Following the events of SMT01, Eris's group, now accompanied by Yamane and Vulkan, was relocated to the capital of the United Worlds Federation. Eris had no interest in staying, but Gida insisted that she accompany her through the city streets.
"Okay, are you going to tell me now why you wanted me to come with you?" Eris asked, crossing her lower arms as she followed the Twi'lek.
Gida turned her head towards her with a half-smile.
"Tell me, Eris... Have you ever tried the gesture of summoning a Keyblade?"
"Yes. With all four arms. And all I get is a flash of light in each hand." Eris replied with obvious annoyance.
"And what does that have to do with this walk?" Sekhmet asked.
"If I'm right, she can summon a Keyblade... but perhaps she needs something more. Something that 'calls' to her." Gida explained. "These things seem to be capricious."
"Are you saying that my supposed Keyblade doesn't exist yet?" Eris raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't say that. I just said that sometimes you have to find it first."
Yamane, who was walking a little behind, let out a low laugh.
"I'm still surprised that she can use one of those things."
"And how are we supposed to solve that problem?" Noka asked.
Gida stopped in front of an oriental-looking building and pointed at the sign.
"I've heard of a place where you can find rare things... if you ask around hard enough. Maybe we'll get lucky."
The group looked at the establishment. Lu Yan's Pawn Shop. It looked like any other pawn shop, old and dusty.
"You're kidding, right?" Eris said. "A pawn shop?"
"I've heard from some... visitors to the brothel that some rather peculiar objects have appeared here," Gida replied.
"Yeah, right. As if people who just want to get laid could be trusted." Eris muttered, but she followed the group inside anyway.
The interior was exactly what one would expect: shelves crammed with objects of all kinds and origins, the air thick with dust and old wood. Behind a barred counter, an old man stood up from his chair with a broad grin.
"Well, look what we have here. New customers... and all girls. If I were younger, I might even take advantage of the situation."
"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in old men," Eris replied, rolling her eyes.
"And what interests you? Children?" The old man burst out laughing. "I'm joking, lady! Tell me, what are you looking for?"
"I don't think you have what we're looking for," Eris said, turning away.
Gida sighed and approached the counter.
"Excuse me, sir. I've heard that people have found some rather... unusual things in this store."
"Well, this is a pawn shop. With luck, you can find just about anything. Sometimes people bring me some pretty crazy stuff." The old man replied, glancing at Yamane, who was looking at some boxes of kung-fu movies. "Are you interested in anything, young lady? We have all kinds of films. If you like war movies, I recommend The Red Cliff. It's a good one."
"No, thank you. I was just looking." Yamane replied, a little embarrassed.
"Seriously, sir... Do you happen to have a Keyblade?" Gida asked directly.
The old man blinked.
"A Keyblade? Well, we certainly don't have one. Besides, the law prohibits us from buying functional weapons."
"Ha! I knew it!" exclaimed Eris.
"But I think I know someone who could help you," said the old man, turning toward a side door. "Pyra! Stop what you're doing and come here!"
A few seconds later, a striking canine woman appeared. Tall and robust, she was covered in orange fur with sharp black stripes. She had a creamy white mane, a long, flowing tail, intense blue eyes, and wore a blacksmith's apron that barely contained her generous bosom, tied at the waist. She also wore black panties, brown leather gloves, and ankle-length sleeves with laces that left her toes and heels exposed. A spiked collar encircled her neck.
"What's wrong, old man? I was tidying up the storeroom." She grumbled.
Noka's eyes widened in shock.
"And that one? Where did she come from?"
"Oh, don't worry. She works here, earning a little extra money," the old man explained. "Hey, Pyra, these girls are looking for a Keyblade. That’s your deal, right?"
Pyra crossed her arms and looked at the group skeptically.
"A Keyblade? None of them seem capable of summoning one."
Eris snorted, offended.
"That's true," Sekhmet said. "Eris, try again."
Eris sighed in resignation and extended a hand. A luminous flash shone in her palm… and nothing more. Pyra raised an eyebrow.
"See? Nothing appears!" exclaimed Eris, fed up.
She was about to leave when he felt firm hands grip his arm. Pyra had begun to feel her muscles with genuine interest, then moved to her legs as if she were evaluating forging material.
"Hey, can I ask what you're doing?" Eris asked, tensing up.
"Well, it seems you've captured her interest, lady," the old man remarked with a smile.
"Well, she should stop doing that! It makes me nervous!" Eris gently pushed her.
Pyra remained unfazed. "Are you sure she can't summon one?"
"That's right," Sekhmet replied. "But her attacks act as if she were wielding one."
"I see…" Pyra looked Eris up and down. "My name is Pyra. I am an Ouginak."
"An Ouginak?" Gida repeated.
"I think I've heard something about them," Noka murmured.
"So?" Eris still had her arms crossed.
"Well, you might be interested to know…" the old man interjected. "…that she knows how to forge Keyblades."
"What?!" Almost all of them exclaimed in unison.
"Really? I thought only Moogles could forge them," Gida said.
"Moogles follow existing recipes," Pyra explained. "I can forge them from scratch... with the right materials."
Without further ado, she pulled out one of Eris's hairs.
"Hey! Be careful!"
"Relax. Just one ingredient for the project." Pyra replied, already starting to rummage through the counters in search of rare stones and metals.
"Go ahead, then! Loot my store if you want!" shouted the old man. "After all, you didn't pay for them!"
While Gida, Noka, and Sekhmet stayed in the main area, Eris, Yamane, and Vulkan ventured into a back room filled with undisclosed artifacts. It was there that Eris spotted a staff.
It was long, made of gilded wood, with reliefs at both ends. It lay on the floor as if no one had touched it in decades. Eris picked it up curiously.
"Only storage back here, child." The old man's voice said from behind her, startling her.
"Hey, watch out for showing up like that!" she exclaimed. "By the way, what's this? I thought weapons were prohibited."
The old man took the staff with an almost ceremonial bow.
"It was here when my grandfather opened the store a hundred years ago. He waited for a man
to come and pick it up. Return to rightful owner. Man never came. My father took over the shop, waited too, long time. Now me."
"I've seen similar staves," Eris said. "In my world, some Kakuen use them."
"Ha! The owner of this staff is nobler than any pack of monkey girls in heat." The old man replied with a tired smile, returning it to its pedestal.
At that moment the front door opened.
"Hey, old man! More people!" Pyra called from the store.
"I'm coming!" replied the old man, leaving.
The girls peeked out. Those who entered were not ordinary customers.
A demon with a military bearing, accompanied by soldiers in red armor and yellow decorations. The emblem of a bow and arrow shone on their breastplates.
Sekhmet tensed immediately. 'Nothgardian soldiers… from the Orion Regiment? What are you doing here?'
"Good day, gentlemen. Do you need anything?" the old man asked upon arriving, until he saw the suits of armor. "Oh, is there a costume party and I didn't know about it?"
"Don't worry, sir," the demon replied with a cold smile. "My name is Morgana, colonel of the Orion Regiment of the Army of Nothgard."
'Wolfgun's personal bitch... have they put her in charge after his arrest?' Sekhmet thought.
"And does that have to mean something to me?" the old man asked.
"I only expect a little cooperation from you. My spies have informed me that a certain person of interest has entered this establishment. A hellhound… one of a kind."
"Oh, you see, miss. Some very peculiar people come in here. The other day a bull with four horns came in. He had very good taste in music, by the way," replied the old man.
