"Good morning, everyone! Oh?"

Brittany looked around at the table the students were sitting at. "Just you three today? Are the other two still asleep?"

"We're all awake," Machias replied. "But Morgan said that she had something important she needed to check in on, so after she and Fie finished their breakfast, they went up to their room."

"Do you know what they might be up to, Laura?" Elliot asked the swordswoman seated next to him. "If you're willing to say, that is."

Laura shook her head. "I'm afraid I cannot say. I retired early for the evening, so I don't know of everything that had transpired. What I do know is that Fie had left the room last night to get some air, and in the time frame between my falling asleep and this morning, she returned to the room."

"You don't think she's scolding her, do you?"

"Knowing Morgan?" Machias stifled a chuckle. "That doesn't sound too far-fetched of an idea."

"Well, in any case, I came to drop these off to you." Brittany set a folder with the Thors Military academy logo on the table. "Make sure you get them up to speed."

Machias took the initiative in taking the folder. "Thank you for taking care of this," he said.

Brittany smiled and bid the students farewell for the time being.

"Okay, then." Machias took a moment to finish his coffee before opening the folder. "Let's see what we have today."

"So…" Morgan put her hands on her hips. "Care to explain where you were last night?"

Fie, who was seated on the bed, looked to the side. "Does it really matter?"

"It does for me. I'll have you know that I get REALLY cranky when I don't get enough sleep, so you better have a good excuse as to why I had to keep an eye open in case you decided to show up again."

"Why should I have to say sorry for that? You could've just gone back to sleep."

"We're in unknown territory here, Fie. I know you're self-sufficient, but the others may not be able to understand you. At the very least, try to be a little bit considerate of who you're dealing with."

Morgan bent over. "I thought you wanted to try giving people a reason to trust you."

"..."

That audible bit of silence was enough to convey that Fie had been backed into a corner. "You're not taking 'no' for an answer, are you?"

"That's right."

Fie groaned in consent. "I saw someone leave the inn through the window last night. He looked suspicious, so I tailed him."

Morgan sat on the ground. "Go on…"

"He went all the way to the shrine and ducked behind the altar," Fie continued. "After that, I heard voices, but some of them were buzzing out, like they were going through some sort of communicator. I wanted to try and see if I could get closer to them, but I didn't want to risk it in that open space, so I hung back and hid. After a while, the voices stopped, but by the time I went back to the shrine to check, the guy was already gone."

"Really? How?"

"He had a grappling hook on him. I'm guessing he used that to scale the terrain." Fie furrowed her eyebrows, indicating that she wasn't very convinced in her hypothesis, but she quickly dispelled her uncertainties. "Anyways, there wasn't much point in staying after that, so I withdrew."

"And after that, you made your way back to the inn, where you used your grappling hook to enter our room through the window."

"You left it open on purpose, didn't you?"

Morgan smirked and rested her index finger on her face. "Hehe. I noticed your grappling hook wasn't in your supplies, and knowing how you like to operate, the window seemed like a more fitting option than the door."

Fie let out a small snort. "It's almost scary how well you know me now."

"'A good tactician knows all the ins and outs of the army's units,'" Morgan recited. "It makes for easier and more efficient planning if you know everyone's habits."

"You learn that from your dad?"

"Mhmm! He's only the best ever!"

"Meh, I bet the boss could beat him."

"The Jaeger King?" Morgan stood up to look down at Fie. "No offense, Fie, but my father's fought plenty of mercenaries and bandits."

"But he hasn't fought a jaeger." Fie stood up on her bed so she could look down at Morgan. "Especially not the king of them."

"I'll have you know my father took down actual kings. He led a small army against entire kingdoms and came out with no casualties!"

"Yeah, from the back of the army, probably."

"What was that?"

"The tactician's job is to give orders to an army. Isolate him from the army, and what can he do?"

"My father's no ordinary tactician."

"And the boss is no ordinary jaeger. He took down plenty of enemy corps all by himself. What's your excuse?"

"Girl, let me tell you…"

The door to their room opened abruptly, cutting the pair's argument short before it could escalate.

"Are you two done?" Machias interjected. "Hate to interrupt, but we need to get our day started."

Feeling embarrassed, Morgan cleared her throat to regain her composure. "R-Right. Sorry."

Fie hopped down from her bed onto the ground. "What's our objective?"

"We have three main tasks today," the class's vice president explained. "Two of them involve talking to residents around the inn first, so we agreed to focus on them first. They involve going out into the island, so we need to be prepared."

"And the last one?"

Machias took an uneasy breath. "A monster extermination request. Some creature called an Ancient Ossa has been staking the area near the main excavation site, so we need to take care of it before it causes any damage."

"They're fine with us killing it?" asked Fie.

