Hannah – POV
Floor 115.
The elevator doors groaned open and the stale, metallic air of the lower mines spilled into my lungs. The darkness here wasn't natural—it felt older, heavier. Every sound was distant, like the stone itself was listening.
I stepped out first, katana drawn. The blade hummed faintly in my grip, the glow of lava-red steel casting a flickering halo against the stone walls.
"You really just walk out like that?" Abigail whispered behind me, her sword half-drawn, already trembling slightly in her grip.
"Thinking gets you killed down here," I said flatly. "React. Then breathe."
Sebastian said nothing as he stepped onto the floor, arms crossed over his chest. His face unreadable as always, eyes scanning the shadows like he was bored rather than cautious.
"Sebastian I brought you a weapon, I had this old sword in my closet meant for cosplaying, but it's pretty sharp." Abigail explains. Then she pulled out a hammer and handed it to Sebastian.
"I get a hammer?" He asked flatly.
"It's all I had." She defended herself.
I moved forward.
The corridor narrowed. I heard a sharp screech sound and saw the little armored figure shaped like a toaster approaching. Shadow Shaman.
"Shadow Shaman" I muttered, tightening my grip.
Three of them erupted from the shadows like shadows come alive—They noticed our presence stood still, while green lasered orbs dispersed around us.
Abigail yelped and ducked back. Sebastian didn't flinch. I surged forward.
The katana moved like it had a mind of its own.
One clean arc—first Shaman down, body split in half as it hit the ground.
I pivoted, my boots skidding slightly on the stone. A Squid kid then emerged—I met it mid-air, driving the blade through its circular figure and letting it fall behind me in a heap. Then three Lava Bats spawned. Mid-flight—I spun, blade upward, catching it through the chest with a sound like tearing cloth bat wings fell to the ground. I picked them up and put them in my bag.
"Ew." Sebastian said. I looked over at him, "What I need these."
Silence followed.
Abigail peeked over my shoulder, stunned. "That sword—it's so sharp it's like... cutting air."
"It is," I said simply.
She didn't reply.
A chorus of low groans vibrated the floor beneath us. Shadows shifted—and a group of Shadow Brutes emerged from the next cavern. They were massive. Broad. Clubs the size of tree trunks dragged across the floor.
I glanced at Sebastian. Still cold. Still quiet.
"You good?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Was waiting for something interesting."
Abigail made a face. "You two are insane."
"Just don't freeze," I told her, then launched forward. "I'd rather you take that thing and spin than to freeze."
The first brute raised its club—I dropped low and drove my blade up under its arm. The steel slid in with barely any resistance. I yanked it out, sidestepped the second's swing, and ducked under Sebastian's hammer as it smashed the brute's leg. Abigail struck one from behind as it turned toward me, her blade glancing off its thick hide.
"Not deep enough!" I called out.
She gritted her teeth. "I noticed!"
I finished it for her. One swift blow across the spine and the brute fell hard.
We cleared the chamber in less than two minutes. I wiped the blade on my sleeve as Abigail leaned against the wall, catching her breath.
"You... Hannah..." she panted, wide-eyed. "You're really—good."
I laughed still catching my breath. I sheathed the katana and checked the tunnel ahead.
Sebastian walked past her with zero urgency, stopping beside me as we approached the next floor's ladder.
"She's not 'good,'" he said, voice low. "She's meant for this."
Abigail stared between us, breathless. "When did this happen?"
"When no one was watching," I replied.
I started climbing down to Floor 119. My muscles ached. My mind buzzed. But my hands were steady. My heart was steady.
This was what I was made for.
Floor 119.
The further down we went, the more the air felt... wrong.
It was heavy here, laced with something ancient—like breathing in dust from a sealed tomb. The faint green glow of the lantern Abigail carried barely cut through the darkness, and even the steady warmth of my katana felt dulled by the oppressive chill.
We'd barely stepped off the ladder when the first wave hit.
A screeching mass of Shadow Shamans floated in from the darkness, their robes whispering against the stone floor, casting hexes and dark pulses that warped the air.
"Behind!" I shouted, spinning just in time to block a clawed fist aimed at Abigail. She stumbled back, wide-eyed.
I lunged forward and sliced clean through the shaman's chest—the energy around it crackled and died with a hiss. Another one to the left raised its staff—I was already there. The katana moved like it had been waiting for this.
Sebastian, beside me, had taken a quieter role—knocking lava bats out of the air with one plunge of the hammer each one finding its target with methodical precision.
Abigail, to her credit, was holding her own now. She ducked and weaved, avoiding the worst of the attacks, and managed a solid hit on one of the shamans. But it was clear—this wasn't her element.
It was mine.
When the last creature faded into dust, the cavern was still again. No one spoke for a while. Just the sound of shallow breathing and crackling torches behind us.
Sebastian leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "One more floor."
I nodded, heart pounding but steady. My hands gripped the katana like it was part of me now.
Floor 120.
The final ladder was old—almost fossilized. I descended first, every part of me on edge. As my boots touched the bottom, the ground felt different beneath me. Solid. Heavy.
The floor stretched out like a vault carved into the stone. The walls were smoother, etched with faint, ancient markings I couldn't read. The air shimmered faintly around a pedestal in the center of the chamber.
There it was.
The Skull Key.
It sat in the middle of the pedestal, pulsing with a faint blue light. Smaller than I expected, but something about it buzzed against my skin like static. A key made of obsidian, etched with symbols that looked older than the mines themselves.
I stepped toward it, slowly, reverently.
"You made it," Abigail whispered from behind me, in awe. "You really did it..."
I didn't answer. I reached forward and wrapped my fingers around the key.
It was cold—freezing, actually—and for a split second I felt like it might burn my skin. But then it settled. And I felt... clarity.
Sebastian stood a few feet behind me. "So what now? Skull Cavern?"
I looked back at him and laughed. He was unreadable, as always, but I could feel it—the concern behind the indifference, but he smiled. This time I saw confidence in him that knew I could do this.
"The Cavern is next, but I hope that this journey showed you two that I can do this. Alone."
Abigail began to interject, but Sebastian cut her off.
"I know you can do it." His eyes pierced into mine with no further explanation. Butterflies sat in the bottom of my stomach. His words meant more to me than he would ever know. Even Abigail looked shock that Sebastian said this.
"Thank you." I smiled. I felt the wall I built slowly come back down, like it so badly wants to.
Abigail walked forward, eyeing the key. "so that is what we risked our lives for."
I nodded. "Only the beginning."
I turned the key in my hand. It caught the light in a strange way—like it didn't belong to this world. My fingers trembled just slightly.
Not from fear.
From purpose.
This was why I came here. This was why the Junimos chose me. Why I'd felt that pull the second I stepped onto the farm. My grandfather didn't just leave me a house and a field.
He left me a path.
And now... I held the key.
"Let's get out of here." I say relieved that now all I have to do is prep for the Skull Cavern. My friends have a new found confidence in me that they didn't see before.
Sebastian gave a nod. Abigail didn't say anything, just looked at me like she was seeing me for the first time.
We left the local mines in silence.
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