Yuurei had seen that they had worked together against the Oni that was in the cave. It was great, which meant that they could conserve their strength for the next task at hand. He wasn’t sure what they would bump into next, but they had to prepare themselves for the guy who placed them in this predicament in the first place. He would look around to see that everybody was in one piece and when he looked over to where the exit was, it would seem to start appearing once more. Renji would see that their fight was over, and he would use Excalibur as a support to get up from the ground. He would walk over to everybody as he was proud of them.

“Good work everybody, sorry I was useless there. We should get out of here before something weird happens here.” He said to the group.

Yuurei would nod as he had agreed with him on this. It was then that the group would walk out of the cave. It was then that Yuurei would look at Brone and remember that his nose ring had been destroyed by the Starlight earlier. He felt responsible and would shake his head. He would take his school bag and he would hand it over to Brone.

“You’re going to need this more than me. In the future, or even wherever we might go here, put some extra items in it for battle.” He said as he would toss it to him.

He was fine losing the equipment he had in there as it wasn’t a problem. He wanted his friends at their peak and their best. Now that they were out of the cave, they would have a path to follow, and they would do so without hesitating. Renji was feeling so much better and he knew soon enough he wouldn’t need to hold onto this sword anymore. He would see that their path forward was simple, but what came next was surprising. When they reached the top, Renji would see something that he didn’t expect to be on top of the mountain. They had reached the top first, but there was a monastery built on top of it all.

“I didn’t expect this. Who do you think lives up here, Monks?” He asked wondering what they would find here.

Yuurei would look over to the group and then to the building structure not too far from them.

“You’re probably right. Monks probably do live here, and they probably guarding this place. Which means we’re on the right track.” He said out loud as he started walking to the Monastery.

It was a beautiful place, but he knew that somewhere in this mountain the key to his newfound power could be found here. He was hoping the same could be said for the group here. They worked hard here, and he was sure that in the end of this, they would find something worth it, and gain more power for themselves as well.

503

Kaito as he left the cave looked around as he followed Yuurei and the other placing the now exceed again Revy into his hood to rest and himself do the walking as his body had seemed to have restabilized, though his stomach still hurt a bit from it so he was hoping he hadn't messed up his insides a bit or he might be in some deep trouble. Kaito upon seeing the building and then hearing the male Exceed man ask about monks, And Kaito blinks as they had to get past oni to get here long with other safe guards to stop intruders how would their be living monks unless they had a hidden way to get up here or were immortal. "I don't think there could be monks up here unless they have a hidden way to get up and down this mountain, as they would have aged and died by now unless their are breeding women up here, but that strikes one of the monk hood rules of refraining from sex."

Kaito was not sure if he was fully right but from the sounds no one had come up here in a very long time so that would have lead to inbreeding so they may be about to walk into a place that has some strange looking people that is if they are not immortals and have stayed to their ages so they would have to watch out for children that would be closer to their 300's than being the ten year old they are seeing. Kaito was unsure if it was wise to get closer to the place but maybe they had healing and things they could use to path up their stuff and not just end up dying in a pile of snow or to a mass group of oni. Then it clicked in his head, what if this is a place that had been over run by the oni and now they were about to just walk right up to it and be attacked. Revy can see that Kaito was over thinking so she rubbed the back of his head. "Calm down not everything has to be a fight or throw you onto the edge." She used a reassuring voice to make sure that he understood that she was not sensing danger or anything that could be perceived as danger yet so he was okay to relax. Kaito listening to the exceed allowed him self to calm down as he guessed they would see soon enough if he was right or not about his worries.
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The battle had ended and the group were able to exit the cave to continue forward on their journey. Brone Heavyaxe stowed his weapons and removed his helmet, letting his white hair to fall out, the hair-tie had broken during combat, the ponytail no more. "Don't worry about it, Renji, just make sure ye recovered, we don't want ye dying before we reached the peek" the dwarf laughed as he patted the exceed on his shoulder as they walked up an incline.

Brone was surprised when Yuurei had handed him his school bag, "Thank ye, Yuurei" he happily accepted the bag and slung it over his shoulder, "Wonderful! Now I can carry more weapons" he chuckled as he stowed a few of his axes into the bag.

"May want to consider changing your alias to 'The Armory'" Benimaru joked as he floated along side the dwarf.