"The person I'm talking about arrived recently," Morgana insisted, glancing briefly at Gida and Noka. "As well as one woman in particular... who used to be two, and now is one."
Sekhmet felt a chill. "Leave them alone! Your problem is with me!"
Morgana smiled.
"Maybe... but now I'm curious to see what they'll become if they turn into monster girls."
Gida and Noka activated their lightsabers simultaneously. Several soldiers immediately surrounded them.
From the warehouse, Eris muttered under her breath.
'Is it so hard for them to leave me alone once and for all? Do I have to beat up the entire Orion Regiment or what?'
A soldier peered through the crack in the door and shouted:
"The beast! It's back there!"
Eris slammed the door.
"Go get her!" Morgana ordered.
The warehouse door opened abruptly. Soldiers burst in, swords drawn. Eris backed away, dodging slashes and delivering precise kicks. Yamane fired an arrow that ripped a soldier's weapon from his hand. Vulkan raised her hammer, ready to crush the first one who came near.
One of the soldiers, unarmed, saw the staff and grabbed it.
"No, that staff no!" shouted the old man, lunging at him.
They both struggled. Another soldier fired an energy beam that struck the old man in the back. The blow made him drop his walking stick, which went flying across the ground.
"Hop!" exclaimed Pyra, pushing and shoving her way to the fallen old man.
"Dude! Are you okay?"
"Take... the staff..." he murmured, losing consciousness. "Return it... to rightful owner..."
Eris picked up the staff without hesitation. More soldiers entered.
"Eris! Get out of here!" Sekhmet shouted, sending a soldier flying against a counter with a kick.
"Come on! We can't do anything with so many of them here!" Eris ordered.
The group ran out the back door, leaping from building to building via the service stairs as soldiers fired at them from below. Pyra trailed behind, carrying a large backpack she'd grabbed on the way out.
They reached the roof of an isolated building. Too far to the next one.
"Rule number one: when you flee, never climb to an isolated building," Pyra remarked, staring into space.
"You could have gone another way!" Eris snapped.
"You took the old man's staff!"
"Well, I don't know why I did it!"
Yamane fired several arrows at the roof door, forcing the soldiers to take cover.
That's when the staff started acting strangely.
“What the hell?!”
Eris felt a brutal force pulling her back. The weapon seemed to have a will of its own. Vulkan grabbed the other end with both hands. Pyra joined in. Even Yamane stopped firing to help. The four of them were dragged as if nothing was amiss toward the edge.
"Watch out!" Eris shouted.
A soldier, confused by what he saw, threw an energy grenade. The explosion went off just as the staff gave one last wild jerk.
The four women were ripped from the roof and thrown into the void… and the world around them began to distort.
When Eris opened her eyes, the first thing she smelled was damp earth and grass. She was lying on her back, gazing at a deep blue sky dotted with white clouds. The staff was still firmly gripped in one of her lower hands, as if it refused to let go.
"Ugh…" He groaned, struggling to his feet. "What the hell…?"
Around her, the others were beginning to react. Yamane was rubbing her head with a pained expression. Vulkan was on all fours, coughing, and Pyra had sat with her back against a tree, looking around with squinted eyes.
"Can someone explain to me what just happened?" Yamane asked, brushing leaves out of her hair.
Eris stood and surveyed the landscape. They were no longer in the Federation capital. There was no sign of tall buildings, flying ships, or Nothgardian soldiers. In their place lay a dense forest of tall, green trees, with distant mountains rising through the mist. The air was clean, almost too clean, and the silence was broken only by the song of a few birds.
"This... isn't the capital," Eris muttered, frowning.
Pyra stood up and dusted off her apron. "Obviously. The staff dragged us along. Literally."
Vulkan let out a croak of confusion upon hearing what she said.
"Where to?" Yamane asked, looking at the mountains.
Eris lifted the staff and examined it suspiciously. The golden reliefs seemed to glimmer faintly in the sunlight.
"I've seen similar staves in my world... but none that could do this."
Yamane stood up completely and looked in a specific direction.
"Listen... do you hear that?"
A faint murmur of water could be heard in the distance, mingled with what sounded like human voices. Not many, but clear enough to indicate they weren't alone.
Eris frowned and put the staff under her arm.
"Perfect. First it drags us to another world, and now it turns out there are people nearby. Anyone want to bet they'll want to kill or capture us too?"
Pyra adjusted her apron and bag. "If that's the case, it's better they see us coming before they see us hiding. Those who hide usually look suspicious."
"Or intelligent," Eris replied.
Even so, the group began to move forward in the direction of the sound. The forest gradually opened up, revealing a dirt road that descended into a valley. In the distance, they could make out roofs with curved tiles and the smoke from cooking stoves. A small village, surrounded by rice paddies and steep mountains in the background.
Eris paused for a moment, observing the landscape with a mixture of annoyance and resignation.
"Another world..." Eris murmured. "And this time it looks like an ancient one."
Yamane stood beside her, already holding the bow as a precaution.
"Do you think the staff brought us here on purpose?"
“Are you asking me?” Eris asked.
"I don't know that," Pyra replied, looking at the weapon in Eris's hands. "But if the old man said it had to be returned to its rightful owner... something tells me that owner wasn't in Federation territory to begin with."
Eris snorted under her breath. "Well, if we have to face another so-called god or those meddlers from the Black Fleet or the Seven Voids, then we're done for!"
The group ventured into the village they had just discovered. The villagers noticed the newcomers' strange appearance, but apparently paid them little attention.
“At least these people don’t jump at the sight of things like us,” Yamane said, looking at the people around her.
At that moment, Eris approached one of the villagers who was plowing the land.
“Excuse me. Do you know where we are? I have no idea how we got here.”
The man began to speak, but he did so in a dialect that Eris couldn't understand. Not even the others could understand the words he was saying, leaving them all confused.
“Great, another world with an unknown language.” Eris sighed. “What’s next?”
Soon they heard the sounds of horses in the distance. Looking toward where they were coming from, they saw a large group of men in ancient armor advancing along the road that led to the village, with some kind of cage trailing behind them. The man paled at the sight of these men, while Eris sensed that trouble was imminent.
As soon as the soldiers arrived at the village, they began taking the women from their homes and locking them in the cage, while killing anyone who tried to oppose them.
Eris and the others were hiding behind a house, watching everything. She resisted standing there while it was happening, but Pyra stopped her from joining the fight. They had no idea what was going on exactly, but they knew that, as strong as they were, they couldn't do anything against so many soldiers.
Then one of them, the one who seemed to be the commanding officer, discovered Eris and the others behind the house, beginning to alert the soldiers to their presence.
“Run!” Yamane exclaimed.
Against her own logic, Eris started running alongside the others as fast as they could, while several mounted soldiers gave chase. But suddenly, gunfire rang out, and bullets struck the ground in front of the girls, stopping them in their tracks.
In front of them stood a line of three soldiers in greenish-gray uniforms, black boots, and matching helmets, carrying automatic weapons. One of them wore command insignia.
“This has to be a joke. Where did those come from?” Pyra asked.
Vulkan was the most disturbed upon seeing those soldiers, as if their presence reminded her of something very negative from her past.
Because of them, the soldiers behind them caught up, surrounding them with their horses as they circled around them.
“This is not good,” Yamane said.
