There are many stories of young, brave heroes being caught in a dastardly plot of world conquest.  Many tales have been told of the small conquering the large.  Throughout history, it has happened time and time again.  The Bible refers to such a story, as does China myth.  Time and time again, one thing is clear:  Size and power isn’t everything.  No matter how big a villain may become, there will always be a small hero standing in their way with both the willpower and the courage to overpower them and come to supreme victory.  This is such a tale of the tiny conquering the large.  This is the tale of the Ari no Tsurugi, the Sword of the Ants.

Deep in the mountains lies a special school known as Suzaku Academy.  Suzaku is a premiere school for the training of young graduates.  At Suzaku, there are three studies that can be undertaken.  Attendees can learn the ways of the sword-clad Warriors, the stealthy knife-users known as Thieves, or wielders of the arcane arts, the Mages.  The Academy was host to many students male and female, short and tall.  Our story revolves around one special student, a young man known only as Hitoshi Hayama. 

Hitoshi, a trainee in the ways of the Warrior, was definitely not among the prime students of the Academy.  While he was nowhere near the best, he was also nowhere near the worst.  A laid-back soul, many people referred to him as a slacker, one who didn’t train hard and learn his true potential.  However, all of that would soon change.  The Wheels of Fate were turning, setting events into motion that would change Hitoshi’s life forever, not to mention every single boy at the Academy.  Hitoshi would be put to trial after trial, risking his life, and not even Fate could tell if he would succeed or fail.

Hitoshi was wandering the campus, as he always did, when he received a notice of utmost importance.  Principal Ayuka, the head mistress of the school, had summoned him.  He was told this was a matter of ‘great importance’.  This confused Hitoshi very much.  He was an average student, at best.  What in the world could Ayuka have to say to him, that couldn’t have been handled better by some of the other students?  An even bigger question is…what will happen to him once he finds out what she wants?  Was she going to expel him?  Punish him for slacking off?  Hitoshi didn’t have the foggiest clue, but it wandered his mind.

Unfortunately for the Principal, Hitoshi was a slacker and didn’t quite take his notice very seriously.  He stood next to the main building of the campus, going over what had been said to him.  As he gathered his thoughts, he didn’t want to go to the principal’s office right away.  All he cared about at that moment was the fact that she requested him right when Free Time started.  What a bummer!  Instead, he decided to trek the campus and say hello to everyone.  After all, how could it be that big of a deal if he, of all people, was the person she wanted to see?

As he looked around campus, he tried to think of who he wished to visit first.  To his right was the track field and the training course.  To his left, was the garden, pond, and main building of campus.  After taking a deep breath, he shrugged his shoulders and decided to head towards the training grounds.  He hadn’t been out there in quite awhile, and he thought he’d pay Professor Moriko a visit.  With a smile on his face, he strolled to the right, his spikey brown hair blowing in the wind.

As the young Warrior walked across campus, directly over the dirt course track, three other students whipped by him, nearly taking him out as they sped by.  One started running directly behind him, a girl with short-green hair.  She came up and scoffed at him.  “Unless you plan to join me out here, get out of the way.  Are you TRYING to get yourself run over?”  Hitoshi quickly jumped to the side, off the track and the green-haired girl sped off without saying another word.  He let out a sigh of relief as she did so.  That girl was always working out.  Hitoshi very much doubted that she’d even notice if she ran him over.

Shaking his head, he looked around, realizing that he’d jumped right at the gates of the Training Course.  Regaining his smile that was lost with his encounter on the track, he slowly stepped through the gates.  As he entered the area, he looked around; enjoying the scenery he hadn’t seen in quite some time.  There was a stream that ran through this area, adorned with silver, steel walkways.  Most of the area otherwise was filled with greenery, flowers, and trees.  This place was no walk-in-the-park, however.  The academy kept animals and beasts in this area, enabling the students to brush up on their combat skills.

Directly in front of the gates was a small wooden cabin, the home of the Training Course’s designated instructor, known as Professor Moriko.  As Hitoshi approached the cabin, he could see the slender figure of the professor, standing just outside the building.  Her jet-black hair split in the front on both sides, flowing down her shoulders, her bangs slowly blowing in the wind above her golden eyes, and a long ponytail trekking down her back.  As he approached further, his boot hit a small twig.

Whipping around, Moriko immediately noticed Hitoshi’s presence.  With a surprised look on her face, she stared him up and down.  “What’s this?  Hayama’s at the training course?  During free time?!  Hell has officially frozen over.”

Hitoshi stood before Professor Moriko, almost chilling in guilt over what had just been said to him. While it was very true that he didn’t visit the Training Grounds often, but he thought he’d at least come around every once in awhile. He’d rarely made appearances in free time, and Moriko was a hard instructor to please. He’d made it a habit of mind to steer clear a lot of times, knowing that going into the Training Grounds would be harder work than he was used to performing, especially in his free time. He took a deep breath and eyed the professor as she teased him, hoping she was only kidding.

“Aw, don’t look at me like that, kiddo. I’m only kidding with you. It’s nice to see you coming around the Training Course for once. So, what can I do for you? You want to do some drilling with yours truly, or are you just here to muck around?”

Hitoshi felt slightly at easy at the change in the Professor’s attitude. He was relieved that she was only teasing him, yet he did feel slightly guilty at the reason he was really there. He had no intention of drilling with that woman. He’d be sore within minutes with how she taught. Putting a hand behind his head, he started to make a small laugh and closed his eyes as he began to speak to the young black-haired professor.

Umm…well, you see, I was just doing a little bit of wandering today. I figured I’d stop by to pay you and the Training Course a visit during my rounds, Moriko-sensei. I haven’t fallen of the deep end yet, coming to do drills in my free time.”

Hitoshi was ended his laughing statement and opened his eyes to look back at the Professor, only to realize that her attitude and expression had completely changed. The kidding professor closed her eyes and got a disappointed look on her face. Hitoshi’s smile immediately drooped to a frown, almost knowing exactly what was going to happen. She was about to end his little ‘wandering adventure’ and give him something to do.

“Oh, is that right?” she said, a stern look on her face. “Hitoshi, you are too lazy! There will be no more free time for you. While you’re here, I have a little assignment I need you to accomplish. Are you ready?”

Hitoshi’s body had a nervous feeling running through it’s body. He’d only wanted to come and say hello to the lovely professor, not get in a bunch of work for her. He slightly stuttered, trying to reason with the woman, fidgeting one of his eyes in the process. “W-What? But Professor, I don’t have time for this. I was just on my way to-“

Hitoshi was then cut off my Moriko as she raised her voice and began to complete Hitoshi’s statement for him. “-to meet with Principle Ayuka?! Yes, you’re right. That is exactly what you SHOULD have been doing, but you decided to come and see me instead, heading in the WRONG direction! Don’t you even start with that “wandering” nonsense! You’re here now, so deal with it!”

Hitoshi fidgeted a little worse as he took the Professor’s scolding, the shivers of guilt running ever-stronger in his veins. It’s true. He’d put his responsibility of visiting the Principal on hold to go and see everyone. However, he had no idea that his little wandering trip was going to lead to a scolding from Professor Moriko and whatever she had planned for him. ‘That woman is as ruthless as ever’ he thought to himself as he awaited his assignment.

Bringing a smile to her face again, Moriko calmly and softly spoke to Hitoshi of the assignment she had ready for him, as if she’d been expecting him to come by and do this for her. “Listen, Hayama, I’ve been wanting a lovely Coda flower vine here in front of the window of my cabin for awhile now. However, I don’t have any spare seeds in my little ‘collection’ right now. There should be a lot of these seeds scattered throughout the grounds here. The assignment I have for you is to gather some seeds for me. 8 should be plenty. Oh, and no running from ANY fights, you got it?!”

Hitoshi’s eye was fidgeting as Moriko was giving him his assignment.  What was she even thinking with this?  He was a Warrior, not some sort of Gardener.  She says she has an assignment for him, and she sends him on a hunt for seeds?  He wanted to just turn his butt around and get out of this mess.  However, he knew that was no longer an option.  If he did, he would likely be grabbed from behind and launched back into the Training Course by Moriko herself.  Slowly nodding his head, he agreed to her request.  

“N-No problem, Moriko-sensei!  I’ll get right on it.  Eight Coda flower seedlings, coming right up!”  He was smiling and trying to look as confident as he could as he gave this response to his Professor.  He knew this wouldn’t get him out of doing the assignment, but it could at least get her to not look at him like such a slacker, despite the fact that’s exactly what he was.  As he was smiling, however, he realized that he was standing there for too long, getting another raised-voice statement from Moriko.

“Well, hop to it, Hitoshi!  Get on out there!  I want to see those little legs hustle!”

Not wanting to anger the lovely Professor any more than he already had, Hitoshi began to run past the cabin, over towards the nearest steel walkway.  His boots made a soft clanging noise as he moved into one of the forested areas of the Training Course.  The shadows of the towering pine trees cast him in a brief darkness as he ran around a corner.  As he did so, he looked and saw a well.  It was the same well that supplied Professor Moriko’s with fresh spring water.  That lucky Professor had a lot of nice things.

He couldn’t stop and think, though.  That black-haired professor was likely watching his every move.  He had to keep it steady, but not piddle around.  As he looked towards the well, he smiled as he approached, thinking he saw something near its base that looked like some sort of seed.

Hitoshi needed to hurry with this assignment.  He’d obviously made some bad karma with the Professor for coming down to see her when he was supposed to be seeing the Principal.  He wanted to be on Moriko’s good side.  He’d heard stories of what happened when you got on her bad side, and he’d prefer to never test to see if those rumors were true.  The best idea was to just be a good student and get the seeds for her before she got upset and started punishing him for being a slacker. 

It seemed that he was in luck, too.  As he ran towards the well, there was something sitting right in front of its base.  As Hitoshi came for a closer look, he realized that it was exactly what he was looking for, a Coda Flower Seed!  Quickly grabbing it and throwing it into one of his pockets, he smiled and took a look around.  He still needed seven more of these things, and the Training Course was anything but small.  He had two options.  He could either climb down the small cliff in front of the well or he could leap across the stream to his right.  Being the daredevil he was, Hitoshi ran for the cliff.

The cliff wasn’t all that big.  Maybe 20 or 30 feet high, but it had been set there for training with climbing a rope. There was a huge, wooden pole at the edge of the cliff with a rope attached to it.  He didn’t know why, but he always liked going down the rope.  Call him adventurous, but whenever he was out, drilling with Moriko, and she took the stream path, he always took the rope.  He walked towards the cliff, ready to take the rope yet again, hoping that he’d be able to find more seeds at it’s base.

He’d arrived at the rope and turned himself around, slowly beginning his descent.  As much of a slacker as he was, rope-climbing was not something he had a hard time with.  Putting his boots into crevices built into the side of the cliff, he slowly worked his way down.  He had his eyes closed most of the way, slowly putting one hand down, right after one another.  As much as he was in a rush, he couldn’t risk his health.  Professor Moriko would never forgive him if she had to come down there and help an injured Hitoshi.

Hitoshi was about halfway down the cliff when he stopped to take a break.  Getting that running start from the cabin definitely had not been a good idea.  He’d gotten exhausted very quickly.  It’s a shame, really.  He’d gotten off to that quick start, trying not to disappoint the Professor, yet here he was, dangling from a rope, exhausted.  ‘At least this place isn’t easily seen from her cabin’ he thought to himself.  The good thing, however, was that he’d managed to already find one of the seeds he needed.  He was ready to take a quick rest and get back to it.  That was the plan, at least.

Fate, not wanting Hitoshi to have this little time of rest, threw an event into motion to get him off that rope as soon as possible.  He was dangling about 10 feet above the ground, starting to close his eyes when he heard a brushing sound.  His eyes bolted open and he started looking around.  He looked both up and down, but didn’t see anything nearby.  That sound.  He knew that sound all too well.  The first beast he’d ever encountered in the Training Course.  It was a Mandragora.

Among all of the beasts that were hopping around the Training Course, the Mandragora was probably the sneakiest of them all.  Mandragora were some sort of plant-type beast.  They were shaped like a small bush, but with a flower-like set of leaves on top of them and a concealable set of deep-red eyes.  These beasts were chosen for the Training Course by Moriko herself.  She told them that the Mandragora were there to make sure the students always were aware of their surroundings.  These creatures could conceal their eyes and look like regular bushes, letting many students pass them by, not even knowing they’re there.

Hitoshi took a deep breath and decided that he needed to keep moving.  If there were Mandragora around, watching him, he needed to stay on the move.  Being up in the air and under attack from one of those beasts would not lead to anything good, not anything good at all.  He looked down for a moment, double-checking just how far he still needed to go.  Once he’d checked, he looked back up and gasped.  His vision went dark as a huge bush-like Mandragora landed on his face, completely knocking him off the rope.

The entire thing had caught him completely by surprise.  There must have been a Mandragora following him when he started descending the rope, just waiting for the right time to pounce on him.  He felt rough, dry leaves against his face as the body of this beast was pushing on him.  The two fell together and Hitoshi, of course, was on the bottom.  He landed with a thud and let out a grunt of pain.  His back was filling with pain as his eyes squinted.  He had to get up before this thing hurt him even more.

The Mandragora let out a high-pitched screech as it found itself on top of Hitoshi.  It jumped into the air, landing on his stomach, taking up most of the man’s body.  Hitoshi immediately started coughing as he felt it pounding down on his stomach.  Opening one eye, he reached down to his holster.  As he grabbed for his Steel Sword, the beast jumped again, this time higher.  Reflexes moving as fast as he could, he brought the sword into the air and slashed at the Mandragora as it came down.

The monster was immediately cut in half as the steel impacted it’s soft, bush-like form. Letting out a shriek of terror, the two halves landed on the ground, next to Hitoshi’s stomach.  The young warrior soon laid his head back on the ground, taking deep breaths, trying to recover from this surprise attack.  It was rough on him, but he’d managed to defeat that cunning beast.  Rolling his head to the side, his eyes widened as he saw another Coda Flower Seed, right next to him. 

He smiled and pushed himself up, adding that seed to his collection.  2 down, 6 to go…

Hitoshi quickly bagged the second Coda Seed and rubbed his back, getting to his feet at the bottom of the cliff.  That battle had taken a good bit out of him.  Mandragoras weren’t known for their strength, but the fact that they’d managed to mount a sneak attack surprised him.  Attacks from those bush-monsters hadn’t taken anything out of him, but that fall had.  His right eye shut as he took a look around to see if there were any more seeds around.  After taking a deep breath, he began to shuffle his feet, heading to the next area of the Training Course.

He was blinking a lot from some pain in his back, the results of his fall from earlier.  His hand was stuck to it, but after a few moments, he decided that he couldn’t just leave it as it was.  There were monsters around here, and he couldn’t afford for any of them to get the jump on him.  Reaching into his bag, he moved his fingers around the seeds he’d been collecting and pulled out a small, blue bottle.  “One Potion down the hatch!” he said, as he flipped it open and drank the Potion.  With one loud gulp, the liquid’s magic went into effect, ridding his body of all the pain that had previously been in with him.

With his strength back, Hitoshi started moving faster, letting the bag back down to his side and walking past all the bushes and trees that surrounded him in this part of the Training Course.  He was making a good bit of distance, scanning the ground for more seeds.  Since he still had to find 6 more, he assumed they would be all over the place.  It would only be a matter of time before he found some more.  He just had to be patient and diligent, and he’d find them in no time at all.

He soon came to a bridge that passed over the creek that filled this place.  Looking to the side, he could tell that the source of the creek, a waterfall, had another seed by it.  All he had to do was cross the bridge and he’d be able to add one more to his collection.  As he approached it, however, he slowly quieted himself.  At the front of the bridge were two more Mandragoras, turned the other direction and shuffling around together, as if communicating to one another.  Hitoshi watched them for a moment until he was sure neither had seen him.

Taking the initiative, he charged towards the bridge and, with one quick swipe of his sword, he’d cut into and launched both Mandragoras down into the creek below.  The bush-monsters squealed as they took the plunge and were swiftly carried away, losing any chance they had at launching a counter-attack against Hitoshi.  They’d gotten a sneak attack in on him earlier, so now he’d gotten back at them, using the same tactic.  Slowly putting his sword away, he ran across the bridge and up the next path, collecting the next seed. 

Now, he had 3 seeds.  There were only 5 left to find, and then he’d be completely done.  Smiling, proud of his victory against those recent Mandragoras, Hitoshi started to feel a little arrogant.  Moving his hand away from his sword, he started to casually jog through the Training Course.  After passing the bridge he’d crossed earlier, he could see a set of stairs, and below the stairs was yet another seed.  His eyes brightened as he rushed over to it.  Getting on his knees, he lowered his hand and picked it up.  His luck was definitely starting to change.

Or was it?  The moment he’d bagged the 4th seed, a surging pain flew in through Hitoshi’s butt.  “OW!!!” he screamed, as he jumped into the air, hands over his bottom.  As he came back down, he threw himself up and looked around the area.  Right next to him were two Rivercraps, large Blue crabs that dwelled around the water-filled areas of the Training Course.  One of them was jumping back into the creek while the other was holding it’s pincers towards Hitoshi, snapping them at him and moving its head, as if it were mocking him.

Hitoshi’s face went red as he realized what had happened.  The crabs had snuck up on him when he found that last seed and decided to play a prank on his bottom with their claws.  His jaw dropped as he pulled out his sword to get back at them.  As quickly as he’d pulled the sword out, however, both crabs were scurrying away.  He leapt at one of them, but only proved to plow his own face into the dirt as they jumped into the creek and swam to safety.  With a frustrated look on his face, Hitoshi blew some hair out of his face and stood back up.

After wiping the dirt off his armor, the young man turned and continued his search for the Coda Seeds.  His trek took him to another creek-crossing, though this new one wasn’t a bridge.  All across the Training Course, the professors had set up small rocks that students had to jump on to get across to the next area of the Course.  After a couple quick jumps and nearly losing his balance on the way, Hitoshi made it to land again and started running, continuing his quest for seeds.

Getting surrounded by forest again, he ran around a corner and came across a pink flower, growing by its lonesome.  Hitoshi stopped at the flower and looked down and around it.  He almost started to smile as he looked at it’s beauty.  Almost getting lost in a trance, Hitoshi quickly got himself going again and saw a small seed right next to it’s base, almost hidden by the leaves.  After bagging his 5th Coda Seed, he began to walk more slowly through this area of the Course, his head leveling off a little and thinking to avoid any more surprise attacks and humiliation towards him from the creatures of this place.

His trip was pretty calm for awhile, no monsters coming up to attack him as he came to another bridge, leading to another area where the Course has a small stairway, leading up to higher ground.  As he crossed the bridge, he decided to stop for a rest.  His butt sat down next to a group of white flowers and, next to them, he noticed yet another Coda Seed.  He quickly bagged the 6th Seed and let his eyes rest for a few moments, regaining the strength he’d lost since beginning this ‘assignment’ for Professor Moriko…

Hitoshi’s eyes bolted open as he found himself drifting off to sleep.  He let out a yawn as he pulled himself up from a sound from behind him.  His head turned, looking at the trees and small cliff-like segment of the land behind him.  He raised his eyebrow as he heard what sounded like the scurrying of little legs.  There was something back there.  He could tell there was something back there.  What’s more was that the scurrying sounded oh-so-familiar.  “Rivercrabs” he whispered to himself as he closed his bag and began to creep around the trees, towards a small stairway that went up to the next ‘level’ of the course.

As he came around, he placed one foot on the stairs and immediately froze.  Crouching down in front of the first couple steps, he could see the scurrying critters coming out into the open, right above the final step of these stairs.  He crept his head above the steps and looked as he saw two Rivercrabs walking around the open grass and stopped at the top of the stairs, looking the opposite direction.  They didn’t seem to have noticed him, and he kept his position, ensuring that they wouldn’t become aware of him during that moment.

Slowly standing up, he watched the two crabs for a few minutes, still partially waking up, himself.  As he started to regain his focus and saw them doing whatever it is they did as they made conversation, he saw that one of them was shaking its head, up and down.  Hitoshi’s eyes widened as he saw this action.  It was the same mocking action the crab from earlier had done to him earlier!  His mouth was hanging wide open as he grabbed his sword and screamed down towards the crabs.  “It’s you!”

The crabs, immediately recognizing his presence, turned around and looked at him for a moment.  They blinked at him for a second before the non-mocking one scurried back into the forest.  The other one, however, stood there, and continued mocking Hitoshi, snapping it’s pincers at him and making that laughing head-shake.  This was starting to enrage Hitoshi and made him think on a lesson he’d been taught just a few weeks before.  His breathing was heavy and his arms were tightly gripped on the sword as he lunged at them and went into action.

The Rivercrab had seen Hitoshi’s rage and sprinted off into the distance.  Still chasing after it, Hitoshi started running everything through his head as he put his lesson to good use, feeling a surge of energy running through him at that moment.  He leapt into the air and screamed down at the monster as he came down, his sword swiping at it, at the same time.  “DOUBLE CUT!”  As Hitoshi came down, the sword sliced into the crab, immediately shredding two of it’s legs.  After his boots hit the ground, the crab was launched forward, into a cliff wall ahead.  Continuing the maneuver, Hitoshi launched himself into the air again, almost immediately after landing and locked onto the crab again. 

As he came down again, the sword stabbed into the grab’s torso, immediately impaling it.  Hitoshi stood there for a moment, tossing the crab’s body off into the distance and looked at his sword, covered in the beast’s blood.  As he regained his breath, he walked to the side, where part of the creek that ran around the Training Course was lying.  Making a couple quick slashes into the water, Hitoshi cleaned his blade of the blood that had been put on it. 

After cleaning his sword off, he returned to where he’d killed that last Rivercrab and found yet another Coda Seed.  Between his steadying breathes, he let out a smile as he pocketed this seed.  He was getting extremely close to completing his goal.  He had seven seeds.  Only one more and he could return to Professor Moriko and be on his way.  Heading up a nearby staircase, he started jogging through the forest-clad Training Course, in the hopes that he’d find the other seed quickly.

Making a few quick turns around the forest, he saw two more Rivercrabs, scurrying around on the grass.  Not giving them a chance to turn and attack him, he whipped his sword out mid-run and leapt into the air, delivering yet another Double-Cut on the first, impaling it and launching it’s body forward, hanging from the branches of one of the trees.  The other one made haste and dove into the bushes, knowing when to pick fights and when not to.  Hitoshi let out a small smirk, letting his new ability go to his head as he ran further and further, getting close to a place he’d been before.

He finally came to a fork in the path.  To the left was what looked like a small treasure chest, placed there by the professors, filled with medicines and food for the students to use as needed.  To the right was what looked like another seed, the final one he needed.  He thought about just jumping for the seed and not worrying about the chest, but it enticed him too much.  Taking a quick run to the left, he approached the wooden box.  Putting his sword away, he pulled the box open to reveal a small vile of Smelling Salts.  “This is the stuff that can wake someone up when they fall unconscious” he says to himself as he pockets it and heads back to the other path, bagging the Coda Seed on the way.

After a quick jump across the creek and a run across the bridge he’d encountered upon coming to the Course, he jogged his way up to Professor Moriko, whom was still standing in front of the cabin, her eyes locked onto him as her silky black hair blew in the wind.  He held his head down as he first saw her, eyeing the boots she was wearing.  After a second, though, he shook his head around and looked at her, holding out the eight seeds he’d claimed.

Moriko quickly snatched the seeds from Hitoshi’s hands and had a smirk-like smile on her face.  “Good work, Hayama!  I will get these planted at once.  Now scram.  I can’t have Principal Ayuka on my case for keeping you here too long.”  She was keeping that smirk on her face for a moment, but soon turned it into a normal-like smile as she continued.  “Oh, right.  Before you head off, I suppose I should give you something for the trouble, to perk you back up.  After all, we don’t want you showing up to your special appointment while looking tired and fatigued.  Take these Dumplings.”

Hitoshi quickly bagged the bagged-food the Professor gave to him, gave her a nod, and then ran from the Training Course, heading off to Main Campus, presumable to go see the Principal…or maybe not.

Hitoshi finally cleared the Training Course and re-entered the main campus of the school.  Standing by the gateway that led to where he’d just come from, he quickly pocketed the food his professor had graciously given him and taking a breather.  Just being around Professor Moriko and her strictness was intimidating and caused him to heat up.  After that trek he’d gone through with her, he really needed to catch his breath before doing anything.  The life of a Warrior was definitely not an easy one, especially not when you’ve got the mindset of Hitoshi Hayama.

After a few moments, he began thinking of what he wanted to do.  He wasn’t really sure he wanted to go see Principal Ayuka yet.  He’d just gotten done with work for Moriko and the last thing he wanted was to charge into the school and run into even more work.  Free time was supposed to be there to use as he pleased, and he planned to have some relaxing fun around campus before any more work was thrown on him.  He smiled as he started to walk forward again, walking into the running path, heading towards the front of the main building. 

As he’d entered the running course, however, around the corner came that same green-haired girl from before.  She ran straight for him, not paying a lick of attention to where she was going.  Hitoshi yelped and leapt out of the way.  As he hit the ground, he saw her sneaker-clad foot stomping into the ground as she ran past.  He could almost feel the ground moving as her foot pounded into the ground, inches from his face, throwing a cloud of dust into his face.  He got chills as he coughed and got up, thinking about that bug’s-eye view look of her running.  It was bad enough seeing her running when he was standing.  He got a strange chill from seeing it from ground-level. 

After shrugging off the feeling, he moved away from the Running Path and used his gloves to wipe the dust and dirt from his face as he made his way towards the main building.  As he made it to where that tall, brick building stood, he looked around to see if there was anyone or anything of interest to him at the moment.  He was directly in front of the front of the building.  To his left, he could see the climbing rope they set on the building to help students with their endurance and climbing skills and that creepy Mohawk guy.  Hitoshi shook his head as he saw him, peeking in on the Mage girls’ dances, no doubt.

Not feeling like hanging around the campus creep, he walked forward, on the concrete path, past him, glad the guy hadn’t seen him. He took a good few minutes of slow-walking on the concrete path, looking at all of the bushes and shrubberies that were lining the walls of the campus.  The campus was also so well taken care of. It would really be a beautiful place, were he not associating the place with the classes and the work and the assignments.  If it weren’t a school that he attended, it would be a marvelous place to hang around.

As he was continuing his notice of the scenery, a feminine voice shouted towards him from just in front.  “Hitoshi!”  The young man’s head whipped towards the sound of the voice, immediately recognizing it.  That sort of voice and that tone of voice could only belong to one person in the entire world: Hiromi.  Just as he thought, ahead of him was that blonde, pig-tailed warrior herself.  She wore a proud look on her face as she approached Hitoshi and greeted him.  “Hey there, Hitoshi!  How have you been holding up lately, kiddo?”

Hitoshi’s eye winced for a moment at Hiromi’s speech.  That girl could really put a feeling in his gut at her little nickname for him.  Calling him ‘kiddo’ made him feel a little weird.  He frowned at her and tried to respond, inquiring about the name.  “Kiddo?  How have I been holding up?  What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hitoshi kept frowning as that girl got a painfully happy smile on her face at his reaction.  True, the girl was older than he was, but he never really cared for being called ‘kiddo’.  She approached him further and kept the conversation going, her eyes shut and her lips forming a smile.  “Now now, how long will it be until you finally get used to it?  I call all underclassmen ‘kiddo’, which includes you, little rookie.”

Hitoshi heard it again.  Kiddo.  Starting to think on his own, he decided he’d try to turn the conversation back at her, giving her a taste of her own medicine.  Bringing a smile to his own face, he jokingly began speaking back to her.  “Well, fine, then I think I’ll start calling you ‘old lady’ from now on.  How’s that sound, granny?”

Hitoshi’s plan had worked, briefly.  For a moment, Hiromi opened her eyes and her jaw dropped as she heard his own nicknames thrown back at her.  Before long, though, she got a stern look on her face and crossed her arms, the red armor covering her body shining in the sunlight.  “Enjoy that bravado of yours while you can.  You’re going to pay for that later on at the sparring court.”

Hitoshi listened to her, almost making it sound like a challenge.  Hiromi was a Warrior, just like he was, so the two of them sparring would be an even match, given what kind of classes and abilities they would be able to implement against one another.  He stood there for a moment, thinking of what to say.  Should he call her on it and act like he’d agree to a challenge, or just agree with her and say she’d kick his butt?  His own ego coming forward, he crossed his arms and replied.  “Oh, really?  We’re on, then!”

Once again, Hiromi was caught off-guard.  Her jaw dropped as she heard Hitoshi’s confident remark, starting to comment on his new behavior.  “Hitoshi’s standing up to a challenge with an upperclassman?  Wow, I guess there really is a first time for anything and everything!”

Hitoshi was still smiling, more on the inside than out, at her statements about him accepting her challenge.  Deep inside, he wasn’t thinking all about the sparring match, but more about being able to spend time with that blonde warrior.  She was a beauty, and for a chance to get closer to her, who wouldn’t stand up to a challenge like that?  After a moment of mental thoughts, he let his ego drag on further as he spoke to her again.

“You choose the time and place and I will surely be there.  Unless you’d rather back out, that is.  I wouldn’t blame you, seeing as how my awesomeness can be quite intimidating.”  Hitoshi wore a smug grin on his face, awaiting Hiromi’s next move.  Not backing down either, Hiromi let her own ego fly with his as she spoke back to him.  “Is that right?  Well, I think you’ll be eating those words, when I’m eating YOU for breakfast!  I have decided that, for you, I will not hold back!  Hmph!”

Hiromi then began to walk off, in as confident a pose as she could make.  Hitoshi, trying to keep his straight face, immediately started wincing again.  He walked off, towards the two small ponds in front of the main gates of the school, thinking about what he’d just done.  “I sure hope I don’t end up regretting that…”

Hitoshi waited for Harumi to clear the area before continuing onward.  He didn’t want to go into the School to meet with Principal Ayuka just yet, and didn’t want Harumi to see him slacking off even further.  He already had a challenge with her, thanks to his ego.  He didn’t need to have her harping on him about avoiding his duties and obligations to the Principal.  While Harumi could probably expect as much out of Hitoshi, he didn’t want to have that happen.  He’d seen enough of her ego for one day, and wanted to see who else was out and about.

Once the coast was clear he began a fast walk.  He walked past the two small ponds that were in front of the Main Doors of the school.  He hesitated for a moment, but just kept walking.  He had, for a moment, considered going inside to see the Principal, but it was low on his priority list, especially since he didn’t have anyone like Professor Moriko to intimidate him into doing it anymore.  He just went onward, towards the other side of the school building.  After all, whatever Principal Ayuka had in store for him, of all people, could wait. 

As Hitoshi walked by the edge of the building, he passed by the Ceremonial Stage, where the campus Catgirl was making her rounds, cleaning the rocky stage, as she always had to do during Free Time.  He raised an eyebrow as he saw her pounding her foot into the ground, no doubt crushing another ant that she’d seen running by.  Not wishing to spend his Free Time with a crazy Catgirl who likes squashing bugs, he pushed himself onward, passing the stage and heading towards the Girls’ Dormitory.

Upon reaching the front of the building, he encountered Asako, a red-and white robed, black-haired female student at the school, whom was lazier than Hitoshi thought it was possible for a woman to be.  For a Mage, she was terribly disciplined.  Always had been.  He would have rather avoided her whining, but fate was not on his side.  As soon as she’d turned her bow-clad head and saw him, she ran straight up to him, with a sad look on her face.

“It’s too hot out today!  I haven’t gotten to the chapter on Ice Magic yet, and I could really go for some RIGHT NOW!”  Her voice was high-pitched and full of whines, as it always was.  She, then, tried to convince Hitoshi of something.  “Hitoshi, I’ll give you a compliment if you stay here and fan me for the rest of the day.  Okay, please?”  The girl put on the best puppy-eyed look on her face that she could muster, but she couldn’t persuade Hitoshi to fan her if her life depended on it.  He simply shook his head and gave her a small smile.  “For that, it would have to be a pretty impressive compliment, Asako.”

Asako’s face suddenly lost the cute, puppy-eyed look and turned to a scowl.  She backed away from Hitoshi and threw her arms down.  “Oh, forget it!  There are plenty of other guys around who would be more than willing to become my personal servants for free!  Goodbye, then, Hitoshi!”  Hitoshi watched as the girl stammered off, likely in the hopes of conning some hopeless guy into being her man-servant.  Hitoshi almost felt bad for the girl for a moment, but then continued on.  He was pretty sure that he was close to the tree and lake where another friend usually hung out.

He took a quick turn around the dormitory building and ran past the garden, looking at the trees ahead.  Sure enough, there was a fairly large pond in front of one of the trees, and from a distance, he could definitely see a figure standing in front of one of the trees.  He smiled as he slowed his run to a walk and approached both the tree and the person.  The woman wore a pinkish-purple robe, had her dark hair in a ponytail, and also had pointed ears and a horn sticking out of her head.  He was somewhat happy to see Umi, alone.

As he approached her, he gave her a wave and greeted her, calling her the school’s “Greatest Invoker”.  Umi pulled her head up a little bit, looking towards Hitoshi.  With a normal look on her face, she returned his greeting and began to speak of something she’d written.  “Oh, hello, Hitoshi-san…I wrote a new poem recently.  Would you-…would you like to hear it?”  The girl sounded almost nervous about sharing her work, so Hitoshi gladly agreed to hear the poem.  “I’m game for that, Umi.  Let’s hear what you’ve got!”

Umi let out a small smile of surprise as she realized that he’d wanted to hear her new poem, and almost immediately started reciting words from her memory.

“Wind, it beckons me –
further, further until night meets day,
Wind, it carries me -
on and on, closer still to some place far away.”

There was a moment of silence between both of them as Umi finished reciting her poem.  Hitoshi didn’t want to say anything at first.  He thought there was more to the poems, than 2 short verses.  After a moment, though, his impulses kicked in and he responded with exactly what he was thinking, but not exactly what he wanted to say.  “Wait…that’s it?”

Quickly catching himself, he shook his head and tried to correct himself and not seem like he was being rude to her.  He faked a cough and then ‘continued’ to speak.  “I mean…I mean that sounds pretty good so far!  I can’t wait to hear the rest when you finish it.  There, um…there IS more to the poem, right?” 

Umi slowly closed her eyes and began to speak to Hitoshi, showing that his correction hadn’t helped, but was putting his criticism to good use.  She didn’t want to flat out say he was rude.  She took any person to listen to her poems as she could get.  “…No, Hitoshi, that was it.  However, your reaction has inspired me to add more onto it.  I do appreciate your kind, yet very juvenile critique.  You’re…the only person, other than Tarou, who ever listens to my poems…”

Trying to keep the girl at least somewhat happy, Hitoshi spoke up, trying to make her feel better about having so few people to tell her poems to.  “Well, all of them just don’t appreciate how unique and special you are.  They’ll come around sometime!  Besides, Tarou and I aren’t such bad company, now, are we?”

Umi was quiet for a couple seconds before talking more on what he’d said.  She wasn’t sure what to think of his words at first, but as they settled in her head, she brought a smile to her face and started reaching into her robe for something.  “Unique, huh?  It’s a gentle euphemism for weird.  Thank you, Hitoshi.  I was going to have this later on, but I have decided that you might be worthwhile enough to share this with.  Take it.”

Hitoshi held out his hand and accepted the Apple that came from Umi’s pocket.  Giving her a nod, he turned to leave her to work in peace, thinking of heading back towards the school building to make his way towards Principal Ayuka. 

Hitoshi smiled and began to bite down on the apple that Umi had given him. All of the running around he’d been doing since Free Time began had made him work up quite an appetite. While he did still have the Dumplings that had been given to him by professor Moriko, an Apple would be something much quicker and something he could eat as he headed back towards the main building of campus. He wasn’t sure if he would go up and see the Principal yet or not, but he wanted to head inside, regardless.

On his way towards that building, he ended up passing by the boys’ dormitory. All while chewing up a chunk of the apple, a blonde-haired boy with an eye patch whirled past him, eyes on the ground. Hitoshi stopped and blinked for a moment, looking back at the man kept running and scanning the ground. A smile came to Hitoshi’s face and he slowly shook his head. He knew that student. From the day he’d come to school, he’d lost his backpack. It didn’t matter what day it was, either. At some point, the backpack would become lost and he’d end up running all over campus, trying to find it.

Coming around a few corners, Hitoshi finished up his apple as he passed by a small campfire, where the blue-haired class president, Tasuki, was seated, along with a young female student with pearl-white hair. These two was yet another case of problems and drama on campus. The poor girl really liked Tasuki, but was always too afraid to come forward about her feelings. “When all the other girls feel the same way…what would I matter?” is what she would always say. A sad case, that one. After tossing the apple to the side, Hitoshi opened up the door on the side of the main building and proceeded inside.

Inside the school building were two floors. On the first floor, Hitoshi looked forward at the hallway that extended all the way to the other end of the building, where a similar door to the one he just came in stood, leading to the track field. Next to Hitoshi was a staircase that led to the next floor. In front of him, the hallway opened up on each side, in five places, concealing 10 areas on this floor, mostly classrooms and Activity Areas.

On the left, held the Art Halls, which held the Model City, Piano, Sculptures, and other creations made by the Art Classes, The Entrance Lobby, where the Campus shop and Records Secretary Desks were located along with the front doors to the campus. Proceeding onward on the left was the Archery Training Room, the Warrior’s Sparring Area, and the Magician’s Room, where three different classes can learn about and practice on their skills.

On the right was the Equipment Storage and Main Sparring classroom. The professor would, no doubt, ask Hitoshi for a sparring match the moment he were to walk into the room. Beyond that was the Nurse’s Office, where students could go for a quick rest and fix-up, were they to get injured. Then, there was the cafeteria, where students all went to pick up their lunches and dinners on campus. Finally was the main “Training Course” of the campus, sort of like a gym, and the Mage’s Practice Room. Hitoshi ran through and decided to drop by the Gym, hoping to find a friend there, a girl by the name of Rui. After taking a peek inside, he realized that she wasn’t there at all. He frowned for a moment, and then turned when he saw the blue-haired professor looking his way. He didn’t want to get caught up in any exercise routines. He quickly made his way to the exit on the opposite side of the school.

