We'll see," William wasn't serious about this. He'd take fifty years in Sloth's best estimate to reach the pinnacle stage, but he promised himself he'd do it in less than a decade, not five!
As the two walked on the mainland, they finally found themselves near a big city with portals. Yet this one wasn't connected directly to Lara's city. When they asked about a portal to Lara's city, and with the description that matched the legendary Fox guild founding master, everyone started to recognise William.
This created hype in that city! William and Sloth had to stay in a hotel for a few days, while the former kept meeting tons of masters, accepting their good wishes and will to join his guild.
He didn't refuse any, kept smiling and exchanging good words with them. He knew they admired him too much, and he had to accept their good intentions without any annoyance.
Sloth kept watching all this from the side, and William didn't miss telling him about how great his guild was, but he wasn't going to accept him even if he begged for it.
Sloth tried to control himself to not slap this rude teenager again. And after a few days, they finally finished their task here and went towards the portal zone of this city.
They got to another city where there was a linked portal to Lara's. And yet they had to wait for a few more days there, as more admirers flooded the two and kept speaking with William for a long time.
During all this, news of William's appearance in the first city reached Lara's city. His friends heaved a deep sigh of relief when they heard that. The war ended over a month ago, and they integrated the newly recruited masters to their teams and into others' teams. They were awaiting William to know what else they should do.
They all knew he planned a specialised training program for them, and they were pretty excited about it. They also cared about his reaction when hearing of the three dead friends, and the many dead members of the guild.
"I told you, my mentor will keep him safe. I bet the two became best friends now," Anjie spoke as if she was a fortune teller or something, not knowing that when the two arrived, they'd give her a big shock.
The moment William and Sloth appeared back in the city, the two were instantly surrounded by lots of masters. They were welcoming them back, and soon enough William learnt about what happened to his friends and guild members.
The moment he got the news, he instantly dashed forward, leaving everyone behind, and didn't even say anything to anyone. He ran directly towards the direction of that fort, the place which now turned into the base of his guild.
He just heard about the loss of three of his best friends, in addition to thousands of the guild members, including hundreds of the two special teams of his guild.
He personally selected everyone, and the loss count wasn't just limited to the old ones, but also many new members died, including the ones who came from the other world.
William felt something he never felt before. All his life, he was the one who lived in the shadow of his master. He never got responsible for any team, and didn't even feel the responsibility of taking care of any master before. All he got to know were his teammates, while all worked under the leadership of his master.
Now he got what it meant to be a master, and got to feel how deeply terrible to lose masters who trusted him. As he ran without feeling himself towards that fort place, he couldn't help but wonder about how his master felt back then.
They all died, and he wondered so many times about how his master felt back then. She didn't show a speck of emotion on her face, didn't say anything to express her true feelings. But now, he was pretty sure she was feeling so bad deep down in her spirit and heart, just the same as he felt right now.
Just as he got near the fort place, he found the guild masters all waiting for him. They were standing outside the trench, lining up in a grand scene. They heard the news, and they came out to welcome the return of the legendary master.
The moment he spotted them, he felt something different. He came here devastated, blaming himself for not being by their side when things went south, and didn't train them properly as he should have.
Yet the moment he saw the grand gathering of his guild masters, how they came out to welcome him, how they bowed in respect while he stood like a statue in front of them, he learnt something new about how his master felt back then.
Even if he lost a few of his closest friends, even if he blamed himself for what happened, he still had masters who placed their total trust in him. And he had to be up to the task and be the man they all wanted him to be.
He couldn't believe how being a master was this bad and complicated. In times of mourning, he needed to show them there was still hope, acting tough as if nothing happened, the same as his master always did all the time in front of him.
"It's time to show them there is still hope," he took a deep breath, looking at the faces of his friends who were still alive. They stood in front of everyone, looking at him in worry and concern.
They must have heard the news from Sloth, heard about how he ran out the moment he heard about what happened.
"I know we all faced great turmoil this time, but we'll do like we always did," he didn't know what the heck he was supposed to say.
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