"Only because it poses a greater danger to the humans," Laura responded. "At any rate, the main reason we decided to save that request for last is because it presents me and Fie an opportunity to form an ARCUS link. We will use any hostile creatures we come across as practice so that when the time comes, we will be well-equipped to face the beast."

"Oh."

"Do those terms suit you?"

Fie shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. That works."

With that affirmation, Machias, Elliot, and Laura led the way out of the room.

"Let's focus on the field study for now," Morgan whispered to Fie once they were outside. "I'll keep my eyes peeled for any mysterious hooded figures in the meantime."

The silver-haired girl nodded. "Good."

For their first stop, the students went down the hall to the room right by the stairs as explained in one of the requests they obtained. Upon knocking on the door, it opened to reveal a middle-aged man with light brown hair, a small mustache, and glasses.

"Ah, hello," the man greeted them. "You must be here for the request I sent out, correct?"

"Yes, that's right," Morgan replied. "We're students from Thors Military Academy."

"Students from Thors? Hm, it seems I'll be in good hands, then." The man motioned for them to come inside his room.

"Let me introduce myself…" the man began once everyone was inside. "My name is Joseph. Thank you for choosing to take up my request."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Machias procured the request form. "According to this, you want us to assist with 'providing visual aids' for your material. Could you go deeper into that?"

"I am a historian, you see," Joseph explained. "I have always been fascinated by the wealth of folklore present in Erebonia, so for the past few years, I have been traveling to learn more about the various legends and traditions scattered across the empire and compile them into a series of books for everyone to read and learn. I needed some new material for my next release, which is when my editor recommended that I take a trip to Bryonia Island. So, here I am."

"So what does this have to do with us?" Fie piped up, wanting to get straight to the point.

Despite her bluntness, Joseph took Fie's comment in stride. "Well, young lady, most tales need some sort of visual aid to help the reader understand what the writer is trying to convey. I do have a photographer who usually accompanies me on my excursions, but they're currently preoccupied with other matters right now, so I came by myself. I tried to take some pictures, as you could see, but…"

Joseph retrieved an orbal camera that was sitting on a nearby desk and gave it to Morgan, who showed it to the other members of Group B.

"W-Wow…" Morgan commented as she sifted through the pictures. "Uh, I mean, I can see that you put a lot of work in getting these, but…"

"Most of these photographs are of passable quality," Laura conceded. "However, when it comes down to the standards set by publication, they do seem to...fall short of them."

"They'll never do," Fie bluntly added.

"C-Come on, you three…" Elliot nervously scratched his cheek, worried about the lack of social tact his female classmates were currently showing. "He's right there."

"No, it's fine. Honestly, a bit of bluntness is pretty refreshing." Joseph took a moment to clear his throat. "At any rate, I think you understand the gist of what I'm asking you all to do. I want you to use that camera to take pictures in my stead. I know it may be a bit different from what you're all used to, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could assist me with this."

"What do you think, guys?" Morgan looked at each of her classmates' faces. "Any of you know how to take a good picture?"

Laura hung her head. "With all due respect, I have never been the most adept at using orbal technology, much less a camera."

"It's not that difficult to use. All you have to do is aim it at something, press the button, and then it takes the shot for you."

"Have you used one before, Fie?"

"Nope," the former jaeger immediately replied. "Never held one in my life."

"We'd be happy to take the request," Machias interrupted. "But I need to ask: what exactly will we be taking pictures of, Mr. Joseph?"

"Ah, yes. About that. Could I see the request form that you have there?"

Machias handed him the paper. Joseph then procured a pen and began to write some additional things on the back.

"Here you are," Joseph said upon giving the paper back. "That should cover everything that I need."

"Five creatures, all of which can be found on the island," Elliot gulped. "They're all monsters, too…"

"I think I remember seeing some of these when we went around the island yesterday. This should be doable." Machias looked to the other three members of their group. "Think we're ready to go?"

"Sure." "Of course." "Ja."

With their new camera in tow, Group B left their client's room, went down the stairs, and exited the inn. Once they were outside, they made a right in the direction of the purple tent they briefly encountered the day before. There was a sign posted outside stating that the tent was currently closed to the public, but since the students were here on official business, they paid it no mind.

"So the second request came from here?" Fie inquired.

"I didn't think we'd be able to come here so soon," Morgan remarked. "Who's in here again?"

Elliot looked over the request form. "According to this, the client needs some sort of precious mineral for their fortune-telling services."

"Fortune-telling?" Morgan was slightly surprised. "People still do that?"

"You'd be surprised at how many people still believe in that," Machias replied. "Most places in the empire usually have their own take on it, like how some people use cards while others throw pebbles on a piece of cloth. Personally, I think that it's all a load of bull, though."

