Story 4: H.I.V.E Project (WIP)
Chapter I: A new area!
The toxic fluids just keep coming! It has infected and mutated many creatures, several of them are hostile monsters. With the recently created abomination named Duke Fishron, many people set to travel deep into the jungle, hoping to find a way and stop it all.
The Duke Fishron has been defeated by a team of warriors: Zigga, Bilas, and Shaks. Each of them gained fame and recognition, though they don't need such popularity, they were happy that they had saved their homeland. Like many other adventurers, the team continues to travel into the jungle, trying to stop the fluids from infecting and destroying nature.
After over a month, they've found various scrap metals, strange equipment laying around specific areas of the jungle. Though every day is almost the same, one thing is for sure that they've found a rough direction of those clues. Unlike many others, this day, something different is about to happen...
Zigga and Shaks woke up early and met on the surface of the dense jungle, they head towards the hole within the jungle and continue their "investigation" on this bizarre toxic (Bold texts are Zigga's dialogue, Italic texts are Bilas's dialogue, Normal texts are Shaks's and others dialogue):
"Hey Zigga, I'm kinda bored, when can we find these weird fluids?"
Zigga bumps Shaks's head, an "Ouch!" comes out of Shaks's mouth while Zigga fiercely says: "Don't give up yet! We're getting close to solving this!".
Shaks lets out a big sigh: "Ehhhhhh... Fine, I don't like killing these bees anymore"
Zigga tries to motivate Shaks: "C'mon! When we're done, we'll be able to save everyone. And we can get a lot of fish for you!"
Shaks looks at Zigga with an excited face: "What? Fish? How many?"
Zigga looks back at Shaks with a smile on his face: "Hoho, a lot, I would say. Those will be the best fishes you've ever had"
Shaks shouts: "Yes!!". The two start heading down the underground of the jungle via a bridge, built by previous travelers. Shaks asks a question: "Hey Zigga, how long have we been finding these fluids?", Zigga tries to remember: "Hmmm, I'm not sure. Maybe Bilas will know", their voices echoed within the cave. Shaks then notices that Bilas isn't here, so he asks Zigga again: "I see... Wait, where is Bilas?" as they walk to the actual underground jungle. Suddenly, Bilas appeared to the left of Zigga: "Zigga, there's nothing around that can harm us other than some Hornets and Man Eaters"
Shaks jumped from the sudden appearance of Bilas and trips, on the other hand, Zigga just replied with "Good job" as if he expected it.
Shaks breathes heavily: "Where did you come from?"-His face showed how surprised he was.
"Ah, Zigga told me to inspect things before we head to the underground jungle, he didn't tell you about this?"
Shaks looks at Zigga while he just says: "I forgot to mention that, oops. Hehe..." and scratches his head.
