The day began the same as any other. Kazu woke Anna with his 'Welcome to tomorrow' greeting, but before they could get out of bed, every hunter in the house came into his room.
"Good morning, everyone. What's going on?" Kazu asked, his voice calm yet curious.
"We want to explore the dungeon north of here," replied Felina, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
Kazu glanced at Anna, seeking her opinion. "Want to join us in raiding a dungeon today?"
Anna's smile was infectious as she nodded. "Sure, why not? It'll be fun." She turned to the other hunters. "Why that particular dungeon, though?"
Orolfie, standing near the door, spoke up. "It's the biggest one around, and it's just a short distance away, about two kilometers."
Kazu's enthusiasm was palpable. "Excellent! Everyone, gather your gear and meet us downstairs in ten minutes. We'll need to be well-prepared for whatever awaits us."
The room buzzed with energy as everyone rushed out, eager to get ready. Kazu and Anna quickly followed suit, knowing the importance of proper preparation for any dungeon exploration.
Eight minutes later, the foyer was a hive of activity as Kazu inspected everyone's gear. Lina, the resident chef, provided a hearty meal, which Kazu added to his bag, ensuring their sustenance for the journey.
Satisfied with their preparations, the group headed for the dungeon, their footsteps echoing in the quiet morning air. The dungeon's location was an open field, with a cluster of boulders at its center, creating a mysterious atmosphere.
Kazu's group navigated around the boulders, their eyes scanning for any hidden dangers. Suddenly, an entrance carved into the stone wall caught their attention. A stone door, adorned with ancient symbols and Japanese words, stood as a silent sentinel.
"Kiken: Naka ni monsutā ga iru," Kazu translated for the group. "It says 'Danger: Monsters inside.'"
Orolfie's voice broke the brief silence. "I hope so... nothing worse than a boring dungeon."
Kazu's expression turned somber. "There are worse things than a boring dungeon, my friend. Imagine one that takes your life as soon as you step inside. Are you ready to face whatever lies beyond this door?"
A sense of anticipation filled the air as everyone took a few cautious steps back, allowing Kazu to take the lead. He inhaled deeply, the scent of lavender, lemongrass, and other unidentified herbs filling his nostrils. He instructed his companions to don the filtering masks Anna had crafted, a precaution against any unknown dangers.
With a deep breath, Kazu opened the stone door, a chill running through his body. He ignored the sensation, leading the way into the dungeon's dark embrace.
From the outside, the dungeon appeared to be a mere three meters deep, but as they descended, the darkness thickened, enveloping everyone except Kazu. Anna, ever resourceful, produced a flame, illuminating a torch. The feeble light revealed the passage ahead, extending for about three meters.
Kazu, prepared for any eventuality, reached into his bag and withdrew a large flashlight. With a flick of a switch, the area was bathed in light, revealing the passage's full extent—eighteen meters of unknown mysteries.
The group stood in awe, their eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness. Kazu, ever observant, noticed the ceiling's low height and asked Orolfie to test its thickness. She obliged, her sword disappearing into the dirt above, unseen by the group.
"Do you see my sword?" Orolfie asked, her voice laced with concern.
The group searched in vain, but the sword was nowhere to be found. Kazu, his mind working in overdrive, sent Orolfie to retrieve her sword, knowing that their surroundings held secrets beyond their understanding.
Upon Orolfie's return, Kazu shared his suspicions. "I believe we're not where we think we are. When we entered, I felt an energy surge through me, like a full-body chill. And the fact that we couldn't find your sword blade suggests we're not actually under that field."
Anna, her curiosity piqued, asked, "What would happen if we dug through the ceiling?"
Kazu pondered for a moment, his eyes unblinking. "I'm not sure, but we can find out later. Today, we explore the dungeon, and leave the mysteries for another time. Are you ready to face the monsters within?"
The group's collective response was a resounding "Yeah!" Their enthusiasm was met with a deep growl from the depths of the dungeon, signaling the presence of the creatures they sought.
Orolfie, her eyes sparkling with excitement, declared, "Let's go play with it!"
And with that, the group ventured further into the dungeon, their hearts pounding with anticipation, their minds ready for whatever challenges lay ahead.
