Eden Floor 1 | Somewhere in the woods:

"Sola!"

"You're back."

"Are those..?"

Ars, Amelia, and Lexi all greet me with various degrees of enthusiasm as I step out of the woods and into the copse of trees we'd chosen as our meeting place. As we'd gotten closer, I'd taken the lead from Byron so as not to startle my companions.

Jogging up to me Ars asks, "How'd it go? Did you find them?"

"I did," I answer before continuing on with a sigh, "found and released the Seekers who'd been kidnapped too, but most of them aren't handling things well."

Amelia stands a little further back as my three tag-a-longs make their way out of the woods behind me. She brings a hand up to her nose as they approach, "I see.."

"Oh, he's hurt!" Lexi exclaims, starting to head towards Byron before I wave her down.

"Leave him, he's one of the one's we're after. This is already letting him off pretty light as far as I'm concerned," I glare back at the sweating man clutching his wrist behind me.

"O-oh, and the other kidnappers?" Lexi asks me, taking a step back.

"There's six in total, but apparently 2 of them have already been taken out, they bit off more they could chew trying to kidnap someone. So that leaves three left for us to deal with, and they're supposed to be meeting up with this guy-" I gesture over my shoulder at Byron, "here in a bit."

"Who took care of the other two?" Amelia asks, still keeping a healthy distance.

I shrug back in response, "I dunno, just some girl according to the conversation I overheard. She's apparently forcing the two she fought to lead her to Weir so maybe we'll catch up to her after we finish up here."

"W-wait you weren't the one who took out Sturgil and Kalem??" Byron stammers out in shock, his brain struggling to come to terms with the revelation.

I roll my eyes at the sorry fool, not even deigning to give him a response. "So Lexi, think you're up for shapeshifting into this guy to meet up with the other three and then lead them our way?"

"Yeah I can do that. Am I changing into him before or after he was injured though?" Lexi says, walking a slow circle around Byron to inspect him.

"Is one harder than the other? It'll probably be easier to trick the remaining three into following if you feign being injured," Amelia says with a contemplative gaze.

"Not harder really, it's just more accurate to transform into the way someone currently looks. With his current state, if I tried transforming into an uninjured version of him I could get the complexion or the expressions wrong. Nothing super noticeable but you never know," Lexi patiently explains for us.

It seems obvious I suppose, but I at least had never met a natural shapeshifter before so I wasn't entirely sure how it worked. I just knew from asking her earlier that she could fully transform to mimic others if she wanted to, she just didn't like doing it much. Which was fair, the idea of my body turning to someone else's wasn't really a comfortable thought, even if it was by my own doing.

"Just act like you were attacked by that same girl who took out their other companions then. Should be easy enough to get them to follow if they're already looking for a fight yeah?" Ars chimes in.

"I doubt you'll have trouble regardless of what you do honestly, if this one and the other one I overheard were an indication of their overall intelligence then it won't be hard to fool them at all." I pause and point off into the woods between two trees, "that direction is where the other one headed by the way. Assuming he didn't try and cover up his path, which I frankly doubt he's clever enough to do, you should have no problems finding him so long as you go in a straight line."

Lexi takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, taking a moment to mentally prepare herself before her appearance begins to shift and distort, her body expanding out to the proportions of Byron's. It's a little disconcerting, watching her body change and her hair recede back into her head as her face shifts and undulates to form a perfect copy of Byron's own. The man looks on in horror as his own appearance is copied bit by bit, from his terrified expression down to his pallid and clammy skin, and even his crushed wrist.

"Man this feels gross," Lexi says in Byron's voice, holding up her right arm as her hand flops around limply.

Amelia looks a little green where she watches from several steps away, "that doesn't hurt..?"

"No, it's not actually injured. I didn't shapeshift the broken bones, I just shapeshifted the arm and hand without the connecting bits of bone. It's uncomfortable and gross feeling but not painful," Lexi explains with a flop of her hand, eliciting a cringe from Amelia at the motion.

