When you hear the word "underground", what is the very first thing that comes to your mind?
Because for Minne and Marc, it's "panic".
Failing to balance themselves on a mere wooden plank, the pair of Memorus and Markener end up plunging into a dark chasm, trying to make a safe descent into whatever lies beneath the surface.
Marc gets a quick glimpse of murky grot, immediately thinking to break their fall there.
"SLUDGE! A HUNK OF SLUDGE! TARGET YOUR FALL THERE!"
The boy extends his feet towards the sludge, making an attempt to land safely. Minne follows Marc's lead as they broke their fall without breaking their own two legs.
"God, this slime's sticky as hell. I could guess that whatever falls in here, stays in here. This doesn't seem like a place that's open to visitors." Minne shuddered as she beckoned towards the darkness, trying to descry what lies in the darkness.
Eerie ticking sounds pulsated around the dank caverns as the sinister vines begin to sway as if there's a ghost possessing them.
Mortifying, human-like whispering bounced back and forth between ears, when the pair had an alarming feeling that they shouldn't be here.
"What even is this place? Is this an accurate representation of hell? What--"
Marc's stuttering was interrupted by dozens of reckless mites writhing in the dark, seemingly making a pathway for the boy and the woman to walk on.
"I suppose these dreadful creatures want us to trudge through these damp tunnels..?" Minne shuddered as her legs trembled in fear.
"You think so?" Hesitating to do so, Marc stammered in terror.
At this point, both Minne and Marc were terrified of this unintentional chasm, yet they still had the urge to wade across the dreary shaft.
Making it halfway across without being taken away by some uncanny spirit, the duo kept walking across, very slowly.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" It was become so frigidly cold, Marc started to shiver intensely.
Nobody answered the boy's plea for ensured safety.
They kept walking, and walking, and walking... they were starting to think that the tunnel was endless. There was no hope for escape or relief. Nothing to set their minds on. Just a vast, empty, uneasily lengthy tunnel.
A few hours had passed, and still nothing.
No edible food or water, no shelter, not even a piece of cloth to cover themselves with.
They sat there in the meaningless tunnel, waiting for a signal of hope.
"...Is this how we die...?"
"...no... it can't be...."
"SOMEONE HELP US!"
Yet again, there was no response.
The pain they endured... at that moment, they just wanted to end their life already.
They tried runes, they were too weak.
They tried spells, there was nothing to asseverate.
...
...until someone came.
Someone just as tired from venturing in the stupid tunnel as them.
Someone that they had met before.
Their prayers for safety had finally been answered.
"Stuck here?" a voice echoed throughout the tunnel. It was female, and had already matured to its prime form.
Could it be? Could it be the one person- no, Loreseer that heard their cries?
"Rhenda?" Minne let out an agonizing scream as she ran towards the Loreseer and gave her a worthwhile embrace.
"Heh, yeah. Jeez, how long were you stuck here? Looks like you almost starved to death." she jokingly asked the Memorus.
"TWO DAYS! Two days of neverending pain and suffering!" Minne replied, silently shedding a tear.
"Oh, God. Two days? You could've used one of your runes!" Rhenda advised, not knowing that they were too weak to even use a single rune.
"Rhenda! Finally, someone has come for us!" Marc rejoiced as he ran towards the two.
"Anyway, let's chat later. We gotta get you both out of here before you somehow dissipate away."
The Loreseer used a purple rune, to manipulate a huge rock into their getaway method.
In a matter of seconds, they managed to backtrack to the place of their initial fall into the sludge, and flew up the chasm, which surprisingly took longer than they expected.
Once they were back at Brawnbrink, Rhenda treated them to new clothes, and she rented a house for their temporary stay.
"Make yourself at home before we head out into the wild, AVOIDING all possible chasms."
As expected, Minne and Marc cleaned themselves up and changed their clothes to something more appropriate for long travels.
"Gee, what would we do without Rhenda, right?" Minne chimed in before leaving the house alongside Marc and Rhenda.
"Alright, let me explain EVERYTHING about that huge chasm." the Loreseer began, as they started walking out of Brawnbrink once more.
