Luc opened his eyes and glanced up at the patchy straw roof above him. Sunlight was streaming in through one of the many holes, blinding him as soon as he woke up. He grimaced as he sat up, massaging his back and stretching his arms. Sleeping on a hard surface without a mattress was something Luc didn’t want to get used to doing.

Rubbing his eyes, Luc saw Dante standing in the frame of the door, glancing outside. Last night, they had tried to get more information out of the bald man, but he had refused to speak. Even when they bribed him with food, he would not elaborate on the Chasm, Spirium, or Tamia. After seeing the state of fear the bald man was in, Luc was tempted to search for another way back to Tosa, but at the end of the day, he didn’t have the slightest idea of how he would do that.

“He is gone,” said Dante, without turning around.

“Huh?” said Luc. “What do you mean?”

“That man is gone,” said Dante. “He took our wagon and horses.”

Luc’s eyes narrowed and he rose to his feet. “You should’ve woken me up! We have to hunt him down and - ”

“Patience,” said Dante. “If the Way dictates our wagon and horses to be taken, then this is the path we must take.”

“Are you kidding me?” said Luc. “You can’t just use an imaginary concept to justify everything bad that’s happened to you!”

Dante turned back to look at Luc. His face did not bear any anger or irritation. Instead, he just looked a little tired. Reaching over, he placed a hand on Luc’s shoulder.

“One day you will understand.”

Luc decided not to pursue the matter. He stepped out of the house they had stayed in and glanced around. Sure enough, the horses and wagon were long gone. Muttering curses under his breath, he made a rude gesture at the house next door – the house where they had found the bald man. It turned out that all the houses in this area were as they looked – abandoned and derelict, so he and Dante had chosen one at random to stay in.

“Let us be off,” said Dante, handing Luc’s pack to him, which was essentially a drawstring burlap sack that he could sling over a shoulder, courtesy of Val. Luckily, they had kept the money and some of the food with them, which was now stored in their packs.

“Where are we going?” said Luc, dreading the answer.

“That man spoke of something around here called the Chasm,” said Dante. “And if his words are true, then the woman we seek should be there as well.”

The two of them set off into the city of Notori. For the first few minutes, Luc didn’t see anything but rows upon rows of empty houses just like the ones on the outskirts of town. At times, Luc heard some scuffling noises coming from alleyways, but he disregarded them as rats or other pests.

“This is a sorry looking city,” said Luc as they walked. “I’ll have you know, even the poorest city in Tosa is in better condition than this!”

Dante looked at him, face expressionless as ever. “Have you been to the poorest city in Tosa before?”

“Of course!” said Luc, smiling at the memories. “As the heir of Tosa, my father takes me on a territory-wide tour every year. Every city, every town is flourishing, and all of the citizens look up to my father.”

“Do they now?” said Dante.

“When we get to Tosa, I’ll have you meet my father,” said Luc. “You’re doing a great service, accompanying me home. Don’t worry, you will definitely be rewarded. I’ll make sure you get anything you want!”

Dante was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke, voice quiet. “Just returning to Tosa will be enough for me.”

Luc dropped the subject, as he knew Dante wouldn’t answer any questions about his reasons for returning to Tosa. Not that Luc cared. Simply by sticking with Dante, someone who could speak to a monster like Yata as an equal, getting to Tosa was only a matter of time. And once I get back home, I’ll have Father find the most powerful Spellcaster in the land and rid me of this curse. Then things will be as they should once more.

Luc’s pleasant thoughts were interrupted by Dante abruptly halting at the intersection of two paths. Glancing up, Luc saw a man dressed in a white robe. He wore a hood on his head that shrouded his face in shadows, and he wore a necklace bearing a large red stone.

“Are you here to seek Spirium?” asked the stranger.

“No,” said Dante. “We seek the Chasm. Do you know of it?”

“Blasphemy!” said the stranger, brandishing the red stone on the necklace. It was about the size of a human fist. “If you seek the Chasm, then you seek the cursed herb! Begone from Notori!”

Look like everyone here has gone crazy. Luc stepped forward, ready to put the stranger in his place, but Dante stopped him with an arm. From the sides of the intersection, men dressed in black tunics with golden buttons emerged. Every one of them carried a single spear and a dagger strapped on their waist. Their faces were coarse and rough, many of them bearing scars. As the black tunics approached, the man in the white cloak began taking furtive steps backwards.

