Eastwards from the northern side of the mountain was the land just above Haven and the other cluster of villages in that region. Stanis had initially thought he had been heading there but quickly realised he was going further north than expected as the line slowly angled towards north-east.

Not that it worried him or anything. He doubted he would be in any danger whichever way he went. Perhaps this was just his overconfidence speaking, overconfidence that would soon lead him to death, but Stanis thought little about it.

The region, which had been forested, was slowly becoming more barren as he followed the mana line. Eventually, he was walking through plains instead of forests. What should be dwarfing trees and dozens of wild plants instead was plain, ankle-height grass. This made Stanis even more relaxed, after all, he no longer had to fear an ambush hiding around every tree. Not that he became completely careless due to this though, no, instead he still cast Scout and sense every few minutes.

Perhaps it was the slow winds or maybe it was the pressure being lifted off him, either way, Stanis found himself drifting towards his memories, towards his life before the apocalypse. After the apocalypse had commenced, Stanis had been bitter about the fact that he had just turned his life around, only for it to be stolen from him once again. Now he watched his memories drift past with a melancholic smile. The pressure-less life he had then made him smile, but underneath that smile was a deeper sadness at how he had wasted those times.

Sharper than any blade was the fact that he couldn't remember many happy memories. It cut deep into his mind and threatened to make mincemeat out of him: make a madman out of him.

He let a deep breath out and sighed, shoulders dropping and upper-body hunching inwards. He then shook his head, before taking a deep breath in and rolling his shoulders back, chest popping out.

So what if he didn't have many happy memories now? At least he was still alive, and more importantly, strong. This gave him every chance to make many more in the future.

And thus another load was lifted off his weary heart, his steps practically springing upwards.

****

It was after many hours had passed that Stanis reached his destination. Across the plains, atop a hill was a large cave that seemed to lead underground. Stanis could feel the pull from his mana-line stronger than ever and pointing exactly towards the cave in question.

It was also his luck that across the plains to the other side, at the edge of his vision, were other humans. He hadn't seen a single one in hours and here three of them popped out at once. It was clear what they were here for as Stanis doubted people came here, to the middle of nowhere, for fun.

They were about the same distance from the cave as he was. This meant that either of the parties could walk back and the other party wouldn't be able to chase them down. It was not surprising, however, when both of the parties began walking towards the cave, seemingly careless of the other.

****

"Baws, what'd you think?" asked Skint, squinting his eyes to bring Stanis into focus.

Pete kept silent as he watched Stanis walk towards the cave.

"He come here for same reason," said Bear. He had just pointed out what the other two had realised minutes before but they let him off the hook. After all, he was Bear, this was to be expected of him.

It would have been a perfect silence was it not for the winds and the loud steps the trio made as they walked over to the cave.

"Well," started Pete, still staring at Stanis. "If we can see him, he can see us. But, he's still walking towards it, meaning he clearly believes he can beat us up. Now correct me if I'm going blind but there's only one of him and three of us."

"Ya" confirmed Bear. Sometimes Pete forgot why he had allowed such a simpleton like Bear join him but it was moments like this in which Bear furthered his dramatic, tense, amazing parts in which he remembered.

"I think we all know what that means." finished Pete.

Skint sniggered at this, hoisting out his bow from his back. Bear needed a second to take it all in but then rumbled out deep laughter from his heart, unsheathing a bastard sword from his back.

"Now remember boys. We don't hurt our good guest if he's willing to have a good chat, alright?" added Pete.

"Of course, of course" responded Skint, Bear nodding with him.

Pete looked at his two men and grinned. "I'm going in boys. See you on the flipside,"

He took his canteen and uncorked it, putting it to his mouth and taking a deep glug.

****

Stanis was now a few metres away from the cave, double that distance away from the other party. He watched them intensely as he walked, waiting for the inevitable confrontation.

There was a little guy, 5'5 maybe, with a clean-shaven face walking to the left. He had quite a stubbly nose and shorty cropped black hair. He was white and wore loose leather clothing, the colour dulled and muddied at parts. No effort put into hiding, the man held a thick shortbow in his hands, the string pulled back. He reminded Stanis of Tanya but stronger.

To the right stood a massive guy, a massive contrast to the 5'5 man with his 6'3 height. He had an equally impressive torso which bulged out. He wore thick fur clothing but Stanis could see the muscles bulging out of them, anyway. In his hands, he held a wide bastard sword that definitely took quite some strength to wield. Despite this, the most disconcerting factor about this man was his expression. He had an unshaven face with great, scruffy hairs tangled into a beard. He had thick eyebrows and a flat nose, thick lips wrapping up the whole package. It was this face that was currently struggling to keep laughter in, Stanis put on edge by the giggles that occasionally made it out.

