At first, it didn’t look like anything much.

I didn’t even have to rely on my light orb, because the corridors were still full of mana, so my enhanced senses were more than enough.

That started getting disrupted soon enough.

The corridor was leading us in parallel to the actual, bigger one, but it seemed like it was behind the rooms.

A hidden passage to escape maybe?

But why that strange mechanism then?

As I walked past some of the holes in mana, I stopped to inspect them more carefully.

There wasn’t much indication why those would be there. It seemed like they were just randomly scattered on the one wall that was shared with the rooms…

-This is so strange…

I guess Il was also puzzled.

I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly happened for those spots to be blank like that. Was that also some kind of experiment going wrong?

No… those rooms definitely didn’t look like some test chambers… I mean, they were empty, so there wasn’t much to go off from, but still, I had this feeling…

Even if we assumed that this place used to be a place where people… or rather creatures like me lived, someone like that having an “accident” or something, wouldn’t really leave a mark like that. Besides them being a lot larger, they also wouldn’t be so… permanent…?

As I was thinking that, something came to my mind.

Were they really permanent?

Last time I met with the literal opposite phenomena, I just corrected it by absorbing magic.

What would happen if I was to also do something like that? I mean, not absorb, but instead give back the mana it was missing?

There was no indication it was a part of a spell, or anything, really… so I didn’t expect much to come from it… but I still had this itch to try it out.

-I can tell you are thinking of something.

It was Il.

Yeah… she knew me better than anyone. Even without the magic linking our minds together she’d probably be able to figure it out just by observing me.

-You got me…

-Well, I can’t see anything it is connected to… I don’t know if there's a point to that…

Ah, so she even managed to get a sneak peak of my thoughts.

-I am going to try it anyway.

-Sure… just let me step back.

As she did, I placed my hand on one of the spots and focused.

It was easy to gather mana, even easier to pour it towards the hole.

I am not sure if that was because of it being a dead zone, or something else, but it almost immediately sucked in the mana I was giving it.

And…

-Something’s happening…

The hole I picked suddenly shifted.

It was like it was filling with water… the rock that just a moment ago was dead and completely devoid of anything magical, started changing its consistency. It wasn’t just me seeing mana flow into it, it was actually changing its state of matter.

It didn’t even take ten seconds for it to change into what I’d best explain as… a water window.

But it was even clearer than that. There were no distortions, no movement. Just a clear view into the room on the other side of the wall.

-Wow…

-What the hell…

Yeah, that was definitely unexpected. But also, that was not the end.

While the window was already done and full of mana, I noticed that magic was still being absorbed by it. I was wondering if that was just to sustain the spell, so I interrupted the flow, but the magic did not disappear.

-Wait. Do that again.

As instructed by her, I started pouring mana once more, and then I also noticed it.

From the window I just made, a link started forming.

A straight line from the edge of the, now full of mana, spot, started extending towards the closest still blank spot.

As soon as those connected, the process repeated itself. Another hole, and another water-mana window.

This time I did not stop, and soon I started realizing that this place was more complicated than I thought.

Even though we never noticed them before, the windows, because that’s definitely what those were, were connected together by tiny, thin lines, forming a network spanning the whole corridor and even beyond.

-Don’t waste your mana…

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Even though I heard that comment, I didn’t intend to stop.

Besides the fact that I was still more than full of magic, the process itself was also surprisingly efficient. Whoever made this definitely knew what they were doing.

-Are those… peeping holes…?

That was Kon asking.

That was… an interesting observation.

-I don’t think so… Those are pretty visible - replied For.

-Are they now… - mumbled Il and suddenly started walking away from me. - Just a second, I need to check something…

I nodded, acknowledging that I heard, but didn’t stop pouring mana into the strange formation.

A moment later I noticed that she appeared on the other side of the wall, looking carefully around the empty room.

-Can you see me?

-Er… yeah? Why are you asking?

-Because I can’t.

I looked at her directly, not understanding what she meant. I even waved.

But, it was as she was saying, she didn’t react. Instead, she started carefully inspecting the wall next to me, ignoring the clear opening in the wall.