Shaks gets up from the fall, seriously inhales, and then exhales: "Don't. Ever. Do that. Again"
The team continues going forward, the place they last were is kinda far from the entrance, proving how long they have tried to solve this strange event. Bilas calmly said to Shaks: "Heh... so how are you now, Shaks?", Shaks still shows frustration: "I ALMOST had a heart attack there. Did you think that was funny", Zigga smiles: "To be honest, that was hilarious. You should have seen your face back there", Shaks shouts "ZIGGA!" back while Zigga himself shows his enjoyment. On their way to the wild, they came by an abandoned area, it's like a big arena mined out for camping or a boss battle of some sort. The team soon found out that they've fallen into a trap, through some of the entrances leading to the area, Hornets, Jungle Slimes and other creatures came out, surrounding all three of our heroes. Zigga and Shaks pull out their weapons, alerted by the loud wings of the hornets, Bilas attempts to return to the team. "What is this? They've trapped us!"-Zigga said, unexpectedly, a hornet approaches behind. "Watch out!"-Bilas warned Zigga, he used his hook to hold the hornet, Zigga then immediately slash the hornet. The hornets start rushing toward Zigga, suddenly, a bunch of arrows accurately hit all of the hornets. The arrows were Shaks's, so Zigga gives him a thumb up. Meanwhile, Bilas focus on the Man Eaters, he easily kills all of them by cutting the vines connected to the creatures. A big swarm of hornets flies toward Shaks and Zigga, Bilas stopped to help them out, he used his hook again and managed to tie them all in one spot. "Use something that can explode, I can't hold 'em"-Bilas struggles to warn Shaks because of the tough hornets trying to escape, Shaks knew what he had to use, he pulls out his Hellfire Arrow and shot it into to clutter of hornets. The hornets busted into pieces, but a new problem has arrived. The slimes finally caught up, some try to attack Bilas from behind. Bilas turns back, he throws his knives into them, creating enough force to knock them back, as fast as he could, he draws out his katana and kill all of them in one cut. Zigga attacks all of the slimes further away from Shaks, one thing he didn't notice is the nearby Man Eaters rise from the ground and try to catch Shaks. Shaks is surrounded, Bilas arrives just on time and throws a smoke bomb, blocking the vision of the monsters. As the smoke went out, the Man Eaters lost track of Shaks, "Hey vines, guess who it is?", the Man Eaters look up and see Shaks, he shot multiple Hellfire Arrows and blew all of them. On the ceiling is a lot of Man Eaters and Hornets, Zigga looks up and said: "Looks like this trick will help this time", "What are you going to do?"-Shaks asks. As he is asking, Zigga swings his Briny Baron down to the ground, the Typhoons discs instead of exploding on contact with the ground, bounce off the ground, back and forward, constantly slashes through the Man Eaters. "You didn't tell me that you can do that!"-Bilas said, "I don't know, I learned that recently", "Zigga! Watch out!"-Shaks shouts when a Man Eater is approaching Zigga, he shoots a fire arrow into said Man Eater and light it on fire. The Man Eater retrieves back to the darkness of the vines, but the fire remains, revealing the ignited creature, Bilas threw a throwing knife into it, finishing the rest of the monster. The remaining beasts flee from the battle, Shaks exhales: "That was a close one!", "You did good there, Shaks. Alright then, let's clean up". The ground is full of stingers and vines, the team loots the items, they look forward to making some money when they came back home. Our heroes continue to wander through the dangerous wilderness of the jungle, expecting to see the source of the toxic fluids.
Bilas scouts for the team, he'll spot out dangers, and report to Zigga before engaging the enemies. While Zigga and Shaks are talking, Bilas found a strange signal of mana coming from a wall. Bilas walks out from the darkness, "Bilas? What's the problem?"-Zigga said, "I just found something strange, there's a signal of mana over here..."-Bilas said, then he runs back to the wall, Zigga and Shaks look at each other, both of them knot their heads and then they follow Bilas. The three arrived, Zigga asks: "Where is it?", "It's right here!"-Bilas answers, "But I don't feel anything"-Zigga said, "Oh, that's probably because Bilas has a high Hunter level, Hunters usually can spot out an aura of mana from faraway-"-While Shaks is talking, Bilas interrupts: "Yes, that's correct Shaks, but the fact that I have to get this close to the wall really concerns me. Whoever is behind this wall is very good at hiding this large amount of mana". Zigga walks toward the wall and said: "Well then, let see what it is...". Zigga makes a bold decision, he wields his blade, Bilas tries to stop him: "Wait Zigga, I think you shouldn't-" but then Zigga still bashes the Briny Baron into the wall. The wall breaks, revealing what is inside. The smash creates short-lived dust, blocking what's inside for a bit, the three waves off the dust to take a look behind the mysterious. Inside the wall were some strange inhabitants, they wear clothes that seem to be crafted from more natural materials rather than normal cloths. Soon realized, they must be dryads, one of the legendary races from long ago.
