Zoe guided Hazel and Astrid through the second floor, leading them toward the Healer that would help with Hazel’s eyes. Everyone else except for Kane, the mage, and John left to perform other tasks around the airport. As the group made their way over there, Hazel continued to grill them for information, determined to gather as much as possible.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, Zoe, but you’re not from Earth, correct?”

  The knight softly chuckled. “That’s right. I’m from Meine, much like your dark elf companion.” She spared a glance at Astrid, who had remained silent this whole time, clearly not wanting to converse with the humans. “Before I was dragged into the tutorial dungeon, I was actually a Knight that served the Briarhart kingdom. In fact, my full name is Zoe Callahan, and that makes me part of the Callahan family.”

  “What’s the Callahan Family?” Hazel asked, pretending to be oblivious.

  “It’s simply a family of knights that I was born into. The Callahan family received their Knighthood several generations ago, when our found protected the King at the time. I believe it was Charles Briarhart. Anyway, after being rewarded with Knighthood, the Callahans have sworn to serve and protect the kingdom from any threats. And I held the honor of upholding this oath along with the rest of my family...” saying this, Zoe’s expression fell as if realizing her current circumstances as she was then filled with a sense of dread.

  She was likely thinking about where her family was at the moment and...if they were still alive. Hazel knew that feeling well since she worried about her mother and brother. She had no idea where they were, nor did she know if they were even alive.

  To make matters worse, there was no guarantee that they would return to Portland after completing their Tutorial as long as they were part of a party. Even when they did survive, either of them could end up getting teleported across the continent with no hope of getting back for who knew how long.

  Hazel was lucky to return home. Of course, that came with the expense of dragging her partner away from her homeland in the process, but Hazel was determined to make it up to Astrid by getting her back to her village. Considering what they currently knew about the Planetary Fusion, they were at least aware that they were close to the Forest of Mier. All they needed to do now was fly over there with Nycteris, and it was mission accomplished.

  They just needed to wait until nightfall.

  “By the way, this healer you mentioned, I’m assuming that they’ve been with you since the beginning?”

  Aside from a couple of clerics that she encountered during the Spider Sentinel fight, Hazel was curious about the Healer that Zoe was bringing her to. If she had to guess, this cleric class was likely the same level as them, making her a very valuable player. Especially depending on what her evolved class was.

  “She has, actually,” Zoe stated. “She was one of the few players that got teleported in the same area of the tutorial dungeon. And she had been quite helpful.”

  According to Zoe, when she first got dropped into her tutorial dungeon, she managed to get put together with John and the other two players, along with the healer. Compared to Hazel’s first experience in the tutorial, these people were lucky to have others around them.

  She could still remember the lingering solitude before encountering Astrid and how much of a godsend the dark elf was. Despite their initial meeting, Hazel didn’t regret coming across Astrid since she was the only person to talk to and, more importantly, trust while wandering through the Fractured world.

  “She was a bit difficult to handle due to her extreme overprotectiveness toward us,” Kane chimed in, talking about the healer.

  “Yes, you’re not wrong about that,” Zoe stifled a laugh. “She was always worried about us when we fought that she regularly scolded us for getting too injured. She acted like our mother.”

  “In more ways than one,” Kane added. “I still remember her chiding me over that fight with that giant four-armed monster. She told me how much I reminded her of her son and how reckless both of us are.”

  “She has a son?” Hazel asked.

  Zoe nodded. “A son and a daughter, actually. She’s always talking about them. In fact, she told us that she spoke to her daughter just before everything went to hell. She said she was worried and wanted to check up on her.”

  That sounded...familiar.

  “Yeah, I also remember her talking about taking away her son’s druid figures or whatever they were called,” The brawler expelled a laugh.

  Hearing this, Hazel stopped in her tracks, frozen in place as she processed their words into her brain. As soon as she stopped moving, the others glanced at her in concern.

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  “Hey, are you alright?” Kane called out to her.

  “Is something wrong?” Zoe asked.

  Hazel couldn’t hear the others, their voices muffled and sounding distant, as her mind raced with questions. The way they were talking about this healer...the way they talked about how protective she was and how motherly she acted toward them...that described Hazel’s mother very well.

  Her mom was always a helpful and affectionate person toward others. And she was also extremely overprotective of Hazel and Damien to the point where it was sometimes exhausting to deal with her. And from how Zoe and Kane were describing this Healer, Hazel couldn’t help but think that maybe...just maybe...

  Suddenly, the witch felt something gently grab her shoulder. When she spun around to see who it was, she realized it was Astrid, leaning close while looking concerned.

  “Hazel, are you alright?” The dark elf inquired.

  Seeing her partner look so worried as she attempted to check on her managed to bring Hazel out of her deep thoughts, allowing her to take a moment to calm down.

