With my pockets now another silver coin lighter, I leave Sarah’s village. This was a very good trade. I ended up selling my rope and got two new items. A lightweight silk rope, I tied around my chest, and a leather jacket.

The jacket may not be what most people would consider fashionable, but it is not like I care. What was important was the function.

With plenty of pockets, and protection almost as good as most leather armor, I leave with a big grin on my face. I feel a twinge, as the money leaves my hands, but what I receive in return is worth it. The fact I could leave the village without a backpack was worth the expense.

My pockets had all I needed and I even had a way to secure my staff. Testing it again I twist my writs and in a single movement, the staff is in front of me. If I need it fast, I could probably get it out in time.

My track goes smoothly. I start slow, but after an hour the food is already settling in my stomach and I can increase the pace. The feeling is something else altogether. With no backpack, my pace increases slightly.

Now with light out, I can notice more around Sarah’s village. I pay attention to the different vegetation.

A couple of hours later I find a different plant. It’s unlike any of the surrounding shrubs. I guess it to be similar in some way to what we using to make the healing salve. This specimen looks and smells like mint. I eat a couple of leaves and take a sample. The people in the village can study it, to figure it what it is. This is the first edible plant I find.

With no pun intended, it is a refreshing find. Just the taste of something other than what the inn was serving was a huge improvement. I wasn’t complaining or anything. But I had stopped eating meat years ago. Now meat was half my diet, it just seemed wrong.

What I really wanted, was some wild berries. That was half my diet back home.

I continue my exploration, happy at least there were a few for me to eat. And not anything dried from the merchant, but straight from the ground.

I head in the direction it is most likely I will find another village. Given the information I have, the most likely place is straight across my route.

Drawing a circle between our’s and Sarah’s village, I follow a 100 miles straight line. It was my plan all along to make the full round, to see if I can find the other settlements.

Fifty miles in, I run across footprints from an unknown monster.

The tracks are huge, I can see claws and indentations. I guess we will be running into a feline. Redoubling my attention, I continue trying to go unnoticed and pay attention to my surroundings and any new tracks.

Without dallying a second I continue. I even slightly reduce my pace. If I’m attacked, I will need every bit of my strength. Seventy miles in, I leave the area I postulated the higher level mobs roam, I see something of interest.

I enter a cave and find an ore vein. Looking at the greenish coloration, I wonder if it is copper. Copper is the only green ore I know. I carefully chose a couple of pebbles with the brightest greens and put them in my pocket.

Back at the village, we could probably figure out what it is. Giving a last look at the beautiful green-tinted stones, in the light of the sun, I resume my journey.

A little later I start to run on tracks. First, it is more sparse, but soon the tracks are more and prominent. It is clear they were made by humans. People have not been idle in this village. There are also pretty clear indications of regular paths traveled.

I don’t make myself known to anyone, but as I continue in my planned path, it is clear I’m getting closer to the village. If my sense of direction is correct, this village is pretty much spot on the place I imagined. I give myself a 5 miles margin of error, but it is spot on.

Without pausing for a moment I continue on my way. Almost leaving the 30 miles radius, I found of bunny/wolf zone I run into a settler of this village. I think it over, but I go ahead and talk with him anyway.

Approaching, I see a young man, probably 18 to 20 years old. He wields a staff and a bow. Clothed in the same manner as me, minus the jacket, he doesn’t carry anything else of value. Standing tall, the 6 foot, 160 pounds soaking wet young man sees me. I approach at a jog and greet him

“Hi, I’m Nash.”

A little weary, I hear him saying more than he meant to speak.

“I’m Oliver. Are you from another village? The Mayor said something about it, but we didn’t go looking yet.”

“Yeah. I’m just passing through and saw you. In a couple of days, I will come back to my village and tell them of you guys. I think they will send a diplomatic envoy.”

“Ok, I will tell the elders in the village. You came from a village in that direction?” He says pointing at the path I can from.

“No, that is another village we established contact with.”

“Fine if you don’t want us to know just don’t tell us.”

“I’m serious, there is another village. We already entered in contact with that village. Like the mayor said, the closest villages are at around 100 miles from each other.”

