Dusk clutched his barely flickering harmonica as he and his twin made their way through the darkness.

  They were exhausted.

  After surviving that mess in Anxia they spend hours trudging through these tunnels with disturbingly charred walls that smelled of sulphur and their stomachs kept reminding them that they hadn’t eaten since before going into that damned rift.

  They’d already run into three monsters since leaving the city, but luckily managed to dispose of all of them without much of an issue. All of them dropped the same flickering nonsense as the monsters from the messed up rift, meaning that they had all come from there.

  Just how far had those monsters gotten already? Was the entire country doomed at this point? If not even two S-rank hunters could contain this disaster, who could?

  They shook these thoughts off, trying to focus on the positive side.

  Unfortunately, they failed to think of anything positive about this situation.

  Still, they had been running and walking for hours at this point with no sign of an end. Just how long were these tunnels? Heck, they couldn’t even tell the time down here! Was it still the same day? The next day? Or had they already spent a week here without even realizing it? They could feel themselves slowly going insane in this stupid tunnel.

  Worse still, despite apparently being used as legitimate roads between cities, this place had no lighting put in place, so once the glow essence inside the harmonica ran out completely, they would be in serious trouble. Sure, they still had two more Glow essences and they could inscribe them into the harmonica again in the worst case scenario, but they didn’t know how much more their precious memento could take before breaking apart.

  And also, they still didn’t want to destroy it, as childish as the sentiment might seem.

  If only they could reach the end already! Argh! They hadn’t expected this tunnel to be this long and winding!

  But they really should have. After all, these tunnels supposedly lead all the way to other cities. Of course it wouldn’t be a short trip.

  “Ugh, we’re so stupid…” Dawn whined.

  “Better than dying in the rift.”

  They just hoped that they wouldn’t pop out too far away from Estra Dolla at the end of this. They wanted to get there as soon as possible – it wouldn’t do to make the others think they hadn’t made it out.

  As they turned the corner, they noticed a faint light illuminating the wall in the distance. They paused, wondering what kind of monster from the Saltglass Fortress gave off light, before realizing this could be another person instead.

  Hope welled up in their stomachs and they continued walking, careful not to alert whoever or whatever this turned out to be.

  Their stealth skills could use a lot of work, though.

  Before they could see a monster or a person, they saw a series of familiar ice arrows flying their way. Dawn immediately stomped to defend them with [Branching Rampart]. The arrows thunked into it one by one.

  Again?!

  “Wait!”

  “Layna! Stop shooting!”

  The arrow barrage ceased and a moment of silence followed.

  “…Dawn? Dusk? Is that you two?” the catkin hesitantly asked as she peeked out from behind her hiding spot.

  “Yup! That’s us!”

  “Now, can you please stop greeting us with arrows every time?”

  The catkin winced as she fully emerged from behind the rock.

  “Uh. Yeah. I’ll do that. I didn’t think any more people would come from that direction anymore considering…”

  “...Yeah. Fair enough.”

  Dawn dismissed her skill and the twins moved to close the distance to properly talk. Layna let out a deep sigh and gave them a thin smile – actually kind of terrifying with how her yellow eyes glowed in the darkness.

  “I’m glad you made it out though. Dear Kat… when you told me you would be going into that rift in the morning, I thought you were a goner.”

  The twins grimaced.

  “We almost were.”

  “It was rough but we made it out.”

  “What even happened? All I know is that one moment I try to help by delivering some food for the hunters, and the next– Absolute mayhem.”

  “Well…”

  The twins recounted their experience in the rift – barring some of the… incriminating details – as the trio walked deeper into the tunnels. Truth be told, despite Layna not being the greatest at combat – and shooting at them again – they still felt relieved to meet a familiar face after hours of trudging through the darkness alone.

  Even better, the catkin had a proper lamp to use their Glow essences on – which she didn’t have – so they didn’t need to rely on the fading light of their harmonica anymore.

  Not only that, Layna also shared some of the food she had in her relic – the backpack – and the twins gratefully accepted. A real lifesaver, this baker.

  The group eventually came to a split in the path – not the first one they’d come across.