"On the contrary, Yuurei would possibly be considered for such a title since he has cycled through more weapons and armors than even Brone" Gnicholas pointed out as he sat on the dwarf's shoulder. Brone sucked his teeth, annoyed that the gnome couldn't allow him to have a compliment.

Eventually, the group would reach the peek of the mountain top. Brone stretched his arms above him, for reaching a mountain's peek was an accomplishment for any adventurer, but before he could bellow a cheer, he noticed a monastery close by. Everyone seemed perplexed with the idea of people living up at the peek. As many times the dwarf traversed mountains, he knew the atmosphere was difficult for most people to be move around, the air quality being thinner being one aspect.

"Maybe there's more Starlights?" Brone wondered as he scratched his head, still trying to imagine how his daily routine would be if he would live on a mountain top.

"Not likely; remember, the Starlight clan had been wiped out, only Yuurei and his father remain" Gnicholas countered the thought.

"But what about tophat? He got through the barrier, right? He must be a Starlight"

"There's bound to be exceptions and odd variables" When Gnicholas answered this nonchalantly, Brone was completely lost, not understanding what the gnome meant by that. As for Benimaru, he didn't say a word and just flew towards the dwarf and hid beneath the cloak. If there were indeed more Starlights in that monastery, then it would be too risky for an oni such as himself to be present. He was already sealed away, he prefer not to worsen his situation.

They made their forward until they reached the courtyard of the monastery. There was a zen garden nearby, which confused the dwarf further. To maintain a living so high up made no sense.

464

While the group had moved through the area, and it seemed like Brone was making way, Yuurei would notice something. There were indeed people living here, and they were approaching the group. There were only two of them, and they would look at the group confused as to how they had arrived here. It was then they would look at Yuurei and they could sense his bloodline, and would just be confused on why this man was here.

“What brings you guys here? How did you get through the hidden seal? You should leave.” He asked these questions and finished it off by telling them to leave.

Yuurei would shake his head when he heard this because he was never going to leave this place. He would crack his neck as he would stare into their eyes. There was no way he was going to leave. He had put a lot of them in endanger, and they still wanted to push forward. Therefore, he wouldn’t listen to their warning.

“We’re here because my father told me that there is a power hidden away in this Mountain. I’m going to assume it’s somewhere in this Monastery. I am a Starlight, and I figured since that power belonged to my family once, I would be able to claim it as my own.” He said to them.

They would hear him and he did answer everything. They knew he was a Starlight, but he never hid it from them. Then it would seem like he sought to battle the Starlight that created this seal and curse on this specific area of the mountain. They weren’t sure if they could beat the person who was infused with an Oni. They would have to prove that to everyone here and the person who led the rest of the monks.

“We hear you and understand your story. It seems like you are strong if you come through the path behind you. If you were not strong, then you would have perished. Still, it seems like you are all hurt in some form. Follow us we will treat your wounds and make sure that you are as good as new. If we decide to agree to your terms, you will need to be more than ready.” The same monk said as the second one stood quiet.

It was then that they would turn around and they would walk to the door. When they got there, the door would open up and the group would go inside. Once they were inside, a group of monkeys would hover around them, and they would all be sat down in different locations as everyone would be checked to see if they were wounded and treated.

Renji was healing still, and the monks would make sure he was as good as new. It would be the same for Yuurei as they were also examining him. They didn’t think they would ever see a Starlight here. If he had come for the power here, then it would mean things might change for this place.

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Kaito was confused to why or how their could be people here and they they spoke and then made stiff choices like telling them to leave was there something going on here? Was there a reason to really leaving, how are these people here alive and how they were still living was it magic, was it a curse something was wrong here and nothing made him think that they would be the right choice to say out loud as if one was the right answer it was to much of a scary thought that there would be a danger of some kind and he hoped that there would be a silver lining here but he really felt that this place was either a trap or a place that was going to try and drain their essence neither of which he really wanted to deal with as the tingling of his last mishap had just left him and he was not looking to have to go through another thing that might cause it to rehappen again.

Revy was a bit on edge as well now as she had seen that Kaito might be right that something was a miss if they were here, as logically no one should have been here at least if the timelines were true. Revy stays close to Kaito's leg as they get closer to the people that seemed to either be talking in riddles or having succumbed to madness as they seemed to not know what they were asking or doing asking them questions not giving them time to answer and then telling them to leave. This all made no sense as there was nothing that could really add up to how they were acting toward them.