All of the dryads who were minding their own business like selling stuff or just walking around turned their faces towards the trio, and then everything falls into chaos. Some of the dryads scream and run away, one of them said: "Ho- How did you know we're here!?". Zigga is confused about what is happening but Bilas and Shaks panic: "Wait, we're not bad guys!"-said Shaks who feels bad for what they've done. Soon enough, dryad guards run toward them, armed with spears, swords, and armors, they've mistaken that the team wants to fight, a battle is about to happen if no one makes clear of this manner. Zigga was about to attack, he pulls out his Briny Baron again, but Bilas grabs Zigga's arm: "Wait, don't attack, we can solve this without violence". When the guards are about to attack, someone shouts: "STOP!" from a distance. All of the dryads turn back and look up, a beautiful woman levitates toward the crowd, around her are leaves floating around in some sort of aura, everyone draws attention toward this person meaning she must be the leader of this place. The guards walk away as she is approaching: "What is all of this?", she then looks at the three: "Who are you guys, and how did you find out this place?"-she said, Bilas walks out of the trio, removing his hood, then he apologizes: "Sorry miss! We were just walking by when I accidentally found out a mana source from your place, it just that this dumbhead doesn't listen to me"-he said so as he is pointing towards Zigga, Zigga then replied: "Hey, it wasn't my fault!", Bilas angrily says: "Oh yeah? Who broke down this wall while being told NOT to?", Zigga then continues to argue: "What was I supposed to do there?! Maybe it can give us new leads? Also, you found out this in the first place!", the two angrily look at each other while Shaks tries to cool them down: "Hey! Hey!! Stop fighting guys! Now is not the time". The lady laughs lightly: "Hahaha! You guys are so funny!", the three confusedly look at her.
Zigga jokingly laughs back at Bilas: "Hah... I think I was a bit too angry back there", he pats Bilas's shoulder: "Sorry pal". Bilas sighs: "Yeah, it was my fault, after all, I found out about this place". Shaks feels relief: "Phew... glad that nothing happened", he turns to the lady: "Sorry for the inconvenience, we'll leave if don't mind", he and the team turn their back. But the lady grabs Shaks shoulder, Shaks along with the others turn back, the lady waves her hand, wanting the team to stay for a while: "No no no, I'm glad that we finally have a guest for so long. Why don't you guys stay, this place is great, I promise!". Bilas attempts to deny: "Well, we're kinda busy these da-" but Zigga interrupts: "Hell yeah!". Bilas advises Zigga: "But Zigga, we're trying to do our jobs here!", Zigga tries to convince him: "C'mon, it's just a day or two. Plus, we've been stressing a lot lately, why don't we relax for a while. It'll be great", Shaks also wants a break: "Yeah, he's right. Let's relax!". Bilas sighs: "Ugh... fine. Just a day or two", Zigga and Shaks both shout: "Yay!".
The team went for a nice walk around the small underground, "Wow, this place looks very nice despite being underground"-Shaks complimented, the lady replied: "Thanks boy, we've polished this place for years now. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I?", she stops in front of the three and starts her introduction: "My name is Palnette, the 4th leader of this dryad's town", each of the three also introduced themselves: "Zigga. Some people called me Giga Zigga cuz of these bad boys"-said Zigga as he flexes his muscles and the size of his body comparing to the others, Bilas pushes Zigga aside: "Alright Zigga, I think that's enough.", he turns to Palnette: "The name's Bilas, from a mushroom village somewhere near the sea. It's a pleasure *whispers* except for what just happened *stops whisper* to meet you", he grabs her hand and kisses it in a true gentleman style. Palnette retracts her hand: "Ah Bilas, you don't have to that really", her face shows a bit of embarrassment, "No no no... I was told that's how you greet ladies"-said Bilas. Shaks gets his turn: "And I'm Shaks, the best archer of the merfolk's village", "Booo... You're lying!"-said Zigga in the background, "Hey!"-Shaks turns to Zigga, Palnette giggles, Shaks then speaks again: "Alright, MAYBE not the best, but I'm great nonetheless. Great to see you", Palnette replied: "It's great to see you, too". Palnette and the trio continue walking down the town's streets "So what do you guys want to do here in our town. There's a lot of things here!"
