The cold fall air of the Southern Sakhalin Wilderness felt like it was actively trying to attack her rosy cheeks. Though the large fallen tree they were hiding behind offered some protection, it wasn’t much.

Ren cupped her hands and breathed into them so she could warm both them and her face. They’d worked so hard to track down the apparent source of a local menace, and were now lying in wait for the opportune moment to strike.

It all began about a week ago. The owlbear Zhelenka befriended had led them straight to a Blight. The malignant plant monster attacked them without a second thought. While elementally they didn’t stand much of a chance against it, with their experience they were likely more than enough to take it down.

But on the following day, they ran into another two Blights, who were apparently searching for where their friend had gone. Dispatching those two only led to more of the vile creatures appearing.

Zhelenka suggested the reason the owlbear had submitted must have been because the Blights were killing most if not all of its natural prey, leaving it to starve. Presenting it with food was likely a blessing in its eyes. When asked if there were any nuisances, it led them straight to part of the issue plagueing the area.

This overall pointed to a potentially larger issue: the Blights had to have something controlling them. The most likely possibility was a mischievous but highly intelligent plant monster or demi-human of some sort was attempting to create a domain in the forest they were currently camping in.

Thus, an annoying issue arose. If the creature was left unchecked, it would only fester and become a more dangerous entity that future adventurers would likely have to avoid. It might even try to dominate the entirety of the southern half of the island, which was a wholly undesirable outcome.

On the other hand, if they pulled it out by the root now, they may receive a thank you from Tokyo Tower and begin to build the rapport they’d need to emigrate to the Tier 1 city. But it would come with the possibility of their party being swarmed and killed.

Tokiwa-san had said that in the long run, people definitely wouldn’t forget any actions they took that they didn’t have to. They were guests of the country, so there was no obligation to risk their lives unnecessarily. But the student trio agreed that the experience of the purge would be worth the risk amongst the other benefits.

And thus, they laid out their current plan. Tokiwa-san offered to play the part of bait by making a marvelous ruckus and leading their target out into an opening where Eriza and Zoey could help her bring it down.

Of course, the whole thing hinged on Tokiwa-san being able to keep her focus on luring out the creature and not trying to solo kill it. The Earth Sorceress had said she was always in need of CCs, so it was entirely possible she would try to keep the glory for herself.

Her companion wouldn’t be happy with that though. He previously mentioned he could also use the CCs as well.

Currently, she could see the Abjurer’s warm breath permeating the air. He wore a wild grin that made her feel as if he was going to do something unexpected and crazy. A glance from him was more than enough for her to focus on her attention back on the small clearing they were watching.

“Do not worry, little one. Tokiwa-san will be back soon with big payday. Money for everyone and vodka for me, ah,” Zhelenka said with a thick Russian accent that would remind one of a Russian playboy.

Though she had her doubts, the man’s faith in his companion was enough to quell them a little. But still, the possibility that Tokiwa-san would try to take all the glory for herself couldn’t be denied.

“Are you sure she doesn’t want to try and hoard the CCs for herself?”

“Da. She might be starved for them but that doesn’t mean she’s crazy. This creature likely isn’t something she could handle on her own. If it’s cowing so many of these creatures, then it must be a general-tier creature. You know what that means, right?”

“The higher the tier of the creature, the greater the chance of a Spirit and the rarity of its materials. So, we’re looking to get a Spirit out of this then, correct?”

“That’s right little one. You and your friends are smarter than the other whelps we’ve helped in the past. Keep it up and you’ll be a great mage someday. Perhaps you could even attend university in Moscow. Mother Russia would welcome comrades like yourselves.”

“I owe that to someone else. How much would the Spirit be worth? I doubt any of us would be compatible with it. And while I appreciate the sentiment, I have unfinished business in Japan first. I’d love to visit Russia once it's done.”

The Earth Abjurer leaned back and rubbed his chin for a moment.

“Depends on how powerful the creature turns out to be but given it’s a Plant monster, I’d say no less than a few thousand HDMs and a couple hundred CCs. Of course, you wouldn’t be getting CCs so you’d be getting more HDMs out of it.”

The way he said it with such nonchalance was an indicator of either how carefree he was or how little he cared for HDMs, which was hard to believe. While CCs could get one a long way in the world, HDMs helped to pay for basic necessities and other such things. Not having a keen interest in them was more than just a little strange.

“Are you sure you’re not interested in having a fair cut of HDMs?”

“Da. You need to grow big and strong, otherwise humanity would be at a loss. This is the least I can do. Plus, I’m trading my fair share for HDMs. Fair, no?”

