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...