Down With The Gods

Venturing deeper into the Luminous Glade, Christine and James remain mostly quiet, trailing behind while the rest of the team chatters away. Upon reaching a fairy circle, they encounter a swarm of fairies, the same type they met in the Whispering Meadow. This time, their wings glow with a soft luminescence, and they seem more playful, admiring Mira’s and Christine’s hair. Although the fairies occasionally nip at the girls all over their bodies, they're harmless overall. Once shooed away, the fairies scatter and flee.

The team follows a pathway leading east, which they believe will take them to zone three’s station.

“It’s all mushrooms!” Yu exclaims.

On both sides of the path, mushrooms gradually replace the trees and flowers until there's nothing but mushrooms as far as the eye can see. As they venture deeper, they notice the mushrooms becoming increasingly larger.

“Why are these mushrooms so big?” Wyn wonders aloud.

Curious, they look back and realize that the mushrooms they passed by appear similar in size to those ahead. Retracing their steps to the fairy circle, they uncover the secret of the shroomy pathway – the team seems to shrink smaller the further they venture inside. Concerned for their safety, Wyn suggests they take an alternative route. Just then, Anish spots a tiny creature darting across the path in the mushroom field.

“It’s a leprechaun! It says here that this thing is super rare. It grants a fortune of both essence and catnips to the lucky one who can kill it!” James reads from the screen.

The leprechaun is a mostly green creature with a white belly, featuring the face of a rat, ears resembling a gremlin’s, and fangs like those of a vampire bat. Its entire body is covered in hair, which seamlessly forms the green top hat and the orange chin beard. Its arms resemble those of a mole. Though it can walk on two rat-like legs, it gains greater mobility when it runs on all fours.

“Let’s make sure we don’t lose each other! Partner up! You’re responsible for your partner,” Wyn commands.

In a surprising turn of events, Mira pairs up with Anish, leaving James to be Wyn's partner.

“Can I take Anish, pretty Mira? Pleaseee,” Wyn pleads.

“Let me go with you instead, eh!” James also attempts to switch partners.

Mira firmly refuses, prompting a wide, pervy grin from Anish. Yu and Christine chuckle at Wyn’s and James’ expense.

“I’ll remember this, Mira!” Wyn says.

“You’re so very welcome!” Mira replies with a cute smile.

Amid the dense mushrooms, the tiny leprechaun is difficult to spot. The six souls spend far too much time searching, until luck intervenes – the leprechaun lets out a loud fart, shooting a sparkling rainbow arch and a catnip pouch from its rear. Though the rainbow isn’t fully visible from their position, its brightness and the unmistakable sound give away the creature’s location. Quickly, Mira and Anish swoop to its backside, snatching the pouch and chasing the leprechaun back toward the remaining four. Spotting them, the leprechaun releases a mega-charged fart, launching itself deeper into the mushroom field.

Mira and Anish pursue, while Wyn creates mini cyclones to let the remaining members speed their way forward. Even Wyn’s cyclones reduce in size as they venture further in, allowing him to scale them without overshooting. During their flight, long strings of vines strike at Mira and Anish, knocking them down and causing them to bounce off a mushroom. Wyn manages to spot the leprechaun and summons descending cyclones, halting its movement. Surrounded, the creature attempts to dig into the ground. Wyn reacts by creating an ascending snowy cyclone to suck the leprechaun out from below.

As the cyclone whirls, everyone rushes in closer. But in a sudden twist, the leprechaun breaks through with another mega fart, propelling itself even deeper into the mushroom field. Determined, Wyn instructs Yu and Christine to get down, allowing James to cling to him for a cyclone dash. Normally, this powerful yet uncontrollable dash would overshoot, but this time it propels them just behind the leprechaun – now the same size as Wyn.

Startled, the creature attacks, extending vines from its claws. An ice pillar blocks the attack, but more vines from the other hand smash through it. Wyn and James step back, blocking the vines with a rock pillar. Then, Wyn dashes through it, aiming at the leprechaun. The creature reacts by interlocking its hands in defense. The impact pushes it back until it collapses. Releasing its interlocked hands, the leprechaun pushes outward, sending Wyn crashing against a mushroom. James retaliates with a volley of icicles, but they’re effortlessly deflected. As expected, the creature lets out another fart, launching itself clear of the mushroom field.

