Kade woke up early, but not of his own volition. William and Polly loomed over him with scornful looks.

"You look like shit, Kade." William said gruffly "What the hell happened to your hair?"

Kade quickly sat up, the feeling of being looked down upon grating on his pride. "It was burned off by an angry old man. Why, is it really that bad?" He asked curiously.

He hadn't looked in a mirror in three months. Coot manor was oddly devoid of reflections, and he hadn't been interested in seeing a bald visage.

"You look like a fuckin' hobo." William snapped a picture on his phone before showing Kade "I know you're just going out to hunt, but you gotta take care of your image." He chided.

'Did I walk around looking like this?' Kade grimaced when he saw the picture. Scraggily was the best way he could describe himself. Even his eyebrows looked wild from growing back. Thinking back on it, he must have looked like a lunatic grinning creepily when he asked for pinky fingers.

"Listen, you know me." Kade said hastily, eager to explain "I'm not the type to let himself go-"

"Save it." William said as he held up his hand "Actions speak louder than words, and every time you come back from galavanting on your own you look like this."

'It's not like I have a cultivating barber to follow me around and clean me up' He thought with indignation. Were there barbers in the Yonkel faction? If so, would he want them to cut his hair?

"So, what? First stop, the barbers?" Kade asked sheepishly.

"No, we have to save money. Besides," William turned to Polly "Polly has been learning cosmetology."

Kade looked to Polly, finding a light smile on her face. This was the first time she showed any kind of happiness. So, he couldn't bear to decline. With a shrug, he got up to follow her. It wasn't like she could make things worse.

She led him to the lounge that had tiled floors. A table with clippers, scissors, combs, and other tools was placed in the center of the room, with a chair beside it. As soon as he sat down, she clipped a towel around his neck and got to work.

She didn't even ask his preference before taking the clippers to the nest on his head. He felt his luscious locks graze his shoulders on the way to the floor. For someone 'learning cosmetology' she was quick, so he couldn't help but second guess saying yes to this.

However, the bullet had already been fired. Forty minutes later, she had finished his hair, but the moment he tried to stand up, he was pushed back down.

"We aren't done yet." Polly said as she took out a razor.

"I can shave my own beard." Kade protested while staring at the straight razor warily.

Polly scoffed "As if we trust the resident hobo when it comes to grooming."

'again with the hobo shit?' Kade mused. She had taken all of the wind from his sails as he resigned himself to his fate. Worst case scenario, he could settle with shaving it all later. Besides, he could tell that they had held their complaints throughout the night, so he would endure a few jokes for now.

She finished with his beard in half the time. She stood in front of him along with William as the two assessed Kade's new look. They looked like a posh couple evaluating an art piece.

"He could do with a braid or two." William spoke up, voicing his opinion.

"What? When did he become a Viking?" Polly questioned sardonically

"Every man looks more manly with a braid."

"Does his hair look long enough to braid?"

"No, but you can just braid his facial hair."

"Again, Will. It's too short."

"Then it's settled. When his hair grows out, you'll add a braid."

Polly facepalmed and released a deep sigh. 'Hopeless, the lot of them'

"Uh, is there any chance that my opinion matters?" Kade asked, becoming irritated. It was one thing to force him to get a haircut, and he could even accept that they didn't give him a decision this time. But he wouldn't accept them planning his next hairstyle.

"Oh, yeah." Polly said as she quickly grabbed a mirror and brought it in front of his face.

Kade took the mirror and began to examine her work. Surprisingly, it looked just like his previous haircut. short sides faded up, with long hair on top. The only difference was his hair was shorter this time. His beard was trimmed and clean, with neat edges.

"Damn, it looks good." Kade said as he admired his new look. He didn't even realize that she had fixed his odd eyebrows. "Learning cosmetology huh?"

Polly nodded "I occasionally work down at the beauty salon."

"You must be a natural then." Kade replied as he stood up, brushing his shoulders off and unclipping the towel. Then, he stole the broom from Polly "William and I will clean up here since you did all the work."

Kade quickly swept the hair into a dustpan while William returned the chair and helped Polly pack up the tools of her trade. The cleanup took only a few minutes.

"Alright, I'm heading out. Tell the others that I said bye, and I'll see you all in a few months." Kade said as he slipped into a jacket and grabbed his bags.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I'm coming along, at least until we get to the portal." William said as he gathered a few things and followed Kade and Obruo out. He raised a brow upon seeing the canine. He didn't remember seeing Obruo come in with Kade yesterday, and this was the first time he was the pooch.

