Funk had led us to a massive tree, it stood near a waterfall and Funk had told us the water was drinkable. The trunk of this weird tree is hollow, I hope it can fit all three of us, Funk had told me, there were no small insects in this tree. To be honest, I think he just said that for Abby, while he made the base for a campfire, I had gone out to collect some firewood.

When I came back, Abby had captured a rabbit, her dad is a hunter. Luckily, Funk knew how to prepare a rabbit as well, As for creating a fire, I could do that, This time, I had no flint stone, so I had to use two sticks. Abby coached and cheered me on, Eventually, I had managed to make a fire.

Abby smiled at me, “This is just like camping.”

I nodded, “It is, and I fear we will be doing this a lot more.”

Funk sat down and gave both of us a stick with rabbit meat on it, “Here, just make sure to properly heat it, now, Abby, tell me something about yourself.”

Abby put the stick with rabbit meat near the fire, “Alright, as I said, my name is Abby Mercer. I am thirty-one years old, I am a human from Earth, I have no clue how you call this planet or reality. My dad takes me on hunting trips to bond, we shoot little innocent animals.”

I chuckled, “She killed Bambi.”

Abby sighed, “Yes, I did.”

Funk looked at me, “What is a Bambi?”

“A deer.”

Funk nodded, “Alright, go on, Abby.”

“My mom used to work, but she got sick, as for me, I worked in a supermarket.”

Funk smiled, “I have respect for those people, It seems like hard work.” Abby and I looked at each other, we both just understood, they have a supermarket here.

Abby turned her stick of meat, “As for my life, it is relatively simple, My parents loved me, I grew up by learning how to use guns, crossbows, and even bows. My obsession might be with werewolves, do they have those here?”

Funk shook his head, “I have heard tales, but if you are looking for those, you might need to find a different reality.”

Abby smiled, “I’d rather not get my heart ripped out.”

Funk had heated his rabbit enough and took a bite, “This is good meat, do you have any other family?”

Abby let out a deep sigh, “Yes, I once had a sister, But I’d rather not talk about her, if you are fine with that.”

Funk nodded, “I am sorry if I dragged up something uncomfortable.”

Abby shook her head, “It is alright, you couldn't have known, getting brought to this place, it all happened so suddenly. One minute I am getting baked with Steve, and the next minute, I am running for my life.”

Abby took a bite out of her rabbit meat and nodded, "Yeah, delicious, I met Steve in the supermarket, after an accident on the road, I wanted to go back to college, to pursue the path of physics. It was my dream to do so but I had never gotten the chance in my life, then I met Steve, and he gave me a good opportunity. He was sad and needed, comfort, and he would give me enough money to go to college, to try to pursue my dream.”

Abby let out a sad whimper, “But, I got too attached to Steve's depressing ass and decided to stick around for a bit longer because, I do have feelings for the cynic depressed man you see chewing on his rabbit over there.”

I chuckled, “thanks Abby, I do love you as well, but I am uncertain if it is in the way you want me to, also this rabbit tastes exquisite.”

Abby let out a sigh, “I have not given up hope yet.”

Funk looked at me, “And what about you? What is your story?”

I inspected my rabbit meat, to see if there were any good parts left, “What do you want to know?”

Funk shrugged, “Anything that you are willing to share.”

“Well, my name is Steve Bloomington, and I am twenty-nine years old, I have no clue what happened to my real parents, since I am adopted. My foster mom died from a weak heart when I was around sixteen, My mom used to be a lovely woman. I was also married, I met Haley at a young age, and we married young, but she died.”

“My foster father died when I took over the bakery.”

Abby spoke up, “You never told me that.”

I looked at her, “You never asked.”

She nodded, “That is true, go on.”

“The bakery used to be a lunchroom, or is this going over your head Funk?”

He chuckled, “No, go on.”

I nodded, “My wife and I took over the lunchroom, my foster dad had learned me all the ropes, we turned the business into a bakery. Things were looking up, my life seemed to be, just, perfect. Heck, I even got rich, not that money mattered much to me, but I am greedy, I like to take things, for no apparent reason.”

“While life seemed to be outstanding, we bought a gigantic house, My wife Haley wanted it badly. She used to call me Stevie sometimes, no scrap that, a lot. She got pregnant, we talked about naming our baby Naomi, sadly, Haley passed away before giving birth. A robbery gone wrong.”

“I did get shot, but I survived, Pain does not phase me much. My life turned even more sour after she died, and I got depressed, I met Abby in the supermarket. She managed to cheer me up a little, Just, the idea of living fills me with rage. And my rage leads me to a path of darkness, there is no good in people, everyone is bad, and it is best if beings die.”

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“I mean, what is the use even in living, if you cannot have a happily ever after? I do not trust people, or other beings, except for Abby, there is no good left in humanity, or any other race.”

