Rai eagerly looked for a better vantage point, meanwhile, legacies slowly engraved onto her back, causing intense pain.

The first legacy resembled bunny ears, followed by a second one encircling the ears in a bead-like necklace design. As the ritual proceeded, most the Nefarians present opened their eyes, relaxing their hands to their sides as they awaited the outcome.

A select few, however, using the Nefarian ability to bend positive flux force, remained, preventing negative flux from getting out of hand. Negative flux often compiles as a result of a lack of positive flux present; during the ritual, Lily's a magnet for negative flux force, and its her job to absorb as much of that she can, before moving onto the next stage to confront her Minus.

"Hey Elder," Eiji said. "Why did we ever switch ritual grounds?"

"In the past, normally, because negative flux gathers in such abundance, Minus begin to form, however, this place is rich in positive flux force, and the roots of this flower are way too big for any Minus to form from its roots. But Lily's doing just fine holding it in all on her own."

"Let's go, girl!" Pinet said. She knew just how hard it was to hold the negative flux within you during the ritual.

The third legacy took the form of a dessert delicacy—and the fourth, a tree!

“Four legacies,” Pinet said. “Same as you Birchet.”

Birchet watched carefully as the waves of energy continued to twist around Lily.

“I’ve only got two,” Rosa said, placing her hand on her hip. "Already passed me."

“I wonder if she’ll make it to five,” Pinet questioned, clapping her hands together in anticipation of the outcome; she had five legacies after all.

Lily’s torment persisted, but in time, a fifth legacy materialized! Immediately after, Lily’s body perked up, eyes glowing in a pearly white color! The markings on her back, vines on the floor—even the walls lit up the same glow! Everything seemed to wrap around Lily who was at the center of the spectacle.

Surveying her surroundings, Lily realized she was alone... "Where am I?" In front of her, there was a door carved into a thick tree. Wasn't I in the cave? "Oh no, I didn't die did I?" she slumped over for a short before concluding. "No... This must be the second stage." Lily glanced around at the world around her. It looks like something straight out of a child's dream. Each tree was shaped like a colorful lollipop, and they stretched as far as the eye could see. “What is this place?” Pink bubbles floated around the candy forest, but where they came from, she had no idea. Lily contemplated exploring but instead turned to face the door. She reached her hand out, though hesitated. Something was telling her not to open the door...

"Mibbit."

Lily jumped, turning around quickly and pressing her back to the tree. “What was that?” Lily said, looking around frantically.

Meanwhile, within the cave, Birchet said, “Eiji, you made sure to tell her about the door, right?”

“Door?” Eiji replied, puzzled.

“Eiji!” they all shouted in unison.

“That door,” snapping his fingers and pointing their way. “Of course, I told her about the door,” he said, sweat trickling down his forehead.

At the moment, in the center of the flower, Lily was in what is known as, the flow of flux force; in that state, no one can assist her.

Following the critter’s call, Lily noticed more pink bubbles floating about. Curious she popped one, and it sang as more miniature bubbles formed because of it popping. Giggling, Lily swiped her hand through the mini bubbles, and a soft baby holler came from them; then, they vanished for good. "Why do I feel bad..." She joyfully raced along the lollipop trees, though there were regular ones mixed in the bunch.

“Mibbit,” a sound resonated from behind a tree.

There it is again... Lily crept around the base of an old tree, inching her head over to see what was on the other end. "You're adorable!" Lily said, jumping out.

"Mibbit." A cute little creature, glowing in a similar color to negative flux force, stood within the center of an nearly dried-up puddle.

“What're you doing out here all by yourself?” Lily said, leaning over.

The creature, about the size of her hand, responded with a cheerful, “Mibbit.”

Lily picked up the creature and hugged it. “I’m going to call you Mibby,” she declared, and the creature wagged its little tail. Soon after, it bit her thumb, sucking and absorbing a minor amount of flux from Lily. “Go right ahead,” she stated, tickling its belly. The Minus squirmed around merrily, until eventually, it began to lose its form, dispersing into small bits of flux.

“Mibby!?” Lily said, panic in her voice, but before she knew it, she was back in the cave.

“You’re okay,” Eiji sighed in relief.

“Give her some breathing room, will ya?” Rosa said, shoving Eiji aside with her foot.

“Did you enter the door?” Zinnica asked.

“Door? Oh, right. No, I wasn’t sure what was on the other side, so I decided to look around instead,” Lily explained.

“Stinking liar!” Rosa and Birchet both shouted, stomping Eiji to the ground.