Still distrusting my words he says his goodbyes and runs back to his village as fast as he can. Why can’t anything ever be easy?

Putting the encounter out of my mind, I continue running. Another hour in, I see a mountain. It’s not Mount Everest, but it looks to be a good size.

A mile high and a dozen miles at the base. It is to my left in the direction of my village. In a straight line to the peak, it should be around 80 miles from the village.

I look over it and find a few harder spots on my climb, but I don’t let that deter me. The rock is not falling apart so I climb it without even taking my rope out. I don’t have much experience in free climbing, but I manage just fine. With my stats, I could even do stuff nobody back on earth would dream of.

My vertical jump had passed two meters a few stat points ago, and that is only one aspect of my physical fitness. I can only wonder what some of the world-class athletes are experiencing now. Every single day breaking their own records.

With stamina like mine, I could climb a near-vertical wall like most people climb stairs. I ended up taking more care than was strictly necessary. A fall at this height would be very bad.

Most of the track however is just a steep incline. I only had to climb because I didn’t want to make the long tracks around obstacles.

As I climb the cold starts to bite evermore. Before the temperature was fairly constant, slightly warm during the day, slightly cold at night.

Now during the day, I feel the cold wind. At night this is likely cold as hell. Almost at the peak, I start to see what Sarah talked about. Nests with eggs, each of them the size of a big apple. The birds who lay these here are probably around, given their size I should be careful.

Without even approaching, I make my track around and arrive at the peak.

Over a hundred miles open up before my eyes. I try to ignore the cold starting to set in, as the night arrives. I don’t usually have trouble with the cold, but this is unnaturally cold. Such a low mountain shouldn't have such a sharp temperature contrast. The wind, sure, the temperature is not something you would find on Earth.

The terrain around opens up. In the last vestiges of sunlight, I try to see any other villages but find nothing. All I see is is a forest and a few places with less vegetation.

About 40 miles ahead I see one of those clearings roughly where I guess the next village would be. I don’t see any more indications of the village.

Perhaps if there was more light around but this late, I have no luck. Disappointed in not finding anything more to see from here, I take the forest around and rejoice in the beauty.

Sitting to meditate, I ignore the cold and do my best to keep my awareness in my surrounding. Absorbing the environment, I pay attention, at the same time, to all and nothing around me. It’s is a strange state of being. It focuses the mind to just drink in everything around you. I will not truly rest in this state, but I don’t have to worry about anyone sneaking up on me. It is also relaxing and helps me to tune in to the world.

I only spend half an hour in this state, but I leave with a different perspective. My very perception of time shifts and I no longer think of the past or the future, only the very moment. All my worries and seem small and distant.

I also gain perspective on a few of my actions. Sleeping at the feet of a tree in the village may have been the best choice at the time. But it was not enough to restore me to my natural state of being.

Fear is something we should all have in measured amounts. The healthy respect of the danger when you approach the edge of a mountain will save your life. To be paralyzed and hesitate to jump, even if it is to scape certain death, is also fatal.

Letting go of my fear, I run down the mountain at a record pace. Seven miles of laughing and rolling later, I get tho the feet of this monument of nature. It took me less than 20 minutes to make the track down. I can’t sustain this pace all the way through, but my normal pace is fast enough.

After almost a day spent mostly running, the miles pile on easily. In almost a hypnotic state, I don’t even notice the changes throughout my body. Each step is easier, and my body recovers faster.

Hours upon hours and I’m slowly regaining my confidence.

I pass another 4 villages, as expect, in my trek. The shape it forms is a rough hexagon. Imitating my interaction with the first village, I discovered and improve my approach slightly.

All my pockets are filled with rocks and plant samples. The trip was very fruitful.

I found 5 different herbs, another two mines. One was iron another I didn’t recognize. There was also the field full of wheat-equivalent and even a run-in with a giant cat.

All of that didn’t surprise me at all. I just wished I had found some wild berries. Though it is no trouble. Even if I had to scour each square inch of this instance, I would discover where they were hidden. No berries were safe from me.

The second leg of the trip was wonderful. Even with a fairly well-defined track, I still explored hundreds of miles. And I still have a hundred miles to go.

