"Hold on a moment," Isaak said. He did not care what this Mother's Favor business was, but Sister Lotus did not deserve to be thrown out of her tree house because of a sloppy handjob.

"Human," Crim said, her head still raised and her eyes clenched shut. "I have- "

"No, no," Isaak interrupted. "I don't care. This is all that other guy's fault. I'm sure your All-Mother or whatever would- "

"We are servants of the Goddess," Crim said, and here she lowered her head to stare at Isaak. The blood that trickled from her eyes made her face look frightful, but Isaak would not be deterred.

"Then we'll talk to the Goddess about it," Isaak blurted, his arms akimbo.

Crim blinked, and out of the corner of his eyes, Sister Lotus seemed to rouse from her stupor.

"The... Goddess?" Sister Lotus said, and she looked at Isaak for the first time without an expression of foulest distaste.

"That's this whole Cave of Beginnings business, right?" Isaak said, though some of the memory had already left him. "You said... some part of her lives there? We can ask her to fill Sister Lotus with move love or whatever."

Sister Lotus looked to Crim with wide eyes full of hope. Crim wore none of her excitement. She started to chew on the bottom of her lip and clenched her ivy-covered staff between pale knuckles.

"We, we m-must make h-haste, haste," Crim said. She lowered her gaze as she noticed their attention. "We do, do n-not have time- "

"Look here," Isaak said. He winced as Crim recoiled at his words, but he was not OK with how this dark elf was being treated. "I am the Chosen One. Your Goddess chose me."

Crim seemed to shrink with each of his words. Her back arched and her crimson hood obscured her face.

"We're taking Sister Lotus to the Cave of Beginnings," Isaak said with finality. He would make it up to the awkward wizard another time. "And that's that."

The Darkwoods were not particularly dark. The same sun shined down on the uneven forest floor. The same bird song and distant animal scampering could be heard as they trekked through the dense woods. The only real difference was the color of the massive soldier pines that yawned into the baby blue sky like skyscrapers. Their needles looked almost brown in contrast to the verdant green needles of the elven tree houses.

They had walked in silence for most of the way. A small rift had evidently formed between Sister Lotus and Crim. The two did not speak nor did the latter console the dark elf when she started to cry, and in the few hours it took to reach the Cave of Beginnings, Sister Lotus burst into quiet tears at least three times.

"So, this is it?"

It was as if someone had copy-pasted an enormous cavern into the middle of the woods, which was probably what the Goddess had done. There was no rhyme or reason to the sudden jut of crystalline rock that erupted from the forest floor. The mouth of the cave was cast in shadows, but Isaak could tell that it was deep.

"The Cave of Beginnings," Crim said, her words clear and without hesitation. "From within its belly doth each eiken draw their first breath, and to its depth each eiken is one day returned."

"Eiken?" Isaak asked. He had almost forgotten about the hell hounds, but the mystical word made him realize how empty the forest had been.

Crim turned to him and tilted her head in confusion. She pointed a trembling finger to where Sister Lotus stared, slack-jawed, at the cave's yawning mouth of black.

"T-those of, of t-the Mother's Favor," Crim said. "Each c-carries, carries a spark of, o-of Her Breath."

Isaak nodded, though her explanation only raised more questions. He had already wondered, in the few moments he had been allowed, where new elves popped up if there were no men in the village. They did not seem like the kind to kidnap men for some adult fun time. He had even started to wonder if there were some... futanari elves running around, but that would have been too interesting for some trash isekai setting.

"Or all too fitting," Isaak said as he stroked his chin.

"Chosen One?" Crim said. Her eyes darted to his face and then back to her feet.

"N-nothing," Isaak stammered. He looked back at the cave entrance and offered his cheeks a few encouraging slaps. He was still in his underwear, but it was time for the trials. "Bring it on! Let's goooo!"

He looked between Crim and Sister Lotus' mutual lack of enthusiasm, and felt his face redden with embarrassment.

"Last time I try to give a pep talk..." Isaak muttered to himself. He did not miss the confused look the two elves exchanged. "What? What's going on?"

"T-this is, is your t-trial, Ch-chosen One," Crim said with a shake of her head. "W-we c-cannot, cannot enter."

"Oh," Isaak said, without much surprise. He should have known that this cave would be some hallowed site for them. "All right then. So... what do I do?"

Crim made an elaborate gesture towards the enormous entrance to the crystalline cave with her staff.

"Enter the Cave," she said with a rehearsed mysticism. "Bask in the Mother's Love, or be burned in its radiance."

Isaak waited for more, but the brush that crept across Crim's face made him think her theatrics were over.

"Sounds good," Isaak said. He supposed something would happen when he entered. "I'll see you... in a..."

Sister Lotus looked at him with wide eyes, and he stopped himself.

"She needs to come with me then," Isaak said, which took both Crim and Sister Lotus by surprise. "I mean, wasn't that the whole point?"

"T-this is your t-trial!" Crim said, and he was surprised by the heat that entered her voice. "S-she has no place in, in it!"

"But you just said that I enter the cave and bask in the Mother's Love," Isaak said. "And, you know, we are trying to refuel Sister Lotus' tank of love."

Crim's mouth opened, but she did not seem to have an answer. Sister Lotus looked between Crim and Isaak, her expression incomprehensible.

"Come on," Isaak said, and he gestured for Sister Lotus to follow.

His intentions were not entirely pure. A large part of him simply did not want to enter some random cave in some random isekai world alone. Who knew what sort of demonic creatures dwelt inside?