Kaito looked at the monkeys that hovered around them and Kaito wondered if there was something weird going on here as why would their be flying or in this case hovering monkeys here. Something was very off putting by all of this they were either being to nice or far too naïve none of this seemed to make sense to him anymore and he was not looking around as much now but this all had taken a strange turn and it all seemed to be going tits up and there didn't seem to be a way that they could get this to all turn right way up as they were walked around the place and their gear and wounds were going to be taken care of this really makes not a bit of sense here in a mountain that was full of oni. There was a monastery that had living monks and was not just a fake place but a real one. Kaito also wondered how or why the monkeys hover here had they also gained some form of enlightenment? Kaito was really more scare than anything to ask for if they were indeed enlightened monks and that they got turned to monkeys.

Revy just keeps looking around and people wonder if there was any thing that she could do but she didn't feel that there was anything she could do besides see what was going to happen here but there could have been something but she didn't want to push her luck here as for now they were guests but there is no telling how fast that their guest status would change or if they were just after Yuurei because of his blood. Revy was starting to really wonder if Kaito wasn't as paranoid about this place as he had seemed when they had gotten closer to it and she wonders if there was a way to take it back and just get out of here as these monks gave her the creeps.
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As they approached, two monks at met them and initially asked them to depart, which of course the group didn't intend on doing, especially Brone, not unless his guild master had asked him. After Yuurei had explained their reason for being there, the monks decided to allow them entry, though what caught Brone's attention was that the monks were surprised by the fact that Yuurei is a Starlight. As Gnicholas had stated, the Starlight clan had drastically diminished, so to find a clan member was a rare sight indeed.

Brone was glad to hear that the group's wounds would be tended to, especially how Renji was harmed, but what worried him was what these 'terms' the monks were speaking of. The dwarf was fine with respecting the rules of another's household, as long as it didn't seem ridiculous to him, but the group is on a personal quest, and they couldn't afford to be deterred because of someone else's reasoning.

They were let into the monastery and it was as boring as Brone had thought; several monks were either sitting around meditating or tending to chores such as sweeping or tending to the plant life. Now what threw him off were the monkeys that were levitating above them. They too seem to be in meditation. For Gnicholas, he was wondering how the monkeys were able to gain enlightenment and even learn how to use magic to be able to levitate themselves. Many things about the monastery had brought questions to the gnome, peaking his interest, but for Benimaru, he chose to hide beneath Brone's cloak, acting as a regular shield and sword. Brone didn't think anything of it, but Gnicholas had suspected he was concerned about the monks. It seems the monks were possibly the keepers of this monastery and if they knew well of the protective wards around the mountain, they were probably Starlights or retainers to the clan, and if that was the case, then they would be on opposing factions from the onis, and if they knew Benimaru was with them, then it may pose a problem to their journey to find the Starlight power.

Brone spotted a group of monks meditating in a circle while there was a bowl of bananas sitting in the center of the circle. His impulse control failed him as he walked over to grab the bowl of bananas. Little did he know, the monks that were there were training restraint, fasting, having not eaten in a month. They knew Brone was there and had taken the bananas which were part of their training, but they dare not risk breaking their meditation.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Gnicholas tried his best not to yell out as he was nearly panicking, seeing the dwarf was eating one of the bananas.

"I'm hungry and there was free food there" the dwarf shrugged it off, not realizing he was being rude. He then picked a fresh banana and waved it above his head, trying to get one of the meditating monkeys' attention. For a moment, one of the monkeys, the closest one to him, had caught a whiff of the banana, becoming aware of the damn dwarf, but he did his best, though not without struggle, to keep his restraint.

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Yuurei and Renji would have their wounds treated without any second to waste. While the monks were doing this, other monks would come and they would ask for their equipment to repair anything that needed it. The Seraphim would look at them and he would bring out all of his items. They would look at all the things that he had brought with him, and they expected this from a Starlight. This was interesting, and they would look over his equipment to see which ones needed to be tended.

While he was allowing them to take care of him, he would look at everyone that was with him. It would seem like Kaito was on edge with this place, and he figured that his friend’s paranoia would kick in. He would look over to Brone and he would chuckle a bit as he shook his head. The man was too carefree and didn’t think about the consequences of his actions. These two guys he surrounded himself were both different in their own way.

