"So, you believe the book is in there? Are you certain?" Ethan asked Clara. He stressed the latter because he never wants to fight a treant again in his life. He would rather turn a blind eye and pass than fight a treant without a good reason. He had learned his lesson during the trial.

Clara spoke in certainty. She is sure that the soldiers would not be guarding a monster unless an object of importance was here. Although Ethan wanted to deny it, his instinct said 'The book is here' too. He sighed heavily as he gave up his futile wish for the book to be elsewhere.

However, it did not mean they get the book because they found it. There was a big hurdle between them and the book. Nearly 40 men led by Templers guarded the place without a gap. It was impossible to fight them with just two of them. Not to mention that the monster will also wake up when the sun set. Then they had to fight both the monster and the army.

He checked the sun. It was near dusk. If they want the book, they have to fight now and end it quickly before the sun goes down. He counted the guards. There were over twenty soldiers and three templers. It is a fight they cannot win so he decided it was best to lure them somewhere while another one stole the book quietly. He decided to be the bait. Although his leg was still limping in pain, he was confident that he could cut their chase off in this dense jungle. There were so many places to hide in blind sights.

He told the plan to her proudly, believing he would be appreciated for becoming the bait.

"how dumb can you be? Do you think they will leave their positions when you lure them?" Clara scolded him, "They know why you are here. They will guard the book tighter and leave you in the jungle to die by venomous snakes or insects."

What she said made sense so he humbly listened to her idea.

"let's leave for now. We will come back at night to get the book."

"night? You do know the treants are awake during the night. We can't fight the treant. Even if we can, we shouldn't. It will be too loud. The soldiers will hear the ruckus and come. It is better to trick the human during the day than fight the monster at night."

Ethan shared his experience about the treant. He believed she was saying that because she must have never met the horror of a treant before. "I was this close to the next life." He used his hand so that she could imagine how close it was. He tried to convince her.

"don't worry. We aren't fighting the monster so just follow my lead." She reassured Ethan.

Ethan followed to a place where Clara claimed she hid a secret weapon for her genius plan. It was not far from the book. Ethan followed her excitedly while he imagined what kind of weapon it could be. Since treants are weak against fire, it could be the blazing spear of Rahu, a spear so powerful that it was known to dry a whole lake; or the hammer of Moru, which burst out roars of flame when stricken to the ground. They are the legendary enhanced weapons blessed by Mordu' himself.

She pointed to a bamboo pole that was clinging to a tree. Its tip was split while a rope was tied around near two third of it. She proudly 'ta-da' it to Ethan as she waited for applause while crossing her arms. Ethan was not impressed by it.

"Seriously? Am I talking to a donkey?" She yelled frustratedly, "Look! We don't even need to fight. Wait for the night, go to the edge, point the pole to where the book is, push it in, and put the book between the split and pull pack. Simple. So long as we don't step or touch the roots, the monster won't even notice we are there. It is the perfect plan."

They waited for the sun to set and the guards to return to their camp. Time and time, they heard some voices passing in the distance but the jungle was so thick, they never met each other. Considering the voices, Ethan figured some other groups might have already seen the monster and the book too. They must get it tonight or there will be more competitions.

They waited till the night became deeper because that was when the treant became most active and the chance of the guards staying near it to be the least. Ethan grabbed the pole while Clara led the way. She had already figured out the routes the guards usually take so they got to the place where the book is without meeting anyone. Ethan was impressed. She may be a rude and prideful girl but he acknowledged her skills and guts to survive in the jungle alone. Not even most men he met during his service in the temple could do that.

"Finally. Here we are."

They both looked at the big bayan treant standing tall and horrifying, alone in the middle of a jungle, like a king. No life dare to step foot in its presence, those who dared were devoured alive. All surrounding trees inclined toward it at the top, bowing to their majesty. Even the moonlight that does not shine in twin rivers, bowed to its root bed; creating a terrifying majestic beauty.

"Are you sure this will work?" "Trust me. It will. It doesn't have eyes or ears. It relies on the sensation it got from its roots. That's why it attacks us when we step foot in its root bed. But with this," she showed the pole, "we won't even touch the ground."

It was a decent plan, Ethan concurred. He threw an end of the rope over a branch and pulled it from the end side. As the rope got taut, it lifted the pole off the ground. The plan was simple; Ethan was to stabilize the pole above the ground while the tip side became heavier for Clara as she pushed it forward. She slowly moved it forward as she directed the tip to the burrow where the book was supposed to be.

"Good. You are nearly there." He excitedly rooted for her as the tip reached closer and closer to the burrow.

Ethan and class got near and nearer to the book slowly through mid-air while unsuspecting roots were crawling around its domain searching for any intruders. The sound of them brushing each other was like a beast growling and grinning its teeth before it hunts prey.

Then a brush of wind flew by them and whirled around the monster. The branches creaked as they reacted to the smell of prey teased by the breeze. One dangling root among the hundreds falling from above was swung closer to the pole as a branch moved to the breeze. It touched the pole.

Immediately, it reacted to a new touch floating in the air by twirling around it. Flustered, both Clara and Ethan stopped breathing and kept the pole still as much as they could. The monster sensed something was wrong but it could not exactly sense what it was. It kept twirling around it more and more. Ethan and Clara tensed every fibre of their muscles to keep the pole still as long as they could. The moment it senses a movement, it will break the pole into pieces. They would fail and miss the chance to get the book which they could not afford to. The other competitors also found the place. The next days would become too crowded.