Doing some quick calculations in his head, Kazu determines that there is only about a meter of dirt and rock above the ceiling. He asks Orolfie to go out and try to stab into the dirt to see if it penetrates the ceiling. Orolfie heads back outside and comes back a minute later, minus a sword.
"Do you see my sword?" She asks.
Everyone looks around the ceiling for her sword blade, but no one sees it.
After a minute, he sends her to get her sword back. When she returns, he tells them, "I believe we are not where we think we are. When we entered, I felt an energy move through me which felt like a full-body chill." The rest of the party stated that they felt the same thing. "Due to that and the fact that we could not find Orolfie's sword blade, it leads me to the belief that we are not actually under that field."
Anna asks, "What would happen if we started to dig through the ceiling?"
Kazu ponders for a moment. "No clue, but we can find out later. Today, we are here to explore the dungeon. We'll leave the hows for later. Now, are you ready to find some monsters?"
The gathered party yells, "Yeah," causing a loud growl to answer from further down the passage.
Orolfie smiles and says, "That sounds fun. Let's go play with it."
Making their way down the passage toward the growl, they see two eyes shining in the dark as Kazu's light hits them. Moving forward toward the eyes, Kazu tries to converse with the owner of those eyes. Its only response is to lunge at him. Kazu easily dodges and pushes it away.
Orolfie places herself between the group and the attacker. She recognized it as a Kobold, though it was much larger than Kazu expected it to be. Only he and the Orc sisters are taller than it is.
Kazu raises the light above his head, limiting the shadow's interference in the view of her fight. As Orolfie battles the Kobold, the rest of the party keeps an eye on the rest of the area for hidden attackers.
Mere seconds into the fight, the kobold yelped in pain. Kazu turns to the fight and sees the Kobold in Orolfie's grasp. She is holding its left arm in a way it was never meant to bend, highlighting that she broke its arm just above the elbow. It swings at her with its right, narrowly missing her with its claws. She punches it in the jaw. Using the momentum of the hit, the Kobold turns the momentum into a roundhouse kick that lands squarely against Orolfie's side.
Orolfie looked at the Kobold with a smile and said, "Okay, no more playing around… Goodbye, Kobold."
She dives forward, grabbing its ankle. As she stands up, she pulls it into a hyperextended split, then pulls it off the ground, swinging it through the air. She jumps forward, swings it like a bat, and slams it into the wall. The sound of broken bones echoes through the area as the Kobold falls to the floor. Orolfie turns and starts to triumphantly walk to Kazu. Once her back is turned, the Kobold, using all the strength it has left, lunges at her, claws aimed at her throat.
A small male Felisneko appears from the ceiling, landing on the Kobold, his knife piercing into it at the base of its skull. The lifeless Kobold lands short of touching Orolfie. As Felix finishes putting away his knife, Orolfie picks him up and kisses him on the lips.
"Thanks for having my back," Orolfie said while hugging him.
Felix responded, "Always… If I can help, I will… especially with rewards like that…"
Orolfie walks to Kazu, still hugging Felix. Kazu begins his assessment. "First of all… Always go for the shortest battle you can… do not play with your opponent. I know your strength and how fast you are… without using strengthening magic, you should have been able to take out that Kobold in seconds. You will get plenty of fighting practice here. No need to unnecessarily extend fights… all you will end up doing is tiring yourself out faster." Kazu checks her for injuries, finding none, and he pats her head and then kisses her forehead.
"Now for Felix… excellent job of concealing yourself and having her back, though you did almost get hit when she was swinging it around. If the ceiling were four centimeters lower, you would have been hit by its foot, so keep a little further from the battle… just a dozen centimeters would have worked in this instance. Felina was hidden for backup, too, but she chose to station herself between a boulder and the wall. She was in a safe location, and she reacted at the same time as you did." Kazu points out the knife wound to the Kobold's ribs. "She pierced its heart when you sliced its spine. Both were killing blows."
Kazu continues, "As for the rest of you… Excellent job… You kept a lookout for more enemies and an eye on the fight in case she needed you. Now, it's time to move on. Sisters lead the way… twins, rear guard… let's move out."
The group moves further into the dungeon. After heading to a lower floor, they entered a room with a dozen Kobolds. They immediately charge Kazu's group. Kazu switches the flashlight from Lantern to beam and briefly blinds the Kobolds with 200,000 lumens directly into their eyes. In their blind confusion, the group attacks. Kazu switches the flashlight back to lantern mode as he takes out the Kobold that got near him. As he moves to search for another target, he stops. Felix and Felina were in the process of taking out their second Kobold. Anna just finished taking one out with her water beam, and the orc sisters have already taken out four.
