In the first Trial Quest

And that is all I well tell you, said Valera. Now that you know where to find the flowers, do your best to harvest them. The master has instructed me to allow you all to find the best way to harvest these flowers yourselves.

Again, there is to be NO violence during the harvesting. Only afterwards may you obtain the right to challenge others for their flowers. But do keep in mind, should one of you somehow harvest all the flowers, then there is no contest to be had.

The Geist scratched his head as he wondered what exactly to do. Valera had told everyone where to find the flowers. They grew in the depths of the swamps, in some hidden caverns, in obscure patches in the forest, and even a few growing high up on cliffsides.

If these flowers could grow everywhere, why were they so rare, huh!?

Geh The Geist looked at the big hitters that would take everything. They stood in an imposing line, not bothering to look down at the weaker monsters that made space for them.

There was Crab, Merman, the zombie giant, and Crow. They all looked SO intimidating. They were bigger, stronger, and tougher than everyone else, and with the master gone and Valera not giving direct orders, they were the top dogs here.

Beneath them was the strong but not super strong like the Geist, the Antlion, Bloodspitter Lizard, and so on and so forth. The Geist briefly wondered if he could take any of them in a fight. He had trained so hard after all!

Now, the Geist could grow new body parts and control his toxic gas accurately so it did not unnecessarily hurt anyone else. The only power he had not trained so far was his toy making tongue, but he felt bad using it realizing it had not been an enjoyable experience for Stella.

The Geist scratched his head. He did not have eyes on his head, but rather small black bulbs on his body that saw, and all of his many eyes knew one thing: just looking at the strong ones made the Geist realize he was outclassed.

All of them would just squash him!

The Geist saw as everyone shuffled out, moving into the forests to go search for flowers. Everyone except the strong ones. They just watched. He wondered why.

Geh! Geh? (Why are you staying here?) the Geist asked Crab.

Crab clicked his claws together. (No need for me to waste energy looking. I will just fight whoever gets the flowers.)

The Geist then went over to the giant. The giant towered over the geist and looked down at him with sharp green eyes. The Geist cringed in fear, and the giant smiled.

(No fear, little one) said the giant in a deep, throaty, booming language that sounded like a war horn bleating. (Unless you wish to challenge me later! Then I will show you the respect a fighter deserves and crush you with no hesitation!)

Geh(Illlook forward to it) said the Geist. He asked the same question. Gehgeh? (Why stay here?)

(Why not?) the zombie giant laid down with his hands behind his head, as if ready to just nap. (I am too big to be picking little flowers. I just get in everyones way. But I can fight anyone that picks them.)

The Geist nodded and hopped over to Merman. Gehgeh? (Why do you stay?)

Merman crossed his four arms together, his many red eyes leering at the giant, Crab, and Crow. Gorok-Vis. (I stay here to conserve my energy). His gills flared, crackling with energy. Gar-Uk. (For the fight)

Geh (I get it) The Geist understood where everyone was coming from. They all knew they were the strongest, so they figured they could just take it easy and let everyone else pick the flowers. Then, they could just challenge others for their flowers.

In the end, they would end up challenging among themselves, and the strongest there would get the lions share of the flowers and become the commander of the monster army. Because of that, the strongest monsters here wanted to wait and save their energy to use among themselves.

This whole thing was basically just a fight among the strongest to get even stronger. It made sense. All the monsters seemed to think strength mattered above anything else. And it even made sense to the Geist.

It was better for the strongest to be the commander, no?

When the Geist walked up to Crow, Crow looked down at him with such cold red eyes that the Geist did not even bother talking. He walked away with head down into the forest, wondering how to help pick the flowers. Geh(Theres no place for a small fry like me among all these strong guys)

The Geist shook his head rapidly. Geh! Geheh! (No! I cant give up now! I want to be commander. They might be strong, but all they care about is being strong. They have no friends!

Ill convince everyone else to help me! If I get all the flowers, then even the strong ones cant challenge me!)

Once the Geist was deeper within the forest, smiling at this newfound thought, it was then that Crow landed through the trees, smashing a few along the way, and stood beside the Geist.

Geh!? (What? Did I do something wrong!?) said the Geist.

(I was instructed to help you) said Crow with a series of low growls.

Geh!? (Really? Thats great!) said the Geist.

(But I cannot fight for you. I can only take you where you want) said Crow.

Gehmm The Geist copied what his master did when he was in thought, putting his hand over his chin. Geh! Gehgeh. (I know! Take me to my friends in the swamp!)

Crow nodded his head, and the Geist hopped on Crows back.

With that, Crow flew through the air.

Geh! (Wow! Flying is so cool!) said the Geist with glee as he looked at the world beneath him. Everything looked so tiny. The forest was like a big blob of green paint. The swamp a blob of brown-green paint.

The Geist had always wanted to fly becausebecausehe did not really remember why, he knew he wanted to fly likesomeone. He did not know who, but he just knew he wanted to fly, and wow, was it incredible!

Before meeting the master, all the Geist could think about was killing humans, but now, he could enjoy things like this. For that, he was grateful to the master beyond compare.

Geh! (There!) the Geist pointed down at the swamp where several crabmen gathered.

(Landing. Brace yourself.) Crow flattened his wings and spiraled down like a missile.

Gehhhh! (Too fast!) The Geists permanent smile flattened against his face from the buffeting winds as he struggled to hold on.

Soon though, the whole scary ordeal was over. Crow slowed down gradually and landed relatively softly on the marshy ground beside the swamp.

Geh The Geist sighed in relief as he hopped off of Crow. He found himself staring at a host of fishmen and crabmen staring at the swamp but not actually going in it.

Gehgeh (What are you all doing?) said the Geist.

(We cant swim there) said a fishman. (Water too bad).

The crabmen clicked their claws together. (The water is bad for us too.)

Gehmm The Geist walked around until he saw his trusty two crab friends. Seeing them, the Geists ever present smile widened and he performed the crab dance they had taught him, waving his hands in the air.

In response, the crabs did the same.

Gehgeh (You two can go in the water, right?) said the Geist.

The crabs clicked their jaws together. (We can. But we scared of picking flowers there. What if the strong ones fight us?)

Geh! (Dont worry about that!) The Geist nodded with enthusiasm. (You two are my friends, right? If you pick the flowers, I will do anything I can for you!)

(But how? Strong ones fight us) said the crabs.

The Geist pointed at Crow. Geheh! (Look! I have a strong one backing me already! You will be safe. Give me the flowers, and Ill make sure we win!

When Im commander, Ill do something nice for you!

(Wow, you have a strong one with you. We follow you too) said the crabs. They then skittered their way over to the swamp, diving into their familiar home for eyeflowers.

Geheh (Heh, thats one down, two more to go!) said the Geist.

The Geist hopped atop Crows back.

(You understand I will not actually fight for you?) said Crow.

Geheh (As long as I get all the flowers, it doesnt matter, right?) said the Geist.

(I guess) Crow shrugged his wings. (Just dont complain to me if this doesnt work.)

Gehgeh! (This will work! After all, I have friends!) said the Geist. He then pointed towards the forest, where his good friend the troll was. Geh! (Onwards! To the forest!)