The village wasn't that far away. As a matter of fact, it took us less than 20 minutes to reach it. Something was telling me that the Rodenti were just as far from that battlefield as we were. Still, the focus was on what was happening with the surrounding people.

Once we arrived at the village proper, there was a group of people already waiting for us. Well, not us exactly, but those who went to fight. For a moment, those people opened big smiles when seeing the group arriving in its entirety. Or at least with most of its members still there. But their reactions quickly changed once they noticed how they were all downcast.

"What happened?" an elderly woman asked. She was in the front of the group of villagers and was likely the chief of this group.

Jacob snarled and pointed at our group, "They fucked it up."

Right after, Michael stepped forward to speak, "Well, we saw a bunch of people trying to kill each other, and we tried to see if we could help. We had no idea about the Witch and what she was doing, and because of us, there were not enough unconscious people by the time she set."

"They made us lose!" Jacob said.

"No," the woman defended us earlier spoke up. "That's not really the case. Yes, they interrupted us, but considering how long it took for the Witch to say that the fight was supposed to be over, their presence didn't change anything. We were not going to be able to knock out enough rats before they showed up. It didn't really help, but it wasn't the reason why we failed."

There were some people who nodded in agreement while others were still shooting daggers at us with their eyes. Ignoring all that, the chief continued.

"I see, and why did you come here?"

"Honestly, we were just traveling," Michael replied. "We are trying to get deeper into the mainland towards the desert since some of us have family there. We passed by at a bad time. And like I said, we saw people fighting and wanted to stop to understand what was happening."

"And you say that rats are people," Jacob scoffed.

But this time, I was the one who started speaking. "The Rodenti, as they like to be called, helped us before. I know it sounds weird, but we even saw them fighting against an Eater, and if it wasn't for them, we would have probably been killed by now. So we just didn't want people who we know to be good, or can be good, to die for no reason."

"Good? Those are rats. Giant rats. Vermin," Jacob continued. "Why would you try to help them?"

I gave him a blank stare. "I just told you. They are not rats. They are something else. But they can be nice people if you get to know them."

Jacob was about to say something else when the chief stepped forward.

"Forgive him for his rashness. We too, have considered what you were saying. But our experience with those giant rats was not as kind as yours. To us, they were always our enemies. People who preached that they wanted to kill us and feed us to the Witch."

"Yeah, but you're saying like you're not trying to do the same thing. In their eyes, you might be the same type of monsters that you think they are," Riley spoke up.

The chief nodded. "You're right, child. It is very much possible that they see us the same way that we see them. However, that doesn't change the fact that this is our experience. Still, from the looks of it, you didn't have any bad intentions in stopping our fight. And for that, I thank you. It's not often that we see people who are not hoping to bring us harm. Now, if you don't mind, we must talk about what happened and what comes next."

"You don't know?" I asked.

The chief looked at me and shook her head. "No. How would we? You have just arrived."

"Yes, but you didn't hear the Witch? What she told us?"

"I have not. We can only hear the Witch if we are on the battlefield that she assigned to us."

"Now, if you excuse me," the chief stepped back and called the rest of the people along so they could talk and understand what was going to happen next.

At the same time, I turned to Riley and whispered, "So that theory gets more traction. Maybe the Witch really needs that area to show its power."

"Right," Riley replied. "It actually makes a lot of sense for it to be needing a specific place. A lot of what we saw in Wistra's journal was about how they could only show their true power if they were in the right location. And a lot of what she was saying related to how to prepare to fight when she didn't have that advantage."

I gave them a nod. "Okay then. That's good. We now know that if we take the Witch out of her home, we probably have a decent fighting chance."

"Yeah, but that's going to be a lot easier said than done," Michael replied. "I mean, do any of us really expect to be able to just push someone out of a castle or something?"

"We don't have any confirmation if this Witch lives in a castle or not, so maybe," I said.

Not long after, there was a gasp coming from the people around the chief. It seemed like they finally told the rest of the village about the Witch's words. I watched as some of them started hugging while others held each other as if it was their last day. There was an air of finality in their actions that I couldn't really wrap my head around. I mean, even when I was fighting against Eaters, I didn't give up. Yet here were these people who seemed to have accepted their fate and decided that they were going to die no matter what, even though I could see children in the middle of that group. There was even someone who had an oddly large belly, likely pregnant.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Michael asked.

The chief turned towards us. "What do you mean, the plan?"

"I mean, how are we going to evacuate?" he pressed.

Honestly, I was a bit surprised about that. I never for a second thought about running, but Michael was right. For people who didn't have the System, it was the most obvious thing to do. Instead of trying to stay and fight the Witch, everybody should just grab their things and run away as fast as they could.

But the chief shook her head in response. "We can't run. None of us can. We don't live in this village by choice. Once you arrive, you can never leave. If you do try, you will keep running around the forest until you are brought right back here again."

I glanced at Riley, who gave me a nod. I was thinking about that mist that Wistra warned them about. And this sounded oddly similar. Something that was protecting a specific area, making sure that no one else could leave. Maybe that's why, just like how no one in Riley's village knew about the keep when we got there, no one knew about its existence. As if it were being hidden by a spell.

If someone was able to do that, it made sense to think that it was possible to do the opposite. Trap people inside a specific area. Making it so that anyone who tried to escape would just roam around in circles until they returned to where they started.

