Know your enemy.

The weird little creature had one of the strangest auras Lorelei had observed. She didn't like to be so vague, but derpy was the only thing that began to describe it. Some sort of illogical, humorous cuteness, mixed with some luck and clumsiness.

"Warden, this threat has managed to hide its nature from a mage with one of the most incredible identification spells I have ever heard of. It subverted local lifeforms to use as weapons. Before you charge onward to track it, we must learn more about it and I need to try to locate it," explained Lorelei. The young seer was looking right at Moira, her unblinking white eyes showing a resolve that contrasted with the relaxed attire she was wearing; the simple summer dress and few pearls tied in her hair were very different from the heavy ceremonial garb and mask she often wore. After her last encounter with John, she had nothing to hide from him, she had laid bare her body and her soul in front of him, so she decided to forgo the vanity of wearing anything over her eyes.

She had read through John's banter with Moira; while she had seemed offended, his reply was mostly in jest. His aura didn't lie, and when he looked at her, she could only feel kindness and... Some love? Even some of her handlers in the order, Moira among them, often felt pity for her affliction or defiance faced with her often too intrusive gift.

She could only feel positive emotions toward her from all of John's companions so far, even his girlfriend, even after what had happened. She would still blush thinking about it, glad others couldn't read her emotions like she did theirs. She knew that it was necessary, part of the mission... Yet, she found herself wishing that it was more, that he would... do it again. It would be easier to convince herself that it would never happen, that it was a one time thing, that he felt nothing for her, easier... if she had not seen clear as crystal in his mind the exact opposite and that she would probably just have to ask, that and finding an excuse for some time alone with him.

Her mind was drifting, she needed to focus on the task at hand. Everyone here counted on her.

"Can I see the creatures?" she asked

"Sure thing, follow me to the lab, it's upstairs," said Tricia.

The pale skinned elf offered her hand to the young blind girl, in an overt attempt to guide her up the stairs. She obviously didn't know that she could see auras and was able to navigate her way alone. Vesta, she remembered from her dive into John's mind, a girl with a truly tragic story, another that the young mage had saved. She took the offered hand, unwilling to rebuke a kind gesture only because it was superfluous. The second elven sister went on her right side and offered her help too.

In the end the whole group climbed the stairs to the lab. Lorelei inspected the cadaver of the oversized beetle, comparing it with a few regular ones that Tricia had gathered as references.

"Strange... It is undeniable that they are altered forms of the indigenous ones, but their essence itself is really weird. Your normal scarabs have a mixture of earth and shadow essence, but there is something a lot less common in these... yet I almost feel like I have seen it before..." she explained.

"How so? Is it demonic? Are there risks of corruption?" asked John, worried about what the elusive creature was doing to his kingdom.

"Not demonic, I don't think so. It clearly is corrupting... Well, transforming would be more accurate until we know what it is. Do you remember what happened when you opened the box? Exactly what happened," she asked him.

The scene wasn't one that had been captured in his gallery, but with the series of perks and stats he had accumulated, his memory was now almost perfect.

"The box contained a crystal with some sort of pearl in it. My observation skill didn't work on either. I couldn't damage the crystal in any way I tried. I used a skill that should have put the pearl in my inventory, but it didn't work. I used telekinesis on the pearl, it failed but then the pearl changed shape and started swimming in the crystal. Then it jumped out of it, bumped into a few people, without any apparent harm to them, and finally fled into the tunnels. The underground is a real maze and we didn't have the numbers for a proper search, so we sealed the entrances here and the ones that are outside not long after that," he explained.

"You used your thieving skill on it? Could it be... Who did it bump into?"

"It landed on Dargon, June got it off him and it brushed against Vesta on the way out, why?"

"This is it! Its essence must be linked to change or adaptation. By observing it you gave it sight, by trying to move it you gave it motion, and by trying to steal it..."

"I gave it the ability to absorb the essence from what it touches!"

"The June you talked about is Ms Summers, the art teacher, the one linked to the cult?" she asked; John nodded in reply. "Her essence is tainted by this unknown **** behind the cult, the lewd aspect of some of the changes on the creatures is a consequence of this. And their ineptitude or rather harmless aspects are due to the anomalous essence of your familiar. I have seen little of your fiery friend in this creature. Those were the first batches of changed animals; the creature might learn from its mistakes and see how they were ineffective. We should do our best to stop it as soon as possible."

"Can you locate it?" asked Moira, clearly eager for a hunt.

"I'm not sure, maybe if Mr Newman let me use his place of power."

"That won't be a problem. Let's go."

"Wait, we have a hint. I found rock dust on the carapace of these that would match more the mountain range than the tunnels, and the exit that was breached was rather close to the mountains. I can't help you more than that. As far as killing them, the chitin is pretty thick, so magic would work best, then piercing damage. Then of course an insane amount of blunt trauma will do too. Good hunt!" cheered Tricia.

Just as they exited the castle, they came upon Stella who was busy inspecting John's bike and quad.

"The bike is pretty cool in a simplistic way, but the gas one is downright primitive. Could upgrade it if I get the parts, I'll make a list," said the cyborg girl.

"Another one? Don't you have enough already? Are you trying to become some harem king?" scoffed Moira.

"Hey, I'm not fucking him! Who's the stuck up bitch?" spat back Stella. John could see Moira fume from rage and begin to draw her large warhammer from the inside of her shield.

"Moira, calm down! Stella, I'm not going to ask you to be servile, but you will at least be polite with my allies. I don't want you to cause me trouble," he told them.

"Where did you find this one? What about your girlfriend, she doesn't mind your little collection?"

"Stella is a refugee. We are not intimate and your remarks were putting this into question. We do not have time for this kind of drama now. I'm sorry for what she said, but you also should mind your words," he pointed out. "As for Anna, we have an agreement, she has a word regarding any additions and a veto. But how I rule my kingdom is my own business, not the Order's."

Moira let out a loud sigh and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. "Let’s sum it up to stress and a bad first impression, put your battlegear on, we need to..." She stopped after seeing John in his new armor when she opened her eyes again. It was full day and they would move outside, so stealth wasn't a concern, the perfect occasion to impress. The stealth circuit of the armor relied on a thin coating of nanites like the ones Tricia and Vesta used as disguise, but John had set up his armor to display his colors, a mix of dark and light purples with a lot of golden highlights, especially on the glass part of his helmet.

"What the... You are really moving fast... Nice looking armor, I hope it's not just for show. Let's go!"

It was a surprise to John to see that Moira could actually fit her motorbike in the storage space of her shield, watching it get out was impressive. After a very short discussion, pairs were formed: John driving the quad with Tricia sitting behind him, Cali on John's electric bike with a **** Kim riding behind (no one denied that she could have probably followed on foot like she claimed, but in case of a fight, everyone should have been well rested), and finally Moira on her roaring machine with Lorelei in tow.

John led the way to the Sanctum. It was on the way to the mountain and there was a chance that Lorelei could use the extra power to get a better read on the elusive foe. They all dismounted at the edge of the circle of smooth marble monoliths.

John was about to lead Lorelei inside when something felt weird. Lorelei shuddered and the three warriors gathered around them in a defensive position while Tricia ran to her help.

"It's not right..." said John. The place was too silent, the atmosphere was off, there was no creature in sight... And suddenly dark shapes began falling from the sky around them.