Zirrilit had her injury attended to with machine precision while Mark stood over a crate which contained a pair of gauntlets and a sword.

Both had glowing blue markings, along the edge of the sword and along the rim of the gauntlets. They appeared to be made of steel and were simple in design, unnotable other than the blue glow.

He looked up past Zirrilit and her band aid, feeling a slight sinking in his stomach as he peered down the tunnel.

Whereas before it was just an old structure with a pest infestation, now it was a hostile, alien crevice. Something deep beneath the earth where his escape could be blocked off easily. Thick cold stone surrounded him.

There were explosives in this place. Things down here meant to maim and kill people like Mark.

He swallowed, feeling like there was a stone in his throat. He couldn’t leave now, this place had more than treasure. It had weapons. It had an opportunity to learn to fight.

Mark was still sore from where he tased himself on the magical blade but he knew he needed to learn to deal with that as well.

“Ready! Are you ready, Mark?” Zirrilit trudged over.

“Sure!” He steadied himself, and returned to pushing the small slime core in his hand against the wall where it met the ground to search for hidden passageways.

Actual adventuring in an actual sewer was much more stressful than he had imagined.

They turned the corner, but instead of seeing the exact same layout as the tunnel before, he saw a stairway.

The bricks lead in a path downwards, the stream of green sludge dropped off in a putrid waterfall long before the stairs began to protect any wanderers from being splashed.

But more noticeable than anything else, the lights cut off and left most of the tunnel in darkness.

“I- I don’t think I can go down there.” Mark said, his voice was starting to crack.

Zirrilit sensed his nervousness and nudged him. “What’s wrong, it's not that dark is it?”

“I can’t see past the end of the steps.”

“I see, so you do not possess low light vision capabilities?” Core inquired.

Zirrilit glanced down the stairs, “Is he blind or something? Old people start not seeing good, right?”

“No, that’s just too dark for me to see.”

“Wait are you old, I thought you were a young adult-”

Zirrilit was interrupted by a scream, they turned to look down the stairs.

A black shape leapt out from the shadows, sprinting up the stairs. Before Mark could even recognize that he was in danger Zirrilit slammed her arm to the side and mashed the creature into the wall hard enough the concrete cracked.

Mark screamed and fell backwards as blood splattered across his face.

Zirrilit had crushed the thing’s skull, but the majority of its body was still in one piece. She dropped it onto the ground and spread its limbs out to study it.

Dark fur, four limbs, no head to make out but it did have a long ratlike tail.

“Oh, this is one of the large rats from the quest!” Zirrilit exclaimed, she turned to face Mark and lost her smile.

Mark was hyperventilating and there was blood, bits of skull and brains splattered across his visor. He took in a breath, and before he discharged the air he tried to take another gasp of oxygen.

Zirrilit watched him nearly pass out, slumping over as he struggled to breathe.

“Mark, what’s wrong? Did you get poisoned? Is this a trap?” Zirrilit grabbed his leg and almost lifted his body by the limb before Core attempted to pull Zirrilit back.

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The machine failed, but did get Zirrilit’s attention and she dropped his leg.

“The subject is experiencing a loss of emotional control. Please leave the area until safety can be guaranteed.”

Zirrilit paused, “Okay- you have healing powers right? Heal the Mark.”

“The subject is experiencing a loss of emotional control. Please leave the area until safety can be guaranteed.”

“He’s- subject? We can’t leave him, there are those big rat things.” Zirrilit went to pick him up but Core interposed themselves between the two.

“Fuck. Ohmygod. That thing was gonna eat me-” Mark took in a breath. “Oh please tell me I didn’t piss myself- wait that’s just from the ground.”

Zirrilit offhandedly shoved the machine into the green sludge river and bent over to poke at Mark.

“Ohfuck, ohmygod- holy fucking fuck-”

Zirrilit tilted her head, not fully understanding what he was trying to say.

Eventually Mark restrained his breathing and made eye contact with Zirrilit, she understood what he wanted without any words and stepped back, grasping one of his arms and pulling him to his feet.

“I uh-” Mark started scratching at the back of his head, and fidgeting slightly. “I think I need to go back.”

He was flushing beneath the helmet.

Zirrilit nodded. “Don’t be embarrassed. Everyone panics the first time they almost die.”

“Really?”

“Yeah- totally. Don’t worry about it, I won't tell anyone.” She slapped him on the back, lightly. “Let's go back to town and tell everyone someone put traps in here or something.”

