An early morning fog moved through the forest and obscured everything more than a few feet away. The five humans and the elf steadily traveled back to Diadem. Danny wasn't a big fan of the fog. His air scan was all but useless in the thick soup. He could step in a hole or crevasse and wouldn't even notice before it was too late. Instructor Meadow traveled with them, as Leaf was important to the elves and might be able to provide additional information on the goblins.

At their current pace they were about a week away from home. Fortunately, Leaf grew stronger each day and Danny was able to help heal him further as the elf gained more weight. Danny watched closely over Leaf's newly-growing ears. He expected tiny ears that would get bigger and bigger. Instead they just started at the bottom and grew at a full size towards the tips. Danny wondered how long elves' ears were. Did males have different sizes like the goblins? He thought about asking the elf, but given recent events that might be considered insensitive.

They had just moved around a ridge when something large could be heard moving towards them. As it loomed out of the fog to their left it smashed into Instructor Meadow. She dodged to the side at the last second and only received a glancing blow, though this was still enough for her to fly into a nearby tree. Danny was shocked to see the fog part with the speed she traveled through the air. The tree had cracked when the woman hit and splinters broke off to scatter over her.

The large creature ignored the downed figure and turned back towards the rest of them. It was slow to move its bulk, but they could now see it was a beast bear. Danny couldn’t help but think something was off about it.

“Danny, get Leaf out of here,” Ivy yelled, “and do something about this fog!”

Danny grabbed Leaf and quickly lost sight of the girls as the fog moved back in to replace what was dispersed by the bear. Danny had learned over the years that he couldn’t just blow the fog away with some wind, as it would just come back. Instead, he used something similar to air scan, but with fire affinity.

Stretching his mana out as wide as he could, he made sure to place it at ground level. Then he activated the fire rune. For around 15 meters in every direction, the ground visibly grew hot. Lava affinity was too mana-intensive and wouldn’t activate unless there was enough to create lava. The fog in the area quickly dispersed and this effect started to spread outwards.

As the girls were revealed, Danny could only watch as the bear swatted at Brooke’s shield. To Brooke’s credit, she was only pushed backwards, but Danny could tell by the way she now held the shield that something wasn’t right.

As Brooke was being attacked, Ivy fired her crossbow and Jade her bow. While the arrow bounced off harmlessly the bolt only took off a small chunk of hair. Both girls paused, before pulling out their swords.

Too far away, Danny fired off a fireball at the bear and watched it disperse with dismay, only annoying the bear further.

Ivy turned her head slightly back towards him, “Danny, stone variant!”

Danny nodded and realized why the girls put down their ranged weapons, “Right, dispersing the fog took more mana than I thought it would, try and hold him still.”

Ivy’s reply came back incredulously, “You're kidding right?”

Ivy and Jade circled the bear, dodging its attacks. Now that the fog had cleared it was easier to read its movements. Danny prepared his mana in both hands before casting them towards the bear. As the bear took swipes at the girl, Danny moved his arms around trying to get his mana where he needed it.

Frustrated, Danny yelled out, “I can’t tell where its heart is in all of that flab, If you can get it to hold its head still for a second, that would be a surefire way to kill it.”

Ivy yelled out her own frustration as she dodged a swipe to her head.

Jade paused and finally spoke up, “Danny, get ready, I am going low.”

Not sure what she was intending, Danny moved his mana towards the bear's lower region. Now there’s an idea, thought Danny. Before he could go too far down that path, Jade yelled out at the bear, drawing its attention. Then she dived under its legs. As she expected the bear followed her actions and looked between its furred thighs at her.

Danny unleashed his water magic on the bear's head, and its movements immediately became sluggish and uncoordinated. Unfortunately, the bear started to recover quickly.

Jade looked towards Danny, “It didn’t work!”

Panicked, Danny released his other saved spell on the bear's head. The bear had been shaking its head as if to clear it when the spell went off, and it missed. It did happen to freeze one of the bear’s front legs. Both of the girls rushed to attack the weakened bear when it made a reckless swipe at the both of them. This move was born of desperation and the bear was able to hit both of the girls.

The bear’s frozen leg shattered half way through the swipe and it lost power. Both of the girls were thrown a few meters, but they only had the wind knocked out of them and claw marks scored their leather armor.

