“Hey… Hey, hey! Look… Someone’s coming!”

  “Huh? Wait, what? Let me see…”

  “Trinity’s salvation, someone is here to help us?”

  “They’re alone from the looks; though, can’t really tell through here…”

  “Hope to Fortune they’re Sapphire or Diamond…”

  Hmm… The foreigner arrived before this exotic bubble. So strange and…essencey indeed. The shaded figures within it seemed to be reacting to her presence; this implied at least that they could see her. Their heads seemed to be turning and must certainly be mumbling to one another, yet she could not hear; no sound piercing through at all…

  “Hello?” she greeted loudly; her hand began to prod and ‘knock’ at the bubble, the surface of which reacted as if a puddle or wave within a wisp-dusty liquid, yet remained so…strangely hard, stiff, and paradoxically solid—incapable of penetration.

  Truth be told…the sensation and feeling of touching such a thing, it was quite difficult to describe in words; it could only be understood from experience.

  Regardless, “Hello? I greet you again! I am friend here to help!” She knocked more and more, but it was very clear that they could not hear her either.

  “…a…tavern girl?”

  “Oh, Gods’ sacred fuck-bucket… That’s a fucking Copper badge! What’s a Copper doing here?!”

  “Oh… And here I was hoping…Fortune would give us something…”

  “Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! Last thing we need is a fucking Copper… She’s got one of fancy those masks too…”

  “Hm… She has an…interesting shooter in her hand, is that… Is that Dwarven revolver?”

  “Oh Gods’ sweet sacred, a fucking Gunslinger wannabe, this cannot get any… Don’t tell me that fucking little idiot saw the barrier and decided to play rescue! Gods’ IDIOT!”

  “Well, she is banging on the barrier. Panicking, perhaps? Does she want entry?”

  “Ahh… What a rescue alright, we’re the ones who have to rescue, ugh…”

  “Oh, nah… Nah. That Gunslinger wannabe idiot’s on her own; her fault for jumping down here. Let her be bait or some shit, that thing’s waiting for us to lower the barrier.”

  “…but… to ignore the pleas of the helpless, those weaker, that is… That is a sin, you know?”

  “Yeah, and? Your radiancy, you’ve got two favors left, and I’m not wasting this for some Copper without any basic self-preservation!”

  “…to commit such a major sin in presence of our Father’s boon, in this ward granted by Heaven’s spirit… I will have no favors left if I remain complacent in such a thing!”

  “Oh you Trini-fucking-tarians…”

  “Not just her. Dude… I don’t feel right ignoring her either… Besides, the air in here is getting harder to breathe; we’ve been in here for too long…”

  “Yeah, who cares… We’re all dead together anyway…”

  “Hugh. Fine. Whatever. Sure. Let’s have a breather then. Life the barrier… She’ll be getting my words, though.”

  The foreigner ceased her knocking… The bubble…its texture, its appearance, its…properties…

  Immediately realizing, she quickly backed away, distancing herself. Very quickly, the bubble began to unravel and destabilize, before ultimately popping, so to speak, spewing a glittery and wispy radiance of dust as strands and strips so stretched and bent, the leftover essence returning to its true source.

  And as exotic dust so faded, at last, the foreigner could see the four persons whom she wanted to so rescue.

  “What inside the Gods’ sacred shit-filled toilet is a Gunslinger-wannabe Copper like you doing here?!” And so instantly did the chiefest of them all so hurled a shout, by no means happy or grateful.

  Tall, scarred in the face, and rugged in stature, this adventurer stood with confidence and determination, unhindered by fear. He was armored in elaborate and qualitied heavy-plate armor—with bulkier than needed shoulder pieces, of course. For whatever reason, he had no helmet. The only fancy and…esoteric elements of this adventurer’s ‘gear’ was his sword and shield, which from a local perspective could be described as ‘magical’ in its properties, the shield radiating with bright ‘magical synergy’ from its central core.

  Judging from his badge, he seemed to be Platinum-ranked; judging from how his other three fellows stood more timidly and behind him, he was also likely to be the group’s anointed leader.

  Although, speaking of his fellows… There were two other ladies and one other man.

  The other man was shorter and presumably younger than the shield adventurer; he was lightly armored, having only a sallet helmet and a simple breastplate—all qualitied. He was armed, however, with…a rather peculiar firearm… A kind of repeater that was chubby and bulky, kind of like the foreigner’s, except it utilized some kind of…pump-action mechanism to fire. Interesting… Very interesting. But, regardless, his pinned badge denoted Gold-rank.