Meanwhile, further along the road, a ragged man in dark clothes with black hair was lying on a donkey when it stopped, causing him to fall to the ground. The man slowly got up, carrying a gourd to drink from, and stumbled toward the strange soldiers from behind, as if drunk. He began to speak to them, trying to get their attention, but the chief tried to push him away.
The man, however, grabbed the officer's arm and threw him to the ground over his shoulder. The other four turned toward him. With absurd mastery of hand-to-hand combat, and movements that seemed to adapt to his intoxicated state, he took them down one by one without them even being able to fire a shot.
The armored soldiers surrounding Eris and the others realized what was happening, dismounted, and charged at him with drawn swords. Despite being outnumbered and unarmed, the man quickly defeated them.
Eris and the others stared at him, completely astonished. The man turned to face them and looked at the staff Eris held in her hand. He pointed at the weapon and began speaking in his dialect as he approached.
“Hey, excuse me, but I don’t understand you,” Eris said to the man.
The man continued speaking in his language, causing Eris to groan in frustration.
“Hey, I don’t understand him!” Eris turned to Yamane. “Do you understand him?”
“Not at all.” Yamane shook his head.
“Do you understand him?” Eris asked Pyra.
“I wish,” Pyra replied.
Then she turned to Vulkan. “And you… but what am I saying? I don’t even understand you…” Eris rolled her eyes, one hand on her head, while Vulkan stared in confusion at the Hell Beast.
Eris turned her gaze to the man. “I’m sorry, but we don’t understand you! We don’t know what you’re saying!”
The man turned his gaze towards Eris, as if he were tired of her answers, speaking again.
"That's because you're not listening!"
The four of them were stunned to hear the man speaking in their language, but then Vulkan looked behind the man.
“Kwee!” Vulkan croaked, pointing behind the man.
He turned quickly, seeing a soldier who had risen to attack him, but he responded with a kick that knocked him to the ground. At the same time, two of the strange soldiers stood up, preparing their weapons to fire.
“Watch out!” Yamane warned, using his steel bow to launch a wind-powered arrow that knocked the two soldiers down before they could fire.
The man didn't hesitate for a moment and had Eris and the others use the soldiers' horses and flee with him out of the village, except for Vulkan, who couldn't ride but was able to keep up with the horses. Luckily, they managed to leave the place before the soldiers could follow them.
Some time later, the man took the girls to an inn along the way, after convincing the owners that none of them would cause any trouble because of their appearance. They sat at the tables upstairs, with the old man and Pyra on one side, Eris and Yamane on the other, and Vulkan sitting at a table next to theirs because there wasn't enough room at theirs. The man ate whatever he ordered and was brought to the table.
“Okay, someone explain to me what happened,” Eris said. “I don’t know where we are, or how we got here. And who were all those people from before? This is all crazy!”
“Not forgetting those strange soldiers in modern uniforms,” Yamane said, glancing at Vulkan after his reaction to those people.
“Although I must admit that his fighting style was extraordinary,” Eris added.
“No,” the man said. “Drunken Fist. Secret Gongfu of the South.”
“Drunken Fist? That explains a lot,” Pyra said.
“I am Lu Yan. Traveling scholar,” the man said.
“Lu Yan?” Eris asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Like a pawn shop,” Yamane remarked.
“What land do you come from?” Lu Yan asked, taking a sip from his plate of wine.
“Well, believe it or not, we’re from another world,” Eris said. “We used to be in a much more advanced city than this one, on top of a building. Suddenly this staff began doing strange things, and BOOM, we’re here. Does it make sense to you? Because it doesn’t to me.”
“And do you have names?” the man asked.
“Yes, I’m Eris. And these are Yamane and Vulkan,” Eris introduced. “And the girl next to you is named Pyra.”
Eris leaned towards him. “Hey, are we dreaming or something? I mean, this doesn’t make any sense.”
“No, where you came from is the dream. Through the gate of 'No-Gate',” Lu Yan replied.
That left them all confused, not understanding what the man was saying.
“Is it like using a Star Fragment or something to travel between worlds?” Eris asked.
“No, it means that either of you is a Zen Master, or you're carrying something very special,” the man said.
“This?” Eris asked, pointing at the staff. “This is why we’re all in this mess!”
“It was in a pawn shop waiting for a man to pick it up and return it to its rightful owner,” Pyra explained.
At that moment they all saw that the man was having a strange reaction to the story they told.
“It has long been foretold that a seeker will come. To return the staff and end the reign of the Jade Warlord,” the man explained.
“Return it to whom?” Eris asked.
“The Monkey King,” Lu Yan replied.
“What?!” they all asked at once, except for Vulkan, who croaked in the same tone.
Lu Yan began to tell his story.
Born of stone, on the mountain of fruit and flowers. With his weapon in hand. His 'Chi' became like fire. His stick fighting like magic. He defied the order of the land. But the Jade Army could not defeat him. Monkey King crushed every soldier sent to stop him. But with his magical staff, he was unbeatable.
Word of his disobedience traveled deep within the Forbidden Kingdom. To the Five Elements Mountains, land of the Immortals. Once every 500 years, the Jade Emperor hosts the Peach Banquet. It is here that the Heavenly Ministers gather to celebrate the longevity… and drink the elixir of immortality. One sip of this heavenly brew… Will give everlasting life. Free from mortal suffering, and desire.
Into the banquet, the Monkey King crashed uninvited. The Jade Emperor was enchanted by the Monkey King...But the Jade Warlord was not amused. As Master of the Army… the Warlord demanded the Monkey King bow down to him. True to his defiant nature, the Monkey King refused to obey the Warlord's demands. Even so, the Jade Emperor forgave the Monkey King's behavior, ordering the Warlord to grant him a title and let him go.
Satisfy all is well, in Heaven and Earth. The Supreme Emperor left to begin his 500 years meditation. Leaving the Jade Warlord in charge, by mandate of Heaven. But rather to obey the Emperor's command… The Warlord challenged the Monkey King to a duel.
High above Five Elements Mountain. In the Warlord's Palace, the battle of Immortals was fought. To prove once and for all whose skills was supreme. In this combat, both the Warlord and the Monkey King demonstrated their mastery of both weapons and chi.
Then the Jade Warlord offered the Monkey King a fight without weapons to prove who was the stronger of the two. The Monkey King was too trusting and believed the Warlord's words. Laying down his magic weapon. Seizing the opportunity, the Warlord cast his magic upon him, turning him to stone. Realizing he was been tricked, the Monkey King… casted the staff out into the Middle Kingdom.
Being immortal, the Monkey King could not be killed. Only trapped in stone, where he waits for the seeker from the prophecy... to return to him his fine weapon and finally free him.
“That's what I heard anyway,” Lu Yan said after explaining the story, finishing his drink from his bowl. “A long time ago.”
“And how long has it been like this?” Yamane asked.
“Five hundred years, give or take a few decades,” the man replied.
“So much?!” Pyra exclaimed.
“They say when the Monkey King is freed, the Jade Emperor will return,” Lu Yan said.
“Okay, and by the way, who were those people earlier? They clearly weren’t ordering anything here.” Yamane asked, looking at Vulkan for a moment. “Vulkan says she recognized them. She said they claimed to be the ones who made her who she is.”
“Oh, do you understand her?” Lu Yan asked.
“Of course, but that’s not the case,” said the fox girl.