Even Kade frowned. Truthfully, he had forgotten about his trusty companion. Over the three months, the pup came and went as he pleased while having a free roam of Coot manor. Yet, he would always find his way to Kade without fail.

Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about it. All that mattered was that the pup was with him. Otherwise, he would have major guilt for having left Obruo behind.

William led the way to a bus station specifically for taking people to and from the portal. The bus station was packed with people of all kinds. Even with tens of buses running constantly, they couldn't keep up with the rush.

Even so, they didn't have to wait too long as people did everything they could to squeeze as many on the buses as possible. Though, this made the short ride to the portal extremely uncomfortable.

The two of them stumbled out of the bus and scurried to the side so they didn't get trampled by the unruly stampede following. They looked at each other with frowns.

"First purchase will be a truck." Kade growled in irritation.

William nodded "No doubt. One thing is for sure, I'll walk before I take that damned bus again."

Kade straightened his clothes and glanced around. It was astonishing how much this place had changed since the last time he was here. New buildings filled his vision and the expansion was still underway.

Thankfully, some thought had been put into the creation of this little city. The main road went straight to the portal and split the city down the center. It was at least thirty meters wide to give easy access to and from the portal.

"Alright, I'll see you later." Kade said as he bumped fists with William.

"Good luck. Don't die." William replied before going his own way.

Kade made his way to the portal to find tons of people around. Champions were gathering and preparing to enter, while guards were filtering them to check-in. Even civilians were passing through the gate.

Kade compared himself with other champions. Most of them were wearing tactical gear with chest rigs and tool belts. They wore green, brown, black, or even camouflage clothing. Comparatively, Kade looked more like a civilian in his T-shirt and jeans.

He had worn clothes like them on his first trip, but all of his gear was shredded last time. Why bother wasting the money to replace it? Though, he did want a tool belt with some pouches. Perhaps there would be some shops on the other side that would sell things like that.

He navigated through the crowd and towards check-in. Beside the book he was meant to write his name in was a notice that informed them of the reason they had to check-in.

It was a way for the government to keep track of who was living, missing, and deceased. Those who hadn't returned from Detrius in six months would be considered MIA, and they would be considered officially deceased after two years from their last check-in.

Kade sighed. This method made sense, as Detrius was massive and it would be nearly impossible to confirm the status of a champion if they weren't carrying a tracker. Still, he didn't like it. He could see himself spending an extended period hunting and would hate to be officially deceased since it would be endless trouble trying to get the government to reverse it.

Though, it wasn't that big of a deal. Two years was a long time to spend hunting and unless something unexpected happened, he wouldn't stay out that long. So, he made his mark and walked toward the portal gate.

Stepping through, he saw the progress made on the Detrius side. There weren't any towering buildings here like on Earth and the overall size was much smaller, but it was still impressive. There was a large lane in the center, just like on the other side of the portal, and densely packed buildings sat on either side.

Tons of people were running around, making him wonder if this was still the scary unknown world it had been eight months ago. Though, it wasn't as if he hadn't expected this. Humans had always ignored danger when there was an opportunity.

He saw people lined up on the sides of the lane holding up signs to advertise. Food, Clothes, supplies, and anything that a champion might want or need for their adventures were sold here it seemed.

Making his way to one of the people he asked "Do you sell toolbelts?"

The man quickly nodded "Toolbelts, chest rigs, backpacks, and everything you'd fill them with!" He tucked the sign under his armpit and patted Kade's shoulder "Follow me, I'll take you to the store."

Kade was forced into a jog to keep up with the man. They didn't run far before entering a small building. The man shouted something before waving to Kade and rushing back out.

Kade scanned the store. A lot of items were on display, but none were in the reach of customers, likely to prevent sticky hands from walking off without paying. A middle-aged woman appeared from the back followed by a teenager.

"What can we do for you, sir?" She asked expectantly.

"I need a durable toolbelt."

She nodded quickly as the youth darted into the back and came out with a box filled with different toolbelts. "We have them in all different sizes, colors, and capacities. You'll definitely find something you like."

Kade nodded and sifted through the box before finding one that looked like it would fit. He tried it on and curtly nodded. Everything about it suited him. Dark grey, three pouches, and four quick-access slots.

"This one works. Do you accept credits?" Kade asked as he put the toolbelt on the counter.

"Yes. We accept all forms of currency, but credits are preferred. It'll be 100 Credits."

Kade nodded and transferred the Credits. He had kept a little over 600 specifically for this reason. Even though the toolbelt was overpriced, he tried not to let that bother him. He had expected everyone to take advantage of the situation. They would be fools not to.