  Standing next to this gunner adventurer and on the other flank of the shield adventurer, was what was most obviously a mage, as made obvious by that ever-distinct pointy hate, purplish mage cloak and cape, and thundery-stylized staff; although, she was lightly armored to a degree. Nevertheless, like the gunner, this mage was also Gold-rank.

  And standing directly behind and in the middle of these two was the more timid member of this bunch, who tightly held her zealous staff in hand. In many ways, this one was similar to the mage, being robed and with a staff, yet…there was a clear difference.

  The attire was colorful yet simple, whites and yellows in color, and seemed stylistically elaborate and…righteous. Indeed, ‘holy’, ‘religious’, ‘divinely associated’, all such local descriptors and indexes could be invoked.

  This was likely that so-called ‘priestess’ that she had…kind of heard the wagoneer reference. Besides aesthetics, however, the foreigner herself could not immediately ascertain the differences between a mage and ‘priestess’; both seemed to be arcane-specialists of sorts.

  But, regardless, pinned upon this priestess’s chest was a Silver-rank badge, making her the lowest of them… At least, up until now, for…

  Indeed, all four these adventurers were considerably higher ranked than her; this…whatever affair of theirs was clearly beyond purview of her meagre Copper-rank. Truly, it was no wonder that their leader so stared frustrated rather than relieved.

  A seconds-long delay having passed, the foreigner inhaled a somewhat deep breath, setting her usual cordial charm; “Hello! I greet you all!” she finally greeted, cordially waving as she casually reproached them. “Is…any of you hurt? I can help…with that, possibly…” she swiftly inquired as she halted before that still standoffish shield adventurer, who stared blankly and…almost bewildered.

  “…oh great, fucking knew it… You are one of those fucking Coppers…” he so muttered aloud indeed, his gauntlet-armored hand pinching the bridge of his nose. “I need you tell me straightly, shorty. By the sacred words of all our Gods, did you fucking see our bubble and decided to jump down here to ‘save us and rescue us’?” he almost mocking interrogated; “Because, let me tell you, your pee-shooter ain’t all powerful! And, in fact, it’s fucking useless here! And now we’ve got to worry about your Coppery ass safety!”

  The others were silent, and while they certainly would not go with his wording, there was…nodding agreement overall.

  The foreigner…was cautious to reply, for indeed, she could tell well enough that her ‘hearing a ruckus and coming to the rescue’ was…not what they wanted to hear. “Well, actually…” she began to speak, “you see, I was…here looking for the…nesting places of those…glow-spiders; I was here for their…glow-stones… But then I went the wrong way and stumbled to here by…the accident, and… Then I saw that bubble-thing of yours, and it…was so…weird and strange and it made me pause, and… I lost focus, and I tripped into here—the very painful fall it was.” She opted for naive innocence.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “…” Yet all of them besides maybe the priestess stared at her with eyes that were, indeed, unconvinced; for as much as she could tell that there was an answer they did not want to here, they could tell she was being somewhat…deceptive.

  The foreigner ahemed; “But, regardless… I am here. And, uhm, my…friend, yes… My friend, he was with me, and he saw me tumble into here, and…he refuses to leave me, so he is also up there”—she pointed up and at the wagoneer’s direction—“He has rifle with the very long range and special shots, so he can provide the firing help from above.”

  “Another gunner?” The gunner looked and peered up in the direction of her point, identifying… “Huh… Yeah, that’s a shooter…”

  Yet the shield adventurer remained so blank in his glare, the pinch of his nose’s bridge becoming almost a crush; “Coppers… Every Gods’ sacred Fertility-virgin-fucked time, empty headed threat-vision, always…” He glared up and at the wagoneer, yet his voice remained directed towards her; “If you’ve got a friend up there, tell him to leave! Get out of here and find us actual help!”

  “Redundant. All of you will be dead by the time that any other help comes.” The foreigner’s cold bluntness bled into her otherwise cordial voice. “We are the only help here.”

  “Ahh… So, you did jump down here to help us…” The mage broke her silence, having read between the foreigner’s words; “But she’s right,” she looked at the shield adventurer, “by the time anyone finds help and brings it back, we’ll be long dead… So, no point in getting worked up…” She relooked at the foreigner; “She’s down here with us, she wants to help, so let her help… Doesn’t matter…”

  “She is fearless…” Suddenly, the priestess broke her silence, all the others turning their heads to her… There was a radiant outline around her irises, one very vague and barely present. “Hm… I cannot explain it, but…there is something with her… Hm… This sense, this…presence or…”

  Wait, was this…priestess reading her? Ugh… The foreigner did not like that, frankly.