-It’s a one-way window? - I finally asked, starting to get what she was on about.

-It seems like. And not only that. I can’t see the mana from this side…

-Really?

-Yeah. Before I could easily spot those holes, just as you did, but now there’s nothing. The wall is smooth and the mana is equally distributed.

-That’s… huh. That’s not what’s here…

-I know. I can…

She suddenly looked directly at me and flinched.

-Huh?

-That’s… ah.

She shook her head like she was trying to chase away something.

-What are you doing?

-I just… looked through your eyes… and saw myself.

-Oh. I didn’t notice you joining in… It’s that unpleasant?

-No… It’s just… I never knew that’s how I looked like.

Oh.

No wonder.

An unpleasant silence fell on us.

-You coming back? I kind of want to check where this trail leads to… - I finally asked, breaking the silence.

-I… nah, you should be fine, right? I probably should stay here and see where exactly those corridors are connected.

-I guess it can be useful for someone to see how things look from the other side…

-Exactly. Just tell me where to go.

-Okay.

And so, I started following the strange pattern of those windows further and further into this corridor.

Every now and again I had to stop and pour more mana towards the empty spots, turning them into more windows.

This time, I had a spotter from the other side, and she did confirm what she said she noticed before. As I was filling the blanks with my mana, from the other side it looked like the seams in the walls were filled completely, and after a moment were completely indistinguishable from regular walls.

If not from what we saw before, no one would’ve noticed anything.

But, at the same time, the windows started appearing more and more often.

At first, the windows were just one, maybe two per room, but after about ten or so rooms there were barely any that had less than three, in most cases even more.

That is, until we finally reached about twentieth room.

The wall was just like in the rooms before, covered in mana holes. But this time, when I started filling those, I did not make the same circular windows like before.

The holes that filled started connecting with each other, like a blotch of ink that was spreading on a paper.

I slowly started filling the entire wall.

It was so surprising that I didn’t even notice until about half of the wall was already infused with my mana and see-through.

And yet, it wasn’t costing me that much more mana than before.

-Do you see any difference? - I asked her immediately, when I noticed the difference.

-No? It’s the same as usual, you’re filling the holes and that’s it.

-Well… that’s peculiar.

She didn’t ask about more, instead just looked through my own eyes.

-Oh.

-Yeah. Oh.

It took maybe a minute more to fill the whole wall this way, and soon I was standing in front of a full not-glass wall, letting me clearly see the whole room.

-This place is fucked up.

That was a comment from For.

She was mostly quiet till now, but seeing more and more of those weird rooms was making her uneasy.

A valid response.

-Hm…

But that’s not what caught my attention.

Sure, the room was unusual. But more importantly, even though that I already had filled the whole wall with mana, I still felt like I could pour more into it

That was the first one.

So far, those walls were quite self-contained. Whenever I finished filling one hole a tiny branch that would inevitably connect me to another one was taking noticeably less to fill, and appeared almost immediately.

But not here.

Curious, I did not stop pouring mana.

I sort of expected that the spell would just be busted and my mana would start to leak out somewhere, but I should’ve known better. Whoever created this definitely had durability in mind.

And yet, I didn’t notice a thing changing for a good moment…

That is, until I looked inside of the room.

It was getting brighter…?

No It was the other wall. The one that was not shared with the room we just checked started getting brighter and brighter, letting me see better inside.

-You seeing this?

-No! It’s visible only from your side!

Ah. So she was still peeking on my vision.

Well, most likely everyone was at that point…

But that was not the end of it.

It wasn’t just some lamp or something like that. At least not in the room.

It actually took me a second to realize what I was seeing.

It wasn’t that it was just the wall that was brighter. It was see-through, just like the one I was next to. It was what was on the other side that was making the room brightly lit… at least in my eyes.

It was a square room. And when I say square, I mean it. It was so flat and perfect that it looked strange in comparison to the wall of the whole place.

Sure, those were nice and smooth, but that was something completely else. Like modern smooth. Definitely not fitting in.

That was not the only thing that was not fitting in either.

Room was full of machinery.