“So, you guys know why I’m here, Could you like point me in the right direction?” He asked the monk who was treating him.

The monk would look at Yuurei and he would smile at him as he was almost done taking care of him. The other monks were repairing the small number of weapons he needed to be taken care of. The monk would step away from him and he would look at him.

“You need not worry of the power you seek. You will talk to our leader soon enough. You will learn more of everything that is going on here from him, and then you will be asked if you want to continue on with your quest for power.” He said to Yuurei.

The Starlight wasn’t sure what would stop him from going forward with this. Renji, on the other hand, was feeling much better. These monks knew what they were doing and he didn’t need Yuurei’s items anymore. It would take some work, but the monk would finish taking care of Renji.

The Exceed would get up from the spot he was sitting in and he would walk over to Revy and Kaito. He would have a smile on his face as he was glad to be back to normal.

“I’m good as new. I hope something like that doesn’t happen again.” He said as he approached Revy.

When he did, two huge doors would open up from the other sides. The monks that were actively moving around would come to a stop to look in that direction. They would bow slightly to the monk who walked in. The man looked at the newcomers and it would seem like there was indeed a Starlight amongst them. He wasn’t sure if this day would ever come, but he wasn’t sure if this man and his friends would be able to free them from this monastery or become a victim of the Oni hidden within this monastery.


502|1516

Kaito walked as he looked around he wondered if there was going to be anything special that he was going to see or that he was going to be having to do but he can see a few monks look at him strangely and he keeps walking wondering why they were looking at him and he wonders if maybe he had done something wrong or if he was simply jut strange looking to them or maybe it was because he was a demigod currently. But he can feel some gazes on him rather it was still those monks or something that was not yet to be seen. Kaito was not sure rather they were guests or threats being watched to be tested and then later dealt with. Kaito sticks close to Revy as he wants to make sure to keep her safe as he for some reason didn’t like he was welcome here and he wasn’t going to back down from here as he is a dragon slayer not a coward.

Revy can see Kaito is acting weird and she wonders if he was okay. "Come on calm down Kaito, the others don’t seem so on edge why don’t you just let your guard down a little?" She looked around and wondered what was even going to happen if he relaxed a little but that was something she herself was a bit worried about, but she knows that Kaito will probably not relax but she keeps looking around at the monks and then she sees Renji coming toward her and she walked up to him. "So what do you make of this place? Kaito is of course staying on his guard, I wonder if he will ever be able to just relax." She worried that Kaito will end up shorting his life worrying so much. Kaito keeps walking till he starts touching a wall feeling the markings on the wall.

Kaito wondered what they meant and what they might be showing but he knows that he can’t read it but that doesn’t stop him from trying feeling like he can almost understand them like he should know this but what would he know about that at all. Kaito was trying to understand it but in the end he can’t understand it as it was all just jumbles to him but he knows they were something there maybe important but as it was he was not able to know so he needed to stop trying to figure it out. He put his back against the wall so no one could sneak up on him, so he could relax a little before the next bout of trouble started up for them. He snacks a little to help with the nerves and gain back a bit of stamina so he can be ready to go if he needs to throw down some time soon vs some kind of trouble that was here for them.

Brone munched on the banana as he walked up beside Yuurei as the guild leader was speaking with a monk. Luckily the monk was aware of the power they sought, which made things much easier, the problem was that they still needed to speak to their leader regarding this, which meant this is indeed a pit stop; the dwarf shrugged, seeing this as a resting point either way. He then walked away to look out a nearby window to see what the view was like from their monastery.

It was indeed beautiful, right outside was a zen garden that two monks were tending to, then further on were fruit and vegetable gardens that sustained them, then onward were the slopes descending away from the mountain top and onward from that are the neighboring mountains, some being covered by mists or topped by clouds. As peaceful as it all seems, Brone knew well that there were great dangers in traversing the mountainous region let alone choose to live on it's peak.

"Very peaceful indeed" Gnicholas said as he climbed onto the window sill to look at the view.

"Don't forget about the oni spirits that are entrapped on this peaceful mountain" Brone said Matter-of-factly as he finished his banana and toss the peel out of the window. Gnicholas gave the dwarf an annoyed look and the dwarf shrugged, "It's biodegradable" he said as he walked away from the window. The gnome was surprised he was able to use such a big word properly, let alone know what it meant.

