Dragon Lagoon Beach

[Apollymi]

Miki emerged soon after Kou and hearing his commentary about the sleeping demi-human she couldn't help but chuckle. "Hai hai, it's okay though. I'm sure she'll join us later and we'll have loads of fun!~" Miki mentioned with a large grin on her face. She then looked out, expecting their small chick to emerge pretty soon as well, but there was no immediate surfacing of the chick. Initially Miki tried not to worry but as the moments ticked on she was eventually just looking out over the surface of the water with visible concern on her face.

In the meantime, their little chipper Filolial, surfaced, but not at the same spot that Kou and Miki did. No instead, she surfaced in a place which was dark and dripped with water. She looked left and right, trying to find her parental figures, only to note that she did not see them anywhere. The black chick looked about and seemed to gain something of a huff with ruffled feathers. Even so, she swam closer and closer to what looked like solid ground as she tried to figure out where Kou and Miki had gotten off too.

[Bloodedge]

Kou was quite confused by how long it was taking for the Filolial to appear. He wasn't all too worried at first, but the seconds became minutes, and concern was building quickly. Little did he know, he would eventually end up searching for the chick. Over time, he looked around with his senses stretched to their limits in search of the Filolial, but to no avail. She hadn't been killed by anything, as he could still see her name with other members of the party, but there was no finding a trace of her at all. An entire day would pass, and on the next morning, Kou paced along the shore, still without a clue where the Filolial could have gone. "It doesn't make any sense. I should've been able to at least tell what direction she's in, even if she went super far away."

[Apollymi]

In the time following the disappearance of Fiona, Miki had been using her abilities to try and look for their newest party member as well. She also wasn't initially too worried because of how the party system worked in this world, and because she had a rather acute sense of death because of her Druid heritage. Given all of these things she was quite sure the Filolial hadn't died, that being said it was quite strange that it hadn't been found by either of their senses to give them any kind of idea of where she'd gotten off to. Kou's statements gave Miki a bit of a pause as well, as she too was pacing along the shore, "Hm, unless we are getting magical interference from something here. There were a couple of dungeons I explored in my game that didn't allow me to use sensory techniques and counted as their own separate spaces. Maybe it's something like that... and we just have to find the same entrance she got into to find her..." Miki offered, she hadn't slept well at all when they couldn't find their Filolial. She'd been thinking about this quite a lot and it didn't make sense that the Filolial hadn't surfaced during the same time they had, it would only make sense if she'd ended up going deeper underwater and thus getting thrown out elsewhere. She didn't have any real explanation for why they couldn't sense her, aside from game mechanics translating into this world, but she was more than content to try and find her. "Our best bet might be to follow the same path we took yesterday and try to end up in the same place she did, though that is risky in its own right. If we take our weapons down it should be mostly fine..." she offered the only plan she'd managed to think of over the last day or so.

In the meantime, Fiona was exploring, this cave underneath the outcropping was full of interesting things. She'd been navigating many of the small spaces. Learned to avoid the traps which were tripped by her landing on certain stones. And she'd even figured out how to jump and land over large openings. All of this was leading her to a level of growth which was quite extreme. Her beady black eyes gazed at her next target, a small worm sticking out from a corner in a dark room.

[Bloodedge]

"I guess that's always a possibility," Kou agreed regarding the possibility of magical interference. Such a thing was always possible in dense Mana zones, such as Raid areas and Artifact Dungeons. Of course, that would mean there was something else of such magnitude in the vicinity, as the Dragon Pond didn't exhibit such an effect previously. "Ugh! This is not how I expected anything to go. I don't know if we can even get away with trying to go the same route if we can just end up any other random place. Even with weapons, there's no helping us actually find her."