Then another roar came from the trees above and something landed on the bear's back. Thrashing and clawing at the bear's head was the leopard from the goblin camp. The already-weakened bear was easily no match for the cat, but the surprising thing was how her claws effortlessly tore through the bear's stone-infused fur and skin. Once she was finished, the cat jumped off and went to rub up against Danny, who was more than happy to scratch behind her ears.

Seeing Brooke struggling to stay upright, Danny quickly started towards her, but she waved to him, indicating that she was alright. Turning towards a dangerously damaged and bent tree, Danny ran over toward his fallen instructor. She was bleeding from her head and one of her arms was bent at a weird angle. She was breathing heavily and Danny suspected she might have some broken ribs. That bear hit like a train. After scanning her he discovered she did have a few broken ribs, but more importantly, a punctured lung. Because he had spent most of his mana already, Danny had to spend half an hour putting her back together.

When he finished he looked up to find Meadow looking up at him with a weak smile, "Thank you Danny. You didn't have to grow anything back, did you?"

Danny laughed, "Only the horns and forked tail."

Instructor Meadows looked at him confused, “What?”

"Danny, what is that doing here?" Danny could tell Ivy was using her angry voice.

Danny turned to see the ghost leopard had gotten bored of waiting for him and started eating the bear, "Hey, Phantom! You get tired of jerky?"

The leopard looked up at him and licked the blood off her lips before going back to eating.

It was apparently Brooke's turn to yell at him, "You mean you have been feeding that thing my food?! Ow ow ow, my arm…"

Jade just gave him that look that made Danny feel like running. He knew that would only encourage her to reach for her bow. Danny quickly walked over and started healing Brooke's arm. He made sure to put her between him and Jade.

"She is just a baby. They took away her mother, and now we are all she has," Danny pleaded.

Ivy wasn't even listening to him, "And you named it already!"

"Oh, yeah. Do you like it? A ghost leopard named Phantom. Pretty creative, huh?"

Leaf walked carefully out of the trees and with a shocked expression on his face, pointed at the leopard, "You have an [unknown] familiar!"

Everyone else stopped to stare at Leaf.

Ivy finally asked, "What's an [unknown]?"

Leaf did that thing where you open your mouth, then close it, only to open it again. "It is the sacred beast of the elven people. They are one of the few creatures that can match my people in speed and stealth. We believe them to be the sacred rulers of the forests. Only druids of royal decent have been able to acquire them as familiars."

Phantom, having eaten her fill, wandered over to Danny and started rubbing up against him. Danny spoke to the cat, "Did you hear that, princess Phantom? How did you like your bear, your majesty?"

Phantom looked at him as if she understood his question, then licked her nose and turned over for him to rub her belly.

Leaf looked like he was going to pee himself.

Danny asked Leaf, "How do elves get a familiar?"

Leaf replied, "I'm not a Druid, but they somehow adopt them into their family. I have been told it's as if you claim the creature as a brother or sister."

Danny thought for a moment then nodded his head, "Yeah, I might have accidentally done that."

Leaf looked frustrated, "You're human... that's not supposed to be possible!"

Meadow smirked at Leaf's statement, "That's what we keep telling him, but he doesn't listen."

Meadow walked over to the half-eaten bear and exclaimed, "It's an earth variant beast bear!"

Everyone gathered around to look closer at what remained of it. The bear's fur looked to be made of hard stone instead of hair. There were chunks missing where Brooke must have hit it with her mace before she was knocked back.

Brooke shook her head, "No wonder it felt like I was hitting a wall with my mace!"

"My arrows didn't do a thing," Jade mentioned in wonder.

"My fire didn't really do much either," sympathized Danny.

"I'm impressed Phantom was able to eat any of that," exclaimed Ivy.

Turning to Danny, Meadow asked, "When were you feeding it? I was watching you all like a hawk and never saw it..."

"Oh, I would drop some jerky while walking around and she would find them and eat them."

Ivy asked, "How did you know it was her and not some other creature?"

"I used my air scan. Unless there was another large cat running around, it was Phantom. Helped me practice using it to find people. I did think I sensed someone once but then they were gone. Where were you hiding?"

