Xander landed in another forest clearing. But it was nothing like the previous one. Connor was standing beside him, open-mouthed, staring at the scene before them. Maybe it was the smell of roasted meat that triggered him. Or it was the setting itself. Or the festival music playing loud along with the cheering folks. Or maybe it was the incredulous shout of Takeo when he finally joined them.

"What the fuck!" exclaimed Connor, as before them a massive and bucolic festival was going on well. Dozen of tents where "Fucking bear people," as Connor so well put it, were bartering for meals, toys, and artworks. On their right, a dancefloor had been raised and a group of bear musicians were playing an assortment of instruments to the great pleasure of the dozen or so bear dancers.

But most of all, in front of them a huge congregation of bear people was currently listening to a throaty and loud speech of some impressively huge bear on a stage, clad as a noble, with a fine jacket, a wig, and a monocle that regularly flew out of its intended spot. Unfortunately, they understood nothing of what he was saying. Just a long variation of roars and mouth clapping. He visibly called on several other people on his stage, and four no less impressive bear people went up. They were sparsely clad with only an overall. Dark Blue for three of them and the mightiest had a brown one with three stars on the front. The crowd was roaring happily at their appearance seeming to cheer the newcomers.

Somebody came to the chief, poked him, and vigorously pointed in their direction. The huge bear took notice of them and grinned somewhat savagely. He roared thunderously, interrupting the music, the dancing, and the shoppers. All turned toward him. He said something obviously, and another bear moved toward them. He looked nothing like the major threat on the stage. He or maybe she? was leaner, definitely smaller, and wore a long black hooded robe with a single golden pawprint right above his heart. He was carrying a staff on top of which stood a bear bust, wearing squarish glasses, and holding a paw raised.

He wasn't as nimble as some of the dancers and despite his staff, stumbled twice. His hood fell off at some point, revealing dark brown fur that was beginning to turn gray and a pair of golden eyes behind fine glasses. He stopped himself a few meters before the three dumbstruck humans and bowed deeply.

"Hear, Hear-" he began, only to be stopped by his derailing throat. He coughed once and tried again. "Hear! Hear the words of our Lord the Saint J.J. Da Tidal-Bear!" His voice was terrible, he probably had to force himself into vocalizing as humans did and it was surely as painful to hear as it was painful to say. "Yo Bitches! When the clap goes, to the lake you goes, grab more fishes, bring them to the dishes!" He intoned as if he was reciting some holy text. "When the clap comes next, you better be the best!" He finished with a flourish of his staff. The crowd roared in approval, despite probably, hopefully, not understanding a word of what had been said.

"What? What is happening?" asked Takeo in a whisper.

Connor seemed just as lost as he was, but he was bordering on laughter and tears. "That's..."

"At least the Challenge is clear," said Xander almost matter-of-factly. He was also having a bit of trouble conciliating what was happening to what he had known about the Path. Master certainly has left out some... details. The crowd parted and the opposing team of four promptly went toward the lake. The crowd roared again, and the four bear people began to clap their hands in a rhythm. The crowd joined in. Some even made inviting gestures toward the three humans. The feast was on, and they were the guests of honor. The musicians began to play again, a lively tune that made the crowd dance and clap even more.

"That's our cue," said Xander. He was no less lost than his friends, but he was sure of one thing. If they failed, they would be in the deepest of shit-hole. He faked some confidence and went toward the lake. "Any of you good at fishing?"

Takeo ran to catch up with Xander and Connor. "Not really? I tried when I was eight, but that's it."

The opposing team, because what else could they be, was waiting for them at a great banner under which a wide white mark waited for them. Of course... In front of them and a bit downhill, a very wide lake was lying peacefully. Its borders, for three or four meters, were of the most beautiful azure he had ever seen, then very quickly the depth caught up and became unfathomable. The lake was fed from a large river, probably a kilometer or two away, and emptied itself into three lesser outlets, two of them quite nearby.

