Aira woke up alone in an unfamiliar room. Flickering light poured through the open door and cast shadows that danced all around her—a sign of a fire burning somewhere in the next chamber. The air was thick with the scent of dust and old machinery, something she hadn't experienced in this facility before. The outer rooms were devastated by the passing of the centuries, sterilized. But here, there was a chance this space remained untouched.
She groaned and tried to sit straight, her body aching from exertion. With a low growl, she called out, but no one replied.
This moment of abandonment pained Aira and made her feel vulnerable. It washed over her in stark contrast to the ever-present state of self-sufficiency she was so used to. It was both pleasant to realize she had a person she could rely on and frustrating that she was alone right now, at that moment of loss of control.
Determined to get some answers, she reached for her wristband and put it in place. But as soon as she sent an already familiar jolt of energy to charge the device, Aira felt dizzy once again. Her reserves were utterly depleted. Luckily, even that minute pulse was enough to access the System interface.
It flickered to life, streaming Aira's current status and all the standard menus directly to her consciousness. Despite the familiarity of the process, a pang of loss hit her—she missed the fluidity of her old magic, the ease with which she once navigated her world. She didn't have to perform all of these superficial rituals. All these gadgets she now needed to use to focus her power felt like crutches.
Probably, one of the reasons for that feeling were her tutor's harsh words and their habit of not relying on artifacts. And that's exactly what she considered all these devices to be. To what other class could she attribute to all of them? That's what they were. Even if Lila's society didn't know any magic, they truly were the artifacts of this world's humanity.
========== System Loading... ==========
--- Current Status ---
Health: 555/555
Mana: ???/???
SP Used: 62,658
SP Available: 4,861
XP: 67,519,000 / 69,141,000 (Next Level: 101, Legendary)
"At least I'm healthy," Aira thought. "Grandma would be delighted."
--- Completed Quests ---
1. Visit the Old World tech facility and investigate (Reward: 50,000 XP)
2. Find allies and escape the settlement (Rewards: Skill; 100,000 XP)
"Hm… Interesting," Aira continued exploration of the menu. "We are moving in the right direction. Another quest fulfilled. Some more XP was added to my stats. Happy days! But this way, it will take quite a long time to reach the next level. I need to do something about that. Not that it would change my circumstance that much."
She dismissed the notifications for now, focusing instead on her surroundings and condition. She still had no measure of the energy she could access and use. This was one of the reasons she overtaxed herself so easily. Before, she could see how the mana counter was getting lower and lower until it was too risky to use any magic before she recovered.
This blackout felt similar to a couple of hairy situations when she used up all her mana reserves and brought them to zero. Not that it happened too often. There was that one occasion when she had just started to learn the arcane ways. And her first tutor... What was his name? Right, Eldrin. He was so mad after. "You could have killed yourself Aira! What were you thinking Aira? This is childish, Aira!"
But of course, she was a child then.
Refocusing on her present troubles, Aira vowed to be more careful in the future. Not that this sort of vows made any difference in her past. But it wouldn't do to pass out all the time. Lila is a powerful woman, but she is also stepping far out of her comfort zone right now. So, Aira will have to find a way to gauge her energy resources more precisely.
On the bright side, with each day, with each failure, there were more and more reference points for her. The first time, Aira passed out when she accessed her skill without having a focusing device on her in Mountain View. Now, she had a device, but the sheer exhaustion and the amount of energy she transmitted through her and poured into that great door was unlike anything she ever experienced before.
"But where is Lila?" she thought. "There is fire there, in the next room. She can't be too far away!"
Just as Aira felt the gloom of loneliness overcoming her again, she heard footsteps, and Lila stepped into the room, her face lighting up with relief after seeing Aira awake.
"Thought I caught a noise out here," Lila said with a grin, striding over and plopping down beside her. "Well, look who finally decided to wake up! Got so used to you being the night owl on our hikes, and here you go flipping the script on me. Feeling steady as oak now, or still rattled like a loose gear?"
Aira growled softly in response and mimicked writing.
"Ah, Elder's beard!" said Lila. "How could I forget. Just a moment, I'll bring you the journal. Caught a howl from the storage room, and found more paper than a squirrel's stash. You'll be scribbling for days, no doubt."
