“What the hell are you doing bringing a kid inside a tavern?! Are you—”

We’re currently standing outside the tavern, in the back. There’s an occasional drunkard dancing and singing to himself. Navi leans against the wall, her left hand bracing her weight. The girl, presumably scared of such a scary-looking woman, stands behind me.

“There’s no time! I told you about the cave! Her friends got abducted!” I yell, swinging my hand to accentuate my point.

The confusion and surprise on Navi’s face harden into something serious. I can feel the change in her demeanor as if it were a physical shift—a switch being flipped.

“Where?” she asks.

Is she not going to apologize for doubting me?

No, no, Kaito, that isn’t appropriate right now!

The girl points toward a nearby tree line. The trees, veiled by darkness, feel more intimidating than ever. I gulp. It’s as if they grow taller and taller the longer I stare.

My hands are shaking.

I glance at Navi, her expression focused and unreadable. As much as I’d hate to admit it, seeing her face calms me down. With her by my side, I’m sure we can overcome a few measly goblins. After all, from what I’ve seen, Navi is strong.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Lead the way."

The darkness of the forest is palpable, so much so that even the girl—despite clearly knowing the area well—has had moments where she lost her bearings, only to miraculously find her way again. The only source of light emits from Navi’s hand. Some spell. I’m calling it spell, because that’s the only way I can understand what the hell she’s doing.


Branches and what feel like bugs smack into my face, but I push through, doing my best to keep up with the other two and not get lost. Our footsteps pound against the forest floor, urgency buzzing in my chest. I can barely move my arms thanks to all the damn foliage, but I manage.

“We need to think of a plan. We can’t just.. Rush in there.” I see through huffs.

“There’s probably around a good amount of goblins, so we can't be separated no matter-”

“There's no time for a plan!” Navi replies.

“-Tch.”

Finally, after a few minutes of running, we finally reach a clearing. A feeling of fear creeps down my spine, grabbing me by the throat. Sweat trails down my face and back, coating me in the foul substance. The smell of salt enters my tongue’s taste buds.

My stomach feels like a pit.

I’m scared.

No, that was just a vision. It wasn’t real.

I didn’t really die.

I clench my fist.

“There.” The girl says, pointing at the terrible cave entrance. It’s like a dreadful maw, its jaws gaping open for any unfortunate souls to enter, an entrance to death itself.

“Stay outside and head back as fast as you can. Tell any other adults if you can.” Navi says.

She walks over to a nearby tree branch and lights it, handing it to the girl.

“Mm! I’m a fast runner!” The girl nods.

With that, she turns and heads down the path we came from. She seems quite confident. Why wasn’t she that confident when I told her the same? Is it because I’m the scary-looking guy?

Me and Navi face the cave. The air between us is tense, like we’re both holding our breath.

“Wait, what about the others?”

“Pyraethon-12: Bekon.”

She quickly bites into her hand, igniting it and sending what seems to be a flare into the sky. It explodes in a brilliant flash of light, illuminating the dark canopy above like a sudden burst of lightning.

“This’ll let them know about our whereabouts.”

“Well, let’s head in.” I mutter, stepping inside.

Normally, I’m sure she’d object, but because of the urgency of the situation, she has no other choice but to bring me along. That fact’s clear to me simply because she presses into the cave.

“Fine.” She says, her finger still glowing with flames.

“Pyraethon- 2: Expand.” She utters, the flames growing stronger.

Compared to the flimsy torch I had, this is like a beacon. It lights up the entire portion of the cave we’re in. Now that I get a better look however…

This entryway is incredibly tight — so tight I can hardly believe I managed to squeeze through. Even a small child would struggle to make their way in here.

It reminds me a lot of what cave divers go through, though not on the same level. Honestly, the people I both respect the most—and think are the dumbest—have to be cave divers. The caves can barely fit a skull, yet cave divers just rub their hands together and dive right in.

I can’t imagine dying in such a tight place…

Well, I guess I can. Although it wasn’t really death.

Crouching down, I let Navi take the lead since she’s got the light, and also because she’s a bit shorter than me. It’s such a tight squeeze that I have to crouch even lower just to fit.

Trying to steady myself, I reach out to brace against the wall but end up catching my hand on something I’d rather not mention.

“T-the hell are you doing?!”

“I-It’s not my fault! It’s tight here!”

“Yeah, yeah, just watch where you put those grimy hands. I want to stay pure.”

