Kaiden and Naō followed a trail of map indicators. They traveled through the city and passed by adorning shops with players around buying and selling different items. There were several other players that chilled out in certain section of the game’s worlds as they idly talked to their friends. The quest marker continued their trek as they got deeper into the city parts where the lanterns that hung above them started to flicker, the buildings started to look sparse, and the broken pavement gave way to dark ivy roots curling up from between cobblestones.

  The waypoint marker delegated them to the city’s outer ring, where alleyways bent around brick corridors that looked like there was going to be a surprise horror any moment.

  Eventually, they reached it: a sunken entry tucked behind a collapsed shopfront. Fungal growths glowed faintly around the frame. The door creaked open as they approached, reacting like a motion-triggered mechanism.

  Belgrave’s hideout had Crates of old alchemical tools shoved into the corners, scrolls littered the long table that spanned the center. But the air was different.

  Thicker and suffocating. Like something they couldn’t see was in the air.

  Belgrave stood near the far end, his back turned. He didn’t turn right away when they entered.

  “You came,” he said, voice a bit more gravel than Kaiden remembered.

  “Quest triggered automatically,” Naō replied, eyeing the surroundings like some of the spores would jump out and attack him right then and there. Belgrave finally turned. His eyes were duller. Not lifeless, but lacking focus like his mind kept pulling in and out of conciousness. The kind of look someone might have after a long illness or too little sleep.

  “Dayslayers…yes, of course. I’ve been tracking the spores. Something changed after I returned to the city. There’s a root system growing under the east sector. It isn’t quite normal.” He gestured to a rough map pinned to the wall, sketched in charcoal and smudged ink. “There’s a sample I need. A volatile root segment in the maintenance tunnels beneath Sector Six. I tried going myself but... the entry’s sealed with rot.”

  Kaiden raised an eyebrow. “So you want us to do your dirty work?”

  Belgrave nodded. “There’s a vial I left behind. It should’ve consumed yet by the rot, but it might only be a matter of time. Bring it to me. Carefully.”

  Kaiden opened his quest log.

  [Quest Updated: Belgrave’s Request – Part II]

  Objective: Retrieve the Corrupted Root Vial from the Sector Six tunnel breach.

  “We’ll head there now,” Kaiden said.

  Belgrave waved them off distractedly and returned to his workbench. Kaiden watched him for a moment longer. Something about his movements felt sluggish, even for an NPC.

  ???°?°???

  The entrance to Sector Six was below street level, through a crumbling service hatch half-swallowed by vines. Kaiden descended, the air thickened. It didn’t just smell earthy and damp, but sour, like spoiled milk.

  Naō dropped beside him, down the shaft. “That’s a lot of rot.”

  Kaiden hummed in agreement.

  The tunnels hissed with ambient sound. Water dripped somewhere far off. Their first encounter didn’t take long to appear.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  [Enemy Detected: Spore Bloater]

  A humanoid figure shaped ith vine-wrapped fungus stumbled forward, then swelled grotesquely as it sensed them.

  [Cell detected: 8]

  “Don’t let it pop near you,” Naō shouted. Kaiden lunged with a horizontal slash and cut through its roots, taking off a portion of its defenses [-64 RD]. The creature buckled under the weight of the attack and tried to strike Kaiden, but he sidestepped the creature and cut it through its underbelly, delivering another attack to its core roots.

  [-30 RD]

  [-28 RD]

  The creature burst upon impact at the fourth and final strike, but its defeat ended up in a countermeasure against them because the spore particles drifted through the air and dispelled around them causing a debuff effect.

  Sporerot: Healing reduced 25% for 30 seconds]

  Naō tossed a suppressant vial, clearing the air around them.

  “They’re getting more aggressive,” Kaiden said.

  “And smarter,” Naō figured. “It’s like it wanted to get hit just to let the spores get to us.”

  Further down the damp corridor, two Tanglehounds leapt from the shadows. They had wolfish-like bodies made from thorned branches and sinew.

  [Cell count: 8]

  Kaiden rolled sideways as one pounced at him causing damage to his life points. He countered with a quick dash, and appeared behind the enemy, and slicing upward [-25 RD]. He followed up with another attack to its core [-25 RD], then a downward strike, [-30 RD] until the cells were broken down completely.

  [Stem Exposed!]

  Naō burned the second with a corrosive draught [-55 LP] [DEF Down Applied]. Kaiden sent several strikes to the enemy, cutting through its life points. The hound nipped at his heels, taking a small bit of health, but he followed the attack with another strike to its inner core. [-25 LP], [-38 LP], [-34 LP]. The fight ended in a burst of spore-matter and cracked bark.

  Naō had to keep tossing vials of antioxidants to clear the area of poison.

  “How you doing on antidotes, Naō?” Kaiden asked from the front.

  Naō looked through his inventory, taking count. “Fine for now, but if this keeps going at this rate, I’ll have to find a place to craft more and I only have a few crafting materials.”

  Kaiden took that into consideration. They would need to keep their distance as best as they could to avoid getting sprayed and debuffed.

  At the far end of the tunnel, where the roots grew the thickest, a twisted growth pulsed against the wall like a rotting tumor. Embedded in its center was a thin, metallic vial, its core glowing purple.

  [Item Acquired: Corrupted Root Vial]

  There was no description tag when he took it. Not even a ping from the quest log.

  “That’s... kind of weird?” Naō said quietly. “Maybe it’ll jump in when we get to the surface again?”

  Kaiden tried to store it in a utility pouch, but it floated to a reserved slot in his quick-access inventory instead.

  “Didn’t even give me a choice,” he muttered.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Naō replied. “Place is giving me the creeps.”

  Kaiden couldn’t agree more.

  ???°?°???

  Back in the hideout, Belgrave seemed to have forgotten they had showed up.

  “Oh, you again?” he finally asked, almost absently.

  Kaiden offered the vial. Belgrave stared at it for a moment.

  “What is this? I didn’t ask for this.” He shook his head but still took the vial anyway, before turning away.

  Naō glanced at Kaiden, eyebrows lifted. It was as if he acted like he had never seen them before.

  [Quest Complete: Belgrave’s Request – Part II]

  +300 Verdant Coins, Reward: Spore-Scoured Band

  Kaiden equipped the ring-shaped band and it immediately added +20 DEF to his stats. Belgrave didn’t say anything else, closing out the quest altogether.

  He returned to his workbench and began scribbling something on a scrap of paper, muttering to himself. Kaiden thought he caught the word “cycle,” but nothing else.

  They left the lab in silence, the door creaking closed behind them.