Near the end of their first day in the second layer, Theo was extremely close to death. If he moved a few centimeters in the wrong direction, then that would be it. Or, at least, that’s how Theo felt when he looked down from his perch on an ancient ironbark tree. Theo wasn’t prone to vertigo, but climbing over a dozen meters in the air was something he hadn’t experienced in Jigou. At least he dealt with the sensation better than Mavis. The slime had only just come to terms with a world that had no ceiling. Taking away its floor was enough to drive Mavis into hysteria. Fortunately, there was no point in having a slime as a lookout. Mavis had only tried to follow him because it was worried.

Their journey had encountered a roadblock. It was a roadblock that Theo had been particularly unlucky with in the past. Theo watched the trail ahead with a grim expression. Teams of raiders passed by at least once every fifteen minutes. It was going to be tough to proceed without running into someone.

“I know the second layer is popular, but isn’t this a little much?” Theo muttered to himself. “Is something happening?”

The first layer held little treasure and was a pain to navigate. Most raiders thought of it as the final leg of their hike up the mountain, rather than an actual part of Naraka. The third layer was a dense jungle at the bottom of the valley. Death lurked around every corner and most raiders wisely avoided it. The fourth and fifth layers were exclusively for veterans. The number of people raiding in the endless caverns could be counted on two hands.

Meanwhile, the second layer was easy to reach, the monsters were relatively straight-forward and it was large enough to accommodate thousands of raiders. Theo had been told that it would take a week to pass through, but that assumed he would be travelling to the third layer. The second layer surrounded the third from above, spreading out across the various Heaven’s Spire mountains. Scouring every corner would take over a decade, which gave people hope of stumbling onto some legendary treasure.

All of these reasons combined to make the second layer a staple location for raiding parties. Much to Theo’s chagrin.

“It’s going to be tough from here on out.” Theo reported once he returned to the ground. “The first layer has a bunch of different exits and we were lucky to get a deserted one. Now, those paths are starting to intersect.”

“Raiders…attack…like before?”

“They probably won’t, but we still look like a pair of outlaws. If word gets out, then some opportunists will definitely try to track us down.”

“What is…outlaw?” Mavis cocked its head. “Hear…before…but…”

Theo wanted to smack himself. Counting their predator talk earlier, he’d misspoken twice in one day.

“Ah, um, I’m just saying that we look dangerous. People ran away from you back in the first layer, right? It’s going to be hard for us to blend in.”

“…But…”

“-Anyways, I found a path that no one seems to take. It’s a little overgrown, but all routes in this area should lead to the portal.”

“Clear…danger.”

“We’ll move slowly. If there’s something really dangerous, then we can head back and try our luck with another trail.”

“Ok.”

“Let’s go. I want to get a bit further before we break for the night.”

Theo and Mavis slipped into the overgrown trail without any problems. The woods grew thicker while sunlight dwindled away. Theo could still see a path, but he was more worried about what he couldn’t see. There were no signs of monsters living here. Earlier on their deserted trail, Theo and Mavis had found traces of various second layer monsters. The eagle had been the only one that they failed to avoid. Here, there was nothing. No scraped bark marking territory. No nests in the trees. No mysterious howls or screeches. It was quite eerie.

“Mavis…” Theo whispered. “Make sure to check every blind-spot. Tell me the instant you notice anything.”

Mavis nodded silently. The slime’s hair lay flat as it focused.

They continued for half an hour before Mavis suddenly stopped.

“Did you find something?”

“…Uh…” Mavis hesitated before finally reporting. “…Surrounded.”

Theo sucked in a breath.

“By what?”

“Large…packers…”

Theo hurriedly reviewed his scattered knowledge of the second layer.

“Those are dire wolves.”

“…Dangerous?”

“Very. How many are there?”

“…Um…”

Theo suddenly wondered if this slime knew basic arithmetic. Even if it did, would it know the right words?

Mavis raised both hands and showed nine fingers. “This many.”