With the gnome riding the dwarf's shoulder again, they made their way back to Yuurei's side just as the double doors opened to reveal another monk to which the other monks gave focus to. This is probably the monk leader they were waiting to see.

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The monk would head to Yuurei and he would look at Kaito and Brone as well. He would take a simple glimpse of them all and he would look at Yuurei once again. He was surprised that they made it all the way up here, yet at the same time he could see how powerful they were. He figured the three of them combined could achieve anything, but would they be able to beat the Starlight that had been infused with one of the strongest Oni in Joya?

“So, you think you three can take on the Oni that we have sealed away? That is interesting, I guess before I send you away or agree to let you do this, it would be better if you know the history of the monastery, what we and the monastery were here for, and what we’ve been doing this entire time. I want you all to understand what you are getting yourself into.” He said to all of them.

He wouldn’t mention the trial because he wasn’t sure if they would continue forth with looking for this power. The monk would look around and he would find a place to sit. He would walk over there and he would take a seat on the floor as he looked at the group once again.

“Come everybody sit down and relax. You have been through a long journey getting here, and it’s only right you sit and catch your breath.” He said to the group.

Yuurei would hear his words and it would seem like these monks were trying to push them to not go through with this. He wasn’t sure why, but he figured that he was going to find out. This was going to be interesting, but he doubted anything they said would change his mind. The Seraphim would approach the head monk and he would take a seat nearby as he was facing in his direction. He would wait for the others to do the same thing.

Renji was with Revy and Kaito and he would look at Revy as she had asked him a question. He would rub his chin a bit before speaking to her about what was in his thoughts.

“I want to say that these guys are cursed or gifted with the power of immortality. I don’t think any of them have left this monastery for a very long time. Still, I don’t think they have any malice to them, or I would have been feeling off right now since they tended to what was left of my wounds.” He said to Revy.

He would hear the monks' words and he would look at Yuurei. It was then he would see his partner sit down and he would suit. He would take a seat next to Yuurei but away from the monk. It would seem like they were about to have a story be told to them before they could do anything else.

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[exit]

Kaito heard what they were saying and something about this monk seemed off and the fact that said they were who had sealed the oni seemed very odd to him as this place rather they were real or not seemed more out of the normal than one would think it would be and that was saying a lot and Kaito was not sure if he was really okay with that as he was now even more on edge even though no danger sense was going off but he knows that something was going on here rather he could clearly see it or not he was going to make sure that he stayed close and if anything tricky happened use his magic to save them which might have been a bigger task than one might think it to be but Kaito was fully ready to get them out of this place. He made his way to the table and he took his place at the table and he readied himself for what might come.

Revy followed behind Kaito as what Renji had said something seemed off as Renji wasn't usually that well spoken so she was wondering if maybe they had him brain washed or that the him here wasn't the real him but for now she would keep it to herself as that might just be the stress talking and not really something that she will have to worry about but that was yet to be seen as there was things that needed to be cleared up and taken care of first and this monk seemed to be going to give them a run down of what they were about to witness but she had a strange gut feeling that this talk wasn't going to be as it seemed to be.
(301) (1,852) (Exit) 50% WC (20%ring,10%guild,20%companion.)

As Brone joined Yuurei and Kaito in meeting the lead monk, the dwarf's assumption was off about how he expected the monk leader's first impression would be. His demeanor seemed different, but he was well aware of them and now with Yuurei's explanation of the quest, it was out in the open. Though the monk wasn't determined to bar them from the Power they sought, he did indirectly warned them.

As the monk took a seat, Brone shrugged and followed suit. Gnicholas gave the dwarf a stern look and whispered "Don't fall asleep, you have a bad habit of dozing off when people are trying to explain things to you".

"That's only you, because you're boring" Brone sucked his teeth. Though he wasn't fond of long explanations, he usually enjoyed stories, so he was sure the monk's tale would catch his attention well. After all, they needed to know as much as possible about the power they sought, for it remained in a shadow of absent knowledge; what did it look like, where is it located, what is it's origins, and what dangers lays ahead that protects it.

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[Exit] (25% WC reduction; Benimaru Companion)