It didn't take too long for the landscape to begin shifting with Jyuzou's eyes drifting back and forth between the last farmlands, shaping away into conifer trees marking the entrance.

A few whispers sounded, with concerned voices pointing away from the rocky roads they trod in line, with the next few massive grey mountains plummeting and obscuring the horizon in the distance.

The valley eventually wavered between bushes and alike to make way for a long stretch of nothing but that everpresent dark green, and that's when the Morian took notice, with some stress to follow.

The grin faded from Zack's face, as he turned to Demonears, with the lots readying their weapons and glancing between the barks, hearing a few shuffles present.

"I was worried he was going to do this." one sighed, turning to the other.

"Ya know what they say about the newbies. Forest's the best place." the other whispered, glancing at Jyuzou, who tightened his grasp around his Guardian Demon. "Sabeline better spare some of that Frosti."

"Quick enough to make the haste. Everyone else here knows the rules of today's training." Zack cracked his knuckles, fixing his sunglasses, as a birdsong echoed in the background.

With a quick turn, he too, looked through at what the others were seeing.

"Tetra?" Zack pointed to a Demonear.

"Not a bird, sir."

"You know it." he grinned, glancing back. "Go on then, scour!"

...and with those few words, the distant ambience of the forest grew muffled, trying to fight against the advancing footsteps and a few more words. One other Demonear glanced back at Jyuzou, before heading in, leaving the Morian with the Ainan.

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow along. He couldn't see Zack's eyes, and the man took out a scrap of paper, analyzing the words written along the top, before flipping it over and noting something down.

"Jyuzou Junya," he muttered.

"Yes sir!" Jyuzou nodded.

He chuckled. "The task is pretty simple. Go in, and leave when I tell you. Survive, pretty much."

"J-Just that?" Jyuzou peeked his head out. "I've been to forests before, so it shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Love your confidence, but can you prove it?" he asked, scanning through the papers again, once more, scribbling something alongside a few names.

"Sure." Jyuzou smiled, unsurely. "Scavenging, making things out of wood and even fighting the animals there. Although... I figure it's something you can even do without your Guardian Demon."

"Wanna bet on it, then?" Zack muttered.

Jyuzou shook his head. He glimpsed at the darkness of the forest and the silhouettes of the Demonears fading away within seconds.

"I'll take your word."

"Good luck." Zack put his hand on his forehead, raising his arm. With one more nod, the Morian took a step forward, as the gloom enveloped most of his vision.

Then, it was slowly replaced by a fog that turned into open grey skies. Taking a deep breath in, moving further down the valley of the trees, which only grew in size the closer they moved towards the grey rockish landscapes.

Focusing on the path ahead, he put both hands on his basket's straps and fixed his glasses, as a few sounds of the smaller animals he saw guided his path. All except for one, since something seemingly flashed behind him, followed by a quick, swiping noise, that disappeared as soon as he turned his head.

There was nothing there. Even Zack was gone, perhaps taking a different path, and no other Demonear could be seen. He blinked a few more times, before sighing.

***

A few other minutes later, the paths that shaped the hills part of the Kabun area were split into two with a thin river connecting to other streams further away from the towers.

The small mountain rolls were the furthest the groups could go, as anything beyond that moved into either a village some could even spot from here or other markings where klefsenders circled above.

Such led Atomu to gulp, and Chyuuichi to reconsider if it wasn't for Muddy following along and waving his club back and forth, with Callem's words.

The feisty Eran there seemed to put himself on some pedestal above the other Demonears, even if he wasn't one. It'd take even a few more brain freezes for him to realise that the two weren't necessarily there to strengthen themselves per se. It'd be even more of Atomu's chin scratches to figure that out.

Either way, they were a little too exhausted from the walk. The other Demonears were used to it, with a boy even younger than Morio turning back and laughing at the Paladian who struggled to make it up the first hill. The two helped each other out in the moment of weakness, but the general conclusion was that the Mirillian had to be the one to roll his eyes and offer his help.

They weren't ones to fight over strength, but then again, Atomu had been exquisitely weak as of late, and that gave Chyuuichi another reason to smile over the sweet nothings. Idiots should've stood on the same podium, and they certainly did, since they were still the last to catch up.