Lila returned promptly with Aira's journal.
"Where were you? How long was I out? What's happening? Is it safe?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lila held up her hand, nodding as she read the note. "Slow down, sapling! I was shadowfooting around, making sure things were clear. It's already the next day, if you can believe it. Saw a few rangers sniffing close by, but they were on a regular patrol—nothing to make them nose around in here. No signs of trouble, and no tracks left by us to stir up a fuss. They just kept on, not a shadow out of place."
Aira's eyes widened. "I lost a whole day?" she wrote, a mix of surprise and concern on her face.
Lila nodded again, her expression serious. "A bit more, really. It isn't morning anymore, more like afternoon. But it seemed that you really drained yourself. Bones and bark, we gotta get you steady, or you'll be flat out each time we crack a door open!" she chuckled.
Aira sighed, thinking about the challenge ahead. "Any ideas? Magical guidance?" she wrote, and laughed.
Lila leaned back, looking thoughtful. "You are joking, but I have an idea. We use batteries to power up gadgets in our settlements. I have never seen anything powerful enough for a door like this, though. Maybe we will find some old tech for that purpose here? Might need your magic sense to sniff it out, though."
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"On the bright side of things," she continued, "I've explored this space a bit. There's plenty of loot here. It seems like nobody has been here since the Old Days!"
Aira nodded, her mind already racing with possibilities. "Let's explore more," she wrote. "Find something useful. Batteries. I'm ready to help."
Lila nodded, but when she started to get up, Aira lost her footing momentarily, and the room started to swirl around her.
"Alrighty, you'll have to wait a bit more before I'll allow you to join me," Lila said. "Right now, I'll bring you some sweet tea. Elder's recipe. It will help you recover."
***
"And you told me that you don't need to get energy from food anymore," said Lila with a grin after they had a quick bite.
Aira rolled her eyes.
"What?" Lila asked with a challenge in her voice. "It seems to really boost your recovery!"
When their cups were empty, Lila hugged Aira to support her, and they left the room together.
Indeed, Lila didn't waste any time. A field kitchen area was already set up there, with more tea and some pots seemingly scavenged from the facility's storage. Lila showed some of the game she was able to hunt during the previous day and the berries and mushrooms she gathered—plenty of reserves for the human and even something to fill Aira's stomach in her current state.
Aira motioned towards dozens of smaller animal carcasses that hung all over the place.
"Ah, that?" Lila asked. "Fox's whiskers, critters littered all over! Dead on the spot, no less—don't tell me that's not your doing! Did you happen to feel something while you were prying the door open?"
Aira took out her journal and wrote: "Ah... that... yes, it may be me."
"Ha-ha, no worries!" Lila said. "At least we don't have to worry about meat for some time."
Aira could only nod in agreement. Normally, she wouldn't have to eat much if one could call her current bizarre condition of being an undead who didn't need any sleep or food normal. However, several weeks have passed since her transition, and she was starting to get used to it.
The problem was that so far away from the ambient energy of the forest or any other similar sources, she had no choice but to eat whatever Lila gave her. There were no other ways of filling her power reserves.
That wasn't a laughing matter. Aira couldn't rely only on hugging trees or... sucking dry of energy stray rats. But it was a problem for tomorrow, not for right now.
***
Aira and Lila spent the next few days scouring the hidden area, searching for anything to help them manage the massive door. It looked like humans had yet to reach this section of the facility. The corridor leading to the hatch showed no signs of looting. Still, if Aira and Lila found it, others could do that, too. And it would be much safer if they could have a way to close the door.
They ventured deeper into the complex, encountering more evidence of the facility's advanced technology and its subsequent decay. The halls were lined with unknown machinery; in every corner, they found control panels with dim screens and plenty of storage rooms filled with strange tech—everything with drained batteries and no other power supply.
In one huge room, they found what appeared to be a maintenance bay. It was filled with tools, spare parts, and disassembled pieces of tech. Despite the centuries since they were last used, they all appeared to be in perfect condition. At least visually. Saved in this enclosed space by pure luck or some unknown powers.