With four Kobolds left, everyone regroups with Kazu. He hands the flashlight over to Orelfa, letting everyone know he has the rest.
The group quietly makes bets on how long it will take. Orolfie says 10 seconds, Orelfa says 15 seconds, the twins both say 22 seconds, and Anna says 1 minute, surprising everyone.
Kazu steps within 5 meters of the remaining Kobolds, then starts barking and growling at them. One of them lunges at him and gets sent back the way it came with a few broken ribs. Kazu continues barking and growling at them. After another thirty seconds of "talking," the Kobolds attacked as a group. The first one gets slammed face-first into the ground with a squishy thud. Moving directly to the next one, he connects with an uppercut that snaps its head back far enough to shear its spinal column. Before the second one hits the floor, he grabs the third one by the head and punches it in the chest. The body slams into the fourth Kobold three meters away, and then Kazu drops the head. The fourth Kobold is now cowering on the floor. Kazu calls Felina over.
When she gets next to him, he says, "I want you to try to tame this Kobold. It is not as strong as your Steelclaw Lion, but it's also not a summon. If you can tame it, it can act as a guard around the property."
Felina nods, then begins her taming ritual, and a red symbol appears on its head. As she continues increasing the magic, the symbol shifts to a light blue.
Felina smiles at Kazu, "It is done. We now have a Kobold in our party. Umm… Kazu… You can do summoning and beast-taming, too. Why did you want me to do it?"
Kazu replies, "Two reasons: practice, and I want you to control it. You have taken over patrol duties around the property, so all guards will need to be under your control… in case you need them."
Kazu turns to the rest of the group and sees them each handing Anna something. Kazu asks, "What are you all doing?"
Orolfie said without thinking, "She won the bet, so we are giving her her winnings."
Kazu smirks. "Oh? What was the bet?"
Anna explains the bet to him, which he finds humorous. Then she explained that she figured he'd try to talk to them, so she estimated 50 seconds of talking and 10 seconds of fighting.
Kazu asks, "So what did you win?"
Anna ignores the question. "Everyone ready to continue… Excellent… Let's move on." Kazu lets her believe she got away with not telling him her prize.
Moving through the dungeon, they come across more monsters, all of whom are the same strength as the Kobolds.
In the middle of the Eighth level, they come across a monster they have not seen before. From his memory of fantasy movies, Kazu determines it to be a Drake. Anna decides she wants to take the lead in this battle. The Drake makes the first move. It charges straight at Anna. Anna fired her water beam at it, barely scratching its rocky skin. Using earth magic, she adds abrasives to her water beam, but the difference is minor. In frustration, she lashes out with her flamethrower spell, and the drake backs away from the flame.
Anna smacks Orelfa on the butt and says, "Tag, you're it."
Orelfa smiles at her and begins her attack. Her sword bounces off its skin, and sparks fly as she continues slashing at it. She uses strengthening magic on herself, then puts away her sword and begins pummeling the StoneDrake with punches, kicks, elbows, and even knees. After a few minutes of her unrelenting attack, both of them are slowing down. Orelfa calls on her sister to tag into the fight.
Orolfie came flying in, punching the StoneDrake in the head hard enough to make it stagger back. Orolfie screams out in pain. Her punch broke two bones in her hand and, in the process, she broke off a large chunk of stone from its head. A black fluid begins running out from its wound.
Kazu runs to her side as the StoneDrake shakes off the blow it just received. Felix and Felina attack the StoneDrake, keeping its attention on them so Kazu can help Orolfie. Much to Orolfie's annoyance, Anna, Kazu, and Orelfa move Orolfie away from the StoneDrake to a safer location. Kazu and Anna start examining Orolfie's injured hand.
