Yuurei had learned a lot about what he needed to do. There was someone powerful sealed away, along with a bunch of Onis. The Seraphim had made sure he had everything that he needed as well before going on this adventure. The information he got from his father, and the help he was getting from Kaito, appeared within the guild to take Brone and his companions with him onto this.

The Seraphim needed everybody he could bring along with him and this was the group he knew could handle their own in this adventure. He had asked Kaito to take them to Mount Kuja and when they got there, it would seem like they needed to make their way to the attraction around the mountain.

Renji was ready as he knew that things were going to be dangerous around these parts. He had mentally prepared himself for the danger they would inevitably get themselves into. Migi was just on the lookout because he wasn’t sure when the battle was going to start.

It was bright outside, the sun making its appearance as it overshadowed the moon. It was the top of the morning, and things were getting started. When they were approaching the attraction sight on the base of the mountain, he would see things starting to open. There were people waiting to be able to shop; they were sitting down at the tables that were around the area. They were chatting and whatnot as they could see the shopkeepers were opening up.

“Do you think someone here will know where you need to go?” Renji asked Yuurei.

He would look at him and he would rub the back of his head.

“I’m hoping that we do find a local who’s always here and going around the place. If we can find someone like that here, then maybe we can get the answer we’re looking for.” He explained to Renji.

Renji would hear this and he would nod as he understood that reasoning. Migi would look at the two of them and then the rest of the group with a smile on his face.

“That can happen, or we can get lucky ourselves and find it right?” He asked them wondering if that would work.

Yuurei would shake his head as he heard those words because he felt like they would have to hope for the best.

“I don’t think that will work, what do you think guys?” He asked the rest of them as they were approaching the place.

When they got there, people would have gotten already and started moving around the area. They were here to buy things and see the mountain tourist location.

447

Kaito looked around the area as they had walked out and he wonders where in the world they might to go from here but he keeps following the leader who is Yuurei and Kaito wonders if this was really going to be alright or if they were going to be in for a rough ride but as he looked around this place just looked like a normal place not one that was hiding some kind of deep dark hidden truth of a den of deathly and very deadly group of creatures. Well he guessed that of course it wouldn't look like that as no one would come here if it did or the wrong kind of people would come here and try and set those creatures free. Kaito heard Yuurei saying that they need to find someone around that might know of the area or at least send them in the right way and Kaito is not sure that he really should be a people person and ask them questions.

He tapped his hood and Revy jumped down and she went to go and see what she could find and get the answers as between the two of them she was more likely to get answers and she went to her human form as she was the one that needed to be able to do what they could do. She used her personality and her wit to ask around a bit but she wasn't getting lucky but Kaito stayed close enough that if she needed help that he could get to her to help her as he was unsure to what they were going to run into out here but he was sure that their might be those that side with the oni or want to free them claiming that they were locked up unfairly most likely with a demon waiting in the wings pulling the strings on this little puppet show but Kaito needed to just focus on what was right in front of him and not something that he can't control.

Kaito as he walked around felt something odd and like people were watching him and in some places that he walked past with his mana vision active he saw strange runes that lit up when he got close to them but he was unsure what they meant so he pulled out his book and he started to read from it as he always did when he was in doubt and there was something that he didn't know and it said that they were warding runes to keep away evil spirits and demons but then why would they react to him? Maybe he was haunted or maybe he needed to just stop reading into it so much he was going to drive himself crazy, they might only activate when someone is near them to protect them he thought to himself, But there was still a nagging feeling in the back of his head that he was wrong and they were trying to stop him but were unable to for some r4eason but he was unsure if that was true or not.
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A new adventure!

It prompted Brone Heavyaxe to prepare days in advance, but even then, he was late. The previous night, he had drank in celebration; to what? He didn't even remember, but he did enjoy himself and passed out in his bed, not remembering what happened the prior night. It wasn't until Kaito appeared in his room through the mystical dimensional void to find the sleeping dwarf.

