In this strange world fragment, red rocks were prominent no matter where one looked. Mysteriously, these rocks naturally produced a small amount of light. Since they were everywhere, the fragment’s endless tunnels were well-lit. Clouds of steam formed and dissipated in an endless cycle under the dull red glow. Aside from those features, the only thing of note in the tunnels was the sweltering heat.
When Jayce thought about the heat, his frown grew deeper.
He couldn’t tell exactly how hot it was, but it would have been a massive problem if there had been any monsters around. Jayce could only travel for a few hours before Mize needed to store him away—and by that point he’d be ready to collapse. The feathered dragon and centipede were in similar states. The only one who didn’t mind the heat was Mize. This was a major problem for Jayce because it made a certain daily activity of theirs even more uncomfortable than usual.
“Do you want to plan, or do you want to sleep? I think it would be better to get some rest.”
‘The sooner you sleep, the sooner I can be released!’
In a random tunnel within the world fragment, Jayce was sitting against a wall. Pressed against Jayce was Mize, who was still cupping her chin and muttering even while she was using him as a pillow. For once, Mize hadn’t fallen asleep quickly, and it was causing Jayce some anxiety. His master wasn’t bothered by the heat of their bodies or the heat of the rust red stones beneath them, but he certainly was.
“Recently, you’ve been making a lot of unnecessary comments.” Mize grumbled.
“That doesn't mean I'm wrong.”
Mize’s thoughts were generally a mystery to Jayce, but he had learned that she usually had two modes of operation. When she could afford to, she would act as a somewhat shameless, spoiled little girl. When she couldn’t, Mize operated with a cold intelligence that made Jayce doubt her age. Fundamentally, she was a pragmatic person who prioritized her own benefits and entertainment over petty emotions or pride.
Once he realized this, Jayce decided to speak up more often. Any time he could successfully influence her would be a win in his mind. For now, Jayce had no hope of finding an opportunity to be free. While he waited for that hope to appear, he wanted to gain even a tiny bit more control for himself. That control might create an opportunity someday.
That was why, even after Mize berated him, Jayce checked if he’d received a real order. He felt that he could still talk, and so he did.
“Yes, we don’t know what’s happening here and we can’t leave. But things aren’t as bad as they look. Monsters don’t spawn, so we can freely investigate this fragment. The source of these abnormalities is probably where that clanging sound is coming from. We have plenty of time to search for it and there’s nothing to hinder us. That’s why you need to rest and keep a clear head.”
“I’m trying, but that sound is keeping me up. If only there was a way to…” Mize trailed off as she looked up at Jayce.
Confused, Jayce could only stare down at her. He didn’t realize what she wanted until he felt his hands move out of his control. They placed themselves over Mize’s ears. Then, she laid back and closed her eyes. Five minutes later, Jayce heard light snoring.
‘…That was it?’ Jayce grumbled inwardly.
Half an hour later, Jayce was forced to stop mentally cursing Mize and the heat when he heard noise coming from one end of the tunnel. He wanted to alert Mize, but her orders prevented him from speaking or doing anything that might wake her up. The vague noise gradually became clear as Jayce recognized the sound of footsteps. He trained his eyes on a bend in the tunnel and soon, a figure stepped into view.
It was a humanoid dressed in a formal black vest and white dress shirt. There were two black horns on his forehead that curved towards each other at a sharp angle. Peeking out from behind him was a black-scaled tail that was longer than his legs. His facial features were fair, and he had long silky black and gold hair that was even more beautiful than Mize’s. The black salamander’s intimidating golden eyes blinked slowly as he stared at Jayce who was sitting with Mize in his lap while covering her ears.
“Huh. I sensed that someone was nearby, but…”
Jayce felt himself be pulled into Mize’s storage device. However, the sleepiness he normally felt didn’t come. Jayce and the other slaves were wide awake inside their master’s bracelet, ready to be deployed in an instant. The time it took for Jayce to enter the bracelet wasn’t long, but when he regained his senses, he realized Mize had already closed the distance between her and her brother. Two black spears collided as Lors hastily deflected Mize’s charge. He jumped back, opening up a five-meter distance between them. Mize didn’t follow up.
