Mark spent a few minutes just staring blankly at his computer screen as he just breathed in and out. Coming to terms with the fact that his heart was still beating in his chest and he wasn't covered in wounds and bleeding from all the cuts he had just gotten from the pale tree's taloned branch hands not twenty minutes ago.

  So, yeah, Mark needed a moment to adjust, but eventually, after he had come back, he commented on the fact he had died in a one-on-one fight with a tree. He noticed it had gotten pretty late, so he began to turn in. Which was a bit strange for Mark, considering he had just been sleeping for the last few hours, technically, but that had been just resting his body, not his mind, which he needed to rest after all the stress of fighting the undead horde.

  So Mark went to the kitchen to fix himself a late dinner of some microwaved generic food that, honestly, he ate so fast and was so generic he'd forgotten what he'd eaten as soon as he'd gotten done swallowing it. Then he went to the bathroom to take care of his hygiene; after that, he was soon under the covers and dead to the world as he slept like the dead should be: silent and unmoving, unlike the honored of Allyssa.

  Though as he slept, the world of Allyssa was dealing with the fallout of Mark's duel with the pale tree calacra. Which could be seen as a visibly enraged and depressed Commander Faro, who was hacking at what was left of Calacra's corpse with a single-minded ferocity. It was very clear he wasn't taking the death of a young recruit who he'd just taken under his wing very well.

  Luckily the fort didn't need its commander, as after the defeat of Calacra, the undead near the fort of Faria were unorganized and had lost a lot of their undead power and so could not interfere with Detrei power as well as they could before. So Detrei duly appeared and brought forth a herd of catacomb smashers to charge into the disorganized honored undead horde, who were swiftly trampled under their hooves.

  Detrei, once assured of the horde's destruction, instructed the fort's defenders to send many of their own to go with the catacomb smashers and help relieve other forts under siege that were nearby. Though when Detrei noticed that the fort's commander was not the one answering her, she asked where he was and was duly pointed to Faro's as he acted as a mad lumberjack to Calacra's corpse.

  "Halt, commander, stay you wraith. Why have you decided to vent your anger upon the defeated rather than attend to your duties?" Detrei asked in a stern voice, wondering why one of the leaders of her people's defense wasn't doing their job. Faro knelt at her feet for a second, not answering as he visibly got his frustration under control.

  "My goddess, Detrei I took a young warrior under my wing for this battle, and as such he was my responsibility, but sadly he was slain in single combat with this monster that now lays dead at our feet. This warrior's final act was taking the monster with him when it should have been me who faced the monstrosity." Faro's said clearly sad that such a young and brave warrior had died before his legend could truly begin.

  "Who was this young warrior that gave his life for the people?" Detrei asked in a gentle voice, trying to find out who it was that had defeated the enemy commander so she could begin to consider how to best honor their sacrifice. It took Faro a moment, but he finally spoke again, his voice thick with an undercurrent of restrained emotion.

  "It was Mark, your holiness, the young warrior who gave his life, who was named Mark." Faro said in a proud voice, though still tinged with an undercurrent of frustration of a man who'd lost someone far too soon. As Faro's has only started showing the boy the ropes today, he should have never gotten off the walls, much less charged an enemy commander. Faro still couldn't quite believe he had done it.

  "Ahhh, was this Mark wearing a strange green armor that seemed to pulse while wielding a purple blade with a razor-sharp edge that stayed like that no matter how many times the blade seemed to chip?" Detrei asked, figuring she knew who Faro was talking about. When he nodded, she proceeded to give him the good news.

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  "Do not grieve over him, Commander Faro, for Mark is one of the summoned, and as such, the moment his body was killed, his spirit was returned to his world where his true body lay. You will see him again, no doubt, to lead him across another battlefield. Detrei told Faro in a gentle voice this revelation shocked Faro, but then he remembered Mark's arrival had been strange, and he had thought he'd been something like that when he'd first arrived, but his apparent death had made him forget that.

  "Thank you, my goddess, Detrei, for telling me this. wonderful news. I will see to my duties and stop my pointlessly bellyaching about someone dying who isn't even dead!" Faro said with a happy grin, ecstatic now that he knew his temporary apprentice was still alive. Faro quickly jogged back over to his fort, bellowing orders to get the reinforcements that were to be sent out better organized. Detrei smiled at Faro's renewed spirit, then looked to the chopped-up body of the pale tree commander Calacra. She made a gesture, and it disappeared in a haze of light with Detrei following soon after.

  The following day, in the world of wonders, the mad Mark woke up and immediately proceeded to the bathroom to take care of his basic needs, then his hygiene, before he had himself a swift breakfast. Before he headed to work, he checked his email and saw a message from the game Allyssa. He immediately clicked on it and read through the message and saw whoever was running the game was asking him for permission to use his gameplay footage to turn into promo footage.

  Mark thought on it for a bit and agreed, figuring it would be kind of cool to see himself playing the game, but he did add in the email he sent back that he was wondering when the players would be able to take and create videos as well. After that, he got in his old beat-up car and got on the road to work.

  "Well, Robert, it looks like you have the permission you needed. So the viewing can begin. Simon said in an excited voice because he was interested in using the footage himself, especially while using an artistic license.

  "Don't jump the gun, Simon. I'm going to have to be very careful with how I use this footage. On the one hand, letting people see the gameplay will generate interest; on the other hand, if the part of the pale tree calacra tearing out someone's heart isn't handled well, it'll drive people away." Robert was very nervous about his little video assignment.

  "Well then, on another note, what about the request to let players create their own videos? Are you going to allow it, Robert?" Simon asked if Robert might not be due to paranoia over bad press, which is a legitimate fear considering all the otherworldly stuff going on with Alyssa. Literally, it wouldn't take much for people to panic and drop the game.

  "Yeah, I'll put in the feature right after I've put the promo together from the footage we already got. We won't have to worry about anyone abusing their own footage too much, considering people will be using their videos to make money off streaming websites, and you usually don't mess with your own revenue." Robert said he was convinced that self-interest would keep people honest for the most part as he began to make the promo.

  "Fair point, Robert. Well, while you're doing that, I'll be watching what's going on in Alyssa. Can't miss the show, as you know." Simon said with a smirk that came through his usual static radio voice.

  "Alright, just keep me informed of anything big that's happening with Allyssa." Robert asked while focused on finishing the promo as quickly as possible while keeping the quality of the video the same.

  "Of course, Robert, I wouldn't leave you out of the show." Simon said as he focused on what was going on with Allyssa to see what would happen next to entertain the fans.