Returning to the half baked market place it looked exactly the same as i remembered with a few new small additional stalls here and there .We made our way to the most run down shop here ,specifically were we wanted to be .lets just call it the mask shop now .Walking through and entering through a newly added tent flap with the gang around me.

"Ay hold on, some costumers in my shop?" She said not paying attention to the entrance but fiddling with something behind the counter.

"Oh your the guy from that day, whatcha want?" She was still looking down

"Oooh Hey Beara long time no see, i came to inform you that I'm ready to take you up on your offer"

"Ehh?" Finally looking up from the gadget she had been toying with

"OOoh , seriously? that was only 4 weeks ago lass"

At first the tone was slightly skeptical but then she cared to pay enough attention to the Queen ,Myrtle ,Remiel and Gwen turning that tone into disbelief

"Well ill be smitten you really are a hot shot aren't you lass."

"Well" I delineated my situation to her just without the mention of Janus and the abilties.

"Huh so little ol you is going to overthrow a planet overrun by bandits for hundreds of years? do you expect me to come with you into a suicide mission?"

She was 100% correct from her and my perspective it was crazy. I didn't even have an excuse i was risking my life because i got some lung powers .If she declines i would understand , i mean who would throw their comfortable life away.

"You aren't wrong there is a high chance i might die, it would be irresponsible of me to say that there was no risk , when in fact there were only risk. Even if im not killed there's a chance you could be"

"so you take my armor for free and you come back with this as your deal?

It wasn't impressive and had no guarantees, but it was reality

"NICE i really lucked out!" she shouted

I had the notion of her declining

"Really you think so?" i asked

"Lass let me tell you something about life its better to take opportunity while its still fresh, The more dangerous the higher the pay off"

I could think of a dozen cases where that logic didn't apply the way she wanted it too but i get a sense of her life philosophy, to each their own . I owed her one so i was happy to bring her along.

"And you need to have some imagination , if you do become king, emperor or whatever you want to call it , ill be in a position to be one of the richest people on that planet and build it from the ground up the possibilities are endless."

I wasn't the type to care too much about influence and coin but i could understand were she was coming from , truly a opportunist .Well since she accepted so easily i suppose my work here is done.

"Well we'll be leaving in about 26 days, we'll be sure to contact you. Please make sure you prepare , it would terrible if something happened"

"I'm a hardy gal ill be aight, this isn't my first space travel "

"i hope so, well that being said ill be on my way"

"you dont want to stay in chat?"

"We'll have plenty of time to chat on the ship ,Right now im just focused on grabbing some chow"

"Ahh cant say i blame ya this metalhead center has everything but food, alright lass see you in a bit,"

Waving goodbye we exited the shop .i was slightly surprised that no one spoke up or said anything, maybe they just wanted me to say my piece without disturbance.

"Hey Ezra , is it possible that we could some non weapon stalls in this place?" i asked

"Well it is possible just not in this lifetime . you have to understand that I'm not a dictator my people choose to live like this and i wont stop them .Not so much me anymore ,but Zyanites in general have a long history of looking down on warm-blooded organism .Their overall dislike for them makes races like beastkin and humans to avoid us causing even more misinformation .I don't think that will change anytime soon"

That's one way to answer that question

We reached the backside of the market , where the thick of the trees were starting to form.

Preparing to get used to the speed of my newly upgrade gear ,i tapped my boot once .In the middle of double tapping it i noticed that there was actually speed settings. Before i could use a double stomp and two blue rectangles, now only one was activated .In short one stomp one rectangle, two stomps two rectangles. That was very handy did my favorite artificer forget to mention it or did he want me to find out for himself .Either way i appreciated the degree of control i had over my speed now i just need to test it .We all knew where we were headed so i choose to start it off. Jumping from branch to branch i felt like a futuristic Tarzan , the speed was about half as slow when compared to it at max speed. It didn't make much of a different to my eye if i was using my ability , but i had to keep a steady heart rate and that was hard to do. This was a perfect way for assimilating my body and mind.

"Wow slow but steady wins the race huh, I'm surprised you picked up tree hopping so easily" Said Ezra

She was the only one next time me , the rest of them were a few trees ahead likely able to go faster but keeping me in sight. They were great friends.