"Two minutes late, oho." Mihua chuckled, glancing at a few bands wrapped around his wrist.

"He counted?" Chyuuichi asked as Atomu shook his head, trying to catch his breath. The other few Demonears seemed disappointed, courtesy of their tomfoolery, but Mihua bore the same smile as earlier.

"You'll get used to it, boys!"

With another hearty chortle, Mihua cracked his knuckles, reaching out for something in a makeshift sheath hanging from his back, supported by layers of cloth.

"Not again." one Demonear added. "You figured out a way to maim him?"

"He won't focus on us too much. Look at those weaklings." a girl suggested, pointing at the two who only seemed to realise the severity of the situation within the next few seconds.

Atomu and Chyuuichi blinked a few times, with the Paladian pointing forth and then raising his hand.

"How does your training go?" he asked, with a small, unsure smile.

"Hmm. It varies, Paladian." he fixed his glasses, turning back and forth. "Sometimes we like to do obstacle courses, fight dummies with new techniques or simply battle against one another, with of course, safety in mind."

Mihua raised both hands, wrapping them around the hammer's fluffy grip.

Chyuuichi cleared his throat. "First of all, I heard that." he pointed to the girl, who stuck her tongue out. "...and second of all! This doesn't seem like it fits any category!"

"Gohoho! There's another!" Mihua informed, finally pulling the rest of his Guardian Demon out. "It's what I like to call the Wild Kabun Chase. Capitalized!"

The other Demonears stepped back, squinting their eyes, while a drop of sweat rolled down Atomu's cheek and Chyuuichi assumed a strange expression.

"Pretty simple. Rescue your Guardian Demons and fight back to win!"

"R-Rescue?" Atomu muttered. "They're still here though-"

He reached out for the Knrhum's Blade, only for his eyes to shrink.

One Demonear next to them pointed, and the two turned.

"Oh!" Chyuuichi chortled. "That's what Muddy was for!"

Callem chucked the last few weapons up into the orc's big hands and huffed.

With one swift step back, Muddy focused, his eyes meeting with the other contestants. Atomu made a strange, hopeless sound, before the orc chucked the weapons in circles, away from their view and at least a kilometre away from here.

Atomu opened his mouth, but that didn't seem enough to accent his shock.

"Muddy do good?"

"Muddy does the best!" Callem reassured. "Don't spare the Mirillian," he whispered.

"Oi!" Chyuuichi pointed. "Atomu, change of plans. We find the weapons and we beat Callem up instead," he whispered, as Mihua's grin grew wider and Atomu's eyes seemed as white as of the other Ainasu. "Atomu?"

"Tohoho! I'll give you a headstart." Mihua spoke, stretching around a few times.

"For what?" Chyuuichi seemed confused.

"To run as fast as your legs can carry you!" Mihua clapped his busy hands, nodding. "Three."

"Ya heard him Atomu? Although we're already exhausted-"

Out of the blue, and with a heavy gasp, Atomu pushed his hand into Chyuuichi's face, propelling off and running for it.

The few other Demonears followed in different directions, while the Mirillian only raised a brow and turned back to Mihua.

"Two." The Ainan took a stance, spinning his hammer in Chyuuichi's direction. "...and."

"Oh!" Chyuuichi answered, before a similar scream to Atomu's pierced through the atmosphere, with the two now running next to each other.

"One!"

Mihua let go of his spinning hammer, as it soared through the air and pierced thinly through the grasses. With a quick puff and another smile, he started zooming through the line made in the ground, before appearing right above, carrying the hammer's bigger weight.

"Got you now!"

***

"Lashunka," Jyuzou muttered, sitting down on the thick layer of grass and comparing his notes with the ones fading away in the Wonder Flora book.

He drew down the flower's pink rose-like exterior and a puffy stem, before closing both and sighing out. "Good use in making scents but that's pretty much about it. Maybe the challenge here was that it'd be boring." he thought.

Lashunkas were only seen in Malikan, but other than that, through scanning terrain and all that, he couldn't find anything else that made it interesting or something to be worried about.

He ripped one out to keep, with a few words murmured to himself, but just as he suggested, there was nothing spare the few squirrels he sent flying because they tried to stick nuts into his hair. Birds flew away, marking the chilly wave, and the sun wasn't visible anymore, at least from here.