"That's so cool, I bet there's all sorts of neat stuff you can shapeshift into huh?" Ars paces excitedly around the transformed Lexi.

Lexi makes what I assume is supposed to be a sheepish grin, but the expression looks utterly alien on Byron's face. "I'm pretty much limited to humans and simple changes actually, and I can't go much larger or smaller than my original body. No turning my hands into swords or anything like that sadly," Lexi says with a laugh.

"Still, that's incredible!" Ars insists, wonder evident in his eyes.

"I'll admit, it is impressive. We should hurry though shouldn't we? It would be unfortunate if she were to miss the three she's supposed to go and find no?" Amelia interrupts, always fighting to keep Ars' enthusiasm in check. Or more likely from having to witness Lexi's normally cute mannerisms in Byron's decidedly uncute body.

"Amelia's right, lets get this over with. We should also try to catch up with the other girl on the way back if possible, since we may need the two she's captured to actually complete our quest. You sure you're up for this Lexi?" I speak up, getting Lexi and Ars to focus back on the task at hand.

"A-ah yeah, I'll be fine. I just gotta act like I was attacked and then rush back in this direction right?" She asks and we all nod in affirmation. She takes a deep breath, getting more into character before speaking again, "ok then, I'll see you all in a little bit."

With that, she takes off into the woods, arm clutched to her chest as she runs along in the direction Donnell had been sent in.

I once again turn to Byron, who still looks dazed from the whole situation and the constant pain, "think we should gag him or something?"

"I'd rather not get my hands dirty," Amelia states when I look over from Byron to her, "besides even if he calls out to try and warn his companions, do you think it'll make much of a difference?"

"No," I say, "the outcome will be the same regardless. I suspect they're too stupid to try and flee anyways even if he does attempt to warn them."

"I'm kinda surprised to see you hold them in such contempt Sola," Ars states with a concerned look on his face, "did they piss you off somehow?"

I sigh, "I'm just tired of these sorts of fools. They're like cockroaches, their type always show back up no matter what you do. I want to believe that people are better, and sometimes they are. But everywhere I've been I still always run into scum like this, people who propagate cruelty without cause or provocation. The shape of their hearts are just naturally twisted and vile things. They'll never be satisfied, and they'll never repent. Even now I'm sure he's desperate for vengeance, his thoughts descending further and further into depravity, thinking of all the things he'd do."

Byron shivers in involuntary fear as I approach him, but I still see the abyss of hatred bubbling up within his eyes as he looks up from where he sits at me, "what would it take for you to change I wonder?"

He tries to look away from my eyes but I grip him by the chin and force him to face me, the points of my nails digging into his cheeks as I lock his gaze to my own, "you must think you're oh so special, don't you? I'm sure you've somehow convinced yourself that it's your right to stand above others, because you think you're stronger and better than them huh?"

I lift him up by the chin, his feet dragging furrows in the ground as I bring him up level with my face before letting the full weight of my intent envelop the two of us. I ignore as he desperately paws at my hand and gasps for breath, his eyes bugging out from the weight of my presence, "People like you are nothing more than ants before those with actual strength. You'll never understand what it means to be truly strong, and you'll never truly stand above others either. You'll continue to live in your pathetic delusions right up until the moment you die a fool."

As tears stream from his eyes and he desperately grasps at my hand that holds him up, I Ars and Amelia's faces out of the corner of my eye. They both look a little uncomfortable at my outburst. Clicking my tongue, I draw back my intent and throw him down into the dirt once again, leaving him sobbing and coughing and gasping for breath as he curls up on the ground.

At least the two Seekers who'd followed along seemed happy to see their tormentor broken and beaten on the ground. I certainly hated people like Byron, but my reaction had probably been a little overboard, stress must be getting to me I supposed.

-o-o-o-

After my little outburst, we all settled into a somewhat tense atmosphere to await Lexi's return, each making our way to hiding spots around the clearing we'd set up in. It wasn't until about twenty minutes had passed that I heard noises approaching through the forest, I signaled over to where my companions lay in wait, motioning for them to get ready. My ears were probably keener than theirs so I wouldn't be surprised if I was the first to have heard the approaching sounds.

