Large, dark clouds covered the sky above, obscuring any trace of sunlight from reaching the earth below. No rain or snow had fallen yet, but not for long.

Not much snow covered the ground around the cabin, it was more mud than snow. Twenty minutes on the road, however, The ground is almost entirely white. Save for places shielded by trees, which are either rocky or muddy.

I allowed myself a long breath. Ten minutes from the severed foot of the poor hunter. And my heart still hadn't calmed down. The foot was still in the same location and condition that I left it yesterday. It was claimed by no monster or animal. That fails to comfort me, however.

Wolfs have a strong sense of smell. They won't have missed it. Unless wolfs or comparable types of predators don't exist in this world. Which I strongly feel is unlikely. From what I noted, the fauna and flora of this world are identical to those of the world from which I originated, minus the monster, that is. The other likely possibility is that the monster killed or forced any predators or animals in general to flee. The birds, for instance, all the chirping and tweeting quieted down once I reached the hunters' cabin.

I quickened my pace as I looked at the pocket watch. I'm getting fond of it, truthfully. It spent more time in my hand than in my pocket. Fidgeting and playing with it, it distracts me.

I opened and then closed its cover, repeating the process several times with my left hand. While my right hand is on the rifle's grip as it rests on my shoulder. I won't feel any safer if my index isn't close to the trigger.

Wherever the dissimilarity in the fauna and its behavior or the monster, I am severely lacking in knowledge and information about this world. No matter how I got misled by the similarities, this is a different world. With monsters, superpower, and who know what else. There are no such things in my previous world, or at least that I am aware of.

Moreover, information is even more important now that my ability is an embodiment of a computer fitted into a brain. Any details, info, or input can alter the equation's results. And every result is a life-saving possibility. Walking like this, in the dark, not knowing where this road leads to, not knowing where I am, not knowing what that thing is, not knowing how many of those things there are. The prospect of depending on luck. It's almost as terrifying as that thing.

What would gramps say? Probably one of those trope lines he noted from a movie. But for some reason, I can't hear him anymore. I shook my head. I unconsciously depended on him or his teaching all my life. One life is enough. This life is another I, literally. I should live with my own mistakes and insight, not those of others.

Suddenly an uneasy feeling crept over me.

I halted my walk immediately. Different from what I felt before meeting that monster. It's more irritation than dread, like when you have a word or a topic on the tip of your tongue, but can't quite put your finger into it.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, then pushed all feelings and emotions down. Immediately after a click sound, a refreshing feeling hit my brain like cold water after a marathon. The limitation I unknowingly had, was released. Like fifty years smoker, breathing for the first time after magically getting new lungs. And soon only a calm focused state remained. All the distractions and feelings are shaped up into numbers or pop up, detaching from my mind.

I still don't understand how the suppressing feeling works. The number value indicating the feelings means they aren't removed from the brain. And the brain is the source of feelings. Which makes me feel and not feel at the same time. A bit conflicting. I could launch an extensive calculation, but with the available data, the results risk being disappointing. Furthermore, the brain's energy is too valuable to use for that type of research. There are more urgent, and in-depth ability studies and tests that take precedence.

I looked around, darting my eyes from spot to spot, searching, analyzing. The trees, the trunk, the ground, both snowy and muddy places, the rocks, the sound, the smells. I tried to find anything out of place or at least seems out of place. The source of uneasiness may not have been external, however, with a beast that can blend you into a mush potato, ignoring it is downright stupid. And sure enough, I was right in not ignoring it. In less than a second, the examination concluded on an arguably positive note.

A footprint, no, a half footprint, only the forefoot area was left on the muddy part of the ground, besides a tree, less than fifteen meters in my front right direction. It didn't take a second to come to some hypotheses. And I didn't have to use any extensive processing, the Stale State is amply enough for that. However, I would need to use some brain power If I need to filter the results to find a leading one. From the hypotheses I come up with, I determined it isn't undeserved. Fortunately, the cost wasn't relatively negligible.

I stored the pocket watch before holding the rifle with both hands.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

A single footprint outside of the road trail may not seems that suspicious. However, the footprint, with a 68% similarity to humans, was created less than two hours ago, and possibly even less. Also, the footprint direction is the way that I come from. No more than one, single footprint. Outside of the trail. And they walked on their toes.

Someone was here, passed from here to where I was. Someone that I haven't encountered... Yet.

Vibrations in the air were detected, not enough to call it a sound. Less than 50 meters behind me. I swiftly made a 180 degrees turn, rifle in position, the front and back sight aligned to wherever the vibration originated from. My Finger posed on the trigger as I looked at the source.

Not a monster, fortunately.