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Soon Clara reached her limit. She bit her lips. "I am at my limit." She desperately muttered to let Ethan know. "You are doing great. Hang on and don't talk. Stay still. Soon it drops suspicion and moves away."

With Ethan cheering, Clara kept the pole still desperately. Soon the monster dropped its suspicion as it could not sense any life force from the bamboo pole. Clara was glad that she did not give up. Her hard work paid off.

They resumed their mission carefully. Unlike before, some dangling roots reached near the burrows as the branches moved. They paid extra care not to hit any of them by mistake. The pole got unstable more and more as it reached nearer to the burrow. It was hard for both Ethan and Clara.

"Great. You are at the burrow now." Ethan cheered Clara. Then they met a sudden hurdle. They heard a sound of fighting between the two groups. The patrol must have found a group of adventurers coming to get the book, Ethan concluded. The clanking of metals and grunting of men covered up the usual noise of insects buzzing.

The monster sensed the heat of clash in the distance and its roots started to move crazily. Some of them covered up the burrow by chance, blocking the path for Clara. There was an inch left before the tip hit a root and challenged the monster, 'We are here'.

Again, they waited still for the roots covering the burrow to move. However, the clash seemed to move nearer and it made the monster to defend it more. They knew that at this rate they will be found out and caught up in the fight. They can't let it happen when they were this close to the book. It was right at the tip.

They anxiously waited for the moment the burrow would be uncovered, and so they pray_ to Mordu'. They found themselves ridiculous for doing so since they were praying for success to steal something from Mordu'. They were so used to doing that they did it unconsciously. They had no other gods to pray to anyway.

As if their prayers were reached somehow, the path miraculously was opened. Clara grasped the chance quickly. "Luminus!" A light came out of the bamboo pole, shining the burrow. As they predicted, a book which might be the book of Sahel was seen inside. She shoved in the pole and placed the book between the split. Luckily the book was the perfect size to stay between the split tightly, not too heavy or too thick.

They heard the footsteps getting closer although the fight seemed to be in the distance. "A detachment must have been sent to check here. We need to hurry." He hurried her. "Shut up, Ethan. I need to focus. We can't fail now. I must retrieve the book without touching anywhere." Without listening to Ethan, she slowly and carefully pulled back the pole.

Noticing that it was useless to talk to her, Ethan decided to deal with the oncoming guards. He twisted the rope on his left arm while readying his sword with another.

"Hey! You there!" A guard saw two suspicious persons near the guardian so he yelled at them to halt. He immediately charged toward Clara who was stealing the book with a pole while another went for Ethan.

Since Clara was preoccupied with her genius plan, both her arms still on the pole, Ethan had to cover her. "Flameball!" Ethan threw a fireball at the soldier who was about to strike Clara. It hit the soldier and set him on fire.

It startled them. They found out the enemy was no mere adventurers like before. Their captain ordered them to sound the horn since the enemy they had to deal with was a spellcaster.

"There is a 'Devilspawn' here. Sound the horn! Call a watcher!"

Devilspawn is a spellcaster who does not align affiliation with the Temple. The Temple believes that those nonaffiliated made a deal with the devil, a fealty to evil, to be granted the 'power to wield spells' to challenge the holy warriors of Mordu'.

The dull sound coming out of a goat horn echoed through the jungle. Most of it was caught between the leaves and barks of trees, dissipated so the others would not hear, but some travelled along the narrow path toward the camp. They specifically made it so, so that only they would hear the horn and come to the place.

"Clara." Ethan reminded her to speed things up. "A moment!" She yelled back. There was one last dangling root she had to pass, then she could quickly retrieve the pole and grab the book. However, the enemy captain did not give her the chance. He noticed the pole and went for it.

"Vinegrip!" Clara chanted a spell. A vine came out of a bush and quickly grasped the foot of the captain.

"Two devilspawns?" The enemy captain muttered. He ordered his men to sound the horn again, this time the beat sounded more desperate. Two soldiers rushed toward them but Ethan quickly took care of them. A soldier or two were no longer a threat to a spellcaster like Ethan. While Ethan was taking care of the soldiers, Clara passed the last hurdle and quickly retrieved the book.

The book was covered in goat skin, some hairs were still attached to it. She ew!ed to the hair and quickly stashed it in a bag.

"I got it! Let's go." She called Ethan.

Before the reinforcement came, they ran deeper into the jungle and successfully disappeared.

That night, Ethan and Clara heard wailing screams of unbearable pain throughout the night. The Temple interrogated the group they fought earlier, thinking they were the same group with Ethan and Clara. Other groups, who had no idea that the book was already snatched and stayed on the island, met the same fate. Without discrimination, the Temple tortured and brutally murdered them.

Ethan and Clara reached the edge and got off of the island by the morning. They did not rest the whole night.

"So, we go back to madame now, huh? How shall we split the reward though? Her promise to me was a fake identity. What is yours?"

He turned and asked what is her reward so that they could split properly. When he turned to her, he saw her blade near his throat. She had a very threatening glare.

To his question, Clara answered slowly and articulately, "I ain't going to Madame. I am taking it myself."