"I sense the stench of undeath indeed. But it seems there's something more to it than just undead. I sense . . . a myriad of elemental energies in this area too. Has the corruption of undeath reached the elements? The relic must be here, and it must be strong, to rouse such energies I sense in the area." Sir Hiro said. Sir Isaac didn't like the sound of that, undead combined with the elements. He remembered one particular undead like that real well, a zombie covered with ice crystals. When Sir Isaac struck it down, it blew up in his face. And unfortunately, Sir Isaac could feel a chill of cold coming from the darkness that didn't feel natural.

"Well, no need to worry. As long as we're still in the light, the monsters shouldn't bother us yet." Sir Isaac says, looking at the sky. There was still some daylight left, though the sun itself was blocked out completely by the mountain. But the sky was still light enough that they should be…

Sir Isaac's thought process was frozen in place just as quickly as the ground around them as a gust carrying snowflakes comes out of the tunnels. The condensation on the walls froze and turned more light blue in a quick wave, almost as if some unseen entity encroached upon them. But it wasn't. No, their welcoming committee was certainly not hard to notice. Its sheer size and abominable appearance made sure of that. The very ground shook as it approached them, and the air around them grew only more frigid. The monster was great, lumbering over them and displaying a lot of power. Shielded by frost and stone, wielding talons of nightmares and controlling great vile magic, this creature was certainly not the kind of undead that Sir Isaac had faced before.

"Oh my, that thing is certainly not your average skeleton."

"An Earthen Ice Bone . . . Golem Skeleton . . . thing. Yeah, I don't know what the hell this thing is. But it's controlling ice . . . and earth." Sir Hiro said. Sir Isaac looks agast at the magical destruction that it hurled their way, and then in awe at the magical fire that Sir Hiro retaliated with after dodging. Was this the magical swordfighting he had heard about? It was even more impressive than he imagined. 

"He canceled out my flames! We're probably going to need your holy light to work together with my flames to stop this thing." Sir Hiro said, looking over at Sir Isaac.

"Yes, quite right. We should try to lure it out of the tunnels first, get it into the open. With such a size and disproportionate body, we no doubt have the advantage of maneuverability and agility over it. And we'll be able to attack it from the side. Right now it can defend itself from the both of us at once, an easy feat in such a confined area when it has these area of effect attacks." Sir Isaac says, backing away from the tunnel entrance. He quickly turns his moustache light back on and flashes it at the undead monstrosity, who seems perturbed by the light but not particularly bothered or blinded.

"Alright then, we have to take this thing down. If you can melt or crumble his inorganic shell and expose the blighted remains, I can strike it down. The skull would be best, but my holy magic should be able to destroy it by striking any part of its original body."

Sir Isaac looks at his sword and holds it horizontally with one hand, placing two fingers of his other on the hilt and slowly moving them towards the tip while mumbling something. His eyes widen and his body grows distant, as if his mind was no longer on the mountain slope. "With the wisdom of the keeper and the absence of the Nightfall king, may I succeed. Lokir, grant me strength. Naota, guide me through the darkness. Shiloh, favour me over my enemies. Zanar, let me be the hunter and not the hunted. Dalanesca, let me return to you a lost one of your flock. Lady Rose, aid me against this atrocity against life. Gods, guide me and bless me in my hour of need."

Sir Isaac's prayer reaches its end when his fingers reach the very tip of his blade, which now glows with a warm yellow light. [consecrate weapon] Shaking off the strange sensation of dreaming while awake and acting without being aware of his own actions, Sir Isaac returns to his senses and sees that he succeeded to summon forth his magic. With a big smile he quickly takes his stance, readying the glowing blade to be used upon the vile monster.

Hiro listened to SIr Isaac's plan.  Lure the undead elemental out into the opening, then focus on breaking the enemy's ice and earthen shell, so that Sir Isaac's light magic would have a chance of destroying the abomination.  The plan was solid, it would work, at least in Hiro's mind.  Hiro looked around the ruins, and spotted a large stone pillar, maybe 8 feet tall.  It was once part of a larger building of some sort far in the past.  This would do nicely.

"All right, sounds like a plan.  Just get your spell ready while I'm wearing him down, so we can defeat this bastard."  Hiro was confident they could defeat this monster.  He'd fought tougher monsters than this thing, and emerged victorious, this Corrupted Elemental would crumble like the rest of the enemies he'd faced.  Hiro focused on the plan, pointing the palm of his left hand at the enemy and letting the flames erupt, sending several searing fireballs flying at the Corrupted Elemental's face.  The flames exploded against it, sending melting shards of water-ice and rock flying.  "Come get me, ya overgrown dirty Popsicle!"  The Elemental let loose a furious shriek, waves of coldness reverberating through the air through the mere act of screaming.  Hiro braced himself and continued to pellet the monster with fire, It wasn't getting a chance to launch any large ice or rock attacks at him, as it was forced to shield itself from Hiro's attacks.  It charged at the Phoenix Knight moving into the open, out from the confines of the ruins it emerged from.  Hiro continued to pester it with fireballs launched from his hand.  The Corrupted Elemental shielded itself with its frozen, rocky arm, sending bits of debris flying as they exploded against it, it continued to charge at Hiro, picking up speed.  It was going to slam right through Hiro, if it kept up this pace.