[Apollymi]

Miki understood Kou's frustrations. She also hadn't expected something as simple as training a Filolial to turn into them trying to dungeon delve to find the creature because of something as simple as her getting tossed into another space. Still, persistence in these kinds of situations was often rewarded as such they could and should carry on. "Hm, I mean there isn't any direct help in us finding her, but..." Miki gave a slight bit of pause and thought about all the interactions they'd had with Fiona and her egg over the last day or so and she came to a simple conclusion. "Given everything around here is called 'Dragon' something, it is likely something dragon related. Given her obvious hatred of all things dragon, we are likely to find her where the dungeon clears because she'd be looking for the threat as well..." she said. Miki had quite a bit of faith in the cleverness of their shared Filolial. As such she wouldn't be making the case for it doing anything but the same sort of thing they'd be doing. "And if you don't want to go the way of the riptides, then I'd say investigating the falls themselves would be the next best option. We can't see through them, there might be some sort of entrance there. This world translates to real life a bit too well, the entrances have to be finite spaces even if they are magical in nature," she offered. At the very least even if clearing whatever dungeon they found didn't find them the Filolial they were searching for, it would clear the number of places they had to look for her. "And if there are multiple different dungeons here, that clears one and we can go on to searching the next... I don't want to give up on her or anything... she's worth the risk." Miki said very firmly. She wasn't sure about a lot of things, but she was very certain she was already really attached to their Filolial. And while most people would call it a wash and try to hatch another, there had already been a great investment in this one, and she could see it paying off in every way, there was no need to give up on the creature when she was obviously still alive.

[Bloodedge]

Kou's pacing never ceased as they discussed their approach to finding Fiona. "Hmm. I guess there could always be another source of Dragon Mana nearby," he gathered. If there was a dungeon somewhere in the vicinity, and it bore the energy of Dragons, it was very likely that Fiona would be wandering around within. Miki presented the idea of searching by the waterfalls for said dungeon, but also brought up the possibility of there being multiple dungeons in the general area. "If there's more than one Dungeon near, that'd be bad. Multiple Dungeons being active too close to each other is how Rifts spawn, and that would be a problem even for us," he stated with certainty. They still hadn't delved into the ability they shared of changing Avatars and taking on their Dragonoid forms, and Rifts were something only elitist fools and masochists of some sort would enter before level 50. Even most Dungeons required the levels they were currently at, as a minimum. "I feel like we'd be able to tell if there was a Rift. To be safe though, we should find whatever Dungeon is around right now."

There was hardly more to be said. In due time, the two Adventurers shared a raft with Kou at the oar. The raft moved along the edge of the waterfall, whilst Kou kept his senses open to any oddities he could find along the way. "C'mon, c'mon... it's gotta be somewhere..."

[Apollymi]

Miki was given more information she didn't have about the nature of rifts in this world. Though she hadn't gotten around to surfing one herself, she figured they were problematic and as such was waiting to reach the proper level to feel comfortable taking them on. The news that Rifts could be open because of multiple dungeons in an area made her eyes widen, but then soon after they returned to their normal state. "That sounds like a really good reason to close whatever ones we come across. At the very least, it will buy us some time..." she said knowing they weren't yet leveled enough to make a Rift something they'd want to take on, even if they could potentially do it.

Their current plan of action all but decided, Miki would soon find herself atop a raft with Kou at the oar. She would be standing near one edge with her weapon in its weapon form extended. Much like he was presently looking for some disturbance. She was doing something similar, though in an odd way. To be technical about it, she was using her weapon as a dousing mechanism, searching for even the smallest instance of change. The weapon itself would turn or twist when it finally found the difference in magic it was looking for, and it was a strange but simple way for her to make use of their current situation. It worked on the idea that the water they were standing in was itself a source of natural mana. Given this her weapon was one of a different sort, meaning it could search out the one different from what they were currently looking for. She was in this moment exceedingly quiet as she allowed her weapon to hover oven her open palm, but as they came to one particularly seedy part of the falls there was the slightest shift in the the weapon. One which was too forced to be natural. "There!~" she mentioned with excitement in her voice. She grabbed one end of her weapon and pointed at it. It looked like a normal part of the falls but she was almost certain there was something there.