Using light magic like an X-ray, he looks at the broken bones and checks for muscle or ligament damage and any other damage that may have occurred. After examining her hand, He determines her injuries and gets an idea of how to fix them. He moved magic energies to his hand, gingerly laying his hand on hers. He pictures the damage and how it would look for them to repair themselves, bones moving back into alignment, cut muscles mending. Both of their hands begin to glow in a soothing light blue color with tendrils of green and purple extending out and caressing her hand as he heals her. Orolfie looks to be in a massive amount of pain, but does not scream out. As he pictures the bones moving back into place, he can feel her excruciating pain. Kazu unwittingly but happily pulls all her pain into himself as he continues mending her hand. After a minute, the pain he was absorbing was gone. Removing his hand from hers, he noticed the swelling was also gone. Smiling at her, he asks her to move her hand, and as she does, she smiles back as she realizes that the hand is no longer broken. She hugs and kisses him, then she turns to return to her interrupted fight.
Kazu stops her, "Sorry, my recently injured lovely, it's my turn to play with it." He kisses her on the forehead, then turns to the StoneDrake.
As Kazu starts strategically attacking the StoneDrake, looking for weak spots, the twins retreat to a safe distance. After 5 minutes of prodding, poking, punching, and kicking the StoneDrake, Kazu realizes there are no real weaknesses in the body of the Drake. Nothing that a lower-level hunter could exploit. He pulls his sword out of his bag and begins slicing at its joints in earnest. Each strike is accompanied by sparks flying. Kazu decides to attack a single joint. The front right knee is his first choice. After four boulder-shattering hits to its knee, the black fluid begins to flow. In obvious pain, the StoneDrake backs away from Kazu. Another hard blow from his sword to the injured knee, and the lower half of the leg separates from the rest.
The StoneDrake lashes out in pain at Kazu. The drake lunges forward, attempting to bite Kazu. He managed to stop the bite by placing his sword in the way. The sword is now lying flat against its tongue, the hilt sticking out of one side, the blade tip sticking out of the other side. Using the placement to his advantage, Kazu twists the sword, causing the Drake to roll over onto its back. Kazu, tired of the battle, pulls the sword out of its mouth, taking several teeth with it. The StoneDrake, looking like a turtle on its back, tries to get back up. Yet, before it can move, Kazu stabs his sword deep into its chest. Sparks fly as the StoneDrake's heart is pierced. Its legs flail, then fall lifelessly to its sides.
Now that they are finished with the battle, Kazu moves to check on everyone else. The rest of his group is tired but, thankfully, uninjured, and Kazu decides it is time to head back home before it gets too late.
Once exiting the dungeon, Kazu remembers that Tara is coming by in the evening, sometime after her quest is completed. Looking at the shadows, he realizes that there is still plenty of time before Tara arrives, so they take their time getting home. They spend most of the time discussing what they learned in each fight.
During their walk and talk, Kazu pulls out some metal from his bag and starts making something from it. Once it's done, he hands it to Orolfie.
She slides the Steel gauntlet onto her right hand and then latches it closed. Kazu takes a moment to make sure it fits her as he intended, then asks her to try it out. She immediately does a flying punch into a tree. The tree shakes, and hundreds of acorns fall to the ground.
Orolfie smiles and says to Kazu, "I barely felt the hit. I think if I hit it full strength, I could splinter the tree."
Kazu, smiling, responds, "Let's not do that. It's bad enough that you sucker punched the tree, no need to kill it."
A bit more walking and some light conversation later, they arrive back at the house about an hour before Tara is expected to arrive.
An hour after they get back to the house, Lina serves dinner.
Approximately 30 minutes later, they heard someone banging on the front door.
Lina answers the door expecting Tara, but instead, she finds an injured Mica.
Mica yells into the house, "Kazu, I need your help. Please… It's an emergency, they will die if you can't help!"
Kazu comes running into the foyer from the living room. "Tell me what we are walking into on the way. How far are we going?"
Mica replies, "It's about 3 kilometers south."
Kazu gets Mica to climb on his back, then begins sprinting in the direction Mica indicated, and Mica fills him in on what to expect. Two minutes later, he arrives where Mica's team is battling some MossWolves. The wolves are bigger than the ones he faced before and have brown fur with a green tint in the lighter areas.
The Orc sisters, running behind him, are fairly close. The rest of the group is trailing a bit further behind. As he enters the area, the sounds of battle lead him the rest of the way to Mica's team. Setting Mica down and then pulling the spear from his bag, he leaps into the fight. He thrusts at the first wolf he sees, embedding the spear deep into its chest, missing the heart but not a lung. Finding the spear trapped by the wolf's ribs, he twists the spear as he pulls, and the wolf yelps as the spear refuses to budge.