Hitoshi took a deep breath, thinking about getting caught in exercise routines. He definitely didn’t want to be put into more work on campus, so he figured he’d step outside for a few more minutes. Besides, he wanted to visit everyone, and he figured that Rui wasn’t inside, at the moment. Upon getting outside, he realized that she wasn’t. Looking to the right, he saw the brown-haired, goggle-wearing girl standing right outside the track field, next to the platforms that made up the Mages’ Sparring Court. Pushing his hair back, he walked around the track and made his way up to her.

Before making it up to Rui, however, his eyes scanned ahead and saw another friend he had not yet visited. Far beyond the school, by the swimming pool, was his purple-haired friend, Sei. He saw the ladies-man talking to some girl by the pool and Hitoshi got a creepy smile on his face. Sei was, without a doubt, trying to 'work his magic' on the poor girl. Hitoshi just couldn't resist the urge to run up to him and say hello. Passing up Rui, for now, he ran up towards Sei, making his way around the pool until he'd reached them.

As soon as Hitoshi had come up to say hello, Sei nervously turned his head towards him, wincing and giving him a weird look. He was, obviously, up to something that he didn't want anyone else around for as he started speaking to his friend, whispering. “Hitoshi...good buddy of mine, can't you see that I'm a little bit busy right now?”

Hitoshi, being the smart one he was, tried to send a dagger-of-words straight through Sei's situation, guessing that he knew exactly what was going on here. He smiled and spoke to him, at a normal tone. “Sei, are your suave moves really so weak that me coming up and interrupting you for second will completely ruin your odds?” He smiled as Sei's expression promptly went into that surprised and embarrassed look. Hitoshi was right, though Sei would never admit to it.

“N-No! Of course not! Don't you start questioning my moves!” Hitoshi decided to push the topic further, questioning why Sei would be spending his free time, trying to win over the ladies of the campus. “I could have sworn that the personal free time we're all granted was supposed to be used for pursuing our own training. Or was I mistaken?”

Straightening up his face, Sei's confidence came rushing back as he tried to make what he was doing look like training, all in itself. “That is precisely what I am doing. There is more than one type of blade, which can lose its edge. As for me, I'm doing great. However, I don't think you could woo a wet mop, bro.” Hitoshi winced for a moment, questioning his statement. Who would come to a Combat Academy to woo wet mops, in the first place?

Seeing Hitoshi wincing, Sei tried to assert himself through the conversation and remind Hitoshi of what he was supposed to be doing. “Speaking of what we're SUPPOSED to be doing, I heard a little something through the grapevine. Something about you needing to meet with the big boss lady. Right now, no?”

Hitoshi's wincing did not stop as he slowly nodded, agreeing that he was supposed to be doing that. Sei continued on, prepping to get Hitoshi gone and start 'woo'-ing the black-haired girl he had been speaking with. “That's what I thought, Hitoshi. Now, if she doesn't drop the hammer on you, I wanna hear all about it back at the dorm tonight. Now...if you'll excuse me...

Hitoshi sighed and shook his head, as he headed away from Sei and back towards the main building. On his way, he saw that Rui was still by the track field. He decided to head abck towards her again.

Before Hitoshi even had a chance to say hello, Rui turned towards him and raised her arms into the air, suggesting that they do a bunch of stuff outside together. “Hey, Hitoshi-kun! Why don’t we get out there and race all these guys on the track! We can take ‘em, no problem! Or do ya wanna do some laps at the pool, or the beams, or beat some posts to a pulp at the dummy range, or-…”

Hitoshi was started to feel sweat coming on, just thinking about all of the ideas she was bombarding his brain with. He’d forgotten how hyperactive this girl was, and how much she always wanted to be doing things. He definitely didn’t want to work up a sweat with more work. The girl’s dedication and motivation was admirable, but he just didn’t have that much in him. Not for work, at least. He decided the best course of action was to politely decline, and give her an excuse.

“Can I, you know, get a rain-check on all of that, Rui? To be honest, I’m running a bit late for, uh…for an appointment with the principal! So maybe…” Hitoshi’s excuse had worked, but in a way he had not really imagined. The excited look on Rui’s face quickly turned to surprise and worry as she exclaimed about it. “The principal?! And you’re wandering about out here?!” Her worried look soon turned to a warm smile, however. Rui knew exactly how Hitoshi was. “Yep, that’s my Hitoshi, alright! Now get your butt out of here before she sticks you on dish duty for the rest of the night. I hate that! Ugh, don’t you just hate Dish du-..”

They continued to interrupt one another as Hitoshi spoke further about Dish Duty. “Yep, that is very bad, indeed! I’ll just take your advice and be heading off now, Rui. We’ll raise some ruckus later on, though, okay?” Rui’s expression changed yet again. She started to get a stern look on her face as she started acting like she knew what Hitoshi needed. “…and we will only get to do that if she decided not to pound on you for being late to seeing her. Ya promise you’ll behave?”

Hitoshi got a small smile on his face and chuckled, jokingly speaking about his fears for this situation. “Honestly, I’m more worried about what YOU’d do to me than she would, were I to back out on my word. Don’t worry about a thing, Rui-Chan. Just, you know, come up with some clever stunt that we can pull off when I come back.” Keeping the stern voice, she forcefully responded “All of my ideas are clever! Now, get your butt going!”

The girl paused for a moment, losing the stern look, and started to frown for a moment. She felt her emotions coming on as she began to thank Hitoshi for what he was doing. “…and Hitoshi-kun…Thanks a lot for being so nice to me. Everyone else just think I’m craze or somethin’…” The phrase brought a smile to Hitoshi’s face as he responded to her, trying to support her a bit as the conversation ended. “There’s no need to thank me, Rui. The others are the problem, not you. They’re just not crazy enough to handle it. As long as you live by your heart, what others think about you is secondary.”

Rui gave a soft smile towards Hitoshi as he turned himself around and headed back towards the main building, once again…

Hitoshi had a big grin on his face as he re-entered the main building after talking with Rui. The poor girl didn't have too many friends, but he was glad to be one of the ones she did have. They had a lot of fun together, with all of the stunts they pulled, straight from her brain. He walked confidently through the building until he came upon the middle area. As he passed by the clock next the the Infirmary, he saw that Blue-Robe wearing, White-haired Mage friend of his, Tarou. Not wanting to pass up talking with him, even to go see the Principal, he stopped to say hello.

As soon as he'd approached him, the mage gave him an almost-worried look as he began to speak to him about the assignment he'd been given. “Hello, Hitoshi-san...aren't you supposed to be going to meet with Ms. Ayuka? It is not wise to be wandering about and keeping such a superior as herself waiting, you know.” The mage's serious attitude was quite noticeable to Hitoshi. That guy always wanted to do everything right and not fool around anymore, unlike Hitoshi. If there was something to be done, Tarou would be doing that right away and having other things on his schedule for later on.

Hitoshi had that confident smile on his face as he began to speak back to his friend, showing his feelings that the matter wasn't nearly as serious as it may have seemed. “Oh, I'm not worried about that, Tarou. Principal's are people too, you know. I am not at anyone and everyone's beck and call. Besides, I'm the mighty Hitoshi! She will get to see me when I deem it the correct time!” He kept up his confident attitude as a smile came to Tarou's face. 

The mage jokingly reacted to Hitoshi's attitude, telling him of a clear consequence that could probably end up happening, were she standing behind them, listening to how he was lazily putting her request to the side. “Oh, I'm sure that she would deem that time just right for a swift boot to your head! But, seriously, Hitoshi...Don't you think that maybe that's, well...not the right way of looking at this? I mean, she could get really aggravated and upset and, well...” It was clear that Tarou was a little bit worried about Hitoshi's behavior. The guy was his friend, and didn't want him to get himself into trouble.

Hitoshi, trying to save the conversation, quickly changed his confident look to a joking smile as he spoke of his previous actions being a simple act. “I wasn't being serious about that, Tarou! Sometimes, I'd like to be, about that, though. You know, all too well, that nothing pleases me more than to pluck at your strings.” He was in a very joking mood, at the moment, no doubt due to his kind conversations with both Umi and Rui, but Tarou clearly wasn't in the joking mood, at this point, getting a very serious look on his face again.

He shook his head and spoke back to his friend. “Hey, there are lots worse things to be than a chronic worrier! For instance, I could be a person who keeps Miss Ayuka, not Principal, just Ms. Ayuka PERIOD waiting when she wants something.” He stopped for a moment and let out a sigh. “I swear, Hitoshi, one of these days she'll start thinking that Sei and I somehow have something to do with all your antics and inflict the consequences upon us as well, and I'll be very much prepared to say I told you so.”

The mage stuttered for a moment, closing his eyes and thinking about what he'd just said. His face started turning to worry as he looked at his friend and continued to speak his mind to him. “....you don't think she would actually do that...do you?! I mean, I'm not trying to say that you misbehave and such all THAT much, but I mean, if something were to happen with that, is it possible that she would...”

Hitoshi, himself, was starting to get worried at what Tarou was talking about. He had no idea how strict the Principal would be with all of them, were he to get in a big heap of trouble. Would Tarou and their other friend, Sei, take the heat for something that he did, as if the entire group had done it? “Uh....beats me, Tarou...but I'm not so sure wondering about something like that all day will make that much of a difference. Besides, you hide out in your dorm so much that I'm not even sure...if she even KNOWS we're roommates.”

Hitoshi was starting to laugh at what he'd said and Tarou returned to a normal, non-worried expression as he spoke off of the subject at hand and onto something of his own personal studies. “Indeed. Perhaps I will go focus all this worrying on a new book now. I've been working a big on Storm Magic recently. There are still some tomes in the library that I have yet to cover. I just...hope we're not tested on them before I get a chance to read them all.”

With that last statement, Tarou made his efforts swift. He quickly left Hitoshi and ran off, towards the library, where all the books were held. Hitoshi was standing there, alone, thinking about everything that he'd said to him about Principal Ayuka. He had no idea how upset she would get at him being late, or if she would blame Tarou and Sei on it, since he hangs with them a good bit on campus.

After taking a deep breath and seeing all of his options, he decided that it was finally time that he buckled down and went to see the Principal. He would have to see her eventually, and he'd already done a good bit of goofing off. He set off towards one of the sets of stairs to head up to the 2nd Floor and towards Ayuka's Office.

As Hitoshi’s boots softly clicked against the stairs, his body slowly emerged from the 1st floor of the school and entered the 2nd floor.  As he came up, he began to take a look around, seeing if anyone was around.  He stopped for a moment, looking at everything and thinking as to whether or not he really wanted to confront Principal Ayuka at this time.  He was also thinking about the concerns that a few people had for him, specifically those from Tarou, as to whether or not she would be upset with him for being so late.

e stood on the East side of the second floor.  This floor wasn’t dedicated to nearly as much as the first floor of the Main Campus Building was, but it still offered quite a bit of useful rooms.  From east to west, there was a huge library, where all of the textbooks and other kinds of books that the students studied were kept.  Other than that, there were just a few classrooms on the left, and in the middle of the area, on the right, was a lone, wooden door that led to the Principal’s Office, where Principal Ayuka was, no doubt, waiting for him.

Hitoshi began to slowly walk forward, across the hall towards the office when a blue-haired girl crossed paths with him.  He stopped and smiled towards her as she slowed her pace and spoke to him.  She had a lot of nervousness in her voice, but she let out what she needed to, anyways.  “H-Hello there, Hitoshi, Kun.  You…l-look nice today!”  Not a moment passed between these nervous statements before the girl began to raise her pace again.  Unknown to Hitoshi, her cheeks were red as can be and she was walking away much faster than when she’d approached him.

After shrugging his shoulders and continuing down the hall, his mind wandered off of the nervous girl, and more onto the office where he would soon learn why the Principal of the entire school wanted him, of all people, to see her.  He stopped at the door and questioned himself.  “Am I ready to go in and see her?”  After a few moments’ hesitation, his brain made up its mind.  He couldn’t slack off anymore.  He might already be in trouble, and he didn’t need to make it worse than it already might have been.  He slowly turned the knob and opened the door.

Principal Ayuka’s Office was much more than just an office, on the inside.  There were lines of tables, where students could do work, a great many sets of bookshelves, and finally, the Principal’s desk, itself.  There was a beautiful, red carpet in front of the table-like desk which was adorned with two Swords and a Shield on either side.  At the desk was the brown-haired, armor-clad Principal herself.  She had her legs crossed in her cushioned chair and began to speak the moment Hitoshi walked into the door, making his dawdling quite apparent.

“Well, Hitoshi Hayama.  I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to make it up here.”  The Principal knew, full well, that he hadn’t come straight there.  Of course, how could she not?  He’d done so much between getting the message that anyone would be skeptical of his attitude towards this assignment.  Hitoshi tried to keep a straight face, though, and addressed her as a soldier would a superior.  He stood straight up and spoke to her, as sternly as he could.  “Reporting as ordered, Ayuka-sensei.  I do hope the day has been treating you well.”

Ayuka’s stern look quickly changed to a grin as she responded, acknowledging that he still had his manners.  She also didn’t waste any time with what she wanted.  She got straight to the point, right away.  “Listen, Hitoshi, I’ll cut right to the chase, since I know that we both don’t care much for being in the dark.”  Hitoshi was very surprised by this situation.  He knew he was in the dark about whatever this was, but he thought that Principal Ayuka, of all people, knew pretty much everything there was to know around campus.  “Sensei?  We’re both in the dark?”

Ayuka lost her grin and gave Hitoshi a quick nod.  “Unfortunately.  All of this is between the two of us, Hitoshi.  What I’m about to tell you cannot leave this room, and I believe it is something that you need to know for what I’m about to ask of you.”  She paused for a moment to take a breath, and then continued, filling Hitoshi in.  “Every four years, this campus has had strange disappearances.  Students will just disappear, leaving no trace behind.  We don’t really know anything, other than that.  Because of our inability to figure out how or why this is happening, we have made a tradition of cover-ups since before even I took over as principal.”

Her stern look became more stern as her voice changed and started to sound more forceful.  “However, now that I’m in charge,                 I want it stopped, and the time for that is now.”  Hitoshi lost his confident look as he tried to respond and show the Principal that he couldn’t really help with all of this disappearing stuff.  “I, well…I have the utmost respect for the secrets of the academy, sensei, but I’m afraid I don’t know anything about any disappearances, much less any kind of cover-ups.”

Ayuka smiled and chuckled for a moment, noticing the obvious nervous reaction she’d instilled in the poor guy.  “Calm down, Hitoshi.  It’s not like I’m suspecting little ol’ you for having anything to do with all this.  I just see potential in you, and I think you’re the person that can solve this puzzle.  It also might be the fact that we are so very close to that 4-year mark and you’re the least gossipy student that I could find that may have a little to do with this.”

Hitoshi got some mixed feelings on her calling his the ‘least gossipy’ student.  Was she trying to say that he was unpopular or something?  As he thought about it, he cleared his mind as his sensei began speaking again.  “Now, listen.  I want you to go to the beach and find Old Man Houjo.  You know the stories of the old hermit who lives up north, right?  The truth is, he has been a friend of the academy for years and years.  I want you to ask him about the disappearances, if there’s a way for us to rescue the people we’ve already lost, if…just, anything, Hitoshi.” 

Ayuka’s expression suddenly changed.  She seemed more regretful now, than stern and intimidating.  “Covering all of this up just isn’t for me.  We must be able to do something, and honestly, I don’t know where else to start.”  Seeing Ayuka’s regretful expression, Hitoshi gladly accepts his assignment and speaks to her as to whether he’ll be doing this alone, or not.

“I’ll find out whatever I can, sensei, but I really don’t have the, uh…intuitive and diplomatic skills to shoulder so much detective-work.  I’m not saying we have to, but it would be nice to have some backup or…”  His question seemed pointless, however.  As soon as he’d finished that last statement, she changed her tone again, now more intimidating again, acting like Hitoshi had jumped the gun.  “Do you think I’m crazy?  Of course you’re not going out there, alone.  I said you had potential, not that you were some kind of superhero.  I sent my aides to gather up your roommates, Tarou and Sei.  You three should work well as a team.  They’ll be waiting for you at the back gates.”

Hitoshi felt a lot more at ease, knowing that his two buddies would be accompanying him on this mission.  He smiled and acknowledged all of this.  “No problem, sensei.  We’ll head right out and find this Old Man Houjo and be back here before you know it.”  Ayukla was starting to get into a better mood about it as well, nodding to him and giving him some final words.  “Good.  Now, be careful out there.  We don’t know what, exactly we’re dealing with here.  Just, make sure you don’t make me regret choosing you for this, for ANY reason.”

Hitoshi felt a little nervous at this last statement, but he turned and headed out the door, preparing to head to the back Gate and start this strange mission he’d been given…

Hitoshi was making his way out of Principal Ayuka’s office, his new ‘mission’ in mind.  He had been given something that was far more important than anything he could have imagined that meeting with the Principal would have been about.  He was guessing that she was going to reprimand him for something, not give him a mission of utter importance and secrecy.  It was a lot to take in at once, but he knew what he had to do.  Since he’d been given something so important, he needed to head out for this.  He had a strange feeling that something very important was about to happen.

As he turned and made his way down the hall, the girl from earlier rushed by him again.  She went by a lot faster than before, burying her face in her shirt.  Hitoshi just walked on by, not realizing just how much she was embarrassed from a simple screw-up from a greeting, on her part.  He may never know how hard that girl was trying to say hello to him, too much on his mind at the moment.  Making his way down the West-End stairs and out the door, he headed around the school building and headed towards the back.

On the way there, however, he felt something weird.  He looked over towards the Training Course and thought to head back there, for some reason.  Not that he wanted to be put to work again, but it might be good for him to train up a little more for this mission.  He figured he could spare a moment or so to do so.  He quickly hustled his way over there for a quick Chat with Moriko.

As he came into the Training Course, he found her, and she immediately put her hands on her hips, asking him what he was doing out there, now that the ‘chore’ she had for him was done with.  He, jokingly, spoke to her, saying “Hey, I’d do your ‘chores’ anytime, sensei!”  This gave Moriko an odd smile as she shook her head towards him, speaking back to him about what he’d just told her.

“Be careful, Hitoshi.  I’m not that proud to REALLY be putting little ol’ you to work.  Are you volunteering yourself to be my personal student assistant?”  As she watched him, her intimidating gaze made him think carefully.  He eventually gave in and nodded towards her.  “Absolutely, Ms. Moriko!”  His professor quickly let out a sigh and talked about how that was a brave action for him.  She went on with the conversation, asking him how far he’d go, even to kiss the dirty she walked on.

The idea of doing that was a little much, but he didn’t want to upset her.  He didn’t really think she’d make him do that, so he nodded back, again.  “Sure!  No complaints!”  Moriko let out a chuckle as she spoke to him again, sealing their deal.  “That’s cute, for a student.  Alright, it’s a deal.  I’m not going to forget about this, you know.  You are now at my every beck and call, no matter the circumstances.  Remember that.”

Hitoshi slowly turned around and shuffled his way out of the Training Course, amazed at how forward Moriko was with him just now.  He had a strange feeling that he could regret that action in the future.

As he made him way from the Course and to the back of the school, he saw the campus pool and the Hole-Digging grounds.  By the pool was that white-haired girl that was always seen, hanging around the pool in a tradition pink dress.  As they went by, she was looking down at the water, smiling.  Hitoshi got a grin on his own face as he passed her by.  She was, no doubt, considering a swim later on.  If there was one thing that girl loved, it was hopping into the pool for a nice, cleansing swim.

As he passed by the pool and the digging area, where the students were, without a doubt, wondering why they dig so many holes, Hitoshi approached the closed gate at the back of the school.  He grinned and chuckled as he saw that it was just as Ayuka had told him.  In front of the gate, waiting for him, were that white-haired mage from before and the Purple-haired student, Sei.  Tarou greeted Hitoshi with a blank stare, making it apparent that he knew that this wasn’t going to be a happy-go-lucky mission, in the slightest bit.

“I knew it,” said Tarou, welcome Hitoshi to their little meeting.  “I knew you would get the two of us mixed up in some sort of uncomfortable circumstances.”  Hitoshi shook his head for a second and gave Tarou a grin as Sei stepped forward and seemed to congratulate Hitoshi for receiving his new mission.  “Hah, sounds like you’ve really done it this time, Hitoshi.  You got a private mission, straight from the Principal herself?  You definitely don’t hear that every day.”  The guy’s cool attitude made Hitoshi well aware that they didn’t know the details of the mission he’d been given.  “You don’t even know the half of this, Sei.  You can trust me on that.”

Sei spared no time to continue the conversation and inquire more about what they’d gotten involved in.  “That’s precisely what I want to know, the half of it.  I’d prefer the whole of it, considering I don’t have a choice, but I’ll take what I can get.”  Hitoshi let that grin come across his face as he worded his statement carefully to get Sei a little more interested in this mission.  “Oh, it’s not much.  A trip to the beach is all.  Satisfied?”

Just as Hitoshi expected, Sei immediately changed his attitude.  His eyes widened, he started sweating, and he was clearly getting excited about all of this.  “T-The beach, you say?!”  He started mumbling to himself, no doubt wishing he’d better prepared himself for everyone he’d see at the beach.  Hitoshi knew he was a ‘ladies man’, so to speak, which he just confirmed as he spoke about agreeing to this.  “Alright, I’m in this to win.  Whatever you are doing, let’s go and do it, provided I can partake in some, well…recreation with any and all beach-going girls that are currently spending their personal time out there.”

As Sei took a place next to Hitoshi, Tarou came forward again and asked him about the mission.  “Unlike our friend, I would prefer some amount of detail in terms of what, exactly, this mission entails and it’s purpose, Hitoshi.”  Hitoshi, being the clever talker, continued to make Tarou think that it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as it really was.  “Oh Tarou…like I said before, it’s nothing big.  We’re just checking something out that Principal Ayuka was concerned about.  It involves speaking with that old, pervy geezer who lives up on the beach, ya know?”

Tarou tilted his head, an expression of confusion on his face as soon as he heard who they were going to see.  “You mean Old Man Houjo?  I admit, I’ve heard some things about him, and most of them were less than pleasant.  What could he possibly have that would spark Ms. Ayuka’s interest?”  Hitoshi took a moment to wait and think before he tried to respond to Tarou’s question.  “You know, Tarou, I’m sure she would not be very impressed if she knew that you were questioning her instructions and snooping your way through her business, right?”

Tarou almost immediately stopped and changed his tune, worried about what Hitoshi had said.  “W-w-what?!  I was not!  I’ve done nothing of the sort!  Okay, fine!  You know me to well, Hitoshi.  To the beach, it is!”

As the three of them stood together, they all looked at each other.  Taking a look back at campus, he looked back at the Training Grounds and began to ponder something.  Looking at the three of them, he realized that this could be a rather difficult task.  He suggested that they go and train, just for a little while.  The others nodded and followed as he headed back to see Moriko again…

It had not taken the trio to get from the back gates of the school to the entrance of the Training Course. They were all a little okay with the training session. Well, all except Sei. He had other things on his mind, from the moment that he heard their objective location was the beach. As they entered the Course, they were greeting by Professor Moriko. Hitoshi had a bit of a nervous look on his face. As he saw her eying him, along with the rest, he remembered the deal he'd just made between the two of them. He liked Professor Moriko plenty, but she'd gone along with what he said a little too well. He feared for what she would have him doing.

Moriko raised an eyebrow as she saw the three of them coming in. She was surprised to see Hitoshi again so soon, let alone being accompanied by Tarou and Sei. “Well, well, look what we have here – the slacker, the ladies-man, and the bookworm! Have you three wandered off and gotten lost? I hardly ever see the three of you out here of your own free will, let alone all of you at once...” The three of them looked at each other and then back at Moriko. They were a little nervous at what she was saying, but were soon somewhat comforted when she smiled and changed her tone. “Ah, you know I'm just yanking your chain. So, what are you boys up to today? You come by for some training?”

Tarou, being the wisest of the three, stepped forward and discussed that very idea to the other two. “You know, it may be prudent to take Ms. Moriko up on her offer. A little bit of training will definitely aid us in preparation of what might lie ahead for us.” Sei nodded after hearing Tarou's wise words. “That's true. Alright, I'm game for this. What did ya have in mind, Miss?”

Moriko kept up her smile as she quickly thought of a task for the three of them to handle. Today was definitely a good day for her. Hitoshi had come by earlier and collected seeds for her, and now she could have his two friends join him in another task for her. “It just so happens that I have something, something that would be perfect for you three. Now, listen up! The monsters that dwell out here are normally harmless, but have amazing fecundity.” She paused for a moment as she closed her eyes.

“Lately, however, I've been noticing a considerable drop in the numbers of those monsters.” Re-opening her eyes, she got a frown and worried look on her face. “I think it's possible that some stray creature from the nearby wilderness could have found its way in here and has been preying on them. This is, of course, not good for my curriculum. I want you three to take a look around, find out what or who is preying on the monsters here, and deal with them accordingly. Any questions?”

Hitoshi spoke up, providing with a question, leading to a rather basic explanation of what she'd just told them, a smile on his face, as always. “So, basically, you want us to hunt this thing down and give it a nice thrashing? Hey, no problem! Just leave it to us.” Moriko raised her eyebrow again and spoke up to them. “Just don't you go get yourself maimed and/or disfigured. I do not feel like doing all that paperwork. Now, begin!” With that final statement, she rose her chin up and watched the trio as they set off into the course, to find this thing.

As they set off, they used a path opposite that Hitoshi had used in his earlier trip. After getting past the first patch of forest, they passed up the rope and crossed across the creek instead. Hitoshi and Sei passed it no problem. As Tarou was getting ready to jump however, a Mandragora jumped towards him. He yelped and began to fall into the creek. Hitoshi, seeing it coming, had jumped out to the rock on the creek. Grabbing Tarou by the belly section of his robes, he pulled him up onto the rock with him. The two took a few deep breaths before jumping across, leaving the Mandragora behind on the other side.

As the three of them made their way around two corners of forest, the normal monsters of the area showed themselves. Three showed up; one rivercrab, one Mandragora, and a pile of goo called a Goopy. Looking at one another, they nodded, noticing the match ahead of them. It was three-on-three, a good match for them to start with. Hitoshi took the lead, leaping into the air and landing on the crab, launching it across the Course with a quick Double-Cut.

Sei took his turn as the Mandragora was charging towards him. Taking a jump backwards about 10 feet, he turned his arm and launched his sword at the enemy, yelling out his own personal Technique, Toss. The sword quickly made short work of the Mandragora, splitting it in half before boomeranging in the air, creating a whistling sound and returning to his hand, just as he landed on the ground. He returned it to its holster as he smiled and looked towards Tarou, who was handling the Goopy.

Tarou was holding his hands out in front of him and staring straight at the Goopy, which was slowly jumping towards him. He started chanting as it approached and the area around them began to to become darker. The Goopy stopped and looked up to see a dark storm cloud quickly forming above all four of them. It's mouth opened up and, before it could do anything else, Tarou called out “THUNDER!”

Within moments, a huge, red catalyst appeared on the ground around Tarou and a bolt of thunder rained down from the heavens, burning the Goopy to a crisp. All three of them took a moment to reclaim their breath before turning around the corner and continuing down, towards the creek again...

Having snagged their first victory, the trio rode triumphantly through the Training Course. Some of them were hoping to snag more monsters to fight before this assignment would end, whereas one of them would count his blessings and hope for no more monsters, up to the one that was causing all of the problems around here. As far as he was concerned, the fewer monsters they had to fight, the better. This was training, but there was never a need to over-train yourself. That can end up being unhealthy.

They turned a corner and starting walking through the forest path, leading towards a ladder. After that first set of monsters, they hadn't seen any around. Hitoshi was carefully looking around the area, as he led them through it, and it was all very quiet. It was extremely quiet, in fact. They couldn't hear anything but the wind blowing. It was a blessing not to have any monsters trying to surprise-attack them, but something about all of this seemed off. They soon came to the ladder that led down to a waterfall and another forest path. Hitoshi took the lead and slowly descended the ladder, soon followed by Tarou, and then Sei.

As they reached the bottom, the three of them looked at one another. All of this was so confusing. The Training Course was never this quiet. Why? Could it have been that the monster, or person, or whatever was annihilating the normal population was nearby? None of them could be sure, at first. They began to ask one another about it, getting mixed responses from any of them. It made sense that the monster could be nearby and, if it was, would prove great for their mission. Come down, fight one batch of monsters, get rid of the big baddy, and then go right back up to Moriko.

The trio headed down, past the waterfall and across a bridge. Hidden behind the trees, the trio looked and saw something half-buried in the dirt. Hitoshi was the first to kneel down in front of it to see what it was. Perhaps it had something to do with whatever was around here. As he yanked, dirt flew everywhere as a backpack came out of the ground. They all looked at it and at each other. They figured that someone must have dropped it, while training. Hitoshi put it across his back as they turned around. As they did so, Tarou pointed back, towards the waterfall.

After a few moments of discussion and confusion, they went back and Tarou pointed out what he saw. He thought he'd heard some sort of screech over by the waterfall. Directly in front of the waterfall was a small patch of land, just big enough to fit a few people on, with rocks leading to it and away from it. Beyond the path of land, however, was a rising surge of foam. There was plenty of foam that came from the waterfall, but it wasn't where the falls hit the water. It was closer to that patch of land. Could someone or something be under the water right there?

Deciding it was worth checking out, the three of them hopped out to that land-mass and looked down at the foam. It definitely wasn't from the waterfall. They thought about tossing something into the water, where it was, but there was no need. From the moment that they'd reached their, the foam rose up into the sky, like a geiser. They all looked back at each other, confused, as they covered themselves with their arms, water raining down towards them. Within a moment, a loud, monstrous scream forced them all to draw their weapons. The geiser slowly disappeared and, in it's place, was a huge monster.

The monster, itself, was nothing any of them had ever seen before, in the Training Course. It was a huge scorpion-like monster. It's body was at least 15 feet across, not including it's tail. Apart from that, it looked like it's torso was covered in a steel-like black shell. It had pincers the size of their heads and size legs. It had a blue hint to it's skin and emerald-green eyes, staring at all of them as it lunged towards the small piece of land they were on.

Trying to move as fast as they could, the three jumped into the air, headed towards the rocks on either side of the land-mass. As Sei came back, he tossed his sword towards the monster. At the same time, Hitoshi came into the air and fell towards it for a quick Double-Cut. The two blades struck the beast, but it's body barely budged at all. Hitoshi had cut into it's tail, but the tail whipped around, shoving him off, landing him on the rock below, barely hanging onto it. The sword Sei had thrown had struck the beast, but was launched back at him. As he caught it in his hand, the force pushed him off, leaving him barely hanging onto a rock as well.

The monster looked at Tarou, who had just landed on his own rock. It lunged forward, snapping it's claws at him. He ducked and held his staff out in defense of the blow. A small, barrier-like shield appeared around him as the beast struck. He winced as he felt the pain of the blow, until the monster was repelled back to the water where it started. Tarou quickly turned to see that both Hitoshi and Sei were soaking wet and pulling themselves back onto the rocks where they landed.

This beast was formidable. It was no wonder that the normal monsters held here were being annihilated. This thing could hold it's own against three students of the academy. Tarou called out to the two of them, devising a strategy. They would have to use their combined efforts to destroy this thing. Hitoshi nodded in agreement, whereas Sei had already launched himself into the air.

“Let's see how quick you are after this! It's called...Jack the Ripper!”

The two of them watched as Sei flew through the air, his blade letting off a silver hue as he struck down into the creature's legs. It screamed out in pain as he took rapid slashed, one on each leg, cutting right into its body and severing the legs. As he jumped up, the monster screamed and fell on it's back, revealing a soft belly. Sei jumped away and yelled at the two of them. “Now, before it gets back up! Finish it!”

Hitoshi and Tarou didn't need to be told twice. Hitoshi launched a Double-Cut, slicing right into the belly of the monster. It let out a pain-filled screech as it was cut open. It's tail was swerving around, frantically. Hitoshi jumped, just missing the range of that tail, as clouds formed above the sky once again. Tarou called down a Thunderbolt, which was sent straight into the cut and severed that monster into a million pieces. As it sunk into the water, the three of them nearly collapsed, as they realized that it was gone. Well, except for Tarou, who had only defended himself and cast a spell.

No one said this mission was going to be easy, but at least they had taken care of the monster. Now, they could head back up to Moriko, and then the Beach...

Tarou helped pull Hitoshi and Sei over to the side, to the land of the Training Course where they'd first crossed to get to the patch of land where they'd fought that huge scorpion monster. The two of them were completely out of breath and laid on their backs, tired out from the fight. They had fought relatively hard. The scorpion was definitely not like anything that normally inhabited this area. It was much tougher. It even proved to be a fair challenge for the three of them, combined. As they rested, Tarou stepped between them and held up his staff.

Closing his eyes, he started chanting to himself and started an incantation. The end of the staff started glowing with a golden radiance as the incantation was sent along, even further. Before long, the glow was matched by a glimmer of light coming from the ground, just beneath where Hitoshi and Sei were laying. “Cure!” Within moments, two barriers of light enveloped the two warriors, each roughly 10 feet in height. They were completely lost in it for a few moments, until it disappeared as Tarou stopped the incantation and let the staff down.

The two warriors immediately pulled themselves up, a newfound energy surging through them. They watched as their bruises and cuts from the previous battle quickly disappeared from view, and their health returned. Re-grasping both their weapons, they looked at each other, and then at Tarou. The three of them grinned, realizing their victory, and that they could now return to the entrance and get out of this place. It had definitely been a good bit of training, with that huge scorpion monster. They weren't exactly sure how something like that could have come into the Training Course, but they weren't complaining. It was gone now, and their little mission for Moriko was done.

Turning around, they began to run back through the Course, making their way back up to the cabin. Filled with a lot of energy, and the experience of fighting that monster, they tore through a few sets of Mandragoras on the way back up, like they were nothing at all. They felt a little stronger after that last fight, and it gave them all a little boost of confidence. After dealing with another wave of monsters, Rivercrabs this time, they finally made it back up to the cabin, where Moriko was there, waiting for them.

They approached her and grinned, hearing her congratulate the three of them for a job well done. She, actually, didn't even bother asking them if they'd found the monster. It was as if she knew they had, like she'd been watching them or something. Of course, for all they knew, she had been watching them. She let out a grin. “You take care of that monster? Not too bad, boys. There will be B-minuses across the board for each of you. Now here, take these as a reward and go get cleaned up. You never know when I'll have a new assignment for you.”

The three held out their hands as they accepted four bottles of medicine from Moriko. They looked at them for a moment, analyzing their contents before pocketing them. Three of the bottles were powerful Potions for gaining back strength, called Quality Potions. The other was something that helped bring back high amounts of energy and resilience, called Mana Nectar. The professor seemed to have nothing else to say to them, so they all just nodded and went on their way., leaving the Training Course and heading back towards main building of the school.

Their side-tracking towards the main building had been caused by Hitoshi. He had seem Hiromi still wandering about, and wanted to boast a little about his fancy, new assignment. Honestly, he wanted to brag to everyone about it, much to Tarou's dislike. However, he and Sei simply followed with Hitoshi, since he was their leader, no matter how side-tracked and off-topic he seemed to get about all of this. Before long, they'd run up to Hiromi and Hitoshi started a conversation with her. “Hey! Hey, Hiromi! Can you guess who the principal chose over you to carry out a very important errand?!”

Hiromi looked at Hitoshi with shock as she realized that Principal Ayuka had wanted to see Hitoshi to give him a mission. She'd always figured that she was one of the top students that would be chosen for a hand-picked assignment, and she couldn't believe that Hitoshi, of all people, had been chosen. “What? Are you kidding? You, Hitoshi?! Hmph...just don't let it go to your head, kiddo. She probably just needs you to-...wait...wait...” She stopped for a moment to calm down her flustered head and keep her cool.

“...what am I getting so worked up about? If she picked you for this errand, then it obviously isn't very important, right? What does Ms. Ayuka have you doing, Hitoshi? Raking leaves, perhaps?” Hiromi's expression had turned into one of confidence, though it was matched with Hitoshi's own acts of confidence and ego. “Actually, my dear teacher's-pet, we are heading up to the beach as representatives of the academy to an old acquaintance of Principal Ayuka. How do you like that?”

Hiromi's jaw dropped for a moment, realizing that he actually had a task with some responsibility attached to it. Afterwards, she got a grin to her face, as if she were happy for him. “So..the little shrimp is finally aspiring to more noble actions and taking on some responsibilities. I hope you're prepared to swim with us big fish, Hitoshi. Ya know I'll make it tough, naturally.” Hiromi's ego-battle with Hitoshi never seemed to end, the two of them trying to intimidate each other.

Hitoshi was feeling a little intimidated from that last statement, though. “Well, uh, it's not like I came up and volunteered myself for it or anything. The principal just has...a way of making you feel scared and afraid to say no.” To this, Hiromi got a laugh out of her system, agreeing with him on that factor of the principal. “That she does! Tell me, though, Hitoshi. Are you really ready for something like this? I don't mean to sound rude, but I always thought you were a little wet behind the ears, and here you are, heading into the wilderness.”

Hitoshi had to take a moment to think about this answer. It had been true that he never had anything this important weighing on his back before, but he thought he was ready, especially with Tarou and Sei with him. “You know it, Hiromi!” His response made Hiromi seem proud of him. “Now that's the kind of optimism I like to see from my underclassmen! Just don't go getting lost out there. You'll make me come out there, myself, and track you down!”

Hitoshi played with the idea of her coming to 'track him down' at the beach, and joked with her. “Are you sure you wouldn't like me to do that? It'd give ya a free excuse to go to the beach during training hours, you know.” This brought a warm smile to Hiromi's face. She dug into a pocket as she spoke to him further. “You know, that sounds nice enough that I think I may have to just sneak out there, anyways. I haven't been to the beach in quite awhile, now. There's no need for you to get lost. In fact, I have something for you.”

Out from her pocket, Hiromi produced a bangle, and handed it to Hitoshi. The young warrior took it and nodded back towards her, thanking her. “Thanks, Hiromi. We will make sure to put this to good use. However, if you'll excuse me, we have some trekking to do and monster to whack.” Hitoshi tried not to wince at his last statement. He was trying to make it sound smooth, but it sounded really corny as it came out of his mouth.

Slipping the bangle onto his arm, Hitoshi and the others continued on, heading towards the garden to visit Umi before heading out...

