Ernaut and Isaiah were still traveling northeast at the point. They had little time to plan accordingly towards schedule, because they'd know that the forces of the Nexus would take advantage of whatever they can to stop them. They went through the forests of Evergrove avoiding most of the towns to hopefully avoid tracking Ernaut down. Still though, they knew that there could be more threats out there, whether it be the wildlife, Chromas, or even the military forces at all. He'd still know that everyone in the Nexus is after Ernaut, which to him meant a risk that he was able to undertake for himself for being one of those people that believed in Aruku, the Comet, and the Tear of Heaven. So far, he knew that this all started when the mysterious man came in and told them about everything, people forgot about it until eventually some people regained some interest in it, then the Tear of Heaven came down on Castlemore, Ernaut himself got it and unlocked it into his body, being able to harness full potential of the Tear's powers and abilities far greater than anyone else. He tried to hide these powers because he knew that he'd get in trouble if they knew that he was using its unidentified powers, but it was too late when the Chromas attacked his home and took away his parents, never to be seen again. He still wanted to fulfill Karin's promises, but he had never knew how many obstacles that might be on the way out of the Nexus.

Ernaut was following Isaiah through the forest. The forest had little light to come out of it. The only light possible was the daylight of the sun. Although technically he could be able to make light with the help of Karin, Ernaut wasn't in the mood right now. Everything was fine until eventually, a Chroma got in the way of him and eventually made him lose track of Isaiah. No, it wasn't facing in front of him or appearing out of nowhere, it was zooming across the trees in the forest, facing away from him. Although Ernaut could've just fought the Chroma real easily, he couldn't even react that fast, so that meant that even if he were to get his weapons out, it would've been too late to track that one Chroma. Ernaut knew that there was a threat for him, but what made things worse was that he tried to get Karin for help, but thanks to the Chromas, she was unable to track Isaiah down. Ernaut knew that he was on his own for right now.

"Hello? Isaiah? Anyone?" Ernaut was lost. He didn't know where to go. The last sight he could make out was that he was following him, but the presence of the Chromas disoriented him, but he knew that there were Chromas on the move for him. There was barely any light for Ernaut to look up, because most of the leaves on the trees were blocking out the skies. He was lost in the woods, nowhere where to go. He was sitting down on a stump, surrounded with trees, but everywhere else, there were only two paths. Ernaut didn't know which path would equate to going backwards or the wrong way. He and Isaiah had been staying together with the tent that Karin had prepared, he was following the path this morning and then because of the Chromas, he eventually got lost and disoriented, and because of the Chromas' presence, Karin was unable to track Isaiah due to the cloudiness of her abilities when using long-scope abilities, likely due to the presence of the Chromas.

Ernaut knew that he had to keep moving from the Chromas or any force that was after him. He also knew that Beck was not giving up upon him or the military forces. Apparently there was more; he heard of a crossbowman named Quinn who could also be after him at the point. To him, he didn't think Shion and Wally would be able to follow him at the point, because he knew that they'd need another ship to get from Aurora to Evergrove. To him, that was basically not the point right now. The point was that thanks to a Chroma that intercepted his movement, he had already lost track of Isaiah, who was guiding him to the direction where Hobbs's Summit was. He already knew that it was northeast from them in the beginning, but from his own perspective, he was basically lost in the woods with no direction. While Ernaut could ask Karin about a compass ability if Karin had one, but the presence of the Chromas had been already blocking out the signal. With the presence of the Chromas blocking Karin's signal, Ernaut knew what to do.

"Alright, I think I might have a plan. Something tells me that there are Chromas in this area, and that they are intercepting my signal to find Isaiah and my way to Hobbs's Summit. If I destroy those Chromas, hopefully that will clear up the signal and track Isaiah again." Ernaut said to himself.

Ernaut ran and ran around the forest to look for any traces of the Chromas. Eventually after some time, he saw what could be a group of Chromas; a mix between Chroma Princes and rooks; the lowest rank of the Chromas. He knew that they were the one jamming his signal, so he got ready to fight with his only weapon of choice; Karin's weaponry. While it is possible to defend against a Chroma using one's healthy omens which would technically be the only way without a unlocked Tear, it still felt a bit risky to him and he'd still prefer to use Karin's weapons at all times until he can work something out.