"Tortoise beats hare every time" i retorted

"That's true "Myrtle said somehow hearing me

After about 2 hours of hopping tree to tree my legs couldn't take it were moving slower then usual, so there was still about 3 hours till we got to the usual destination. So i had to be carried the rest of the way there, it was embarrassing the first time, humbling the second time, pleasurable the third, but now i accept it as part of my routine until i get stronger. When they said i was scrawny they weren't even trying to be mean, i had to be patient Tortoise beats hare.

When we arrived and my legs were feeling slightly rejuvenated

"Hey i want to help hunt this time" i stated

"Sure" Remiel said

"If you're trying to get better i don't think hunting boar will help, but there aren't just boar in this forest"

"Is that right" i replied interested

"Yes try hunting some spearhead elk its more dangerous then boar and much tastier, at least this what i heard from Myrtle

That could work in some fashion, with my newly improved plasma rifle it still wouldn't be much of a challenge though. Strolling over to Gwen i grabbed her tactical army knife. Killing this animal hand to hand was the only i would be able to improve any of my combat skills, gracefully i didn't feel bad because were going to eat it.

"Lead the way" i said walked next to the prince.

"No gun?"

"Nah"

"ok Rambo" He said disappearing northwest into the forest

Following him i wondered what type of internal radar he had , they always knew where the prey was.

"How do you find these things so easily?"

"Infrared vision my man"

Before i could continue my endless string of questions i was stopped .

"Look" he said pointing too a brush.

At first it was hard to make out what he pointing at , after a few minutes i could see the tip of what i thought to be antlers .Huge antlers at that ,then gradually the rest of its body came into view. Surrounded by a field of tall grass, Its body sized matched its antler size .it was built and stocky, with very tall strong legs. It was pure green to blend in with it environment ,with the horns being brown .I'm going to try to sneak attack it first , and if things go wrong ill face it head on. Sounds like cheating after my experience with Gwen i came to the conclusion that im just not a head on fighter.

"How do you know it wont tuck tail and run once it sees me?"

"Trust me these species are super aggressive , they only run when their natural predators are around and that's only half the time"

"Ok" was the last thing i said before thinking "disappear" and going invis.

Jumping down from my hiding position it's ears perked up followed by its face. It was looking dead at me. How though? i should be completely untraceable in all of it senses. Well no matter i had to slice it under the neck to ensure a quick and painless death, with conveniently was the safest option for my survival. Now that i was on ground level with it i gained the comprehension that it was in a vastly different weight class then i, standing 4 meters tall on four legs.

Circling the elk i had a simple plan. Activate your boots to maximum and aim for its vital quick and simple like a tiger slash. Slowly moving to its right, i saw that its attention was still focused on where i once was located. Oh so it must've just heard me fall? No that's literally impossible i have the ring. Something was wrong my instincts told me to not move a muscle , what could possible be provoking that response?

The elk looked like it decided to fight and showcased it massive horns in a defensive position. Then from out of the bushes came a big massive predator .It was still smaller then the spearhead elk but still larger then me by a longshot. It was furless with spikes where the fur would naturally be, having four eyes and walking on two legs even though it had four. It had claws and teeth like all hunting animals. Not often was i scared but it was down right terrifying.

Looking at the horned elk and then at me, it was sizing up which one of us was on the menu for today. Did these creatures have infrared vision as well or was it measure my heartbeat, in a life or death situation i realized the flaws in my armor. This was useless if the person i was going against didn't rely on conventional sight.

A crazy down right lunatical thought popped into my head can i fight them both. My adrenaline was rushing which i needed to stop or my powers would be useless. Calming my self i started assessing my situation could i work with the deer to kill the predator, or the other way around .Sometimes in nature predators went for the easier kill but since it was so big i placed my hopes on it going after the deer , i couldn't possible be fulling enough.

Two eyes of the unnamed predator were focused on me while the other two eyed the elk and any sudden movements could spell disaster. Lightly tapping my feet i activated my greaves, chances are the man eater would pose the most threat. Turning my attention to the elk, it saw the opportunity and dashed at me .The world slowed , its huge claws came crashing down intending to end me .Dodging i slashed at its sides but my knife was deflected by the coat of spikes.

