Down With The Gods

While the rest of the team searches for a creature to ride, Wyn unceremoniously kicks James out of the group. For fun, everyone decides to ride the crocs on wheels, which can carry three passengers and costs thirty catnips per zone. Despite Wyn's attempts to keep James off his croc, James casually hops onto the other one with Yu and Christine, swapping places with Anish.

The handlers tap their muzzled crocs with their feet, and the wheels begin to spin. All six riders set off toward the second zone of the Mystical Land. As they travel, Mira decides to switch outfits, changing into a black wizard’s robe featuring a griffin logo – this one comically peeing. Inspired by Mira, Wyn ditches his usual attire for a pair of gray pants and a black tee with a hamster graphic that reads “The Adventurous Hamsters.”

A couple of hours later, they arrive at the station for zone two. The handler then explains that the Mystical Land progresses eastward.

“How do we know which way is east?” Wyn asks.

“It is straight ahead from the station. The direction facing campsite numbers five and six is considered north. If you are truly lost, you can use the map.”

The handler points them to several scattered digital displays nearby, which show the estimated arrival times of rides. Scrolling further down reveals additional rides that aren’t currently available but can be requested. To reserve or request a ride, one simply taps on it and selects “reserve,” with a picture of the reservation holder appearing next to the selection.

“I am not supposed to tell you this,” the cat handler whispers, “but there is a special ride at the very bottom of the display. It costs a thousand catnips and can travel anywhere in the Mystical Land with no extra charges.”

“Then why tell us?” Wyn asks.

“We love catnips. That is all I can say.”

It takes several minutes to scroll to the bottom, but when Wyn finally reaches it, everyone gasps – a ten-seat dragon ride awaits them. Wyn instantly declares it their team goal to ride this dragon at least once. Just then, James flaunts his impressive catnip count, showing that he has thousands of catnips. He offers to pay for the ride if they let him rejoin the team. Keeping his excitement in check, Wyn redirects the group’s attention to the land ahead.

“Are we not going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Yu asks, pointing at Wyn’s attire. “No more Oppa Trio!”

In response, Yu quickly changes into a loose long-sleeved button-up shirt, black baggy pants, and black-and-white canvas shoes. Following Yu’s lead, Anish switches back into his beach outfit, but this time, paired with brown sneakers.

The first part of the Mystical Land is the Whispering Meadow, an expansive, rolling landscape where the grass sways in a rhythmic dance. A vibrant array of flowers and small trees grow in abundance, and the breezy air carries a soft, musical hum, as if the land itself is singing. Some flowers and leaves float gently in the air, carried by the wind. On one of these drifting flowers, Wyn spots a small creature – a bluish, busty feminine goblin-shaped figure with pink, horn-shaped leaf-like hair, and four transparent blue wings.

“How could such an ugly creature exist in such a beautiful place?” Wyn wonders aloud.

“Would!” James exclaims, giving Mira a lewd smile.

“Nasty, you are. Hate you, I do,” Anish retorts.

Most of the creatures in the meadow seem harmless, as long as they aren't threatened. This allows Wyn and the team to stroll leisurely, taking in the sight of mystical creatures in their so-called “natural” habitat.

“Is that…?!” Mira exclaims, pointing ahead.

In the direction she indicates stands a unicorn – a “regular” rainbow-horned unicorn, munching on grass and some small yellow, star-shaped chicks. As the mother chick tries to defend her young, the unicorn stomps her down effortlessly.

“Look how long it is! I have to add it to my collection,” Mira comments, giggling alongside James.

Anish, visibly irritated, decides to ruin the moment. He charges at the unicorn, dragging Wyn along into the fight. The two men split to the left and right of the creature. Feeling threatened, the unicorn responds by firing a laser from its horn at Anish, who successfully dodges upward. Wyn, attacking from the other side, sends chakrams within a cyclone toward the unicorn. It leaps forward, turning to face Wyn, but this gives Anish the opportunity to hook a javelin head to its hind leg, causing it to stumble. The javelin pulls violently, and Wyn's descending cyclone strikes, embedding the chakrams deep into the creature’s neck and back.

The unicorn struggles to rise, but Wyn cyclone dashes forward, his fists encased in rock. The unicorn aims its horn at him for another attack, but Anish quickly hooks one end of the javelin to the ground and the other to the creature's cheek, diverting its aim. He leaves the javelin and gusts himself upward to avoid the laser blast. The clash sends both Wyn and the unicorn to the ground. Hovering above, Anish pulls Wyn up into the air and plunges his weapon into its head while Wyn follows with a downward blade strike, mirroring his move from the crackaroo fight.

