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.