He felt water running into his boots, leaking in from his clothing that had gotten soaked on the damp brick floor.

They ignored the secret tunnels and made good pace. They had only cleared out a few segments of their jobs so they could make it back to the entryway in a few minutes.

Mark turned to close the door and sighted Core running after them.

“Why are you covered in green goop?” Mark asked.

“This unit was-”

“I might have accidentally knocked them into the river, sorry.”

Mark shrugged, it didn’t really matter and he was too mentally drained to put more effort into the interaction.

He took a breath in, the forest air filling his lungs. The scent of trees and sap. He could hear the birds again and the sound of the road under his feet no longer echoed to remind him of the earth that entombed him.

They made it back to town quickly and returned to the large building labeled as this town’s “adventurer’s guild.”

The orc bartender polished a glass, as he was told bartenders do.

“Someone put explosives in the sewer and they blew up Zirrilit.” Mark claimed. “You should tell the authorities, also we won’t be able to complete this quest.”

“Oh, that… Sucks.” The orc didn’t know what to say. “Are adventurers not… who you call for these things where you are from?”

Mark sighed. “I don’t fucking know. Do you guys have a shower?”

The orc stared at him for a moment, “In the back, take a left after you see the kitchen.” He gestured over his left shoulder.

“Thanks.” Mark walked around the counter and Zirrilit followed with Core in tow.

The wooden floor quickly turned to something linoleum adjacent, he saw a kitchen with oddly pristine cooking equipment. There were no signs of stains or wear on the equipment and when he entered some form of locker room it seemed unusually well used.

The lockers all were bound by various types of padlocks. Some discarded clothes littered the floor. Puddles of water slowly dripped towards a drain in the center of the room and the smell of laundry permeated the room.

Zirrilit tried to follow him into the room, he saw her opening the door and turned.

“No, you can’t come in here.”

Zirrilit dipped her head slightly “But-”

“No. This is male only. You can wait outside or go back to the bar.” Mark’s voice sounded much rougher than usual.

Zirrilit bowed her head, “If someone starts messing with you just yell, okay? I think maybe the people here aren’t… Nice.”

She lacked the vocabulary to properly explain it; originally, her tribe had been everything and they had lived and died together.

Mark was a subject.

She just thought something wasn’t right.

“Yeah,.” Mark took his helmet off. “I’ll be fast, okay?”

Zirrilit closed the door and Mark began loosening the straps on his suit. Struggling to remove his own gauntlets so he could take off his breastplate and boots.

Then there was the padding underneath, his actual clothing beneath that, and his underwear.

Mark stood bare, his feet touching the moist ground and balanced his clothing and armor on a bench where it wouldn’t get wet.

The room was humid and slightly warmer than the rest of the building. Droplets of water forming on the walls and coating the mirrors in a blank mist.

He stepped into the shower and realized he did not have soap, nor a rag to wipe himself with or even a towel to dry himself after.

Mark sighed and turned on the water, accidentally hitting himself with a cold stream first before changing the setting and allowing the heat to wash over his body. He leaned his head against the wall for a moment with his eyes closed.

After a while he moved on, scraping at some of the dried filth that had attached itself to his body at some point when he had fallen over in a sewer. Using his fingers and nails to pull the contaminants away.

And then the lights went out.

Suddenly blinded, Mark paused. The water slowed until it stopped. He could not see his hands in front of his face and felt another moment of panic before he calmed his breathing.

“Zirrilit?” Mark tried.

After a few seconds the lights came back on and the water continued as if it had never been halted.

Mark paused, “Thanks?”

He stepped out of the shower and turned his head.

His clothes were missing, as was the armor that had gone over them.

In their place was a long cloth, he lifted it and found that it was some form of robe that had been colored a dark gray.

“Zirrilit? Hey, someone stole my armor.”

There was no response. He opened the door slightly and peered into the hallway.

It was empty. No Zirrilit. No Core.

He shuttered slightly and told himself it was probably nothing. She was just in the bar or something.

In fact, after showering if he put the same disgusting clothes on it would make his shower irrelevant and undo what he had done.

Yes that was it. This was a helpful service. This was a good thing. This was not something malicious.

He slipped the robe on, feeling the rough fabric on his bare skin and went back to the main section of the guild building.

But for whatever reason the place was abandoned.

"Hello?" Mark called out.

No one answered.