Dyne had several habits in life. One of which was to re-read the entire Harry Potter franchise every two or three years. As such, the memory and definition of the Basilisk were engraved in his soul. Unlike Legend of Legaia, which Strafe had conveniently allowed Dyne to have memories of, which is far more detailed than the best Legend of Legaia Walkthroughs in existence, Dyne had always known the lore of the Basilisk.

“As expected of the great and wise, Dyne! I’d advise against fighting him now. You are severely under-leveled.”

“Oh? Who would have thought the harsh and cheapskate, Strafe, would warn us of danger rather than throw us into a terrifying battle where survival is minimal!” Dyne countered.

“It’s because I never knew you’d use this route. I have underestimated your plans. I initially thought that you wanting the Water Key was to train and capture Ostriches. Who knew you’d go this route.”

“Ostriches?” Dyne was confused. That was his plan, but the way Strafe explained, it sounded like an obsession.

“I’ve seen you play Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX. You were obsessed with Chocobos. I thought that romance is what urged you to open that field.”

“Yeah. I won’t deny that. Me, A Chocobo-Ra-Seru Knight fighting the evil Caruban…” Dyne, had a dreamy expression.

“See? Obsession! Anyway, the Basilisk is based on a similar monster, which we call the Stone Serpent. I used my powers to allow that monster to be born. It is one of the commanders of the Monster King that the Evil God created. Well, in this case, it is a child. A real Stone Serpent is something that only gods in my world could face, as a Stone Serpent is a god of serpents. So this Basilisk is something that was designed to be your training ground.”

“Well… I guess this is helpful. And fun.” Dyne was happy. With this monster's addition and a deviation of the story with additional areas and enemies, Dyne was growing in his desire to play this game.

“Good thing. You kept things as vanilla.”

“Of course. And honestly, I want mods to retain vanilla feel too.”

“Just how deep are you in my memories if you know about the word mod?”

Strafe laughed and was about to boast of the intricate details that Strafe looked in Dyne's memories but then…

“So you know which sites I visit?”

“…”

“Sick pervert. Your master must be rolling in the grave.”

“…”

“Alright, guys… It seems that there is a Basilisk here.”

The term was new to the two, but Meta was shocked.

“A Basilisk! But I thought we killed their kind out! We expended a lot of power to eliminate them!”

“This one’s a child of some sort. So this shouldn’t be as disastrous as the ones you met. Of course, I’m guessing it’s strong. We should avoid it for now. But by the looks of things, I think we need to do something about the monsters.”

“Why?” Tetsu asked.

“It looks like the Basilisk sought for creatures that can invade something. I’m guessing that’s it’s after the place up north.”

“Up north? You can’t mean-?”

“Biron Monastery!” Tetsu exclaimed.

“Yeah. Boy, it’s a good thing we discovered it. Otherwise… I don’t know if Biron would still stand if I waited three years!” Dyne said as if he wanted someone to hear.

Tetsu and Vahn were curious.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“You’re too cruel. They would attack a year from now, but Biron will survive!” Strafe laughed.

“Of course, things will grow more and more dangerous if you waited longer!”

“Really? Like I’d believe you! You wanted to make Biron a world full of Mists! They would probably give themselves into the Mist! I know what you planned!”

“Oh? You do?” Strafe asked curiously. But Strafe tried to hide his surprise. Dyne was spot on.

“Obviously! You planned to make Kin give that suggestion! He was in Drake Castle before the Mist arrived and must have known about the plans of Drake Castle! If despair fills Biron, He would suggest making a move in trying to resurrect the Genesis Tree. Gala would probably discover the Ra-Seru Egg, which would protect him for a few years and keep him alive. Of course, he could die if I was too slow!”

“Very smart!”

“I’m not yet done! Kin would suggest for them to break their law for survival and give in to the Mist so that the Basilisk won’t be able to kill them easily! It’s a good thing I outsmarted and exceeded your expectation! Man, you really are a cheapskate. You could have made it easier for me in this world, so I’ll be OP in the next!”

