Aira and Li carefully approached the building. The rge hall on the ground floor probably was a marvelous pce ages ago. It was still breathtaking, but in a very different way. Vines and trees sprouted from everywhere, breaking what one day erfectly ft surface of the floor. Early spring flowers caught the light sprouting from cracks in the walls and from the windows that had lost their gzing duriuries of decay.

  Carefully expl the inner halls, the two women searched for a way to get higher. It wasn't an easy task; many of the metal beams were eaten away with rust, and ceilings caved in. pared to the state of the a facility they spent so many weeks in, it was a plete mess.

  "I thought these buildings would be more intact," said Aira. "From the outside it looked like they should have survived the turies much better. But it's pletely rotten inside!"

  "Yeah, now I'm w if we're just chasing shadows trying to find a ," said Li. "And even if we do, isn't it smarter to shadowfoot it back down and keep moving? Your senses might be enough of a guide, don't you think?"

  "We ," firmed Aira. "But I'd prefer to have a visual firmation of oal."

  So, they tiheir seartil they found an intact staircase. The mere existence of so many staircases that led up to the floors was mindboggling. Still, when they discussed it, Aira and Li had to agree that it was only reasohe footprint of this building was the same as that of a whole neighborhood in Mountain View.

  The interior of that stone box with steps was dark, the air stale and heavy with dust. It was almost like its enclosed frame allowed the staircase to withstand the abuse of time much better pared to the other parts of the building. So, after a brief hesitation, they decided to give it a try.

  Aira led the way, and her enhanced agility allowed her to navigate around the obstacles with grace. Li followed closely, her eyes darting around as she stayed vigint for any signs of danger. From time to time, they had to offer each other help in overing some hurdles, and overall, the progress was not very fast.

  As they asded the building, Aira and Li found more remnants of the old world—rusted and rotten tables covered in dust, small parts of unknown broken devices, and scattered papers. In a way, it remihem of their abandoned base. Still, all the evidence of the a grandeur seemed to be even less usable and reizable here.

  Still, the whole se was a hauntiimony to a ohriving civilization that was now reduced to ruins. Each floor they asded added to the eeriness. The silence was broken only by the occasional creak of the a structure and rare whispers of the radio when Aira wao say something.

  " you imagine what sort of camity could have ended a civilization that magnifit and powerful?" asked Aira. "Erasing so much power and knowledge?"

  "By the roots, all we've got are the old legends," said Li. "And every one of them points a fi the undead. Supposedly, they chased humans out of the old cities, took over the heartwood of civilization, and, well, the war didn't leave much standing. Guess we've beeher-beaten ever since."

  "But who has started the war?" asked Aira. "With that attitude, I experienced from some of your fellow humans… If the same level of hate resent then, those hundreds of years ago, I could easily see either side starting the flict."

  "Look, all I've got is what the so-called wise ones handed down," said Li. "The Elders, the rarainers—it's their story, not mine. You know I started pig at their tales long before I met you. And yeah, this whole history smells more tahan a bramble patch. But where else do I go for answers?"

  Li stomped her foot and walked away from Aira, not responding to her transmissions.

  By that moment, Li was visibly disturbed. Switg sides and bming everything on humans was a hard shift to make. Even if she wasn't happy with myths and histories she and other humans were made to believe.

  But then, even after the ret unpleasant enters with the rangers, it wasn't an easy task to cut her ties with humanity pletely. Or at least with that aggressive part of humanity that didn't want to get to the real reasons that brought the old civilization to the Fall.

  And it wasn't impossible to know if there were any other human fas out there, with differing attitudes. The ones who were more open-minded.

  They tiheir endless climb, each step eg in the hollow halls. They had to switch staircases occasionally because of more obstrus and cave-ins. Luckily, the building was rge enough to give them ample choice. Even sidering the level of decay due to the turies of the building being open to the elements. But once again, they were awestruck by its sprawl.

  With all that choice, though, they had to clear up some debris more than once, losing valuable hours of daylight. But now, they were ied. There were too many floors left behind, and still quite a few levels to climb. At least with Aira's boosted stats, they were able to power through these obstacles much faster than a group of ordinary humans would do.