"Toro!  Toro!"  Hiro waved his crimson cloak, further taunting and retreating from the Corrupted Elemental.  He was leading it toward a large crumbling pillar that stood tall against the rest of the ruins.  The Elemental charged straight toward the Phoenix Knight as if it were a bull, angered by his constant pestering fireballs.  Hiro stood still at last, in front of the pillar as the Elemental approached him at a full tilt charge.  "Olé!"  Hiro flung his cloak as his whole body suddenly erupted into flame, setting the cloak on fire.  The Elemental charged straight through the flames and slammed into the pillar sending the pillar crumbling and toppling over on top of the undead fiend, sending stone, rock, and ice flying everywhere..  Did Hiro just sacrifice himself into a blast of flame?

The burning cloak fluttered toward the ground, it appeared to be composed of a red cloth with fiery phoenix feathers that absorbed all the heat that Hiro was emitting.  Flames erupted from the cloak, and Hiro's body took form from those flames, grabbing the cloak from the air, placing the cloak back on his shoulders in a sweeping gesture, then drawing his blade. the fiery Phoenix Blade of Wildfire, in a flash of intense conflagration.  His flames cut through the air and the unnatural cold that the Elemental radiated.

"Meteor Strike!"  A huge ball of flame erupted from Hiro's blade, incredible, blinding flames surged forth, sending a fiery wave of intense destruction toward the fallen Corrupted Elemental, which was struggling to get up.  The Meteor Strike exploded against the rock and ice covering its body, sending debris, smoke, and moisture everywhere.  Steam filled the air.  Hiro breathed heavily, from the sudden exertion of his power.  He could sense the Undead Corrupted Elemental was still "living" (or unliving, given it wasn't really alive to begin with).  It started to emerge from the rubble, all that was left was a shattered, cracking skeleton, but it was trying to reform its body.  Moisture was trying to attach to the skeleton's body, and to freeze onto it once more, though it struggled with the amount of fire and heat in the air.

"Now!"  This was the time to hit the monster with Sir Isaac's light.  This would finish him off.

Sir Isaac regains awareness after using his magic to bless his sword, and sees Sir Hiro draw the skeleton out. A dashing success from his young colleague, who easily taunted the skeleton to charge at him wildly. Though that exposed some new problems for Sir Isaac to be wary of. It seemed like he had to be extra careful, considering the uncanny intelligence that the skeleton showed. Any normal undead creature wouldn't block attacks, nor show any sign of rage. They would've just walked through the blasts while attacking their prey right back. It showed what a skilled and cunning warrior Sir Hiro was, for he only took advantage out of what would usually add to the already great challenge. They would have to be careful though, because they didn't know just how smart and cunning the elemental skeleton was. It might just as well turn the tides, or lull them into a false sense of security.

Sir Hiro lured the undead being into a column and sent it tumbling down, crushing the creature underneath. With an amazing display of power, Sir Hiro turned the column and the skeleton into an inferno. Sir Isaac almost stopped running towards them, both taken aback at the amazing destruction and with the thought that such raw power would've already destroyed their foe entirely. He only slows down a bit though, before regaining his charge. Whether they had already won or not, he'd be there just in case he was needed.

His thoughts weren't wrong, for Sir Hiro's expression made it clear that the monster had yet to be felled. Bits and pieces of the skeleton were reforming, the base form still intact and trying to get up. It didn't look like much in this state, barely as powerful and scary as a regular skeleton, but they both knew that it wouldn't remain as such for long. Sir Isaac quickly strikes the pitiful form, slashing through the ice and bone with ease. The skeleton shrieks and falls apart.

The skull falls to the ground and shatters into a few pieces, with a few fingerbones rolling and tumbling down the small hills while causing some rattling. Quickly, Sir Isaac turns around. He looks in every direction, trying to find whatever kind of enemy he was looking for here. But he saw nothing. But he felt it. He was certain of it. Trying to remain aware of his surroundings, he quickly glances at the ground and steps on a shard of the skeleton's bone. Just as he thought, for he knew how bone felt when slicing through it with his sword. And this was not bone, but clay.

The skeleton was a fake, a clever way to create a weak spot that wasn't actually a weak spot. Something that would've definately gotten Sir Isaac killed, had he come here all alone. He would've focussed on getting to the skeleton somehow, bashing away at the hull until he could reach it. Even if he would've found a way to do that, which he probably wouldn't have, it would've taken so much of his stamina that he would've been done for by the time the truth would've been revealed.

"Sir Hiro, don't you find it strange that an undead elemental would have a skeleton? A corrupted elemental spirit would need no such mortal remains. Or any remains for that matter, as it is an incorporeal being. One that could reform itself from any earthen object around us." Sir Isaac glances around nervously, expecting every rock or house to suddenly turn into their enemy. "Or a being of ice, though I see no source for that around here. Though it is strange that it could form from both, no elemental should be capable of such a trick. For all we know, it might be capable of amassing as a third element altogether, like-"

Sir Isaac swirls around and strikes, alerted only by the sudden flickering of the fires around them. If it weren't for the difference in air pressure and oxygen that the creature's charge caused, it might've killed them both before they even knew what attacked them. Sir Isaac's glowing sword carves through the darkness without any effect, until it hits something thicker by complete chance. An unearthly scream reacts to the attack, quickly retreating back to where it was hiding just moments ago.

