“The scent of the fruit is getting stronger! It’s almost ripe!” a young man said excitedly.

“Be careful, we’ll be going down together. If the fire fruit can be found here, I’m willing to bet there are other strange herbs nearby too,” another said. “Indeed, that’s a real possibility! If there are more herbs growing nearby, we’ll no doubt be rich!” exclaimed another young man. “Y’all head in first, I’ll stand guard! If I could find this place, no doubt others would find it too! I’ll stand watch!” Bruno said sternly.

“Good thinking, Bruno!”

“Indeed, we didn’t even think about that!”

The rest clamored on.

“Now, now, enough of that! Let’s work together!” Bruno said, ignoring their blatant sucking up, keeping a straight face. Though, his true intentions have long been spotted by Zephyr. He knew Bruno’s actions were not all he made them out to be. Zephyr quietly raised his guard, he would not be charmed into servitude like the other fools. He knew Bruno had a reason for staying outside.

“Let’s go!”

With the strong, welcoming odor of the fruits, signifying their ripeness and effectiveness, the team’s courage bolstered. They all dived headfirst into the cave. Suddenly, a low scream came from within, followed by a sudden blast of black gas. “Sh*t!” one of them cried out. A menacing hiss came soon after, followed by the appearance of a great snake. It opened its mouth, going right for them. The team could not fight back as the black gas wrapped around them. They were quickly caught by the beast, and dragged deeper into the cave. Each of them cried out in fear and pain.

Bruno stood at the cave mouth, chuckling to himself. He drew his sword, the blade shining in the sunlight. “Die!” The snake’s head was swiftly split in two. It was but a tier one beast, with nothing to protect itself with, Bruno made work of it easily. “Bunch of idiots!” he huffed as he dropped down, before starting his way into the cave. “Did you really think I needed your help? That I’d share the fruits with you? Not only can I kill this beast, I can kill you too. I’d say I just killed two birds with one stone, but…”

Bruno was fast, he was at the cave entrance within seconds. “The smell… the fruits’ almost ripe!” Bruno smiled. As he entered, a sudden flash of light came, and it enveloped Bruno in an array of blades.