A quick glance at the on-screen map revealed... nothing. Varying shades of gray marked out terrain, yet magic portals and more importantly the field's dungeon were unaccounted for. He held a hand up above his eyes as if to shield them; above, the virtual sun shone brightly through feather-whisps of clouds. "Pfft, Fairy Orbs. We're supposed to explore on our own! It's more fulfilling that way."
His companion didn't look very impressed, nor did she stop her angry pacing. "It's faster if we know exactly where we're going. I want this over with as soon as possible."
"Tsk, tsk, Mimiru-chan," he chided softly. "It's hard to enjoy yourself if you rush through everything." Step by step he began to wander out into the field, heading towards a cluster of tall stones. Dungeons typically were marked off with such structures, and it might sooth Mimiru's nerves to know at least half of their venture - locating the dungeon that is meant to be explored - had been completed without much of a hitch.
A cut off noise, like gasp and a growl mashed together into a single gutteral utterance, was the only sound she made. Seemed like she wasn't in the mood for complaining today, a notion that surprised Sora just a little. In silence they walked with Mimiru trailing behind, and as they drew closer it became clear that Sora's intuition was right. The stones they approached were clumped together in a circular formation, with a single thicker stone sitting in the middle. At its base, the opening of a cavern gaped, with torches lit on either side of the entry way. "There it is!" she yelped finally, making for a hasty jog towards it.
It was because of the smug leer she shot towards Sora that she didn't pick up upon a very significant detail: from the entry way came the faintest sounds of fear. That is, gasping, the rapid patter of footsteps, hasty scritch-scratch of weapons rubbing against stone. Up the slight incline came a Blademaster looking a little more than frightened. His eyes were wide with panic and the pace at which he stumbled out into the light immediately set Sora on edge. A very familliar expression... One didnt go around as a Player Killer without being familliar with such a face.
When the Blademaster spotted them he flailed his arms about, yelling, "Help!" Mimiru halted herserlf abruptly before she ran into the poor player, and for a moment she fogot about her predicament. "What happened?"
The man heaved and collapsed onto his knees at Mimiru's feet, glancing nervously back into the darkness of the dungeon entrance. His sword had been dropped along the way up, and it glinted coldly from the bleak hollowed stone. "Some weird monster... The rest of my party's still in there! We tried fighting it but no one could even put a stratch on it!"
A case of newbies taking on something they couldn't handle? Sora's eyes narrowed as he dutifully marched towards the dungeon. "Tch. Weakling?" he crooned at the heavily perspiring man. What could be so dangerous on the Theta Server? Granted, few made it to the levels he had conquered; most tended to tire of The World, or at least of a single character, long before they even made it to the 70's and 80's. Takes dedication to be the best, after all.
"H-hey!" Mimiru called out. "We can't just leave him here!"
Sora didn't pause. He had made it half way down the stairs when he called back, "He can walk, can't he?"
The growl he heard put a smile on his face. Down the steps the Heavyblade stomped, half-muttering apologies to the befuddled player left up in the sun.
As they passed through the entry chamber, a long hall stretched out before him. Dim torches hung at spaced intervals along the length of the corridor, shining orange light upon the dark stone that made up the dungeon's appearance. Cavernous, ominous... deathly quiet. While Mimiru was hesitant to even take a step into the room, Sora strode in without a second thought. No magic portals in sight, so... no monsters. "If you straggle, you'll get left behind," he said nonchalantly. "Mr. Monster might come up and get you."
"You're quick to shrug it all off," came a heated reply. "I don't think he was fibbing. You of all people should know about the weird things going on in The World..."
"Of course, of course. The most recent discussions on the Boards have been about these so-called 'invincible monsters'... wonder if we just found one?" The thought delighted Sora, brought a fit of snickers through him. It made him feel pretty good, but Mimiru didn't look any less worried. Her sword wasn't drawn but she held onto the hilt of it tightly. "The tougher monsters always live in the lower levels. Our friend must have run all the way up."
They passed through the doorway at the end of the massive hall and began weaving their way through subsequent chambers. Not once did they see a magic portal, nor any treasure boxes, jars, or occasional 'warrior's body' that usually littered dungeons. "He said his party was still there... I hope they got away."
"It wouldn't surprise me at all if they didn't. Or if they weren't even here to begin with. These new player killers like tricking people into trapping themselves in dungeons," he remarked, with a hint of contempt curling his lip into a frown. "Tactless."
Somewhere behind him, Mimiru giggled. "I take it you don't like them?"
Slowly Sora nodded, halting momentarily at the end of a forked path to glance at each of his choices. "Not at all. They make me look bad." The rightmost one looked recently worn... kind of. Both ways looked identical more or less, but the fire's light shone oddly upon the floor... The faint lines of scratches lit up for an instant before darkening again, turning invisible to the eye. But he waited for Mimiru to catch up a little before continuing down the hall. "Besides, they'd be stupid to try anything to us. You've got me with you."
Mimiru could not be certain if she saw him wink at her, but either way, a shiver crept up her spine. This particular Twin Blade weirded her out more than she'd ever care to admit. If the hair wasn't enough, it was the strange expressions he was so fond of wearing. Always with a grin of some sort, though of course the colors of it could vary in an instant from cheery (or as close to cheery as this guy got) to murderous.
They rounded one last corner and came upon the set of stairs that would take them down to the lower levels of the dungeon. Thoughtlessly, Mimiru started to walk down them, but Sora hesitated. "Stop," he commanded simply, ignoring the heated glare that was shot at him. Intently he stared down the shadow-coated stairs, listening hard, when finally it came to him: the faint sounds of battle. Somewhere within the dungeon life stirred, aided by the sparks of steel and the rush of magic. Battle cries bounded weakly to his ears, but it wasn't long before the echoes were interrupted by harsh, cold screams.
Mimiru blinked. "We're too late...?"
"Late? No, no." Casually he stretched his arms out to the sides, and clenched his fists. The dandy thing about katars, or at least his katars, are that not only do they look extremely pretty and they can cut through things (ie, people) better than your ginsu knives or what have you, but they operate with a nifty trigger system. A clech of the fist, and shing! Shiny blades ready for action. With much grandeur Sora strode to Mimiru's side, rubbing the edges of his blades together enthusiastically. "Just in time, I'd say. I told you this would be fun~!"
Then, before Mimiru could respond, he bounded his way down. Waves of "Shu-pu-pow" and other such nonsense noises doubled upon each other, surrounding Mimiru in a ghastly cacophony of morbid glee. Defeated, she sighed... "What are you talking about, 'fun?' Weirdo..." Quitting in the middle of things...? No way. Mimiru had no choice but to follow after him. Silently she waded down the stairs, into the chilly depths that awaited her.