Asan had a dream. It was strange and incomprehensible, ephemeral. He stood somewhere in the midst of mountains and looked at some person. He felt how rage and hatred swelled within him, but along with this... Confusion. He did not understand why he hated the man before him so much. In the dream, he fought using his dark magic, and two others... He was powerful, much stronger than now. Their battle was heavy, incredibly heavy for Asan, but the fury in his chest did not subside. The person fighting against him used his fists and some strange energy.
The battle was long. He dreamed of missing a blow on the man and managing to create a web of cracks in the ground, each of his strikes echoing in small whirlwinds around him. This was incredible strength, which Asan could only dream of. Soon, he managed to defeat him, though with great difficulty.
When he was already about to leave, his heart fluttered, and his body broke out in cold sweat. Turning around, he saw something so terrifying, so horrifying for the eyes, all his senses.
He had woken up.
"Ghak! Ha…" Asan gasped, waking up in a cold sweat.
He quickly began looking around, searching for a threat or the person he had been fighting. His body trembled, and his mind could not distinguish reality from the dream.
"Hey, are you okay?" He heard a voice nearby, coming from the right.
Asan, frightened, looked at the source of the sound and saw Crane. The burly man stood with a bottle of water and a wooden bowl. He looked at the scared, pale young man who was breathing heavily, with surprise in his eyes. Finally, Asan managed to calm down, and his gaze became more composed. He surveyed the camp and realized it was still very early morning.
His body ached from cramps, and his hands felt an unpleasant burning sensation. After a slight cough, he redirected his gaze towards Crane.
"I... I'm fine, thanks. Where... Where is everyone?" the boy asked, catching his breath.
Crane slightly tilted his head to the side and sat down next to Asan on the cold ground.
"Alice and Laszlo along with Paul went back to town again to carry barrels of water they found in the barn at the farm. Another group of guys went for reconnaissance at a couple of houses to find more clothes. Paul mentioned they're good guys," Crane said, eating some porridge from a bowl whose smell made Asan's stomach growl.
Noticing this, Crane smiled.
"You've got your share too, turns out one of the old men is a great cook. Thanks by the way for bringing the salt, it would have been terrible without it, at least according to the old man."
Asan nodded to him and stood up.
Every part of his body ached from sleeping under the tree. There was an unpleasant smell in the air, similar to that of a hospital or clothes left too long in a washing machine. After stretching a bit, the boy looked at Crane and spoke.
"What did Geographer say yesterday?" he yawned and asked.
"Ha, suddenly you're interested now, huh? Okay, don't grumble, I'm just kidding. Yesterday Alice and I checked out the fire department and a couple of houses, then we returned to the camp. Paul has already gone several times for food supplies, and eventually other guys went with him. You two were gone longer than anyone else. Alice, despite her personality, couldn't stop worrying about you being gone so long, and when you came back, you basically told her off."
"I understand how you felt at that moment, when Geographer was protecting you from her, saying that you were very tired, and they didn't bother you today because of that," Crane said all this while eating porridge and washing it down with water.
Asan felt a bit uncomfortable because of what had happened, but he wasn't going to apologize for such behavior. He hadn't asked anyone to worry about him. When he heard that Geographer had been protecting him, it seemed... strange. Why was he doing that? His mind couldn't provide an answer to this question, but maybe... he had actually cared about him? No, that couldn't be. In this world, everyone is on their own, Asan had learned this lesson long ago, even back in Janschwalde-Ost.
"Got it, thanks. What about the expedition?"
Crane put aside the bottle of water and once again raised his gaze towards the young man.
"We're leaving today. Geographer sent the others to the city for supplies precisely for this reason."
Many went to sleep longer since a tough journey awaited them ahead," said Crane, looking at the blood-red sky.
Asan also raised his gaze toward it. This sky would now constantly be above them. Red rays pierced through the charred tree trunks, falling onto the tar-like ground. Asan was once again captivated by them, as if he were looking at treasure. But he didn't intend to stand there for long; his growling stomach forced him to go look for food. Crane didn't say anything to him as he left, merely observing the young man from the side. Asan headed towards the nearest tent, where he had sensed the smell of food. The scent so strongly stirred his sense of smell that saliva began to flood his mouth.
Approaching the tent, he saw an old man who was cooking porridge in one of the pots they had brought earlier.
"Good morning, old man," Asan said, captivated by how the old man stirred the porridge with a ladle. The old man smiled kindly and looked up at the pale young man.
"And a good morning to you too. I heard that you brought this utensil here, thank you for that, boy. Here's your portion," the old man said, still smiling, as he poured porridge into a wooden bowl. He also handed Asan a spoon, which he took.