Sir Isaac looks at the ash cloud that had been hanging over them, completely inconspicious despite seeming a bit unnatural upon closer look. This time it didn't pretend, instead the clouds got denser and the smoke columns from the various fires that Sir Hiro caused were all being pulled in and absorbed by the dark cloud. Two red eyes peer at them, and the cloud seems to brim with elemental fire. Elemental fire, and a lethal air of carbon monoxide poisoning.

"I hope you know some other tricks than pyromancy, Sir Hiro, because I think it just made itself immune to fire." Sir Isaac says as he prepares to fight their opponent in its new and even more dangerous form.

{Slight R rating warning here for grossness here}

The Corrupted Elemental was struck by the sacred light bathed sword, shrieked, and collapsed into pieces.  Was that thing truly defeated?  Sir Isaac did have a point, there was no  source of ice here, yet this thing was composed of frozen water and earth.  "You're right, there was no ice here, but that thing existed.  It seems we're not out of this mess yet.  It could have other elements at its control."

The Moustache Knight struck with his sword, carving through the air, though hitting nothing.  However, there was a shriek so it did have an effect on . . . something.  That something was the Corrupted Elemental, which was not dead yet.  The air started to get denser, and much hotter, as it started to gain power through the flames that Hiro had created.  A cloud of ash and heat formed, quickly engulfing the two heroes in blinding darkness.  The heat did not affect Hiro as much as it would affect Sir Isaac, but it was getting hard to breathe for the two of them.  Hiro started coughing and hacking.

"It's . . . some poison gas and flame!  It's going to . . . try and . . . suffocate us and burn us!"  Hiro looked around, they were still out in the open, but the cloud was still fixated around them.  Sheathing his blade, it would be no use to swing it at this Corrupted Elemental, it was some kind of Guardian for this treasure, Hiro was beginning to believe.  He quickly pushed Sir Isaac out of the way with some force, he needed to get him to safety.  He'd began to learn how to control other elements, but he couldn't freeze this Elemental made of flame and air, but it gave Hiro a dangerous idea.  It was quite a risk, but it might work.

Hiro started to take a deep breath, breathing in the flame, breathing in the toxins in the air.  His mouth felt hot and dry, it burned his lungs, and made his eyes water.  He felt sick to his stomach, and if he didn't use his focus, he could pass out or worse.  Hiro's chest ballooned out as he held everything inside of him.  Then he worked his magic.

There was heat inside the air, there was ash, solid bits of particles in the air as well.  He had just inhaled all of it.  If he could compress the ash, drain the heat from it into his Elemental body, then release it, mixing it with water from his body . . .

Hiro held up his index finger on one hand toward Isaac, as if to say: "One moment."  Hiro's body started to glow with a fiery heat, he was racked with pain, but stuck with it.  He dropped to his knees and kept his focus.  He wretched over, releasing a dark gray murky mud-like substance from his mouth.  It had the ashen substance within it that he had inhaled before.  He gasped and panted as soon as he had finished, wiped his mouth on his armored sleeve, and dropped down onto his side, gasping for breath.  He was clearly in pain, and his lips were dry and chapped.

"W-water," Hiro mouthed, unable to bring the words to leave his lips.  He could probably pass out here if it weren't unsafe to do so.

As Sir Hiro sheathes his blade, Sir Isaac keeps his ready and tries to focus on the light to do something. Perhaps he could make it shine brighter, shine as far as this gaseous elemental was big? If the holy light could hurt it, such an extending of his power might fend it off. It was a long shot, but it-

An armoured glove suddenly shoves him, an assault so shift and unexpected that Sir Isaac couldn't counter-attack. Which was probably for the best, because the one who shoved him was Sir Hiro. Pushing Sir Isaac out of the clouds in a manner similar to how Sir Isaac would've kept a commoner out of harm's way, Sir Hiro sacrificed some of his precious time and energy to save him.

As he falls out of the clouds and onto the ground, Sir Isaac feels the strength drain from him. Was he truly that much weaker than Sir Hiro? Was the difference between them so great that he was a liability? Yes, Sir Isaac probably would have lost against the elemental's first form, and he knew not if he could actually do anything with the relic that they were trying to retrieve. But to think that he could be that outclassed by someone so much younger than him, that there were people so much stronger than him. It made the realisation that he'd never attain such heights all too true. 

Sir Isaac scrambles to get back up, so he could at least see what was going on and prevent being in the way again. As he did, he saw how Sir Hiro somehow sucked the elemental in and circumvented the problem of fighting an incorporeal fire-proof being. Such acts, such solutions, this was the second time that Sir Hiro had used eccentric ingenuity and raw, seemingly unfeasable power to solve a problem. There truly was a difference of sheer power and capability between them, one that Sir Isaac could never hope to bridge. No, he was just a knight who swung around a sword and considered himself a hero for smiting some humans and other simple beings. Just a commoner, when compared to a legend.

With the strength and enthusiasm drained from him, Sir Isaac gets back on his feet. He notices that he feels hot, remnants of the elemental's heat. Sir Isaac instinctively twirls his moustache, feeling that it was still unblemished. He then pats the cinders from his hair until it no longer burns and smolders, and pats the ash from his armour. What did it matter, though? An armour could shine like a second sun, but it wouldn't make up for the buffoon inside.

Downthrodden, Sir Isaac slumps to the keeled over Sir Hiro. The hero puked to expel the ash-like remnants of the elemental, and clearly struggled to resist the remnants of the poison and sickness that it left. Not surprising, he had to defeat this thing almost singlehandedly. Sir Isaac had helped maybe by preventing the elemental's surprise attack, but that had been little more than a reflex combined with sheer luck.

