...

Descending further into the spiral hallway, we end up in a large, ghastly room that gives off an otherworldly vibe. There's a giant metal door towering over us. That must be the exit. Hm? Someone is standing in front of it, and they’re not dressed in a hood. He's wearing a full set of silver armor. The gauntlets have metallic scallop fins on the forearm, its shoulders have singular spikes that resemble horns. Both the shoulders have a feature that resembles an eye, its fingers look like talons, and so do the feet. His helmet has no visor or slits to look out of.

"Hey, what are you standing there for?" Proxy intimidates. "Wanna fight!?"

"Proxy, stop! We just need to get out of here, so let's just try to slip past him."

The knight didn't respond to Proxy. He stands there, motionless.

"Not gonna say anything? Fine, let's just get it on, then!"

"Proxy, are you sure about this?"

"Don't worry, this'll be over in a flash. Besides, I don't think he'll let us through without a fight."

Proxy charges in, wasting no time. As he approaches the enemy, he goes for a downward slash that's aimed at the head. The knight blocks it with its sword. Its blade is the only one that makes a sound when they clashed. Proxy tries to sweep its legs, but it doesn't move an inch. The knight punches him in the face before he could get away.

"Proxy!"

He rolls away from his opponent. He gets up with a hand on his cheek and reverse gripping his sword. Taking a punch from a metal gauntlet like probably hurts like hell.

"You son of a bitch!"

Immediately, he rushes off to engage him. He swings his sword across its chest. It's just as effective as sweeping his legs. Proxy unleashes a series of strikes. Each one is just ineffective, as they don't leave a scratch on the knight's armor. He goes for another, but the enemy grabs his weapon.

"Let go, damn it!"

The knight reels back his fist.

"Proxy, it's about to hit you!"

My words are late to warn him. The knight's fist hits Proxy's face. He continues his assault. Little by little, Proxy's blood is spilling out. He's getting his ass handed to him. I need to do something! Searching around the room, I see a weapon on the ground. I run over to pick it up. Picking it up, I feel the wear and tear on the handle. Rust coats the blade like snow on a car. I can't do anything with this weapon. It's not sharp, and it's definitely not strong enough to use as a blunt weapon... Hang on. Proxy's weapon isn't sharp enough to tear through its armor, but it is strong enough to be used as a blunt weapon!

"Proxy!"

The knight is going to hit him again. Proxy lets go of his weapon since the knight has a firm grasp on it. He rolls under him right when he attacked. Proxy, who's now behind him, dropkicks him, staggering him. So I'm right! Heavy attacks are better for this fight. With the durability of that weapon and Proxy's strength, it might work!

"Proxy, pick up your sword!"

"Why should I? The damn thing is useless!"

"Just hit him with it!"

"But-"

"Just trust me!"

Shifting his attention to the stone sword, Proxy picks it up.

"Alright then. Let's give it a whirl!"

Without regard for his opponent's next move, he runs at the knight. The knight swings its sword at his head. Proxy slides under the knight, ending up behind him once again.

"Eat this, you metal asshole!"

He swings the sword like it's a baseball, hitting the back of the knight. The attack pushes the knight away from Proxy.

"That was a goddamn home run," Proxy exclaims.

The knight lets out a hiss. That proves my idea is correct. Blunt attacks work!

"Proxy, go for another hit!"

"Right! Proxy, heading to bat!"

Proxy goes on the offense. He hits the enemy with another swing of his sword. The knight swiftly avoids the attack, performing a counterstrike. Proxy parries it and delivers another strike to its side. However, it blocks with its arm, causing a giant dent in that same arm. Great, Proxy's able to put up a fight now. The two trade blows against each other's swords. It's getting too intense, and it looks like Proxy is putting an excessive amount of power into each of his blows. More of the knight's attacks are getting through, causing Proxy to sustain wounds. Despite the intensity of the fight, Proxy's demeanor catches my eye. He doesn't put too much effort into a fight. But now, he has this smile that makes it seem like he's having fun... It's kind of scary.

Proxy roars as he gears up to deliver his next attack. The two swords clash. The knight's sword splits in half.

"Sorry...did I break that?" Proxy sarcastically remarks. "Come on, let's keep the fight going, and I won't take no for an answer."

