{One week later}
The week had gone by quickly. Mia gathered the necessary medical equipment from the infirmary right away, so she spent the remainder of the week relaxing and saying her goodbyes to everyone. Similarly, Finn also finished everything he had to do rather quickly and spent the week with his mother, as well as training a little bit each day. He figured that if he didn't stay active during the week, then his moves and swordsmanship might get rusty.
On the other hand, Goran and Aldren had spent almost the entire week busy. Although preparing the weapons wasn't a difficult process, it did take a lot of time to properly sharpen the blades. It took an entire day just to sharpen Finn's pirate-sword. Aldren had also been working hard when coming up with strategies. Aldren knew he had to be extremely thoughtful with the battle formations he came up with since they could be the determining factor between life and death in their upcoming journey. After thinking about how to effectively use everyone's skills, he had come up with two formations.
One formation was designed for a head on confrontation with the beasts. Although Alfred had no way of knowing how strong the beasts would be, he still needed to have some type of strategy for the event where they would be forced to fight. He called it the "Attack formation".
The second formation would be the one they would be relying on the most. Retreating, hiding, and running away were their main priorities. Planning to fight mutated creatures continuously in the wilderness was a foolish thing to do, especially when they couldn't even gauge the power difference between themselves and the animals. This is why Aldren resorted to the "Survival Formation".
. . . .
It was now the agreed upon time, 5 AM, when the sun came up. "All right, I guess it's go time" Finn said as he grabbed his backpack and left his house. Inside his backpack he had a couple of changes of clothes, his classic long fury jacket, and a couple of other things he might need in the future.
As Finn headed to the exit of the Village, he could hear all sorts of distinct conversations from afar. Although it was very early, the entire Village was waiting anxiously at the exit of the Village to bid the group farewell.
Upon arriving, Finn saw everyone there. All the adults and also Goran, Aldren, and Mia had already arrived at the Village exit.
Seeing Finn arrive, the three of them walked over and started speaking. "Ready?" asked Goran.
"Born ready" answered Finn hoping to give the group some additional confidence. "...Wish I could say the same", said Aldren jokingly. Thankfully, these types of comments from Aldren and Mia helped to lighten the mood a bit and gave Finn the chance to proceed smoothly.
"Goran, you got everyone's gear? Alfred, wanna give us the rundown of the strategies you thought of? And Mia, do you have the medicine? Let's do this quick, I wanna make sure we can cover a good distance before nighttime. Let's leave as quick as possible", said Finn
Mia was the first to speak up, "Yes, I have it all inside my backpack. Medicine, a couple blankets, and some bandages, thankfully it's not too heavy, so I won't lose any mobility."
"Awesome, good work Mia", said Finn putting a big smile on her face. Next up, Goran handed everyone their weapons.
"Finn, here's your sword, nice and sharp. Although I'm not the best at this, it's good enough", said Goran as he handed Finn's sword inside the red sheathe. Finn buckled his sword next to his waist and then pulled it out of the sheathe to check the sharpness. "Yeah, this'll do. Good job Goran, thanks".
"Next up Aldren. Here's your bow and arrow. I got it from Lenox, then I just sharpened the point of the arrows" said Goran as he handed the bow to Aldren along with a pouch of arrows, which he wore on his back. "And finally Mia, here are your throwing knives."
"shiny, I like em!" said Mia as she grabbed the knives. Mia, being very flexible and quick, was able to use throwing knives very efficiently in battle, which is why it was her preferred weapon.
"Now that we've settled that, the last thing before we leave is the plan." said Goran as he looked towards Aldren.
"Yeah" said Aldren as he got ready to explain. "First off, we'll be covering the most distance during daytime. We'll rest the nights, but start moving early before the sun comes up. While we move during the day, we move as quickly and as quietly as possible. We don't confront the beasts, we avoid them and try hiding. It's important to note that we have no idea how powerful the mutated beasts really are and also how their power levels differ, so lets not voluntarily confront them."
"However, in the case where we have to face them, we'll be referring to two formations. The first one is the one we will hopefully use the least, the "Attack Formation", used for fighting the beasts head on. In this formation Goran and Finn will be the ones dealing damage. Mia and I will keep our distance and guide the animals. What this means is that we'll be attacking, not to deal damage, but to force the animals to dodge towards the direction that Goran and Finn will be in. Once the beast is distracted with dodging, you guys come in and hit the beast hard. Once you attack, you then back up and retreat, giving me and Mia the chance to use the same guiding method to make the animal dodge in your direction again. Then, we follow this system until we finish the animal off or tire it out. Of course, this is wishful thinking, so don't get your hopes up." said Aldren as he looked at everyone.
"Continuing. The second formation is called the "Survival Formation" and it's the one we'll use the most. It's main objective is for us to escape safely. We'll separate in pairs. Finn and me, then Goran and Mia. The objective of the pairing is to divide tasks efficiently. All of us will run away in the same direction, but while we run, Finn will be in charge of protecting me, while Goran of protecting Mia. In case the beast catches up to one of the pairs, it'll be Goran or Finn's responsibility to stall the beast, while Mia or I attack. The pairs allow for more mobility and protection, but keep in mind, if the beast catches up to us, the strategy is only meant for stalling the beasts giving us more time to run. Nonetheless, our main objective is to not allow the beasts to catch up with us in the first place. We need to outrun them and prevent getting to the point where Finn or Goran have to endanger themselves by having to stall the animals."
"That's basically it. Remember it." said Aldren.
"wow, that's complicated", responded Mia.
"It's a great plan, I think everything's been settled now," said Finn as he turned to look at the Villagers. He walked over to give his mother a hug. "Come back safely, son. Please, just stay safe and don't do anything you don't have to do. Go explore the world, but don't take too long to come back...like your brother did," said his mother. "Don't worry, mom. I'll come back safely, that's a promise", Finn answered as he returned to the exit of the Village where Mia, Aldren, and Goran were waiting.
As the four of them were about to step out of the Village, Finn declared, "We'll be back in four years."
Just as he finished speaking, they all took a step forward. They were finally outside of the Village. "East", thought Finn as he looked at his compass.