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The Realm That
Never Was

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I, for some reason, crash landed into the realm that the portal led to.

One minute I was casually stepping into the portal, and the next minute there's sand in my hair.

I can only hope that this is the right place.

"So you finally made it"

"Welcome~"

Two voices suddenly spoke.

I was expecting to see a dragon or an animal of some kind, but I turned around to find two regular looking guys.

One was floating towards me, while the other simply walked.

"Magic users?"

I mumbled.

"You have a keen eye~"

"I'm Rune, a young wizard"

"And I'm Ernas~, a young magician~"

Ernas walked over and helped me up, while Rune gently dusted the sand out of my hair.

"Welcome to The Realm That Never Was~"

"The Realm That Never Was?"

I questioned.

"We decided to call it that since no other Nephalems have been here, until today. This realm was on the brink of extinction, until you were born. We decided to stay here, and see how you'd turn out"

Rune explained.

"And you turned out just fine~"

"We were right to have faith in you all these years. You've grown so much, and now you're on your way to becoming a king, a really great king"

"Y-You really think so~?"

I blushed.

"Of course"

"You have the strongest power out of any other king we've met in the past~!"

"THE STRONGEST?!"

"Mhm~! But let's go over what you'll be doing in your ordeal~"

Ernas then used his magic to materialize a rolled up scroll.

He rolled it out, revealing an exceptionally long list of tasks for me to do...

"Not that I'm complaining, but I have to do all of this...?"

"Yup~"

"Don't feel too bad about it. The two princes have just as much, but they have a few less things to do"

Rune explained.

Zuho is not gonna be happy about this...

"I'll explain further~. It's known that any person of royalty has to go through hard rigorous training to claim their roll~. Nephalems who are presented as royalty must go through even harder treacherous training~. Though this realm is presented with an incomplete look to it, it's the perfect training ground for Nephalem royalty such as yourself~. But we'll help you every step of the way to help you claim your place among the angels and demons~"

Ernas explained further.

So my training is far worse than Yoonho's and Zuho's...

I know Zuho will be delighted to hear that...

"The first thing on the list is flight training, for which I will be your supervisor since Ernas can't fly"

"I'll be in the cabin waiting for you guys~. I'll take your crown with me so that it won't get lost or damaged~"

I gladly handed Ernas my crown, and he ran off towards the mountains, leaving me with Rune.

My hair changed back to normal, and my power decreased a bit after I took it off.

"So how's this gonna go Rune?"

"Well, first I should mention that you'll have to repeat this particular training course four times over, but only because you have four sets of wings. First, we'll work with your angel wings, then your demon wings, then finally both combinations of the two"

I get what he means by the last two.

I can use combine both wings with one angel wing on the left and one demon wing on the right, and vise versa.

He wants me to repeat this training four times around to ensure that their durability and strength are magnified the same.

"This flight training is simply what you think it is. It's purpose is to strengthen your wings, as well as increase their durability. We'll start by free falling from unimaginable heights, as well as emerging from unimaginable depths. There will be breaks granted to you, but keep in mind that you may be flying nonstop for hours, or even days"

"...I understand"

It may be hard, but I'm determined to get this done.

"I'm glad to hear that. Also, I just thought of this. If you want to do each wing individually to make them stronger and more durable, then we might need to repeat this an additional four to six times"

"You're a really good coach Rune..."

"I appreciate that. But you don't have go through with my idea if you don't want to. It's only an added measure just in case something happens to one wing in battles in the future. I'd hate for you to be caught in a jam if that happens, if you can't fly with just one wing"

He's really concerned about dangers that lie ahead for me...

"So, if you're ready, we can head up to the tallest peak above us where the shining light and clouds are"

I immediately took off my shirt and brought my angel wings out, making Rune smile from my determination.

"I'm ready Rune. Help me become the best king I can be~"

-

2 Weeks Later

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Zuho and Yoonho completed their training a few days before me, and are already resting at home.

I heard from Ikki the moment they were officially accepted as the realms' princes. That pushed me to work even harder on the rest of my training.

And eventually, I finally finished.

After my training, Ernas and Rune let me rest as much as I needed to, before bidding their goodbyes to me.

I visited both realms to be officially accepted as their king, then returned to Aeredale to meet up with Ikki.

Like Yoonho and Zuho, I left my crown on my throne to keep it safe with Ikki, and departed for home.

I decided to take the long way home by flying, but it was much faster thanks to all of the training I've endured.

It was extremely late when I got home though, so I landed on the helicopter pad and entered the house through that door on the top floor.

I quietly made my way to my room, got some clothes, and quietly ventured to the showers without waking anyone up.

After I showered, I quietly scurried back to my room to finally sleep in my own bed. I got into bed, but I was suddenly alarmed by the sounds of purring next to me.

I brightened up the room up bit, only to find a sleeping kitten rested on my pillow.

I should've known that Chenle would miss me the most. I left on such short notice after all, and I was gone for so long. It's no wonder he's trying to find comfort by sleeping in my bed.

Nonetheless, I turned the lights back off and gently brought him close to me. I cuddled him close and laid part of the blanket over him to keep him warm.

I assume he felt my presence, because his purrs got louder, and I felt him relax against me. I know he wants to welcome me home properly, but this is all he can do because of how tired he is.

But that's fine with me.

As long as I can pet him and make him feel safe and secure, he can sleep as much as he wants.

Then, he can welcome me back as much as he wants tomorrow.

"Don't worry. I'm home"