Tarou and Sei didn't really know why Hitoshi wanted to go and visit the girls, yet again, before heading out on their mission. They were already stalling to go on it, as it is, from that detour to the Training Course. He, being the person he was, wanted to stall even moreso. Perhaps it wasn't stalling, though. Perhaps Hitoshi wanted to do this so he could try to impress the girls about his fancy new assignment. Neither of them knew the true answer to that question, but what they did know was that he was going to get side-tracked, and they couldn't really do much to keep him from doing so.

Going past the front doors of the campus, the trio went around the building and started walking past the boys' dorms again. As they passed by, they all saw that eye-patched kid, still running around with his head scanning the ground, looking for his stuff for class. Tarou shook his head as they passed him. After a moment, however, they stopped. Looking at the backpack on Hitoshi's back, he mentioned it to Hitoshi and inquired about whether or not it belonged to this person.

Unstrapping the bag from his shoulder, Hitoshi approached the blonde-headed student and offered it to him. Upon turning around, he smiled and took the backpack from Hitoshi, digging through it. “Hey! You found my backpack, Hitoshi! Thanks a lot, man!” The student was about to run off to class when his hand dug into a side pocket and started feeling around, finding something that he wasn't sure was his or not. “Wait...what the hell is this thing? I know it's not mine. Well, why don't you take it as thanks for saving my butt?”

The blonde student walked off, and the trio looked at a small silver sphere that had been handed to Hitoshi. They all raised their eyebrows as they looked at it, curious as to what purpose it might serve. None of them knew and, after a moment, they pocketed it, seeing Umi out in the distance. Hitoshi walked ahead of the other two and saw that she was approaching them, giving Hitoshi a strange look. As she came up to them, she inquire about Hitoshi. “Hitoshi-san...are you troubled?”

Hitoshi was a little confused by this statement. He didn't think he was troubled. Was it possible that he was troubled, and just didn't realize it? “Troubled? No. I'm not troubled, Umi-chan. What makes you think this, all of a sudden. Er...Do I look it?” Umi calmly closed her eyes and sighed as she began to respond to him. “In a manner of speaking, yes. Trouble most always finds a way to follow you. That's not what I mean, though. What I mean is...” The young Evoker started to get a very worried look on her face, as if she knew that something bad was about to happen.

“If you're not troubled right now, then you soon will be. I have misgivings. The portents are not favorable for you, Hitoshi-san. Whatever it is you are doing now, you must be careful!” Her worried expression bothered Hitoshi a little. He started getting slightly nervous as he asked her what she meant by all of that. “What do you mean? How did you know I was doing something where I needed to be careful?” Umi shook her head as she realized that Hitoshi had forgotten one very important thing about her. “Haven't I told you before? I know everything!”

Taking a moment to pause, she started to correct her last statement. “Well...almost everything. I guess I just have what you might call, um...a bad feeling? Maybe a premonition of sorts. I have become fond of you, Hitoshi-san. Please heed me, and be careful.” Hitoshi smiled at hearing that Umi was fond of him, and tried to make her not worry for him so much. “I'm always careful! With the kind of lumps I've taken, I'd be dead ten times over if I weren't careful. Besides, we all get those weird feelings now and then. It's not a big deal. All we're doing is a quick run around the block. Really, I'll be just fine.” He took a moment to try to find a way to further keep her from worrying. He got an idea of something for her to do.

“You know, if it helps take your mind off things, why don't you write me a new poem to listen to when we get back!” Umi took a pause to think. She had a bad feeling, but maybe she was just being a pessimist, since she had grown fond of him. “Yes...I suppose you are right. Please forgive my pessimism. I now understand what people mean when they tell me I think too much. I'm sure you'll be alright.”

The trio left Umi at the tree by the lake, and carried on, Hitoshi planning to visit Rui again before heading out. They happily walked off, towards the main building of the campus, Umi watching them from afar. They were leaving, but she couldn't help but watch every move they made, especially Hitoshi's. As her mind was going towards a new poem, she couldn't help but keep worrying about him, despite his cheerful attitude about everything. There just was something amiss here. Something that didn't add up, in her feelings.

She sighed to herself as she leaned against the tree, the wind blowing her purple bangs around the horn that flew from her head. She knew something was wrong. The portents were still ill for him. She started thinking to herself as they headed off, the worrying not stopping at all. “The portents...they don't lie. He must be careful. He must.” She took awhile to take in the soft, cool breeze, trying again to get her mind off of this bad feeling she had in her gut. She had to keep from stressing herself out. They would probably be just fine, as he said. She was probably worrying over nothing at all.

As the three young men wandered through the main building of campus, taking it as a shortcut over to where Hitoshi had seen Rui earlier, they were all thinking of what Umi had told Hitoshi. Although this could have been nothing more than a bad feeling, Umi was normally right with intuition. There was definitely a level of importance with this mission, and they knew that something could go wrong. They just weren't sure what that something was. Could this person at the beach somehow be involved in the missing students, or someone else that they might encounter on the way?

The three tried to shake the bad possibilities from their mind, but also try to keep a good mindset, taking Umi's concerns to heart. They needed to be careful on this mission, more than they could ever dream of. What lied ahead for them was something much more serious than what they thought this could have been. Their mind's were put at ease, for the moment, when they had emerged from the building and came up to Rui, who was still standing next to the track field. She looked and came right up to Hitoshi, a big smile on her face.

“Hey, Hitoshi-kun! So, what was that huge deal with the principal about? Is there any potential that we can throw a clever prank into it?!” Rui was her usual, hyper self. The goggles on her brown hair shined from the sun, and her blue eyes showed the look of a daredevil. She was ready for action. Hitoshi sent her a grin and gave her an answer, showing that he wasn't quite ready to throw any form of prank into what he'd been given by the Principal. Indeed, this was no task to be handled lightly, no matter how excited Rui might have been.

“Well, I haven't thought a lot about it yet. You'll have to give me a little while, Rui-chan. These things do take very precise calculations to pull off. The errand she has me doing is not ordinary, in the slightest bit!” Rui's expression changed as soon as she heard that Ayuka had sent her Hitoshi on an errand. She winced as she started to talk back to him. “What? She called YOU up there for an errand? You're not going to turn all teacher's-pet on me, now, are you? What possessed her to do that? Everyone knows that my Hitoshi-kun is much too cool for errand-running!”

The poor girl looked to the ground and started to let out a sigh. She had wanted to spend some time with her friend, but it seemed like he had important stuff to do for the Principal. After a few moments, however, she sparked an idea. She let out a soft grin and looked at Hitoshi were her blue, bubbly eyes, as if begging for a smile in response. She soon made her intentions apparent as she asked Hitoshi if she could come with him on this errand. Hitoshi wanted to let her come along, but he didn't think it would be a good idea for that to happen. He had to tell her she couldn't.

“Not this time. This is kinda of an important thing, something that's just too big to fudge up. We're planning to head to the beach to see Old Man Houjo. Aside from that, who knows what else we'll have to end up doing before returning to campus.” Rui almost looked disgusted as soon as she heard who they were going to see. “Ick! Hitoshi, I heard all that guys ever does is spend his time, peeking through the trees at us girls, when we spend out personal time out there. Whatcha want with him, anyway?”

Hitoshi didn't want to pre-judge this acquaintance of the Principal's, so he just tried to keep his mind from viewing this man as an old perv, despite what Rui heard about him. “It things go well for us, I will tell you all about it! For the time being, however, I'm supposed to be pretty hush-hush about it. Ayuka's orders. Hold down the fort for us while I'm gone, okay?” He let out that last bit, hoping that Rui would accept that answer and be alright with not going with them. He needed a way to convince her, or she might just end up following them, anyways. Thankfully, he didn't need to work any harder to help her make up her mind.

Her expression turned to a grin again and dug something out of her pocket. “Aw, fine. At least take this with you, though! I snuck it out after breakfast this morning.” Out from her pocket came the most smashed up, deformed cake the three of them had ever seen. They began to wonder why Rui would even think about putting a cake, of all things, in her pocket since that morning. Hitoshi took it, but then inquired about it. “Rui, have you been keeping this thing in your pocket all this time? It's mushed up!”

This got an assertive reaction out of Rui, who told him to appreciate her gift. “It's still cake! Don't be ungrateful for receiving cake, Hitoshi-kun!” Hitoshi started laughing as he put the cake away and tried to agree with her and let the group be on their way. “You're right. We'll enjoy it out there. I'm sure it will come in handy. See you around, Rui-chan!” As the group walked off, Rui's expression turned to a sad one as she let out one last statement towards her Hitoshi. “Don't be gone lone, Hitoshi...”

Leaving Rui behind, the group was happy that their little side-trip was over. As a group, they all headed around the main building of the campus and approached the back gate. Reaching for a level, Hitoshi unlocked and opened up the gate, revealing a path that led to the land behind the campus. They stepped forward and started going on their way. Their destination, the beach and that Old Man Houjo, who lived near it.

Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei were finally on their way towards the beach, getting on the mission that Principal Ayuka had sent them on. Hitoshi had definitely held back progress for quite some time. Three trips to Professor Moriko, and 2 trips, each, to Hiromi, Umi, and Rui. He definitely lived up to his reputation of procrastinating things. If there was anyone who could take so many side-trips with an important mission ahead of him, it was Hitoshi. It wasn't all bad, though. They had managed to procure a few things on their way. They'd gotten quite a bit of food and a Bandana from the people they'd visited, and had gotten a good bit of training done in the Training Course.

The path laid before them was a deep, long forest path. They steadily walked along it, making sure they kept their energy up as much as they could. Even though this path directly connected to the school, there was a reason there was a gate, dividing that area from the school. There were a few types of monsters who managed to inhabit this area. The three of them needed to be on their guard. The monsters were, more than likely, nothing they couldn't handle, but that's no reason to let your guard down and become prey to a surprise attack.

After going through the entire first path, the road splits 3 ways. They stop at a sign by a well in the field that serves as the central point of this branching path area. They took a look at the sign, reminding themselves of just where everything was back here. Hitoshi didn't have the best memory in the world, and they needed to make sure they headed in the right direction. They looked at the map, and read it carefully. It read:

NORTH: Genbu Mountain
WEST: Byakko Beach
EAST: Seiryuu Forest Shrine
SOUTH: Suzaku Academy

They looked around, confirming the locations on the map. They had just come from the south, where Suzaku Academy resided. Directly in front of them was a hilly path that led up to a towering mountain known as Genbu. That place had been known for it's steep cliffs and powerful beasts. Not many people ever wandered up there. There were too many dangers and many professors didn't like the idea of going up there, even for school assignments. Were they training, they would prefer to leave them in Moriko's care, at the Training Course.

To the right and left were two forest paths, much like the one they'd just come from. To the right was the path to Seiryuu Shrine and to the left Byakko Beach. They didn't know too much about the Shrine and the many “Maidens” that inhabited it. No one ever spoke much of them, but the Beach was an often-visited location for students of the academy. Many people spent their personal time up at the beach, having a good, fun time playing around or, in Sei's instance, a fun time talking with all of the babes sporting their sexy swimwear.

The three of them turned left to head towards the beach. Right next to a tree by the sign, however, was a small chest. How it was situated out in the middle of a field was unknown to the three of them, but Hitoshi never passed up the opportunity to procure something new for them to add to their 'collection' of items. He approached the chest, a smile on his face, wanting to get whatever it's contents were before they headed off. Before he could get anything from the box, however four of the plants surrounding the box jumped out of the ground and screeched at him.

He jumped back as he saw two sprouts and two flowers jumping and attacking him. The sprouts had red eyes about them and the leaves of the flowers soon turned into pincers. They were monsters native to this area, known as Killweeds and Mad Sprouts. The three of them prepared for a fight as they drew their weapons and jumped at one of the Killweeds. These monsters didn't look all that tough, but they weren't going to take any chances. They couldn't underestimate even the smallest of monsters, especially on the adventure they were going to have.

Both Hitoshi and Sei struck a single monster to bring it down. Hitoshi, alone, wasn't enough to bring it down, but together, they were able to slice it and dice it. They jumped away from the two Mad Sprouts as a cold wind arrived from behind. Sei's arms began to get goosebumps as Tarou could be seen from behind them, chanting. Small flakes of show were whirling from his staff and encompassed one of the sprouts, until a large chunk of ice formed and skewered it. As the monster fell to the ground, the other two jumped back in and sliced up another Killerweed.

As it's comrades fell, the remaining Mad Sprout whimpered and darted off, jumping into the bushes at the bottom of the trees, disappearing from sight. The three put their weapons away, triumphant and Hitoshi opened up the box. All three of them were very eager to find out what they'd just worked to gain, viewing those monsters as a sort of “Guard Force” for the box. Out of the box came a small ticket that was used for the Journals the secretaries at the school used for keeping records. It was called a Memory Ticket.

Pocketing it, they continued down the forest path, turning a corner and finding two more boxes on the way down the path to the beach. They stopped by the two boxes, picking up a small herb and a packet of Smelling Salts, a substance the nurse used to awaken people who have fainted on campus, for whatever reason. Pocketing both of these, they continued to the end of the path, and in, towards the beach.

The beach was a fairly large area. Surrounded by a forest, it was a huge patch of sand by the ocean. As they walked in, they could see that they were not alone, in the slightest way. Along the sands of this area were many students from the Academy, sporting their bathing suits and having the times of their lives. Most of them were, anyways. The snobby blonde-haired woman was making her rounds in a two-piece, just waiting for the right moment to tell someone off for even sneaking one peek at her form. A red-haired girl with a tail and cat ears was jumping around the edge of the waves. Another woman was resting on a beach towel, and the one male they saw was sitting in front of a fireplace, clearly checking out 'the view'.

Hitoshi didn't rush into the beach or anything, though, knowing full well how much Sei would likely start melting from the view of things. They stopped right at the entrance and took a look at a nearby sign, explaining a couple things about the beach and activities that were prohibited at this place. It read as follows:

STUDENTS WILL KEEP OUR BEACH CLEAN
No Fishing
No Littering
Always wear appropriate sun protection

The trio finally started to make their way through the beach, Hitoshi and Tarou keeping a close eye on Sei, making sure he didn't wander off to talk to any of the girls nearby. They knew, all too well, that Sei could easily just abandon them to spend his time, talking to a pretty girl in a bathing suit. It fit his MO perfectly, so they had to make sure he did not get distracted, in the slightest bit. They were here to see Old Man Houjo, and that's just what they were going to do.

As they walked further along the beach, they saw that there was a blue-haired girl, with pig-tails working on an enormous sandcaslte. It looked extremely well-built, and was nearly as tall as they were. It was an amazing sight, indeed. The sand looked so packed together that it almost seemed like small animals could live inside it. They passed it and the small 'dressing room' building by and made their way towards the other half of the beach, which consisted of a literal 'maze' of palm trees. As they entered it, they first saw a couple boxes to the side. Jumping over to them, Hitoshi quickly procured a pack of Smelling Salts and another Memory Ticket before they continued onward.

Moving around to the left, they moved around a corner and hugged the edge of the sand until they could move deeper into the maze. Going towards the right again, they came to the corner and suddenly came, face to face, with a colorful monster that looked like some sort of rainbow fish. Called a Gero, the fish-like monster jumped towards the trio. All three of them jumping out of the way, she looked back as it turned around and bounced off the ground, heading towards them again. Quickly drawing their weapons, they all combined their attacks and brought it down.

Moving through a few more corners, they came to another box as the maze turned from palm tree into a small maze of rock walls. Opening up the box, they pulled out a small Potion bottle, adding it to their inventory. Taking a path next to this box, they followed it up to a dead-end, containing a larger, metal box. Hitoshi opened it up and pulled out a small, leather helm-like hat. As they backtracked and went further to the right, he slipped it over his head as they continued navigating the maze. As they made their way up the right path, the path split in two again.

Looking far through the left path, they saw another large metal chest in the distance. Hitoshi and Sei turned around as soon as Tarou started heading towards the box, two Geros appearing next to them. Blocking the path, the two warriors fought off the monsters while Tarou sprinted the path and procured a small necklace-like charm from the box. As he came back to them, he hung it around his neck as soon as they had finished off the first of the two Geros. Taking the initiative, he called forth thunder clouds again and shot a lightning bolt into the remaining Gero, launching it out into the distance.

Making their way up the right path, once again, they saw a fork in the road. They eyed each other, wondering just how many different paths were in this maze. Taking the path to the right, they found yet another fork, leading to two boxers, one metal and one wooden. Tarou went for the wooden chest, procuring some medicine and Sei ran for the Metal one, while Hitoshi watched the area for more monsters. The two came back, Sei having wrapped a “Training” headbacnd around his head, behind his hair. Hitoshi nodded to his comrades as they backtracked and took the left path from the last fork.

After making a few more turns and having to take out a few more Geros, they made their way to the final part of the maze, which was Palm Trees again. They stopped at the entrance of this new part to catch their breath. This was turning into more of an adventure than a simple trip to the beach. Who knew there were a bunch of monsters running around, right next to where all of the students were frolicking and having the time of their life? As soon as they'd regained a little strength, they went to the left around a couple corners and finally made it up to a house by the beach.

They pushed the door open and wandered in, hoping this was where Old Man Houjo lived. They didn't see anyplace else for them to go around here, so they could only pray this was the right location. Otherwise, they'd be heading back into that maze, looking for paths they might have missed.

The three warriors were about to head into the home of Old Man Houjo. They had been told, by Principal Ayuka, that Houjo was an acquaintance of hers. They walked through the front door, expecting to find some dignified person who would be able to sit them down and tell them what they needed to do about all of these disappearances around the school in years past. Yes, they expected a respectable figure, if Ms. Ayuka was willing to go out of her way to call him an acquaintance. What they found inside, however, wasn't exactly what they were expecting.

Inside the cabin was a set of cabinets, a sink, a few tables, and a bed. This was a one-house home, to be sure. Houjo must have lived alone, given the size of the bed on the right end of the cabin. On the table by the 'kitchen' area, and along the floor, were bottles and bottles of alcoholic beverages. Some bottles were open, and some were full. Many of them looked partially empty, if not completely empty. Over by another table, one that sat lower with short stool-seats, was a bald, old man, drinking to his heart's content. From the moment the door had opened, his head whipped around and sent a very confusing statement towards Hitoshi and his friends.

“What?! Who's barging in here while I'ma tryin' to enjoy my good ol' booze?! You'd better have titties or I'll whop you right right in the kisser!” The man had a confused, yet frustrated look on his face as he looked over towards the three students, whom had entered his home. All three of them had widened their eyes and looked at one another, incredibly confused. Was this yelling, drinking, slang-throwing old geezer really Old Man Houjo, the acquaintance that Principal Ayuka had mentioned could help them with this important mission?

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, the three continued into the room and stood in front of where the Old Man was sitting, nearly tripping over a few bottles on the way over there. Hitoshi got as serious of a look on his face as he could, given the circumstances and environment and began the conversation. “You're Old Man Houjo, I presume?” The old man kept surprising them with his speech, making them even less trusting that this is who they were looking for as he barked back at them. “Wha?! I may be old, and I may be a man, but don't chu call me Old Man, ya scrawny bunch of ban manners!”

Sei stepped forward and punched through the reputation the man had gotten before they realized he was an acquaintance of the Principal's, saying everything the others wanted to say, but didn't. “So says the famous master pervert of the beach. Rumor has it that your skills in the art of suspicious voyeurism borders on a biblical scale. On a better day, I might say this was an honor.” Confirming the rumors and their own skepticism, the old man replied to Sei, in accordance to his hobbies. “Eh?! Don't you start criticizing my hobbies! You are never too old to enjoy a pretty woman! Why, I was once a strapping lad, just like you. I just never lost that spark! Hmph! It's not bad manners to have libido!”

They had definitely stumbled on quite the character with this mission. It appears that Rui's suspicions on this guy's activities were right on the mark. How Principal Ayuka wished to call this man her acquaintance, they would probably never know. Tarou took the next step in the conversation, trying to mend any wounds that Sei may have just caused in this man, realizing that they still needed toget some information out of him, other than his habits of being a peeping tom. “Sir...I don't believe my friend was criticizing what you do so much as the method in which you do so.”

This, unfortunately, didn't seem to heal any wounds. The drunken old man barked at them again, yelling at them to leave. “Aha! The green-eyes monster of jealousy rears its ugly head! You youngsters are just jealous that an old man like myself sees so much more booty than you do! More importantly, get out of my house!” Hitoshi started having second thoughts about this man. He told them not to call him an old man, yet he just called himself an old man. Was this nutjob for real with this? Would they really be able to get the information they needed from him?

Trying to do a better job of mending the wounds, Hitoshi stepped forward again, speaking of why they were there. “Houjo-san, we are here on behalf of Principal Ayuka of Suzuka Academy. We have come on an urgent matter of-” Before Hitoshi could say anything, Houjo's eyes lit up with joy from hearing the name “Ayuka”. He then started to creepy them out with a little story from his past. “Ayuka, you say?! Oh, I miss her so much! I tell you boys, if you've never seen her in a bathing suit, you have not lived! Have Not Lived! There was this one time, I snuck into the--”

Speaking up, disgusted, Tarou interrupted the man and told him what was on him mind. “SIR! That is no way to talk about our admirable and kind principal!” The two others were having reactions from this as well. Sei, being the 'lovely' person he was, wanted to hear more of the story, and Hitoshi just wanted to get the information out of him about the mission, so they could leave. “Listen, you dirty old bag of wind! Ayuka sent us here because she thought you might know something about the chain of disappearances over the years, the ones that may soon reoccur, but I can see that the only thing that's ever disappeared up here is any and all dignity you ever had!”

Not helping the conversation at all, Houjo continued the conversation, getting side-tracked, once again. “Disappearances? Oh, things are disappearing all the time up here. For instance, take my hair. When I was a strapping, young lad like you, my hair was--” Tarou let out a sigh as he interrupted Houjo to talk to Hitoshi about the pointlessness of this conversation. “Hitoshi...this is absolutely hopeless. If there's something for us to investigate, I very much doubt that this would be the appropriate venue to do so.” Hitoshi looked at Tarou and nodded. “I'm very tempted to agree with you. Listen, Houjo, we shall be letting Principal Ayuka know that her faith in you was highly misplaced. I hope that causes you some small form of remorse.”

Tarou and Hitoshi were getting ready to leave. They were done with this old pervert. While Sei wanted to stay and chat with this guy, for obvious reasons, he knew that they wanted to leave. They were about to turn and leave when the old man spoke to them, asking them to wait. Hitoshi turned back around and had a confused look on his face. As if Houjou had been completely replaced by a good, respectable person, he began to speak again. “The disappearances you speak of. They are not the result of any murder, abduction, or common foul play. I don't know all of the details, but I do know where you can find out more.”

The three of them were shocked at this sudden change of attitude. Sei, in particular, was amazed at this that he let out his thoughts, on impulse. “People should not become sober and serious so quickly!” Looking past his comment, Houjo continued. “Based on the observations I've been able to make, the individuals who has vanished in the past did not vanish at all. They have been all around you at the academy. Those who are still alive, anyways.” Tarou was intrigued by this sudden pool of knowledge he was showing towards them. “They're still at the academy? What do you mean? How do you know of this?”

Houjou looked at the three of them, with a confused look on his face as well. “I'm not entirely sure what it means. I only overheard the maidens at the Seiryuu Forest Shrine saying something to that effect while I....well, what I was doing over there is not relevant to this...” Stepping in, Hitoshi continued the conversation, asking about the Shrine Maidens. “...but if the maidens knew something about the disappearances, wouldn't they have told the academy about it?”

Houjo took a long, deep breath as he continued, speaking about the shrine. “That shrine is not all it appears to be. Every four years, I sense something coming from there. Some unusual power that is growing, steadily. The maidens start acting differently around this time and things just seem to change. I coincides with the disappearances. Whether they are actually involved in the phenomena or just have a passing awareness of it that they keep hidden, I cannot say.”

Sei, stepping in with his bravado, spoke of a foolish idea for finding out the answer. “Don't worry. Give me a little while and I'll charm those answers right out of one of them.” Houjo's facial expression immediately turned to worry as he barked at Sei, telling him not to do that at all. “NO! You must not start asking question about the matter at shrine. Not for any reason! I witnessed a young man do so in the past. He was amongst the first to disappear that year! A student about your age. His name was Izoku.”

There was pause before he continued. “You must understand that I'm the one who told him what I'm telling you right now. Investigate all you want, but keep all of this information to yourself. You must stay away from that shrine, at all costs.” Hitoshi was starting to like this less and less, being told not to go to the shrine, where there might be more information about this. “How are we supposed to investigate if you are forbidding us from investigating the only place with any sort of lead?”

Houjo then spoke to them again, giving them a new place to go and visit. “You must go to Genbu Mountain. Climb to the top and speak with Lady Hosoki. She knows the history of that place. She might be able to provide you with information as to if and how it is connected to those disappearances.” Tarou looked up, having heard that name before. “Lady Hosoki? I have heard of her, but have never known anyone to actually meet her in person.”

Houjo nodded to Tarou, confirming that not many have actually met the woman. “Lady Hosoki is very reclusive, and not many people have reason to seek her out to begin with. When you find her, tell her that I sent you.” Hitoshi nodded towards the rest of the group and decided that their next destination would be the top of Genbu Mountain. Before they left, however, Houjo asked for a favor. “Hey...since I'm helping you out, what do you say you put in a good word about me with Ayuka? Please?”

Hitoshi looked back towards him and grinned, giving him an answer about all this. “When this is all over with, if your information is accurate, I'll tell her that you're a little bit dirty and lecherous.” With that, the three of them left the cabin, aiming to head out of the beach...

All three of them had more than a few shivers running down their spine as they walked out of Houjo's cabin. It had definitely been a strange experience. One minute, they think they're about to meet a respectable acquaintance of Principal Ayuka's and the next, they're face to face with the drunken old pervert. Then, as soon as they think he's just an old drunk, he suddenly changes his tune and gives them all of this seemingly-valid information about the shrine maidens, and this lady on top of the mountain. They were confused, to say the least, as they walked outside.

Before heading back into the maze of frustration, Hitoshi turns and sees something by the cabin, next to the shoreline. He, followed by Tarou and Sei, walk towards this object and they stand around it. A large crystal-like object was hovering in the air, emitting a bright, blue light. The three looked at one another until Tarou began to divulge some information, speaking of this as a special kind of crystal, which can send off a healing aura, similar to the Heal spell, but stronger and self-powered. Seeing no harm in using it, they all held their hands out and touched the crystal.

Light traveled down their hand and arms until it completely covered their bodies. Within moments, their bruises were gone and they felt completely freshened. They smiled and walked off, heading into the maze, only wishing the crystal was small enough to carry around with them. It would definitely come in handy. Tarou spoke of many of these crystals existing in the area, however, so maybe they'd run into another one on their little 'trip'. Even if not, it can't hurt to hope. Using a Crystal definitely beat using up a bunch of potions and Mana Waters.

Their new trip through the maze was starting out as a surprisingly calm one. Through the first Palm-Tree section of the maze, they saw a strange lack of monsters. They didn't run into anything, at all. They knew there were more around here, but where were they? As they continued along, they entered the “Cliff” area, and finally found a few Geros. They were quickly dispatched by Hitoshi and Sei, and the trio continued along in the maze. The monsters almost felt a little easier than they had before. Had the three of them gotten stronger since that trek through the maze a few minutes before?

Getting to the end of the Cliff section, they were about to enter the next Palm-Tree section of the maze, passing by the edge of the beach. The group stopped when they heard some splashing coming from the water, right next to them. They all looked at the bubbles and slowly backed away, curious at what might have been there. A few minutes ended up passing by with nothing at all. They looked at each other as the bubbles disappeared. Shrugging it off, they continued around the corner again, thinking that whatever was once there was now gone.

Stopping them in their tracks, two Geros popped out of the water and dove right at them. Tarou got knocked down by the surprise attack, the Gero flopping on top of him, banging down on his chest. He grunted as he lost hold of his staff. After dispatching the first, Hitoshi turned to Tarou and jumped at it. Using his arms, Tarou mustered up the strength to move and shoved the monster into the air, right in the path of Hitoshi as he performed a double cut. Landing right next to Tarou, Hitoshi launched the monster away, quickly dismissing it as a threat for them.

Recovering, the three joined one another again, thinking that they'd gotten through all of the monsters. As they got to their feet, however, they heard the ground shake. A loud roar could be heard as an enormous splash sent water all over them. Shaking their heads, they came face to face with a Gero. This wasn't just a Gero, however. This Gero looked at least 4 times as large as those that attacked them before. In shock from the sheer size of it, the three heroes were caught off-guard as the monster swung it's body around, smacking it's tail into all three of them, shoving them back into one of the cliff walls.

As they landed, they all let out whimpers and grunts of pain as they tried to maintain a grip on their weapons. They felt weakened and hurt. The monster was on the sand, taunting them as it slowly approached them. Hitoshi had blood running down his forehead and Sei was hanging onto his arm. Tarou had dropped his staff, leaving only one thing they could do. Reaching into his outfit, Hitoshi pulled out three potions, passing one to each of them. The monster was getting closer and closer as they fumbled with the lids and started drinking them, hoping that would help them recover before it got over to them.

Having replenished their energy, the three of them slowly began to stand up. Hitoshi was the last to get up, only to be missed by the monster. The tail slashed at the again, knocking both Sei and Tarou down to the ground. It shrieked out in delight as the two of them fell right back down, falling unconscious. Hitoshi looked down at them and back at the beast. It had actually turned it's head to him and he gripped his sword, tightly. Tarou and Sei were both out of action. He looked at the beast and his eyes began to spark a flame.

Gripping his sword, his body began to glow an eerie aura and the borders of his body were beginning to blur out of sight. He gripped tightly on his sword, looking at the world as if time had slowed down. Leaping at the monster, he screamed out. “You....you'll pay for that! ONI RUSH!” Soaring through the air at an incredible speed, his arms began to move back and forth so fast, he looked like a humming bird. Slash after slash after slash, the sword ripped into the monster. Going so fast that he couldn't hardly see what he was doing, Hitoshi was fueled by the rage of seeing his friends fall unconscious, he pelted the monster with blow after blow.

As soon as Hitoshi stopped, the monster had gushing wounds and fell into the sea. Hitoshi winced as he turned away from the water, which was beginning to get a red hue to it, right in front of the shore. Walking over, he guzzled down a potion and pulled out two small bottles of smelling salts. Sprinkling them over his friend's faces, they slowly came to. Looking up at him, they learned that he had just taken care of the giant Gero, or whatever it was. He began to speak as they stood and looked towards the beach. “What the heck WAS that just now?”

Sei, being full of sarcasm, thought of the memory of the colors on the monster. Geros had bright pink and green stripes along them, as was apparent as he spoke. “Were I in a gleeful mood, I might have called it cute...in a messed up, slimy sort of way.” Tarou, seeing the difficulty of the battle they'd just fought, suggested they move on. “I would find it beneficial for us to move on before we end up upsetting any other large...unusual things out here. This beach has truly drained my stamina.”

The two other agreed and they continued, into the first part of the maze, filled with palm trees. They made short work of this and passed by all the people on the beach, getting as far away from that place as they possibly could...

Making their way away from the beach would be no problem for the three young warriors. Although they were a little tired out from their fight on the beach with that over-sized Gero, they were continuing on without having too little energy to keep going or fend off the small monsters that inhabited the environment between the beach and the three other main locations in the area, the mountain, shrine, and academy. Having nearly made it back to the big 'intersection' of the path, they fought through a few monsters, at which time, they had stopped to regain some of their strength.

As they stood around, leaning against the trees and bushes, Sei plopped himself down, next to Hitoshi, a bit of conversation on his mind about what he'd just learned and their current destination. “Hey, Hitoshi...” he said, almost with a little bit of worry in his voice. “I can completely understand why the principal had you keep quiet about this whole disappearance deal, but going to Genbu Mountain is not a joke...” He paused for a moment, taking a breath before continued. “If we're going to do this, I'd appreciate if you would tell us the rest of what you know. I never would have, for a moment, though she would trust the three of us with such a sensitive-sorta thing.”

Hitoshi completely understood Sei's worries in this. It was strange for Principal Ayuka to entrust the three of them with this sort of mission or assignment. They weren't the worst students at the academy, but they also weren't anywhere near the best. Unfortunately, he didn't have much to say to Sei that he didn't already know. “You know just about as much as I do, Sei. Every couple of years, a few people disappear from our academy. Until now, the administration's had the enviable job of covering these up. Ms. Ayuka is tired of bearing the shame of that and wants us to find out what's causing it, not to mention how we can prevent it from happening this year.”

“That's all I know, honest.” said Hitoshi, having spilled out everything he knew about this situation to Sei, hoping that he would be alright with that sort of answer. It was no secret that they didn't know all that much about this situation, and they could be running straight into a very bad situation. Tarou, stepping forward, eagerly reminded the other two of their destination as he stood up from his place against one of the trees. He brushed his robes off as he spoke. “In any event, our course is very clear. If we are to trust Houjo-san, our destination is Genbu Mountain. We need to be ready. Only the most advances of our classmates train up there.”

Nodding towards him, the other two picked themselves up and joined him. After they'd all brushed themselves off, they headed forward again, coming around the corner and making their way to the fork in the road, stopping at the sign, which showed which landmarks were in which directions. They looked up, seeing how how the mountain peaked. Despite there being set paths, made by the academy's staff, climbing Genbu Mountain would be no easy task. They would need to be well prepared, were they to tackle this place.

All of them took out a Potion and drank it, as they started walking off the grassy fields and onto the rocky path of the mountain. Hitoshi's boots crunched small rocky pebbles as they came up, into the mountain. As if the rocky terrain wasn't enough, the mountain paths were like a maze. They were built in such a way that it would make the trip up the mountain all the more difficult for students who wanted to train there. The three of them now had to travel up that path, getting their own 'training session' as they made their way up higher,

From the moment they set foot on the mountain, the difficulty of the task at hand made itself clear. From the sky above came three eagle-like monsters, dive-bombing the three of them. Hitoshi had raised his sword upon seeing them. Ready to attack, he heard a yelp from behind him. Looking back, Tarou and Sei were both being dragged onto the ground as two huge sprout-looking creatures came up and knocked them off balance. As Hitoshi was distracted, the claws of one of the eages dug into him, shoving him to the ground as well.

Taking a hit, all three were on the ground, barely able to hang onto their weapons. Tarou, barely able to concentrate, cast a Thunder spell that knocked the monsters off of them. The three then raced to the base of the mountain, followed closely behind by the eagles by air and the burrowing sprouts by ground. Leaping out onto the fields below, just in time, they looked at one another as the monsters abandoned their pursuit. They looked at each other and nodding. Carrying one another back towards the beach, they agreed that they needed to do a little more training before they'd be ready to tackle this place.

They nearly emptied their supply of potions, trying to recover from the beating they'd just taken and, by the time they'd reached the beach again, they were all well enough to walk on their own. Tarou had bruises on his arms and his face, Sei had a stream of blood running down his forehead, by his left eye, and Hitoshi had a limp leg. The three of them clearly weren't ready to tackle Genbu Mountain just yet and needed a lot more training. Realizing they were out of Potions, they made their way through the Beach Maze, making it back to the large Crystal that could heal their wounds.

Fighting through Geros on the way there, they were taxed again, distracted from the battles, only thinking about getting to the crystal to heal up. As they finally made it there, they took in it's warm radiance and sighed, hoping they wouldn't have to take too long of a side-trip for this training and get back on course with climbing up that mountain...

The trio had learned a very hard lesson on Genbu Mountain. The truth of the matter was that it was designed for advanced students of the academy. The three of them were definitely not beginners, given their ability to fight off that giant scorpion in the Training Course as well as the oversized Gero at the beach earlier on, but they were not advanced, when it came to combat. Their amount of laziness, or rather, Hitoshi's laziness was showing itself as the three of them nearly got their butts handed back to them on a silver platter when they'd trekked up the mountain.

Barely making it back to the Crystal on the beach before their strength was going to give out, they sat down, under it, thinking about what they needed to do next. They would definitely need to get stronger before tackling the Mountain again. They couldn't, very well, go back to the academy and use the Training Course again. Not yet, anyways. They were already at the beach, so it stood to reason that their training would have to be done right where they were. After taking a brief rest, they stood by the Crystal and started looking around the area, hoping to find something to hone their skills against.

Thankfully, the beach's maze was home to a variety of monsters, some of which they had not encountered in their previous visit. Aside from the most common monster, the rainbow-colored Gero, were huge bat-like creatures, referred to as Palm Bats, as well as another breed of fish. They had large fangs and were a lot skinnier and darker in color than the Gero, whom were referred to as Jawfish. The three of them remembered them as they encountered them, remembering a lesson on campus about the existence of the creatures. They recognized them from the descriptions that Tarou recited as they encountered them.

Sticking near that large crystal, the trio trained hard, fighting off everything they could find to put in their path. Each battle was relatively straining on them, but they fought longer and longer, not willing to give up. With the crystal nearby, they used it's radiance frequently to replenish their strength before jumping back into battle, one again. The fighting was long and hard, but they'd begun the fighting and had brought all of it to them. Knowing that the majority of the monsters inhabited the water next to the maze, Hitoshi thought it wise to make good use of Tarou's skills.

Having a Thunder spell readily available, Tarou had brought a lightning bolt into the water, itself, electrifying all of it as the waves carried the electric current the spell emitted. This send a shock down into everything below the waves, causing every last Gero and Jawfish to be forced to the surface. As soon as they came up, Hitoshi and Sei were prepared to attack and send them flying back into the ocean. Repeating this strategy let them fight off a lot of monsters very quickly. With them slightly shocked, pun not intended, from the initial spell, it was easy to subdue them and build up their strength.

One by one, the battles went by, and nearly an hour had passed before they decided to take a break. Tarou stopped casting the spell and they took out the enemies, one at a time, until the wave of monsters stopped coming towards them. Once it looked as if it was over, they all sat down next to each other, under the radiance of the crystal that was shining it's aura around the area. Their breathing lightened as they took in the light. They'd definitely picked a good place to train. They could stick around and use the crystal to their advantage, healing up every time they needed to. It was amazing that they didn't keep these around campus. It would help people, tremendously, with keeping up with their training.

As they were sitting still, a jawfish spawned and launched itself towards them. Hitoshi and Tarou had been looking the other way, not even noticing it's presence. As it lunged at them, Sei looked and began to be in shock. The other two weren't paying attention at all. Jumping to his feet, he held his sword, only to see the monster fly past him. Turning, he saw it open it's jaws and slash across the backs of his two friends. They fell over, stunned from the impact. Sei, seeing no alternative, turned to face the monster, whom had turned towards him. He knew he couldn't easily deal with it on his own, but he was hoping he could weaken it.

