Morning comes quicker than I'd like it to and I wake up early enough to eat a quick bite of dried meat and drink some water before setting out for the day's journey. Today we're heading to our permanent camp up in the hills. From there we will use it as a forward base for some more of our exploring.
Most of the group is already awake as I enter the clearing where we had set up our temporary home yesterday, chatting amongst themselves quietly as they stretch. Seeing Turi approach I wave to her, motioning for her to join me. She nods and walks over, joining me as I stare at the horizon.
"How was your rest?" Turi seems to ask no one in particular as she gazes out on the horizon with me, "You seemed rather distracted last night."
Nodding, I mutter, "It wasn't bad, just restless."
Turning towards her I smile faintly, "Thanks for letting me sleep alone; I didn't want to bother anyone."
Her eyes narrow ever so slightly, "Don't worry about bothering us, we understand you are still adjusting." Turning away from me, she looks back out at the horizon as I follow suit. For a few moments we remain silent before Turi speaks up again, "Well then, shall we begin today?"
Glancing over to her, I nod slightly, "Sure thing. Let's go!" Standing up I grab my equipment and prepare to leave with everyone.
Walking through the forest, following the path we came along yesterday, I gaze around carefully as I walk alongside Turi. Occasionally I slow down to examine an interesting rock or stick, picking up bits and pieces of nature as I pass. Turi does the same, slowly collecting more herbs for cooking later. When we reach the hilltop we stopped on earlier we stop momentarily to look around. This time the view is far less obscured by trees and foliage blocking our sight, allowing us to see further westwards.
Turi turns to face me, speaking softly, "Do you recognise this place?"
I turn to her and raise my eyebrows, "Not really. There were some things that looked vaguely familiar but…" I trail off, thinking deeply. Then suddenly I remember something, "…Wait! You said the mountain range goes on forever right?"
She smiles gently at me and nods, "Correct. We haven't seen any sign of civilization beyond these foothills either. But there must be something here somewhere, I just wish we could figure out what it is."
Picking up speed, I jog past her, calling out behind me, "Hey, come on!"
When she catches up she asks, "Did you remember something?"
I answer energetically, "Yep! Now we can search even harder!"
We climb up the rocky incline, passing various plants and small animals as we travel upwards. Finally reaching the top, we survey the area below us and look for anything suspicious. My chip assisting in scanning the area as I try to match the vague area to ones in my memory. Most of the ground appears to be covered in rocks and soil, but there are patches of grassy areas dotted throughout. One patch of greenery stands out to me, mostly due to the colouration of the flowers surrounding it. They appear to be redder than most other flora growing in the region, using my Aruval billhook for its main purpose I start clearing some of the foliage before digging away at the ground for a bit.
"Turi you might want to stand back a bunch," I call out, causing her to frown and move backwards. Grabbing a fistful of dirt I toss it aside, revealing a strange metal object buried beneath the dirt, lifting it out with ease thanks to my strength enhancements. Pushing aside the clumps of earth covering it I reveal a rectangular device made from smooth metallic material, with three flat surfaces protruding outwards at each corner.
Turi moves closer again to inspect it closer but I warn her again, "Stand back!" Pulling out a knife I scrape away at the dirt caked around it, exposing another part of its design underneath. Three slits are cut into the metal surface, two facing downwards and one pointing straight upwards. Using the edge of the blade I peel away a section of the casing, peering inside. Two wires extend from within the case, running directly towards a circular hole in its centre.
The wire closest to me runs vertically, connecting with something inside the case. My Biochip now actively warning me against radiation so I spend a second focused on casting a protection spell.
Putting the device down I stand back somewhat, focusing on a 9 pointed star, channelling two circles at each point of the star, one inside the other before forming each ring into runes relating to an aspect of the spell. A slight panic driving my actions as adrenaline starts pumping in my blood and my biochip reports elevated heartrate.
> "Rain of fall and collapsing snow"
> "To protect the body and broken soul"
> "Blessings of today"
> "Voiceless song among lost hope"
> "Drastic times to leave once more"
> "Gentle touch outside my grasp"
> "Fall spreads softly still."
I form three external circles around the star, allowing for the structure of a 6th tier spell to exist in a 9th tier pattern, stabilising using some of the constructed runic text I learnt years ago while using real runes like UALGRA(Omen) and WUWRIND(Harmony) as concepts to bind the circles to the spell.
"KILGVXGRLM ZMW KLDVI, HFIEREZO ZMW HGIFTTOV. ZOHL, SVOOL UILN GSV ZFGSLI." each letter tearing at my voice as it fights being spoken through my magic. Not nearly as painful as speaking true runes can be however. The most intensive parts over I check on Turi only to find her fallen back against a tree staring in either fear or amazement at my spell. It takes a minute for me to calm down enough to speak, "Are you alright? Did you feel any of that?"
Smiling weakly, she replies, "Yes…yes I did actually."
"Sorry, I couldn't take risks with this," I say apologetically, "If it failed I would have killed both of us. I'll explain everything after we get moving again though."
Stepping forwards, I kneel beside her and offer my hand to help her up. Her fingers brush mine lightly and I pull her upright, helping her regain her balance when she stumbles.
Looking around we notice that the others have rushed over due to the magic I was outputting, a few of them staring in awe while others have their hands on their weapons nervously. I give them all reassuring glances as best I can, not wanting to scare anyone else if possible.
"That was amazing," Turi says excitedly, "What happened?"
"The device we just found was too dangerous without me protecting myself before we mess with it further. So I created a protective barrier around it to prevent the worst from happening should we do something wrong." my voice still cracking slightly as I explain while Hadrian hurries over to check on us. He stops short when he sees Turi standing next to me, his expression turning worried.
He clears his throat, "Um, good job on containing it. Do you need any assistance?"
Shaking my head I reply, "No, we're fine. Just don't touch it until I tell you it's safe."
His brows furrow together as he watches me intently, "Alright, well we've got plenty of food if we need to stay around here for a few days."
Taking the hint I return the conversation to normal, "Yeah, we'll probably be staying around here for the foreseeable future anyway."
Turning away from him and looking out onto the plains stretching between the mountains ahead of us, I sigh. "We have a lot of digging in our future."