"Just be sure not to say that in front of the fortune-teller," Elliot warned. "You never know! This one could be one of the real ones!"

The students pulled open the front flap of the curtain that acted as the entrance and went through it. The interior of the tent was rather modest, with little in the way of furniture and decorations save for a table with two chairs in the center of the room. There were also two dimly lit orbal lanterns placed on either side and a crystal ball placed on a small pedestal covered in a piece of cloth on the table.

Sitting behind the table was the sole occupant of the room. They were wearing a purple hood and a veil, which made seeing their face difficult, along with a simple red dress adorned with floral patterns that covered their entire body.

"A hooded figure…" Morgan whispered to Fie. "Hey, you don't think-"

"No. She's too small."

"She?"

"Hehe, indeed," the figure said with a youthful voice, almost making Morgan jump. She looked up, allowing Group B a better look at her face. She looked to be around a few years older than they were, with a fair complexion and red hair that matched the same color as her dress. Her most striking features, however, were her gold-colored eyes; when paired with her hood and veil, they definitely helped to sell the fortune-teller image, perhaps a little too well.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen from Thors," the young woman continued. "I take it you have come regarding the request?"

"How did you know about that?" Machias asked suspiciously.

"I was the one who wrote the request," she replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "It should be obvious, then, that I know about the people I am asking a request of."

"O-Oh." Machias cleared his throat. "Right, that makes sense."

"Truly." The fortune-teller smiled coyly. "And for the record, I don't really care whether you think that my abilities are a 'load of bull' or not."

Machias's composure quickly crumbled. "You heard that?!"

"Could it be that she had a vision of what he was about to say?" Morgan added.

"No, I just heard you from outside. You were being a bit loud."

"Were we really that loud?" Laura wondered aloud.

"I have above-average hearing, for better or worse. But that's enough about that; I believe some introductions are in order." The fortune-teller stood up and bowed. "My name is Holly, and as you can probably tell, I am a fortune-teller. The reason why I called you here today is because of this."

Holly reached down to the ground and placed a stone on the table.

"It's a shiny rock," Fie pointed out.

"Yes, it's a shiny rock. But when you turn off the light…"

Holly reached out her hands to the two orbal lanterns and turned the knobs until both of them were turned off. The entire interior of the tent was now dark, save for a few cracks of sunlight peeking through the corners of the tent. Group B was left wondering what was about to happen, but after waiting a little while, they were surprised to find that the stone Holly had placed before them was still visible, glistening like a star in the night sky.

"You are all aware of the origins of sepith, correct?" said Holly. "Underneath the Zemurian continent lies a network of geographical alignments called septium veins. Through those veins flows elemental energy that manifests in the form of septium ore on the surface. The area that Bryonia Island sits upon is especially rich with this energy, allowing the stones that are collected here to be imbued with a unique mineral that gives it its coat of shine."

Laura raised her hand. "If that is the case, would that not make these stones variants of sepith ore?"

"Yes and no. While these stones lack the purity necessary to be classified as sepith ore, the fact that they possess a mineral not present in most other variants of sepith or sepith masses means they belong to a class all their own. Incidentally, I use these stones for geomancy readings or when I have to travel by night, but my supply is running low. I would like you to go and procure some for me."

"So where can we find them?" Elliot inquired.

Holly took a moment to turn the lanterns back on before responding. "Have you been to the beach? Go up the right slope and you'll come across a cave that connects the west and east sides of the island. Once you enter, you can find some natural deposits from which you can mine the stones. You should be able to distinguish the ones I need from the normal ones by the glow that they give off."

"The slope on the right…" Laura cupped her chin. "If I recall, we traveled up the slope on the left yesterday, correct?"

"Yeah. Both slopes lead up to the same upper area, though, so we'll just need to retrace our steps." Morgan pointed to the stone. "By the way, how many of those stones do you need?"

"It all depends on the size, but I think no more than five or six large ones should do. If you give me enough, I'll be more than happy to provide readings for all of you, free of charge." Holly smiled serenely. "What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

"How can you be so sure that you can see the future?" Machias, ever the skeptic, couldn't help but be wary.

Even in the face of skepticism, Holly's smile never wavered. "It's not a question of whether I am sure or not; I simply can. But if you would like me to provide some proof now, would you like me to use you as a reference?"

All eyes turned to Machias, eagerly anticipating his next move.

"F-Fine," he croaked out. "Let's get this over with."

Holly invited Machias to take a seat in front of him while the rest of the group looked on.

"First things first: could you tell me your full name and blood type?"

"You don't know it already?"

Holly frowned. "I possess foresight, not clairvoyance. There is a difference."

Machias told the fortune-teller his first name, last name, and blood type, in that order.