I snicker.

“Since when are dogs-”

"Guhah—?!"

A kick to the shoulder. That was the response I received.

After several minutes of squeezing through the narrow passage, the ceiling finally widens enough for me to stand upright. It’s been about ten minutes since we entered the cave, and so far, nothing has happened.

Navi stands about five meters ahead, her eyes locked onto something unseen. Her expression is sharp, focused, as if she’s spotted something important.

“What is it?” I ask, straightening my back from the immense crouching from earlier.

The general area around us is pretty vast, with nothing but our voices echoing and water dripping somewhere in the dark. Sometimes a faint gust of wind brushes through, but other than that, it’s dead silent. It’s surprisingly cold here, honestly.

I can’t see the cave roof at all, so I’m guessing it must be really high up. Tall stalagmites jut from the floor like sharp teeth, and thick, pillar-like formations rise around us, almost like some strange organic architecture holding the whole cave together.

“Over there.” She whispers.

I follow her gaze to the spot she’s pointing at.

A small creature, no bigger than a child.

It’s a goblin, and it looks like it’s eating something. Well, that would explain the strange chomping sounds, wouldn’t it?

Navi holds up her hand to stop me from rushing in and slowly moves closer to the goblin.

As we near it, the chomping starts to shift... is that sobbing?

It sounds like the creature is crying.

Then, with a swift motion, Navi unsheathes her black sabre and raises it above the goblin’s head, her yellow eyes glowing with a malicious gleam.

“P-Please.. End my life.”

“—?!”

“—?!”

The goblin…

It’s talking.

Navi, obviously due to shock, lowers her weapon, surprised that such a creature possessed the ability to communicate with us. Both of us stare at it in shock for a minute or so, dumbfounded.

“Y-You can talk?!” I sputter.

The goblin, looking utterly dejected, nods, almost dragging its head up and down like some kind of ragdoll on a string. Now that I get a better look, his appearance is almost cleaner than the other goblins I observed earlier. He still has no eyes, but doesn’t look as monstrous as the other monsters, if that makes any sense.

“Yes, but it does not matter. Please end my life.”

“Woah, woah, slow it down. Why can you talk?” Navi asks, still holding her weapon, unsure whether this depressed monster would lunge at her or not.

“I have possessed this gift since I was born. Although it is more of a curse than a gift.”

It looks at its hands.

“I can speak, yet I cannot communicate.”

Yeesh, that’s deep.

Sensing the opportunity to ask a question regarding the missing children, I propel the goblin. If he can speak, he can most definitely relay critical information.

“Where are the people you kidnapped?” I grill.

The goblin dejectedly responds, “They are located on the eighth layer, held captive by the dreadful Orc.”

When the Goblin utters the word ‘orc’, I can truly feel malice in his tone, a faint hiss, like some kind of serpent. Also, EIGHTH LAYER?!

“Eighth layer?” Navi asks.

“Yes, this cave is located above a large Umbral Valley.”

“Umbral valley?” I ask, leaning in.

Navi explains, “It’s like its own ecosystem. Huge holes in the ground—sometimes endless abysses—with layers and biomes all their own.”

“Haah…” I scratch the back of my neck. “This is a bit grander than I expected.”

Navi turns to the goblin. “Why aren’t you with the rest of your friends?”

The goblin drops to the ground, looking even more defeated than before. How he manages to look sadder after all that is beyond me. The bone he was chewing is back in his mouth, moving slowly with his heavy, depressed chewing.

Stop it, I’m starting to feel sad now.

“I didn’t agree with their methods, so they exiled me from my layer.”

Wow, guess goblins aren’t totally mindless. They clearly have the capacity to think for themselves. Well, I guess that’s already to be expected, given that there's a talking goblin right now.

“It was all because of that orc,” the goblin says, clenching his fist. “He ruined everything and stole our way of life.”

“Thenn!”

The goblin suddenly sits up, making Navi and me tense.

“Those fools chose to follow him! They didn’t resist! Their minds must be under his control!”

“You keep talking about some orc — what’s the deal with that?” Navi asks.

The goblin stops his rant and sinks back down, sighing heavily like he’s reliving a nightmare.

“My name is... Ah, it’s hard to say in Latese… Kyros. And I’ll tell you what happened — the events that led to my painful exile from my home.”

Woah, sounds like the start of a questline.