In the game's official website, they were described as rare NPCs, known for nurturing magical forests.
They lived deep within the Vales. The young ones were called nature's tricksters—mischievous but like the rest of their species, invaluable if befriended.
Ethan cleared his throat getting their attention, they slowly gazed up staring at him with bright pale green eyes.
"Alright you two time to talk."
James cut in glaring at them. "Yeah."
The Cyphs huddled up together whimpering.
Jared smacked him on his head, James turned looking at him aggrieved. "Hey, what'd I do?"
"You're scaring them you loud oaf."
The Cyphs fidgeted, their eyes darting between Ethan and the triplets.
As Ethan walked towards them, they shifted moving away slowly. Crouching down he smiled. "What's two little Cyphs doing out here in the wild all alone."
They male Cyph looked a him blinking slowly.
Jordan turned to Ethan. "What's a Cyph?"
Ethan reached into his pouch, pulling out a small seed from their last harvest. He held it out to the twins.
"See? I take care of plants too."
Before replying Jordan. "A magical specie attuned to wood elemental magic."
The female Cyph's eyes flickered with curiosity. Slowly, her clenched fingers loosened.
[Abnormal wood element essence detected.]
On Ethan's HUD a large green dot appeared several feet inside the cave.
'Okay. That's… big.'
[And yours is small.]
'You haven't even seen it.'
[You do realize I'm soul-bonded to you right? I watch you take bathes.]
Ethan froze. Then shivered. 'You… watch me bathe?'
[Of course. What kind of system would I be if I didn't monitor your—]
'Nope. Nope. We're not doing this.'
Ethan shook his head violently, focusing on the HUD instead. Noticing his unease Jordan asked.
"Something else is in there, right?"
Ethan nodded standing up slowly he started walking towards it, a plant tendril shot out wrapping around his foot.
Turning back he saw the male Cyph glaring at him, "Mama.. there.. stay."
The female nodded, another tendril shooting out towards his other leg.
The male Cyph clutched his sister's hand, his tiny body trembling.
The female peeked from behind him, her leafy hair quivering, tendrils curling defensively around her.
"Mama… there… no.. go."
Ethan smiled. "Now I gotta see this."
Walking towards the Cyphs they scampered backwards their backs touching the moss covered walls.
They stared at Ethan cautiously though still refusing to loosen their vines. Ethan bent down staring at them, "I'm not going to hurt your mother."
Stretching his hands towards them, they shrank back still staring at him with wide eyes.
After a few minutes the female reached out to his hands touching it, pulling back almost immediately. Her wide, glowing eyes locked onto his, uncertainty flickering behind them.
Ethan chuckled, "Go on, I'm not going to hurt you either."
James sighed, "Come on let's get this over with already."
The female Cyph glared at him pouting. "I.. don't.. like.. him."
James moved aside as Jared's hand swept past his original position. "Congratulations big guy, you scared a child and got her to hate you."
James sighed, "What has the world come to, when your brother sides with strangers against you."
Ethan rolled his eyes, "You three be quiet, you're scaring them with your noise."
Jordan cut in, "I didn't even say anything."
"And now you did."
Turning his attention back to the Cyphs, Ethan smiled. "Go on, no one here's going to hurt you or your mama."
The females eyes glowed brightly, not sensing any malice from him, she reached out her hands to hold his.
Slowly standing up, her brother stood up following her the tendrils behind him slithering forward.
Ethan smiled. "See, now let's go see mama."
"O.. o.. kay."
Ethan stood up walking deep into he cave the triplets and the Cyph twins following behind him.
As he advanced the dot got larger until he reached the end of the cave, blocked by a thick curtain of vines at the bottom a small hole was carved into it.
'So that's how they got out. I almost thought we were dealing with a careless mother here.'
Unsheathing one of The Twins, the female cyph scuttled backwards bumping into Jordan's leg.
As Ethan raised his blade, the male Cyph snarled, tendrils lashing out wildly, wrapping around his wrists.
The female whimpered, clinging to Jordan, eyes wide with terror. "No… no… Mama…!"
Ethan paused, meeting the boy's defiant glare. He eased his stance, voice gentle. "I promised you—I'm not here to hurt her."
The tendrils trembled, tightening for a moment—before reluctantly retreating.
Swiping the blade, a shallow cut appeared on the curtain. Not enough to create a passage but enough to capture the grew glow inside.
Gripping the blade again, Ethan channeled his mana the blade lit up, fire dancing around the edges. "This should do it."
The female cyph whimpered, clutching Jordan's trousers, her leafy hair standing on end. "Fire… bad…"
Meanwhile the male stared at the fire in awe.
Not minding them Ethan cut through the curtain. This time it was smooth like knife through butter.
James muttered, "Was that magic?"
Jared scoffed, walking through the vine curtain. "Of course how do you think he fought off that leopard."
Scratching his head with an awkward smile James stepped in, Jordan and the female cyph going in last.
The air inside felt thick, heavy—like the forest itself was alive and breathing.
As they ventured in deeper, Ethn breathed in as his eyes widened. 'High concentration of oxygen.'
James leaned against a wall, blinking slowly, dreamily.
"Guys," he muttered, grinning like an idiot. "The cave… is kinda pretty, don't you think?"
Jared let out a soft laugh—too soft, too relaxed. "I… feel light. Like I'm floating…" While Jordan chortled.
Ethan paused, turning to the triplet's already lost in euphoria breathing in rapidly. 'Damn it. They're getting oxygen-high.'
"Whatever it is we're doing we have to do it fast and get out of here."
Jordan's eyes cleared slightly. "Why Chief?"
Ethan stepped forward, the ground beneath him pulsed. Faintly, almost like a heartbeat. "There's a high concentration of oxygen in the air, and too much exposure can lead to hallucinations."
"Oh! What is Oxygen and hallucinations?"
'Great I forgot I'm in a medieval world now.'
"I'll explain it later. For now just keep your brothers safe."
"Okay Chief."
With every step forward, the walls seemed to pulse in rhythm with the air itself. The deeper they went, the more the moss glowed faintly—like veins carrying life through a body.
Then—a low, rhythmic sound. Not quite breathing. Not quite a heartbeat, something in between.
James swallowed, blinking rapidly. "Guys… I think the walls are moving."
Ethan barely heard him, then something wet dripped down his face. His eyes slowly moved up looking for the source, that's when he saw it.
A massive cocoon hanging from the ceiling pulsing green. Staring at it, his breath quickened.
'HOLY SHIT.'
[Mission Complete...]
[Anomaly detected...]
[Recalculating...]
[Mission updated: Kill the night.]
[Objective: Defeat the assassins hunting Princess Meryn.]
Ethan frowned. 'Princess? Assasins?'
He turned to the Cyph twins, his gaze flicking between them and the cocoon.
'Just what the hell have we stumbled into?'
[Reward: x3 Cyphs, five catties each of ten random seedlings, wood element awakening potion (NB: only works on someone with a wood elemental affinity), 10 gold coins.]
Seeing the note, Ethan rolled his eyes.
'Of course I know it will only work on someone with a wood elemental affinity.'