The two days pass uneventfully. Having a massive metal monster seems to frighten away the weaker shells, leaving me with nothing to do but walk. The forest remains the same: pine forests with a slight fog hovering in the air. Azu stays on the MULE, only coming down when it's time to eat or sleep. Zack and Hearon strike up conversations with our temporary companions but for vastly different reasons.

Hearon actually looks interested in their opinions and holds serious intellectual conversations, and Zack, he mostly makes jokes or talks shit. I've yet to see him have a serious conversation with anyone outside of my group. Much to my discomfort, Julie continued to try and seduce me. Unfortunately for her, I have no interest in sex or a relationship. The others of the two squads tried to start a conversation, but I remained silent. There's no point in getting to know these people if we could die at any moment. It's better to remain focused, especially because I am significantly weaker than them.

To my surprise, we didn't use a single module from the MULE. Instead, we used portable stoves and some kind of force field tent. And so three days later, we arrive at Mushroom Vally. Just before entering, our two companion squads split off in the direction fo their various missions.

"And then we were alone," Zack says, walking beside me. I grunt in response. I've been on edge this entire trip, and now that we're without backup, my nerves are starting to get to me.

Zack slaps me on my back, "Relaax, man. If you frown any harder, it'll get stuck." I say nothing. The fog around us starts to thin until it completely disappears, and a massive mushroom appears in front of me. I originally thought it was just another tree, but the cap gives it away.

"Woah." I breath. That's strange. I bend onto one knee, examining the ground. The pine needles stop in a line. I look my left and right, and sure enough it' a perfectly straight line. Not a single pine needle crosses this threshold, but on the other side is a sort of dark green moss that covers the ground, and hundreds of mushrooms dot the landscape, some tall, some small. But all of them a creamy tan color with brightly colored caps.

I turn to Zack to ask about the strange border, but he's already shrugging, "Ask Az." I sigh and cross the line, stepping onto the soft and slightly squishy moss.

"What has she been doing up there? She's barely come down."

Zack shrugs again, "Could be a lot of things. Most likely, she's combing through the scout reports and deciphering stuff from other ruins. She is one of the leading figures in the Runic language so that kinda stuff always keeps her busy." Zack says this with a hard edge. Must not leave a lot of time for dates and stuff couples do. Zack seems like the kinda guy to spend money on his partner.

"Zack, take the reins for a bit. I want to talk to Silen," Azu calls from the MULE.

He holds out his hand for the wristband, "Gotta do what the boss says."

After he receives it, he grabs me by my armor and chucks me up the MULE without another word.

"Wooaah!" With a loud thunk, I land on top of it. "Ow. Maybe a little warning next time," I yell at Zack. He laughs without looking up. Turning around, Azu has a dozen different screens floating around her, her fingers moving at a speed that is almost inhuman.

"Sit," She points in front of her, shutting down all but one of the screens. I obediently fold my legs in front of her, feeling like a domesticated animal. "Since you didn't have time to learn about the forest, I have decided now is a good time for a lesson."

I cross my arms, "We could have done this days ago."

She waves dismissively, "I had a lot on my plate. Besides, you seemed to be having fun with Julie."

I scoff, "Whatever." If by fun, you mean contemplating manslaughter.

"Back to the subject at hand, how much do you know?"

I take my sword off my back and tap the hilt, "Aside from the shells and ruins, it's separated into quadrants. That's pretty much it."

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

Azu sighs heavily, "To think you don't even know the basics." She rubs her forehead and brings out a flat black disc about as big as a plate from a bag behind her. With a tap, a screen appears showing the same map I saw in the tower.

I lean it closely. There look to be about twenty quadrants and a massive red line at the top of the map, cutting the rest of it off. "This is the map of the forest. There are a total of twenty-two known quadrants."

She taps a spot at the very bottom of the map, "This is where we started, and this is where we are going." A line appears that cuts through four quadrants, stopping on a fifth that borders the red cutoff point.

"Misty peaks, Mushroom valley, Icicle forest, Lake of the red trees." I name off the four sections as they appear on the map, the fifth one not even having a name. Not very original.

