprehension for mere mortals like us. I will send Lilly, Rose, and Iris to you, Annika," he said in a very serious manner before he looked at Annika, who nodded shortly.

•••

"Queen Amber, you must use a narrower stream of mana. Imagine it as the flame of a candle!" Stella pointed at the white tall candle that was burning in front of Amber.

Irene was almost there with the size of her flame, but nowhere near the temperature of Amber's flame that Stella had instructed them to achieve. This exercise was way harder than anything they had to perform earlier. It looked and sounded stupidly simple: at the tip of your finger, form the hottest flame you can create, and keep the flame size no bigger than one of a candle. It sounded easy, but performing was a whole different story.

Amber and Irene were soaked with sweat, but they could see their progress. With the passing of each day, their magic wielding abilities increased, especially when all interference from outside was cut off. They were tired after a few hours of the same drill...

*FPLOMP* The flame on the tip of Amber's finger died with a wet sound, causing at first a giggle, but then uncontrolled laughter from Irene. Her flame imploded with a similar sound, making both women laugh. Stella gave them a few moments because their laughter was contagious and she started giggling herself.

"I think this is enough for today, my Queens. You can return home and rest. We have made significant progress so far." Stella smiled.

"Thank you, Stella..." Irene managed to reply, exhausted. The Queens faintly smiled at their teacher.

Amber leaned over the table, but her face twisted with disgust as she fixed her dress that stuck to her wet body. Irene, seeing this, looked at herself while waving her hand to cool herself a bit.

"I dream about a bath right now..." With a weak voice, Irene looked at Amber.

"You are too far away..." Amber theatrically outstretched her hand towards Irene, who was on the other side of the wide table.

"Let's do this together!" Irene similarly extended her hand.

They both finally laid on the table and managed to grab their hands while weakly laughing at each other. With a small swirl of wind, both of them teleported away.

•••

Amber and Irene teleported straight into their bathroom, where they hit the floor with a wet *plop* because there were no tables or chairs to support them. Both women rolled on their backs and looked at the ceiling, too tired to even talk, but laughing was easier, so they laughed.

They had rested there on the warm floor of the bathroom, gathering enough strength to at least clean themselves before Theon returned home. Stella's lessons were more and more exhausting with the passing days, but Amber and Irene felt the difference in their mana control and manipulation as a result.

"Irene?" The weak Amber's voice woke up Irene, who gave up the fight for the remains of her dignity. May Theon find her here beaten and defeated.

"Amber?" she responded with the last of her strength.

"Can you reach the bathrobes?" Amber asked with determination, deciding that her passive stamina regeneration must be worked on.

Irene attempted to reach for two nearby pieces of clothing and, after a second try, she caught the bathrobe with her fingers, pulling both of them on her face. She groaned a little and managed to pass the bathrobe to Amber. With great effort, Amber managed to put it on and started breathing heavily.

"Ohhhh... That's better... Can you put on a bathrobe yourself or do you need help?" Amber questioned after a moment, while panting much slower now.

"No way. I'm two stamina points away from fainting..." Irene laughed.

To her big surprise, Irene saw how Amber was able to stand up and help her with the bathrobe. As soon as Amber finished, Irene felt how her stamina was replenishing.

"Thank you, Amber. What a relief! I was afraid Theon would find me here."

They sat on the floor together and caught their breath. After they felt comfortable enough, they took off their dresses, which were still wet from their sweat, and tossed them in the laundry basket. Suddenly, Amber started laughing.

"Irene, we should call for a Maid to help us with these bathrobes."

"Maybe... But with your heroic effort, you saved our dignity." Irene smiled, and with a moan of pleasure, she entered under the warm shower water. "Ohhh... It's so good..."

"Uhm..." Amber yawned as she joined Irene, moaning as well. "I can't imagine life without this anymore..."

After almost half an hour in the shower, both ladies put on bathrobes and went to lazily lay under the afternoon sun on the sunbeds. The wonderful view from the balcony towards the distant mountains was excellent today. Amber summoned the Slime Maid and asked her to bring them a pitcher of juice and glasses. Irene asked for some light snacks as well.

"Amber, do you even remember your old life outside of Avalon?" Irene asked, uncertain of how she exactly wanted to ask the question that was troubling her.

"Of course... I..." Amber suddenly straightened on her sun bed, covering her mouth with her slender hand. "Irene! I don't remember so many details!"

"Neither do I..." Irene nodded, relieved she was not alone. "I don't remember some things as well. Whoever attacked Theon attacked us as well."

"I think we should help Stella with mental protection." Amber said, pursing her lips.

"And I think we should start keeping journals too…" Irene and Amber nodded together.