Funk looked at me, “Then why are you going on this journey to save the world?”

I chuckled, “To prove, Alice, that no matter how hard we try, this reality is going to die and burn as our plans will backfire.”

Abby just leaned back, “You get used to it Funk, he always talks like that.”

He looked at her, “It seems to be linked to his wife dying while pregnant, or his foster parents, but seriously, Steve, what are you fighting for?”

I leaned back, “I just hope to kill some shit before we gloriously die in a blaze of fire.”

Funk sighed, “We have to put up with this cynic all the way?”

I laughed, “I might be a bit cynical, but that is all right.”

Funk got up, “Let me help you by learning you some skills.”

“What?”

“Well, if we will be cynics, your sword fighting skills suck, And if you go on like this, you’ll get us all killed.”

Abby chuckled as I just stared at Funk, Abby spoke up, “There, you got a piece of your own cake!”

I sighed and got up, “Alright, but how can you be better at sword fighting?”

Funk chuckled, “I am older than I look, and I have fought in a few wars.”

Abby threw away the stick, “Let met bet, those wars did not have snakes?”

Funk sighed, “I got tricked, I wanted to pick up new weapons in Poluma and train there, I might not be the very best out there, but I know how to fight, my mom taught me.”

Funk handed me a sword, “You fight with blind rage, hence your injuries, the ones from the kobold fight. You do not seem to have much trouble with blood loss, or even pain, but it is better to avoid damage at all.”

“Grip your sword handle tight, you would rather not let it go all of a sudden, What is even more important, is your footing. Yours is all off, Just put your feet like this, and do not look down when fighting. Now swing your sword gently at me, you should basically thrust it, but if you have enough strength, you can swing it, but do it with speed or else.” He easily blocked my blow as I swung my sword at him. “Your opponent will parry your block, leaving you with a wide gap.”

“Now, we should try that again but this time, do it faster.”

I put my feet on the ground correctly and swung my sword at Funk, he easily blocked my blow and my sword got launched away, then he pointed it at my throat. He smiled, “see what I mean?”

I sighed, “Yes.” Funk lowered his sword.

Abby got up and handed me my sword, “Thanks, Abby.”

Funk smiled, “Want to try that again?”

I chuckled, “I want to bet you, I can take you down.”

Funk chuckled, “Want to bet for the next piece of rabbit?”

I nodded, “Alrighty then.”

I took my position and let out a deep sigh, the rage I felt surged through my system, many things were going through my mind. Be careful of my footing, be careful of getting parried, there are eight ways I can swing my sword.

Funk had a big grin on his face, “Whenever you are ready.”

I screamed as I ran towards Funk, I swung my sword at him, and he jumped back. He swung his sword and I leaned backwards, and it flew over me, I used the force of leaning back to prepare an overhead strike and swing it down at Funk. He lifted his sword and blocked it, then he kicked me, in my groin. “That was nasty.”

He smiled, “I never claimed that I would, play fair.”

I swung my sword upwards in a hasty diagonal manner, Funk stopped my blade and parried me, he hit me with the hilt of his sword. “Is this all you got, Steve? I am not very impressed, you keep claiming to be the hero, show me what you are made off.”

I grunted, “Alright, you fucker!” My right hand started to shake, and dark energy covered my sword. I screamed as I swung it at Funk, he spawned a second sword and used his steel sword, and a dark blade to block my blow. He waved his dark blade and a beam of dark energy blew me away, I rolled over the grass, I had no clue where my sword went.

Funk walked over to me and pointed his two swords at me, “Do you accept your defeat?”

I raised my hands into the sky, “Fine, you win.”

Abby walked over towards me, “Are you okay, Steve?” She helped me up.

“Yes, but my pride is hurt.”

Funk looked at me, “Anyone can be a hero when you want it badly enough, but can you ever truly be a hero, when you kill people without a reason?”

Abby looked at him, “How do you know, he kills people?”

Funk smiled, “I am not deaf, did that bandit really deserve it? Or did he just try to do anything to get money for his family?”

I grunted and walked over to my sword and picked it up and pointed it at Funk. “You cheated, you used magic.”

Funk sighed, “It is called life force, and you used it too.”

“Yes, but you had a second sword, that is not fair.”

Abby sighed, “Alice explained it to us, Listen to Funk, he can teach you important things about fighting.”

I sighed, “We should just go to sleep,” we all walked over to the hollow tree.

Funk looked at Abby, “You can go first, Steve goes second, then I will guard the exit. Oh, and then Abby does not need to sleep close to an insect.”

Abby sighed, “You are never going to let that go, are you?”

Funk shook his head, “Nope, I do not intend to let that go anytime soon.”