A fair trade then, though she had no idea how many HDMs the man considered a CC worth.

“Mhmm, thank you Zhelenka.”

“Haha, don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s up to us adults to help raise the your generation to be big and strong,” he said, squinting out at the clearing. “Where is Tokiwa? That woman is always late, you tell her to show up at three o’clock and she shows up at five.”

The man had a point. Tokiwa-san had been gone for over an hour now, nearing two. While she didn’t want to think of the possibility that the woman had somehow gotten herself into more trouble than she could handle, it wasn’t completely impossible.

The most likely possibility was that she’d either gotten lost trying to bring the plant Creature back to them or she’d been unable to locate it, which was unlikely given that she said she was going to lure it out. Zhelenka had joked her orienteering was terrible when they first met. While at first she didn’t believe it, she quickly came to realize he wasn’t kidding. The woman could likely get lost anywhere.

“You don’t think she’s gotten lost again, do you?”

Beside her, her Russian companion stifled what would have been a hearty laugh. After calming himself down, he spoke.

“It’s possible. This is Tokiwa we are talking about. The woman gets lost in her own house sometimes. But I think we would have heard a disturbance in the distance if that were true.”

Being loud and boisterous, Tokiwa-san was the most likely one of the group to lose her cool. When she made a ruckus, she really made a ruckus. Those were moments that remained engraved in the mind long after their occurrence.

“Then that means she hasn’t run into trouble either, right?”

“Right. If that were the case, we’d hear the forest being torn apart. Though it’s possible she wandered too far off. Let’s hope that isn’t the case. Speaking of which, have you seen Mili? That bear’s claws would be useful right now”

The last time she’d seen the owlbear in question was the previous day when the Abjurer was feeding it scraps. The Earth Magus did have a point, it’s sharp claws would easily slice through vines and other fibrous matter the creature they were about to face may produce. A killing machine like that was also fierce and not easily dissuaded.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t seen him since yesterday when you fed him.”

“A lost opportunity I suppose. Ah well, no use crying over mistakes. So, about Moscow, it’s a lovely place. Lots of people, beautiful architecture, good food, you’d love it.”

It seemed like the best thing to do was indulge him a little bit. Staying on his best side was definitely a good idea, considering he was the Abjurer.

“Please, tell me more.”

On the other side of the clearing, Eriza sat next to Zoey behind a bush, prepared to blindside the monster Tokiwa-san was hopefully guiding to them. Currently, they were deep in their own hushed conversation, in which the Water Transmuter had just dropped a bomb on her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

“We were so busy with the chaos that ensued with Iris and Luna just before we left that there was no time. I’ve been meaning to tell you and Ren. It’s just…”

The Lightning Sorceress raised a brow at her companion before sighing. The Transmuter did have a point. With everything that was going on before they left they possibly wouldn’t have gone on this trip. Not with this kind of news at least.

The question now was: just how were they going to get their friend out of this mess. This wouldn’t be easy considering Zoey was a minor, which meant she was under her parents’ thumb.

“You do realize that if your father is going to try and bait Luna into doing something at the Christmas Eve party, don’t you?”

“Yes but we won’t be attending that party this year. I’ve already informed father that I will not be coming,” the Water Sorceress responded assertively.

After shooting her friend a confused look, the woman elaborated a bit further on what she meant.

“We can hold a small party of our own or go to one of our friends’. Why go to a big formal one when we can have fun together. It may be our last Christmas together for a long time after all, though I hope that’s not the case.”

That was something she didn’t want to think of. Their uncertain future seemed to tear their party apart and send them all on their separate ways. That was something to be avoided. Luna was an easy target if it was just her and Iris, and Zoey wasn’t strong enough to stand out on her own. Not yet at least.

Pushing those topics from her mind, she decided to pry further into this arranged marriage situation her friend had been forced into. If anything, it would hopefully happen after Year 12. If not, well there was about to be a disgusting battle ahead.

“When’s the wedding supposed to happen?”

“Next February.”

Could she catch a fucking break for five minutes? The insanity of marrying off a senior who was still in school to someone she hadn’t even met was atrocious. After returning to Sydney, she was definitely going to have a field day with whoever the jackass her friend was to be wedded to was.

“They’re doing this while you’re still in school? What the fuck is wrong with your parents?”

“I’m sorry.”

It seemed like she’d pushed just a little too hard, as now the girl was apologizing for her disgusting parents. Her impulsiveness needed to be reigned in, but that was a matter for later. Switching to comfort mode was for the best.

