They arrive at Mysteria by taking the passage below the temple. Night had fallen by the time they arrived at Mysteria in front of their eyes. Sairori felt it was a shame being off schedule.
"Hmm, it seems we've been delayed by that battle."
Night has already broken in.
“We should camp and rest here till daybreak.”
"What? But we can still go on," Alistor said.
"No need to push yourself far. You may never know if you must be at full power for what lies ahead." Tannen speculated.
They all agreed to rest and recover as Tannen and Sairori watched over the four of them. It was dark and perfect for them to stay undetected in this part of Mysteria.
"With no source of light or fire, our enemies won't detect us quickly." Sairori sat drinking his tea silently.
They both look over the four, resting smoothly. Night broke through as hours passed. It was four as Auroa opened his eyes to see the others still asleep.
"Well, you're up early. You had enough rest?"
Auroa smiled with some joy and felt delighted. Darkness still shrouds at the ground level. He walked towards Sairori quietly in order not to wake the others up. Sitting in a corner where dim lights were visible. Auroa joined them to view the stars.
“Auroa.”
“Yes?”
"You know very well about your limits. You've made satisfactory progress with your teammates with that get-along attitude."
Auroa felt baffled for a moment.
"Oh no, you don't need to, really." Auroa nodded.
Tannen pats Auroa on the shoulder as Sairori looks over the other three, still sleeping.
"Auroa, we both know you may not have been the focus of attention like the others, but you should know you've already surpassed our expectations."
The sound of winds starts picking in from the other side of Mysteria. Auroa continued listening to what both of them had to say.
“Auroa, I know the day will someday come. When my time is gone….Promise me this. You will watch over them. I know you can lead them one day.”
An unease look was seen on Auroa.
“Something the matter?” Sairori asked.
"It's just…I had other plans in mind, perhaps. Maybe, but there's some unfinished business to settle. I've been thinking for some time about the future. Yes…the future."
A burning memory begins haunting his past. Scenes of a massive fire rain over a child with dark hair escaping a forest.
“Is there something you need to tell us? We’re here!” Tannen assured.
“No…It’s nothing. Just something caught my eye.”
They continue to look over the stars.
"They will one day need you, and you'll see when that day comes."
They spent most of their time speaking while the other three rest. Daybreak eventually arrives as a few more hours pass. Alistor and the others woke up and found Auroa already awake before them. They all check the map on how close they are to their destination.
“So the Neon Cave is where we’ll find this?” Alistor looked over.
Fog starts to pitch in as they find their way to the cave. They noticed the enemy was around them. The party took caution in the foggy field. as they spotted Pawns from Baronia in search of them.
They kept low and quiet since the pawns were easy to hear with their loud mechanical sounds and movement. They closed in on their destination, but then suddenly, Katty trips as a sound is made.
"Oh great, so much for stealth!" Shouted Alistor."
The enemy soldiers rushed towards their way. Katty quickly got back up, feeling a bit ashamed as Maigashi complained. The pawns were now in range to fight the party again.
"Well, no use in hiding," Maigashi said.
Auroa suddenly stepped in front of the others while Tannen and Sairori watched from a distance.
“What are you doing?” Katty wondered.
"This is no time to show off. Let us handle the enemy while you stay in range with your wind." Alistor said.
Auroa refused as he made them sheath their weapons with a little force of his aura emitting. He insisted they let him handle this.
"Save your strength for now. I'll use mind over the matter to defeat these foes quickly."
Maigashi shrugged his shoulders as Auroa had them step back. Auroa glanced through his surroundings to find his mental space to counter.
"Time to play with these things, mind."
Auroa prepares to channel on some wind. The pawns took him for granted and decided to move in. But suddenly, their vision became blurry as Auroa disappeared from their sight.
“The currents from my winds will shift the fog to them. Now for the illusion.”
He shifted the fog to mess with their head, thinking they saw him. The pawns miss their attacks. They lost their vision again as Auroa began making illusions of himself in set points. The grunts got confused as they made their attacks. Auroa catches their attention, making them charge toward him. The copies of himself disappear as they realize they have fallen into a vast swamp. The pawns short-circuited and sank to their doom as Auroa blew the fog out the other way for the rest to see. The team was impressed to see what Auroa did with the surroundings.
"I was never there the whole time in the battle." "Well, what are you all standing here for? Shouldn't we be heading to that cave?"
They find their way into the entrance of the cave. Neon Cave now awaited them to explore and seek that spirit said to be located on that map.
Back at the Baronia fortress, the King watches over the party's progress. He is seen on his throne feeling lazy with one hand on his cheek.
"So they plan to seek that rose to awaken one of our rivals' souls, eh? Doctor! Send down another monster. This time two of them." He ordered.
Dr. Page turned to the King.
"My right away, my lord. I'll send down two of our most mischievous monsters to attack them."
The doctor begins to have other thoughts about the rose Alistor and the party is seeking.
“What should we do about that power if they were to stop them?”
The King made his decision with no problem.
“Tell them not to destroy that power source but bring it back. We may have some use for it if they succeed.”
The doctor makes his leave.
Meanwhile, down below, Alistor and his party made their way through the cave as it was vast and filled with glowing stones. Alistor was holding the map as Tannen, and Sairori led the way. The cave dimmed out for the moment, but nothing of significance happened in the cave. The deeper they went, got colder as Maigashi began shivering.
“Should have packed an extra sweater.”
As they got closer, the cave got colder by some degree. At long last, the massive door is spotted with a rose symbol.
"Well, let's open it up."
Tannen started opening it from one side slowly as Maigashi and Katty went to the other corner on the right side. The doors opened as they entered the large room filled with earth and crystal-like structures.
“What is that?”
A massive plant was at the center of the room. It began to spread out its vines and heads to notice their intrusion. Alistor and his party did not look surprised.
"It's obvious. Let Sairori and I take care of this." Tannen insisted.
Sairori begins to battle alongside Tannen as the others watch.
The plant's flower bud begins opening up with man-eating heads. Tannen and Sairori charge at the beast deflecting every one of its attacks. It attempted to attack Alistor and Maigashi but was deflected by Auroa summoning a wind barrier. Katty cut a few vines on the sidelines, trying to get close to them.
“We got this one in the bag.” Sairori gestured.
He begins building speed as sparks start to burst from the tip of his blade. Tannen simply rolled out of the way from every one of the plant's attacks. Tannen started channeling some dark energy as Sairori approached, closely cutting every vine.
“Look at them go.” Katty pointed.
Alistor and the others continue to watch them in action. From the darkness, a waterfall came crashing down on the plant from above. More water bursts from the side of the walls focusing its aim on the plant as it begins to feel withered and soaked. Sairori shot some sparks at the plant to conduct it with water. The massive heavy plant beast squirmed in pain as its core opened from the center.
The waters stopped as Sairori gained some space by jumping a few feet back. Alistor and the rest looked at the massive plant head staring right before them. Without hesitation, the plant shoots a glob of acid toward them, forcing them to fall back.
"Here it comes!" Shouted Alistor.
Katty and Alistor take cover behind Auroa's wind barrier. Auroa was nervous, unsure if his wind magic could hold through that.
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