  “She is very strange, this one… Her aura is…strong.” the priestess ultimately remarking, her eyes looking to the rest; “That…abominable golem stopped its assault and…ran off, her arrival followed soon after. I do not believe this is a coincidence… I think it is a sign from Heaven.”

  “Heh… Well, there you have it…” the mage only slightly smiled a little, looking at their young and naive priestess; ”Holy girl has spoken…” There appeared to be cordiality between these two.

  “I just trust our Father in Heaven… We must…be optimistic.” The priestess said; finding it difficult to stand, she leaned herself against a pillar before…sliding down, her limbs slightly shaking. Scared and fatigued…

  And she was not the only one. Indeed, all of them were exhausted and tired; paranoid and on edge. Fresh in their minds were no doubt the demise of their fellows and others, whose deaths they had witnessed and whose mangled corpses still littered about. Even their strong and stalwart leader; he hid it, but the stench of…fear was within his breaths.

  The foreigner could smell it, so to speak, for she knew such all too well… When denizens were terrified and scared… Awaiting impending doom of which felt all too predetermined and inescapable.

  The shield adventurer…sighed in an almost groan… “Fine. Yeah. Welcome to our ‘party’, Copperslinger.” he mocking called her, but still begrudgingly accepted. He then stepped away, scanning around… “Yep. Our fucking situation is still the same… The only way out is that ways,”—he pointed his fist in the direction of that gargantuan corridor—“where Mr. Angry Colossus is waiting for us, so that’s a big nope…” He then began to eye about… “So, where else, huh…”

  “So, what…exactly happened here?” the foreigner, standing by, finally opted to inquire.

  The shield adventurer ughed as his attention lanced her way, eyes glaring; “You aren’t blind, fancy mask! Look around you! What do you think happened?! Three entire full-limit parties were wiped out! We’re all that’s left!”

  The foreigner sighed; “Allow me to reask: why are you here? What did all of this?”

  The shield adventurer was practically about to lose his temper, yet…

  “A crystalish guardian colossus golem…” the gunner inserted himself.

  “Yeah, what he said.” the shield adventurer thus said. “You two gun-lovers go have sex in the corner or whatever, let me focus…” Waving his hand, he returned his focus to…figuring out whatever he could.

  The foreigner…assumed that was his way of indicating ‘go bother the other’. Thus, she promptly did so; she went to the gunner and stood before him with rather the donned smile. “Well… Go on, then?” she inquired, thus, and with rather the leaning close charm—a charm that was perhaps rather uncanny given present circumstances.

  “Ahem… Rightly…” The gunner nevertheless blushed… “I guess, uhm, to explain… We were a three party merger…” he thus began to explain, “My party and hers”—he looked at the mage who was now sitting next to the priestess—“We were from Oceanfield; we had same quest, hunting crystalish golem tanks and collecting their hearts, so we decided to do a two-party merger and split the reward. But his party”—his eyes pointed to at the shield adventurer—“Was from Coastfield. We ran into them on the way, and their quest had the same target, so…we decided to stick together, increase our odds.”

  “You don’t need to tell her the full story…” the mage abruptly interjected herself, standing herself up yet leaning against the same crystalline pillar… “All she has to know is that we got turned around by our quest sheets, ended up going deeper than we needed to, and found this trap-den and fell right into it because we were stupid.”

  “Yeah…” the gunner mumbled… “Tank golems are found in crystalian ruins that are in the deep levels of sunny-caves, and those places look a lot like here… We thought we were on the right track, but ended up finding a crystalan guardian colossus golem waiting for us… Didn’t even know those things still existed—they’re Sapphire at the least…” he remarked, his breaths beginning to shudder from this recall… “And it…just tore us apart. I can’t even…describe it… The only reason we survived was because that Trinity priestess was close enough that we got caught in her bubble…”

  “So, yeah… We are all on borrowed time.” the mage morbidly stated; “This entire…fucking place is part of it… I don’t know what it’s waiting for honestly. It knows we’re here, and it…hasn’t finished us off.”

  “Yeah…” The gunner looked in the direction of that dark corridor abyss. “It kept harassing the barrier after it…finished off everyone else… But then just stopped—froze even, like it was…feeling something. Then left…”

  “Judging from what I saw, that one’s real toyer; it’s playing with us. That’s probably why it left; to make us feel that we’ve actually got a chance…” the mage remarked, casually yet still slightly morbid.

