Most people wouldn’t ever consider a goat leading them to their destiny.

Yet, here I was, following a fellow cloven-hoofed creature to future world quests, valuable secrets, and honor forevermore to my name. I wasn’t the superstitious type to believe in charms, trinkets, and whatnot, though I did know that fate revolved around me. But at that moment, I decided that goats would be my lucky charm. I’d even make a goat farm with the name, Lucky Horny Farm.

The name needed some work, but now wasn’t the time. My brain was quite busy; my self-proclaimed musical friend brought many questions as well as theorycrafting inspirations.

After the excitement of escaping RailGunLord, it dawned on me that [Lvl 81 Musical Goat|High Minstrel: Inuus] could play music while moving. Mr. Inuus—I was respectful of such a powerful being—maintained the forcefield protecting me from RailGunLord as he turned around and left. Sure, it could’ve been just a lingering thing, like the barrier of [Carhoni’s Chorus] staying even after I’d stop playing. However, Mr. Inuus then collapsed the tunnel entrance by switching to a drum song as he walked away.

If I could learn this skill from him, it’d solve one issue of song spells—getting locked in place while playing music. If a High Minstrel could also taunt while performing, there’d be no hindrance to my Musical Aurastacker Plaguetank build. Okay, it’s getting to be a mouthful.

The name for my build could also wait. The main quest was the priority.

“Excuse me, sir,” I called out. “Did you come from a different area? You mentioned this is a ‘new place’, so, I’m assuming you’re not from around here.”

I struggled to keep up as the tunnel grew narrower and narrower, winding deeper into the earth. Mr. Inuus dismissed his floating instruments so they wouldn’t bang against the low ceiling. This’d be a huge issue if the way got too small ahead. I was resolved to continue even if I had to squiggle on the ground like a worm; this was a chance I couldn’t let pass.

(I came from elsewhere, musical friend,) came the reply. (Where is elsewhere from here? I do not know.)

“This isn’t the path you took to get to this part of the mountain?”

(Another path not near here. I cannot return through it, closed now by the Mountain Guardian’s breath.)

If we had Bawu’s cure-all potion, we could weather the piercing Freeze of the Mountain Guardian. We were, unfortunately, far away from making it, much less completing its recipe. What was important was that I now knew something was there, on the other side. We might not even need the potion, with Mr. Inuus as proof.

“How did you get here?” I asked. “Were you gathering materials to make instruments and accidentally came across the new path?” This was my theory when I saw Mr. Inuus’ tracks earlier. The Kurghal Village goat tasked me with doing the same; materials might be infused with the Mountain Guardian’s stirring energy during this time, helping with music magic.

(That, I was. Suitable pieces I was trying to find. Something else I did find—a new path elsewhere I haven’t been to before.)

“And you checked out this new tunnel or crack or something, and now couldn’t go back?”

(That is so.)

“But you do have an idea how to return to your place? Sorry if I’m asking too many questions. I’m hoping to join you and meet other Mardukryons and musical goats.”

Mr. Inuus stopped. I wasn’t sure if he was thinking or waiting for me to catch up.

I kept crawling. Crawling. I moved on ‘all sixes,’ if that was the right term, shuffling forward on my knees and hands, my upper half bent down to the ground. I unequipped my armor to make it easier. A Mardukryon doctor would surely say this was bad for my spine.

(To return, I do not know how …)

“Wha-what? Where are we going then? You told me to follow you.”

(A path I was exploring in hopes of finding the way home. I saved you from the unfriendly Mardukryon because you’re a musical friend. Now, an exit I seek for you. After which, my search I will resume.)

“How considerate of you. Also, disappointing. I thought I’d return to Kurghal Village a hero for finding the other Mardukryons before lunchtime.”

(I apologize, musical friend.)

“Oh, I didn’t mean to say that out loud, Mr. Inuus, sir, your great horniness.”

I thought I got the hang of filtering my thoughts while wearing the AU-VR helm since my thoughts and words were technically one in the game. The whiplash of excitement and disappointment made me lower my guard on words.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Anyway, you don’t need to find an exit for me. Let’s get you to your home first, and I’ll go with you. I want to repay you for saving me.” And I want to find the other Mardukryon tribes, I mentally added. Plus, there was no risk of me getting trapped anywhere. I’d just off myself to return to the village.

(I accept your aid. Onwards to the unknown we go, until it is known.) Mr. Inuus resumed walking and I continued distorting my skeleton.

“Where did you come from, Mr. Inuus?” I asked. “Is it near the city of Mezhu Nue? I hope I’m pronouncing that right.”

The great Mardukryon city of Mezhu Nue was the nearest former Mardukryon settlement to Kurghal Village. It was beyond, Rabisus’s Peak, the almost unscalable cliffs that were like walls keeping us away from our goals. All stories said the city was destroyed during the Great Quake, yet it wouldn’t be surprising if there were some survivors. Mardukryons were quite tough.