Kazu releases the spear and punches the wolf in the head, sending it unmoving to the ground. Kazu turns his attention to the other wolves. There are five remaining in the fight. He sees Tara defending two of her injured teammates from three wolves, and the tank of the group is fighting off the other two wolves. Both look exhausted.
Orelfa and Orolfie both arrive as Kazu is ready to move on to the next fight. He instructs them to take over for the Tank, and he will relieve Tara.
With no other words, they move to their respective battles.
Orolfie strikes first with a loud battle cry. For a second, she drew the attention of the wolves, all five of them. The one closest to her does not have a chance to react and is met with a steel gauntlet that explodes the head of her target.
Being drawn to Orolfie, the second one did not see Orelfa flying in from its side. She lands with a deafening blow to the spine of the wolf. Spine shattered, the wolf lies on the ground, unable to do more than whine and whimper. The sisters turn to help Kazu with the final three but find…
At the same time as the sisters attack, Kazu begins his attack. He makes it close enough to Tara to see her injuries. Her right arm is broken and dangling loosely at her side, and she has a deep bite in her left leg and scratches on her back and stomach deep enough to see muscle and, in some places, bone. Kazu now shifts his attention back to the wolves as he hears Orolfie's battle cry. As all the wolves' attention turns to her, he pulls out his knives. In a swift motion, he removed the head of the first wolf. Continuing with the slicing motion, he shifts the blade into a stabbing thrust as it comes into contact with the second wolf, impaling the wolf just below its ear. Finding the third wolf on top of Tara, her leather gauntlet firmly in its mouth, Kazu swiftly moves to remove it from her. He grabs the wolf by the front of its jaw, one hand on the lower jaw and one on the upper jaw. Pulling the jaw apart with a loud crunching noise, he finds it easier than he thought. The wolf slumps to the ground as he notices that he has done way more than open its jaw. In the process, he had removed its lower jaw and twisted its head far enough back to snap its neck.
Turning his attention to Tara and her friends, he finds her in the worst shape, though the other two are not much better off. Though they were down mainly from magic overuse. Their wounds are not currently life-threatening; he turns all his attention to Tara.
He holds her as he tries to calm her. Behind him, Orolfie and Orelfa stand guard.
He begins using the magic he taught himself earlier after the Drake fight. He started by closing the lacerations and bite wounds. Muscles reattach to the exposed bone, and layer by layer, the muscles are healed. Once that is done, he moves on to her broken arm. It is a fairly simple fracture compared to Orolfie's hand. Much like Orolfie's hand, he takes his time making sure it is perfectly aligned before he heals the bone. After healing everything he knows about, he still feels that she is in pain. Using light magic, he performs his version of an X-ray, examining her from her head to her toes. He finds a broken rib near her spine and a disk that has shifted, putting pressure on her spinal column. He is impressed that she could still stand, much less fight. He gingerly moves the disc and rib back where they belong and repairs the bone and connective tissues. Once this is completed, he finds Tara asleep.
During the healing process, the twins and Anna show up at the battleground. As the Sisters stood guard, Felix and Felina went around making sure the wolves would not be a problem in the future. They had to finish off one with a spear stuck in it and one with a crushed spine. When they returned to Kazu, he was finishing his healing of Tara's second teammate.
Mica and the Tank were watching him heal their friends, and when done with her, he turned to the tank, "Do you want me to give your injuries a look?"
The tank refuses to be treated, saying, "I have no pain, a day of rest can't heal."
Kazu acknowledges the request but responds, "If you can not make it back to the house on your own, I will need to check you over."
The Tank nods in agreement.
Finally, he can check on Mica, who, while out of magic, only has minor injuries. In very short order, Kazu is finished with healing him.
Kazu picks up Tara, the sisters pick up the other two who are still passed out, and the group makes their way back to the house. Trying not to wake them and not running, it takes much longer to arrive back at the house.
On the way back, Mica explained what had happened. They went out to hunt down four MossWolves. When their party found the wolves, there were only three. They took two out quickly, but the third ran off. Soon after it left, six more MossWolves showed up, and the wolves used nature magic to animate roots and vines to ensnare the Hunters. Mica, using his nature magic, which was more advanced than the wolves, was able to free his team. Due to Mica's efforts, they got the upper hand with those wolves, but as they were finishing the MossWolves off, twelve more appeared. Exhausted from the previous battles, they tried to retreat, but the wolves cut off all escape routes.
