The Sunset Griffin was an adventuring party experienced in hunting expeditions. Specifically, their field of expertise lay in monster extermination. Today, they were out on a particularly formidable request from a renowned mage who needed a set of Catilik Beetle wings for a certain potion.

Catilik Beetles were a difficult enough opponent in a one-on-one fight, but most tended to travel in groups of three or four. The true challenge, however, lay in finding the things. In the forests and plains of the continent, Catilik Beetles were essentially extinct. Only in a few difficult-to-reach places would anyone have a chance of seeing one.

One such place was the Abyss.

Specifically, it is believed that there may exist colonies of Catilik Beetles anywhere from the sixtieth level of the Abyss on downwards. It is only speculated, not confirmed, but two months ago a B-rank adventurer who was returning from an excursion to deeper levels claimed to have seen one of the beetles, so now the Sunset Griffin had come to chase down what may well be a load of faerie dust. The search had proven fruitless thus far.

Nevertheless, the five adventurers trekked onward.

“Jordan, I think we should head back.”

“You’ve been saying that before we even left, Naomi. Why don’t you use that impatient brain of yours to think of a way to find this thing?”

The girl with silver hair who had spoken first, pouted at the man’s response.

“I don’t like holes,” she whined. “Why is it that we accept every request that involves us climbing into pits?”

“There was a vote, and majority wins. Plus, it pays well,” Jordan replied.

Jordan, who led the group, was a strongly built man with a large shield bound to his back and a sword at his waist. Naomi was comparatively a diminutive figure, standing at just over five feet, and held a bow at the ready with her left hand and had a quiver of arrows at her belt. Her only other weapon was a dagger she kept strapped to her boot. Both wore a hard gray leather armor, as did the other three members comprising their team.

“I think that in cases like these, the vote of your tracker should count for at least triple! I don’t know how you expect me to find an elusive bug that might not even exist by having me stare at rocks all day. In the forest I can use tracks in the mud, or scents in the wind, but here- if I want to find something? Sorry, rocks. Slimy rocks. Stupid rocks.”

Another member, a short and bearded man, chuckled, “I dunno, these rocks have a way of growing on you. Maybe if you give ‘em a chance, the stones’d be more willing to help.”

Naomi scoffed. “Maybe it’s fine for you down here, being a half-dwarf and all, but I need my fresh air and sunshine… no, not Sunshine, Tavick, I mean- gah! You know what I mean!” Kicking a rock, she stalked off ahead of the group, fuming quietly.

The man, Tavick, who had begun to pull out a bottle of liquor during Naomi’s rant, put away the drink. It was appropriately labeled as “Sunshine,” a well-known local brew. After she stormed off, he had another chuckle and shook his head. He gave off an air as if nothing would ever perturb his good mood. The party normally relied on this steady nature of his as much as they relied on his skill with the staff.

This time, however, it seemed like Naomi’s mood was too sour to be lightened by his mild teasing.

The fourth member, a thin youth with short blonde hair, groaned. “We’d better go after her before she falls into a pit or aggravates some sleeping dragon…”

Jordan spoke up. “I trust her senses. Out of all of us, she’s the least likely to run into trouble… but you’re right. We should-”

A piercing scream rang out from the corridor ahead.

After sharing a short glance and without needing to consult one another, the group of four immediately began sprinting forward towards the source of the noise. The youth waved his hand and a bright flare shot out in front of him, rocketing into the distance and briefly illuminating the passageway ahead. Far ahead, they could see the silhouette of Naomi’s figure who had fallen on her rear, backing away from a mysterious shadow that loomed menacingly over her.

Now with an increased sense of urgency, the party raised their speed to the maximum. The teenager began muttering an incantation under his breath, while Jordan readied his shield and unsheathed his sword. Tavick held up a staff in front of him with a determined glint in his eye while the final member, a girl wearing a cloak over her leather armor, slipped her hands into her sleeves, causing the sound of clanking metal to be emitted.

They quickly reached her. Jordan took up a position in the front, brandishing his sword at the figure, while the rest of the party took up defensive stations around Naomi. Tavick bent down to check if she was uninjured, then straightened himself and glared fiercely at the foe. But his eyes quickly widened in surprise.

It wasn’t some monster that they were facing, but a young man. His palms were raised in a sign of peace, and his bright blue eyes held no hint of malice. Jordan and the others glanced at one another, unsure of what to do.

“You… what did you do to Naomi?” Jordan tentatively questioned.

He didn’t answer, but tilted his head slightly to the side while still holding his hands up. A ghost of a smile showed itself on his lips as he watched them with an interested expression.

“Stop, guys, he didn’t… he didn’t do anything,” Naomi murmured, slowly getting up off the ground. “He just… surprised me, is all.”

“Surprised you?” Jordan said, traces of incredulity in his tone.