He collapses to his knees. It has to be due to all the damage he took, and the exhaustion from fighting the way he did! I run over to him to help him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah...peachy."

The knight has no weapon. We can probably make a run for it.

"This is our chance. Let's run while he has no weapon!"

"This fight isn't over... Not yet!"

"There's no time, you just have to..."

The knight has disappeared. There's no one to stop us from escaping. Demonic roars echo from the spiral hallway. I can feel the bloodlust, killing intent, and rage behind it. These feelings are truly awful to feel…! But I can't let it get to me. No matter what, I need to stay calm. I have to! Just breathe in, breathe out…

"Proxy, we need to get going!" I put his arm over my shoulder. We move toward the exit as quickly as possible. "Just hang on, Proxy! Proxy?" He's unconscious. Great, that's going to make it harder to carry him.

We slip through the door. Bright sunlight greets us as we exit. The outside is a ruined landscape with an uneven stone road, collapsed pillars, and tall trees as far as the eye can see. I don't know where to go and demons are coming our way. Dread is setting in. This is bad. What do we do...!? No, I can't feel fear. I have to muster up the courage, or else Proxy and I will get killed for it. I take Proxy's bag off my back and put it on Proxy's so I could carry him. It's still heavy, but I'm able to carry him now.

"Don't worry, Proxy. I'll get us out of here!"

I run as fast as I can. The screams are still audible. Stopping means death, and I refuse to accept that!

The Holy Lands - afternoon

After running for what seems to be an hour, we're far away from where we started. A while back, I saw something in the distance as I was running. Closing in, I see that it's a giant statue of a hand holding an axe. But the area around the statue has boulders placed right next to one another. It looks like they're placed to protect the area.

"Almost...there… Just...make it!"

My exhaustion is reaching its limit. I don't think I can keep running for much longer. As if to complete my thought, my legs give out. Me and Proxy hit the floor. Shit, I'm too exhausted to move anymore. The grass presses against my face. My eyelids are forcing themselves to close, so rest I can rest off this exhaustion. My mind is drifting off. This is my limit. It's so pathetic! I don't know what'll happen when I close my eyes, but I just hope we catch a lucky break.

The Holy Lands - Titan's axe - evening

The sound of crackling fire wakes me. It's the first thing I see. I get up from the hard surface I'm resting on. It appears to be night. Another thing I notice, I'm standing near the giant axe statue I saw earlier. Did someone bring us here?

"Ow!" My legs feel sore, but it isn't too bad to make walking difficult. I can see Proxy sitting next to the fire. Thank goodness he's okay. "Proxy," I call out to him.

He jerks his head to me.

"Richard, you're alright!"

He gets up to hug me.

"Easy, you’ll break something," I joke to ease the mood.

“I thought something happened to you.”

“I’m fine, but what about your wounds?”

“Don’t worry, they got patched up.”

He shows me bandages covering his wounds.

“By who?”

“That would be me.” A female voice takes credit for saving us. I turn my head to see that the woman has shoulder-length black hair. She's wearing a sleeveless leather vest with strings to tighten it. Her arms have some muscle on them, not too much, but they're well-toned. "Nice to see you awake, kid," the woman says.

Since she's the one that helped us, I have to give her a proper thank you.

“I’m Richard, and thank you for helping us.”

"You're welcome, and I’m Marie." She shakes my hand. “I couldn’t leave two boys out there who looked like they were on death's door. Though, I thought about it.”

That part causes me to jump back. “Seriously!?”

“I’m only kidding. Between your friend being cut up bad, and you being out cold, I couldn’t just leave you two out there. I'm about to roast the rest of dinner tonight. Your friend already ate, so you and I can have the rest.”

"Oh, come on, you can’t exclude me like that," Proxy complains.

“You already ate a Rigpog the moment you woke up! So you can go without dinner.”

“Meanie!”

...

Marie roasted an animal known as a Rigpog and served me some. She cooked in multiple cutlets, so I don't know what the animals looked like. I give some of my servings to Proxy, who's drinking a bottle of lemon tea he had in his bag. Honestly, I thought this thing was going to taste terrible, but fondly enough, it tasted good. Although, it had a strange texture when I took my first bite.

