The door was slammed as Andrew ran out of the house, there was a little grin on Michael’s face as he watches Andrew storming out of the house to who knows where. “Show me that you haven’t given up kid”, said Michael obviously expecting a lot from Andrew although he is obviously crippled and is still dropping in power.

That day, Andrew went out but this time around, he didn’t go to drink but instead went inside the forest to hunt down beasts. Although they were the easily hunted ones which wouldn’t cause him any life threatening danger, it was still a great improvement on his part. Andrew changed obviously from that day henceforth, and although he still usually holds a jar of wine with him out of habit, he finally went back to his former days of glory but this time around he didn’t partner up with anyone. As long as he doesn’t stress his body too much, he won’t receive any harmful recoil in his body hence he was always in a nice shape and during this period, his power stopped decreasing and was stabilized in the boundary between an average hunter and the speed realm. Although he wasn’t as fast and powerful as he was before, he still seemed okay to do.

This new development shocked Michael really but he was happy all the same, after all everyone in the village thought Andrew was a lost cause and nothing good could ever come out from him again. Even the hunters he saved in the forest at the cost of losing his powers had started avoiding Andrew and the other hunters he usually worked with didn’t want anything to do with him. They always used every chance they had to mock him if they happened to see him close by, which goes to show how fickle the minds of humans actually is. They all also noticed the change in Andrew and was shocked. Michael couldn’t help seeking the doctor once again to check if Andrew would be able to increase his realm once again but the news he gets from the doctor crushes all his hope as he was told that although Andrew has stabilized his power and is not expected to drop anymore, he still can’t go through anything strenuous as such a thing could lead to full crippling of his body. At the stage Andrew is currently in, he should stop hunting and instead just focus on another line of business. After all, hunting was not the only lucrative business in the village, and he could use any money he has accumulated to start up a business.

But unfortunately, Andrew is currently low on funds and he doesn’t wish to take any money from Michael, so he decides to hunt for beasts which he can handle all by himself and gather herbs if he is able to find any while hunting. Although this crushes the hope of Michael, he is still happy that Andrew is back on his feet since he had been trying all manner of advice on him and they all seem to be falling on deaf ears. So this all seems to be like a dream come true for him and even the former hunters whom Andrew was with tried to form a good relationship with him all over again. After all, although Andrew has dropped from power, he was still way stronger than any average hunter and could handle hunting much more easily and efficiently than they did. Andrew wasn’t really in it to let them go hunting with him after all anyone would feel hurt over what they did but after they asked him lots of times, with pleas and even some gifts, he finally agreed to their request. He didn’t have such a cold heart to just continue ignoring them, but this time around, he placed a condition that their lives are in their hands and won’t step up if the situation gets overly dangerous, which they all agreed to without much thinking. The next few weeks went smoothly as the hunting was going well and he didn’t stress himself too much, but good days always have to end.

One day when Andrew as usual went hunting with his fellow hunters, a tragedy occurred. They met with spiders, huge and poisonous spiders. Their body was laced with deadly venom that on touch, you would have to die without remedy since the effect of the poison is fully shown in just five minutes while being paralyzed immediately. Not enough time to be treated by a doctor, since doctors usually don’t go hunting except for special cases. None have been seen by Andrew or any of the villagers till date though. They were at the outer part of the forest, looking for beasts to hunt but unfortunately they had to meet a pack of spiders whom were moving, looking for new territory to base in and one of the hunters just had to be a busybody and enrage the spiders whom didn’t notice them at first. The queen spider which would have killed the present Andrew without much hassle ordered its underlings to destroy the hunters in their weird communication manner. It was a total massacre as only Andrew was able to survive back home due to his fast reflexes and running at the first sight of the incoming danger. He didn’t bother to be the savior this time around since he has indeed warned them formerly. Maybe if the hunters had seen the speed in which he escaped from the danger, they would have cursed at him. He got back to the village totally exhausted and strained from running at full speed from the danger of the spiders since they did not hesitate to pursue him until the entrance of the forest after which they scrambled back as if they were afraid of going out of the forest at all cost. This results in his muscle’s nerves being tensed and overworked and he fainted as soon as he got out of the forest and walked into the village for a while.

A villager found him and since he was still alive, rushed him to Michael’s place where the doctor came up to check up on him. By some miracle, his powers didn’t drop this time although he strained his muscles and he just needed some rest. When he woke up, he saw Michael sitting beside him once again. “You pushed yourself too hard kid, I thought you were a goner this time around. What happened that could have caused you to ignore the doctor’s order?”, asks Michael on seeing Andrew awake. Andrew narrated the story to Michael as it all happened. Michael sighs before saying in an inaudible tone, “How wish you had done what you did today the last time it happened, you wouldn’t have been in this position”, “Huh, what did you say?”, Andrew asks not being able to hear what was said at first. “It’s nothing”, Michael says. “Rest up kid, the doctor said you need lots of rest. I cooked up something for you to eat in case you are hungry”, said Michael after a while before standing up to leave the room. “Are you still going to leave me?”, Andrew asks. “Huh”, Michael replies. “You heard me. Are you still going to abandon me in the village and go to the capital?”, Andrew couldn’t help asking again while his eyes gets moist.

Michael is quiet for a while before saying, “You are better off here kid. The capital is a more bigger stage and you won’t be able to handle it. It would just make you stressed more easily which is bad for your health. Being in the village, you can hunt and do as you like”. “But...”, Andrew tries to find an excuse. “There is no but”, Michael replies immediately cutting him off, “But don’t worry, immediately I am able to find a standing in the capital, I would definitely send for you to come join me”, he smiles as he completes his statement while rubbing Andrew’s hair.

Andrew knowing he can’t argue his way out of this way just buried his head for a while. Seeing Andrew this way, Michael steps out of the house just to do other stuffs, run some errands and to meet up with George and Joshua to discuss the layout of the plan by which they were going to accomplish the task at hand. Although nothing was certain in the forest, a little but detailed plan wouldn’t be bad to make things go in their favor. Their discussion lasted till late in the night when it was almost time for the curfew, so they had to bid goodbye to each other and then continue the meeting another day.

He rushes back home in order to beat the curfew and the house was all dark, he enters inside and puts on a lantern to make things bright for easy movement and notices that everything was just as he left them before going out of the house. He checks the kitchen and notices that the food which he prepared was untouched. He rushes to Andrew’s room worried that something must have gone wrong since Andrew was not the kind of person that would just intentionally leave a meal untouched.

On getting to the room, he brings in the lantern which shows the exact situation of the room, Andrew is exactly in the same position with the same posture he had before he left the house, his head still buried between his arms, maybe he might have perhaps slept in such a position, it wouldn’t be something shocking knowing it was Andrew. But he hadn’t eaten anything and he needs the nutrient for his body, hence Michael walked up to him and taps him lightly on his shoulders while saying, “Hey kid, wake up”. Andrew raises his head with his eyes obviously swollen from crying too much and the sight greeting Michael gives him a fright as he couldn’t help taking a step backward after all Andrew’s face didn’t seem approachable and it was a little bit scary. “What’s wrong with you? Have you been crying?”, Michael couldn’t help asking. Andrew doesn’t reply his question but his face becomes hardened all of a sudden and was filled with determination like a soldier whom has steeled his resolve to take a suicide mission for his/her country before saying, “Take me with you to your final hunting”.