They went a few metres away to have a comfortable conversation. Standing in the shade of a big rock, Dave recapped his whole story for Bixby. He could read his squirrel-like facial expressions pretty well by now. And he knew the twitches he saw when mentioning the dark Nodefox meant no good.

When he was done Bixby thought for a moment before he started talking.

“Indeed you’re right. The dark Nodefox means no good. His name is Marekiel. I don’t know which of his nephews you fought, but I would guess it was Salem, the youngest. For don’t take me wrong my friend, but you wouldn’t have stood a chance against anybody else.”

That stung a little.

“Still the good news is I don’t think they will still be around. As one of the few third rankers that have been brought over so far, he has more important business than roaming the landside. I’m honestly surprised he was even here.”

“What is a third ranker?” Dave asked, “And won’t they be coming for the Node?”

“I don’t think they have noticed the Node here yet. Otherwise they would’ve probably already claimed it and we would’ve seen a lot more of my brethren around then.” Bixby answered. “As for what a third ranker is… well it will be easier to explain once you finish your Mana attunement after capturing the Node.”

“So no change of plans then.” Max said.

A short while later, they were walking along the river looking for a spot to cross it. The sun was shining but the cool air around the river and a soft breeze made it bearable. Birds were chirping and for the first time in a while they walked without being attacked by mosquitos. It was a good day.

They found a spot where the water was only knee deep, so they waded through the cool current. Bixby on Ryland’s shoulders.

The other side was where trees were starting to shoot out of the ground. At first it was only a tree here and there but it quickly became a forest. It was different from the jungle around them, the trees were eerily similar to oaks and there was almost no plant life other than the trees.

“How far is it to the Node?” Sam asked Max.

“It’s hard to say.. a mile or two maybe?” Max said after concentrating for a second.

He was leading the group on, following his inner compass of where the Mana leads him. After Bixby’s instruction the others tried to feel for the Mana too. Sarah said she felt a thin thread running through the air, as did Sam but the rest wasn’t sure.

Dave couldn’t feel a thing, even as he concentrated he couldn’t discern any Mana out of the air. It felt just like a forest to him.

“What do you think the guardians will be like?” Dave asked, focusing his mind on the thought most pressing.

“It’s not really like they’re guardians per se. Hunters, that’s how we call the people out scouting Nodes, just call them that. In reality it’s more like the extra surplus of Mana that Nodes create influences the surroundings. It creates creatures or changes the ones that are already there. The longer and stronger a Node is active, the more changes it will bring. The creatures it spawns or changes are naturally inclined to protect the Node as their natural source of power, but sometimes they also venture out or can cause trouble to the local population. Usually only after a Node is active for a long time.

This Node, with this plane being reinstated, shouldn’t have leaked too much Mana yet. And whatever the creatures are, they’re always something that comes from the Node’s surroundings. So I would expect forest creatures or whatever is home to these lands.” Bixby had made it a habit to really dig deep when answering questions. Dave appreciated that. Like in video games, the more information you had about your foe, the better you could counter it.

Dave wasn’t sure that was a good way of thinking, it was the only one he knew though. And it was easier to frame it as a game than as a life and death experience.

He had talked with Bixby about how he could get stronger. At first he thought he could just stay in the village and train hard. He wanted to train like one of those Rocky movie montages.

But Bixby told him that the best way to get more and new Skills was real combat. If he really wanted to get stronger, he had to face challenges and push himself.

Truth be told Dave was scared of that. Why should he throw himself into danger? Would he really want to risk his life just to get stronger?

But everytime he thought these thoughts he remembered how helpless he had felt last night. He remembered how he wanted to see his family again and protect his friends. He never wanted to feel this helpless again, and he wanted to enable his friends to live in safety. In this new world only the strongest survive and only the stronger still can shape it.

If fighting monsters was what it took, then Dave would have to do that. He steeled his resolve again and pushed all his philosophical questions back down again. Like he had for almost a week now. He was only existing by keeping going, not thinking too much about what was happening.

A short while later Max stopped them.

“The Node is very close.” he stopped for a second as if listening to a sound only he could hear “Probably at the next clearing.”

Indeed Dave could also feel something now. As if the air was charged with energy.

They proceeded carefully and quietly.

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Until a big clearing opened up in front of them. Easily a hundred yards of open ground across. In the middle of it hung a blue ball. It seemed to be made of pure energy, it flowed and changed from, like a living thing. It pulsed and thrummed with power.

Four trees grew surrounding the Node, they stood close to the ball of energy, only a few meters apart. They intertwined above the Node and grew into what looked like a single crown, almost hiding the Node away from prying looks.

Dave felt the hair on his neck standing and a low thrum went through the air. That was pure power in front of them. Mana in its rawest form concentrated into the world. Dave almost wanted to just run at it and grab it, if not for two reasons.

One was that Bixby had warned them about the pull of Nodes and that nothing good would come out of them reaching for them. So they all knew to resist the temptation. Still Dave wondered if it was like that for Max the whole way. He looked over at his friend, his face firmly set, eyes fixed on the Node. His fists were clenched and a bead of sweat ran over his brow. If it was from all the walking or if Max really had to fight so hard to control himself Dave didn’t know.

Fortunately the second reason he didn’t just run over made it easier to control himself. Right in front of the Node, placed exactly in line with each of the trees, four giant wooden figures stood.