"Machias Regnitz...hehe. I'll be sure to remember that." She motioned her hand at her crystal ball. "Before I begin, I should tell you that my readings may be a bit different from the ones you're familiar with. For starters, I will be using this orb to measure your elemental affinity. From there, I can achieve a basic understanding of your personality and then your eventual future. Normally, I would let my clients choose the kind of fortune that they desire, but for the sake of this reading, I will be taking a more pragmatic approach by looking into a relevant topic such as the outcome of your field study. Would that be alright?"

"Sure. I don't mind at all."

"What does she mean by 'elemental affinity'?" Morgan whispered.

"Each person has both a major element and a minor element," Holly explained, once again surprising Morgan with her perception. "Each element has their own unique traits, and by observing how they interact and to what degree they appear, I can gauge a basic understanding of someone, although there are some exceptions that we need not go into right now."

With that, Holly held her hands above the crystal orb and muttered something to herself. The orb slowly began to emit a clear blue light before quickly turning brown, then white, then finally settling on brown with a small white dot in the center.

"Machias Regnitz…" Holly slowly announced. "You have a major element of Earth and a minor element of Mirage. You appear to be a fairly stubborn individual who is often quick to anger, but there is still so much more to you than meets the eye. You are dependable when it counts, and though you harbor some feelings of regret, you have experience in putting your personal views aside for the greater good."

Machias briefly gave a look of surprise before hastily recomposing himself. "I-I guess you're correct."

Holly looked behind him at the rest of Group B and smirked. "Your group members certainly seem to share your sentiments. Now for your future…"

Gingerly touching the orb with her hands, Holly slowly closed her eyes until they were shut. The orb showed the image of the brown and white colors swirling around in a spiral.

"A flash of light capturing the world, after which there will be wealth in the masses," she muttered. "How interesting…"

With a look of satisfaction on her face, Holly released her hold on the orb and opened her eyes, causing the colors in the orb to slowly subside until it returned to its original state. "There seems to be wealth in your future," she told Machias. "Keep going in the direction you are heading and you and your group will be precisely five thousand mira richer."

"Really?" Machias half-exclaimed, to which he was immediately met with some suspicious glares from his classmates and the fortune-teller. "E-Er, I mean, how can you be so sure?"

"I think we'll leave it at that for now." Holly stood up and bowed. "I've kept you and your group behind long enough as is, and I wouldn't want to get in the way of your requests."

"Oh, that's right! We need to go get pictures for Joseph!"

Morgan was the first one out of the tent.

"We'll get the stones for you, so wait here, okay?"

A soft chuckle came from Holly's lips. "Waiting is something I'm particularly good at, for better or worse."

Elliot left the tent thereafter, followed by Laura.

"What do you think, Machias?" Fie smugly asked. "Have your eyes been opened to the truth yet?"

"Don't say another word" were his only words before he said his good-byes and bolted out the tent.

Fie didn't follow him. Instead, her gaze stayed on the fortune-teller, who had moved in front of the table to stretch her arms.

"Is there something wrong?" Holly asked her. "Run along, now. You wouldn't want to keep your friends waiting."

The former jaeger simply squinted her eyes. "You look a bit familiar."

"Do I?" Holly subtly raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps you've caught a glimpse of me during your previous travels? With all due respect, though, I'm pretty sure this is our first encounter."

"No, you just look like someone I've met before. That's all."

"Someone you've met…?"

Fie left the tent before the fortune-teller could utter another word.

"Hey, do you think Joseph would mind if we took a picture of this view?"

"I see little reason not to. It IS a spectacular sight to behold."

With Laura's approval, Morgan went ahead and snapped a picture of the beach. The students were making some good headway on their field study tasks, retreading their steps from the day before and taking pictures of the various wildlife they encountered along the way. Occasionally, they would encounter some hostile monsters, which would result in a small skirmish, but they were easily dispatched and the creatures would often retreat to where they came. Now they were taking a small break by the beach, and since they weren't on a tour, they were free to soak in the sights as long as they could.

"It is at times like these that I wish I brought my swimsuit with me," said Laura. "Simply looking at all this open ocean is making the urge to take a swim very hard to resist."

Morgan laughed. "Haha! That's a swimmer for you. Maybe we can ask Brittany or Tom if they have any rental swimsuits at the inn later."

"Out of curiosity, what would you do if you came across a sea monster?" Machias asked, remembering an earlier encounter with a fish-like creature that had jumped out at them when they first arrived.

"Knowing Laura? She'd probably try taking them on with her fists."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Laura chuckled as she rested her hand on the handle of her sword. "Unfortunately, I'm not very proficient with unarmed combat yet. If it were my father, that would be a different story, but the most I can do is swim back to shore and hope I can reach my sword in time."

