[center][h1]Aster[/h1][/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zZeGyW6.jpg?1[/img][/center]

	And then, the fighting was over. It hadn't taken long, no more than a few minutes, but god, it had felt like more. Aster felt her hands shaking on the katana's hilt, and sheathed it carefully, feeling it rattle a bit in the scabbard as she did. They'd done it. Somehow, they'd killed their first boss, without losing even one of their members. If that wasn't enough, there were signs that even more members might be joining soon. All was well, wasn't it?

	Somehow, Aster felt unfulfilled. They'd slain a boss, which was in itself incredible, and yet... in doing so, they were that much closer to leaving... leaving this world where she was... whole. It was necessary, she knew that, particularly if she wanted to keep her new friends alive, but damn if it wasn't bitter as much as it was sweet.

	With a sigh, Aster sheathed her now-damaged katana and withdrew the magically-imbued dagger gifted to her by the admin, Kadeen's Dagger. That in itself was a bit odd, that the admin would give his supposed opponents aid, but perhaps he had faith in the game he ran, that no matter what he gave the players, they would still eventually fail.

	With a shaking voice, she called out over the conversations, "Umm, hey, everyone? I can take us all back to town, if you'd gather around. It's one of my items, if you don't mind coming over here." As the other players gathered, Aster took a breath, then plunged the slim blade into the earth, where it shimmered, then sent a ring of light outwards, encompassing everyone and dropping them back into town. [img]https://i.imgur.com/wscA32K.jpg[/img]

	"I don't know about everyone else, but I'm heading back to the inn. I'm really tired, honestly. If anyone wants to meet in the morning, I'd love to grab breakfast." With that, she started back to the de facto base of operations, as smoothly as she could manage.