He knew of a technique that he'd been working on, but had never mastered. He concentrated all of his energy into his blade and only hoped that it could work. The fish jumped back at the two stunned individuals and he held his blade into the air, the atmosphere changing. “Get away from them! Twilight Blow!” A dark cloud formed out of his sword and rushed into the fish. Screeching, dark clouds were covering it's eyes, immediately blinding it. It flew out of place and fell to the ground, flopping around, helpless. Hitoshi, coming out of his stunned state, saw the fish and quickly launched himself into a Double Cut, sending the monster flying.

The two of them thanked Sei for helping them, and Sei was almost surprised that the technique, Twilight Blow, had actually worked. Not complaining, the two joined him as they continued their session of training for the next hour. Once they'd felt they'd gotten at least a little bit stronger, they healed themselves at the Crystal again and left the area around Houjo's cabin. They could have spent much more time there, training themselves up, but there were important tasks ahead. They couldn't risk spending too much time in training when the disappearances might be happening at any time. They had to keep pressing onward, hoping that they were now strong enough to tackle the Mountain.

They'd wasted no time in making the distance from the beach back to the fork in the path, taking a stand next to the sign that gave off directions to the four major landmarks of the area. They stood there, for a moment, looking at the towering peak of Genbu Mountain. They hesitated going up there right away, remembering what had happened a few hours ago, when they'd tried to scale the place. It had not ended well. They ended up injured and practically limping back to the Crystal at the back of the beach. They had their butts handed them, to be simple.

This time would be different, or so they hoped. They did a lot of training and they definitely felt a good bit stronger. Were they, though? Sei had definitely been able to master a new technique, and the other two felt like they were stronger, but the only way to find out for sure was to scale the mountain and see for themselves. They had already wasted a few hours with their training and, with the disappearances possibly happening at any time, they needed to get up to the top of that peak as soon as possible, so they could find out more about the mystery they were trying to solve.

The three nervously walked past the sign, up the set of rock steps, and made it back into the base of the mountain, not sure if they were ready to take on what lied ahead for them. Walking around the first path of the mountain, they saw a surprisingly small amount of monsters. They climbed up a rope on a nearby cliff-like wall, getting up to the next level. The path looked fairly clear, not splitting off too many times, leading up to a cave entrance. They follow this path for a little ways and then stopped as soon as they heard some loud calls from the sky above them.

Looking up, they saw a group of Dire Eagles, at least four of them, diving down towards them. The three thought to reach for their weapons, but looked at the cave beyond. Quickly making a decision, Hitoshi sprinted off for the cave entrance. He was hoping that, were they to get to the cave in time, the eagles would stop their pursuit. He had still be relatively worn out from training, and remembered, all too well, the wounds those monsters had given him a few hours before. The other two, not wanting him off by himself, followed closely behind.

This tactic wasn't a very smart one, if the eagles didn't stop their pursuit at the cave. Nonetheless, they kept on this path until they managed to get inside the cave. Thankfully, the three of them were able to run quite quickly, easily making it into the cave before the eagles could reach the ground of the mountain, where they were. A few moments passed after they entered the dark, depths of this cave, slowly wandering around the walls. They made it around a curved path and came to an opening, leading back into the mountain area.

Content with their technique, they continued along the next area of the path, seeing the next cave up the mountain, heading straight to it. They had seen many boxes along the way, but as soon as they'd stopped to open one, the same call from the sky appeared again. The same group of eagles had flown, higher up the mountain and were still tailing them. Making use of their past tactic, they abandoned the box, ran up the path, and went into the next cave, which was a little more extensive on the inside. Carefully making it around the curvy mountain walls and across a small bridge, they came to another opening, leading back outside.

Finding the next area to be eagle-free, they decided to stop taking detours, making their way up the mountain as quickly as possible. They passed through gaves, climbed up ropes, and even found some ladders to climb up. Quite a few minutes went by before they finally reached the top, or at least, what they thought was the top. Coming up and nearly wearing themselves out, they saw that the mountain had 2 spires on it. One was directly in front of them and one was across a bridge. Looking at them both, they tried to decide which way to go. Coming up to the fork, they noticed yet another Crystal, just like the one they'd seen at the Beach.

After letting their energy replenish, they decided to take the path that lead to the spire directly in front of them. It was the closest and, were they to run into trouble, they could always just run down the path and fight monsters off around the protective aura of the Crystal. Casually making their way up the path, they finally came to the top of the spire, seeing a platform on top. It looked like they were about to find out if this lady was on top of the mountain, like Old Man Houjo had led on. As they came up to the top of the stone steps, however, they were greeted with something that was very un-lady-like.

The flapping of wings could be heard all around them as they, literally, froze in place. Directly in front of them, almost as if it were guarding the top of the mountain was a gigantic Dire Eagle. This thing looked like it must have been the mother of the pack, being at least 3 times as large as the ones they'd been fleeing from on their way up the mountain. It roared at them, making them clench their weapons. Their plight wasn't over yet, though. They had more company coming, than just the one, giant eagle. They heard flapping from behind them and almost didn't want to turn.

Whipping their heads around and huddling themselves tightly together, they saw that they were now completely surrounded. The 4 Dire Eagles that had been chasing them up the mountain were directly behind them, sandwiching them in position, trapping them. They tightly clenched their weapons, realizing now that they couldn't just run to a cave. They had to right, and were definitely in for a rough fight, at that. It was the three of them against the mother eagle and the 4 others. They were outnumbered, and their training was about to be tested...

The three of them were now trapped. They had a chance to fight off these four monsters lower on the mountain, but the memory of their last encounter had gotten the best of them. They ran from them, many times, until they'd gotten to the very top of the mountain. Now, they were only faced with one choice. They were trapped, and they had to fight them. Not only did they have to fight them, but they also had to fight a much larger Eagle monster at the same time. They were outnumbered, 5 to 3, and were ensnared. They would have to fight and hope they could get out of this in one piece.

The situation was dire from the very beginning. The 'mother' eagle called out to the smaller ones, and they all rushed at the three heroes, clawing at them. Hitoshi and Sei defended themselves with their swords, but were hit hard enough that they were forced to the ground. Tarou, not being fast enough, got his robes torn and he was tossed towards the mother eagle, whom clawed as him, tearing them in the back and sending him tumbling down the stairs. He yelped as he slowly came to a stop and looked back up at the scene. He got an angry look on his face as his eyes began to glow with a fiery rage.

Forcing himself up, losing the sleeves of his robes, he slowly began to hold his position, watching the four eagles circling in the sky, just above both Hitoshi and Sei. Sei had tried to run down to where Tarou was at, but one of the eagles dove down and threw him back to where Hitoshi was as soon as he'd begun to move. He wanted to attack them to get down there, but they were too fast. If they moved, they would be attacked. If they stood still, however, they probably would still get attacked. Tarou didn't like this and began to feel an inner-power surging from within him.

He gripped his staff tightly, the shape slowly morphing. The wooden staff with a hook-shaped tip to it started to glow an eerie blue color. He began to channel all of his energy into it and the tip changed, now looking like a skull with glowing, black eyes, as deep as an abyss of dark energy. Tarou's robes were blowing as a Catalyst appeared below him. Staring forward, the eerie glow coming through his entire body, he screamed up to Tarou and Sei, telling them not to move. The two looked at him and got as low as they could, Sei remembering a high-level spell that took nearly all of a person's energy to cast. It was called Catastrophe.

Raising his staff into the air, Tarou beckoned the heavens to give him strength. A light ball of energy flew from the staff as he called out the spell's name... “CATASTROPHE!” His two friends were blinded by the ball of light as it soared into where the four eagles were flying. Gathering energy, as if harnessing the sun itself, an immense explosion occurred above Hitoshi and Sei. Their ears rang from the explosion and they heard several terror-stricken caws from above. Once the sound-torture was over, they heard Tarou screaming from below. “It's stunned! Quickly, finish it off!”

Opening their eyes, they saw feathers and talons raining from the sky, all aflame. The four eagles that had been soaring above them were now in several hundred pieces, Tarou's spell having completely obliterated them. Turning towards the mother eagle, they saw it was twitching, laying on the ground. It's wings were on fire and it was badly hurt. The two looked at each other and nodded. Now was the time, if there ever was one, to finish this job. While Tarou was limping back towards the crystal, Hitoshi and Sei pulled themselves up and jumped at the oversized bird.

Showing off countless Double Slashes, and Weapon Tosses, Hitoshi and Sei beat the bird to a pulp until it tried to take off, only for it's wings to fail and fall down the side of the mountain, too injured to go on. The two swordsmen were breathing heavily as Tarou returned, rejuvenated by the Crystal. The three of them, together, walked forward, coming to the top of the mountain, to see if what these monsters had been guarding was the person they were looking for. Taking a good look around, they saw no one nearby at all. As their armor was practically falling off, they approached three chests, opening them to reveal three pieces of armor, exactly what they needed.

Hitoshi fitted himself in a lightweight set of armor, in the design of the Elven Sets that they'd learned about at the Academy. Tarou threw on a long, white robe to replace his shredded ones, and Sei had what looked like some sort of Chained Camouflage armor. Depositing their torn clothes and armor, they looked towards the bridge down at the fork, hoping that the person they were looking for was on the other spire of the mountain, and not another trap, like the one they'd just fought their way through. The last thing they needed right now was more tough fighting.

Making their way back down, they stopped at the Crystal so Hitoshi and Sei could gain back their own strength. As they crossed the long, wooden bridge, they were assaulted by two more Dire Eagles, though Hitoshi and Sei were quick to react, easily taking them both down before they even got close to them. Continuing on, they saw a set of stairs, much like the ones that had led them to the three treasure chests of armor. As they reached the top, they saw what looked like a person in long, purple robes. Their back was turned to them as they approached. They had jet-black hair and a pointed, purple hat, almost like what you'd see out of a tradition 'witch' story.

As they approached them, they turned around, a surprised look on her face...

The woman turned around and showed off her robes as she had a surprised look on her face. She looked fairly young, with somewhat pale skin and eyes as purple as the robes she wore. Her jet-black hair moved in the wind as her entire body looked startled at the fact that she was no longer alone, up there on the top of the mountain. It almost looked like she was about to jump backwards and fall down the side upon seeing them. Her had quickly got readjusted as she came to terms with what she'd just seen and spoke to the three students who now stood before her.

“W-what in the world?!” she exclaimed, showing that the surprise on her face was clearly not for show. She was obviously surprised to see anyone that high on the mountain. “Students from the academy...wandering all the way up here on Genbu Mountain?!” They were just as surprised as she was, however. When Old Man Houjo was talking about this “Lady Hosoki”, they were expecting her to be relatively old, like he was. This woman looked about the same age as the three of them. Surely this wasn't this wise woman that he spoke of.

After coping, Hitoshi came forward and began the conversation, trying to confirm who she was. “Umm...you're Lady Hosoki, correct?” This got a rather hostile reaction out of this woman. Her surprised look quickly changed into an angry look as she barked orders at them. “..and who wants to know?! You clowns have no business being up here! Now, go back down to the base of the mountain to train like good little students!” This woman was definitely a pistol. They'd known her less than a minute and had already seen drastic mood swings.

Tarou, stepping forward, continued the conversation, trying to keep this seemingly-temperamental woman in the talking mood. “Please forgive us. We do not intend to intrude, but we were sent here on an urgent mission regarding a chain of disappearances at our academy over these past years. We've been told that the only person whom can help us is known as “Lady Hosoki”. Are you this person?” This sparked a reaction out of the woman, as if she was shocked to hear what he was telling her. Her expression soon turned into a grin and she suddenly became a chatterbox with them.

Staring them down, she spoke, confirming there suspicions. “Well, well...is that so? You three know something about all that, huh? Yep, I'm the one and only Lady Hosoki!” Sei, not thinking, threw out a rather rude statement towards the woman whom had just identified herself as the one they had been seeking out. “...and here I was, expecting you to be some wrinkly, aged ghast. I'm pleasantly surprised! Hermit or not, it's a pleasure to meet such a beautiful girl.” This got a weird reaction out of all four of them. Sei really didn't know when to stop the bravado. Even Ms. Hosoki winced and got a strange look on her face.

Trying to look past the bravado, she decided to start asking the three of them a question. “Uhh...sure. Now, just who was it that told you that I knew something about the sp-...the disappearances?” Hitoshi stepped forward again, trying to have another calm take at the conversation. “You don't know who it was? It was Old Man Houjou. I, personally, don't think that this cycle of mysterious events is common knowledge. You two are the only people around who seem to know anything about it.” The woman's face turned to a smile as she realized who clued them in on her knowledge of the disappearances.

It almost sounded like she was amused when she found out. “The nasty old man who lives in that cabin on the beach? Fufufu...this does not surprise me one bit. That old nut has no idea what he's getting himself into. I'll have to thank him for sending you my way.” Interrupting her little amusement with Houjo, Tarou spoke more about what they'd learned. “He told us that the Seiryuu Shrine might be connected to a string of disappearances that have taken place at our academy for quite a few years now. I take it you are well away of what we speak?”

The woman had a straight look on her face, not surprised nor shocked at what they had said. “So, he said all that? I suppose that he didn't know any specific details and sent you here to figure them out. Just who are you, hmm?” Her interest seemed to pique in who they were, other than people from the academy. Sei, continuing the conversation for introductions with a witty comment, spoke up. “You can just call me Sei. The fidgety one is Tarou and that spunky guy right there is Hitoshi.” Completely ignoring their names, she immediately went back to the idea of the Shrine being connected to the disappearances.

“Hmph, of course not! Don't you spread slander about our shrine!” Hitoshi winced at what she had said and was in a bit of disbelief. The maidens, or “Mikos” of the Shrine didn't look or dress anything like what she currently had on. He was a little skeptical to think that she was actually from the shrine, as was painfully apparent in his speech. “OUR shrine? No disrespect or anything, but you don't look much like a miko to me.” This made her wince a little as well, as if she didn't know what to say or she'd stumbled in her train of thoughts. “Err...um...I guess I'm just what you'd call a frequent visitor. I help them in the great mission of the shrine. Think of me as the Seiryuu Shrine's personal ambassador!”

Tarou took no time in hurrying along their discussion, trying to find out what he could. Then please...we've come a long way in search of any information you can give us pertaining to these mysterious disappearances. Just what is going on?” Hosoki stopped for a moment to think. “Well, I suppose I could tell you...” She stopped speaking, thinking further, and then suddenly bringing a huge smile to her face. “....no, no! I think it would be more appropriate at this point for you to see for yourselves. Don't you think so? Come to the Seiryuu Shrine. We will explain everything.”

Sei wasn't sure what to make of this situation. They climbed all the way up the mountain, just to get re-directed towards the Shrine? Was there some reason she couldn't just tell them now? “Are you really sure about that? We don't want to intrude or anything...not that your offer doesn't tempt me. Can you not just give us the low-down up here? You know...make the climb feel worth it?” This seemed to set off Ms. Hosoki, and she insisted on their trip to the academy. “Actions speak a lot louder than words!” she barked. “If you're not prepared to dive into a mystery, you should just head back to your academy and mind your business!”

Suddenly walking forward, she placed three small crystals in each of their hands. Wearing a smile and having a suddenly happy expression and tone of voice, she spoke out. “Here you go! One for each of you!” Hitoshi was the first to be shocked and inquire about what these small crystal-like objects were. “...and just what are these things for?” The woman wore a grin on her face and spoke of these as some sort of 'keys' for the people at the shrine. “I was actually going to deliver these to the shrine myself, but if you take them with you, they'll know why you're there. They shall be your keys to knowing the truth about this mystery of yours.”

Tarou stared down at the crystals, a strange look coming to his face. Of the three of them, he was the first to start questioning the objects, feeling and sensing for their true purpose. “These crystals...I can sense some sort of blank emptiness within them. May I ask what their purpose is?” Hosoki suddenly re-spoke a statement and spoke of a little information about these disappearances. “Like I said, they're your keys to learning the truth. Listen very carefully – only when the Red Queen is resurrected can the disappearances stop. These crystals will aid in that goal.”

She almost seemed to sigh at the mentioning of this “Red Queen” person. “The Red Queen is an ancient deity that no one outside the shrine seems to be able to remember. However, she has a difficult time being able to exist in this universe. It's the mission of the shrine to revive her, here, and we absolutely must succeed! She is our everything. Without her, your little chain of disappearances will keep continuing, on and on.”

Hitoshi questioned the meaning behind her words, not even bothering to second-guess the sudden talk about ancient deities. “...but what's the cause of the disappearances in the first place? How is reviving some ancient deity a solution? Just what is going on here?!” Ms. Hosoki, almost seeming to avoid his question, started running off, down the path towards the base of the mountain. On her way down, she spoke to them, saying that everything would become clear once they had reached the shrine. “Now get going! I have some errands to runs and then I'll meet you there. See you!”

This situation was far from normal, and far from comfortable. The three of them watched as Lady Hosoki left their area of the mountain and Tarou spoke up. “Hitoshi, this does not feel right.” Sei continued, expressing a concern that Houjo had given them. “Didn't that old dude at the beach say for us to stay away from the shrine?” Sighing again, Hitoshi tried to think of what he could say, and what they should do. “Well, yeah, but he also told us that the only way were going to get anywhere in this investigation was to listen to Lady Hosoki. So, I guess we're heading to the Seiryuu Shrine.”

The three of them thought long and hard on what had just happened and began to make their way down the path, heading back down the mountain...

After having met Lady Hosoki and received some very strange crystal-like objects, the trio had waited a few moments, for that strange young woman to leave the mountain, before beginning to make their own way back down. They had a lot to think about, not to mention all the fighting they'd likely be doing on their way down. They made their across the bridge from before and stopping to heal up at the Crystal again. They didn't really need it, but given how hard their last battle on the mountain was, they could never be too careful.

Realizing that they'd completely skipped any and all exploration on the way up the mountain, they were thinking about taking awhile to explore this place, assuming they were strong enough. The last battle had taken everything out of them, but if they didn't run into any more ambushes like before, they might not have too much trouble. They began their descent, climbing down a ladder and crossing another bridge, back to the east side of the mountain. As they got across the bridge, they noticed a large, brown chest they'd missed. Taking a moment to stop, Hitoshi opened it up and pulled out a large bottle, a Quality Potion. This was a high-grade potion they'd seen at the academy before.

Continuing onward, they climbed down another ladder, only to find a giant, sasquatch-like monster waiting for them. Pulling out their weapons, they all jumped and gave the monster everything they had. Sei tossed his weapon at them, Tarou dropped down a Thunder spell, and Hitoshi launched a torrent of wind from his blade, easily subduing the monster. Looking back at each other, and at how easy it had been to conquer this battle, they smiled and were confident in exploring the rest of this place, that they would be just fine with these battles, from now on.

Finding the mountain path fairly repetitive, they crossed another bridge to the west side of the mount, came down another ladder and when coming to another ladder, they came, face to face, with a Dire Eagle, a small one. Quickly subduing it with Hitoshi and Sei alone, the trio continued their venture down the mountain. As they descended the ladder and procured a Memory Ticket from a nearby box, they couldn't believe that they'd been running from these battles earlier. If they had been plenty strong to do all this, they shouldn't have been running. They should have been fighting.

The path had a fork in it now. To the West was another ladder, leading further down the mountain, but to the right led to a fair-sized brown chest. Sei ran down the East path, finding something that would have been very useful had they been fighting their way up the mountain, instead of running. Inside the chest was a short dagger, with more of a grip-friendly handle than the one he'd been using earlier. He recognized the type as a gauche, particularly the “Main Gauche” model. Slipping it into his holster and placing his previous weapon, the Rondel Dagger into the box, he rejoined the group and they went down the next ladder.

As they came down, they came, face to face, with yet another chest, which Hitoshi procured some Dumplings from, adding to their “Ration” inventory. As they ran down this path, heading east, they ran into a few more Dire Eagles. It took all three of them, and a bit of effort, but they took them down and continued on their exploration. Sei was now able to weaken them and injure them a lot faster with his new weapon. Running up this place, instead of exploring truly was a bad choice. They wouldn't be making this sort of mistake again, in the coming locations they might be exploring.

At the end of the path, they entered a cave. Twists and turns lines this place, but Tarou held his staff forward, casting a fire spell, every so often, leaving flames here and there, which lit the place for them, making it relatively easy to navigate. After going through a dozen turns, across a bridge, and through another dozen turns, they made it back out, into the sunlight. After coming out, they found another fork in the road, the West path leading down towards the base of the mountain and the East, leading to a rope and another platform.

Hitoshi took the East path this time, quickly making tracks and climbing down the rope, finding a chest, similar to the one Sei had found earlier. Within it, he found a long, curved sword. It was a Katana that read “Kotetsu” on the handle. Trading out his weapons, he kept the Kotetsu and headed back to the others. On his way back, he was attacked by a Dire Eagle. With Sei and Tarou too far away, he clenched his new weapon and assaulted the beast. Being on his own, he gripped the sword and slashed it towards the eagle, focusing his energy on his new blade. A torrent of wind blew out from it as he called out a technique he'd learned about at the academy. “Aerothrust!” The wind blew into the eagle, knocking it out of it's dive and down the side of the mountain.

Heading down two more ladders, the group followed the mountain path, picking up another Memory Ticket from a box they found, adding it to their inventory, spreading the items throughout all three of them, ensuring that no one person was weighed down by the items they were collecting. Heading forward again, they ran through another cave, coming back down at an even lower area of the mountain. Just outside the opening, they saw another rope, leading down to a platform. Tarou took the initiative this time around and headed down, finding a chest with a long, metal Staff in it. After exchanging his weapons, he rejoined the group as they fended off a group of Dire Eagles, along with a sasquatch-like “Megabunny”.

They went down a few more stairways, forks, and ladders, but they finally made it back down to the mountain's base, having picked up a Roast along the way. Just before reaching the bottom, Tarou stopped and spoke up to Hitoshi. “Hitoshi...are you sure you want to carry out that girl's wish? I just can't shake the feeling that we're about to get into something we're meant to stay out of.” The mage had a lot of concerns with this and, like Umi, had a bad feeling about what they were about to go and do.

Hitoshi, keeping his cool, expressed his calmness of the situation. “I'm not very worried, Tarou. The girls of that shrine have always been allies of Suzuka Academy. Even if they do have secrets they wish to hide, I highly doubt they would do anything to harm us.” Sei, trying to add to the confidence and push Tarou down a little with teasing, said “What's wrong, Tarou? Do you get shy around all those pretty mikos?” Tarou sighed, expressing more of his thoughts, closing his eyes as he spoke. “You know that's not what I mean. Yes, I may be overthinking things and worrying a little too much, but at the very least, I think we should report our findings to Principal Ayuka.”

Finally starting to agree with what Tarou was saying, Hitoshi spoke, saying that they'd be seeing the principal first and then heading over towards the shrine. The trio then headed down into the base of the mountain and back to the field that led back to Suzuka Academy, preparing a report for the principal...

After leaving the mountain, the trio of students were amazed at how things were now. On their way back to the academy, they ran into a few pairs of monsters in the fields between the mountain and academy, and the difference between now and before was tremendous. After having fought off everything in the mountain, the monsters here in the field were cake. They'd hardly spent any effort at all in disposing of the monsters. They were sure of one thing, by far. They were definitely a lot stronger now than they were when they'd first headed out on this mission.

As they came back into the academy, everything seemed about the same. The hole-digger was still digging holes. The silver-haired girl was still walking by the pool. No doubt still considering a swim in the middle of the day. They could see Rui still over by the pool, and Hiromi and Umi were, no doubt, still by the front doors of campus and the lake, respectively. They took the campus at a fast pace, quickly reaching the side door of the main building, heading through it, and up the stairwell on the inside, heading straight for Ayuka's Office, on the second floor.

Showing Hitoshi just how strongly she was feeling, at that moment, that shy girl from before was still nervously pacing around the halls, red in the face. Hitoshi grinned a little as their eyes met, and then the three of them proceeded into the Principal's Office. They went in, expecting to make a simple report and find out what they needed to about these mysterious crystals and Lady Hosoki. Instead, they walked into the room, seeing a Death Glare being thrown at them from Ayuka's emerald-colored eyes. “Where have you been?! Do you know how worried I've been?!”

It was like walking in and seeing a stressed-out mother. But then again, Ayuka was the Principal. Some might call her the “Mother” of the academy, at that point. Trying not to bust under the pressure of what she had just told them, Hitoshi came forward and tried to explain why they were there and why they'd been gone so long. “Er...I apologize, Ayuka-sensei! We've been a little tied up with the mission you sent us out on. We're here to make a report of our findings thus far.” Almost like she'd just gone through an instant mood swing, Ayuka calmed herself down and asked them to speak, expressing that she was glad they were all okay. “Were you three able to speak with Houjo-san?”

Sticking with the conversation, Hitoshi was able to calm himself down, not under the pressure of an angry principal. “Yes, ma'am. We were able to speak with him.” Tarou then came forward to continue the conversation, not wanting the full burden on Hitoshi. “Is it Houjo's contention that the Seiryuu Shrine is, in some way, connected to the disappearances that have already taken place here.” As if following in some proper order, Sei then jumped in to talk about their next step of the mission. “Afterwards, he sent us to the top of Genbu Mountain to meet with Lady Hosoko; said she could tell us something about the shrine.”

After hearing about what had happened, Ayuka's grin disappeared and an odd expression came to her face. It looked as if she was thinking that there was something strange or odd about what they had just told her. “That's very peculiar...” she spoke, somewhat softly. After a moment's rest, she got back to the conversation, inquiring about Lady Hosoki. “...and how is Hosoki-san? I have not seen her since I was around your age. She's a very strict woman, but remarkably wise.”

This caught Hitoshi by surprise. Ayuka had apparently not seen Lady Hosoki since she was their age, yet Lady Hosoki was around their age. It confused him, and caused him to immediately inquire. “Wait...what?” Tarou further expressed Hitoshi's vague, yet confused question. “Are you...sure you aren't thinking of someone else, Ayuka-sensei?” Finally to be the one to make a forward and blunt statement of what they were all thinking, Sei 'took his turn' for input. “Maybe you're thinking of her mother or some other person? The Hosoki we just met was no older than the three of us. Pushy as hell in a handbasket, too.”

Ayuka was suddenly caught in the surprise that they felt after hearing that the Hosoki they had just met was their own age. “Impossible! She'd probably kill me if she heard me say so, but Lady Hosoki had more wrinkles than a dirty bedsheet, and she has no children. She is elderly, and a hermit.” They were all confused about this, but Hitoshi simply continued on with the conversation, speaking more on the Hosoki they had met. “Well, not anymore, apparently. She was the only one up there, and she knew a lot about the shrine. It was just as Houjo-san said she would.”

Tarou continued the conversation, informing Ayuka of the instructions they had been given, by this Hosoki person. “She also gave us some instructions. She wants the three of us to go to the shrine for ourselves. She spoke of the shrine maidens, whom are working to revive some forgotten deity...” “...A deity she called the Red Queen, as funny as the name may sound” added Sei, the three of them still 'taking turns' with talking. “She went on about how once this deity is revived, the disappearances would suddenly stop. She, however, did not explain how this would come to pass.”

Hitoshi collected the three crystal-like objects and presented them to Ayuka, speaking of how she'd given them to the three of them and that the mikos would recognize them and know what the three of them were at the shrine for. Ayuka simply sighed and expressed her concern with how confusing all of this was sounding, to her. “This doesn't many any sense...The shrine has some connection to the disappearances, Lady Hosoki is spontaneously young again, and these...crystals?” She took a pause, trying to contemplate all of this, before she looked at them, more sternly, with new orders.

“Alright, Hitoshi, go to the shrine as planned. However, go prepared. Do not leave this academy until you are positive that you're ready for absolutely anything. You should also ask the other students what they know about all this. Some of them have spent time at that shrine. I smell a rat. Be very careful. If anything gets suspicious, you come right back her and report to me.” Hitoshi nodded to his principal. “Understood” The three of them then turned to leave her office and head out into campus to collect information and prepare themselves for what may lie ahead for them.

The trio set out to do their next “Objective” for the mission, and that was to prepare themselves for what lied ahead for them. They would need to head towards the Seiryuu Shrine, but needed to prepare and talk a little first. Ayuka had strongly expressed that they needed to be ready for anything. Were the situation to turn sour on them, they would need to be more ready than they currently were. They planned what they wanted to do, and headed out the front door, aiming to consult Hiromi about what they were about to go and do. She, one of the upperclassmen, may know something of use.

Heading out the front doors, they saw the blond ponytail-clad warrior wandering around in the same place she'd been before. Upon seeing them, she ran over to them, an excited expression on her face as she welcomed them back and began to speak about what had been going on while they were away. “Aha! There you are! You don't know how much people have been talking! Supposedly, you three have been roaming around up north at the mountain. I didn't know you guys had it in you!” She had a very surprised and happy look on her face, obviously curious to see if those rumors were true.

“You'd better believe it, Hiromi!” replied Hitoshi, sporting a grin on his face, ready to over exaggerate what they'd been up to in the conversation with her, as he normally did. “It just so happens that we were wiping the floor with everything up there. If you're really lucky, I'll escort you up there to train someday!” He was, of course, taking things a little too far, which Hiromi made painfully apparent. Crossing her arms she shook her head. “Alright. You're pushing it now, mister.”

Hitoshi's ego was flowing outward into the others as well. Sei, with a calm and confident look on his face, interjected himself to support Hitoshi in his argument. After all, they had gotten a lot stronger since she'd last seen them. “Don't even act like you wouldn't enjoy the company of a dashing trio like us, my dear lady. You are looking at the future champs of the academy.” The bravado, confidence, and pure ego in this conversation was absolutely hilarious. Tarou didn't join them in it, but did interject himself into the conversation, trying to move it forawrd. “Forgive their arrogance, Hiromi-san. You surely saw the bravado coming from a mile away, just like I did.”

Reacting to Tarou's message, Hiromi changed her tune from confirming rumors to the advice that they had been seeking out, coming to her about all of this. “Just don't get overconfident out there. I don't want to have to rush in and save your butts. You're still my juniors, you know. So, where are you off to next?” The bravado was slightly wavering as Hitoshi spoke up again, though he tried hard to maintain it, at least a little bit. “For reasons we “juniors” cannot disclose right now, we're off to the Seiryuu Shrine. Do you know anything about that place?”

Hiromi blinked and her concern heightened when she found that the three of them were headed towards the shrine. She knew a few things about the place and the mikos who ran the place.”The shrine? Only thing I know is that you had better not mess around up there. I have heard some pretty wild stories about those mikos.” Sei was intrigued by the thought of “wild stories” about the mikos. “Wild stories? What's so wild about those harmless shrine maidens?”

Hiromi was getting more and more serious the longer the conversation went on. “What's so wild is that they supposedly know how to kick butt and take names. If they're as tough as I've heard, they could make short out of almost any student here at the academy.” Hitoshi was also intrigued at what Hiromi was saying. The idea of those shrine maidens being able to fight, let alone well. “Really? The mikos know how to fight? Are they really THAT good?”

Divulging more information, Hiromi searched through her memory and began to speak about a place around the shrine where these maidens spent their time with training. “They go and train in the Seiryuu Forest, you know. That is no place for the faint-hearted. Even us students steer clear of tat place. The monsters that call it home would be handful...even for me.” Tarou was processing everything Hiromi was saying, but there was one thing he didn't understand. “Hmm..it would seem we should make it a priority not to get on their bad side. Still, it puzzles me why shrine maidens would train so intently on the art of combat.”

Sei sent a silent nod before talking about his own surprise that the mikos knew how to fight. “No kidding. Those girls look so innocent. I would never have figured they were fighting machines. I'll believe that when I see it.” As much as Hitoshi went along with the bravado, he didn't really agree with Sei this time. If Hiromi was right about how hard these women trained, they'd be fine not knowing just how strong they really were. “I'd like to think that we won't need to see it. I'd prefer to not have to live down the shame of getting whipped by some miko.”

Hiromi didn't quite understand why they were getting so upset and talking about perhaps fighting with those mikos. It was as if they were planning on confronting them about something. “What are you even worried about? Do you have some kind of bone to pick with the shrine? Everyone has been wanting to know just what's going on with you three.” Hitoshi, unfortunately, couldn't tell her. “Like I said, we can't really talk about it yet. However, your info will help. I'm with Tarou that we should, for the moment, stay on their good side.”

The girl let out a sigh and gave them a further warning. “Seriously, I don't think you should really stir up trouble over there. They're a tough bunch of folks, and probably will not be very excited about you snooping around.” She paused for a moment, thinking about the situation. Reaching into a pocket, she pulled something out. “...but if you insist on doing so, knock yourselves out! Or GET knocked out. Either way, you should take these with you. I'll just be crossing my fingers that you won't have to use them.”

Hiromi then handed the three of them each one Smelling Salt, adding to their collection of provisions. They nodded towards her, thanking her and headed towards the lake, planning to get some more wise advice, from Umi. It didn't take long for them to pocket their gifts and run over to the lake. They walked at a relatively fast pace, slowly making their way to a Umi with an almost worried look on her face. She may have had that bad feeling on her mind, even now. They approached her, only to get “Hitoshi-san” and a brief pause with her looking almost gloomy.

After a brief pause, she got a smile on her face, perking up her pointed ears and started expressing her relief. “I am relieved that all of your unharmed. I am sensing a growth in your strength since we last met.” Sei, instead of throwing some bravado at Umi, threw a rather whiny statement instead. “These sore muscles disagree with you, Umi-chan. We do appreciate the sentiment, though.” Partially joking, Hitoshi agreed with Sei. “I think I agree a little with Sei. Climbing Genbu Mountain sure can take a lot out of you!”

Umi kept a straight face as she calmly agreed with his statement. “That, I do not doubt. Only the most advanced of our students go up there, even fewer all the way to the top. Your performance is quite intriguing.” Tarou spoke to his fellow magic-user and went to the matter at hand, asking for information about their next destination. “If we ever scale it again, perhaps you could accompany us. However, we could use your help for right now. You've spent time at the Seiryuu Shrine, Umi. Can you tell us anything about it?”
Umi flinched at the mentioning of Seiryuu Shrine. She felt something bad about that place. “The Seiryuu Shrine? I no longer visit that place. It has a very forboding aura, which made my spirit uncomfortable. The waves of balance are somehow warped there.” Hitoshi seemed confused at Umi's statements, not understanding what she meant by the 'waves of balance' being warped. He questioned about it, receiving an answer from Tarou. “Warping in the waves of balance can only indicate the working of some sort of chaotic magicks. Umi, could you be more specific?”

Umi calmed herself and began to divulge further, though the information she gave wasn't incredibly inviting. “I can. The trans-universal bridges between our world and another were serving as a conduit for some sort of force. It is a force that I am unfamiliar with, but strong.” Sei was getting a little confused at the speech that Tarou and Umi were speaking in, all of it completely flying over his head. “Do you mages always have to speak in such, well....jargon?” He clearly misunderstood what they said and wanted a straight answer.

Tarou explained it, as best he could, to his bravado-friendly, confused friend. “She means that some kind of unknown power from our world was being channeled into another. The only question is...why?” Umi almost looked troubled as she spoke further about her speculations. “I know everything about this world, but not other ones. My speculation can only see as to where they were getting the power from or what they were channeling it for.”

“So, let me get this straight...” said Hitoshi, trying to understand it as well. “Some kind of force is being taken from our world and sent to another, and this is, somehow, happening at the shrine?” Umi almost seemed a little annoyed that Hitoshi was basically repeating what she had just said. She made it apparent that she realized that they only just repeated what was just said. “I still don't get it” said Sei. “Are the shrine maidens doing this? They're just simple people like we are. Are you sure you're not just imagining things?”

Umi sighed and got an unsure look on her face. “Again, I cannot say. However, I can tell that you three are planning to go there to find out. I would not recommend such a course of action. Tarou-san, you must be on your guard.” Tarou nodded towards Umi, understanding her concern. “We will, Umi. Now that I've got an idea of what to look for, I feel confident for a change. Thank you.” He was starting to feel more comfortable with the situation. Not that it seemed any less positive, but that he had a better understanding of what was going on.

Umi pulled down into one of her pockets and procured a gift for the three of them. “I do not how it will help you, but take this. It may prove useful during this mission. I've never really had a use for it, anyways.” Umi then procured a small pendant attached to a necklace. Hitoshi accepted it and put it around his neck as the three of them slowly departed from her, with a collection of new advice. They traveled around the back of campus and headed for the final person they would be talking with before figuring everything out. If she was still there, they'd be talking with Rui next.

As they came down to the track field, they realized that Rui was still there, just as she had been before. As they approached her, they saw a smile come to her face, a more care-free look on her fact than the other two had been. They expected this, though. Rui didn't take things nearly as seriously all the time as Hiromi and Umi. She got things done, but she just had a more care-free attitude than they did. As they approached, she immediately spoke to Hitoshi. “You're back, Hitoshi-kun! Is your mission over? Can we go raise a ruckus now? Has Sei been a pain in the ass? Can you tell me what's going on? Can-..”

The girl was assaulting them with a barrage of questions again and Sei, realizing one of them was about him, butted in and interrupted her. “Hey, munchkin. Just wait a minute!” The two were beginning to butt heads, and it wasn't one-sided, for sure. She immediately looked at him with a scowl. “Go make out with a hacksaw, Mr. Ladies-Man!” Hitoshi was getting frustrated in the ongoing war between Sei and Rui. “You two! Not again!” It would be a chore just to keep the two from killing each other while they were all in the same place. Tarou shared in Hitoshi's frustration. “You know, this is why I seldom venture out of the company of the other mages.”

Umi didn't like their complaining and was planning to make them away of it. “Like you have anything to complain about! You've been out there, having all kinds of fun! The rest of us have been stuck here in class! PSH!” Hitoshi, still wanting to change the mood of this conversation, spoke of what they'd been doing. “While it's very true that we haven't been studying, but I don't know much out bodies are appreciating all this running around and climbing.” He was hoping that his joking attitude would brighten up Rui and keep her from arguing with any of them any further.

