Ignoring the conversation about blastia and Estelle's failed attempts at getting closer to Repede, Deesh was intrigued by how the delinquent Yuri was once a member of the Imperial Knights. But with how casually and quickly Yuri shifts the subject it wasn't something he would indulge on divulging without incentive or insistent prodding. Deesh was more focused on Karol's explanation about the nia fruit to lure out the eggbear. It was unusual to think of creatures using fruit to mark territory, especially with how quickly food can spoil in a forest or the possibility of something else eating it.

Deesh and Repede had already moved ahead of the others. They entered a clearing as Deesh carefully examined the fruit. There was some strange scent emanating from the fruit that unnerved her. As she reeled from the smell Karol started to yell as he fell backward, "M-M-Monster!"

Deesh turned to Karol to determine where he spotted it. It didn't take long for her to notice his eyes were locked on her. "I never really had to hide from one so small before…" She pulled back her hood to reveal her reptilian visage to the others.

Estelle was surprised, "I-I've never seen a monster that could talk…"

Deesh hissed, "Humans always vex me. Your views and ideals are skewed to hate anything that doesn't look human." She stepped toward Karol who was still shivering in fear and crawling back, "Tell me little one, the Hunting Blades fight monsters for the sake of humanity, or petty revenge?" Karol was too scared to respond. "So, will you hold to your oath to the Hunting Blades, and attack me for being me or will we continue to work together for the sake of Halure?"

Yuri stepped up, partially to defend Karol if need be. "So long as you have no intentions of harming people on a whim."

Deesh nodded, "I only kill those who deserve it by will. And on occasion those who don't by contract." That seemed to put Yuri on edge, thumb at the ready to kick his blade out of its sheath, though Deesh herself was rather relaxed, as her glare shifted to Yuri's sword, "I have no means of reaching my contacts, so my contracts should not be something any of you should be concerned with. Now let us focus on finding the 'eggbear' creature."

Yuri eased up his hand a bit, turning to Karol, "Well, ace?"

"R-right…" Karol was back to his feet now as he looked around, "I…I'll need another nia fruit for this," Karol was slowing gaining his confidence back as he told them the specifics of their prey, "The eggbear has very unusual tastes, you see."

Deesh easily found another fruit, tossing it to Karol. He started to cut the fruit up with a knife when the foulest of smells started to assault everyone's noses. Yuri coughed, "Jeez, you smell horrible!"

"ME? The smell isn't coming from me!"

Even as Karol tried to protest, the smell was still emitting from him like a barrier as everyone stepped away. Repede was rubbing his nose into the ground, pawing at it, while Deesh was choking and snorting, "You…you…"

Deesh soon collapsed along with Repede as Estelle rushed to their sides, "Oh, no! Repede! Deesh!"

While Estelle helped them, Karol was looking to the bushes around them, "Everyone keep a lookout! An eggbear could come out anytime now. And they're famous for their terrible ferocity."

"So then, Captain Karol," Yuri jokingly called the squirt, "I'm assuming that you're going to lead the charge against this terribly ferocious monster?"

"Of course! But I could use a hand from you, Yuri."

Estelle enthusiastically added, "I'll help too. Oh, Deesh and Repede also."

Deesh and Repede's noses weren't being obliterated by the stench as they managed to stand up again. Yuri looked to them, "Well then, how about we have a bit of a walk around the forest?"

"So long as we're upwind of that smell!" Deesh yelled. As the continued, the smell just seemed to get worse. Deesh pulled out some cloth from her satchel as she stuffed them into her nostrils to try and stop the smell, with limited success.

Everyone kept their distance from Karol as they continued through the woods. Suddenly one of the bushes started to rustle before Karol quickly ran behind Yuri, "B-be on your guard, everyone. It's r-really ferocious…!"

Yuri looked back, slightly annoyed, "Hey fearless leader, you're not supposed to hide right after saying things like that."

Prompting Karol to correct the 'misunderstanding' of his role, "The star always performs the finishing blow, everybody knows that!"

Deesh snapped at him, "More like a coward who only seeks glory."

And from the bush, a strange flower-like monster hopped out as it looked to them before continuing along its original path. "No…I don't think so…" However, before Estelle could finish another creature walked out onto the path, a massive bear that stood on its hind legs and had thick burly arms. Just the sight alone caused Karol to yell. "T-that's an eggbear…?" Karol only being able to nod to answer Estelle.