Theo’s blood ran cold. Dire wolves were much larger and fiercer than wolves on the surface. With the pair’s fighting ability, even three or four would be a serious threat. Just as Theo was formulating an escape plan, Mavis continued.

“…And…one…human.”

Theo’s train of thought screeched to a halt.

“Hiding…behind…tree.” Mavis pointed to an ironbark several meters away.

“Ha-ha-ha!” A rancorous laugh rang out across the forest. “That’s a boring magic tool. What’s the fun of raiding if you can’t get ambushed once in a while?”

Suddenly, nine dire wolves stepped into view. They bared their fangs and growled, as if daring Theo and Mavis to take another step.

The human appeared too. A grizzled forty-something sauntered out from behind his hiding spot. He wore a dark green cloak that was covered with various leaves. Somehow, they seemed to be growing out of the fabric. His pants were similarly decorated and they caused his outline to blend into the forest. The only part of him that refused to be hidden was his hair. The man’s mutton chops gave him a bestial air, which was only amplified by his bristling long brown hair.

“There’s a certain thrill to being hunted, you know?”

Frankly, Theo couldn’t care what the man looked like. From the moment he revealed himself, Theo’s eyes had been fixed on his forehead.

“You’re a couple of newbies, huh? No one cared enough to lead you away from my neck of the woods.”

The man shook his head in mock-pity.

“Well, I’m sure you know how this works. Leave your valuables fast enough and I might not ask my children to chase you down.”

Mavis took an aggressive stance. The slime’s hair rose for a moment, but then Theo patted its shoulder. He stepped forward, glancing cautiously at the wolves before turning towards their leader.

“Valuables…” Theo chuckled ruefully. “What valuables?”

The man narrowed his eyes as Theo raised one hand. Theo lifted his headband, revealing the sinister black ‘X’ on his forehead.

For a moment, everyone was silent.

“Ha-ha-ha!” The man bent over, nearly falling as he laughed. “Now that I see one in front of me, I guess the saying is true…”

He pointed a thumb at his own ‘X’ mark.

“…Misery loves company.”

Mavis’s mask swung back and forth as it’s gaze flittered between the two. The slime knew better than to ask questions, but that didn’t stop it from having them.

“What about the girl?”

“She has one, but the mask stays on.”

“So stingy. Is she really that beautiful?” The man glanced at his wolves, smiling like a proud father. “I won’t steal her. With so many cute children to raise, I'm too busy to deal with a wife.”

Mavis quickly shook its head. “Mask…stays…never…show…”

The man suddenly froze. For the first time, he seemed to have been caught off guard. Then, predictably, he laughed.

“Ha-ha-ha! With a voice like that, I can only imagine what’s underneath! I understand, boy, I understand completely!”

Mavis still looked incredibly lost. Theo jumped in before it could speak again.

“So, since we understand each other’s troubles…How about you let us off?”

“Let you off? Boy, I’ll do you one better! Come back to my camp for the night. I haven’t talked with another raider in ages, let alone a fellow outlaw.”

“T-That sounds nice, but…”

Theo prepared to decline, but the man cut him off.

“-It seems like you’re pretty light on supplies. This is your chance at an actual meal.”

Theo suddenly felt an urge to reconsider. After his gear was stolen by Kaiya’s party, Theo had faced various hardships. Most of those problems had been solved after meeting Mavis, but one issue remained. Theo didn’t have any tools for storing water, starting fires or preserving meat. Mavis’s treasure pile had many things, but it did not have survival equipment. Theo had managed by eating whenever he found the chance. Various herbs and fungi made up his entire diet. After killing that eagle, Theo had eyed it hungrily. Ultimately, he had decided that cooking it without any tools would waste too much time.

“You can choose to leave, but I’ll be sending some overzealous escorts.”

“We’ll stay!”

“Great!” The man extended a hand and grinned wolfishly. “The name’s Nico.”