They looked like medieval knights, but seemed to be made totally from wood. They reached almost 7 feet in height, wearing a heavy looking carapace of bork. Each of them had a shield and a big broadsword in front of them pointing at the ground.

There was no movement in them, they were staring ahead, faces hid behind visors and unreadable.

They were intimidating monsters.

“Shit so what do we do now?” Sam asked.

The others looked around unsure. Max looked like he was thinking, planning, looking for a way to get to the Node. Only Bixby turned towards Dave. Dave understood what the Nodefox wanted to say.

“We fight them.” Dave said with a sure voice.

This wasn’t a situation like a video game where you can find alternative ways. There would be no goading them away and taking the Node by surprise. This isn’t how the real world works. It works with blood and risks. It was Bixby’s world and he knew Dave would be the only one to understand it as well.

“Dave, don't be crazy.” Sam said. Some of the others looked at him with concern as well.

“He’s right.” Max said. Only he and Sarah looked ahead. Seeing the situation for what it was. “I know it sounds crazy, but this is the world we live in now. It’s dangerous and I understand if you would rather stay out of it. I won’t force any of you to fight with me.”

Dave summoned his spear and stepped next to Max.

“Listen this isn’t just about the Node. This is a way to get stronger in this new world. I know you’re scared, but our ancestors braved risks everyday. The only thing that can stop you from never becoming great is not making the right choices.” Dave said. He surprised himself with that speech.

Sarah was the next to step forward. Ryland followed after. Bixby just stood there suddenly. Only Mira and Sam still exchanged glances.

“We don’t have anything to be of help really.” Sam said. There was shame in his voice. Dave felt bad for him. And for Mira. Whereas they had all gotten powers that were combat related, those two really were rather helpless in a fight. Max was in a similar position but by what Bixby had told him about his Skill, he would at least receive some sort of passive boosts for being near the Node.

Max stepped forward and clasped a hand to Sam’s shoulder.

“You two will be of help. Sam, your healing could be saving somebody’s life today. And Mira, we need you to stay back with Sam and keep a lookout to warn us if anybody gets into too much danger.” he said.

“What we need is a strategy,” Bixby said, “Those things might look monstrous, but there has to be a weakness to them. Node guardians are rarely unbeatable.”

“Well I have an idea or two.” Dave said grinning.

After a brief discussion, they collected themselves and got ready. The wooden knights still stood surrounding the tree, not yet aware of their presence.

Dave walked onto the clearing. All four heads immediately turned towards him. He wasted no second and immediately shot a Minor Spark at the nearest one. It was a good 15 meters away, so he couldn’t put as much juice into it as he would’ve liked.

Still the thing rocked for a second, its chest plate scorred where Dave hit it. Unfortunately it started moving toward Dave a second later, unhindered like nothing had happened. Dave was filled with dread, sure that wasn’t the most powerful he could manage, but the thing had just shrugged off his attack. Could they even hurt those wooden guardians? But his mood lifted a bit later.

The knight was slow. Very slow. At the highest speed they still only moved at a leisurely walking pace. As planned Dave decided to test the knight closest to him first. He sprinted towards it. The familiar spear in his hand.

He thrust forward. The knight reacted by raising his shield, but it was too slow, so it only knocked Dave’s blow a bit off center. So instead of it’s gut he hit it into it’s thigh. His spear tip buried itself an inch or two before not moving further.

Those things were durable. Dave quickly pulled his spear out and jumped back, just in time to avoid a massive overhead swing from the knight. It came slow but it thundered past him. Where the big broadsword hit the ground a small crater remained as it lifted the sword again, chasing Dave.

Dave couldn’t believe the massive power this thing carried but after seeing it attack he felt confident he could evade those blows. It was a night and day difference to the fight with the speed of the Nodefoxca last night. Literally.

So Dave started poking the knight and dancing around it. He noticed he couldn’t cut it deep but where he hit it a brown thick liquid began oozing out of its wounds. It looked like sap.

Him dancing away from blows and returning only shallow wounds. The difference was that this time, he didn’t have to protect his friends.

The others were onto the clearing by now. They had started luring the other 3 knights away from Dave.

Ryland fought one by throwing rocks at it and running away. Effectively kiting it. His throws were more like a rocket launcher though, with the massive power he was able to put behind his projectiles. The knight blocked most of his throws but each stone left a dent into its shield. Whenever he seemed to be short of stones, Mira or Sam were there supplying him anew with deadly projectiles.

Sarah had a similar strategy, only that she didn’t need stones and instead relied on her mana projectiles, each one left a little burn mark on the wooden armor. Unfortunately the knights didn’t seem to be very flammable.

Max and Bixby teamed up to face the fourth night. Max had picked up a branch from the ground that was shaped weirdly similar to a baseball bat and used it as a weapon. Bixby would sometimes stand and bait out a swing only to nimbly escape while Max battered against any exposed part of night he could find.

They were working pretty well together, exploiting the knights' slowness and their opponent was turning around in confusion a lot.

The knights weren’t pretty smart. But they made it all up with their incredible strength and durability. Max bat didn’t seem to bother the knight in the least and the bat was almost showing more wear than the armor.

But for now everyone seemed to comfortably manage their fights.

Having checked that all his friends were doing okay, Dave was putting his attention to his own fight again. He started having fun by now.