Even from here, Xander could see the thousands of fishes swimming happily in the crystalline water. Some were even quite impressive. He looked around and spotted the cooking stands with a massive scale, a hundred meters away from the lake's bank. Beyond these, a massive line of tables where hundreds of guests were already partaking in a great feast. There were bears of every size and color. Most had some clothing, flowery hats, or even some jewelry. Glasses or monocles were for some reason very fashionable. Youths were running around, on all fours or not, playing in the meadow or at the forest's edge under the watchful eyes of elders.

Should be simple enough... he thought. We just need to catch some fish and bring them to the cooks. Easy...

The bigger bear, with three stars on his overall, seemed to be smirking at them. His three companions didn't seem any more pleasant and were probably dangerous. They were impressive representatives of their species, and they were probably as strong as they looked. Hopefully, we won't have to fight them. A thought crossed his mind. "If we're going in water we may need to remove our armor or store whatever we have on us." He unfastened his shield quickly but kept his sword. It won't appreciate being in the water, but he didn't have anything else to fish with, should the need arise.

"Did anyone say anything about rules? Or what we can use?" asked Connor as he removed some of his armor and his cloak, he kept a dagger and a smaller knife. Everything else went to the Ring.

"Haven't seen any fishing rode either," observed Takeo. "Nor nets, for that matter." And Takeo had nothing on him besides his staff. A shame that we haven't yet turned it into a spear.

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to improvise," said Xander. "What do you have in mind, Connor?" He was getting anxious, this Challenge could start whenever and they weren't ready at all. He quickly unloaded his armor into Connor's waiting arms. It disappeared just as quickly.

"Nothing much. We could probably set ourselves between them and the cooks, and borrow any fish that when that way..." he shrugged. "Or we could try our hand at fishing."

Behind them, the musician began to roll the drums. "I think we're out of time," said Xander. "Decision?"

"Let's try fishing," said Takeo. "We can always try to steal their fish if it doesn't work."

"Agreed," said Connor. "Let's go."

The trumpets roared, and the bear team launched themselves like devils toward the lake. Xander and his companions followed suit. "We need spears!" shouted Takeo. They ran downhill for a dozen meters, taking care not to fall as the grass hadn't been cut and could prove to be slippery.

"On it!" shouted back Connor. They reached the lake in seconds, splashing within. The water was cold, but not freezing. The fishes inside fled, but they were so numerous that more came in anyway. There wasn't much algae, but the ground was covered in small rocks, pebbles, and potholes. More than once, Xander almost fell. By the time the water reached their knees, fishes began to grow into sizable ones, lazily swimming around them, sunbathing.

"Don't forget that you aren't unSealed anymore, those are simple fishes!" observed Xander. His hand darted into the water and grasped a slippery fish. It was slim, long-nosed with pink and blue scales. A roar of approval came from behind them, along with fast music from the band. Shit, was do I do now with this one?

Xander shouted in a flash of inspiration, "Takeo, take Connor's ring, you'll be our fish bearer! Connor, start fishing!" His friend agreed and borrowed his precious ring to Takeo. "There take this one, and stay right between us. We'll you throw our catches, store them!" Only two of them had Movement Abilities, but Xander feared that his new charge wouldn't be deft enough to catch fish. The Newcomer seemed a bit lost but promptly found out how to operate the ring and the fish disappeared in his hands. He only had set one Dexterity Bright Orb, so he wasn't that much quicker than a lambda unSealed guy, but it seemed sufficient for their current targets. And thus, with hands like spears, he pounced onto unsuspecting fish. They caught one maybe half of the time, probably less. Damnable beasts are omniscient!

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Guys," shouted Takeo, impressed. "They have made a chain, the big one is... well he's throwing fish out of the water by the dozen. The next one catch and throw them to the next and so on till they reach the cooks." He paused, "Also, I think our ring is nearly full already."

"How many do we have already?" asked Xander. He had barely sent two more to Takeo.

"Seven?" he replied unhappily. Shit.

Connor looked up and squinted. "Those are little fishes. Let's try to catch bigger ones, even if we catch fewer, we'll get more in mass!" He pointed a bit further into the lake, where the water was getting quite deep.

Xander nodded, "Agreed. Takeo go there and deliver our fish, check out theirs, and come back. Find a spot where to leave our backpacks by the lake bank." he ordered. "Connor let's get further." The music tempo was gaining a few beats.