"That huge chasm was the entrance to the Gaping Cradle, the humid breeding grounds for vermin and other sorts of parasitic insects. Humans and Markeners alike aren't meant to visit that place, for it is not a suitable habitat for people. On the other hand, what is beyond that chasm is way less grim and frightful; Goldheath. This bright, yet relatively small environment is populated by bizarre-looking golden constructs, which have been given life by Pith, the essence of inanimate animations. The gold that is used in making these constructs come from the scraps in the Steel Pit, just heavily refined and polished to its paramount form. The actual humans in this area somehow has the knowledge of Pith, in which they summoned and used to grow their civilization, with the help of the chief of the Steel Pit. Expect to see a bunch robot-looking things in Goldheath once we get there, anyway."
Making a bridge with a purple rune, Rhenda finished her explanation as the other two were still glaring at each other for the little "plank incident".
Crossing the bridge, they start seeing round houses made of gold, as the dark of the night is swiftly lit up by the amber light from the overhead lanterns and lamps in this beautiful town.
If this town will sell for Vermeil, the chances of the price being expensive are very high, huh?
"Hello. My name is Auro. I am the head construct, or if you would like to call it something else, the leader of the Goldheads. If you would wish to meet our creator, walk towards that tall, gold spire, and take the first elevator to the floor before the last. There you will meet Altan, Zato, and Igolide, the three instigators of Goldheath, our humble abode." Auro explained, in an uninterestingly monotonous tone, while stretching his golden arm towards the spire he talked about earlier.
"I do wonder why the last floor is restricted, there doesn't seem to be anything to hide, right?" Rhenda wondered with a slight feeling of doubt.
"We do not choose our creators, and we do not ask. It will remain a secret, with only the Instigators knowing about it." Auro continued as he shakes his arm, emphasizing the spire.
"Okay, then. I guess it's just a tradition to meet these 'instigators' of yours." Marc ended the conversation, leading the way to the towering spire that Auro seems to be crazing about.
And so they entered the spire, took the tremendously lengthy elevator ride, and finally reached the very obnoxious second-to-the-last floor.
And then, the trio saw the other trio.
Altan, Zato, and Igolide.
"OUTSIDERS! What endues thee to Goldheath?" Altan queried in a very regal tone.
"Doth thee has't business with us? Doth thee has't SCRAP?" Igolide followed, as she arose from her unstained seat.
"Or art thee h're simply to t'rment the Instigat'rs?" Zato finished their unearthly monologue.
"No, we're here to explore the place. That 'Auro' construct told us to come here." Minne replied.
"Auro? The head construct? Wherefore didst that gent bid thee three to visiteth our magnificent spire?" Igolide asked the Markener, evidently confused.
"I don't know, he seemed pretty crazy about it." Marc carried Minne's sentence as he starts walking around, checking out the wondrous room they were in. Judging by the early air-conditioner, they could perceive that Goldheath and its residents were ahead of their time.
"Auro nev'r tells outsid'rs to visiteth our spire. Didst that gent mention aught about a top flo'r?"
"Well, all he said was to not visit the top floor." Rhenda continued as she looked up.
"Ah, valorous. Bett'r wend 'long anon. Checketh out all the st'res and buildings yond Goldheath hast. The town's a quaint most wondrous creation we did develop." Alton finished the conversation as he waved his hand in a sort of "shoo" manner.
They took the elevator back down as they left the spire.
"Oh, yond wast a closeth one. Auro almost hint'd at our biggest flaw in revolutionizing Goldheath. That gent shouldn't blatantly pointeth out details liketh yond." Zato panicked as she walked about the room.
"We're still grateful f'r that gent, though. Auro hast been managing the town while we're doing our w'rk up h're in the spire." Igolide continued the conversation.
"But imagineth what wouldst all the constructs bethink if 't be true those gents knoweth about our dark deeds..." Altan shuddered as they all calmed down and sat back at their seat.
"Just desire yond not a single w'rd about yond incident shall leak upon those joyful folk."
