Unbeknownst to Michael, Viper, or even Amanda hadn't told him that the others are coming with them.
"I told you our clothes were too conspicuous. Now, look at what happened? Some bugs came to annoy us!" Black Genesis turned towards Storm Moonlight, whose real name is Miya.
"Shut it!" Storm Moonlight clicked her tongue in annoyance towards Black Genesis.
Solitary Tempest and the others are currently surrounded by a group of fifteen players along the road that leads towards the mountain range that Michael, Viper, and Solitary Tempest went to before, and just as they were halfway through their destination, a group of players suddenly blocked their way and surrounded them.
"Oi! Give us your items or we'll kill all of you! Hahaha!" a man with a huge two-handed ax slung over his shoulder laughed disdainfully at the group in front of them, while his men laughed along with him.
Then suddenly from out of nowhere, a shadow flashed and appeared behind the man wielding the two-handed ax!
"Boss, look out!"
"Behind you!"
His men tried to warn him, but it was already too late because what happened was so fast that the man wasn't able to quickly process what's happening behind him!
"Backstab!"
The two identical daggers in his hands flashed with a cold gleam as the daggers struck just below the man's neck!
Critical Hit!
"Arggh!"
The Axe wielder couldn't help but utter a pained shout, which clearly meant that his pain setting is quite high, and which also means that he's crazy! After all, only someone who is crazy or someone like Michael and the others would raise their pain setting so that they could feel the feeling of pain even when they are inside the game.
And not even a second later...
"Amitabha!" the monk, called Moniker put his hands together in prayer before his cloak suddenly flapped wildly as he disappeared and appeared in front of one of the players surrounding them, and with his palm striking towards the player's chest.
"This wild monk" Black Genesis clicked his tongue looking at the two "wolves" causing panic among the flock of "sheep" around them.
"What a hypocrite" he continued with a laugh.
"Come on, let's join in the fun!" said Rippler, also known as Tony in real life, and then she took off her cloak while giving a short laugh.
The Viper, Black Genesis, Storm Moonlight, Rippler charged forward like a ghost as they headed towards their own prey!
Leaving Solitary Tempest and Robin, whose name in the game is Black Sparrow, standing there as they just watched the chaos happening before their eyes!
'This...no matter how many times I watch them, I still can't help but feel that they are truly strong. Their skills don't even lose out to those nine as*holes...no, maybe even a bit stronger than them?'
'Just where the hell did Michael find this group of people? Aren't they too strong for their age?'
"Are you just gonna watch?" Solitary Tempest towards Black Sparrow and asked.
"Nge, better to leave it to the young ones" Black Sparrow made a weird sound while shrugging his shoulders.
In Solitary Tempest mind, this person who goes by the name Black Sparrow is the most eccentric one.
Black Genesis is the most arrogant one among them.
The Viper is as arrogant as Black Genesis, but he's easily bullied by the two women among them.
Moniker, he's also eccentric like Black Sparrow and would always mutter 'Amithaba' every time he kills someone, which is really kind of weird in the eyes of Solitary Tempest.
While Chakram, the little easterner is the most taciturn among them and also the most hot-blooded, as he would just charge at anyone that tries to kill or provoke him.
And Ripley and Storm Moonlight are probably the only people tha...looks normal among them.
Those were the impressions that slowly built up inside Solitary Tempest's mind during the time that she's been with them.
'I've never seen people around their age that plays this game this lively before'
"Uhmm.."
"Gahh! H-help me!!"
"Die! How dare you people stop me!?"
"Uhmm...guys...this"
Solitary Tempest didn't know what to do when she saw the poor bandits being abused.
"R-run! Whoever told us that they are just a bunch of weaklings is dead! Retreat to the mountains!"
"Bastards! Who told you guys can run away from us!? DIE!"
"Gahhh!"
A couple of minutes later.
"Uhmm…" Solitary Tempest wanted to say something but didn't how to start.
"If you want to say something, just spit it out," Black Sparrow said when he saw that Solitary Tempest wanted to say something as her mouth keeps opening and closing.
Solitary Tempest looked around and saw that the others are not paying attention to them so she scooted over towards Black Sparrow as the two of them walked side by side.
"Uhmm...do they always fight like that when someone provokes them? They didn't even kill them, and just beat them all up into a pulp"
"And how did they even get a baseball bat? Did they have a blacksmith smith it for them?"
Solitary Tempest leaned over and whispered.
"Hahahahaha!"
When Black Sparrow heard her questions, he suddenly started laughing out loud which quickly attracted the attention of the others.
"Did that bastard finally lost his mind?"
"What happened? I've never seen him laugh like that before?"
"It's so..boring. Why is no one asking us for a fight since we left Sharval Kingdom?"
"Even Chakram has gone mad. He kept repeating those words over and over again"
"Can you blame him? Only in this place could he go all out and play to his heart's content!"
The others just gave a brief attention to Solitary Tempest and Black Sparrow before they ignored them and talked amongst themselves as they slowly trekked the path in the mountains that Michael, Solitary Tempest, and Viper had trekked before.
