"It's coming this way!"

"Hurry! Circle that damned thing!"

"It's too damn big! We're screwed!"

Four men ran as fast as they could from the massive lizard that was charging them, crawling on all fours with a long, reptilian face open wide, putting its piked teeth on display.

"What the hell is that?!"

"I think it's a Dragoonata."

"A what?!"

"A miniature dragon-like creature!"

"That's interesting and all, but why is it chasing us?!"

"How am I supposed to know?!"

"It's nearly here!"

CRASH

The men stopped running when they heard a loud sound behind them. They turned to see the creature that was chasing them was dead. On top its head was a man with a ruby collared spear embedded in the creature.

"Look, it's Gil!" The men said with relief.

"Thanks for the save!"

Gil ignored them as he freed his spear. Why did I have to be stuck with these idiots? My old men were so much better than this.

Gil had been in charge of a slaver group, known as Oger's foot. He had everything; fear, respect, money. Then one day, when they had their eye on a hot blond girl, that's when they ran into a monster in human form, a Salamander. Just one boy managed to hold out against his entire gang. And when things seemed bad, the Arch Sage appeared and arrested the whole gang. He managed to escape prison before they hung him. There he went to Miltesa to try and stir up another business, but nothing worked out.

But then, he heard about Dolton Horus and Celtic Hoard and ran to join. His experience and reputation gained him a captain position and was even given a powerful Spear made out of ruby, Gáe Bolg. However, his duties were a joke. Mostly hunting the monsters in Sterland forest and safeguarding any treasure they found. Only interesting thing that happened was a Samiet boy caught in their camp, an irritating one at that.

It's all that fire breathing kid's fault I've sunk so low! Oh, mark my words' I'll find you and kill you! You and your girlfriend!

****

Rodger led the group deeper into the forest until they found another man-made structure. In a small grotto lay a set of tents with a fence erected around the perimeter. The group waited near one of the large trees, keeping watch while remaining unseen.

"That's it?" Allisa asked.

"Yep," Rodger nodded. "The Treasure is in there."

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Nel asked.

"A gold figure."

"They stole a gold figure from your village? Is it important?"

"Course it is." Rodger nodded as he looked out to the camp. "Why else would I be out here ta get it?"

"Is it some kind of religious idol?" Cliff asked.

"Not sure," Rodger said shaking his head.

"You don't know? And you're risking your life to get it?"

"Um.... Well, I already said I'd get it from them, and a real man never goes back on his word."

Cliff, looking particularly anxious, turned to Nel, Allisa and Melvin. "We're not seriously helping him out with this, are we?"

"Grin and bear it," Melvin said to him. "We need a place to stay, remember. I for one would rather get out of this forest before it gets dark."

Cliff growled as he looked back to the camp.

"If it's small enough, I could carry it out without anyone noticing," Nel announced as she studied the camp.

"You can do that miss?" Rodger asked.

"I'm an assassin. This should be easy to do."

"That sounds like a plan," Cliff said.

".....Hey," Allisa interrupted looking behind them. ".... Where's Max and Yuki?"

Cliff and Nel shot a worried look at each other. "You don't think...."

There was then a loud explosion coming from the camp.

"Looks like those two jumped the gun," Melvin said with a sigh.

"So much for subtlety huh?" Allisa sighed.

Nel and Cliff buried their faces in frustration.

"Don't they ever think things through?" Nel grumbled.

"Guess our course is clear," Rodger said as he stood on the nearby root of the tree. "Alright, men! Charge!" He yelled as he leaped down from the root.

"Don't we need a plan?" Melvin protested.

"It's a bit late for that," Nel said as she leaped over the root.

"We can't just charge in!" Cliff protested.

"Guess we'll improvise," Allisa said as she followed Nel.

"You too?" Melvin protested. He and Cliff then exchanged a foreboding look before sighing together. "Looks like we're the only sane ones here."

"That's worrying."

****

Explosions ripped through the first section of the camp as the defenders tried to find out what had just happened. The other seconds wiped up into shape and ran as fast as they could to the second where the attackers would approach.

"What the Hell?!"

"What's going on? If it beasts?!"

