"Oh..." Jenso muttered, thinking back about when he was beaten by Prisma, and how Harold and Bill were surprised that he actually survived with such a grave wound. And on top of that, it healed in only an hour. His Ki saved his life. "I see...thanks!" He shouted, running to the table as he took a seat. He grabbed the beast leg and took a large bite out of it. He listened to Lark as he munched. "Yeah...and it's still better then nothing, right?" He muttered. After finishing his meal, Jenso stood up. "I wanna check it out but um..I think I'll get lost. The areas in this forest all look the same to me.."

"Dunt wury," Lark said with his mouth full. He gulped down his foot and pointed at his little green sparrow friend. "Pij will lead you out of the forest. Once you're free, I think you'll be ok if you just follow the path."

"Alright, thanks!" Jenso shouted, dashing towards the front door. He looked at Pij. "Pij, make sure to stay high up in the sky, okay? I don't want you to get hurt." He said, as he left the house. He walked slowly so Pij would easily be able to move past him and lead the way.

"heh, don't you worry about Pij," Lark assured Jenso as Pij zoomed past him at tops speeds and spun around in midair, hovering in front of him for a moment before heading out the door and deeper into the forest. Lark walked over to Jenso and patted his head. "Be safe out there Jenso-man. There are untold dangers that frighten even me, haha!"

Jenso nodded at Lark and smiled. "I will, don't worry!" He reassured Lark. "Thanks for everything. Take care, man!" He said, and dashed after Pij.

Lark watched Jenso disappear into the wilderness with a tender smile. "See ya, kiddo," He muttered quietly, lowering his eyes. The departure reminded him of a fond memory. Jenso reminded him of someone, and the reappearance of such a powerful aura stirred hope in his weathered soul. "See ya again.."

---

Jenso was lead by Pij until the edge of the forest was in sight, then, without hesitation, she looped around and dove back into the forest, tweeting happily all the while. With Pij and Lark behind him, Jenso was on his own yet again, but would what he'd learned help him at all? Only time would tell.

Several hours down the road and a village was rising over the horizon. It looked similar to Arcadia, but it was built inside of what looked to be a crater. The grass on either side of the path ended at a seared line of dirt, and turned to gravel and rock. A large sign read 'Welcome to Orobo' and several people could be seen in the distance. The village was small, and built in a perfect circle. There were many houses and buildings around the center of the town, where a large fountain stood. The paths were black like soot, and the circular street surrounding the fountain was lightly peppered with friendly civilians. Where had the man gone off to? Hell, what did he even look like?

Lark had only mentioned that he looked suspicious. That could have been anyone!

"Wow.." Jenso muttered, taking in the sight of the small village and it's surroundings. He had expected to run into only one man, not an entire village. 'Well, might as well ask..' He thought, and walked over to one of the civilians. "Excuse me, um...I'm new in this town. I'm looking for a man. He's...uh, probably wearing some strange outfit. Have you seen anyone around here that looks out of the ordinary?" He asked. Of course, there could be many strange looking travelers that went to the village daily. But perhaps Jenso would get lucky.

The woman that Jenso had chosen to talk to was shorter than him. She turned away from another man and looked into his eyes for a split second before shifting her vision towards another person nearby, then back towards him. He pale green irises quivered ever so slightly as she responded to his inquiry. "Strange outfit? You're probably looking for bobba!" She said in a high pitched, excited voice, "He lives over there in the general goods store! 'Course, you might be looking for one of Bobba's assistants... They usually wear some frilly little getup, like, green and blue square patterns and stuff. I dunno why, it's weird," the girl explained further, speaking rather quickly. She ran a hand through her short orange hair, flinging it up into a set of skyward spikes. It barely fell back down, jutting forwards like it was held in place by jell. Looking at her closer, the woman was wearing some kind of blacksmith's getup, but it was different than anything Jenso had ever seen before. People outside of Arcadia seemed weird. Overall with metal plates? Blue and green square patterns? The fashion sense here could be considered rather odd. The man she was speaking to was wearing similar clothing, but he remained silent. She nodded to Jenso, as if to affirm her answer. "Bobba is probably at the mines, but his assistants might still be at his shop!"