"Ah yea, maybe there's some good food here?"-Zigga thinks of food first, as usual. Seeing so, Bilas instantly gives a smack into Zigga's head: "It's been minutes and you already think of food! Didn't you had breakfast this morning?", Zigga replied: "Yeah..., but what if there's actually good stuff here, you never know...". Palnette laughs again, but she soon notices Shaks, he's probably wondering something. Palnette asks him: "Oh, Shaks. What are you thinking about?", Shaks soon replied: "Since I've arrived, I've been wondering. How did lights get down? Like, it actually feels like we're in the jungle above right now.". Bilas also notices this: "Hmm, you're right. How did lights get down here? It feels so... natural. Minutes ago, we were traveling in dark caverns within the jungle, and now, it feels like we're in a completely new area". Everyone in the conversation looks up: "Ah, I think I know why"-Palnette responds: "Our first leader used a type of vine that has a symbiotic relationship with our jungle's tree: Rich Mahogany trees. These vines help the trees that can't reach sunlight by connecting themselves to bigger trees and borrow the sun's magical properties. Though it isn't as effective as normal sunlight, it is the least the trees can get. In return, the trees will give back the vines the other necessary things that the vines can't get. Interestingly, these vines can reach the roots of the trees and continuously go down into the caverns if they were nicely taken care of. They would still shine down here, thanks to the first leader.". After hearing Palnette explanation, Shaks can't help but be amazed, Bilas is also impressed: "Interesting, the dryads are really good at plants, I see...". Zigga returns to the group with skewed fish on his hands and simply said: "Uh huh...... What are you guys talking about?". Bilas turns to Zigga and sees him with his food: "What the...? Didn't I tell you not to buy things?!". In Bilas's anger, Zigga responds naturally: "C'mon dude, they had skewed piranhas, you know how much I hate them? This is what you get, cursed fishes!... But honestly, they taste quite good. Maybe I shouldn't hate them as much...". Bilas sighs in disappointment, "I'm tired of you now, Zigga... Hey Miss!"-Bilas speaks to Palnette, she asks: "Huh, umm... What can I do for you?". Bilas took a moment to thinks: "I reckon if the dryads have been creating a society like this in different areas, wouldn't there be researchers and stuff, you know...", "Well, actually. I'm not really good at these but... Yes. There were many researchers and scientists who wish to create more advanced technologies. I think some of their researches are available at the library". Bilas nods and slowly walks away from the group: "I see... Well then, I'm rather fond of reading so don't mind me. I'll head to somewhere quiet now", "Eh? You're staying with us?"-Shaks asks, "Nah, you guys do whatever you want, I'm off". Zigga just looks blandly into the leaving Bilas: "Welp, he's off, as usual..."-ZIgga naturally takes another bite. Shaks continue to ask Zigga: "Soooo... What're you gonna do?", Zigga answers with his mouth, still chewing the food: "Huh... I'm not sure, haven't thought this far". Shaks becomes quite concerned about Zigga: "Erm... maybe you should start with putting those skews down", "Hey! Not you too... At least let me finished". Shaks stands there, thinking about what he should do next. He then thought of an idea: "Hey! How about this...", Palnette asks Shaks: "Oh, what do you need?", "I'm an archer, and dryads live in the jungle. Wouldn't that mean I'd want dryad's help at archery?". "Umm... we do hunt, but usually we'll try not to disturb other factions in the jungle"-it's quite understandable, dryads wished peace for the jungle in the past, they've made peace for lots of places before. Shaks asks Palnette again: "So, there would be firing ranges, right?", "Naturally"-Palnette smiles as she clearly understands what Shaks want. "YES!"-Shaks screams in joy, he can't resist the chance to finally meet the best hunters of the forest: "So, can I go there?". Palnette looks into his glittering eyes, she nods and smiles: "Of course! Feel free to! We'd always train our people the ways of archery. That's what the dryads do best!". Shaks quietly celebrates: "let's go!", Palnette then leads the way: "Alright, if you want to, I can show where it is". Shaks instantly answers: "Yes, please!", Palnette looks at Shaks happily. Zigga still got left behind, he starts becoming confused: "Hey, hold it! What am I going to do?", "Umm... I don't know. Knowing you, you'll probably end up in another food stall"-Shaks answers. "Welp, I guess you're right. Have fun, then", "OK, I will". Everyone leaves, each of them enjoys themselves in different ways. Bilas takes a stroll in the library with interesting books, Shaks continues to improve his archery skills with the help of the dryads, Zigga...well, he doesn't do much, just being his usual self in the dryad's town.
