A few hours ter, Shokei and her party traveled throughout the forest as Mariko led them to the direction of their destination. It was near sundown and the party arrived at Indum.

  "All right! We're here!" Mariko tells the party.

  Shokei looks at the town of Indum. The town is moderate size that is well poputed. The structure looks adobe and there are many colorful tents, which have signs indicating a particur shopping location.

  "So, this is Indum..." Shokei said as she views the area.

  "Yep!" Mariko said. "Welcome to Indum. This town is best for its magic and wizardry."

  The party looks and sees that the residents that live in Indum are wizards and witches.

  "The people in Indum use magic to get themselves around here for their own needs." Mariko expined. "Most magic users usually use their talents to showcase for the kids while others use magic for healing and combatant skills."

  "Hmmm..."

  Shokei looks around and notice that there was something off with the town of Indum. There was barely any magic that was going on. She looks to see that the town looks dead on arrival and dull. No sign of any magician is performing any magic tricks.

  "Seems that there's nothing magical about this town." Rei tells Mariko.

  "I...I guess their activities are done for the day." Mariko said.

  "You said this hometown of yours is home for magic, right?" Rei asked.

  "It is." Mariko answered. "But it's the evening hour. Not every day you would see a typical magic show here."

  "Everyone looks out! A WILD MONSTER IS RUNNING LOOSE!!"

  The party became alert when one of the town's citizens points out to a monster running for its life. Shokei looks to see a Werecat being hunted down by three wizards. The wizards used their ice spells against the Werecat, but the monster's agility was quick on its feet to avoid being hit.

  "What the?!" Shokei looks carefully at the Werecat. "Hey, wait a second..."

  "It's the same Werecat we encountered before!" Saeko finished.

  "It's coming!" Tamiko said, putting her hand on her crossbow.

  The party can see the Werecat coming its way. Suddenly the wild monster leaps into the air as it nds on top of a roof of a building and then another leap into the air as it dives into the bushes. The wizards stopped as they look up to see that the Werecat is no longer in their sight.

  "It got away!" Beatrice said, looking up at the bushy trees.

  "I guess the Werecat is no match for magic in this town." Sadako said.

  "Tee hee." Mariko said. "Indum is protective against monsters that try to invade here. They have highly skilled magicians that sworn to protect us."

  "Really?" Rei looked at Mariko and asked.

  "But...what about me?" Naoko asked. "I'm no threat to anyone! I look different..."

  "I really don't think you would do anything harmful to this town." Beatrice said to her with a sly look.

  "...o-ok..." Naoko said. Her face showed concern.

  "Anyways, this day isn't over yet since it's the early evening." Mariko said to the party. "While all of you look around, I need to do business with that fortune teller. Shokei, you come with me."

  "Sure." Shokei nodded.

  "Hey, we'll see you guys ter." Rei tells them.

  "Same here." Shokei said.

  The party splits up as they went to explore around Indum. Shokei accompanies Mariko as she follows her to where she needs to do her bidding.

  The Werecat continues to run from Indum as it managed to be far from the town and away from its attackers. Unbeknown to the party, Marie still feels trapped by the curse of being turned into a monster. She takes a break from running as she catches her breath.

  Whew...That was too close...I'll never go through that again...Say, wait a minute...Did I saw...Shokei and the others?! I'm surprised that neither of them fought against me, but they shouldn't...Ohhhh, I'm too ashamed to be trapped in this body...I...I want to be normal again...

  After taking her time to recover, Marie gets up and leaps her way deep in the forest as she loses herself once again.

  Meanwhile, Shokei is alone with Mariko. The young witch is walking around as she seeks to give the book to the fortune teller.

  "This fortune teller that you mentioned...is she famous?" Shokei asked.

  "Of course! She's a very common teller." Mariko tells her. "She can tell your future for what she sees, and I guaranteed that her views can make someone's prediction into reality."

  "I see." Shokei said.

  "She's not creepy looking if you're that curious." Mariko said. "But trust me, she's retively friendly."

  Shokei keeps up with Mariko as she is going up to where the rows of tents are. Shokei looks around to see various magic shops. She can hear spell casters performing their magic. While walking further, Shokei accidentally bumps into Mariko, and she turned to see a rge purple tent in front of her.

  "We're here." Mariko said, staring at the entrance.

  "This is it?" Shokei asked. "Looks big for a fortune teller tent."

  "Hey, I said she was famous." Mariko said. "C'mon, let's walk in."