Sir Isaac takes a vial of green viscous liquid from his backpack and hands it to Sir Hiro, not yet handing the waterskin that he was holding in his other hand. "Drink this first. It's a basic antidote, meant to help against basic poisoning effects. Basically just some cleansing herbs and charcoal in water, but it should help a bit. Diluting the stuff left in your system with water and allowing it to be rinsed from your throat into your stomach might only make things worse."

After giving Sir Hiro the antidote and the waterskin, Sir Isaac takes a different vial and pours it over the puke stain. He didn't know if holy water would do much here, or if the creature needed any more dealing with to begin with, but he might as well try. There was no need to be an incompetent bystander. The water caused a small bit of white smoke to well up, probably burning the remnant bits of necromancy that this elemental had been tainted with. But this was clearly not necromancy that they had faced, but elemental fury.

"You seem like you could use a rest after having to face all this. Have your body get that filth out of your lungs and restore its balance. I'll stand guard. Don't worry, even I can keep my eyes open for enemies that can only come from one side, and wake you up once something approaches." Sir Isaac says, sitting down on a weathered rock that was once part of a grand building. He stares at the gaping maul of the Ancense tunnels, appearing almost as worn out as Sir Hiro for completely different reasons.

…

"Earth and ice. Fire and air. A creature that could adapt to the element you wield, and which is completely immune to physical attacks." Sir Isaac says to himself, not sure whether Sir Hiro was awake to hear him nor really having a care for it. "A creature that would've been unbeatable to a knight who only wields one of the elements, for it could transform to become immune to all their tricks. They would need to master at least two elements before they could face it, perhaps even all of them. Face it, Isaac, that speaks volumes of how far out of your comfort zone you are. You don't belong here yet, not when you're only scratching at the basics of magic. Not when you can barely even use one element."

Sir Isaac looks at Sir Hiro, who had faced and bested the elemental immune to his fire by using air and water magic. This had been a worthy and developing experience for him, a test to take him out of his comfort zone and see if he could truly wield more than just one element. This was a challenge meant for a legend like him. This was a challenge for a full-fledged magical knight. And Sir Isaac had been there too, to hand the legend a waterskin after everything was said and done.

Sir Isaac sighs. He would help Sir Hiro by watching over him as he rested, but he would only be a liability further in. This elemental probably reacted to the key approaching, and there was no telling how many more tests like that there were. Other threats where his presence would just inconvenience Sir Hiro. It was in everyone's interest if he would learn his place and just leave this legacy of DaeLuin to its chosen one.

Hiro felt the cold sweat on his skin, there was some kind of toxic substance or power in that elemental he inhaled.  He got rid of the worst of it out by puking it out, but he still felt sick and horrible, weakened.  Luckily, Sir Isaac was there with antidote and water.  Hiro took the antidote, and drank it down as soon as he felt that he wasn't going to just puke it up.  The antidote was truly nasty tasting, but most potions usually weren't.  He waited some more, and started to feel better to his stomach, he then started to drink the water.

"Thank you, Sir Isaac, I'm in your debt, for this," Hiro said through a raspy voice.  "Yes, I'll be just a short time . . . I won't– I won't take long."  He laid down, and closed his eyes to rest.  Thankfuly, Sir Isaac stood guard for him as he rested to regain his strength.

He awoke to Isaac's voice, he was talking to himself, voicing his doubts about himself and his abilities, and how useful he would be, considering he couldn't use elemental magic.

"I don't know you have the potential to use the elements or not, but you can use holy magic.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses.  My strength is fire, and I'm working on the other three elements.  My weakness, I tend to go it alone too much, or take too many risks.  I came here alone, with the intention of taking the burden of finding this relic by myself.  I was lucky to find you, and to convince you to help me.  I probably would've died if it weren't for you.  You supported me, you warned me that we were about to be attacked, and you had that antidote that I didn't have.  You were here to help guard me while I rested.  If something else came while I was weakened, I wouldn't have had the strength to defend myself, had I even survived that encounter.  I took a terrible risk doing what I did, but it was the only thing I could think of, it was a test of my abilities, a trial by fire, as it were."  Hiro was grateful for the Moustache Knight being there to help him.

"If you have a party of adventurers, say a knight, a rogue, a wizard, and a cleric.  The knight acts as the bastion, he can fight off enemies like orcs or whatever, he's the vanguard.  The rogue can disarm the traps, attack enemies from behind while the knight holds them off.  The wizard can destroy enemies, but he does not lament is inability to fight with a sword.  He uses his magic to attack enemies while the rogue and the knight hold them off.  The cleric, he may lack many powerful abilities, but when everyone gets hurt, he can heal them, and buff the rest of his allies.  Everyone has a role to play.  I may have the ability to use elemental magic, I can use my sword, but I don't get healing magic, and I'm only one man.  Two can do what one may not.  You watch my back, and I'll watch yours.  It's teamwork.  It makes the dream work," he laughed at his last words.  "As corny as that sounds."  Hiro started to get up, it was getting dark, and it wouldn't safe to stay much longer, at least not without building a camp.  They barely even scratched the entrance of the place, and that had such difficulties with the first challenge.  "I'm feeling better, thank you, Sir Isaac, for guarding me, and aiding me."