"Where are the officers?!"

"They went out hunting!"

"Now of all times!"

As the mass of confused voices gathered, the gates to the second section exploded. The confused bandits gritted their teeth, armed themselves and prepared for the attackers, be it man or monster to charge through that gate. What actually came though was something else entirely.

"You almost got me their pyro!"

"Aw, stop complaining, sword bastard. You look fine to me. Besides the usual stuff, that's wrong with you."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

The defenders lowered their guard as they saw an awkward couple emerge through the gates, bickering as they walked.

"Wait, these two?"

"We're being attacked by two kids?"

"Seriously?"

"Who the hell are these guys?"

The youngest looking, a boy with black hair and an X shape scare pointed at the group. "Alright you bastards! We're here to get back what you stole from that little kid!"

There was then a brief silence as the bandits looked at each other in confusion.

"Don't think they have a clue what we're talking about." The swordsman said, resting the katana he was carrying on his shoulder. "So... You guys happen to come across an annoying kid with a tail recently? He wants what you stole back, and we want to get out of this forest. So how about you spare us the trouble of kicking your Asses and give us whatever it is the annoying squirt was after."

There was then a large amount of laughter coming from the bandits.

"That didn't go as expected."

"They laughing at us."

One of the bandits, Kron, stepped forwards. "You guys must have some kinda deathwish. You think you can just the two of ya can attack Celtic Hoard and expect to walk outta this alive."

"Well, so much for negotiations." The swordsman said, swinging his sword out.

"Alright!" the kid said, smashing his fist in his hand with a smile. "Just sit back and let me take care of these losers."

"In your dreams pyro." The two then approached the mass of bandits, ready to attack.

****

The camp seemed to be split into five sections, each with an inner wall on each stage. Nel had deduced that because of the beasts in the forests, they set this up as a means to fend off such threats. If attacked and at the risk of being overwhelmed, they would simply abandon the section and fall back to the next. An effective strategy to wear out an attacker.

Walking through the first section, it was clear that this particular situation wasn't thought of when the camp was constructed.

"Talk about overdoing it," Allisa said as the group walked through the wrecked first section of the camp.

"What do you expect from those two," Melvin said.

"Not bad," Rodger whistled. "Quite powerful for humans."

"Well, Max is a special case. And Yuki's just nuts." Melvin said to him.

"Oh, um...." Rodger then stopped and held his chin. "You know, I never got your names."

"Oh, right," Allisa said. She realized that not once did anyone introduce themselves to Rodger. "My name’s Allisa."

"I'm Melvin." Melvin the pointed forward. "The one with the scar on his chest is Max. The one with the Katana is Yuki."

"Ok." Rodger then turned to Nel and Cliff.

"Nel."

"Cliff."

"Nice ta meet all of ya." Rodger said with a grin. "Do well, and I'll consider to make ya my henchmen."

"No thanks," Cliff said. "Once we're done, we're leaving."

"And," Rodger looked at Allisa and Nel. "One of you can be my wife."

"Huh?!" Allisa flustered.

"No thanks," Nel answered bluntly.

"And the one who'll marry Allisa will be me," Melvin added. Allisa hit him on the head with her sword.

"Not a chance."

"Ow..... That was a joke," Melvin said, rubbing his head.

"So where is this thing anyway?" Cliff asked Rodger.

"I dunno." Rodger shrugged.

"Are you kidding? You have no idea where it was to begin with and you went in anyway?"

"Well, It's somewhere here, I'm sure of that."

"That's not helping!"

Nel stared at the ruined gated ahead, which was likely where Max and Yuki headed. "If it's gold, it would be in the most secure part of the camp. Most likely at the final section."

"Wow, your smart miss," Rodger said with glee.

"Nel. Not miss."

"Let's just go," Cliff said impatiently. "There somewhere inside so we-"

"Above us!"

Suddenly, a massive brute of a man descended on the group, wielding a massive stone mallet, bringing it down on Cliff's position with an incredible amount of force, sending dust everywhere.