Luckily for them, Gnicholas was clever enough to pack all of Brone's equipment into an organized heap at the foot of his bed. The whirling swirl of dimensional energy, nor the shouting from the gnome had awoken the snoring dwarf. So no other choice but to force his lazy behind through the portal. The sentient white cloak wrapped itself around the dwarf like a blanket and lifted him, then proceeded to take him through the portal to where they would meet Yuurei. As for Benimaru, the entrapped spirit used the tassels of his blade in which he was imprisoned in, to carry the other other equipment. They all then went through the portal, with the ravens, Huginn and Muninn, diving in right before the portal would close.

The sun was bright enough to stir the dwarf awake. He grumbled and turned over, pulling his cloak over his head as if it was a blanket. It was Gnicholas who kicked him, telling him to wake, for they had an adventure to handle. The realization had struck the dwarf, startling him awake. He fell from the floating cloak and onto the grass, but he was quickly on his feet with a smile on his face. "Wonderful! Ye brought me gear!" he shouted with glee as he walked over to stash. However Gnichoals had stopped him to point out that he needed to bathe before hand, given that he smelled like mead and meat. Brone would elbow nudge Kaito and give him a wink.

Before they approached the town at the base of Mt. Kuja, Brone would dip into the nearby stream that ran down the mountain and through the town. The town had given him familiar vibes to when they all visited the town that was constantly invaded by vampires, but the civilians, though they seem a bit hesitant with the newcomers, they didn't seem to be troubled, as far as Brone could tell, "So... where are we going?"

"To Mount Kuja to find something" Gnicholas answered lazily, already annoyed with the dwarf.

"Kujo? Like that spirit warrior from the legends?" he asked as he finished fastening his chest armor piece.

Brone's Thought Bubble:

The gnome sighed and walked off to the side to get a better view of the town from atop a small hill. Brone figured he would get a better answer from his taller comrades, "Oy, what are we off doing again?" he asked. The dwarf was so excited to go on another journey, he had completely forgot if he was informed on the matter or not. Either way, he was ready for anything.

505

Yuurei would look at the other two as they didn’t answer his question. It would seem like Kaito was off on his own to get the answer that they seek. He hoped that they did get it, but he would move around and ask himself. While he was doing that, it would seem like Brone was trying to figure out why they were there. He had chuckled a bit because he didn’t think Brone would forget.

He kept moving around the place as  Renji would climb down, so he could be of assistance. The two of them would look at Brone and shake their heads as they kept going.

“I’m seeking something powerful and it’s apparently within Mount Kuja. Where it is exactly, I don’t know, but we need to find an entrance that can only be accessed by a Starlight from what my father told me.” He paused for a second.

“We’re here because we’re trying to find out if someone could give us the answer we’re seeking.” He said to Brone.

“Why are we doing this? Well because those Seraphim keep attacking me, and I figured I’d prepare myself with the inevitable, a war.” He said to Brone as he knew his friend would be excited about that.

It was then Renji and Yuurei would approach two different people. They figured divide and conquer would work best. Yuurei would approach the person of questioning first.

“Hey, do you know of any mysterious cave entrance around here? You know one that nobody is allowed to enter, or just can’t enter when they try their hardest?” He asked them waiting for an answer.

They would look at him like he was crazy and scratched the top of their head.

“Nah there aren’t any around here that I know, sorry about that.” He said to Yuurei as he was hoping he would leave him alone.

Yuurei would hear this and he would nod at him. He understood and he would walk away to see if he could find answers elsewhere.

Renji would approach the man at the stand and he figured he would ask.

“Hey old man, do you know where we could find a very ominous cave?” He asked.

The man would look around, but he couldn’t see where it was coming from. Reniji knew this was going to happen, so he decided that transforming would be for the best. He didn’t do this since he got the ability to, so this would be new for everyone. It was then he would appear in front of the man with long hair, no shirt, and clothes to cover the hit bottom. He didn’t like clothes, but he figured he would be decent in the human world. The tattoos on his body were because of the patches on his body and he transformed it into something beautiful.

“Is this much better?” He asked as he would appear in front of the man.

The man was surprised, and it took him a second to gather his composure and his thoughts.

“Sorry about that young man. My eyes aren’t what they used to be, but to answer your question, no I don’t have a location of what you seek.” He said to Renji as he felt bad for not helping.

