The portal glowed only for a second or two before it disappeared. Even the portal disappeared, but in its place, there appeared a silhouette standing alone.

Everyone looked at the silhouette in surprise.

The Alliance explorers braced for a fight when a portal appeared out of nowhere. Most were sure that there would be a fight; instead, what they saw surprised them.

For a second, there was nothing but silence among the crowd until the being that came through spoke.

"Ah, thank god it worked", the being who came through sighed in relief.

The being that came through the portal was recognised by the people around. It was because the being was the talk of the town for a while in the area.

"Aaron, is that you?" a girl came forward and asked.

One can see surprise etched on her face. She couldn't believe what she was seeing at the moment.

"Ah, Mary, I have never been so happy to see an old face again", Aaron spoke in joy.

Mary remained in shock even after she knew that it was Aaron. She believed that Aaron was gone forever. It was known that everyone who entered the ruins, even the members of Cults before the Alliance, was considered dead.

None came back, even after months.

So, Aaron was marked MIA and probably dead.

It was what her master told her when she spoke with her.

They may have known each other for a long time, but there was no deep emotional bond between them. So, though she was sad about his death for a while, she pulled herself back again easily.

She concluded that he was dead, no possibility of being alive and made peace with that.

Seeing him after weeks of his disappearance shocked her, and she was not alone in that category. Everyone present here was.

He became famous because of how he disappeared. If a cultist or a monster killed him, he would have been forgotten, but swallowed by a portal that came into existence by touching a stone, which is a unique way to die for anyone.

Aaron's choice of laying low went down the drain. These explorers come from various regions, and soon stories about them would spread throughout the entire alliance territories.

Aaron had a feeling that would happen, even before he returned, but he pushed that away as soon as it came. He was stuck inside. So, thinking about such things was just a waste of time, but now would be the time to consider them and decide what to do.

Before he could think of something, a man approached Aaron.

"Aaron Skyhart, we need to debrief you before anything. Follow me", he said.

Aaron recognised the man. This was the leader of the exploration. So, he has no choice but to nod and follow the man as ordered.

---

The debrief was short.

Usually, the debriefing would be lengthy, as he had to recount his experiences before compiling them into a report, but he was able to avoid all such hassle by recording them beforehand.

So, Aaron gave them the notes, in which he recorded everything he saw in the ruins, minus the details he decided to keep for himself, such as the total resources he came across and, especially, the smoke man.

There are some resources that he got his hands on, which, if the alliance finds out about their existence, would make them pressure him to hand them over to them.

He didn't trust people easily. No matter how righteous the alliance may appear on the surface, that was because there were cults that were worse than some in the alliance.

Yeah, though they appear to be on the right side of justice, some were not. They appear like that, but they were worse than many cultists.

Most cultists are those who are too poor or have very weak classes and are limited in improving themselves. They join the cult to improve themselves, even if that costs the lives of other innocents who were in the same boat as them before.

It was why many had an aversion to the cultists. Many were making do with what they got, but these idiots were greedy and killing weak people like them.

Greed was not only found in people who had less, but also in those who had a lot and still wanted more. So, when they see an easy way to obtain more, even if it is wrong, they will try to get more, but ensure that there is no evidence.

Still at Rank 5 and with no background to support him, Aaron decided to leave certain details for his and his family's safety.

He has attracted too much attention already. There was no need to get even more attention from greedy elements, who would go through various methods to get their hands on some of the resources that he had obtained in the ruins.

---

After handing the notes to the leader, Aaron applied for leave.

The leave was granted without question. The leader felt that Aaron had earned much-needed rest after what he had gone through.

In fact, the alliance ended his contract with the exploration. He is now free of it and can return home to his parents, with no need to return to the Wastelands.

The Alliance had informed his parents of his disappearance a few weeks ago, and the probability of his death. So, when Aaron returned from the ruins, he called his parents, who were distraught after learning about his death.

Aaron practically heard their relief when he called, and they came to know that he was alive, but they were still worried, which he easily understood from their tone.

So, he decided that there was no need to remain here.

Family comes first.

If not, he would not have sent resources to them to grow. He would have flaunted his talent to the higher-ups, which would have gained him a protection plan before he grew strong enough to protect himself from dangers.

He would have reached a rank, even higher than what he was at now.

Mary utilised many resources from the alliance, which were not accessible to others, to reach a nearly identical stage as Aaron, who had a powerful support talent that was later upgraded.

He might have become a Rank-6 if he had the support from the alliance, but that would have put a major target on him and his family. With no strong background, he couldn't take the gamble with his parents' lives.

The alliance might have provided security, but they wouldn't have invested as much in his parents as they would have in him. Also, he knew that he would be in debt with the alliance once he grew strong.

He avoided many things by keeping secrets. Many see it as cowardice, but cowards survive for a long time.

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