Stepping off the train, Dorothy found herself coughing a little. The air felt a bit… heavier, when she breathed in. And Dorothy could have sworn that there was a certain smell as well, though she couldn't quite place it. A shame really seeing how it was just on the tip of her tongue. She had put off asking long enough. She had to know if it was normal or just in her head.

"Batter? Does the air always seem a bit… heavy, when it's breathed in? Or smell anything odd?" He had paused a moment but shuck his head.

"No. Feels the same to me. As far as I can tell at least. Maybe you're still getting use to the air here."

"I suppose it could be different to back home," Dorothy conceded as she looked up at a sign where 'Damien' was written in the same type of letters as the sign back in Elsen. "So, do the locals have a name? I mean, what would they be called as a-."

"The Elsens," the Batter cut across. "In all the Zones, they're called Elsen."

"Like… Like that area we got our train from?" If the local people were called Elsens back in… Well Elsen, Dorothy wouldn't bat an eyelid. But it…

… Then again, it wasn't that big of a deal, Dorothy supposed. She would have liked to know why, but it was a type of question she could leave in the back of her mind for now. Besides, she was a little more curious about what the Elsen were like in person. Hopefully they would be friendly at the very least. Elsen didn't sound very threatening, so Dorothy allowed herself to expect that.

"Oh, uh… Welcome to the smoke mines."

Having walked to what Dorothy had to guess was a mine, they met whom Dorothy could only assume was one of the Elsens. They were certainly… non-threatening, that was for certain. The one who had come to greet her and Batter was wringing his hands nervously, and there were some shadows under his eyes (that were darting between Batter and Dorothy, as though expecting an attack) from what could have been a lack of sleep. Or perhaps it was a common trait. At least two other Elsen passing by them had shadows under their eyes. They also seemed to dress the same in a white shirt, black trousers and tie, and Dorothy could hear their voices rasping as they talked.

Definitely nothing to really worry about.

"M-may I know who the two of you are?" The small frown on the Elsen's mouth looked more anxious. "Are you inspectors?" Dorothy had contemplated lying (it would possibly make it easier to get through this area), but Batter had spoken first.

"No. I'm the Batter. I've come to exterminate the impure spirits with Dorothy, my guide." The Elsen had stared at him, looking a bit uncertain what to say.

"… Impure… Are you some sort of… prophet? Or man of belief?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

"And she…?"

"Like he said, I'm his… guide. Of sorts," Dorothy explained as she took off her glasses briefly to clean some of the rain drops on her glasses off on her shirt. The Elsen seemed disappointed. Already Dorothy wanted to talk to other Elsens in hope that none of them were as sad as this guy.

"So… You're not a member of the superior personal?" the Elsen asked.

"N-no. I'm not." 'Unless it somehow happened while I was asleep,' she added in her thoughts before asking, "Um, you said this was a smoke mine I think? How exactly does that work?"

"Oh, it's quite simple really. Once you learn the tools and such," the Elsen said with a… well, not a smile. But his frown had lessened at least.

"Here in the south area of Zone 1, we send workers into deep tunnels to unearth metal from the ground, to free the embedded smoke trapped in the depths of it. We use a variety of tools to bottle the smoke, so that the Queen can distribute it out to the other Zones. The rest of it flows free for us to inhale and exhale from our lungs. So we can, uh… live. And not die.

"It's the most important of the four elements, you see. It comes first. Without smoke, people would have nothing to breathe."

"… I'm breathing in smoke?" Dorothy asked as it slowly sank in. It definitely explained why the air felt funny, and even had a smell when she arrived in this part of Zone 1. It made sense now. It was something the Batter and everyone else was breathing in, but for her it was something she only smelled when passing by someone who smoked or was near a fireplace that was smoky. Her memory might not exactly be able to validate whether those things have ever happened to her, but the fact her sense of smell noticed it must have meant something along those lines had happened at least once. Of course, that also made her remember that smoke was generally not so healthy for lungs. But she felt fine more or less for now so Dorothy decided to not let herself worry over the smoke. She was probably immune to the adverse effects in this world like everyone else seemed to be.

But she made a mental note anyway to ask some more about that later when Batter immediately asked the question on his mind.

"Where are the impures?"

"The… Well, there are plenty of those Spectres in the mines. They're becoming more aggressive actually. We sent word for help, but no one's come yet. We actually thought that perhaps you may have been the sent help, but…"

"We'll go then," the Batter said. Not so much as an offer, but a statement.

"I-I'm sorry, I can't let you two go," declined the Elsen, holding his hands up. "I-I'd like to, but-but it's against the rules no visitors."

"But don't you want those Spectres gone?" Dorothy questioned. The Elsen swallowed thickly before stuttering out,

"W-well there's an annex tunnel. No one ever really goes there. But, one miner did a while ago and… And he said he saw something strange. Nothing like usual, at all. M-maybe it could be the Chief of the Spectres? You could take care of him. Then the Spectres will go and we can work again!"

"Could be a tough fight. Do you think you can handle it so soon?" Dorothy asked the Batter as she looked up at him.

"I have no doubts at all that I can. Where's the tunnel?" he asked the Elsen, who immediately pointed down in the direction of a tunnel with stairs not too far from them.

"Th-that way!"

