We enter the ruins from an entrance beneath the student housing, those living here seem familiar with the passage and aren’t the least surprised at the many partygoers passing them by. Our peers are all excited, some showing off bits and pieces that they’ve brought with them to trade for drugs and drink, and others more excited for some sort of taboo mystery.

They’re teenage rebels, betraying society’s expectations of them. They aren’t killers, and they aren’t revolutionaries, though I’d be surprised if they didn’t entertain some revolutionary thoughts in the quiet and the dark. The sweet taste of taboo would draw them in, but the reality that lies beyond will be too much for them.

The dark corridors are hauntingly lit with only a few sparse lights placed carefully to allow for shadows to rule the spaces between. Though, the effect only works on the more visually limited species, and even then only for the inexperienced students.

“You think it’s properly secured?” Adler asks, looking down a long hall that branches off into a dozen rooms. Ashen piles along the sides of the corridor hint at furniture older than old, which has lost all memory of what it once was.

“Pretty certain it’s safe here,” Eshya says. “There’d be a few beasts hunting down this vulnerable prey if it weren’t well secured.”

“Yeah, the gangs in these ruins know how dangerous it can be, they’re probably smart enough to keep the doors closed,” I say, shrugging.

“Beasts?” A girl asks, looking back at us with wide eyes.

“Wild beasts hunt in these ruins, and you’d make an easy snack,” Eshya says with a cruel smile on her lips. “Unless you want to be turned into monster food, it’s probably smart not to stray down any unfamiliar paths down here.”

Not all of them believe her, but their nervous laughter contains an edge of worry and they treat the darkness a little more carefully after.

The others travelling the same path ahead and behind us are all students themselves and very few walk with any understanding of the dangers present. Few have experienced violence and are ready to face it here. Most are innocent youths exploring the edges of the unspoken rules, rebelling against their peaceful society in the only way that they’re allowed.

“Stop, who are you?” The guard at the door is clearly the sort that’s familiar with the nature of these ruins, and with just these short words he’s shocked our companions into a fidgeting silence.

“I’m Empress Kyra,” I say, acting imperious with all that I’ve learned from my training with Arduelle. “Are you with one of the gangs, or is this more of a student association like… what was that group called again? The secret society around these parts?”

“The fallen, or something?” Eshya says, smirking at the memory. “We stole half their talent after killing Orca, and it seems Speka isn’t much into their games anymore. Are they still around?”

The guard’s eyes open wide for a moment as he makes sense of what we’re saying. It takes a little time to realize the danger we pose, but when he notices he shivers in the cool air, his hand reaching for a weapon at his side.

“We’re not here to cause trouble,” I say, as his suspicion and fear turn him towards stupidity. “We’re just here to enjoy the party and meet new people.”

“Don’t cause any trouble,” he begrudgingly lets us pass.

The room beyond seems to me as if it’s a modified factory of some sort, the chipped stone along the walls hints at where the machinery has been torn down. It’s not clear how long ago it was remodelled, but the room hasn’t seen a professional makeover in quite some time.

The room has been repainted and bright lanterns are installed all around shining over the desks and tables covered in rich food and drink. A few other stalls seem to sell some more questionable wares.

There’s a quiet energy buzzing in the air, but silence still manages to hang over the room. Everyone is waiting expectantly for something to happen, for someone to speak.

It’s not long before a young man stands atop a small table at one end of the room, gathering everyone’s attention. He’s of a smaller species, only about as tall as my knee, covered in colourful scales, with a vicious set of teeth that don’t fully fit inside his mouth.

“We have a large gathering today,” he says looking over our group. “I hope you’re not all here for the free drugs.”

“Wait, these are free?”

“To a certain definition of the term,” he chuckles to himself in a sort of comically evil fashion which is clearly an act. “I’m joking, of course. Everything here tonight is free, and on me.”

While there is some definite cheering, I get the feeling that the people here aren’t likely to abuse such an offer. It’s not in their culture, and not in their nature, if they were going to act like that then they’d already be removed from society as uncivilised beasts.

“Now, partying is not all that we’re here for, there remains a grand mystery here. We do not know why the Unified States allows us to be free here in these ruins, but if it’s allowed then it must be for a reason.

“We still do not know what lies at the depths below us, and we do not know why this place was abandoned,” He explains. “We’ve gathered here to discuss these mysteries and to uncover the truths kept hidden from us for our own good.”

“If it’s for our own good, then why are we searching?” A member of the crowd calls out to him, it feels like they were seeded into the crowd just to ask the question.

“Because we aren’t good! We’re all here because we’re bad people, we’re very nearly beasts ourselves!” he shouts in good humour, but his crowd is remarkably less enthused.

