I told myself I wouldn't go. I'm already being more nosy than I should be. But I couldn't help it, my curiosity got the better of me.
I take two final steps. My boot kicks over a rock, but what was laid out before me was the entrance to a cave. Jagged rocks around it. Wooden crates nearby, and even metal carts on a railroad track.
There didn't seem to be any Oni nearby. Perhaps they are all on break. Pickaxes left around and littered told me everything.
I don't bother wasting anymore time. I shouldn't be doing this, and certainly an "tremor" from a cave shouldn't pique my interest. But it does. I don't know why I feel guided by it.
It hasn't properly left my mind. The fact that no one told me of this, and that no one else bothered to mention it. Even in my random travels back to the Plaza. No one has ever properly mentioned it.
It has to be for a reason.
Maybe tied to my existence here?
There's only one way to find out.
My legs move by themselves. Each step takes me deeper and deeper into the cave. The sunlight fading out, and the slightly lit cave takes hold.
Water dripping from the roof, and the sound of my boots on concrete rock is the only thing that fills my ears.
The makeshift light posts don't make it any better either. From time to time I would see something move from the corner of my eye…but I'm pretty sure that's just my mind playing tricks on me.
"So far, so good." I tell myself, maybe an attempt to ease my nerves. I don't feel any tremor, not now. Was it a supernatural thing that had transpired then?
Continuing deeper and further into the cave, the light that was previously there from the light posts faded away. I was starting to see lesser of them.
And even one that was broken.
I didn't stop by to analyze it further, my mind was already made up. On track, continuing to go further.
But it was getting harder. My eyes squinted, the dim light that was there was almost nonexistent. Pitch black almost.
This would be a bad spot to get hurt, or anything happen and I couldn't properly see. I reached out with my right arm, and stayed close to the side.
My hand tracing the wall of the cave, it guiding me as I went along. It was getting darker, too dark.
But I pushed through, continued to do so. I don't know what led me, my curiosity maybe. But it wouldn't be long until my vision was back.
There was a light hue of blue, not suffocating, not drowning either, but weird. The closer I got, the closer I realized that the Oni miners didn't use blue lightbulbs for a cave rave.
Disconnecting from the wall of the cave, my eyes darted quickly around. Blue rocks embedded all around here. Pulsating. Glowing.
No, no. These weren't rocks.
I got closer to one of them, analyzing its shape.
This was a gemstone. A crystal.
Crystals that glow? Maybe these things caused the tremor?
I try to budge it, but it won't move. Most likely naturally formed from this cave. If I had a pickaxe or something, then maybe…
I look back, and see the gradual black. It looked like I had just came out of the shadows.
Taking another look forward, something really didn't click inside my mind. I don't see any pickaxes here at all.
I'm not saying that because the Oni failed to leave one for me to pawn this crystal, but, it's like they never even reached here.
No wooden crates. No minecarts. Nothing.
Have they even traveled this far?
No, impossible. It didn't take that long for me. Perhaps twenty minutes at most.
I shake my head. The cave still had a lot more ways to go, and even more adventuring to be done. I'm not a experienced spelunker.
And this is Flugel's quadrant. I should be leaving this mess to him instead.
But I'm not. I'm not leaving it to him, I'm the one doing it actually. Not to mention the mysterious third ranchmaster over by the third quadrant.
Which goes back to my point earlier. Communication is really a horrible thing here in Korioh Landings. It's like everybody does their own thing, and reaps the benefits of slavery.
Pushing forward, my steps were eager. I wasn't necessarily excited, but I still felt pulled to this.
It wouldn't be long before I noticed more of those crystals, in different colors. Red, white, orange, green. It didn't matter.
The once-blue hue that had given me light, was mixed into a myriad of colors. Much less try to pawn the blue one, I could take out this entire long strip.
Nevermind that, this isn't oil to me. Let's not meddle in affairs that have no use. They look amazing, and pretty, but that's about it.
As I continued to walk, I ended up in a open area. Crystals all around that illuminated such. It was incredibly spacious, as if this had been cleared out specifically.
Any question in my mind can wait. But for a moment, it felt like I was the only person here. That nobody else had found this place, but me.
But with nothing in sight, and clearly no where else to go, this open area was nothing more of a dead end. To my eyes? This did not look like the cause of the tremors. It's just exquisite crystals, nothing more, nothing less.
I turned, ready to head back. It really was nothing, after all. Perhaps Rei's grandmother did lie to me, huh? Which means…
If I'm gone, what could they be doing?
I take a single step, and was almost about to break into a controlled sprint. But something caught me off guard. Something I didn't expect. Something…I would've never noticed at all.
A voice.
"I smell my people, but I don't see them."
The voice echo'd out through the cave, putting me to a complete halt of my movement. Then, I could hear footsteps. Gracefully walking.
I turned around, and there was nothing. No sign of anyone walking, but yet I continued to hear the footsteps.
Turning around again, still, nothing. My left hand instantly went for the holster strap on my left leg, only to realize that there was none. I was wearing just regular pants, and I didn't have my dagger on me.
I bit my lip, this only meant one thing. I would have to use that. That sword.
I outstretched my hand, and before I could, I felt the warmth of another. Another hand, colliding with mine before letting go.
The footsteps were to the left of me, and I didn't move. I couldn't move. I was too shocked to.
My eyes slowly looked to the left, and there, someone walked. Back turned to me.
I blinked once to confirm what I saw.
He was already there.
A figure, stepping forward with an effortless grace, like the ground itself yielded to him. His dark brown hair shimmered under the dim light, strands catching a faint golden sheen as they moved.
But what struck me most was his eyes—glowing, smoldering, like embers trapped behind glass, shifting with an unnatural flicker.
Then, the fire.
Not from a torch. Not from any source I could see. It came from him. Small wisps of flame curled from his dark locks, rising and fading like the dying breath of a candle. The fire didn't consume him, it…it belonged to him.
And yet, his clothing told a different story.
Tattered rags clung to his frame, loose and worn, their fabric dulled from time and dust. Frayed edges swayed with each movement, whispering of a past long abandoned. Bare feet pressed onto stone, untouched by the cold or the jagged stones beneath them.
Despite the state of his clothing, there was no hesitation in his step, no burden in his posture.
He walked as if the world owed him something.
As if the weight of his presence alone should be enough to make it bow.
He wasn't just walking.
He was arriving.