They walked into the cave and after a few moments, Mark couldn’t resist the urge to ask. "We’re back on earth, aren’t we?"
Sera looked around, tracing a finger along wet stone as sge replied. "Last time i checked..."
"Good. Because if we somehow got sent back, I have several complaints."
The cave stretched ahead of them, wide and dark, its walls slick with condensed water and faint, bioluminescent veins that pulsed a dull color, casting just enough light to see by without fully illuminating the place.
Water dripped somewhere deep within, echoing off stone that felt older than anything either of them had come across.
"This doesn’t make sense," Mark muttered, moving forward carefully with one hand trailing along the damp cave wall. "Caves don’t just appear. Walls don’t just grow. We’re supposed to be back in the real world."
"Maybe the real world isn’t as separate from the Edge as we thought," Sera said, following close behind. "Or maybe the relic itself pulled something through. I don’t know, Mark. I’m working with the same information you got."
"This is a plot twist isn’t it? I hate plot twists." Mark said with a groan.
She rolled her eyes at that and kept walking.
They pressed deeper, boots splashing through shallow pools that gathered along the uneven floor, the chamber widening gradually the further they walked and ceiling stretching higher into darkness their eyes couldn’t penetrate.
Mark moved forward cautiously, and he found himself glancing over his shoulder more than once, half-expecting something to emerge from out of nowhere.
The chamber opened fully at last, and there, resting atop a stone platform at the center of a lake, a relic pulsed with steady light — a smooth stone shaped like a drop of water, with faint ripples of light moving across its surface in slow waves.
Mark blinked, his expression brightening. "Well this seems easy enough.... I thought we would have to fight some huge water beast." He said with chuckle.
"Don’t jinx it." Sera said, shooting him a glare.
They carefully walked towards the relic, and he had barely taken ten steps when the lake erupted.
A massive shape tore free from the water, spraying water everywhere, scales gleaming, horns reinforced and jagged, and eyes glowing faintly red.
[Warning: Makara Class entity]
[You have encountered a Makara Golem.]
[Objective: Slay the beast and retrive the relic]
[Survival Probability: 52%]
Sera looked at him in a deadpan.
"I take it back," Mark said, backing up. "Nothing about this is easy."
The Golem lunged, and both of them scattered, Sera’s blade flashing as she deflected a snapping strike, Mark catching the follow up with raised gauntlets and immediately feeling the difference. The impact rattling straight through his arms with a force that shouldn’t have been possible outside the Edge.
He was sent back, his boots sliding back several meters across wet stone under weight that would have barely staggered him a week ago.
"Ah fuck!" He cursed. "Forgot we still have to go through this."
Sera was already circling wide to keep the creature’s attention split, blade at the ready.
The beasts tail lashed at her and she deflected it, though the hit sent her skidding backwards a few steps.
Before she had the chance to gather her bearings, another tail lashed and struck her across her ribs, knocking the wind from her lungs.
"Argh!"
She was sent flying back as another tail swipe was aimed for her head.
Before it could reach her, Mark caught it in time and pulled back as hard as he could, stopping it completely.
Angered, the beast flung the tail upwards, shooting him into the ceiling and slamming him again.
They fought in the same way they would have fought in any other situation. Mark absorbing the heaviest blows, Sera darting in and out to land what damage she could, except every exchange now cost more than it should have, their weakened strength making a fight that should have been manageable stretch into something considerably more dangerous.
The Golem caught Mark with a blow across the ribs, sending him skidding hard across the ground, and he grimaced, pushing himself back up despite pain.
"That’ll leave a mark," he grunted.
[Ding!]
[Skill: Weapon’s Edge has been activated.]
[Your weapon has been enhanced.]
[Time remaining: 10:58]
"Now!" Sera’s voice rose with sudden urgency, her blade flaring bright energy. "It’s active! Ten minutes!"
"Finally!"
