The errant wind washed through the opening of the grotto. The trees danced as if celebrating the arrival of the two adventurers. The stale air and the lack of sunlight underground had begun to seep into Gin’s body to the point where he felt cold inside, and he never realized it. The warmth of the sun felt like coming up for air. One step at a time, Gin found himself stopped by Lara.

“We have to rest.”

Gin looked into the forest and frowned.

“It’s almost sunset, and in guessing the Qillary?”

“It’s always almost always sunset when we arrive. I can’t talk about the monsters.”

Unlike goblins on floor one, Gin learned that the monsters on the second floor, called Quillary, are more challenging, well-built, and stubborn to fearlessness.

Lara explained that on the second floor, there is a tribe of Qillary, dissimilar to floor one, where adventurers must choose a weapon to kill at least twenty goblins, two hobgoblins, and a shaman to get to the next floor.

Something started killing the local wildlife population, and a family lives on a small village farm outside the forest that posted a quest for adventurers to protect the farm animals. She couldn't say more than that. Only when it was all over.

The problem is that no one can talk about how to get to the next floor. Lara did not tell Gin, no matter how many times he asked—citing that each floor is a test and lesson. She mentioned that rewards are weapons from the new village elder and stone, a color of his affinity. The weapons are typically suited for the Adventurer or Climber fighting style.

Climbers and Adventurers were dissimilar. Climbers were closer to Olympians, always trying to get to the next floor. Adventurers tended to take whatever they could find in the Tower. For an adventurer, it was all a means to an end. There was a Climber’s guild, but it was invitation only, which screamed upper tower family business, and Gin decided that he would stick with becoming an adventurer who climbed towers.

Gin removed his blindfold and opened his eyes for the first time in weeks. His eyes took a minute to adjust to the bright lights, and he sighed after realizing that his eyesight hadn’t changed. Except Lara stared at him as if he had something on his face.

“Are you alright?”

Gin stared back in confusion, her mouth opened, and then she paused and spoke.

“Walker, your eyes.”

She swallowed. Gin touched his face to check if his eyes were still there.

“What about my eyes? Are they bleeding? What?”

“Your irises are red.”

Gin was over, surprised. He accepted the change of his eye color at that moment as long as he could still see. If he was going to keep climbing the Tower, there were things that he would see that might change everything he knew, and it was better to be mentally prepared. Constantly changing and growing was a part of being an adventurer. However, he was determined to stay true to his beliefs. He relaxed suddenly, feeling some weight lift off his shoulders.

“Oh, yeah. I should have told you we match.”

Lara pushed her red hair behind her ears and looked away, blushing slightly.

“I thought you were.”

She paused nervously.

“You know, blind.”

“I never mentioned that I was blind. I said that I have a way of navigating in the Darkness.”

“Why would you do something like that to your sight?”

“I had to get used to my new ability. It can get disorienting if your eyes are fine, but things can get confusing if you hear a pin drop not too far away. It was hard to focus on one thing at a time.”

Her tone was calm, but Gin recognized the severe connotation of her voice.

“Are you a vampire?”

Gin looked at his blood-red hands and saw himself from her point of view.

“I don’t drink blood if that’s what you’re asking, and the sun feels fine.”

Lara stared at him for a long time and then came to a decision.

“Ok. Maybe that was a stupid question, given that we were both standing in sunlight, but what are you?”

Gin tried not to stare at his hands.

“A lot has happened recently. So I don’t know. Enough about me. What about you? Are you going to the lower floor?”

Lara silently gazed into the forest. Gin watched her try to find an answer, then sat there, lost in thought. Gin’s [Awareness] reached into the forest, and everything felt saturated with Mana. The roots of the trees connected like wire circuits that transferred power to everything it touched. He wanted to reach out and pull on the energy, but he knew he would damage the ecosystem. He inhaled, and the air filled his lungs, along with some subtle warmth. His body drank it in.

He inhaled deeper, and the warmth filled his chest. Gin held it in and looked at his hand and the memory of his arms burning. The feeling of white pain. Gin opened his eyes, and his hand turned a glowing red like burning coal. The instinct to scream filled him, but he didn’t feel any pain. The brightness dimmed, and Lara who stood at the Cave’s edge staring into the forest. It seemed that she had come to a decision.