"Thanks!" Jenso responded with a smile, and dashed towards the general goods store. He kept looking around as he moved however, to see if he wouldn't run into Bobba or his assistants on the way, or someone else who might have stood out from the crowd. Everyone in the town seemed to have a strange fashion style, and Jenso hoped that Lark hadn't been talking about one of the regular civilians from this town. In that case, it could prove far more difficult to locate them.

As Jenso busted into the general store, a man in a very frilly outfit turned to him and waved him away. "Hey! We're closed! Shoo, shoo!" He urged Jenso.

"Oh, sorry!" Jenso shouted, and took a few steps back. "Um...can I ask you something, though? Have you seen anyone in a strange outfit around here? The person I'm looking for would have been near the forest not too long ago." Jenso said. He hoped the man wouldn't be angry and throw him out, despite the rash way he entered the store.

The man stopped and tilted his head. "Strange outfit? Could be one of us- Bobba's Workers- Or Bobba himself, but he's out at the mines today. I don't think he's go anywhere near the forest, especially since it's so far away!" He responded. "Sorry dude, but you gotta go. I can let Bobba know you're looking for him if you want though!"

"Oh...I see. I'll leave then. I think I'll go find him myself, though. Can you tell me where the mines are?" Jenso asked, as he took another step back to stand outside the store. He remained close enough so he could still hear the man.

"No need~" a man's voice echoed from behind Jenso after the door swung open, "What business do you have with me?" He asked. He had an even more robust outfit than his assistant, with the same blue and green square pattern layered across his loose linen shirt that revealed part of his chest. He looked at his assistant with his cold grey eyes, prompting the man to reopen the shop. Bobba smiled and shrugged, shifting his loose fitting pants and shirt as he flourished his ponytail and yanked a huge sack over his head, slamming it on the ground. It rustled with materials, rocks mostly, and sat quietly before him and Jenso. "Speak, please! I have much more work to do!"

Jenso nodded. He had no intention of wasting the man's time, as he wanted to move as fast as possible too. "Hello sir, my name is Jenso. Have you been near the forest lately? Or have you seen anyone suspicious near the forest?" Jenso asked straight away.

Bobba's face twitched very subtly but he shook his head smiling. "No, not I. Sometimes I send very well-prepped caravans out there, but I refuse to make such a long trip by my lonesome! As rock-hard as my body is, I'm not exactly a magical fairy or anything, ahaha! Those forests are dangerous, especially during Perfume Spider season," Bobba explained. He picked the sack back up and threw it over his shoulder. Bobba was actually quite tall, towering over Jenso at 6 and a half feet despite his thin, muscular build. "Anything else you'd like to ask? I'd be happy to give a new face a tour of the shop!"

Jenso frowned at Bobba. He was somewhat dissapointed, but he wasn't going to give up the search. He smiled as Bobba finished speaking. "Sure, I wouldn't mind if you'd show me around!" He shouted in a cheerful tone, despite failing to find who he wanted to find.

"Ah, then I shall do just that!" Bobba said, dropping the bag and clapping his hands twice, "Kevin! Bring in the materials! I am going to show our guest around! Don't dawdle now!" The faint sound of groaning could be heard as Kevin, a different man dressed in the same clothing, made his way towards the sack of rocks and Bobba lead Jenso further inside.

From the entrance there was a small hall that opened up into a large museum-type looking room. There were tables with rocks and artifacts and tons of other things left and right, three of them lined up without an underside, so that they looked more like pedestals than tables. Near the end of the hall that Jenso and Bobba walked up, there was a counter, supposedly where exchange took place, manned by the boy that told Jenso they were closed earlier. "This is the mineral emporium, founded by my papa several years ago when I was just a wee boy!" Bobba explained triumphantly, pointing towards a giant painting on the wall of a bald man that looks somewhat like Bobba, "Now I run it, and we sell minerals of all sorts! Some are said to be magical, while other are simply pretty to look at, but what matters most is that the customer is satisfied with their purchase!" Bobba brought Jenso along all of the display tables, showing off his rock collection with a smile. "See anything you like?"

Jenso could not recognize anything, really. They all looked like rocks. Except there was one precious stone that was the same hue as his shirt, and gave off the same dull shine.

Jenso looked around the hall. "Wow! So many rocks!" He said, impressed. He didn't exactly know anything about any of the rocks, but seeing all the various types all in one room was fascinating. He looked at the stone and walked closer towards it. "Is this one magical too?" He asked.