Embers of Sun and Flame (Fuegoleon Vermillion x OC)

Chapter 17 Rocks

The dormant mana, as they knew it at the moment, had faded away as they had continued their decent, the walls and the floor were now tiled, and used torches lined the walls. They had tried to light one, opting to save those that they had brought with them, but it had proven to be near impossible, the torches being soaked through; making them note that there was a lot of collected moisture on the walls.

They entered a larger room; Solara intensifying her mana skin to cast light onto a larger area. The room, seemed like an entrance hall, more than anything. Whatever furniture there might have been, not having corroded and decomposed with time. No runes and inscriptions on the walls; nothing, just an empty room.

"I can't sense any mana around," Leo commented while looking around, to which Ruben only nodded, approaching one of the three doors that were in the room. One from where they had come, one to their left and one on the opposite side of the room.

"Which way should we go first?"

"Well, usually the most guarded items are as far away from the entrance as possible, when it comes to individual rooms," Solara pondered, gazing towards the door on the opposite side.

"That's true," Ruben remarked starting to make his way forward, seeming to trust his mana sensing alone.

"Watch where you step."

"It's alright, there's no mana around," he remarked.

"That doesn't mean that there can't be something non-mana reliant," Solara remarked as she started making her way towards the door as well; making Ruben turn around with a confused frown.

"Oh, is that what you have in Thea?" Leo asked while following Solara.

"Yes," she began, glancing to Leo. "While living with teyus, it's become apparent that mana sensing alone isn't enough," she continued with a slight pause. "I know that's not how you do things here, but it's just something I've become accustomed to; knowing that mana alone doesn't always suffice."

Leo let out a hum as he thought; Ruben looking no less confused as he waited for the two to approach him.

---

They started making their way through the corridors, finding several rooms with, what used to be, desks, filing cabinets, miscellaneous instruments ... studies; making them conclude that the structure must have been a research facility once upon a time.

"What do you think they were researching?" Leo wondered out loud.

"Probably trying to craft magical items, just like what they're doing nowadays," Ruben remarked as their steps echoed around the walls; Solara gazing all around.

"Is something wrong Solara aneue?" Leo inquired, turning to look at her.

"Hmm," she hummed with furrowed brows before turning to look at Leo. "I just find it strange that there hasn't been any dormant mana since the entrance."

"Maybe there was a locking mechanism at the entrance that was controlled with magic," Ruben suggested.

"Maybe..." Solara agree hesitantly as they started approaching yet another room, which, judging by the way their steps and voices echoed around, was large.

And as they entered through the doorway ahead of them, a large hall was revealed. Tiled floors and mostly smooth walls, but the ceiling seemed to be composed of natural rock formations; another door on the opposite side. There were some signs of damage to the surfaces, seemingly concentrated on given areas only.

"Do you think it's a training ground of some kind? Or a testing area?" Ruben wondered out loud.

"Possibly a testing area. Or so I think, because if it was a training ground, there'd be damage all around and not only to specific areas," Solara suggested as they stood at the entrance, moisture glistening from the frames of the doorway. An uneasy feeling gnawing at her.