The unlikely group made good time out of Morgana's mountains. Once they passed through the valley, the group encountered little more dangerous than the common fair in this part of the Crimson Mountains. Whether that was because more dangerous creatures instinctually avoided the territory of the powerful Elder Mimic, or because Morgana rarely let such creatures through, was unknown.

Jill didn't particularly care, however. She was just glad to be done with the matter. The more distance they put between them and the mimic's remains, the better. Once they arrived at their next destination, she could send word to the Guild and have someone properly deal with the situation.

She agreed with her brother that it was a shame to lose the tree like this, but it was never really something they could have claimed in the first place. Besides, something told her that most of the value of the tree had already been used up. Jill glanced at the much larger gopher riding atop the giant Lykos walking beside her.

As a peak [Silver Spirit] Cultivator, Jill was above average for many young adventurers, but she was still far from a true prodigy. Yet it had been that same pride in her strength that had led her to foolishly challenge Icefinger. Sure, she'd heard the rumors, but the man hadn't been an active adventurer for literal decades, growing fat as he feasted on Halirosa's underbelly. She had been confident that she would have a chance as long as she caught him off guard.

She'd been wrong.

Despite the man's appearance of having gone soft, he had proven that a core of ice and steel lay under all that fur. Jill wasn't even sure the man had noticed her, until she was already a shivering heap at his feet. He hadn't even bothered to ask her name; he just stared down at her and laughed, then had his men toss her in the streets.

That was a common theme with the crime lord. He never actually killed anyone. It was 'bad for business' in his words. Yes, that didn't mean his cruelty was any less absolute. Like any good Winter Mage, Icefinger's magic seeped into his victim's bodies, slowly sapping them of warmth and life. Those with the strength or proper affinities, like Jill, could fight off the effects for a time, sometimes even years, but it was a hollow life that drove some to madness.

Those who couldn't fight the [Winter's Bite] were often forced to sell themselves to one of the large clans or sects in the hope of a cure. Many ended up crawling back to Icefinger himself, in a twisted irony.

Jill shook her head and cleared her mind off that rabbit trail. There was no reason for dwelling on things she couldn't change now. Instead, she turned her attention to the gopher.

'Mr. Gopher', as Grim called him, was a mystery. Not that the strange artifact spirit wasn't a mystery herself. If she told anyone back in Halirosa that a Root Gopher was two steps and an entire Realm above her, she would have been laughed out of the guildhall. Hell, if someone else had told her that, she would have laughed too.

Even now, she couldn't sense much more than the odd fluctuation of mixed earth and fire energies from the abnormally large creature. It had grown since absorbing the fruit from the burning tree. Where before it only reached her knee (still large for his kind), the gopher now came up to her mid-thigh, a notable difference. Their light brown fur, mixed with swirling dark patches like tree roots, had taken on a darker, red-tinted color. Like rust, maybe clay… or dried blood.

That last one may have just been her imagination, though, given how much the gopher seemed to enjoy combat, maybe not as much as she thought.

Still, she wouldn't deny her pride had been slightly dented, having lost her place as the strongest of the group. Though, given what she suspected, maybe that had been inevitable.

The gopher's abnormal strength and intelligence.

The way the heavens favored them with how treasures seemed to land in their lap one after another.

How dangers seemed just as attracted to them as treasures were…

Only one word echoed through her head when she thought about all of this.

Progenitor.

There was no other explanation in Jill's mind. Once or twice could be called a fortunate encounter. Yet none could deny that the gopher had Heaven's Blessing.

The only question was, did that mean it was a blessing for them as well? …Or was it a curse?

Many people dreamt of meeting a true Progenitor. The legends and stories all told of the riches and power that followed in their wake. Of the clans and sects uplifted to heights unimaginable by their hand. But as a direct descendant of Jonny Rubyseed, the Progenitor of her own clan, Jill had a slightly better perspective on the matter than the general public.

Sure, Progenitors were favored by Heaven. Some would even say treasures sought them out, not vice versa. Yet, for every blessing came a trial. For each of the rewards the Heavens seemed to shower on a Progenitor, came struggles and hardships that no mortal should ever have to face. For the Heavens weren't simply looking for a special snowflake to uplift, but for someone worthy. Worthy of being more than they were, more than they should have been.

