Find the lab.

After saying your goodbyes to Susie and Raina, the other dryads, and Spot of course, you begin your trek back into the woods, and quickly it becomes even denser than before. Thankfully, you have the best guide for such a situation. Just like how Peony could lead you quickly through the outskirts around Castle Phoenix, this dryad takes you on a three hour journey, which may be tiring, but without her, you assume it would have taken you twice that long. Not only that, but wild animals keep their distance, and the path even feels easier to walk along than when your party was on its own.

But finally, you arrive.

It looks exactly like every other part of the forest you've seen. It opens up a little, but hardly. Nothing here looks like a door, nor is there any sort of rock wall or suspicious circle of mushrooms. You place your hand upon the wider of the trees and lean back, thinking for a moment. Nothing in the notes really explained how to un-invisible the door, unfortunately.

"This is the place," says the dryad. "Do you smell that? The air here just smells... wrong."

Amara sniffs. "I think I may know what you mean."

"I don't smell anything," you say.

Eva grins. "Hehehe." Her snickering sounds strangely fake, as if she's playing it up. She crosses her arms beneath her bust, nudging them up, as she looks at you with a smug expression. However, she doesn't say anything else. She just stares.

You glare back. "... Are you waiting for me to say something?"

"Yeah, you're welcome. You know, for being such a talented mage. For being such a beautiful sorceress."

"If you have a spell to help, you can just cast it."

She raises her hands up and brings them back through her pale lavender hair. "It's a good thing you brought along a 10th level universalist mage, huh? If you didn't have me around, you'd be so screwed. Oh wow. Could you imagine?"

"Are you trying to do the Malakae brat thing?"

"What brat thing?!" Eva snaps back. "It's called having confidence."

"You're right, you're right. Yes, I'm very glad we brought along the sexiest, cutest mage who ever lived. I'm grateful she has a spell to help us find this invisible door."

Her cheeks glow pink as she smiles wide. Then, she withdraws her wand and points it towards the sky. "Time for... Detect Magic!" she shouts. A single pulse comes out from the tip of her arcane focus, like a faint shockwave, before she glances around her. It looks as if she can see something you cannot. "Down here. No, wait. Up there. I think I understand. There's some sort of lever halfway up this tree. If someone can climb the branches, they should be able to see one that sticks out from the rest, right about there." She points.

"Good job, Eva," you say.

"Shucks... It's nothing, really."

"I've got it." Snow nods, but before she can leap, RF raises a hand.

"Sorry. Do you mind if I do it? I really want to stretch my legs," says Lalarin.

"Of course. Go ahead."

Instead, Rabbit's Foot leaps up to grab the nearest branch. With acrobatic skill surpassing that of an Olympic athlete, she twirls and vaults to the next. She climbs higher like a squirrel, and with incredible ease, she makes her way to her destination in a matter of moments. There she clings, looking for a moment for what she seeks. Then she takes hold of a small branch protruding above one keeping her up. She gives it a tug in a few different directions before it bends perfectly in one. Click.

"There!" Eva announces. She brings everyone's attention to the foot of the tree. There's now a hole straight through, leading to the interior of the trunk. It's a few feet tall, so while it could fit somebody, they'd have to crawl. "Aha. That's the other thing I detected. Did you see me detect that, Kyle?"

You pat her on the head. "Yes, Eva. You detected that secret door so well that I became physically excited."

She stares at you, swallowing. "... Really?" Her eyes glance down for a moment.

Rabbit's Foot lands deftly back onto the forest floor. "I wonder where this leads."

"Only one way to find out!" Niki gets down on her hands and knees and begins to crawl inside the trunk.

You look to the dryad. "Hey. Thanks for everything. We can take it from here. It sounds like you have important business back with the others anyway. I'm sure by the time you get back, Susie will have thought up the most beautiful name you've ever heard."

The dryad fans herself frantically. "Oh, well. M-Maybe. I mean, y-yes. Good luck, adventurers. You'll always be welcome in this area of the forest."

Amara bows her head. "Perhaps we will come visit sometime, with Peony."

"Oh hey. I can stand in here," Niki's voice echoes out.

Weirdly enough, she's correct. After entering the trunk, she seems to have discovered the entire inside being hollow. All you can see are her legs. She stomps her feet a few times. But then, in a flash, she vanishes from sight.

"Ah! What happened to her, Eva?" RF asks.

Eva looks around frantically. "I don't know! She probably teleported!"

"Hurry. We need to follow!" Lalarin is the next to crawl inside.