Ferguson took the group south due to concerns regarding the Vista incident on the opposite side of the coast. They passed by Herbert's farm -waved at him on their way- and followed the same road they had taken on their first day, where they had found so many buzzers and had taken one for studying.

They found more, indeed, and just like that day, Araven and Sharmon were in charge of getting rid of them. The group ended up coming up with a squared formation -Sharmon on the front left corner, Araven on the front right, Ferguson on the back left and Nero on the back right- and had distributed roles and tactics to respond to an attack from any angle.

Ferguson being the most vulnerable link, Nero was in charge of shielding him from any damage while Sharmon responded, and Araven was in charge of guarding Nero if the summoner himself was under attack.

If any creature -buzzer or no- appeared on the front, both Araven and Sharmon would deal with them immediately.

"What towns are further south of Trena?", asked Nero on one of the rare occasions where the wildlife didn't seem desperate to kill them.

"Uh... not many, to be honest. There's just a bunch of small villages; we call them communes."

"To be fair, I wouldn't call Trena a city. Even the word town is generous.", said Nero.

"I guess it is, coming from someone used to Nycea.", laughed Ferguson, "anyway, most towns and cities are near Coria. Further north there are just a few communes, and then it's all uninhabited by us. There's just the terribly dangerous plagued animals, then the coast ends because the mountain range to the east closes in, so if you wanna keep heading north after that you have to do it by boat."

"Ah, and there's the Armorica archipelago, right?"

Ferguson nodded.

"And past the archipelago you'll find the ruins of Armorica, where the plague is worse. I don't want to be annoying, but I'd like to remind you that nobody who went there made it back alive."

Nero noticed Sharmon was listening intently, as he turned his head to them often while they talked.

"So, the region hasn't been mapped?", asked Araven, who was also interested in the discussion.

"Well, yes and no. Some old maps from the time of the kingdom have survived; they're in Coria. We haven't mapped the archipelago or the ruins ourselves, though, for obvious reasons."

"So how was it? How was the kingdom back then?", asked Nero.

"Lord Sharmon said you like to read; you haven't read anything about it?", asked Ferguson in return.

Lord Sharmon. Ugh.

"...I don't really know much. I did know Armorica was in a delicate place and whatnot... it's current state, basically, but I haven't read anything other than that.", he said, trying not to make a remark.

"Well, as far as I'm aware, the kingdom used to be very prosperous. Before the plague, the Armoricans used to sail the archipelago and would trade with anybody that was within reach of their vessels. This included Nycea and Canaan, but I have it they even had a northern route and would sometimes commerce with Platea. Was this the case, Araven?"

"Yeah. Platea itself is located inland, but we have a beautiful port city called Levé that remodeled its docks so they could fit the Armorican's ships. After the fall of the kingdom Levé decided to keep making use of the port and still trades a lot to this day, especially with the Enfirian kingdom."

"Ah, yeah. They're south of you guys, right?", asked Nero.

"Yes."

"Man, now I'm curious to know what Platea's like. Is everyone like you over there?"

"What do you mean, like me?"

Nero shrugged.

"Tall, serious, elegant, well mannered."

"You mean like Sharmon?", asked the blonde.

"Sharmon jumps at every opportunity he finds to call me a brat and labels everyone else as a mongrel.", said Nero.

"But he treats people who are nice to him pretty well, isn't that right?", asked Araven, looking at the sorcerer, "at least I've never felt disrespected by you."

"That is because you are not an idiot, much unlike a certain summoner.", said the sorcerer.

"I dunno, man. You agreed to the summoning, so...", said Nero, shrugging.

"He's also polite with women. I've never even remotely seen or heard of him being improper or disrespectful...", thought Araven.

He looked pensive as they walked down the dirt road.

"You're looking too much into him.", said Nero.

"Aren't you curious to know who he is, though?"

"Of course I am, but I'm tired of asking and having him tell me to mind my own business. He'll tell me sooner or later, I'm sure."

They were bound by blood, after all. Even someone as anxious as Nero knew it was just a matter of time until that happened, and also Nero was pretty sure he had more or less figured him out, anyway.

"Well, personally, I don't care.", said Ferguson.

Everyone, including Sharmon, turned to look at him. His comment had been rather unexpected.

"Why?", Nero asked honestly.

Ferguson shrug.

"Anybody willing to lend us an honest hand here in Armorica is welcome into my life. I'm indebted to him, and to you boys by extension."

"...what if we were criminals?", said Nero.

"Huh? Aren't you already?", asked Ferguson.

The group stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, just yesterday we raided a pirate's den without saying a word to the authorities, we did no paperwork, we didn't report the vessel's theft, and this morning you all agreed to produce black syrup in secret, avoiding taxes, and then trafficking it illegally into Nycea and to whoever else is willing to buy it, paying a shady ferrywoman who has killed a bunch of men even before yesterday."