  Entering the tent, Shokei checks what was inside. The tent was spacious and has a fancy design. There she sees a table with various potions and materials that are used to mix ingredients. A dispy of stars and pnets are seen on the top of the tent as they appear to be suspended in the air. On her right, Shokei can see a bookshelf, filled with books and mystical relics on the shelves. There are six fming mp torches that surround the tent to illuminate the inside. The center of the room is where the fortune teller table is seen. The magic ball, two pairs of candles, and a fancy tablecloth with a crescent moon feature.

  "This looks nice..." Shokei said. She admired the interior design of the fortune tellers shop.

  "Jun!!! JUN!!! I'm baaaaaaaaaack!!"

  Mariko called out the fortune teller as she made her voice be heard. Shokei looks to see somebody appearing right out of the curtains. There appears a middle-aged woman, whose skin is made of ivory. She has fine, dark brown hair with green eyes. The woman has the outfit of a fortune tellers appearance and wears a hood.

  "Ohhh!" Jun said as she saw Mariko and a guest. "It is you young one...you have returned."

  "It's me, Jun! And I'm back from doing your task." Mariko greeted.

  "Yes, I remember." Jun said. "I see that the book is in your hands."

  Mariko holds the Tome of Thaumaturgy in her arm.

  "I can tell that you did not find this book alone." Jun said as she sees a guest has entered her shop. "Seems that you found yourself some company."

  "Oh! This here is my friend." Mariko introduced Shokei to Jun.

  "Hello." Shokei waved a bit to greet the fortune teller.

  "Aha! Nice for you to come here." Jun said with a smile.

  "You must be Jun, right?" Shokei asked.

  "This is she." Jun nodded. "They call me Jun the Visionary. I am the greatest fortune-teller in Indum. I predict your future, so you don't have to."

  "Really?" Shokei asked. "I bet you can predict anything."

  "Certainly." Jun said. "I can tell that you and Mariko went through a rough journey. Being imprisoned in a storybook and fought your way into retrieving the Tome of Thaumaturgy. Also, you were ambushed by strange necromancer forces that slowed you down from rescuing a princess that was from the Kingdom of Senwald."

  "Uhhhhh..." Shokei blinked, not knowing what to say.

  "Well..." Mariko ughed a little as she felt a loss of words.

  "I can tell that you two have gone through a lot before you arrived here." Jun said. "It seems that my prediction is true."

  "You...you can tell through everything for what we had experienced." Shokei said.

  "Of course." Jun said. "Despite the trouble that you and Mariko went through, you have done well into finding that book."

  "Uh-huh." Mariko said as she gave the book to the fortune-teller.

  "And it seems that I want to give you something in return." Jun said.

  "Really?!" Mariko asked, feeling excited.

  "I am serious." Jun said. "In fact, wait here."

  Shokei and Mariko sees that Jun is going to get something from the back of her tent. Waiting a few seconds in, Jun returned with the reward and presents the item to Mariko.

  "Here's your reward." Jun hands over the item to Mariko.

  Mariko received the cimed prize in her hands. She eyes on her reward and felt puzzled on what she got.

  "An Amulet?" Mariko asked.

  "It isn't much...but I've found it somewhere when I was out in the forest." Jun tells her.

  "Hmm..." Mariko examines the Amulet and noticed that there are three holes embedded, resembling slots. "What kind of Amulet is this?"

  "I'm not so sure to be honest." Jun answered. "Just that the two slots on that Amulet is a mystery. That is all to what I can think of."

  "And this is all the hard work that I went through in finding the book?" Mariko asked, not pleased to what she received.

  "I know child." Jun tells her. "To be fair, this is the least that I can give to you."

  Mariko stared at the Amulet. She sighed but did not want to compin.

  "Now then," Jun looks at Shokei and asked. "Do you need anything else from me newcomer?"

  "Who...me?" Shokei pointed at herself. "I...I only came here with Mariko."

  "No worries." Jun said to her. "If you like, I want you to come over to my table so I can read your fortune."

  "Jun, this is Shokei's first time visiting Indum." Mariko tells her.

  "It's ok child." Jun said to her. "That is why I want to read your friends fortune."

  "At no cost?" Shokei asked.

  "Certainly." Jun nodded.

  "I guess...it doesn't hurt to predict my future..." Shokei said with concern.

  "No need to be scared...come over to the table." Jun tells her.

  Shokei heads over to the table and takes a seat. Mariko looks around to find a chair and when she spotted one, she takes the chair and goes over to sit next to Shokei. Jun seats herself in her master chair as she is ready to do business.