A Progenitor's journey was as much a test as it was anything else, and more often than not, it wasn't the Progenitor themselves that had to deal with the fallout, but the people around them.

For every clan uplifted by a Progenitor, a dozen more fell into ruin. For every treasure claimed, someone else, just as worthy, went without.

A Progenitor's throne was built on bones, and only the lucky few would catch the dragon's tail as it ascended.

So Jill found herself at a crossroads.

The young girl inside her, the one who'd grown up on the stories of Jonny Rubyseed and all his adventurers, couldn't help but feel giddy with excitement. It was rare enough for a clan to gain the favor of one Progenitor, but two? This could be the chance they had been waiting for, ever since the Rubyseed clan began their decline.

The more experienced adventurer inside her, who had seen the world for what it was, and knew it was not always like in the stories, worried what such a thing might cost them.

She would have to find a time to speak with Jack. Alone.

Her brother might have been… less than reliable in some aspects, but he often brought a different perspective to things in a way that Jill had relied on over the years. It had more than once been her older twin's calm words and gentle hand that had prevented her from bashing in some foolish young master's teeth.

Jill sighed and shook her head.

That would have to wait, though.

As they neared their next destination, another problem jumped to the forefront of Jill's mind. Her eyes drifted from gopher to the giant Lykos upon whose head he sat.

Jill's frown deepened, wondering how she would explain this one.

——————————

"I don't know, Jill, this seems like a bad idea…" Jack said. His gaze slowly turned to stare at the town off in the distance. His frown deepened.

Jill folded her arms and tilted to one side. "You're the one who wanted to bring him along. Now it's time to pay the piper. We can't leave Little Red in the mountains. Not without leaving… 'Mr. Gopher'… to watch him…"

Said gopher eagerly chittered, as if to say he wouldn't be left out of the fun like that.

Jill turned to look at him, then sighed and turned back to Jack. "Remember where we're at. There's no telling what kind of trouble Little Red will get into all by himself. At the very least, we'll be the ones blamed for it. At least this way, we can lay all our cards out on the table and control the situation. Be proactive instead of reactive."

Jack's shoulders sagged, and they looked over at Little Red. The Lykos in question only simply tilted their head in a strangely dog-like fashion. Jack shook his head and said, "That's true… we've barely gotten him to stop chewing on Grim—," Little Red's head snapped to her at the mention of the AI's name. Grim slowly floated away, her optical sensors never letting the creature out of her sight.

"—who knows what trouble he would get into on his own…" Jack finished.

Jill's own shoulders slumped as well, and she turned toward the main road, heading toward the town.

"Well, let's get this over with…" she said.

——————————

Ashdale Vally was a bustling town, given its remoteness. It had started off as just another clan outpost, but as the decades passed, the richness of the surrounding mountains drew in more and more settlers, transforming it into a proper satellite city. Most were hoping to get away from the overcrowded hunting grounds surrounding Halirosa proper, while others simply enjoyed the quiet valley community, away from the chaos of the larger city.

It helped that the controlling clan, the Ashdales, were strict but fair in their rule. Corruption was minimal, and the clan leaders were all seen as upstanding men and women of honor, while their adventurers were considered a tier above the more common clans. Their influence had grown so much in the past few generations that they had even earned a seat in the Halirosa Senate, further bolstering their power and control of the area.

The only actual concern in the Ashdale Vally and its surrounding mountains was the frequent incursions by the various Lykos packs. Said to be the remains of the Lykos army that once fought with the Ashdale's Progenitor for control of the area, the Lykos lost, and regressed into a bestial people, stuck between animal and man.

Ever since, the feud between the Ashdales and the Lykos has been constant, despite several attempts by the Ashdale to eradicate the pests fully.

All that was to say, Jill had expected this very situation from the start…

"K-keep your hands up! You head me?! One move a-and we'll run you through!" Two dozen shivering wolf-men surrounded their group, heavy spears pointed inward. Jill stood in front, her hands raised in the air, and her face blank.

