He conjured a staff out of thin air, a cloak to match, and then just took off sprinting, so I followed.

As we dashed down the mountains and through the treelines of the elusive thin forest covering the base of said mountain, Pearl triggered one of my pet peeve.

The problem? His sprint speed was just below mine. I could outpace him easily with all my speed & attack-focused gears, so I can't sprint because I'll just go in front of him and trip his shoes.

But if I slowed to a jog, I'd fall behind so far and he'll turn away to a blindspot, so what ended up happening was the worst rhythm possible… Sprint, jog, walk, sprint again, jog, walk, sprint… Just like those god-awful escort missions in games where this EXACT thing happen.

But before long, the trees thinned out and the air changed. The dungeon was here.

It wasn't a cave, not some obvious glowing portal either, it was quite low-key, persumably only found for those actually seeks it, via quest or map or word of mouth.

It was hidden, tucked into the crook of two massive stones, moss growing over its narrow slit of an entrance like the forest itself was trying to bury it. If you weren't looking straight at the thing, you'd mistake it for nothing but broken rock. The way the branches arched overhead made it feel like a throat ready to swallow us whole.

I recognized it instantly the moment I was in 100 feet, this was the dungeon I'd bookmarked for later, when Hailie hit level 30, when I myself reached 50 and finally locked in Apprentice Knight. We were supposed to come here together, when the timing was right. But of course, timing never works in this world.

We headed inside, it was a hollow out section of a mineshaft of sorts, I see railroads down on my feet and some half-broken structure beams… The boss would be the one that killed all those miners, if I remembered correctly. The lore of this dungeon weren't that bad, worth a read.

I sprinted right past Pearl the moment we entered.

The trail was easy to follow, torches stabbed into the ground at uneven intervals, their flames guttering like they were choking on the air. The further I sprint, the heavier the silence got, I can already imagine the shits Eirlys will chew me out for when this all go away.

Before I knew it, I was closing in on the party… And how did I know? Because the smell hit my nostrils.

Char, blood, metal, all too familiar...

I braced myself as I traveled further, and my feet was immediately buried into the ground at the sight I wish I hadn't see.

The torches lit up a nightmarish scene: stones scorched black, steel bent and broken, armor and gear scattered like discarded toys.

Gold coins, potions, and weapons lay across the floor with nobody left to claim them as they were, presumably, dead and despawned.

No footsteps, no breathing, just the stench of failure clinging to every corner.

Everyone was gone.

Everyone… except two.

Hailie was pressed against a wall, her small healing staff clutched so tight her knuckles went white. She was trembling, panting, her eyes widened to the point of those cyan pupils turned into dots, she glazed over as if she was only half here.

Across from her loomed Olga, blood streaked down her arm, her greatsword dragging against the stone as she exhaled out breaths heavier than her own body weight. She looked like the embodiment of a dungeon boss.

"That didn't have to happen…"

Hailie's voice was thin, broken, tumbling out of her in fragments.

"Why must you do that… oh no… no, no, no, no, no…"

I didn't even think.

I launched myself forward, shoulder slamming into Olga's gut, dragging her to the ground. My sword came out in the same motion, its edge pressing hard to her neck, my voice cracked raw as I screamed down at her:

"What the hell happened here?!"

She bucked under me, teeth bared, strength matching mine:

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Olga yelled, one hand reaching over to her blade, "I didn't want any of this!"

And with a surge, she threw me off, tossing me across the floor. My sword clattered away, my palms burning from the impact as it dragged through the stones, but I quickly regained myself, staying down for not longer than half a second.

She rose to her feet, her greatsword lifted again, blood still dripping off the edge as if she was a serial slasher.

We stood opposite each other now, blades ready, breathing like animals, staring each other down. Our stats were quite close, it was going to come down to willpower… Or if she could figure out how to get through my cheats.

That was when I heard footstep coming from the side.

Pearl, calm as always, came in between us with incantations of magic already prepared and swirling around his body. His cloak billowing as if none of this chaos could touch him, and his voice cut sharp through the tension:

"Enough, this will not help anyone, you two must stand down."

I clenched my teeth, lowering my sword just enough to be both diplomatic and combative, turning towards Hailie who's behind me.

"Hailie! What happened?"

Her lips trembled, her body still pressed to the wall. The staff in her hands shook like a brittle twig.

And then her words hit harder than anything.

"I… It was, I don't-" She took a deep breath, "I was looking behind us, where we came from, um… They were discussing what to do, very loud, then I heard her…"

She looked at Olga, before continuing.

"She told someone to stop, and then I saw a guy from the party running over trying to hurt me. He was right in my face with a small knife and, and, and… Um- I closed my eyes and cover my ears."

"But when I opened it back, they are dead."

After Hailie done saying her side of the story, Pearl and I exchanged a look.

This was not going to be an easy day.

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