Sharmon stared at him intently. Nero, on the other hand, was in flat-out shock. Araven looked oddly serene.

Well, maybe it wasn't that odd, coming from him.

Stolen novel; please report.

"I am sure you understand that if we are criminals, then so are you.", said Sharmon.

"Oh, absolutely. I've been an accomplice all along, and I have every intention of keeping that up. So yeah, I'm willing to cast my lot with you all; the situation here is just that desperate, you know?"

Something in Ferguson's words made Nero feel pretty bad for him. Maybe Gala had been too harsh on him back at Port Hope; Ferguson did seem to take his job seriously. Way more seriously than what she -and even himself- had given him credit for.

"You are a man devoted to your people, willing to walk down any path if it will bring about a relief to their difficulties.", Araven nodded in approval.

Damn, they were all talking like the group was some kind of radical terrorist organization.

Then again, the perspective Ferguson had put their activities into just a moment ago... it really did sound like they were a very nasty bunch.

"I'm... we're just helping the locals, you know? I guess you can say we're criminals if you word it like that, but aren't we trying to compensate for Nycea's faults?", asked Nero.

"Oh, absolutely. That's why I like this group.", said Ferguson.

"You are also an employee of the state. We reported the theft to you and retrieved our ship under your supervision.", said Sharmon.

"Yeah... I can vouch for you all."

"Aren't we a bunch of merry criminals?", said Araven, amused.

"I don't know. Are you, Sharmon?", he asked.

It couldn't hurt to try, now that there was a little bit of peer pressure in his favor.

"Anybody who disagrees with you will either call you a criminal, a cheater, or some other thing that will make them good look in comparison to you. I am no exception to this."

"Okay, but have you done anything to earn that title? Other than what Ferguson said."

"I have done things that weak minded people labeled illegal in the past.", said Sharmon.

"Aha! So you are a criminal, after all! I knew it!", celebrated Nero.

"You know nothing, brat."

"See, he called me a brat.", Nero looked at Araven.

"Hm. Whatever you think of me is of no consequence. Much like Ferguson did, I shall also repeat myself: you are to walk the path to glory, to unrivaled power. Any and all who get in your way will label you a criminal for it."

"Bah. Killing a bunch of nasty bugs and helping a poor farmer bury his head being illegal makes no sense to me.", said Nero.

Ferguson laughed.

"If that makes us outlaws, then I'll gladly be one.", he agreed.

"Yeah, for sure.", said Araven.

"And why would you?", asked Nero, "like, I get that you're not an ass, but couldn't this potentially hurt your reputation back home?"

"Trust me, Platea couldn't care less if Nycea deems me a criminal.", he laughed, "there's nothing they can do; we're several states apart."

"Damn, must be nice.", said Nero.

"Being away from home is not really that nice, but it has its perks."

Again, Araven gave him a polite smile.

Nero sighed.

"Yeah, you probably miss your home. Sorry about that."

The group resumed their walk.

"Don't be. At least I have Rina, and I couldn't have met any better people than you guys."

"Heh, thanks. I feel the same."

They fist bumped.

"Always love me a good bromance...", commented Ferguson.

To their right, the waves caressed the coast gently, and Nero couldn't help but imagine how it must have looked during their good times. Clear turquoise waters gently caressing the white sands, green plants and all sorts of animals going about their daily lives, beautiful cities, towns and villages, families playing in the water...

He thought it must have all been beautiful.

What could have happened?

"Oh, we're here. There should be a lagoon over there."

Ferguson pointed into the forest.

"...is it safe?"

"No."

Figures. Nero didn't even know why he asked.

Everyone walked carefully and on high alert, but to their surprise, nothing attacked them.

In fact, it had been a while since the last buzzer or whatever had tried to jump them... it had prompted the previous chatter in the first place.

Sharmon led the group silently, only changing directions when told so by Ferguson, and after some forty minutes the forest opened up and a pretty wide lake appeared in front of them.

The lake was about half a mile wide and a little over a mile long, and its waters looked as contaminated as everything else. Behind it there were the mountain ranges, showing just how narrow the landmass was.

"Well... here it is.", said Ferguson, "the candidate for our source of water; it's fed by a river that comes from the mountains. Anyway, nobody comes here because it's not exactly very safe."

"I don't wanna sound cliché, but... it's weird how quiet it is.", Nero murmured.

Ferguson nodded.

"...yeah. That's because there's usually pretty nasty critters around here...", he said.

An eerie wind was blowing on them.

"Boy. Do you have an empty flask with you?", Sharmon asked.

"Yeah, right here."

The sorcerer didn't need to tell him what to do next. He approached the shore of the lake and filled it carefully, trying not to get his fingers wet.

"Alright, I'm almost done. Let's just hurry up and get out of here for now.", he proposed.

