Coughing up dust as they were teleported somewhere else yet again, Prim and Elise did their best to recover from the sudden dungeon implosion that had interrupted their extremely cozy little victory nap.

“Nnn… I-I thought the dungeon was supposed to be over… oh, Moni, Glass, t-there you both are…!”

“Oh, Elise, Prim, welcome back. I was kinda hoping you both didn’t get… y’know, exploded, so that’s nice…”

“Nothing I’m not used to after knowing you this long…”

“So… is this how she always-”

“Yes.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Chk.”

“Hey! Not always, c’mon!”

“…chk?”

Furrowing her brow and crossing her arms, the fox pouted to herself, the others taking the time look around the area they’d been whisked away to this time.

The dungeon long gone behind them, both halves of the party had been whisked away to a relatively clear patch of trees on the outskirts of the bog from before, the ground here actually firm enough to not drown in again. A corner of the massive central field from before sat nearby, with a much smaller rock and gravel expanse stretching out opposite it, between them both sitting the edge of the snowy area they’d been rushing for since the start of the event.

And while they’d been preoccupied underground, the sun had taken its leave for the day as well, a half moon already hanging low overhead as the first night had already fallen around them.

“I really didn’t think we were in there that long, the first day’s already over…”

“We spent most of the day before that traveling though, I’m not surprised it’s this late out here.”

“Hey, a-at least we got an entire dungeon done day one though! T-That’s gotta be good progress, right?”

“Mmm… with how stretched out first two dungeons were, she’s got a point… can’t imagine most guilds did more than one of ‘em that long the first day…”

“Well, we just gotta get going while everyone else is sleeping then, we can’t just let everyone else get the lead on us-”

Still full of energy and fighting spirit, their eager kitsune rushed forward towards the moonlit ice and snow, heedless to much anything else around her, including the invisible chain still snugly binding her to her least favorite party member, getting snagged backwards as she was yanked backwards into the swamp.

“Wh- Still? Shouldn’t these damn things have gotten blown up with the rest of that stupid dungeon?”

She grabbed the transparent metal, yanking on it like an untrained dog on a leash.

[Unyielding Bonds – 00:47:23 remaining]

“Huh… it’s like a… timed ailment, I guess…?”

“Oh I get it, it’s supposed to be hindrance to keep you from just waltzing out with the points to the next dungeon, that’s actually kinda clever.”

“You’re telling me I have to stay chained to this airhead for another hour?”

“I-I don’t think we can really fight like this… if I do any t-tanking now, it’s just gonna get Prim hurt or worse…”

“And I’d… really rather not get blown up again…”

“Sounds like we’re all calling it a day, then?”

“I’m not happy about it but… yeah, fine, we’ll find a place to hide and sleep.”

“Chkchk!~”

Their excitable little team mascot was already on it, waving several fuzzy forelimbs over at them all, having found a tucked-away little cavern in the rocky area nearby, just far enough out of the way to be hidden.

All of them quietly (or as quietly as possible, in Elise’s clanging and clattering case) made their way over, careful to not attract the attention of any other players in the area that may have been waiting for a good chance to ambush someone in the dark.

The cave was damp and chilly, the moonlight outside not quite reaching inside. Prim cautiously took out her lamp long enough to check that the hole was empty, tucking it away again before they all piled in one-by-one. It wasn’t exactly spacious inside, but after a bit of scooting and squirming and squeezing, the five of them all managed to get tucked away, huddled up tight together.

It was almost strangely silent outside, the near-constant sound of clashing steel gone entirely as all sides had lost the energy to keep at it any longer, distant dots of light marking guild campsites all across the fields outside.

Managing to finally get cozy enough in their makeshift save point, they all sank down, easing off their tired legs and onto the surprisingly warm stone floor. With how long they’d taken to get settled, the chains had finally begun slipping free, clattering to the floor before dissolving into wisps of light.

“Aaahhh… I h-hadn’t even realized how tired I was, ehe… the day hasn’t felt that long honestly, but we’ve been up and running b-basically the whole time, huh?”

“You said it, all that pushing and shoving in the dungeon back there got my spine in a knot too, guh.”

“…wait, what were you two doing in there…?”

“J-Just a couple quick puzzles, it was a little b-boring honestly.”

“Puzzles…?”

“Yeah, we never ended up going for the combat options, kinda wish we’d mixed it up more while we could. Why, what’d you both pick for your rooms?”

“…pick…?”

“Combat options…?”

The three combat survivors looked at one another blankly, completely oblivious of whatever mechanic the less battered pair were on about. Prim, slowly realizing what she’d put their other half through, quickly tried to divert the subject away.

“Oh, um, well… right, we got the rewards over on our side, see?”

She pulled up a list of recent items, flipping it over to show the others.

“That… seems like a lot of gold…”

“Wow, yeah, you guys really raked it in over there huh? Already getting close to a thousand points on day one too!”