[Bloodedge]

Kou wasn't having any luck finding odd Mana sources in an area so rich. Luckily, Miki had a method of searching for something not different in construct, but different in nature. The blonde used her weapon as a dousing tool, and after what felt like ages tracing the line of the waterfall, she located the oddity and pointed it out. "Hai!" Kou said as he steered the raft in the appropriate direction. He let go of the oar and left the raft to float where he'd pushed it, at least as far as it would go before the currents reclaimed it. Aiming himself at the waterfall, he held out his left hand. "Gofuuken!" he called out, extending his Mana to produce a ranged spell consisting of three swords of energy. He aimed these swords closer to the top of the waterfall, and once they'd entered the water, he used his Transcendence Support Skill to alter the swords' element. The Mana swords became ice instead of pure energy, only to burst afterwards and freeze the water crashing down on them. This effort created a balcony effect as this segment of the waterfall continued to freeze as it cascaded over more ice, until it eventually fell to either side instead without reaching the end. Then, it became visible. There was a dank cave behind the waterfall, and it had been made easily accessible. Kou hopped onto the land marking the cave's entrance, and produced another blade made of light to hover near him and make the path ahead visible.

[Apollymi]

After pointing out the spot which was most likely to house what they were looking for, Miki got to watch as Kou decided how to act on the problem of the still moving waterfall. What she witnessed after was a stunning use of his combined set of skills to make the waterfall freeze over top of them, while creating a place for them to walk and enter the now revealed cave. "Sugoi," she managed at the ingenuity of the skills use. One of the more interesting things she'd noticed was her ability to use her skills not just in the way that the game had laid out but for any other random task her imagination could make them fit into. Witnessing Kou do something to the same effect was amazing and comforting in a strange way, as it overall made her feel less awkward for doing things in a way that wasn't considered conventional. Kou soon hopped onto the landing which made the cave visible, and Miki followed along behind him, taking note of the light sword created to let them see the way ahead of them. She didn't really know what to say at this point so she was content to head further in.

The cave was dripping with water and mana, all sorts of strange noises could be heard from within but it didn't seem to be outright dangerous. This was of course, good news considering they were in looking for Fiona, their Filolial chick. Speaking of Fiona, what was she doing in this cave right now? Well, her black feathered body was deeper within and she sat in a corner, happily feasting upon a worm she'd captured on her own. Immediately after, she looked up left and right before heading towards another opening within the cave. This one had a glowing pond within it, and it teemed with magical energy. She stared at it for several seconds. As if afraid of it for some reason or another, then after thinking it through for a moment or two ran over to the cave wall, picking up a rock in her beak. She'd toss it into the water, and find that the rock itself dissolved in the water. Her beady eyes widened and she flapped her wings furiously as if upset. As such she looked around more, trying to find a way to cross the acid pool which wouldn't end directly in her own death.

[Bloodedge]

Miki joined Kou at the entrance to the cave. With her along, he began moving forward, bringing the illuminating sword to keep the path visible. From within the cave, Kou could tell this was clearly connected to the Dungeon they sought. The Mana shared a thickness of Mana with the hot springs they were in two nights before. Still, his senses were a bit more keen from inside the area. "Alright. Definitely a Dungeon, definitely the only reasonable place to find a little black chicken. Definitely also as dank as the boy's room at school before lunch."

[Apollymi]

Miki followed behind Kou, she was quite sure of the placement of their pet within this dungeon. The confirmation that the chicken was probably in this place. Still there was commentary from Kou which caused Miki to raise her left brow. "I don't know anything about boy's rooms, but I am now infinitely glad I am a girl. I don't think this would work for me as somewhere I had to go at random..." she said in response as the only lightly sarcastic thing she had floating in her head. There were a couple of problems to be taken in a place like this, as such she began thinking about it. "It's a dungeon, right? I guess we should be on guard, for traps, puzzles and the like..." she said to herself. Still this was a strange place and she didn't know what kind of traps to expect from this place. Within a few moments they would be upon the first of such situations. There was a large cylinder on the side of this room, and several raised stones in the walkway between the start of the room and the end of the room. Across the room were several small hints, a glyph that looked like a serpent, a raised stone, and a death skull. Miki looked at this room and took from it a very simple truth, though she was more than a bit curious about the kind of death such a room could cause, she had no intention of finding out herself. "This seems really straight forward..."