"HAHAHAHA!! You guys must have some kind of deathwish!!" the massive brute said. He easily surpassed 5 meters, bulging with muscles. "Now that you've attacked Celtic Hoard, you won't be leaving this forest alive!" The man then pulled back his massive mallet and held it high in the air. "My name is Yomura. And with my massive ha-"

The brute then noticed that all he was holding was an oversized stick.

"What?" he looked down and saw Cliff below him holding up a fist. At his feet was broken stone from the mallet.

"First that boat. Then it sank. Then we walked through this godforsaken forest. And then we get forced into this crap by an annoying little midget with a tail." Cliff glared up at the brute, who froze in shock. "I'M SO SICK OF THIS SHIT!!!" He punched the man in the gut with all his might, sending him rocketing through the tree line.

Everyone else just started quietly; feeling a little scared of Cliff's foul mood. "Looks like we should be on our way," Nel said, breaking the ice. She was about to walk on when she stopped and turned around. "Whoever they're come on out." She said.

"Not bad. You knew where I was." A spark of electricity then formed in an open space, growing more intense until it finally formed a man.

"Great.... another weirdo?" Allisa said.

The man in question wore a strange, black leather catsuit with what looked like lightning rods sticking out from his suite.

"Um... What's with that outfit?" Melvin said, perplexed by the bizarre appearance.

"Kinda looks like a comic book villain," Allisa said.

"You see it too, huh?" Cliff said.

"My name is the Electrocutioner." The strange man said, spitting sparks from the rods. "I can create electricity from my body, making me the most dangerous opponent you've faced in this forest."

"Is that so," Nel said stepping forward. "I'll take care of him. You guys stay back."

"Confident are ya." The Electrocutioner then raised his right hand, accumulating electricity in it. "Let's see how long that lasts. 1000 volt, impundulu!"

A bird made of pure electricity formed in his hand and launched itself at Nel faster than anyone could blink. The impact sending massive sparks scorching everything nearby. "Hahaha. Now your ash you bitch!" The Electrocutioner said as the sparks die down, revealing a completely unharmed Nel at the center. "Huh?"

"What was that?" Nel said in a mocking tone. "That kinda tickled."

"Ok. Try this one!" The Electrocutioner raised both his hands out, creating a flow of electricity that wrapped around his body like a snake. "500,000 volts, Raijū!" The lightning arc then launched into the sky and landed directly on Nel in an even bigger blast. "No way you could survive that!"

As the Blast reseeded, Nel still remained unharmed.

"Y-You-" He then disappeared and reappeared in front of Nel holding out his hand. "1,000,000 volts! Thor!" At the palm of his hand, massive amounts of electricity blasted Nel at point-blank range. It was powerful enough to crack the ground beneath.

But Nel was still unharmed. As the Electricutioner stood frozen, his mouth flopping like a fish, Nel touched his exposed face with two fingers, positioned like they were electrodes. There was then another blast of Electricity, even more powerful than the others. As it reseeded, a burned and charred Electricutioner fell to the ground motionless.

"Seem's you can't take what you dish out."

Everyone stared at Nel dumbstruck by what had happened.

"Wh-What did you do?" Allisa asked. "How did you survive that?"

"Yeah, you just took about a million volts of electricity. Most normal people would be fried by a tenth of that." Cliff piled on.

"Oh, My body has a natural resistance to electrical shocks. I can take an entire power plant's worth of electricity and come out unscathed." Nel replied casually.

"How can she say that with a straight face?" Allisa said quietly to herself.

"And I thought she was scary before with just her eyes," Melvin gulped.

Nel then strolled past the group towards the gate to the second section. "Shall we?" She said to the group still baffled by what they witnessed.

"I... take it back," Rodger said. "I'll have her as a henchman, but definitely not a wife."

"Good call," Melvin commented. "Though that still doesn't make her easy to work with."

Twister

Damn it! What the hell is going on!

As Gil and his group approached the camp, they could see the mass of smoke and occasional explosions coming from its third sections. There were 35 men in the camp, excluding him and his 4-man squad. Those left behind were all experienced bandits, 15 of whom were mana users with a further 4 wizards, along with two intendants, Yomura and Grafton (Or Electrocutioner as he preferred to be called.) even if a beast had managed to get in, they shouldn't have been having so much trouble, enough to be forced back so far. And if it was a group of adventurers that was attacking.... well, they must have a death wish.