Much to his delight, she immediately brightened up, getting a big smile on her face. “That's right! Where are ya off to next? No one has any clue what you guys are doin' out there, and I know you're too big of a goody two-shoes to tell me. But...I've gotta know!” Tarou, trying to give her something for the ridiculous amount of enthusiasm she had, spoke about their next destination. “Well, if such enthusiasm warrants an answer, we are going to the Seiryuu Shrine...and no, you can't come with us. This is risky enough without bringing any underclassmen with us.”

“Oh, you're no fun” said Rui, still keeping her chin up. You're headed to the shrine, eh? Don't go falling under they're spell now! Those creepy mikos can be real tricky!” She almost seemed like she was joking, but it made Hitoshi wonder. His curiosity peaking, he asked her if she actually knew anything about the shrine and the maidens over there. Her face got a little serious as she began to speak about a rumor she'd heard. “Oh nothing! It's just a rumor some of us throw around. I've gone, err...exploring up there a few times. The shrine maidens always look like they're in some kinda weird trance.”

She took a moment to pause, thinking about how serious Hitoshi had been just now, which made her worry a little. “Wait...you don't think there really IS some kinda spell, right? Is that what you're investigating? Are you saving them from a spell? Are you trying to stop some big..” Hitoshi saw another barrage of questions coming, so he immediately spoke forward. “I dunno, Rui! Your guess is as good as your, at this point of things. However, what do you mean by they were in a 'trance'?” It seemed like she did know a little, and they needed to know as much as they could.

Rui seemed a little confused. They were getting all worked up over some stupid rumor. “Chill out, guys. It's just a rumor. I just thought it was a little weird how they act normal when you talk to them, but act all goofy and aloof when they don't think anyone is watching them.” Tarou came into the conversation, trying to lighten the mood and realizing that acting goofy has nothing to do with any sort of spell. “You've got a lot to learn about how spells work, Rui-chan. Don't you think maybe they were just tired or bored or something?”

Almost seeming to take offense to this, she snapped back at Tarou about what she'd seen. “NO! There was serious something weird about them. I mean...sure, it could have been nothing, but I'm not that stupid! If you guys are going there, something must be up!” The situation was going nowhere. Rui was getting ready to argue with them, once again. Hitoshi, thinking he was the only one who could calm her down, said “Relax! If something is up, you know that I will get to the bottom of it. We master pranksters have a way of telling when someone else is up to something, right?”

Sei, not realizing that he was incidentally pushing the conversation to a worse position, was painfully honest. “Hitoshi, are you actually suggesting that we pay any heed to what this goofball has to say about our mission? You eat way too much sugar and get some weird ideas in your head, kid.” Rui, getting angry again, reaching into her pocket and launched some food at Sei's head. “You want sugar! Here, take some, jerk!” Sei nearly got plastered by the three Mochi, small, circular cookies, that Rui had launched at him. “Hey! C-Cut it out!”

The three of them picked up the food as Tarou expressed his opinion on this matter, not completely ruling out Rui's suspicions. “Very well, then. If there is some sort of enchantment present that's having an influence on the shrine maidens, I will seek it out. In the meantime, though, just let it go, Rui-chan.” Rui was getting a little discouraged about all of this. She didn't think anyone was believing her about all of this “trance” stuff. She turned to Hitoshi for support. “You believe me, don't you? Couldn't I be right about all this? Don't you think it's strange?”

Providing her with a bit of support, just as she needed, he nodded towards her. “I have no reason to doubt you, Rui. We'll stay on our toes, and Tarou'll get to the bottom of the spell if it's there. You've been a big help by filling us in.” Rui let out a grin as the three of them turned and left. After thinking about everything they'd just learned, they realized that where they were going could be quiet dangerous, more than they had realized. Mikos that trained harder than the students. Strange bridges between worlds. Trances? They spoke with one another and turned, thinking they needed to go back to see if Moriko could help prepare them.

The trio had learned a great deal since leaving Ayuka behind and were preparing to head for the Seiryuu Shrine. They had visited their three closest friends, or at least the ones that most of them enjoyed speaking to, and had learned different, yet useful information from each of them . From Hiromi, they'd found out that there was a forest next to the shrine with fierce creatures within it, where the mikos supposedly spent a lot of time, training their combat skills. That alone told them that were they to get on the shrine's bad side, they'd have a lot to deal with, especially if they had to train just to get on top of Genbu Mountain.

From Umi, they found out that there was some strange magical occurrences going on at the shrine. Power from our world was being sucked and thrown into another, for some strange reason. If the place was enough to make Umi's spirit uncomfortable, it had to be a bad sign. These first two pieces of information made them well aware that they were getting into something quite big. Umi didn't even know about the disappearances, or at least, she never said so, if she did. Were she to find out about that, her concerns might have gone even higher.

Finally was Rui, who had talked about a strange rumor about the mikos looking like they were in some sort of 'trance' when others weren't around and talking with them. This rumor was strange and didn't seem nearly as important as what the other two had told them about, but Hitoshi took the advice Rui gave him, and assumed that this rumor was true. Among the three of them, one thing was in their mind. The shrine and what they were trying to uncover was a well-kept secret and something very big that was going on over there.

If there's anything to be known about secrets is that they are kept for a reason. The shrine was keeping this secret, and unmasking it would, more than likely, get the three of them on someone's bad list. The three of them knew that, all too well. Things would be going sour, at some point. It wasn't a “maybe”, but more of a “when”. Having this information in their head, they realized that they weren't near ready to go and face what lied ahead for them. Remembering their training from before, they were now walking through the gates to the Training Course, hoping that Professor Moriko would have something to help them out.

Moriko was at the top of the place, waiting for them. She had a straight look on her face and crossed her arms as the three of them walked up to her. She had also heard the rumors about what they'd been doing, and was expressing that as she greeted them. “I've heard you boys have actually been doing a decent job out there. Don't let it go to your heads. Even if you are doing well, you need to keep your training up.”

Hitoshi winced at Moriko, both for the fact that he was hoping more for a congratulations from her for them looking tougher than they were before, and for the deal they'd arranged earlier that day. “You know...I had hoped that climbing up the mountain and fighting powerful monsters would be worthwhile enough to qualify as training, Moriko-sensei. Does that not qualify as training?” Moriko, being the strict professor she was, immediately barked back at Hitoshi. “That's the problem with kids these days! There is no substitute, at all, for some real, grueling, physical training.”

She let out a grin as she started thinking, giving them exactly what they'd come to her for. They hadn't asked about training, but why else would they be there? “I'm gonna assume that that's why you're here today. You want another assignment, little boys?” The way she spoke was in a kind, yet teasing manner. Tarou, for one, thought to himself, thinking of the consequences of saying 'no'. They likely had no choice in the matter and would have a much worse fate were they to refuse some training from the professor that stood before them.

Sei, unfortunately, gave Moriko a wide variety of boundaries for this new assignment, throwing out more of his bravado and ego into the conversation. “Did ya have something specific in mind? The three of us can handle anything you throw our way.” The professor closed her eyes and spoke as the wind blew her bangs in front of her eyelids. “You can, can you? We'll just see about that. Yes, it just so happens that I do have something I need taken care of.” Re-opening her eyes, she stared them down with a serious look as she divulged an assignment much different than the one she'd given them before.

“This academy is outgrowing it's training course. I would like to expand it. You are to head west to the wilderness just beyond the course and clear out whatever monsters or creatures that may dwell there.” Hitoshi didn't really like the sound of this new assignment. Sure, they needed some training, but this seemed like a little much. He kept his thoughts to himself, though like a psychic, Moriko immediately scowled at him. “Don't you gimme that look, Hayama! You will carry out my instructions, and you will like it! Understand?”

Moriko definitely had a way to get her students to do what she asked of them. The way her voice raised made all three of them immediately nod as she handed them three Memory Tickets, before sending them on their way. Realizing that they probably couldn't even leave the Training Course until this was done, they walked, together, towards the other side of the training course. They jumped across a couple rocks, looking onward, through a forest, where the opening to the wilderness was. They had quite the training session ahead of them. Hopefully, it would be more than enough to prepare them for what they'd be encountering at the Seiryuu Shrine...

After having crossed the Training Course and gone through a small opening in the forest, Hitshi and the others slowly made their way into this new section of wilderness that Ms. Moriko wanted to use as part of the Training Course, to expand it into something larger than what it already was. They weren't entire sure what they were to expect out of this new place, but they'd been assigned to take care of the monsters that lived here, and that's exactly what they planned to do. If the creatures here were tough, it would only serve to prepare them even further for what they would encounter at the Seiryuu Shrine.

The land that this led out to looked similar to what they'd seen at the Beach. Or, rather, it looked like a combination between the Training Course's current land and the land over at the Beach. There were a lot of cliffs and forests, but as far as the ground was concerned, it was about half green with grass and the rest was square-fashioned patches of sand, leading to the ocean. There were two main paths they could take. They could head South, which led to some more of the forest, or West, heading towards the edge of this area. They turned and decided to head South, running into their first fight of this place, three monsters guarding the next area.

As the three of them drew their weapons, they saw three monsters jump down from the trees, which looked a little familiar to them. There were three crabs, which looked very similar to the Rivercrabs they'd seen in the main area of the Training Course. It did stand to reason that there would be similar species' living in different areas of the same region of land. Expecting this not to go nearly as easy as they'd been before, they took the fight seriously and went into battle. They went in with their usual attacks. Hitoshi and Sei did physical attacks, while Tarou stood back and dropped a lightning bolt down on their foes. The battle was over relatively quickly, them receiving a few hits in the process, but they'd just gotten bruised up a little. Nothing life-threatening.

As they trailed themselves around, they found a fork in the road, the same as before. They could either go West or South. Choosing the South path again, they ran into a few groups of these new crabs, until they realized it was a dead end. Having a few more bruises, they were starting to get worn down. The monsters, themselves, weren't all that tough, but as the battles racked themselves up, it was starting to poke at them. Even the easiest of battles, given large numbers, would be tough to endure through.They were heading West and about to go into another battle, when they saw a much larger set of monsters, out in a field. Pulling themselves back, though, they started to think.

The monsters they saw looked like some sort of huge, mutated cattle. Nearly 15-20 feet across, and there in a pair, they looked quite formidable. Hitoshi and Sei looked towards Tarou, asking for a quick heal before heading into this next battle. Tarou, of course, obliged, having not spent all that much of his strength in the battle thus far. Holding his staff up, he closed his eyes and began to chant a healing spell on Hitoshi. About halfway into the spell, however, everything started glowing. Tarou kept chanting, but he wasn't sure what was going on. The staff was sapping much more energy from him than it should have. Within moments, the spell had been cast and the light enveloped not only Hitoshi, but Sei and Tarou as well.

As Tarou opened his eyes back up, they all smiled, realizing that he'd managed to extend the power of his healing spell, healing all three of them at once. He'd remembered this rendition of the spell from class. It was called “Cure II”. It was a strange name, but it worked, and he could apparently cast it, at that point. The three of them were now content and full of energy, rushing out into the field, weapon in hand, ready to take on whatever these huge monsters were, hoping that they'd be strong enough to endure the hits they'd take and take them down, at the same time.

As they rushed forward, the oversized boars turned around and charged at them. Realizing that charging wasn't the best solution, all three of them jumped out of the way as the monsters ran past them, slowly pushing their hooves into the ground and coming to a stop. Having gathered up enough energy, Sei took the back, for once, and Hitoshi and Tarou prepared an assault. Holding his staff high into the air and pointing it towards the monsters, he cried out, “Catastrophe!” Just as on the mountain, a large explosion appeared around the board, knocking them both off their hooves and led to them screaming out in pain.

Taking advantage of the fact that they were stunned, Hitoshi jumped in, rapid-slashing them, calling out his Oni Rush ability. Within mere moments, one of the two had been dealt with. As the other was getting up, Tarou and Sei finished it off with a quick throwing of a weapon and a Thunder spell. The three of them stood where those monsters once were, and were taking deep breaths, having spent a lot of energy and considered themselves lucky that the battle had gone so well. They looked at each other and were surprised this place had monsters so big. They took a few moments of rest before turning around and head back towards the original fork of this wilderness.

They fought through a few more battles with crabs and some red-tinted “bush” enemies, similar to the ones they'd seen in the original Training Course, and finally started heading West from the entrance of this place, making their way across it. This part of the area seemed much less monster-populated, and they were even able to enjoy part of the view, seeing a few small butterflies wandering about and some seashells that had washed up on the shore. It was almost peaceful up there, for the most part. This would be a very interesting place for Professor Moriko to extend the Training Course to and, given the enemies here, would provide a much better training session than the monsters within the original Course.

Making their way over, they realized that the path split, one again to the West and South. Shaking their heads at why there were so many different paths to take, they looked and could see the edge of the West path, deciding to take it first this time. As they made their way over to the west side, peering out towards the ocean, they turned and saw another pair of those oversized boars. Grabbing their weapons, they jumped into yet another battle. They didn't imagine this battle would be quite as easy as the last, but they were confident that they'd be able to take care of them.

The battle had started off with them jumping behind the monsters and surprising them with an attack. Hitoshi launchd a torrent of wind at them, Sei threw a weapon at one of them, and Tarou started casting a different spell than normal. As soon as one of them had gotten struck by Hitoshi and Sei's abilities, The ground below the monster had slowly begun to redden. “Fire!” called out Tarou, as the entire area around the boar became the catalyst for a small ball of flame that burst up from the ground. The monster fell over as the other ran towards the three of them. Sei ran to the side and threw his weapon at the injured monster, quickly knocking it down and finishing it off. Turning around, however, he noticed that Hitoshi and Tarou had gotten run into and knocked back by the other one.

The two of them fell over as the boar ran past them. Looking up, they were soon joined by Sei who boomeranged his weapon back, quickly. Tarou was the first one up and, with the monster busy, quickly cast a Cure II spell, bringing back both his and Hitoshi's energy. However, he felt his own energy running low, unable to cast any more spells for now. Standing together, Sei and Hitoshi launched another assault, Sei stunning the monster by boomeranging his weapon while Hitoshi jumped at it, able to launch it away with a Double-Cut.

After regrouping, they took another break, sitting down to think about just how hard these battles were becoming. The boards were still easily beatable, but without both of them being stunned, it was a little hard for them to not get pummeled, at least a little bit. Expressing his energy drought, Tarou brought out three Mana Waters, each of them drinking one of them before heading to the final path of the wilderness. They weren't sure if they'd need them or not, but they didn't want to take any chances. As long as they had the Mana Water, they were planning on using it. They could always buy more on campus, after this mission was over.

After taking their break, they headed down the south path, realizing that it also lead down two ways. Hitoshi shook his head, initially, at seeing the ridiculous amount of branching paths this place head. Fortunately, though, the east path could be seen from the fork, and it was completely void of monsters. Skipping that path, they looked down the left one and got nervous smiles on their faces. They could see the entire path, but there was one final set of boars down there. They began to walk when Sei took the lead, expressing that they had this in the bag. Going along with his enthusiasm, the other two followed closely behind.

Coming to the boars, Sei ran at them, his sword glowing as he went into a running jump. He screamed out “Silhouette Slice!” Bringing his sword down, he slices into the monster's legs, 2 hits per boar and managed to stun them before jumping back to the others. Taking the initiative and the fact that the monsters were nearly falling over, Tarou and Hitoshi quickly launched a Thunderbolt and Aerothrust at the first boar, easily bringing it down. Before the second had a chance to get un-stunned, Sei threw his sword at it, followed closely by a Fire spell from Tarou, which brought it down.

Having covered all of the monsters in this place, Hitoshi turned around and started heading back, signaling t the others. “Alright, that should do it. Let's report back to Professor Moriko” Following behind him, the others joined Hitoshi in looking at the scenery and headed back to the entrance, aiming to tell Moriko of what had happened...

The path back to Professor Moriko wasn't, exactly, a safe one. Although the three students had wiped out most of the monsters in this new “Wilderness” area, at least the big ones, there were still plenty of other monsters hanging around to give them a challenge. Before they'd even managed to get back to the original Training Course, they'd run into at least a dozen of these new crab monsters. They had to stop as soon as they got to the 'bridge' between the two areas to have a helping of Potions and Mana Waters. It seemed that, despite the big monsters being gone, there were still a lot of others. Maybe that was a good thing, though. More monsters meant more training for the students.

If that weren't enough, there trek back through the original course led them to at least a dozen more battle before they'd even gotten back to the creek crossing near the well. Traveling through the forest, they were pelted with battle after battler after battle. These fights were incredibly easy to get through, but no one ever said easy battles could be dealt with easily over the course of a long time. Hurrying across the creek, they were practically sprinting up to Moriko's cabin. As they got up there, there was a surprisingly few amount of monsters. It was confusing to them, but they'd take what they could get.

The professor was standing at her cabin, waiting for them, her eyes set on them, as they always were. To be honest, they were surprised they hadn't seen her watching them as they did their assignment. Every time they completed an assignment for her, whether this day or in the past, it was like she already knew everything they'd done. She had eyes all around this place it seemed. While her cabin was at the highest point of the Training Course. She could probably see most of it. This time, however, was a little weirder than before.

As they approached her, she had that confident, glad look on her face. The same one she always had on when they were finished with assignments. They could almost guess that she wouldn't even ask about what they'd done. She, for some reason, would know how they did, and so she did. Making assumptions, or not, depending on what her methods of monitoring actually were, she called out to the three of them, congratulating them. “Well done, you three. It sure took you long enough to finish up the assignment, though.”

Her confidence was ever-present, at all times. She had the strength to back up that ego of hers, though. As the instructor of the Training Course, Moriko was as tough as they came. Pulling her hands to a few provisions behind her, she handed the trio a handful of new supplies for their trip and their main mission. “I'll get to work on expanding our Training Course first thing tomorrow morning. For now, take this reward and get your butts back to your main mission.” The instructor then handed them a large, cooked Roast, and three bottles of a crimson red liquid. They were known as “Brave Juice”, something that enhanced the energy in someone's body and helped improve strength and endurance.

As she sent them off, they were smiling and ready to head off, out of the Training Course and back onto campus to finish up their preparations for heading towards the Seiryuu Shrine. They were in desperate need of supplies and needed to make sure they were ready for anything, just as Principal Ayuka had stressed to them. The situation was escalating quickly. All of this had started at a simple trip to the beach, and it seemed like they might be running into something big, very big. They were about to leave the Training Course when two Rivercrabs jumped out in front of them, as if trying to keep them from leaving. Wielding their weapons, they quickly disposed of the monsters, showing the bruises they'd gotten in this place. Finally, they walked out of the Training Course, heading back to the main building, where the Campus Shop was.

It had been a long mission thus far and it hadn't taken them very long to reach the main building. They were long due for some part of their mission that would not require fighting and working out in the outside weather. Getting inside the side door, the three of them started to make their way towards the main entrance, where the shopkeeper was. As they got to the corner, they were immediately stopped. As soon as they passed by where the clock stood, they heard a voice from behind them. “Hey! Did you over-do it? Again?! Get your butts over here and rest for awhile.”

From behind them was the Campus Nurse, an eyebrow raised and looking at them with a funny look. They looked at each other, unsure if they really had time to stop and rest. Seeing all the bruises and dirty spots on each other, they looked back at her and reconsidered their actions. The Nurse's face was turning to a smile as they stopped their path and headed towards the Nurse's Desk. She set them up in three beds from behind, inside the “Infirmary” area, and they laid down for a quick rest. They may have wanted to get out there to the Shrine, but they needed to be rested up, too, and there weren't any Crystals hanging around on the way to their destination.

They rested for a good few hours, a lot of their minds. Hitoshi and Sei had surprisingly soothing and calming sleeps, but Tarou was troubled at everything they'd been told, specifically everything Umi had told him. They may be in for quite the amount of trouble when they headed towards the Shrine. They had to be as ready as they possibly could be. They were definitely stronger from all of the fighting they'd done so far, but if the Mikos were as tough as Hiromi had mentioned, he wasn't sure if they'd be ready for them. They had to go through with this, but he had a bad feeling.

After they'd gotten enough rest, the three of them got up and stocked up at the Campus Shop, picking up a dozen Potions, Mana Waters, Brave Juices, and two new items for them, Calm Juices and Charm Colognes. Calm Juices were like Brave Juices, but they improved energy usage. Charm Colognes, however, were something new to all of them. It was a special sort of cologne with a fragrance that supposedly worked wonders on repelling monsters. The fact that the shop had them in stock was quite amazing. They picked up as many of them as they could afford, trying to stock up as much as they could before heading out, straight towards the Seiryuu Shrine...

The trio rechecked their stock of items as they headed out. They'd spent nearly every last penny they could muster to gather as many supplies as they could before heading out. If the Shrine was as dangerous as Hiromi had warned, Umi felt, and Ayuka had suggested, then they would need every last bit of provision as they needed. They stopped at the back gates of the school to compile everything and check their main provisions. Other than food, equipment, and accessories, they were carrying 29 Potions, 4 Quality Potions, 6 Smelling Salts, 15 Mana Waters, 1 Mana Nectar, 1 Mana Syrup, and 18 Charm Colognes, not to mention the Brave Juices and Calm Juices they'd bought.

They definitely had a lot in their inventory. They had gotten a lot of training done lately as well. Hitoshi had done three different assignments for Professor Moriko, they'd trained a lot at the beach, and they fought through a lot of monsters throughout the entire trip, from Rivercrabs in the Training Course to the Dire Eagles from Genbu Mountain. They were much, much stronger than they were before, and they had a lot of new equipment, thanks to those Chests they found on Genbu Mountain. Not seeing anyplace else they could train outside of the Shrine's forest, they figured they were about as ready as they were ever going to be. Putting their provisions away, they marched forward, heading to the fork that led towards the Shrine.

After cutting around a few corners in the forest, they came to a path to the right, blocked off by a huge, dead tree. Looking around it, they thought they could see some sort of building back on the path, but unfortunately, they couldn't get past the tree. Not even a well-placed Fire spell would be able to knock this thing out. Shrugging their shoulders, they saw a small box nearby, where Hitoshi procured a small yellow orb, called a Mustard Bomb. It was a flash-inducing weapon used to blind enemies. Pocketing it, they moved onward, seeing a path to the right, which led to the shrine.

The area around the shrine was quite filled with nature and buildings, and quite beautiful. A stone path led to the shrine itself, surrounded by tall stone pillars, pink-toned trees, and small ponds of water, here and there, adorned with lily-pads. There was also a path to the East, next to the base of the stone path, which looked to head into the huge forest that lied that way. That must have been where the Mikos spent their time, training. Taking a look at once another, they slowly walked forward, clenching the pockets that contained the three crystal-like objects, hoping they were ready for whatever was waiting for them, inside.

At the front of the main building was what looked like an offering box between two open doors, each with curtains above them and wooden signs with foreign symbols on them. They walked past this box and slowly made their way through the left-side door, making their way inside. The inside of the shrine looked quite roomy, actually. There were wooden walls around and two sets of mats that were set out, each with cushions for the mikos to sit on. A stone tablet was at the back, and lining the wall corners were beautiful, potted flowers. In a large mat in the middle of the room stood 6 woman, dressed in red-and-white uniforms. These were clearly the mikos. They all had their eyes on the three of them, as if they were watching them. Although Lady Hosoki wasn't present, they approached the Miko in the front, whom wore an eyepatch over her left eye.

Sei was a little confused as to why they were all just gathered in one place and watching them. Watching the woman's short, silvery hair flowing in the breeze that flew through the room, he started their important conversation, trying to be polite for once. “Excuse me, ladies. We didn't get you at a bad time, did we? You all look as if you were in the middle of something.” He had a serious look on his face, as did the rest of them. This proved that even Sei could become serious when the situation headed in that direction.

The white-haired miko took a momentary before saying anything. Much to their surprise, she spoke of not being in the middle of anything important. “...no, it's quite alright. We were getting ready to clean the place up. Are you just passing through, or can I help you with something?” Hitoshi was realizing that things seemed to be going fine thus far. Finding no other place to start from, he pulled out the crystals they'd been given. “Actually, maybe you could help us. Do you recognize these?” Holding his hands out, he showed them to the woman.

Showing that she did, indeed, recognize them, the miko got a surprised look on her face. “Oh! Where did you find those? Normal people, like yourselves, should not be carrying those around, you know.” Seeing the conversation slowly progressing itself, Tarou felt it was his time to interject into the conversation. “Lady Hosoki from atop Genbu Mountain informed us that were we to present you with these crystals, you would be able to help us understand something very urgent and crucial.”

Wanting to rush things along, Hitoshi came forward about the reason they were there. “Let's not split hairs or anything. All of you know something about the disappearances that have taken place at our academy over the years. I'm not certain whose side you're on or what you're trying to accomplish with these crystals and your deity, but if it's alright with you, we will skip the 'small talk'.” All of the mikos then turn and take a quick glance at the stone tablet at the back of the shrine before turning back to the three of them, with a response, as if being accused of something. “Goodness, that sounds rathor accusatory. You're right, we do know what happened to your fellow students, and yes, those crystals can indeed show you exactly what it was. The fact of the matter, though, is that we are quite busy right now.”

Not wanting to take no for an answer, Tarou came forward and tried to continue their conversation before the mikos got 'busy' with the cleaning they were about to do. “Forgive our forwardness, but we simple cannot leave this place without an answer. Our current and future students could be at grave risk. Maybe we can work together to solve this problem.” He was trying to as forward as he could, while still remaining polite and expressing a willingness to assist them in whatever will solve the disappearances and whatever it is about this supposed deity of theirs.

The silver-haired woman got a smile on her face and was starting to agree with Tarou. “Indeed. You say that Hoski told you to come here with the crystals? I understand, then. Well, listen carefully. Your students have been disappearing because the Red Queen does yet fully exist in this universe.” They were finally getting somewhere, hearing about the same deity Ms. Hosoki had mentioned atop the mountain. Sei came forward, wanting to know more about this “Red Queen”. “Alright, my one-eyed beauty. Who is this Red Queen and what does she have to do with people that are vanishing out of thin air?”

Calmly, the miko continued. “The Red Queen is our patron deity, our protector. Once she is present in the world, there will be no more vanishing people. Well, vanishing isn't quite the right word behind it.” She stopped for a moment, trying to think of how, exactly to explain this to them. Shaking her head, however, she just continued by speaking that the process was complicated and that the crystal were the key to all that was going on.

Hitoshi, trying to understand, stepped forward with his interpretation. “So, these crystals are used to revive your goddess, and once that is accomplished, no one else will disappear? Why are they disappearing, to begin with?” The man was quite curious, and had the right to be. This was a very serious issue and they were giving them rather vague answers. They'd prefer exact details, rather than “It's complicated.”. Bringing on more vague answers, the mikos responded to him, with a simle “Because she's not here yet...”

Tarou stepped forward, bringing a more in-depth conversation afoot, talking about the crystals. “These crystals of void of any power, like a vacuum of space yearning to be filled. Do not take us for fools. What is their true purpose? Surely, somehow, you are able to charge them with something.” Keeping up the calm attitude, they continued. “...Indeed, we are charging those crystals and using them to revive our goddess. It is for the good of the world. In fact, your idea of working together has come at a good time.”

They weren't getting very many answers, and now it sounded like they were about to be sent on another errand, instead of getting any straight answers. Hitoshi winced and asked what sort of thing they were suggesting. “Those crystals you carry are rare. However, their origin is from the Seiryuu Forest, to the east of our shrine. In the forest is an entity, whom guards a large cache of them. This cache would be enough that all of the disappearances could come to a halt as soon as tomorrow.”

Sei knew what they were asking, and made it clear that they were about to be sent into the forest after these crystals. “By that, you mean there's enough crystals in the forest to give you the capability of reviving your Red Queen...and you want the three of us to go get them, right?” They weren't exactly the dumbest students around. They could see where this conversation was going quite clearly. The miko could do nothing but agree with him. “That's right. We would fetch them ourselves, but we must reamin here, at the shrine. Ma-...Lady Hosoki has been gathering them for us in our stead, but with your help we may yet bring our goddess forth. Then, the disappearances will end.”

They weren't exactly liking the way this was going, but Tarou came forward, trying to get confirmation from these mikos. “...and we have your word that after you've summoned this deity, everything will be solved? What, exactly, do you plan to do once she exists on this plane?” Not giving them the answer Tarou was expecting, they said “Nothing. She will merely reside her as a sage and protector, giving us guidance. If she deems that no one else should...disappear, then no one else will. Her revival is your only hope.”

Crossing his arms, Hitoshi agreed to their terms, on his own conditions. “Alright, we'll play ball. However, when we bring you these crystals, I want to see everything. I want to see, firsthand, how you charge these things, and how your Goddess is going to be revived.” The miko grins a little further and agrees to his terms. “So be it. You will see it. I wish you godspeed in fining the crystals. You must be careful in the forest. Students from your academy don't go in there. It is quite dangerous.”

Within moments, the three of them had left to go outside, on their new mission. At the bottom of the 'porch' of the shrine, Tarou stopped. “I'm sure it goes without saying, but this doesn't feel right. I do not trust them.” Sei agreed, finally getting his ego back. “Right. Though, for being so cold, that eye-patch was kind of sexy.” Finally, Hitoshi came into the conversation. “Look, I don't enjoy the idea of getting involved with this bunch, either. However, if we don't do something, we never going to figure out any of this.”

Agreeing with this, Sei got serious for a moment. “That's right. In the Worst-case scenario, they try to back-stab us. All we need to do is be ready for it. Besides, we'll be the ones holding the crystals and, therefore, their trump cards.” Tarou shook his head. “Nonetheless, they still did not explain why the phenomena of disappearances was happening, in the first place. We must remain on guard.” The three each took deep breaths as they walked away from the shrine and towards the entrance to the forest....

The three young students started to wander into the Seiryuu Forest. There were trees high above their heads, just like in the areas around this place, and in the Training Course. At the very least, the type of environment was familiar to them. They made their way forward, seeing a body of water in front of them. As they got there, they realized it was like a small river. The water was much darker a color than the creeks in the Training Course and the edge of the beach. It must have been fairly deep, feeding all of the creatures that lived here.

The path also split here. Taking a look around, they headed down the South branch, to see what they could find. They took their time, slowly walking through this place, remembering what Hiromi had told them. The creatures here were supposed to be quite tough. They only found one turn in this branch, which lead to a dead-end and a large Chest. On their way to the chest, however, the trees rustled and out came three huge monsters. Hovering above them, as if protecting the chest were three monsters that could only be described as some sort of dragon.

As they went into battle, the monsters just hovered in front of them. They looked like they had some form of bipedal, human-like figure, but their heads had scaly, pointed snouts and had bat-like wings along their back. They took their usual strategies and, surprisingly, the first one went down about as quickly as the monsters in the Wilderness they'd traveled through to expand Moriko's Training Course. As soon as the first went down, the other two flew straight, slashing at Hitoshi and Sei. Their armor protected them from the blow, initially, but felt some sort of electric shock running through them. Trying to fight, they moved relatively slugglish as they kept on fighting. Struggling a little, they took a few hits before finally taking the other two down.

After the battle was over, Hitoshi and Sei took off their armor, where they'd gotten hit, and tried to squeeze at it, to get whatever that shock was out of their system. Meanwhile, Tarou walked over to the chest and opened it, finding a vial of Salts, similar to the Smelling Salts they already carried. This, however, was a different variety, with a purplish color. It was called a Turbojolt Salt, and was meant to be an enhanced formula than the normal Smelling Salts. The three took a few minutes, realizing that these monsters were easily doable, but some effects might be slowing them down in this mission.

Figuring that they might as well give it a test-run, they pulled out one bottle of their Charm Cologne and sprayed each other with it. Throwing their armor back on, Hitoshi and Sei rejoined Tarou in the exploration of this forest. They were hoping this 'entity' the miko spoke of wasn't terribly far in. They weren't sure how this Cologne stuff would work, or for how long. They began to walk back towards the original fork, next to the entrance, hoping to run into as few monsters on the way as possible. They saw a surprisingly small amount of monsters on the way there, actually.

As soon as they got back to the fork, they took the North path, finding yet another fork. There was a short North path, leading to a small box. Hitoshi, seeing no harm in running up that path that was, maybe 20 or 30 feet long in it's entirety, ran up and procured a Memory Ticket from the box. On his way back, they learned how the Charm Colognes worked. As soon as he turned around, three of those same Dragon-like monsters jumped out of the trees when they heard the box being opened. Hitoshi started backing away, but one of them blocked his path. The three of them were getting extremely nervous, but they screamed as soon as they came near him to attack him. They slowly backed away and flew back into the trees, as if being repelled by some sort of force. Hitoshi blinked as he saw how quickly they'd run off. “So, that's what it does.”

Rejoining the others, they were all amazed at how the Charm Cologne worked. Had they not been wearing it, Hitoshi may have been in a bit of trouble. Heading to the West, they found yet another branch, a small one like before to the South that had a Chest at the end, and a longer one, heading to the North. Sei headed downward and procured a Quality Potion from the chest. As he came back, they headed up the North path. After heading upward, they began to feel frustration as there was, yet another branch, one fairly lengthy North path and one to the East. They all looked at each other and shook their heads.

They all headed up the North path, thinking it much too long to send one person, in case the Cologne wore off. Going up around a small corner, they found a dead end and a Chest. Upon opening it, they found a pair of thick, leather gloves that Sei fit over his gloves. Clenching his fist tight, the three of them headed back to the main path, hoping there weren't even more branches in the path, but weren't really expecting any less, given how the forest had been welcoming them thus far. The path to the East led to a small stone bridge that was set up across the river they'd seen earlier. They were now heading to another section of the forest, and what was there to greet them? Another Fork in the road!

Hitoshi headed up the short, North path and procured an Onion from a Chest. Quickly rushing back to the others, they headed east, across another bridge and went North-East through a set of zig-zagged trees. As the top of this new path, they realized that their Colognes had finally worn off. Two monsters jumped out in front of them and ran in for an assault. Gripping their weapons, they prepared themselves for the new encounter. These two were also very lizard-like. They had pale-green skin, ran on all fours, and had another pointed snouts. They went into battle, using the same strategies as before. These things went down as quickly as the 'dragons' from before and, thankfully, when one had managed to run itself into Hitoshi, no electrical shock after-effect took place.

They made their way across the top of this part of the forest, running into two more packs of these four-legged lizard enemies, getting worn down quite a bit in the process. As soon as they reached a corner in the path, they found two stone pillars with a rock-like tablet at the front of it. Tarou and Sei each leaned against the pillars, each drinking a Mana Water, and Tarou casting a quick Cure II spell to heal them all up. Hitoshi, however, leaned against the tablet as he drank his. His feet stumbled and he fell, the small Silver Orb he'd obtained during the Backpack Returning from earlier fell out of his pocket. Clenching it, he began to pull himself up. As he came up, he leaned his hand, and the Orb, into the Tablet. Unknowingly, the Orb slipped right into a circular indentation and the tablet shook, quickly moving into the ground. Hitoshi fell again, tumbling into a hidden room.

As Hitoshi picked himself up, again, Sei and Tarou joined him in this new area. The room was void of monsters, housing a small pond in the middle, and also held four large, silver-plated chests around the edges of the trees. The three of them looked around, unsure of what they'd just stumbled upon. They walked up to the chest on the far left, procuring a large sword from it that read “Ogre's Edge” on the handle. Exchanging his sword for it, he swung it through the air, swiftly, smiling that he'd found something new to use. In the next chest was a long, silverish Staff with a pointed, circular formation at the top, which replaced Tarou's Brass Staff.

They then moved onto the other two chests. In the first was a Quality Potion, which Hitoshi added to their inventory, and in the other was a Swallow Sword, which was two large knives pointing in opposite directions, a hand combining them. Sei grabbed onto it and let it replace his Main Gauche. Once they'd gotten their new equipment, they headed back into the main area of the forest, aiming to go onward. Realizing that the battles were weighing on them, they decided to play it safe and use another Charm Cologne. They didn't know how much further this forest went, so the less beatings they took, the better.

After running south for a few moments, the path turned to the West when the path met the river. Across the river, they saw another path, which had their friendly, neighborhood Crystal hovering around it. They all grinned, realizing that they'd be able to heal up with that soon enough. Continuing left, they found another small North path. With the Cologne still in effect, Hitoshi ran up this path, procured a Quality Potion from a chest, and then returned. They could understand why the shop never had these Colognes in stock. They worked wonders for exploring areas and doing as little fighting as possible. They continued down the West path, only to find another fork.

There were two paths, one to the East, which looked like a main path, and one to the West, which headed North to a box, and South a little ways. Together, they went through the West path, quickly picking up a Memory Ticket from the box and headed downwards to find two Chests. Splitting up, they procured two new pieces of equipment from the Chests. One was a pointed, green hat, which Tarou slipped on his head and the other was a Mythril-plated Shield, which Hitoshi took and carried with him. They returned to the main path and continued onward.

Er a few twists and turns, and a few battls with more of the four-legged lizard enemies, they came to another stone bridge with a chest on one side and the Crystal from earlier on the other. They procured a Mana Water from the chest and then stopped at the Crystal, to think about what they'd been doing thus far in this place. As it's light rained down on them, taking away all of their bruises and aches, they realized that this place was already digging into their supplies. Had they not been using those two Charm Colognes, they might have been in a bit of trouble. Looking at one another, they decided to use this Crystal to their advantage. Heading around the bridge, they weilded their weapons and spent about an hour, fighting off monsters.

The decision to start training was just what that trio was needing. Once they had waited for the Cologne to wear off and started fighting off all the monsters that came at them in this place, it became painfully apparent that they could stumble their way through this place, but they weren't readyfor the mass amounts of monsters that were lying in wait in the latter part of this forest. They were still encountering the monsters they'd seen before, but they were now in greater numbers and there were a few new monsters making their appearaces.

They fought through lizards, but also found a new monster, which looked like some sort of gigantic, bipedal rabbit as well as something that could only be explained as a “flame”. Upon their first encounter with this flame-based creature, they saw a small bit of fire running around the three of them. It flew circles around them, making them look every which way, all while fighting off some of the other creatures, at the same time. Hitoshi had focused on this monster when it had begun to glow. His sword was ready for the strike, but it didn't come near. Instead, it just glowed and three small explosions came up from the ground, underneat the trio. They fell to the ground from the impact, hurt. Hitoshi got back up, his started to focus his energy. Clenching his fists, he could feel a wave of energy pulsing through his veins.

A memory came to mind, from the classes he'd taken. Within a warrior's body was the energy and ability to heighten one's own strength, much like a Brave Juice would do. Closing his eyes, he called out “Willpower!” as a catalyst appeared around him, much like the catalysts that appear when Tarou casts spells. His entire body began to glow and a new-found strength was flowing through his body. Jumping at the flame, he quickly diminished it with a quick Double-Cut.

