Aoi's awakening was accompanied by a sense of responsibility as she realized that communication remained a significant barrier between her and the group of adventurers she had helped the night before. The common tongue had evolved significantly during her many centuries of isolation, making communication a formidable challenge. There were no simple spells or runic arrays to bridge this gap, so Aoi was determined to relearn the language.
After making breakfast for herself and the adventurers, Aoi considered the difficulties they must have faced during their encounter the previous night. She understood that it had been an exhausting and potentially traumatic experience for them. In an effort to offer some comfort and nourishment, she prepared four dishes, anticipating their hunger when they awoke.
Change POV
As Sarah awoke to the enticing aroma of cooking meat, she expected to see her friend Arya handling the cooking duties. However, the sight that met her eyes was something unexpected and quite astonishing. The little beastkin child, who had displayed such unnatural and violent abilities the previous night, was the one preparing the meal.
The memories of their encounter with the paladin and his templars flashed through Sarah's mind, along with the remarkable show of power from the child. The violence she had witnessed was far beyond what anyone would expect from a child. Sarah's reverie was interrupted by the child, who offered her a plate of food. She accepted it and noted that the child seemed to speak a language they couldn't understand.
“I’ve been trying to understand her for a while” a large booming voice sounded, turning around and she saw Hondrak also eating from a plate. “Best i’ve gotten is some hand signals to indicate food and such.” Nodding, Sarah knew it was going to be difficult to communicate with the child.
As the others woke up and ate breakfast, the child gently tugged at Sarah's jacket and laid out a map. Sarah's eyes widened as she recognized it as a map of Yggdrasil Forest, the Lainwood Range, the Norkal Swamp, and even the Misty Mountains. It was an expansive map that included more territory than anyone had explored. The child highlighted two locations on the map, one that likely marked their current position, and another at Elder Basin Lake, which had a city name written beside it.
What’s she showing you?” Arya asked, peering over her shoulder. Catching sight of the map “Holy shit, That’s Afuri runes.” Sarah looked at her friend with surprise “Afuri?” Returning her confusion with a grin, Arya nodded quickly, “Yeah, it’s a really old language that was lost, but some scholars like my teacher have been trying to piece it back together. Though all they have is the written side of it.” Ayra continues to discuss the language and the possibilities that someone who spoke it could bring.
Excitement welled up in Arya as she saw the potential, and Sarah was heartened to see her friend's enthusiasm after the harrowing events of the previous night. They discussed the possibilities that lay ahead, including their lead to a potential ruin. It was clear that their journey had taken an unexpected and intriguing turn, and the little beastkin child was at the center of it all, harboring secrets and opportunities waiting to be uncovered.
Change POV
As Aoi and the group of adventurers continued their journey toward PearlWharf, a growing sense of unease gripped her. The expected signs of the trade roads leading to the lake city were conspicuously absent. It was as if PearlWharf had vanished from the map. Aoi couldn't shake the disquieting feeling that something was seriously amiss, and it wasn't just due to a change in the landscape.
Her thoughts raced as she considered the possibility that PearlWharf might have met a grim fate. She shuddered at the notion of a city as strong and prosperous as PearlWharf being reduced to such a state that even humans hesitated to rebuild it. Such devastation should have caused mana quakes due to the immense magic unleashed during the battle. The absence of such quakes meant that either the enemy was capable of containing them, or they employed another method to bring the city to its knees.
Aoi's unease deepened as she couldn't find any traces of magic, rune armor, or rune arrays in the vicinity. It was as if all signs of the city's existence had been erased, leaving behind a troubling void. With each step they took, they drew closer to the unknown, to what might await them in the city that had seemingly vanished from the world, and the mystery of its disappearance loomed over them like a heavy cloud.
As Aoi and the group of adventurers continued their journey toward PearlWharf, she stumbled upon the first significant clue: a heavily damaged runic array. She approached it with growing apprehension, realizing that this array had been an integral part of the city's defenses.
As she filled the array with her mana and began to study it, her foreboding feelings grew. Aoi identified it as the siege shield that had once protected PearlWharf. It had sustained extensive damage, and as she examined the array, she noted that the damage was not the result of an external attack but rather a deliberate act of sabotage.
The revelation of the siege shield's failure and the destruction of the city's defenses filled her with dread. There were thousands of points of failure within the array, but Aoi suspected that only about a hundred were the initial points. The rest were likely the result of the subsequent fighting after the shield's fall.
Aoi retracted her mana from the array, aware of the stunned expressions on the faces of the adventurers who had been following her. She acknowledged their presence with a wave and then turned to investigate the closest failure point. Unfortunately, her inspection revealed no information about what had caused the failure.
As she moved toward the next point, Aoi suddenly felt a jolt, and her senses were set on edge. She had stepped on another hidden array that she had missed before. She sensed a malevolent mana responding to her own, and it sent a shiver down her spine. The realization struck her like a bolt of lightning: these arrays were the work of demons.
Further examination revealed that each failure point had an array hidden beneath it, working in concert to destroy the siege shield. The nature of these hidden arrays and their sophisticated concealment meant that internal sabotage was at play. Human traitors had conspired to bring down the shield, allowing the demons to ravage the city.
The sinister revelation raised more questions than answers. Aoi couldn't fathom how they had managed to hide the mana quakes that would have resulted from the shield's fall. Nevertheless, the presence of active demons indicated that the twisted havens were once again under assault, but this time, it seemed the demons were operating from the shadows, working behind the scenes rather than openly waging war. Every time she found an answer to her questions it seemed only to create more.