Zinnica sighed before saying, “The door was supposed to be a means of escape, so you wouldn’t have to continue the ritual.”

“Escape from what?” Lily asked.

“Escape from your Minus. When a Nefarian goes through the ritual, they face two options. You can confront and absorb your Minus, gaining its power, or you can leave. However, the more legacies you carry, the more dangerous the Minus becomes, making it increasingly challenging. Eiji was supposed to inform you of this…”

“Wait... So I passed both parts of the ritual?” Lily said.

Lifting the backside of Lily’s shirt, Zinnica glimpsed at her new legacy markings, they had now merged into a tribal-like design on her back.

“It is done,” Zinnica said, and everyone stomped the ground at once.

Lily jumped with joy. Now I can come and go from the village as I please! Wait until my parents hear about this. "Thank you," she said, to everyone.

“How did you fare against the Minus?” Birchet asked.

“Mibby wasn’t dangerous at all,” Lily responded happily.

Zinnica smiled, “A feast then, to commemorate the passing of the ritual,” and the pig squealed in excitement with the rest of the Nefarians.

As they departed home, Lily couldn’t help but feel she was forgetting something; behind her, Rai shrunk in the distance.

Later that night, Rai and Lily were sitting at a fire pit as the festivities of the Nefarians of Kalumi proceeded.

“I still can’t believe you left me,” Rai said, ripping a large piece of the turkey leg off.

“It was an accident,” Lily said, throwing her hands up in self-defense. "But hey, you're free now."

"Yeah, I owe you there," Rai said, sinking his teeth into the turkey leg. "On another.. note... Have you seen everyone? It's like everyone's got some sort of talent or hobby."

While music blared throughout the forest, in the form of musicians strolling along through the fire pits, they spotted a Nefarian balancing a long stick on his nose with an apple on the end of it. He flipped the stick off his nose, letting the stick collide with the floor, though, however, the apple, he caught with the back of his foot, before it could hit the ground. At another firepit, one Nefarian was playing the flute, only the flute seemed to have twenty-seven holes and was shaped like a twisted octopus; and, there were many more still they've yet to gaze upon.

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“It's wonderful," Lily said, her eyes full of wonder as she continued to switch from one Nefarian to the next. After a moment, she stretched her arms to the sky, stating, “I could use a bath.”

“Chug Chug Chug!” the crowd chanted.

Turning to see what the commotion was about, Rai and Lily saw Eiji upside down over a barrel of booze.

"Hangover incoming..." Rai muttered. The festivities continued well on into the night, some Nefarians were barely heading home as Rai walked the village grounds the next morning.

"I think I'm going to be sick..." one stated.

While exploring, Rai came across a group of kids praying at the foot of a tree.

“They’re praying to Yaitweh,” Zinnica said, appearing beside Rai.

“Who's this Yaitweh everyone's keeps mentioning?” Rai said.

“You might know it as the World Tree,” Zinnica said, staring at the sky. Overshadowing the forest, thousands of miles away, was an enormous tree. It towered over everything else on the planet, stretching into the heavens. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you, Rai. Would you come with me?”

Outside the village, Rai asked, “Why’d you bring me all the way out here?”

“I was curious as to who your friend might be,” she said, and from within Rai’s coat, a small head popped out.

“This is Plu," Rai said.

"Plu," It said.

"It’s a little hard to explain, but this was my sister's stuffed animal, and one day, it just came to life...” Rai stated as Plu fell out of his jacket.

“Hm... Okay,” Zinnica said with a smile.

Rai fell over, “Wait, that's it?”

Zinnicca gazed down at Plu playing with the pig’s tail. “You both have a peculiar aura...” she said. Holding her fist up, she pointed it towards a falling leaf, “Ikken.” A small blast of flux force shot forward, obliterating the leaf.

“Hey, that’s the same thing Birchet uses, right?”

“Ikken, meaning ‘to annihilate in one blow’. It does not mean things should be resolved with the use of only one blow, rather, convey in the spirit it must partake in. We Nefarians use ikken as a trigger word for such control, connecting the mind and body, to the action. To help, we start by placing our hands like so,” she intertwined her fingers similar to how the kids were praying, “but as we advance in our ability to bend flux, using one hand can become possible. Why don't you try and give it a shot?”

“Alright, Granny, I’ll give it a stab,” Rai said. Mimicking the elder, he placed his hands together, then, extended his arms. Closing his eyes, he allowed the flow of flux to course through his body, and with a determined look, he opened his eyes, shouting, “Ikken!”