  “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Hazel told her, coughing a few times to collect herself.

  She then turned to Zoe while shifting her soft and gentle expression to a more serious one. The sudden change in demeanor caught the knight off guard as she nervously stared at her.

  “This Healer you mentioned,” Hazel began before hesitating to continue, fearful that she could be wrong and that her hopes were up for nothing. “Her name wouldn’t happen to be Evelyn Thatcher, would it?”

  This was her mother’s full name, and if they were talking about the same person, then she should have the same name. Hearing this, the female knight’s eyes widened in shock, displaying her surprise. John and the other players looked just as taken aback, all of them staring at the witch in dismay.

  “How do you...” Just as Zoe was about to question Hazel about her knowledge of the identity of their healer, she began to ponder as if putting together the pieces. “Now that I think about it, your status says that your name is Hazel Thatcher...”

  “Which is the same name that Evelyn called her daughter as well...” John added. “What about the boy? Can you tell us his name?”

  Hazel could tell what the gunslinger was getting at. To know if Hazel was truly Evelyn’s daughter whom she talked about so much, then she should know her brother’s name.

  “His name is Damien,” Hazel answered. “Damien Thatcher. My brother.”

  As soon as she said this, both Zoe and John realized their situation and got serious.

  “Come with us,” Zoe declared as she turned back around and guided Hazel toward the healer.

  Her strides quickened with each step, establishing the knight’s earnest determination to reunite a daughter and mother. While the group continued, practically sprinting this time, Astrid spoke to Hazel.

  “How do we know that they actually know your mother?” The dark elf questioned. “It could be a trap.”

  Hazel hesitated to reply since even she held a bit of doubt about them knowing her mom. If anything, they could be playing the witch, making her believe that they were acquainted with her, just to lure her into some kind of trap.

  However, despite her hesitation, Hazel already had an answer regarding what she planned to do if they so much as deceived her in such a way.

  “If it is a trap...then I will have no problems destroying their base...and burying them in it.”

  Even though Zoe and the others were there and heard Hazel declare this, she didn’t care. If anything, she wanted them to know. She wanted them to be aware that if they were tricking her, then what happened next would be on them. Their fate would be sealed the moment the jig was up for them.

  Even if they were stronger than her and were a couple of levels higher, that didn’t matter. Hazel would be determined to raze everything to the ground until there was nothing left but rubble and corpses. Then again, with her two Entropy spells, she would only leave dust in her wake instead.

  Although Hazel didn’t see any of their faces, she could tell that they knew she was serious about what she said before. And that was all Hazel needed to know before their fate was decided. Were they lying...or were they telling the truth? It was now all up to them.

  The group soon made their way over to a small gathering of people sitting or lying down. Some looked injured while sporting bandages and the like to cover their grievous wounds that seeped through the wrapped cloth. Several players were rushing around the injured while casting a bright yellow glow on them. It only took Hazel a moment to realize that they were healing the injured. Which meant that they possessed the cleric class.

  Just to be safe, Hazel used her Astral Eye and inspected them, becoming curious. When she did, she noticed that most of them were barely above level ten, making them rather weak. However, after inspecting a few more, she soon stumbled across a rather high-level cleric...with a familiar name.

  [Evelyn Thatcher, Class: Healer, Level 20]

  ...It was her mom.

  Staring at the individual who possessed that status, Hazel spotted her mom. She had short, black wavy hair and wore a white cleric robe with gold accessories decorated on the outfit. In her hand was a long, thin, metallic staff with a cross symbol at the top. The cross emitted a golden light when she was casting some kind of healing spell on one of the injured players. A moment later, their injuries healed in seconds.

  The player marveled at his miraculous recovery; his eyes widened in surprise and glee.

  “T-thank you...” He said, expressing his gratitude.

  Evelyn simply smiled, like a mother grinning at her child. “It was my pleasure. Now, you better be careful from now on,” She scolded the player while lightly whacking his head with her staff. “Don’t go attack monsters so recklessly like that again since your team might not be able to rescue you in time. You hear me?”

  “Y-yes...!”

  Seeing the scene unfold, Hazel couldn’t help but chuckle. It was just like her mom to scold someone for being reckless. She did that a lot with her and Damien when they were younger. The countless times Hazel and Damien injured themselves only to get reprimanded by their mother were practically numerous.

  As Hazel laughed, she noticed that her mom turned around and noticed Zoe and the others. Just as she was about to call out to her allies, the mother’s eyes widened when she spotted Hazel amongst the group.

  And in that moment, she uttered only a single word.

  “...H-Hazel?”

  As soon as Hazel heard her name being uttered from her mom’s mouth, all she could do was slowly nod, confirming her suspicion. When she did, Evelyn’s eyes watered before she then rushed toward Hazel without a second wasted.