The man took another drink. “Those people are known as the Crusaders. No one knows where they came from or how, but it seems they have a deal with the Jade Warlord. They say their leader is called the Demon King’s General.”
“Demon King’s General, great…” Eris sighed.
“The terms of the agreement between the two of them are unknown, but whatever the reason is, those Crusaders have become one of the most powerful forces in the Warlord’s service. And not because of the weapons they use. They also seem capable of creating monsters or something like that. And if your feathered friend is proof of it, you’d better believe it,” the man explained.
“Okay, that’s fine and all, but how do we get back home?” Eris asked.
Lu Yan looked at Eris. “You must return the staff to Five Elements Mountain. You must free the Monkey King!” he said softly.
“Are you kidding me?!” Eris asked. “Do you seriously want us to get into this mess?”
“No, I want you to get involved in this mess. You’re the seeker, after all,” Lu Yan said.
“Me? Why?” Eris asked.
“You carry the staff, and that makes you the seeker of the legend,” the man replied.
“Well, in that case, I’ll give it to her, period!” Eris pointed at Pyra. “After all, she worked for the one who was keeping this staff in the first place.”
“But you were wielding the staff when you arrived here, so that makes you the seeker,” Lu Yan said.
“But Eris, didn’t you say you wanted to be a hero?” Yamane asked.
“Yes, but he’s asking me to go up against an entire empire or something!” Eris said. “If I’ve spent my whole life running from one empire, I’m not interested in challenging another.”
“What do you mean?” Pyra asked.
“Don’t you know? Apparently, she’s All Might’s ‘daughter’ or something like that,” Yamane said.
“All Might’s ‘daughter’?!” Pyra asked in surprise.
“Yes, she has her own ability or something, if what the others said was true,” Yamane said.
“Innkeeper. More wine.” Lu Yan called, asking for another jug of liquor.
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?” Eris asked. “If you keep this up, you’ll end up in a coma or something!”
Lu Yan exchanged the empty jug for a full one. “Wine is my inspiration. In some parts, I'm known as a poet. Cheers!” The man drank more wine, while another brought the food bill, checking the price. “In other parts, I'm known as the beggar.” He gave the bill to the girls.
The girls looked at the bill in confusion, until Pyra took a purse out of her waist bag, a small gold sphere which she placed on the tray, surprising the tavern keeper who walked away happily.
“If you do that again, we’ll find out what’s harder: the staff, or your head,” Eris threatened, crossing her lower arms.
“Calm down, let’s not get like that!” exclaimed the man, raising his hands.
“Uhm, friends,” Pyra said, pointing ahead.
The group turned around, watching as several Jade Army soldiers approached.
“What do we do now?!” Eris asked.
“How good is your Kung Fu?” Lu Yan asked.
Eris and the others were speechless at that question, while the man smiled.
“Ah! He who speaks does not know. He who knows does not speak. Surely you're masterful.” The man said.
Eris looked at Lu Yan after letting out a sigh. "Well, I can defend myself, but that's a far cry from knowing Kung Fu…"
The man interrupted her as she stood up, and all the other women quickly followed suit. Eris instinctively grasped the staff with one hand before turning back to them.
“Where did she get that raben?” One of Jade’s soldiers asked Lu Yan, pointing at the staff.
“It’s a fake! You can find anything these days on the Silk Road,” Lu Yan replied.
The soldier looked at Lu Yan before pushing him aside and approaching the girls, while the others surrounded them.
“Hand it over!” the soldier ordered Eris.
She hesitated about whether to obey the soldier or not. But something inside her told her that she shouldn't hand over the staff under any circumstances.
“Hand over the raben or all of you will die!” The soldier threatened, as the others slowly drew their swords.
After a moment's thought, Eris threw the staff into Lu Yan's hands, who quickly used it to strike the chief. He immediately began using the staff to fight off the soldiers who rushed at him to seize it.
“Run!” Lu Yan ordered the girls.
Faced with this situation, they all started running for the stairs, but saw a line of soldiers advancing towards them, forcing them to retreat. Vulkan kicked the one in front, sending him tumbling down and taking several soldiers behind him with him to the ground.
Another soldier on the ground lunged at Lu Yan, but he defended himself with his staff. At the same time, another soldier approached Pyra with his sword, but she took a breath and a burst of flame erupted from her mouth, igniting part of his armor. The soldier panicked as he tried to extinguish the fire.
Both Lu Yan and the soldier he was fighting stared in astonishment at what had happened. "You're half-dragon?!"
“No, but I know how to use fire,” Pyra said.
Lu Yan quickly shook off the soldier, fighting off another who attacked him from behind. Two more soldiers rushed at Vulkan, but she grabbed them by their armor and lifted them off the ground. She swiftly slammed them head-to-head before throwing them against several tables.
Several soldiers rushed at Yamane, but she used her metal bow as a shield to block their swords, while also using brute force to push the soldiers back.
The number of soldiers attacking Lu Yan grew by the moment, but he knew how to defend himself using the staff in his hands, while Eris stayed behind him during the fight. A wrong move by the man while defending himself caused Eris to fall through the gap in the plant, leaving her hanging by her two upper arms.
“Hey! Get me up, you idiot!” Eris exclaimed as she hung up.
Lu Yan tried to help her, but an attack by several soldiers forced him to change his plans and jump to the lower floor. Just then, Eris lost her grip and fell to the ground, but at least Lu Yan broke her fall with his body.
"Ugh! You're so heavy!" Lu Yan exclaimed as he had Eris on top of him.
“Beware, or we'll have problems!” Eris warned the man.
One of the soldiers on that floor lunged at them, but Lu Yan lifted her into the air, causing her to crash into the soldier, just as he stood up to face the attacking soldiers.
Eris began to get up, until Lu Yan suddenly pulled her up.
“Protect yourself!” Lu Yan exclaimed, handing him the staff before facing more soldiers.
Several soldiers began attacking Eris with their swords, but she dodged their blows, using her staff to keep them at bay, swinging it and forcing them back to avoid being struck. Unfortunately, some of her attacks ended up hitting Lu Yan, who was behind her fighting the soldiers. Finally, he grew weary and grabbed the staff to prevent her from hitting him again.
“There!” exclaimed the man, and began to wield the staff to strike the soldiers and block their swords despite also being held by Eris.
“Would you mind holding it for a moment?” Eris asked Lu Yan.
Eris immediately dropped her staff and leaped into the midst of several soldiers, surprised by her maneuver, striking them with her four arms and her tail. She even sent one of them flying through the air into another soldier. Then she used her upper hands to stop a soldier's sword and restrain him.
“You know what? I’ve had a bad day today! So leave me alone!” Eris exclaimed, beginning to generate electricity in her hands, electrocuting the soldier, who shuddered until he dropped the sword and fell to the ground.
Eris threw her sword to the ground and continued fiercely attacking the approaching soldiers. For those farther away, she generated energy spears and hurled them at the soldiers, who dove to the ground to avoid the attack.
Even though Eris was surrounded by soldiers, Yamane and Pyra unexpectedly dropped down beside her from the upper floor, helping her hold back the soldiers around her. Vulkan, being the last to jump, landed on several soldiers, crushing them with her weight, while she began using her hammer to push back the approaching soldiers.
Lu Yan, wielding the staff, managed to knock down several of the soldiers he was fighting, even causing several of them to crash through the paper walls of the inn.