A 182cm tall man, with black short hair, and brown eyes. A vertical long scar on his left scar. The man is geared in a military combat outfit, brown boots, and brown camouflage patterns trousers with a bunch of cargo pockets. A vest in the same color as the trousers. An automatic rifle strapped to his shoulder dangled to his right side. His hands holding a semi-automatic handgun pointed in my direction.

"That's a dangerous toy you have there Northman, haven't your parent told you? You may get hurt." The man addressed me with the language of this world, a language I fully understand. I started analyzing him the moment I saw him. From his appearance and gear, a soldier.

"Sneaking behind people, with a gun nonetheless is a bad habit, haven't your parent told you that?" I said with the same language and words he was using. His face unnoticeably twitched for an instant, but I noticed it.

Irritation? Anger?

Understable, He is looking to be in his late twenties or early thirties. While my current appearance is that of an early twenties young man. Getting talked about like that by a younger man may seem unpleasant to him. Of course, these are just assumptions, I still don't know this world's customs and traditions. Which are known to be diverse even within the same country. Let alone another world.

"No joke kid, put down your weapon." He ordered with a frown on his face. The number representing relief and its extended emotions decreased.

Getting into civilization is one of the short terms goals I had right before information. Meeting this military man may seem like a god sent. Yet not all the hypotheses I come up with are positive. And the main reason for that is again information.

A dead end.

Soldiers are thought most and foremost to obey orders. What is he doing here and what are his orders? Then again that is all based on the premise that he is a soldier. The possibility of its authenticity is less than 70%. Still, I choose to follow the premise since it's the foremost probability.

Nevertheless, coming across an armed soldier alone in the middle of nowhere isn't unequivocally a positive thing, even in my treacherous situation. After all, where I come from, all the monsters have human appearances. Trusting this lone soldier may not be wise... wait lone?

"I don't know how to do that, why don't you demonstrate for me first?" I said while my eyes darted and peeked from side to side. What are the odds of encountering a lone soldier? Whatever they are, they should beyond question be lower than meeting a full squad.

My assumption proved correct as I heard steady and rhythmic footsteps. Three, I deduced from the sound. And all three of them are approaching from behind me.

I need to make a decision. Getting flunked on both sides can prove disastrous. Putting down my only source of protection just because an unknown man with a military uniform told me so, isn't a reasonable decision. In the end, I lack the context.

I didn't have to make a decision myself, however, as the man who has a gun pointed at me sprinted forward. He shifted his center of gravity lower as he dashed forward moving out of the rifle range.

"Wrong move kid, never look away from the gun!

A naive mistake he made here. I don't need to keep my eyes on the target to be able to accurately hit. Having both the target and the rifle sights in my peripheral vision is ample enough to calculate the trajectory and the angle I should be holding the rifle. I could've shot him mid-sentence, dying without ending his unhelpful advice. However, I refrained from pulling the trigger for two major reasons.

The first one is that he didn't shoot me first. From his view, he had at least two options when he saw me distracted; shooting or neutralizing. And, for unknown reasons, he chose the latter, albeit riskier option.

The second and most important reason why I didn't kill him when he acted is the three people behind me. The possibility of them being also trained soldiers is high. The possibility of them being armed is high. And the possibility of them turning me into swiss cheese isn't low.

The soldier running toward me, however, opened the road for a riskier and more delicate plan that I set in motion as soon as it come up.

I moved fast, not as fast as my opponent but enough for what I'm planning to do. With precise coordination, all my limbs moved each with its assignment, minimizing any waste of energy or unnecessary movements. My body may be lacking compared to my mind, when I'm in this state, however, I take full advantage of every muscle perfectly.

First, I must remove the immediate source of danger in his person; the gun. I lowered the rifle once I calculated his distance to be the most optimal for starting the plan. The man with a scar on his cheeks widened his eyes a little, but it is too late. Every and each one of his movements is recorded in slow motion before my eyes. The trigger was pushed as soon as the rifle was on the even with the target.

Bang!

I let go of the rifle grip instantly and moved both hands to clasp it in a bat-like hold. Not waiting for the soldier to get back from the shock and vibrations of having his gun fired at while still in his hands. I swung diagonally the rifle from the top at the soldier. He lifted his hands to parry, however, the back stock of the rifle still connected... with the back of his left knee.

The blow didn't injure him it wasn't the intent, forcing him to crouch down was. Both disarming him and putting him in a position that limits his movement are just the preliminaries. My hands left the rifle as I rapidly drove toward him, my left hand taking out the knife I stored on the front side of my coat.

"Stop!"

I heard a shout behind me, however, I didn't heed it. Less than three seconds from the moment I fired, to holding a knife to his throat.

The plan 'hostage soldier' is a success.