"Alright, this is time for another fight with the Chromas, I think I can handle this right now!" Ernaut said, readying his weapons against the Chromas. He learned how to dodge through the ranged attacks that the Chroma Princes had such as their own magical abilities and ranged strikes. He also learned how to work his way through cramped distances, such as using the trees for his cover from attacks, with Karin alerting him when to attack and when to take cover from their attacks. He'd already fought against the Chromas in the past, but now he's starting to get to the point where he's basically mastering out everything to do on how to destroy the Chromas. To him, he still didn't know how to defend against a Chroma attack without the use of Karin's weaponry. Sure, it does take a healthy omen that one believes it and learning how to avoid nightmares, but no one so far has accomplished that before, or ever right now.

"Alright, this is it! I'm almost done here!" Ernaut said, finishing off the Chromas using his Spirit Fist weapon. First of all, he wanted to use the Spirit Needle weapon to shoot the Chromas that were dodging most of the time, because that was his only ranged weapon of choice right now. He still only had two weapons; the fist and the spear, but when he recalled that dream that happened on the same morning of unlocking the Tear of Heaven, he knew that he still had more weapons to learn, such as the long sword that could cut down his enemies which he hasn't learned yet. Every time Ernaut would defeat a Chroma, all of that energy becomes absorbed into Karin, mostly just to recharge her abilities or being able to learn new abilities that haven't been learnt before. After Ernaut defeated the Chromas, Karin began to speak as she started to feel that the signal for Isaiah was being cleared up at the point.

"Ernaut! The signal is being cleared! I think I know where we are right now. You have been sidetracked into the northern forest. Isaiah's still heading northeast, and I'll guide you, so you know where to go from here." Karin said, upon Ernaut defeating all of the Chromas and eventually regaining the ability to track where Isaiah is right now.

"Alright. Don't worry Isaiah, I am coming for you!" Ernaut said, beginning to run to his destination via the directions that Karin was providing him. He eventually decided to run and run, because he knew that Isaiah could possibility in danger or possibility looking for him after realizing that he had lost track of where exactly he is.

Normally on the journey northeast, Ernaut and Isaiah would've taken a relaxed pace where they would walk instead of just you know run, but as he knew that Isaiah could be in possible danger from either the Chromas or possibly the Nexus forces, Ernaut instead began to run, and he began to talk to Karin for the directions;

"Alright Karin, which path to take? There's two paths, but I don't know where Isaiah went. I need your help." Ernaut said, asking Karin for help upon stopping at the fork in in the road.

"Okay Ernaut, take the right path, because I can sense traces of Isaiah here on the right path. I think Isaiah might be in danger right now, because I just noticed that he stopped." Karin replied.

Taking in what Karin said, Ernaut ran and ran through the right path in the forest with no time to waste. He knew that Isaiah was in trouble, but he didn't know what to expect. He'd hoped that Isaiah wouldn't even tell the Nexus forces about him or gave up the fact that he assisted him at all. As for the Chromas, it was still no frills whatsoever, and they could still possibly target anyone; whether it be the Nexus forces, innocent people, or even himself!

Upon following the path, there he unexpectedly saw the sight that he'd never wanted; the Shadowman with his rapier out brandished towards him. He looked like he holding Isaiah captive alongside several Nexus soldiers in a line across from him at the sides.

"Alright Captain Beck, or should I call you the Shadowman! It's about time you give up Isaiah and let me go on my own quest! If you do not let him go, I will take extreme action against you, and that will be; using my own powers against you." Ernaut said angrily.

"Ernaut! I should've known there would be more people out there supporting you because they knew that you'd be treated very poorly because of what we said about the purple crystal, or should we call that the Tear of Heaven? If it's called the Tear of Heaven, there's no reason it could be from Heaven at all, because it's in the afterlife!" Beck said, holding Isaiah cuffed.

"Beck! He's back for more. Now, I don't think running from him is going to be a good option, I need to think of a plan." Ernaut was considering different options to get away from Beck aside from just running away from him.

"Why not just fight? You sound like you are wanting to fight them off." Karin asked.

"Well, it's about time I consider that idea right now, because I need to defend myself against the forces of the Nexus, I only used these powers to defend myself against the wildlife or the Chromas, but it's gonna be the first time I use these powers against the forces of the Nexus, or their military." Ernaut replied to Karin.