At the same time, Tarou was having trouble with the other monsters. Sei had gotten knocked into one of the trees in the area and couldn't get himself down quick enough to fight. The weapon he'd been carrying had been knocked out of his hands. Gathering all of his energy, Tarou though back as well, thinking of a spell that would allow him to knock both of them out at once. Ff high into the air, he focused his mind on the ground. “Quake!” he yelled, causing the ground to shake from under them. Alls flew up from the ground, launched the other enemies away as the three of them recovered and headed back to the Crystal. They were still learning as they trained, and they would need that full our of training to be able to get through all of this, and what lied ahead.

After a few more fights, they started to get quite a bit easier. After a final rest at the Crystal, they figured they were ready to tackle whatever was at the end of the forest, which they thought they could see from where they were, through some trees in front of them. They didn't have much longer to go before they'd be getting to the end and finding all of these strange Crystal-like objects. Or, at least, that's what they were hoping was going to happen when they went a little bit further. Getting out a third Charm Cologne, they used it and went onwards.

The main path went around a few more twists and turns before it finally reached a dead end. They reached a small patch of grass with a hole in the middle of it. A vine was attached to it, leading down, underground. Taking a look down, it didn't look like it was that far, and there wasn't much to the area below. One after another, the three of them descended this vine, as if it were a ladder and found themselves in a small, dirt-filled room, a large Green and Gold-trimmed Chest at the back wall. That had to be the crystals they were looking for. They began to head forward, but heard a large mechanical noise as something huge came out of the shadows, right in their way.

They clenched their weapons as the giant object appeared. The mikos had spoken about an 'entity' guarding these crystals, but this looked like no sort of 'entity' at all. It looked more like some sort of military vehicle. On the front of it was a large cannon, and it was steel-plated, all the way down to what looked like treads. If anything, they were now fighting against a tank. The mikos had actually sent them in to fight against a tank! Not entirely sure how they'd be handling this, they prepared themselves for anything, each quickly downing a Brave Juice as the battle began.

Once the tank started to move, they took in all the energy they'd collected from the training they'd just done and unleashed an onslaught of their strongest abilities. Hitoshi went first, jumping and slashing at the treads with an Oni Rush. As soon as the tank had stopped, Sei jumped at the other treads, with a Silhouette Strike. Jumping out the way, they watched as Tarou launched his Catastrophe spell, making a large explosion all around it. Regrouping, they waited for the smoke to clear, only to see that the tank was covered in burn marks, but still coming.

The cannon on the tank then moved and launched a shell at the three of them. They all partially jumped and fell at an explosion that followed. Hitoshi and Sei were on the ground, trying to recover from what happened, while Tarou was looking at the treads, getting an idea. They had to get this thing on it's side or they never be able to do anything to it. Holding his staff forward, he called forth a Quake spell, bringing rocky pillars up beneat the treads of the tank. The tank immediately started to sink into the ground and another pillar came up, shoving against one tread, ripping it in two and shoving the tank against one of the dirt walls.

The entire place was shaking from the spell, but the Tank couldn't get itself back up. Finding this as the perfect opportunity, the three of them went at it's bottom side and launched attack after attack after attack until the tank stopped moving. They had used up nearly all of their energy, but the machine finally stopped, completely, and shut itself down. Worn out from the battle, the three of them grabbed an enormous cache of crystals from the chest and helped each other back to the Healing Crystal, where they could take a rest before heading back to the Shrine...

After the ridiculous battle with a huge tank in the Seiryuu Forest, the trio had taken a few more moments to get some more training in at the Crystal. They weren't sure if they really needed it, but while these battles were relatively easy, they figured a few extra fights while they were there to use the Crystal couldn't hurt. If anything, it would just make them that much stronger and ready for what would be awaiting them at the Shrine, in case the mikos were planning on back-stabbing them.

After their training, they began to head back towards the shrine, all three of their minds constantly in motion, thinking about this entire scenario. Something was definitely strange about everything that was happening. The mikos didn't even bother to tell them how these disappearances were happening, or how they were connected to the Red Queen, other than the fact that she doesn't yet exist in their universe. All they'd gotten so far were vague answers and had gotten sent out on some hunt for more of these mysterious crystals that seemed to be completely void of power. What were they really doing with them?

After getting through a hefty number of twists and turns, the trio passed the tablet that head the secret room, headed through the zig-zag tree path, and made it back to one of the first stone bridges they'd encountered in the forest. Right in the middle of the bridge, Tarou stopped, put his hands over on the ledge and looked down to the river. Water was flowing, and the wind was blowing his hair to the side, as well as the steeple of his hat. The other two stopped and joined him, trying to enjoy the breeze, but their minds were being too weighed down.

“Hitoshi, I must speak my mind on this” said Tarou, his concerns getting higher and higher. “I don't think we should give these crystals to the maidens at the shrine.” Hitoshi looked at his magic-using friend and gave him a friendly nod. He, too, shared this thought, but wanted to know more of what Tarou was thinking. “I know you do. I sort of feel the same way about all this. I'll ask anyways, though...why? It isn't as though we have any way to stop all the disappearances.”

Tarou had been collecting and forging together thoughts, both from Umi and from what they'd learned at the Shrine, making his own theories about what might have been going on as he spoke. “The only purpose these crystals can possibly have is to take some sort of power or force out of our world for the intent of sending it into another one; in this case, to the world of their goddess.” The idea sounded plausible. It would make sense. The mikos did tell them they were charging the crystals, and it went along with what they'd heard from Umi about power being taken from their world and sent to another.

Sei clenched onto the stone wall, a few of his knuckles cracking as he looked over towards Tarou, sharing his own thoughts on this, thinking about how the mikos told them the disappearances would come to a halt. “Wait just a minute. Once they have enough charged crystals to revive this bitch, they said there won't be anymore disappearances. At that point, they will have no more need for these crystals.”

Tarou agreed with what Sei was saying, furthering his own theories and his own confusion as he thought aloud, trying to sort all of this out. “Precisely. That could mean that the method of charging these crystals is directly related to the people who have disappeared. I can't say how, exactly, but--...” Hitoshi, understanding what Tarou was saying, tried to say it again, but in a simpler form. “They're taking some sort of power from the people who “disappear” and using it to bring their goddess into this world...”

Hitoshi paused for a moment, thinking about what he just said. Could the maidens actually be hurting the people, in order to bring the Red Queen into this world? If so, how are they hurting them, and are they still alright? They didn't know very much, but Hitoshi's blood was starting to pump, and he wanted answers. “That must be it! When we get back to the shrine, it's time we got some answers, and they'd better have a good explanation for all of this!”

With their newfound drive, they went onward, at a relatively quick pace, getting through the rest of the force, intent on finding on exactly what those mikos were up to, and why the people were disappearing, if disappearing was even the right word for what was going on. For all they knew, they were hurting, kidnapping, or killing the other people for this method of reviving the Red Queen. However, there was only one way to find out for sure. They came around the last corner of the forest and left, taking in a few provisions to build their energy, and headed straight for the shrine entrance.

As they re-entered the Shrine, they could see that the head count of that place had changed. All six of the mikos were turned, looking at that tablet at the back of the room, motionless. Directly in front of the tablet was that purple-robed woman from the top of the mountain, Lady Hosoki. As they approached them, coming to the large mat in the middle of the room, all seven of them turned around, almost in perfect synch with one another.

The trio stood there as Hosoki's purple eyes scanned them and got a smile on her face. “Excellent! You three have enough crystals to hold more than enough power for us to bring forth the Red Queen into this world! Now, if you will just hand them over...” This woman was expecting them to just hand these crystals over, just like that, and the three of them had no intentions of doing that. Not just yet, anyways.

They wanted some answers, and Hitoshi was boiling, ready to get too emotional for his own good, and throw out accusations. He raised his voice as he spoke back to her. “Wait just a minute, Hosoki, or whoever you are. I would like to know just what power you're charging these things with, and who you are acquiring it from!” The grin swiftly left the woman's face and she came back, with a tiny bit of attitude. “My, my...aren't we being a little pushy? Didn't I tell you before? It will all be clear, in time.”

Tarou wasn't helping their emotional problem, at all, by showing more hostility towards these mikos, and the woman who'd claimed she was Lady Hosoki. “You have told us many things, but there is one thing I now know was a lie. You, miss, are not Lady Hosoki.” The woman in front of them responded, confirming their suspicions, with a wide grin on her face, of all things. “It sure took you long enough to figure that out. My name is Masako, and this shrine belongs to me. That old granny on top of the mountain put up quite a fight for someone so old.”

Sei immediately jumped into the conversation, starting to fume at hearing at what this Masako person had done. “What?! You killed her? Why?! What the hell are you trying to accomplish here?” Now, even Masako was losing her patience and starting to get testy. “I've told you enough times already! I'm going to bring the Red Queen into this world, and you three are going to help me! You can start by handing over all those crystals!” The woman was not only testy, but now she was demanding. This situation wasn't heading in a good direction.

Hitoshi didn't make the situation even better, making even more accusations of Masako, trying to act like he knew everything that was going on. “You aren't getting anything from us until you bring back all the people you've kidnapped! They didn't disappear, did they? You drained their life force and sent it to another world!” Masako immediately cooled and calmed herself down for a moment, thinking about what he'd said. “Life force? You're so naïve. You want the truth about this? Fine. I'll tell you.”

She, calmly, started speaking to them about what was really being taken, and why they need to charge these crystals. “The Red Queen's world is sub-atomic. It is much too small to be physically present here. What I'm using isn't life force, as you imagine, but Macroforce. Macroforce is the essence of size!” The woman's grin grew wider as they heard all of this. Tarou, especially, was in disbelief about this. Was it possibly to harness the essence of size? “Such a thing...that ca't be possible!” he said, shocked.

“Oh, it is!” replied Masako, that grin getting wider and wider, making the situation even creepier. For years, I have been collecting your classmates and draining them of their very size. I am able to capture their size energy, or Macroforce, within these crystals!” The three of them were fuming, but Sei was furious with her right now. “What gives you the right to do such a thing...and just what happened to all of them after you did this?”

Masako's grin calmed for a moment, but her explanation didn't get any prettier, or better. “Well, I could just take ALL of their size and shrink them into non-existence. However, I'm a nice person and wouldn't want to do that. I normally leave them with just a drop of size left. After it's done and over with, they're not bigger than ants!” The grim truth was being thrown out to the three of them and it was somewhat hard to even believe. Could those students still be on campus, somewhere, trying to survive down in the grass?

Hitoshi stepped forward again. “You mean...they never left? They've been back at the academy, shrunk and trying to survive? We're not going to let you get away with this any longer!” Hitoshi was tensing up, ready to reach for his weapon, at any time, to do what they all feared doing from the start, starting a fight with the people from the Shrine. Masako had a smug look on her face as she took in his threat. “Oh, we'll see about that. However, you have some crystals that I now require. By tomorrow, half of your academy will have their size in my hands!”

They weren't willing to hand over the crystals. Tarou thought of an idea that would instantly kill any chance this woman had of using the crystals to harm more students. “You're not getting these crystals! I intent to see it that they are all shattered and destroyed!” Tarou had already grabbed his staff, ready to fire off a few spells, at all time, to demolish all of the crystals they held. He had a serious expression on his face. However, so did Masako. “Oh, you're going to give them to me! Let me show you just how feeble your resistance is. Growth power, ACTIVATE!”

Of all the weird things to say, right? Wrong? Masako's claims about “Macroforce” were starting to take effect, and the three of them were in for a very rude awakening. The mikos all cleared the area as a bright and shining light enveloped Masako as she cast a spell on herself. Everything began to change now. The three of them slowly stepped back as they could see Masako changing, and in a very bad way. Bad for them, at least.
Her entire form was glowing and looked like it was changing, and becoming...larger! They could see her booted feet stretching out, covering more of the floor than it had been before, and the ceiling getting closer and closer to the top of her hat. Her grin was growing wider and wider as she grinned down at them, her entire body, clothes and all, towering above them, in the room. She laughed as her growth continued, amazing the three of them. The floor creaked under her movements, as if she were too much for it to take. Her foot moved slightly and they could almost feel a slight movement in the ground.

Her hair was starting to look thicker and thicker to them, as did every ounce of material in her clothing. They could see large seams in her robe as she grew larger and larger. They all clenched their weapons, slightly shaking at the very idea of this. When she'd finally stopped her growth, she tapped her foot, causing a loud thumping in the floor. As they peered up, they realized they were about to be in a fight with someone very, very big. They weren't even as tall as her knee anymore. Clenching their weapons, not willing to give up, they went into battle with this huge woman, known as Masako.

Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei now had a big problem. A 30-foot problem, in fact. As Masako finished her spell, her growth had been shocking to them. The other mikos had retreated to the back wall of the shrine and the three of them were face-to-face with an adversary that not-only was a magic user, but now towered over them. They looked at one another, getting very nervous, wondering how in the world they were going to be able to fight off someone that big. They weren't even as high as her knee at this point and who knows how they'd ever get up to the rest of her to get an attack in.

Still, they had to hold their ground, and they had to fight. There was no turning back from this. Not now, anyways. They try to run, and they were certain she could easily outrun them. They could have had a chance if they could get out the door, but they were halfway into the room. They would get grabbed or zapped by some sort of spell by the time they would get halfway to that door. They didn't come here to run away, anyways. Clenching their weapons, they stared up at the towering purple-robed woman, and stood, ready for battle.

They were running towards Masako, hoping they could get a quick hit on her to start the battle off. Maybe to have one of them attack her legs to get her to fall over. Being that big, she had to be quite heavy and would be harder to get up than they would. Before they could even reach her, though, they were blinded by the light of an enormous spell catalyst appearing in front of her. Tarou was the only one whom wasn't completely blinded by it, still working on a Quake spell to get under her feet. Unfortunately, he didn't have a chance to do so, as he was the target of the spell she was not casting.

“Dischord!” cried out Masako, her voice echoing through the shrine, causing all three of them to grab onto their ears, feeling like she were using some sort of microphone. Hitoshi and Sei were on the ground and fell down as she stomped her foot into the floor, shaking it. The mikos held onto the walls in the back as they saw Masako at work. From above, Tarou saw what looked like shining yellow vines shooting down towards him. He tried to raise his staff and defend himself from this assault, but he couldn't. The vines were extremely big and they easily enveloped his entire body. He fell to the ground, unconscious and shaking, the vine holding him in place.

The others adjusted their eyes to the view as Masako was taking a breath, looking at the results of her spell. Hitoshi first saw Tarou, completely wrapped up in the vines, and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. If this woman was able to completely render one of them helpless so easy, what were the true extend of the powers she held? What else could she do? Too enraged about the falling of Tarou, he quickly cast Willpower on himself and motions to Sei what he wants to do. He was going to get a boost from Sei and unlease a full-on Oni Rush, right into that pretty face of hers.

Things were going fine. Masako, still recovering from the last spell she cast, was watching as Sei got into position. Hitoshi started running, sword in hand, but at the last second, right when he was getting ready to jump, the blinding light happened again. Trying to remember and ignore the light, he jumped where he thought Sei's hands were. Sei, keeping his eyes shut and focusing, felt Hitoshi's boot land on his palms. Putting all his strength into his arms, he launched Hitoshi into the air, hoping his plan was going to work before whatever this next spell was took place and hit one, or both of them.

Hitoshi felt his own body going up into the air and was ready to unleash his assault at any time, but he was caught off balance as he heard that echoing voice, all the louder as he was closer to her face at this point. “INDIGNATION!” From high above all three of them, he heard thunder, as if there were some sort of storm in the shrine. He got a sour feeling in his stomach as he heard the surging of a thunderbolt, though it sounded much, much busier than Tarou's Thunder spell. It sounded more like dozens of them. Within moments, he felt his body get struck by a massive electrical shock and he fell to the ground. As he was falling, he screamed out in pain, followed by hearing Sei's body scream as well. He could only focus on hearing, still blinded from the catalyst.

Masako hadn't taken a second step since the battle began, other than simply stomping her foot into the ground to catch them off-guard. She had a ridiculous advantage in this, and she knew it. She stood and watched them fall to the ground and try to recover from the two spells she'd cast thus far. Hitoshi and Sei were down again, but upon casting her Indignation spell, she'd cancelled out the Dischord spell she had cast a moment ago, freeing Tarou from the shackling vines of light. As the lightning bolts had come down to hit him, they kickstarted his system, rolling him across the floor and waking him up.

His head flew up, the green hat falling off his head. He took a look at the situation, and saw that things were very bad. His silver hair his the back of his head, sweat dripping down his forehead, seeing his two friends down and struggling to get back up. He tried to push himself up to cast a spell, but he felt the pain pushing him down. His hands clenched tightly onto his staff as he pushed himself into the air, only to see more flashses of light as Masako was casting spells again to push them all down, even further. “POWER WELL!” she cried, as a dose of lightning appeared around Tarou. He felt all of the energy draining from his body. He was still able to stand, but he'd lost the energy to cast any spells. He was now helpless, like the other two were becoming.

Trying to get back into the fight, he grabbed a Mana Syrup and started to drink it as another flash of light appeared. Being in the same spot, Hitoshi and Sei were both flung back by an immense shockwave as Masako just and stomped into the ground, right where they were. They slid across the floor, right into Tarou. They looked at the enormous Masako and stood together, trying to contemplate the next course of actions. Things were just as bad as she said they were. They had absolutely no chance of taking this woman down. Not without some help, anyways. They stood there, defeated, hoping to find a way out of this, and soon...

(Just as a Note to everyone. I actually didn't lose the battle with Masako in my play of the game, with a Lv13 party. However, since losing the fight is the most 'canon' of the two, that's what I'm going to be utilizing in the story.)

The situation was quite grim for the trio of heroes. RPG Land was giving them the bitter taste of the often-used unwinnable battle. They were running out of strength as Masako was finishing up her battle with them, showing them just how powerful she was. They were clearly outmatched, and they were about to lose. However, what fate would befall them? Would she simply knock them out or kill them with a spell, or did the purple-clad sorceress have something else in mind? They were exhausted and were about to find out the very answer to that question.

“It's....n-no use...we can't...she's too strong!” Hitoshi grunted and coughed as he felt every last blow Masako had hit him with collecting in his body. He was strained for energy and could feel pain all over his body, where new bruises had formed. “My power...I'm out of strength...I...” Tarou was in agreement with Hitoshi. He, too, was completely sapped, not having enough strength left to put up a fight against anything, let alone Masako. Sei, the most astounded of the three of them, still looked at Masako's size. “She...she must be 30 feet tall! At least! H-...how is this possible?!”

Masako knew that they were surprised and shocked at the fact that she was so tall, but she wanted to see even more surprise out of them. She had big plans for then. Or, rather, tiny plans would be the more proper term. She wore a smirk on her face, as if those spells hadn't taken anything out of her, as she spoke to the three battle-ridden students. “Believe you, you three, everything is about to look a LOT bigger.” With that statement, she returned herself to her normal height and came forward, grabbing the stash of crystals they had collected in the Seiryuu Forest.

She was slowly walking away from the trio, with the crystals, and Sei had seen the entire thing. Still strained, he forced his body up, realizing that they needed to leave, and they needed to do it right that moment. Clenching his fist, he looked to his comrades, wincing. “You guys...I think that is our cue to make a very swift exit! Let's move!” The purple-haired warrior swallowed his pride and made a dash for the exit. Before Hitoshi and Tarou could even get up to join him, blinding light enveloped him and he disappeared.

“Sei!” Tarou immediately pulled himself up and he saw Sei disappear into thin air. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. A light, a catalyst even, appeared and Sei was just gone, in a matter of seconds. They had seen Masako smiling towards them. What had she done to him?! He was gone...or was he? “What have you--” Tarou was on his way to where Sei was when another light enveloped him, and poof, he was gone. Hitoshi clenched his fists as he got up and slowly backed himself up. “You're...you won't get away with this!” he yelled towards Masako.

Hitoshi was able to still hold himself up as he looked towards Masako. He was going to get out of here, if his life depended on it. Unfortunately, Masako had other plans. She had actually decided to respond to him. Her face turned and her smiling lips opened up as she spoke to him. “Oh, really now? Let's find out if you still feel that way in a few moments, shall we?” Just like with Tarou and Sei, a blinding flash of light appeared all around Hitoshi, enveloping his entire body. It flashed around him, once, and then, he was gone, just like his comrades.

The three of them had not died, however. Hitoshi's eyes adjusted quickly, realizing that they were, indeed, not dead. They were still there, all three of them. Nearly in the same formation they were in moments ago, Masako had not killed them at all. At least...they didn't think so. Unless the Afterlife looked like an endless, hard desert, they were very much alive, though they weren't exactly sure where they were. Well, some of them didn't. Hitoshi tried to catch his breath as he turned to his comrades, realizing that they were quite alright. “W-what just happened....Tarou! Sei! I thought I'd lost you!”

The two of them didn't look very happy to see him. That was confusing. He thinks they're dead, and finds out they're not, and they don't even appreciate his worrying! How dare they not care in a giant desert-like...environment. The two of them had very good reason not to be worried about his worries, though. Sei's eyes were bulging as he looked behind Hitoshi and Tarou spoke to him, directing him to something that was behind him. “Hitoshi...look! Behind you!” His voice had an immense amount of concern in it. As Hitoshi turned around, he would soon realize why.

Beyond them was a huge amount of sky, most of which was completely blurred out, from the lack of being able to see everything that was so far away. Were they really in a desert or...? The situation began to change as one of those immense objects in the distance began to move towards them. Tarou was the only one who could look completely straight, realizing just what it was. His practice in the Arcane arts helped him focus his vision, even on distant objects. He was the only one who saw the horror that was moving towards them.

As the object moved, they felt the ground shake from beneath them. A sharp, nervous pain ran up their legs as they felt what seemed like a small tremor from the ground. The object came closer, and another tremor occurred, a little more devestating than the last. Then another, and another. Eventually, the entire ground was shaking, violently, from underneath them, and it was hard to keep themselves balanced. They could see big rocks near them rattling against the ground. They grouped together, hanging onto one another as they tremors got worse and worse, sending shakes through their entire bodies.

As the object got closer, their eyes were able to adjust to their surroundings much better. The more they adjusted, however, the more grim the situation was looking. Soon, the object stopped, casting a shadow over the three of them. As it stopped the entire form began to make itself apparent, to all three of them. Everything made sense now. As they peered up, they saw what looked like a tall building, hundreds of feet in height. Unfortunately for them, it was no building. They saw the purple shades all over it. All three of them gulped as Sei said what they were all thinking. “You've gotta be kidding...”

High above them was that building, which they now realized was a towering, gigantic leg. It was just just any leg, though. Higher up, they could see more building-sized shapes. Large boots, purple robes, all the way up to that egotistical, black-haired face. Looming over the party was Masako, leering down at them, a grin on her face. She'd taken their size away from them. They now realized they were the size of ants, and they were down in front of her boots. The big rocks they'd seen a moment ago must have been clods of dirt. How they would get out of the shrine now, they didn't dare guess...

At first, they just could not believe that what was really happening was really happening. All of Masako's claims about Macroforce and being able to shrink students was true. They had been shocked when she'd grown herself all the way up to bulding-sized, but this....this was much, much more. Being small to a building-sized person was out-of-this-world, but now they were in a situation that was much, much worse. Now, Masako's boot was the size of a building to them, a very tall building. Dirt clods were the size of rocks to them, and she was looking right at them. They seemed to have absolutely nowhere to go.

Her boot shifted a little, creating a small cloud of dust the came into the air, hovering over the three of them. They tried to cover their eyes as the them-sized clouds came forth and infiltrating their systems. They had to shut their eyes and cover their faces as the abnormally large dust went into their lungs, causing them a lot of pain. They were coughing when they were immediately reminded of their current situation, and current size. A voice louder than anything they had ever heard boomed down to them. Booming was really the only way to describe it. It was so loud that it felt like someone was booming and banging on their eardrums. Their bodies shook as they heard Masako's voice calling down to them, trying to make sense of what she was saying.

“Well, well, well! Look at what we have down here!” Her voice was echoing through the room, her position to them clear, as well as the fact that she knew exactly where they were. She wore a huge grin on her face, which was almost too much of a blur for them to see as they peered up at her. “I hope you'll pardon that our rug is a little dirty, but you seem to have much BIGGER problems at the moment, don't you?” That told them everything. The desert they were standing on was nothing more than a gigantic rug, and she was standing right before them.

Looking beyond hope in the situation, Hitoshi called up to Masako, looking past his fear, and hoping that she could hear him. He wasn't sure just how she would be capable of hearing someone of his size, but he had to try. There was no telling what she would do if they just stayed silent. “Makaso! You turn us back right now! You can't just go around, stealing people's sizes and expect to get away with it!” He had a certain amount of courage in his words, showing how much bravado he really had in his body. He was able to stand up to Masako, even when he was the size of an ant.

Looking past all odds, the gigantic purple-robed woman changed her expression, signaling that she had, indeed, heard what he had said. The idea that she could actually hear the words of an ant-sized person was baffling, but here it was, happening. After what just happened, they really shouldn't have been surprised at anything. “Oh, please. I intend to use the size I've taken from you to help grow my goddess out of her sub-atomic universe. You three are nothing but insects now. What do I have to worry about?”

What, indeed, but the thinker of the group, Tarou, was trying to make their situation at least a little better, trying to tell Masako what was going to happen if she just left them around, like this. “When we don't return to the academy, others will come to look for us. You cannot hope to stop each and every one of them. End this madness, now!” They were all hoping she would listen to them, though deep down, they knew what was really happening, and knew that she wasn't going to start listening to them at all. A moment later, they were proven correct, as she got that smug look on her face again.

“They will, will they? Thanks to you three, I now have enough crystals to shrink half of your precious academy! They will have too many problems to worry about you. In the meantime, though...” Her expression was changing and her body was shifting. It looked like an immense being, a Colossus, moving around, preparing it's next strike while attacking a city and talking to one of it's inhabitants. She started looking frustrated at them and started to threaten them. “Right now you have a very urgen appointment...with the bottom of my foot! I'm not going to chance you three running off and being pests for me. So, you'd best prepare to get up-close and personal with my boot!”

She was getting ready to move, and they didn't know what to do. They were the size of ants. If she was about to step on them, they had to do this the smart way. They all looked at each other, trying to brainstorm, mentally, before she started to stomp around on the rug. They had plenty of options. They could stand their ground and not move, thinking she was bluffing. They could try to dash between her feet. They could dash and make a straight B-line for the door. Or, they could randomly lunge around, hoping to narrowly miss the movements of her boots.

Hitoshi turned and chose his last option. The only way to confuse her enough to get away was to start lunging around, randomly, so she couldn't predict where they were headed. Grabbing onto his friends hands, he darted off, in a diagonal line. It wasn't long before she started moving and stomping after them. They could see the shadow shifting, and could hear air whistling, being pushed against the sides of her boot as it came down. Their adrenaline was pumping as they heard it coming closer and closer. They could see the edge of the side just in front of them and they all jumped.

A loud crashing was heard from behind them as Masako's boot came down. The world shook from beneath them and the shockwave caused by her boot had created a large torrent of wind and dust, shoving them closer to the doors to the shrine. They hit with a thud, but Hitoshi immediately got them all up and began to run again. They run and jumped from many footfalls before Masako started calling down to them. “You worthless little-...Hey! HOLD STILL!” They did anything but holding still. They were evading her thus far, luckily, and they were planning to continue to do so. They had to. They had to get out of this place.

“We need to get out of here NOW! This bitch is not messing around!” Sei's words went straight into their minds and they started darting off again, trying to avoid as many footfalls as they could, knowing that if they got hit by a single one, their life would be over. They could hear Masako's voice behind them, booming down into them and trying to slow them down. “You little worms! You get back here. You're not flat enough yet!”

After several more footfalls, they managed to get knocked back, once again, straight out the door. As they landed on the wooden entranceway, next to a gigantic mansion-like box, they got up and booked, straight for the slanted edge to get down to the ground. It was a scary ride, but they finally came down and disappeared into the grass. As they got down there, they realized that the grass was cut exceptionally short, the top of it right around where their heads were. Their shoes hit the dirt from below them, which looked like giant clods of brown and black gravel. They all took a chance to take a breath, moving to the east side of the shrine's entrance, in case Masako or the Mikos decided to come after them.

Up there, they found a shining light near a corner of the grass. Pushing the gigantic blades aside, and cutting some with their swords, as if they were in the jungle, they came to the light and felt a familiar warmth flowing into them. Their strength returned, just like when they came to one of the Crystals from before. They looked at each other and tried to assess their situation. “That...was a little bit rough. Is everyone okay?” asked Hitoshi, trying to start their conversation and not act like all hope was lost to them.

Sei and Tarou had sat themselves down, each against giant clods of dirt and grass, using them, like seats. At their size, that's what they were...seats. They could support their weight, and after getting a moment of rest, they began to talk to their warrior leader. “Just a few brushes. They're bad bruises...but just bruises. What we gotta worry about now is getting the hell out of here before all of them come out and find us.” Tarou put a little optimism with their situation and tried to think that they wouldn't be coming after them. “Unless, of course, she has deemed going after the rest of our academy as a higher priority than doing away with us.”

Hitoshi nodded and agreed with Tarou on this one. “You're right. There is no way we could have possibly outrun her. She let us go to focus on the others. I'm not sure whether I should be to be alive or pissed and frustrated that she's going after our friends and there's nothing we can do about it...” He realized that the situation was grim, and they were the size of ants. Sei, however, didn't want to give in. He wanted to fight and find a way out of this. Stammering up from his 'chair', he spoke his mind. “I'm not going to just give in and sit here, waiting to die. Dammit, there has to be something that we can do!”

Tarou saw the logic of the situation, as well as the likelihood of doing anything to do any good. “...and what did you have in mind, Sei? At this size, getting back to the academy will be next to impossible. Even if we did, there's no way we could get anyone's attention.” His words were true, but Hitoshi was thinking differently. The odds were against them, but he wanted to take action as well. “I think I'm with Sei on this. Sure, it's a long shot, but as long as we're still alive, we must do everything we can to help the academy. Tarou, will you come with us?”

Tarou let out a sigh at Hitoshi's optimism. They would have to be ready for a lot, were they to go and try to help out the other students. He couldn't argue with him, though. “Very well...Let us recuperate what strength we can and be off. I'm not sure what your plan is, Hitoshi, but if we're going to STAY alive, it had better be a good one...” The three of them then let the light around them envelop and heal their wounds, about to discover the dangers of being the size of an ant...

After having gotten as much rest as they thought they could get, they decided it was time to start working their way back to the academy. At their new height, it would take a lot longer than it would normally take, but they had a mission to complete, and they needed to complete it. Perhaps it wasn't the same mission as before, but then again, maybe it was. Getting back to the campus and trying to protect them from Masako's plan of reviving the Red Queen by stealing the students' sizes was still involved with their investigation of the disappearances. They were just a little more active in it as of now.

Taking a look at their surroundings, they had a forest of grass all around them. The low-cut grass only came up around their heads, so they could tip-toe and see some of the nearby locations. As they moved further into the grassy plains, they could see a huge pit of dirt and what seemed to be a white, hard wall beyond it. By these walls were enormous pillar-like objects and, although a bit blurred from where they were, they went back to their memories of being here before. That wall had to have been the concrete path that led to the entrance of the shrine. If they could get up there, they would have a better view of where they could go to get back to the academy.

Moving through the grass was no easy task. They were having to move relatively slow, hacking away at the enormous grass blades with their swords and pushing others to the side, as if they were going through some immense corn field, or something similar. The ground was plenty sturdy, but the grass wasn't. Their trip, just to the dirt that led to the concrete path seemed very long and hard. They went further and further, several minutes passing by before they could see the edge of the grass in front of them. Happy that their destination was within reach, they began to move faster towards the edge. However, they were soon given a hard lesson.

As they reached the edge of the grass they heard a loud, whirring sound from above, like a jet flying past. Their heads popped into the air, trying to look around and see what it was. Surely they hadn't shrunk any sort of aircraft, right? It had to be something else. Hitoshi and Sei were looking around, frantically, as the three stepped out of the grass and their boots hit the hard, gravel-like dirt-field that was leading to that concrete path. They were walking slowly, still looking into the air for what might be going on. While Hitoshi and Sei were looking, Tarou had a more serious look on his face, an idea of what might have made that sound, just now.

The sound slowly disappeared, and they all tried to calm down and continued on their path, towards the concrete path. Once they got over there, they'd be able to see where the exit is, to go back towards campus. Then, they could focus on getting back to campus and deciding what they could do then. They began running across the dirt path, realizing that it was much easier to move across than the field of grass had been. They could move much faster across it and get to the other side quickly. They were about halfway across it when they heard the whirring sound make itself apparent again.

Their heads turned to see what the sound was, once again. Hitoshi and Sei were expecting to see nothing, just as before, but Tarou's face had looked and focused on an object that was high in the sky above them. The two others also saw it, and their eyes widened as they saw it coming closer and closer. Tarou pulled out his staff, realizing just what it was. As bit as they were, if not bigger, was a gigantic fly. The whirring sound got louder, almost like a sonic boom going through the air as it dive-bombed towards the trio. Hitoshi and Sei bolted towards the concrete path as Tarou got out his staff.

The ugly, scaley form of the fly was buzzing and whirring closer and closer. Tarou's eyes were set on it, slowly focusing what energy he had in a spell to use against it. The spells he used would probably be diminished, as he was, and he thought hard about it. His highest-level spell, at that moment, was Quake, but that couldn't be used against flying enemies. He would have to use a Thunder or Fire spell to try to catch the fly off-guard and, hopefully, take it down. How shocking it was, to him, that he was trying to brainstorm to be able to get past a simple housefly.

The fly zoomed in closer and closer, getting ground on Sei, whom was back the furthest of the two of the running students. The buzzing was almost too loud for him to even comprehend, but he didn't lost all of his wits. Knowing that the fly had to have it's wings to fly, he pulled out his sword, hoping that his aim was still as sharp as ever. He quickly turned to throw his sword, but the fly was too close, at this point. It was right on him and the legs scraped right into his chest, knocking him over. He fell on his back as the monster flew past and went back into the air.

As the monster circled around, Hitoshi had come back to help his friend up, and they'd been joined by Tarou. Hitoshi and Sei were getting up, and Tarou stood in front, seeing the flying turning and diving back down, towards them. He was getting his staff ready for whatever he was about to try, hoping that it was going to work. Focusing as much energy into his staff as he could, he launched a Fire spell as soon as the monster got close to him. As the flames came up, they enveloped the insect and they heard a mind-shattered screech as it came crashing down, straight towards them.

They dove out of the way as the fly crashed into the ground, twitching and dying from the flames they'd hit it with. Not wanting to stay close, they immediately ran for the concrete path, quickly making it up onto it and looking at one another. Their situation had changed, a lot. Not only did they have a lot more distance to travel in this venture, but they had a whole new world of enemies and dangers that lied ahead of them. They didn't have to worry about monsters anymore. They had to worry about large insects and animals...

This was a bad situation for the three of them. Actually, it was a bad situation for not only them, but the dozens of people whom had been presumably wandering around the campus for the past several years. Being able to survive at this miniscule height would be no easy task, for anyone. Anything could come along and provide a very huge threat. Not only are people titanic in comparison, but everything else is as well. The three of them had just realized that even something as small and harmless as a house fly could bring a sizable fight to them.

No matter how they looked at it, they were faced with a seemingly impossible task. They were the size of ants, and they had to get back to campus. From where they began, they simply moved across a stretch of grass and climbed up onto a large, concrete walkway. In doing so, they'd opened themselves to being attacked by a house fly, of all things. The battle had worn them out a little bit, but they had to realize that things were going to be like this, from now on. They would have to fight through small, tiny animals as if they were huge monsters, just to get back to campus. They had a lot of ground to cover, and not much time.

Thankfully for them, not one of the Mikos was outside. The last thing they needed right now was having to avoid many pair of colossal feet, each capable of creating a massive earthquake from beneath them. Hitoshi shivered at the thought of how much power they had obtained for themselves. To think that all Masako needed to do was take a single step and she could end their lives. It was unimaginable. She was hard to fight against before, but now, they'd have a hard time trying to fight off something as minuscule as her pinky toe. Trying to get rid of the thoughts, the three of them got up and started running down the path. They didn't need to be haunted by this right now, that a simple pink toe could come down on them and smash them out of existence.

The path was far from smooth, at their height. There were rough bumps all around them on the ground, making the journey across it very rough and rigid. However, as they'd looked, they'd seen little to no insects or animals on the path. The path was their best bet until they reached the forest. Even if the grass wasn't full of bugs, it wouldn't be any easier to move across. If anything, it would be harder. With their new experience with the fly, they were constantly on their guard as they traveled down the path, making sure to watch out for anything and everything that could make a threat for them.

As they made their way down this path, it wasn't completely void of incident. They had to think and implement a lot of strategy as they were approached by a few more flies, in various locations, as well as a huge snail. Their battles were far from easy, but after fighting a few of them, they realized that they were manageable. More manageable than they had thought earlier, at least. They still had plenty of supplies left. If all of the battles from here to the academy were like this, they could definitely manage to get over there. It would be at an incredibly slow pace, but they would be able to get there.

After about 25 minutes of running, they'd covered a lot of distance, finally getting to the edge of the concrete path. Ahead of them was nothing but the same grass that was nearly head-level for them, all the way to the Academy. The path was pretty clear. They could see the mountainous trees that towered above them. One path was to the East, left from their perspective, and was a dead end. The other path, which they began to run down, led West, back towards the Cross-Roads, where they could go to Genbu Mountain, the Shrine, the Beach, or Suzuka Academy.

The grass slowed down their progress, as did the heightened number of insects in the area, they progressed their way through the area, making their way to the point where they were surrounded on two sides by mountain-like trees. They stared all of them up and down as they used the 'mountains' in the area as clues to where they needed to turn, and from the memory of traveling through, and they were amazed at how much the environment had changed. It was still the same environment they had remembered from before, but everything was different. Even the wildlife was different. There was, oddly, no trace of the monsters they'd seen in these areas before. Or, maybe they were just hiding, not willing to come out and attack some tiny ant-sized people, if they even knew they were there.