Meadow pulled out a collapsible spyglass, "I was in a tree on the other side of the ravine where you didn't try blocking the view of your tree house from."

Brooke said, "I knew you wouldn't send us out on our first mission alone. I was looking for you too."

Jade looked dejected, saying, "I failed to detect you too, that's not good."

Meadow waved their complaints away, "My stealth is almost maxed. If you had detected me then it would be because I allowed it. Now let’s get moving before another earth variant shows up." The last was said while massaging her newly-healed arm.

Danny decided to wait for a few minutes of walking, before inquiring, "So, I was wondering if I could move my room near the exit to the Great Forest so I could visit Phantom?"

Meadow did not look happy, "You’re serious about keeping the death cat?"

Leaf looked at her like she just insulted his entire race. Meadow looked properly embarrassed and apologized. Leaf seemed to forgive her.

Danny replied, "Yes, she doesn't have a home. I don't want her out here alone, to get caught in some trapper's net."

Meadow looked to the girls, "What do you three think about this?"

Jade replied, "I like her but I am not feeding her, knowingly or otherwise. She can obviously hunt on her own."

Brooke waved her hand dismissively, "I don't care as long as she doesn't hurt Danny. She just protected him so I would say she's a keeper."

Ivy was silent while looking at the cat. She turned away and said, "Do what you want."

Meadow shrugged and said, "Alright, you can move near the exit. You will have to build the room. I’m not wasting another earth wizard's time with it. That goes double for your uncle Jade."

Jade shook her head, "My uncle would probably try to rearrange the entire headquarters..."

On the fifth day of their journey they arrived back near the hidden entrance to the Order’s headquarters. Tired from the slow pace, the only upside of the trip back was that Phantom's presence seemed to scare off most of the unwanted guests. Not wanting to give away the hidden entrance's location, Meadow left with Leaf for the Council Chambers, but not before Ivy had him look through the box of valuables they had found. Leaf teared up as he pulled a few items from the box and placed them in a bag he had been given. When he pulled out a ribbon made of a shimmering red material, Leaf fell to the ground and lost all composure. The girls were quick to gather around to comfort him. Danny, not sure what to do, made some stone chairs for them.

After calming down, Leaf apologized for his outburst and thanked them again for saving him. He asked that they visit him if they ever journeyed to the elven forests where he lived. Meadow then gave them orders to take the next couple of days off, partially so Danny could get his new room in order.

Danny was excited to make his room. He had been told not to mess with his dorm room, but no one gave any restrictions on his new room. He made a large hall with some stone couches, chairs, and a table. He would need to replace the chairs with real ones once he had time. Then he made a bedroom with a desk, chair, and shelves to put his clothes in. He made his own private bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower. An empty space he created in the rock above his bathroom held the needed water, which he had conjured. Of course, everything was made from stone. He was only given one light crystal, so he put that in the hall. He would have to cast a light spell whenever he had to use the other rooms.

Danny enlisted Brooke's help to move his bed into his new room.

"Which way are you turning it, my way or yours?" Brooke asked Danny impatiently.

"How does that question even make sense? I'm halfway tempted to just create a hole right here and fill it in after we get the bed through."

"That will take too long, just turn it to your left. Why didn't you make a light in here before we started this?"

“Why didn’t you think to remind me to do that?!”

They finally got the bed through the door with only a single broken bed post. Danny considered it a win. Walking back into the hall they found Ivy trying to get comfortable on the stone couch.

Ivy frowned asked him, "Now, why did you ask Brooke and not me?"

Brooke smiled from the doorway, "Because I actually help instead of barking orders."

Ivy uncharacteristically stuck out her tongue at Brooke.

Jade spoke up from another side of the room, "I could have helped too."

Danny sighed, and mumbled, "I should have just asked one of the other boys."

Danny saw Ivy smile mischievously at the other two girls from the corner of his eye. He could never tell if they were actually upset with him or just trying to drive him crazy. Danny decided some things never changed, regardless of what world you were on.

Danny called out from the entrance to his room, "I am going out to check on Phantom and train."

"Danny, we are supposed to be resting, not training," Ivy reminded him.

