{-Llewel-}

It took a while for them to do anything but wander around. They didn’t know where they were going; they could hardly see where they were, and the walls were far enough away from the light that they couldn’t see them. Suffice to say Llewel hoped that they could find the thief as quickly as possible, unwilling to stay here any longer than they needed to.

His feelings only got worse when they encountered a mob of monsters. While they weren’t difficult to fight, simply knowing that they were there made him even more uneasy; he found himself holding Myr’s hand to assure that she was beside him, though she didn’t seem to mind it.

They kept encountering monsters, each pack stronger than the last. Despite the implications, Zetai was completely unfazed by the increasing difficulty.

“Of course it had to be a fighting dungeon,” was what she moaned instead. “Why couldn’t it have just been a couple of bats or something? But, no, it had to be one with all different kinds of annoying monsters…”

Reynneak, at least, seemed to share in Llewel’s concern. “I really don’t think that’s the thing you should be worried about the most.”

“Yeah, I’ve got to admit this wasn’t really what I thought we were going to end up doing,” Myr said in agreement. “I didn’t think we’d be fighting any more than a couple of people…”

Zetai shrugged. “It’s annoying, sure, but it isn’t really difficult. It’s probably going to stop rising in level pretty soon, once it hits where we are; it’ll go a little bit above but nothing that we can’t handle.”

Her confidence was not shared by any of them, yet they still followed along. They couldn’t really say anything anyway—another mob showed up soon afterward. It did help to quickly prove, though, that what she assured them likely wasn’t going to happen… even if it took them all to be exhausted and definitely outmatched for her to reconsider it.

“Okay, so maybe you’re right,” Zetai sighed after one of the battles. She waved her hand around in the dark, presumably trying to find something. It wasn’t long before she found what she was looking for; the wall, where she sat down and gestured for the others to follow. “We can rest here for a little while. The monsters are only going to spawn and try to attack us if we move, so we should be fine if we stay here.”

“What are we going to do beyond this?” Reynneak prompted. “While we’ve still got the items, we don’t have the strength we need to effectively fight against them.”

“We should head back,” Llewel said. Myr, as soon as they’d both sat down, had rested her head on his shoulder and had her eyes closed. “We’re not ready for any of this. We’d be risking too much to keep on following Shemle now.”

Zetai shook her head. “They’ll probably respawn on our way out, if we don’t encounter whoever we didn’t fight on our way here. It won’t be that bad once we’re closer to the exit, but getting there…”

“I guess dying is always an option,” Reynneak remarked, “forfeit the next battle and respawn in Anthalas City. We’d probably lose some of our coins and gear, but it’s the best option when we don’t know how much longer we have to be here.”

“Except there’s us,” Llewel pointed out.

“If you were meant to be story companions, then you’d respawn in Anthalas City with us,” Zetai said. “Right?”

“We don’t know if that’s what we were supposed to be, and we definitely aren’t that now. Just like there was no code to bind us to Nafrius, there might not be any that says where we go when our HP reaches zero.”

Reynneak had a solemn kind of understanding. “If there’s nothing that needs you, then it’s likely that the game won’t care if you don’t come back. It’s not worth the risk to try to see if you’ll return or not.”

“We could take the lead, but that’s not going to do anyone any good if we end up dying…” Zetai muttered. “The map wouldn’t happen to tell us how far we’re in the dungeon, does it..?”

Reynneak opened it up, gave it a single glance, then shook his head. “It just shows the overworld map and that we’re in the cave.” He checked his Inventory before adding, “And we can’t use [Signal Flare]s in dungeons. It looks like our best option is going to be turning back and trying again later… as long as this is progress-based and not time-based. In which case we’re probably screwed either way.”

Myr stirred a little, mumbling, “I don’t think Shemle is at the end of the cave… he’s closer than that, in a section just for him. I… I feel like we’ve been here before… with her…”

Llewel wished that he could say the same, but the only thing that came out of thinking about it was the feeling that she was right. He didn’t know how, or remember any more details than she did, he just knew that they’d done it.

That seemed to be enough to give Zetai an idea, though. “Right, Shemle’s a part of the main story! I wasn’t paying attention to the map when my brother played it, but this must be the place he takes the player after the Rune Reactivation Project guys come and ambush you.” She paused, glancing at the twins. “How would you two know that, though? Shemle’s the only temporary party member that appears in Anthalas. There’s only one person in any of the areas that follow around the player throughout that part of the story, and none of them look like either of you.”

“That’s something we can figure out later,” Reynneak decided. “If Shemle’s the last person we have to fight for the quest, then we can get this over with. As long as we don’t have to go any further in, we should be able to find an exit after defeating him.”

They all got up, understanding it was better to finish this as soon as possible.

“Myr, do you remember where Shemle’s part of the cave is?” Zetai prompted, handing her the torch.

Myr nodded slowly. “I think I do.” She held out the torch in one hand and took Llewel’s hand in the other before leading the way.

The only noise was their own echoes for a little while, though they didn’t encounter any other monsters on their way there. What she guided them to was a wall covered in ancient scribbles; she curiously ran her hand over it before finding something. She pushed a spot that had been painted to look like a sunrise, then stepped back as the entire section moved to reveal another room.

It was much better lit than the rest of the cave, possessing more than just a single torch. There were many more things written on the walls here, along with several runes. Being in here was familiar and chilling, a feeling he assumed Myr shared judging by her uncomfortable expression.

Sitting right in the middle, Shemle was devouring the knowledge of the scroll with little initial interest in them. After a moment, though, he realized that they were there, stood up, and tucked the scroll away in his pocket.

“Coming for a fight, I see,” he said, tilting his head. “I’m surprised you made it this far. You weren’t supposed to. That shield you used to get in is supposed to activate the ultimate battle mode of this dungeon. Luckily for you, it’s all the same area with the same layout, so it seems you were still able to find me. Let’s end this quickly, shall we?”

Zetai braced herself for a fight. “Yeah, but not in the way that you think it’s going to go.”

She was mostly right when the battle began. Shemle was about the same as the monsters they had fought before, but they could outlast him well enough. It helped that he backed out as soon as he reached half HP instead of needing to be knocked down completely.

“Take your scroll back,” he grumbled, taking the scroll out of his pocket and throwing it at their feet. “I’ve gotten all the information I needed from it anyway.” He opened up the hidden entrance and left; it still remained open, proving what Reynneak said about their exit.

Zetai picked up the scroll and gestured for them to follow her through the exit. “Come on, let’s head back to Anthalas City. We can rest at the inn before finding a quest that we’re actually the right level for.”

It was only a moment after they walked out that a menu popped up in front of them.

[Quest: Home of the Mysterious Scroll

A lot has happened to this scroll since you got it! It sounds like this scroll could be used for some bad stuff if in the wrong hands. Perhaps it’s time to try to find its owner before anything else can happen to it.

Rewards: Access to the Saint’s Library in Anthalas City, 500 coins]