Gil and his group opted to go through the escape passage that took them to the 6th section of the base, a caverns area which would be the final fall back point. Already the men inside were panicking. But they all cheered when they saw Gil approach.

"Bro!" The one approaching him was Kron, the mechanic, and pilot of their most powerful weapon.

"What the hell's going on here? Is it a beast?"

"No, just two guys."

Gil remained silent for a second as he contemplated what Kron had just said. "Two.... guys...." He then grabbed Kron and hoisted him in the air. "You're telling me that you're getting your asses handed to ya by two guys?! What the hell kinda joke is this?!"

"B-B-But these guys are monsters. There's a guy who's cutting us up, and a kid who can breathe fire like some kinda-"

Gil then dropped Kron, his arm frozen in place. "This kid, he has black hair and a scar on his chest?"

"Um... Y-Yeah, that's him." Kron coughed.

Gil then grinned wide. "Well, well. Looks like my prayers have been answered." He spun his ruby spear in his hands as he walked forwards. "Pull who evers left back here and power up the twister." He then looked back at Kron with a menacing look. "We're gonna need him."

****

The progress through the camp wasn't too difficult for Max and Yuki. Most of the bandits that came at them weren't really worth much effort to swipe besides. The man challenges came in the form of some who were mana users and wizards. Though they weren't any match for Max's flames or Yuki's swordsmanship, they still put up a decent fight and left a deep enough impression on the ground.

One wizard managed to cast a spell called 'Gravity well' which forced Max to the ground and caused a massive hole before Max launched himself like a rocket at the man, head-butting him in the chest in the process.

There was also a man who used a golf club to launch homing balls at the group. Yuki was able to make his way through the gauntlet to close the distance before using the technique he used on the Kraken the day before that split the man in two. All in all, the two managed to carve their way through the camp with relative ease with no real obstacles in their way.

They finally made their way to what seemed like the main base. Before them was a large iron gate built into the Cliffside.

"Looks like the main base," Yuki said as he swung his sword to his right, allowing the blood on it to scatter to the ground. "How'd we get in?"

"Leave that to me," Max said as he approached the door. He pulled back a fist and smashed it into the door. With a massive cranking sound, the door fell backward and smashed on the ground with a large smash. There was a large impression on where he had hit. "Piece of cake."

"Then why are you holding your hand?"

Max turned away while clutching the hand he used to punch down the door while shaking it out of Yuki's vision. "N-None of your business."

"Well, Well. Still the same monster I remember." A voice came from the cave. Approaching them was a man with long hair tied back into a ponytail, twirling around a red spear. "Good to see you again, you damn monster."

"Friend of yours?" Yuki asked Max.

"Um...." Max squinted at the man that was grinning at him. "Nope never seen him before."

The man then fell to the ground, held up by his spear, looking hurt. "S-Seriously! I'm that guy that called you a freak, ya freak."

"So do most people."

"Ok, I was in charge of Ogre's foot! I attacked ya when you were with that girlfriend of yours and that little kid! The names Gil! And I sent my boys after you and you got us all caught."

"Ring a bell?" Yuki asked Max.

"Mmmmm...." Max thought for a second before a look of realization came to his face. "Are you that clone guy that worked for that bastard knight?"

The man named Gil then fell to his hands and knees muttering to himself, looking very depressed, as though there was a dark cloud hanging over him.

"I think you hurt his feelings," Yuki said.

"Actually, the clone guy smelled different. He's not that weirdo either... definitely not the Exploding guy..."

"Aw Screw you!!!" The man yelled pointing his spear at Max. "You may have forgotten me, but I haven't forgotten you! Cause of you I'm in this shit hole surrounded by incompetent bastards!"

"Yeah yeah, how tragic," Yuki interrupted sounding uninterested in the man's life story. "Now cough up that gold you stole from that squirt and we'll call it a day."

"What?" Gil lowered his spear. "Wait? You don't mean that annoying little brat that we caught was with you? Aw, whatever," He then looked back. "Kron! Crank up Twister! Crush those bastards!"