Within the chamber of books and shelves that is the library where Bilas is currently exploring, he is very amazed at how big it is. Dryads still dedicate their work and research to their descendants without the need to resurfacing the lands throughout the decades. He soon finds himself interested in their weaponry. Biological weapons, powerful spells, great contraptions, etc. All of them have been used within the dryads last war, which justifies and created a peaceful Terraria. (The Titan War...? Interesting...)-curious about this period of time in Terraria history, Bilas walks toward the library's history section. (There should be something about it here...)-he always believes that everything deserves a book of his own, that's why his first thought is going to find a book of sorts, or at least, a document writing about it. While looking through the books on the shelves, he turns to his right and saw a man, seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Bilas got scared right off and got loud: "Wh-What the!-"-in the middle of his gasp, the unknown man silences him: "Sshh! Quiet in the library!"-he speaks quietly. Bilas exhales in relief and takes back his cool: "*coughs* Sorry, I didn't hear you coming. Heh... And here I am, a ninja who was supposed to be silent...". The man gently laughs: "It's quite understandable, we ARE in a library. That is the sacred silence of it". Bilas then asks: "Umm, can I ask... Who exactly are you?". The dryad introduces himself: "You only need to know that I'm the librarian of this holy palace" at one glance, Bilas can see a noble person, dress in a very gorgeous-looking set of clothing and a pair of glasses, which suits his profession. Whenever he meets these kinds of people, Bilas wouldn't like their speaking too much, though it seems this librarian is more humble and friendly, yet serious. Bilas thinks to himself "(Hegh... I wouldn't say it's a palace...) My name is Bilas, Truffle and Shinobi"-Bilas responds. "Ah yes, everytime I went to a truffle village, I wouldn't notice you guys in the vast field of mushrooms. I guess shinobi does fit you truffles"-The librarian makes a joke about Bilas and the truffles, Bilas facepalms and nods while thinks to himself: (Of course... Everyone I met must have some form of jokes about truffles, like "It can talk?!" or something, meh... Oh! Maybe I can ask him!)-Bilas thought of an idea: "Ah, so if you're a librarian, I guess you might know what I'm looking for. Can you help me?", the librarian formerly speaks back: "Of course! I haven't seen many interested in history these days. It's a pleasure to help you!"-talk about an overtop way of speaking, but Bilas continues to use his help: "Err... Anyway! I want to understand this event called 'The Titan War'. Do your library happens to have any documents regarding it?". The librarian adjusts his glasses, he seems to get more serious than before: "Ah yes, 'that' event. Heh... it's a wonderful story and a brutal war at the same time, a battle between a man's greed and his army and allies of justice, sought to protect the entirety of Terraria...", "...It's also the last moments of the dryad race... or at least that's what they want us to think". The librarian looks back at Bilas and lets out a smile of impression: "Hmm, you sure do keep an eye out for details in your reading. Fortunately, there are a few books which do write details about this battle..."-the librarian uses his elbow to bash into a shelf accurately, by doing so, a book fell and the librarian catches it, (Wow, that was... surprisingly impressive!). "Actually, this tale has been told back to me several times by my dad, it was truly a story and a half, I must say. Maybe I can retell it to you instead". "I won't mind, it's a bit refreshing actually. I haven't been told a story, cause' I'd mostly use books to treat myself anyway"-said Bilas. "I see..., we do have something in common"-speaks the librarian, then he clears up his throat: "Now pay close attention as I'm about to tell you the greatest battle in history":
