The statue was untouchable.
Not because of a visible barrier. But because getting closer would have felt like disrespect.
So they stood there a few seconds longer. Absorbing. Trying to understand without truly understanding.
Then Tim looked away.
"There’s more to see."
And they left behind the eternal gaze of the cosmic monk.
They moved deeper inside.
A futuristic forge workshop occupied the first wing—silent anvils, a furnace cold for millennia. Workbenches scored with deep marks. But no tools.
Everything had been taken. Probably by the Soulmancers who had defended the place. The battle outside must have drawn them out—but all of them?
The two teens were young, not stupid. Leaving a place like this completely unguarded made no sense.
Farther in, a circular chamber lined with empty shelves.
A library. Stripped bare.
A laboratory: Experiment tables. Shattered vats. Crystallized residue scattered across the floor.
This place, too, had been methodically stripped clean. Only the skeleton remained.
That didn’t stop Lily from sensing a lingering presence.
"Someone’s been here," she said quietly.
Tim ran his fingers along a metallic surface. A thin layer of dust—disturbed recently.
"More than once."
Soulmancers, most likely. Or maybe Players... though that seemed unlikely.
They moved on, instinctively avoiding a room that looked like private quarters. Until they entered what appeared to be a more secluded laboratory. Smaller. More personal.
That was where Tim stopped.
On a table, almost carelessly placed in the middle of the emptiness...
A metallic fragment.
Irregular. Dull. Yet vibrating.
Tim approached it slowly. His eyes shifted subtly.
"Interesting..."
Even without touching it, they could sense the activity inside.
A self-renewing flow of Lumyst. Cells. Microscopic metallic structures in motion. Like a living organism.
Within it lay an Aether Code—of nearly obscene density and complexity. Every rune and symbol seemed layered, multi-tiered, as if the metal itself were thinking.
Lily felt the pressure just from stepping closer.
"What the hell is that...?"
Tim extended his hand. The fragment trembled briefly—then stabilized. He felt a surge of vitality flow into him.
Exceptionally pure Life Lumyst.
"I’ve got a feeling this is what we came for."
He picked it up. No resistance. As if it had been waiting.
Lily exhaled sharply.
"Okay. Great. We’ve got it. Can we leave now?"
She glanced around nervously. Even if the outside world was silent down here, she didn’t like this place.
Tim hesitated. Just a second. Then turned his head in another direction.
His gaze fixed somewhere beyond the walls.
"Not yet."
A faint smile curved his lips.
"There’s something else."
They left the laboratory.
A corridor led them to an unexpected space: an inner garden.
Rows of perfectly preserved herbs grew beneath a soft glow. Silver leaves. Violet-tinged stems. Translucent sprouts swollen with iridescent sap.
Tim crouched. Plucked one. Brought it to his nose.
Inhaled.
His eyes narrowed.
"Poison... Strong enough to brew potions—or drugs—that could bring even a guy like Gerulf to his knees."