“What use is being OP? Even if you become the most OP person in this world, you are still a small fry! I am helping you cultivate to godhood! Right now, your life’s fate can be changed! If you meet a god in that world, he could put a severe curse in your life so that curses will constantly follow you, and fate itself will be against you! Think about it! You are like Vahn! I can dictate his fate even to his death!”

Dyne was silent at Strafe’s sudden explanation.

He finally sighed.

“Well, if anything, you are teaching me a lot of things that I should be immune to schemes in your world.”

“It’s good that you know that.”

Dyne then observed the movements and made plans on how to escape.

The plan was simple. Dyne, Vahn, and Calamity would wait while Tetsu would serve as bait.

Using Chicken King, Tetsu began to draw the monsters' attention by using the escape and quick strike to lure more monsters.

When the path was cleared, the trio moved on towards the river. The group decided to move a stone's throw distance from the river and moved carefully.

Tetsu did a good job and managed to lure in many monsters.

Soon, the trio noticed that there were no more monsters in the area.

“I guess we have officially left the nest of that Basilisk.” Dyne finally sighed in relief.

The group continued and moved back to the riverside and began to move. Soon they found Tetsu waiting for them at the side of the river.

“I was able to fight and scout the area as I was luring them out. There was a cave-like entrance at the side of the river. But I dared not draw any more attention than necessary. I drew them further from the riverside and dashed here.”

“It’s good that your safe, Master Tetsu. But we have to continue. The Mist is thicker here.” Dyne frowned.

And with that, the group continued to run northwards. They moved a stone throws distance from the riverside once more as they no longer wanted to fight Frogs because they had to hurry. But more and more frogs could be seen, and Dyne decided to move a bit further away from the river.

“We’ve already moved far enough. As long as we know where the river is pointed to, we won’t lose our direction.” Dyne explained as they continued to run.

The group soon encountered a heard strange sounds by Dyne knew what it was. It was the sound that Lippians make when they run. Dyne peered through the Mist and could see the fleeing pair. It was running from two creatures that Dyne knew could not appear here.

The first monster had a familiar figure. It was Gimard, but it had a more reddish form. The second creature was like a large hand that walked using each finger to crawl its way forward. The five fingers dragged the large wrist behind. The group chased two Lippians, which were a large green creature with a large green head and large lips on its mouth. The two were running with their mouths opening as they gave off a strange cry.

“A Zenoir and a Level 2 Gimard!” Dyne muttered to himself. He knew what those Serus were with his knowledge in-game.

“A Zenoir! That is a Seru used for building! All the Zenoir were lost in Drake Continent a few months before the Mist appeared!” Tetsu identified the creature and recalled past events.

“I see. So that’s why there are a lot of those in that area.” Dyne realized it and smirked.

The Zenoir was the last of the new Serus that could be fought within the Drake Continent. They could only be found within the Mist Generator of Drake Continent.

“Those things are too dangerous to fight,” Tetsu concluded.

“What should we do?” Vahn asked. They had already hidden from view.

“What we have too.” Dyne smiled as he retrieved a weapon from Calamity. It was the one weapon he had yet to use. But now, it was the perfect opportunity to use it.

“The Lippians are faster. But since I’m planning to hunt the Zenoir…” Dyne then took the compound bow that he asked Farlay to create. He took out an arrow and aimed and shot.

FWWWIPPPPP!

The arrow cut through the air, but Dyne took another arrow and shot as soon as one was sent out.

The arrow was launched high up the sky.

Dyne had aimed at a direction further, and Tetsu and Vahn watched with held breath to see if the arrow would fall and hit the target.

Two muffled sounds could be heard as two strange cries came out.

“AWWWWWW!” The two Lippians shouted as the arrow struck them on the back.

“The Lippians?” Tetsu was confused.

“Quickly! Let's follow!” Dyne ordered.

Soon the group realized Dyne’s intentions.

With the wounds on the back, the Lippians could no longer outrun the two Serus chasing them.

“Tetsu, Vahn! Take Calamity and the Golden Compass. I’ll draw the attention of those two. But on my signal, you ambush the Gimard!” Dyne glanced with greedy eyes.