The walls of the maintenance bay were lined with shelves that held a variety of gadgets and devices, many of which were unfamiliar to Aira but sparked a glint of recognition in Lila's eyes.
"Look at this," Lila said excitedly, picking up a small device. "This is a portable radio. And these—" she pointed to several other items scattered around "—are headphones, tablets, and even cameras. If we can get these working, they could be incredibly useful. By the Elders' breath, I'm rattled like a loose gear now. Such a treasure trove! If anyone from our town would have found it, that collection would make them rich until their last days! Maybe even grant them a position on the Council!"
Aira examined the gadgets, probing their circuitry with her arcane powers. She could sense that they were powerful tools once. But now, they were reduced to mere shadows of the might of the advanced civilization that had established this facility.
"We need a reliable energy source," she wrote, showing the note to Lila.
Lila nodded, her expression serious. "Making you charge them all the time would be unsustainable. We need something that can generate and store energy efficiently. I think I know what we have to look for."
Following Lila's lead, they spent the next few hours exploring the functionality of the gadgets they had found. The woman expertly tinkered with them, testing their components and trying to understand their use. She managed to get a few of the simpler ones, like the radios and headphones, to power up briefly using the small amount of energy Aira could provide. Still, they didn't want to rely on that power source too much so soon after Aira's recovery.
As they dug deeper into the clutter, they found pieces of tech that matched Lila's descriptions. There were small generators, old batteries, and various mechanical parts that looked promising at first glance. Lila's eyes lit up with excitement when she inspected each piece. But her enthusiasm quickly got extinguished.
"The fuel in these generators has long decayed," Lila said, her voice tinged with disappointment. "And without it, they're useless. We lost the technology to produce any replacements. And even if we had it, it isn't a job for two people. Even with your magic. We need a whole factory for that!"
Aira nodded, her frustration growing. "What about other types of power sources?" she wrote.
Lila thought for a moment, then sighed. "In the town, we burned coal and used water from the river to generate electricity. It wasn't much, but it was enough to power the gadgets for the most important people."
Aira considered this information. "Any chance we could replicate that here?" she wrote.
Lila shook her head. "Not likely. What I'd give for a river to run through here! But even in the valley otside, there's only a feeble stream. We're chasing shadows trying to power these up, but maybe we'll rustle up something before long. Plus, setting up a whole new energy supply system for the facility would take too much time and resources. I'm not sure we want to stay here for that long."
It was frustrating that they found so much tech but couldn't put to good use even the tiniest fraction of it. It was a collection of relics from a bygone era without a reliable energy source.
Aira sighed and motioned for them to continue their exploration. Lila nodded, her determination suddenly returning. "You're right. We can't give up yet. This place is massive. We have only just scratched the top. Look at how much stuff we have already found!"
Continuing their search, they left the maintenance bay and moved through the long corridors and vast rooms of the facility's inner sanctum. The deeper they went, the more they were awed by the scale and complexity of the structure. It was a labyrinth of metal and stone, a testament to the ingenuity of the ancient people.
Despite their growing frustration, they moved further and further, driven by the hope that they would find something that could help them eventually. Going methodically from room to room, they mapped out each section as they went, leaving no stone unturned.
Finally, as they were about to call it a day, the women stumbled upon a hall that looked different from the others. Shelves lined the walls that were filled with neatly organized boxes and containers. But the most exciting feature of the room was that thousands of books were stored there.
"Whoa! I've never seen a library that big," Lila said, her voice tinged with excitement.
Aira nodded, her hopes rising as she scanned the archive. She had spent so many hours in libraries studying the arcane ways. But she had never been to a place with so many books gathered together.
They checked a couple of the tomes, and the language looked like an archaic and bizarrely different form of what Lila's compatriots used. But still, even with this limited understanding, they've made a lot of progress right away, distinguishing different types of books: shelves were filled with technical manuals, natural sciences handbooks, and a myriad of other things.
The pages, though yellowed with age, were still readable.
"By the twisted branches! This here is a goldmine," Lila said, her eyes wide with excitement. "We might be able to find ancient wisdom and guidance in fixing things in these books!"
Aira nodded, her mind already racing with possibilities. She wrote, her determination clear. "But the first goal is to find books about energy."