"So, you two don't know where you are, but you know a black book brought you here?" Marie reiterates the explanation I gave her while she was cooking.

"Well, that's what we're guessing," Proxy says.

"Can I see this book?"

"Knock yourself out."

Proxy takes out the book, handing the book to Marie. She opens the book, looking at the empty contents of it. "The pages are blank? Is that normal?"

"It's been like that ever since we found it. It sent us here when we were in danger," I explain to her.

"Hmm... I've never heard about a book transporting folks before."

“What about the monsters we saw.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if I believe you on that.”

Meaning she’s never seen the monsters we saw, let alone any at all.

"Well, that sucks," Proxy says as he lies down on the ground.

"But one thing is for certain: you lived against the Silent Knight," Marie says, reverent towards the name "Silent Knight."

Proxy smacks his fist against his hand. "That Bastard ran out on our fight when it was getting good."

"No need to appear tough. Just count your lucky star that he let you live."

"Yeah, and that'll be that tin-can's last mistake. You know where he lives?"

"I don't know. I thought he was only a fable."

Proxy sighs in frustration. "Shit..."

"But getting away from the knight, what are you two going to do now?" Marie asks us.

"We...don't know," I answer.

This is bad. We have nowhere to sleep for tonight, and I know Proxy and I have no experience in the wilderness.

"In that case, you can stay in my camp for as long as you want.”

“You would allow us to?”

“Sure... But you’ll have to do one little job for me."

She takes on a dead-serious expression the moment she says that. Hmm, her words so far aren't malicious or anything like that, but I am getting a feeling of desperation. Yet, I'm also reading a warm feeling from her as well. It isn't happiness, nor excitement... What is this?

"I had a feeling there was a catch," Proxy shares his suspicions.

"There's a price for everything. And to be honest, I don't allow anyone to stay in my camps. But this is a special exception since you're both kids with nowhere to go. However, being a freeloader is not an option."

She has a point. We are freeloading here if we do nothing. Plus, the look in her eyes is too intimidating to say no to her. Staying on her good side is a sound idea.

"What's the job?" Proxy asks her for details.

Marie gets up from the ground. She stretches her arms and legs. “I'll tell you in the morning, I'm tired. I’ve been hunting all day long. You two should get some rest as well. Because tomorrow, you got work to do."

"Got it, boss lady," Proxy replies.

Marie leaves us for another area of the camp. After a while, we had put out the fire to head to sleep. I tried to take the best position possible for the ground. Luckily, there's a part with grass, but it's still uncomfortable.

"Hey, Richard," Proxy whispers.

“Yeah?”

“I think we might be in an ‘another world’ situation."

"How do you figure that?" I asked, sarcastic in tone.

"Well... I'm just going on what I saw in fiction and comparing it to our situation." Depending on how you view that, this could be an okay time, or the worse time of our lives. Right now, we’re not exactly living it up in some palace. But, hey, since we're here, we might as well get comfortable. I have a feeling we're gonna be here for a while."

A while, huh? I wonder what's going on back home? What happened to the concert hall? Are the police investigating what happened as we speak? Too many questions surface from the back of my mind, making it even more nerve-wracking.

“Are you okay, buddy?” Proxy suddenly asks me, concerned in tone.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“I mean, after your episode in the tower, I’m a bit worried for ya.”

“Like I said, I’m not perfectly fine, but I’m holding up.”

He lets out a relieved breath of air. “That’s good. You had me worried.”

“I’m sorry that I did.”

“It’s cool. Besides, I can understand why you broke down like that. What we went through would stress anyone out. But don’t worry, let me worry about fighting and everything will be a-okay.”

Speaking of fighting, that reminded me of what I observed from him when he was fighting the knight. It might have been me, but I can’t help but want to confirm what I saw.

"Proxy, when you were fighting, weren’t you scared? Actually, scratch that, do you ever get scared when you fight?"

“Scared…? Well, normally when I fight punks on the streets, I know I can beat them, so not really.” I expected as much. “...But there was something about that fight that made me lose a bit of my composure. I can't say how I felt exactly, but I felt something. My heart was pounding, my chest was on fire, and my arms were trembling."