"Wait, you just leave your sword on the shore? Wouldn't someone try to steal it?"

"Machias, have you tried lifting Laura's sword before?"

The bespectacled student looked at the giant weapon strapped to Laura's waist. "...Fair point."

"Hey, you guys!" Elliot's voice called out from behind them. "Up here!"

Morgan, Laura, and Machias hurriedly treaded up the beach to meet their classmate at the top of the slope leading to the upper level.

"What's up, Elliot?" Morgan asked. "Did you find anything?"

Elliot pointed to a cave that was a fair distance away from them. "There's the cave that Holly mentioned. Fie already went inside to look for stone deposits."

"By herself?" Morgan sighed. "That girl, I swear…"

"We should go after her," Laura agreed, which elicited some visible surprise from Elliot and Machias. "Is something the matter?"

"N-Nothing." Machias readjusted his glasses by the bridge. "It's just...encouraging that you haven't given up yet."

"Progress is progress, even if it's one-sided, right?" Elliot said nervously.

The group decided not to waste any more time chatting and went inside the cave. Immediately, they found traces of broken pebbles in places where larger rocks used to be. Upon closer inspection of the pebbles, some of them seemed to be sparkling the farther they were from the entrance.

"I think Fie's already gotten a head start on mining…" Morgan muttered.

"How did she manage to break these deposits though?"

The answer to Elliot's question came in the sound of gunfire from further in the cave. The group followed the sounds to a fork-in-the-road and took the right path to find their final member scooping up her most recent haul.

"Nice work, Fie," Morgan commended the younger girl. "But next time, maybe you could've waited for us to help you?"

Fie put her gunswords into their holsters, stood up, and dusted her skirt. "It was more efficient this way."

"But we could have provided some assistance," Laura spoke up. "The rest of us could have used our weapons to break the deposits."

The former jaeger frowned. "Using your sword for something like this would just dull the blade. Makes it less sharp for when it really counts. Morgan's axe is pretty much in the same boat, Machias's shotgun would just blast it to bits, and Elliot's staff can't really help here, no offense."

"Th-That's…"

It was hard to argue with Fie's logic, especially with how blunt she was at telling it. Morgan tried to find some way to divert the conversation elsewhere.

Eventually, her vision caught note of something that didn't initially seem like it normally belonged in a cave. She pointed her finger at it, saying, "H-Hey, what's that?"

The students looked at the object she was pointing at. At once, they gathered in front of a small stone monument that consisted of a concave rectangle attached to a cylindrical base. Etched into the stone rectangle was a symbol that resembled a shield with two protrusions on each side, and the top of the rectangle was open for a cross-shaped symbol to fill the gap.

"It looks like an altar or something of the like," Machias guessed. "Do you think the Ancient Bryonians built this?"

"But why would they put this in a cave of all places?" Laura wondered aloud.

An idea popped into Morgan's head. "The stones."

Everyone turned to her. "What?"

"The minerals in these stones glow lets them shine visibly in the dark," she explained, pointing to some of the stone deposits that Fie didn't touch. Sure enough, they were giving off a faint but recognizable pale glow. "Of course, the ancient Bryonians didn't know that. They probably thought that this place was sacred, what with all the glowing rocks, so they built this altar here."

"That does make sense…" Elliot then started panicking. "Wait, but doesn't this mean that we're trespassing on their sacred land? What if Aidios punishes us?"

"Animism and teachings of the church are two separate fields," Laura reminded him. "So long as we aren't incurring permanent damage to the environment, we are free to reap the benefits that nature intended for us to have. We took some stones, but there are still some deposits left in this cave. Nature will recover in time."

"You know a lot about animism," Machias remarked.

Laura chuckled softly. "Animism has had its fair share of influence in my home region. I suppose some of the local knowledge has rubbed off on me, so to speak. In any case, if Fie has collected enough stones, then I do believe our business here is finished. We should head back the way we came…"

"Didn't Holly say that this cave connected the both sides of the island?" Fie interrupted.

"Now that you mention it…"

Morgan turned around so she was facing away from the Bryonian altar. "We came in from the left path, which makes that the west side, so if we keep going down the path to the right, we'll hit the east side. Which way do you think we should go?"

"How are we doing on pictures?"

"Not too bad, Fie. Could use a few more, though."

"Then we should go right." The silver-haired girl pointed to the right path. "We've already seen the west side of the island; we'll have a higher chance of running into something we haven't seen before if we go that way."

Morgan nodded. "I'm with Fie on this one. We've already got the stones, so we should make bringing them to Holly our main priority. We can save a lot of time by taking the shortcut, and like Fie said, we might be able to come across monster species we didn't encounter before. And also…"

"Also…?" Laura repeated tentatively.