546|993

Renji Appearance:

Kaito had really just not been paying attention to Yuurei as he was distracted by a weird feeling in his head and like he was here but wasn't welcome here. He kept his feet on the ground and moving as he was going to see what he could see but he knows that there was not a lot to see that wasn't just skin deep as that was what these things mostly were and really all they could be if they were hiding something deeper and darker behind the veil there seemed to be more going on here and Kaito was not sure to what or how he would be having to deal with this happening. The dwarves elbowing had snapped Kaito back to paying attention. "Probably to get ourselves killed, or to kill something that is looking for more than a tickle fight with your niece." Kaito had cracked a smile under his mask but lucky no one can see his face as he once again walked away to see if Revy had, had any luck with getting anything.

Revy was hard at work using her cuteness and her charms to try and get some answers but it would appear that they were getting nothing more than dead ends and the run around for the most part as she was not one to push too hard if she could help it but as this went they were coming up dry and fruitless for the major part of this search and she wondered if maybe Yuurei might be able to find something and then she saw Renji had changed to his human form and she wondered if Yuurei just lets him do this or if Kaito was just more strict about not having her run around to often as a human. She puffed her cheeks and she kept looking and she sees Kaito walking off in a random way and she wonders if he had seen something that they had missed but it was not and she heard Kaito smack head first into a wall.

Kaito had ran face first into a wall that wasn't there in his vision. Kaito feels along the wall with his hand and when he did he hear people make a strange sound and he turned around and looked at them, Kaito feels like he might have just found something that they had not wanted him to find. Kaito had seen a path that was behind the wall that wasn't really there but more off a barrier was there but it didn't lead into a cave from what he could see at that moment just a path that lead down and around from what he could see but he felt that might just be a small thing compared to the looks the people that were wandering around moments before that had stopped in place and were staring right at him were giving him. Kaito quickly moved away from that place and they calmed down and he went to go find Yuurei and say something, but he felt like someone was right behind him.
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Brone nodded, remembering, though vaguely, what the reason for the adventure was. A great power that would help Yuurei to defeat the Seraphim, but the only thing to go off of was that it was within Mount Kuja and that only a Starlight would be able to access it, "Easy enough" he said with confidence as the group ended up splitting to cover more ground.

"Don't you think you're too confident?" Benimaru asked as the shield and sword hid beneath the dwarf's white cloak, "We don't know what this 'power' is, what it looks like, or how exactly to find it".

"Don't ye worry so much, that's part of the adventure, if we knew all the details, it wouldn't be an adventure" Brone chuckled as he walked down a main road, catching the scent of food and drink, a good start for anyone looking for information. The oni spirit gave a audible sigh. Brone had wondered if there was more to Beni's sigh than just the lack of information, for he knew the spirit was always optimistic and usually on his side when it came to aimlessly heading headfirst into a quest, "Something wrong, Beni?" Brone asked, his tone lower, indicating to the spirit that he was concerned.

There was a bit of a pause, silence between them as Brone made his way pass a tailor shop before the oni spoke, "I'm fine, just a bit unsettled since we're back in Joya; I can't really float around".

Brone understood. The land of Joya had been terrorized by oni at one point in time. Though people outside of the country would see a floating shield with an oni mask on it as a magical decoration, to the Joyans, this would making people uncomfortable. From what Brone heard, Joyans were very spiritual, hesitant when it came to unknown spirits and even fearful of oni designs. So if any of the civilians would find out about the oni spirit that was haunting Brone, there wouldn't be any conversations going on regarding information for the secret Starlight power. So Brone and Benimaru agreeed to keep the oni spirit hidden and secret.

Benimaru wasn't upset about having to hide, he found enjoyment in keeping to the shadows, as he did when he had a body, but returning to the land where he was hated and where he was sealed, had always put him on edge because it brought back memories to when he was a different being. Brone didn't know this, but Gnicholas did.

Gnicholas had climbed up the white cloak of Brone and sat on the dwarf's shoulder, listening to the conversation, but not putting his two scents in. He had studied Benimaru and the oni situation in Joya, so he figured this was a sensitive conversation for the spirit. It was intriguing though; when Gnicholas had traced back Benimaru's line through stories, the spirit seemed more emotionless and dangerous and while speaking with the spirit, there seem to be an air of emotion. From what the gnome could tell, the oni was a joyful spirit that just lacked compassion for others most of the time.

Brone stopped, trying to remember what he was suppose to do.