“Are you ready?”

They stepped out of the cave opening, and reality shifted slightly. Ada usually stayed hidden from Lara, but the tall grass and the endless vines confused the Stone skipper.

Lara turned, and a large axe appeared in her hand. The weapon came down. Gin reacted even faster by snatching Ada out of Lara’s range as she stared at him.

“What are you doing?”

Gin glared back.

“What are you doing?”

“That thing has been following us for at least two days, and I almost got it. Wha, why did you save it?”

Gin placed Ada down, but, from Lara’s point of view, it was the most horrific creature she had ever seen on the forest floor, and Gin petted it on the head. Lara’s stomach turned.

“Ada, I’d like you to meet the murder machine, Lara. Lara, I’d like you to meet gentle Ada. Play nice.”

“But it’s, it’s, it’s a thing!”

“She’s my Scout.”

“I can’t believe you named it.”

Ada clacked her pincers and reversed behind Gin.

“If it weren’t for her, I’d be dead by now.”

Lara’s face distorted slightly.

“That thing had been following us this whole time?”

Gin stared back, nonplussed. Lara glared until she realized Gin had nothing wrong with her staring at it.

“That thing.”

she slowly began to calm down. The creature stayed right behind Gin and seemed to be watching Lara. She looked down and realized she was in her battle stance, but Gin was as relaxed as a performer waiting for the opening steps of a performance. She did not feel danger, but eyes she felt like he had extra hands, or was it wingspan? She stood up straight and placed her weapon back in her spatial ring.

“Whatever, just, just keep it away from me.”

“She’s harmless as long As you don’t try to hurt me or something like that. You’ll be fine.”

Lara huffed and walked away.

“Hey, where do you get those rings?”

“None of your business.”

She stomps away to keep her distance.

Gin knew that most women hated insects. Why wouldn’t they hate insects in the world of Gol too? It could be evolution. Gin persuaded Ada to stay hidden until they reached the surface through the bribery of Rat meeting during his night watch. Gin would kill at least one or two Rats brave enough to linger by their camping area. It also helped his tracking skills and hiding his [Awareness]. Animals with latent psychic capabilities tend to notice his [Awareness], so he came up with what he would call the hunting tide. It was slow, but Gin learned to retract his [Awareness] for five minutes every thirty minutes. Like stretching a muscle, it became more controllable, and he could hold it longer over a few days.

Animals who were sensitive to his [Awareness] would slowly get within his range, and after five minutes, they would find themselves engulfed in his ability. Then Gin would hunt them down while Ada watched over Lara. Not that he would ever tell her. Gin scratched the back of his head and apologized in the back of his mind. She was safe. Ada was a lot more dangerous than she let on but she always did what he asked.

Gin’s mind returned to the present when they stepped out of the forest to a field of golden grass that extended as far into the distance.

“Where is the farm?”

Lara looked back and forth.

“We have to find the road first. Then it will be just over that hill.”

“What? Can’t we walk toward that hill?”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Lara turned.

“There it is. I don’t know. Let’s do this right.”

The road was the size of three cars or, in this world’s case, wagons. Before they crested, Gin senses the people milling about on the farm. Over the hill were farmers who worked in the fields. Giant birds resembling an Ostrich pulled a plow, and some ran free behind a massive fence.

Gin paused as he sensed one of the villagers. That person was in a Mill on the other side of the field. He almost turned in the Mill’s direction as if someone noticed his attention. She ran out of his range into the field beyond. With no intention to harm, he retracted his [Awareness] to six feet around himself to not scare off the next person who felt his ability.

Lara began to wave to some villagers, and the Children waved back, smiling, but more than a few looked bewildered, even afraid. A young boy hurriedly jogged from one of the most significant buildings on the farm and walked up to them.

“Are you guys adventurers? Are any of you healers?”

Gin looked at Lara, and she shook her head.

“We’re just adventurers.”

The Boy frowned in disappointment.

“Take us to the Village head.”

The Boy seemed to take them both in once more, turned, and spoke unpromptedly.

“Father, went to the field two days ago to check the fence because some of our Fewgels have gone missing. The fences seem fine, but since then, Father has been sick.”

Gin began to wander.

“Has anyone else gotten sick?”