Unfortunately, he saw a wave of soldiers approaching the inn, causing Lu Yan to let out a groan of anguish before he started running.
“Come on!” Lu Yan exclaimed to the girls.
Seeing the tide of metal and swords approaching, they didn't hesitate for a moment and began to follow the man, first going up the stairs, and then accessing the balconies on the upper floor.
Outside, Lu Yan looked for a way to get out of there until he decided that the best way was to jump across the lower rooftops until he reached the ground, being the first to jump across them.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” Eris asked.
“Jump!” the man exclaimed to the girls.
“At this point? Seriously?” Yamane asked.
“Do not think! Just do!” Lu Yan exclaimed.
The four women prepared to leap toward Lu Yan, but several of the soldiers who had been following them had caught up and were ready to attack. However, a pair of flying daggers pierced the soldiers about to attack, killing them.
Without a second thought, the girls jumped from the terrace, but unfortunately, they landed hard on the ground. And to Lu Yan's misfortune, Eris grabbed the staff as she fell and pulled it down, causing it to fall on top of her.
“We will never speak of this again. Understood?” Eris asked the man.
“That’s fine by me,” Lu Yan replied.
After getting up, they all started running until they were intercepted by several soldiers who rushed at them. But to everyone's surprise, a woman with black hair, wearing black clothes and carrying a lute on her back, stepped between them and knocked the soldiers down with a double kick.
“Such a skilled child!” Lu Yan exclaimed in surprise. “Are you from Northern Mountain?”
The woman mounted one of the horses the soldiers had left, before looking at the group. “She is Golden Sparrow from the south,” she replied.
Without a moment's hesitation, Eris, Lu Yan, and the other girls mounted their horses, except for Vulkan due to his size, and began to flee the scene. However, because the soldiers kept surrounding them, they were forced to pass through one of the nearby buildings, frightening everyone inside with the chase.
Eventually, the group passed through one of the building's paper walls, venturing into the bamboo forest, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
After dawn, the group slowed their pace but continued along the path that crossed the forest.
“You saved our lives,” Pyra said to the girl as she rode the horse.
“Yes, I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t shown up,” Yamane said.
“She does not think the Drunkard Immortal needed his life saved,” Sparrow said.
Eris turned to Lu Yan, who was leading the group. “Are you an immortal? Are you a god or something?”
“The gods control all aspects of nature. The immortals do not,” Lu Yan replied. “By the way, what did you run from child?”
“Bounty hunters trying to stop her from reaching the Five Elements Mountain,” the girl replied.
“Seriously, do you have to refer to yourself in third person?” Yamane asked.
“That’s just how she is,” Sparrow replied.
Then Lu Yan got off his horse and walked in the opposite direction.
“I suggest you keep riding west. And only stop to water your horses,” the man said.
“Hey, aren’t you coming?” Pyra asked.
“The journey to Five Elements Mountain… crosses of barrens and deserts, unspeakable dangers. Worst of all, no wine,” Lu Yan explained.
“And what does wine have to do with all the rest?” Yamane asked.
“His elixir,” Sparrow replied. “Every Immortal has one.”
“And this is precisely the wine? What a coincidence!” Eris snorted.
“I'm very sorry; without wine I will perish. You must understand this,” Lu Yan said.
“Oh, no!” Eris jumped off her horse. “You must understand this! This is utter insanity!"
“Do you wish to get home?” Lu Yan asked Eris.
“What do you think? That’s right! I have to go back to my sister!” Eris exclaimed.
Suddenly, Lu Yan swept forward, striking Eris's leg and knocking her to the ground.
“Then listen well. If you die here… you will be found dead in the world you left behind. Do you understand?” Lu Yan asked, before looking at the others. “Do you all understand?”
They all nodded in response to the man's question, even Vulkan. Clearly, the situation was far more complicated than it had initially seemed.
Lu Yan shook his gourd. “My jug is getting low. I must say goodbye. Bye-bye!”
The man got on his horse and started to walk away from them.
“Oh no! Come back here immediately!” Eris exclaimed as she stood up.
“Let him go,” Sparrow began. “You're the one to return the staff, not him.”
“I know! You don’t have to keep reminding me!” Eris exclaimed, cursing under her breath. “That damned old man! If he were here, I’d kick his ass until he couldn’t sit down again!”
Yamane, Vulkan, and Pyra looked at each other as the man slowly walked away.
“How good is your Kung Fu?” Sparrow asked Eris.
“She's got no Kung Fu. None!” Lu Yan replied. “Although she can defend herself a little like an animal.”
“Maybe I don’t know Kung Fu, because that was never my priority!” Eris exclaimed.
“Your priority? And what was your priority?” the man asked.
“How about surviving?” Eris replied. “Tell me, have you ever been persecuted simply because you were born?”
Lu Yan stopped, turning towards her.
“She’s not the only one people played with.” Eris gestured to Vulkan for a second. “I’m like this because someone wanted to create a super-soldier with unique abilities. Otherwise, I’d be an ordinary Hellhound.”
“Ever since I can remember, I’ve been relentlessly hunted. And when my adoptive father died, I had to learn to fend for myself,” Eris said. “I may have had my sisters, but I still had to learn to defend myself against soldiers, bounty hunters, and other monster girls. All of them out to get me. And don’t even get me started on the trouble I’ve been in lately!”
Lu Yan kept his silent gaze on Eris.
"If in this world, the primary weapon for survival is Kung Fu, then teach me Kung Fu! Teach me how to fight properly!"
The man sighed when he heard Eris's words.
Eris was in the middle of the thick of the forest, poking the tall grass with a bamboo stick, holding it with one of her lower hands and one of her upper hands, while the remaining hands were on her back.
“Swirl soft! Cut harder! At the same time!” Lu Yan called out from behind her with the others at his side, before looking at Sparrow and shaking his head. “She’s terrible…”
After hitting the tall grass several more times, Eris stopped and walked over to Lu Yan.
“I’ve been clearing a path through the weeds for like two days! First you make me do it only with my upper hands. Yesterday, with my lower hands. And now mixing it up! Who do you think I am, a gardener?” Eris asked the man, visibly tired.
Lu Yan got off his horse and approached with a somewhat malicious smile.
“Tell me… tou wanna learn Kung Fu?” the man asked.
“That’s the idea, isn’t it?” Eris asked.
“I teach you Kung Fu,” Lu Yan said.
Without further warning, he grabbed the bamboo stick and struck her sharply on the arm. Eris was startled.
"Hey!"
“That's called strike.” Lu Yan handed the stick back to Eris. “Tomorrow, teach you block. Let's go!” Lu Yan started walking back to his horse.
Eris gave a deep sigh as she began to pound on the undergrowth again to clear the way.
“That's called strike. Tomorrow, teach you block…” Eris muttered, stamping her foot on the tall grass. “I already know how to strike and block, you damned drunken Immortal!”
“She’s not getting the idea,” Yamane said, looking at Lu Yan.
“Obviously not.” Lu Yan commented as he and the others followed Eris at a distance.
As night fell, the group camped in the middle of the forest around a campfire. Lu Yan was preparing ointments in a small stone mortar. Yamane slept leaning against Vulkan's chest, who was also resting. Pyra, on the other hand, was taking notes in a notebook.
Eris sat in front of the fire, opening and closing her hands over and over again, noticing the accumulated fatigue.
“You should relax a little,” Lu Yan told Eris.
“I’m relaxed now,” Eris replied.