Black Sparrow finally stopped laughing and turned towards Solitary Tempest who is glaring at him.
"*Cough*! *Cough*! *Cough*!"
Black Sparrow suddenly started coughing as he felt a bit pressured and embarrassed from getting glared at by someone who is twice younger his age.
"They are just bored. Don't mind them"
Solitary Tempest raised an eyebrow and didn't ask any further as she knew that it would be just useless.
Moments later.
"We're here!" Ripley gave an excited shout when she saw the white scenery before them, and then a cold wind blew towards their direction as their cloaks and hair fluttered along with the wind.
"So that's Everwinter? It's like Siberia of the Federation of the City-States" Black Genesis said, as he marveled at the scene before them.
"You've been to Siberia before?" Solitary Tempest turned towards him and asked in surprise.
Black Genesis shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah, that place is a shit hole"
Solitary Tempest looked at him with doubt and said, "Really? But I heard that place is awesome, especially their Lake Baikal"
"I- Oww!?" Black Genesis was about to say something when he suddenly clutched the side of his chest and glared at Storm Moonlight who had just elbowed him.
"Shut up" Storm Moonlight glared at him, while Solitary Tempest just looked at the two of them with confusion on her face.
'I wonder why she stopped him from talking?'
"So what is our next step?" Storm Moonlight turned towards Viper and asked.
"Michael told me before that he left some clues along the way"
Viper was about to open his mouth and say something when Solitary Tempest suddenly opened her mouth and answered Storm Moonlight's question instead
Storm Moonlight turned towards Solitary Tempest and said, "Clues? Like what?"
Solitary Tempest stepped forward and took a glance at the steep ravine below them, as she squinted her eyes, trying to look for something.
"Hmm...seems we'd really need to go down for us to see it," said Solitary Tempest after looking around for a few seconds.
Black Genesis, Ripley, and the others looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders, then they followed behind Viper and Solitary Tempest, as their group made their way down on the other side of the mountain.
Half an hour later, the group finally reached the base of the mountain, which is covered in snow that almost reaches half of their shins.
Then the group took out their own fur coats from their [Storage] and wore them over their bodies.
Then the group moved forward as they started looking around for any clues that Michael had left them.
"What are we even looking for?" Chakram grumbled, but he still kept a lookout for something inconspicuous.
"Over here! Is this it!?"
Suddenly, the voice of Black Genesis rang out in front of them, which quickly attracted their attention as they hurried towards him.
"Is this what Michael told you?" Black Genesis turned towards Solitary Tempest as he pointed at the thing before them.
It was five stones stack together, with the bottom one being the largest, and the one at the top being the smallest.
"It's a cairn," Moniker said when he saw the stacked stones.
Before Michael departed on his journey, he had already made preparations for the others who would follow after him. That's the reason why he collected a lot of flat rocks three hours before his departure to Everwinter.
And the used for those rocks or stones are now that Black Genesis and the others are seeing.
"It's a landmark, we just need to find the others the deeper we go and we'll be able to arrive where Michael had ended up to," Viper said.
"Let's go then, we can't waste any more time," Black Sparrow said as he led the way, their furred cloaks fluttering behind them due to the wind slamming against them.
"God damn, it's so cold! Even colder than Siberia!" Black Genesis said as his body shivered due to the cold.
"How the heck does someone survive in this place?"
"Well, Michael told me before this that there's a village that he had stumbled upon, so I guess there are people who could survive in this place," Solitary Tempest said.
The others just looked at each other, before they just silently continued on their journey.
*****
"Did you two hunt this down?"
Carter and almost all of the villagers of Snow Village made their way outside of their village and looked at the mountain of meat in front of them.
"Yeah, It was really hard hunting them. Took us a lot of time," Michael said in between breaths.
"Please distribute it to the villagers," Miya said to them.
"Thank you so much, this amount of meat would at least last us for two months" the village chief came forward and bowed before Michael and Miya, his voice, full of gratitude and sincerity.
"Thank you, big brother!"
"Thanks a lot, Ms. Miya and Mr. Shadow!"
Then the rest of the villagers followed suit and gave their thanks of gratitude, their faces filled with excitement as they looked towards the pile of meat.
After that, the villagers lifted the chunks of meat one by one inside the village as the kids buzzed and jumped around the adults in excitement.
Michael and Miya then made their way inside the village, with the guards welcoming them with huge smiles on their faces, and the two then hastily made their way towards the direction of Sonya's cabin.
And along the way, they were once again greeted by the enthusiastic villagers, who are busy distributing the meat that Miya and Michael gave them.
Michael just kept going with a straight face, while Miya just smiled and waved at the kids.
*****
"It seems you two have successfully finished the task that I had given you"
Those were the words that Michael and Miya heard the moment they stepped foot inside Sonya's home.
"Uhhm...hello!" Miya stiffly greeted Sonya with a bow, and she didn't even know why she did that, which made her even more confused.