She grimaced. “Yeah. I’ve never had that happen to me before. I didn’t sense him at all, and I just ran straight into him. I must be slipping, to not even notice a guy standing right in front of me.”

She waved everyone’s weapons down while grinning apologetically to the man. Jordan, Tavick and the thin man lowered their arms reluctantly, while the last girl withdrew her hands from whatever weapon she was hiding beneath her cloak.

“You are Naomi?” The man, who had lowered his palms, finally spoke. His voice was low-pitched, but it had a rather melodious tone. He would make for a good storyteller.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry about that. These guys were just trying to look out for me, so don’t take it personally,” Naomi explained.

“No, I apologize for startling you. It was not my intent.”

“Erm, right… anyway, how did you manage to sneak up on me like that? Was it a concealment spell? A special technique? Are you an assassin?”

“Okay you need to calm down, Naomi,” Jordan interrupted before she fired off any more irritating questions. Then, he turned to the amused-looking stranger.

“Pardon me, my name is Jordan. This is our hunter and tracker Naomi, as you already know,” he said, gesturing at the girl. “Can I ask your name?”

The man blinked, and there was a short pause.

“Of course. I am Lokias.”

Naomi piped up. “Lokias? Like the legendary hero?”

“That is correct.”

“You don’t look like much of a hero to m-”

“This,” Jordan said, interrupting with a wave of his hand, is my adventuring group, the Sunset Griffin.” He pointed out the rest. “And he is our cleric Tavick, then Elazar the mage, and Miriam. We’re working on a request right now, some mage wants us to find a Catilik Beetle. You haven’t seen one around, have you?”

Lokias shook his head. “To my regret, I do not know what they look like.”

“I see… that’s fine. In case you do run across one, they’re just a large beetle about three feet long, with a green shell and black underside. They have a horn that can inject a nasty poison, so be on your guard.”

“Thank you for the warning, but what I mean to say is that I do not know what a beetle looks like.”

There was a brief, stunned silence.

Naomi, who was in the back of the group, whispered to Tavick. “Is it just me, or is this guy kinda weird? I mean, he talks like a noble and all, but no noble would be down here in the first place…”

Jordan, unsure if he was getting made fun of or not by Lokias’ response, chose to change the topic of the conversation. “Um, is your group nearby? Maybe they’d have seen one of the beetles. It’s rare to meet another party in this dungeon, so we should take advantage of the situation and help each other out if possible. Of course, we’d be happy to help out with anything you need if we can come to an arrangement.”

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Once again, Lokias shook his head. “I am alone.”

Murmuring broke out between several of the members of the Sunset Griffin. Lokias watched them with an inquisitive gaze. Naomi was the first to break the silence.

“So, you must be like, a B-rank adventurer, right? To be able to travel down here alone?”

He tilted his head. “I am not. However, I would be glad to help you in your quest.”

“Eh? For free?” Naomi probed. “Nobody ever does anything for free, and don’t think for a second we’re going to give you a cut of the reward. So, what do you want in return?”

Lokias, without twitching a muscle, asked, “Perhaps you could show me the way out?”

- - -

The now party of six walked through the winding corridors and large passageways of the dungeon, searching for signs of the Catilik Beetle and staying on the alert for threats. They did not encounter a single monster, however. The entire time, Lokias was smiling and looking around everywhere as if sightseeing.

After several hours of eventless travel Naomi, who had been annoyed to the limit, finally asked, “What does an idiot who got lost in a dungeon have to be so happy about, anyway?”

He turned to her with curious eyes, “I do not know. What does he have to be happy about?”

“That wasn’t a rhetorical question! I’m asking why you have that damn smile on your face all the time!”

“That is because I am happy.”

A vein bulged out on Naomi’s temple as Tavick guffawed and patted her shoulder. “Give it up, Naomi. You aren’t gonna be able to talk with this one. He’s an interesting fellow, this Lokias.”

Soon, they decided to set up camp for the night. After finding a large cavern and securing a vantage point where they could observe the surroundings, the team began unpacking their bags and setting out sleeping rolls. They pulled out hard rations and munched on those while Jordan consulted a map with Naomi. Miriam sat out on a lonely rock and ate while she scanned the area.

Elazar, meanwhile, was staring at a wooden cylinder he held in his hand. Occasionally, he would shake it or tap it with his fingers. Tavick approached the frowning mage.

“What’s the matter, lad?”

Elazar looked up from the object. With knit brows, he explained. “It’s this depth sensor. It isn’t working.”

“How’s that?”

“Well, the mana readings are still being given, but the levels are too low. It’s saying that we’re around level ten, instead of sixty-eight. That old man from the store must have given me a malfunctioning device.”

Lokias had approached the two sometime during the conversation, and he listened in quietly.