Yuri was genuinely impressed, "Well, I have to hand it to you, Captain Karol, operation stink bomb was a smashing success."

"Hey, d-don't go giving my plan weird names."

"Stand up straight when you say stuff like that." Yuri didn't even need to look back to know this was true as he and Deesh pulled out curved swords, the only real distinguishable difference between the two was the different colored leather wrapped around the hilt and the cross-guard design on Deesh's blade was that of a stylized coiled serpent.

Deesh rushed at the bear first, just barely dodging the claw as it crushed the ground, creating a small fissure. "Definitely stronger than the bears of Skyrim…"

Repede rushed at it with a dagger in his mouth, slashing away at its thick fur. Karol seemed to have run off to hide as Estelle used her magic to support the others. Yuri managed to get a cut across the belly of the beast, but that wasn't enough to put it down.

Deesh ran at it again, trying to stab it where Yuri had cut. However, the bear's thick arm took the blade and caught it as eggbear pushed her back with a punch. "Lucky my helmet took that hit." Deesh roared at the bear, "Iiz Slen Nus!"

Just as Deesh finished her yell and the eggbear's movements slowed to a standstill, a cry came out from the bushes, "I can—I can do this!" Karol jumped out with his broken giant sword yelling as he rammed the oversized spike on the side of the weapon into the neck of the eggbear. With the size of the spike, it was obvious it was a fatal hit as the bear fell.

"T-that's great, Karol!" Estelle cried out surprised by the outcome while trying to be encouraging just the same.

"You really defeated it in one blow." Yuri then whispered to Deesh, "Even though he just got lucky."

Deesh recovered her weapon from the eggbear's arm, "Luck or not, it was still an impressive attack just the same for one so small."

Karol was just as shocked by all of this, "O…o-o-of course! C-come on!" becoming boastful now, "That was a piece of cake! I'm an ace after all!"

Deesh kicked the bear onto its back while Yuri turned to their 'ace', "Karol, come get the claw. I don't know what I'm doing here."

"What?! A-anybody can do that. It just comes right off."

Estelle volunteered, "Here, let me help too…" though seeing it up close with all of the blood and wounds, the young lady became a bit squeamish, "…Ugh."

Yuri put a hand on her shoulder, "Estelle, why don't you guard the perimeter."

"R-right," turning away from the grisly sight and taking a few steps to not smell it.

Karol nervously slid himself slowly forward, "Y-you're sure it's totally dead, right?"

Deesh kicked the thing in the head a few times with her clawed toes. "If that didn't get a reaction, I doubt ripping out a few claws would."

Karol moved to the hand, still nervous about this. With Estelle looking away, Yuri had a devilish grin on his face as he imitated a monster's roar while she made a hissing sound, causing Karol to scream in terror. Estelle was frightened too, though when she turned back to see Yuri pointing to Karol, she became upset at him, "Wow, Captain. If I didn't know you were just goofing around, I'd swear you were really scared." Deesh however was shaking her head at Yuri, looking more displeased than disappointed.

"Uh…" Karol couldn't stop shaking as he tried to laugh it off as if it was true, "Pretty good, huh?"

Deesh pulled three claws out as she stashed them into a bottle. She turned to her non-human fellow, "How's your nose holding?" Repede sneezed, though he seemed much better now. "Yeah, that was awful." She turned to Karol, "Never do that again." Karol fell down again, nodding to at least show he wouldn't.

Estelle was excited now, "Now all we need is the luluria petals, right? Let's go pay the mayor another visit."

Returning to the forest's edge went rather smoothly, until Repede stopped. Then an annoying voice could be heard shouting from deeper in the forest, "Yuri Looowell! I know that you're here in these woods! Turn yourself in like a good boy! Lady Estellise! Where are you?"

Yuri sighed, "You've gotta be kidding me. Leblanc followed me all the way outside the barrier?"

Karol was confused now, "Uh, what? Who followed you?"

Yuri waved Karol off, "Just some guys from the Imperial Knights…"

Karol thought he was joking, "Yeah, right, the Knights are chasing their own former member." Estelle just looked to Yuri who threw up his arms. "Wait, seriously?!"

Soon enough two new voices nervously cried out, "I-I say, c-come out now, will you?"

"Sh-show yourself now and we-we'll spare you a pummeling!"

The boisterous one yelled at the other two, "Shaking in your boots at mere rumors…and you call yourselves knights of the Schwann Brigade."

Karol jabbed at Yuri, "…So what're they after you for? Vandalism? Fraud? Smuggling? Robbery? Murder? Arson?"