"Hey! Who are you talking to?" Beck said, noticing that Ernaut was talking, but was unable to hear what they were talking about.

"This is Karin, the Spirit of Heaven. She's inside of me, and she's ready to fight you!" Ernaut said.

"Alright Beck. I'm sorry, but you need to let this man go. He needs to go to his own quest to destroy the Comet and destroy all of the Chromas, which will be finding his way east. If you do not let him go, you will face dire consequences." Karin said. "He promised to travel east and hopefully do the following things; redeem Aruku, my previous owner who bowed down to the Call of the Comet, end the Epoch of the Comet, and destroy all of the Chromas. That is his biggest promise, I know you'll never believe in us because you don't sound like you even care about these subjects. All of these Chromas, they're NOT from him, they are from the Comet, which as you know, they were the successors of the Shades Aruku had fought against, but thanks to Aruku, they became reborn as Chromas, where they adapt light instead of night, but form the same way as the Shades. So, would you please? Let him go towards his own quest to destroy the Comet? It would certainly mean a lot of him, and yes. I am talking to you out loud." Karin said towards Beck hoping to get at least some sort of a serious reaction that wasn't just something pointing fun off, but;

"Hahaha! This thing talks? Hahaha!" Beck laughed at the reaction of the Tear of Heaven talking. Soon after, all of the other soldiers started laughing. "But anyways: Guards! Take away Isaiah, and make sure to take down Ernaut and his mysterious weapons!" Beck called for the army that would take down Ernaut and arrest Isaiah.

Several military guards eventually came in, arrested Isaiah and then took him away. After that sight, Ernaut had never seen or heard from Isaiah ever again, and he was his only comrade for along the trip to Evergrove that had shown at least some respect to him, even for a person who had wanted to speak out for the Tear of Heaven, Karin, and Aruku.

"Now it's time for you Ernaut! It's time that your fake quest ends here!" Beck said, pointing his rapier at Ernaut. Beck felt like he was ready to take down Ernaut for real.

"What fake quest? Oh, you mean that one quest where I get to eastern Teya, defeat the Chromas, destroy the Comet and redeem Aruku. Keep in mind, this is what the Tear of Heaven wants, and I think this might be too convoluted for you to understand?"

"Too convoluted? What do you mean too convoluted? This isn't too convoluted for us to understand, it's just that you keep on making up things that no one else can believe in because we simply can't replicate it for ourselves or that the subject itself has no impact on us? These topics have no impact on us whatsoever, so they're better off forgotten! Get over it and give up the Tear of Heaven if you want to be spared."

"The only way I'll give up the Tear of Heaven is if you kill me!" Ernaut said, readying his own weapons again to get ready for defend them. He knew this was going to be his first time fighting against the Nexus military, but he didn't want to kill them entirely. Instead, he's going to be defensive in a certain way that he refused to disclose to them, so he decided to charge up Karin's weapons for a secret plan.

"Have it your way then." Beck said, readying his weapon and then all of the soldiers planned on getting Ernaut. They were all ready to fight Ernaut, but Ernaut never gave up; because he knew that he needed to show them a few miracles from Karin. In fact, this was something that he had never ever done before; learning how to actually attack a Nexus soldier. In the past, he refused to even attack anyone from the Nexus because he knew that it'll ruin his chances of possibly coming back to the Nexus when his mission to end the Epoch of the Comet is complete, but he also knew that there could be far better possibilities of ending the Epoch of the Comet and destroying all of the Chromas; whether it be changing the world forever or eventually choosing to make his stay to wherever he want. To Ernaut, Castlemore still felt like his number one home, but he knew that it was time to pull the shots towards his enemies, not the Chromas, but the military.

"Alright Beck, watch this. This is going to be far beyond anything you've seen!" Ernaut said, channeling Karin to summon a magical swarm of Spirit Needles to take down Beck and his army of soldiers that are after him. The swarm of needles had hit the army of the soldiers, injuring him, but instead of hitting Beck, one of the needles hit his weapon of choice; the glowstone rapier that illuminates the night for him. Apparently that's what he was using to be able to see in the nighttime where he works most effectively. Taking advantage of the swarm, Ernaut kept on running and running towards the direction where Hobbs's Summit was, eventually outrunning Beck and his army.