"The monster we're supposed to defeat is supposed to be around the fossil excavation site, and if I remember correctly, it's located on the lower east side of the island. We can scout the area and check its location so that we can figure out how to deal with it when we get back to the inn area."

"That sounds like a pretty good idea," Elliot commented. "It'll be like killing two birds with one stone!"

"We've been wandering around the island for a good chunk of the morning," Machias added. "We can use this opportunity to check in with Brittany and Tom and see if they have anything else for us to do before we head out."

Laura hummed to herself. "It would seem that the majority has decided. Very well. I have no qualms regarding this course of action."

With that, Group B followed the right path, eventually emerging from the cave on the east side of the island. They made another right, following the path they had taken on their tour the day before and taking pictures of monsters and the scenery whenever possible.

Finally, they reached the spot where the path circled back to a waterfall that acted as the first diverging point between the west and east sides of the island. Additionally, there was also an additional path that branched out to reach the fossil excavation site. Unfortunately, said path was currently blockaded by a sizable creature that had made the clearing its new napping spot.

"So that's the monster we're supposed to fight later today?" Even though the group was a great distance away from their target, Elliot spoke in a whisper to be safe.

Machias read the description of the monster that was given to them. "'Giant baboon with ram's horns.' Yeah, that's definitely it."

"It looks like it's asleep. Maybe I can take a picture with this…"

"It looks like a powerful foe," warned Laura. "Please tread carefully."

"Relax. I've gotten a good handling of this camera, and one of its functions allows me to take close-up shots from far away. So if I just take a few steps forward and adjust it like so…"

Morgan stepped out from behind the rock that Group B was currently hiding behind and took three steps forward. Getting down on one knee, she fished out her camera and turned a knob to make the lens protrude forward. Once the creature was in her sights, she took a few pictures and immediately retreated.

"And there you have it!" Morgan proudly showed off the fruits of her labor. "One Ancient Ossa lazing around in its natural habitat."

"I had no idea technology had become this advanced…" Laura murmured, marveling at the still image.

"Or maybe you're just way behind the times."

Everyone turned to Fie with varying degrees of surprise over her sudden comment.

"I cannot deny my lack of knowledge regarding modern technology," Laura admitted, "but I am fully aware that I don't know everything. That is why I am here, opening my eyes to things I didn't know previously. So long as I hold true to myself, I can hold up my head with pride."

"The pride of a knight, huh?" Fie scoffed. "A lot of good that's going to do in today's battles."

"F-Fie…"

Morgan was about to scold Fie, but Laura had already begun to take matters into her own hands by walking to her and staring down at her.

"Would you care to elaborate on that, Fie Claussell?" the swordswoman queried. Fie had tested her patience far too many times, and now she was starting to show her annoyance.

"H-Hey, you two?" Elliot tried to say. "Is this really the time to-"

"A knight's job is to defend the weak, right?" Fie accepted Laura's challenge by looking up at her dead in the eyes. "You're only going to get yourself hurt if you keep playing the hero for every single person."

"I don't play anything. Having the strength to protect others is a privilege. You may see it as a burden, but to me, it is a duty I am proud to bear."

"It's duty, it's a privilege… Do you always need some sort of stuffy justification for everything?"

"Power without purpose brings nothing but violence. My ideals are not shackles; they are a boon."

"Until they get in the way of your common sense."

"I beg your pardon?"

"If your first instinct is to protect others, it'll only make things more difficult when you have to fend for yourself. Thinking that self-sacrifice is some sort of 'great service' is only going to get you hurt like-"

Before Fie could finish her sentence, a loud bestial screech sounded through the air.

"Wh-What was that?" Elliot stammered.

Machias looked up to scan the skies, eventually pointing at something and saying, "Over there!"

From a great distance away, a giant flying lizard with two legs and wings for arms soared through the air, gradually making its descent towards the waterfall. It flew in a circular motion two times before touching down, flapping its wings frantically and forcefully blowing away air as it landed on the ground with its legs. Once it was safe on the ground, it hunched over, folded its wings, and slowly made its way to the waterfall area.

Group B moved to the other side of their rock to hide themselves.

"It looks like it hasn't noticed us." Machias breathed a sigh of relief.

"If memory serves correctly, that dragon is called a Scalyptera, yes?"

"Wyvern," Morgan hastily corrected Laura. "And yeah, that's its name. Bengt said that they're docile, so if we just keep calm and don't draw our weapons, we'll be fine."

Elliot made an audible gulp. "Hey, the dragon...wyvern was pretty loud just now, yeah?"

"Yup," Fie agreed. "Pretty loud."

"And you could feel the vibrations from all the way over here, right?"

Morgan could feel that Elliot was building up to something. "Right…?"