There was then a mechanical sound of something powering up. Large, metallic footsteps could be heard from a darkened cavern along with the sound of pistons and steam. Out from the darkness emerged a massive 6-meter tall robot. it had an incredibly bulky body, walking on two piston-driven legs. To its sides were two massive hands machine guns nested at the wrists. There were also two cannons positioned within the massive body. Hanging above it was two large pipes venting steam.

"Not bad," Yuki said with a grin. "Can't believe some low life cutthroats could afford such a fancy toy like that."

Gil didn't reply, but leaped up with his spear and landed on the machine's giant hand before leaping to the cockpit situated at the very top. "If you got money, pretty much anything goes!" he then turned to the pilot. "Give them a little taste."

"Right!"

The machine then moved to position itself before lowering its hands. Both machine guns attached to its wrists spun into life, firing a hail at Max who was obstructed from view by the dust. As the dust settled, Max stood his ground with his arms covering his head. His clothes had several holes in his clothes, and his skin had several grazes from bullet impacts. However, he was completely unharmed and looked at the robot with a large grin.

"That all ya got!" Max said as he kicked aside the smashed bullets on the ground. "Barely felt that." He took a look at Yuki who was standing by. "Had ya worried?"

Yuki grunted. "You're not gonna go down to this piece of crap."

The machine then turned to face Yuki and fired one of its main battle cannons at him. As if on reflex, Yuki stood his ground and swung his sword overhead and sliced the cannonball in half, passing by the two pieces, which exploded behind him.

"Ya leave this thing to me," Max said cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah right," Yuki said, swinging his sword to his side. "No way I'm gonna let this bastard get away with shooting a cannon at me."

"Hey! He attacked me first!"

"Yeah, with kid toys."

"You took out that golf freak! It's my turn!"

"You took out over half! This thing’s mine!"

****

Gil felt incredibly embarrassed as he watched his prey in front of him arguing over who would fight Twister, a Magitek weapon that was designed to take out castles. He had waited so long for his revenge against the Salamander and pictured him trembling before the Twister. Instead, he was arguing with his partner over who would take it on. Are those two insane! The freak is one thing, but the other guy as well?

"Um... Bro?"

Kron disturbed Gil's thoughts.

"That kid just withstood a hail of bullets... and that swordsman just cut a cannonball in half....." His voice was trembling with fear. "Those guy's even human?"

Gil looked back to his enemy, who was now playing rock, paper, scissors. "The kid definitely isn't human, that much is clear to me. The swordsman, he's pretty much a monster in his own right." He then spat and turned back to Kron. "Just crush them with Twister! No matter what, there's no way the two of them can fight it without backup."

Arch sage ain't gonna show up this time. However, there's that girlfriend of his and that kid that shocked the ever-loving-snot outa me. I think I also saw some red-haired chick with them, and she looks dangerous. Gil thought as he looked back to his enemy.

"I saw that! You cheated!"

"It's rock paper scissors pyro! You just suck at it!"

"Anyway, it's 3 outa 6."

"That's an even number, dumbass! Not that it matters, I'm still gonna win and fight the robot!"

"What makes you think you can beat me this time!"

"Cause all you ever throw is rock!"

Gil wiped his face off from holding back the irritation of his pray arguing over the rules of Rock paper scissors. "Aw, fuck it. Just go ahead and crush these clowns already. It's not like we'll have to worry about their teamwork by the looks of it."

****

The robot moved towards Max and Yuki and launched one of its massive hands at them, nearly crushing the two who jumped out of the way in the nick of time.

"Hate to ruin your stupid game, but I think I should hurry up and kill the pair of you before your back up arrives," Gil called out from his porch.

"Alright," Yuki said with a grin, holding his sword up. "First to take this piece of crap down is the winner."

"Works for me," Max said as he took in a deep breath. He then let out a roar that bathed the left side of the robot in flames.

Yuki held his sword in both hands and swung upwards. Reijingu Mizu Stance 3: Nami! A wave of pressurized air smashed against the right side of the robot with enough force to slice it in half.