She surged forward, blade amplified as she drove a clean strike into the Golem’s flank that sank far deeper than anything either of them had managed so far. The creature shrieked and staggered, blood welling dark against its scale.
"Keep going! The same spot!" Mark shouted, drawing its attention back toward himself with a solid punch to its jaw.
Sera pressed forward, her blade finding the same widening wound again and again, but even amplified, her strikes alone weren’t enough to finish something this size— not while both of them were still fighting at a fraction of their normal strength.
"I need something more," Mark said, mind racing, already reaching toward his belt.
"What are you doing?"
He pulled free a small, plain dagger and tossed it into his other hand.
"Trying something," he said.
The dagger flared bright in his grip, energy crackling along its short blade, and Sera raised an eyebrow, deflecting a tail strike as she asked:
"You brought a dagger?"
"I had a feeling we’ll be needing it."
[Your weapon is under the effect of the Aegis Gauntlets.]
[Your weapon has been enhanced.]
He closed the distance fast, the dagger gleaming with amplified power, and drove it deep into the same wound Sera’s blade had already widened.
The Golem’s shriek climbed to a tone that sounded desperate, thrashing wildly now, and Mark held on, twisting the blade before wrenching it free and driving it in again—blood and lake water spraying with every strike.
"Son of a bitch—!"
"Keep it distracted" he shouted, and Sera followed instantly, darting toward the creature’s opposite flank, forcing its attention to split between two threats it now had considerate difficulty tracking.
The fight dragged on, becoming brutal and messy. Both of them running out of steam as exhaustion had reduced their strength making every exchange feel harder to meet.
The Golem fought with the desperate fury of a cornered animal— tail lashing in all directions, jaws snapping at anything within range, and more than once Mark barely twisted clear of a strike that would have ended things early.
"How much longer does your timer last?!" he called, breathless, ducking beneath a sweeping claw.
"A little over a minute!"
Mark gritted his teeth and dashed forward with Sera following behind. Her amplified blade found the wound again, tearing deep into the it as dark blood leaked into the water.
They clashed a few times and Mark vaulted onto its back, stabbing the beast repeatedly with the dagger as blood sprayed from the opening wound.
The Golem shrieked, thrashing hard enough to send both of them stumbling back before either could give a follow up.
"It’s not slowing down enough!" Mark shouted, catching a blow across his shoulder that sent a fresh wave pain down his arm. "We need something bigger—"
"I’m working on it!"
Sera’s enhancement flickered, the crackling energy along her blade dimming for one moment before steadying again, and Mark understoo that her window was running out fast.
’Now. It has to be now...’
The Golem reared back, gathering itself for what looked like a final desperate charge, and Mark saw it coming just seconds before the beast committed.
"Sera!"
She scrambled onto a jutting rock formation without question, and the creature charged directly towards her.
Mark sprinted by its side, forcing his legs to move as he slid directly in its path.
"Come on then," he muttered, dagger raised with every ounce of exhaustion and pain from the last several minutes clawing at him.
**WHAM!!**
The Golem crashed into him, and Mark drove the dagger up and through its exposed throat with everything he had left twisting hard.
"ARRGH!!!"
He roared, pushing the blade in deeper as he felt it sink deep before the creature’s momentum finally died.
It collapsed sideways into the water, blood spreading dark across it, and Mark sank to his knees beside it, chest heaving, and the dagger crumbling to dust in his loosening grip.
Silence fell over the cave, the only noises left were their ragged breathing and the steady drip of water.
"That," Sera said, sliding down from the rock and staring at the fallen beast with disbelief, "was instense."
"Yeah," Mark agreed, flat on his back now and staring up at the ceiling. "Really regretting not bringing snacks for this trip."
Sera huffed something close to a laugh despite the exhaustion, and offered him a hand up. "I wonder how the other put up with you."
"Come on," she said. "Let’s grab that relic and get the hell out of here."
Mark took it and stood up. "For the record, I get to sleep in tomorrow..."
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