"I missed you soooo much! It's been forever since I last saw that cute little face of yours!" Saliza cuddled the gardvern's head affectionately.

"It's only been two days since you last saw him."

"Yeah, two incredibly long days."

You're not wrong about that.

"I've got an idea! Why don't we get Verny to help us with our missions." Saliza suggested.

"Oh good idea, we can get it to fight for us."

"Absolutely not." Reizo rejected the idea the moment he came back. "You won't grow stronger if you rely on monsters to fight for you."

"Aw boo, big meanie Reizo is back." Saliza pouted under her mask. She pointed a finger at Reizo. "You see that Verny, that's big meanie Reizo."

Misunderstanding what Saliza was trying to say, Verny let out a chirp, causing roots to burst out of the ground and wrap around Reizo.

"Saliza..." Reizo gave her a look of annoyance.

"Sorry! I didn't think he would do that!" Saliza apologized and turned to Verny. "Reizo's not a bad guy, you need to release him."

Verny titled its head, failing to understand even a single word she was saying.

Salida pointed at Reizo and spun her finger around. "Reeleess Reeiiizooo frooom roootss."

Once again, Verny misunderstood her and let out another chirp, creating even more roots to wrap around Reizo.

"Ah! That's not what I meant!" Saliza panicked. Reizo began to look even more annoyed with each second.

"Oh no, what have you done Saliza." Zeigel chuckled. "I didn't know you hated Reizo this much."

"Don't worry Reizo, I'll get you out!" Saliza yelled. With her axe, she began hacking away at the roots, but each swing only left small nicks on the incredibly sturdy roots.

"You can't cut through it. Gardverns are capable of creating and temporarily enhancing plants to make them far stronger than even steel." Reizo explained.

"What rank are they?" Zeigel asked.

"Juvenile ones like Verny are rank 5. Once they're fully grown, they'll become rank 7."

"Holy shit! It's that strong?" Zeigel asked in amazement.

Now I really wanna keep Verny around to fight for me.

"So if Verny can create super strong plants, does this mean you're gonna be stuck here for awhile because of Saliza?"

"He's not! I'll get him out right now!"

Saliza knelt down in front of Verny and pointed at Reizo. She clasped her hands together and slowly pulled them apart, hoping that the gardvern would finally understand what she wants.

"You have to free Reizo, understood?"

Verny chirped once again, fully encasing Reizo in a wooden shell. Saliza looked on in horror while Zeigel burst into laughter.

"Looks like we'll have to get another trainer." Zeigel joked as he wiped away a tear.

"AAAAAAHHHH! THIS IS BAD!" Saliza screamed in panic. "ZEIGEL HELP ME OUT!" She yelled in panic as she began slamming her axe against the wooden shell.

A pillar of flame erupted out from the top of the wooden shell with Reizo hopping out from the hole he created.

"This is why gardverns take a long time to train. They're very friendly, but they're not very smart." Reizo explained.

"I'm so sorry! Verny, apologize to Reizo right now." Saliza demanded, pointing a finger at Reizo.

"Seriously..." Reizo sighed as roots wrapped around him once again. "Can you stop pointing at me."

"Oops."

"Pfft, hahahaha!"

Once Reizo freed himself from the roots, he brought the two to a den for their next mission with Verny following along.

Inside the den is a nest of six-legged reptiles one and a half meters in height and four meters in length. They had dark green scales and small red spikes that ran down their backs.

"These are two star monsters called trodons. Go clear out their nest."

Inside the den were ten trodons and a pile of eggs laying on the ground.

"Okay." Zeigel tapped on Verny and pointed at the trodons. Branches began growing out of the cave walls to restrain the trodons living inside.

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"Didn't I tell you earlier not to let Verny fight for you." Reizo pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"But Verny here didn't fight for me. He's just helping me out a little, and since he didn't kill the trodons, I get to kill them and become stronger just like you wanted."

"But you're still relying on Verny to help you. You won't improve like that."

Oh who gives a shit, I'm still getting exp.

"But what if Verny wants to help us regardless?" Zeigel asked.

Reizo let out an annoyed sigh. "I'll think of something to get it away from you two during your missions."

"So you're gonna get rid of Verny? That's kinda cruel don't you think."

"WHAT!"

Saliza hurriedly placed herself between Reizo and Verny with her arms stretched out.

"You can't kill Verny! He's a good boy!"

"I didn't say I was going kill or get rid of him. I just don't want it interfering with your missions. Besides, it's illegal to harm or kill gardverns."

"Alright, but I've got my eye on you."

Saliza pointed two fingers at Reizo to gesture that she's watching him, prompting Verny to wrap Reizo in roots again.

"This starting to get on my nerves."

"Whoops, sorry."

All of a sudden, Zeigel felt a familiar uneasy feeling. It felt as if something dangerous was approaching.

This ominous feeling again...there's a monster with a cursed shard coming! This is my chance!

"I think I know a way to free Reizo." Zeigel said.

He knelt down in front of Verny and clasped his hands together, making the gardvern encase Reizo in a wooden shell.

You're a real blessing Verny.

"Oh no! Saliza, go free Reizo right now!" Zeigel urgently shouted.

"H-Huh? I thought you were gonna get Verny to-"

"Hurry up or Reizo's gonna suffocate in there!"

