"Yeah, Xin decided to finish up his duel early today. I'm expecting him to be done by the time we clean up the bandit leader--earlier, actually. Though I respect his ability to fight, the headmaster is... How can I put it? Er... It feels like he transcends common knowledge, to be quite frank. There's a very good reason as to why he's still at charge, after all," Liu responded in kind as the three began a trek through the slightly-worn forest path to the mountainside. "Though he is an ally of ours, I have to be honest here; I'd put the odds at 90 to 10, in favor of the old man. Xin winning would be a momentous upset, and even then it's a stretch. Of course, I could just as well be saying this because I've known him for longer, but... Well, it's still a tough one."

The trek continued on for a few hours more, the sun rising into its regular position to lord over the land as it did. The forest, while dense, slowly cleared up as the trio's surroundings grew rockier the closer they got to the mountain. The green plants that surrounded the area rapidly began to become more scarce, being replaced by stones of various sizes lying around the area.

"You know... I realize now that we only know the general location and nothing more than that. Maybe I shouldn't have offed the guy so quickly..." Liu trailed off as the mountain began to grow closer and closer. "You want to try looking around for caves? Or do you think it'll be more hidden than that?"