  "Now Shokei..." Jun tells her. "Hold hands with Mariko as I detail your fortune."

  Around another section of Indum, Rei, Lei, and Matokai are walking together as they explore the town. As they continue to look around, Lei caught her attention on a statue that is surrounded by a fountain. Lei went over to take a closer look. The statue turns out to be equestrian and the figure appears to be a wizard. The figure looks decent with an elegant posture. Rei and Matokai walked over to see the statue.

  "This statue...it looks beautiful." Lei said, commenting on the statue.

  "Looks like a famous wizard in this town." Rei said.

  "I bet he looks more handsome in real life." Matokai said, checking out the statue from a different angle. "With a stance like that, he must be really famous."

  "Since you say that, what would you say if you met someone like him?" Lei asked.

  "I...uhhh I would not know what to say..." Matokai replied with a vague response.

  "Hmmph! When you think of things like that, you have another thing coming back at you." Lei said to the ninja, pcing her hands on her hips.

  "Ahem! That statue is nowhere beautiful!!"

  A voice cracks out from behind and this cause Rei and her two allies to turn who was talking. There appears to be a resident of Indum who appears in senior age and stands with a cane in his hand.

  "Do you really think this statue looks beautiful to you?" The elderly resident asked.

  "I...well I think it is." Matokai replied.

  "I don't see what's the problem with this statue sir." Rei said, looking back at the statue. "What's the issue?"

  "Hmmm...." The elder looks at them and said, "I take that you're all new here. Correct?"

  "Of course, we are." Lei replied to him.

  "Then neither of you have any idea about this statue." The elder said. "If you've looked carefully, the statue is missing a few key items."

  The party looks back at the statue.

  "What are some 'key items' this statue here is missing?" Lei asked.

  "I'll tell you." The elder expined. "This statue is a famous magician that is missing three important items. A special wand, a chained bracelet, and a top hat. Without these important parts, this statue is nowhere beautiful. You see, a mysterious group of people invaded this town and stole the items that were to be engraved in that statue."

  "That expins a lot." Rei said, looking at the statue carefully. "It really is missing some key items that would make this statue stand out."

  "Nothing is considered beauty with that statue...especially with the top hat that symbolized him." The elder said.

  "Ok, so is this 'famous figure' coming around here?" Rei asked him, turned to get his attention. "Is he for real in this town?"

  "Yes, he is." The elder replied. "Currently, he is away from this town and he went on a journey. Last time I've recalled, a missing child has fled to another town, Itova."

  "Itova...hmm..." Lei said, hearing the name for the first time.

  "Itova is different from Indum. We have no retion for one another." The elder said.

  "What kind of pce is Itova?" Rei asked.

  "Itova is more of an amusement vilge...filled with coming attractions." The elder tells them. "They have quite an attraction with their big tent that they host, filled with acrobats and wild performances by the jesters and...*cough* and other strange clowns that inhibit the area."

  Yuck!! Clowns...I hate clowns! Lei thought.

  "Tell me..." Rei looks back at the statue again and asked. "Do you know the name of this figure?"

  "I forgot his name." The elder resident responded. "I really forgot what his name was again. I'm sorry."

  "That's ok. But where is this Itova? Where can we find that pce?" Matokai asked.

  "The town is north from here." The elder said. "To get there, you must go across a bridge that is located in a valley. The town is not too far, but it will take a day for you to get there."

  "Sounds like more traveling for us." Rei said.

  "Oh! Well...I can have a bad memory at times." The elder said.

  "Looks like we have to go to Itova and find that missing child. Whoever he or she is." Rei tells her party.

  "We should inform Shokei about this before we can do anything." Matokai said.

  "By the way, the name is Zarous." The elder mentioned his name. "I hope I'm not wasting your time talking about this statue."

  "Oh no! You're not wasting our time." Rei tells him. "And thanks for telling us about the situation."

  "No problem." Zarous nodded and then turns to walk away.

  "Ahhh..." Lei yawned. "I feel tired right now from the long adventure we went through today. We should find somepce to rest."

  "Same." Matokai said. "But I'm curious where Shokei and the others are?"

  "I know Shokei is with Mariko to take care of business." Rei said. "But then again, we can discuss this situation to her and everyone else ter."

  "Yeah." Matokai agreed.

  "Anyways, let's move on to explore elsewhere." Rei said as she moves forward to go through the town.