“No, you’re not,” Lu Yan said. “Even though you seem calm on the outside, you’re still upset inside. Upset about the mission, upset about the lessons… How can you expect to learn kung fu if you can’t find inner peace?”
“Oh, you want me to have inner peace?” Eris asked, looking at Lu Yan.
“Not that one!” the man pointed out. “No annoyance, no anger, no lust, none of that. You must stop thinking about all of it.”
“Pfft… whatever you say,” Eris said, crossing her lower arms. “Besides, why train with a stick? Do you really expect me to use the staff to fight?”
“That would be the idea,” Lu Yan said.
“Well, for your information, I’m supposed to get my hands on a Keyblade. If you know what I’m talking about.” Eris said, turning her gaze to Pyra. “Though we clearly need a forge first.”
“I thought you should learn how to use a long weapon,” Lu Yan explained. “You’re capable of creating those energy spears.”
“I consider them secondary weapons…” Eris said, looking at her upper left hand. “Although I’ve always fought with my fists…”
“Well, you should learn to use those secondary weapons as effectively as your primary weapons,” the man explained.
“Well, with that logic, the term secondary weapon loses all meaning,” Eris commented.
“Imagine you’re using an 8-foot sword,” Lu Yan explained.
“Well, that must be quite a sword,” Eris said, getting up and walking off on her own, while Lu Yan sighed in exasperation at her.
After moving away from the bonfire, Eris lay down on a bamboo stalk, while Sparrow played his lute, listening to her music. She soon noticed her presence, seeing him play his instrument.
“It is said that music is a bridge between earth and heaven,” Sparrow commented.
“Well, it’s beautiful… And I don’t mean that ironically,” Eris said with a smile.
Sparrow looked at the lute in his hands. “It belong to our mother.”
Eris sighed, just as thunder began to rumble above them.
Far away, on the Mountain of the Five Elements, in the Warlord's palace, the Jade Warlord himself was in his personal room, watching several women that his men had brought to his palace, deciding with whom he would spend the night.
At that precise moment, several of his soldiers entered the room, kneeling and joining their hands in a sign of reverence.
“My Lord.” The soldier spoke in his language.
“How dare you?” the Warlord asked, sniffing the hair of one of the women. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“The Divine Staff of legend… It was seen in the Middle Kingdom.”
The warlord turned to the soldier after hearing him, incredulous at his words. “Impossible.”
“The villagers are beginning to whisper of the prophecy.”
The Warlord approached the soldier with his hands on his hips.
“Mortals are always whispering of the prophecy. They're entitled to it.”
The soldier was tense, having his lord so close, while the latter simply stared straight ahead.
“What other offending news do you have for me?” asked the Warlord, looking down at the soldier.
The soldier stood up slowly.
“They say that the one who carries the staff is not human. None of the people accompanying her are either,” the soldier said.
“So, a woman, huh? Interesting…” the Warlord remarked. “Anything else?”
“That’s all, my Lord.”
The Warlord simply took the soldier's knife and plunged it into his stomach, killing the soldier before the terrified eyes of the other soldiers, while he maintained his cold gaze.
“Summon the Crusader. The Demon King’s General.” The Warlord ordered.
The soldiers quickly carried the dead soldier's body out of the room. The warlord turned his gaze to the women who were in the room.
“Where were we?”
Eris soon awoke after spending the night on the ground. After stretching and getting up, Eris began to walk around, staff in hand, looking for any of her companions. But the place seemed completely deserted; there were only bamboo trees all around her.
Or she should have, because when she looked closer, she noticed a large backpack on the ground beside the path. She found the backpack quite strange, as it didn't seem typical of that era or world.
Then she remembered that this was the backpack Pyra seemed to be carrying around all the time. That backpack seemed really important. And she just leaves it lying there?
Feeling curious, Eris approached the backpack, hoping to find something for breakfast. After glancing around, she opened the backpack and reached inside. The first thing she noticed was how incredibly deep it seemed. No matter how far she reached in, she couldn't seem to touch the bottom of the bag.
Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Eris decided to stick her head inside the bag to see what was going on with the strange thing. But then she felt a strange force pull her, and she ended up inside the bag.
Eris groaned in pain, rubbing her head. For some reason, she was lying on the ground, as if she had fallen face-first. The last thing she remembered was looking in her backpack.
And now, looking around as he stood up, he found himself in a large, enclosed space, almost as big as a house, so to speak. A house with a rather strange interior design.
A third of the strange place seemed to be decorated and furnished as if it were a house where one could live. There was even a bed to sleep on and a table to eat at. Strange things to find inside a backpack.
Another third seemed to be set up as some kind of shop. Or rather, a blacksmith's forge, with strange shelves that looked like pillars, drawers that seemed to face in all four directions, mannequins, and barrels of weapons. Eris could tell it was a blacksmith's forge because she was hearing the sounds of hammering echoing throughout the place.
And the last third, to his surprise, seemed to be reserved for a dense forest. And it wasn't just any forest. As far as he could see, there were trees of every kind imaginable, arranged in neat rows and columns.
“I’ve seen some weird interiors. But this is just absurd!” Eris remarked as she surveyed the strange forest inside the bag.
Eris approached the trees, noticing a nearby apple tree with some apples, and reached out to pick one. She immediately stopped when she felt something watching her from somewhere, turning around to examine the rest of the contents of the bag.
She immediately leaped forward as she turned around, seeing a vine trying to grab her from behind. Eris prepared to fight when she saw her attacker emerge from the forest. It was a dark-skinned female figure with spiky green hair, wearing what appeared to be over-the-knee boots and elbow-length gloves made of plant material, along with a spiky leaf bikini top and a leaf-like thong. The vine that attacked her seemed to have come from her hand.
“That’s off-limits,” said the plant woman, ready to fight. “You shouldn’t even be here!”
The woman used the vine like a whip against Eris, who began to back away to avoid the attacks.
“Hey, calm down! I haven’t done anything to you!” Eris exclaimed.
Suddenly, Eris felt her back bump against something, and it wasn't hard at all. Rather, it was soft and furry. When she turned around, she found herself face to face with the largest dog she had ever seen, much larger than herself. An enormous dog with orange fur marked by irregular black stripes and thick beige fur on its head and face, black eyes, a round black nose, and two sharp fangs protruding from its upper jaw, long tufts of hair growing behind its elbows and around its ankles, a black underside, and a thick, voluminous beige tail curled in half.
The enormous animal growled defiantly, staring seriously at Eris, ready to attack at any moment.
For some reason, that enormous dog reminded him of Pyra. Was it because they looked so alike?
“What’s going on?”
That voice caught the attention of both the enormous dog and the plant woman, who both looked toward the blacksmith's shop. Pyra appeared, walking behind several mannequins, a hammer in her hand and sweat beading on her forehead. She was surprised to see Eris there.
“What are you doing here?”
Eris raised two of her hands as she looked at the girl.
“Um… a couple of things.” Eris began. “First, who or what are these things? And second, can someone tell me where we are?!”
Pyra sighed and approached the gigantic dog, placing her hand on its back and stroking it. The enormous dog seemed to like it, judging by how its tail wagged.
“This is Rex, my Bow wow, my Arcanine, and my partner,” Pyra said.
“Bow wow? Arcanine?” Eris tilted her head in confusion.
