One tiny tiny change to the story - and I know this is horrible but I'm doing it - you guys remember the very small reference to a guy called Virgo/Acid back in chapter 7? If not, doesn't matter cause his name is actually Vito, not Virgo.

Always check your notes people.

          Rumours were spreading fast and thick, not only in the villages that surrounded Team Crafted's base but also much wider around the country, from the sea coast villages in the south to the wintery gatherings of the north, from the isolated houses in the western tundra all the way to the crowded eastern plains and everything in between. There were whisperings and stories, some too garbled to understand or too exaggerated to possibly be true, but all too many sounded all too real.

          The terrifying part was when those rumours turned into reality.

          Sightings were confirmed all over the land in a matter of days; a tall man with black skin, white clothes and blood-red eyes, magic swirling around his hands; a man with skin so pale he seemed to just be bones, a long, tattered purple cloak hanging around him, a double-bladed sword always present; a man with deep brown skin, black clothes wrapped around him like an assassin, and brown eyes flecked with bright green. Entity, Dreadlord, and a new man called Acid.

          On their own, the sightings weren't a big concern for the Team but as the reports came in saying that the three were getting close to their territory, the Generals acted. Regular patrols were sent out to ensure the safety of the villages and to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, the patrols consisting of a dozen recruits led by a Captain. At least, they were usually led by Captains, because on occasion the Generals wanted to get out and do something a bit different, and naturally, it was never just one General.

          So when Adam, Ian and Mitch decided to join the latest patrol to leave the base, people were raising their eyebrows but they weren't surprised. Originally, Ian and Mitch had asked Quentin if he wanted to come, but the man had declined in order to catch up with some doctors and sort out various medical-related items, so instead the two had asked Adam who had almost instantly agreed.

          Like most patrols, the trip out was uneventful. They went on their way, did a round among some of the nearer villages and were travelling back by the time the afternoon rolled around, moving through the forest that was dotted around the Team Crafted base. Adam had taken off his sunglasses, which were now in his pocket, and his golden eyes scanned the surroundings without any urgency as they walked, Ian and Mitch beside him.

          Ian breathed in the spring air. "It's a nice day to be alive."

          "It's a nice day to not be cooped up in a room filling in forms," Mitch said, stretching his arms above his head. On his back was his bow and a quiver full of arrows, just in case.

          "Oh, so that's the real reason why you asked me if I wanted to go on a patrol."

          "Not really, I just thought that you looked bored."

          Ian's eyeroll clearly said that he didn't believe Mitch, a fact that Mitch instantly jumped on but Adam didn't mind being left out of the joking argument that the two started to have. He tuned out their voices and the general low chatter of the patrol that was walking behind them, their spears resting on their shoulders, and instead listened to the soft, gentle sounds of the forest.

          The trees in this part of the forest were younger with more spaces between them, allowing for an easier walking path. Adam couldn't see the colour of course, but he knew from experience that the leaves of these trees would be a lighter shade of green than the older parts of the forest and as he glanced around, he imagined what the world would look like in colour; the bright green leaves, the brown and green of dirt and grass, the rich brown of the trunks, the flash of colour as the person he just caught sight of moved around a tree and the pure white of their eyes as they fixed on him-

          The realisation of who those eyes belonged to hit Adam just before the bolt of white magic did, which was fortunate because in the split second that separated them, his magic had reacted without his conscious thought and a shield of golden magic sprung up to absorb the bolt. Ian and Mitch both gave a shout of shock but Adam barely heard it as the human man he saw sprinted towards him with a speed that only he could see thanks to his enhanced senses and again, without knowing what he was doing, his hands moved up, a yellow rope forming between them to catch the long sword as it came down and deflect it to the side, giving him the chance he needed to dart away from both the man and the patrol.

          "It's okay, I've got control of it!" Adam said quickly, dispelling the magic and holding out both his hands up and in front of him to show that he wasn't attacking, legs still bent slightly, ready to dive out of the way in a moment. "It's not going to spaz out, it's cool this time, I promise."

          "You're freaking kidding me," Herobrine said, glaring at Adam as he slowly rose from his fighting crouch, his sword still in his hand and ready to strike. "Do you know how much effort I went through to get that damn magic out of you in the first place? Do you?"

          "I know, I know, but there wasn't any real choice," Adam told him.

          Herobrine scoffed a little and rolled his eyes. "Any real choice, my arse," he muttered.

          Adam glanced around Herobrine and saw that all of the patrol had their spears in hand, some unsure, some held in a defensive stance, and some levelled at Herobrine's back. Ian and Mitch, who had recovered from their initial fright, noticed this too and it was Mitch who reacted first.

