The young woman finally introduced herself.

  “Before anything else… nice to meet you. My name is Nira da Vincci,” she said with a hint of enthusiasm.

  Khael inclined his head politely.

  “Nice to meet you, Nira. I’m Khael. I arrived in the city not long ago… I’m trying to learn more about the customs here.”

  Nira crossed her arms and looked back at the job notices.

  “So you were checking the flyers too,” she said. “If you’re interested in any work, maybe I can help.”

  She studied Khael for a moment.

  “You’re an elf, right? Your kind usually has a strong affinity with Essence. That would be pretty useful for certain missions… especially the ones I’ve been doing alone lately.”

  Khael scratched the back of his neck, slightly awkward.

  “Well… if you’re offering a partnership, I won’t refuse.”

  He gave a small smile.

  “But before that… could we deal with something a bit more urgent?”

  Nira raised an eyebrow.

  “And what would that be?”

  “Something to eat,” Khael replied nervously. “I’ve basically been surviving on air since I got here.”

  Nira let out a short laugh.

  “Hah… you’re pretty straightforward, huh? Fine. I’ll pay for something for you.”

  Some time later, the two headed to a nearby restaurant. Nira bought a large plate of spaghetti for Khael.

  While eating with obvious enthusiasm, Khael flipped through the job notices scattered across the table.

  “Hm…” he murmured, frowning slightly. “These missions look pretty complicated. Are you sure just the two of us can handle them?”

  Nira rested her chin on her hand, smiling confidently.

  “Of course we can,” she replied calmly. “Finish eating first. After that, you can rest for a bit.”

  She then pointed to one of the flyers.

  “As soon as you’re done eating, we’ll take this job. It’s a cart escort mission,” Nira said with confidence.

  Khael agreed to the mission, and once he finished his meal, the two set out.

  The cart they were supposed to escort was driven by a middle-aged man. In the back were several vegetables, likely grown and sold within the city itself.

  Once they arrived, Nira and Khael climbed onto the cart and signaled for the man to begin the journey.

  The objective was simple: escort the cart to the point closest to the city’s exit.

  The road was peaceful.

  The sound of the cart’s wheels creaking against the dirt road was constant, almost relaxing. Tall trees lined the path, and small animals ran through the nearby bushes.

  For a moment, it seemed like this would be nothing more than an ordinary trip.

  While observing the scenery around him, Khael’s gaze drifted toward the large brush Nira carried on her back.

  He frowned slightly.

  “Nira… can I ask you something?”

  “You can.”

  “Why did you bring that giant brush? What exactly do you use it for?”

  Nira answered calmly without even looking at him.

  “Maybe if we get attacked, you’ll find out.”

  Khael stayed silent for a moment.

  “Oh… right…”

  He rested his elbow against the side of the cart.

  “So… do you always do this kind of job?”

  Nira took a moment before answering.

  “Not always.”

  She looked ahead at the road.

  “I used to be a painter. I came to this city, Mireval, trying to sell my art.”

  She sighed softly.

  “But it seems that hasn’t been very profitable lately. Maybe art just isn’t valued very much right now.”

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  Khael nodded.

  “I see… You know, these missions actually don’t seem that ba—”

  CRAAACK.

  A sudden crash cut through the silence of the road.

  The ground split open beneath the cart, forming a massive crack.

  The cart shook violently.

  “What the—?!” Khael shouted, trying to keep his balance.

  “Damn!” Nira said.

  One of the wheels had gotten stuck in the fissure.

  The cart stopped completely.

  The man holding the reins gripped them tightly, clearly terrified.

  Nira quickly assessed the situation.

  “The wheel’s stuck.”

  She pointed to the other side.

  “Khael, get over there! Let’s push together.”

  Khael jumped off the cart and positioned himself beside the wheel.

  The two of them began pushing with all their strength.

  “Just a little more…!” Khael said as he pushed.

  Then he felt something cold touch his leg.

  He looked down.

  Before he could react—

  A dark blue hand with long claws grabbed his leg and violently dragged him into the crack.

  “AAAAHHHH!!”

  Khael’s scream echoed as he disappeared into the fissure.

  “KHAEL!!” Nira shouted in panic.

  She quickly turned to the cart driver.

  “Stay here! Wait for us! Don’t move!”

  Without hesitation, she carefully began climbing down into the fissure.

  The drop was long.

  When she finally reached the bottom, Khael was already standing there, holding his sword and staring into the darkness ahead.

  Nira landed beside him.

  “Khael? Are you okay? That fall was—”

  She stopped when she noticed where he was looking.