Two pairs of golden eyes stared each other down. After a few tense seconds, Lors was the first to speak.
“Honestly, in a situation like this, I don’t think we should be fighting each other.”
“I agree.”
“Then why did you attack me?”
“Because you woke me up.”
“Sorry~. By the way, how long were you able to sleep, and how long were you awake before that?”
Mize put away her weapon and shook her head. “How long have you been in this world fragment?”
Lors also placed his spear back in storage. He didn’t answer Mize’s question.
The burning temperature in the tunnel seemed to drop slightly as their staring match continued. Mize’s lack of sleep might be a weakness, but Lors wasn’t feeling comfortable either. He knew that if Mize had only entered this world fragment recently, then her slaves were likely at a higher level than his own. There weren’t any monsters here, so latecomers had a large advantage.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Ok, enough posturing.” Mize sighed. “Are there really no monsters in this fragment?”
“Either there aren’t any, or they’re all in the same place.”
“Even if they left, the empty areas would eventually repopulate. Have you seen any tracks or signs of life in the tunnels?”
“No.”
“Then—”
Mize was cut off by a deafening rumbling as the tunnel began to shake. Glaring at Lors, she quickly brought out her spear. Surprise flashed in her eyes when she saw that Lors wasn’t paying much attention to her. His eyes were darting around, seemingly looking for something.
The shaking continued for nearly ten minutes. When it finished, there were two major changes in their tunnel. First, the temperature had risen a notch. Second, long and thin cracks had appeared in the tunnel walls. When Jayce looked at the seams through Mize’s bracelet, he felt a little dizzy. For a moment, the entire tunnel felt like an illusion, like they were standing somewhere that didn’t exist. Lors grimaced.
“Let’s move to a different tunnel.”
He took off in a direction and Mize followed him. It took them a few hours to reach a tunnel that didn’t have any cracks. During that time, neither of them had spoken. Mize guessed that Lors had seen this phenomenon before, but he wouldn’t admit it easily. That would prove that he had spent more time here than her.
The temperature hadn’t returned to normal, but it had stopped rising after the tremors ended. Neither of them released their slaves. Partially because the slaves wouldn’t be able to handle the heat for long and partially because they didn’t want to show their cards to their opponent.
“Mize.” Lors stopped and looked at his younger sister with a solemn expression. “Tell me honestly, what do you think just happened?”
“Hmm. It didn’t feel like a normal seismic event, but the shaking was too uniform to be from an explosion. Those cracks weren’t normal, either. I feel like it must be connected to the other abnormalities in this world fragment, but I don’t know how.”
“I’ll tell you my hypothesis. I think this world fragment is dying.”
“Dying?”
“After wandering around this fragment and your previous one, have you ever felt like this place was smaller than you thought it was? It goes on forever in an endless maze, but the scenery we see is limited. I think these fragments are real places, but the Nexus distorts space and copies each part of the fragment endlessly so that we can never leave that small area. When this world fragment trembles, more of the distorted space becomes unstable and crumbles apart.”
“Then, eventually only the real part of the fragment will be left?”
“Or maybe I’m wrong and there is no ‘real’ part. The cracks will keep spreading until everything falls apart.”
Mize frowned. “Are you trying to scare me? It doesn’t seem like it’s in your best interest to tell me this information.”
“No, I want you to know about this. If I’m right, then the gates out of this fragment are already broken beyond repair and there’s only one way to leave this dungeon.”
‘We can still leave?’ Inside Mize’s bracelet, Jayce was skeptical. Anything Lors told Mize would be for his own benefit, but Mize wasn’t an easy person to trick. Jayce felt Lors knew that, which made Jayce wonder why he was revealing so much to her.
“Our guardians have a special item that can bring us out of the dungeon.” Lors continued. “Of course, using it will count as being assisted by them, which means we’ll be disqualified.”
“Not much point in using it, then.” Mize replied. “For us, it doesn’t even count as a last resort.”