“Zoey you have no reason to apologize. If anyone should be apologizing, it’s your parents. They’re the ones who’re causing us pointless trouble. But before we get back to Sydney, we really need to form plan on how we’re going to deal with this. After all, you don’t want to go through with it, do you?”

The Transmuter shook her head in disapproval and put on her best puppy dog eyes.

“I really would rather not, but if I don’t then I won’t be able to continue attending Lilith’s. They pay my tuition and if I were to refuse them, I fear they’d revoke it just for my disobedience.”

“I hate to admit it, but that does sound like something your parents would do. They’re just as bad as Iris’. Well, Arthur at least, not so sure about Elsie. Always felt like something’s funny there,” Eriza sighed. “Anyway, let’s just let the upcoming fight to clear our heads. Then we can begin to deal with this later.”

“Oh that’s right, we were waiting for Tokiwa-san to return. I wonder what’s taking her so long.”

That could be any number of possibilities. It could be something as simple as having to take a detour because one path had been closed off, or she’d gotten injured. But if that were the case, she likely wouldn’t be returning.

Peering above their bush, she found nothing of visible note. This was at the center of where the Blights had apparently made their residence, so not seeing a single one of the monsters was unsettling. Where were they all if they weren’t here?

“It’s so odd having to wait for something here when usually it’s go go go,” the Evoker dryly commented.

“It’s quite a refreshing change of pace isn’t it? I wish we could do this more often. For just a moment, focus on how calm your surroundings are, minus the dangerous creatures.”

Eriza took in a deep breath and did as requested. The crisp fall air surrounding them was damp, but carried an earthy scent. The sound of pines gently swaying above filled the air along with the occasional chirping bird. The feeling that began to encompass her was pleasant overall.

Now that she thought of it, they rarely slowed down back home if ever. The intense daily schedule from being tutored by Luna and Iris piled on top of all their other studies left little time for leisure. But that was the nature of becoming stronger: it was hard work. The payoff of that hard work was just too good to pass up. After all, to get ahead one needed to have good merits.

“If this wasn’t a Purple Zone, it might actually be a nice place to visit on occasion. But it’s far too dangerous for that, unfortunately.”

“It’s kind of sad. I wonder why the world has to be so hostile? Did humanity start this, or is there another reason?”

One of the things Eriza appreciated the most about her affluent friend was how she could question anything and make sense while doing it.

As for the Lightning Sorceress herself, it wasn’t as though she was outright hostile to Demi-Humans. Elves were probably alright, given Luna was such a kind and caring person. Perhaps there were other races like her that were docile.

She was still somewhat apprehensive about the matter though. For all they knew, Luna could be an outlier. Elves could simply want to toy with humanity because they lived at least five times as long as the average mage and had spellcraft much more advanced than humanity’s. That’s what some of what she’d read made elves seem like, anyway.

The sound of branches snapping and loud footsteps in the distance brought her out of her thoughts. Peering her head over their bush, she could see movement in the distance.

“Fuck fuck fuck,” the not far off sound of Tokiwa-san’s panicked voice hit her ears.

Whatever the Earth Transmuter had done, it had certainly gotten the attention of something. From what she could tell, there were four figures running next to Tokiwa-san. She didn’t hear any shouting or voices coming from the woman’s direction. Whatever was following her wasn’t communicating audibly, which meant the Earth Sorceress likely had Blights of some form following her.

Grabbing Zoey’s head and bringing it down below sight level, the Evoker held her breath, waiting until the sounds of footsteps was right next to their hiding place. Once they were, she started with a Lightning Bolt. Hopefully Tokiwa-san would be past her by that point, as she would be casting blind.

“Lightning Bolt.”

With a light clap, frenetic electricity soared from her fingertips, hitting a lean green figure square in the shoulder. Stumbling back, it turned to face her.

This one appeared to be a Needle Blight. A spiky, bark-skinned, demi-human appearing plant monster that she’d certainly pissed off.

“Water Pillar.”

Water burst forth from the ground, launching a different figure into the sky. This one appeared to be less spiky, but just as menacing as the first. A typical Blight, she supposed.

Another Lightning Bolt dispatched the Needle Blight, leaving a smoking stump where its head was. With two of their targets disposed of, the Lightning Sorceress turned her attention to the others.

Two of them had stopped in their tracks and begun shifting directions. The third, however, was bearing down on Tokiwa-san like a rabid beast.

It was a tall quadraped that resembled something similar to a wolf made of twisted wood and vine. It lacked eyes entirely, despite having all the other basic features one would expect of a living being. Parts of it were hollow, leaking out a green light of some sort.

