The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [87] Bad Feeling About This

Fuyumi led the way into the first open doorway of the new hallway. As they stepped inside, the room illuminated automatically, revealing an observatory. Bjorn's gaze was drawn to the massive window dominating one wall, offering a view of something. He closed the distance to finally understand what he was seeing.

The window overlooked a spiraling chasm that descended endlessly into the ground. The spiral appeared to be carved into the rock itself, winding deeper and deeper until its bottom vanished into darkness beyond the reach of their light. The sheer scale of the opening was staggering, more than a few hundred yards in diameter from their vantage point.

"Oh, I don't like that," Fuyumi muttered, stepping back from the glass with a shiver. "All of that is beneath the Chaos Lands. How is that even possible?"

"I didn't know you were afraid of heights," Tanisha teased with a small smirk.

"I've spent my whole life with solid ground under me," Fuyumi retorted, her voice firm as she backed into the hallway. "And I intend to keep it that way. I'll be out here when you're ready to check the next room."

Bjorn barely registered their exchange. His attention was fixed on the abyss below, his night eye saw through the darkness with ease. What the light didn't show, his sight revealed in detail: enclosed metal bridges stretched across the vast expanse, connecting sections of the chasm's walls. The spiral structure wasn't just a mine or quarry.

Bjorn's breath caught as he focused further down. He could make out clusters of metal structures, the unmistakable outline of buildings. This was no ordinary pit, it was a forgotten city buried in the abyss, hidden far below the surface.

"We've barely scratched the surface of this place," Bjorn muttered.

"Oh that is not good," Failsafe said. "We have to destroy the security remember or we will run out of time. If this place is that big, who knows how many of those golems there are."

"Ehh... you are right there could be thousands down there." Bjorn said as his eyes widened. "If this facility is so deep there is a good chance that that orange corridor to the core goes much deeper too."

"With how much we struggled against the Shard golem, we might have a problem. If the other anti-mage defences are that strong I doubt we can beat them at our current strength."

"Well they are worth a lot of experience. A city's worth of experience in fact." Bjorn said.

"Big Man, come on." Freja called.

Bjorn tore his gaze away from the chasm and followed her to the next room across the hall. It was a vast storage area, warehouse-sized with crates stacked high on multiple levels. Fuyumi allowed Tanisha to inspect a few of the containers. Most held mundane raw materials like metals, crystals, and geodes. The sheer volume was impressive, but nothing stood out as immediately useful.

"Doxy," Tanisha asked, turning to the nearby terminal, "is there a catalog or manifest for these materials? What were they used for?"

Doxy responded immediately. "Query: The manifest can be accessed at the terminal. This storage room is the overflow for raw metals extracted during operations. These materials can be used for fabrication. Tokens needed: Zero."

"Tokens?" Aurelius asked, arching a brow. "What's that?"

Fuyumi chimed in. "I was wondering the same."

"Query: Tokens are the assigned value for trade goods. All materials and services require tokens for access, except for basic necessities and rest areas. Tokens are earned through completion of assigned tasks," Doxy explained. "Current available assignment... error. The Site Manager has suspended all tasks. Emergency evacuation is in progress. Please proceed to the nearest exit."