I went back into the hidden chamber of the bunker and unfortunately, there was no one to welcome me. Everything is as I left it, hundreds of coffins neatly arranged into rows and columns with mine being the sole one with an open lid.

I can’t help the wonder why I woke up. Surely the elders must have designed these capsules to make it so everyone would wake up at the same time, right?

I sigh deeply, my voice echoing across the chamber. At this point, I have no choice but to find a way out on my own.

But before leaving, I examined as many warding Arrays of the bunker as I could. These Arrays are the culmination of centuries of research by the collective work of millions of sorcerers over the years. It will be impossible for me to deactivate all of them on my lonesome without setting off the protection mechanisms, which might very well kill me, I don’t even intend to, but with my knowledge on wards and the different types of Arrays used in them, I am confident that I can identify the runes for concealment and find the other rooms safekeeping the other survivors.

It took me two days.

In total there are exactly twenty rooms in the bunker, each filled with a thousand of capsules.

Of them all, I am the only person awake.

From what I observed, my capsule is no different from the rest, so it couldn’t have been a malfunction. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.

My rations are ready and there’s nothing else to hold me back. I’m as ready as I can be.

My plan is quite simple; considering that the tunnels run over the whole continent, I remember reading from history books that there are numerous exit-points every few kilometres, so, I’ll walk as far as I’m capable of and if I’m unable to reach one of them by that point, well... I’ll just carve a way out with magic.

It has been three days since I left the underground bunker. So far, I’ve not encountered any too distressing danger. A few magical underground dwellers here and there but nothing I couldn’t take care.

I also found the remains of one of the SCPLEs along the way, it was laying there in the middle of the road. Of course, I could not leave it unexplored, and I did just that. From its state I concluded it had derailed, which was strange because I never ever heard of it derailing back in the Empire.

So how did this happen?

My question was answered when I found the first skeleton, then the many others after it.

The SCPLEs was attacked, and it resulted in its derailing.

I suddenly felt weak in the knees but forced myself to stay standing. Among the remains, I identified many belonging children... so many children.

Not all of us were not lucky enough to make it out.

Before leaving, I made a prayer for their souls, hoping for their safe travel to the Spirit realm, then to incinerated the remains.

My journey through the tunnel since then remained uneventful.

Until two days ago, something both intriguing and terribly mundane happened.

I found a group of humans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I never thought I, in my thirty-five years of life, would ever feel glee and apprehension at the sight of humans... Living, breathing, conscious human beings. The strange mix of emotions was... overwhelming.

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I was overjoyed at the sight of people like me. Finally, I thought. I would find answer, I will finally know what happened after my long years of sleep, I will have my peace of mind once more, all my problems will be over.

But then suspicion crept into my mind. I did not know them, they looked unfamiliar. It’s to be expected, after so many years the world would’ve obviously significantly changed from what I used to know. And I couldn’t be sure if these people were trustworthy enough. I wasn’t just going to walk up to them and say something like, Greetings! Pleasure to meet you. How many years has it been since the Nchāre Empire fell. My name is Vyswe’eyaga by the way.

What were they even doing underground? Are they looking for something?

No, it will not do. I should first keep my presence hidden from them and observe them. Then, I will go and meet them... maybe.

And it has been two days since.

I was right to not immediately reveal myself.

From what I’ve observed these people are from a totally different era from mine.

Firstly, I attempted to eavesdrop on a few of their conversations but I could not understand a single word of what they said. Back when I was a student, there was no mention in the archives of any other language spoken in the past except The Tongue. Even before the founding of the Empire, everybody spoke the same language.

Secondly, these people in themselves are strange. In their midst is a young man who is white, from head to toe, and a skin the colour of an ivory statue—the only normal thing about seem to be his eyes which are brown.

Of course, even among the citizens of the Nchāre Empire there are people with different shades of skin colour; ranging from ebony to the lightest shade of caramel, but never as white as this man is. He is the most bizarre and fascinating person I’ve ever seen, and he’s a sorcerer too. I can feel the powerful flow of his Spiritual essence from where I am, and I’m decently far away from them. If not for the fact that he needs to eat, drink and rest like everyone else, I would suspect that he’s some kind of spectral being... or a Genie, but he doesn’t have long pointed ears, so... no.

Though the white man is the most eye-catching oddity, he isn’t the only one. Half of the group have strange energies. It isn’t Spiritual essence, I’m sure of it. And the energy is also different from the power possessed by a Genie, they get the power from their home world and not from the Spiritual Realm like humans and some beasts do. No, the essence these people possess comes from somewhere in deep in them, but it is also deeply entwined with the world.

This… This is so interesting.

As far as I know every human being has a bond to the Spiritual Realm, it is that bond that gives us Spiritual essence and it is also through it that sorcerers can replenish their depleted essence. This is also why people with stronger bonds can practise sorcery while those with weaker ones cannot.

These people on the other hand might not be practitioners of the mystical Arts but they’re powerful in a different way. Especially the tall man with the spear, my instincts tell me to avoid a fight with him.

I am pulled out of my pondering at the sight of a woman behind me. She’s among the people with unknown energies.

She tried to sneak up on me, and it activated the protection ward I placed on myself and violently repelled her. Which is why she’s now laying several meters away from me.

Did they know of my presence all along?

How did she even get here before mine noticing it?

Then I hear shouting.

Two other men with unknown energy converge on me, they’re trying to surround me. I swing my staff at them as I call upon the winds which pushes them back, then I levitate away from the encirclement. The woman tries to stand up, but I mould the earth to trap her feet in it, this breaks her momentum, and she falls back on her knees, I trap her hands too.

The men are back onto their feet. One is running toward the woman, probably attempting to aid her, while the other is lunging at me—they’re fast, faster than any normal human should be. Still… I use my essence to combust the air, creating a wall of fire between the woman and her helper.

By that point the first one is already dangerously close to me, I float further away as I point my staff at him. He must have seen through my attack because he dodges to the left before the gust of wind reaches him. He’s now close enough to swing his sword at me, but also too close to have enough time to dodge an attack, no matter how fast he is. With my staff firmly in my grip, I mutter an incantation. As his weapon closes in on me, the protection ward activates and violently pushes his sword back. Now he’s completely exposed as I complete my chant, a bolt of lightning crackles out of my staff, striking him as he falls unconscious.

I turn toward the other two but they’re back amongst their group.

Someone is missing—the man with the spear! I instinctively look behind me and he’s there, staring at me with an unreadable expression.

By the time I swing my staff in his direction, he has already snatched it out of my hands and thrown it away. I hold my right hand out at him, preparing to throw an energy beam at him, but he also grasps my hand and turn it to another direction, the beam collides with the tunnel’s wall.

His spear is at my throat before I can try anything more.