Stephan stretched his body while Mike noted the movements of the bandits. They all moved mechanically following the same pattern. It wasn't unexpected considering how the children's stories were only there to make them fear the wild. Therefore, whatever dangerous entity was there, it was only dangerous for children, not adults.
This would be a simple spar, for him to test if he was still fit to the battles. Stephan realized that standing aside might dull his new founded skills and turn him into a complete useless fellow. Therefore, he wiled to fight his way ahead while using his brain. He was worried about Aurora for the first time.
He knew that something had to happen for the story to continue but it might have been a huge mistake to let her go when the fairy's curse didn't work on him at all. It was somehow due to the fact that until now, the system protected him from death situations. Therefore, he believed nothing would work on him.