They fought dozens upon dozens of battles in the next hour, wearing down on their strength, forcing them to finally stop and take a rest. When they had done so, they came to an enormous, dead tree. Looking at it, they judged on how far they'd gone. The dead tree was the same one they'd seen before, hiding a path into the forest. As they took their moment of reprieve, they realized that they were well on their way back, probably almost halfway between the Shrine and the Academy. They had been moving for quite some time, but the showing of progress brightened them up.

The tree didn't prove to be very comfortable for them, but it was better than nothing. It's not like they could sit against blades of grass as well as something bigger and more solid. They were as comfortable as they were going to get as they stayed there for about 20 minutes, taking a well-needed rest. There were no Healing “Lights” there, like there had been at the Shrine, but they would take what they could get. After their rest was over, they got back on their mission, taking another hour to make their way across a few more immense corners of the area, making it to what they thought was that intersection from earlier.

They were pretty sure they were at the right place from four horizon-sized paths, one in each of four directions. They came up to what looked like a shaved tree trunk. Looking up, they saw that it was the sign from before, that directed people to the various locations. They looked at the paths, knowing where they had to go next. There was only a 'little' more bit of adventuring before they would finally be back at the Academy, where they could attempt to do whatever it was that they thought they could do about all of this...

The group were at that now-huge sign that told them where everything was. Their path was clear, or as clear as it would be. It didn't look like there were any people out here, so that was good news. It meant that no one had come to look for them, and thus falling into the same trap they did. It also meant that Masako and the other mikos weren't moving away from the shrine to pull out their big plan against the academy, as of yet. This is, of course, assuming that they actually had to come to the Academy, itself, to do it.

The Mountain was definitely not an option to them right now. Climbing the mountain at their original height was hard enough. Trying to do so at bug-size would be suicide. They couldn't go back to the shrine, either. They'd just worked to get away from there. Sei considered the idea of going to the beach, mentally. Just the thought of seeing those sexy beauties so close made his mouth water. Dozens upon dozens of skyscraper-sized, bikini-clad, gorgeous women, and they wouldn't even know they were there.

That was not the plan, though. As enticing as it would be to view and explore titanic half-naked bodies of cute girls, their mission was a lot more important. They had to get back to the academy as soon as they could so they could try to do something about Masako's plan. Even if it just meant getting Hiromi's and Ayuka's attention and informing them of what was going on without getting squashed like bugs, that's what they had to do. They didn't have time for games. Looking across the horizon-sized path that led to the academy, they marched on, their goal deep in their minds.

As they were traveling down the path, they went to fight off some more enemies when Hitoshi noticed something strange at the edge of the grass. Sei finished off a giant snail as Hitoshi and Tarou approached a red object to the side. They looked at it for a moment, and then looked at one another. It took them several minutes before they even believed that it was really there. It just wasn't possible to see what they thought they were seeing. Whether they could believe it or not, on the edge of a path was a small chest, proportionally small compared to the three of them.

Sei soon joined them, panting from the battle, only to completely stop as soon as he saw it. He, too, was in complete disbelief. How could Treasure Chests, like the ones on campus, exist at their size? Were the mikos extracting more than just the size of people? It was very true that their clothes were shrunken along with them, but could there be shrunken Treasure Chests all over the place, like this one? Having been the one to discover it, Hitoshi bent over and opened it up, checking to see if there was anything on the inside.

It opened up, just like an ordinary chest would. The group was shocked again when Hitoshi reached in and not only pulled out an item, but pulled out FOOD, of all things. Out of the chest came a small pot, filled with hot liquid. They all looked at each other, still baffled by all of this. There was shrunken food all over the place out here? What else was out here? Shrunken Weapons and Shrunken Armor? They laughed at the idea, not yet realizing that they'd be finding so much more in the journey that was to come.

Putting the...shrunken food away, the trio turned back and focused on the mission at hand. Their job, for the moment, was to get back to the academy. Worrying about shrunken materials and whatnot could wait. Once everyone on campus was alerted to what was going on, they would be just fine in venturing out to see what else was shrunken but, for now, they regrouped and continued down the long path that was ahead of them. Despite being close to campus, they still had quite a long journey ahead of them. They imagined it would take the better part of an hour to get back to the gates.

As the three of them went around a few more corners, they ran into quite a few battles. The animals and insects out here were numbered in the hundreds, most likely, and a lot of them could see the three, tiny adventurers. Flies, Snails, bugs, etc. They were all hunting down the three students. Unfortunately for those things, they packed quite a punch. They still had every bit of strength they had before, and were doing a fine job at dealing with everything that was being thrown at them. They could hold their own, better now than from the start.

As they fought through more battles, they came to what they thought was the last corner of this place. They had thought, for a moment, that they were almost to their destination. Unfortunately, however, they discovered that they still had a good bit of distance to go. Right in the middle of their path, covering every inch of it, was an enormous log. It had to have fallen over in the path while they were at the Shrine, or in the Seiryuu Forest. This posed a problem. Despite their size, there was no way they could get around it.

“Hold on! How did this dead tree end up in the path?!” Hitoshi said, confused at the tree. He was on the thought that it must have come down by accident. Tarou, however, approached him, with a different theory on the matter. “Masako must have anticipated us returning to the academy to help out our fellow students. So, she downed this tree as an obstacle, to keep us from doing so.” This changed things. If she had managed to get past them, what then? Was she already at the academy, working her 'magic' on them?

Sei shared this last thought with them, stressing the urgency of the matter. “If you're right about that, that would mean she is at the academy right now. Is there any way around this thing?!” The others were pumping up, fearing the thought of Masako shrinking down half the academy before they'd been able to warn them. Hitoshi barked at them, finding another plan. “We don't have time to go around! We've got to go through it!” Finding no alternative, they found a small hole in the tree and proceeded to enter it.

They had seen it all when they not only knew about shrunken people, but shrunken Treasure Chests and shrunken Food as well. Nothing was going to surprise them, at this point. They were about to enter this huge log or tree or whatever you wanted to call it. They figured they'd have to squeeze between each piece of bark until they could get to the other side, hopefully not finding many insects along the way. Their plan was the same, but they had a little more tension, knowing that Masako may have thrown this tree in their path, meaning that she'd somehow already left the Shrine and was well on her way into the academy.

When they got inside the tree, they were expecting small, nearly-impassable crevices for them to squeeze through. What they found when they got inside, however, was something completely different than what they were expecting. As they got inside, the stopped and looked at one another. Rubbing their eyes, they looked back, not believing what was standing before them. Within the three was a clear path with plenty of walking space and “walls” of bark that followed the path. It almost looked like some sort of dungeon or maze, crafted by someone, or something. They thought they'd seen it all. Clearly, they hadn't.

Not bothering to wait too long to wonder why a dead tree looks like a maze, they decided to just start heading into it, so they could get to the other side. A lot of things were confusing them, at this point, but there was no point in worrying about them when they had much bigger issues to worry about here. They headed around a few corners, seeing giant clods of dirt and a couple skeletons, belonging to who-knows-what that had been through here. As they made their way around a few more corners, they came face-to-face with a new enemy, one they hadn't seen out in the fields. In front of them stood a small scorpion.

This scorpion was looking at them, it's pincers pinching together and it's tail swaying from one side to the other. They looked at each other and grabbed a hold of their weapons. They weren't going to just sit by and become Scorpion food. Even though the scorpion was much larger than they were, they'd stand and fight, because they had to. As the beast started crawling towards them, they all jumped to the side as Tarou fired off a Quake spell. As they jumped, Sei had gotten brushed by one of the scorpion's legs, feeling that hard, moving surface, push him even further away. As the spell went into effect, however, the monster got shoved into the air and fell on it's back.

Hitoshi quickly ran in to finish the scorpion off with a quick Double-Slash. After having dealt with the scorpion, the trio sighed a breath of relief. Although that wasn't exactly the easiest of fights, it meant that the fights weren't getting a terrible amount harder for them. As long as their battles stayed at around this sort of 'difficulty', they would be fine in getting through to the academy. As the fight ended, they noticed they were at a branching path. One path led south, and one to the east. Hitoshi ran down the East path, finding a Treasure Chest that had a Mana Nectar in it. Not worrying about shrunken items anymore, he quickly pocketed it and returned to the others.

Regrouping, the trio fought a few more scorpions on their way through the tree, going around another path and coming to a smaller box that had an Herb plant in it. The more they traveled through this place, the more it looked like these walls of bark were actual, solid walls, man-made or something of the sort. This certainly was a strange place and, having gotten used to the fights in here, had the concentration to think about this sort of thing, as they made their way between two walls into the next part of this place. As they moved forward, they came to three walls, the path splitting five ways.

Taking a look at one another, they began to split the paths up, between them. Tarou took the left-most path, and Hitoshi took the path next to it. It seemed as if the 3rd path led to the next area of the log, a strange light coming from that direction, but they wanted to check on all of the paths, just in case they would find something to help them. As they had suspected, they did find something. Tarou came to a box at the end of his path, procuring a vile of Smelling Salts, and Hitoshi was able to switch out his Head Equipment with a small, brown helm that he found in a Treasure Chest.

As soon as they got back, Sei left to go down the fourth path, while Hitoshi and Tarou looked down third as they waited. Quickly rushing down the fourth path, Sei procured a new Bandana to go around his head. Having gotten it so quickly, he returned to the fork, only to see that Tarou and Hitoshi were still looking down that 3rd path. His ego getting the best of him, he turned and decided to go down the fifth path, to see what he could find from there as well. He set his sights towards the end of it, looking at if it might turn and come out where the third path did as well, Sei rushed along, getting through the place. However, as soon as he found a corner, the currying of legs began to come into his ears.

Sei was caught off-guard when something ferocious came out in front of him. It wasn't a bug, but something much worse. Before him was a huge spider, it's spiney legs hitting the ground as it crawled towards him. He fell to the ground and felt one of it's hairs being launchs and scratching against his arm. He screamed out as he threw his weapon at the beast, severing three of it's legs. Falling to the ground, the spider became immobile, giving Sei time to retrieve his weapon and hold onto his arm as he retreated back to the fork. As he got back, Tarou and Hitoshi were at the top of the path, ready to help him, having heard his scream.

Sei immediately fell to the ground, his arm starting to change color. It was starting to become as purple as his hair from the wound he'd gotten. Hitoshi yanked the hair out of his arm and laid him down in front of Tarou. His arms were shaking, suffering the effects of not an injury, but poison. Tarou held his staff over Sei's arm as he cast a spell. “Heal!” A bright light enveloped Sei's arm as the gash began to disappear and his arm returned to it's natural color. When Sei recovered, they all went down the third path, together, not willing to split up for awhile. With bugs around, it wasn't bad, but with poisonous spiders around, it was a different story.

As they worked their way down the third path, they found something they weren't expecting to see. Against a wall was the light of a Crystal. It was the same kind of healing crystals that they'd seen at the Beach and Mountain, at normal height. These things must have gotten shrunk, too, or were always around. No matter the reason, they all decided that, since Sei had nearly gotten fatally wounded, they would take a rest and use the Crystal to their advantage, as they did so.

The three of them had stopped at the Crystal, which was somehow shrunk, too, to take a rest. The rest was for a few reason. The first reason was because Sei had just gotten poisoned by a huge spider, and needed some time to recover from the shock of that. No amount of healing energy to hasten that process. It was something that he had to get over, mentally. The second reason was to get used to the fact that there was shrunken...stuff all over the place. Treasure Chests, Equipment, Food, Medicine, Crystals. They had no idea how all of this had gotten miniaturized. Masako had talked about stealing Macroforce from people, not objects, too.

Not that they were complaining. That Crystal was coming in very handy for them. The insects and everything seemed to be keeping their distance from them as they used it. The third reason they were staying was because Hitoshi had seen something rather formidable in the area beyond. As Tarou had gotten Sei around the Crystal, Hitoshi had peeked beyond and saw where the exit was. In the corridor just before the exit, or what he thought was the exit, was some sort of huge bug. It was a lot bigger than the other insects they'd seen in the area, nearly 4 times as big as any of them.

They should have realized that things wouldn't be as easy as just strolling through the place. For every hundred small creatures, there was always a bigger one that acted as a predator. This log was no different. They had an adversary to take out before they'd be leaving and getting back to the academy, so they needed to be as rested as possible. At the very least, they had to wait until Sei was back in tip-top shape. The smaller insects had been giving them a fair fight thus far, so they imagined this bigger one would give them a challenge.

He and Tarou didn't really spend much time, looking over their items or equipment. Their eyes were on Sei for the better part of an hour, fighting off monsters every so often as they appeared around them. They were almost out and, as soon as Sei was better, they would be out. Their guard had to be up, from here on, though. Of all things, they hadn't imagined they would be encountering spiders and the effects of their poison. As the hour finished up, all three of them realized the plight of the situation. Still, they had to go onward. The three of them got up and continued through the corridors, finally seeing what Hitoshi had seen earlier, the adversary they would need to best in battle to get through this area.

The huge insect looked completely different from anything they'd seen thus far. It had a body like a dragonfly, but it's body was covered in scales, and didn't have a head like a fly. The head actually had a snout on it, much like those lizard-monsters they'd fought in the Seiryuu Forest. As they approached it, it almost looked like a combination between a dragonfly and some sort of dinosaur. If there was ever a creature worthy of the name DRAGON-fly, it was this thing. They all clenched onto their weapons as they prepared for battle. They ran forward, the huge bug screeching at them, knowing of their presence. Following it were several other screeches around them.

That was when they realized their battle wasn't only with this Dinobug, or whatever you'd like to call it. They backed up, hearing wings and scurrying from all around them. Before long, they had huddled together, seeing a large group of insects and spiders around them. They'd been cornered. Sweat was dripping down their foreheads as they looked towards the spiders, figuring that they would need to be taken care of first, to avoid getting poisoned. As the flies darted forward, Hitoshi and Sei ran forward, dodging out of the way and attacking the spiders, Tarou preparing a Quake spell at the same time.

Their first attack managed to get through, sending two of the spiders flying off. However, as they were recovering, all four flies had doubled-back and slashed against their backs. They fell to the ground, only to have the Dinobug coming towards them and bashing at them with it's tail. The three of them let out another attack, getting all of these insects away from them, as they got up, strained from even a single round of this fight. Hitoshi was the first to make the situation apparent, no way to possibly win a fight with this many enemies at once.

“T-there's so many of them!” he called out, not sure he could take a long battle like this. They were used to fighting 2 or 3 insects at once, not 6-8. This was too much for them. Sei, grabbing onto an arm, agreed with him. “We'd best mosey out of here. We need to find another way around!” The idea was on the thought of running instead of fighting, though Tarou realized that wasn't an option. He knew that they would just pursue them until they either fought or were taken out. “You do realized that they'll just chase us, right?”

Looking to the side, they realized that the flies had flown out of a hole in the 'floor' of the area. Hitoshi knew that, even were they to stay, they'd be fighting a never-ending battle. “This is bad...there could be dozens more down there, just waiting to spring out!” They were panting, backing up, getting ready to run, Tarou expressing his own realization of their plight. “Insects are conditioned for hunting. We will never be able to outrun them.” They all took deep breaths. Not willing to just run and get killed, Sei clenched tighter onto his weapon. “Well, then I'm gonna go down, swinging! Let us get this done!”

Their situation was grim, but they would stand and fight. Even if they would be fighting until their last breath was taken by a bunch of insects, that's what they would do. However, they wouldn't do it alone. From far beyond this huge mass of insects came a strange voice, as if a savior, a God of War coming down from the Gates of Valhalla to come and aid them in this fight. “It looks like you guys could use a hand. Catch!” From beyond the insects came a large, husky man, whom was tossing something across to them. As they caught it, a magical bout of energy came out and restored their strength.

This stranger was a shrunken person, like them. As soon as they caught wind of their newfound strength, and with the insects distracted by everything going on, Tarou called over to him. “Who might you be?” This guy didn't waste any time, though. Jumping past the horde, he joined them. He looked like a very buff man, almost as if he were some sort of Brawler. He had long, husky hair all over his face and looked quite a bit older than they were. He then spoke to them. “There will be plenty of time for introductions later. Right now, I reckon it's about time to get rid of this little infestation.” As he was speaking, they saw two more spiders crawling out of the hole, replacing the two they'd wiped out earlier. Realizing they didn't have any time to waste, Hitoshi nodded and charged forward. “Let's do this!”

Before Hitoshi had a chance to get close to the bugs, the strange man had called him to stop. He turned to look to see what was going on, but before he could, the buffed-out man had jumped into the air. His fist was glowing something magnificent and cried out. “JIGOKU RAIJIN!” Hitoshi ducked on the ground as several beams of light flew out of his hand, creating several waves of pure energy. Tarou and Sei had always flinched and hit the ground as they heard several explosions from the other side of the area, tied with several ear-shattering screams. As they looked back over, they were amazed to see that every single insect over there, savor the Dinobug, was gone.

As soon as they were gone, the man jumped at the Dinobug and delivered a well-focused punch, knocking the sucker out of the air and onto the ground, completely stunned. The three were completely shocked at this, but took this opportunity to do what they could. Having built up enough strength inside of them, they all released their most powerful strikes. Sei jumps and slashed at the wings with a Silhouette Strike, completely severing them and keeping it from flying away. Hitoshi hit it with an Oni Rush, furthering it's stun and jumping out of the way as Tarou launched a Catastrophe spell towards it.

The smoke soon cleared, realizing the monster, still intact. However, the newcomer launched himself at it, slamming his entire body into it, sending it flying into one of the 'walls' of this place, completely finishing it off. As the trio stood and watched this last action, Sei nearly freaked out. “Holy...This guy is loaded up to his eyebrows in strength!” Hitoshi, getting a smile on his face to know they were alright, agreed with him. “You can say that again, Sei!”

The man looked proud as he closed his eyes, finally saying something else to them. Having to fend off all manner of carnivorous beasts, not to mention gigantic feet, for twelve years can do that for you, I suppose.” Tarou was shocked at hearing about this new discovery. Not only had Masako been at it for a long time, but over a decade! “You've been this size for twelve years?!” Hitoshi was amazed as well, but went straight for his thank-yous. “It goes without saying that you've got our gratitude for helping us, but...just who are you? How did you end up like us? Don't tell me-...”

The man opened his eyes and looked at the three people he'd just saved. “My name is Izoku., I became this way by very much the same means that I am certain you did.” Sei was starting to get second-thoughts about all of this. Masako having been doing this for 12 years? Was that even possible? “You mean Masako? How? Judging by her appearance, she would have been a little kid that long ago.”

The man understood their curiosity, but he seemed more interested in other matters. “There is much I need to explain. However, right now there are other issues you need to be concerned about.” He then began to lead them towards the exit when he started questioning who they were. “What are you names, and why are you out here, in the woods?” Hitoshi, the leader of the group, felt it was as good a time as any to explain their situation. “I'm Hitoshi, and this is Sei and Tarou. We were investigating what the shrine was up to. To make a long story short, we found out what they were up to the hard way.”

The man lost his prideful look and started to grin towards them. “You know, that sounds very much like my own story. It was a long time ago...” He sighed as he went on. “...but my two companions were not so fortunate to survive as long as I have.” He was revisiting a bad memory of a couple good friends, whom didn't make it quite as far as he had. It was a tough life, being tiny. Tarou stepped forward. “I am very sorry for your loss, Izoku...”

As he said this, the story continued. “I was a student at the academy, following instructions from our principal. My mission led me to Old Man Houjo, whom told me to steer clear of the Seiryuu Shrine. Unfortunately, we did not listen. The three of us weren't afraid of any shrine maidens or some eccentric witchy girl. However, Masako was precisely the same then as she is today. Her appearance has not changed one bit.” This confused the three of them even more. How could Masako look exactly the same twelve years ago? Just what was she? Sei was the first to pose this question. “What the hell is she? An alien or something?”

“Alien, divine, immortal, I am not sure” replied Izoku. “However, she is not an ordinary human being. Shortly before I arrived here...she made that very clear. We have a problem.” The man lowered his head as he began to speak of the problem at hand...

There was a rally going on at Suzaka Academy as Izoku, Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei were deep in conversation from within the log. The problem that Izoku had mentioned was about to make itself apparent. As soon as the problem had appeared, Principle Ayuka had immediately called all of the students to the front gates, so she could address them about the issue at hand, and what was to be done, at least that she wanted all of the students to know about what was to be done about everything.

The students gathered before her were all female students. There were 31 students present, set into three separate groups. Umi was among the group of mages, furthest to the left of Ayuka, Rui among the group of stealthy thief-fighters, and Hiromi among the group of Warriors. Everyone was bustling with activity as Ayuka came to her position in front of them. They were all gossiping about what was going on, and what was going to be done about it. As they were talking, however, Ayuka pushed herself forward and quieted them all down.

“Everyone, calm down! When I call for attention, I want calm!” Her voice was sent through the area, which calmed most of them down, but the situation at hand was too stressing for some people not to ask questions. One of the students immediately spoke up. “...but Ayuka-sensei, all of the boys at the academy are gone!” Then, another joined into the conversation. “What is this? Some kind of big, sexist joke?!” Then, another. “Is this some sort of new training exercise?” They were getting very curious, and those ideas were escalating matters.

The people were getting ready to panic. Ayuka sighed to herself, thinking that's exactly what she can't have them do. No matter what was going on, she needed to remain a firm leader and keep all of her students calm. “Please, quiet! I promise you there's nothing to be worried about. What's happening right now is just a short-term event.” She paused a few moments, trying to think of something to tell them. How, exactly, could she just make an excuse for why every single male at the entire academy was suddenly gone?

After a moment, she did think of something. “I sent all of the boys...out. They were sent up north to help Tarou, Hitoshi, and Sei with a routine investigation. They were in need of assistance, and I thought I would reward all you girls by not making you trudge up there with them. That's all that's going on. They're on a very large-scale investigation, and it may take time for them to finish it.” She stopped speaking, hoping that this excuse she'd just given the girl would be good enough for them. It wasn't a wonderfully logical answer, but it was an answer.

Much to her expectations, it was not. Hiromi immediately spoke up, questioning her excuse. “...but sensei, why would you only send the male teachers and students? I believe I speak for most of us here when I say that that's hard logic to follow.” Another student found this as a window of opportunity to chime in as well. “...and so suddenly, sensei? They all practically vanished out of nowhere!” These kids would be hard to convince that there was nothing wrong with the current situation. Ayuka started to get frustrated for all of them to question what she was saying, despite knowing that there was, indeed, something wrong.

“That is enough!” she yelled towards them. “Understanding is not a requisite for obeying my orders. I will personally punish anyone and everyone who spreads rumors about this matter. Just let it be!” Her face immediately went from looking stern to looking needy. She stared past the students, into the wilderness beyond the academy. She was thinking about Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei. She thought that it had been a bad idea to have sent him out on this investigation. The weight of all this was getting to be too much for her. She needed help.

Trying to brighten up everyone's spirits, Ayuka went forward with her little 'excuse' and tried to cheer the girls up. “While all the boys are out on their mission, we have the academy to ourselves! It is the perfect opportunity for a little girl-time! I did all this so you ladies could enjoy yourselves for awhile without having to worry about the guys. Just try to relax until they come back, alright?” Umi, in particular, stared towards Ayuka, feeling uneasy about all of this. She had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Had something happened to Hitoshi and the others? What was this really about?

Back in the log, Izoku had just finished explaining the situation at hand. Masako had gone into the campus and stolen the Macroforce from every last male student and teacher that was around. Sei was, for one, weirded out by this. “ALL the guys? What is that bitch trying to accomplish by only stealing the size of the males on campus?” His question lingered through the air, as Izoku spoke further on the matter. “I cannot say. Masako is strange and quirky like that. One by one, she cornered them in isolation and took their size. I can only imagine that her plan was to sow panic and confusion.”

Hitoshi didn't like this. They were too late. Masako had already gotten to the academy, before they could even get there. “...but if all of the men are missing,surely the girls will come looking to try to figure out what happened!” Surely Hiromi and the others would be heading towards the Shrine to find out what was going on. Izoku shook his head on the matter, taking away that possibility, at least for now. “I'm afraid not. Your principal is doing everything in her power to ensure that there is no suspicion or panic. Another cover-up. However, I don't know how long she will be able to make this one last.”

The situation was bad, a lot worse than they'd hoped. Tarou looked to Hitoshi and asked him what he wanted to do about all this. As the four of them looked at one another, Izoku spoke up again. “After having their size taken from them, I tried as hard as I could to gather your classmates and escort them to safety. I need to escort you there as well. We need a plan.” Sei looked at the newcomer and at the rest of them, not having a better idea. “That makes sense, I guess. We aren't going to accomplish anything by sitting in this log. However, we have questions, buddy. Lots of them.”

Izoku nodded towards say, agreeing that they had questions and that they would be answered. “Of course. Now, we need to be off. I will take you to your classmates. Class is in session right now, so the danger of this trek will be minimal.” Joining him, Hitoshi looked towards the exit. “I Hope you are right, Izoku-san. I also hope...we're not too late to change things.” The four of them then headed out of the log, and towards the gates of the academy...

The group's level of difficulty in fighting their battles dropped significantly with their new “guest” around, escorting them back to the academy. From where the log was, they ran into a few battles, but even inside the battles, Izoki was able to launch a Jigoku Raijin towards them, wiping every last one of them out. Spiders, Scorpions, Flies, Plants. Nothing seemed to stand in his way. It was like they'd just gotten some amazingly-strong ally, out of nowhere. In many battles, the three of them didn't even get a chance to Power-Up and launch an attack.

With their power-house ally nearby to help them out, the time it took to get out of the log and reach the back gates of the academy was incredibly quick. At least, quick compared to how long it had taken them to get from the Shrine to the Log. They were going through a lot of tall grass, and things were moving slowly, but it felt like they were constantly moving, as if they weren't even stopping to fight all of the insects and animals they were coming across. They were fighting them, but the pace was absolutely incredible. Before they knew what happened, they saw a long stretch of towering, metal pillars above them. They were at the academy gates.

As they walked inside, they realized the low-cut grass of the place. The grass was so well-cut on campus, that it barely came up to their waists, much different than the jungle of grass they'd been trying to tread through on their trip, thus far. They saw the campus grounds, and it looked like they were inside some immense city. They couldn't even begin to imagine just how far the place stretched, for them. Dozens of miles, perhaps? They could tell their situation, right away, seeing the “Digging” area in front of them. The pile of dirt that was there, normally a few feet in height, now looked like a huge mountain from a local Garbage Disposal area. They were about to be in the territory of their school, seeing everything on a much bigger scale.

Getting past the gate and heading around the Digging area, not wishing to fall into an abyss-like hole, Izoku began to direct them to where they were headed. He had taken all of their classmates and professors somewhere safe, somewhere he thought where there wouldn't be hardly any danger. Pointing towards the southeast edge of the academy, he spoke of this place. “The destination for us is the ceremonial stage to the south. I'll assume that you already know how to get over there. It's just southeast of the academy entrance.”

Being students from the academy, of course they knew where it was. It was just east of where they'd seen and spoken with Hiromi earlier that very day. The stage was there for special events of the school, and had a stone figure on the top of it. What they wondered, however, was why they were going to a Ceremonial Stage, of all places. They figured they'd be headed someplace a little, well...safer. That place was cleaned often, so being on top of it wouldn't be the safest place in the world. “The stage?” asked Hitoshi. “What is so important down there?”

Izoku let off a soft smile past his tough-looking face. “That you will see when you get there. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.” He then looked around, specifically up into the air, where the sun was shining down on them. “...but let's be quick about it. Class will be over soon, and that tends to fill this, specific area with huge, trodding feet.” That very idea was a little too nervous to make it comfortable. They remembered how hard it was to get away from Masako's boot. They weren't even going to consider getting into a situation where they'd be trying to dodge dozens upon dozens of gigantic feet. Tarou spoke up, agreeing with Izoku's idea. “Then I would consider hurrying a prudent idea.”

They began their long journey across the campus grounds. The lower grass definitely helped them move around faster, but it didn't stop them from running into insects to brawl with. From the very start of their journey east, hugging the walls of the mountain-sized campus building, they ran into a lot things they'd seen before. The campus grounds were full of spiders and flies, along with a new foe for them, Beetles. Izoku was able to dispatch most of these creatures with ease. However, when they got into a fight with a Beetle, a single Jigoku Raijin just wasn't enough to take them out. As they encountered them, Hitoshi aided Izoku by finishing off each beetle with a Double-Cut.

They wanted the shortest trip around this place as humanly possible, so they hugged against the wall of the school building. It was kept clean, so there wasn;t a lot of grass or weeds for spiders and insects to hide in. Aside from the occasional fight, they were pretty safe there. It would also be safer, in case the other students came out before they reached the stage. Hugging against the walls would keep them a lot safer from boots, shoes, and feet. However, they hoped they would be able to make it to wherever Izoku was taking them before that threat would show itself.

Luckily, they were fortunate enough to tread through quickly enough to make it to the stage before class let out. As Izoku dealt with the last few insects, they came around to the front of the stage, seeing it's building-sized depth. Right next to one of the sets of steps that led up to the stage, itself, there was a hold busted through the wall. It wasn't a very big hole, just enough for them to pass through, as if it were a doorway. Leading the way, Izoku passed through the doorway and they came into some new sort of structure.

Inside were dirt walls and a dirt floor. However, like the log, it almost looked like it was man-made, the walls flat and the ground perfectly stable for walking. Waiting for them inside, were two students from the academy, whom immediately came forward to speak with them. A man with dark-blue hair and a helmet around his head spoke, standing right in front of them. “Izoku-san! You actually found them!”

Izoku acknowledged to the blue-haired man and then turned towards Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei, preparing to speak about where they were. “Welcome, you three, to your home away from home. This place can be a bit claustrophobic at times, but it is delightfully free of giant shoes.” Sei was the first to realize just what this place was. He saw a huge ant crawling around one of the walls, and a shiver went down his spine. Why would they be here, of all places? “Wait...you brought everyone around campus...to an ant hole?!”

The ant moving around immediately reacted to what Sei was doing, as if it had heard every word they'd said. It marched right up to him and started shaking it's head around, the hard-shelled antenna waving around, hitting his shirt. “Hole? HOLE?!” said the ant, shockingly. The three of them immediately stopped, thinking they were about to have a heart attack from the fact that an ant just spoke to them....in ENGLISH.

They weren't sure what they were more shocked about, the fact that Izoku had brought them to an Ant Hole, acting as if it were some sort of sanctuary for the shrunken students, or the fact that an ant had just spoken to them, in their own language. That big, ugly, scaley bug that stood in front of them, just as many other insects had stood before them, seemed to have other intentions with them than the ones before. Upon meeting insects, up to this point, the objective from them seemed to be hunting or killing or a mixture of the two. However, this ant had just spoken to them, as if offended by something.

“What poor manners! This is so much more than a mere “hole”. It is our beloved home of Ant Town!” It seemed that this ant was upset with them because they offended him and his home, calling it a hole. Of all the things they expected to happen from insects, as a reaction to their presence, this was the last thing. Hitoshi was looking at the others, the only one over the shock enough to speak. “...did that ant just yell at Sei? You know...in English, understandable?” Tarou kept his cool, getting a little inspiration was Hitoshi's words. He agreed with him, and tried to introduce himself to this ant.

“I believe it did, Hitoshi. This is astonishing! Sir, please allow me to apologize on my friend's behalf. We just...we weren't quite expecting this.” As soon as he finished his greeting, he leaned over towards Sei, whispering in his ear and advising him not to anger the talking ant. If it could talk, who knew what else it was capable of. For all they knew, it was about to get up on two legs and start swinging a sword towards them. They were here, where Izoku called a “safe” place, so they should at least give them the benefit of the doubt.

Izoku tried to confirm that they were safe, by speaking of his personal experience with Ant Town, and it's inhabitants. “The ants of this colony have been close friends of mine for years. You can trust their hospitality, I assure you. They have many skills that the giants outside are still unaware of.” It seemed that, according to Izoku, this place was a very safe place, indeed. An entire ant colony that was friendly towards the shrunken people, let alone communicate with them, was a nice thing, indeed.

Not pushing their 'welcome' to this place any further than it has to, another shrunken attendee of the academy came forward. He was a mage, wearing long, green robes and had spiked blond hair. He had a serious look on his face, and it didn't take them long to realize that they still had a lot to figure out, other than the fact that their sanctuary was a town full of ants. “Not to break up this warm welcome, gentlemen, but the teachers and Houjo-san have been waiting for you. We all want answers, and you are the only guys we can hope have any.”

Hearing Houjo's name surprised Hitoshi a little bit. Apparently, Masako had not only visited the academy, but the beach as well. She was a busy girl, that's for sure. She probably did that to him after the three of them had told her about his knowing about what was going on at the shrine. “Houjo-san is here? So, Masako got to him as well?” Izoku turned towards them and nodded, shedding light on his question. “Houjo was the first she went after. Your friend it right, though, Hitoshi. We should get a move on. We have much to discuss.”

The three of them were then led towards the back of the ant colony, still getting used to it being called by a property name, Ant Town. It was a fitting name, as they were led towards the back of it. As they were led through it, they could tell that many things within it were manmade, most likely shrunk along with people from the academy as Masako made her way through, either now or in years past. The town had everything that a town would need. There were beds, fashioned into an “Inn” of sorts, small shops that held shrunken items and weapons and equipment, and even a library filled with books.

Each of the shops had a wooden counter across it, the Inn filled with real beds, made of wood, sheets, and whatnot. There were large crated, cabinets, bookshelves, chairs, tables, and everything else you could imagine in this place. It was quite clear that the ants had probably not built this entirely on their own. It it likely that Izoku had assisted them in the building of this place over the past twelve years or so. After all, if you live in a place like this for twelve years and are alone, what else can you do?

The four of them came back to the final room, in the north-west corner of Ant Town, a lobby of sorts. There were five round tables, each with three seats around them. Within, they found many of the academy's professors, along with Old Man Houjo. They all watched their entrance, looks of both eagerness and frustration on their faces. It was clear that they were about to walk into what was likely to be a very serious and unfortunate conversation. The professors would obviously want to know everything that they knew so they could figure out what could be done, if anything.

As soon as they got to the back of the room, Izoku stood near a corner, by the professors, his back leaning against a stack of boxes. Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei stood by a tall dresser and began to explain their situation to the professors. Their tale was long-winded, but they began to tell them everything they knew. They spoke about heading to the beach, meeting Masako on the mountain, being sent to the Shrine, finding out that Hosoki had been killed, and more...

Hitoshi's “secret” mission wasn't so secret anymore, now that so many of the students and teachers from the academy had been shrunk down, and they'd arrived in Ant Town. The three professors they were speaking to, along with Houjo gave them strange looks as they told them of what all they'd been through on their journey thus far. It took quite awhile to get the entire story out and for the conversation to continue onward, but they did what they could, not wanting to spare any details for anything that could help them.

“I see...Ayuka sent you on this mission, herself?” asked one of the professors, a silver-haired man at the back of the table with a partially helmet over his head called Ichiro. They were obviously curious as to why others were not informed of this venture that had been set up by Principal Ayuka. Hitoshi simply nodded, trying to explain to him about the secrecy of the mission. “Yes, sensei. Ms. Ayuka considered this a covert matter and ordered us to refrain from discussing the specifics with anyone.”

Tarou questioned their curiosity as they spoke further. “Are you suggesting that even the faculty were completely unaware of the true nature of these disappearances, Ichiro-sensei?” Ichiro could do nothing but agree with that statement, and spoke of how the principals that were in charge before Ayuka came in dealt with the matter. “We merely had a passing awareness of the disappearances. Before Ayuka took charge a few years ago, the principals always had some sort of reason or excuse on why the students were missing. Expulsions, transfers, any number of things.”

“You can hardly blame them” spoke Izoku, sighting and closing his eyes as he leaned back further again the crates. “Without any sort of coverup, the academy would be disbanded, marked unsafe. Ayuka is only doing what she believes is best for the school.” Sei threw his input out, realizing that they needed to have spoken to her about all of this, themselves. “What she believes is best for the school is the absolute worst for us. We never had a chance to tell her what we found out, the true cause of these disappearances. We're on our own, without her help.” Sei was stressing that they needed to have told Ayuka..

Tarou took his statement in the context of the here-and-now, thinking about their situation. “If there were some way that we could alert her to our presence, we could have an ally of normal size. She could rally the girls to stop Masako and the mikos.” The idea sounded pretty wonderful. To them, they'd have a skyscraper-sized person aware of them, and they could all rally the rest of the academy and take down Masako. Surely, she couldn't take down the entire academy, all at once, right? She took down the three of them, but not dozens of students at once.

Izoku, however, didn't see as much hope in that plan, thinking on what he'd gone through in years past. “That strategy is something I have, personally, tried countless times over the years. Every single time I've attempted it, I've either been unsuccessful or mistaken for a bug, nearly getting crushed.” Another one of the professors didn't like this plan. They didn't want to live out their lives like this. Something had to be done. “Argh, then what do we suggest we be doing? These lads and I are ill-content to be spending the rest of our lives hiding. A plan be needed. Have ye one?”

Izoku had an answer, but then again, he didn't have an answer. He spoke back, explaining that he was formulating a plan, but didn't have it all worked out, as of yet. He spoke that survival was their number one priority as of right then. “We can't be of any help to the remainder of the academy if we get ourselves killed out there.” His calm attitude was just, but didn't have enough to satisfy Hitoshi. He couldn't just sit by and do nothing. He couldn't. “That is not good enough! Sure, it's dangerous, but Principal Ayuka needs to know what's going on! We can't just sit around and waste time, thinking. Let's go get her attention!”

Izoku didn't appreciate Hitoshi's current tone-of-voice. He immediately spoke to him, trying to get him to calm down. “That is enough! Reckless thinking like that will get you flattened, or something much worse. The mikos and Masako are out there, Hitoshi, and they will be watching for us to make a move.” The mentioning of Masako brought forth another question from the table of teachers. “...and just who is that girl, Izoku-san? Why is she taking this horrific course of action?” They were curious about Masako, and they wanted to know who she was and why she was doing this.

They didn't seem to really get an answer from him. He merely just spoke about the situation, and his lack of faith in their ability to stand against her. “All we need to know is that we do not stand a chance at stopping her. Not as we are now, at least. I've seen her stomp others flat for the sheer laugh and amusement of it.” No one liked how this was going, but something needed to be done. Sei stepped up, trying to find out what they could do. “Well, if we cannot get anyone's attention and we can't go after Masako, what options are left? What can we do?”

