Experience the ‘backroads’? Oh, boy… Zan felt dizzy.

I don’t have a choice, though. Zan chided himself for his cowardice. It was a tool. He would use every tool open to him. He would do his part to help end this war, he promised.

“Wonderful! How do I do that?” Zan asked, a little stupid, but it was his first time talking about ‘eldritch creations,’ so what could he do but stumble and laugh?

“Enter the staircase which leads to the kitchen. Instead of turning into the kitchen, continue down the hallway to the door at the end of the main passage. At the end of that hallway is the Backroads point of access,” Screen Master Simulacrum explained.

Zan followed the instruction and soon found himself staring at the door. Every door alongside the hallway remained as mysterious as that day prior when Zan had discovered them all locked.

“Uhhh, I’m at the door,” Zan said, wondering if the Screen Master would hear him as he did not speak into his earpiece. He was in the base, though. How much did the Screen Master see? Everything?

Everything: the Screen Master said, “Verified.”

Before Zan’s eyes, the door glowed. An energy filled it, causing strange markings to appear throughout the top half of the door. Reaching a bright crescendo, the door then sparked, as if an electrical bolt from the sky had struck it, and fell open. Pushing his way inside, Zan saw a room doused in white.

“Whoa, what is this place?” Zan asked, overwhelmed by the sudden change of color.

Normally, the inside of the command center was a sleek black. Zan had not yet thought to ask the Wardens what the material was, but as dark as it is, this white was as intense.

Was it a different material, a different precious ore altogether? Zan wondered.

From an unknown space, the Screen Master’s voice echoed. “This is the Hidden Chamber. The entrance to the Backroads. You will find this space is unlike any other space you have encountered.”

“What do you mean?” Zan asked.

“Answering your question simply, I say this: as you build the Shiv order anew, Zan, and as more bases integrate into the new system, you will find walking through one door will not take you to an exact room. It might take you to a far-away location. I will comment more on this feature when it unlocks for you upon the growth of the order.”

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Zan considered the Screen Master’s reply. An ‘exact room.’ Meaning? What, the space acted as one of those fancy teleporting circles Zan heard the king’s mages had?

Replying to Screen Master Simulacrum’s reveal, Zan said, “You’ve got me hooked. So, what now? Until you reveal the secrets of the earth, I still need to know what this place is about if I am to use this Backroads thing, right?”

“That is correct, Zan. You are learning fast. Backtracking to answering your original question, this entrance to the Backroads is mandatory for anyone who wishes to enter the Backroads. It is impossible to enter the Backroads without doing so from a room like this,” Simulacrum said.

“Gotcha… can only enter from a ‘special white room’ like this. What next?”

“An incantation is required to enter the space. Before an incantation can be spoken, however, the room, at its master’s command, must fill the room with concentrated energy. You will need to speak the command, but I can fill the room with energy. Once the incantation is spoken the complex glyphs within this space will use the gathered energy to open a pathway. This pathway is what we typically refer to when Wardens and Ranger-Knights speak about the Backroads.”

“Kewl… so ‘weird passage door place’ is also the ‘backroads.’ Got it!” Zan said, in a way usually only his younger and more immature self would say. “Next?”

“Next, I will walk you through the basic process of how to navigate the Backroads. The process is easy. However, using the Backroads for a prolonged period takes a psychological toll. You will not need to worry about this, however, Zan. Usage of the Backroads is strictly for the quick transversal of territory. You will not need to be within long enough for the toll to be anything other than a mere drop of energy levels.”

Zan made a quick mental note: small toll, don’t get addicted. Cool…

“Got it down. Next?” Zan asked, feeling like he was repeating himself.

“Once you are inside the Backroads, you will be alone. I cannot contact you inside the Backroads—” Simulacrum spoke. As he did, Zan thought it odd. Why? There was much about this order, and their technology, he did not understand. Continuing as Zan mused, Simulacrum said, “Why cannot we not communicate is a poorly understood question.

The easiest answer I can give is this: the Backroads are another plane of reality. By this regard, it transcends even the Ranger-Knight’s ability to understand.”

Absorbing the Screen Master’s explanation, Zan next asked, “How will I know where to go? Like, once I am inside… do I just go straight along the road?”

“Yes! Finding your way once inside is easy. There will be lights which shine toward your destination. These lights come from lodestones. You have already encountered these stones once before, Zan. They are what you and Jiehong have called ‘way stones.’ No matter the name you give, however, the real purpose of these stones are — among other things — to guide. Their light can act as visual markers when you are inside the Backroads. Shall we test the Backroads now?”

It was a lot of information to take in…

None of it wrecked his mind, however. Seemed straightforward.

“Yeah, let’s dip our toes in, yeah?” Zan said, feeling the energy pile into the room.

“Very well. Remember, once inside, you and I cannot communicate. Follow the lights. Stick to the road. Understood?” the Screen Master asked.

“I do. Let’s get this going!”

Becoming concentrated to a higher degree, the energy, the machine effecting the energy, it all reached a zenith, and the light overwhelmed Zan.

Covering his eyes, Zan felt how, even through his hands, the light intensified.

Until it broke off, suddenly, and left Zan in the dark.