"Naming isn't the cartographer's strong point."

"Clearly, "I mutter under my breath.

"The names do get to the point, something diver's value very much. As for the other quads, we can worry about those on another expedition. We should be leaving Mushroom Valley by the end of the day."

I hum to myself as I inspect the map; aside from the names and lines separating the quadrants, it's surprisingly barren. "Why the lack of geographical data? Most of the maps I know have tons of landmarks and locations of interest."

Azu swipes the map away and stands, stretching as she does so, "The forest changes daily due to territory fights between Shells. Divers learned a long time ago not to rely on landmarks as they could be gone the next day. Even ruins are not spared. Despite exploring those forests for well over a thousand years, there is always something new to discover."

She paces in front of me, hands behind her back, "For example, the quad we are going to appeared recently and out of nowhere while also extending the out of bounds and revealing a host of new ruins."

I hold out a hand to stop her, "Wait, back up. What do you mean "out of bounds."

Azu returns to her seated position in front of me, reopening the map, "This red line at the top? That is what it is called. We can never get past it. It causes a distortion in space that confuses those who try to pass it, eventually looping said person back around to where they started."

I scratch my head, "So we're trapped?"

Azu seems to have lost interest in our conversation as she starts tapping away at the screen she didn't close, "That is one way to put it. If you think of the Exlades as a deterrent for the people of Titan, then you can think of the boundary as a deterrent for humanity as a whole. There is something past this barrier, as evident by the line expanding outwards, leaving new areas and new ruins in its wake. The question is why, and are we being kept in, or is something being kept out."

Goosebumps run up my arms. That is a terrifying concept, but not something that sounds impossible. I stare at the map a little longer until one question sticks out from the millions rattling around in my head, "What exactly is Ruinc? I know you said it was a language, but very few know it, and even less mention it."

Azu lets out a very unladylike grunt, "That is because people are afraid of the answers. All the ruins discovered have Runic in them. It's the one and only thing connecting all of the ruins together, but not only is it a pain to translate, it rarely makes sense when put into a sentence. Most of the Diver community has written it off as scribbles or pieces of a broken language that we do not have the most integral parts to."

"But you don't believe that."

Azu goes quiet for several minutes, only the soft stomp of the MULE filling the space. "No, I mostly agree. There is a language here, but we are missing a key component. Without it, Runic will continue to be nothing but bits and pieces with no coherent direction."

I lay on my back with a sigh. The more I learn about this place, the less things make sense. It's just questions on top of questions. "Have you named it yet?"

I sit up, Azu still tapping away at her screen, "Sorry?"

"Your sword. You really should name it soon. Before the blood core has a chance to settle."

I glance down at the silent weapon, "You make it sound like it's a living being."

Azu swipes her screen away and starts putting the black disc back, "Blood cores are known to be volatile without something to anchor it. It's one of the few cores that, when inserted into a weapon, can't be separated from it without destroying the host. You do NOT want to know what happens when those settle without an anchor."

"What do you mean "settle"? Is there a time limit?"

She prusers her lips and goes silent for several seconds, "It's hard to put into words. Think of a piece of metal. The original shape is just a hunk of nothing. However, if applied to heat, it can be beat into shape. Blood cores are like that. It is nothing at first, but when combined with a weapon or item, it heats up. If it doesn't adapt to the item, said item will melt from the heat. A name is the hammer. Over time, it will beat the core's will into the weapon until it cools and becomes the weapon. However, if that never happens, the weapon will melt or explode. The time it takes for blood cores to reach that point varies. Some take days, and some take years. Regardless, I would not wait much longer."

Huh. I still don't get it, but giving this sword a name sounds more important than I thought. I toss it over my shoulder and stand, stretching my arms as I do so, "Are we done here?"

Azu pulls out a large brown leathered book, "Yes. You probably have more questions, but I need to get back to my research. Talk to Zack or Hearon if you need more answers." Azu taps her glass, and a dozen screens pop up again, signaling my time to leave.