Unlike the previous crossings through the gate, this one was more, with a lack of better words, turbulent. Instead of walking on solid ground, the party saw themselves falling from the sky, plummeting straight towards a forest below. Fortunately, the height was not far up as to kill or seriously injure them. "Oof!" James exclaimed as he landed on the ground, still upright. His legs hurt a little from the landing. Vargas and Ardin weren't as lucky. Vargas landed face down on the ground while Ardin was hanging on a tree, his wings caught on the branches. There was one missing.

"Where's Tora?" He wondered. At that moment he heard a shrill scream above him. He looked up to see Tora, still falling. He began to pace around, trying to see if he can try to catch her safely, but at this level, he couldn't do so without getting the both of them hurt. He quickly began to pace around to position himself underneath Tora, catching her safely before she could hit the floor. She opened her eyes to see him cradling her in his arms. She blushed heavily at the sight. Seeing this, he let her down gently.

"Nice catch" Vargas said as he got himself up.

"Oh cr-" Ardin fell off the tree and landed on his back. "Ow… that hurt." He walked up towards the rest of the group. "You think we made it?"

James looked around. They were in a forest, that much they knew, but was it the right one? In the distance, he could barely make out the snowfield beyond the trees. This was odd, as the area they are currently in was warm. Still, at least they made it to their location in one piece.

"Heeeey!" a voice shouted. They instantly recognized the voice as Tilith's, as she sprinted towards the group. "You aren't late this time." She remarked.

James scratched his head. "Well… I did have some time to prepare, but I didn't want to make you disappointed."

"That's considerate of you." She smiled. "I see you also evolved one of your units." She looked at Vargas, who smiled confidently. She then noticed the new unit, who was behind James, her eyes widened with curiosity as she looked into Toras eyes. "Do you mind if we talk for a second?"

"Okay." He turned back to the group. "I'll be back in a few moments." She then pulled him away from the group. Her face seemed to have a mixture of concern and anger.

"Do you know what she is?" She asked him.

"I have a feeling you do." He scratched his head, feeling somewhat oblivious.

"She's a Disciple!"

Disciple, that's what Tilith was. If Tora herself was a disciple, which God did she serve? The way she announced that showed that the term may have a different meaning in this world. "Disciple… I'm going to assume that it's not just a title, isn't it?"

"In a way, it is. Disciples are those that serve the gods, but they are much more different than humans. They are much more powerful, can live longer, and some are just as prideful as the Gods they serve."

He then thought for a moment. "If she is one, then who does she serve?"

"I don't know… I can tell she is one, but as to who is her master, I don't know. But what I do know is that you should be careful around her!"

James took another moment to think. "I summoned her. The fact that I did means she must have played a part in the war. I don't know what her role is either, but I don't want her to make her feel uneasy. I'll figure it out, but I can't just ask her straight."

Tilith thought for a moment and nodded. "I trust you. Just don't let your guard down, okay?"

He nodded.

"The next location is the Magutagal Wetlands. I'll go on ahead, Just don't get yourself killed, alright?"

"Are you sure? You can still come with us if you want."

"I'll be fine." She smiled. "It's not like last time, so it'll be alright." She left, leaving James with his units.

"What did she say?" asked Ardin.

"The next location is just up ahead, let's proceed with caution as we go through this forest, I don't want anyone to get lost." James responded.

The forest was yet another drastic setting from the snowfield. It was rather calm, they could see the sky, it was clear; a gentle breeze blew through the area, making some leaves rustle as it did so. Overall, it seemed very relaxing, but at the same time, it was very unsettling. It was too calm, too quiet. This would have been the perfect opportunity for a monster to take advantage of one's false sense of security. They were all on guard, preparing for the likelihood of an ambush. After a while, a mossy emerged from one of the bushes. Unfortunately, this brought the attention to other monsters, more slimes, and mandragoras. The monsters were appearing from all around. The group found themselves completely surrounded.