“On our own, that’s true. But there’s two of us here. What if I ordered my guardian to bring you out? I would certainly be disqualified, but would you?”
Mize’s cupped her chin and her tail swished more violently than usual. “So it was like that.”
“Like I said before, I don’t think we should be fighting when our situation is unclear. For now, just keep it in the back of your mind. It might prevent our clan from suffering an untenable loss.”
“Even if we died, there’s still the others.”
“Do you think they aren’t wandering around here as well? Besides, it’s obvious that the clan’s elders are hoping for either you or myself to win. Our other siblings are lacking in both talent and temperament.”
“Mn. In my opinion, all of you are lacking talent.”
“That confidence is a weakness of yours. You probably entered this fragment late because you felt you’d win even if you played a little safe. You don’t know how to grab opportunities.”
At this point, Lors didn’t care about outing himself. Even if his slaves were weaker than Mize’s, she would still be wary of him in this situation.
“You’re too hasty, Lors. Opportunities are something you wait for.”
Jayce listened as the two of them bickered back and forth. The pair continued exploring the tunnels as they talked, but they both kept wanting to have the last word. Neither of them was willing to give any ground. However, no matter how much they argued, the two never brought up any anecdotes or talked about their pasts. It seemed Mize hadn’t lied when she said that she didn’t know her siblings very well.
Time passed quickly in such a monotonous place. Jayce and Mize’s other slaves hadn’t been brought out once, but they weren’t allowed to relax either. Despite her derisive comments, Mize was still very cautious around her older brother. The next ‘earthquake’ happened less than one revolution later. Cracks spread through the tunnels and the siblings spent a few tense hours before they found a stable place to rest.
Jayce was surprised and even a little worried as the hours dragged on. He knew that Mize liked to complain about how tired or sleepy she was. When she was acting spoiled, it was usually the first thing she’d mention. Jayce had no idea how long black salamanders were supposed to sleep, but in the dungeon, Mize got by with only 4-5 hours a night. However, since she started traveling with Lors, Mize hadn’t slept or even sat down for an extended period of time. From Jayce’s angle, she didn’t look very tired, but she likely wouldn’t show weakness in front of Lors.
“Hey Lors, recently you keep walking right next to me. Also, your hands have been twitching a lot. It’s like you want to stab me. Or, rather, you want to tell me that you’re ready to stab me.”
“Have you heard this story, Mize? Once, there were two rival martial artists who decided to have a duel. They met in a public square, but one of them felt it was too cramped. He suggested that they leave the city, and the other man accepted. As they walked, the other man realized that his opponent had entered his attack range. He started to see the possible moves his opponent could make as well as the responses he’d give. The pair kept walking and the other man kept imagining. This went on for miles and the other man’s head started to hurt. He wanted to stop, but he couldn’t leave any openings. In the end, he passed out without attacking once. The first man successfully dragged him all the way to his death.”
While he told his story, Lors spoke dispassionately as if he were talking about the weather. It was only after he finished that he turned to Mize and grinned. To his surprise, Mize stopped walking. She opened her mouth and gave a reply, but her response wasn’t exactly coherent.
“Ahahahaha!” Mize laughed without holding back. She double over and even stumbled a bit.
Lors’ eyes narrowed, and his hands twitched in a dangerous manner. Mize had completely left herself open. Lors knew that he could stab her right then and there. Even if her protective barrier didn’t break, she would be knocked over and placed into a terrible situation. However, now wasn’t the right time. He had told her that story to unnerve her and hasten her collapse. Reading between the lines, that meant he felt she wasn’t tired enough yet.
Mize eventually collected herself and they continued walking side by side. Lors didn’t say anything else and neither did Mize. Though, when he glanced at Mize and saw her complacent expression, Lors couldn’t help but grind his teeth.
He knew he needed to wait. Currently, the situation was unclear, and the power balance wasn’t in his favor. He had to wait for an opportunity. Suddenly, Lors remembered that it was Mize who had advised him to wait for an opportunity. His gait became slightly unbalanced as he fell into doubt. Maybe he had just missed his best opportunity back there?
Mize quietly outpaced him, a slight smile resting on her lips.