“No, but the Gel’s calves have been more skittish than usual, and another one went miss this morning.”

“When did the Gels start going missing?”

The Little Boy paused in thought and started scratching his head.

“Hmm. These two days ago, then there was the thing.”

He raised a hand.

“Today will make six days since it started.”

The Boy knocked on the door and walked into the kitchen. It seemed like they entered through the back door, and Gin noticed how much different the kitchen resembled a tall wooden Yurt. On further examination, it was more than a kitchen. In the center was a stove atop a stone oven, and a chimney led to the ceiling. There were circular steps around the chimney. Where several villagers sat and ate.

It seemed like the perfect place for winter storms and family time, sufficient heat for everyone in the room. Gin thought about it and realized the steps were large enough for more than one person to sleep on.

The Boy opened the door to a room where the sun bathed the room with light. Laying there was a man younger than Gin had expected. The village head seemed to be no other than his early forties.

“Father, these adventurers came to help.”

Gin nodded deeply.

“My name is G. Walker.”

He paused and looked over at Lara, who was also nodding.

“This is my partner Lara.”

The man nodded and sat in bed, which started a Cascade of coughing. He waved to the Boy. The kid disappeared into the kitchen and brought back water. The village head sipped the water and sighed in relief. His voice came out in a dry, tired, cheerful tone.

“The name is Calak, and that’s my son Ryn. We don’t always get polite Adventurers around here, especially a beautiful one.”

Gin couldn’t see Lara’s face, but he could tell she was smiling from behind.

“I see you read my quest from the local guild.”

Gin raised his hand to stop the man, but a yellow paper appeared in his hand. Gin frowned and looked around. Lara mumbled.

“Just go with it. I forgot to tell you about that.”

Gin read the paper. The paper had a logo of black wings and said the Ash Crow’s Guild D ranked quest. It was a letter to the guild requesting help with missing animals, and payment was an old family heirloom.

“It started that day when that lady came through town with her large mushroom hat and imperious attitude. That evening, we got the Gels back into their enclosures, and all of them were accounted for until the next.”

“So you count them every night before bed and in the morning to ensure you catch a potential problem early?”

Calak nodded

“The thing is, Fewgels are predators. If they are out too long, they can kill all the foxes and horned rabbits in the area. They’re territorial. They’ll see it as their job to hunt and kill everything that could threaten their babies. Even some of the crops in weeks. We must keep them fed; sometimes, a dumb animal would wander into their enclosure. They never make it out. The monster tamer class keeps them from getting out of hand. The problem is that they don’t have a lot of predators in this area, but something like that here is a bit too strange. Shargar, Lily, and lace. I want you to bring proof that you found them dead or alive and whatever that has been doing this.”

“If Fewgels are so problematic. Why don’t you trade them in for horses?”

Calak coughed, and Lara turned.

“What is a horse?”

Calak laughed and laughed.

“Horses are a bit too expensive for me. Maybe a few hundred years ago, I could catch one in the wild, but now only rich Nobles have them. Hahaha.”

Lara grabbed Gin by the arm.

“We’re going to take a look around? I think you guys should close up Early.”

Gin stopped her.

“Wait, How did you get hurt?”

Calak held his forehead, and Gin noticed a gray pin on his neck.

“I. I don’t remember. Whenever I try to think about it, I get a headache.”

“What is that?”

Gin walked over and plucked the pin out of Calake’s neck. It was the size of a needle but grey. The man seemed to get better visibly. Calak’s shoulders relaxed, and his eyes seemed to brighten.

“It was hairy, grey and big. It jumped over the gate and. And snatched one of the Gels, but it did something and woke up here.”

Calak looked up and then studied the room.

“How, how long have I been here?”

“Pah.”

Ryn Hugged his father, and Calak hugged him back.

“Where is your mother?”

“She’s keeping an eye on the Fewgels.”

Lara looks up into Gin’s eyes.

“No one has ever caught the pin. At least, no one I know. In all the time we’ve been guarding Caravans, most adventurers figure it out after a day running around. Trying to catch the Qillary.”

“Are you ready to help?”

“No, just surprised.”