He grabbed the belt and strapped it on, adjusting it as needed. When finished, he looked at the woman "What supplies do you have?"

The woman smiled and gestured at the young man who disappeared into the back before bringing out another box. Looking inside, Kade could see a ton of different supplies. Some useless, like bear spray, others vital like canteens.

The young man disappeared again. Soon, boxes covered the counter. Kade sifted through them quickly and created a pile of items that he wanted.

Transferring the credits with a morose expression, he packed up the supplies and left in haste. He wanted to kick his own ass for forgetting to stock up on supplies beforehand. Normally, these items would have cost no more than a few hundred dollars. Yet, today it cost him almost twelve hundred!

He pulled out a small notebook and covered the first page with a list of supplies he needed to remember next time. He wouldn't make the same mistake again. He stuffed the notebook back into his smaller bag and returned to the main road.

He rushed toward the large gate at the end and checked in a second time before being allowed through the gate. He stepped through and peered at the purple sky. Finally, he had the feeling that he had returned.

He ran across the field and into the trees beyond before slowing to a walking speed. Each crisp breath reminded him of where he was. His time away had warped his mindset and caused him to forget what it was like to be alone in the dangerous wilderness.

Here, he would have to watch his back and tread carefully. A few levels didn't make him invincible. With that in mind, he woke his senses and kept his head on a swivel.

After a few hours of walking, he found a spot to rest and pulled out his old map. If he wanted to find plenty of beasts then he needed to go deeper into the world. Though he didn't plan to take the same path he had before, he needed a good handle of his bearings so he could accurately map out his new path.

he folded up the piece of paper before standing up and dusting himself off. 'I should probably hunt for food.' He thought as he made his way north.

"Tiss"

Kade raised a brow as he looked to his left. Obruo had appeared again, but from where, Kade didn't know.

"Where do you keep going?" Kade asked as he furrowed his brow. This beast friend of his was still an enigma. He wanted to uncover all of Obruo secrets, but it wasn't like he could experiment on the pup. He would just have to keep a closer eye on Obruo and hope to figure things out along the way.

Either way, it was good that he wasn't completely alone out here.

The two made their way through the forest while looking for prey to fill their stomachs. It was eerie how quiet and dead the forest was. The lack of insect chatter and bird chirps reminded him of horror movies.

'It was like this last time too.' Kade thought while narrowing his eyes. He thought that the spatial anomaly had scared off all of the wildlife in the area, but he couldn't be sure. That was the eerie part. If it wasn't the portal that scared everything off, then what did?

His musings only added to his determination to get out of this forest as soon as possible. He picked up the pace to a light jog and worked on controlling his breath.

"Damn... I need to remember to keep up on physical training too." He mumbled between heavy breaths. He had jogged for just over an hour, causing a slight burning sensation in his lungs.

For three months, he had focused solely on his training as a mage with his only exercise being when he cleaned and a short walk to the market. Now, the consequences of neglect were showing themselves.

After a short breather, he continued north. He already heard a few chirps in the distance, signaling the presence of life and, more importantly, food. He could set up base after securing provisions.

Twenty minutes later, he crouched behind a bush and peeked over it at a squirrel resting on a branch.

He pointed two fingers mimicking a gun as a spell trace formed at his fingertips. Two seconds later, a chain shot out and struck the squirrel. The moment the chain landed, it wrapped around the squirrel as five other chains sprouted and buried themselves in the branch.

The chains were beautiful. Slightly transparent and glowing with a multitude of colors.

This was his new spell, spirit chains. Upon casting, a Crystalline chain would fly forward and if it struck a living being, it would wrap around them and bind them with a multitude of chains.

Another spell trace formed, this time creating a large arrow. Dropping his thumb, the arrow flew forward like a bullet. It struck the squirrel's head, causing it to disappear as the arrow continued forward.

With a snap of his fingers, the chains disappeared. Then, another trace formed before the squirrel floated down into his grasp. He spawned an orange ball of fire to cauterize the wound and stop the bleeding. After, he tied a small length of paracord to his belt and tied the other end around the squirrel.

Looking at Obruo, he smiled "One isn't enough, is it? Let's go get a few more." He said cheerfully as he continued forward.

His first day back was winding down with him testing his new spells and securing enough food to fill their bellies. It would take some time to get back into the groove, and while today wasn't the best start, there was nothing wrong with taking it slow.

He had a little over four months to hunt and by his estimation, he had to at least double his previous score. If the exchange ratio dropped further then they would be screwed if he only brought back 7 beast cores.

Thankfully, he was much stronger now.