"What do we do now?" Vargas asked.

"We have to hold our ground. Vargas! Time to test out that new form of yours!" James shouted.

"Let's go!" Shouted Vargas. He began to charge at the enemies, cutting them down in a single strike. He was faster and stronger than before, even if these enemies didn't have a type disadvantage the change was still noticeable.

"Hey! Don't think I'll let you have all the fun!" Ardin followed suit and killed a couple of monsters himself. James came in soon after, drawing his sword.

Tora stood there, gazing at the three men. She felt very intimidated, they were all quite violent, especially James. The man she saw before was different to the one she saw now. She didn't know what to say, she never expected a man like him to be this ferocious in battle, she had the thought he would be calmer and level-headed. She felt scared at the sight. She was so distracted that she didn't see the mandragoras appearing beside her growing.

"Eep!" She began to back away, pointing the dagger at them. "S-stay away!" She never did like the idea of fighting; she hated the sight of death, especially if she was the cause of it. Those who fight tend to become monsters, always happy at the thrill of combat to the point of insanity. She didn't want to become like that, had she knew she would have situations like this; she would have just stayed behind. She could have told him that, but she was too afraid. "I… I CAN'T DO THIS!" she shouted.

Back at the now turned battlefield, the trio stopped as they hear Tora scream. They turned to see her running away from a couple of mandragoras.

Ardin felt disappointed. "You summoned something good, only to know she is a coward. Oh what Joy."

"Stop it." James rebuked him. "She needs help. You two hold your position until I come back. You guys can do that can you?"

"These guys?" Vargas perked up. "This should be child's play!"

"Good. If I don't come back, you guys know how to find me."

"How?"

"When I shoot. It should be loud enough for you guys to hear it." He then ran off, leaving the two to fight the monsters.

The two were back to back now, surrounded by the monsters.

"How about we make this interesting?" said Vargas.

"How?" wondered Ardin.

"Let's see who can take down the most monsters, loser sleeps outside."

"Alright, it's a bet."

The two had childish smiles on their faces as the competition began.

Meanwhile, Tora is still running away, the two mandragoras still following her. "NONONONONONONONO!" She shouted. She then tripped on a lone root, falling face first into the ground. When she looked up, she saw a burly man in front of her. He had an axe in his hand, this greatly scared her.

"Lost are we?" he said in a scruffy voice.

She began to back away, sweating heavily as the man walked closer.

"It looks like you can sell quick buck." He continued to advance towards her; other monsters began to follow him as well. The two mandragoras from before also appeared behind her, she was completely surrounded.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. At that moment, the aura around her became stronger, thorned vines began to erupt from the ground underneath her, reaching high into the sky, dancing around Tora like a whirlwind as it acted like a protective barrier.

"What… the hell…?" The man looked up in fear, clearly intimidated by the attack.

The vines quickly shot back down, hitting all that got in the way. Screams filled the air as the bandit and monsters recieved substantial damage and various status ailments from the attack. As the vines sunk back into the ground, the monsters along with the bandit were on the ground in agony. Tora's eyes widened as a look of horror came across her face upon seeing what she had done. "N-No…" she whimpered. She then ran off, tears now streaming down her face as she tried to run away from the carnage she had created.

James in the meantime was still looking for Tora, yelling her name every few seconds, every attempt was met with no answer. "Tora! Where are you?" He shouted again. He then sighed. The forest was simply too dense. He looked down to see any footprints he can find. He saw some rather wide ones, it could have been hers. He also noticed two sets of very small indentations on the ground along with it; it could have been the tracks of the mandragoras that were pursuing her. He then felt the ground shake. A loud noise that sounded like something burst out of the ground followed by some screams came with it.

"What the hell is going on?" He ran off to find the origin of the disturbance, only to meet quite a gruesome sight.