Meanwhile, back in the village, Eiji, Lily, and the other Nefarians were bidding farewell. “Girl, we can go together one day,” Pinet said, giving Lily a warm hug.

"I look forward to it," Lily said, chuckling.

"Uh... I feel.. terrible..." Eiji, placing his hands over his mouth. "Never again..."

Lily, seeing Eiji leaning over a couple of crates, walked over, "Hey Eiji," she said. "I'm heading out soon, it was nice to meet you."

“I guess this is goodbye then,” Eiji said, turning his head, tears streaming down his face.

“I’m not that far off, you should come and visit the bar,” Lily said.

“He can’t,” Birchet stated, passing by with a crate full of apples.

“Has anyone seen Elder Zinnica?” a passing Nefarian asked.

Birchet placed the apples down, before heading back to grab another crate, however, noticing the clouds and air change around them, he paused. “This weather...” Soon, a sense of urgency surged within him; he couldn't believe it! This sudden?! “Flux Storm!” he shouted.

The skies above the village darkened almost immediately, while gusts of wind rushed through the village, knocking over boxes and small children.

"Run!" someone shouted, and everyone raced toward safety.

The weather twisted with negative flux force, seeping into all the plant life around.

“What’s a flux storm!?” Lily shouted. watching as many Nefarians went for their weapons.

Eiji grabbed Lily’s hand, quickly taking her toward one of the shelters.

“Get the children inside!” Birchet shouted. “Those with legacies two and above, follow me!”

Nearing the shelter, Eiji said, “We’ll stay here until the Minus are dealt with,” but to his surprise, Lily pulled away from him.

“I just became a member of Kalumi,” Lily said. “My first day won't be down there hiding while others laying their lives on the line,” she said, running outside.

“Ikken! Ikken! Ikken... Ik- screw this!” Rai said in frustration. No matter which way he tried it, nothing came forth.

“You almost had it that time,” Zinnica smirked, “but then again, ikken is an ability only meant for Nefarians,” she added with a light chuckle.

“Ikken!” Rai said, furiously directing it toward Zinnica.

Plu, seeing Rai's struggles, waved ikken off as if he didn’t know what he was doing.

“You think it’s so easy, you try it!” Rai shouted.

“Plu,” it responded proudly. Holding its head up high, it trotted over to a leaf on the floor. After gauging the distance, ten or so feet away, Plu was ready to use ikken. It placed its arms gently together, mimicking the prayer motion. “Pluuuuu,” it acted as if it was charging flux, then with a deciding thrust, Plu extended both its arms out, “Plu!”

Rai, amused by its display of effort, jaw fell in disbelief; the ground split, tearing straight through the ground, and... right towards him!

Zinnica quickly intervened, using a light version of ikken to smack Rai aside a wolf made of bark and vines burst through the ground, narrowly missing its target.

Rolling across the floor, Rai, swiftly got to his feet; Plu retreated behind him. "Minus?!"

“Close one,” a woman said, beside her, another Minus like the one before; their belly glowed red with each breath they took.

“Redeem,” Zinnica said, her tone unhappy. “I presume your brother Weep is around as well?”

“Perhaps,” Redeem replied, toying with her long, protruding ears, resembling a jackrabbit.

“What’s going on?" Rai said. He noticed that he got harder to breathe, and he started to sweat.

“Flux storm,” Zinnica stated, shielding Rai with a layer of positive flux force, protecting him from the lingering negative flux. "Negative flux is harmful to just about everything. The exception, Minus who are made of it, and of course, Nefarian’s. Our bodies have a natural resistance to it."

“To think after all this time I finally get some alone time with the old hag, just to have it interrupted by a human of all things...” Examining Rai, Redeem asked, “Have I met you before? You smell awfully familiar.”

“You’re not welcome here,” Zinnica replied. “Leave this place at one.”

“You’re much too old to be ordering me around,” Redeem responded, whistling, causing one wolf to jump into the literal shadow of a tree, disappearing.

"Look out!" Rai shouted. "The other one's heading straight for us!"

Back in the village, Lily joined Birchet on the front lines where negative flux was chaotically twisting all around, asking, “What're we dealing with?”