“E-Ehe, yeah, and it was all pretty eas-”

“Pretty easily missed too, yep, what with all the chaos we also definitely had over on our side too, yeah!”

The crafter laughed a bit too loud and a bit too forced, quickly breaking eye contact as she fiddled with their supplies, running inventory one what they’d used and what all they had left.

“Mm… if we’re done for the day then… guess I’ll try and get some sleep…”

“I’m getting exhausted here too, maybe I should follow suit…”

“O-Oh, right, okay! You all go ahead and r-rest, I’ll keep watch!”

“Nope, you’re going to bed with ‘em. I’m keeping watch.”

Their caster had already scooted to the front of the packed cave, headed towards the entrance on their own.

“Wait, no i-it’s okay, really I don’t mind-”

Halfway through getting herself upright again, she was rewarded with a swift staff bonk to the skull, both hands holding her sore head as she was knocked right back down again.

“Didn’t you just say you were tired? Get some rest while you’ve got some time to drop the full metal cocoon for a bit, you need it. And I’m already a night owl by nature, so it’s not like I’d get much rest this early in the night anyways.”

“You sure Moni…? If Elise needs to sleep, I can-”

“Ah ah ah, not you either! And I already see the fist-brained idiot starting to speak up too, all three of you are going to sleep. Guild leader’s orders!”

“But…”

“No buts, go on, shoo, shoo. If I need anything I’m perfectly good at being very loud and waking people up, so until then you’re all getting some shut-eye.”

“…okay…”

“I-I get it, I get it…”

“Fine… just come wake me up if you need to trade shifts, alright?”

“Thanks, I’ll try and take you up on it. Now go already before I stop feeling so benevolent, dummies.”

Eventually all of them shuffled back further into the cavern, leaving the kitsune all alone in the moonlit entrance, sighing quietly to herself before stepping back outside.

Night had fallen hard on the event field, the scattered campfires slowly being snuffed out one after another as the last few sentries took off for the evening, the moon above hanging almost low enough to reach up and touch in the pitch black countryside.

Wanting an actual viewpoint rather than the obscured little corner to peek out from the cliffside offered, she carefully scaled the hill a ways up, the nimble little fox easily hopping her way up the nearly sheer edifice, finding a quiet little outcropping to perch on and keep watch over almost the entire field around them.

Truth be told, she had been plenty tired, and a good long nap sounded perfect right about now. But more so than that…

“Hmm… I really haven’t ever just… taken a bit to just look around like this, huh. Everything’s been so fast and busy since I started, I kinda forgot to ever just enjoy the scenery like this…”

She inhaled deeply, drinking in the night air, a slight chill running over her as she bundled herself up a bit. It felt like a night in late autumn, like there should have been fallen leaves and carved pumpkins dotting the landscape around her. And even without them it was still plenty beautiful. A field of stars twinkled overtop everything, the land underneath glistening in the dull light, two twinned pairs of lights mirroring one another in the darkness.

Even though she knew it was all digital, it was hard to not appreciate how tranquil everything was. Without the sounds of bloodshed disturbing the calm, she could’ve almost just fall asleep right then and there.

Her eyes closed, breathing in and out, taking in the quiet sounds of the wild.

The echoed chirping of crickets calling out.

The fluttering flapping of owls’ wings as they swooped by.

The distant rustling of players moving about, too far away to notice her listening.

The almost imperceptibly silent rustling of pebbles tumbling downhill-

…

Muscle memory took hold before the thought even finished registering, legs tensing under her as she shot up and away from the cliffside, a tingle of instinct overpowering the cold wind seeping into her bones.

Barely leaving a single hair’s width of distance between her and a flash of silver, a razor-thin dagger slicing at empty air as she narrowly avoided losing most of her throat.

Her feet met the ground below, staff already in hand as her eyes scanned over the hillside for her assailant… only to find nothing at all, not so much as a glimpse of the knife that had nearly taken her head off.

Another faint rustle from her left, grass being pushed down underfoot. Instinct moved her muscles again, dropping low and stepping in towards the sound rather than dodge away from it.

“Buh-”

The same dagger flashed above her, nicking one of her ears as she shoulder checked the body behind it, knocking her light-footed attacker off balance.

“Shock…!”

Her voice was barely a whisper, not daring to make enough noise to draw additional threats towards her in the dark, twisting around to make sure her back was still covering the cave entrance her friends were fast asleep in.

Nearly too fast to get a good look at, the unbalanced assassin was already beginning to lunge away out of sight again… but was just a hair’s breadth slower on the reaction than she had been, the dull blue electricity grazing against their heel, turning them to a motionless brick mid-leap as they skidded along the ground helplessly.

“Tch… alright, alright, you got me, my loss~”

The previously deathly silent attacker was now giggling to themselves, seemingly satisfied with the encounter even as they were turned into a particularly amused doorstop.

