Yuki and her group were making their way toward the mountainous area of the forest when Yuki stopped and turned toward the tree line behind them. “Yuki?” Ami quickly went on guard.

“We are not an enemy.” A voice came from the bushes not too far away.

Yuki did not lower her guard as she watched the four people coming out from the tree line. “My name is Ryu. We came to warn you. That Kenji kid was plotting…. He and his teammates were planning to assault you. Even said his friends can do what they want with his sister.”

Ryu really did not like talking about this stuff as it angered him but he had to explain things to the girls so they would be on guard. “Anyway, I just wanted to warn you. I do not think he will do anything now that I reminded him that the elders are watching but back in the sect you should watch yourselves.”

“Thank you.” Ai was the one to answer as she bowed her head in thanks, her hands clenched into fists, shaking ever so slightly. She never thought her brother would finally decide to let go of family ties to achieve his goals.

“No problem. Take care.” Ryu then turned and entered back into the forest. He could tell the girls were heading deeper into the forest. He did not want to subject his team to the dangers within.

After they left, Ai fell to the ground. She did not know what to make of this situation. “Why would he go so far!?”

“Because once one gains strength, they think they can rule the world.” Ami could understand Ai’s current confusion and sadness. Her own brother was the same way. When they were younger, they looked out for each other, but once her brother gained strength, she became a punching bag. Gaining power can bring out the inner darkness in a person. They become greedy and arrogant. That is just how some people's minds work. If everyone was righteous, then there would not have devil cultivators.

Ai was quiet. She only stared at the ground grasping the dirt in her hands as she thought about what she was just told. She did not understand why her brother, in just a mere few days, changed so much. It was like as soon as he was out of the family’s watchful eye he decided to change completely. And his obsession with Yuki was something she did not understand. Yuki never talked to him and even drew a sword on him, yet he was obsessed with making her his. She did not understand any of this.

“Don’t think too hard about it now.” Ami knelt down and placed her arm around Ai’s shoulder. “ When we get back, move into my courtyard.”

“Huh?” Ai lifted her head and looked at Ami, whose face was right next to hers. Her teary eyes caused Ami to feel even more pity for the girl. “Are you sure?”

“Mm… We can not allow you to live alone if they were willing to even threaten such a thing. We can help protect each other.” Ami replied as she wiped Ai’s tears. “We are friends now anyways, right?”

“Mm…” Ai nodded and smiled. “We are friends. Ami… Thank you.”

Ai slowly stood up and wiped her eyes before looking over at Yuki, who gave her a slight nod. This nod was enough to make Ai’s smile brighten even more. Nana shook her head and decided to interpret what Yuki meant to say: “She says: If anything happens, let us know.”

“We will.” Ami chuckled as she saw Yuki nod to agree with Nana's words. She found it quite funny how these two understood each other so well.

The group continued their way toward the mountainous area in hopes of finding a cave. Forests with demonic beasts were quite a good place to find caves since some demonic beasts would burrow into the rocks themselves, creating new caves and then, when done with them, leave them abandoned.

“The rain is really coming down,” Ami complained. Her entry body was soaked to the core. She really wanted to take a hot bath.

“Not much we can do about it. We are still about thirty minutes away from our destination, and we still do not know if we can find cover.” Ai replied. She was doing her best to forget what she had heard earlier.

“But still!” Ami pursed her lips. She had such a nice bath in her new courtyard that she had already missed it.

“I know, but if you keep bringing it up, I might cry,” Ai complained as she hung onto Ami’s arm. The two girls had grown closer over the past two hours since everything that happened.

Thirty minutes later, they reached their destination. The rain was still heavily coming down. The girls who were wearing boots had mud caked all over them, and Yuki, who preferred to go barefooted, was no better off.

“Right.” Yuki pointed to the right. When everyone turned to look, they saw a crack in the rock face causing them to feel a little excited.

“Nice eye Yuki!” Ami praised as she unsheathed her sword. “Everyone get ready. We do not know if the cave is empty or not.”

The girls made their way toward the cave, which was still about three minutes away. When they reached the entrance, they found the cave to be quite deep and very dark. “What should we do?”

“We can only go in a little and let our eyes adjust. Once they adjust, we can move further in. But be careful. Any rank demonic beast can be found in a cave. While I doubt they are too strong since we are still in the outer ring of the forest, but we can never tell for sure.” Ami replied to Ai’s question. With two girls who never speak, it was like they were only two people in the group.