Danny looked at her through hooded eyes, "Yes, well then I am going out to 'play' with Phantom and relax in the trees. Thanks for the help Brooke!"

"Sure, have fun," Brooke waved.

Jade moved to follow him, "Wait Danny, I am coming with you!"

Jade followed Danny out into the Great Forest. Danny called out to Phantom then walked over to the nearest tree. He knew Jade had come to make sure he didn't get eaten, or kill himself. Part of him wished he could come out here alone, but he understood the girls' reasoning. Reaching out with his mana, he used nature affinity on a vine wrapped around a tree. The vine grew and stretched out towards him, then wrapped around his body and under his arms. Danny then attempted to pull himself up into the tree. The vines grew upwards but didn't have the support to lift him. He then tried growing a vine down from above but that had similar results. Stumped, Danny turned to Jade and asked in his best game show host voice, "My lovely assistant, could I get you to show me how you move through the trees so easily?"

Jade blushed at Danny's words. Nodding she ran to the nearest tree with the lowest branch. The branch was near the height of her head, and she grabbed ahold of it, swinging herself up. She looked like a gymnast. Getting on top of that branch, she began to jump or swing between the trees. Danny was especially impressed with how silent she was in the whole process. He would take a lot of time to do the same… but with magic he could improvise!

Danny went towards the same tree she had used first, and sent nature affinity towards the trunk. Branches grew at various points that led up to the first branch she used. This took a few moments to happen. Then he walked up them to the original branch Jade had first used. With nature affinity he started to subtly grow and twist the branches in his path. He was nowhere near as fast as Jade, but with practice he made decent time and discovered ways to keep the process silent. He had just reached the trunk of a tree to move to the next branch, when the one he was on started to shake violently. Turning, worriedly, Danny saw Phantom balancing on the other end of the large branch. Danny walked over to Phantom to give her a hug. After rubbing her head he looked down to see the branch had become a platform. Danny was shocked, realizing he had done it subconsciously with his split concentration, while focused on reaching Phantom. He had known the branch was not strong as both of them. Especially with how big Phantom was growing. Why had he walked out if he knew that?

Danny looked around for Jade, and not seeing her, he used air scan to search the area. He found her watching him from a distance above and behind him. She had circled him while he had been distracted by Phantom. Walking towards Jade, Danny focused only on reaching her and kept his pace at a speed he knew his magic could maintain. Branches and vines crossed and crisscrossed his path. Some grew from trunks or large branches to fill gaps.

At a slow walk Danny had no trouble getting to Jade. He did try to keep a specific distance from the trees, so it wasn't an exact straight line. Jade appeared to have noticed the change in Danny's movement and stood transfixed as he causally walked up to her. Looking back, Danny saw Phantom following in his wake. Smiling while reaching out his hand, Danny bopped Jade on the nose with one finger, "Gotcha!"

This seemed to shatter Jade from her frozen state. Blushing again, she smiled, turned, and took off. Phantom seemed to like this game and quickly took off after her. Danny walked after the two at his slow pace. While Danny was remarkably slower, Jade started to get tired. Moving branches didn't use too much mana but having to grow new branches where there weren’t already any tended to cause a significant drop.

Phantom would show off her superior physical prowess by moving back and forth between the two of them. Danny attempted to to block Jade's path with nature affinity by manipulatingbranches. He discovered that with this act he had reached his limit of things to concentrate on simultaneously. He could not subconsciously move branches to where he was about to walk, walk, and manipulate the foliage in Jade's path at the same time. Danny stumbled and fell to the ground but was stopped by branches and vines reaching out to catch him. Apparently he had tapped into his unconscious mind's ability to act with his mana. Danny found himself bouncing a foot above the ground while supported by numerous branches, and decided now was a great time to stop screaming.

Jade landed on the ground next to him, "Danny, are you alright?!"

"Yes, I was just trying something new." Danny was grateful for his split concentration saving him from crashing into the forest floor.

Grabbing him and pulling him from the branches Jade hugged him tightly, "How about you don't try that again for a while?"

Hugging her back he agreed, "Yes, that was not really what I was trying to do."

"I know. I think we should head back inside, it is almost time for Dinner."

Danny nodded into her shoulder and shuddered, remembering the sudden fall just then, "Sure."