"So wouldn't that mean…"

Elliot nervously looked behind him, as did the rest of Group B. Much to their surprise and horror, the Ancient Ossa was now standing on its hind legs, looking not at all pleased with having its nap interrupted.

"Uh oh."

"Run?"

"Like your life depended on it."

The students immediately darted from their hiding place as the Ancient Ossa cried out and began running on all fours, its footsteps growing alarmingly louder by the second. The monster, despite its size, was by no means lacking in the speed department, and it showed its prowess by quickly gaining on the students.

At least, until it ran past them towards the waterfall, where the Scalyptera had been resting. The sounds from the incoming primate, however, were quick to wake it up, causing the lizard to growl right back and meet its opponent head-on.

The students looked on in awe at the ensuing clash between the two monsters.

"So it wasn't looking at us?"

"I'm guessing it got tunnel vision."

"All the more reason for us to retreat now that it's distracted! Hurry!"

Elliot, Machias, and Laura all fled in the direction of the inn area as the two creatures battled it out. Fie ran a few steps before turning and realizing that Morgan was standing her ground.

"What's the holdup, Morgan?"

Morgan silently fished out her camera, put it over her eyes, and took a picture of the sight in front of her. "A battle between a giant gorilla and a giant lizard...now THIS is a moment worth capturing!"

"Morgan!"

Nodding to her friend, Morgan put away the camera and made her swift retreat.

"That...was way too close for comfort," Machias said, breathing heavily.

The students had successfully escaped the scene and were now taking a moment to catch their breath.

"Boy am I glad that we don't have to fight that dragon!" Elliot added. "I'd choose the giant ape over that any day!"

"I'm telling you, it's-" Morgan let out a groan, too winded to correct her classmate. "You know what? Never mind. Call it whatever you want."

In the midst of this brief respite, Laura and Fie met each other's gaze. It was clear from the looks on their faces that the heated conversation they had gotten themselves into was still fresh in their minds. It seemed like only a matter of time before one of them made the first move to pick up where they left off.

Sensing the unease in the air, Morgan spoke up. "Let's turn in these field study tasks first. We've seen what the Ancient Ossa looks like, along with a layout of the arena; now we can form a strategy on how to take it down."

The rest of the group, Laura and Fie included, recomposed themselves and followed Morgan all the way back to the inn area in silence. Once they were back at home base, they decided to visit Holly to hand her the stones, since her tent was the closest to them.

As they neared the purple tent, the students noticed that the sign that was outside now had a waiting list on top of it, with some names having already been written down next to a given time. Just as they were about to read the sheet to see if Holly was currently available, a voice from inside the tent hushed their movements.

"WHAT?! Are you absolutely sure?"

"Hm?" Morgan's eyebrows furrowed. "Hey, that voice sounds familiar…"

"It is exactly as I said," Holly's voice responded. "Sorry to say, but as you are right now, your future in love looks pretty bad. You've chained yourself to the idea that love is something that just magically appears at first sight; in reality, it's not that simple. I'd recommend taking a good long look at yourself to see what needs fixing or severing lest you fall to ruin."

"No…"

A bead of uneasy sweat collectively dropped from Group B's foreheads.

"You know, for a fortune-teller, she's pretty honest," said Elliot.

Morgan nodded in agreement. "No kidding. Maybe we should come back at a later time, though."

The rest of Group B agreed by turning around and making a beeline for the inn. They entered the building and walked up the stairs to Joseph's room. After knocking on the door, the author warmly welcomed the class back.

"Yes, these pictures are much better than the ones I had taken initially!" Joseph complimented the students as he looked through the photos they had taken. "And what's more, you managed to capture the timeless struggle between the warm-blooded primates and the cold-blooded lizards! Some photographers that I know of only managed to see one of these clashes in their entire career!"

"Glad you enjoyed them so much!" Morgan was positively beaming. To her, there was hardly anything more satisfying than seeing her diligence pay off.

"I truly am grateful for your assistance today. And now for your compensation…" Joseph set the camera aside and handed Class VII a small woven bag. "This bag contains a host of sepith masses. It's not much on the surface, but if you exchange all of them, you should come out to around five thousand mira."

"Five thousand-!"

The middle-aged author was understandably confused by the students' reaction to his words. "Hm? Did I say something odd? Could it be that this is too little compensation? That's fine, I can offer up some more-"

"N-No! it's more than enough. Thank you." Morgan graciously accepted the reward and led her classmates out of the room.

"'A flash of light capturing the world, after which there will be wealth in the masses,'" Laura recited. "That was what the fortune-teller said, yes?"

