A warm breeze and cheery music filled the air as Cassius walked into the familiar Cask & Keg tavern. As he walked to his cohort he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. Flashes of his previous conversation with Lilith filled his mind.

‘Embrace it? That’s not how any normal human thinks…’ Lilith’s smile felt somewhat self-deprecating, ‘Look Cassius. Humanity in this place… it doesn’t exist. Ethics, morals, connections… it all loses its meaning. The abyss itself tears humanity away, bite after bite. You’ll see Cassius, once you obtain your identity you will realize the terrifying truth.’ Lilith paused for a bit before Cassius questioned her, ‘And what is that terrifying truth?’ Lilith’s eyes seemed to look like a dead fish as her smile disappeared, ‘That the monsters and horrors are the least of your worries.’

‘What does that mean?’ Lilith just patted him on the back and whispered in his ear, ‘Don’t trust Poplis. Only trust yourself and those close to you.’

Cassius was left in shock as she left him alone on the balcony. He would have to abandon his own morality to survive in this world. Not only that, but the bastion of hope he had come to rely on was more sinister than he initially thought. All these doubts and worries stewed within his mind as he walked towards the tavern, feeling more alone than ever before.

Thinking back to the present Cassius greeted his friends at the tavern, trying to ignore his negative emotions.

“Hey guys, long time no see!” Everyone said hello to Cassius as he sat down at the table with them. They each ordered some drinks and gave their creature meat to be cooked. Once everything arrived they feasted and drank to their heart’s content. Cassius did hold back this time however, not wanting a repeat of last time’s events.

Even Wayne who had just been injured seemed happy as a lark as he happily hummed a tune as he sipped his ale. While everyone happily conversed and savored the time, Cassius was somewhat quiet thinking about the future. [I have to become named. Only then can I bring in enough money and power to function independent of Poplis. If I work with Lilith I might be able to uncover more secrets…]

Poplis was not the haven he had initially thought it to be. Cassius intended to get to the bottom of what was happening here. [Thinking back on it, they mentioned some place called Makrinós… maybe they have something to do with that ambush we encountered.]

All of a sudden someone tugged on his shirt. “Come on Cassius, let's dance!” Ellie looked up at Cassius with puppy eyes. Ellie seemed to be more forward with alcohol in her system, she even had a light blush on her face from the ale. Cassius laughed as he shook away all his serious thoughts. The tavern was not the place for such dreary topics. “Sure Ellie, granted I’m not too good on my feet.” They both went to dance, with their group admiring the awkwardness of the two tripping on each other.

[Somehow I dance better drunk…] Thought Cassius as he kept on accidentally stepping on Ellie’s foot. Regardless of the skill of their performance, they had a good time.

It wasn’t long till everyone became drunk and joined in on the fun.

…

“Gah, Ellie stop, you need to go to your room!” Cassius as the only person not completely hammered had to corral everyone to their respective inns. Luckily Blake and Sarina stayed at the same inn, which was nearby the tavern, so he dropped them off first. Wayne had already gone off on his own before the end of the night at the tavern. It seemed he was the kind of drunk that wandered off on his own. The last person he had to drop off was Ellie, but she was practically glued to Cassius.

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“Ellie, please go into your inn. Look I don’t want to have to drag you- OW OW OW! STOPP” She began to pull his hair with all of her strength. “Don’t leave Ellie, don’t you dare!” Cassius screamed as tears filled his eyes, “OKAY OKAY, JUST STOP!”

Finally he felt like his scalp wasn’t going to be ripped off as she let go. “Look Ellie, I can’t go in with you, but if you do… I promise I will go hang out or something, just the both of us.” Ellie seemed to be appeased as she finally loosened her grip on his arm. “Fine, but don’t forget!” Ellie pointed at him as she ran into her inn.

Cassius let out an exasperated sigh, “I guess I’ll have to figure something out…” Cassius walked back to his inn in silence. The cavernous world was engulfed in darkness, and only the sound of his feet planting in the dirt was heard. Poplis was remarkably quiet and still once everyone finally left the taverns and called it a day.