The entire group was trying to think about what they could do. Tarou was thinking about the situation, specifically between Masako and the shrine. “Izoku-san...what would happen if we were able to halt the revival of the Red Queen? Without her goddess around, Masako might lose her power as well.” Izoku thought about this, but knew they couldn't do anything to the Red Queen, or anything at the shrine. “The altar is guarded by the maidens of the shrine. I'm not sure whether they're mind-controlled or just fanatically following her, but they will let no one near the site.”

One of the professors then thought about things, and threw together some input. He was the main professor for the mages and was thinking about how they could get over there. “...but if they had another objective, would the altar not be vulnerable? We could create some sort of diversion, and then send in a small force to dispel the revival.” Izoku shook his head at this idea as well. It almost seemed like he was just trying to push out all of their ideas, but they soon found out he had an idea as well. “Masako would suspect it was a trap. There is only one course of action that I can give my approval on. I can't say it will work, but we have few options left.”

He looked to the group and shared with them something that he had in mind, that might give them an upper edge on the situation. “We should find the shards of a macroforce crystal that I shattered 12 years ago, while I was struggling against Masako.” The three of them looked shocked at the fact that he wanted to look for and possible reassemble a macroforce crystal, the very thing Masako had used to shrink the three of them. Could that really save them from this disaster? None of them dared guess, but all were thinking about what he had just told them...

The trio were ready to head out with Izoku for Zuika's Tree. At least, they had it planned out. As they exited the back “meeting room”, they took this chance for Izoku to truly show them around Ant Town, so they could see all they could see and get to know this place before they left. There was a lot for them to see in this place, and they would need to pick up some supplies from the shops and stores here before they headed out. Climbing a tree was no simple task and they didn't know what sort of vermin they would encounter on their way there or on their way up.

The first area they came to was an intersection of sorts. They vaguely remembered seeing what led from each path that came out from it. To the North was the library, to the east was a pub, to the northwest was where they'd just come from, and that's all they'd seen thus far. They walked past a group of students and ants as they went for the west path, not knowing what was in there. Among the red carpet in the intersection was one specific pair. One of the mages, along with an ant were spitting at the corner. It almost looked like they were shooting off spit wads. In the West path was what looked like a classroom. One of the professors was teaching about stealthy maneuvers to a host of students, along with an ant that was sitting at a desk, just like the rest of them.

Coming back to the intersection, they took the south path, finding no point in going back to the library or the pub. That wouldn't help prepare them for what was to come. After traveling through another path, however, they came to something that would help them. Finding another intersection, they traveled west to find a red fire ant behind the counter, with what looked like weapons and equipment behind him. They all approached him, hoping he could be of service to them. “I'm responsible for taking care of our weapons and such. Can you humans even use them?”

The three of them didn't really care if ants had made them or not. Pulling out his wallet of money, Hitoshi asked the ant what he had for them. The weapons they were shown were very different, to be sure. They were made from small objects, but the crafting looked remarkably done. As they looked over everything, all three of them found something that looked more useful than what they already had. They sold their old weaponry, and each bought a new weapon. Hitoshi got a large sword made from glass shards, Tarou a staff fitted with a large seed, and Sei a dagger that was made from the point of a needle.

Apart from that, they were also able to all get their armor off. It had been scratched up, quite a bit, from all the insects, scorpions, and such that had fought against them, especially from that horde of them Izoku had helped them fight. They sold all of their former armor and replaced them with new ones. Hitoshi bought a suit of armor made from a beetle carapace, Tarou a robe made of moth wings, and Sei a suit that was made from leaves. It wasn't the greatest-looking thing in the world, but they all felt sturdy and safe. “Make sure to stop by again!” said the ant, as they walked away. “You never know what sort of creations I might tinker up with what I find laying around outside.”

After leaving the shop behind, they headed south-east, towards another intersection. They hadn't seen anything of this thus far, so they decided to head east, the first of the two paths. Upon making their way around the corners, they found another shop. An ant was behind the counter, once again, and there were two students hanging around the shop. One was a Cat=-person, and the other a human, whom had the unfortunate fate of having been found by Masako at the beach, of all places. Since the ants didn't sell clothes, he was stuck, walking around in nothing but his swimming trunks and shades. He would surely be good nice and chilly at night.

Hitoshi looked at his wallet and realized that they didn't really have a lot of money left, even after selling all of their old equipment. They all looked at each other and quickly pulled out their supplies, to see what they needed the most of. After taking a few minutes to go over everything they had, they realized that they were a little short on Quality Potions and Turbojolt Salts. Deciding on things, Hitoshi turned towards the counter, he bought as much as he could of those two items. By the time they'd nearly run out of money, they had 3 more Quality Potions and 2 more Turbojolt Salts. It wasn't ideal, though. They still needed more supplies. They'd lost a lot when they had gotten shrunk.

They looked north, only to find a cafeteria, where they could buy food. Being short on money, they decided to pass on the food. They still had a fair amount of food with them, anyways. As they headed towards the entrance, they thought about stopping to do something about their lack of supplies. The only problem was that they needed more money and didn't really have much to sell. They thought about things as they headed out the door, where the class president and the blonde mage were guarding the door, ensuring that nothing would be coming in to attack them.

As they reached the opening of Ant Town, it was very quiet on campus. They all looked around as Izoku stated the obvious. “It seems class is not yet over.” They all agreed on his obvious statement. Tarou spoke of what they should do about this. “We should hurry, then.” Hitoshi nodded, agreeing as well. “Right. To Zuika's Tree, east of the dorms.” They began to head out, realizing that it would be no quick trek over to the tree. They could see the area where the tree stood from where they were, but they had a lot to get through.

They hugged along the walls of the buildings, taking out small spiders that found their home near those buildings along the way. Having Izoku around to dish out a quick Jigoku Raijin was definitely useful for them. The rest of them could easily conserve their strength. As they got around the first dorm building, however, they found a problem. They came to the garden area, only to find mass amounts of insects and animals around the main paths. Trying to play it safe, they took the longer route and went into the garden, to avoid confrontations with too many of those beasties. It would take longer to get to their destination, but they would arrive there with less wounds and scratches...

Heading through the garden may not have been the best choice for the three of them, but they had little choice. There was a horde of beasties in the path between the garden and the school building, right where they needed to go, and they didn't have much time to reach Zuika's Tree. So, to save themselves a lot of struggling on getting through that big group of baddies, they cut into the garden, about half-way up. They came in on a dirt path, two giant walls of plants on either side of them. To the south were the lines of cabbages. To the north, where they needed to move, were lines of green beans and wax beans.

The lines at the west side of the garden were covered in plants, almost no space between them. They took a look at their surroundings and tried to think their way through this situation. Zuika's Tree was just north of the very middle of the garden. To have the shortest route, they'd need to find the middle point of the garden, and then head straight north until they got out, past all of the beans, onions, berries, and everything else that was planted here. Once there, they'd be able to easily get through the plants, and they should also have a clear view of their goal.

They also needed to reach the middle because there was more spacing between the plants there. They couldn't just shove their way through these plants, at will. The students and professors regularly sprayed the plants in the garden with toxins to kill off any bugs that try to climb on and eat them. They needed a way to get through the garden without touching any of the plants, just in case that same substance was toxic to them, being the size of bugs right now. After deciding where they needed to go, they started heading east, towards the center of the garden.

The ground on the garden was definitely easier to move through, for them. Even soft soil was hard to them, and there was no grass here, at all. The garden was maintained well, so they couldn't even see weeds growing up anywhere. It wasn't perfectly flat, but it was an easy walk, no challenge at all. They were able to pick up the pace on this turf, nearly making it to the halfway point before they discovered that the garden wasn't exactly the safest place around, either. Despite there being dozens of fly corpses around the area, and all the bug-killer on the plants, the garden was still home to a few bits of wildlife.

Out from the gap came a swarm of flies, buzzing around the tops of the bean plants. They were looking for something, but instead, they went after the wrong prey. Upon seeing the four shrunken students walking around, down below, they started dive-bombing them, as the fly at the shrine had done. As soon as they got close, however, Izoku dispatched them, along with a few leaves from the plants with a quick Jigoku Raijin. With the path clear, the four of them stood on top of a leaf, right in between two of the plants. They looked forward, seeing their destination. Past what looked like a forest of garden plants was a towering spire, a leafless tree known as Zuika's Tree.

They all grinned, seeing it in sight. They just had a little bit more of this gardening wasteland to trek through until they will have reached their goal and could take a rest from the battles. Or, rather, Izoku could take a rest. Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei still got to use their skills every once in awhile, but Izoku was using the most energy, of all of them. They left the leaves, together, seeing the path mostly barren, wanting to make sure they got to the tree before all of the students came out and provided them with yet another problem.

This place was truly like a wasteland, of sorts. Aside from the giant clods of dirt and the tree-like plants, they encountered and had to step over small pieces of garbage, as well as endless corpses of flies, beetles, ants, and other insects who had made the mistake of eating from the plants, only to become victims of the toxins the people of the academy sprayed on them every day. It was like they'd exited the wonderful, beautiful environment of nature and had run into some barren monster-ridden land of a post-apocalyptic world, the beacon in the distance their one clue to where they needed to go, like some sort of huge casino tower or something.

About an hour and a half, and dozens of flies and beetles later, they finally came out of the barren wasteland that was the garden and found bright-green grass again. They looked forward and realized they were close. They didn't see any other wildlife in the way, and they made a B-line for the tree, thinking they were going to make it there. Little did they know they weren't going to make it there. Not all the way, at least. They ran with excitement, and stopped as soon as they landed in the dirt, at the base of the tree.

About halfway through the field of dirt, Izoku stopped and began to 'address' the three students, speaking about his past experiences at this tree. Apparently, he had attempted this a few times before, and failed. “We are lucky there's no wind today. I've tried to climb this tree in the past, always foiled because of being the victim of strong gusts of wind. You need to be ready for anything.” Sei smiled and chuckled at this statement, despite just how serious it was. “I'm sure the rule “Be ready for anything” could be applied to just about every conceivable scenario at this size.”

Hitoshi agreed with them, but had something else on his mind. He didn't understand why Izoku needed their help, being so much stronger than any of them. “You're so much stronger than we are, Izoku-san. Why have you asked the three of us for help?” Izoku looked at Hitoshi and smiled. He had a good feeling about these three. “You guys remind me a lot of myself at your age. I think you could be capable of great things if given the right opportunity. That, and...”

They were all caught off-balance and silenced as they felt a small quake in the ground, then another, and then another. They all looked to the side as they saw something that scared them all to death. A blue-haired girl in mage robes was approaching, and fast. She wasn't shrunken, either. Her towering form was approaching and quickly casting them all in it's shadow. They all freaked out as her foot came closer and closer, it's shadow coming closer and closer, until it was right on top of them...   

The four of them had nearly forgotten about the dangers of the normal-sized folks, by this time. They hadn't seen a normal-sized person since their encounter with Masako. They knew, mentally and from memory, that they were tiny and a lot of others were not, but that mage's presence caught them completely off-guard. Class had finally let out, and was coming straight for the tree they were about to climb. A complete fluke of coincidence was throwing them into a deadly encounter, and all they could do was turn and run at the last minute, hoping they could make it to the tree in time. They had to make it in time.

They were still a fair amount of area away from the tree's base, at the time. Their conversation had lasted longer than they expected and put them in danger. In a full-on run, they were hopeful that they would be able to make it back there in time. They were kidding themselves, unfortunately. They'd become too safe, mentally, and put themselves in this mess. Upon starting their run, the girl's shadow was already over them, the rippling waves of her robes towering into the sky, near infinitely to them.

They were kidding themselves, though. They'd already gotten caught in her shadow, and they didn't have anywhere near enough time to reach the tree's base before her foot would come crashing down, smashing them all out of existence. Their hearts were racing as they sprinted across the area. They could make it...they could make it. They could make it. As their hearts were trying to bring in more faith in their venture, sweat was dripping down all three of their foreheads. Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei were running across the area, not realizing that Izoku had stopped.

A loud sound occurred behind them. The shadow around them, as enormous as it was, got smaller as Shiori's foot came down. They all jumped and flinched, expecting to be instantly crushed under the girl's shoe. They screamed, hitting the dirt, sliding a little, waiting for the end to come. It never did, though. Several seconds went by and nothing happened. It was all very confusing. Hitoshi looked up, seeing that the shadow was still all around them. Shiori was holding her foot up or something? Had she seen her? They all got up and turned, eyes nearly popping out of their sockets at what they saw.

Behind them, proving the full extent of the power his body held in his body, was Izoku. He had stopped and started a completely insane maneuver. Shiori's foot was trying to come down and, with his arms, he was shoving up against the tread of them, holding it in the air, keeping it from crushing them. The very idea of a person so small being able to hold up a large object was a feat in itself, but being able to stop a foot and hold it up, all by himself was absolutely miraculous. “Izoku!” screamed Hitoshi, looking back at him.

Izoku wasn't doing this easily, though. He was flinching and sweat was running down his entire face. His arms were shaking as he looked back at them and ordered them off. “Get...out of here...now! Get to the tree!” He wanted them to leave him to face off with Shiori's boot all alone. He was clearly having problems. Was there anything they could do? “We can't just leave you here!” called Tarou, concerned for his new comrade. There had to be something the three of them could do to help him. If he couldn't hold it, he'd surely be crushed, from under it.

“Yes, you can...If you do not get out from under this shoe, we will ALL be crushed...I...I can't hold it forever!” He really want them to leave him. Sei shook his head, refusing to go anywhere, so long as he could help. “No! We have to do this together. You're the best we have, Izoku. You are NOT gonna die for us!” Izoku's grip was getting worse. His legs were starting to shake at this point as well as she tried to keep conversing with them until he could convince them to go. “Who said...anything about dying?! I've gotten out of worse pickles than this. I'll catch...up with you! This is not the end. I'll catch up. Now...GO!”

Hitoshi was finally starting to catch onto things. Izoku's grip was getting worse and he'd be able to get out of the way. Surely, he would. If he was strong enough to hold up a giant foot, then surely he'd be able to get out of being crushed by it. “Guys, we need to move!” Tarou whipped his head around, looking at him. “But...Hitoshi!” Hitoshi had to be their leader, and look out for them. “If he says he'll catch up, then he will! Come on! MOVE!” He didn't have time to argue with them, right then. He was responsible for making sure they were safe, and he needed to follow Izoku's advice.

The three of them ran together and lunged at the very base of the tree, just as Shiori's foot came down. They were caught off-balance by a massive shockwave behind them. They landed with a thud and all looked back. Shiori's body was standing in front of the tree. They looked around her feet, and saw no sign of Izoku. Sei turned his head down, thinking. “Izoku-san...” Tarou soon joined him, looking down as well. “Did we...do the right thing just now?” Hitoshi joined them as well. He had to be able to calm them. “There was nothing else we could do. We have to trust him.”

“Dammit, Shiori!” screamed Sei, pounding his shoe into the dirt. “Why can't you mage girls ever pay attention to where you walk?! Dammit!” Tarou shook his head at Sei's frustration. He shared it, but knew he was blaming the wrong element. “Shiori isn't to blame, Sei. Masako is responsible for both Izoku and ourselves being in this situation. Reserve your anger for her.” Sei wasn't letting go, though. They didn't see Izoku anywhere. “But...what if Izoku...” He was saying what all of them were thinking, on some level.

“That's enough!” said Hitoshi. “Izoku-san said he would catch up with us. He will! He...He has to...” Tarou wanted to help calm the situation as well. “Please...No matter what happens, from now on, Izoku entrusted us to move forward. He did what he did so the three of us could carry out that task.” This was enough to calm Sei down. He looked up and got a grin on his face, for once. “...I guess you're right. That guy was way too tough to be taken out by some girl's foot...” Hitoshi agreed. He turned as he made one final statement. “We will see him again. I know we will. Right now, though, we have a tree to climb!”

The three of them then turned towards Zuika's Tree and headed towards it, a crystal shard to obtain...

The three of them had bigger things to worry about, right now, than their grief and grim theories about what happened to Izoku. They all wanted to have helped him with Shiori, and prayed that he was okay. They all hoped for the best, but in the back of their minds, there was still the thoughts of him not being okay. There were mental images that scared them, of a smashed Izoku, pasted onto the bottom of her foot, not having been able to make it out in time. They all wanted that to not be reality as they moved into a small crack at the bottom of the tree.

The inside of the tree was much like the log they'd wandered through before. The crevices and walls looked like some sort of dungeon, carved out so they could easily traverse it. There were smooth walls, small chests, and of course, forks in the path. Forks in the path was the one, huge thing they'd noticed in their adventure so far. There were forks in nearly every path. Who was putting all of these things here? Why couldn't there just be one, straight path, so they could get this over with quickly? It was all thrown in front of them, as difficult as could be.

There was a 'main' path, that sort of slithered around the middle of the area they were in, but lots of forks as well. Remembering what happened when they split up at the old log, they didn't want to take any chances. They strayed from the main path once, seeing a small box to the side. After procuring a Memory Ticket from it, as a group, they came back to the main path and slithered around until they found a small vine, growing against the wall. It was large enough, to them, to use as a sort of ladder or rope. Each grabbing onto it, they began to climb their way upwards, until they came to another area with a 'floor', like a second level of the tree.

The second level, of course, didn't have a 'main path' like the first one did. It was a 50/50 shot, so they decided to move to the West, hugging around the walls. Heading down, they saw an opening that came to the middle area, as well as a path that headed straight down. As soon as they went downward, they found themselves at a dead end. Having gone the wrong way, they turned and started to head towards the opening to the middle area when they heard a loud, buzzing sound. Their heads all turned every which way until they saw two hornets, high above them.

They had been out of heavy-fighting for a good while, but they managed to fend off these insects. Miraculously, Tarou was able to hit them with a quake spell, and Hitoshi finished them off with a quick few slashes of his sword, while jumping from wall-to-wall. As they came back down, Hitoshi felt fatigued. Being out of fighting for so long had made what fighting he had just done wear him out. Looking to the others, they realized that they would need to find some place here to do some training. Going with Izoku had made them hold back on energy conserving. Pulling out one bottle of Charm Cologne, they all sprayed themselves, so they could try to find a decent spot to do some training. Since the girls were out and about now, they had plenty of time to stick around here. There was no telling when Shiori would be gone and open their path back to Ant Town.

Coming to the middle area, they went around a few winding turns, picking up an Onion from a box along the way. The progression of this place was long, but not incredibly difficult. After a few minutes of searching, they found another vine, leading to the third 'level' of the tree. They were slowly, but surely, climbing up this tree, from the inside. The third level was a little more straight-forward than the previous ones. The path was set in a spiral. Although it took a long time to get through, and a lot of running, they made it to the center, where another vine was. They picked up a Mustard Bomb from a box, just before heading up the vine and into the next area.

On the fourth level, it was much like the second. The path split two ways. Choosing the east path first, the group eventually came to a dead end and a large chest. Within it were tin foil scraps that had been molded into bracers. Sei fit them over his arms, replacing the equipment he had there before. Afterward, they swung back around and chose the east path. Another few sets of turns on the main path led them to an exit. This wasn't an exit to the next level of the tree, but actually a hole that led outside. They passed through it and were shown daylight, once again.

They were not outside for long, but what time they were out there, they could see campus from a new perspective. They looked down and saw what looked like a mile or more of height. They were high above Shiori's head, at this point, along with a lot of other things around campus. Hugging against the wall, they used the fact that there was no wind today to their advantage, and quickly climbed up a vine, into another crack, re-entering the tree. They had managed to climb for a small time outside, but now would go further inside, where it would be easier to traverse, especially if any wind started to pick up.

After two pretty straight-forward 'levels' of the inside of the tree, they'd managed to procure some more supplies, and a new charm for Tarou. Soon after, they found yet another hole in the wall, leading them back outside. Out there, they found several small, flat levels of bark, connected by several vine. Being much like the ones they'd climbed before, they easily traversed this area, having to fight through some beetles and flies on their way up. After about 5 levels, they re-entered the tree again.

In the next 'room', they went around the twists and turns, and found yet another chest. This one opened up and revealed a large shield, made from a sunflower seed's shell. Hitoshi switched out for this new piece of 'equipment, and they headed to the next floor, where they found their new training spot. This last room had only a few branches, and almost every single branch eventually led back to the main path. Once they reached the ending, they found a box with money in it. Yes...even money was shrunken down and scattered now. On the south end was a shining light that was like the one outside the shrine, and a hole that led outside. After feeling their wounds heal, they waited for the cologne to wear off to find and fight some of the insects that dwelled here...

It didn't take that long for the three of them to realize that the training they thought they needed wasn't needed all that much, after all. They stayed around the shining light and waited for the insects that had been repelled before to come after them, and so they did. Every few minutes, they encountered beetles, spiders, and even the occasional plant vine that deemed them an unwanted guest of the tree's winding insides. After fighting or awhile, though, they began to realize that they hadn't gotten weaker, after all. They were just out of practice.

After giving themselves about half an hour to fight off all of these huge insects, they realized that it wasn't that hard, after all. By the time they stopped their little break of training, they felt that these insects were just as easy for them to take down as the ones in the dead log from before they met Izoku. Granted, they probably couldn't take down an entire swarm of them, but they were able to hold their own, as of right now. Knowing that Izoku might still be out there, they turned to the hole in the wall and pressed onward, not needing to stop and train any longer.

They came outside, once again, and found themselves on another long, flat level with a vine that connected to a higher point of the tree. They all moved, together, working their way up the vine, always with one standing on one of the levels, in case something was crawling around and tried to stop them from climbing further. As they got up to the next level, they realized they had another vine to climb. After that, they found another. Four levels up, they found another crack in the wood, leading back inside the tree. They went back inside, looking down, seeing Shiori's head, far below them. It almost looked like she wasn't gargantuan to them, but they knew she was.

Back inside the tree, they found themselves inside a relatively small room. There were three paths from the main one, each with endings well within sight. Two of the paths led to small boxes, and the other led to another hole in the wall, which presumably led back outside. As they walked through, collecting supplies from the boxes, they could hear the noises from outside. There was no wind, but the distant sounds of walking and talking students were well within their level of hearing. After getting done up here, they'd have to try to figure away around all of those students and get back to Ant Town.

Once back outside, the trio found themselves on top of a large, thick branch of the tree. They could see the mountainous terrain dozens of miles into the distance, the horizon holding a much new view for them. The branch was shaped in a jagged form. It had no leaves on it, but held something at the end of it. They looked into the distance, trying to see it, but they couldn't quite see. It was gold, for sure, but the only way they'd find out is if they went to the end of the branch and found out for themselves.

They moved along the branch, slowly. It was large and didn't move at all, but that didn't change the fact that it would start moving if the wind picked up anytime soon. They wanted to make sure they were careful. If the wind did pick up, and they were sent off it, they would die. Even if Shiori's hair, far below, cushioned their fall, the impact would likely still kill or injure them. They wanted to make sure that didn't happen. It took a few minutes of walking, but the eventually came to the end of the branch, where they found a large, gold-plated chest.

The chest was stuck inside the very end of the branch, and the three of them came to it, looking at one another. They grinned, a strange feeling coming across their bodies. They felt like this was exactly what they were looking for. They hadn't even opened it yet, but somehow, they knew it was going to contain what they were seeking. Or, rather, what Izoku had been seeking. Not wanting to wait too long, Hitoshi and Tarou both lifted up the chest, it being a little larger than a normal chest. It was heavy, and took both of them to get it open.

Once it had been opened up, the three of them approached the opened chest and took a peek inside it. They were hoping that it didn't have any food, or supplies, or weapons in it, and they were pleasantly surprised. Within the chest was something rather sizable, but definitely not food, supplies, or weapons. It looked like a large, thick piece of glass that belonged on some sort of armored vehicle. They reached inside, pulling out the surprisingly-light object, and managed to put it away. This had to have been the crystal shard that they were looking for.

Sei was the first to speak up about this crystal shard they'd found. They knew that they were after it, but they had no idea what they were supposed to do with it. Izoku had proposed making some sort of weapons out of them, but how would they be able to do that? “So...what the hell are we supposed to do with this?” He was curious, as were the three others. They knew Izoku wanted them, and they were part of his master plan, but they hadn't been told the means by which they would be using them or how to get to that point.”

“As it is now, I'm not sure how we could ever use it as a weapon.” Tarou had a good point in his analysis of the situation. They were still in the dark about a lot of this. They didn't know how they'd craft it into a weapon, who would be able to make it, or how they would get back to the shrine in order to fight the Red Queen. Everything about this was so confusing to them. It would be so much easier if Izoku was still around to tell them these things. That is, assuming he even had a complete master plan.

As they conversed, Hitoshi stopped them both. He heard something from above them. Grabbing onto them, he turned his two comrades around as a host of buzzing sounds came from above. They all grabbed onto their weapons as they saw something coming. They were big, and they had wings. They were coming, straight for them. They wouldn't be getting out of this tree without a fight...

As the trio looked to the skies, they could hear a violent buzzing sound, coming from above them. They saw the three huge monsters approaching. They all whipped by their heads, causing a small gust of wind. Sei fell onto his back as he was trying to pull his weapon out. The three came around and buzzed to the branch they were on. Two of them stayed high in the air, and one of them landed halfway down the branch, slowly crawling towards them. They were a lot bigger than they were, and it almost looked like they were wasps.

The three wasps were color-coded, in a way. The one on the branch was bright blue, and the two in the skies were red and yellow. They all had striped, down to their stingers, which could easily impale any of the trio. They came together, in a group, and seemed to be set on keeping Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei was leaving the tree, at this time. They were set on fighting them and either just keeping them from leaving or finding a nice, tiny meal from the three of them. They weren't about to give up without a fight, though. Tarou, especially, scanning all three of them.

Tarou knew, all too well, that color-coded monsters were colored for a reason. Their bright colors were a representation on the power they wielded, and he figured this was no different. Before they even sent off any sparks, he began to theorize that the red one was able to do something, in regards to fire. Were he correct, then the blue one would be something with water or ice, and the yellow would be thunder and lightning. Having this knowledge and, assuming he was right, they would be able to exploit weaknesses, making this battle all the easier.

With the blue one quickly crawling up the branch, running after them, Tarou was the first to test his theory. Holding his staff out, he cast a simple fire-based spell, launching a brief flash of fire at the torso of the wasp. Just as he suspected, it reacted in a very desirable way. There was a loud shriek, as the wasp fell on it's back. It's body was covered in flames. This gave Hitoshi and Sei the perfect opportunity to go in for the kill. It was completely stunned and helpless. All they had to do was finish the job he'd started.

As soon as Hitoshi got close, he blasted his way through the wasp, rapidly slashing it with his sword over a dozen times. This knocked the stunned wasp back and severed most of it's wings. To finish the job came Sei. He tossed his weapon at the wasp, boomeranging around and breaking the balance it had on the branch. With a shriek, the huge insect fell towards the ground, not likely to be returning anytime soon. As soon as they had defeated the first of the three, the other two started moving, aiming to dive-bomb both Hitoshi and Sei.

Tarou called for them, trying to warn them to get out of the way, but they were too fast. He began casting an ice-based spell to try to ward one of them off, but it was too slow. By the time the chunks of ice formed and smashed into the red wasp, Sei had already been struck. Hitoshi and Sei were sent flying, sliding across the branch with tears in the back of their armor. They got up, only to see the yello wasp coming towards them. It flew high and then around the branches, out of sight. Where was it? Where would it come out from to attack again? They didn't know, but they all watched the branches carefully. Thankfully, there were no leaves for this wasp to hide behind.

They all stuck their faces to the middle of the tree, not realizing that these giant wasps were playing them. The buzzing sound happened again, but it sounded like it was coming from everywhere. They were all looking for them, and they only seemed to find one. The one from before, that had gotten stunned by Tarou's ice spell. It was starting to recover from it's fall, it's wings fidgeting, trying to get airborne again. Hitoshi and Sei immediately went after it, trying to get rid of it. Using the same strategy as before, they managed to send it flying off, but not before the yellow one made it's move.

From behind them came a scream, Tarou's voice. Hitoshi and Sei looked back, only to see Tarou falling to the ground, his arms and legs shaking. They could see electrical bolts surging around him as the yellow wasp landed on the branch, just passed him. It had, somehow, managed to completely disable Tarou's body. He was quivering, as if he couldn't move at all. Hitoshi and Sei took this time to assault the wasp, before it could do any more harm to Tarou. They didn't care if it was closer. They were going to take their chances and try to get there in time.

The wasp saw the two of them charging at it, and it flew towards them, surprisingly abandoning the disabled Tarou. It flew straight at them, and Hitoshi's blade clashed with it's stinger. It was instantly cut in half. Just as the others had done from Tarou's spells, the wasp let out a shriek and fell to the ground at the pain of losing it's stinger. Falling down, it hit the branch, completely helpless. Using everything they had, Hitoshi and Sei slashed the monster dozens upon dozens of times, until it's wings had been broken and they were able to shove it off the branch, falling to it's doom.

The two then ran over to Tarou, whose shaking was starting to let up. He was starting to recover. Hitoshi and Sei helped him up and they then sat him down, letting him rest for awhile, before heading back down the tree to go back to Ant Town...

After taking a few moments to rest and adjust their damaged armor, the three of them set off again, to leave the tree, assuming Shiori was gone and leaving their path open. They were hoping she was gone as they went back inside the tree, passing by a few empty boxes from earlier. Hopefully, she was, indeed, gone. If she wasn't, however, they'd be stuck in the tree until she did finally leave. They'd gotten what they came for, though, so all that was left was to get moving and find a way back to Ant Town.

After trekking through the tree for a few minutes, they came to one of the open areas, full of the flat platforms and vine 'ladders'. They approached one of the vines and peered down the mass of the tree. What seemed like miles below them was an empty area in front of the tree. Shiori, thankfully, was gone, as Tarou began to point out. “It appears that Shiori has left the area. However...” He stopped, thinking about what might be out there, other than Shiroi. Hitoshi went with this hesitation, mentioning that all of the girls were probably out of class by now, meaning they had a lot more feet to try to dodge to get back to Ant Town than just Shiori's.

The weight of the situation was sinking in and they were all wincing at the thought of all those gigantic feet they would have to dodge. The girls could make so much more distance with a single step than any of them could make in a long run. They had to be strategic and lucky to be able to trek across campus, when it was like this. “I never would have imagined a girl's feet, of all things, could have such a significant impact on my daily routine” said Sei, not liking this situation any more than the others did.

They definitely had to be careful, from now on. Just because the girls didn't know they were down there didn't make it any safer for them. They were still gigantic and could easily step on them, without even knowing it. They all looked at each other, not wanting to have their lives ended at the bottom of some girl's foot. “We should make haste back to Ant Town” said Tarou, trying to throw down a little information on what their next destination would be, and that they should get back there sooner rather than later. “Use extreme caution. We need to choose our path carefully and avoid any unnecessary proximity to the girls.”

“Right” said Hitoshi, agreeing with Tarou's plan for getting back. He had something else on his mind, too, which he wanted to share with them. “Hopefully...Izoku went back towards Ant Town as well...” They all stood and thought for a moment, looking down at where Shiori was standing before. They had mixed feelings about what they thought happened to Izoku. They all wanted to believe that he was just fine, but also had a feeling in their gut that they'd see him plastered on the bottom of Shiori's shoes. After taking their moment, they moved forward and headed down the vines.

Their trip down the tree was a relatively quick one, but not terribly easy. There were still a lot of insects and plants in the three they wanted to make them their next meal. They still had a few bottles of charm cologne left over, but they wanted to save it. These insects weren't really that hard to get through, so they didn't want to waste any of the colognes on them. They would just buy some more when they got back to Ant Town, to ensure that they had a nice, big supply for what they might face, in the future.

It took some time, but they finally made it to the bottom of the tree again. As they exited and headed back out into the field, they were walking through grass again. They wanted to make haste, so they just went straight. They figured they would automatically know when they were near one of the girls, since they'd be titanic in comparison. As long as they didn't go near any skyscraper-sized women, they would be just fine. They took the time to cut through the garden again, feeling slight vibrations in the ground. Dirt quivered, every so often, and they could hear loud, booming sounds off in the distance. The other girls were definitely out, at the moment.

As they go through the garden, they headed west, past a long pit of dirt to see two girls somewhat nearby. On the other end of the dirt-pile, was a towering blue-haired girl and a green-haired girl. They all got scared, just by looking at them. They were conversing with one another, their voices loud and echoing in their heads. The girls looked towards one another and the trio hurried by the dirt-filled area, not wanting to be anywhere near them. For all they knew, the green-haired one would become scared of them, and the blue-haired one would get rid of them, using her foot, so the other wouldn't be scared anymore.

Not wanting to have such a miserably end to their existence, they steered clear of those two. As long as they didn't come near them, they could be happy and fine. Instead, they saw a clear path, off in the distance, towards the ceremonial stage. That was their current destination. As they ran across the path, they had to get around a few obstacles, like the occasional spider and beetle. They were plenty prepared for those, though. A quick slashing or spell got those things out of their way. Before long, they finally arrived at their destination. They could hear the walking of one of the girls near them, as they arrived at the ceremonial stage. Because of that, they quickly went into Ant Town, not wanting to be around when she decided to walk where they currently were...

Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei spared no pleasantries as they re-entered Ant Town. Although they'd managed to procure the shard of the crystal, as planned, they were only really worried about one thing: Izoku. They all rushed back to the back room, where they'd spoken to the professors earlier. They were hoping that, when they got there, they'd be able to hear news that Izoku had come back to Ant Town or wandered off elsewhere. Anything to tell them he'd managed to get away from the encounter with Shiori's foot.

When they got there, however, they didn't have as much luck as they had hoped for. As soon as they asked about him, Houjo spoke up, confirming that they hadn't seen Izoku at all. “I'm afraid Izoku hasn't come around here since you left.” he said, bringing the bad news to the three students. “We were, honestly, expecting him to come back with the three of you. Why do you ask? Don't tell me a tough guy like that ended up falling behind...” Houjo clearly had no idea what had happened. How could he have? It's not like Zuika's Tree was anywhere close to Ant Town.

The three of them confirmed that Izoku did, indeed, fall behind. They didn't, however, go into the details about what had really happened. Tarou simply said that he fell behind. Sei added onto this. “He said he'd catch up with us. When we didn't run into him again at the tree, we figured that he ended up coming back here.” They all had gloom looks on their faces, which made it impossible to hide what they were thinking, along with the guilt they were feeling from him doing what he did for them.

The details would be coming out, even though they didn't want them to. Houjo continued the conversation, asking them what happened. It seemed they didn't have a choice in the matter of discussing everything that happened. Or, perhaps, they did have a choice. Hitoshi, being the leader, spoke up and kept them all from talking about the incident with Shiori. “It...doesn't matter. He will turn up. He's been at this for much too long to be beaten here, and now.” He kept his optimism high, despite the slim chances that Izoku was actually able to get out of the way from that predicament he'd been in. Still, they had to keep their hopes up. Optimism is almost all they had, in their current plight.

Some of them had to, anyways. Sei didn't share all of the optimism that his friends had. He went back to the topic of the crystal shard they'd just scaled a tree to procure. “...but without him here, this crystal shard may as well be a clod of dirt to us. I don't know what his plan was for using it as a weapon, but I'm sure that none of us have the power to do it.” His negativity was pouring out into the room. Houjo looked to the table for a moment, as if he were in deep thought about what he said. They were lost without Izoku. They didn't know what his plan was. All they knew was that he wanted to turn the crystal shards into some sort of weapon, or weapons.

Houjo thought of an idea, though. Maybe not an idea to solve all of their problems, but something that would be better than standing around Ant Town, moping all day. “Hmm...an old friend of mine once said that when you lose your way, the best thing to do is make a new one. Hitoshi. Earlier, you spoke of trying to get Ayuka's help in this matter. Right?” He was talking about what Hitoshi wanted to do earlier, before they went towards the tree. Hitoshi agreed, but the negativity in the air caused him to sound hopeless, as if they couldn't do anything without having Izoku around.


“Be quiet” he said, shutting Hitoshi and his ranting of negativity up. “If you three were able to get that crystal shard without his aid, there is much more that you can do. I can tell you've grown quite strong since you stumbled into my hut on the beach, lad.” Even if they were stronger, they still didn't know about the plan Izoku had about using the crystal against the Red Queen. Tarou interrupted Houjo to express this concern. Not even he knew how to do what Izoku had suggested.

“The plan is not lost.” said Houjo, seemingly the only optimist in the room. “You're just putting that on hold, for now. Let's focus on what we CAN do, instead of what we can't. You know, what you wanted to set out to do from the start of all this.” Houjo's speech was getting through to Sei, who thought and mentioned Izoku telling them that they had the potential to do great things. Even if Houjo was just some drunk they met at the beach, his words, at the moment, were wise.

Hitoshi hadn't been struck, completely, yet, though. He still had that negativity in his head. He was trying to think logically, viewing the fact that Izoku had fallen behind so easily. “Listen, Houjo-san. I know I talked big, made a big scene about finding the principal and carrying out our mission. I really do, but seeing how easily Izoku fell behind. I just...I'm not sure if...” The negativity was starting to grow, yet again. They had reason to feel that way. They were the size of ants, their friends were towering titanesses who could snuff them out of existence with a brief step, or even a soft wiggling of their toes.

Yet, there was still hope. Houjo interrupted him again, talking about how Izoku would not want to see them moping around. He expressed that Izoku was impressed by the determination the three of them held. After this, the three of them started to think a little straighter, realizing that they did have to go forward. If they didn't keep going, then what did Izoku's plight even mean? If they gave in, their efforts to stop this would be for nothing. The optimism was starting to return, especially inside Hitoshi. Houjo was finally able to get through to them.

“Okay! Our mission, now, is to head into the academy!” said Hitoshi. “There will be massive, stomping feet left and right. We may not survive, but we will get help from them. Somehow, we will!” The others agreed, also sparking the possibility of Umi helping them, if Ayuka can't, and that as long as they still could breathe, they still had a chance for getting their attention and their help.

Houjo shook his head at their rapid improvement. “You kids and your mood swings...Ah well. Be careful out there! You are no use to anyone if you get stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe.” He was right. This was a dangerous situation. Inside the academy, they could easily get stomped to death, have something dropped on them, sat on, eaten, or things they didn't even wish to think about. They acknowledged his concern and set off to stock up on some supplies, and head into the academy...