Nodding to him, Asan had a neutral impression of the old man. He was wearing a white T-shirt and wide pants. Although one could consider him a typical old man due to his beard and thick eyebrows, his hair surprisingly wasn't very gray. While his face clearly showed his age, his hair was surprisingly good. Deciding not to dwell on this, the young man began to eat. Indeed, the old man cooked quite well, though not so much that it was amazing.
Perhaps it was because Asan had only eaten porridge all his life, along with canned food on holidays.
"Wouldn't mind some meat..." He voiced his thoughts aloud, putting a spoonful of porridge in his mouth.
For orphans, meat was something like a rare specimen of food that was valued by everyone. Asan wasn't so poor that he never ate it, but it was very rare and mainly appeared on birthdays. Even a small chicken thigh or breast was considered among the orphans as something incredible.
Finding himself a secluded spot near one of the trees, he continued watching the camp. Many people were sleeping in tents. He saw Crane, who had dozed off slightly, the old man who kept cooking porridge, and the girls who sat in the same circle as yesterday, warming themselves against the cold.
"Hmm, doesn't seem that cold, does it?"
Asan felt quite warm.
There was no wind, so the ash from the burned trees wasn't floating in the air. Looking at his old sneakers, which were already two years old, he noticed that they were starting to come apart. He would need new shoes, preferably hiking ones; maybe he'd get lucky and receive something useful from what the others brought. Suddenly, Asan heard footsteps behind him. Turning sharply, he saw a small statue with gray eyes. It was Geographer.
"Good morning, Asan," said Geographer, approaching the boy.
Asan just nodded at him, showing no emotion or reaction.
"Has Crane already told you about today?" Geographer asked, looking into Asan's eyes.
"Yeah, we're supposed to move out today, I guess," the boy replied casually, shoving the last of his porridge into his mouth.
"Good, you're doing well. When you both came to the camp yesterday, you were covered in injuries. What happened to you? Laszlo didn't want to talk about it, so I'm asking you."
Asan stared at the Geographer's face for several seconds, trying to understand if he was genuinely interested or just being polite. But his emotions were hard to read, just like during their first meeting. Geographer silently waited for the boy's response. In his gray eyes, Asan could only see his own reflection.
"We... We just had a tough time. We ran into Ronnie and barely managed to escape. I had been in a fight before and barely survived, killing the creature," Asan said, deciding to keep information about Jacob hidden.
Geographer... Was surprised. A genuine expression of surprise appeared on his face, causing Asan to frown. Could this be some kind of feat? After all, they all managed to kill at least one to activate the system.
"I have to admit, I'm surprised. Paul, Alice, and also Crane managed to barely defeat the creature and got their first level. Before that, as I heard, you managed to win against creature with Laszlo, though I don't know the details. I'm surprised because you were able to defeat the creature alone, but this... Believe me, it's a good surprise. I was also able to win alone, so I understand how difficult this can be."
Asan was stunned. He didn't consider the Geographer to be particularly strong, well, partly. He thought he would be stronger than Asan, but not stronger than Laszlo. Though who knows, if he had been in the place of the pale boy in that house, maybe Laszlo could have defeated Ronnie without getting such injuries as Asan. In his eyes, Geographer was now quite a strong person.
"I'm also surprised, I didn't think you were that strong. I'd like to ask you something…"
"Why did you defend me yesterday in front of Alice?" — He decided to ask the question that was bothering him Asan.
Once again, the emotion of surprise appeared in the geographer's gray, deep eyes. He cleared his throat slightly, and a barely noticeable smile appeared on his face.
"I saw your look. I know that look; it was the gaze of someone so exhausted that no matter what I might have said to you yesterday, I'm sure you wouldn't have cared. So I gave you time to rest today, hoping it wasn't in vain. Soon the others should arrive, and we'll set out on our journey. Everyone except you already knows about it, so I wasn't just looking for you to say good morning."
"So that's why. Well… Okay?" — He replied, scratching his head slightly, ready to listen to their group's further plans.
Geographer once again extended his hand forward, and blue lines began to stretch from his fingers, forming a fleeting map. Asan could not help but be captivated by such an action. After a minute, a blue map appeared before his face, levitating above the Geographer's palm.
"So. Our path lies through the power station, perhaps you've heard of it. Most of the population of Janschwalde works there. On our way, we will pass through Wilmersdorf, where we will likely be able to replenish basic needs like water, food, and so on. In the end, we will reach Cottbus, a large city. We won't enter it, as it is too dangerous; who knows what goes on in cities. Next on the plan, we need to go around it from the east, passing through Schließ, this small town," Geographer pointed at the map.
Asan merely stood there, nodding, absorbing all this information.
"Our main goal is to bypass Cottbus; after that, we'll be able to move on through forests and fields. This is the hardest task that awaits us. For now, there's no point in saying more—too much information won't help anyway. All you need to focus on is protecting our people and getting through the city safely, that's all."
Asan remembered those words. Whatever this journey turned out to be, he was determined to survive.