Chapter 67：Time to return

"Stanis, how did you get this strong?" asked Caleb, staring Stanis in the eye while doing so.

"Mana circulation and lots of fighting I guess. Against strong opponents that is, no point in picking on weaklings as it won't do you much good" replied Stanis. This was a question that had been on all of three of their minds ever since they had met him about a month ago. From what Caleb and Sil had heard from Orena, Stanis used to be a normal, if not a bit stronger than normal, fighter, not at all the powerhouse that stood in front of them now.

This meant that whatever he had gone through in the time he had gone missing had, obviously, been the key for him to getting such a growth spurt. Despite the question haunting their minds, it was a whole another matter asking him about it, after all, sources of strength had become personal secrets after the apocalypse. It was seen as a private matter, something personal and not something that should be shared publically without thought.

The fact that Caleb decided to ask him now, despite not doing so in the weeks they had already spent together, meant that he was most likely frustrated, angry at how weak he had been on the battlefield and how easily he had been knocked away.

It was an understandable feeling, Stanis himself had feared the worst of this world when he had lost his arm.

Caleb shifted his gaze from Stanis towards the longsword laying in his lap. The gleam it once had was gone, corrupted by blood and bones.

"Yeah, I know man. But how'd you get this strong? We been doing all this mana shit and none of us made the rapid improvement you went through, instead we just get knocked out by the cheapest of attacks."

Stanis looked towards Caleb. Caleb continued staring at his sword, not daring to stare the man in the eye after what he had just said.

This was Stanis's moment, the moment he had been waiting for all this time, the opportunity where he gets to prove himself in front of his subordinates. If he played this well, he would earn their trust. If not, well, …

"You've just been circulating mana randomly. There are certain paths to follow that strengthen different parts of you. But as for the bigger picture, it's just about danger and desire. Like it would be nice and all to be powerful and such, but do you really want it? Are you willing to sacrifice tooth and nail, possibly even your life, in order to get it? If you want it that badly, throw yourself against strong enemies, ones even stronger than you are, until you become a shell of what you are right now." Stanis grimly smiled at the end of his little speech. It felt strange talking about what he had gone through.

"Ha-ha. That I can do, cheers man" said Caleb while patting Stanis across the back. In fact, Stanis had only told them half the reason why he circulated mana so often. One was the special circuits and the other was the movements that accompanied them. What Stanis had just given them would only work at half the efficiency. Not that he felt guilty doing so; he always needed to have an edge over these guys, after all, people change massively when they realise they have power over you…

It was at this time that a tier-three Jaguar walked in, informing Stanis that they were about to begin their journey back home. Stanis understood and soon all three Humans were seated on the closest Jaguars as the gallop began, the Jaguars sprinting across the land much faster than before.

It was half-way along the ride that Stanis realised that the Jaguars they were riding were purposefully going slower than the rest. Despite realising this, Stanis was willing to go along with the act, getting into character as he straightened his back and struck out his jaw. It was clear that Sil wouldn't know a true professional even if they hit her in the head as she started giggling away at Stanis's performance.

The Jaguars slowed down further as they neared Serb's cave, letting Stanis and the others down, before all walking the final stretch.

It was like a King's welcome after a successful war. That was the only comparison Stanis could think of in the moment as the two sides of Jaguars cheered and howled for him, a clean strip of space in between the two sides which he and the others walked through.

Every single Jaguar was at least tier-two, even the cubs Stanis could see had been born tier-two, some of them even with patches of white fur. At the start of his walk, it was only tier-twos and cubs, their volume loud but nothing compared to what was coming.

It was as he walked through the next bit that he realised this, the tier-threes simply booming with noise as they shouted and cheered. Doing a quick mental count, Stanis could see around 70 tier-three Jaguars, their pride emanating from their white, dotted fur, with around 80 tier-twos currently crossing the bridge into tier-three.

Stanis finally walked through the cheering, his ear-drums thoroughly aching by the end of it. There was a clean space in front of him, in front of that the scene where Stanis had first challenged Serb, the large slabs of stones revealing the King's cave up above.

Serb came walking out at this, Niss by his side.

Stanis was now certain that Serb was of a similar strength to him. The proud Jaguar stood just shy of three metres, his fur pure white with only the darkest of circles corrupting it. He had darker than black eyes that watched the world with disdain, the Jaguar now true Jaguar royalty.

But that wasn't the way he looked at Stanis or the others, rather he looked at them as equals, people who had brought his own people so high up. He wasn't a dumb Jaguar, rather a very smart one. He knew what the outcome would have been if the Jaguars had fought the Spectres alone…

Serb was now peak-tier three and Niss was just shy of that. As for the reason why neither of them had become tier-fours when other Jaguars had leapt through two tiers in the same time, Stanis already knew why, after all, he was stuck at the same problem.

The transition from tier-three to four wasn't a simple strength change like the tiers before it. It wasn't a quantitative change, rather a qualitative one, and further one that he had no idea how to pass. He did have a single clue though, the ice crystal he had released after pushing his body past its limits.

Serb roared a victorious roar towards the Jaguars, the cheers silencing at this.

"You came here as a foolish Human, wishing to set up a partnership with us just because we were born on the same planet. You were foolish" he paused, "And so I set you two tasks, both that would solely benefit us before we got rid of you, a foolish Human." Another pause.

"But now I find myself unable to do so. You have given us far more than was required, far more than I asked for. So how can we rid of you now? Tell me?" asked Serb.

"You have no way of ridding yourselves of me" said Stanis, "Our lives are already too attached for you to do so."

"Then so it be," roared Serb, "The partnership is set, Stanis."

Cheers broke out, not a cacophony of sounds like before, but rather a single-fuelled anthem, every Jaguar adding their part as they sang with passion.

That day passed quickly and joyfully, celebrations for their new partnership and old enmity gone. There was no training or planning or any type of scheming that day, each and every person and Jaguar doing their best to cheer up another's day.

The night passed and the day whizzed back. The Jaguars no longer had any connections with this land, no longer trapped here by their grudge against the Spectres. And so they left, a victorious charge as hundreds of Jaguars rushed through the valley, their destination Yora Village.

It was half-way through the journey while Stanis was debating a few properties of mana with Sil that a system notification popped up, and not the usual type at that.

[The village you are aligned with has sent out a message. Do you wish to accept?]

Stanis was a bit perplexed by this as he didn't know that the villages had this type of function but accepted nevertheless.

[You have accepted the message:

"This is Alyona here.

I declare that the Yora village is going to war.

Any members of the village currently away for whatever reason, come back now. This is a war against other Humans that have devolved beyond such a point. I wish the best on your journeys back.

I repeat, the Yora village is going to war!"]

Stanis looked at the message with amusement, before looking back towards the others who smiled likewise. Seems like shit had gone down in the month they had been away. None of them knew of any other villages nearby. This meant that one had been discovered in the time they had been away, and clearly one that their village didn't get on with if the relationship had come down to this.

The order for everyone to come back, Stanis doubted it was for them. In fact, he was almost certain that the village most likely thought them as dead or as good as dead since they had disappeared for a whole month without rhyme or reason. Not that the village would mind their return, of course, Stanis was certain that they would instead enjoy their arrival. And that of the 400 Jaguars that followed…