Drawing upon her bestiary knowledge, she supposed this creature might be a subspecies of Treant. At least that’s what seemed to be the case. More than likely, the reality was the monster was a type of evolved Blight called a Prime Blight, which usually led packs of other Blights.

“Ghregh lragh,” the Prime Blight howled, it’s voice slightly echoing within its body.

Immediately, spikes shout out of the trees next toward where her younger sister and Zhelenka had been hiding. Fortunately, the sudden appearance of two thick slabs of rock signaled they were safe, for the moment.

“Water Pillar.”

Zoey wasn’t missing a beat. Though it was obvious she was solely focused on the lesser Blights, just like they had planned. With the inferior creatures preoccupied in having to run a distance back to them, they could quickly dispatch the creature first and then mop up what was left.

Quickly aiming, the Evoker incanted another Lightning Bolt and targeted one of the creature’s appendages. If she could keep it off-axis and force it to focus on reforming its appendages while Tokiwa-san pummeled it, they could wear it down much quicker.

“Lightning Bolt.”

Hysterical electricity once against flew from her fingertips at blinding speed, striking the hulking plant mass in the center of the front foreleg, severing it where it hit. A howl of agony and anger filled the air as the monster quickly turned to face her and began spriting at break-neck pace.

“Stone Pillar.”

A pillar of stone burst forth from below the ground, angled so that it slammed the creature’s belly and sent it hurtling through the air until it came to a tumbling halt.

“Lightning Bolt.”

Immediately casting a follow-up attack, Eriza watched as her lightning cleaved it’s way through the air, dead set on blowing the creature’s head off.

A meter away from the sentient plant’s head, a wall of branches sprouted from the ground. Splinters flew out in every direction as it took the brunt of the blow. Quietly, the Evoker swore and began preparing to throw another Lightning Bolt when she felt a strong hand grab her shoulder.

Next to her, Zoey was frantically pointing in the direction Tokiwa-san had initially come from, spouting incoherent gibberish that she didn’t understand whatsoever.

“Zoey,” Eriza said, firmly grabbing the Transmuter’s shoulders. “Settle down, what is it?”

The girl took a deep breath and quickly exhaled it.

“We’ve got company and lot’s of it. Look at the shadows,” the girl said before pointing once again to the other end of the clearing.

Studying the woods beyond the open area, the Lightning Sorceress realized the shadows of the well-covered area weren’t caused by the foliage of the trees. About thirty different figures were standing idly about, laying in wait for the opportune moment to strike.

The best way to deal with this sudden turn of events, she supposed, wouldn’t be a real show of force but a masquerade. If she could convince the damn things that she was far more powerful than they were, then she’d be able to scare them off. A flashy and loud enough spell should do the trick, assuming Blights weren’t that intelligent.

Across from her, the plant creature had reformed most of it’s blown off limb and was currently slamming into Zhelenka’s shield with large flying spears of wood. Behind him, she could see her younger sister working tirelessly to keep Tokiwa-san and the Abjurer on their feet.

If this battle dragged on much longer, the question of how long it would take for everyone to become OoM would become prevalent. She was already at about half and they were about a minute into the fight. And while they also had time to spare, they shouldn’t take their advantage for granted.

There were other prevalent issues as well. That group lying in wait could just be waiting for them to begin to tire before striking. Furthermore, who knew what the general-tier plant creature was capable of when it was cornered. For all they knew, the thing could be as high of a threat as Tier 8 if not 9. Such a sight wasn’t uncommon in the Purple Zone’s after all. It’s why adventuring parties went missing all the time in said zones. They happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If she didn’t actively keep it pinned with cover fire then it who knows what would happen. Tokiwa-san was talented, but she couldn’t handle the thing on her own and Zoey was busy with crowd control.

Incanting another Lightning Bolt, the Evoker decided it would be best to target another one of the Prime Blight’s forelegs to keep it grounded preoccupied. If it couldn’t keep it’s front up easily, then it would have to split its focus between parrying attacks and recovering its lost limb in hopes of going fully on the offensive once again.

“Lightning Bolt.”

“Earth Bind.”

Eriza’s hysterical electricity once again clawed its way through the air towards its target. This time, Tokiwa-san’s plans seemed to interfere with her own. Several brown tendrils of earth burst forth from the ground and ensnared the creature. As a result, her lightning grounded once it got close to its target.

“Sorry, no time to waste,” Tokiwa-san shouted, glancing in her direction. “Fucking damnet, behind you.”

