As the human-like cries began to grow distant, a new unsettling conflict had now taken its place. Ignoring the fact that there was a man-hole buried into the walls of an outpost, they were now heading further and further below the surface—a pressing fear of the unknown loomed within the four of them.

As the four climbed down, Damian endeavored to distract himself from the pain that had been dealt to his being within any sort of capacity.

'God, it really fucking hurts…What the hell was that thing? If that abomination had come from this hole…what else could possibly be down there…?'

An ominous premonition gradually dawned on him at the untold horrors that could possibly be living deep within these irregular tunnels.

On a brighter note, Damian had noticed something rather peculiar had occurred at the moment he had slain the mysterious beast from earlier. At the time, a subdued familiar pain settled in his eyes only for it to be replaced with the invisible weight of something small resting on his person.

'Could this possibly be another rune artifact? Wait a minute…did I receive a second vanity mark!?'

As Damian descended, he rummaged through his pockets in search of the foreign item. Upon contact, he brought the item to his face, inspecting it closely. However, any sort of observations couldn't exactly be made as he had been climbing in pitch-black darkness.

But from its shape, a very easy conclusion could be made.

'...Hah..?'

Resting in his grasp, Damian made out the presence of a small pouch tied with a string.

'..What…are those marbles..?'

In his constant downward climb, the quiet rustling of an unusually distinct sound lingered in his ear.

'No no no…that can't be it…there's no way the gods gifted me a bag of marbles. T-that…that would be ridiculous!'

Tucking the mysterious bag into his pocket, Damian began to ponder senselessly at the bizarre item as he followed his companions deeper into the hole.

***

"How long...have we been going now?" Damian breathlessly gasped.

"...I don't know…check your watch if you need to know," Aricin replied, exhausted.

Damian felt his hair cling to his face as pools of sweat had left his body. Although he would have loved to check his watch, he felt that if either of his hands left the wooden steps of their endless ladder, his grip would immediately give out.

"Wait, it's completely dark, I don't know how I would even tell…" Damian tiredly chatted about.

As the echo of staggering heaving breathing filled the darkness, the four of them persevered through the growing pain and fatigue. At the consistent contact with the old wooden ladder, Damian could feel his hands sting as his skin gradually tore.

"I…I don't think I can handle much more of this." Mika muttered under her breath.

"No worries…we're almost there…trust me, I know this hole like the back of my hand…" Damian forcefully answered.

"Yeah…I'm sure you do…" Mika groaned aloud.

"On another note…what in God's name…were those things outside?" Damian attempted to distract himself with light conversation.

No one replied to his strained question. A depressing silence stalled for answers as they continued to climb aimlessly.

"Very…useful input guys-

Interrupting Damian's comment, a sudden thud broke their immediate concentration.

"We made it!" Aricin hurriedly announced.

In tense relief, the four recruits collapsed onto a foreign cold dirt surface—labored breaths lingering about.

"Where…the hell are we?" Damian mumbled.

"Please stop asking questions we won't know the answers to." Yulie finally spoke, resigned.

For a prolonged rest, they all slowly recovered from a marathon of climbing. One by one each of them began to sit themselves up, leaning against the cold walls of the unknown cave.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Should we take turns keeping watch, so we can all get some rest?" Aricin questioned.

"That sounds like a really good idea." Mika quickly answered.

"Damian and I will keep watch, you two should rest." Yulie proposed in monotone.

Without a word, Mika adjusted herself and swiftly passed out.

"Are you sure? I don't mind keeping watch while you rest, I know you guys went through a lot." Aricin cautiously hesitated.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm not really that tired." Damian insisted as he did truly feel this way, even with everything he had been through.

Long after, the two fell into a deep sleep whilst Damian and Yulie sat in silence.

Within the darkness surrounding them, Damian spotted something odd from right in front of him.

"..What…what the hell is that? Yulie do you see those two strange lines right next to us?"

"Those are my eyes, idiot," Yulie replied, faintly irritated.

"Wait, really? Oh, I get it, those are vanity marks."

Damian could see several small ethereal dashes a small distance away. Strangely, each vanity mark didn't really seem to shine the way normal light does. Instead, an otherworldly marker simply settled itself as if someone had drawn two white lines onto black paper.

"By the way, you should take out your contacts." Yulie quietly commented.

Caught off, Damian furrowed his brow:

"How the hell did you know I was wearing contacts?"

"That glove on your hand is a vanity mark." Yulie calmly replied.