However, the machine receives very little damage from both attempts, besides from some cosmetic damage to the armor. The machine then lowered its two hands and opened its palms, revealing cannons embedded within. Both the boys quickly jumped out of the way as the two fired. As they regained their footing, the robot then spun on its axis with its arms held out. Both boys were hit and sent tumbling back, skidding the floor before crashing into the walls.

"Ah, what the hell!" Yuki grunted as he freed himself from the wall.

Max did the same, staring at the blackened section where he blasted. "Crap, that barely did anything."

Gil's laughter could be heard from his porch. "Hate to tell ya freaks, but Twister here was designed in that mage hating country, Fira. They got crap that puts Miltesa to shame. This baby is designed to battle an army of wizards. I think using it on a monster in human form and a freakishly strong swordsman is a bit overkill. But hey, after the crap you just pulled in our camp, you're lucky I won't skin ya alive."

Suddenly, a massive spear of earth shot out and smashed against the hull and forced the machine back through the cavern. "The hell was that!!" Gil yelled.

****

"Hahaha! How'd ya like that ya bastards?!"

Max and Yuki looked in stunned silence as the one responsible raised a part of the earth and stood atop it, just beside the massive earth spike that had shot at the machine. It was none other than Rodger, swinging the silver hammer over his head with a large grin on his face.

"What the..." Yuki said dumbfounded.

"Wow, what was that?" Max said, looking towards Rodger and then the massive spike that had hit the machine.

Allisa, Nel, Melvin and Cliff then came up behind Rodger.

"There they are," Melvin spoke, looking at Yuki and Max. "Can't you two think things through for one."

"Never mind that!" Yuki shouted, pointing at Rodger. "That annoying brat did this?" he gestured to the piece of earth that had shot from the ground.

"He did show us, remember," Melvin said to Yuki. "It's called Earth Mold. Even I can do it." He then looked to the piece of earth as well. "Though not at this scale. Color me impressed."

The machine then freed itself from the tip of the earth that had it pinned to the wall. "Hey Bro!" A voice came from the cockpit of the machine. "Ain't that that Samiet Kid we caught this morning?"

"Hey kid! You're gonna regret that! Will do ya first! This time we'll crush ya!"

Allisa looked at the man speaking atop the machine, thinking he seemed familiar.

"Gil Sphincus of Ogre's foot!" Nel called out. "Surprised to see you out of prison!"

"Who?"

"He's the guy you met back when you first met Max."

"Huh?" Allisa squinted as she tried to remember from that day. "..... Ah! That guy?!"

"Good to see you too!" The man called back sarcastically. "Least you remember me, unlike that Boyfriend of yours!"

"H-He's not my Boyfriend!"

Max then got back to his feet, scratching his head. "Wait, we know this guy?"

"He's one of the guys who was harassing me when we first met. Then he attacked you with his gang."

Max looked again at the man for a spell, and then his eyes opened wide. "Wait! He's that jerk!"

"Finally remembered huh!" the machine stomped its way towards Max. "Little too late ya freak!" It then lifted its massive hands and prepared to smash Max. "This time your gonna-"

Suddenly, two massive hands shot from the ground and gripped both of the robot's hands.

"What the?! The kid?!"

Rodger walked towards the robot, lowering his hammer. "A real man never walks out on what he started." He then smashed his hammer into the ground. Just then, four giant rocks shot from the earth, hovered for seconds before launching themselves at the machine.

"Rotten little..."

Rodger pointed directly at Gil with a large, triumphant grin. "I Rodger, Captain of the Walloping Willows, Challenge your robot to a one on one fight!"

The Machine righted itself and aimed its guns directly at Rodger. The impact of the rocks had left massive dents in the armor and had destroyed one of the battle cannons. The rock arms were still holding on tightly, the metal slowly being crushed by its grip. "Blast that piece of shit away!" Gil yelled to the pilot. The machine then aimed directly at Rodger with the one remaining cannon and fired. Before it hit, Rodger slammed his left hand into the ground. A wall then emerged and took the shot. Behind it, Rodger spun his hammer around then slammed it into the wall. Two spears then formed and shot at the robot, smashing through the arms. The robot reeled back from losing its arms.