It looked to be reassessing its options when without warning the elk charged it on its side. That wasn't without injury as one of its precious horns broke off in the process. Had the elk been protecting me or using me as a distraction? Either way i needed to use this time wisely ,i had no choice but to run the gauntlet .

The carnivore was clearly infuriated at the attack switching its attention. It began clawing the dehorned deer and astonishingly bringing it massive weight to the ground effortlessly .The elk had shallow wounds, but the beast began a hold on its neck trying to suffocate it, leaving it completely slightly exposed.

Sprinting over to the assailant, i slid in a inclined position carving a wound deep between the crevices .Roaring in anger it let go of its death vice grip on the neck of the deer, switching to try to murder me. The elk going tit for tat immediately stood to its full height on its hind legs, and started smashing the predator on the only unarmored place its skull.

Roaring defiantly the creature jumped back with what looked liked to be a broken jaw. It knew it was no match for the symbiotic pair so it fled deep within the forest .It would most likely die it if it didn't recover within a few weeks, it would suffer starvation . I was sad about that but didn't have time to think about that, i looked over to the massive elk. I was supposed to eat it but i felt like at this point it would be a betrayal. Walking up to the animal laying on its side. i put my hand on its nose, i doubt that normally it would let me do this but it didn't seem to have the energy to resist. Would it succumb to injury? I saw a deep gash on its neck where the carnivore bit down, this was the truth of nature. I would stay with it till it died, it was the least i could do when it was possible i brought all this about .After about 10 minutes of the deer breathing heavy ,mixed with it trying to stand just to collapse again it died.

I haven't done this in a long time but i said a prayer. If i wasn't always improving fate was ultimately to end up like the deer and the predator, each in a struggle for survival. Solemnly i called for Remiel

"Hey could you help me bring this?"

"Definitely not that deer weighs at least 5 tons we need to call the whole squad"

"Do that ill stay here with it"

"alrighty be back in 5"

With Remiel gone i was alone with my thoughts, well i wanted to be until i heard a cry. Not a big scary screech but the cry of a infant .Looking in the direction of the sound i walked into the deep brush. Seeing a Spearhead deer's newborn calf .This little fella had just lost its father and didn't even have the capabilities to know it. I had the urge to pick it up and to nurse it but i would leave soon enough , could such a fragile lifeform survive a trip through space? Unlikely, sorry i thought leaving it where it stood .I was changing slowly but that's what it took.

"Hey Farron lets go" i heard Gwen call out

"What are you doing anyway" she said as we came up to me, then saw the calf

"Oh is that a daddy deer, you know we cant keep it right?

"Yeah i know"

seeing my sad face she continued "Like seriously it would need 100s of kilometers of space to grow healthy, also think about how big it would grow, the food it would eat, the loneliness the list goes on and on. This is what happens every time we kill something for you to eat"

"Yeah i know " i repeated "Lets go "

This was something that i needed to see, the experience didn't make me stronger or faster but it developed my mind to more realities of the world, which arguably was far more potent then any muscle gain.

Returning to camp we ate silently while the robo's , watched us truth be told i wasn't in the mood to smile .I wasn't mad at anyone here but more like mad at myself.

"Aww don't be so grim Farron I'm sure that baby will live, life finds a way you know" Remiel said sipping on some hydrogen

"Yeah , you're blaming yourself for the natural order of things which is just stupid " Ezra added

That irked me, how did they know what i was thinking. I suppose the better friends you are with someone the easier it was to tell their thoughts.

Sighing i said "Hey Gwen after i finish do you want to do some more training? we still have a few hours before night "

"This is the most active I've seen you ever, cant see i don't like it sure champ"

Then it was settled i made sure to eat well ,so that i could be given a second wind.

Standing up we walked slightly away from the rest of the crew and took up our locus away from each other.

"Yay more entertainment , don't get beat up too much this time " She directed her words at me

"I'll try not to " i said sarcastically

"My money's on Gwen" Remiel said

"same"

"same" all of them said in unison These guys had no flipping faith in me

but life finds a way , with that being said the battle began.