Cassius walked past the center square before he witnessed a grizzly sight on a wooden podium in the center of the town square. Three pikes raised high into the air sat upon the podium, each adorned with heads of humans. Underneath each read a sign with their various sins. One was attempted murder, the other was extortion, and the final one was for treachery. The treacherous head was one he recognized. It was the same archer that had tried to kill him and his group just yesterday. “So you weren’t just a petty thief huh?” The man had colluded against Poplis, whatever it was it deemed his immediate execution.

Cassius felt a little nauseous as he imagined his own head laid out in the public on a pike. Perhaps this was the fate that awaited him if he dug too deep into the secrets of Poplis. The gross sight remained in his head as he finally arrived at his inn. “It’s alright Cassius, we’ll take it one step at a time…”

Soon, he fell asleep.

Three days later…

Cassius looked down the vast cliff. Jagged edges and various small trees line the grand walls of the cliff. Any slight misstep would send him tumbling down to his certain death. A vast distance away a mountain range could be seen. Its peaks almost looked to scratch the ceiling of the cavern that made up the abyss.

“Are you sure going to the Aeolus Mountain Range is a good idea?” Inquired Sarina as they tied ropes letting them descend the cliff. Blake replied matter of factly, “Right now what we need the most is runes. Any nearby places like the Titan Forest or upper tunnels have been scraped clean.”

That morning when meeting up, their expeditionary group decided to go out on their first true expedition. They would spend at least two weeks out in the wilderness, searching for creatures and runes. The last three days they had no luck in the upper tunnels while searching for runes, and even the amount of creatures they were finding had decreased quite a bit. Blake decided that a good spot to go look at would be the nearby mountains, the ‘Aeolus Mountain Range’.

Little to no one went there, and the Expeditionary Group desperately wanted information on it. Things like new unique creatures, plants, and various ruins would sell for a decent amount to the Expeditionary Group. The only reason not many had been to the mountain range was it contained hardly any monsters, making it nearly impossible to attract named to it.

Nameless groups never wanted to visit it either, because the journey itself was dangerous, and not many nameless had the will to camp out in the abyss for weeks on in. In fact, their group was quite an outlier among nameless groups considering how few casualties they sustained over their first few hunts.

They had collected enough money to purchase some cookware, tent materials, and a few other necessities like salves and even a potion or two. With this they decided to venture to the mysterious mountains.

Wayne had a notebook and a quill in his hand, writing different things down. “What do you have there Wayne?” Wayne looked up at Cassius, “Ah, the Expeditionary Group pays more for proper drawings of ruins, creatures, and plants rather than just a written description. I don’t know why, but I seem to be pretty good at drawing.” Wayne showed Cassius his notebook, within it a stunning black and white vista was drawn. It looked to be the view of the mountains from where they were currently standing.

Cassius was genuinely impressed at his skill. “You’ll have to teach me that sometime Wayne. That looks amazing!” Wayne scratched his cheek, “Haha, it’s nothing much…”

Cassius smiled, it seemed Wayne felt bad for the group after he got taken out in the ambush. It was good to see he was happy about the praise.

“Aright guys, get ready to rappel down the cliff! I hope you’re not afraid of heights!” Everyone gulped as they tied their waists to the ropes. The first to start going down was Blake and Sarina, it seemed they had no issue with the scary descent.

Despite being timid both Ellie and Wayne swallowed their fear and also started descending. Cassius made sure to be last, wanting to make sure no one made any mishaps. After climbing down for what felt like hours they finally touched ground.

“God, it feels good to be back on solid ground…” Cassius had grown to despise these insane heights. He disliked the lack of solid footing. The entire group caught their breaths before eventually making their way to the crest of a hill. In front, the grand and distant mountain range met their view.

Turning around Cassius looked at the hundreds of meters high cliff that resembled a looming wave of death ready to crash down at any moment. “Goodbye for now Poplis… I’ll uncover what it is you seem to want to hide soon enough.” In a small whisper that only he could hear, Cassius made a promise to himself. With that done he was ready to set forth to the harrowing Aeolus Mountains.