“They’re digging up more than they’re ready for,” Adler mutters. “They’ll find themselves in trouble sooner rather than later.”

“Not if the beasts keep them away,” Eshya replies. “Not many fighters here, are there?”

“Won’t matter if things go as bad as Arduelle says it might,” Adler says.

“I guess we can’t expect people to ignore a mystery like this. We’re not the only rebellious students on this planet, and that fallen association can’t be alone in their work.

“Let’s just relax for a little,” I say. “I don’t see anyone or anything here worth reaching out to.”

I look about the room as the atmosphere eases and the crowd goes out in search of food and entertainment. Conversations rise between them, some more meaningful than others, but nothing that’s particularly interesting to us.

“Over here,” Vii says, pulling us along to the tables and tearing into a mystery meat kebab. Eshya joins her chewing into the meal while I absorb the music being played in the background.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

It’s amateur and energetic, but most street performers of my own city are better than this. The food isn’t bad either, but I’d much prefer what I can find below. Everything here is lacking, and the alcohol and various drugs don’t hold much appeal.

“It’s interesting,” Vii says, her eyes sparkling in the rainbow of colours surrounding us. “Look at them, the same as any generation of kids, rebelling against their parents and society. Even now, even here, in the middle of the Unified States where people are forged to be the ideal citizens, they still stray.”

“Perfection cannot be demanded from children,” I say. “No, it can’t be demanded from any of us.”

“We can try to achieve it, though, under our own impetus and for our own sake,” Adler says, though her voice is painfully frail. She’s seen enough of the world already to know better than to hold so tightly to the same ideals that led her to joining the welfare officers.

Still, she blinks away her doubts and finds the hope that was slipping from her a moment ago. The inspiration to reach for something more, something greater, to make something impossible.

“You’re new here,” the lizard hisses through a mouthful of fangs as he crawls upon us from the ceiling. If he decided to act as a beast, then I’m sure he could take a person’s leg with ease, and the scales, while shining bright, seem incredibly resilient as well.

A shame his mana density is barely into the liquid.

“We invited them.” The boy from our class steps in to try and nervously excuse his actions, but no one was ever actually worried about his part in this in the first place.

“Well, you have my thanks for that.” The shiny little lizard says, “You’ve found some interesting people, and we’re always fond of inviting new strangers to our part of town.”

“It’s always good to meet others who are willing to face the dangers of the ruins,” I reply. “Circumstances what they are, however, I’m not sure there’s much we can offer you apart from a simple piece of advice.

“Leave the ruins, and spend some time being good little citizens.”

“Sorry?” He asks, tilting his head. The blend of cute and creepy makes him seem quite adorable. Would it be rude to ask if he has any younger siblings we could adopt as pets?

Yes, yes it would.

I take a moment to save an image of the creature and send it over to Nel, I’m sure she’ll be enamoured with him too.

“We’ve been down deep, and we have the general gist of the history that you’re interested in,” I say. “More than that, I know that the welfare officers won’t be ignoring this for much longer. At least, our safety down here is no longer guaranteed.”

“How do you know all of this?” He asks, chuckling to himself but not outwardly doubting my claims.

“I’ve been to the depths of this world.”

“We all have,” Eshya says, leaning on my shoulder and finishing the last meat on the stick. “We’ve also listened in on the welfare officers as they talked about a few important matters and… well there’s a stray beast among them.”

“A beastly welfare officer?” The cute little lizard seems not just doubtful but outright amused at the idea.

“Gale,” I say, “He’s been collaring students and bringing them down here to start his own little society.”

“A welfare officer is a rebel?” He seems even more doubtful now than before.

“Not quite, from what I can make of it, he’s trying to expand the ‘glory of the Unified States’ into these ruins, and the world deeper below.”

“The problem is that he’s fucking insane,” Eshya says.

“Well, we’ll be careful of him then…”

“The problem isn’t really him, though. The problem is that some bigger and meaner welfare officers are going to come around to clean up and I don’t think they’ll ignore all of this.”

“As I said, I’ll take that into consideration.” The lizard says, on the back foot as he realizes just how much attention we’re gathering, and it’s focused on us, not him. It seems that he’s rather fond of the affection of the crowd. Not surprising considering what he’s doing here.

“Oh, if you guys want to know the origin of the Unified States… Kyra, can I?” Vii asks for permission to speak. From our earlier conversations, I figure that it’s her way of letting me shoulder the consequences for this. She’s still struggling more than she likes to show but she can’t afford to doubt every action she takes.