Assorted mossy's and mandragoras were on the ground in pain, some were twitching slightly, some were discolored and were coughing due to poison, some had simultaneous symptoms. It was a horrible sight. Is this her work? Could this be what she is capable of? He saw a man on the ground, what he can assume to be a bandit, groaning in pain.

"I shouldn't have messed with the girl." He said.

Knowing who he was talking about, James leaned in close. "Where is the girl?" he asked.

He pointed straight ahead. James began to walk off before being grabbed by the ankle by the injured bandit.

"Please… Have mercy, I don't wanna die like this…"He coughed. James pulled some antidotes, cures, and stimulants.

"Take these; I don't want to euthanize anyone today." His expression turned more serious. "Lay down your arms, and pray that you do not cross my path again." He began to stand up and walk away.

"Thank you." He along with some of the monsters began to drink from the bottles as James proceeded deeper into the forest.

"That makes twenty!" Ardin shouted as he sliced a couple of mandragoras.

"Twenty-two!" Vargas yelled as he sent a Mossy flying to another one, knocking them both out.

Ardin kicked a Mossy away as it tried to bite him in the leg. "You didn't kill them!"

"But at least they won't be attacking us anymore!" Vargas responded as he tosses the mandragora away from him.

One of the mandragoras began to utter a loud screech; the surrounding slimes began to back away as the other mandragora joined in. Ardin and Vargas began to cover their ears.

"These things won't shut up!" Ardin shouted, but his voice was drowned out by the noise.

Vargas looked around him. They seemed to be standing in a circle, as if trying to trap both him and Ardin. He looked up and got an idea as to why. "Incoming!" He kicked Ardin as he jumped back, just in time to dodge a small volley of arrows. Vargas began dodging arrows, but with the mandragora screeching at them, it will be hard to counter attack. Arrows seem to be coming in from all directions as the pair tries to avoid them.

Ardin tripped on one of the mandragora, interrupting their little chorus as they began to back off. "Beat it!" He flapped his wings with great strength, sending all of them flying. "There! No more annoying plants! Where are you?!" Ardin shouted as he raised his katana. The pair began to back up into each other as they looked around.

"Wherever our assailant is, they're using the cover of the trees to catch us by surprise.

"That all?" Ardin said as he flapped his wings again, the trees began to rustle as leaves were suddenly ripped off their branches. The pair spotted something moving at the corner of their eyes. A shadow jumped into one of the other trees as it began firing arrows again.

"You're not getting away!" Shouted Vargas as he began cutting down trees, in an effort to get the enemy out of hiding.

"You're doing it all wrong! You have to go like this!" Ardin quickly dove into the trees and swung his sword, forcing the assailant out of hiding. The intruder landed behind Vargas, revealing himself to be that of a green haired male archer. He spun around as he drawn his bow, preparing to unleash another salvo on the units.

"Round two?"

"You're on!"

As James walked, he noticed something strange ahead. As he began to get closer, he was shocked at what he found. In the clearing was a large dome formed by thorned vines. He never thought he could come across such a thing in his life. He heard soft sobs coming from within. He instantly recognized the voice.

"Tora…" He said softly.

Inside the dome, she looked up. She didn't want to look at him, she felt unworthy to grace him with her presence. He may have already seen what she had done.

"Don't look at me!" she shouted. She resumed sobbing.

James sighed as he sat beside a nearby tree. "So that was your power? Manipulation of plants and inflicting ailments on others?"

His assumption was accurate. The way he said it made her all the more afraid. She kept sobbing.

"Normally, I would be scared of that, but coming from you, I have no reason to be. I can completely understand your pain."

She lessened the volume of her sobs as she heard it. "What… do you mean?" She asked between sniffles.

James thought for a moment on how to properly approach her. He leaned back on the tree more. "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you that I am a mercenary, right?"

She kept crying, only softer. She wasn't surprised with what he said. He did look like one, but it didn't make her feel any better.

"You're probably thinking that I may be in it for the money, right?" he asked. Tora nodded as her response. "I don't do it for that reason; rather… it's kind of complicated."