Behind her, Little Red crouched low to the ground, his fangs fully bared and his eyes dilated. The deep growl that emanated from the massive creature shook the ground and vibrated in Jill's chest. If it wasn't for Jack's soothing words and calm tone as he stroked the creature, Jill didn't doubt the Lykos would have lept on the gate guards already, and torn them to shreds.

Nor did she doubt it could have done so easily, either.

After all, while the guards were impressive for a city this size, with most being low [Golden Spirit] cultivators, the highest was only mid-step. On the other hand, Little Red unabashedly blasted his full peak [Shackle Breaking] aura for all of them to feel. Jill knew the creature had been powerful when it faced them on Morgana's mountain, but even she'd been shocked when she felt to what extent.

If the gopher hadn't intervened when they had, she doubted any of them would have ever left the mountain in one piece. It didn't help that said gopher was standing on top of Little Red's head, tapping his foot and looking visibly annoyed at the whole situation.

So it was no surprise that when they approached the gates of Ashdale, they'd been immediately surrounded.

As the standoff dragged on, and tensions rose, Jill ran through all the scenarios and the best ways to resolve them. If she could just—,

All of Jill's plans were thrown out the window as a rugged voice suddenly broke the stalemate. "What is the meaning of this?! Who are you, and why have you come here?!"

Jill flinched as a large wolf-man in fine clothes pushed his way through the crowd of guards.

Unlike the siblings, whose clan was old, and thus took on a more human-like appearance, the Ashdales were still a relatively young clan, closer to their spirit beast Progenitor. Yet despite looking more like a bipedal wolf in noblemen's clothes, no one would ever call Baron Levi Ashdale beastly. The man carried himself with a noble aura that many, even in the larger clans, failed to emulate. It was an aura that commanded respect as easily as it portrayed a steady rock on which to find shelter.

Jill blushed slightly and lowered her hands to address the new arrival, when a sudden roar cut her off.

To her horror, Jill turned just in time to see Little Red leaping over her, his jaws opened wide, and clawed hands reaching out toward the much smaller Baron.

Jill's heart dropped as he followed the beast's arc in slow motion.

Baron Ashdale's eyes narrowed at the sight, and he unfolded his arms from behind his back.

In a motion that felt as slow and smooth as a parent catching the playful strike of their child, Baron Ashdale caught both of Little Red's outstretched claws in his own hands. Little Red stopped dead, seemingly unable to move an inch closer, or even bend their front limbs further, despite their back legs digging deep furrows behind them. Instead, they contented themselves with snapping their jaws viciously at the smaller man just out of reach.

Then, with a twist of his wrist and a yelp from Little Red, Baron Ashdale flipped the massive creature into the air, before slamming the massive creature on their back, hard.

Little Red yelped again, and whined pitifully as the awkward position put strain on their wrists, no matter how they struggled against the Baron's grip.

Mr. Gopher's form suddenly appeared in the air above Ashdale. Like a glowing small fireball, the furry creature descended in a familiar fashion. Ashdale's eyes widened, and he released Little Red, hastily dodging backward and away from the small meteor gopher.

Mr. Gopher slammed into the group where Ashdale had stood, forming a small crater. Instead of pursuing the wolf-man, however, the gopher only stared at him with narrowed eyes, then turned to Little Red.

… and kicked the prone Lykos in the head.

Little Red yelped, flipped over, and covered his head with his paws. They lay like that, shivering as the gopher angrily chittered at them, wagging a small furry digit.

Jill hovered her face with her palm and sighed, feeling another headache slowly creep in.

Baron Ashdale, for his part, watched the scene with a frown, his eyes narrowed. Slowly, the frown slipped upward, and the man suddenly burst into laughter, causing all eyes to turn toward him.

"Well, now. It seems we have some things to talk about, I believe. Come, follow me. Oh, and bring you… pet?… with you. I'm afraid there are few presently in the city qualified to watch over him while we speak." Ignoring the stuttering protests of the guard captain, Baron Ashdale turned and made his way toward the city gates. He glanced once over his shoulder and waved for them to follow.

Jack and Jill shared a look. Jack only shrugged and walked after the Baron. Jill shook her head and followed, with Grim and Little Red, watched closely by Mr. Gopher, trailing behind.

As the city gates closed behind them, Jill questioned, not for the first time, if it was a mistake coming here.