I find the Guild milling around in their camp, playing cards. They look up as I fly in.

“Woah, didn’t know you could fly!” Perrine says, startled.

“It’s not really flying,” I explain. “Just some fancy wugong techniques. Anyways, I need your help. There’s a bunch of monsters hiding in the lower cave system and we need to defeat them.”

“Sure,” Lucien says. “We weren’t really doing anything anyway.”

They follow me to the cave system. I look around the foliage surrounding the cave system, and it does seem that a number of plants have gone missing. This place used to be surrounded by tall, leafy oak trees, but now it’s barren. All of the oaks have disappeared, not even leaving any sticks or leaves behind. It’s as if they never existed. Even many of the smaller bushes and plants on the ground have gone missing, leaving behind only the grass and some small saplings.

I peek into the cave, but it’s too dark to determine whether or not a monster is in there.

“So what are these kinds of monsters? Dragons? Chimera?” Vofola asks, slinging a machine gun off her shoulder. “I’ll fight all of them!”

“No, they’re plants.”

“Plants? You brought us here to fight some grass?” Alduin scoffs. 

“Let me correct myself,” I reply, exasperated. “They’re monsters who used to be plants.”

“Even so, they should be easy to fight,” Alduin rolls his eyes. “Plants are so boring.”

“Come on,” Lucien berates Alduin. “This will be good practice.”

We step into the cave, where the darkness envelops us. I keep one hand on the mossy cave wall, stepping forward slowly. From behind me, Lucien draws out his sword, which emits a blinding light. I hadn’t looked at his sword when I met him the first time. It’s a rapier, with a thin blade that seems to be made of some translucent glowing material. Jewels spot the handle of the sword, which looks like pure gold. The sword acts like a flashlight, lighting the way with the glow of its blade. I’ve never seen any other sword like it. 

“That’s a really cool sword,” I tell Lucien. “Where did you get it?”

“At an auction,” Lucien replies. “It cost an exorbitant amount.”

“Shh!” Horacio says, hearing something. We stop and look around. With the light from Lucien’s sword, I can see walls covered in thick, mossy material. Water drips from divots all around the tunnel. The part of the cave we’re in seems to stretch on without end into the darkness. There’s a narrow crevice at the side of one of the walls; I see something slip into it.

“We’ve found them,” I say. “Let’s go.”

We tiptoe to the crevice, which Perrine peers into. A group of yao are sitting around in a small cave. Many of them look somewhat human, standing upright on two legs. However, their hair is made of leaves and their skin is somewhat greenish. Many are meditating or sitting rooted in place, as if they are still plants. Alduin accidentally pushes into Perrine, who falls into the cave. The yao jump up, startled, their faces narrowing in murderous intent.

“Cultivators…come…kill…us,” one stutters, as if still trying to get used to speaking in a human language. “We…kill…first!”

The monsters leap at us. There’s dozens of them, and I’m glad I brought the adventurers. Perrine steps in front of us. It’s almost comical; how could she stand against all of these monsters? One yao, emboldened, swipes at her. I don’t know how to describe what happens next: it seems like Perrine has shifted, ever so slightly, causing the yao to bounce back. Several more yao, some carrying sticks in the imitation of swords and some holding giant seeds, attack her. Perrine dodges all of these attacks, absorbing the seeds and reflecting the sticks. One yao mutters a spell towards her, but she lifts her shield. A purple force field appears over her head, absorbing the spell. 

“Pretty cool, huh? She’s pretty much untouchable,” Lucien says. 

Vofola hoists her machine gun. “Let’s go!”

We leap into battle. Vofola guns down many of the yao, keeping them at bay. Perrine parries the ones that are lucky enough to get close.  Alduin has his wand out, muttering spells. He points his wand at a yao, and a burst of black energy strikes it, bringing it down. It struggles to stand up, before falling down again; it seems like it’s been hit with a energy-sapping spell. Horacio unslings a crossbow, which he uses to target the monsters, never seeming to miss. I use my wugong techniques to fight the monsters. One by one, the monsters fall. Even so, it’s hard to kill the monsters; their skin is thick enough in most places to defend against normal swords and arrows. I would say that yao are like weeds-you finally succeed in killing one, and more come to take its place. 

I look around for Lucien, only to find him standing in the middle of a bunch of the plant monsters. His expression is strangely gleeful as he stabs a yao in the stomach with his light sword. The yao goes down, choking, but Lucien doesn’t stop. He stabs it once, twice, three times, going at it without mercy. Another yao, with a cry that sounds similar to grief, leaps at him. Without looking, Lucien slits it in the throat and stomach at the same time. His technique is perfect, swordplay incredible. But I’m disturbed at how easily he dispatches the monsters, slicing through them like butter, then moving on to another as if it’s all a great game to him. His demeanor is completely different from his cheerful attitude that he usually keeps. His amber eyes are largely impassive, but his mouth twists up in a sadistic smile. Lucien points his sword at a large yao, who seems to be the leader.

“Please don’t kill me! I promise I won’t eat any more humans,” the yao quavers.

Lucien taps his free hand on his chin mock contemplatively. “I don’t think so. But since you asked so nicely, I’ll give you an extra violent death.” 

I flinch and look away, finding another monster to fight. But in the background, I can hear the violent sounds of whatever Lucien is doing to the yao. 

Finally, we finish. I’ve brought down four of the monsters, and Vofola, Perrine, Alduin, and Horacio through expert teamwork have brought down eight more. But the person who has brought down the most is Lucien. He’s quite literally standing on a pile of the monsters, seemingly unconcerned. With an unimpressed expression, he shakes out his sword, the blood sliding off the reflective surface as easily as water. Somehow, his suit is still immaculate and clean, even though he is surrounded by a pool of blood. 

Vofola notices my look. “Yeah, he gets like this sometimes when we’re fighting. You don’t want him as your enemy.”

Perrine leans close to me and whispers, “I was really disturbed by it too the first time we fought. But you get used to it.”

Alduin, overhearing, scowls. “What? You seriously thought the guy who defeated a demon prince would be a goody-two-shoes? Did you expect him to weep over the death of the monsters? It takes more than a sense of heroism to defeat a monster like that.”

“Alduin, let’s not say those kinds of things,” Lucien berates, back to his normal serene demeanor. “That’s going to unnerve Hu.”

“He’s already unnerved,” Alduin rolls his eyes. “I just didn’t want him to get the wrong impression of you. Now he has a warning.”

Lucien shrugs, giving me an apologetic smile. “Sorry if I scared you back there. I get a little excited during battles.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ve seen worse things,” I reply, unnerved by his abrupt change in behavior. “Anyways, the yao will eventually disappear so we don’t need to clean up. Let’s go back out.”

We make our way back through the cave, squinting at the sunlight. It’s barely noon, but I’ve already completed my assignment for today.

“Are there any restaurants in town?” Lucien speaks up behind me, startling me. 

“Yeah, only one. It’s the Liu Family Restaurant, but the soup makes you sick.”

“Well, we should support the local restaurants regardless,” Lucien replies cheerfully, searching his cloak for his money bag. “”Can we try it? Lunch is on me.”

I nod, unsure whether I want to know what happens if I disagree with him. “Sure. We’re pretty close to the base of the mountain.”