Bigger fishes were well visible further, the problem was that the water level was also slowly lowering, annihilating their already insufficient footing and grabbing ability. Xander unsheathed his longsword. Spearing fish with a sword wasn't as easy as it looked, but his Master had him trained at thrusting and lunging at various angles, but never in water. For once, his Black Jade's Guide didn't offer any guidance, A shame. Connor had had the time to refashion a hobgoblin's bone into a little skewer but didn't have a much better time. Soon enough though, the water turned darker as their misses still wounded the fishes, leaving blood, scales, and bits of mangled flesh floating around. Fishes quickly turned more aggressive, fighting each other around them and even attempting to nibble at them. When that's a five-centimeter-long fish, that's cute, but less when the damn thing is a meter long.

Takeo appeared just behind them in a splash and made their target flee for a second. "They've got like twenty fishes there already, our seven made barely a dent in the scale."

Xander nodded, "So this is judged by a scale?" he asked. Takeo acquiesced. "Well, let's get some more weight then."

"Takeo!" called Connor, "Grab this one!" He had finally managed to spear a fish. It was a fat one, wider than his arm and longer than his leg. It was a beautiful fish, with shimmering green scales and yellow fins. It still twitched in Connor's hand, and the skewer had made a mess on its side, the wide gash was bleeding profusely.

"Takeo! Another one!" shouted Xander. And so it went for a minute or two. They were getting better at it, and the fish kept getting bigger and meaner. But Takeo was getting full and he needed to deliver their current catch. I hope we won't be too far behind... He could hear the crowd cheering and the music was getting frantic. By the time Takeo came back three more fishes were floating belly up around them. It was quickly turning into a feast for their brethren and Xander had to keep them from taking their catches. He almost used one of his Abilities.

"Guys!" shouted Takeo, as he came back. "We're catching up! They probably have something like fifty or sixty fishes, but our twenty are easily evening the scale!"

The young man had trouble staying afloat, he was indeed a bit smaller than the two others and the water wasn't getting any shallower. Xander sent a small prayer in appreciation to their Master who had insisted they learn to swim. They caught two more fish when the crowd changed tone, instead of cheering, they were now calling in a deep and throaty voice. What the hell?

Xander unleashed a white crescent in the bubbling water, and half a dozen more fishes floated up, badly wounded. "Takeo, take everything and go back to the scales!"

Up to then, the water had been pretty calm, besides the fishes and their splashing. But something seemed to drag them toward the deeper part of the lake. "Guys!" shouted Takeo in panic, as he was dragged away. He tried to swim toward them but was swept away. "Help!" Xander had trouble staying in place and only had a foot placed well enough to resist the current. Connor seemed not to fare any better.

"Take the rope out!" shouted Connor, "And send it!"

But the young man was too deep in his panic and didn't react in time. Below him, a black shade surged, and the water level momentarily fell as a massive fish mouth of at least twenty meters opened, drawing in the water and the unfortunate Newcomer. The fish jumped high in the air, revealing a massive body of at least a hundred meters, a long and colorful rainbow coat, and massive fins. The panicked shouts of Takeo echoed in the air, as he popped out of the fish's mouth. Barely a second later, taking advantage of his now restored footing, Xander unleashed slashes after slashes, and three white crescents, his current maximum, flew toward the fish, blasting scales and dividing flesh, but ultimately did nothing more than a flesh wound. But as the fish began its descent, two loud thumps resounded from within and the fish's head separated itself from the rest of the body in a spray of gore.

Water surged again as the body splashed into the lake, ejecting the two young men toward the banks. Takeo fell from the sky, landed heavily in the shallow water with a loud splash, and was promptly dragged away by the retracting current. Xander quickly found himself back on his feet and Stepped toward the young man's last known position. He was unconscious and bled from one of his legs. Another Step and he was near him. He grabbed him, put him on his shoulder like a potato sack, and began to return toward the banks. Connor was already there, his wide-open eyes were riveted toward the massive fish head that had landed a few meters away. The rest of the body was floating in the now bloodred lake, not that far away.

Takeo woke up in Xander's arms. "What happened?" he asked, confused.