"Now ta finish ya off!"

Rodger then emerged from behind the wall and charged the robot. He stopped a few feet short and slammed his left hand down. The ground beneath the feet of the robot then sank down, leaving it unable to move. He then spun his hammer overhead in a triumphant pose before hammering it down. Behind him, an earth golem formed, from the ground, its arms molded together overhead to form a massive sword.

"I call him my Ga-Ga-golem. Prepare to smash!" The golem then swung down on the immobile robot, who retaliated by firing its battle cannon at the golem in an attempt to destroy it first. However, the shot barely did any damage to the golem, and it finished its swing, cleaving through the armor of the robot in one strike. Rodger turned around and struck a pose as the robot exploded.

Everyone looked very surprised at the fact that this little boy just destroyed something that was well over his height.

"Ok..." Cliff said surprised. "Guess the kids not just all talk."

"I'll say," Yuki said as he sheathed his sword, "he destroyed that pretty much single-handedly."

"Wow." Melvin breathed as he gazed on the still formed earthworks that Rodger made. "Don't think I've ever seen an 'earth mold' that powerful before."

"Can... you do that?" Allisa asked him.

"No. Not on that scale at least."

Nel had gone to inspect the pieces of the robot that remained, giving them a suspicious look as she searched through the wreckage.

"AHAHAHAHA!!!!" a scheme came from a few feet near the wreckage. On his knees was the pilot of the robot, with Gil besides him. "That brat destroyed Twister! Boss will kill us!"

"Damn it!!" Gil reached for his ruby spear, but max stomped on it before he could pick it up. He then grabbed Gil's collar and hoisted him into the air.

"Alright! The gig is up! Hand over what you stole!"

"Wh-What the hell are you talking about?" Gil replied, looking at Max with a hostile stare.

Allisa and Melvin then approached him. "You stole something from the Samiet village. A gold figure." Melvin said for clarity.

"A what?" Gil said out of confusion. "We didn't steal anything from there!"

"Found it!" Rodger marched towards the group, holding up a gold figure of what looked like an ancient warrior. "Great work men!" he said with a grin.

"Wait... That thing?!" Gil said inspecting the figure. "That's not from the village!"

"It's not?" Allisa said with surprise.

"No! We found that in some old ruins to the west of here! You think we have enough to attack Sterland village? Even with Twister we'd all be killed before we could make a dent in the walls!"

"Huh?" Allisa, Melvin and Max said together. Max then dropped Gil and turned to look at Rodger.

Nel then approached Rodger with her arms crossed. It was difficult to tell if she was angry or not since she had the usual look of when she questions someone. "Alright, out with it," she said to him. "That wasn't stolen was it?"

".....um," Rodger turned to Nel with an innocent smile. "Ok.... I kinda had a bet on with my rival to steal something of value from one Celtic Hoard camp’s dotted around the village. But that doesn't mean they weren't stolen from somewhere...." Rodger then froze when he felt a menacing aura radiating from behind him.

"This.... Was.... A Bet?" An angry Cliff said as he cracked his knuckles.

"You have any idea of what kinda crap I went through with the pyro?" Yuki said, also cracking his knuckles.

Rodger slowly turned around, giving them the same innocent smile. "Hey.... uh, I still would have shown you where the village was even if we found nothin. No harm right."

Cliff and Yuki then started stomping Rodger into the ground.

"I GOT SHOT AT BY A CANNON!!!"

"A FREAK WITH A MALLET TRIED TO TURN ME INTO DOG MEAT!!!"

Allisa, Melvin and Max watched the effective child abuse happening in front of them.

"I really do attract weirdo's," Allisa moaned.

"Think we should stop them?" Max asked pointlessly.

"We'd better before those two end up killing him. We still need him to show us his village." Melvin said.

****

And so, with the sun starting to go down, the tired group, led by a Samiet boy they had just met (Who took them on a slight detour, to begin with) were now heading deeper into the forest.

At the same time, in the opposite direction from where they were, a woman had just entered the forest, a woman with short, silver hair and a scar, running down her right eye.