"Complicated? How?" Tora sniffed.

"I guess… you can say it was for personal reasons." He scratched his head.

Tora stopped crying as she got a little curious. James seemed a little depressed, looking as if though he remembered something he shouldn't. "Are you okay?" She asked.

James quickly shook his head as he tried to shake the feeling away. "I'm fine." His expression mellowed a little. He certainly wasn't smiling, but he seemed to be relaxed somewhat, but it wasn't going to fool Tora.

The vines slowly sank back down as she got a little closer. She wasn't crying now. "D-Do you have something troubling you?" She asked.

She saw, and he knew it. I certainly can't lie my way out of this one… I want to tell the truth, yet I don't want to… "Back to what I was saying, I am a mercenary, I still am as of now. But currently, I have no job, except helping that Goddess from before."

"But why?"

"Its… actually difficult to say. Honestly, I still don't know what's going on myself, but I digress. I can completely understand your situation Tora."

Tora looked down. "Forgive me for saying this, but how can you possibly understand? There is no way a human can understand…"

James leaned back as he sighed. "There are times where I question my own actions."

"Huh?"

"Being a mercenary isn't the best job in the world. It's a profession everyone despised, mainly because most of the people taking this job are either criminals, bandits or other kinds of low-lives… In a way, I was no exception, especially after many years of taking these contracts. Most of them involved killing someone or stealing from others."

She knew for a fact that not every human was good, the term "bandit" and "mercenary" were familiar. "Criminal" and "low-life" were also words she knew on a more personal level. "How did you end up in that job? You could've chosen a different path. Why?"

The expression from before came back as James looked down again.

Tora stammered. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright. You didn't offend me in any way. But… that's also something I have difficulty to talk about."

She knew that it felt like a sensitive topic, so she tried to steer the conversation to a different direction. "Okay… but why do you fight? You said there were times you questioned your actions."

"I did. Every mission I took, every life I've ended, I continue to question myself whether or not it was the right thing to do. There were times where I can spare my target, but for the most part, violence was my option." He looked up, still with that somber expression. "In the end, I fight not because I wanted too, but because for the most part, I have no choice."

Tora continued to listen, examining his speech to see if there were any traces of error in them, so far nothing.

"Betrayal was common in the field too, many a time where I would get stabbed in the back, both figuratively and literally speaking." He rubbed his side. "It didn't matter to me, though. It was only natural."

Tora looked down again, still wondering about the credibility of James' back story, the story felt hard to believe, seeing as her summoner looks quite young, but his facial expression matched his voice, there was no way he could have been faking it.

I suppose that's enough information about me, I better stop now. "Ah, sorry. I rambled on there." James apologized. "Here I am trying to help you, and I end up talking about myself."

"N-No! It's fine! But... why are you telling me all this?"

James looked to the sky. "I want to help you, but to do that, I wanted to see if we could be honest. I know how scared you must be feeling, so I wanted to see if I can make you comfortable at least, though I think my story is anything but comforting."

She thought the same as well, but since he was being honest she felt somewhat safe to be with her summoner. He didn't run, nor did he show any hostility thus far.

James then looked towards Tora with concern in his eyes "What can you tell me your past?" He asked in a calm tone. "That is, if you want to. If you don't feel like it, then I won't force you too."

She was hesitant. She felt reluctant to talk at first, but from the way the conversation was going, she felt compelled to tell her story. Her eyes slowly filled with tears as she began.

"I was hated… by the Gods. They thought I was too cowardly. They said I had great power… but I can never use it. I was too scared. One god helped me… scared the other gods and gave me a home… I was so happy…" Tears streamed down her face as she continued. "But then I learned he only wanted to use me for my power, just like the others. I didn't want to do the ritual… I just couldn't… He threw me away… Calling me… 'useless…'" She began to hiccup a little as she tried to stop herself from crying again.

