Five months had passed since Alistar had discovered the cave hidden within the forests to the south of Distan, during which time he had successfully spoken to the madman trapped within about the plan that they had agreed upon on the night that he had been gifted so much gold. It had taken two months of persistent visits before the man had managed to regain his sanity again in Alistar's presence, at which point they were able to come to the same agreement as they had before. Thankfully, he had retained his sanity long enough to teach Alistar the spells that he had mentioned earlier, which had worked perfectly once they had been mastered to an extent.
During this timeframe, Alistar had been forced to kill several sizeable predators that had either stalked or attacked him on his way to the hidden location or on the subsequent return trips, which had toughened his nerves to the extent that he no longer hesitated when taking the lives of other animals.