"Uh... I think we're gonna have to do something else before that.", said Ferguson behind him.

Grrrr.....

Nero frowned and turned around at the growling sound.

An enormous four-legged beast -large enough for an adult to be able to mount it- was slowly walking towards them, showing its teeth. Its fur was mostly black, with some light gray patches. Its eyes were red and it's teeth a very unpleasant yellow.

Its paws were enormous, and if Nero had to guess, its claws were as sharps as blades.

"Oh, you've gotta be shitting me...", he murmured.

"That's... that's a Dark Beast right there.", said Ferguson, taking a step back.

"Do not make any abrupt movements, boy. Give Ferguson the sample and form in a cone with Araven and me.", said Sharmon.

Nero got up more or less slowly, handed over the flask and placed himself behind and between them, with Ferguson right behind him.

The Dark Beast took another step forward, growling menacingly.

"What do we do...?", asked Araven.

"Do they hunt in packs?", added Nero, looking around him.

Ferguson shook his head.

"No, they are lone predators."

"Whoever gets attacked by the beast will be shielded by the boy; the other one will attack from the flank.", said Sharmon.

The Dark Beast took one, two, three steps, and then...

It jumped forward!

"Shit, it's fast!"

Nero had but a fraction of a second to react; he lifted his barrier in front of Sharmon just in time for the beast to crash against it. Much like with Berzen, his barrier shattered but slowed the beast enough for Sharmon to avoid it safely; Araven immediately flanked it and attempted to hit its ribs with his staff.

The Beast roared and turned to Araven; again Nero was barely able to keep up and put up a barrier just in time, allowing Araven to jump back. Sharmon didn't waste a second and immediately hit the best on one of its back legs with his cane.

Wait a second... this was the same strategy as with the crawlers...! Only that it was a much harder iteration of it, but it was kind of working.

The beast turned to Sharmon again, and the group repeated the process: Nero shielded the sorcerer and Araven hit its leg from behind. This time, the beast made use of the space Sharmon had opened when avoiding it and decided to dash back into the forest.

"Hey...! It's running away!", said Nero.

"Leave it, boy."

"What!? You're not chasing after it?"

"No. The last time we did that we were surrounded. I am not repeating that mistake.", he said, putting his cane away, "good work, Araven."

"Thanks."

"Predators aren't really fighters... they're opportunistic and simply flee if they can't catch their prey.", said Ferguson, "if they had to fight for their lives every time they need to feed they would go extinct in a matter of weeks.", said Ferguson.

Huh. Nero had never thought about it like that.

"Still, I think we've stayed here a minute longer than we need to. Let's just go back to the Vista. We've already cleared the road of buzzers; we can count that as our good deed of the day.", said Araven.

Sharmon nodded in agreement.

"Keep your senses sharp in case the beast decides to attack again; the forest might be its preferred hunting ground."

The sorcerer was probably right, but fortunately the group didn't run into it -or anything else- for the return trip. It took them another forty minutes to reach the road, and then they started to walk towards Trena again.

"Here, Nero, before I forget.", Ferguson handed him over the flask.

"Oh, than..."

BADUMP.

A pulsating pain in the head numbed all of Nero's senses at once. Then, a faint sound. A siren...? A scream...?

"..ero? Nero, are you alright?", he heard Ferguson's voice.

He blinked twice.

"Huh?"

"Are you feeling unwell?", said Araven.

"I... just got a little bit dizz-AGH!"

Another pulsating pain.

"No...! Don't do it...! Cervantes...! NO....!!!!"

"Garnet, what are you doing...!?"

It was not a siren. A woman was screaming, and nobody was able to calm her down.

"Let go of me! I won't let him die!"

"Take her away, Arwin! She doesn't have to see this!"

Nero pressed his teeth and grabbed his head with both hands.

It hurt. His chest hurt so much, too. Someone, make it stop...

"I SAID LET GO OF ME!! CERVANTES!! CERVAN....!!!"

A deafening roar muted all of her screams, and a blinding light threatened to burn his eyes.

Then, silence.

The boy fell flat on the road.

"Nero...!", Araven rushed to him.

"What's going on...? Sharmon, give us a..."

He stopped. Sharmon had walked towards a tree and was sitting and resting his back against it. His eyes were closed, or so it seemed, since there was no light coming from under the hat.

"They're both... gone.", said Ferguson.

"Help me carry them back to Herbert's! I'll pick up Nero, you get Sharmon!", said Araven.

"Ye-Yes! Of course!"

Doctor's orders were absolute.

Araven picked Nero up and started carrying him on his back. Ferguson couldn't do the same, as Sharmon was impressively heavier, so he put the sorcerer's arm around his shoulders and dragged his feet.

"Sorry, my lord. This is the best I can do for you."

"Save your energy, Ferguson. We must make haste."

None of them had any idea of the terrible events that were unfolding within Nero's consciousness.