"Long long ago, Terraria has been in the darkest era. Wars begin with countries that want money and powers more than ever. They invade lands, terrorize innocent citizens. Many wished to ends this act by standing up against the kingdoms, they demand freedom and peace. Though some may have gotten themselves out of their hell holes, others only deepen further in the abyss of despair. In North Terraria, some kingdoms have planned to help with revolutions of the citizens and workers, so they decided to create the League of Freedom, dedicated to freeing all of the people in need. Revolutions began to increase, everything looks very positive for the league. Meanwhile, South Terraria's situation seems to be better. Many countries stop wars for others and create peace for everyone at any level of society. Then one of them thought of an idea. The largest kingdoms: Imperium of Achlast, started a festival. Its goal was supposed to end the wars between kingdoms and share each other's technologies and improve them so that each kingdom can grow and put an end to this hell of conflicts. Every country loves this idea and many joined the great festivals, unbeknown to them, everything only gets worse from here. It was a great trap set by the Emperor, they can obtain arsenals of powerful weapons and technology while capturing most of South Terraria kingdoms, effectively killing two birds with one stone. Even more so, with his advanced military, he can easily ambush all of them. Everything was going to plan and everyone has fallen for the clever trap. Within a short amount of time, The Imperium of Achlast has become the most powerful country of Southern- No, the most powerful country of the entirety of Terraria. They call themselves "The Emperor of Terraria". The country's greed for power has never stopped, it wants everything, it wants to conquer the whole world"
"Of course, North Terraria is going to face this horrendous kingdom if they want to protect themselves. Suddenly, wars in the North start to dim down. Many begin to negotiate peace and offer the League of Freedom a chance to fight against this dictator. The league understands that there's only one way to achieve peace for all, they gonna have to fight for it! They quickly use their strength to free several countries that failed to realize the current situation and convince more people to join their league. Soon, they changed their name to: "The United Northern Terraria". The stakes are high, a classic battle between good and evil, North versus South"-the two start moving to a table at the entrance of the library as the librarian continues the story. Bilas finds himself interested in this showdown of the century, he raises a question: "It certainly seems like a big war, huh... But where are the dryads?". "Ah yes... The Dryad Race vow to protect the jungle from dangers. But the Emperor has become an enemy of the dryads, he and his Imperium inhumanly destroyed the forests and uses its power to fight against the North. Us dryads decided to fight alongside the League of Northern Terraria and try to stop the menace that is the self-called "Emperor of Terraria". The battle isn't just large armies jumping into the battlefield, it has become so large that both sides decided to use the most powerful units: Titans"
"Colossal monsters, Dragons, Giant warriors start to appear on the battlefield. Hence the name "Titan Wars". Unfortunately, our armies aren't as powerful as the Emperor's, so they have to strategically attack the enemy's base and disable the most powerful units that the Emperor has. This operation is one of the largest of its kind, they have to go in and destroy everything the Emperor has in order to lower the amount of enemy we're going to face on the battlefield. But, the mission is hard and extremely risky. In fact, even if this operation is a success, it will result in a great loss of soldiers. Despite being so, the dryads volunteered to be the ones to do it..."-the librarian pause for a moment, and Bilas questions him again: "So they took it?". "Yes... Yes, they did. Since then, the dryads have been known as a fallen race, a fairytale... they said. But the leader of the dryads wants to preserve some of us and marks the race as dead in order for us to have peace once again. The head of the league understands us and kept this a secret, everyone, not even the leaders of the United Northern Terraria, thought that this is the end of dryads. The mission was a success, our side has gained an advantage over the South... but at what cost...?"