Chapter 785 The Search For The Cup Continues I

"What do you think, Fox Spirit?" A curly haired woman asked Keng. Keng studied the ground, scribbling runes in the air. He called the runes out under his breath as his eyes scanned the forests below. The curly haired woman and her small crew of three had taken him by wind to check on the forests. Keng had studied close and far for the last few hours and was just on the precipice of an answer.

"There are traces of curse energy left," Keng stopped writing. The silver starlight glowed off him and fell below. He had allowed his energy to fall and give nature some positive energy. "But I wouldn't worry too much. With time, the animals will come back. And when they do, the monsters won't be too far behind. For now, I would continue your hunts like usual. In time the forest will call the animals back and you will be able to hunt."

"It's great we built a ranch." A dark-skinned man commented. "If it weren't for Hailey's and Russell's idea, we would've starved ages ago."

"The ranch sustains us, but our people are growing hungrier as the season starts to get warmer. Soon Summer will be here, and we need a bigger place for a ranch and more gardens." The curly haired woman sighed. She turned to Keng and smiled. "Thank you, Fox Spirit, for giving us some data to work with. In time, the land will become normal. We will hunt on the other side of the city where our old settlement used to be for the time being…"

"It's a longer journey for the hunters but it at least gives us food to live off of." A curvy woman sighed. "We should be grateful that your brother has slain the beast that has done this. I cannot believe such animals are as susceptible to such energies as us."

​ "Shall we return home? If we go now, we'll be back for breakfast." The dark-skinned man asked. "Our new friend can return to his friends, and we can tell the hunters what we've gathered."

"Yes, let's do that." The curly-haired woman nodded. "Thank you, again, Fox Spirit. We appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. Anything to grow our relationship with each other and our past behind us is worth it." Keng smiled.

"Well, why don't we head back? Are you guys ready?" The curly-haired woman asked. Her teammates nodded. They began to turn and fly away when Keng spoke up.

"Why don't we take the easier route?" Keng suggested. They turned and looked at him. "Gravitum: Portal…" A black hole ripped open, spreading with silver starlight. Keng pulled the energy to the side as it rose higher into the sky. Space tore between Keng and the Druidic scouts, revealing the city.

"It's exactly what the other one did yesterday." The curvy woman pointed out.

"Is it safe?" The dark-skinned man asked.

"It's safe. You go first. The portal will close when I enter it." Keng told them. The three scouts looked at each other before flying through it. They gasped as they appeared in the heart of the city, near the bunker. Keng flew through, the portal closing behind him as he hovered above the ground.

"I've never seen magic like that before…" The curly-haired woman whispered.

"I told you!" The curvy woman nudged the other woman. "It was true!"

"It shaved off plenty of time!" The dark-skinned man chuckled.

"And it looks like we're just in time for breakfast!" The curly-haired woman smiled. They turned to Keng and saluted. "Thank you for your help, once again, Fox Spirit Keng. We shall take our leave here. If you need anything, you can find me in the barracks. Just ask any soldier posted for Valerie. I will help you."

"Alright." Keng nodded.

"Thank you for help, again. Have a good day." Valerie and her crew waved at Keng before they turned and walked off. Keng turned and headed back to the house. It was buzzing with life when Keng knocked on the door. The door unlocked and Calis was the first to greet Keng.

"You're back. How'd it go?" Calis asked, stepping off to the side. Keng stepped in and moved off to the side. He slipped his shoes off while Calis closed the door and turned to him.

"They wanted to know how long it would take for the forest to go back to normal." Keng answered. "Hunters want to hunt closer to the settlement instead of going all the way to the other side of the city. They inquired about expanding their ranch site and gardens, too." He turned and noticed Lee Seng was missing while the rest looked cleaned up and in the middle of eating the large amount of breakfast set on the coffee table and dining room table.

"How long do you think it'll be?"

"A couple months at best. They are worried but it sounds like it isn't the worst thing. Summer is coming in a few months, and I assume they're working on getting seeds planted. Where's Lee?"