A moment later I hear Byron's voice shout through the trees, Lexi obviously doing her part to give us all a heads up.

"She was just up ahead!"

Shortly after, three figures burst through the woods at the edge of the clearing, each skidding to a stop in various states of confusion as they take in the scene before them. On the far side of the clearing stands the two rescued Seekers, and in the center the real Byron sits dejectedly in the dirt, where he's remained in a daze since earlier.

"B-Byron? W-What's going on?!" The boy, Donnell yells out, turning around to see the other Byron make his way out of the woods behind them.

The three of them all look lost, nervously glancing between one another when the fake Byron bursts into laughter, his form beginning to shift and distort and his voice pitching higher to that of a females. They all watch in horror as the Byron they'd been following completes his transformation, leaving Lexi standing before them, cat ears and all.

"Haha~ you three really are dumb, I can't believe you didn't doubt me for even a moment, I'm not even wearing the same clothes your friend was for crying out loud. And you still can't wrap your heads around it huh?," Lexi laughs at their startled and confused looks before continuing on, "you've walked right into our trap."

And with that queue, Amelia, Ars, Kuro, and I all step out of our hiding spots, coming to surround the three remaining kidnappers.

"W-who are you guys?" One of the three stammers out, taking a few steps away from us to stand back to back with his other two allies.

"We're here to put a stop to your vile acts!" Amelia exclaims with a grand gesture, "Kuro, apprehend these scum!"

Kuro dashes in from where he stood in front of Donnell, rapidly closing in on the lankier man, posture sinking low in order to tackle whoever they get a hold of to the ground and restrain them.

"Shit!" Donnell's other two companions exclaim, each dodging to opposite sides to avoid getting caught in Kuro's tackle. Donnell himself is too slow to react and is pulled to the ground by Kuro's sleek black form.

As the two others split off, I see Lexi dash towards the one who leapt left, a rapier with an odd two-handed hilt appearing in her hand as she lunges towards the off balance man. He desperately summons his own sword to hand and catches the lunging rapier on the flat of his blade, but the skidding impact knocks him further off balance and he's sent skidding backwards before he's able to roll back to his feet. By the time he stands back up, Lexi has already interposed herself between him and his other two companions.

On the other side, Ars accomplishes much the same. A well timed throw of his Byun causes the dodging man to stumble, forced to use his summoned spear to recover his balance. Ars takes advantage of the mans open guard and places a heavy kick to the mans chest, launching him back up against a tree where he barely manages to get his spear up in time to block the followup attack from Ars' Byun.

Meanwhile Donnell is definitely the unluckiest of the three, desperately trying to wrestle free of Kuro's vice-like hold, but he's clearly no match for the golem's strength and Amelia stands smugly over-top of him, happy to watch him struggle.

For a brief moment the other two fights reach a stalemate, Lexi and her opponent are locked in a scintillating dance of blades, their rapid footwork and strikes leading them clanging back and forth across their side of the clearing. On the other end, Ars hounds his opponent with his Byun, it's ricochets carrying it from tree to tree before it attacks the spear wielding man from his blind spots, but the spears dangerous reach keeps Ars at a distance and struggling to land a decisive blow.

"Gah! You bitch, don't fuck with me!"

Lexi's opponent suddenly screams when he takes a gash to his forearm after she sidesteps an overly zealous lunge of his, her blade flicking out and drawing blood as she steps back to create distance once again. He loses any pretense of form after the wound and begins two-handing his larger blade to viciously hack and slash at Lexi, forcing her to constantly backstep on the tips of her toes as she frantically diverts and deflects his much heavier blade and wild blows. The man gets more aggressive as he gains ground, his great sweeping slashes whistling through the air as he chases after Lexi's fleeting form.

As their game of cat and mouse drags on and neither seems able to gain an advantage, Lexi suddenly does a rapid somersault away from her opponent, creating a good amount of distance between them before she brings her rapier to bear. As her arm coils in front of her and the hilt of her blade comes to rest just in front of her chin, her expression takes on a serious tone.