“How many times do we have to tell you to get out of here?” said one of the black tunics.

The white cloaked man stood there, unmoving. Then he turned on his heels and fled, dashing into an alleyway a couple of blocks down the street. Watching him go, the black tunics exchanged looks and began to laugh.

“Those Purebloods are nothing but cowards,” said one of the men.

“We should’ve caught him and taught him a lesson,” said another.

Amidst their chatter, one of the black tunics walked up to Luc and Dante. Sporting a mop of greasy brown hair along with wide smile revealing yellow teeth with brown and black spots, the man spoke.

“You guys are looking for the Chasm? Cross that bridge up there and you’ll reach the Inner Ring. That’s your ticket in.”

Without waiting for a response, the group of black tunics returned to the alleys where they had come from. As they left, Luc saw a few of them glancing over their shoulders and whispering.

“The taller one might make it.”

“Mm…ten silver on Floor 10 or lower?”

“I’ll take you up on that.”

“The white-haired kid?”

“Won’t even make it to Floor 1.”

“Ha!”

Luc’s mouth twisted with contempt, but he had enough sense to keep his mouth shut. Through his misadventures over the past couple of days, the rule he had come up with himself was to never get into a fight he couldn’t win. As a coward, his life was the only thing that mattered.

“Seems like we are almost there,” said Dante, as if nothing had happened.

The two of them continued down the path, eventually getting to the bridge that the black tunic had been talking about. It was a small bridge, only about twenty feet in length. Made from wood planks, it extended over a small stream trickling through the center of the city. The bridge was curved upwards in the center, giving it an arched appearance, and wooden handrails were built on either side. The bridge itself wasn’t that interesting, but what was across the bridge was.

Across the bridge was what looked like a bustling marketplace. The ground was covered with smooth, stone tiles. There seemed to be only a single row of buildings in the very back of the area, but from what Luc could see, those buildings were almost as grandiose as his home in Tosa. Built in the style of temples, the buildings had multiple layers, wooden walls painted a deep shade of red. The roofs were slanted and built at an angle, constructed of mud bricks painted dark green. From this distance, Luc couldn’t see passed the row of huge buildings, but he imagined the Green River must be somewhere in that direction.

Glancing around as he and Dante crossed the bridge, Luc saw that even though there weren’t any buildings besides those at the back, there were many wooden carts, wagons, and stands located throughout the clearing. Luc saw carts selling merchandise ranging from weapons to good luck charms. Alongside the variety of goods, the people crowding the pavilion were just as varied. Luc saw hair, eye, and skin colors he had never seen before. He saw the strangest of clothing, a man merely three feet tall, and a woman towering at least seven feet off the ground. But all of the people shared two common traits. First, each and every one of them bore some kind of weapon or armor. Second, the look in their eyes was as cold as ice, distrusting and suspicious of everything and everyone around them.

“What is this place?” said Luc, keeping a careful eye on everything around them. “Why is this place so packed but the rest of the city so empty?”

“I suspect those large buildings at the back may give us our answer,” said Dante.

The two of them made their way through the clearing. Luc could normally put on a confident façade even when he was facing the wrath of his father, but the overwhelming hostility of these people around them made him more nervous than he wanted to admit. Thankfully, nothing happened as they made their way through the crowds. While the people were certainly cold, they did not seem to be looking to actively harm one another. As far as Luc could tell, that is.

As they reached the buildings at the back of the pavilion, Luc saw that they were even grander up close. Each one of the buildings had massive staircases leading up to the entrances, which were lined with cylindrical pillars alongside golden statues of serpents, dragons, and fish. More men wearing those black tunics with gold buttons stood at the top of the steps, surveying the crowds.

Dante did not walk up the steps. Instead, he moved a little bit to the side of one of the buildings. Between the two massive structures, there a small gap. Peering through the gap, Luc’s jaw dropped.

The line of buildings did not sit in front of the Green River, as Luc expected. Instead, they sat on the edge of a rocky cliff. The cliff did not overlook a valley, but rather what Luc could only describe as a gargantuan crack in the ground, shrouded by a layer of misty white fog. Opening up towards the sky like a gaping mouth, it was a bottomless blackness in the ground, threatening to consume anything that entered.

The Chasm.