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...