"You got fished," said Xander. "But you escaped it like a pro," he added with a smile. "We'll fix you up in a second."

"I remember the Talismans, did they work?" asked Takeo weakly.

So that was what he had done. "Yes, they did," replied softly, "A massive success, I'd say." He turned himself a bit so that Takeo could see the massive fish head. "You killed it."

Takeo's eyes widened in shock. "I did?" he asked, incredulous.

"Guys, better hurry up, they don't seem to be quite happy with us..." said Connor pointing at the indignant crowd. As if a silent signal had been given, the crowd began to run toward them, some even lowered themselves to run on four legs. Connor quickly went to the packs and shouldered his then rushed away.

"Where are the Doors?" asked Xander, as they began their flight in the opposite direction of the swarming crowd. A shame for the fish's head.

"Please, get by the head, I want to keep it," asked Takeo. Keep it? Oh, his book? Xander nodded and they ran toward the massive head, it wasn't that much out of the way they were going anyway, besides he needed Takeo to take his backpack as well. It was still bleeding profusely, and the blood was flowing toward the lake.

Xander had never tried to Step along with somebody else. In theory, it should work but it should be tiresome. They didn't have much time, so he tried anyway. And Stepped. It felt like he was running in mud, with two hundred kilos on his back. It worked, but he felt sore for it. Something I'll have to train.

Takeo lifted his hand and his Book appeared. He touched the fish's head and it disappeared. "Didn't believe it would work," he said and grinned. "But it did!"

Xander snorted, "You're a lucky bastard, you know that?" he said. "Now hold tight, we're going to Step again." He Stepped toward his pack, grabbed it, and put it on his left shoulder, "Now put this into the Ring". He looked for Connor, the poor man didn't have any movement ability, but he was quick on his long legs. He was veering toward the right, following the bank. Further away, he spotted the Doors. Only the third one was lit, and a magnificent Reward Chest waited for them. I'm not sure if we're going to have the time to get the Reward...

Still, he pushed himself, the Doors were probably a few hundred meters away, and the crowd despite their bearish appearance wasn't that slow. On the forefront, the massive noble bear was running on all fours, and he was fast. This is going to be close... He Stepped, adding another bit of distance between them and the followers. Connor was just in front of him.

"Don't stop until you reach the Reward, throw whatever you can toward Takeo, he'll store it right away, and run toward the Doors, they're right behind us!" he shouted. Xander didn't wait, he had still one or two Steps in him, so he needed to pace himself. He could feel the earth shaking under the massive bear's steps.

There were only so many things they had on hand. Takeo had Connor's ring, but from what he remembered they had nothing like a smoke screen. They had debated to buy one or two of those before they left, but even the cheapest one had still been quite expensive. Takeo summoned a bone and threw it at their pursuer. Then another, Then some rusted goblin dagger. It didn't do much, but Xander appreciated the spunk. Still, he needed to get to the Reward first. "Stepping!" he shouted. Whoah, that's tough... He was getting tired, but he was still ahead of the bear, and now ahead of Connor.

"Get ready, Takeo. I'll grab whatever I can and give them to you for storage. Then put your hand in the Chest and drop everything in the ring!" he shouted again. He was getting closer to the Reward Chest, its golden flourish shone in the early afternoon's sun and the marble white casing added to the luminous effect. He Stepped one last time, just by the Chest. Put Takeo on the ground, panting. His hand darted inside, grabbed a handful of things, and threw them at his charge. Then he moved to the side, letting Takeo handle his part of the Loot. He was on his last leg and could feel his heart beating at two hundred beats per minute.

Connor was just a few meters away, the noble bear had a fire in his eyes and would see them dead in a matter of seconds. His size had increased with his fury, his fur had shredded his stylish jacket and the monocle jumped around his head, barely hanging on a little golden chain. "Done," came from beside him and another dagger flashed toward their running doom. Xander moved between the Door and the Chest, Connor would only have a few seconds to grab his Loot. Thankfully the Door was barely a meter away from the Chest. His friend's hand slipped inside, and just as quickly came out, with a bunch of glittering stuff. He threw his hand at Takeo who promptly stored it and all three stepped almost as one into the Door.

None had thought to check what the color coding had been.