Taking into account how the Witch's version functioned, it was likely that we didn't have to worry about that. If we wanted to escape, all we had to do was start walking, and eventually we would find that thin layer of mist and just pass through it. Honestly, if we wanted to take these people with us, I was confident we could. Probably all we had to do was hold their hand as they passed the threshold of that area, and everything would be fine. But it would be much harder to convince them to follow us than to actually have them walking around the forest.

Still, this didn't mean that all hope was lost. I stepped towards the chief and asked, "Okay, if we can't run away, then we fight, right?"

"We can't. The Witch is powerful. Too powerful. How can we fight against someone who has magic? Who can put us to sleep without batting an eye and torment our families with the screams of their lost loved ones. The ones who were long gone," the chief's voice was full of sorrow.

I looked around, seeing everyone's dejected expressions, and continued, "So what? Yes, this is all horrible, and yes, it sucks that we are fighting a losing battle. But I didn't survive this long just to give up now. If we are going to die, anyway. Why shouldn't we fight? We already have nothing left to lose. Even if the Witch comes here, puts everyone to sleep, and kills us all, it will be the same result whether we're fighting or not. But if we fight, we at least have a chance to survive. Are you all ready to give up? Are you all ready to die and just wait for death to reach you?"

I looked around, not really expecting much out of this impromptu speech, but there were a few people listening to me with a fire in their eyes.

"So what is your idea, child? How are we supposed to fight against an enemy so beyond us?" the chief asked.

"First, we need to hunker down and prepare ourselves. Second, numbers would help, so the more people willing to fight, the better. And third, honestly, I would call the Rodenti to help. They are much more powerful than you are."

Jacob snarled, but I ignored him and continued.

"You may not want to hear it, but the Rodenti have

something that you don't. A type of power that I'm sure some of you have seen before." I glanced around and noticed a few stares of recognition. "That power could be enough to change the tide of battle. That power can be enough to help us win this fight."

"And how do you know about that power?" the chief asked.

"First, I've seen Rodenti before. And I know that they have this power. I've seen them using it. As a matter of fact, I was traveling with one of them who has power. Powers much stronger than any of you, or what you saw here." I looked back at my companions, all who had confident expressions and gave me a nod as if approving my next sentence.

I slammed my staff on the ground and made it grow to the max limit of its size. The simple pole in my hand became almost as large as a tree in a matter of seconds.

"The second reason is that I also have similar powers. If we work together, I'm sure we can defeat the Witch and make sure that everybody wakes up in the morning, alive."

Just as I did that, Astrid stepped forward and activated {Huskforged Armor} around her body, shards of ice appearing from nowhere. Riley did the same with various strands of silk wrapping around their body and floating in the air. Michael was the only one who didn't have any flashy display that was not part of an attack, so he just stood there with an arrow notched on his bow, trying to look powerful, which wasn't going very well considering the type of skills we were exhibiting.

There was a long pause as all the people in the village just stared at us with wide eyes. This time, though, it was Jacob who spoke up.

"Do you really think those rats would help us?"

"That's not their name. If someone else was calling you a monkey, you would be upset," I said. "But yes, I do think we have a chance of getting their assistance. Especially since this is also something that is going to benefit them. You are not the only ones being attacked by the Witch. The Rodenti are too. And if we show that we are willing to put our differences behind in order to fight against a common enemy, I do believe that they might be willing to look past what happened. Especially since it all boils down to the Witch, doesn't it? I mean, you never had to fight against them before the Witch showed up, right?"

The chief shook her head. "Not really. We knew of their existence. There were a few moments when they were hunting the same animal that we were. But we never had direct hostile relations."

"Exactly," I nodded. "I don't think any of them would blame you for hunting and for catching prey that they also wanted to catch. But the fights, you were just as trapped as they were."

"But how can we be sure they are going to accept our help?" Jacob asked.

"I did say we have a companion who is also a Rodenti. Today, when the fights ended, we split off, having Rex, that's his name, follow them to their home. We can go after him and see if we can already start having this type of discussion with his people."

"I can go," Michael spoke up. "I might not look it, but I'm pretty good at stealth. And I'm a damn good tracker."

"Michael is going to go after them and see if they are open to this possibility. While that is happening, I think we should prepare some defenses so when the Witch comes, we are ready for her, even if we are by ourselves. Do you all have weapons?"

The chief shook her head, "Not really. But we can turn some old farming tools into them.

Michael paused. "Actually, if you're making weapons, I think I should be here, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, you stay. I'll go after Rex and see if we can find something. I'm also a pretty decent tracker." Turning to Astrid I remembered something, "Actually, do you still have that block of cheese?"

The Huskcarver nodded and passed me a small cheese made of wood.

"This might help me find him. I might be able to use the skill that he used to get to us." Turning to Riley, I added, "I think it's better if you organize everything. Michael makes the weapons, Astrid armor if they can, and prepare to fight the Witch and whatever else she might bring."

The villagers nodded, and Riley, seemingly uncomfortable, also accepted my designations before I started heading back into the forest.

Part of me said that this was the easy part. Maybe convincing the Rodenti was going to be a lot harder. But maybe that wouldn't be the case, and just like Rex, they would be kind enough to accept our offer to help each other.