"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jodie asked, her gaze flickering from Marcus to the flasks and mortar and pestle sitting on the table. She probably doubted his ability. An ability Hector wasn't too confident in either—Marcus was a talisman seller, and a good one at that, but he didn't exactly have the skills to make potions. At least, Hector had never seen him attempt anything like this.

"I'll be fine. You know, I haven't just been twiddling my thumbs while you were out killing mana beasts and gaining points. I know what I'm doing."

Hector narrowed his eyes but nodded. If Marcus was confident, there was no reason to doubt him.

Besides, even if they did, they were already here, and they couldn't do anything now. Instead, they needed to focus on completing the quest as best they could. So the three of them then split off, with Hector crunching back down the gravel path, birds chirping nearby.

Beyond the pleasant sounds, this place was quite warm, almost soothing. Temperature was a funny thing in the trial realm, as it didn't exactly change much.

Or at least, he hadn't gone anywhere that did. There might have been a few places within the realm with more extreme weather. And if there were, people had probably already stumbled upon them.

With the comfortable environment seeping into him, his mind drifted to the slums, to his sister.

I wonder how Mirae is doing. Hopefully, her quest is going well. I hope she's alright.

Pushing the worry aside, he closed in and stopped a few meters from the door they'd entered. The large block of wood was now closed, and in front of it, butterflies flapped by as if trying to escape.

It was a sight that caused Hector to raise his brow, but he shook his head. Hopefully, the door hadn't trapped the four of them in here, though the thing should be easy enough to open once Marcus finished.

A theory that part of him screamed to go over and check. Another part, though, was more focused on finding the flower.

He hopped over the low wall and crunched through the undergrowth, leaves flicking against his nose as he slapped them away.

Watching his step, he bent and began picking through the foliage. His eyes hunted for any spots of purple that might allude to the plant he was looking for. The soft scent of various lilies and other flowers slipped up his nose like a pungent perfume.

Many times during the search, Hector scratched himself and slapped away errant insects that tried to crawl on him. This place was alive with life.

More so than the slums, at least. There, everything was rotting, and the bugs you got were not exactly the type people would be happy to find in their homes. A butterfly again flickered by, its black and white wings flapping with grace.

And then he spotted it, jutting out just behind a tree. A purple, fat-petaled flower shook as the breeze blew through it. Hector picked his way over, careful to avoid the brambles.

A few had stung him as he searched, but after who knows how long, he'd finally found what he'd been looking for. Reaching down, he gripped the stem and plucked it out, and brought a hand to his mask, letting out a sigh.

"Finally, I found it."

He then left the forest, hopped over the wall, and crunched back down the gravel path towards Marcus. Upon arriving, he found his long-haired friend leaning over the book, focused on it intently.

A moment later, Jodie scrambled out of a bush, her hair dotted with twigs and various leaves. She tapped at her head with one hand, her other holding the black flower firmly in its grip.

"This place is an absolute nightmare," she hissed, her eyes narrowing into the forest behind her. "I swear, these bugs, they climb on anything they can get their grubby little whatever you call them on."

Hector chuckled, shaking his head. "It's not that bad."

"It's not that bad? How are we looking up there, Marcus?"

The boy turned back and nodded to him. "Not too bad, I believe I've got the recipe down." And he eyed the flowers in their hands, nodding. "That should be more than enough, at least for the first attempt."

"First attempt?" Hector asked, his head tilting to the side. "There's going to be more attempts?"

Marcus scratched his head and sighed. "You can't expect me to get it right on the first try, can you? That's ludicrous." He rested a hand on the table, turned and leaned against it. "I think one or two attempts should be enough for me to figure out the potion." And then he shrugged, eyes moving to the forest on the right side of the gravel path.

Lincoln shuffled out a moment later, stumbling a little and slamming his spear onto the ground, stabilising himself. In his hands, the yellow flower Marcus sent him to collect was sagging, wilted and bruised. Unsurprisingly, Lincoln hadn't taken the best care in his task and had somehow damaged the ingredients he was looking for.

"You alright over there, Lincoln?" Hector asked, stepping forward and slipping a hand into his pocket.

Looking up at him and resting against his spear, Lincoln shook his head. "No. This place is an absolute nightmare. Those bugs crawl onto anything they can get their paws on."

"I don't think they have paws," Marcus said, and Lincoln eyed him with a dubious look.

Hector chuckled. "You know what, that's exactly what Jodie just said."

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The two of them looked at each other, sharing a brief look, almost as if coming to some understanding. Then Jodie's head snapped to the side, and she scoffed.

Marcus regarded the three of them for a moment, shifting his foot on the stone platform, before raising a hand and beckoning to them. "Can I please have the ingredients, then?"

Lincoln looked up and then spared a glance at Hector before walking over and handing his flower to Marcus. Jodie did the same, and Hector followed.

With all three flowers in hand, Marcus shuffled over to the crafting table and set the three plants down on the wood. He brought a hand to his jaw, studied them, and then sighed.

"I think this should be enough," he said, reaching for the mortar and plucking a flower off the table.

He then began picking at the petals, and Hector frowned. Was that it? Was there nothing more they had to do? No subsequent task they'd need to complete for the wannabe alchemist? Jodie turned to him as if to say something, but she remained silent.