Immediately, the Lightning Mage felt her shield breaking behind her, leaving her stunned. In the next second, her world went white-hot with pain. While she’d been busy with the general-tier monster in front of her, one of the Blights that was watching them must have taken advantage of the situation and snuck up behind her for an attack.

Though she was on the ground now, she wasn’t out of the fight yet. Even if she couldn’t exactly see, she could still attack. An overcharged Shocking Grasp would make whatever attacked her run far away.

Reaching out in front of her, she shouted, “Shocking Grasp.”

Frenetic electricity shot forth from her hands and audibly made contact with a Blight, which shrieked in pain before apparently collapsing.

“Cure Minor Wounds.”

Warm, itching mana flooded the Lightning Soreceress’ body for a brief moment, allowing her sight to return.

“Thanks Ren,” the girl said before looking around to see what Zhelenka was doing. He should have blocked that, no questions asked.

As it so happened, the man was wholly preoccupied with the group of Blights that had begun rushing their party. Assisting him was Zoey, though despite her help it was still a losing battle.

She needed to do something fast, otherwise they’d be overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies before them. There was no other choice, it was time for the masquerade. Hopefully, it would work out well enough to scare off their enemies.

“Dazzling Burst.”

The Tier 4 spell flew from her fingertips similar to the beginning of a passing wind on a midsummer’s eve. The spell quickly made its way over the growing horde and exploded into a mesmerizing display of lightning and sound. The explosion was so loud that it caused anything within five meters to immediately grab it’s head because of the pain.

And just as she’d hoped, her spell scared off not just a couple, but all of the Blights, who immediately retreated in various directions. The sight of the full-on retreat of several dozen Blights from a meager party of five mages was something one couldn’t make up. The sight of it was just too surreal.

“Good job comrade, now send this creature back where it came from,” Zhelenka complimented her while turning his attention to the creature they’d been fighting.

“Rock Hammer,” Tokiwa-san shouted.

Next to the Earth Transmuter, an arch of rock and dirt erupted from the ground and soared through the air and slammed into the creature’s side.

The beast howled in pain and thrashed about in a frenzy. Betrayed and cornered, it had now apparently become desperate and began a full on charge towards Zhelenka and Ren.

Seeing as how the thing had decided to lose control and go all out, the Lightning Sorceress decided it was best to risk electrocuting Tokiwa-san and stamp out the Prime Blight before it could harm the pair in its path.

“Zoey blast it now,” the girl shouted.

Pumping as much mana into her spell as she could muster without overdoing it, Eriza watched as her companion flanked the side of the monster and pushed her hands out in front of her as if someone was in front of her.

“Water Burst.”

The ground below the hulking plant monster bubbled for a moment before erupting in the form of a burst of water, coating every centimeter of the plant monster. Fortunately the water was clean and apparently free of most inhibitors, allowing it to conduct electricity.

“Eriza go,” her companion yelled.

“Lighting Bolt.”

A horn of lightning shot forth from her fingers at the rampaging plant creature. In the blink of an eye, the entire hulking mass was bathed in radiant electrical energy, the sound of sizzling filling the air alongside more monstrous howls.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tokiwa-san making a sprint in its direction. When she was within a couple feet of the monster, she put her weight into a powerful kick.

“Rock Pillar.”

A jagged pillar of rocks and stone burst through the center of its body. Immediately, its dangling roots and tendrils fell limp while the body sighed, exhausting all the air contained within.

“Good job Tokiwa-san-san,” Zoey said appreciatively.

“About time. What took you so long,” the party’s abjurer asked.

“Got hung up with some of those lesser Blights. Hopefully they’ll all split off now and not cause any more trouble.”

That would be a relief. Not having to worry about Blights coming and attacking them in the middle of the night would make getting to sleep and staying asleep easier than it had been the previous two nights.

“Unfortunately you likely destroyed the core. What were you thinking? We could have had big CC payout,” Zhelenka said as he meandered his way over to pick through the remains.

Tokiwa-san puffed her cheeks out in response.

“Maybe I should make you cook dinner tonight so I don’t ruin that as well.”

“Relax, relax. I don’t think anyone wants their dinner suddenly coming to life.”

Smiling, the Earther Sorceress turned to the rest of her part and winked at them. Whatever synergy existed between her and the Abjurer was special, something they couldn’t hope to replicate.

“That’s what I thought,”she said. “As for the three of you, go make sure those Blights aren’t regrouping.”

“Yes ma’am,” the girls replied in unison, before immeadiately heading in the direction most of the Blights appeared to have fled in.