Yuri brushed all of the accusation off, "Umm, it's really just for jailbreak…" Dessh could see some of the other accusations from Karol appear to be prior offenses, "Anyway, let's bolt!"

Deesh grabbed some foliage, "Before that…"

Yuri started helping too, obstructing the path, and making it look like overgrowth of thickets and thorns had taken over the area. "There we go."

Estelle calmly protested, "We can't do that! It'll get in the way of other people passing through!"

Yuri was quick to reminder her, "Who's gonna be passing through? These woods are 'cursed', remember?"

Deesh also added a nasty little surprise in the form of an ash rune underneath the impromptu bush to hinder the knights even further. It shouldn't kill properly armored soldiers, though it will most certainly give them quite the fright and hopefully slow their exit as they search for other traps.

They quickly returned to Halure and used the items to synthesize a panacea bottle as Karol rushed to the base of the tree to cure it. The commotion stirred by Estelle gathering the luluria petals from the mayor for the panacea bottle got many of the people's hope up as they gathered at the base of the tree. Shadow and Strider managed to find Deesh amidst the crowd to watch the spectacle.

As Karol dug up some of the dirt to find one of the smaller roots to absorb the liquid, Estelle turned to Yuri, "Didn't Karol say there was someone he wanted to show the blossoms of Halure to?"

"I think so. Here's hoping we aren't too late."

Shadow was whispering to Deesh, "Is this really how you heal a tree?"

"No, but then again this world already defies our sense of logic. Nothing wrong with letting them try."

Karol carefully emptied the bottle onto the root and suddenly a bright light started to emanate from the tree, "The tree is…"

Many of the citizens started to pray at this good sign, "Please great tree of Halure. Restore the fallen barrier." Just as suddenly as it started, the glow faded. "Please…" Some of the people fell to their knees as others wept.

"No way! Was the dosage too small? Or maybe this isn't the right way…" Karol collapsed onto the ground, uncertain what he did wrong.

As the townsfolk fell into despair and panic, Estelle hadn't giving up as she tried to rally the people's spirit. "We'll have to get another panacea bottle!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible." The mayor stopped her, "That was the last of the luluria petals."

"But…but we tried so hard…" Even as Estelle tried to rally others, her naïve words fell on deft ears. Deesh was about to walk away, however, Estelle walked closer to the tree, clasping her hands together, Please, Great Tree…

Shards of light started to come off the young lady as she began to glow like an angel. "Estelle…" Deesh turned to Yuri who seemed to have an idea as to what was happening now.

Bloom…

A surge of energy rushed throughout the tree now as the shining light came back, traveling all the way to the top. The branches started to gain more life as they were raised, and the flowers began to blossom and shine like stars. The leaves growing on some of the roots started to get greener as they grew, and the petals started to shower. The barrier had been restored, as strong as ever and Estelle stopped glowing, though she fell to her knees from exhaustion.

"Estelle!" Yuri came to her aid, giving his hand, "Are you all right?"

"Y-yes…" when Estelle finally opened her eyes something pink passed before her eyes, "…petals…?"

"Yeah." Yuri helped her up to her feet, "You did it, Estelle. You healed Halure's tree."

The villagers were overjoyed by the sight of the barrier that surrounded their city once more. Deesh was amazed by it, almost speechless by its majesty. "By Sithis, this power…" She turned her gaze to Estelle now, who was modest about her role in reviving the tree and barrier as the citizens thanked her.

Shadow was looking around, "Shade, you are recording, right?"

"Of course. The City would love to see something like this, even as a recording."

Karol ran back to them, "Yuri!" reaching out as he welcomed the high-fived from Karol.

Yuri smiled, "Flynn's gonna be so surprised to see the flowers blooming. Hah, that'll show him."

"You and Flynn seem to have such a strange relationship. You are friends, aren't you?"

Yuri tried to brush Estelle's comment off, burying his smile, "He's just someone I grew up with, that's all."

Repede moaned at how easily he tended to degrade their friendship, however, he spotted something. Strider noticed too as the two of them alerted their respective partners without drawing too much attention.

Deesh and Yuri spotted the suspicious pair on the root above, as Yuri gained Estelle's attention about the situation. "Aren't those the people from the castle…?"

Yuri slowly nodded, "We can't let these people get caught up in this. Let's lay low for a while."

Deesh looked out, "If these people will cause trouble near the trees, then it might be best if we follow in the knight's footsteps."