Once they're sure the unicorn is lifeless, Anish cuts off its part from down under and waves it at Mira and James. His behavior frightens Christine. Yu takes her hand – not to comfort her, but because he’s just as scared.

“Long, isn’t it? Still like it now?”

“What’s wrong with him?” James asks.

“Let’s just say, I understand him,” Mira replies with a faint smile.

Wyn pats Anish on the back. The rest of the team, scared of Anish, refuses to collect the essence, so Wyn and Anish gather two hundred and fifty each.

After ensuring everyone that Anish is mentally stable, Wyn directs the team to move forward. Along the way, they spot elemental orbs floating about, which makes Wyn wonder why the mimic-i is the only orb creature with a unique name.

“Because they can’t form shapes, duh! And the elemental orbs aren’t dual-typed, eh,” James explains.

“‘ThEY cANt FORm sHAPeS,’” Wyn mocks. “Says the guy who barely spent time in the city, ‘eh’.”

“Not cool, man!” James retorts.

“I’m not your man, pal!”

“I’m not your pal, buddy!”

“Okay, stop!” Mira interjects, spreading her arms between them.

"Were your moms’ names Martha?" Yu abruptly asks.

“NO!” Wyn and James shout in unison.

“See? They stopped! That unison was beautiful!”

The team arrives at a large river mouth. The water is crisp and clear, revealing anything that lurks beneath the surface. Surrounding the river mouth stand the legendary kuso sukois. According to the bestiary, these are the evolved sukois that belly-flopped all the way from the Twilight Forest pond to this river in the Mystical Land. These ice and thunder creatures are slightly stronger than the traineaters.

“That’s no fish! That’s a fucking fridge!” Wyn exclaims.

Indeed, the creatures resemble a fridge with two compartments. Two flat, functional fish eyes are located at the top of the upper compartment, and fish fins extend from the sides. The upper compartment channels ice attacks, while the lower one unleashes thunder. With so many creatures around the river mouth, the team decides not to draw any attention.

Continuing along the river, they observe bone huggers clinging to large, stench-leaking, salmon-like creatures known as sourmons. Above them, small fire and wind dragons with butterfly wings – called dragon butterflies – swoop down to roast and steal the sourmons. These dragons come in various colors, both single and mixed, and have different wing shapes. Unfortunately for Wyn, they’re far too small for him to ride.

As they near the next section of zone one, the trees become taller, larger, and more densely populated. Just before entering the Enchanted Forest, they spot a creature lurking behind a tree.

“That’s the boberbearboar! A.K.A. bober ultimate!” James announces.

“Oh no! Kurwa!” Wyn responds.

The boberbearboar is a shy creature but has a peculiar habit of blocking river flow with its large body when among its kind. It has the face and feet of a beaver with upward-curling snout horns. Its body, arms, and legs resemble a bear, much more muscular than the bone huggers – its twelve-pack abs make that clear. The tail and hooves resemble those of a pig on steroids. As a formidable water and earth creature, it would be the strongest opponent Wyn has faced so far if they engage it.

“Can we check thoroughly if there are more of them nearby?” Wyn asks.

The team spreads out to survey the area. Luckily, this boberbearboar is alone, making it a prime opportunity for Wyn’s party to take it on.

“Let’s split up and engage it from all directions!” James suggests.

“Excuse you? Only one person should be giving orders. You’ll just confuse everyone!” Wyn responds.

“Then let me lead,” James presses.

“I second that. Like, maybe give someone else a chance to lead,” Christine chimes in.

The rest of the group falls silent, unsure how to handle the situation. After an awkward pause, Mira feels compelled to support Wyn.

“It’s too risky to let James lead this fight. We’re already used to Wyn as our leader. Maybe we can let James lead in a less dangerous battle?” she suggests.

Yu and Anish both nod in agreement. Wyn remains the leader, but he can't shake the unease of having James around. He swears to himself that if anything goes wrong because of James, he’ll never forgive him.

Wyn splits the team into two squads: Team One and Team A, emphasizing that both are equally important – something he picked up from a cartoon about a futuristic delivery company. Team One consists of Wyn, James, and Mira. Despite not wanting James involved, Wyn keeps him close to monitor him. Team A is led by Anish, with Yu and Christine following his lead. The plan is to lure the creature into the open and attack it from both sides.

To provoke the creature, Wyn summons rock pillars behind it, while Mira follows up with an explosion whip to the tree. Anish swiftly pulls her back to safety. The plan works – the creature lets out a timid beaver growl before charging, surprisingly, toward Team A in a rage.