“So you were scared?”

“Nah, I definitely wasn’t. I felt a rush going through my body!”

A rush? How could anyone feel excited about fighting against a person or a thing like that? Before I can question him, he takes out a Cassette player. He places a tape inside it.

"I didn't know you had a cassette player?"

"If it can play music and it can play the music I like, I have it."

He puts on the headphones linked to the cassette player, pressing play when they're on. Guess he's going to sleep. I should do the same. I turn my attention to the sky. It looks no different from our world's sky. However, there are more stars, and it seems like you can see the MilkyWay from here. Without buildings in the way, the sky is brimming with stars.

"The stars are amazing here... I wish she could see them, too..."

I get up to dig into Proxy’s bag for my three-deck boxes I have in it. We were going to play them during the start-up of the concert. Thinking about it now, how were we going to do that in there? I take out a card from box #1. It has no design. It's completely white. I raise it to the sky, aligning it with the stars. If I hold this towards the sky, she'll be able to see it too, won't she?

“Are you up there, Mother? If you are, just know I’m doing alright and I miss you, very much.”

More than you could realize...

The Holy Lands - Titan's axe - Morning

"Rise and shine, man." Proxy's voice wakes me up. The morning sun hits my eyes as they open. "Come on, get up!" I get off the floor. After stretching my arms and legs, I take out my glasses from my chest pocket and put them on. "You look like crap. Stayed up late?"

"A bit. I was messing with my cards. What’s going on?"

"I’m going to go do the job Marie gave me."

"Already? Where to?"

"To some mine. She needs something from there, so I have to get it for her, or else we'll have to pack up and leave."

"Where is it?"

"She marked it down on this map she gave me.."

There are two marks on the map: where we are, and where the mine is. We're currently in the lower southeast area of this region. We're near the sea at the far end of the east. The target is west of here. It doesn't seem to be far from here. Oddly enough, the region the map is showing is relatively small. Is this all there is to this place, or is this just a condensed version of a world map based on this region? Either way, I guess it doesn't matter right now.

"Okay, we know where to go."

Proxy scratches the back of his head. "Actually, I think it’s better if you stay here."

"What? Why?"

"Who knows what’s waiting there? And if there're more monsters out here, then I don't think it's a good idea to bring you.”

"But I can’t let you go alone. I’m going.”

“What if you--”

“Don't worry about me! There won’t be a repeat of what happened yesterday, so take me with you. If you say no, then I’ll follow you there.”

Proxy glances at me, then to the sky. He lets out a sigh. “Are you sure?”

“I am...”

“Fine... You better have my back, buddy.”

He puts out his hand for a hi-five. I clap my hand against his hand, producing a thunderous sound.

“Of course. Same with you. Hm?” I just noticed Proxy has a sheath for his sword. It's strapped to his belt. "Did you make that?"

"I got the sheath from Marie." He twirls the sword in his hand, putting it away in his sheath. "But enough about that. Come, my mighty comrade! To adventure and glory, and all that other junk,"

He runs off to the exit of this place.

"Wait for me!"

I pick up a deck box and put it in my pocket. Soon after, I run to catch up to Proxy.

The Holy Lands - Hell mine - Morning

We arrive at a signpost that's right next to a cracked open part of the land. It goes deep underground. It's wide enough for several people to enter all at once. The signpost says: "Worksite Mine - name: the Hell Mine". What a scary name.

"Is this the place?" I ask Proxy.

"This is the place. It looks just like what Marie said it would be. Besides, you're the one who read the map."

True, but this is my first time doing it without an app.

"What are we going to do here?"

"She said she wants us to get something. Some kind of weapon that's being held here. She said the head honcho probably has it."

"I see."

The mine is letting out a lukewarm feeling. I have a bad feeling about this place.

"Proxy, we..."

Looking at Proxy, I don't see a hint of fear on his face. Just an expression brimming with confidence. I have to emulate that attitude! Now's not the time to be scared. I smack my cheeks to psyching myself up for this.

Proxy puts on his goggles. "Ready for this, Richard?"

"Yeah!"

"Good, then let's get to work. . ."

With my motivation propped up, we descended into the tunnel.