Sir Isaac looks down at the small fire that he made, just in case Sir Hiro's slumber would last into the night. As much as it wouldn't keep the monsters that roamed the dark around here at bay, it was something at least. Something to do. And it hadn't been easy to find the right kind of lumber and leaves around here, the kind that didn't create a smoke column that would give their location away to everything in a ten mile radius.

As he stares into the fire, Sir Isaac contemplates the things that Sir Hiro said. It was true, no one kind of fighting style or technique was perfect, that's why there were so many diverse ways of combat. The only real all-round solution for more power was more numbers, as Sir Hiro had said. And perhaps this idea of a party that could cover each other's weaknesses with their strengths was the optimal way to use numbers. Sir Isaac had been adventuring alone for a long time, trying to figure out how to do it all by his lonesome. Trying to be the one and only hero.

"But it's always a lone knight who slays the mighty dragon in the stories." He says sullenly, almost like a pouting toddler.

No, it was true. Those stories were grand, but they weren't realistic. Just one knight wouldn't be able to defeat a great dragon, not even when they were noble like a prince. Fairy tales were just make believe. A dragon was really defeated by the ranger's arrows and mage's magic, while the lone knight focussed on blocking the fire with his shield.

One of the bones inside the campfire pops as the air trapped in the marrow expands violently enough to burst out. The fire flares up for a moment, only to then pretend like it never happened. Sir Isaac takes a severed arm from the pile and throws it onto the fire.

"Oh, and by the way, we probably shouldn't stay here for too long. It's been just a couple of zombies and skeletons thus far, and ghouls attracted to all this rotting meat." Sir Isaac says, nodding at the stack of corpses that had been piling up while Sir Hiro slept. "But there's no telling when something bigger and more troublesome is going to show. Or, you know, just a lot of these weak guys. The undead tend to do that. I fortunately didn't have to face more than four at a time, nothing I couldn't handle."

"Not that I'm trying to brag, these guys are far from a worthy foe for me, let alone you." Sir Isaac says, taking a burning stick from the campfire and placing it on the corpse pile. The flames slowly spread over all the dry flesh and torn clothes, soon to be consuming the whole chest-high pile.

"Anyhow, I believe we have a cave to spelunk." Sir Isaac says, turning on his moustache light. "You need not worry about light, I shall take care of that part. You conserve your energy for something that needs smiting. Oh, and before I forget."

Sir Isaac twirls his moustache and a dim green light appears from it, sticking to his fingers as he lets go. As he touches Sir Hiro with his glowing fingers, a sensation of life and health flows through the phoenix knight that takes away the remnants of the poison's damage. [heal] "There we go. Wouldn't want you to be anything short of feeling at the top of the world, now would we?"

Sir Isaac smiles, the solemn and depressed mood completely gone from his very demeanour and once again replaced with his former chivalrous cheer. With confident strides, he walks into the pitch black darkness of the Anscence tunnels.

"The key word there is 'stories.'  They are anything but.  Even my father had to rely on others in his adventures.  He met a diverse array of fellow warriors, enough to fill epic tomes of stories.  Each of those people had met many others, and so on."  It seemed to come around to SIr Isaac that he couldn't do everything himself, just like Hiro couldn't rely on only himself.  They would both have to find friends and allies to fight alongside to accomplish their goals and become legendary heroes.

Hiro looked around, seeing the fire that Isaac had built, and the pile of enemy corpses that had been collecting as Hiro rested.  There were skeletons and zombies in there, more than a couple.  Hiro gave a smirk, this man had been busy, and he wasn't too shabby himself.

"Yeah, let's get going.  You did good, Sir Isaac.  You have my humble thanks."  Hiro felt the warmth of the spell that was cast on him by the knight, a simple healing spell to dispel the remains of the poisons that had seeped into his body earlier.  He felt stronger already, and it seemed his companion had recovered from his funk, and returned to his normal upbeat, confident self.  Hiro traveled alongside Sir Isaac into the darkness of the chambers of the ruins.  He reached his hand outward and summoned a ball of ethereal flame that started to hover around Hiro, shedding light upon the normally dark chambers, as if they had traveled much further without a source of illumination, they'd be stumbling in the pitch darkness.  As they traveled further through the passage, it started to tilt downwards.  They were traveling deeper into the earth.  The angle that they traveled down started to get steeper and steeper.

"Starting not to like the look of this," Hiro said quietly, with caution in his voice.  He started to move forward more slowly.  The light of his flames had began to illuminate the darkness less and less, even though their intensity never withered.  It was as if something was impairing their light.  "Is this what you were talking about earlier, about flames not lighting the way in here?"  Hiro placed his hand on the nearest wall so he could feel the way better.  One step after another and . . .

Hiro let out a cry as he found himself tumbling into a dark pit.  It was as if the ground in front of them was completely gone.  He didn't know if Sir Isaac had fell too or not, but it seemed there was a sheer drop off that Hiro managed to wander into.  He tumbled for a good few moments helplessly, before he started channeling strengthening magic into his body, he hit the ground protecting himself by powering his limbs to protect himself from breaking any limbs, breaking his fall.  He felt a loud crunch as if he landed on something dry and brittle.  Illuminating another ball of flame in his hand, he looked about, seeing he'd fallen into a large pit filled with bones.  Humanoid bones.  There were human skulls and skeletons, as if this were a death trap designed to trap people down here.  People fell in here unprepared, either dying from the fall, or maybe never find their way out in the darkness.