“So, did you find any new villages in these last two days?” Sarah, asks with her usual charming demeanor.

“Nope, I did not find 5 other villages centered around my own. The only one is yours.”

She chuckles and responds: “Well we suspected something like that. The other village we found is at almost exactly 120 degrees using both of ours as reference.”

“Look, who got their math lessons today.”

“Don’t be a jerk,” she says in a light tome.

“I’m kidding, I probably think in numbers half the time. The other half I think in terms of trees.”

She ignores my comment and continues to weave silk cloth. The process is still mostly hand made, but they have proper tools. I see the wood guides and her hands dexterously moving to finish the cloth.

“So, did you found a lot?”

“Few things. If you give me enough vegetables to fill my backpack, I can even tell of a few things not too far away from here.”

After a good ten minutes negotiating, I ended up agreeing to help their blacksmith for half an hour and to give information on the location of two herbs. In return, they would give me fresh vegetables. Enough to fill my backpack. They would also be sending 20 pounds of salt next delivery.

I end-up offering more than I hoped for, but in a roundabout way, I was helping myself.

After another ten minutes of planning and talks with a few other people, we decided on a fairly simple and direct approach.

I arrive in a building exactly like our own smithy. Stepping inside the hot air buffs out and the feeling of holding a hammer comes back. I like to create with my hands, but that is not why I came here. From the entry, I see six people working beside the smithy. His speed is slower than Blackwood’s, but not by a lot.

I hear an abrupt voice saying:

“The next sword is not ready yet. Come back later.” Looking back at the smithy I take him in. He could be a cousin of Mr. Blackwood for all I knew. Perhaps his race is just very similar to each other, or the System illusion makes everyone look alike.

At his rebuffing, I don’t let my self be dissuaded.

“Hi, I’m Nash. I wanted to show the people here how I work to get better weapons.”

“You are not touching my hammer.” Hearing those words, I notice a couple of other hammers. The other people must have begun to try forging on their own. I ignore their predicament and continue.

“I’m not talking about doing any of that. You would be the one to forge. I will just heat the forge, so you can do your thing.”

At a scowl, I enter the smithy properly and head for the air blower. I take his silence as agreement and stand beside the input plate. With my hand a few inches from the plate, to help everyone understand what I was doing, I sed a thin stream of mana. I don’t begin my meditation, as usual. I slightly relax and pay close attention to the smithy by my side.

With my higher manipulation levels, I could send even lower mana levels than the machine needed to reach the temperature needed. I don't do that, I send a steady stream and continue to pay attention to the smith.

After 5 minutes he finishes his current blade and starts to work on the next. I pay even closer attention to grasp the differences between him and Blackwood styles. At the request of Sarah, he forges a spear.

The metal is slowly folded and I see him relaxing. He may not like us, but he does enjoy the process of forging.

It takes over an hour to finish the part he needs the forge hot for, and I stop the mana flow as he finishes. He only spends 20 minutes on the grindstone and I wait watching closely the process.

In the end, he fits it to a handle quickly and proudly stares at his creation. He addresses me:

“Thank you, it has been a while I haven’t truly forged. The system limitations are annoying when it comes to this.”

I don’t draw too much attention to the gesture and say: “Don’t worry about it.”

“What can I do to repay you?”

“Just teach these lads well.” I gesture to the older people around who work for him. “We are going to need their expertise.”

I see a small but perceptible grimace in his face, but he agrees with no problem.

“I will. Don’t you worry.”

We part ways and I get my backpack in my way out of the village. With 100 pounds on my back, I start to run. I try to keep the same rhythm again. Sweat breaks out and I push hard to keep the pace. The moon is high in the sky and I can see everything clearly.

I make my track back home.

My mind wonders to a naggin and persistent trouble, something has bothered me since I came here. I spend a few times in the last couple of days trying to find out, with no success. Where the hell did the mobs vanish to when was time to despawn and new mobs spawn.

People had tried to find out, but nobody had any concrete conclusions.

This time, however, I had another idea. A good idea that I hoped would succeed. If I found out, I would e one step closer to finding the reason these wolves were rabid. Time seemed to pass slower the closer to sunrise. I couldn’t wait to try out my new idea.