539 | 1,014

Yuurei figured the divide and conquer aspect that they were all doing would find them the answers they were looking for. His optimism in all of this was for naught because there wasn’t anybody here that knew the answer that they were all seeking. He made his way to an older vendor. The man looked like he had been here for quite some time, so he figured that he had seen and learned a lot of things throughout his years.

“Hey, I’m looking for a place that isn’t known to a lot of people. It’s like a cave that nobody is allowed to enter. Do you know where I can find such a thing?” He asked him waiting for an answer.

The man would look at Yuurei with a smile on his face.

“You buy, then I tell you.” He said to Yuurei.

The Seraphim would hear this and he would sigh as he would look at the ware. He would pick the one that would match his other ring, and he would pick it up. That was when he would give the man the jewels. The man would smile as he nodded at Yuurei.

“Sorry, there isn’t a place like that around these parts. Sorry, you’re wasting your time here.” He said to Yuurei.

The warden could tell that he had been duped of jewels, and he would shake his head as he walked away from the man. He wondered if he continued or if he looked for the others.

Renji was walking around as the eyes were looking at him. He would see the women staring at him and he would shake his head as he kept moving. He found another person to approach as he would do so.

“Do you happen to know a super dark secret cave around here?” He asked without hesitating.

They would look at him and stare at him for a few seconds. It was then that they would shake their head, snapping out of it as they figured they would answer him.

“Nah, I don’t think there is such a place like that. I believe they made this place after they checked the entire area out. I think you’re looking in the wrong place.” They said to Renji.

Renji would hear him and he would nod understanding and walking away from them. He would rub the back of his head as he needed to tell Yuurei.

The man in the shadows would watch the large group walking around asking questions. He would shake his head as if they were never going to find it.

“A Starlight without the knowledge and whereabouts of the cave. How pitiful, but I guess I can guide them to it. I cannot do this alone, so might as well make them do all the work.” He said to himself as he would disappear from his original area and was now walking around.

He was moving in the direction of Yuurei, hoping to bump into him and give him the information that he was seeking.

507|1500

He stopped by Yuurei and he looks at the man and he wonders if he should even tell the man about the seals and runes that were around this place but he figures that someone like Yuurei would have seen and felt them right? He guessed it was better to be safe than it was to be sorry later if he didn't tell him. "There are magic seals and runes around this place in mass I am guessing we are not that far off. Maybe we find the key to get there from here." Kaito was not sure that there was anything they could really do as they lacked the vital info that they really needed as it was all on them right now as yuurei's father hadn't kept track of all the info that they had needed at the time and this was just something that would need to be looked into later he guessed as maybe being a thrall for so long had warped his fathers mind a little and if they had all this knowledge why didn't the vampire lord use it?

Kaito was starting to think this was fishy and maybe something else was up here that he wasn't seeing or maybe someone had stopped them from getting it or a something. Kaito wondered if this was really the right time to be thinking about all of this as he looked around for where Revy had gotten to and she is getting heckled by some of the people that had been looking at him before and he walked over to where she was and he lifted Revy up as they looked at him and Kaito turned on his aura and they got a cold shiver down their spine and he stared right at them like he was looking through them and he watched them take off before he lets the aura rest and he wonders if this was going to be an easy or a hard fight or if this was going to be a long and drawn out. Kaito needed to stay on his toes he felt as no one was really being helpful here that he might not just be wasting his time asking them.

He walked to see what Brone was doing and if he had more luck but something was seeming off about them but Kaito couldn't put his finger on him maybe something happened between the possessed companion and something here but he had no idea but he knows that it was in the theme of this place so that was just a guess for now. "I hope you are not hiding something mister dwarf." Kaito used an ominous voice to spook Brone as he figures maybe moral is lower so they need a bit of a kick to get it moving in the right way and not to just fall flat as it was feeling for the time but he had no idea how the dwarf was really feeling at the moment so they needed to make sure that they got through this.
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Huginn and Muninn flew up and perched upon the tallest building structure so they could get a bird's eye view of the area, but as far as they could tell there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. It seemed like a normal town at the base of the mountain. So they made sure to keep their eyes on their comrades, wondering if they would get into any trouble, especially Brone, for which Huginn looked forward to.