  “Nira…” he said uncertainly.

  “Look over there.”

  “What is that…?”

  Nira narrowed her eyes, trying to see better.

  A figure was slowly moving in the darkness of the cavern.

  She gripped her large brush firmly.

  “Argh…”

  “That thing doesn’t look friendly.”

  From the shadows, a voice echoed through the cave. It sounded distorted, almost impossible to identify.

  “Have you ever stopped to think… that from my point of view, you are the ones who aren’t very friendly creatures?”

  Khael narrowed his eyes, trying to see better in the darkness.

  Thanks to his ability, his senses were sharper. His vision in the dark was far better than Nira’s.

  And then he saw it.

  The creature had a body the size of a child… but its back was covered with multiple living arms, constantly twisting and writhing.

  It had no eyes.

  No mouth.

  And yet… it spoke.

  Suddenly, the creature launched itself against the cave wall and began crawling across the ceiling at an absurd speed.

  Its countless arms moved like the legs of an insect.

  Nira couldn’t see clearly in the dark.

  “What is that disgusting noise?” she asked. “It sounds like a cockroach crawling.”

  Khael raised his sword.

  “It’s coming from the ceiling!”

  Before they could react, the creature dove from the shadows and attacked.

  CLANG!

  Khael blocked the strike with his sword.

  But several of the creature’s arms slipped past the blade, deeply scratching his arms.

  “Argh!”

  Unable to clearly see what was happening, Nira reacted instinctively.

  She swung her brush through the air.

  A large amount of ink appeared in front of it.

  “Spread!”

  The ink shot out in multiple directions.

  Some of it hit the creature.

  “KSSSHH—”

  The creature’s skin burned slightly.

  It retreated toward the wall.

  Nira spoke calmly.

  “My ability lets me generate ink…”

  The ink splattered across the creature’s body began glowing intensely.

  Now its position was completely revealed.

  “I can also alter the ink’s properties,” Nira continued. “I can make it glow, make it heavier… or even corrosive.”

  Despite the pain, Khael smiled slightly.

  “Your ability is strangely convenient for this situation.”

  He tightened his grip on his sword.

  “That’s perfect.”

  Khael stepped forward.

  He began absorbing the energy around the cave.

  It was heavy… negative energy.

  The presence of the creature’s many victims still lingered in the place.

  His sword began to glow with a dark aura.

  Whispers and distant screams echoed faintly, as if the souls of the victims still remained there.

  “Let’s see how you deal with this!”

  Khael unleashed a powerful strike.

  BOOM!

  The creature tried to defend itself with its arms, but the attack still hit, leaving it severely wounded.

  They exchanged a rapid sequence of blows.

  But Khael pushed too far forward.

  Suddenly, several arms extended and slammed into him.

  He was thrown backward.

  CRASH!

  Khael landed on a massive pile of bones.

  Skulls and skeletal remains were scattered everywhere.

  His eyes widened.

  “Argh… that’s disgusting…”

  Before the creature could recover, Nira acted again.

  The glowing ink covering the creature changed form.

  It became thick and sticky.

  “Now you’re not getting away.”

  The creature tried to move…

  But it was completely trapped.

  Nira firmly gripped her brush.

  Between the bristles was a thin blade, almost like a spear.

  She rushed forward.

  “It’s over.”

  Nira stabbed the creature through the abdomen.

  The blade tore completely through its insides.

  The creature’s body collapsed onto the cave floor.

  Silence.

  Nira pulled the brush back and turned to Khael.

  She walked over and helped him stand.

  “Are you okay? Are you badly hurt?”

  Khael looked at his arms, covered in cuts.

  “Other than my arms… I think I’m fine.”

  Nira frowned.

  “That’s bad.”

  She poured some ink over his wounds.

  The ink slowly began helping close some of the cuts.

  “This should help a little.”

  Khael flexed his fingers.

  “It helps a lot already.”

  Nira then looked at the fissure leading back to the surface.

  “Shall we climb back up?”

  Khael nodded.

  “Yeah. This reward better be worth it.”

  The two of them began climbing up the crack.

  What they didn’t know…

  Was that in that same place filled with the bones of past victims…

  there wasn’t only one creature.

  Deep within the cavern, several other figures slowly moved in the darkness.

  Watching.

  Waiting.

  Some time later, Nira and Khael returned to the surface.

  The cart driver was still waiting.

  The journey continued without further trouble.

  They successfully escorted the cargo to its destination, allowing the man to deliver his goods and return safely to the city of Mireval.

  But that simple mission had revealed something troubling.

  There were far more things hidden within the fissures of that world.