Mica was out of magic at this point, and Kristoph, their assassin, was knocked out due to a heavy blow that slammed him into a tree. Mica and Johan, the Spellsword, had fallen back to protect Kristoph. Johan was knocked out by a wolf, slamming him to the ground as he was entangled in vines from another wolf he was fighting. Tara took a defensive position to protect Johan and Kristoph while their tank was drawing away as many wolves as possible. Tara and Mica fought back the wolves for a while, Mica using Johan's sword as a machete, keeping the vines away from her as best he could. When Tara's arm gets injured, she orders Mica to find Kazu and bring him to the fight. Their tank, Ari, and Tara covered his escape. There were nine MossWolves left when Mica ran off.
Kazu counted twenty-six dead MossWolves in total. Kazu figured more MossWolves had shown up after Mica left to get help. Just before reaching the house, Tara wakes briefly and sees Kazu smiling down at her. She manages to smile back at him before she passes out again.
Finally arriving at the house, they bring everyone into the living room, laying the three who are asleep on the sofa. Lina rushed to the kitchen to make some food for the two that are still awake.
Anna, Kazu, Felix, and Felina sit with Mica as he eats Lina's meal. Orelfa and Orolfie converse with Ari. After a while, Kazu moves to Ari's group and joins their conversation.
After a few minutes of talking with Ari, he quietly asks, "Why are you hiding yourself from your team?"
A surprised Ari asks, "What makes you think I am hiding anything?"
Kazu replies, "Number one… You left your helmet on while eating. Number two… Mica has told me he has never seen you without the helmet on, even though you have been on the team for a year. Number three… You refused to let me help you with your hip injury… yes, I noticed it even though you tried to hide your limp. Number four…"
Ari interrupts, "Fine, you can stop. I am hiding something. I am a female… happy now?"
Kazu, a bit confused, asks, "You are hiding that? I noticed that as soon as I saw you, I was talking about the fact that you are not human, or at least not all human. You are not tall enough to be half-orc like my girls, yet you are too tall to be a half-dwarf though your strength leans that direction."
Ari sighed then answered, "You are right, I am half human… half Minotaur, a little extra hair, my ears, and size are all that show my heritage. The horns are part of my helmet; it was like that when I found it with the rest of the armor. I kept hidden because before I wore the armor, people were frightened of me. I like my teammates, so I keep the armor on at all times… so I don't scare them off."
Kazu puts a hand on her shoulder, "You would be surprised by your team. Tara likes Orelfa and Orolfie, and she is enamored by the twin felisnekos. I know she will have no problem with your heritage. When she wakes, you should tell her, she will help you with the others."
Ari smiles under her face mask. "I will think about it. Thank you, Kazu… It is a little easier knowing that someone knows and accepts me."
Kazu asks, Do you want me to heal your injury? We can go elsewhere to do it since you are not ready to be seen yet."
Ari's helmet nods in agreement, and they go upstairs to one of the empty bedrooms.
Ari, with the help of Kazu, removes her armor. Kazu now gets a good look at the bruising to her left hip and thigh, her right shoulder and chest, and her right forearm. Taking a few minutes to use the light magic X-ray, he finds fractures on her left upper thigh near the hip joint, her left forearm, and her right collarbone. Her right shoulder is also dislocated. She went into the bathroom to inspect the injuries Kazu pointed out to her. She felt the pain from the injuries, but she just did not think they were that bad.
After inspecting her, Kazu has her lie on the bed and begins the healing process. After the previous practice, it only takes him a few minutes to get her back to perfect health. He offers her some clothes to wear, but she still feels uneasy and decides to put her armor back on.
Kazu smiles at her, "If you need it, you are always welcome here. Now go relax in the living room. We'll watch a movie later."
Ari looks at him, confused. "What in the stink swamp is a movie?" she thinks to herself. She does not ask. She just heads back down to the living room and takes a seat on the couch. She tried her best to relax in her bulky armor.
An hour later, Johan wakes up. Looking around, confused, he sees Ari sitting on the couch, and he immediately relaxes. Kazu sees him sit up, so he goes to introduce himself. They spend a few minutes talking when a startled Kristoph wakes up.