"I'm okay!  I'm okay!  But whoever came before us was not so lucky.  Where are you, Sir Isaac?  Are you okay?  If you're still up there, do you have a rope, or maybe some spell to lower yourself down with?  Maybe I can catch you if you do not?"  Hiro looked about to see if there were any objects down there in the dark that would aid him, but it seemed the pit filled with human remains spanned on for some distance in all directions.  As if this place was maybe a burial ground, or a dumping ground for many, many people.  It was beginning to look less like an ancient ruin, and more like a necropolis, a city of the dead.  Hiro began to wonder if he was alone down here.  He began to feel some formidable evil energy surging from deep within the darkness of this pit.  From what, he was not sure.  "I do not think it is safe down here, but there was no other place to go, and I'm not alone down here!  There's something else here, somewhere, I can feel it!  Something evil and powerful!"

He could fell a powerful pressure bearing down on him.  The sound of crackling of bones approached him slowly.

"You're not wrong, boy.  You're not alone at all.  You have me to keep you company," said an unknown, feminine voice, laughter echoed around him.  A pair of crimson eyes could be seen in the darkness, a fair bit taller than Hiro himself.

"Hello?  Who's there?  Show yourself!  Friend or foe?"  Hiro looked about, seeing dark crimson flames illuminating the darkness just enough to give form of the feminine being that was approaching him.

She had a curvy, voluptuous figure, wearing pieces of twisted metal and unidentifiable bone to keep herself decent in the form of makeshift bikini armor.   She had dark, fiery wings sprouting from her back.  She had claws coming out of her hands, razor sharp, as well as talons coming out of her feet.  Her eyes, crimson red, burning with power.  She had a pair of horns sticking out from her head, along with long, long gray hair, and purplish skin.  A long tail with a sharp barb on the end went whipper-snap, smashing a a human skull into pieces.  She wore a sinister grin on her otherwise beautiful face.  Her teeth were long and sharp.

"They call me, Lilith, Demon of the Inferno.  Welcome to the Gates of Hell!  I do hope you two have come here to keep me company!  It has been far too long since I had playthings to occupy my time," she said with a laugh.  She burned with infernal power across her body.  She was strong, very strong.

"Shit.  Sir Isaac, I do hope you're here, I might need your help shortly!"  Hiro brought his hand to the hilt of his sword, the Blade of Wildfire, ready to draw it at any moment.

Sir Isaac cleared his throat nervously as the tunnel was getting steeper. No one had told him that there were going to be mild slopes. He didn't particularly like those, as his armour didn't really lend itself well for balance and the redistributing thereof. And metal boots didn't give much friction to prevent him from sliding. Sir Isaac reaches for the side of the tunnel for some grip as he slowly continued to follow Sir Hiro.

"Starting not to like the looks of this, is this what you were talking about earlier? About flames not lighting the way in here?" Sir Hiro asks up ahead. Sir Isaac quickly steels his nerves and lets go of the wall for a moment to walk a bit faster. He didn't want the young knight to know how much distance there already was between them. Sir Isaac slides a good three or four meters before he finds grip on the wall and stops. Somewhat panicked from sliding down complete darkness without control, Sir Isaac tries to regain his confident tone before answering.

"Y-Yes, it is. Though your fire is clearly magical, so it should work around here. It's only non-magical fire that finds itself completely blocked out in this darkness. Though perhaps magical fire finds itself burdened and extinguised more quickly too? I'm not an expert of these ruins, I'm afraid." Sir Isaac says. "Careful, the ground seems to be real slippery. With a steep tunnel like this, we might find ourselves sliding helplessly down a trap if we're not careful."

Sir Isaac is interrupted by Sir Hiro's scream as he suddenly falls down. A heavy thump signifies the young knight's fall onto the ground a few moments later, accompanied by the sound of breaking bones and snapping limbs. Alas, such was the fate of any heavily armoured adventurer if they were to fall from any height higher than a horse. The weight would see to their death, relentlessly.

"Oh, Sir Hiro. You were too young to die, too young to be taken from this world. You still had so much to do, so much to accomplish. But alas, bad luck may one day claim us all. I shall retreat to the living world for your sake and erect a tombstone with your name, so that people won't forget about the mighty phoenix knight. And it shall say: 'Here lies Sir Hiro, bravest kn-"

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" Sir Hiro shouts from down below. Sir Isaac quickly stops giving his prayer and pretends that he hadn't forgotten about Sir Hiro's superpowers. Right, right. This kind of common death wouldn't claim the likes of him, how silly of Sir Isaac.

Whatever the case, Sir Isaac didn't have such abilities. What he did have, is rope. He quickly takes out the grappling hook and feels around the wall for a good gap to hook it into. After tugging it a few times and being confident that the hook was well-secured to the gap, he ties the rope to it and a weight to the other end of the rope. He places the weight on the ground and kicks it softly. It tumbles down and eventually falls down the hole. Sir Isaac holds the rope while this happens, and feels that the weight eventually finds itself short on rope before reaching the bottom. It would get him close enough though, or so Sir Isaac hoped.

Slowly and carefully, Sir Isaac begins to climb down. The grappling hook would better hold, even once he was no longer holding on to it. For all he knew, there would be only one way out of this gap, and he had no way of getting back up by any means other than this rope. But, he was certain that- was that a female voice?

Sir Isaac continues to climb down, slow and carefully. Trying to do it with his heavy steel plate mail on made him feel sorry for the fat kid in class, the one that everyone had made fun of during the rope-climbing exersizes. He didn't want to think of how much worse this would be on the way back up.