- - -

“Ok, Mavis…If he finds out what you are, we are going to die.”

Mavis nodded stiffly.

“Don’t talk unless you have to. If you do, then don’t speak in broken words. Compose a sentence in your head, repeat it a few times, and then speak clearly.”

Mavis nodded again.

“Keep a lookout for anything suspicious, but I think he already knows that you can see past blind-spots.”

Mavis nodded twice.

“If I didn’t think you could do this, then I would have taken our chances with the ‘escorts’. Do you have any questions?”

Mavis thought for half a minute and then looked up.

“Nico is dangerous. But why is he nice?” A moment later, it added. “To us.”

“He knows we don’t have anything valuable. That’s probably the biggest reason.”

“…Other reason?”

Theo scratched his head and looked away.

“Nico’s lonely, right? Living out here. I’ll tell him some stories, we’ll eat, and then we leave tomorrow morning.”

Mavis sighed. “Fine.”

Satisfied, Theo turned away and glanced warily at the woods beyond Nico’s campsite. After showing them around, Nico had said something about treating his guests to a fresh kill and then left. He’d taken a couple of his ‘children’ to hunt with him. The remaining seven wolves watched Theo and Mavis with surprising diligence. Theo was sure that if he tried to steal anything or run off, the wolves would become hostile.

“He…still…gone.” Mavis reassured Theo.

Theo began to relax, but then wolves suddenly turned their heads. A few seconds later, Mavis followed suit.

“Almost…back.”

Just as the monsters predicted, Nico returned. He entered the campsite while dragging a deer-like monster on a makeshift stretcher. The two wolves flanked him on either side. One of them had blood on its mouth and paws.

“I taught these wolves how to hide their tracks…” Nico muttered happily. “…But the other monsters in this forest wised-up. Nowadays, I have to go pretty far to find a decent kill.”

The other wolves ran over to greet him. Theo stepped forward as well.

“So, it’s not just raiders.” He observed. “Even monsters avoid this area. How long have you been living here?”

“I spent about five years going back and forth between these woods and the surface. Then, I became an outlaw. Now, I stay here all the time! Ha-ha-ha!”

Theo blinked. He had assumed that Nico worked with these wolves out of desperation. Apparently, this raider had always been close with monsters.

“It’s been over a year, but I don’t have any regrets. Anyways, help me skin this beast. He who does not work, shall not eat.”

The pair couldn’t argue with that, and so they helped Nico prepare his feast. This process was extremely exciting for one of them, and mentally draining for the other. Mavis had watched raiders cook before, but the slime had trouble understanding the concept. Nevertheless, it was very eager to participate. Theo had his hands full correcting Mavis’s mistakes.

“He told you to chop the vegetables, not rip them apart with your bare hands.”

“Don’t drink that! The water is boiling right now!”

“No, we aren’t throwing the meat away. We’re cooking it. You put things in fire to cook them.”

“Don’t put vegetables in the fire!”

At first, Nico thought that Mavis was making mistakes on purpose. Perhaps these misunderstandings were a cover, giving Theo a chance to secretly poison their food. Eventually, Nico was forced to accept that even someone with ill-intent wouldn’t cause this many problems. Mavis sat off to the side, head lowered in dejection, while Theo and Nico finished cooking.

“She…uh…Mavis is from a very rich family. She’s incredibly sheltered.”

Nico nodded silently.

“Her family disowned her, and abused their power to make her an outlaw. But Mavis…” Theo turned away, apparently choking back tears. “…Mavis didn’t give up. Even after being abandoned by everyone. I found her struggling alone in the first layer and gave her some food. Ever since then, we made a pact to reach the surface together!”

Nico slowly shook his head.

“That…” He looked away, actually choking back tears. “That’s so beautiful! So tragic! A lone girl forced into a dungeon by her uncaring family!”

Theo could only nod in amazement while thinking.

“This might be easier than I thought.”

Later, when he thought back to that moment, Theo wanted to slap himself for being so naïve.