I nod and shrug, it doesn’t matter all that much.

“In long lost ancient times,” Vii starts, flying into the air and gathering the crowd’s attention as the lights stir around her. “There was a species of beasts called elves.”

This simple statement is enough to fill the room with countless whispers, some vicious, some amused, but she ploughs right through them all.

“Unlike many other beasts, they worked together, and they fought as a group and shared what they found. I’m sure there were many challenges for them in those days, but the details are lost to time.

“All we know for sure is that the elves survived, thrived, and fought hard until all the beasts were tamed or gone. They claimed all of reality as their dominion through martial power.”

“Then the Unified States showed them the errors of their ways?” One particularly nervous student asks.

“Nope, the elves, with no one left to fight but each other, saw just how much harm that they were doing to each other. They put down their weapons and developed a society of peace, this society, the one we’re living in today.

“They made the welfare officers to police our people and prevent violence, stealing, and everything else that’s evil. If someone misbehaves, they’re labelled a beast and lose all their rights.

“They become our food.”

It’s still interesting to me the blend of enlightenment and villainy behind the construction of this civilisation. That it’s built on violence is hardly a surprise, no one stands at the top of the food chain by being nice to everyone else. Yet, I can see the endless good intentions built into the rules of this society.

It’s just that little bit wrong, but that little bit is everything to those who slip through the cracks.

“So, our civilisation was built on violence?” a student asks, looking around at the others in the room who express their doubts, few of them are willing to express any support for our claims.

“Yep,” Vii says. “How do you think the beasts were fought back? They all wanted to eat you, but you’re not eaten. How did you get this world of peace?”

“The beasts were tamed.”

“Where are they, then?” Eshya asks.

“They turned into elves,” A half-elf says, showing off her scaled limbs. “Everyone knows the more civilised beings show signs of becoming like the elves.”

“It’s just a natural occurrence,” one of the other students replies, and quickly they fall into a vigorous discussion. Irritatingly enough, the ones who are most ‘wowed’ by Vii’s story are those hanging back into the drug den at the back and I doubt any of them would make for meaningful revolutionaries.

“No good recruits here,” I say, shaking my head at the sight of them. “I don’t see any reason to waste our time here when we could be having a better time at home.”

“It was nice to talk about the secret history to people who are interested,” Vii chirps up. “Do you think they were listening? Were they paying attention?”

“Some were,” I say, looking through the crowd of rebel students. “They’re not like us. I should’ve known, we’ve already been here and done this.”

“We found some good people like that, too,” Eshya says, slapping my shoulder. “Come on, let’s get back home.”

Behind us, the sounds of playful arguments rise as the students rebel in their own small way. Maybe their experiences down here will open their minds to new ideas later in life, when faced with the truths that they struggle with today.

I head back home, enjoying this time of peace as I count down for the day we leave.

It’s not much longer, and we have to prepare ourselves.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats and Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 54,914 / 60,892 units

Current mana volume: 27,299 / 30,271 shards

Mana volume at crystallisation density (Max. mana volume):

Kyra: 30,271 shards

Kyra’s armour: 20,777 shards

Kyra’s throne: 1,109,298 shards

~Forms

Mana Canon

-Annihilation Heart (Adapted)

-Blood Fuel (Adapted)

-Bone Magic Storage (Adapted)

-Nail Shifters (Adapted)

Dancer

-Flash Nerves (Adapted)

-Quick Perception Mind (Adapted)

-Burst Reflex Muscles (Adapted)

-Layered Space Muscles (Adapted)

Turtle

-Rebinding Tissue (Adapted)

-Catalyst Sweat Glands (Adapted)

-Repulsive Skin (Adapted)

-Prehensile hair (Adapted)

-Fatty Tissue Blood Storage (Adapted)

Investigator

-Wide eyes (Adapted)

-Wide ears (Adapted)

-Sharp nose (Adapted)

Misc.

-Clean bowels (Adapted)

-Mana Drive (Adapted)

~Favourited Skills:

Magic:

-Annihilation Magic (Customised)

-Fire Magic (Functional)

-Space magic (Broken)

-Force magic (Functional)

-Ice magic (Broken)

-Wind magic (Broken)

Movement:

-Hand-to-hand casting (Functional)

-Mana surge movement (Functional)

-Stealth (Functional)

Senses:

-Eyes of an Empire (Customised)

-Combat Awareness (Functional)

-Watchmen (Functional)

-Hidden bug (Mastered)

-De-tagging (Mastered)

-Anti-stealth sight (Mastered)

Special:

-Spirit Transformation (Broken)

-Conformity (Broken)

-Training mana form (Functional)