As Sir Isaac climbs into the chamber below however, his hairs stand up and he immediately forgets about any distractions regarding his youth. The smell of death was incredibly overwhelming here, caused by all the skeletons in the room. And that smell wasn't the only vile aroma. The miasma of pure infernal evil was strong here, eminating from the inappropriately dressed woman illuminated by Sir Hiro's flame.

Sir Isaac jumps down as the demon lady introduces herself, falling the last three feet. It seemed like he could just reach up to grab the rope, which was dangling at chest-height. Convenient. The demon-lady on the other hand…

"Hm, something tells me that this isn't another trial prepared for you by your father." Sir Isaac says. "At least, I sincerely hope so. If not and he commanded demons like these, you might've painted a misleading picture of the man. I'm not judging or anything, but… Actually I am. This woman is clearly evil, and so would anyone who'd summon her be. And in Naota's name, put on some clothes, woman! Have some decency!"

Sir Isaac draws his blade while sincerely hoping that she'll dress a bit more appropriately and/or transform into something else, but knowing that he has to slay this monstrocity regardless. Or well, back up Sir Hiro while he does it.

No, he shouldn't think like that. He knew how to use divine light, and this was a demon. He might even be more useful than Sir Hiro here, depending on how fire-resistant this demon was. Yes, perhaps this was Sir Isaac's moment to shine. Pun intended. Sir Isaac smiles to himself, ever amazed by how witty he could be. Good one, me.

That said, it was smiting time. Sir Isaac's sword begins to glow with a holy light as he whispers prayers to summon up protection and offensive spells. This was going to be a tough fight.

He heard the voice of SIr Isaac saying what sounded to be a prayer, when Hiro called out that he was fine.  He did hope this Knight did not totally write him off and leave him here to rot.  That would have irked him a bit, if his newest comrade had just abandoned him like that.  Soon, Isaac joined Hiro down in the pit, unceremoniously falling the last few feet onto a pile of bones.  Upon reaching his feet, Sir Isaac went to Hiro's side, and seemed to be disturbed by the Demon's feminine appearance, and revealing garments.

"A Trial setup by my father?  He wouldn't associate himself with evil, but . . . as my father, Sabishii, got older, he saw tried to see the good in many things.  The good in people, in beings whether they were human or otherwise.  If a living being can think, if it can reason, if it wasn't a wild beast, if it could have a heart and a rational brain, it could make a choice between good and evil," Hiro said, thinking back to his memories of his father.  "Mother was a fire elemental, but originally she was a . . ."

"A fire demon.  She was originally a fire demon.  She was purified by your father, and reformed into a fire elemental.  Yes, Seraphia, Seraphia," Lilith placed her hand on her chin as if in thought.  "She was such a beautiful demon, I can see why a mortal person would be entranced by someone with her beauty, but more surprising she was entranced by a man such as that Sabishii.  He was a God or some such at some point, but she stuck with him when he fell, and ended up 'marrying' the man.  We're supposed to seduce the humans, not the other way around!" She said with a huff.   "You know what demons and angels both have in common?  They both come from the sky.  The first demons came from heaven, they were fallen angels, or so they say.  And you, SIR KNIGHT, about my clothing, you know, I come from Hell!  It's hot down there, why would I feel the need to dress up in heavy armor that makes it hard to move around, and cover up my beautiful skin?  Most cloth would burn up in the Inferno, so I have to wear hellbeast leather, bone, and some infernal metal and scales.  We also seduce mortal men, and sometimes women, whatever we feel like at the moment, dressing up like a nun would make that job a lot harder, though I suppose some of my sisters would enjoy the challenge of seducing a man while posing as a nun, to give them a chance to corrupt the 'incorruptable' innocence of such a young lady.  Anyway, my skin is my armor, these garments are here because I like to look pretty too!  I may be a demon, but I like to look good too, as a woman!  I have a sense of fashion, and this is fashionable in Hell, by the way!"  The Inferno Demon said, somewhat irked by what Sir Isaac said about her being dressed inappropriately.  She wasn't acting like the Inferno Demon she claimed she was, sounding more like a young woman.  "At least it WAS the last time I was there, it's been a while since I went back home."  Hiro glanced at Sir Isaac, then looked back at Lilith.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait.  Wait a second here.  You knew my mother?  You knew my FATHER?!  By Angela's crimson locks, what is going on here?  How do you know my father?  He came from DaeLuin, and so did my mother!"  Hiro was thoroughly confused.  One moment it looked like this demon was going to kill them, next she's holding a pleasant conversation with them.  Lilith cocked her head to the side as if puzzled by some of Hiro's words.

"Yeah?  You're Hiro Kouen, no?  You look like him, and like her too.  You've got black hair with red, you have his hairstyle, but some of both of their hair colors.  You've got her eyes, but his face.  You're quite the handsome lad too, I would love to eat you up!  Your father, I met him down here too.  He looked a bit younger than he actually was.  Hmm, maybe I should start from the beginning.  Okay, I'm related to your mother, you could say half-sister.  She might've been from DaeLuin, but she was born in Hell, no?  Hell is Hell, no matter whether you're from DaeLuin or Revaliir, or some other world.  It's the same Hell.  Seraphia and I were born from the same mother, different father.  So yeah, half-sister.  If I'm your mother's sister, I think you mortals would call that make me your Ant?"  Lilith explained to the young lad, winking when she mentioned eating him up..

