Misa awakens at the overgrown altar. It crumbles before her very eyes. A dark voice whispers "Because of your services to the god of death, your passing has been rejected" The amulet that Lycerta gave her is glowing bright red, and gradually dimming.

Her wounds are gone, except the cut on her wrist which has reappeared. She is filled with joy. No wonder Lycerta had faith in her. This amulet and the altar combined, can prevent death. After a short moment of joy, fear sets in. She is still in the dead forest. There are still enemies around here and she is no closer to the mines. How is she going to get out of here? On top of that the seal has started to hurt her. The pain feels like that of touching a hot object, but not being able to let go. She must be near the edge of the Arcana kingdom. If she could she would avenge herself. Track down those who killed her and murder them. Preferably a violent, painful death, it's what they deserve. But she knows she is too weak. They'd just kill her again. If things would go bad, they could even capture her and take the amulet. So she has to remain careful.

She decides to take the long way around, staying far from the overgrown roads, in an effort to evade whatever killed her.

She passes another altar, marked on her map, but this one had already crumbled into pieces. Perhaps it was used by somebody else.

As the night approaches, Misa climbs up another tree to rest for the night. Unlike the trees in the swamp, she has to climb very high up these trees, they're old trees that don't branch out till you are a good 8 meters removed from the ground. It's like all the trees engaged in a contest over who could grow the tallest to take sunlight before it reaches the smaller trees. It's uncomfortable, and scary. A fall from this height would break most of her bones. Worse would be if she fell but didn't die, she wouldn't be revived.

Before she rests she eats the last of her dried food, and a small lizard approaches. Driven by desperation, it suppresses its fear for people for the possibility of food. It looks malnourished, its ribs are clearly visible. I guess surviving is hard for anything here. Its large, black beady eyes convince Misa to give it some fruit.

The following morning it starts to snow. The forest is much thinner in these parts, Misa notices a snow covered hill in the distance. A tower-like building sticks out, its dark roofs clearly distinct from the white snow covered vegetation. She decides to go there and see what's inside. Even if there are enemies, if they kill her she will just revive at one of the altars, she thinks to herself. A path starts at the bottom of the hill. Misa decides to follow the path and runs into a snow covered altar. She cleans the snow off it and then slits her wrist to activate the altar. This altar looks in far better shape than any of the other altars she's come across. Like someone has been regularly maintaining it. It makes sense that more people follow the god of death.

Misa follows the path which appears to lead to the tower on the top of the hill. It too goes through a small forest. She doesn't like the idea of traversing another forest, the less densely grown fields allowed her to see a far greater distance, making her feel safe from any potential threats.

It isn't long before she hears a roar. A large bear approaches her. Come on Misa, think quick, what do they say about bears? Pretend to be dead? Make yourself large to scare it off? She stands on her toes and spreads her arms then yells at the top of her lungs. She guessed wrong. The bear takes it as a threat and charges at Misa, biting her in her arm.

Noooo not again, I don't want to die, it hurts it hurts! She uses her knife to stab it in its paw, but it is difficult to pierce its thick hide. The bear recoils in pain. Misa takes this chance to climb up the nearest tree. But alas, bears are great climbers. Now that Misa is attempting to escape, the bear definitely wants to eat her. It climbs up the tree much faster, and bites her in her foot. Then it starts gnawing. It causes extreme pain. Let go of me stupid bear! She loses her grip and falls off the tree, breaking her legs. Her foot torn off by the bear. It jumps down and starts eating her legs.

Just kill me already, she thinks to herself. But like many animals, bears don't particularly care if their prey suffers. They are perfectly fine with hearing screams of horror while they enjoy their meal, much like how civilised people might enjoy some good music during their dinner. After what seems like an eternity of getting eaten alive by the bear, she finally succumbs to blood loss once again, and dies. This time, death came as a relief. It was a lot more painful and traumatising than her first death. Not an experience you would want to live through again.

Back at the altar at the bottom of the path. Even this beautiful altar, crumbles to pieces. Roughly an hour away from the bear. But they got a great sense of smell. Yet again she is forced to take the long way around. Being a defenseless weakling is no fun. After cautiously trekking around the outskirts of the forest, fortune strikes again. It's another bear. She can't tell if its the same one or not, all bears look the same to her. She decides to lay down and play dead this time. The bear approaches and sniffs around her. Misa pees herself in fear, expecting it to bite her at any moment. The smell of urine makes the bear lose interest and it slowly walks away.

At this point Misa is starting to become frustrated. It seems the relatively simple task of making it to the mines is filled with dangers. She's no survival expert. Now she's cold in a snowy forest with wet clothes. Next she's going to freeze to death. Maybe she should've just stuck in bandit town and tried to look for a job or something there. Although Misa really doesn't have any skills that are of benefit to anyone. Being so useless is why she was forced to escape to begin with. Her slave masters not happy with her sub par performance.

She uses some of the snow to clean herself.

Then she walks on through the cold, hoping to make it to the tower before dusk sets in. Spending a night out in the cold here would be awful. The freezing temperatures cause her to shiver. Her clothes hadn't fully dried and are now frozen solid. She can't feel her hands anymore after a little while. She's constantly looking behind her back, because she has the feeling of being stalked. Perhaps she isn't being stalked, but her experiences over these past few days have started to make her paranoid. The very idea of safety making her uncomfortable about what is to come.

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Eventually she makes it to the tower. warmth radiates from the building. There is clearly someone inside. She knocks on the door.

