Zero decided to head back to his small outpost to collect the rest of his things to put in his newly acquired storage ring before he would set out into the wide world. He wanted more than just the bags of food that he had used to trade with the shopkeeper. The reason he had decided to go out and explore was because in the manual left behind by the head director of SBF it stated that in order to progress on the way of the wanderer you would need a specific type of energy called the mana of the wanderer. All mana had an attribute, fire, water, earth, illusion, death, or any combination of the attributes.

Although Zero had never heard of the mana he was supposed to cultivate, he thought that the concept perfectly suited him. The manual had originally been intended to be given to any of the surviving experimental subjects, the manual had never been completed even after the head director had disbanded SBF and announced the discontinuation of the manual, shortly before giving the order to keep Zero safe. However in their fear the members of the foundation had sought out the head director and Zero before killing both of them to prevent something like Test 142 from happening again.

It was during Test 142 that Zero had gained the ability to control his genetic disease, and as Zero had found out soon after, his power Necromastery. When he had just awaked both abilities combined an accident had happened in his containment, where everything around him began rapidly deteriorating and turning to dust. Unfortunately for Zero that included a large portion of the researchers studying him. It had been thirty seconds when all spread from his ability had ceased. Even in such a short time period he had destroyed a large part of the section of the research facility around him. This included a large number of researchers and part of the containment cells which formerly housed One and Four. After the incident his abilities had regressed back to a meager amount of power, at first only allowing the tips of his fingers to disintegrate and then reform. He found that the dust that his fingertips disintegrated into was controllable to a certain extent. He had very little knowledge as to what his psychic ability could do, only knowing after his attempted murder it had become very difficult to kill him, and unless someone were to burn him to ash he could return to his previous condition after a long time of gathering dust to recreate his body bit by bit. that of course did not stop him from feeling the pain of being killed, and the itching pain of gradually reforming.

In the year since then he had managed to transform around a fist sized amount of his body to dust and back. As he thought about his goals, so far he had a few. The first, albeit the hardest, was to see as much of the universe as he possibly could. Preferably with the strength and anonymity to be able to go wherever he could without being harrassed. His second goal was to continue the Manual of the Wanderer, and to hopefully expand upon its ideas. He thought about the three primary ways to gain strength. One, was to practice a Manual, which was a way to gather and circulate mana and energy. Two, was to implement cybernetic enhancements into your body. Three, and the rarest of them all, was to manifest an ability and gradually increase the upper limit and potential of said ability. Many people that could would use a mixture of the three, similar to Zero.

Zero continued his jog north of the village. He was heading deeper into the desert like wasteland, where eventually he would reach the ruins of the massive city named Vanguard. The city was a large city in the former crumbled nation that was once dominant on this planet. After a few more miles of walking he could finally see some green on the horizon, coming from the city, where vines and large trees had grown quickly in the ruins thanks to the ambient mana left from the battles in the city ten years ago. As he got closer he could see the typical shimmer in the air signalling the existence of a bio bubble, a large glasslike bubble made to separate the city and its former inhabitants from the dry and barren wasteland outside of the large sphere. As he stepped through he took a deep breath of the fresh air absent in the wasteland he had been in only a few seconds ago. He walked briskly for a few minutes into the ruins of the formerly glorious city, before entering one of the many large, pristine white, buildings. As he stepped up to the door, he took out a small insignia and placed it into a circular hole the size of a large coin. The insignia had been granted to him by the old woman who had looked after him after finding him in the city. It was the only reason he was able to live in the city. The door slowly opened revealing to Zero a small, clean, room. Within the room sat a mat with a bundle of cloth in the corner, as well as a desk next to the mat. On top of the desk stood a lamp which drew on ambient mana to provide light, and a Manual.

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He also had two weapons mounted on the wall. A large bow, and a chained gauntlet. The bow had intricate patterns carved into it, and seemed to glow with a healthy green color. The chain gauntlet was a dark black gauntlet with chains wrapped around it. At the end of the chains lay a wike spike, serrated on one edge. They were his weapons of choice, with the bow and gauntlet being left to him by the old woman that had taken care of him, and the head director, respectively. Zero collected the things in his room and put them in his Storage RIng, with the exclusion of the gauntlet. He put on the gauntlet, which reached his right elbow, under his cloak. The small chains and spike were wrapped around the chain gauntlet, with the spike setting into a socket designed to keep it from swinging around while the owner wasn't using it. The fingers of the gauntlet were made in a way that movements with his fingers wouldn't be obstructed by it.

He took one last look at the room before reaching into the desk and grabbing out a map. However as the map touched his hand, he felt a burning sensation in his left eye. He dropped to his knees and slowly breathed out through clenched bared teeth. As the pain receded, he stood back up looking towards the map, noticing it was gone. As he thought about the map he saw through his left eye a complete and detailed map of the area around the city and the wasteland. East of the city were massive walls surrounding what looked to be a maze, and West of the city was a large vibrant forest. South was the wasteland which had encompassed the village and far beyond. North was Vanguard in which he stood. After seeing the map appear in his left eye he quickly took out his Manual and turned to the first steps in confusion. Seeing no mention of this, he quickly turned to an open page and reached for a pencil before scribbling down what had happened. After expanding the Manual, Zero placed the Manual back into the Storage ring, and inspected the rest of his body for changes in a mirror resting by the desk. Finding nothing new he turned around and walked out of his small house, placing the insignia to the house nearby in a pouch and setting it on the ground by the door. As he looked at the now closed doorway, he hoped he would have a chance to come back to the small room after he was done with his adventure.

Zero excitedly called the map back to his left eye with a grin on his face. He decided to stick with his original plan to head West to the lush forest. The wasteland he saved to explore for another day, and the maze seemed not only difficult to enter, but dangerous, as marked by a large exclamation mark on the map. The city was impossible to go further into because of the creatures that settled deeper into the city. He then set off with a quick walking pace towards the new area. As he set off he focused on the air around him. He could feel mana all around him. He thought back to the Manual and the steps within. He brought in mana around him and focused on his moving feet, and on the world around him. He felt the mana take on the aspect of the wander, as noted by the yellow-gray tinge it gained. He remembered the unique strength of his Manual, which was he could use any aspect as long as he converted it partially to wanderer mana. He drew in the mana of the wastes, the power of the winds, and mana of the sand beneath his feet. He followed the next step in the process, drawing his mana to his core he used it to tear at the boundaries of his core, expanding it slowly and with great effort. Zero immediately started to slow and beads of sweat rolled down his body. His breaths began shallow and forced. As he continued his now slow jog he felt himself progressing, slowly but surely.