          "You guys keep going ahead to check on Inteu," he said to the patrol, mentioning the village that was a half hour walk ahead of them. "If it's clear then head back to the base, we'll meet you there in two hours at the very latest."

          None of the recruits looked happy to leave them alone with Herobrine but since none of them could disobey a direct order from a General, they headed off, leaving the four standing in the sparse forest.

          "So let me get this straight," Herobrine said as soon as the patrol had left. "You willingly, willingly, regained your magic despite knowing that it almost killed you last time and could very well kill you again?"

          "That's not exactly how it happened-" Adam started to say but Mitch cut him off.

          "That's pretty close to what happened, Seto still hasn't let it drop yet," the warrior said.

          Adam glared at him before turning his attention back to the obviously displeased Herobrine. "Look, there was a little girl who had magic for no reason and it was controlling her like it controlled me, and it was exactly the same as my magic and we couldn't just leave her so-"

          "You decided to take the magic so that it would leave her," Herobrine finished, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "Yeah alright, I'll believe that."

          "And," Adam continued, speaking before anyone else could cut him off again, "I knew that it wouldn't kill me this time because my body had adjusted to the magic."

          "You suspected that it wouldn't kill you," Mitch corrected. Adam glared at him some more.

          "Speaking of having magic for no reason," Ian said, quickly redirecting the conversation and addressing Herobrine, "we've been getting quite a number of people developing magical illnesses lately. You don't happen to know what's up with that, right?"

          "I know what you're talking about and I have... a few ideas about that but I'm not fully sure yet," Herobrine said, a slight hesitation in his voice as he put away his sword in its sheath on his back. "But from what I do know, it's bad."

          Adam nodded a bit. "Honestly, that doesn't surprise me- hey, what happened to you?"

          Herobrine didn't answer for a moment, which just gave them the time to realise what they had missed before: A patch on his pants was stained red and stuck to his skin as if he had bled through a bandage, an ugly scratch ran down his right forearm that was barely healed, another cut ran just below his left eye as well as various smaller nicks and cuts and bruises, all of which indicated...

          "Who have you been fighting?" Ian asked.

          Herobrine rolled his shoulder back, shifting the position of his sheath strap. "I'm assuming you guys have heard about Entity? He and I have always run into each other in a bad way but it's gotten a little more frequent in the past while."

          "How come?" Adam asked.

          "I've only got a few enemies that are a bit of an issue but they've been starting to team up," Herobrine explained, crossing his arms. "They're planning something and while I'm not entirely sure of what it is, I know that it involves their army attacking others. I've already warned Anne; the Snow Strikers have had to move out of their base to safety."

          "That bad?" Mitch asked, remembering the security and strength of the Snow Striker's base.

          Herobrine gave a single nod. "And I could use some help, if you guys won't mind."

          Ian glanced at Adam and Mitch, who each gave a small nod, then he shrugged, turned to Herobrine, and said "Sure, what's up?"

          "I'm not sure how your relationship is going with the neighbouring armies around here, but I need you to start asking around for any information on Entity, Dreadlord, Acid, or anything that could possibly be linked to them, and seeing where everyone would stand if it came to a fight. I'd be doing it myself but I need to snoop around some more and figure out what they're planning."

          "Of course," Adam said. "We can do that, right?" he asked, glancing at the other two.

          Mitch shrugged. "We'll run it past Jason, he'll figure something out."

          "Thanks," Herobrine said, already starting to back away. "I'll check back in with you guys in about a week, just in case."

          He waited just long enough to see them each nod before he turned on his heel and sprinted into the trees, fast enough so that only Adam could see him weaving in and out of the trees with stunning agility.

Yay, Herobrine's not dead!

Okay so, quick real chat.

I don't know how it's been on your guys' end, but I've been feeling like the quality of my chapters recently, as a whole, has been pretty bad. Bad in the sense that they're worse than what I normally put out. I think it's a combination of me having my writing time severely reduced so I write less frequently and also me having to write overarching summary scenes like at the beginning of this chapter and the past few chapters, which I have very little experience in doing.

So first, I wanna say that I'm sorry if my latest few chapters have been shoddier than usual, I'm trying my best and just not really getting anywhere. Secondly, and this is a plus, this chapter marks roughly the turning point where the plot is really going to pick up speed, so hopefully that means that the chapters get a bit better too.

So with those two points said, I wanna say thanks for reading and sticking with me especially with the irregular updates and quality of writing, and I hope that what I do put out makes your day a bit happier, cause that's what I'm mainly trying to achieve.

And with that said, I'll see you guys... *checks watch* Probably in another week, that seems to be how my time just turns out.

Bye!