“You'd join us here without knowing that,” Birchet replied. Turning his attention to where the negative flux was pouring strongest, he said, “Minus, like the one we rode to the ritual grounds. These, however, are fusing with roots of Yaitweh; these Minus are the ones most of the world is familiar with. Watch closely.” The negative flux, which normally wasn't visible to the average person, steadily became a solid wave of red energy pouring into the ground. Within seconds, the floor began to crack, and from it, Minus made of bark of trees. “When enough negative flux force gathers in one spot, a flux storm occurs. During a storm, should a large enough portion seep into the ground and manage to merge with a root below, a Minus is normally the result,” he said, looking at one currently forming.

The Minus sensed around for flux force, then it noticed the cores resonating within the group of Nefarians. Shrieking, it rushed them, but only made it a couple of feet before its body crumbled into tiny bits, dispersing into negative flux force.

“Without enough flux to sustain their life, those little sucker's always come back,” Eiji said, appearing from behind.

“Eiji,” Lily said with a smile. "You came."

"Had to work out a couple of kinks, but I was right behind ya," Eiji said.

"Liar..." Rosa stated.

“Let’s hope an evolved Minus doesn’t form,” Birchet said. "How're the teams?"

"We've got a few groups yanking roots out of any known dangerous Minus that could form, but it's unlikely. Our main focus will be those son of a bitches in front of us," Rosa said.

Bit by bit, the Minus forming became sturdier, no longer crippling as the others did before them, and whenever they did crumble to bits, their negative flux would just reenter the storm; a never-ending cycle of Minus.

Lily watched as Minus continued to emerge, becoming more formidable with the increasing flow of negative flux; they even ate one another in hopes of rejuvenating their dying cores!

A Minus broke away from the group, lunging at them, “Ikken,” Acoro said, blasting it to smithereens. The battle against the flux storm had begun.

“Lily get to high ground, we're going to need eyes up top,” Birchet commanded her.

"This way!" they shouted, and Lily joined them. Racing towards the flower elevator, but once they arrived, it didn't rise like how it normally would. Sensing something was wrong, the leading Nefarian shoved Lily out of the flower just as the yellow pedals snapped shut. Their arms flailed outside of the gaps in the flower's petals, but they couldn't break free; slowly, it swallowed them.

“No!” Lily cried out, desperately grabbing ahold of someone's hand, but it slipped away.

The colossal flower retracted into the ground, diminishing in size before bursting out again, latching onto the face of the peculiar Nefarian known as Weep. He savored the taste of his recent meal, though, for some reason, he looked as if he was crying almost.

"What is he?" Lily said. His constant sniffling and teary eyes made him the strangest Nefarian Lily had ever encountered.

“What’s he doing here?!” Rosa said.

"Weep, a Nefarian of Solomon descent. You can tell by the animalistic features like his duck snout, they're more prominent than those of the Kalumi bloodline," Birchet said to Lily.

Crouching low towards the ground, Weep slammed his head through the surface of the ground; under, his snout quickly detached, expanding on the way to his next meal.

"Below!" Eiji shouted, tackling Lily as the ground erupted and Weep's attempt to consume her missed.

“Pinet!” Birchet shouted.

“On it!” Pinet darted after Weep, whose mouth was swiftly retracting to his face. Five legacy marks on her back started to glow, and her appearance subtly transformed. In Pinet’s hand, a colossal hammer made of hardened honey materialized. “Try chewing on this!” she declared, swinging the hammer, smashing directly into Weep's side, and propelling directly into an empty home.

“Incredible,” Lily marveled.

“Pinet merged with the Minus known as the Honey Yabber,” Acoro explained. “People underestimate her due to that playful nature and cute Minus form, but she’s a force to be reckoned with.”

“Unfortunately, the person she’s fighting isn’t a pushover either,” Birchet added, demolishing a Minus that tried to attack him. His eyes widened, a realization crossed his mind, “Lily, let’s go!”

Lily nodded, running after him.

“Where are you going?!” Rosa called out, seeing them leave.

“If Weep is here, then his sister is with Zinnica!”

“No...” Rosa gasped.

As Lily and Birchet push through many Minus on their way to Zinnica, Lily asked, "Who was that back there?”

“Weep. He and his sister used to be members of the village, but they've been on the run since they escaped Kalumi custody many years ago.”

“What did they do?”

“They violated Kalumi’s most sacred law,” there was a pause from Birchet. “Murdering a member of the clan.”

“It just happens one of the victims was the Elder’s son,” a Nefarian alongside them spoke.

“They both hate Zinnica, but I never anticipated they’d return, and under these circumstances…” Birchet said gritting his teeth.

Remembering the sweet old lady, Lily raced forward determined to help her.