"No! My legendary rapier! It's destroyed!" Beck started to feel upset and felt more like a failure upon seeing that his prized glowstone rapier, was destroyed by Ernaut's weaponry; the Spirit of Heaven, or simply Karin.

"Beck, are you going to be feeling down about things or trying to learn from them?" One of the soldiers said, getting up after the Spirit Needle swarm that attacked all of the units that were after Ernaut. In fact, the swarm that Karin sent out to defend Ernaut hit all of them and injured some of them, but instead of injuring Beck, the needle instead hit his glowstone rapier, shattering the blade to pieces.

"No! This will not be the end of me!" I'll be back, when I get Quinn to tag along with me to Hobbs's Summit and eventually I'll find myself a new sword or rapier to take down Ernaut. Now, I think we've learned something about this Ernaut. He's also capable of defending himself with these powers, and he's also capable of attacking us with these powers and even destroying our weapons against them. We need to step up our game against him if we want to protect the Nexus. Keep in mind, this is NOT the only weapon that he has that can protect himself; this weird magic swarm thingamajig; he's also got these magical fists and this jousting spear alongside with him. I don't know if he's got more weapons out there or any other hidden powers, but we need to be alert." Beck said, filling up with determination with himself to catch up Ernaut.

Ernaut had already gotten away from Beck and had been getting closer and closer to Hobbs's Summit. He eventually thought what happened earlier, how he managed to stand up for himself and defend himself against the guards and even Beck himself. He wondered why he couldn't have done that back in Castlemore when the mob was after him, and why he's deciding to fight back right now. He's back to being alone now, still running from any forces and all of the dangers that face him. Karin had always wondered why he chose to defend himself against the guards and Captain Beck instead of just directly attacking them, which is question that will remain in Karin's curiosity forever; until after night fell and Ernaut sleeping in his tent, Karin decided to ask him;

"So Ernaut, I have a question which might seem a little petty to you; why do you choose to injure the soldiers instead of you know, killing them directly. You could've been a lot safer if you chose to just kill them, but no, you chose to just injure them and break their weapons. As you know, injuring them is not going to halt them entirely, but killing them will. Why is that, I'm just a little curious on what's with the decisions you are taking." Karin asked, feeling as if Ernaut should've taken that other decision and not the other one for better results.

"Well as you know, I'm still planning on getting back to this place after I fulfill my promise to you; destroying the Comet and all of the Chromas. I still don't want to kill anyone from the Nexus because that would still ruin my chances of coming back to this place, because I still want to redeem them and be able to return, because if I were to actually murder them, it'll ruin my chances of being able to come back redeemed to them. Unless if it's a possibility to change everyone, I'm not affording to kill anyone from the Nexus, only injuring them and breaking their weapons, because as you know, I'm the type of guy who doesn't like killing my own people, or the people from my kingdom, because it's not good to me." Ernaut replied.

"Well I understand. Eventually, you're gonna face some more enemies, and eventually you will get to a point where you must learn how to kill for your own safety. You've killed wildlife, vanquished Chromas, and so far killed zero soldiers or any human beings so far. I think eventually you need to learn how to defend yourself more seriously from now on. That's something that you have to ask yourself; should you learn how to spare others or kill others? That's the question you need to ask yourself if you want to feel safe." Karin said.

"I'm getting tired right now, but as you know, I'll think about it and start determining if I want to kill Beck and the military or not, because I have a goal that you might be already petty of; heading back to my real home after I fulfill your promise to end the Epoch of the Comet."

"You need to think about that, because I think you may be getting to a point where you eventually become unable to return to your real home. Your home is destroyed, and you have nowhere to stay in the Nexus. You are currently the biggest fugitive right now, and you need to escape from the Nexus and find a way east. One of the things that you need to consider is what you shouldn't do to fulfill your goals and what you NEED to do to actually fulfill that goal, because if you want to come back to the Nexus, you will need some way to redeem yourself after you complete my promise." Karin said.

After Karin's words, Ernaut didn't really say anything back to her, and eventually fell asleep in his tent. He started thinking of what else to eventually learn from the Tear of Heaven, because he's getting to the point where he eventually needs to learn new abilities from the Tear of Heaven because he felt like the two weapons he has aren't just enough.