[Bloodedge]

"I'd be glad too. I hear the girls' room comes with a sofa," he said, recalling an old myth from school. Onward he went still, while Miki brought up the existence of traps and such within Dungeons like this one. Kou nodded as he sent the light sword out ahead by a meter or so, if only to better light the path before they went too far into any potential traps. "Yeah, for sure. Just like..." His sentence didn't need to reach conclusion. They were upon the first obstacle already. Miki commented on it being relatively straightforward, prompting Kou to have a look around the room from where he stood. "Sou ka," he said. True enough, it all seemed very simple at face value. "Let's go then."

[Apollymi]

Miki thought about this sofa rumor and wondered how such a thing spread to the boys in the first place. She couldn't deny such a thing of course, as it was probably the truest rumor that had ever been spread. "I mean it does, but I guess the rooms are set up with the convenience of the users in mind," she said thinking the reasoning behind such a thing was likely obvious. Moving right along their first puzzle did indeed seem easy enough. As such and with the extra light provided by Kou, she made her way through the room without much of a problem. Several other such puzzle rooms would follow until of course the inevitable happened and they came across a room filled with strange four legged lizards. These creatures crawled across the floors, walls and ceilings and were the size of average dogs with bodies low to the ground. "Do we fight them or try and find a way around them?" she asked of her companion. Obviously there was some sort of way to get around this particular room, as she was quite certain their Filolial wouldn't have been able to fight off such a room filled with potential problems.

Meanwhile, their Filolial had found a way to cross the acid pool and was standing on the other end of it, looking rather proud of herself. Even so, there was something she was looking for and it stood beyond. On a pillar in this final room, just past where the two adventurers currently were, there was a podium and atop it, a large purple gem which emitted an energy most disturbing to the little chick. Having found it, her little face puffed up and her beak opened and she let out a small chirping sound which would echo through the entirety of this half of the cave. The lizards all turned and moved, tripping over the large number of bodies which populated the area, as the tried to find the source of the shrill chirping noise.

[Bloodedge]

For years, Kou had been alongside numerous males in wondering if the rumors were true. Here in another world, at long last, he discovered the truth from the mouth of a girl. There was a sofa. If only he could share this discovery with the others, he'd be heralded as a champion of mankind. Alas, it was not to be here in the other world. "Huh. Cool," was all he said aloud. Moving on, the pair traversed the trapped room without encountering any issues, and they continued through numerous other traps and puzzles until encountering a creature-based threat. "They had to be somewhere, huh?" he commented with an unnecessary upward inflection. Since the threat was lizards, Kou figured it would be much more annoying to sneak past them than to eliminate them. Before he could even voice his opinion though, he heard the familiar chirp of a Filolial chick. Sadly, the lizards were also alerted, and began moving toward the chirp right away. "Shit!" Kou exclaimed in a hushed tone, immediately giving chase to the horde of lizards, sword at the ready.

[Apollymi]

Apparently Kou took knowing about the sofa in the girl's bathroom as a piece of information well. Miki still couldn't say she understood why such a thing was a matter of a rumor, and wondered if the guys simply didn't know the reasoning behind the girl's room needing such an object. Regardless, they were content to move right along, but before a proper plan on dealing with the lizards could be made, a shrill chirp caught the attention of every creature present. "Oh crap!" this was the only sentiment that Miki could express presently. As the room full of creatures took off towards the sound, they followed behind ready and willing to take out the creatures as they approached their pet.

The lead into the next room was a rather easy one, and the lizards themselves seemed to lack a bit of intelligence. Initially they tried to reach the other side of the acid pond simply by swimming across it, when a few dozen of them became shrieking piles of flesh in the pool Miki's eyes widened. "Ano, this seems like it won't require us to do much..." she mentioned as she watched several start crawling up the walls to cross the acidic pond with more relative ease on their search for the Filolial. Still the small chicks screeching didn't stop as she was infuriated by the gem atop the podium but couldn't reach it to get rid of it. Still there was much determination in her little face. "Sugoi! She's alright," Miki said aloud taking the time to begin targeting all the creatures crawling across the ceiling. She threw her spear sweeping a wide area and causing them to fall directly into the acid to keep them from reaching the other side. Admittedly a bit less worried knowing that their pet was nearby.