"Don't die," she warns the man.

With an explosion of speed, Lexi launches herself forward off of her back foot, arm and blade extending as she stabs towards the wide-eyed man. He brings his blade to bear, once again catching her lunging sword on the flat of his own, desperate to keep from being impaled. But this time the blades don't skitter off one another as Lexi keeps the pressure on the center of his blade. As their swords grind against each other, Lexi plants her front foot with a yell and uses her other hand to grip the pommel of her longer hilt, multiplying the force of her lunge and pushing the blade further forwards.

With a screaming sound, something gives. Her opponents sword shatters from the force, and he's sent careening backwards through the clearing, his body slamming into a tree with a resounding crack, blood exploding from his mouth at the force of the impact before he falls to the ground. I see Lexi wince a little from where she stands as the man falls prone to the ground, clearly she hadn't meant to injure the man to such an extent.

"Grease!" The spear wielding man calls out, as he looks to his fallen comrade, "dammit, you bastards!"

The man rushes at Ars with a snarl and a stab of his spear, as Ars dodges he catches my gaze briefly with a pointed look. Looking around, I notice his Byun change trajectory and head towards me. I nod at Ars to show I understand as I move to stand in front of the incoming Byun, once it nears me I redirect the Byun with a simple roundhouse kick, sending it straight into the unsuspecting temple of the spear wielder, causing him to collapse to the ground unconscious. He'd gotten so focused on Ars that he'd stopped paying attention to the dangerous Byun.

"Whew, thanks for the assist Sola," Ars beams at me, a slight sheen of sweat the only sign he'd been intensely fighting just a moment ago.

Lexi walks up shortly after, "Should we check on my opponent, I may have gone a bit overboard."

"Anytime Ars," I smile back at my companion through my mask before turning in the direction of Lexi's collapsed opponent, he's clearly unconscious but I can see his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm from here so I'm sure he'll be fine.

"He looks like he'll be fine," I voice as much to Lexi.

"Took you guys long enough," Amelia speak up from where she stands in front of a trussed up and gagged Donnell. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"W-what? Why're you looking at me like that??" She questions defensively.

"Oh nothing, I'm just surprised to see you so open with your interests is all," I innocently smile in response. Ars and Lexi both burst out laughing as realization dawns on them at what I was insinuating.

"P-p-preposterous!! I would- I mean- Absolutely not!" Amelia shouts out as her face colors red, more off balance than I'd ever seen her.

Maybe my teasing had been spot on after all?

-o-o-o-

It'd taken some apologizing and coaxing, but eventually Amelia had agreed to have Kuro tie up the four kidnappers we'd captured. Afterwards, we'd just had Kuro drag them along behind us as we started the trip back to Weir.

The two Seekers we'd rescued had decided to stay behind at a nearby creak we'd passed in order to clean themselves. They both thanked us profusely for rescuing them and obtaining revenge for them but I could tell it'd be quite a while before they'd truly be okay. I hoped the rest of the first floor went better for them.

We'd also gotten the quest completion notice shortly after incapacitating the last of the kidnappers. We hadn't run into the girl who'd captured the other two yet but I guess her taking them out was being counted towards our quest completion, so that was nice.

As the sun started to set and we trekked down the road to Weir, I looked down at my outstretched hand and the ethereal status screen floating atop it:

Attack: 13 Defense: 8 Wins: 7 / 35 Penalty: 0 / 7

All in all, not a bad outcome. We still had five weeks left on the first floor, but my companions and I were all well on the way to passing the first test.

Lexi even asked if she could stick with us as well going forwards. She was a little behind on her wins after losing two days in a row though, apparently she'd challenged someone and lost shortly before we met her so she couldn't challenge Byron or any of his crew. I didn't think it would be too hard to find her a win tomorrow though, her stats were nearly even with my own, which was impressive since she'd shown up four days later than we had.

It was still relatively early on, but I was confident my new companions and I could handle the rest of the first floors test, together.