Sunset Road

Teri was glad that their extensive discussion about cat girls was over. His friend was thrilled to know that if cat girls existed in this world, Teri would go for the one that had short and lustrous black hair. Taku gushed even more when he learned that it was Teri’s type.

Then, Taku launched into a dramatic monologue about how he really wanted a person that gave a shit about him instead of one that just had a rockin’ bod. Though he said that both were nice. He was going to talk more about society as a whole.

Teri tried to listen to him, to attempt to really understand how the man conceived his thoughts. But at that point, he thought that hearing another one of Taku’s controversial takes would break him more than this dungeon. The statues around them seemed like they were praying and begging for Taku to stop. So, when Taku was about to talk about nerds having more to offer than the cool, confident dudes, Teri jumped to his feet and told his friend that was ready to face the dungeon and whatever horrors it had in store.

The spirit of adventure repossessed his friend, making him roll back like a piece of ham and struggle to get on his knees. After patting the dust off, Taku approached Teri and adjusted how his leather bracers were tied, making them feel like a part of his body rather than just clothing.

As a way to say thank you and to humor his friend, Teri tried to pose with his weapon and all. Taku’s face crumpled with cringe at first, but he caught on and started clapping. He cheered and mimicked the sound of distant applause and dozens of people screaming. It was about to evolve into a standard pose off, but they stopped when Taku stepped on a faint trail of blood leading to the door at the western side of the room.

“Come to think of it… They didn’t have their weapons on them—except for this sick staff I borrowed.”

“You think another party did this?”

Teri glanced at the trail and something came to mind. He poured some water over his hand, stood straight, and let some droplets fall to the ground. He compared its size to the ones in the trail and found it to be somewhat the same. A part of him doubted if this shit was accurate or even correct, but it was cool. That was the most important part.

“Can’t rule that out,” Taku replied, scrutinizing the blood trail and failing to make sense of it. “Seems like I made a mistake by moving the bodies. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.” Teri scratched the back of his neck, realizing that he was smiling. “We gotta be on the lookout though. If they dragged some of the bodies back, it means that they’re close. We could also be wrong. Though if they’re humans, we can talk to them.”

“Hella…” Taku grinned as he looked at Teri. “We’re screwed if they’re not. If they’re smart enough to use weapons… and pair that with some more monstrous strength—”

“Really?” Teri chuckled, his smirk as wide as ever.

“What?” Taku scoffed, following it with a small laugh. “That’s the fun of it! Exploring. Investigating. Making theories! We might be fucked, yes, but at least we know what’s going to fuck us!”

“Except we don’t.”

“And that’s even more fun!” Taku raised his voice. He picked up his backpack, put his arm over Teri’s shoulders and pointed him to the door at the western side of the room. “And see… if monsters like that exist—I mean they already are—we don’t even need to beat them at their own game. We have to CHEESE them, like beat them in the most unfair way possible that’s in every way advantageous to us. Think about it. If they’re monsters… what don’t they have that we do?”

Teri kept his smile, stifling another laugh. “Cringe, sheep optimism, and the power of friendship—”

“Brains!” Taku kept his grin as he pointed at his temple. “Though yeah. All of that.”

“Fine,” Teri sighed. “I get it. I completely understand.”

Teri felt like this was the perfect time to approach the western door. Taku wore the same look he had when he was itching to rant about society, so he walked forward and forced Taku to follow behind him. In front of Teri was his trusty makeshift shield, now trembling upon Teri’s realization that he lied when he told Taku that he was okay earlier. But there was no turning back now, even as both his lungs and legs felt like lead in the water.

“You know what I would do if I got a sick-ass fire spell?”

Teri blinked at the bead of cold sweat cutting a line from his forehead to his chin. “What?”

“I’d name my staff Hot Rod.”

Then there was silence, broken only by the sound of careful footsteps filling their ears. Teri’s face cracked a grin. “Yeah, you gotta hold your Hot Rod with both hands or else the magic won’t come out—”

“That’s a stupid joke.”

There came another moment of silence.

Taku laughed.

So did Teri—somehow, he felt a little braver.

“You fucking ruined it.”

“Sorry,” Teri replied. “I had to do it. The joke was begging to be made.”

“But that was so green!” Taku nudged Teri’s shoulder from the back. “I didn’t imagine you liking green jokes, much less make one. What are you, a high schooler?”

“Oh…” Teri clenched his jaw. “I didn’t get to finish.”

“Oh shit,” Taku replied, patting Teri’s shoulder. “Me too!”

Teri found himself laughing, feeling a bit at home and being made aware that his breathing wasn’t as heavy—so were his legs. By then, he was already in front of the door he was so scared of approaching. His hand trembled at the thought of opening it, to go out there and face whatever it was that awaited them. Fear gripped him, but its hold wasn’t as freezing anymore.

“I have also improved my skills. I HAVE EVOLVED, but this is only the beginning of my rise to power.” Taku stepped to Teri’s side. “BEHOLD!” He held the tip of his staff and tapped the door and its surroundings from a distance. “RANGE!” He cleared his throat. “Yeah. The door isn’t trapped. We can pass.”

“Nice.”

Teri held back from woah-ing and opened the door, summoning another moment of silence as Taku checked for traps. Teri faced the sight of ikemen graffiti staining the dungeon’s walls. But something was different. The cold corridor, which was supposed to overwhelm them with the despairing smell of rose, ink, and flesh, wasn’t so drowning anymore. Teri found himself smiling once more. With cringe, he passed through his fears. With sheer optimism, they moved forward, having fun and thinking that everything would be okay.

They followed the faint trail of blood and it led them to an intersection. The corridor could lead them further west. There was also another path down south. Then, there was the way north. The northern door did not have a trail leading to it but an actual streak coming from the southern path.

“Yep,” Taku said. “Something dragged a body in there.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah, I’m not walking in there,” Taku added.

“Uh-huh.”

“Massive death flag vibes,” Taku continued.

“Wanna keep heading east?”

Taku gave him two thumbs up. “Absolutely.”

“Brains,” Teri mumbled as they carefully moved forward.

“Bro, I’m telling you.”