Dorothy said a quick thank you before allowing Batter to lead the way down the tunnel. There was a damp smell, and the coldness in the tunnel felt a bit worse since they were a little damp from the rain. But it wasn't too bad. At least for now. But the lanterns on the wall were enough to light the way, and the ground thankfully didn't have anything did would cause them to fall or have some similar accident. Glancing over the side of the Batter, Dorothy thought she saw a faint white light up ahead but-.

"My, my," a very familiar voice sounded out. The Batter had stopped, nearly causing Dorothy to bump into his back. "Who do we have here? Is that not Miss Dorothy and her picturesque jumping jack, the Batter?" Dorothy stepped to the side and looked down, seeing the white cat she knew to be the Judge.

"Judge? What are you doing here?" Dorothy paused briefly. "And as a matter of fact, how did you get here first?"

"Never underestimate a feline, my dear," the Judge replied, his teeth almost glowing in the lantern light as he smiled. "Cunningness is often associated with my kind for a reason after all. And as for your former question, I did say I like to go for excursions now and then, did I not?"

"So, you aren't the Spectres' leader then?" questioned the Batter, and Judge just shook his head as he laughed lightly.

"Ah, no no, certainly not. I am only passing through, not unlike the smoke that originates from this pale and metallic place. If anything, I believe there has been a mild misunderstanding."

"What sort of misunderstanding?" Dorothy raised a brow as she tried to think of what the Elsen could have mistaken for a Spectre. Though if they were all like the one the Batter and her had just spoken to, it really could have been anything. Especially with this dim lighting.

"It's just up ahead, dear companions." The Judge turned to lead them, and both Batter and Puppeteer followed. They stopped near some crates. The Judge sat and nudge his head in the direction behind the crates.

"Just behind these wooden boxes, dear friends."

The pair leaned over to look behind the crates. There was a floating white ring, about the size of a hula-hoop or a little smaller, that held a faint glow around it. The image of an angel's halo to come to Dorothy's mind as she looked at it.

"What is it?" the Batter asked as he looked back to the Judge.

"To tell the truth, I am perplexed," he admitted, giving a small shrug. "I think it's one of those peculiar objects called a spherical Add-On. I have very well tried to approach it, but the operation has systematically failed so far. But I am thinking… Maybe one of you could successfully affiliate this spiritual entity to yours."

"What do you think?" Batter looked to Dorothy, who momentarily froze.

"Oh… Er…" Dorothy looked back to the ring. "… It doesn't look like it will do us harm. It might even come in hand for our mission."

"It could," Batter agreed with no sound of doubt as he eyed the floating ring with mild curiosity. The ring seemed to have heard them since it faced both the Batter and Dorothy. Or, whatever the equivalent would be. "One of us should touch it. Do you wish to do it, or shall I?"

Dorothy thought it over in her mind. Chances were whoever touched them would likely have control. So almost immediately Dorothy wanted to let Batter do it. He was obviously the fighter between the two of them, and would probably have some better ideas how to fight with them than she. But then another thought occurred to the young woman. What if something were to happen to Batter, leaving her alone. Such as if he got knocked out or something. She had no weapons, and this Add-On would be helpful to at least distract whatever foe they may be against while Dorothy helped Batter. The thoughts that seemed to lean towards accepting the ring herself almost made Dorothy feel a bit selfish. The only thing that kept her from declining was the fact that if anything happened to her, it would be cripple the Batter's progress. She was thinking of staying alive herself, but what human being wouldn't?

"I think it would be best if I did it. I can't exactly expect you to be my sole guardian all the time," Dorothy eventually said, hiding her hesitance as she tried to read the Batter's reaction.

"Alright then." He seemed indifferent to it as far as Dorothy could tell. If he actually thought differently was another story altogether but as the decision was pretty much made now, Dorothy nodded before approaching the ring with only a little guard up. Swallowing nervously the young woman reached her arm out, ready to draw it back in if necessary. But the ring stayed in a benign mood, and appeared to even move closer to Dorothy's outreached hand.

Stealing her nerves, she grasped it. There was a brief flash of white, and the ring was gone.

"Where did it…" Dorothy trailed off when she saw a mark on the back of her right hand. It looked like a tattoo of a black ring with a small symbol in the middle of it that looked a little similar to a lowercase 'a'. The Batter looked at her hand with some interest.

"I suppose the Add-On's joined us, then. But we still need to know how to summon it."

"Oh, uh… Judge. Do you think you know what this symbol might be?" Dorothy knelt down as she held her hand out for the Judge to see. Pointing to the letter in the middle of the ring marked on her hand.

"Hmm, I believe that's the symbol for alpha. If I had to make an educated guess, that is more than likely the Add-On's name. Perhaps saying it might summon it to your aid?"

"It would be practical," noted the Batter as he held his chin in thought. "And you haven't seen the Chief of the Spectres?"

"I'm sorry but I fear I have to respond to the negative," the Judge apologised. "Apart from the Add-On, I have not crossed the way of a single soul in this lieu."

"Then we'll have to get into the main mines then. I doubt there will be any trouble convincing the Elsen we spoke with to let us through when they find out there's nothing here."

"Then I won't keep either of you occupied any longer." The Judge stood on his legs and stretched out before he began to make his exit from the annex. "Until we meet, my friends." As he quickly strolled up the steps, Dorothy looked around one last time before she and the Batter made their leave as well and continue their search for the Chief of the Spectres of this Zone.