The soldiers and the hunter left the rudimentary tunnel behind and entered a completely different one. This tunnel had been excavated to perfection. It was about twenty meters high and twelve meters wide. Three rows of enormous spiral-shaped circular columns traversed the tunnel and extended up to the lined ceiling. There, illuminated by dozens of tiny blue lights that shone like stars, they opened like palm trees, with their stone leaves and stems partially descending along the walls. Lamps with runic engravings hung from dozens of metal arms, turning the darkness into twilight. About three meters above the ground, a line of shields engraved in stone from ancient kingdoms and clans ran along the tunnel walls.

"This is a true drauo tunnel!" Bargu said in amazement.

"It's... incredible," Isen said, fascinated.

The combat mage had read and heard about their majesty, but seeing it in person had exceeded even his expectations. His first instinct was to detach his cyberboard to take pictures, but when he went to grab it, he remembered that he had given it to Corporal Dragen, and he silently cursed himself. His second instinct was to feel his pockets for paper and something to write with, but it seemed he hadn't brought any. He sighed.

"Here, sir, take this."

Isen turned and saw Neisa beside him, her arm extended and her cyberboard in hand. Her fingers were thin and long.

"Thank you, soldier."

Neisa simply nodded.

Isen observed her for a few seconds with a slightly furrowed brow. In the time they had worked together, the soldier had always responded verbally except for that time Neisa had taken down the mutant that had climbed the central building stairs. At that moment, he hadn't given it much importance, but the way she nodded reminded him of...

"Are you... imitating me?" he finally asked.

"What? No, sir," Neisa replied, barely suppressing a smile.

The mage's blue eyes met the soldier's emerald green ones as she smiled. Suddenly, Isen felt a strange warmth rise to his cheeks and looked away without realizing it.

"What is... this sudden warmth? Could it be a symptom of illness?"

"No matter how many times I see the drauo tunnels, they never cease to amaze me," Eliad commented, having overlooked the quaint interaction.

"It's incredible that they could build such beauties in that era," Neisa said. "Your people are amazing, Bargu."

"According to their ancient mythology," Isen began, even though no one had asked, while walking and taking photos with the cyberboard, "it was the god of the rock, Grarock, who dug the tunnels and caverns to shelter the various races suffering from the extreme cold of winter in the Norgrem continent. Many of them accepted the rock god's offer, but instead of treating the god's gift with respect and gratitude, they did so with disdain and selfishness. They covered the walls with scribbles reflecting their desire to leave the underground and used the stones to create rudimentary weapons to take the lives and riches of the other races the rock god had sheltered.

"But this was not the case with the drauos. Instead of longing for the outside, they thanked every day for being able to live inside the mountains. Unlike other races that used the rocks to steal or kill, they used them to build their homes and temples, while they used their hands to fiercely defend the gift the rock god had given them. Grarock, who was amazed by the drauos' behavior, decided to teach them the art of mining so they could create their own tunnels and find the metals and minerals hidden in the earth's depths. Once they learned to extract them, he went a step further and taught them to mold them, believing he saw in them the future of his creed. As he had hoped, the drauos used the minerals to create jewels to enrich the stones that shaped their cities, and the metals to create weapons and armor to defend them. Finally, the rock god named the drauos his favored children and gave them his greatest gift: skin as hard as rock, adorned with minerals that not only granted them beauty but also different abilities."

"Amazing!" Bargu said, surprised. Although for some reason, Isen had expected Neisa to say that instead of the young drauo. "That's cooler than the belief that we simply descended from rocks."

The soldier looked at Bargu in surprise.

"You didn't know your people's mythology?"

"What, just because I'm a drauo, I have to know the supposed mythology of my people?" the young drauo asked with one hand open and his thumb, index, and middle fingers almost fully extended. "Do you know yours?"

"Nope, I really don't."

"Exactly," replied Bargu, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Alright, sorry," Neisa said with a smile. "And what are those little lights up there?"

Isen turned to answer the soldier, but it seemed she hadn't asked him, but the young drauo instead. He couldn't tell if he felt frustrated or disappointed.

"That I do know," Bargu answered. "They are creatures called Idars or something like that. They feed on magic, and their bodies light up in different colors depending on the type of magic they consume. The Subterranean Exploration and Support Regiments use them to detect if there's corruption in the tunnels."

They continued walking and reached a new fork. The path to the right was completely blocked by a collapse, so by elimination, they decided to take the other path. They continued for about five or six kilometers in a straight line and came across a couple of overturned ancient drauo metal carts in the path.

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They approached the nearest one.

The carriage door was shattered, and its structure was full of scratches and dents. In the front, the remains of the bones of the animals that had once pulled it lay scattered, and around it were several rocky bodies under the old drauo plate armors. Alongside them were numerous melee weapons and some ranged weapons like arquebuses and crossbows.

"These drauos must date back to the final era of the old world," said Isen, who, although it wasn't evident on his face, was enjoying all this as much as the first time he read a fantasy book inspired by old-world tales.

"I have to take pictures," Bargu said. "My dad is going to freak out."

"They were likely ambushed and died defending whatever they were transporting…" said Eliad, moving around and observing the entire scene. "Let's move on."

"What do you mean, drauos?" Neisa asked. "They look like statues."

"Oh, by Ibelir," said Bargu. "I'm actually going to feel offended. Didn't you know that drauos turn to stone over time? I'm sure you must have seen some of us become more 'stony' over the years."

Neisa shook her head.

"Unbelievable," said Bargu, pretending to be offended. "Yes, our bodies petrify over the years. If you look at the corpses, they have some holes and are missing pieces. That's where the flesh hadn't turned to stone yet." His face turned happy, proud. "In fact, when we die naturally, our entire body turns to stone! Some say our souls remain inside to guide future generations!" He opened his hands and moved them forward. "Isn't that amazing?"