“Bow wow is the term they use for dogs in the world I grew up in. And Arcanine is the Pokémon name for Rex’s species,” Pyra replied, though she later added, “Pokémon is what they call those creatures in their home world.”
“Okay…” Eris commented, quickly glancing at the plant woman.
“And the Virulent Treacherose is called Ivy,” Pyra introduced. “You could say she’s my companion, since I raised her from a seed.”
Eris scratched her head, looking at Ivy, who didn't take her eyes off her.
“Is she like your slave or something?” Eris asked. Suddenly, she had to dodge several vines that were thrown at her.
“That wouldn’t be the right word, not by a long shot,” Pyra said. “But seriously, what are you doing in my Haven Bag?”
“Haven-what?” Eris asked.
“A special bag, which serves as a pocket-sized bag. I use this Haven Bag as my home and workplace,” Pyra explained.
Eris looked at her, confused, until she shook her head. “I had just woken up. I came across your strange bag, and I thought I’d grab something for breakfast.”
“So you ended up here by accident, didn’t you?” Pyra said. She walked over to the woods and picked an apple from a tree, tossing it to Eris. “Next time, ask before you look in other people’s bags.”
“Whatever you say,” Eris said, taking a bite of the apple. “By the way, did you spend the whole night here? You could have let us all sleep here instead of spending the night out.”
“Yes, and you would've cluttered everything too,” Pyra said. “This is my house. And there’s only room for the three of us here.”
“Pyra, I already told you that you should activate the Haven Bag’s security lock,” Ivy said to Pyra.
“I know, Ivy. Stop nagging me about it.” Pyra rubbed the back of her neck.
“Okay, can you tell me why you two look so much alike?” Eris asked, pointing at both Eris and Rex.
“We look like it because we’re technically the same species,” Pyra said. “But like you, I’m a hybrid. I’m half Ouginak and half Arcanine.”
“I understand,” Eris said, placing her hand on Rex’s torso, noticing how soft his fur was. “Hey, now that I think about it, this friend of yours is like a giant teddy bear.”
“Isn’t that right?” Pyra commented with a smile.
Eris turned her gaze back to Pyra. “By the way, what were you doing?”
“Oh, I was working on your Keyblade,” Pyra said.
“Really? Here?” Eris asked.
“Yes. I have everything I need for this job right here. The only thing I need is for someone not to sneak into my bag to steal food,” Pyra added.
“Okay, understood,” Eris said, raising her hands. “So, which way do we get out of here?”
“See that platform where you must have landed?” Pyra pointed to a platform on one side of the Haven Bag’s interior. “Jump up from there, and you’ll be outside. But be careful; if you do it wrong, you’ll land on your head.”
“Okay, thanks,” Eris said, starting to walk toward the platform. But then she glanced at Rex, more precisely at his lower abdomen. “Hey, can I borrow him for a second?”
“Not now, this isn’t the time for that!” Pyra exclaimed as she walked away.
“Okay, okay,” Eris replied.
Eris reached the platform and, with a leap, to her surprise, landed outside the enormous Haven Bag, back in the forest. She nearly fell to the ground after landing. Eris turned to look at the Haven Bag, staring at it in confusion.
“What a strange object.” She said, scratching her head.
As soon as she turned around, she saw a rider in the distance, clad in white, mounted on a white horse and staring at her. Eris glanced at the staff in her hand before looking at the rider, who seemed interested in the object in his hand.
“Look, believe it or not, I’m not in the mood for nonsense. You want the staff? Well, be careful, you might get it where you don’t want it.” Eris threatened the rider.
The rider, however, began to gallop toward her. Eris gripped the staff with both hands, ready to use it against him. As soon as the rider drew close enough, she tried to strike him with the weapon. Unfortunately, the man managed to grab the staff with his hand and used the movement to snatch it from her grasp, turning away and disappearing among the bamboo and hills.
Eris began cursing her luck, irritated by what had just happened, being loud enough that even Pyra had to come out of the Haven Bag to see.
“What happens now?” Pyra asked.
“The staff! It’s been stolen!” Eris exclaimed, startling Pyra with the news.
"Are you okay?!"
Eris turned around upon hearing Sparrow's voice as she, Lu Yan, Yamane, and Vulkan ran towards her.
“Eris, what happened?” Lu Yan asked as they approached.
“A rider has taken the staff!” Eris explained, pointing to where the rider had disappeared.
“Damn it, that’s all we needed…” Yamane commented, putting his hands to his head.
“The Jade Warlord has sent a bounty hunter!” Sparrow guessed.
“We’re doomed,” Lu Yan said.
Everyone was silent after what had happened, not knowing what to do now that they had lost the staff.
“Not entirely,” Pyra said.
“What do you mean?” Lu Yan asked.
Pyra turned her gaze toward the Haven Bag, letting out a whistle. To the surprise of everyone except Eris, Rex leaped out of the bag. Even Vulkan was startled by the enormous animal's size.
"Since when do you have a giant dog inside such a small bag?" Lu Yan asked in shock.
“Believe me, the strangest thing isn’t the dog; it’s the bag,” Eris remarked.
Pyra approached the Arcanine. “Rex, the staff has been stolen. I need you to track the thief.” She looked at Eris. “Well, follow her scent. She’s been carrying it all day.”
Rex approached Eris and began sniffing her in front of the others.
“Does anyone else find this a little strange?” Yamane asked.
“She doesn’t know what to say,” Sparrow remarked, looking at the enormous Arcanine.
Rex finished sniffing Eris and began sniffing around. As soon as he detected Eris's scent clinging to the stolen staff, the Arcanine began barking in his direction.
“Get the horses, quickly!” Lu Yan told Yamane, who promptly obeyed.
After following Rex for a long time, who in turn was following the trail of the staff, the group arrived at the entrance of a kind of ancient temple carved into a mountain, with the white horse outside. The group approached the edge of the forest in silence, while Pyra congratulated Rex on his work.
“That’s his horse!” Eris said, looking at the animal. “He must be inside.”
“Why would he take refuge in a temple?” asked Sparrow.
“Good question. It doesn’t make any sense. In his case, I would have raced to where the Jade Warlord is,” Yamane said.
“That's what I intend to find out,” Lu Yan said. “Wait with the horses.”
“I’ll go with you. You’ll need help,” Pyra said. “And I won’t take no for an answer. By stealing the staff, you became prey. And an Ouginak never lets its prey escape.”
Lu Yan did not respond and advanced to the temple, followed by Pyra.
As soon as they entered the temple, they both saw the thief with the staff sitting on the floor deep inside. Lu Yan stumbled toward the man while Pyra stood at the entrance with her arms crossed, one hand near the pouch at her waist, her Merkasack placed on the ground beside her.
“Ahh... good to get off my feet!” Lu Yan said as he sat down on the steps in front of the man. “Long way. So, where're you from? Shandong Province?”
The man seemed not to respond or react to her presence.
“You look like the Shandong Province type,” Lu Yan continued. “You come here often?”
The thief still didn't react to his words, as if he didn't understand what he was saying. Then it was Pyra's turn to speak as she slowly approached.
“This temple seems to have seen better days, doesn’t it?” Pyra asked.
“Good eye, my dear!” Lu Yan exclaimed. “But ever since the Jade Warlord started conquering everything, these kinds of places have become abandoned.”
As soon as Pyra got close enough, Lu Yan looked at the man.