Kazu and Johan move over to Kristoph. They continue the conversation until Tara comes running in and hugs everyone in mid-conversation.
Tara expresses her happiness that the two of them are okay and awake. She then spends the rest of the conversation sitting in Kazu's lap, hugging him, and every so often thanking him for his help.
Over the next half hour, everyone takes a bath, and Anna and Kazu explain to the guests how the faucets work. Bath time went fairly smoothly. Only Tara and Ari asked for assistance. Anna helps Tara, but Ari only wants Kazu's help since she is still hiding who she is. He tells her how to use the shampoo and soap, a grin on her face the whole time.
After the baths are done and everyone is back in the living room, Anna asks if they will be joining for movie night. Tara's group looks at her, confused when Ari says yes, and the rest agree. Kazu turns on the system and then searches through the movies. During his search, Arwain asks for Robin Hood again. Figuring it's as good a place for them to start, he asks if everyone is good with it. They all agreed. Kazu hands out translation earrings to the visitors and explains what they are for.
Anna turns out the lights as Kazu starts the movie, and the now-familiar movie starts. The 5 newbies are amazed. The same as everyone else was their first time. He takes his seat in the recliner, and Arwain again crawls up to sit in his lap. Immediately after the movie starts, he can hear Arwain quietly singing along with it. Halfway through the movie, Kazu notices that some of the other girls are singing along with the songs. Through all the movies and binge-watching of Anime, he finds the translations match better when he plays the English version over the Japanese. The sentence structure of Vaynish is similar to English, making the mouth movements match better, too.
A little over an hour later, the movie ends, and no one is tired. During their movie discussion with the veterans and first-timers, Kazu searches for a movie he has not shown yet but is sure they will enjoy. As the conversation dies down, he presses play.
As everyone focuses on the images once again, Images dance across the wall, showing a bedroom with stuffed animals in it. A voice talks about who the room belongs to, then the camera focuses on a book as it opens. Then a song starts to play, "Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood…"
Everyone in the room sits back and relaxes as the song plays. The room later erupts into laughter when the bear declares himself "A little black rain cloud, of course." Arwain got a bit scared when the Heffalumps showed up, but calmed down by the time that Owl got a new home.
Once the movie ended, the conversations started again. The main conversation revolved around what a Kangaroo was. Kazu did his best to explain what they are and why they have a pouch. After the conversations ended, it was late, and everyone was tired. As everyone retired to their rooms, Kazu showed the guests to the empty rooms. Tara took the one closest to Kazu's room, and Ari took the one adjoining hers by the bathroom. Johan and Kristoph took the rooms across from the twins, and Mica took the one that shares a bathroom with Petal.
As Kazu and Anna are about to get into bed, there is a knock on the bedroom door. Kazu answers it and finds Tara and Ari standing at his door. Ari is not in her Armor, so he invites them into the room.
Tara looks down, slightly disappointed. "When did you start sleeping in shorts?"
Kazu laughs, "It makes more sense. People knock on my door at all hours, or just come in to sleep with us. So what can we do for you tonight?"
Tara looks up at Kazu. She smiles and hugs him. "I just wanted to thank you again… for saving our lives, healing us, then entertaining us with the moving paintings. Also, thank you for convincing Ari that I will accept her as she is."
Kazu puts a hand on Ari's shoulder, "She is a lovely young woman, as strong as she is, she still needs support, and I knew you would be able and willing to provide it. After all, you are a lovely, young, strong woman too."
Tara laughs, "Hey, I am like 12 years older than you."
Kazu gave her a skeptical look. "Not according to my Hunter's card. I am about 36 years older, little missy. Who is running the lodge tomorrow? Both you and Mica are here…"
"And also 32 years younger, you big infant..." She sticks her tongue out at him. "The Hunt Master has it taken care of. He knew we were on a job today, so he had someone else cover while we were gone. Probably one of the Rank C hunters." Tara explained. "I am still tired, so I am going to head to bed. Good night, and thank you again."
Ari steps forward and kisses his cheek, "I thank you too, for everything she mentioned and more."
Kazu bows to the ladies and wishes them sweet dreams. Once they are gone and he has closed the door, he heads to his bed and the impatiently waiting Anna. A little over an hour later, they fall asleep, satisfied, sweaty, and exhausted.