An old looking lady opens the door. You have a lot of nerve making it up here young lady, what can I do for you? She's wearing typical witches clothing. She's wearing a long, ragged up robe and a large pointy hat. Her nose is large, with warts, and she's quite ugly.

I uhh.. I'm lost and I'm looking to get to the mines. Could you show me the way?

Oh dear, that's quite a ways from here. I don't get visitors often. Why don't you stay for the night and drink some tea?

I really.. I would prefer not to. I'd really just like to get going.

Well I'm not giving you the route unless you drink a warm cup of tea with me. Come on, sit down!

Misa reluctantly enters the house. At this point she has no options anyway, if she goes outside she'd likely freeze to death in the night.

When you have only one option it's easy to make the best decision.

The house is filled with shelves upon shelves of old books, some animal and humanoid skulls, and various odd looking trinkets. This lady seems to have a hoarding issue.

A-are you a witch? Misa asks, a little bit scared.

Hahaha, she laughs. I suppose you could call me that. I have a cauldron where I make potions, I can cast magic spells, and I live alone in a remote place. Does that make me a witch?

You see, those who practise magic often become outcasts. Or outcasts often become sorcerers. Doesn't matter, the point is, seclusion is a part of it.

It's much better to live here and to enjoy my magical experiments in freedom, than to live to rules and whims decided by the populous of some town.

Solitude is nice once you get used to it. Those who practise the dark arts are often exiled and shunned. People are foolish, they don't realise the potential it brings.

What if you need food though? Isn't it difficult out here? Misa wonders.

It is a little bit. Every month a caravan trader brings me some supplies. And in exchange I give him magical staves and potions. I make all sorts of fine potions. Care to buy any? This is what I call a possessed flask. If you drink it you will become possessed for a short time, and immensely powerful. It's very potent. And there's this one, I hear demons such as yourself are especially fond of it. It's called Sanguine delight. It's a simple mixture from blood of the innocent and a basic stamina potion, but it will make you faster, stronger, and smarter for a little while. Be careful with that one though, it's quite addicting. You're not going to find better potions than these anywhere.

I'll take one of each, how much do they cost? You can have both of them for 10 silver pieces. Misa puts the potions in her bag.

I also make herbal teas, it's good for your sanity. You can have this one for free. It soothes you and calms the soul a little. You look like you've been through a lot.

Have you seen my magical staves yet? This is my specialty, it's made of enchanted pine branches. it synergises extremely well with frost magicks.

Well unfortunately, I can't cast any magic spells, Misa remarks somewhat sadly.

Ooh that is indeed unfortunate, I figured you were a powerful magic caster, how else would you have made it here?

Misa grows scared, perhaps the witch was so nice because she thought she met an equal in combat, but now that she has revealed her weakness, there is nothing to stop her from killing me! I wouldn't be able to defeat a witch.

Not many travellers make it here Misa, it's nice to have visitors. Most people are afraid of us witches, it's probably because we kidnap the supposed "innocent" and use their organs for potions, but that's just nature isn't it? We all gotta get by. The wolf eats the sheep to survive, it's just how things are. And I'm rather a wolf than a sheep.

A-are you going to kill me too? Hahahaha, I still gotta do business, you know. It's bad business to kill a customer. I mostly target hunters and adventurers. Pesky rats, adventurers. I hate them. It's how I lost my eye, as a young lass, but that's a long story I won't bother you with.

Anyway back to the staves, the great thing about this wand is that even a complete amateur can use them. It's enchanted so its default spell is an ice blast, available to anyone. You just gotta swing it like this and poof! Ice blast. It's got an effective range of at least 40 meters. It's not a very lethal spell just on its own, but it would incapacitate an enemy easily. How much does it cost? 5 gold pieces. If I buy it.. I can't buy the crystals.. Misa decides to buy it anyway, reasoning that without the staff she is unlikely to make it to the mines in the first place. Perhaps she will find some gold along the way, or she can sell it back there. She also buys some more dried food from the witch.

Well dear, I don't have any extra beds, so you can sleep in this chair, then in the morning I'll mark the route on your map.

Misa doesn't close an eye that night, although the witch was kind, Misa is far too afraid to sleep. Misa decided to leave early that morning without saying goodbye, her clothes cleaned and with a magic stave in hand. She is glad to leave the witch's house, the entire thing made her feel uncomfortable.

It isn't long before she comes across footsteps in the snow. The snow has frozen them in place, meaning it must have been old tracks. It's a large shoe size. Probably that of a man. A man walking alone. Confident with her new staff she decides to follow the tracks. It isn't long before she spots a campfire and a tent in the distance. She sneaks to the tent and notices the man is still sleeping. The sun hasn't come up yet. Misa decides to take this chance. It's probably a hunter she thinks to herself. The man has a large scar on his face, of what looks like a dagger cut or worse. She quietly removes his dagger and bow from his reach. Then she throws an ice spell at his legs, freezing them in place.

The man awakens, horrified. Give me all your money! Misa yells. The man grabs his bag and throws a coin pouch at Misa, who fails to catch it. Somewhat unnervingly, the man doesn't seem frightened or scared after the initial shock. It just appears to be business as usual to him.

It is a lot of gold. but Misa feels bad for the man, she doesn't have what it takes to rob someone. She takes out 5 gold pieces, to make sure she can buy the crystals, and gives the rest back.

I'm sorry, I just really need the gold sir! I'm sure the fire will thaw your legs and you'll be fine. Then she hurriedly walks away. Just to be sure she covers her tracks in the snow. One advantage of being small is that her tracks aren't very deep to begin with.