  By the moment they reached the tenth floor, exhaustioled in, and the two women decided to make camp. Aira and Li had spent the whole first part of the day braving through the treacherous terrain of the a city, and that already was a rigorous workout, not ting their slow ast.

  They chose a er that was at least a bit protected from the wind and prepared a small resting area, setting up their makeshift sleeping quarters amid the debris. After all preparations were done, Aira and Li sat in a wide window on the very edge of the building, enjoying a quiet meal during the su.

  For both women, seeing windows with their sills literally at the floor level was no less astonishing than these high-rise buildings themselves.

  "I just 't stop wandering about the miracles of that old civilization," sent Aira to Li's radio. "And this building that still stands, despite its ruinous state."

  "Bones and bark, it's a shame humans don't get to see marvels like this anymore," said Li. "Maybe if we did, we'd aim higher, start digging out the roots of our old glory. But no, with the undead lurking, sightseeing isly in season."

  The floor they chose for their camp wasn't high enough to see far enough to the city's ter over the other buildings. Both the structures that remaianding and the rubble of the towers that had fallen in the previous years and decades were too high. But the women were awestruck by the majestic view anyway. They could trace the approximate locatiohey ehe city, which was already barely seen because of the distance.

  "I'd never imagiructures this t," said Li, her voice ced with awe. "Even the fallen ones dwarf Mountain View's tallest. It's got me rethinking the old myths. Maybe they weren't as moss-brained as I thought. And, well… I've got even more doubts about what the Elders have been selling us."

  "They are truly awesome, these buildings," said Aira. "There's nothing in my world to pare to this level of teology. Obviously, we are much more reliant on magic when building structures of that size. But I uand your feelings. More often than not, legends bee an instrument of trol for the rulers."

  "I'm starting to remember more of the stories my grandfather used to spin," said Li. "Back then, they sounded like the ramblings of an er who'd tipped his cup ooo many times. But now… now they're weaving together in a way that actually clicks."

  "So, maybe he was training your critical thinking?" asked Aira. "Even if you didn't uand that at the time? Preparing you for this journey even not knowing you'd have to face this quest?"

  "You know, it's like you've hit the mark…" said Li with a sigh. "I think about him a lot. His stories, the way he sparked my curiosity. Without him nudging me, I wouldn't have grown into the burr under my bosses' saddle that I was during my st days in Mountain View."

  As they settled in for the night, Aira felt a distinct presehanks to her Neunion skill. She still wasn't able to interpret that signal. But at least now, she was absolutely sure they were on the brink of reag their current goal. Probably, if they went up a few more floors, they should be able to see their destination. Allowing Aira to finally match her magical senses with the visuals.

  "Got a read on anything?" Li asked, notig Aira's far-off look. "How far are we from the mark?"

  "There is something out there," Aira answered. "The best guess is that there's truly an undead settlement at the ter of this a city. But I 't say much; I still don't uand the full power of my new skill. And there's a lot of interferehere," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Aira stood up from the edge as if this differen height would allow her to overe all the obstacles that prevented her from seeing the a city's tral part.

  Not really gaining anything by that move, she sighed, looked at Li, a another voice message: "It's a more powerful presenpared to that sicher who lingered in the shadows he facility," she said. "But I 't say if there are ten uhere or a thousand. Nor I decipher any additional information about these people. It just appears as a rge blob of energy in my magical vision."

  "Guess we'll have some aomorrow," said Li, trying to sound optimistic. "Here's hoping it's not the worst legends ing to life. Dying as monster chow isly on my list of priorities."

  Li looked at Aira. She started saying something but then stopped as if unsure of her thoughts.

  "I think…" Li hesitated, words catg ihroat. "I hope they're more like you—sharp as frost—and not like the shambling horrors from the tavern tales."

  "That enter with the watcher gives me some hope," Aira said. "There is some intelligence behind their as. And I still believe that they need something from us. Or at least from me. And if that's true, we'll be able tain."

  Li yawned wide. The fatigue of the day caught up with her. The trast between the warm fire and the chilly breeze of a spring night made her even more drowsy.

