Mimic

Chaos Era, Year 1814.

"Moke, come on, Moke, come on..."

Liyana watched nervously as the petite red-haired figure crouched before the massive treasure chest, fiddling with the copper lock.

"Hey... quiet down, you idiot. I can't even hear the pins in the lock anymore... And no amount of cheering will make the treasure inside multiply," Moke retorted, his words slightly muffled by the several iron wires clenched between his teeth.

"As for whether I can open it... it's only a matter of time for me." Moke flashed a confident grin.

Click—

A crisp, satisfying sound came from the copper lock before it fell to the ground.

The chest burst open—but instead of gold or jewels, a slimy, fanged monster lurked inside, its maw gaping wide as it lunged straight for Moke.

A single bite from that thing would turn him into a sieve.

Xia Lun reacted swiftly, grabbing Moke by the collar and yanking him back before stepping forward himself. His sword flashed, cleaving both the monster and the chest clean in half.

"I-It was a mimic..." Moke gasped, still shaken, pressing a hand to his chest. The stench of the creature had already reached him—just a split second later, and he would've been swallowed whole.

"Anyone hurt?" Musen rumbled, his voice deep and gruff.

"N-No... It was close, but I'm fine," Moke said, still catching his breath. "Thank the gods Xia Lun moved fast."

"Right." The bald giant sounded almost disappointed. Since joining Xia Lun's party, he hadn't had much to do—no one got injured, making him feel somewhat redundant.

Yet, when it came time to divide the spoils, they never forgot his share, which only made him feel more awkward.

"Musen, you're our safety net. If you don’t have to act, that’s a good thing," Xia Lun had reassured him.

I need to train harder... Musen thought to himself. That way, I can pull my weight in other ways too.

Now, he joined Xia Lun every morning—while the swordsman practiced his forms, Musen worked on building his muscles.

Aina quietly dispersed the spell she had been gathering beneath her robes, her dark gaze fixed on Xia Lun with palpable irritation.

She had reacted just as quickly when the mimic attacked, but channeling magic took time... This time, he had simply been faster.

Xia Lun noticed her glare and responded with a bright, cheerful smile.

Aina ignored him, turning her eyes away.

The mimic, now split in two, let out a shrill shriek before collapsing to the ground, twitching briefly before falling still.

"Ugh, what a waste. There wasn’t even anything inside besides this thing." Liyana stomped forward, inspecting the shattered chest before giving it a couple of frustrated kicks.

"Be glad no one got hurt. Still, mimics are rare—if we bring the corpse back, some witches might pay a decent price for it," Moke said, wiping the cold sweat from his brow.

Liyana’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the pile of jagged-toothed flesh.

With that, the group prepared to head back.

On the road, Liyana, as usual, couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

"Hey, Moke, I’ve got a question."

"Hm?"

"How do all those treasure chests in dungeons even get there?" she asked, curiosity brimming in her voice.

"Hah? What kind of question is that?" Moke frowned. "They’re just there. It’s a natural phenomenon, like clouds being white or the sky being blue."

"That’s weird, though! Chests can have gold, jewels, rare magic materials, powerful gear, or even mimics..." Liyana shook her head. "Actually, dungeons themselves are weird. Monsters just keep respawning inside them... Don’t you ever wonder how that works?"

Moke sighed. "So what’s your point?"

"Don’t you think... someone might be behind all this?" Liyana said gravely. "Like an invisible hand pulling the strings..."

Xia Lun slowly looked up—but saw nothing.

"Don’t be ridiculous. Who could possibly do something like that?" Moke waved her off. "Liyana, stop overthinking things. We should just focus on living our lives."

Liyana’s wild theories weren’t new, so the others paid her no mind.

"Musen, what do you think?" When Moke ignored her, she turned to pester the new priest.

"I’ve always wondered why the sun shines and gives off heat," Musen replied cheerfully. "And whether it might suddenly fall out of the sky one day."

Liyana’s eyes widened. "Holy crap, I’ve thought about that too!"

"That thing must be enormous. It’s so far away, yet it still lights up the whole world." Xia Lun squinted up at the sun, marveling.

Many powerful mages had once cast flight spells, trying to reach the sun and uncover its true nature—but none succeeded.

Eventually, everyone concluded that the sun was simply too distant to ever reach.

Though, the mage who flew the highest did make one discovery—the world they lived on was actually a massive sphere.

Countless people found this unbelievable at first, but in time, they accepted it as fact.

"Moke... how much would this mimic sell for?" Liyana abruptly switched back to practical matters.

"Hmm... This one’s pretty big. Probably around a thousand gold. If it were alive, we could get over three thousand."

Liyana gasped. "Xia Lun! You just slashed away two thousand gold!"

Xia Lun lightly chopped her on the head with the side of his hand, making her accidentally bite her tongue. She let out a muffled yelp.

Musen’s eyes immediately lit up.

"No! Musen, sir, this is way too minor for healing. And even though I’m into guys, I’m still a woman—keep your hands to yourself!" Liyana flailed her arms in protest.

"Alright." Musen sighed, then added, "But just so you know, there’s no need to worry. I’m a priest of the Orthodox Goddess Church—I’ve taken vows. Plus, like Captain Xia Lun, I’ve received the Goddess’s blessing. My desires are perfectly under control..."