"What happened to him?" Elias whispered to Sasha.
"His… spine broke!"
'Shit.'
"How do you feel, Sam?" she asked him again. He glanced at her through pain-glazed eyes and said, "I can't feel my legs!"
A lone tear rolled from his eye, washing over his left temple before dropping to the ground.
Elias felt a strange twist in his gut. 'He attacked me first. If he hadn't, I wouldn't have...' But no amount of reasoning could wash away what the boy was feeling. It wasn't just the pain of multiple broken bones but the terrifying possibility of never walking again.
If Elias had hands, he would have massaged his temple. This reminded him of his own gruesome reality. Losing a limb was among the worst feelings one could experience. It made you powerless and vulnerable in ways others could never understand.
"I'm sure it's just a minor injury that will heal," she reassured him, though her mind housed doubts her words wouldn't betray. He nodded weakly.
"Thank you," he said, voice barely audible.
After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "Super Speed is your Talent, right?"
"A-rank Speed," he added, emphasizing the potential which was rare among millions awakens.
'Her talk is calming him from his bleak situation.' Elias felt nothing but awe at her empathic ability.
"That's good. You will be alright," she said softly.
Then she added, "You see, we had fought a Calamity Beast and survived before. We don't yet know how to fully control our powers, but I'm sure you'll be fine!"
Sam's eyes widened, his gaze alternating between Elias's back and Sasha's face.
"Really?"
Sasha nodded. "Yes, he's my bodyguard, which makes him stronger than me."
Sasha had a way with words, calming the boy enough to coax a fragile smile from him.
"Hundreds of them passed," Elias commented, deliberately changing the subject to draw their attention elsewhere.
"Actually, precisely 902 beasts have passed. Not Calamity Beasts because they lack Calamity Force, but they're getting close!"
Sasha's correction made Elias glance at her device, but she smugly pointed at her head, indicating it wasn't technology but her own calculative reasoning.
"Impressive... now what?" he asked. There was a collective sigh among the three of them. Now they had to push forward into that gate from which over 900 foul beasts had emerged.
"Exploration is hard!" Sasha said, but with a smile that refused to fade. Despite the fear and danger, she bubbled with too much excitement to suppress her joy. She looked at Sam and said, "Sam, we'll enter the gate together, okay? The three of us will have the first findings."
Sam, numb throughout his body from pain relievers and numb in his legs from his broken spine, couldn't help but be moved. Tears rolled down his cheeks. "Thank you!"
It came out genuine and heartfelt.
Even Elias was touched. He focused on the craft stone through his book, and it moved without shaking or trembling like a machine might—it simply floated, pulling free from the rock where it had been hidden.
Sam gazed at the hole they left, watching the scenery shift. 'This is how they came here so fast. Isn't this cheating, riding a Relic Vehicle?'
"It's not a relic but a Brand Skill of my bodyguard. Molding stone into flying vehicles," she explained, anticipating his thoughts.
"Amazing."
"How did you get here early!" she asked as they turned the corner, facing the gateway. Beyond it, darkness deepened to an eerie void, with light from the zenith sky barely penetrating its depths.
"We were at a nearby Major Spot," he said. His condition wouldn't allow him to tell the full story. They grew quiet as the spiky craft stone approached the ancient gate.
Elias hesitated at the threshold while Sasha observed ahead, her eyesight still better than his. Then they slid forward as if walking into another dimension—one with the consistency of water yet the substance of air.
Elias braced for the stench, ready to pull back, but the air was clean, carrying the scent of ancient weathered earth. A feeling beyond the five senses enveloped them—and it wasn't the sixth sense of intuition. This one was stranger, rarely felt...
Nostalgia.
They had never been here before; this was their first time stepping into this forgotten place. Yet their skin prickled and their spines tingled with that overwhelming feeling, as if paying homage to the humans who had built this place thousands of years ago.
The sensation washed over them like spectral hands reaching across millennia—touching, welcoming, embracing. Each breath they drew felt weighted with history, each heartbeat synchronizing with echoes long silenced by time.
Sasha trembled, overcome by exhilaration. Euphoria enveloped her like nothing she had ever felt before. Tears streamed down her cheeks, mourning those lost to time, names and faces never known until found now. It was as if the very stones remembered and shared their memories through some ancient magic that bypassed conscious thought.
Elias too fell into a trance. The only way he could describe this feeling was like a boy lost in a vast endless desert who had wandered until old age, yearning to find people, yearning to speak to anyone, yearning to feel love and recognition. And in the final days of his life, he was found—no, they found him. They too had been looking for him; they too had wandered, searching.
Finding something that was lost to time created emotions beyond description.
"This is amazing!" Sasha was crying freely now. Sam closed his eyes, sharing her optimism despite his condition. Elias smiled at them both. He had read that some ruins invoked strange emotions in explorers, but he had never experienced it himself until now.
The weight of ages pressed upon them, but not uncomfortably—rather like the embrace of ancestors welcoming their children home after a long absence. Every stone, every crack in the walls seemed to whisper stories, if only they knew how to listen.
Where they stood was a street that extended deep into the ruins, bending leftward for kilometers. On either side of the road were rocks and buildings carved into them. Weathering and decay had marred many structures; some crumbled with the slightest vibration while others stood with seemingly eternal might, defying time itself.
Elias chose a sturdy left wall and parked the craft stone. Then he pushed it inward, hiding it from sight while Sam remained inside.
"I've sent an alert about your injury just now. Someone will come for you," Sasha said, and Sam nodded gratefully.
"Thank you, Sasha!"
"It's alright."
Elias hid him well, ensuring nothing would spot him unless actively searching. But both he and Sasha remained skeptical—what if a beast accidentally rammed into that spot? The rock face was solid but might break and reveal someone inside.
"The spiky craft is strong," Elias reassured.
"Yeah, I know. That's a relief, but anything can go wrong!"
"Yes. Like when you opened the gate without checking for danger and got attacked." His voice rose slightly, betraying his lingering upset.
"Ah. In the report, they said all beasts within the new site were cleared. That's why I didn't expect something like that!"
"Does that mean they lied?" Elias asked sharply.
"No, I wouldn't say they lied, but maybe they miss....."
"Missed 900 beasts? Come on." Elias scoffed.
Sasha just stood there, her earlier trance giving way to troubled thoughts. "Did someone want to kill us? That many beasts could truly wipe us clean. Is this some sort of scheme?"
Elias looked at the weathered city and said, "You're overthinking this. Exploration is as dangerous as hunting. You seek the old, the unknown, and surely some of those things are dangerous. This is training for you. Just because you received a report of no danger doesn't mean you should move carelessly without caution!"
He paused, looking back at the gate they'd passed through. The ancient energies still hummed around them, creating an almost visible aura that wavered like heat above desert sand. "Besides," he added more softly, "something tells me this place has been waiting for us for a very long time."