Then, it appeared again. A thin-veiled fog encapsulated the outsides which he swore weren't that far away.

When Jyuzou stepped by another lake, leaving a few thicker groves, something once again flashed in the corner of his eyes.

Another swipe, followed by a few footsteps drifting away. If it wasn't an animal, it must've been Zack, and the few words of the other Demonears that suggested something was amiss.

Then again, he couldn't confirm it, since no one was there.

He furrowed his brows and pointed the spear right where he saw it.

Quiet steps followed as if making sure not to disturb the few trees moving despite no wind being present. If such was the case, then something made them weave.

Jyuzou took another breath, and when his leg landed on a twig, he screamed, throwing it forward.

It took him a few seconds to realise what had happened, and with a generous roll of his eyes, he sighed, before moving between the trees to rescue his weapon.

"Damn tricks," he muttered to himself. "It must be those squirrels again. I won't let you have my hair!" he raised his voice.

In turn, something answered.

A massive bellow, growl and groan, all at the same time, paired with thick footsteps heading his way.

Jyuzou stepped back, meeting a monster's appearance.

It resembled a massive black wolf, with a white skull for its head, and a tail that split into three ends.

With a jump, it leapt across the waters and headed straight for the Morian.

He couldn't run, since he wouldn't make it, so he only pressed his thumbs together, as if counting on some miracle.

No stone throw, no fear, no nothing, but something opposing the nightmare in front of him.

The wolf suddenly whimpered, before landing on the grasses next to the open terrain with enough impact to send the Morian to the ground.

Scouring for his glasses, he managed to look through and analyze the situation, seeing someone right near the water's shore, spinning a mace with fire spouting out near the spikes.

"Go, go!" he yelled, as the creature growled, before quickly zooming away into the forest with a howl echoing into the fading fog.

As Jyuzou breathed in and out and found the courage to sit up, the man turned, blinking a few times and sighing with exhaustion.

He fixed his rather short, brown and wet hair, and with a shake, it all dried out, likewise with the typical Eran attire he bore. Reaching his hand out, Jyuzou blinked a few times in confusion, before grabbing it and standing back up.

"T-Thank you." the Morian muttered, fixing his weapon again.

"Better go find that spear. You need to strike back when it attacks," he muttered.

Jyuzou seemed a little confused, looking back and forth.

"Gah, sorry. I've been tailing you since you stepped in, much like Sabeline did." he chuckled. "I knew Zack figured it'd be the best way to eliminate the weaklings, but I digress, having faced it so many times over the last years." the other shook his head.

"S-S-Sorry?" Jyuzou blinked, scratching his head. "I'm not catching on."

"Sabeline. The wolf that just attacked you."

"And he sent it out to kill me?"

"Not kill... and he attacks whoever he wants, so there's that. Can't ever predict dark deformities..." the man added, stretching a bit, rubbing something next to his hair, which Jyuzou assumed to be an ear.

The man followed with a yawn.

"If you want to guarantee yourself a spot, just follow alongside. I know you can't jump into the lakes, but I know a few spots." he smiled.

"Wait, sorry. Wait." Jyuzou took another deep breath. "N-Name?"

"Rejire. You?"

"Jyuzou, n-nice to meet you."

He shook his hand again, staring at the moment for quite a bit longer. The unbothered Rejire finally glanced down, before speaking up.

"You've never seen a Fishman before, have you, Jyuzou?"

"N-No!" Jyuzou smiled. "That's so cool!"

"Oh boy." Rejire chuckled.

However, the calm notion of the moment quickly snapped. The howling came running back, with an echo across the forest.

Sticking his fin out, Rejire took a step towards the trees, while Jyuzou glanced around.

A few clashes and more muffled noises later, and the steps seemed to be heading in their general direction.

"Someone's going for seconds, eh? Go get your spear. There's a neat cave, but it's guarded by his foxes. Quick!

"Ah!" Jyuzou gasped, nodding. "On it, boss!"

"Boss?!" Rejire turned. "Ah, whatever." he smiled, waving the mace around.

A few quick moments of taking inventory later, the two were gone, with Sabeline sneaking around a copse to find nothing this time. It sniffed with a nose it didn't have, before sounding a quiet whimper and chasing something away once more.