-the librarian starts to feel down and so, Bilas is satisfied with the answers: "Thank you... for enlightening me", the librarian grips tightly on the book he's holding and said: "No problem, it was truly beautiful to see what we've done for the peace of the world, isn't it?"-Bilas looks at the slightly sad librarian and responds: "Yes, and you should feel proud"-hearing Bilas's words, the librarian looks back at the truffle ninja as continues his sentence: "Your race has poured blood, sweat, and tears into protecting everyone from the danger, didn't they? What they've done is absolutely magnificent, so shouldn't you feel proud and happy about it?". "Heh... I guess you're right"-the librarian silently speaks and caught Bilas's attention: "What did you say?". The librarian instantly changes back to his fancy talking version: "Nothing of your interest. Now I'm sure you'll be interested in the rest of the saga so why don't you bring this book back home?"-he then throws the book into Bilas for him to catch and walks away. (Huh... rude!)-Bilas catches the document writing many events in the Titan Wars and looks back at the librarian as he responds: "That'll be 2 gold, by the way"-Bilas got jumped by the price of his book. "Now, I hope you enjoy today's history lesson, Mr. Bilas"-but of course, Bilas does owe him this time: "Once again, I cannot thank you enough for this offer. To hear such an amazing story from the local himself"-the librarian turns back to Bilas: "No need to thank me. It has been a long time since I've told a story to others. But now I have work to do, so excuse me". Bilas stands still and looks into the book which holds dryad's last and glorious moments. Then he suddenly remembered that he needs to buy the previous books: "Oh wait! I need the others"-so he rushed to the last sections. As soon as he begins running, the librarian instantly gets mad at him: "Hey! No running in the library!". Bilas stops immediately and turns back to the angry librarian: "Ehehe, sorry! Ninja's habit!".
After hearing the story of dryad's past, Bilas walks out of the library. The seemingly giant labyrinth of books and paper got shrink back to a normal entrance of a shop. He got himself some decent researches in case he needed to expand his arsenal. Up until then, he just jogs around, expecting to spot either Shaks or Zigga. When he walks through some sort of playground, he saw Zigga playing with the children. Zigga is doing the tricks he learned to the kids, and all of them was amazed by what he's doing. Suddenly, a boy asks Zigga with your typical child's voice: "Can you do that bubble thing again?", "Ah, but didn't you already saw it?". The others also speak up: "Can you show it again, pleaaaase?" and Zigga got convinced: "Oh, alright then! Look closely, cause' I won't do it again!". Zigga blows a bubble out of his mouth and then asks: "So, does anyone has something for me to use again?", then a girl walks up and hands him a fairly large wooden cup: "Why don't you use this? I already drank the juice inside of it". Zigga zoned-out and thinks (Eh? Wooden cup...? This place is weird...), but then he snaps himself and ignores it. He shrugs and said: "Meh, whatever". Zigga proceeds to do the trick, he carefully puts the cup into the bubble and tells everyone: "Alright, stay away, kids!". Everyone backs off, including himself. Zigga concentrates, and then he snaps his finger. In an instant, the cup explodes, but instead of blowing into pieces, it deformed into a disk instead. The wooden disk landed on the ground and all of the kids screams: "WOAH!", another boy picks the disk up and said: "Hey! Let's play with this cool new disk!" and the others also joined the game. When all of the kids run off, Bilas approaches Zigga: "Playing with the kids again?", Zigga responds cheerfully: "Man, the kids love me here! Ya see what I just did?". Bilas calmly responds: "Yes, I did... And I must say, Zigga, that you have some nice stuff that you can do. Maybe you should use 'em in