Glyn, Anluan, and Xia Bai rush through the passages through a hidden tunnel upward into the fortress. As they exit the hidden tunnel, Anluan exits first scans, the area and signals for the others after confirming the area is safe. Glyn examines the walls with Xia Bai looking up and down the hall cautiously. As Glyn stares at the wall, he finds a strange pulsating mass growing within the cracks of the wall and pulls on it. Anluan floats around, waiting for Glyn, before he pulls back from the wall and stares at a strange plant growing across the wall.

  “What is this stuff?” He asks, poking at the plant cautiously.

  “It’s just some plant.” Xia Bai says.

  Glyn shakes his head. “No. This is something. There’s an energy flowing through this weed. Let’s follow it.”

  “What!?”

  Anluan nods. “I agree. I feel an odd sensation coming from down the hall. I suggest we discover what it is before it comes back to stab us in the back.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Fine, then, let’s go.”

  Pulling on the vine, Glyn and the others walk through the empty halls, deeper into the fortress. As they travel deeper inside, the vines become more ever-present and self-evident until they find a sealed door with multitudes of vines sprouting out from behind the door.

  “Okay, these are weird. I’ve never seen these things the entire time I’ve been here.” Xia Bai says.

  Glyn nods. “You were likely in the upper chambers. They likely kept their more secretive projects down below.”

  “So, what is this? It’s a plant unlike anything I’ve seen before.” Anluan says.

  Glyn nods and reaches for his book. He thumbs through the pages and stares at the vines. “In the past, I came across some peculiar plants while working on a school assignment.”

  “Oh, what kind of assignment was it?” Xia Bai asks.

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  “Explanations of Living Armor.”

  “Huh?”

  “Living Armor and similar inanimate object types are rather strange monsters. Most are created by and move via magic. But some are created through other artificial means or occasionally more natural methods.” Glyn pulls on the vine. “One such case was a colony of small creatures living within the armor and acting as fake muscles to move the armor. But one case that intrigued me was the usage of Moving Vines.”

  “Moving Vines?” Anluan asks.

  “Yes. It’s a special type of vine or predatory plant that moves according to the flow of magic. If you're skilled at manipulating magic naturally, you can move them like puppets according to your own will. A theory one of my classmates proposed was using the Moving Vines and grow within an armor and then puppeteering them to serve as a weapon or servant.”

  “But why not use regular puppetry magic?” Xia Bai asks.

  “To give it some internal mass. With Puppetry, you can manipulate the armor, but it breaks with a single powerful blow and is pushed back easily. With the vines inside, they can give it some mass and help pull the armor together if they're separated.” Glyn explains. “It was just a theory at the time and I doubted it could be done easily. There are too many factors involved to make it a viable method. Unless you had some artificial means to strengthen the plant and facilitate rapid growth, you’ll run out of plant quickly.”

  “So, what they’ve manipulated and can control the plants?” Xia Bai asks.

  Glyn nods. “It’s easy. If you remember, the special resource Morgan’s forces have access to?”

  “Demonic Energies.” Anluan states.

  “What!?”

  “The way to help with the manipulation of the plants and cause their growth. But with the help of Demonic Energy, you can increase the growth rates and manipulate it rather easily.” Glyn explains.

  As Glyn taps on the door, he presses a button and it slides down, opening the sealed room. Inside the room, a large dark-colored plant sits in the center of the room. The vines grow and sprout from the plant as it twitches and sways, with the three entering the room. The plant closes up as they approach with its vines shaking across the room.

  “Is that the plant?” Xia Bai asks.

  Glyn nods. “Yes. That’s the main plant. There should be some smaller buds around here somewhere, but as long as we take out the main plant, then we can cut a hole into Morgan’s forces.”

  “Then let’s get started then.” Xia Bai reaches down for her sword as long clanging sounds echo from around the room.

  “What is that?” She asks.

  Glyn smirks. “Looks like we woke up the guards just by getting close. They're automated to attack if anyone gets close by from the looks of it.”

  Several suits of armor step out of the shadows, brandishing weapons as Xia Bai and Anluan stare them down.

  “Taking out the plant would be helpful, but it's not our main goal. Remember this if you can help it run. Do not engage your foe any longer than necessary.”

  The two nod as they pull out their weapons with the walking armors charging in for the attack.