After a few minutes of having to listen to the crimson-bearded man scarf down the less-than-savory appearing meal, Emilio finally decided to get down to business.
"Hey, do you know this island pretty well?" Emilio asked.
Maverick swallowed the food in his mouth, "Yeah, I like to think I do after being stuck here for a couple years."
"A couple years? Wow. Well, the truth is, we didn't come here as just us two–there are two others, actually," Emilio told him.
The news seemed to excite Maverick, "More people?! Wow…well, I wouldn't get too excited. Sorry."
"What?"
For the first time, the strange man seemed serious, "Truthfully, your friends are most likely dead. That's just the way this island is–if you're not strong enough, it'll chew you up and spit you out. You two would've met the same fate if I didn't call Musafala off."
The statement definitely irked Emilio, though he held himself back from correcting the man, "My friends won't die that easily, don't worry. I was wondering though–how did you control that giant gorilla?"
"I was thinkin' about that, too," Everett added.
A small laugh came from Maverick, who rubbed one of his tattooed arms with a smile, "You think I controlled Musafala?"
"You didn't?" Emilio asked.
Maverick shook his head, "If Musafala wanted, she could've crushed all three of us, right then and there, and we would be helpless to our fate. The only reason she backed off was because of a 'debt' she owed me–I helped find her babies for her once."
"Beasts have a sense of obligation like that?" Emilio asked.
"You'd be surprised at what you find on this island. Here, isolated from the influences of civilization and infused with the rich mana of this land, beasts have evolved into all sorts of amazing forms," Maverick explained, "The Island of the Grand is great–and terrifying. Ha-ha!"
Emilio mumbled, "I agree with half of that," he continued, "So, can you help us find our two friends?"
When making such a request, he knew he had to always be ready to give something in exchange–whether it was a trinket of his own or helping the figure back. Though he definitely didn't expect what befell from the island survivor's lips:
"Sure, but you've got to help me with something, too!" Maverick proposed, "Can you create some weapons for me? With that magic of yours?"
The request took him aback, never being asked that before, "...What?"
"I saw you make that bridge of stone easily, so I was thinking weapons should be feasible."
Emilio scratched his head for a second, 'Yeah, I can do that. What do you want?"
"Well–"
It was definitely not a single weapon or just a couple that Maverick wanted; over the course of a half hour, Emilio used his mastery over nature magecraft to forge various weapons of stone: rocky swords, spears, and a couple, differently shaped shields.
"Aha! Amazing! Thanks, I've got a whole arsenal now!" Maverick happily laughed, doing practice swings with one of the stone swords.
"Yeah, no problem," Emilio responded, rolling one of his shoulders as the abundant usage of magecraft definitely drew some stamina from him.
Bringing the stone sword along with him, Maverick stood by the entrance of his camp, "Alright, let's go–I'll help you track down these friends of yours. Time is of the essence–every moment could put hours between us, and hours could mean death."
"Right," Emilio got ready.
"Let's go!" Everett followed.
Back into the wilderness of the mystical island, there was some comfort in following a figure that was experienced in the layout of the isolated land.
"So, did you come here to become a sage?" Emilio asked.
Maverick led the way, using the sharp edge of the stone weapon to cleave through tall bushes and grass, responding from up front as he stepped over a jutting-out rock, "Sure did. See, my Gramps was like a father to me, but he left when I was young. He did leave me something though–a journal."
"Just a journal?" Everett asked, marching behind as he used his shield to brush away overbearing vines.
"Sounds pretty lame, right? Ha-ha. I was mad at first, but once I read it, I understood. Gramps wrote about it there–about the 'Sage Trial' and wanting to explore the Island of The Grand. Ever since I read that journal, I made it my goal to follow in his footsteps, hoping maybe he'd be waiting for me here," Maverick explained, cutting away more grass.
"Didja find him?"
As Everett asked that, Emilio shot him a sharp glare as if questioning why the shielder would ask such an insensitive question, though the red-bearded man only laughed it off.
"I did!"
Emilio was surprised in tandem with the bumpkin shielder, "You did?"
"Mhm," Maverick confirmed, "Found him in one of the caves in my first month here, actually. Though he was just a skeleton by then–but I found another journal beside his body. It was mostly gibberish, but he did mention me a few times."
"Oh…" Everett let out sadly.
Reaching past the dense foliage, the group arrived before a waterfall, standing on its edge as it looked over a stream that ran between a passage neighbored by flower-covered cliffs. It was a sight that would be beautiful anywhere else but the dangerous island. Even then, it was still majestic enough to bring all three to a pause as they took the scenery in.
"Pretty, isn't it? It's ironic that the most beautiful land I've ever seen is also always trying to kill me," Maverick remarked, leaning over the waterfall, "As I've been trying to say, this island isn't for the weak. It's not really for the strong, either. Only for those insane enough to test themselves. I've given up on the trial myself."
"Really? Why?" Emilio asked.
"You haven't taken it yet, have you?" Maverick asked, "You wouldn't be asking me that if you did."
He couldn't argue with that, but it only led to more questions in his mind as he traveled down a steep trail beside the waterfall alongside the other two. Reaching the bottom of the waterfall, the ground was made up of moss-covered, moist stone, running cold from the water that ran beneath it.
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