"He's gonna suffocate?" Saliza exclaimed in horror. "I'll get you out Reizo!"

Saliza began hacking away at the wooden shell. Just like earlier, her swings were completely ineffective.

"Hey Zeigel, you gonna help or what? Zeigel?" Saliza turned around to find both Zeigel and Verny missing.

Zeigel had ran off to find the cursed shard along with Verny following him. Once he sensed that the shard was nearby, he stopped in his tracks and focused on the direction where the monster was coming.

An ankylosaurus with colourful gems on its back and a thick gem club at the end of its tail came charging towards him. Just like the first ciraken he encountered, it was covered in a dark aura and looked possessed.

There's no doubt about it! That monster has a shard!

With a point of a finger, roots burst out of the ground and wrapped around the ankylosaurus to restrain it.

Yes...YES! That shard is mine!

Zeigel hurriedly searched the restrained monster for the shard.

Not on the back, or tail, or legs, where the fuck is it?

He kept searching the ankylosaurus until he finally noticed something glowing lodged in its throat.

Oh god damn it, why'd it have to be in there!

He pulled out his dagger and tried stabbing it in the neck, but no matter how hard he pushed his dagger, he was unable pierce through its tough skin and was left with one final option.

Well shit... guess I have to pull it out of its throat.

Pulling the shard out of its throat wasn't going to be easy with the monster viciously snapping its beak-like jaws.

Zeigel carefully placed a chunk of metal between its jaws, hoping that it would be able to keep the ankylosaurus from closing its jaws. Unfortunately, the chunk of metal was crushed in an instant the moment it snapped its jaws.

Screw it, an arm's a small price to pay to for that shard! I can heal my arm back anyways!

He coated his left hand in a layer of metal shoved it into its throat as fast as he could. As soon as he grabbed the shard, jaws clamped down onto Zeigel's arm, causing him to cry out in agony.

With Zeigel's arm caught in its jaws, the ankylosaurus refused to let go and began violently shaking its head in an attempt to tear it off.

MOTHERFUCKER! JUST OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND GIVE ME THE SHARD! I NEED IT!

Zeigel placed his right hand in-between the jaws and pulled with all his might in an attempt to free his arm, but his strength wasn't enough to even budge the mighty jaws that were crushing his arm.

It pissed him off. Reizo and Saliza must be searching for him by now. If he couldn't free his arm in time, he would be losing a potential chance of returning to Earth, and for all he knew, he may never get such an opportunity ever again. The pain from having his arm about to be torn off only made his blood boil even more.

I SAID GIVE ME THE SHARD NOW!

For just a second, his right eye emitted a blue and orange glow, and for just a second, his strength drastically increased, allowing him to pry its jaws wide open with tremendous force and free his arm. As he pulled his arm out, he lost his grip and the shard, causing it to fly backwards and land on the ground.

I did it...? I DID IT! THE SHARD IS MINE!

Without even taking a moment to question his sudden burst of strength or heal his broken arm, Zeigel rushed towards the shard with his eyes locked on it.

"What the heck Zeigel, why'd you run off without saying anything?"

It was only after hearing her voice did Zeigel realize that Saliza was standing in front him with the shard right next to her feet.

"I'm disappointed in you too Verny."

"SALIZA GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

She swiped the shard up with her bare hands before Zeigel could reach it and brought it close to her mask to inspect it.

"Is this why you decided to run off on your own?"

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY! THAT'S A CURSED SHARD!"

"Oh, I...for....got......" Her voice trailed off as a dark aura began to envelop her.

"GIVE ME BACK MY SHARD!" Zeigel cried out with a voice was filled with rage as he reached his right hand out to snatch the shard away from Saliza.

Before he could reach the shard, Saliza sliced his hand off with a swift slash, causing him to cry out in pain as he gripped his arm.

"After you abandoned me like that?" She snarled with a distorted voice. "No, this shard is mine now, and no one's ever gonna take it away from me. The things that I have, the life that I wanted, NO ONE'S EVER GONNA TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM ME EVER AGAIN!"

DAMN IT SALIZAAAAA! THAT FUCKING HURTS!

WIth his unsevered hand, Zeigel pointed at Saliza.

"RESTRAIN HER NOW!" He ordered.

He glanced at Verny and noticed it cowering back, not wanting to harm its own friend.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HURRY UP AND RESTRAIN HER NOW!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, but the only thing it accomplished was scaring the gardvern.

Scared and unsure of what to do, Verny took flight and fled the area, leaving Zeigel to handle the situation by himself.

"HEY! COME BACK! HELP ME!" He desperately called out to the sky, but Verny was already gone.

When he turned around, Saliza was already rushing towards him with both hands gripping onto the lower end of her axe, preparing to throw a wide swing at him.

Wait, where the hell is the shard? Wasn't it in her hand? DID SHE LOSE MY FUCKING TICKET BACK HOME?

The moment she swung her axe, Zeigel dashed forward to avoid getting hit by the blade and raised his left arm to guard himself. As the handle of the axe smashed into his arm, Zeigel threw his right stump at her face and blasted her with a fireball.

His attack knocked her back and blew away bits of her mask, exposing a left eye filled with murderous rage.

He quickly scanned her body for the shard and found it. The shard had embedded itself into her palm.

If I have to kill you to get back home, then so be it.