  The trio debated which way to go and tried consulting a map Layna had pulled out of her backpack, but unfortunately, said map didn’t have Anxia’s tunnels on it and with how winding the path had been thus far, they had little idea on where on the map they were.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  As they discussed their options, they heard tremors in the distance, followed by a scream from the left path.

  The trio exchanged a look. Layna looked hesitant, then nodded when she saw the two determined expressions. They rushed into the left path as one, hoping whoever had let out that scream was a person – one who hadn’t just died.

  They turned another corner and froze as Layna’s lantern illuminated the scene in front of them.

  One of those glass maids wielding a broom stood above some, ready to execute them–

  [Transfrogify]!

  Before the monster could finish its motion, it turned into a frog and stumbled at the sudden shift. While Dusk hopped forward in frog form, Dawn rushed in, stomping the ground on her way.

  The ground formed a shifting mound that shot toward the monster, then smacked the glass frog from below, throwing it away from the victim.

  “We got you! [Tricky Bale]!” Dawn shouted as she stepped past her [Branching Rampart] while dismissing it and shot her attack at the monster. The glass frog barely managed to stumble as it turned back to its humanoid form before an explosion of acidic spikes tore it apart.

  Dusk finally caught up and stood between the threat and the victim, holding [Iridion’s Shawl] like a shield. It didn’t matter how defeated the monster looked – they knew better than to take the risk.

  Fortunately, an essence popped out of the monster and flew to the twins before splitting–

  Ah, drat.

  They quickly pocketed the essence – just as messed up as all the others – hoping nobody saw the split in the darkness and finally faced the victim, who, sometime between them knocking the monster away and finishing it off, had crawled away from them, eyes wide like saucers and face pale.

  The twins paused and held back from scowling as they took a better look at the girl they had just saved.

  Human.

  Long but messy black hair, brown eyes, and a very odd choice of clothes. Who wore a skirt and knee socks into a tunnel like this? The white shirt and a blue ribbon tied just above her chest weren’t any better. Where exactly had she come from with an outfit like that?

  “Are you okay?!” Layna asked the question they hesitated to ask as she caught up to them.

  The human’s eyes flicked to the catkin and somehow widened.

  “I… What… Uh, yeah. I’m not hurt,” she managed as she slowly rose to her feet, eyes flicking between Layna and the twins. “Uh… Who… What are you?”

  The geckin scowled.

  “Rude,” Dawn drawled.

  “Not even a thanks for saving her…”

  The human froze for a second, then straightened up and gave a deep bow with her arms flush with her torso.

  “Thank you for saving me! I am in your debt! My apologies for being rude, I’m just a little disoriented!”

  The twins stared at her, taken aback a little. They hadn’t expected the human to actually apologize and even thank them…

  “So, um… Hello? My name is Linza,” the human said as she raised her head again.

  “I’m Layna,” the catkin immediately replied with a smile.

  The twins took a bit longer, still thinking the girl felt off in many ways, but eventually also replied.

  “I’m Dusk.”

  “I’m Dawn. Don’t make us save you again, human…”

  Linza gave them a strained smile.

  “Of course.” She paused as she not-so-subtly glanced at their and Layna’s tails. “So… Umm… Who are you exactly?”

  The twins frowned.

  “We just told you our names.”

  “No, but… Well…” she waved her hands at their appendages she didn’t share.

  “What? Never seen a geckin or catkin before?”

  “Um, no…? Geckin? Is that like a gecko?”

  The geckin stared at the human like she’d grown a second head.

  “Yeah. Their ancestors were geckos,” Layna helpfully supplied. “And mine were cats.”

  “Oh… Weird.”

  “What’s so weird about that, huh?!” Dawn finally snapped, having enough of this human. “Yours were monkeys!”

  The human opened her mouth, closed it, and let out a chuckle.

  “...You know what? Fair!” she yelled as she broke down into hysterical giggles, promptly squatting down and curling herself into a ball.

  The twins and Layna exchanged bewildered looks at this reaction.

  The human proceeded to break into tears for no damn reason.

  “Geckin… Ahhh, I’ve gone insane…”

  “A-Are you okay?” the catkin hesitantly asked.

  The human peeked up at Layna through her tears but didn’t reply.