Brone was slightly confused, nearly forgotten about his task until Gnicholas reminded him, "We're suppose to be asking people about the secret power" he sighed. This was the reason Brone usually takes the gnome along, for the smaller being was the intelligent one amongst them and usually kept him from falling off the trail; Benimaru however didn't care for whatever quest or task they were on, for it was just his nature.

"Ah, right" Brone remembered with excitement, but as he realized it, he calmed himself and rubbed the back of his head. He didn't want to go around asking people anything unless it was for food and drink. He sighed and waved at a passerby , "Hey, ye know about great power?"

"What power?" The random man replied, seeming greatly confused of the vague question coming from the short man.

"Power of voodoo" Benimaru chuckled.

Beni's Pun:

The passerby, assuming the dwarf was laughing at him became irritable and ended up abruptly leaving before Brone could stop him and explain. Brone then slapped a gloved hand against the mask of the shield to shut up the oni. Now the dwarf realized how tedious this task was going to be, but what could he do about it other than just complete it. Gnicholas nudged him on, letting him know that if he didn't do it, the quest would take longer. The dwarf groaned in annoyance.

The dwarf's instincts picked up Kaito coming up by him, so he happily turned to face his comrade, hopefully there was some news of the task being completed so they wouldn't need to continue.

Brone was confused by what Kaito said, "But of course I'm hiding something, ye know that, Kaito" he then slightly lifted his secondary hands from beneath the waist sash he wore to show him, "I got te hide these, otherwise I'll start creepin' people out" Which did annoy Brone, but he was asked to do this by many of the guild members, so he finally gave in and wore the sash.

Though Brone was too much of an idiot, Benimaru and Gnicholas knew Kaito wasn't talking about the extra arms, "Is everything alright, Kaito?" Gnicholas asked, wondering what the dragon slayer was referring to.

"Yeah, did ye find anything?" Brone, once again missing the point of the conversation, asked.

It was Benimaru who seem to be more aware and cautious of Kaito, for he always kept a distance from him. He knew that Kaito had some kind of extra sense to him, like a Fortune Teller of Dread, so he decided to keep quiet.

515 | 1,529

He was watching the group asking questions when they should have been looking for the sealed place themselves. Only one person was close to it, but not close enough. There were seals and all, but that was just an extra precaution to make sure nothing could ever escape if they ever did.

Yuurei would look over to Kaito as he would see that his friend had appeared before him. He would hear him, and he would nod as he understood. They weren’t in the wrong place, the information they had got was true, but who could give them what they were looking for? The group had gotten themselves back together, and Renji would look at the group as if they were all here. It would seem like someone got an answer, or everybody was clueless.

“So, did anybody get an answer from these people here? I was out of luck.” He said to the group.

Yuurei would hear him as he would look at his companion. He would shake his head as he didn’t have any leads.

“Nope, I couldn’t get an answer from anybody. It seems like this place is supposed to be a normal place, but Kaito found some suspicious runes and seals around the place.” He said to Renji.

This would be the first time the group had seen Renji in this form except for Yuurei. Migi would look at Renji confused about who he was.

“Was this guy with us Yuurei? Where did Renji go?” He asked.

Yuurei would laugh a bit as he figured it didn’t make sense for Renji to go from Exceed to that right?

“That’s Renji right there.” He said to Migi.

Migi’s mouth would drop because he didn’t expect that. While this was happening, a man would appear in the group with a top hat as he looked at the group.

“I hear you guys are looking for a weird and mysterious cave around these parts?” He asked as Yuurei would turn to look at him.

Man in Top Hat:

There was a familiar aura about this guy, but it would seem like he was also creepy as well. The crow on his shoulder didn’t make it any better. Still, it would seem like he had information for them and that was all he needed.

“Yes, we are. Do you know where we can find the cave?” He asked him hoping he would give them the answers they were looking for.

He would smile at them as if he was going to give them what they were looking for.

“So, what you guys are actually looking for is a hidden trail. If you follow this trail it will take you to the entrance of the cave you seek. Of course, the path to it isn’t something trivial or anything of the sort. It is why people don’t know about it, and the path is not something that could be found unless you know what you’re looking for. What you seek is two trees with the marking of a star on them. Once you find them the path will reveal in front of you, but only if you spot the two stars.” He told them what to look for and then he would point in the direction of where they would find it.