actual battle?", "What? You haven't seen what I can do with those tricks? It's not for entertainment purposes only, ya know?!", "Ah yes...! We'll see...". Zigga then asks Bilas: "By the way, have you seen Shaks around?", "No, I haven't. I was about to ask, too". Suddenly, Shaks appeared out of nowhere, flying towards the two by swinging a hook to the nearest tree. A girl playing with the children points at the flying Shaks: "Look, someone's flying!", the whole group turns to him and shouts: "WOOOOAH!" one of the kids said: "Is that a monkey?". Hearing the kids, Zigga and Bilas look at an airborne Shaks. While flying, he shouts at the two: "Looking for me?"-but then he starts to fail at the landing. He facepalms into the ground near Zigga and Bilas and comically gives a thumbs up while his face is still buried in the ground. Bilas ironically says: "Having fun?", Shaks hops up and rudely says back: "Shut up!"-and he points at himself: "I'm a better archer than before now... I think. Did you see what I just did?", at which Zigga jests at him: "Yeah, you was swinging... like a monkey in the zoo we went to last week. Actually, I take that back, you're better than a monkey!". Shaks gets mad at Zigga, he climbs on the buff Terrarian and pulls him down: "I'm a merfolk! Not a monkey! Stop joking!". Meanwhile, the beautiful Palnette walks into the playground Shaks just flew at: "Done messing around yet?"-her voice draws the three's attention. She gloriously approaches our heroes, Bilas goes into his thinking pose: "Man, why is it that every time she appears, it looks so wonderful!?". Shaks gets off Zigga's back in the amaze of Palnette sudden appearance, she approaches Shaks and warns him: "Please, not all archers can exactly use that perk without injuries, you know? If you're not careful, you might not be alive right now", Shaks scratches his head and talks a bit nervously: "A-Ah, I'll remember what you said". Bilas comments on Shaks's performance: "You look like some kid who just got his hands on a new toy", and Shaks feels down: "E-Eh, I wonder what he might have got for you to compare him with me..."-but then he snaps back: "Um, anyway. Leaving my pathetic swinging action asides. I'll be sure to use this new arrow carefully, so you needn't be concern, Miss Palnette".
"What is this thing anyway?"-Bilas asks Shaks with his newfound arrow, the merfolk archer answers: "This is a hook arrow! It's a useful way to move around if you're in a sticky situation" "Wouldn't a normal hook works the same? I mean, I'm a ninja, and a classic "chains and hook" will work just fine". "Fehehe"-Shaks laughs in a slightly arrogant way: "That's where you're wrong. These arrows are faster than hooks. It's like a dash for archers! Plus, it's reuseable". "Sounds good! We won't have to pull you out of danger anymore"-Zigga speaks, then he soon noticed the books Bilas is holding: "By the way, what do you have there, Bilas?". "Huh? This?"-Bilas hides away the book in his small backpack: "It's nothing, at least, for now. It will come in handy later on. You'll see...". Zigga feels a bit jealous: "Come on now! You guys always have the cool new things"-he expresses a great dissatisfaction. "Hey now we're all here..."-the three turns to Palnette, "...Why don't we continue explore the town?"-the dryad leader says. "Ah! Good idea! You guys will love this place!"-said Shaks with excitement all over his face, he quickly takes off: "Let's go, Ms. Palnette!". "Hey, wait a minute!"-Palnette follows him, "I don't see why not? Let's go, Bilas"-Zigga runs after them, Bilas shrugs and walks to the group.
The four of them walks around the village and visits many places, they meet the creatures in the town, talk with the locals, etc. It was like an entire new world, forgein to them. One time, Zigga tries to touch a spiky jungle slime, and the others freak out. They went to a shop and found cool new weapons, Zigga tries on the beetle armor and shows off Bilas. The shinobi is quick to pull out the price tag that shows how expensive the thing is, Zigga feels sad immediately after. Meanwhile, Palnette shows Shaks some of the equipment and traps that dryads usually uses, and Shaks seems interested in it.