Gin stared at the pin, and now that it was in the sphere of his [Awareness], he saw it. It was a string of Mana. He fully expanded his [Awareness], and the girl was right outside the door, and the string led in her direction. When she felt his [Awareness], she ran out of the door, but Gin had already caught her. The girl wore what Gin would call a mage’s robe with farming boots and a stick that could have been a wand, but he felt no Mana come from it. Gin lifted the pin, which seemed to belong to her.

“Is this yours by chance?”

The girl stared at the pin and then at Gin.

“Lying would only get you into more trouble. It’s like digging a hole. Once you start, there’s only one way to go.”

“I.”

She had sad grey eyes, a round face, and oily-tanned skin, which gave her permanent puppy dog eyes. However, she was confused when it didn’t work on Gin while he dragged her back into the room.

“Can someone tell me who this is?”

Ryn raised his head.

“Ecil?”

Gin sighed in relief.

“Ok, what class does she have?”

Calak forced on his boot.

“She’s next in line to get her class any day now.”

“Well, she has one. I don’t know much about classes.”

Gin stared at her for a few more seconds and saw his sister always in the right place at the wrong time. He used to call it Adventurer’s Luck.

Gin saw it; he would tell them what he’d learned so far, and she would be involved. He took a moment by giving her one chance.

“She might be able to help us. I think she knows something. You want to help a few adventurers, Ecil?”

Ecil’s eyes swam through the room as she realized everyone was asking her for help. Her face turned as red as an apple.

“I uh, I uh, I think I know where the monsters are? The other day, I was out hunting for lantern frogs, and that was when I saw this creature lumbering through the field. I followed it to a hole that led underground.”

Gin groaned.

“Underground again.”

Everyone stared at him.

“What?”

Gin went down on one knee and held some small in his hand.

“Can you tell us what this is?”

Ecil looked at the pin, and her eyes went wide.

“I can track things down, and it wasn’t hard to track down its owner. What's this pin for?”

By the time Gin finished, Ecil stood up and stepped back.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want my uncle to get in trouble. I didn’t want them to kill, but the pin was helping, and you removed it. Please don’t kill Uncle Cal.”

Calak stood. He looked around with fear and surprise in his eyes.

“Me?”

Ecil began to watch the sunset. Gin stopped her before she could disappear. Despite everything, he still felt she had something to do with the situation. Lara sat there and watched.

“Can everyone calm down for a second?”

Ecil struggled to get out of his hand.

“But, he’s been marked by the monster.”

Then Gin remembered the handprint. He grabbed Ecil’s hand and realized her hands were a different size. He let her go and looked around at the other person with hands small enough.

“Where is Ryn?”

At that moment, the sun began to dip under the horizon. Calak paused as if beautiful music began to play. He turned.

“Can you feel that? It’s beautiful.”

Calak’s arms began to grow, and his skin turned white. The hair on his body grew to spikes. The creature turned, and a loud whistling filled the air. Its vast black eyes seemed to take in everyone. The Qillary turned and crashed through the window. Gin slammed into its back, landing in the middle of the street.

The Qillary rose, but Gin was already moving with a three-punch combo. A right hook slammed into its jaw, an uppercut dazed the Qillary, and the last punch put it to sleep. Everyone screamed and ran inside. Lara pulled out her axe and got ready to cut Calak’s head off.

“What are you doing?”

She stared back at Gin.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Don’t kill it!”

She frowned.

“But it’s the monster..”

“He’s still human. There is something else going on here. Keep him busy.”

Gin focused on his Awareness and quickly found Ecil, who was back in the Mill. He first sensed her inside and then found Ryn leaving the village. The Boy seemed to stop and turned around completely to look in his direction.

“Ok, let’s see what’s behind door number one.”

Gin [Quick stepped] to the Mill. He opens the door to a giant grist mill stone. A Fewgel lay sleeping by the foot of the stairs. The stairs at the side of the Mill led to the second floor, where gears and ropes were tied to the Fewgel and connected to the milling stone.

There was a window that watched over the farm. Ecil held her doll as if it were holding the world together. Her tears flowed freely as a girl who could be thirteen or fourteen looked like a five-year-old holding on to her childhood.

“Want my mom.”

“I can get her if you want?”