Hector, not really knowing what else to do, walked up the platform and stood at Marcus's side. His friend worked with some trepidation, like a man who was familiar with the ingredients but not at all sure if his attempt to put them together would work out exactly as planned.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Hector asked. He adjusted his mask and rested a hand on the table. Off to the side of the platform, a bush shook, the wind rustling through its leaves.

Marcus glanced at him, placing the last petal into the mortar and picking up the pestle. "I believe so. I mean, how hard can it be?"

"You said you were practising while we were out hunting."

"I was." Marcus nodded and began grinding the leaves.

"Practising a lot?"

"I just don't want to be overconfident, that's all."

"I see." Hector's gaze settled on him for a moment before he turned away.

Maybe I should go find something to do while we wait. Who knows how long this quest will take? You know what, maybe I should actually check the—

As he considered what to do, the ground began shaking. His head snapped to the opening where the ground bulged, soil separating, and clumps of grass falling away.

A thick root burst through the middle, and Hector instinctively took a step back. Jodie rushed up the platform beside him, her hand shooting to the sword at her waist.

"What is that?" she hissed.

Hector levelled his eyes as more of the thick green tentacles burst from the ground and slammed into the dirt. They tensed, then strained, pulling a shape out of the widening hole as more of them sprouted from the grass.

"This isn't good," Hector said.

Marcus's hand stilled, and then he took a shaky step back. Hector glanced from him to the mass of green tentacles inside. Nothing could ever be simple. Nothing ever was.

"Keep working on the potion," he said, his blades materialising from crackles of purple, falling into his waiting hands. "We'll keep that thing busy."

"Shouldn't we run?"

Hector eyed the tentacles that had now finished their work. A large bulb rooted in the ground with sprouting pink petals flopping off of it rested in the middle of them, a low rumble coming from its centre. Hector shook his head.

"Something tells me that this is very much part of your sub-quest." Hector turned down the path. The doorway waited. He hadn't wanted to check it earlier, but something told him that if he went back now and tried to pull on it, sealed shut wouldn't be enough to describe it. "I think the quest needs you to complete that potion as that thing tries to kill you."

"Wait," Marcus said, his eyes widening as a realisation hit him. "But what if I'd come alone?"

Hector's heart sank and tightened as if a vice was slowly wrapping around it. "Then I think this would have been the last quest you did."

Marcus's head fell, shock growing on his features. Hector glanced at Jodie and nodded to her.

"You ready?"

"Well..." A pool of magma bubbled to life on the side of the platform as she drew her sword and levelled it at the plant mass. "Plants hate fire, right? So if we just bombard it, that should keep it at bay for a good while."

Hector shrugged, reaching into the back of his mind and pulling on his own [Blazing Arsenal] Talent. He had no plans to let it get close to Marcus.

They'd used a few of the fireballs, but there should be at least three shots left before they needed to cool down. "Yeah, soften it up, then go in for the kill," he said

"Lincoln," Hector said, not turning away from the flailing mass of tentacles. "You keep the mud wall up and protect Marcus. If you can provide any other form of distraction, feel free."

He didn't need to turn to guess that Lincoln was shivering behind him, perhaps terrified that he'd be put into a position that would require him to face the creature. Hector then levelled his blades forward and pulled, commanding the [Blazing Arsenal] to fire its third fireball so far.

With a roar, flame arced through the air, the tentacles pulling back even before the ball of fire slammed against them, exploding in a wash of heat. A low screech came from the plant bulb, its pink petals flailing as a deep guttural whine echoed through the air, vibrating Hector's bones. He dashed forward—getting past the tentacles and dealing with the petal was now no doubt the key to this.

Racing across the open expanse, grass crunching beneath his feet, Jodie ran alongside him. She leapt, narrowly avoiding a tentacle that slammed into the ground, exploding the grass behind her, clumps of dirt and mud shooting into the air. Hector ducked under another, and the two practically danced through the gauntlet of assailing limbs.

One tentacle, static crackling on its surface, jabbed towards Hector. He raised his blade, and the force slammed into him, knocking him back, static crackling along the purple metal. Leaping to the side, the ground where he'd been standing exploded with dirt as another tentacle slammed into the grass, wisps of green mist emanating from it.

Hector coughed as his throat itched. That was not something he should continue breathing in. He ducked under another tentacle and was on the move again, darting through several others that assailed him, Jodie at his side doing much the same and avoiding what she could.

"Hector, several of them have strange abilities. Be careful!" she yelled as another tentacle went for her, slicing towards her face.

She ducked out of the way, narrowly avoiding it, and leapt to her feet, slashing at another. The impact barely caused the thing to budge, and it then flung her back, sending her sliding across the grass, with deep furrows in the ground as she struggled to stay on her feet.

Two thick tentacles hung above the main bulb, yellow smoke spraying from them, washing out like thick mist, forming a low layer of fog around the bulb. The plant was trying to obscure itself.

From the side, another tentacle jabbed towards him, this one duller than the others; its tip was a crystal-like brown. It lashed towards him, clipping his shoulder as Hector dodged to the side.

He rammed his blade into the passing tentacle, and it slipped through the surface. The steel parted grass-like flesh, which leaked purple liquid onto the blade.

The tentacle flailed back, whipping out wildly and slamming into the earth, softening it, turning it into putty as a forming mud pit swallowed the grass.

Hector paled at that. If he were to move across it, it'd either slow him or trap him completely.

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