James leaned back to process the newfound information. She had quite the past, being ostracized and manipulated. He couldn't help but to feel sympathy for her, he knew the feeling of being used. In a way, they were quite alike. "Do you remember what that god looked like?" he asked, still in a relaxed tone.

The memory was too blurry, she could remember the events, but she couldn't remember his face. But she could remember his voice, the very memory of it made her shudder.

"You sorry excuse of a disciple…"

Remembering those words made it even harder to hold back her tears, her sniffling and hiccups were more audible now. James noticed this and quickly pulled her into an embrace. It got her all flustered. "Wh- What are you doing?!"

"I can't stand sitting idly by when one is suffering." He responded. "Just because we're all feeling doubts or carrying some sort of burden, it doesn't mean you have to go through it alone."

Tora sniffed a little, she was on the verge of crying.

James gently patted her on the back as he began to whisper. "If you need to cry, don't worry about it. I'm here."

She began to weep as she tightly tugged on James' coat; all the while he kept patting her and continued whispering. "Let all the pain wash away, I will carry your burdens with you."

His units finally showed up, unknowingly walking in into their little moment. "Let's not disturb them." Vargas whispered, and they stayed off to the side.

After a few minutes of crying, she finally stopped. He was still holding her shoulders. "Do you feel better now?"

She nodded, wiping away the last of her tears. He smiled in response. She felt a slight sense of comfort that she was not the only person who experienced what she had. They were used for their skills, and both were seen as outcasts by others. Even though he killed more people than she ever could, she knew he felt guilty about it. He acknowledges the fact he had killed people and takes full responsibility for his actions. In her eyes, he was at least honest and nice enough to give her a reason to trust him. My life may not have ended in a happy ending, but I can work on making one now. She hadn't felt genuine kindness in a long time, not like this.

"You're not useless. I can understand everything you went through, there's no need to be ashamed to feel scared."

"Y-Yes…" she replied.

"If you need any help, don't be afraid to ask me or my units. Like I said before, you're not alone. I won't force you to do things if you don't want to; I want to make sure everyone is feeling comfortable. So for now, just smile."

Tora uttered a soft giggle as she did what he requested and smiled. Seeing this made him feel a little better, knowing he was able to make someone smile again. He couldn't help but smile himself, albeit a rather faint one.

Realizing that the two finally returned, James turned to see his units, realizing that they were there. "How did you guys managed to find us?"

Vargas replied, "It wasn't hard to track you guys. All we needed to do was follow the crying." Tora tensed up at the comment.

"Ah, I see. And i assume you two had some fun back there?

"Yeah." Answered Ardin. "I won."

"Hey, who was the one that saved you when you were being pelted with arrows?" Vargas shouted.

"Alright, it was a tie; he killed an archer while you were gone."

"An archer?" James inquired.

"Yeah, another one of Maxwell's pawns. It was annoying, but at least Vargas got rid of him."

Vargas chuckled. "It's nothing; this new evolution really helped me out. By the way, Here!" He tossed a gem. James stuffed it in his pouch shortly afterward.

"Yeah, but it didn't make you anymore humble." Ardin smirked.

"What did you say?" Vargas raised a fist.

Tora giggled. They turned to face her. "Thank you… I'm glad to be with a summoner like you. I'm so happy!" She ran up to hug him. The two other units snickered at the sight. James sighed as he patted her on the head.

"I wonder what the goddess will think of this…" Ardin whispered.

James heard this and realized something. "Oh no, I forgot! Let's get moving. We can't keep her waiting again." He ran off; with Tora still wrapping herself wound his left arm.

Vargas chuckled. "Whatever he did, I think he made her happy."

"Yep." said Ardin. "I think in a way he feels the same way too." He looked ahead. "Wanna race? Three, Two…" he quickly glided off at two, leaving Vargas behind.

"Damn you! You have wings!" Vargas complained as he chased after him.


Area Clear! And one of the units finally warmed up to the party.

Gem Count: 1