The Strange Hanz

"I see…well I'll be off then" he said, turning around.

"Off to where? There's no escape to this forest, only death" Lex spoke flatly.

"No escape? The exit is just a little down from where we are now?"

Lex's eyebrows flung up in surprise. An exit? Even if this was an illusion, there was no harm in trying.

"Lead the way" Lex replied.

Slowly, he caught up to the young man, who was wearing a wary expression. A glimmer of hope had appeared as he stood on death's doors.

"Do you…have any food?" Lex asked.

The young man didn't say anything. He simply reached into his pocket and pulled out a few berries, handing them over to Lex.

Shaken, Lex simply stared at the berries for a few moments. Could this be a trick? They felt too real to be an illusion. Could it be…? Quickly, he bit into one of the berries. As the sweet sensation of liquid sliding down his throat appeared, he lit up. Hope. A sudden revelation shook his mind. It was real. It had to be. Or at least he hoped it to be so. Slowly, he ate a few more berries, leaving a little pile for later. He'd eaten enough to sustain himself for a short while. If he overdid it, he knew what could happen.

"Who are you, by the way? Why were you just wandering this forest?" the young man asked.

Lex seemed to have dropped his guard after escaping death. Before him was his saviour, he could spare a name.

"Lex. This is my first slumber" he said.

The young man lit up.

"Ah…me too. Wait, did you wake up in the forest?"

Lex's expression turned sour, reminded of his misfortune. Normally, one would be fine on their first slumber. The obelisks that the forsaken had set up were only a few days hike at most from where you would awake. There, you would be safe. After that, you'd be safe. Once a rift appeared nearby, you could return home. Yet, in the dark forest, where the sun could never reach, he had no hope of finding one of the titan obelisks. So, he simply killed, ate, drank, and slept, hoping he'd eventually find a way out. Alas, food ran out before then, and he took a final walk of death. Until he met this strange young man.

"Yes. It was…unpleasant"

"Of course it was. This place is a hell. Ah I'm Hanz, by the way. I woke up a little outside here, and damn was it cold. Seems we were both fortunate to receive armor though, right?"

Lex's face distorted as he looked down at the red armor he was wearing.

"Certainly" he said, his expression dark.

Then, their conversation came to an end. Before them was light. An escape. Glancing at it, Lex could only stare in bewilderment. It almost seemed like the darkness was caged into the dark forest as it dissipated with distance, as though it was merely mild fog. Soon, light defeated darkness, and they were an inch away from escaping this strange hell.

Soon, they were out. Still, more walking had to be done before they reached Hanz's camp. In his words, it was 'not exactly comfortable' but he said it was perfectly safe. Some time later, they arrived.

"Not too shabby. But two people will struggle to fit into here" Lex said.

Looking at it, it was anything but spacious. However, it seemed safe. Afterall, it was out of sight of any devils that wished to hunt and devour them. Sure, it looked dreadfully uncomfortable, but what's a little discomfort for safety, right? He just hoped they could both fit. Otherwise, Lex would have to drag his weakened body elsewhere and attempt to find a safe spot to recover.

After they began to relax, barely fitting into the small little cave, Hanz began tending to his items, and he had a lot.

In the small cave, that spun out about metre and sat a hard-to-climb ten or so metres up on a cliff, Hanz seemed to be inspecting his precious items. On the cold stone, four items were laid out before him: a small black dagger, a strange eyeball, an amulet, and a torn off hairy finger.

The dagger was matte black and stone-like. By how thin the blade seemed to become, you could tell it was sharp. One thing he pondered was how it resembled a combat knife, like the ones he'd seen online for various reasons.

'Like I said, I enjoy fighting. Even if I didn't get to do much fast fist fighting back home'

As for the strange eyeball, it seemed almost alive. Watching it for a while, he noticed it twitching, although he also realised he could still be losing it. Afterall, it hadn't been too long since he left the hellish forest, and less than a day since he ate a chunk of his own flesh.

'Revolting, thinking back'

Something about the eye just seemed to rub him the wrong way. He didn't like it. Not one bit. But what concerned him more was how a guy like Hanz got his hands on so many items. Lex himself was bigger and appeared much stronger than the young man and yet only had one item; a Dao. He didn't like the Dao much. He felt as though it limited his fighting. He'd gotten it off of one of the skeletons of the dark forest.

Since this was his first real life-or-death scenario really, he was glad all he came across was a few weak skeleton monsters, and was lucky enough to get an item. He'd taught himself sword fighting a long time ago, around the time he began to fall into insanity in the real world. He couldn't cope with the restrictions of his every movement. So, he turned to violence, to expel his rightful rage, in his mind. Since he taught himself, his style was completely his own, or rather his interpretation and own twist on the various styles he'd practiced online. In essence, he preached adaptability and trickery. He had no honour and didn't care. In his mind, true strength came from the mind. The body was simply his weapon, his means to fight. While the actual battle was between the wits of the opponents.

"How do you have so many items?" Lex asked, perplexed.

Hanz slightly jumped, flustered. He was so focused on the items that he'd forgotten Lex was there.

"Ah, I guess you could say I'm quite lucky" he replied.

Quite? Either this young man was a powerhouse and had slaughtered countless monsters to accumulate all these items, or he really was lucky. But still, it meant he'd killed at least five monsters alone. That in itself was an achievement. Luck was not enough to survive in this world. Luck was only an aid to the battle.

As Hanz was about to turn his attention back to the items, he caught something in the corner of his eye. Swiftly tilting his head, he observed it. Suddenly, all the colour in his face washed away, leaving a paper white young man with a disconcerted expression.

Noticing this, Lex snapped his head in the direction of the young man's gaze, only to mirror his expression as the creature reached his eye.

'Oh fuck…'