An endless pit sprawled out from underneath the reinforced bridge. Made of a similar unknown metal as the doors that welcomed Lilith to the city, it was a nerve-wracking experience as she slowly crossed over the Scar. Her mushed legs slowly creeped while using the railing for support. Lilith was never good with heights. Although it was normally tolerable, this experience was a bit too much for her. However, even with this mindset, her curiosity still wormed its way to the forefront. She couldn’t help but peek over and take a gander at the frightening pit. A darkness that seemed endless.

“Ye alright?” The guide asked, looking behind him.

“I’m alright...” Lilith whimpered. “Do you mind if I ask a question?” she asked, raising her voice to make sure the dwarf heard.

“What’s that?” The guide asked.

“I didn’t get a good look, but…” Lilith let go of the railing, and with all her might, pointed to a spot. “Are those holes the dwarven tunnels?”

“They were. Before the Scar formed.” The guide responded.

“So you’ve had 'em for that long, huh?” Lilith muttered. “How does this even happen?”

“What?” the guide asked, not fully understanding the question she was asking.

“Like, you know. How did it not cut through all the way? How is it not separated more or less? It just seems… strange.” The sight was definitely weird and the more she looked, the more she understood why it was called a scar. Small bridges reached out, but broke off as if it was trying to reach the other side. “Is it alive?” She followed with another question.

“Why would I know that!” the guide yelled out.

Lilith recoiled back as she gripped the railing tighter and came to a stop. “Things just don’t seem right here.”

“Then ye best figure it out yourself. No one has bothered to do so yet.”

Lilith leaned over slightly and looked directly down the gap. Although not a scholar, she could tell things were different. For all the fascination of the north, no one ever talked about the Scar. Yet, it was probably the most unique thing on the continent. It was mysterious, with questions piling up one after another, and what bothered her the most was that there was a high chance it wasn’t endless. That something was down there.

Lilith gulped as goosebumps formed on her arms as she recalled the conversation she had with Lily and Jack.

“We’re here,” the guide said, standing in front of a metal door.

With several knocks, the door creaked open, and Lilith followed.

A small fort city. Outside of a few pubs and artisans to repair gear and weapons, the place comprised only housing and training areas. It was a shadow of the size of the major city on the other side of the Scar, but it didn’t need to be any larger. Rugged warriors walked the streets with a silence that was deafening.

“Do I need to cross a battlefield?” Lilith asked the guide, who continued to lead her through the city.

“No, there’s a different way out. Bram told us to let you use it.”

“Bram?” Lilith asked, but with more surprise than questioning. Although he had helped her immensely, she did not expect to hear that name again. Especially with it holding any kind of weight. “Bram did?” She asked, clarifying herself.

“Ey. Others can use the tunnel, but there still needs to be some kind of clearance.”

“That’s good. I’m not a fighter, so there’s no way I could cross out in the open.”

With a grunt, the guide led Lilith to her next destination. Another metal door. They were everywhere, and they were heavy and sturdy, capable of keeping everything it needed to out. “This is as far as I take you,” the guide said as two guards opened the door leading to a long-winded tunnel. “One of these two guards will go with you until the end. Best of luck to ya.”

“Thank you,” Lilith responded as the guide left.

“Are you ready?” The guard asked Lilith.

Lilith gave him a nod, and as they entered the tunnel, the metal door closed behind them, followed by the locking of the numerous locks.

The guards' clanking of metal tuned out her own footsteps as they quietly traveled. It was a simple tunnel. No complexity. All it did was bring a person from point A to point B, yet it felt far longer than it really was. Until this point, she never considered where she was headed to. To be exact, she knew she was going to the north, but the reality didn’t sink in until this very moment.

She was confused. Over the past few months, her thoughts on things had changed quite a bit, so it became harder to believe everything about the north. She assumed there was some truth to it all. There had to be, but it now felt as if the north was more shrouded in mystery than before.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

With each step, Lilith’s heart beat faster. Wiping her brow, she readjusted her hat and came to a stop, standing in front of another metal door.

“Are you ready?” The guard asked,.

Lilith gulped and fixed the cuffs of her jacket. Behind the door held an unknown that she had to travel. “Y-yes,” she whimpered out, her voice cracking and unsure.

The guard gave Lilith a stern look, then unhatched a small opening to look out, making sure everything was clear and, as he did, Lilith prepared herself. Taking out the barrier prepared for her by Alex, she gripped it tightly and took a deep breath.

“Are you ready?” The guard asked once again.

Lilith nodded her head, exhaling. With a few more long and deep breaths, she calmed her heart and readied her mind. “Alright.”

Metal clanked, and chains fell with each lock undone. She watched each one, and when the guard moved to the next one, so did she, and with each opened lock, her anxiety and worry grew.

Lilith clutched onto the barrier stone harder and harder as time slowed, and when all the locks were undone, the guard looked over and, with a nod from Lilith, opened the door.