Tavick made a noise as if thinking. “Hrmm… it was working fine earlier, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, that’s the thing. Magical devices shouldn’t just stop working unless they’re damaged, and I never even dropped it.”

“Well, ‘long as we don’t leave the areas on the map, we’ll be fine! That thing’s like a compass when you’re on a road… you don’t need it, but it’s fine to have around!” Chortling, the man strolled off to see to Jordan and Naomi.

Lokias spoke up from behind Elazar. “What is that object used for?”

The mage jumped, then upon seeing Lokias, sighed. “Oh, it’s just you. You sure have a knack for sneaking up on people, you know that?”

“So I have come to discover. I apologize.”

“No, no, it’s fine. You wanted to hear about this thing? You know about mana sensors, right?”

He shook his head, making Elazar show a baffled expression.

“Did… did you grow up in a cave? This kind of stuff is common knowledge, you know! Common knowledge! How did you end up here without knowing anything, anyway?”

“I got lost,” he responded brightly.

“Sure, sure, whatever,” Elazar grunted, clearly unconvinced. “Well, if you aren’t from Acoria, though you don’t talk like one, I can understand a country bumpkin not knowing about mana sensors. So this thing,” he said, pointing at the device, “is a specialized mana sensor. A mana sensor basically reads the amount of ambient mana in the surroundings and gives the user a numerical equivalent. This one does that, but it has a special feature that is supposed to tell me what level of the dungeon we’re on. The levels are determined by how much ambient mana there is… the more there is, the higher the level, and the more dangerous it gets. Also, the amount of ambient mana in certain areas slowly changes with time in this dungeon, so this thing can really come in handy. Outdated information can lead to your death!”

Lokias listened attentively the whole time, nodding at key points in the explanation. Elazar, seeming pleased to have such an interested listener, began to lecture at length about all the dangers of being caught unprepared. There seemed to be many.     

- - -

In the Academy of Magic in the city of Acoria, located directly above the Abyss, people could be seen running to and from the headmaster’s office in a state of panic.

Inside the office, a middle aged man with black hair and a ferocious set of eyebrows spoke to a woman with a clipboard. “Have you sent the investigative teams yet?”

“They are on their way… but we still don’t know what they’re looking for. I said to keep their eyes open for anything.”

“Who’s leading the team?”

“Juniver Kolpas, B1-rank adventurer. They should be able to gather data up to the hundred and twentieth level,” she replied.

Sitting at a desk behind the two was an elderly man with long, silvery hair and dark blue robes adorned with silver patterns. A pointed hat sat on the desk beside him. Everything about him gave off the impression of an accomplished wizard.

He spoke, “Lisa, that team won’t be able to uncover much that we don’t already know. What I’m more concerned about is the Mage Guild. How goes the report?”

“They have agreed to send three specialists from Gríem Blanca. They will take a week to arrive, so that’s why I decided to go ahead and conduct an independent investigation of our own.”

“A week, you say...” he mused.

A knocking sound came from the large oak doors at the entrance to the office.

A muffled voice came from outside. “Headmaster! Urgent news from the Consul’s office!”

Lisa opened the doors and a man staggered in, gasping for breath.

“The… wards have gone down, sir. They failed. All around the city. The Consul is asking for aid from the Academy!”

The headmaster, sitting with his pointed hat, frowned. “What sort of aid does he mean? If it’s combatants he wants, there are plenty of adventurers to choose from. I won’t have my students and teachers dragged into defending the city at the risk of their lives. If it’s the wards he wants fixed, he will have to wait, as we have no power sources large enough to fuel them since the mana wellspring vanished.”

The man, still panting, pleaded. “But sir! The families of your students that are living in the city will be at risk, too! Even if you forbid them, the students will still leave to protect their families!”

The headmaster turned to the serious-looking man with black hair.

“Very well, then. Julius, have all the families of our students and teachers enter the Academy grounds for the time being. Our wards are still functional, and it is safe here. Be sure to tell them that. Once everyone is inside, order a third-degree lockdown of the premises.”

“Understood,” he nodded. “Lisa, you stay here with the headmaster. Contact me if anything urgent comes up.”

The clipboard-holding woman inclined her head in assent.

“I’ll return once I accomplish my task.” With large strides, Julius left the office, leaving the three others behind.

“I’ll take my leave too, if you don’t mind. I need to report your decision to the Consul.” Saying that, the messenger left at a brisk pace.

The headmaster rubbed at his temples, sighing.

“What a catastrophe this turned out to be. The entire foundation of this city, vanishing overnight.”

“Maybe it will yet return, sir?” Lisa stated hopefully.

“No. Things such as this don’t just fix themselves; I’ve lived long enough to know at least that much. Whatever the origin of the mana wellspring of the Abyss was, it’s gone now. The thousand-year history of this city may come to an end with this… on my watch, moreover.”