And in the middle of the two stood a man a bit taller than Stanis, so around 6 foot. This man had leather armour and trousers on. He had a short sword at his hip which was surprisingly still resting in its dirty scabbard. He had open forearms from which Stanis could see that the man was lean and lanky under his clothing. He had a great beard, similar to the massive guy's, but his well-groomed. His lips were dark and eyes even darker, his pale skin making him look sickly. But the most interesting thing about this man was the way he walked, stumbling across like a drunk.

In fact, Stanis was almost certain he was drunk or a very good actor. Looking at the three in front of him, the one thing they all shared in common was the metal canteens hanging from their hips. The big man carried a large bag on his back and the little man carried a smaller bag, with the lanky drunk carrying nothing, but all of them wore their dulled canteens like medals of honour.

"Oi, ELLO there, ugh," said Pete, hiccupping afterwards.

Stanis was now only a few metres away from the three but stood without any weapons in his hands. He stood casually as if he wasn't intimidated at all by the glints of metal pointed at him. His face had been drained of most of its fat and what had been left behind was quite a fierce, lean face tanned dark-orange.

"ELLLLLLO," roared Pete. "CAN UU HEAR MEEE?"

Pete stumbled forwards, the other two staying their ground.

Stanis's face stayed passive but his eyes squinted and his hand crawled towards his sword.

"Back off," said Stanis, his tone cold.

"Woah Woah WOAH! Calm yer tits. Y'know what, hand uss those shiny metalies and ur scot-free. Elsse, you can stayy here and plaay with us," said Pete.

The trio wasn't blind. Although Stanis carried very little on himself, they could see the fluctuations coming off from his sword and cuirass.

"Back off," repeated Stanis, this time his tone stone-cold.

"YOUUUU. DON'T TELL MEE WHAT TOO DO? ‘KAY?" yelled Pete.

Stanis had been relaxed but Pete had done a grand job in putting him back in a bad mood. He scowled once, and then twice, before unsheathing his sword. The lightning leapt off the blade, giving itself quite the entrance.

"OOOO. SHINEEEEY!" said Pete as he made his last step forwards. He was now within striking distance.

Stanis brandished his sword before stepping forward, the blade on path to chop Pete's neck.

<Empathetic spread> roared Pete as he smoothly flicked out his short sword and stabbed towards Stanis.

Stanis, on the hand, felt the whole world grow blurry and foreign within a second. Noise echoed in his head and he struggled to get out of Pete's way. Pete stabbed towards his neck but Stanis stumbled out of the way and instead got hit in the chest. Despite getting struck, it was Pete who actually took the damage as he recoiled back with a string of curses, his hand shaking out of his control.

Stanis had unconsciously dropped his pseudo-mana shield when Pete had activated his skill. And due to this, Skint's released arrow had made it through to him, the thick, stubby thing ripping through his leather trousers before striking his shin. It then deflected off his shin and dug itself into the ground, a small trail of blood leaking from the wound.

Despite his actions, Pete had actually been watching Stanis very closely all this time. After he saw the arrow deflect off Stanis's shin and into the ground, he immediately dropped his act, instead roaring "RETREAT!"

However, it was already too late. Bear was flying overhead, his bastard sword swinging towards Stanis's chest.

Stanis himself was stumbling over his own feet one second, the next second regaining all sense and control of his body.

<Layman's rush>

He dived within that short second, picked up his sword before clashing against the falling Bear. Having broken the physics of reality once already, he wasn't shy to do it once more as Bear went flying back through the air, falling onto his arse a metre away.

Stanis growled loudly as multiple Ice crystals began forming around him. Skint and Pete were already sprinting away from him but what they didn't know was that it was all pointless.

Over the next few seconds, Stanis easily chased them down and shot ice crystals into their feet. Pete used some kind of defensive skill in the last second but was steamrolled over anyway by the Ice crystals which kept coming.

It was close to a minute later that the trio were lying outside the cave, their legs pierced through with ice crystals.

"Bossman, please don't kill me. I can help you," said Pete, his voice strained and rushed due to the pain he was currently in. In fact, he was actually better off than the two around him due to the alcohol he had drunk beforehand. Skint and Bear were currently groaning in pain; they were used to battle wounds but certainly not used to be having several freezing crystals stabbed through their legs.

Stanis was going through their backpacks when he heard Pete talk. He chuckled softly from his heart before walking towards Pete, who was currently lying on the ground with blood gushing out of his legs.

"I know you can," said Stanis, his lips curling into an enigmatic smile. "Oh, don't you worry. You three will be helping me out a lot"…