They started to walk away from the crowd who were still celebrating as Karol tried to catch up, "Huh? What did I miss? Where are you guys going?!"

Yuri was keeping an eye out for those guys in blue coats, "Man, those guys are a pain in the neck."

Estelle lamented their situation, "I wish we could wait here for Flynn to come back…"

Karol was still trying to catch up, in step and situation, "Who's this Flynn person?"

Yuri grinned, "He's an Imperial Knight that Estelle's got a crush on."

"What?!"

Estelle stopped, glaring at Yuri, "I don't have a crush on him!"

"You don't?" Yuri pushing the teasing even further, "Ohh, I get it. You two are already a thing then."

"No, it's not like that at all!" Estelle looked back to Karol, making sure he didn't think there was anything more to their relationship.

"Enough with the humor," Deesh pointed off to the distance, "Nearly two days ago he set off due north-northeast of this city in pursuit of a solution for the barrier. Once we hit the road, we should be able to pick up the trail and follow them from there."

Miles away, and deep underground, a figure was jumping between stalactites before sticking to the ceiling using energy claws, "This isn't right…"

Yeah. I can't detect any Mavericks, Aile.

Aile was keeping to the shadows now, weary of these strange underground stone ruins. "Model P, is your radar detecting anything I'm not seeing?"

Beyond the cave creatures there are a few inert sentry units. Some seem to be scanning for intruders.

Well, whatever we do we should be careful about this weird energy. It's even in the water.

Yes, L. It's as if the very air around us was charged with this unusual energy.

Movement detected!

They watched as a hooded person ran through the ruins as he was being chased by several armored humanoids and another cloaked figure of diminutive stature. Someone was yelling something, but the echoes of the cavern was distorting it too much to attempt to decipher the unknown language. Judging by the armor, they seemed to be knights or some kind of authoritative figures here, but they were carrying metal forged blades and shields and their armors weren't of any stronger metal forging than the weapons, which was pretty substandard in comparison to what the average Reploid metal was composed of.

What's with the archaic weaponry?! They wouldn't be much of a challenge for a Pantheon or Galleon with a basic arm buster.

Temper yourself, Model F. This place has been very strange from the beginning. What's to even say we are still on the Earth we know? Wait…X did you see that? That blond knight in the lead. Is that…?

It sure looks like Flynn Scifo. But his armor and weapon are very different from when we met him.

Aile and the other Biometals were confused. "Model X, Model Z, you know one of the knights? Should we help them?"

It would be more accurate to say we know him as he will be. It's a long story we can get into later.

For now, I think it would be best to observe before we intercede in his duties.

"We'll follow your lead on that then." With that the claw holding her to the ceiling deactivated as she spiraled, a flash of light blinded the area as her armor changed from purple to blue making the perfect rip entry into the water. The only real signs of a disturbance where the ripples and the bubbles left from the dive.

Flynn managed to get aid from a young mage named Witcher as the brigade was chasing after an imposter mage who had knowledge of the underground area of the Shikos Ruins only a handful of mages were supposed to know about.

They have traveled rather deep into the ruins now only to lose the thief's trail thanks to the number of monsters that kept getting in their way. Flynn was disappointed that they failed to catch the thief but still, "We can't waste any more time with this run about. Men we are returning to Halure! Witcher, now for the real reason we needed aid from an Imperial mage. Let's hurry before the villagers fall under attack again."

Repede and Strider both managed to find Flynn's trail as it led them to the base of the mountains. There was a cavern near the main road and inside was a massive city with two guards at its gate.

Estelle looked at the city beyond the gate, "So, this is the Sealed City of Scholars, Aspio. Home to the Imperial mage researchers."

Karol looked to the gate guards, "…The security seems really tight."

Yuri wasn't completely surprised, "This city is under the Empire's direct control. It won't be easy for commoners like us to enter…"

Deesh looked at the two men on guard, "I could sneak past them and kill or knock both guards out. Though I believe seeing the front gate unguarded would be too noticeable for the next rotation, whenever that is."

Yuri had done some risky break-ins before, though the gate was pretty high, "If we have to, we might just have to climb over the wall. But let's looks for a back entrance first."

Estelle looked confused by Yuri's remark, "A back entrance…?"

Strider started to move away from the gate, follow her nose for something. She had led them straight to a door hidden away from the main gate. She was scratching at the floor trying to get inside. "And your stomach manages to find it." Deesh pressed her head against the door to listen to what was on the other side. Once she confirmed there wasn't much, she tested the doorknob, "Figures it would be locked."

