Meet with the spies.

Spies. Scouts. Whatever you'd like to call them, you've assembled quite the capable bunch. You're not sure where the others are, but Snow, Stax, and Koblix are present and ready to report. Mipa isn't much of a spy herself. She wanders off before the conversation begins. Finally, it seems like Stax is willing to drop the previous conversation, at least for now. She still shoots you a smirk once in awhile.

"It's not even a day southeast of here," Koblix explains. "I found a strange square stone, and when I took a closer look, I noticed there was air flowing behind it. Though I couldn't make it budge, I was able to squeeze my way past it and scout around a little inside. I was by myself though, so I decided not to go any deeper than the entrance."

"Good job, Koblix," you reply. "That's awesome. We should be able to take it from there."

He smiles and rubs the back of his head. "I just have a good eye for finding stuff."

"It's a rather simple journey from here to there, though given how hidden it is behind rocks and shrubs, there's no telling how long it's been untouched," Snow adds.

Let's see here. Eva is one of the few mages we have, and she's already working on the mirror. Maybe I should bring some different people. Give my party a break while we check this place out. It might not even be anything at all. Could just be an old tomb.

"Hey Snow. Did you want to come this time?" you ask. "You're amazing with that bow. If it wasn't for you, we might not have defeated Sa'dis that day. You're good with a sword too, but I think you're the only person here who's skilled with a ranged weapon. At least, I think so."

"Ah. You're flattering me." Snow glances to the side--pink in her cheeks. "But of course. I'll come with you, if that's the plan you've decided on."

You chuckle. "I think after landing that shot with the PEG, you're allowed to be cocky."

"It was nothing. Honest."

You walk up to her, reach up, and pat the kitty gently on the head. "You did good."

Her eyes flutter closed as a smile grows on her face. She blushes yet again. Then her eyes shoot open, and she takes a quick step back, clearly embarrassed by her own reaction. "Th-Thank you, but we should focus on the mission!"

Stax laughs. "Interesting. I wanna try that now."

"You better not." Snow crosses her arms with a huff.

The doors of the great hall push open. Two figures step inside and make their way down the red carpet as they chat amongst each other. It takes them a moment to see your group at the other end. Taiga and Yin--They spot you and the others, and then Yin comes running towards you. Something is strapped to her hip, but you don't get the chance to inspect it before she vanishes into a cloud of black smoke, and then instanenously appears right in front of you. Through the cloud you're blowing away from your face, she bows politely.

"I hope you're doing well, Master," Yin says. She stands politely, and you look down to see the object. It's a small crossbow and quiver. The latter is filled with bolts. "I am not interrupting, am I?"

"No, you're good. We were just talking about a potential dungeon to crawl," you reply.

She gasps. "Oh! Please, Master. Hear my request. Pretty please?"

You can't help but chuckle at her excitement. "Of course. You never ask for anything, Yin."

Show bows a second time. "Thank you.... What you said just then, about a dungeon. If it's all right with you, please consider taking me! I know I'm only a maid, but when we fought the Demon King's army, I couldn't help but feel like I could have done more, especially when I was fighting Taiga. So, I asked her to train me."

You watch Taiga make her way down. "The person you attacked is training you?" you ask.

The bee arrives. In her hand is a spear you haven't seen before. "Correct. She's a quick learner, I must admit," she says.

"I was worried there'd be hard feelings or something," you say.

"Not at all. Yin here is a tough girl. She also understands the power of servitude." Taiga salutes. "While I wouldn't say she's ready for war after only a short period of time... Well, when she first attacked me, there was a passion there I haven't quite seen again. What I'm saying is that she has potential. Maybe she needs a real experience."

"Ms. Holland helped me too." Yin pulls one bold from her quiver. It's small and black, but you can make out tiny crimson lines from the shaft down to the head. "Only some of them are like this, but she also made me a spear."

Taiga hands it over to her. "It's quite the weapon. Holland has talent."

Yin points the weapon's tip up for you to see.

You take a step back. "Woah there." It's wonderfully crafted, just like Taiga said. It actually looks a lot like the Flame General's trident, but compressed down into into a smaller weapon. Instead of three points, it ends in one, but it has an infernal aesthetic, and a red ribbon is tied right below the head. You felt a warmth before backing away, so it's certainly no ordinary weapon either.

"Sorry, Master." She lowers it to the ground. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, Snow is coming with me. Having a group of four tends to be the best, so... What the heck? It's not that far away. Let's take a quick journey southeast. Me, Snow, Yin, and how about you come too, Taiga? If you're the one training Yin, you should probably be there to observe her progress and give her a hand."

She salutes again. "Of course, Lord Warren. You've made a good choice."

"That's a diverse enough combo I think. What do you think, Snow?"

"Yes. I agree." She nods. "Though if Yin is new to this sort of thing, we should be prepared to retreat if it ends up to be more dangerous than we expected. We have absolutely no information about what's inside. The only thing I know is that the stone blocking the entrance hasn't been moved in a long time. That means that either nobody ordinary is living there, or there's another way in, but I couldn't find anything. The best case scenario is that nothing resides within but treasure."

"Could we be so lucky?" you ask. "Let's start getting ready. I had nothing else planned today anyway."