"You mean aunt.  Aunt.  An ant is a tiny insect that lives underground with about a million of its fellow insects.  They come out of ant hills, and they have colonies of them.  Wait, you're my AUNT?  My Aunt is a Demon?  If I'm your nephew, why did you just . . . hit on me?  We're related?"

"And you're a hot young stud, that pushes all the right buttons in what I'm looking for physically in a man, I don't like older men, and I don't like facial hair.  You've got a handsome, young, smooth face.  Also I'm a demon, I don't care about so called 'mortal sins,' not like I'm trying to go to ick, heaven, and if I can drag a few people to Hell for sins, why the Hell not?  It's nice and warm down there, without those stuffy, uptight angel hard asses.  Though they DO have sexy hard asses, if you catch my drift" she laughed, and seemed to drift off, as if fantasizing something, she licked her lips in a seductive manner.  Hiro rolled his eyes.  If he rolled his eyes any harder, they'd have fallen out of his head.

"You . . . like to talk a lot.  It reminds me of father, disturbingly.  I'm surprised you're not trying to rip me to shreds with those claws.  You looked like you were gonna tear us apart the moment we got here."  Hiro seemed to be less afraid of this, but more confused and weirded out by this situation, by this demon woman who claimed to be his aunt.  But how did she know his mother's name if it were a lie?  How did she know his father's name too?  Maybe what she was saying was the truth.  "And sorry, I don't date or flirt with . . . so called family, or people I know will probably drag me to Hell."  He shook his head, looking down, kinda blushing a bit.

"Aww, such a cutie, that's too bad, I'd rock your world, hon!" Lilith winked playfully.  She took a few sultry steps closer to Hiro and Sir Isaac before something stopped her in her tracks, a collar with an ethereal chain on it could be seen attached to her neck.  "Gods dammit!  Every time!  I keep forgetting I'm chained and stuck here!  You know how heaven has rules and Hell has sinners?  Well, you hit on an angel, a beautiful angelic woman, with the nicest butt you'd ever seen, she kinda resisted the temptation of being with me, but she really WANTED it you know?  We roll in the hay a bit, but then when she was about to be found out, she locked me down here with an ethereal chain and collar, so I wouldn't squeal about what we did.  What a bitch, you know?  She didn't want to be banished from Heaven, so she basically banished me from Hell.  I've been stuck here for eons!  I think my so called friends in Hell forgot I was out and about, or assumed I died or something.

"No one with the knowledge to free me from these chains has come here to let me out!  That's when I met your father.  Some time ago, he came down here with some . . . relic of some kind, apparently it came from his home world.  I didn't know who he was at first, but when I tried to have some 'fun' with him, he smacked me on the head, and it was then I got a whiff of something infernal from him.  I smelled my sister's scent on him.  He kept me company.  We didn't get to do anything, but he was the first living thing not to scream and shriek in terror when I approached them, he was the first to actually burn to death when he touched my hand or whopped me on the head.  He didn't swing his sword at me.  It moved something in my chest, though I know not what it was.  He told me my sister had died, and he wanted to leave something with me so to give to his son, when he came down here.  He said to give you the relic, and exchange, you would set me free.  He promised me!  He promised me, someone would be down here, and let me free, so I can go home!  He didn't free me, because he needed someone who give this to his son, but he visited me down here and talked to me.  He kept me company, and told me about you, and Seraphia.  He gave me a gift too, besides the relic, some red feather, and a few pieces of human jewelry, some human food.  He stopped showing up one day, and it made me feel strange in my chest again.  What happened to Sir Sabishii?  Why did he stop visiting me?"

Hiro wasn't sure what was going on this this Lilith demon, but the look she gave him was one of sadness.  If there was anything he could tell by the look she gave, and the way she spoke, Sabishii kept her company, and she cared about him in some way.  She was sad because she was alone in this dark necropolis.  She talked a lot because she was lonely and didn't get to talk to anyone down here, besides his father.

"I'm sorry to tell you, I don't know how else to tell you, but he died a couple years ago.  He died in battle.  That's why he stopped visiting you."

She looked at him with what could only be described as sadness.  What could be described as tears could be seen trickling down her cheeks.

"Oh, oh, what is this?  It hurts in my chest.  And my eyes are leaking, what is going on?" She took a finger to her face and got a sample of the tears running down her face and tasted it with her tongue. "It's salt water . . .  why am I leaking salt water?  Your father, Sabishii, he never slept with me, but he kept me company and talked to me like no one else had ever before.  I don't know what's going on!"  She placed her hands over her chest, and dropped to her knees.  Hiro noticed there were indeed some pieces of jewelry on her, she wore a gold necklace that he remembered his mother used to wear, she had earrings that looked familiar,  Hiro looked to Sir Isaac, and wasn't sure what to do.  This experience was completely alien to him.

"Uh, I'm not sure what to do now . . ."  Hiro seemed to want to comfort her somehow, but he wasn't sure what to do.

"He said . . . he said, you would know how to set me free!  He looked at my shackle and said something like, you would know how to set me free, he wrote something on it, some weird symbol on it.  That when the time came, you would be able to free me, so I can go home.  Please, help me!"  She pointed to her neck, the collar the chain was coming out of had a a scribble on it, the symbol of a heart.

"A heart?  Why would he put a heart on there?" He looked at Sir Isaac again, as if looking for guidance.