"Why am I wearing these things if they don't even hide that I have vanity marks? What's the damn point?" Actually, I have a question. Let's say, you suddenly become an Imprinted and a senile-...and your kind-hearted landlord tells you to wear sunglasses and find some eye-contacts. Any idea why?" Damian calmly recollected.

"...Contacts are only ever used to hide your identity as an Imprinted. Still, it's not really useful in your case when you are a new Imprinted. Regardless, he may have asked you to do that to hide you from something, or someone.

"Yes, and you're telling me a homeless child covered in runes isn't already eye-catching enough?" Damian rolled his eyes.

"That's not really the case Damian. Something that I've noticed about you that is quite unusual, is that as a newly awakened Imprinted, your growth is abnormal. It's simply too fast."

"...What do you mean?"

"Do you know how difficult it is to acquire a vanity mark this early in your awakening? It normally takes months or even years to be gifted rune artifacts. That is unless you're part of a rune bloodline." Yulie softly accused.

"Hah..? Let's slow down for a moment. Are you saying that I'm some lost abandoned child from a rich and powerful family?" Damian asked, growing excited at the prospect.

"I'm not saying that, but I am saying that you are an anomaly. Although rare, there are Imprinted out in the city who have eyes everywhere and it wouldn't be shocking if you ended up gathering their attention."

After a moment of thought, Yulie continued:

"...You may want to keep your eyes covered when you return."

"You mean 'if'." Damian scoffed.

The two sat in solemn, aware of the miserable future lying ahead of them.

"Let's get back to the subject at hand, why should I take my contacts off?" Damian sighed.

"So that it's harder for us to lose each other. Vanity marks can be seen in the dark, so it would be easier if we could follow something that can be seen." Yulie carefully explained.

Although somewhat difficult to spot, it did prove to be a nice reassurance when constantly shrouded in absolute darkness.

"...I guess so."

Reluctantly, Damian reached into his eyes, uncomfortably peeling off his contacts.

"It isn't much, but at least it's something," Damian claimed in intrigue.

"...You have two vanity marks?" Yulie studied his eyes in mild shock.

"I mean, it isn't much compared to your three, but yeah, I got this second one when I used that weird sword of yours to kill that abomination from earlier." Damian winced at the bitter memories.

At his answer, an awkward stillness suddenly fell onto the two Imprinted.

"How…how are your wounds?" Yulie tentatively questioned in an uncharacteristic shaken voice.

Damian widened his eyes at the pleasant consideration:

"...Yeah, it still really hurts, but I've gotten used to it at this point. I think it might be fading a little bit too."

Brought back to reality, Damian quickly became conscious of severe injuries scattered all over his body.

"I think I'll definitely need to find something, for my shoulder though. The bastard actually stabbed me!" Damian groaned at the presence of his most severe wound.

In response, Yulie began to move in abrupt motions as a subtle tear resounded in her direction.

"...What the hell are you doing?" Damian adjusted in confusion.

Eventually, he could feel Yulie's presence swiftly approach him.

"Hold still," Yulie demanded in a cold voice.

"Wait- let's talk this out! -What the hell! Stop-I'm dying!"

Under the oppression of a powerful Imprinted, Damian instantly fell to her aggression. Moments later, he grimaced at the newly acquired pain around his shoulder. Tightly bound together, a long piece of cloth sealed his wound away.

Awkwardly twisting his arm, Damian glared at the clearly marked eyes across from him:

"You could have said something first."

"Be grateful that your wound is patched now." Yulie dryly spat in return.

Grumbling at the unnecessary coldness from her, Damian readjusted his posture.

"But more importantly, what the hell do we do now?" Damian anxiously inquired.

"...I don't know. The outpost is likely overrun by the creatures of the fog. And because of that…a lot of people are going to die today." Yulie answered, forcefully settling her distress.

Damian struggled to find any response. While he would've loved to stay positive about his situation, he knew that the situation they were in was simply beyond rescuing. Even if they had escaped, who do they call for help? Should they head back up after a while? He wasn't really sure of anything now.

Absentmindedly, Damian reached into his person, pulling out the only two things he had on him: his watch, and the small mysterious pouch. As he couldn't exactly see any of what he was holding, he reluctantly returned the watch to his pocket before slowly unsealing the string that tightly bound the cloth pouch.

At the moment Damian unsealed his mysterious artifact, however, a gradual familiar agonizing scream subtly enveloped the cave.

It was the creatures of the fog.