"Showering." Manny answered with a mouth full of food. "Come eat." Keng wandered over to the dining room and looked at the food set on the dining room table. He glanced over the coffee table filled with his friends' plates and grabbed an assortment of French toast, sausages, a piece of rolled omelet, bacon, and fruits. He moved and planted a seat on the floor and squished his plate with the others.

"What's the plan for today?" Ritsuka asked.

"Find the Cup." Manny answered. "Return to Calis's home and we're done with that. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy."

"It'll be like a needle in a haystack tryna find this Cup." Liz sighed. "Isn't it supposed to spew liquid? Shouldn't we find places flooded recently?"

"We could use the people for help." Keng suggested. "They probably know a lot about the surrounding area. It would lower search time."

"Lee Seng did mention that he mentioned the Cup." Calis added. "Although, he didn't go into full detail."

"Should we trust them with this information?" Olivia asked. "What if they backstab us and take the Cup? What will we do then?" Manny downed his flask of water and wiped his mouth. He let out a burp which caused Liz to go into a frenzy of punches. Manny winced and defended himself before answering Olivia's question.

"We don't have to say what it does. Just that it might be where water is… The Cup is ornate, so I would imagine someone must've seen something like that before." Manny answered. "If they don't know anything about it, we'll just have to look around." The bathroom door opened, and Lee Seng stepped out. He walked down the hall and stood in the medium between the hall and the living room. Keng looked over and waved at him with mouth full of food. Lee Seng smiled, listening to the conversation.

"Lee Seng said it was here, right?" Ritsuka glanced over at Lee Seng.

"That's what Lord Cain's note said." Lee Seng walked over to stand behind the couch. "It's somewhere in this city."

"You said you've been here before, right?" Manny asked. Lee Seng nodded as Manny turned to look at Lee Seng. "Do you have any ideas where it might be?" Lee Seng thought for a moment and bit his lip.

"They moved where they were living from the last time I've been here. If we could get directions to where they were last, we could look there… If it's somewhere I've already been in this city… We should start there since it's probably the closest and work our way back through the trail I took."

"Wouldn't that just link us to where we got captured?" Evan asked.

"We didn't find anything on our way there, though." Olivia pointed out. "The Cup makes a strange noise when you're near it, right, Calis?"

"Correct." Calis nodded. "Even to untrained ears, you would hear it."

"It must be in a good place, then." Keng commented. He wiped his mouth with his hand and looked at the others. "Wouldn't you think someone would've heard it by now? If they did, they would try to figure out where the noises were coming from."

"Exactly." Calis agreed. "It's strange no one has heard it…"

"Then it must be somewhere no one goes." Ritsuka shrugged.

It was cold, but the warmth of the bright sun was enough to pull Team Zephyr through as they trudged to the barracks. Stomachs filled after a hearty night of emotions; the group felt better. Lee Seng led the way with Calis and Manny in tow. Ritsuka, Evan, Olivia, Keng, and Liz mingled, trailing slightly behind them as Keng noticed a familiar face.

"Oh!" A curvy woman exclaimed. She looked straight at Lee Seng and smiled at him.

"You know her?" Manny whispered.

"No… I think Keng knows her." Lee Seng whispered. Keng broke off from the group and jogged over, passing the front group, and stopping in front of the curvy woman. The woman's eyes grew, and she realized she had mistaken the two, again.

"I swore that was you…" The curvy woman pointed at LeeSeng. Lee Seng shook his head and looked behind him.

"That's my twin brother, Lee Seng." Keng answered. "It must be my lucky day since I ran into you, Miss Irene." Irene attentively looked at Keng and then back to Lee Seng. She was trying to differentiate the two as best as she could. Keng had longer hair than Lee Seng, who was short and stylish. They wore different sets of clothes with different accessories.

"What do you need, hun? Are you guys finally leaving to find this cup?" Irene asked. Keng nodded.

"My brother wants to look in the old settlement. I was wondering if you'd point us in the right direction."

"You want to go to the old settlement?" Irene asked. Keng nodded. Irene's face grew a bit dark as she took a moment to think. "The old settlement is dangerous. It's full of holes and corrupted dead. Every person who must go that way, avoids the direct path."