They kept walking until signs that they had reached their destination started to show up. The signs they should be looking out for were: pearls scattered on the ground, crisp purple leaves falling from the tall trees, and a misty setting.

This part of the journey wasn’t all that hard—it was just painstakingly long.

They walked for days, their resources slowly running out. But they knew better. They controlled their hunger—after all, they had trained harshly.

“GUYS!!! LOOK! IT’S OUR FIRST PEARL! WE MUST BE CLOSE!” said Somji, hovering over Nimji.

Suddenly, a purple leaf fell on Kimji’s head. “YOU’RE RIGHT, A PURPLE LEAF JUST FELL ON ME!”

Nimji rolled his eyes while smiling at the childish tones of Kimji and Somji. Nimji was like a brother figure to them, a sibling they never had.

They started spotting many more pearls scattered all over. They were beautiful shades of white and pink, in all sizes.

What was their purpose with the Pearls of Life and Death, I hear you ask? Well… you’ll find out soon.

The problem was that Mounchion couldn’t find anything on the wolf leader’s backstory. If he had, it would be easier to manipulate him and eventually defeat the Hantens.

Finally, they set foot in the Jungle of Pearls. It was a beautiful place, with a hint of mystery lurking here and there. The mist was thick, the air was fresh, and the rose scent filled the biome.

They started to search the jungle for the Pearl of Life. They needed to look near the River of Roses. They had to search the bushes—but first of all, they needed to locate the River of Roses. The number of spirits would be highest there.

They started searching, holding up the Soul Tracker. Suddenly, it started beeping really loudly. The river was south. They kept walking south until the beeping abruptly stopped. They looked around—but saw no river.

Suddenly, Nimji tripped and fell into a thorn bush. On the other side of the big bush, he saw the most gorgeous and misty river he had ever seen. With the mist dancing on top of the river, and the transparent waters flowing carefree, the roses surrounding the place were magical as well—shades of red and pink danced in the river.

But Nimji was too pierced to admire the beauty. After all, he did just fall into a thorn bush. Yikes.

They all crossed the bush. Kimji helped Nimji get up and helped him pluck out the thorns.

After that was done, they started to search the bushes for the pearl. A circle of large bushes surrounded the river—it was a beautiful sight. They kept searching. With every bush came every thorn… ouch…

After thousands of thorns stuck to their hands and legs, feeling like noodles, they finally caught a glimpse of something shiny in the bushes. They came closer, and closer, and closer—then suddenly, Snatch! A vulture grabbed the pearl right out of Nimji’s hand and made a flight for it. Somji fiercely flew after him.

She kept flying, her top speeds showing, an electric boost shooting through her veins. She felt alive. Suddenly, her powers grew—she grew. She became large, and she was no longer a normal delicate butterfly—she was strong.

It was like her body had grown a hard shell that protected her at all costs. She had only one problem—she had no hands. But Mounchion had solved this problem too.

Even though the solution was problematic to Somji, she knew what was best for her.

Now Kimji and Nimji were evolved “animals.” They didn’t walk on all fours anymore—they were more civilized, more humanoid. But they still had the dangerous abilities that a tiger and a red panda do. Somji, on the other hand—even though she was mentally evolved and more self-aware than her last generation—didn’t have humanoid features, which would help her a lot in battle. So, Mounchion created a sort of potion for her. It wouldn’t fully transform her into a human, but it would replace her butterfly body with a human body. Her wings and strong, shell-like structure that she now had would remain.

She wanted to surprise Nimji and Kimji. She yanked out the potion mid-air and chugged the bottle. Kimji saw Somji—she looked like a fairy. Her silky pink hair and cotton-candy cheeks easily caught Kimji’s attention. She had a defined figure and a cute little pink dress with a green net attached under the dress. Mounchion decided to ditch the armor last minute because the swift movements of kung fu didn’t fit with bulky, heavy armor. He instead sewed some light, flowy clothes for all three of them.