"It is," thought Isen.

"Yeah, well..." Neisa said, not very convinced.

"Let's go," Eliad concluded.

Isen took another picture, and they continued walking under the ancient columns for a long time until, after passing through an enormous door, the tunnel transformed into a natural cavity that housed something similar to a stone citadel.

"Is that... could it be an ancient drauo city?" Isen asked.

"I don't think so; it seems too small," Eliad replied. "It's probably an old outpost."

Isen had also read about ancient outposts in one of the old books in the Catlon library. These were small fortified settlements primarily designed to provide security and rest for travelers, especially the caravans and troops of the Ancient Drauo Kingdoms of Ibelir moving from one city to another. Although many of the buildings and inhabitants were military, many outposts enjoyed rich commercial activity.

"Well, let's check it out," said the young drauo excitedly.

Upon reaching the old outpost, much of the wall and buildings were half-ruined and covered in dust and cobwebs. In some places, white mushrooms had sprouted between the tiles and the lower parts of the walls. Throughout the area, there were numerous rocky drauo bodies and almost completely decomposed corpses that must have belonged to another species, as well as some weapons and armor that had survived the centuries. Isen noticed that the soldiers in that outpost had the same shield as those on the carts they had found earlier.

"What do you think happened to them?" Bargu asked. "Were they attacked by the same ones who attacked the carts?"

"Possibly," the hunter replied as he walked through the streets, examining the corpses. He then stopped and knelt to look at one more closely. "It was demons."

"How do you know?" Isen asked as he approached the Hunter.

"Do you see these fine violet lines running along the bones?" Eliad said. "They are the residue left by demons when they possess a body. The longer they inhabit one, the more it spreads."

Isen observed them. From the patterns, it seemed they originated in the skull and extended to specific points, as if searching for something.

"I think I've found something," Bargu said loudly.

The combat mage and the hunter stood up and saw the young drauo about ten meters away. He was holding a sort of parchment in his hand.

"What is it?" Isen asked.

"It's some kind of letter or speech, I think."

"And what does it say?" Neisa asked.

"I don't know," Bargu replied. "It's in ancient drauo Ibelirian."

Isen approached the young drauo, eager to take a look at the writing. It was the first time he had found something like this.

"May I?"

"Of course, sir. Here you go."

Isen carefully and delicately took the parchment, as if fearing it might disintegrate under his touch. He scanned the ancient letters, and his eyes lit up, revealing a small spark of enthusiasm that rarely surfaced. Recognizing some of the words, a silent fervor took hold of him. Each word was like a piece of a forgotten past coming to life in his mind. His inner voice trembled slightly.

"What does it say, sir?" Bargu asked excitedly.

Isen's eyes shifted to Bargu's, turning cold and calculating. However, deep down, the spark he had felt still hid there.

"I'd need to study it to fully decipher the text," Isen said. "But it seems to be a speech to rally the troops before facing the 'Beings of the Abyss.'"

"Beings of the Abyss?"

"That's what the drauos used to call demons," Eliad replied with a somber face.

"Exactly," Isen confirmed and walked to one of the ruined walls. "To think that mortals actually faced demons…" He touched the wall and looked at the battlefield. "I wish I could see what these walls witnessed."

"I'm sure my ancestors died fiercely defending the outpost," Bargu said excitedly.

"Let's hope the same doesn't happen to Catlon..." Neisa said, looking at the destruction and death the demons had left in their wake.

The group left the old fortified settlement and continued down the opposite tunnel for a couple of hours, only to find a situation similar to the one with the ancient drauo metal carriages. Except this time, it seemed like they had traveled through time. In the path was a six-wheeled armored truck with the rear open and a machine gun on the roof. Next to the support weapon lay a human with amputated arms and several puncture wounds, and in the back of the vehicle rested another with his guts spilled out. About a meter back was a fully enclosed trailer with a rear door also stained with crimson and black marks. Some columns in the underground passage bore marks of blows and bullets. There were several blood trails on the ground and numerous corpses of humans and drauos dressed and armed with current-era gear. Some had claw and bite marks, while others had stab wounds or severed limbs.

Among them were numerous humanoid creatures with slate-gray skin, about the height of a ten or eleven-year-old human child, but with a broader back than an adult. Hundreds of fine, hard hairs, imperceptible to the naked eye, grew from the palms of their sharp claws. Two articulated limbs ended in points, resembling spider legs, protruded from their backs. Their broad heads had four amber eyes, holes instead of ears, and mouths full of tiny sharp teeth, from which two pincers extended.

"Treasure hunters…" Eliad said as he walked through the battlefield. "They were probably searching for an ancient settlement when they were ambushed by the erukidos."

"May the rock crush them," Bargu said, spitting.

"They got what they deserved," Isen commented. "Those treasure hunters have no respect for historical heritage."

"But they can't be the only ones they fought." Eliad looked around. "Those puncture marks aren't typical of the erukidos. Besides, the arruks always try to take their prey, so it's unlikely they would leave them behind unless... they were forced to flee, or they weren't the ones responsible for this carnage."

"Michael…" Isen murmured.

"Possibly," the Hunter said. "And they can't be far. The blood is still fresh."

"The time has finally come," Isen said with a bit of bravado, his eyes gleaming. Despite the trail of blood and destruction the demons had left in the runiel plant, now that he knew they were real, he couldn't help but desire to face them like the heroes in the ancient stories he had read so much about. For a moment, he wondered if Linalta had felt the same way at the idea that the ancient stories were true.