Without missing a beat, Wyn dashes with James in tow. The instant they leave the mushroom field, they return to their normal sizes, tumbling to the ground. Fearing they’ve lost the leprechaun, they find themselves standing before a large creature – with the leprechaun perched on its head.

“Keep them busy while I look this thing up!” James shouts.

The friend-shaped creature turns out to be a smiling capybara with black, spiky quills on its back. At the leprechaun’s command, it stomps its legs, causing the quills to bristle and lift into the air, suspended by crackling arcs of electricity. As more electricity gathers, the quills are pulled back, readying for launch. In a flash, sparks ignite at their bases, and they shoot forward like lightning bolts. Despite the impressive attack, the capybara's quills fail to penetrate Wyn's defensive pillar.

Just then, the rest of the team trails down from above, carried by the tiny wind gust, and crash-land behind Wyn as they regain their normal sizes. Regaining his balance, Anish swiftly dispatches the rodent with his javelin. As expected, the leprechaun attempts to escape with another fart, but Wyn, James, and Christine create a series of pillars ahead of its path. Despite their combined efforts, the leprechaun is unable to even fly past the first pillar. Mira then follows up with a barrage of fireballs, burning the trapped creature until it’s defeated.

“One thousand essence from this tiny thing?” Yu exclaims.

“Ah, found it! The happybara is a ‘friend-shaped bober’. Isn’t a bober a beaver?”

“We’ll never get any logical answers here,” Wyn remarks.

The leprechaun drops a stash of catnip pouches. To honor James’ assistance, the team willingly shares the bounty with him. As they deposit the pouches, James calculates that their collection totals nearly one thousand.

“Rainbow farts sure remind me of the Nyan Cat. Wish it existed here,” Wyn says.

“What’s a Nyan Cat?” Yu asks, his pronunciation impeccable.

“It was the peak of humanity. I feel bad for you young ones.”

“You’re not making any sense…,” James comments.

“Watch your mouth! He’s a man of culture,” Anish adds.

Wyn is unusually excited. With this amount of catnips, he can purchase the AI and finally start asking more questions. Feeling both selfish and guilty, he considers asking either Yu, Mira, or Anish to buy a bestiary for the team.

Venturing deeper into the Luminous Glade, they eventually reach the transport station of zone three, where the light shines brightly again. Ready to explore the next part of the Mystical Land, they enter the Crystal Caverns. The entrance is a wide cave burrow, its arch adorned with clusters of protruding crystals that emit a soft, multicolored glow. The cool air carries a faint smell of damp earth and minerals.

Inside, the walls are lined with crystals protruding at various angles and sizes, each emitting a soft, colorful light. The ground is sprinkled with glistening shards embedded within. Stalactites and stalagmites of pure crystal rise and fall, forming natural chandeliers. The ceiling is a kaleidoscope of sparkling hues, with clusters of crystals casting prismatic patterns. The same river from earlier zones flows through the caverns, its clear, luminescent water reflecting the crystalline light. Occasionally, bursts of electrical energy crackle through the air.

Mira is captivated by shiny objects, and the caverns leave her in awe of their glistening beauty. Various unique creatures inhabit the caverns, including turbolts – turtles with crystal shards growing from their shells and four skateboard wheels on the bottom. There are also dungcrystals – beetles that roll crystal shards back to their nests, and pingwins – slim, tall, bowling-pin-shaped penguins with beaks and wings made of crystals.

While dispatching an entire family of pingwins, the team hears scuttling sounds approaching. The figure of a creature becomes clearer as it draws closer. A crystal spider mother emerges before them.

“Here it is! ‘The mother is always hunting prey for its babies’…babies?” James reads.

The big spider stands on eight long, black legs. Its head resembles that of a regular spider but with larger eyes and prominent crystal fangs. The abdomen features layers of small crystal shards, forming a mountainous structure. Large spinnerets encase the abdomen, enabling the spider to attack from all sides. Instead of shooting webs, the spider fires crystal shards, which sink back into its abdomen to be used as ammunition.

“Oh, hell no!” Wyn exclaims.

The spider launches a shard from its hind toward Wyn. He dodges, and the shard strikes a nearby crystal, ricocheting off. Mid-air, the shard transforms, sprouting eight tiny legs – it’s a baby crystal spider.