(A hundred years passed, and my herd near Mezhu Nue stayed. Children of the Mountain Guardian drove us away. Quite far from here, I came, to gather pieces of an instrument. The breath of the Mountain Guardian flows strong here.)

“I see… You also said ‘many Mardukryon friends’ or something. Does it mean your herd lived close to Mardukryons? Unless you meant friends from before the Great Quake.”

(Great Quake?)

“Right, you have a different name for it. That’s what we Kurghal Villagers call the massive earthquakes two hundred years ago caused by the Mountain Guardian. Many in our village think that we’re the last Mardukryon settlement and all other villages and cities, including Mezhu Nue, were wiped out.”

Mr. Inuus slowed his pace, moving his head left and right as if trying to make sense of my story. I kept quiet, focused on squiggling about. After a bottleneck that I thought would trap me—Mr. Inuus had to duck his horned head to pass—the way slowly widened. Thank the ancestors I could walk on all fours again, not sixes, though still bending.

(The Immense Heave we call your Great Quake.)

“Our name sounds better.”

(Though there were numerous deaths during the Immense Heave, a great many Mardukryons survived. You and your fellow villagers have vast reason to rejoice!)

“Hurray!” I jokingly celebrated. Then I mumbled under my breath, “I figured as much before we met.” It’d be bad game design for a major quest to end up with nothing and disappoint the players unless there was a massive twist to the story.

(Several cities of your people continue to stand to this day, weathering the Immense Heave two centuries ago. That includes Mezhu Nue.)

“Hurray again! Wait, what? Mezhu Nue is still around? And there are other cities too?”

Reaching a tunnel that could comfortably fit me standing, the High Minstrel goat turned around. Was it exposition time? (Mezhue Nue was destroyed… only part of it. Mighty buildings of the city held firm and withstood the immense heaves of the Mountain Guardian.)

“Hey, you wove in your name for the Great Quake, like someone saying the title of the movie in the movie. And I repeat: wait, what? That wasn’t what they told…”

Who told me? The answer was people who didn’t know what was out there.

Chief Nogras, Healer Gula, Mehubanarath, and older Mardukryons may have been around during the Great Quake, but they didn’t have first-hand knowledge of what actually happened to other parts of the mountain. All of them were isolated in this area. And so, they simply assumed.

Healer Gula told me that the family of her husband, Elder Pabilsag, all died when Mezhu Nue was destroyed, having failed to finish their forcefield project before disaster struck. But that was just a guess, a reasonable one based on the fact no one had seen anyone from Mezhu Nue for a couple hundred years.

Still a guess. A wrong one, it turned out.

Mr. Inuus was nonchalant meeting a Mardukryon in a place he’d never been to before, or at least after the Great Quake because he thought I was from the many Mardukryon settlements on this mountain. He didn’t know we were cut off from everyone else since the Great Quake.

Stepping back, it wasn’t logical to assume only our village survived. If our village was around, then so should others. Even the cities. There’s really a twist.

The implications were huge. There must be thousands of Mardukryons on this mountain, progressing civilization, while we were—

The ding of a message came.

[Kezodilla: Herald, how are you? Is RailGunLord there?]

Oops, I forgot to message my party. I replied that the asshole Pathfinder chased me, but I managed to evade him. He might go to their spot and kill steal the Fengharls.

[Herald Stone: Finish quick before he comes.]

[Kezodilla: What about you? You’ll miss Hunting Tokens.]

[Herald Stone: Don’t worry. Found a quest. I’ll tell you later.]

I looked at Mr. Inuus, my musical friend. I should trust my real friends.

[Herald Stone: Possible world quest.]

“Wow, it’s a nice change not being a secretive solo ass sometimes,” I said. “Sorry for the interruption, Mr. Inuus. Let’s continue. So, Mezhu Nue survived. You mentioned something about the children of the Mountain Guardian?”

(Out of the ground they came and drove us away, both Mardukryon and goat, from Mezhu Nue.) Mr. Inuus slowly shook his head, swaying his long fur and glittering beads. (Abandoned the city, we did. No choice. A hundred years since I set my foot—)

“Hoof,” I interjected. “Hoof on a foot.”

(—on the marvelous streets of Mezhu Nue. The battle to reclaim the great city continues to rage to this day. Mardukryons from other cities come to aid but to no avail.)

“They’re waiting for me, Herald Stone, to be the hero,” I said with a smirk. “Why do they continue to fight for Mezhu Nue? Isn’t it a waste of life?”

(Many important things in the city. Foremost of all, a possible escape your people have been trying to unlock for hundreds of years, still yet to be solved.)

“Possible escape… a Gate!”