  The twins had no idea how to react to this. They still didn’t like her on principle, but this human was obviously insane on top of that – she’d even admitted to it!

  Had the monster from earlier infected her? Had she hit her head? Even for a human, this felt a bit too much.

  Rather than replying, the human looked at the sizzling puddle of glass and acid [Tricky Bale] had left behind. A range of emotions the twins couldn’t parse flashed in her eyes. Then she finally deigned to turn back to them with a sniffle.

  Gross.

  “W-Where are we? W-What is this place?” the human asked with a pathetic whine.

  “...We’re in one of Anxia’s tunnels,” Layna replied, her voice gentle.

  “What’s Anxia?”

  “Uh, the frontier city, Anxia? The city built inside a behemoth’s corpse?”

  The human stared.

  “...What.”

  Dusk scoffed and rolled his eyes.

  “Don’t tell me you don’t even know about Anxia! Like what? Do you have amnesia or something?”

  The human stared at them, then cast her gaze to the ground.

  “...I don’t know. I… guess I do? I don’t remember anything before… before waking up in here and–” Sniffle. “A-And then that… girl attacked me?”

  Again, she glanced at the mess of molten glass covered in acid.

  Layna shook her head.

  “Not a girl. A monster.”

  “A monster?”

  “There was a rift spill in Anxia. A lot of monsters got out – that’s what we’re running away from. Some of the monsters just look like people.”

  “...Okay. I understand.”

  They could clearly see that the human, in fact, did not understand a word of what Layna had told her.

  “We need to move,” Dusk announced, getting tired of humoring this whacko human. “There could be more monsters on their way here.”

  Layna cringed but nodded in assent.

  “You’re right.” She glanced back at the human. “Can you move? It’s not safe here.”

  “Uh, I-I think so?” the human said as she raised back to her feet and wiped out the snot and tears from her face with her sleeve.

  “...Of course she’s coming with us,” Dawn murmured, annoyed.

  Now, the twins weren’t so heartless as to leave someone so confused and clearly out of their depth here in the tunnels with monsters roaming around – even if that someone was a human – but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t feel cranky about it.

  “Okay. Let’s move,” Dusk said, taking charge. “But let’s take the other path. I’m not sure if my shawl can withstand that acid and you two can’t climb.”

  Layna nodded. The human did the same, though much less resolutely.

  With the decision made, the group of four backtracked to the split in path and continued down the other tunnel. Dusk walked in the front while Dawn took the rear, similar to their roles in Leejay’s party. As they went, Layna and the human talked while the twins listened.

  “Do you have any useful skills? Or relics?”

  “Um… No relics. As for skills – I’m good at cooking and can do some basic martial arts?”

  The twins gave her a look.

  “...That’s nice, but I meant these skills,” Layna said as she manifested her [Icicle Bow] and showed it to the human.

  The human twitched and her eyes briefly widened.

  “Oh, ah… I don’t think I have any of those?”

  “What do you mean? You don’t have any skills? What kind of dump did you even grow up in?”

  Layna shot a warning glare at Dawn to which the geckin scowled.

  “You probably just forgot because of your amnesia! Look, here! Pull your hand out as if grabbing a card… yes, like that! Now reach into your soul…”

  “...How do I reach into my soul?”

  “It should be instinctive. You should feel these little lights inside yourself. One for each skill and essence.”

  Dawn watched from the back as the human frowned down at her outstretched hand, clearly trying to manifest a skill. She almost thought the human wouldn’t be able to do even that much.

  And then it appeared and the entire group froze on the spot.

  A bright pink rim decorated with blossoming flowers that shaped the entire card. The art showed two empty rooms joined by a corridor from a bird’s eye view.

  And to top it all off, the card glowed a bright pink light, even outshining Layna’s lantern.

  ◆Liminal◆

  The party stared in shock for a moment.

  “W-Why do you have a Mythical essence?! And why is it glowing?!” Layna eventually shout-asked.

  “I-I don’t know?!”

  You only got Mythicals from Bosses of particularly difficult rifts – like the Saltglass Fortress. Not something you just forgot you had.

  The twins got the feeling that this human was going to be even more trouble than they had thought.