Pouring her mana into the stone, she took her first step past the door cautiously and looked around. An endless sea of dry, cracked earth welcomed her to the north. To the left, the Scar ominously cut through the ground and to the right, an unknown landscape.

The door closed behind her, and while clutching the stone with one hand, she took out the map and looked it over before replacing it with a compass. The first stop was northwest, and it wasn’t all too far from where she was now.

On guard and as cautious as she could be, she started off slowly, checking her surroundings as often as she could, but it was oddly peaceful. Things were far calmer than expected and the only occasional demons Lilith came across were the normal demon dogs and the like.

Lilith thought it to be weird, though. Although she expected it to differ from what she was told, there were far fewer demons than she expected. Although ‌Lilith chalked it up to the location and that the dwarves kept it as clean as possible, it still felt wrong.

“Where are the stronger ones?” She asked herself. “Are they somewhere else? I doubt they would struggle to pass the Scar.” Now that Lilith thought about it, there were more questions than answers. If the stronger and more intelligent demons needed to hunt, then couldn’t they just cross the Scar and look for humans? There was nothing stopping them years and years and years ago, or did they go somewhere else?

She continued to travel, but because she left a bit too late, and with her taking her time at the start, the sun quickly started to set. It was getting late, and she now needed to find a place to rest.

“Is this it?” Lilith said with her map in hand, while checking out the buildings in front of her. As the map showed, it was a small farm village with spaces that hinted to be open fields and houses, some broken down and others in surprisingly good condition. Lilith walked through, noticing no demons in sight, and found a place that she considered being in the best condition compared to the others.

Putting as much mana as she could into the barrier, she placed it on the counter. It extended just far enough to cover the small house. She kept the barrier going since it would be far too risky to let it drop. There was no telling if any of the ones she saw up to this point would come visit her humble abode or if they would be capable of sensing her.

“Do I just use a regular barrier?” Lilith questioned while looking through the house. They would take notice of her while using one, since it doesn’t hide her presence, but it would let her save up her mana as much as possible. “I have those potions,” she reminded herself, but concluded that it wouldn’t be a good idea to use them so early in her travels. Yes, she had gotten far more from Scarlet, but at least for now, there was nothing too life threatening.

She could keep going, but there was also no reason to push herself beyond what was necessary. If she pushed herself during the 2nd day, there was a chance, but that was also far too risky, especially since there was no guarantee it would still be there. As of now, though, being able to find a place that wasn’t so out in the open was the perfect location to stop for the day instead of the risk of being out in the open.

Putting more mana into the barrier, Lilith looked around the house. It was dusty, but outside of that and a few broken items, it wasn’t all that bad. In fact, it was impressive that such a building was still standing after all this time.

“It’s dry,” Lilith said, while looking around the room. There wasn’t a hint of water anywhere nor any sign it had rained anytime recently, if ever. It was something she had noticed while traveling. There were no animals, no raid, and no bugs. It was lifeless outside of the demons.

Peeking out of the broken front door, she looked around, confirming her new temporary house was the best option. With a roof mostly attached, it served its purpose perfectly. Pushing the furniture to the walls, Lilith made room on the floor for a camping area, which included a fire pit, a sleeping bag, and some food to eat.

“This thing sure is impressive,” Lilith muttered while sitting on top of the sleeping bag and staring at the crystal. It wasn’t as powerful as the ones used for the mega cities or even the ones used for the newer villages, but it was portable as advertised, and stronger than expected. She just couldn't grasp how one could utilize it for a long time.

“I guess I’ll have to tell Alex this,” Lilith said, while thinking about the barrier. “I wonder how fast Scarlet’s barrier would sap mana?” She questioned, reminding herself that the experimental one was supposed to be the less intense one.

Since there was quite some time until she wanted to sleep, she kept the barrier up, feeding mana into it when she noticed it would get too low. The barrier lasted quite long, but not long enough on its own without a constant supply, although the size wasn’t helping its case. The larger the barrier, the more it costs.

Reaching in the abyss, she grabbed a small notebook. The one she used to write down what Bram had told her. It was an idea she thought of, and a great one at that. There was going to be a lot that would happen during her journey, and since no one came back alive to tell their tales, she thought it would be a good idea to jog down everything that would happen so if she returned, it could be recorded.

There was one thing, however, that she couldn’t afford to do. In case she died, she wanted to make sure if someone else in the future came across her skeletal remains, then they would find her notebook in a pocket instead.

Taking out a pencil, Lilith let her mana flow into the stick and, after the tip glowed, she jogged everything she had seen so far in the day. She wrote down every single detail she could remember and even her own thoughts on the current situation and what she believed to be true.

Then, after finishing, Lilith looked at the pages of writing. There wasn’t much, but it was only the start. Closing the notebook, and tossing the magical pencil into the void, she tucked the notebook into her pocket, turned off the lights, then grabbed Scarlet’s barrier. The travel through the north would be a true testament of how bottomless her mana truly was. Clutching onto the barrier, it sapped as much mana as it could while she curled up into a ball, hugging the crystal.