**Ryfon is the Elven Prince Hao Xuan met after coming to the Academy, whose niece he's here to find.**
***
"A few strange developments?" Hao Xuan looked over, intrigued. His hands still didn't stop moving, flipping, mixing and working on the various dishes.
Ryfon nodded blankly while staring at the campfire.
"The parties we sent down there have gone missing. We lost contact with them just a few hours ago. The last thing they reported was seeing a treasure room of some kind, at least that's what the sensors reported. There was extremely thick spiritual energy and remnant auras all around the place."
At this point, he paused and looked towards Hao Xuan, "Apparently there wasn't any sign of that organic material that's covering the rest of the structure, so we can say that place at least is still safe. Do you…know anything about it?"
Hao Xuan covered a pan with the lid before nodding without any hesitation, "Yeaup. The structure is a Prison belonging to the Temple of War. Apparently it was a top-secret project and there was only one prisoner, the same organic material that's spreading all over the place. They couldn't kill it by any means so containment was the only option…."
Ryfon wasn't expecting a response, especially one like this that basically explained the entire history of the structure and this planet. He was shocked into silence for a couple of minutes before he spoke up again.
"Why…are you telling me all this? Why not keep it to yourself or just sell the information? It is definitely worth a fortune."
"Haha," Hao Xuan laughed lightly, "What is a fortune in this place? Will it help me get what I need? Will your master let me off the hook? I doubt it, I'd probably get killed. And you guys need to know this. I tried explaining to that blood prince cunt but he didn't listen."
Hao Xuan raised his head and met Ryfon's stunned gaze.
"You think too much man, not everyone has an ulterior motive. But even if you tell the higherups about its actual history, are you sure they will contact the Temple of War and stop exploring? I highly doubt it."
Ryfon looked away with a numb gaze, "You're right. They will think of it as an opportunity and increase their efforts a hundredfold while hiding its existence."
"What do you plan to do then?" Hao Xuan asked while taking the three large pieces of meat off the flame.
Ryfon sighed, "I don't know. What CAN I do?" he mumbled the last line under his breath and drank another mouthful.
"Then, how about giving me an opportunity? I'm working on something, not sure if it will work but if it does, it should damage the creature enough for it recede back to the depths of the prison and give you some time to breathe. Then you can contact the Temple of War on your own once we leave this place and maybe even pick some rewards for doing so. I'm sure they wouldn't be stingy."
"….."
A short bout of silence followed while Ryfon considered his offer.
"What's your plan?" he asked before giving his answer.
Hao Xuan gave a sly smile and instead of answering, picked up the few dishes that were done and walked out of the camp. He placed them on a nearby rock and whistled, getting the attention of the trio despairing on the edge of the lake.
"Here, eat this for now, I'll make more after I get some rest," he said before walking back to the camp. Sounds of munching and slurping came from behind him.
Hao Xuan sat down across from Ryfon and opened the bottle of rum again, taking another whiff like a junkey. He smiled like a fool took in a deep breath.
"Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about."
Ryfon who was watching him intently cleared his throat, interrupting Hao Xuan's 'high'.
"Oh, sorry," Hao Xuan chuckled, "On the way out I noticed that the main body of that thing still hasn't woken up. Otherwise, you guys wouldn't be having such an easy time. It's in a state of stasis or hibernation or something. I got close enough last time to catch a glimpse of it but the second I used my Qi, those monsters came rushing out from all sides."
"So I'm guessing as long as I don't use any Qi, I can get close enough to damage it and it won't even be able to defend."
Ryfon's brow creased up, "But neither will you, how do you plan to survive long enough without using any Qi? And how will you get out?"
"Technology, my friend," Hao Xuan grinned, "I came from a world where there wasn't any spiritual energy at all so we had to make do without it. I'm making something called a Hydrogen Bomb, close enough it should be more than enough to critically wound it if not kill it entirely.. And I'm pretty sure that thing is really weak right now, too weak to even fight back so it shouldn't be a problem."