She began to cry a little harder. She shut her eyes tight, and tears streamed like a river. Gin sat beside her, watched over the farm, and waited. Her mother was gone, and he felt it. The tiny slither of psychic connection wasn’t her ability. It was her potential for a psychic capability that he sensed. At that moment, Gin wanted nothing but to take her fear away. She was afraid of something.

“It’s ok. It’s ok. Maybe I can help. Tell me what happened, but if you lie, I won’t be able to fix this whole monster problem.”

She sniffled and glared into Gin’s eyes.

“You killed Uncle Cal, didn’t you?”

Gin cracked a grin.

“No, no, I didn’t.”

She gasped.

“Really?”

“That’s right. Now tell me what’s going on with Ryn.”

“They took him.”

“Who took him? He was just here.”

She shook her head.

“That wasn’t Ryn. One night, we went lantern frog hunting. It got late, and Ryn wouldn’t listen to me. The floor opened, and Ryn almost fell in, but I reached for him, and something grabbed him. I ran away. I was going to tell Uncle Cal, but I was scared I would be blamed, and they would send me away.”

She paused, and tears rolled down her cheek. She sniffled.

“It’s ok. I’m here. Nothing will happen to you while I’m here.”

“By the next day, Ryn was back, but he was different. He ignored me for a week. At first, I thought it was because he was angry until the first Gel went missing. Then, I saw him leave the farm in the middle of the night. Then he changed into some little monsters. I needed to do something, so I convinced Uncle Cal to send for an adventurer. Then I got the witch class, and they did something to Uncle Cal to turn him into a monster, and I tried to turn him back, but I’m too weak.”

“Don’t you think they did the same thing to Ryn?”

“No, Ryn would remember me. I didn’t know who I was, and it was something else. It was grey and small, the same size as Ryn, but is not Ryn.”

Gin stood.

“Ok, show me where these monsters live.”

Gin turned, and Lara leaned beneath the step with her arm folded.

“The big guy isn’t going to wake anytime soon. Most people kill the father and somehow pass this level, but you’ve discovered a new path on your first try. No one ever.”

She paused and looked down at Ecil. Gin finished her sentence.

“No one ever noticed Ecil?”

“No one I’ve heard of ever noticed her. I want to see what this monster looks like.”

Ecil pulled him down the steps.

“Come on!”

“Why didn’t you want to tell me about this floor?”

Lara waved him off.

“Let’s get this done first. I’ll explain when it’s over.”

Ecil led them beyond the field into tall green gold grass. Right where the fence was supposed to be, a giant pit was in the ground like a dead end where the land maw opened to swallow unsuspecting victims. Gins [Awareness] flooded the recess and found nothing lingering at the entrance.

“Go back. Make sure the villagers stay away from your uncle.”

Ecil stared into the hole.

“Are you going to be ok?”

“Yes, now go.”

Ecil took off running back to the village. Gin and Lara made eye contact. His claws grew. Lara grinned and raised an Axe with a glowing stone in her hand.

Gin jumped into the pit, and Lara followed after.

Gin landed and immediately found a tunnel that led further down. There were bones of small animals and Rats everywhere. Gins [Awareness] searched for human bones, but he found none.

They traveled deeper underground. Light blue flowers glowed in the Darkness, and Gin stopped. He picked on the strange energy the flowers emanated. Gin had felt it before, and it felt so good. The flowers filled the tunnel with pollen. Lara’s axe swung for his head. Gin rolled out of the way, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“It’s mine! I won’t let you have it. Ahhh.”

She grabbed him quicker than he could react and tossed him into the wall. Her axe came down. Gin blocked with his hand, and the axe lodged into its flesh, scraping against bone. She grabbed him by the throat and screamed.

“Mine, mine, mine, MINE!”

Gin grabbed the arm around his neck. Kicked her leading foot and headbutted her. She seemed to wake for a moment, then inhaled, and he saw the madness in her eyes again. She was a level twenty-eight [Axewoman], and it showed. At every turn, she overpowered him. If he had given her the room to move, she could have cut his head off several times.

He didn’t want to use any of his abilities that could hurt her. Gin ran out to the exit, but she didn’t follow. She turned and walked closer to the flower. She stooped through his [Awareness] and plucked a flower from the wall. She opened her mouth to eat flowers. Gin dreaded that she would disappear for good if she ate any of the flowers. He charged into the tunnel, grabbed Lara, and then flung her out of the tunnel. The axe was lodged in his arm.

