They jumped to the other side and found themselves in the middle of a tunnel similar to those inside the Rock. This time, the darkness made it impossible to see anything ahead.

"Nadine the flashlights."

"On it." She pulled small flashlights that work with fire from her bag. It was the best she could do with the little knowledge she had.

They looked around; there were several paths to take, left and right, above and below. The only ones who could lead them to the correct path were Nora and Silvano.

They combined their powers to try to find the place according to Cink’s indications. A giant cave with a single entrance. There should be signs or other things pointing in the correct direction. It was like fishing; they threw the line in the water and had to feel their way until they could sense something.

"I think it is north from here. I can open another portal and get us closer."

"Don’t. We need your power in case we have to run. Let's go on foot."

Despite the fire making light, the tunnels were in complete darkness; it was clear that not even a single ray of sunlight touched this place. A world forever submerged in darkness, every moment of this world was a total void with tunnels that extended to what appeared to be infinity.

The silence was like a dark omen hanging over their heads. The skittering of some bugs sends shivers down their spines. They knew that fighting was a possibility, but the sensation of fear and being drowned by the void was more powerful than any beast or giant insect.

Silas and Nadine were taking it better than the others. They could still feel their senses, so it wasn’t a complete void. That little thing was a relief to their hearts. After walking for thirty minutes and following tunnels that looked the same, they found a clue.

A small wall sign engraved in a metal plaque. It was written in the Valein language, but none of them could read it.

"If you’re translating the spoken language, you could do the same with the written text. Are you hearing me, System?" He said it aloud, looking to the ceiling, but there was no response. It's not like he expected something different. The System hasn’t said a word to anyone in over a year.

"Let’s go ahead and see if this is the place." Franco moved a rock out of the way.

The road was filled with debris and broken rocks. One of the first things they would need to do was clear all this rubble. Once they were deep inside the tunnel, they saw the broken walls and destroyed defensive barriers. The floor had old dried-up blood splatters everywhere, and the bones had been cleaned of any meat. Some of the bones were so frail that they turned to dust after a light touch.

The same image repeated itself as they moved forward. At the entrance of the cave, they finally found the city. It was full of tall buildings that had been eroded by time. Most of them were big enough for humans. Cink told them the valein were similar in size, if not a little taller. The only living things left were the strange monsters who had made this place their home.

Silas moved ahead to look at them. There were about eight of them in total, some kind of lizard with sharp blades on its back. He went back to the others and prepared the plan.

He felt a little strange, but despite the monsters' looking powerful, he didn’t feel any danger coming from them.

"Hey dumb lizards!" he yelled in front of the resting pack. They turned their heads back, and their mouths began to salivate. Before they took a single step, he used his power on the one who looked like the leader and discovered they only had a single ability.

"[Saw blades] they can spin those blades in their backs at high speed; be careful. They can also see in the dark." He spun the blade that grew in his back to see how fast it could go. If a limb got too close, it would be cut like paper.

Franco jumped in front and punched one of the lizards in the face. He broke the skull and felt the blood on his glove. At the same time, Nadine took one from afar with her spear. It shot right through the lung of the beast and pinned it to the ground.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Silas worked as a support, helping on the front line and making sure Franco wasn’t surrounded by the lizards. The blades spun like crazy, but Silvano used his power to throw one of the lizards on top of another. The backs collided, and the screams of the lizards filled the cave. Another lizard tried to bite Silas's hand, but he saw the way to escape thanks to Nora’s power.

It took them only two minutes to finish the fight. Strange, these beasts aren’t weak. At least not when compared to most creatures in the forest. But we’re able to deal with them so easily.

He cut the leg of the last lizard, and Franco crushed the body into the ground, causing a small crater. It was done; the lizards were dead. This was proof of their progress and strength. After training for months and competing in the games with the Crimson Caravan, this felt so easy in comparison.

Maybe this could work; they could have a chance to settle back in this place and gain more rare materials.

"Was that it? The ants in the Rock were five times more dangerous than these lizards. Did the valein get wiped out by something so weak?"

"I don’t think so. Cink said that it happened over a thousand years ago. These lizards could have found the place empty and taken it. Or maybe they killed the previous animals living here, but there is no warranty that the ones who destroyed the gate are still around here."

"We can at least say that it must not be the Tolgar or any other big group."

"Why are you so sure, Nora?"

"Because they would have taken this place as their base or a settlement. The way things look, most buildings appear intact, only older and without any maintenance. No one cleaned the blood stains. Look at the ceiling; those look like lights, but they haven’t been used in decades."

She was correct. The lights in the cave walls were old and corroded by time. Even as old pieces of metal, one could tell they were more advanced than human technology. It was a blend of the classy style used by the pix with some of the technology of the Valein Empire.

"We need to look more thoroughly. Split up and look around the city, if you find anything useful, take it."

There were no more creatures, so they could take it easy. As Silas explored the old houses, he noticed that most things were intact. Nora’s hypothesis was probably correct: the creature that destroyed this city was probably a beast or something else with low intelligence.

"Most things are eroded by time; nothing is missing. Weapons and furniture are all here. The only explanation that fits is that a beast came and killed everyone before returning to his real nest."

"That sounds fine, and we don't have more information to come up with another explanation. I think it is time for me to open the portal. We can secure the cave with the army and start rebuilding the defenses."

Nadine grabbed the other half of the World Stone and began to mold it into a gate. She made it big enough so that carts and supplies could cross it. They put it in the center of the city, in the tallest building, where the other gate was.

After some tinkering and a lot of intuition, Nadine touched the core, and a ripple effect echoed in the gate. It was a ripple that went beyond the tunnels or the air. It transcended the world and reached his counterpart at the base of the army.

Like a spark, that reaction ignited the gates on both sides, and they opened a portal. It was a semitransparent veil. She was the one who made it, so she had to test it first. She took a step inside, and the light blinded her for a moment. She returned to the capital, surrounded by shocked pix soldiers and Jacob.

"I happened to be around when the light from the gate activated. It only took you guys a day. Good work, partner."

The portal was working correctly, and the restoration of the city began.

The next few days, the army and Dawn worked hard to rebuild the city and secure the entrance. The outer wall was rebuilt using new materials, and they put torches in every corner of the city. The efforts were going well, and the workers managed to save quite a few of the old structures.

It didn’t take long before strange things started to happen. The soldiers and workers reported that they could hear voices coming from the darkness. Ahead in the tunnels, someone called to them. But it was never the same voice; sometimes it sounded like a man or a woman. Other times, it was a high-pitched voice like a child's, and the words they said were weird and nonsensical.

"Come here, come to the light." "Have you seen my doll?" "It wasn’t your fault; the six-legged bear was too strong."

The voices sometimes said things about their past and that scared them. It didn’t take long for a work shift to be implemented to relieve the soldiers' and workers' stress. The plans to have civilians live here were suspended despite the fact that the city was going to be hospitable in only a couple more weeks.

"We can’t send them to live until we can resolve the source of the voices. I can’t stay in that place for more than two days without hearing the whispers during my dreams. It's torture; I don’t know who is behind it, but we need to make it stop." Emily had suffered the same effects as her guildmates.

Silas couldn’t deny the creepy sensation of someone touching his shoulder during his meals or when he went to sleep in the city. "Are you sure that didn’t happen when you were in there, Cink?"

"Yes, I would have noticed after spending weeks without any trouble in that city. It's not a natural phenomenon."

"The plan to use the city as a trade route needs to be put on hold until we can deal with the voices."

"How are we going to do that?"

"There is only one way. We need to explore beyond the city."