"The 'flash of light capturing the world' has to be us using the camera to take pictures," Morgan theorized. "And the 'wealth in the masses' part is referring to how we need to exchange sepith mass first in order to get our reward money in mira. If that's the case, then…"

"Holly's fortune came true." Elliot's mouth was hanging open. "She even got the exact amount right!"

"I'm at a loss for words…" Machias muttered to himself. "As much as I don't want to believe it, I don't see any other explanation."

"And thus, a new convert was born."

"Sh-Shut it, Fie."

With one field study task completed, the students went back downstairs to see if Holly was finished with her most recent customer. Sure enough, when they entered the tent, the fortune-teller was the only person sitting there.

Holly waved her hand at them. "Ah, you have returned."

"We brought back the stones for you. Fie?"

At Morgan's words, Fie stepped forward and emptied her haul onto the table Holly was sitting at.

"Lovely." The fortune-teller nodded in approval. "This is more than adequate. By the by, have you obtained your wealth yet?"

"Actually, we have." Morgan held up the small bag given to them by Joseph. "We haven't done anything with it yet, but we have enough sepith mass to make five thousand mira. Looks like you're the real deal."

Machias stepped forward. "I should apologize for being so disbelieving earlier."

Holly held up her palm. "There's no need to apologize for skepticism," she assured him. "A little bit of it every now and then is actually healthy for cultivating your skills in discernment, not to mention that when you travel as much as I have, you come to expect it as the norm."

"You travel?" Fie perked up at those words. "So you're not a member here or anything?"

"Only temporarily. I happened to be in the area when Manager Tom offered to let me set up my services here for the summer festival. I'll be staying here until the end of June."

"Which means that you're going to be leaving a couple days after us," Elliot realized.

"Is that so? Well, I hope the rest of your field study proves to be fruitful and not so...tense."

That caught the attention of the group, particularly Laura and Fie, who were both standing on opposite ends of their formation.

Holly lowered her head. "It would seem I have overstepped my boundaries. My apologies."

"It is fine…" Laura debated whether or not to look at Fie at that moment.

"..." Fie didn't seem keen on responding.

"At any rate, this concludes our contract for the time being. As promised, I can provide free readings for four of you."

"Four?" Machias exclaimed. "I thought you said you would provide readings for all of us!"

"I did." Holly pointed her index finger at the bespectacled student. "However, I already exhausted one of those free readings for you, Machias Regnitz; therefore, you are the only one exempt from this."

Machias grumbled to himself. "I feel kind of ripped off now."

"'Ripped off', you say?" Holly smirked, though she seemed to be more annoyed than amused. "These are FREE readings, you know."

Fie grinned in response. "She's got a point."

"Anton, it's not safe!" a male voice cried out from outside. "Anton, get back here!"

"Anton?" Morgan widened her eyes with recognition, as did Machias and Fie.

"Do you know him?" Elliot asked.

"From last month's field study. We had to escort him and his friend Ricky to Bareahard from Aurochs Fort."

Holly stood up. "I must go and assess the situation at once."

"How come?"

"The man you referred to as Anton was my most recent customer. As such, this responsibility falls to me."

"But what about the fortune-telling?"

"It doesn't matter when you want me to read your fortune. You can come to me later today or even tomorrow, but now is not the best time."

Holly wrapped the cloth that was underneath her crystal orb around it, tying it in a knot at the top. Cradling the covered orb in her arms, she hurriedly left the tent.

Morgan's expression suddenly fell. "Oh no."

"What is the matter?" Laura inquired.

"The Ancient Ossa and the Scalyptera. What if one of those is still roaming around?"

Elliot's face paled. "You don't think…?"

"Does anyone else think this falls under the scope of our field study?" Machias asked.

"I think it does. We should go to see if there's any way we can help."

Everyone quickly moved to the exit.

"Fie, wait."

Laura reached out to grab Fie's arm. Fie tried to wrest it back, but Laura's hold was too strong for her to do anything.

"I haven't forgotten what you told me back then," Laura solemnly stated. "But right now, this takes priority. Until this matter is settled, are we in agreement that our quarrel should wait?"

Fie continued to look straight ahead, not daring to look back. She wasn't stupid. Even she knew that some things had to be saved for later. "Ja."

"Then let us move onward." Laura eased her grip. "If we end up having to fight, I hope that we will work together smoothly."

"Sure." Fie wasted no time in running out of the tent.

Laura took a deep breath. "I hope that we will work together smoothly." After repeating those words to herself, she went outside.

Author's note: This chapter (and the Bryonia Island arc as a whole) underwent several revisions to incorporate more of the existing Kiseki lore, hence why it took a while for me to get it out. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing the final product, from introducing new characters to presenting the main conflict.

Look forward to the next part, whenever it decides to come out! Until then, please stay safe and healthy out there! (^_^||)