“That staff doesn’t belong to you,” the man said, making the thief open his eyes for the first time. “You have to give it to me, or somebody might get hurt.”
They both stood silently, staring at each other. Suddenly, Lu Yan threw his gourd. The man in white smashed it with a single blow, but Lu Yan seized the opportunity to retrieve his staff. The monk reacted quickly: he grabbed it with his feet, preventing Lu Yan from taking it, and hurled it over his head. Pyra had to jump out of the way as Lu Yan landed awkwardly.
The two men lunged at each other, struggling for the staff. Neither could make the other release it. Finally, the weapon flew out and lodged itself in a nearby pillar. They both stared at each other. Pyra watched the man in white intently.
“What kind of monk are you? Huh?” Lu Yan asked the thief, drinking what little remained of the broken gourd. “Stealing from travelers.”
The man did not respond to Lu Yan's words.
“Ah... a silent one, I see,” Lu Yan remarked. “Or deaf.”
The man still did not respond.
"I'm speaking to you, monk! Hmm!"
The mysterious monk in white prepared to fight. Lu Yan did the same. They both looked at the staff at the same time and lunged. Lu Yan tried to retrieve it, but the monk blocked him. They began exchanging blows and blocks at great speed, each using different styles of kung fu, trying to outmaneuver the other.
When they both separated for a moment to catch their breath, Pyra sprang into action. She pulled a massive metal and bone sword from her bag, wielding it with one hand.
Lu Yan's eyes widened in shock.
"What else do you have in there? A Buddha statue?"
Pyra didn't answer. She lunged at the monk with her sword. The man dodged her blows with surprising agility. Even when she threw several traps at his feet, he effortlessly evaded them. Lu Yan took advantage of the distraction to attack, but the monk was able to face them both at once. With a precise kick, he knocked Pyra aside.
The Ouginak did not give up. From the same bag, she pulled a long metal chain with bone hooks and threw it, catching the monk's arm. Lu Yan lunged again, but the man yanked the chain hard, dragging Pyra toward him and hurling her at Lu Yan, who barely had time to dodge. Pyra fell to the ground with a thud.
Pyra stood up quickly and glared at the monk before letting out a sharp hiss. Rex immediately burst through the doors, growling fiercely at the monk, who stared at the enormous Pokémon in surprise.
“Extreme Speed! Now!” Pyra ordered Rex.
Rex roared and lunged forward, suddenly vanishing from sight. But the monk leaped high into the air, just as Rex was about to pass close by. He flew over him, but not before kicking him in the back of the neck, causing the enormous Arcanine to lose control and crash into the wall, knocking itself unconscious, while the monk landed without incident.
“Nobody treats my partner like that!” Pyra threatened the monk.
Lu Yan attacked the monk again, who defended himself as they moved around the temple. Pyra tried to grab the monk again with her chain, but he easily evaded the weapon without taking his eyes off the man he was fighting. The two continued until a vine came between them, forcing Lu Yan to back away.
The monk began to block the vines that tried to grab him until he noticed that Ivy was present, using the vines that came out of her hands to try to catch him.
Lu Yan let out a deep sigh before looking at Pyra.
"Can I know where you come from, child?"
Ivy tried to trap the monk with her vines and brambles. Unfortunately, he was too agile for Virulent Treacherose and her attacks, and with several movements, he managed to entangle the vines together.
“Seriously?” Ivy asked, seeing her tangled vines.
Finally, the duel between Lu Yan and the monk took a more serious turn when they both climbed the pillar where the staff was embedded. When they both grasped the weapon from opposite ends, they began to pull it down, but only managed to damage the pillar enough to free the staff as they fell to the ground with it.
Once on the ground, the two began fighting again, this time each holding one end of the staff and trying to force the other to let go, exchanging blows. Finally, with a mutual blow, they both released the staff as it flew through the air.
The staff then ended up in Eris's hands, who, along with the others, entered the temple after hearing the sounds of fighting, seeing Rex rush inside, and learning why Lu Yan and Pyra were taking so long to retrieve it.
The man quickly stood up, looking seriously at the monk, who also stood up, returning his gaze. All the while, Pyra approached Rex, who was recovering from his collision with the wall.
“You try to steal the staff for the Warlord!” Lu Yan accused the monk.
“No, fool!” exclaimed the monk, startling Lu Yan. “I'm on a mission to find the seeker of the Staff.”
Lu Yan stared at the monk in white for a moment, until he turned his gaze to Eris, who was holding the staff in one of her hands.
“You found her,” Lu Yan said to the monk.
The monk stared at Eris for a moment, while he and Lu Yan approached each other, their eyes fixed on the Infernal Beast. The Beast, too, kept its gaze fixed on the monk, still visibly annoyed by the trouble caused by its theft. As soon as they were together, they turned to speak to each other in their own language.
“She’s not even Chinese,” the monk said. “She’s not even human.”
“We're all the same inside, aren't we, monk? Heaven help us.” Lu Yan said, taking one of his gourds to drink from.
The monk quickly grabbed the gourd before he could drink it.
“What?! What's wrong?”
“It's wrong not to share. Cheers!” The monk took a drink from the gourd.
When Lu Yan retrieved his gourd and drank from it, the monk turned and began walking toward Eris, with Lu Yan following behind, staring intently at her as if he were scrutinizing her closely. Sparrow, Yamane, and Vulkan exchanged glances, wondering what was happening.
Then the monk began to laugh, his smile wide, until he burst into loud laughter. Lu Yan couldn't help but laugh along at the strange irony of someone like Eris being the seeker of the legend.
With the whole incident resolved, the group continued their journey on horseback, except for Vulkan, who was running behind them at a good pace. But this time the monk in white was accompanying them, riding at the head of the group.
“How long have you been searching for the staff?” Eris asked the monk.
“As long as I can remember,” the monk replied.
That same night, at the inn, several Crusader soldiers were interrogating the owners.
“An old man and four girls had tea here,” a Crusader officer asked in German dialect. A soldier of the Jade Warlord was acting as interpreter between them and the innkeepers. “A soldier monk rides with them. Who else?”
“I do not know who you speak of,” the owner replied, approaching.
The officer snorted and slapped him hard with the back of his hand, knocking him to the ground.
One of the employees tried to run to help him, but the officer pointed a gun at the employee, stopping him in his tracks.
“Lieutenant,” said another voice, making the officer look to the side.
The voice made the officer turn his head. A man in a black military uniform was approaching, wearing the Balkenkreuz symbol, a black cap, and an eye patch over his left eye. When he reached the officer, he placed his hand on the officer's pistol and calmly lowered it.
“Dead men give no answers,” the man told the lieutenant.
“Yes, General!” replied the lieutenant, immediately putting away his weapon.
The General then turned his gaze to the innkeeper's wife. With a trembling hand, she handed him one of Sparrow's small daggers. He took it and examined it closely.
“Sparrow… Sparrow…” said the General, looking at the dagger. “Stuck in someone else’s nest again, as usual?”
At that moment, he noticed something on the ground that caught his attention: an enormous red feather, caught on one of the inn's pillars. He approached, picked it up, and examined it closely. Then he looked up at the woman.
“One of the girls. Was she half bird, bigger than a man, and all covered in these feathers?” The General lifted the feather slightly.
The soldier translated the question. The woman nodded quickly, her eyes wide.
The General looked at the pen between his fingers and a slow smile spread across his face. “Well, look at that… FC-Alpha is back with us.”