  "Hey!" said Aira with a smile. "Time to go to your bedroll. You o rest. Go! And I'll use that time for meditation. There is a lot to explore here with all my senses."

  ***

  Despite Aira's hopes, the night passed ufully. She tried to focus on her most retly acquired skill during the meditation, but it didn't give any positive results. She only felt some shadowy figures and whispers, echoes of the e she didn't yet know how to establish. And the gregation of the people at the ter of this ruined city still felt like an amorphous blob, deing to give away as.

  At first light, after a short breakfast and a cup of energizing hot herbal tea, they resumed their ast. The higher they climbed, the more precarious the structures around them seemed. Aira and Li had to navigate around crumbliions and carefully pick their way through debris. Some of the neighb buildings had colpsed over the turies, leaving behind skeletal remains of their frandeur or even just heaps of rubble and debris. But still, there were few of the high-rises remaining in the viity.

  As they came closer and closer to the upper floors, the m light streamed through broken windows, illuminating the cityscape beyond. Aira and Li paused to take in the view.

  The Old City spread out before them, a vast expanse of a rubble with only a tiny fra of buildings looming like rotteh over the rown streets. Still, closer to the city ter, a gathering of structures seemed to remain in a better dition than many others around them.

  "By the roots, this is beyond belief," Li murmured, awe in her voice. " you even fathom hoeople lived here? The scale of it—it's like staring into a forest of stone and human fates."

  Aira nodded, equally stunned by the sight. "It's like looking at a skeleton of an a civilization," she said. "So much history, so many stories lost to time."

  "Do you think the undead have their wits about them?" asked Li. "We've been drilled since childhood to think they're mindless horrors to fear and avoid. But you had a poierday—the fact they sent someoo shadow us… that smells like strategy, not instinct."

  "If my guess is right, they have at least some access to the System," said Aira. "Maybe even their civilization is built around it. But I don't have enough information to make a judgme. In the end, in my world beasts and monsters are also ied into the System. And not all of them are at least in some measure se."

  Finally, it became apparent that tinuing the climb was uhe top levels of the building were as unstable as some of the nearby structures that had crumbled years or eveuries ago.

  "Every step feels like pulling back the leaves on a fotten story," said Li. "Who knows? My aors might've walked these streets. Imagihe lives that ohrived here, like a forest humming with life."

  "So, do you know at least anything about them?" asked Aira. "From where did they e to Mountain View?"

  "Not a leaf," said Li with a sigh. "My grandfather didn't share much about that part of the story, and I've no clue why. It's like he was holding something back, but I never had the right questions to ask."

  Li looked away, her gaze unfocused for a few seds.

  "The story of my family..." she said thoughtfully. "It's like trying to follow a trail that's half-covered in snow. Just a few hints my grandfather left behind. Look over there—see that building, a few kilometers out? It's simir in some way, with lots of mysteries and bnk spots in its history. It's not tall by this city's standards, but that spire reaches right for the clouds. Was it a shrine? A marker for fotten gods? What dreams did those who walked through its doors carry with them?"

  "Dreams of reag the heavens, perhaps," said Aira.

  Li sighed again.

  "It's like my family's history," she said. "All I do is piece it together from scraps and guesses. But the dreams they had? Those are lost to the wind."

  Aira looked around pointedly and spread her hands as if to focus Li's attention on their surroundings.

  "These people, and your aors, most probably, they definitely wao get closer to the sky in these buildings," Aira said. "Which makes us climb so many stairs just to see a bit further! But then, was it some wild experiment that went wrong and created this divide in your world? Or was there some otherworldly reason for the ge? In any case, the se around us is a stark reminder of both civilization's potential and fragility."

  "Just another branch to add to the pile of things to ponder when we've got a quiet moment…" said Li with a faint smile. "If ever…"

  Then, Aira probed the surrounding area with her skill again, pushing a bit more this time. She had to tap deeper into her reserves, which weren't rec as fast as before at this distance from the ground.

  Aira closed her eyes, fog on the energy signatures to be sure she robing in the right dire.