Yuurei would look over in the direction he pointed in, and when he looked back the man would have walked away and disappeared.

570|2070
[exit]

Kaito looked at the companion and got closer to it as it seemed that it was also making the runes light up. "I see, seems I have found my answer." He walked away as to not make the companion more scared of him that it already was thought it would probably just cause Brone and his gnome to be a bit more confused but Kaito had an idea that the birds that are flying around might already know what he was looking for there but he doesn't yet tip his hand as this might be a useful card to play later when the cards are down and they need a trump card to use when the final hour strikes.

Kaito hears that man talk to them about where they are needing to go and how they would be finding but some thing about this man was rubbing Kaito's danger senses the wrong way and he wonders if there was really a reason this happened or if this was a set up and they were about to go running head long into some kind of trap that would once again cause a rift between themselves and those that looked up to them as heroes and saviors. Kaito didn't think of himself this way but others had seemed to become accustomed to thinking of him as this and that was not something that he can really live with but if this was something that was going to happen it was gonna happen so into the abyss they are going.

Maybe someone will remember them and write tales of their travels in the abyss to when they finally lost their minds but now was not the time for that it was time to get to the point and to rush deeper into what they needed to do so Kaito would follow Yuurei and the others to this hidden path that was spoken of as this was their chance their break through but he needed to make sure that if he didn't survive that he sent Revy after with his dying breath to make sure that she survived and hopefully would be able to live a happy life that was not bogged down by the horrors of watching him die as she was sent away and her not holding out the hand of hope that she would one day see him again at least not until death had taken her in a timely manner. Kaito wonders if this star marking they are talking about is a normal type of stars or one of the fancy ones.

Kaito was going to do his best to make sure that they all made it out safely even if that meant that he was the only one to die.
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Brone raised an eyebrow as Kaito leaned in to view the shield. With the dragon slayer not elaborating on what he meant, nor Benimaru saying a word, the dwarf scratched his bearded chin in confusion. He then looked to the gnome who had shrugged his shoulders. Truthfully, Gnicholas had an assumption concerning Kaito's earlier statement about something being hidden was actually involving Benimaru, and with the oni spirit not saying a word, his assumption was confirmed, but provided no other information. As Kaito walked back to Yuurei, Brone shrugged his shoulders and followed behind him, hoping Yuurei had already completed the task at hand so they could move on with their quest.

Huginn and Muninn watched from their perch. Their heads cocked to get a better view. When they noticed Kaito observing Benimaru's shield closely, he developed a theory of their own. They then flew down and landed Brone's right shoulder as Gnicholas was sitting on his left shoulder. When the gnome noticed the ravens speaking into the dwarf's ear, he listened in to try and determine what they were saying, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out the dialect of speech they spoke, even though he researched through many linguistic books.

"Kaito has eyesight that can see magic" Muninn whispered. Brone nodded his head, thinking the ravens were telling him this because they wanted to give him an idea of how the team was contributing to finding the 'power' Yuurei was searching for.

"He inspected Benimaru a little too closely" Huginn pointed out, which Brone didn't think much on since he knew Benimaru used magic to float and cast spells, "Benimaru also has a seal on him" Huginn added, which did cause the dwarf to raise an eyebrow. But even that wasn't extraordinary. Benimaru was an evil oni spirit who was sealed into a shield and sword by the Starlight clan, and story he could have sworn he told Kaito at some point, though now he was questioning whether or not he did.

They met with the man with the top hat. Luckily this oddly dressed person gave them the directions they needed. Brone wasn't suspicious of the character until one of the voices in his head had pointed it out, but he quickly pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.

"A tree with stars? That's it? Easy" Brone scoffed, figuring this task would be much easier than the first task. Gnicholas sighed, knowing this would prove to be very tedious, given that there were many trees and finding an etching of a star would be problematic within a woodland area.

"It's equivalent to trying to find a metamorphic rock within a mainly igneous rocky terrain" Gnicholas knew to speak with a dwarf who knew little of surface plantlife terrain, he would need to metaphorically speak his language. Brone then fully understood the situation and gave a sigh, gesturing to his companions to move forward.

494 | 2,033

[Exit]