  The foreigner was nodding along lightly as she listened… Although she obviously could not understand everything they were referencing, what was very clear to her was…that so-called ‘colossus golem’ or whatever was, indeed, very dangerous. Time was quintessential, yet her attention nevertheless could not help found itself momentarily astray…

  “May I ask…quickly,” she began to ask, her mask-obscured eyes focused on the gunner’s firearm, “…where did you this…gun of yours? It is…weird.” Indeed, it was… It looked much more practical than hers…

  “Huh, this guy?” The gunner showed his repeater to her; “Oh, I looted him from a dungeon. Been handy my partner for years now; goes well with my ranger skills.”

  The foreigner just…looked at him; “…you…found this in…‘a dungeon’?” She had heard of these so-called ‘dungeons’ before, but… Really? He had just…happened upon an advanced—relative to local standards—firearm at random?

  “Yeah… Dungeon is a where she”—he looked at the mage—“Got her dagger, and is where he”—he looked at the shield adventurer—“Got his sword and shield. Dungeons have a lot of cool stuff, not found anywhere else; it’s part of why we raid them.”

  “Uhuh…” Well, that was…interesting. Nevertheless, that was enough of this; the foreigner proceeded to back away, her attention firmly returning to their immediate matter at hand… “Well, let us help you all to get out of here…” She looked at the smooth yet hard crystalline walls surrounding, analyzing them.

  “Easier said than done…” the gunner thus remarked.

  Yet the foreigner looked at him; “I can climb the walls.” She concluded. Indeed, they were designed to be difficult to climb for most, but—for whatever reason—she was always stupidly proficient at climbing things; she was confident that she could climb them.

  “Climb? Did you just say you can climb these fucking walls?” Abruptly interjecting was the shield adventure’s lancing voice, to whom the foreigner so turned and stared. “No you fucking can’t.” He was utterly unconvinced; “Don’t need to brush yourself up for us, Copperslinger. Now’s not the fucking time.”

  ? … ? The foreigner stared at him. Without any other word, she simply holstered her revolving pistol and withdrew.

  She approached the nearest wall and looked up… Assessing it, evaluating it, she immediately identified a possible route up.

  They all watched as the foreigner so promptly began to…carefully and slowly yet nevertheless…climb, scaling the wall in effect and with…minimal, even if still present, struggles.

  “…oh?” the priestess mumbled.

  “…wow, alright… Show off then, girl…” the mage plainly remarked.

  “Huh, she can climb…” the gunner observed.

  The foreigner climbed half-way up to the entry crevice, before sliding herself back down and onto the ground, unscathed…largely. “See?” she immediately said after returning to them; “I do not say things to waste the time.”

  The shield adventurer groaned in a ugh; “Alrightly… Sure, sure… You can fucking climb.” he begrudgingly acknowledged; “But what good does that do us? Unless you can fucking carry a fully armored man on your back at the same time…”

  “Hmm…” The foreigner evaluated these denizens… “Maybe so, but I can handle much… However, it maybe safest to…perhaps attempt this with…” Her mask-obscured eyes looked at the weakest looking one of them…

  Yet suddenly, her breaths gasped as her attention went flinging straight towards that gargantuan corridor down afar… Her entire posture had shifted, her senses heightening as she stiffened.

  There was a sound echoing; many sounds. Thud. Thud. Thud. A slim tremor followed by a tremor, shaking ever-so barely but only growing.

  “Uhm…” The mage stood herself up, noticing… “Guys… The…veins, they are…starting to…” There was a squeezed horror within her voice…

  For indeed, those pinkish radiant veins within the crystalline materials all around began to…brighten, as if in reply; pulsate, as if…anticipating. A dreadful tension filled the air from all their trembling breaths.

  Stomp. Thump. Thud. Following along with the shrieks of something large and heavy being dragged and pulled against the rough ground. And, so very quickly, did those heavy stomp and tremoring thumps become a tremoring rush.

  “It… It… It’s… IT’S COMING BACK!” the mage shouted in flaring panic, the priestess herself squealing herself back up.

  “YEAH! WE CAN FUCKING TELL!” the shield adventurer shouted in turn; “SHIT! EVERYONE HUDDLE! HUDDLE! WE NEED THAT BARRIER! NOW!”

  The adventurers immediately huddled themselves together, as the entire chamber around throbbed more in those glowing veins of pinkish glimmer, reacting as if the very crystals were announcing their true allegiance.

  Yet before any such rituals or barrier conjuration could be invoked, it came charging through that corridor, its armored crystalline feet smashing into the ground once within the luminant light, crushing the floor from the energy of its sudden grinding halt; the piercing shrieks of its gargantuan sword being dragged onto the ground came to a stop. Towering afar, it simply stood there; its glowing pinkish, radiant and bright, eyes stared into those adventurers frozen by dread, lenses expanding…

  It had waited long enough, indeed; now was time to recontinue where its…little game had left off last…