Hand resting on the hilt of his blade, Edric patrolled the old camp's vicinity. The wasteland was quiet, eerily quiet, the stillness broken only by the faint rustling of ash carried by the wind. The air was thick and carried an uncomfortable scent. The dead earth crunched beneath his boots, each step echoing in the silence.

The princess had agreed to treat the stranger with the supplies they found in his backpack. Reluctantly, but she did. On the condition that Edric would regularly look out for the creature that injured him in the first place.

The stranger's condition was dire. His leg was almost completely torn apart, only held together by the bone. In truth, Edric didn't expect him to make it through the night, however, the man's regeneration was faster than anything Edric had ever seen.

It was eerie enough to make them wonder if he was a beast in disguise after all. To be safe, they had taken down one of the torn tents and used it to tie the man to an old log. Crude, but it was at least something.

Finishing his patrol, Edric returned to camp. And again he had encountered nothing-no hostile creature had ever appeared in his sight. What may have sounded like pleasant news, only served to fuel further uncertainties within the two.

They had been given the means to defend themselves by the trial, and remembering Halric's words, they knew that wasn't a given. What was a given, was that it wouldn't continue to stay this way.

It was only the second day they'd been here, of course. However, Edric was beginning to fear the fallout. And there was another problem: hunger and thirst. With nothing to hunt and no water in sight, they'd die because of their bodily needs before any monster would get the chance to tear them apart itself.

With a growling stomach, Edric took a breath and turned to the horizon. The sun was rising quickly, casting shadows over the barren wasteland.

The princess was sitting next to the stranger, fire dancing between her fingers. While Edric was out on patrol she had taken her time honing mana control and conjuring small fires here and there. With each one, she improved drastically.

He observed her for a while, watching as the fire jumped between her fingers, expanding in size and also diminishing again.

"How's it going?" Edric asked, sitting down, leaning against a log across from her, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Good. I think I'll be able to conjure a fireball soon," she answered, her focus still on her flames.

Edric gave her a nod, and with that the conversation ceased. Their relationship was strange, more an uneasy alliance than anything else. They didn't like each other, but neither did they dislike one another.

As two people who had entered the trial, it was natural for them to stick together, trying to make it out alive. However Edric couldn't make sense of her. Her demeanor, the way she acted was almost too composed.

Or maybe the weight of their situation simply still took time to settle in.

Edric's gaze shifted, observing the stranger. His breathing had steadied, no longer ragged and uneven, and his leg already looked much better than the night before. To the point where it looked like he'd be able to walk again, once he woke up.

It was weird. This entire world had been created by the trial, and so had he. Most likely. But he appeared so real… He bled like a real man, he took breath like a real man, looked the part and the desperation in his voice also sounded human.

How much of this was merely a projection and how much reality?

As if on cue, the man stirred.

The princess swiftly distanced herself, while Edric's hand settled on the hilt of his blade, ready to draw it at any moment.

A low groan followed. The man tried to sit up, only to find himself bound by something. His eyes opened - first confused and then narrowed once he noticed Edric and the princess.

He blinked. "You…"

"We pulled you out of the dirt and patched you up," Edric said, gesturing at the torn tent that wrapped around him. "That's a safety measure."

The man glanced down at the bindings and the log beneath him. "Charming. Really."

Then, without warning, he suddenly shot up, ignoring makeshift rope as though it hadn't been tied around him at all. His demeanor shifted, eyes widened, as though only now coming to himself.

Edric took a step back, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at the stranger.

"I- I remember now!" he stammered. "The crawlers - the farm… How long have I been out?!" the stranger asked, his voice cracked, full of panic.

He looked between them, frantic. "How long?!"

"Just the night," Edric responded, readying to strike down the stranger.

If possible, he wanted to avoid a confrontation. This man wasn't normal, his regeneration was exceptional and his strength also surpassed that of an ordinary human. Not just anybody could've freed himself from the binding, even if it was just the cloth of an old tent.

"Just the night?" he asked, sounding almost relieved. "Then there's still a chance."

"A chance for what?" the princess asked, her hand engulfed in golden flames.

"Listen, thank you both, for treating me but I need to go," the stranger said, the urgency in his voice almost palpable.

Edric moved to block the camp's exit, feeling his heart beat against his ribcage. While reluctant to face the stranger, they needed to know more.

"Sure," he said. "Just answer us a few questions before you go."

The stranger didn't respond, his gaze settled on his right forearm.

The next moment, a flicker of red shimmered into existence - fabric weaving itself from nothing. A cloak, of the same deep crimson as his hair, formed in an instant, draping over his shoulders and falling just to his knees.

It blended seamlessly with the brown leather tunic that he was wearing beneath, while his trousers that shared the tunic's color, frayed at the knees, remained visible below the cloak's hem.

"Sorry," the stranger said, his brown eyes settling Edric. "But I have no time."

Edric's grip tightened around his blade, his mind spinning. Was that his power? Conjuring items into existence?

"You'll have to make time."

The stranger gritted his teeth. "You don't understand… It's urgent!"

"I believe we do understand," the princess spoke, her voice calm but sharp. "You mentioned a farm, and crawlers. The latter which are most likely some kind of beast judging by the way you appeared here at our camp. You were attacked and now want to go back. But what makes you believe that you can defeat them now? In your state?"

Edric blinked. "You weren't alone on that farm, were you?" he asked, but it sounded more like a statement than a question.

The stranger didn't answer right away; his expression shifted to one of desperation, his gaze cast downwards. He was aware of his own condition, while much better than before, he still hadn't fully healed.

Looking at Edric and the princess he realised that they wouldn't just let him go, in the end he relented.

"Alright if you must know… but I'll be gone after," he said. "We were twelve people, excluding me. Around two weeks ago we arrived in this place, not long after we found a farm and made it our refuge, while trying to figure things out."

The stranger paused, jaw clenched. "It wasn't much, but there were tools. Some food and a well. We patrolled around the farm, taking turns to watch out during the night."

Edric didn't interrupt. Neither did the princess, though the flames in her hand dimmed.

"But there was no sign of hostile creatures," he spoke, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "Not until yesterday. That's when they suddenly came. Crawlers, hundreds of them. I tried to lead them away from the others, bought as much time as I could." He looked down at his bandaged leg. "Didn't get very far."

Edric's face paled as he listened to the stranger speak. That was why they didn't encounter any beasts. It was because they traveled in a single large horde.

But if they had found the people in the farm, would they come for them too? How long would it take before they found their small campsite?

A dull chill pressed against his spine, the reason they were still alive was because they were lucky. Blind, reckless luck.

"So please, let me go," the stranger pleaded. "If there's a chance that one of them is still alive I need to save them."