A few more Shocks and a couple Silkshots made sure they were well and truly bound and disabled, rolling them onto their back to get a good look at them.

“My my, quite the little sadist now, aren’t we? And every bit as fast as I was led to believe on top of it… such a curious little enigma you are…”

“What, is Night Castle sending assassins after me now?”

“Oh, please, don’t lump me in with those numb-skulled oafs, I actually take pride in my own work.”

“Then what? I’m not exactly making that many enemies here, and you seem like you’re hunting me personally.”

“Ding ding ding!~ The lady has it exactly right, you are in fact the current topic of intrigue among… several very excitable and interested parties, shall we say. One of which included the illustrious personage standing, or rather, lying, before you right this second~”

Now that she could actually get a good look at him, it was hard to get much of a read on them still. They were dressed head to do in tightly bundled black cloth, equally nondescript gloves and boots capping each limb. A hood was pulled over their head, leaving only their face visible… or it would have, had they not been wearing a mask to cover even that, split black and white halves, contrasting grin and grimace on each side, both appearing to be half of the paired comedy and tragedy masks theatre groups loved having hung on display.

“Not terribly sure what I did to earn the interest of a stalker clown, but I’d love to stop whatever it is while I still can…”

“Oh what haven’t you done, though? Beast tamer, dungeon conqueror, guild leader… even coy enough to slip out of town the first day while anyone in eyesight would’ve killed to know where a kitsune had wandered in from. You’ve got quite a reputation, Spider Queen, even if most everyone thinks it’s all nothing more than unrelated rumors.”

“Ugh… you’re really not making any effort to keep me from wanting to just kill you here, you know that right?”

“By all means, feel free! I can’t imagine you could really do it too successfully without alerting most anyone in earshot while your precious guildmates are sleeping soundly inside, however.”

“…Haz-”

“W-Wait wait wait, I’m not done yet, I had more to tell you here…!”

She clutched her staff almost tight enough to snap it in half, a vein throbbing on her forehead, talking to this strange little jester giving her a throbbing headache.

“…fine, go ahead.”

They managed to wriggle themselves around enough to sit upright, webbing still keeping their arms and legs bound up snugly so they couldn’t get too far.

“Right, well yes, so… I only came out here to make sure those rumors weren’t just rumors. I’ve been dying to see how I square up against an actual myth of a superboss, and-”

As they prattled on, she slowly reared her staff backwards, assuming a perfectly practiced golf swing pose.

“I-I’m getting to it, hang on! Look, I understand I was being a bit selfish with hunting you out like this, so I thought to bring something of a gift as my way of apology for indulging my curiosity~”

Strung-together hands clumsily ruffled through their pouch, digging around for something. Eventually, they turned themselves around, tossing something back towards her feet.

Cautiously crouching to pick it up, she turned it over in her hands, inspecting it.

“A… key?”

“Just a little trinket I snatched off some poor fool earlier today, managed to slip out with it and their hard-earned dungeon completion token before their guild knew what had even happened, ehe~”

[Frostbite Manor – Servant’s Entry Key]

It was bone-chillingly cold to the touch, emitting a constant haze of cold fog, seemingly carved from a single block of unmelting permafrost. Doubtful as she was, her own curiosity won out, slipping it into her own inventory.

“Gee, how nice of you to fence off your stolen belongings through me, I really appreciate it…”

“You were headed towards that exact building right this very moment, were you not? I can’t imagine you’d be against finding something tucked away in there while you’re at it, am I wrong? Somewhere that popular isn’t quite my cup of tea, so not like I’d get much use out of the thing.”

“Hmph. As long as you don’t try and slit my throat again, I suppose we’re mostly even then…? Though I’d appreciate if you could stop, y’know, stalking me?”

“I can promise you wouldn’t notice any more of it!~”

“…you could at least try a little harder to hide it…”

They chuckled to themselves, the Gloom Mage quickly growing more exhausted the longer she spent dealing with them.

“Look, I think we’re done here. And seeing as I don’t trust a single word out of your mouth, the only way you’re leaving is a one-way trip into low orbit, I’m afraid-”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t dare impose on you to send me off yourself. I’ll go ahead and show myself the door this evening.”

“What do you-”

“Slipstep!~”

The fox jumped backwards as they called out a skill, bracing her staff in both hands, only just barely catching how lax her defenses had been… only to see the strange little clown whisking themselves back to the treeline above, laughing to themselves in the moonlight as they vanished back into the night, just as silently as they’d appeared.

“…and people keep calling me the weird one.”

Taking a few minutes to scan the area around her, she made sure no one else had arrived to interrupt her night watch, checking in on the rest of her party to find all four of them fast asleep and totally unharmed, breathing a sigh of relief.

She decided against returning to her perch above, deciding to wedge herself back into the cavern near the door, shutting her tired eyes as she got some much deserved rest.