The mysteries of Shindai sway in the tides of eternity.
Shindai Iron Ruins, Basement Level 2…
"Take that!" Pepper roared.
"Smash 'em!" Bilac bellowed.
Bilac's Sledge Ogre hammer, paired with Material Destroy, and Pepper's Madness Breaker with Vulgar Strike smashed into sphere-shaped enemies—same black steel as the pyramids but rounder. Cracks spiderwebbed across their surfaces, shattering them into polygons that scattered at Pepper's feet.
"Phew, those ball things are tough," Pepper panted.
"Bilac-neesan and Pepper-han, you're both crazy strong!" Aitoile chirped.
Fighting atop a massive floating steel plate, Pepper high-fived Bilac and Aitoile, steadily conquering the ruins' areas. The first floor had pyramids; the second brought spheres. Despite Lycaon's Curse Marking, which made lower-level monsters flee, these attacked relentlessly. Pepper theorized the curse only affected "visual" or organic enemies, or his level was lower than these inorganic foes.
"Drops are… Shindai Iron Fragments. Mineral-type items?" Pepper asked, inspecting the loot.
"Yup," Bilac said. "Use enough, and you get sturdy iron gear. Takes patience to gather, though."
"Got it," Pepper nodded, crushing a fragment with his Madness Breaker to restore its durability.
"Pepper, what're you doing?! That's loot!" Bilac exclaimed.
"Just recovering my Madness Breaker's durability. Is that bad?" Pepper asked.
"No, I won't stop you… but, right, it's the hammer's trait," Bilac sighed, shoulders slumping. She likely wanted to tinker with the unique weapon herself.
"Hmm, I really want to fully restore my Madness Breaker's durability. If only there was a master smith I could trust…" Pepper mused, glancing at Bilac.
Her face lit up like the sun. So easy to read… is the master's eldest daughter okay? Pepper thought.
"Care that much? Leave it to me! It's a quick fix, but I'll patch it up!" Bilac declared.
"Then I'll take you up on that," Pepper said, handing over the hammer.
Bilac eagerly began maintenance with her smithing skills. "Still only the second floor, but this place is already pretty beat up," Pepper observed.
"All things fade; what has form will eventually perish. That's nature's law," Aitoile said sagely.
Her words rang true—the ruins would one day crumble to dust.
"Pepper, Madness Breaker's patched up!" Bilac announced, tossing it back.
"Damn, Master Bilac, you're fast!" Pepper praised.
"Pfft, call me when you need another fix. I'll give it a thorough overhaul," Bilac boasted, puffing out her chest.
Pepper chuckled at her pride, sensing her curiosity about human-crafted tech. The steel plate they stood on halted, revealing stairs to the next floor.
"Guess this is goodbye to the second floor," Pepper said.
"Pepper-han, the footing gets shakier from here. Watch your step," Aitoile warned.
"Fall, and even we can't save you. Stay sharp," Bilac added.
Nodding, Pepper led the way. They'd reached the midpoint of the Shindai Iron Ruins: Basement Level 3.
"Wow, this place is wrecked," Pepper muttered.
Descending to the third floor, a vast chamber unfolded. Walls and ceilings were riddled with holes, the floor so fragile it seemed a single step could collapse it. Gears of black steel jutted from the ceiling, adding an eerie ambiance.
"Pepper-han, what's that 'mountain' over there?" Aitoile asked.
"Mountain? Where?" Pepper squinted.
"There, look!" Aitoile pointed.
Following her gaze, Pepper spotted a cluster of large mounds in the center, screaming "mining point," surrounded by a circular platform.
"Got it. Thanks, Aitoile," Pepper said.
"That's where your Gear Metal is," Bilac noted.
Bilac started toward it, but Pepper raised a hand to stop her. "Something feels… off. Too obvious, too blatant."
The setup reminded him of a retro game's mid-dungeon trap. He'd once reached a floor with a key item, only to sense danger. Tossing an item ahead triggered a collapse of everything but the item's spot and his position—a brutal blind trap that could've killed him.
"Aitoile, Bilac-san, hop on my shoulders. Just in case," Pepper said.
"Alright, pardon me," Bilac complied.
"You're such a worrier, Pepper-han, but that's what I like about you," Aitoile teased.
With both rabbits perched, Pepper tested the floor by tossing a Shindai Iron Fragment. It clattered without issue. Activating Accel, High Beat, and Actus Dash, he planned to sprint to the mining point, dig, and escape before any collapse.
Pepper charged forward. As if triggered, the ceiling gears vibrated, dislodging and diving toward him.
"Double trap?!" he yelped.
The fragile floor was bait, paired with pyramids and spheres from earlier floors conditioning him to expect reactive enemies. The game had subtly nudged him to think, "Rush through or the floor will collapse." The gears' trigger—detecting movement above a certain speed—was a masterful misdirection by the developers.
"Whoever designed this floor loves misdirection magic! Damn it, they got me!" Pepper groaned.
Gears targeted him from above and behind. Human vision couldn't catch blind spots without turning, but evolution had honed ears to relay sound instantly. Pepper, however, didn't need to look.
"Pepper-han, we've got your blind spots!" Aitoile shouted.
"Keep running to the mining point and dig up that Gear Metal!" Bilac ordered.
"Got it!" Pepper replied.
With Aitoile and Bilac covering his rear, they drew the gears' aggro by fighting on the crumbling floor. Pepper reached the central mound and hammered it with his Madness Breaker. But that was the floor's ultimate trap.
The circular platform's support pillar—hidden directly beneath—crumbled with pinpoint precision, like popping a pudding mold. The entire field dropped.
"What?! No way!" Pepper gasped.
In hindsight, the signs were clear: a crumbling floor, reactive enemies, and a central mining point. Don't touch the mining point, avoid the gimmick—the adage flashed through his mind too late.
"Pepper-han!" Aitoile cried.
"Pepper!" Bilac shouted.
The rabbits lunged, reaching for him. Whether by instinct or system mechanics, the gears shifted, slamming into their backs and propelling them toward Pepper.
"What the—?!" Pepper exclaimed.
"We're done for!" Aitoile wailed.
"Aitoile! Bilac-san!" Pepper yelled, stretching his arms to grab them, pulling them close to shield them.
The platform, carrying the mining point, Pepper, and the rabbits, plummeted past the fourth floor toward the fifth. Just before impact, it landed on something, sliding wildly through curves and gusts of wind.
When the slide stopped, they stood before a pristine hidden door—untouched by the ruins' decay, a stark contrast to the chaos above.
Pepper and the Black Rabbits Reach a Mysterious Place
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