"I guess we'll have to climb over the wall and open it from the inside."

Yuri turned to Estelle, "A little quick to jump to our last resort, aren't you?"

Shadow looked back to the gate, "I could try flying us over, though it'd be one at a time. But that'd take forever, and someone would eventually notice."

"Let's wait for Flynn to come out, then."

While Yuri, Shadow and Estelle continued to talk, Karol joined Deesh at the door as he pulled out his lock picking set. "Nice set. I'm partial to the hook pick myself."

"No way! That's the one I first learned how to do this."

Deesh turned back to the lock. "Focus. I want to see how well you are at this."

Karol was as calm as could be as he continued to work until the all too familiar sounds of the lock opening drew the attention of the others, "Karol, Deesh, what are you doing?"

They moved aside as Karol proclaimed, "There, it's open!"

"Huh…? Y-you can't do that!"

Alongside Estelle's protests Yuri was impressed, although, "…Your guild specializes in hunting monsters, right? Or are you guys into thieves' guild-type stuff, too?"

"Heh, umm, yeah…" Karol looked away, "Well, I'm pretty much the only one who can do anything like this."

"Well, whoever your teacher, they knew their craft well, but I'd also attribute luck as well."

Shadow shrugged, "Luck, huh? Weird thing to attribute to a little job like this."

Deesh looked back to the door, "Still, for an important facility, they aren't using anything beyond standard locks. They should have used magic, or a tougher lock."

"Regardless, good job! Shall we?" Yuri moved to the door to proceed.

Estelle tried stopping them as she cried out, "No, that's bad! We should just wait here for Flynn."

Yuri stopped, though it wouldn't stop him for long, "I don't have the patience to wait for Flynn to just happen to walk out of this town by chance. It was unquestioning obedience to laws and authority in times like this that made me quit the Imperial Knights in the first place!"

"But, but…"

Deesh looked around, "If you are so conflicted, then stay out here, child. We could use a look out to keep an eye out on any merchants that might be coming in. This seems to be some type of delivery service entrance."

Yuri opened the door and they entered. Estelle tried to stop them once more, "It's not good to do something that might get us arrested if…" However, as Estelle entered, she was shocked by the sheer number of books and shelves standing before her. "Wow…!" Row after row, section after section, it almost seemed like there was no end to the library.

Estelle quickly delved herself into the thickest book she could pull out, reading everything she could. Deesh also seemed impressed by this collection. "When I get the chance, I wouldn't mind perusing through some of these, but we have pressing matters to attend to first, don't we?"

Yuri and Deesh continued without the others, "Repede, take care of Estelle."

"Strider, help Repede." Strider gave a sad whimper, almost as though she wanted to join them. Deesh's stalkers have been quiet in her pack, though now that they knew they were in a cavern they started to get antsy.

Karol was about to follow them, "Then I'll come too…"

Shadow pulled Karol over, "I think we'll be needed to pull Estelle out of her books if we don't plan on spending a year here." Karol was confused for a second until he saw Estelle managing to already have collected a pile of books as tall as her. Shadow had a idea of what they planned, though she didn't want to get too involved.

Karol rushed over trying to get Estelle's attention, but she was too enraptured in her book to even notice. Yuri turned to Deesh as they walked away, "You do know what I plan to do?"

"I'm not one who won't dirty my own hands when needed. Though I prefer to have a reason for it. These blastia seem to be important tools for daily life. Stealing one from citizens who need it is a pretty good reason, if this is indeed your thief."

Leaving the others behind, Yuri managed to get some information from the surrounding mages, pointing him to an isolated shack of a building in one of the lowest areas of the city. The sign on the door read, "Keep out. Seriously. –Mordio"

"…So, you're here. I've finally found you."

"My turn…" Deesh twirled a pick between her fingers before getting to work on the door's lock. It was very quick as she carefully turned the knob, not even making a sound as the door opened.

They quickly snuck in as Deesh closed the door behind them. Among the piles of books, notes, models, and drawings, there was a hooded figure hidden amid it all. Yuri drew out his sword as Deesh followed. Yuri put the blade next to the person's neck, "Mordio. No more running for you. Now it time to get what belongs to me."

Energy started to gather at Mordio's feet, channeled into balls of fire, "I don't know who you are, but breaking into someone else's house without permission… You'd better be sorry!" In a quick swivel, Mordio turned around launching the fireballs at the two of them.