“When did she swing the axe?”

Lara stomped back into the tunnels, and Gin tried something new. His arm healed from all the damage, then he wondered if it could grow. His arms grew as soon as Lara’s face entered the tunnel. Gin slammed her into the wall. Her head lulled.

“Sorry, but you are one tough little person.”

He held up his hand, and he felt the energy. The psychic energy resonated with his [psychic field of Awareness] he pulled, and the light from the flowers filled his veins, and Gin’s Awareness gained more substance. He could almost see it. Lara’s eyes opened. She looked around.

“Gin, are you still alive?”

“Yup, are you still thinking about cutting my head off?”

“I don’t know. Something was controlling me. Shit! I want to. I wanted to.”

She stood and looked at her arms.

“I don’t. I don’t ever want to feel like that again. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. At least you know that you can kick my ass.”

Lara smiled. Then frowned.

“Maybe, you should go first and then shout back?”

Gin looked down the tunnel.

“You want to keep going?”

“If I turned back now, I’d be a coward. I’m not that type of person.”

Gin stepped forward in the tunnel, and his [Awareness] sensed an open cavern. He rushed into the cavern and ran up the wall. Four monsters were watching the tunnel. Subtle music began to hum in the air. But it was a typical sound. Was it a projection? Like an echo from the mind, the tiny monster pointed at him, and he felt something punch him in the gut. But his [edge Walker] ability kept him on the wall.

“It’s mind magic.”

Lara charged out of the tunnel. The monsters looked like Calak’s transformed form, except they were grey. The other three monsters carried clubs.

“These are Qillary?”

Lara swung down, and her axe grazed against Qillary’s spikes, firing sparks.

“Yes.”

The small Qillary floated in the air with its arms out, and Gin felt the punch coming in his [psychic Awareness], but this time. The punch died on its way to him. The Qillary looked at its arms and shook them as if they were misfiring. Gin felt the crystal in its body, the same psychic energy his [Awareness] brushed against it, and Qillary visibly shivered in shock. Gin stretched his hand, and the Qillary tried to float back down. It grabbed the big one behind him, but Gin gave the crystal a slight tug, and the little Qillary exploded.

The crystal drifted into his hand. The other monster attacked Lara, but Ada exploded into its throat, and her pincers cut its head off like scissors. Gin placed the crystal in his spatial compartment. The last Qillary raised his club to attack Gin while jumping from the wall, but Gin’s claws cut through the club, its arm, and half its body.

Gin heard a loud thud and saw Lara pulling her axe from The Qillary’s head. The bodies of the Fewgels were headless. The upper layer of their skin seemed to have been ripped away, creating a flesh bowl of guts and blood; mixed into the concoction was the flower from the tunnel and transparent eggs.

Gin looked over and saw the Ryn folded in a ball in a little corner. His arms bled, his clothing was dirty, and his cheeks looked hollow. The Boy’s eyes opened, but he stared at Gin as if he wasn’t real.

“Come with me. You safe now.”

His bloodshot eyes looked around again. He grabbed Gin’s hand tightly, climbed into his arms, buried his head into Gin’s shoulder, and began crying. Ada lingered by the egg as if asking for permission. The eggs reminded him of how Xenomorph babies were born, and he decided to let her have the eggs and walked away. Then Gin sensed something in the wall. He rubbed his hand against it, and his tracking skill kicked in. Slightly faded footsteps lead to a dead end at the cavern’s edge. Gin put Ryn down as he struggled to stay in his arms.

“A hidden compartment?”

Gin at her waved to back away with Ryn.

“Maybe.”

Lara looked at the wall and took Ryn away. Gin’s fist slammed into the wall, and the false door crumbled into wood splinters. Gin [Awareness] searched the Darkness, and something activated. Through unconscious reflex, his [Awareness] condensed around him, and a giant fireball detonated in his face and flung him across the cavern.

Congratulations

You have completed your first quest.

You have found the missing Fewgels and killed the offending monsters.

[Hunter of the deep level 15]

[Skill-psychic force wall obtained]

[Spell-summon lesser psy swimmer Niralfin obtained]

[Grappler level 18]