It was a bittersweet process to disassemble everything they'd built over the previous two months. But the days passed in a blur of activity. Hard work often strehe bonds and improves retionships. Aira and Li weren't an exception. Even if they've already spent a couple of months building their base, dismantling it appeared to be an even more intimate experience.

  They ughed over their small victories and forted each other in moments of frustration. By the moment everything was meticulously sorted and packed, they did the final at of their equipment and energy reserves.

  The batteries were charged well enough to allow Aira and Li to e bad get in, even without Aira exhausting herself to open the rge door. As a final precaution, Aira rigged a radio gadget for Li that would allow her to open the bunker.

  It was evening when they came with some hot tea to their favorite spot on the edge of the facility's roof. Li looked up at the stars, her expression thoughtful. "By the Elder's breath, do you think we'll find what we're looking for out there?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Aira followed her gaze, the night sky a vast, infinite vas above them. Several months have passed since she appeared in this world. Two seasons have ged. But it was still hard to get used to the appearance of not o two moons in the sky.

  "I don't know," Aira admitted. "But I have to try. The answers won't e to us if we stay here. We o move forward, to explore, to uand. The System is here, in this world. And it leads me somewhere. I have to believe all of that happeo me for a reason."

  Li nodded, her resolve firming. "I agreed to go with you before," she said. "I won't pretend it's an easy thing or that I'm not rattled like a loose gear. But let's do it. Let's see what's out there. I've spent my life skirting the shadowline, never going beyond the owns. Aside from that orip with my grandfather to these ruins, I've been stu sap. It's about time I rustle the leaves a bit."

  She took another sip of her hot tea, taking in its rich fvor.

  "But you know," Li tinued, her voice gaining fidence, "for a while now, I've felt like I 't find the trees for the forest in my own world. Even before I met you, it was like I was chasing shadows. And now, with all this talk of humans, undead, yid the System… well, by the roots, it feels like I've got no choice. I have to explore."

  Aira cpped Li on her bad roared happily. "That's the attitude!" she said with a smile.

  ***

  The day, they were ready to move on. The facility was secured, and the bunker door closed and locked tightly. Before leaving the corridor with the entrance, Aira gently brushed her fingers on the surface of the a hatch. It felt like only yesterday they came here, hiding from the ire of the Mountain View rangers. And they found their safe haven in this miraculous pce of ted gadgets.

  When Aira turo walk away, she had a sense of closure. Knowing how much they learned during their short stay reminded her that all wasn't in vain. And even the bizarre enter with the human attackers has taught them something important.

  In the end, they did everything possible to protect their base. There still was a e back here iure. An opportunity to call it home once again.

  The two women packed provisions for the uping days, chose sturdy outfits they found in the facility warehouses, and grabbed some valuable gadgets. None of them helped Aira to ect to the System, but their funality was useful even without that.

  One of the st presents Aira made to herself was a handy hammer with a long ha oor rept for her proper warhammer, even not sidering its agical features. But after restarting her meditation practid physical training, it felt like something was missing. And to fix that, having a on she was so used to was only logical. Or at least its best approximation.

  For the rest of the avaible space, Aira decided to fill it with reserve battery packs. During the past weeks, she made it a part of her training routio charge and drain them just for practice. And by the moment of their departure, Aira was quite sure that it could help her promptly overcharge her Energy Manipution skill in case of an emergency.

  All this relian external objects wasn't something Aira enjoyed. It wasn't only about the batteries but also about gadgets in general. It stantly reminded her of the lessons about the over-relian artifacts that her tutors put her through.

  But then, she still was in an unfamiliar world with a strange System. She had to use every advao improve her situation. If it was using batteries to store her energy reserves, she wouldn't pin and would just use every opportunity.

  As they began their journey, Aira's thoughts turo the new skill she had acquired. The ability to influehe undead in some yet unknown ways. That was something that filled Aira with anticipation and ay.

  What use was it to her that she could turn living beings into undead? That flicted with all her being, tradig her story of an are enforcer. One of the things she had to dhout her career was to fight undead, not to create new ones!

  Still, it felt like she had to train with that new skill to get used to it and make it profit enough for the level she had. Probably, that was something worth discussing with Li. But how would she eve to that idea?

  "Li, I want to turn these rabbits into my undead minions," thought Aira, envisioning the se in her mind. "Just hold them for a moment, I hope I'll be able tet my skill precisely enough not to touch you in the process."

  Yeah, that would be an excellent experience for all of them. And what use would any of these 'medium-sized' undead eveo Aira?

  Aira didn't know what y ahead, and she was determio use every tool at her disposal to survive and uhe secrets of this world. But this… she still had to e to terms with that skill. It was true that this Neunion was just aool. But…

  "You remember I told you, I had this strange feeling right at the limits of my perceptioerday," said Aira. "I thought it should be an undead because I've got that sensation after acquiring this new skill…"

  "By the roots, of course," Li said. "Do you feel it creeping around now?"

  "Sort of," said Aira. "Do you remember telling me about that a city that is supposedly 'ied'? And that was your term, not mine, with the undead?"

  "Yes, why?" asked Li.

  "Could you please remind me about it?" asked Aira. "It's location and other things?"

  Li furrowed her brow, thinking deeply, rec the facts from her memory. "You know, it's like chasing shadows when it es to tales about the undead settlements," she said. "But if we're talking rumors, there's supposed to be an old city not too far from here. Mostly rubble now, and, well, folks cim it's crawling with the undead."

  "When the old world crumbled," Li went on, her voice thoughtful, "humans had no choice but to flee the big cities—undead swarmed them, or so the stories say. That's whearted buildilements like Mountain View, all fortified and tucked away, trying to outst whatever the shadows threw at us."

  "So, about that a city?" prompted Aira.

  "Ah… sure. If there is o's north-east from here," Li said, gesturing toward the ridge. "A week's walk, give or take. Maybe we shadowfoot it a little faster. It's not too close to humalements, but far enough to keep the undead out of sight... mostly. Still, they say it's cursed, and anyone who goes there? Well, they're about as likely to return as a leaf in a windstorm."

  Aira nodded, feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehension. She looked somewhere into the distahat sounds like our destination. I 't be totally sure, it's always tricky with new skills. But I think that our mysterious spy also moved in that dire."

  "Did he now? By the twisted brahat's peculiar," Li said, her toinged with suspi. "Looks like our undead neighbors have got their eyes in the dark on us for some reason, don't they?"

  "So, how do we get there?" asked Aira. "We just try following that mysterious person. But I'm irely fident with my skill winning against his stealth abilities."

  "Well, looks like luck's still on our side," said Li with a wry smile. "Found some old maps in the archives and—smart as thorns—I made sure they're packed and ready."

  Aira growled in appreciation.

  "The snag with these old maps," Li said, "is that the world's grown over like old moss. Ba the olden days, humans spread out like wildfire. Now? The forest's cimed most of it. What's worse, a lot of those old structures are gone—crumbled or buried. Only the big cities and pces like this base seem to have stood their ground."

  "I'm quite used to navigating with inplete maps," said Aira, but then remembered something and did a head sp. "But then… it was with my old skills. Now, I don't have all that diverse magic I had before. Well, let's hope your knowledge of the world and our joint wilderness survival skills will help us on our path."

  "Yeah, that's about the size of it," Li said. "Yic's sharp as frost, but it might not cut through this mess. The forests have swallowed up everything humans didn't keep watch over, and rivers? Half of them have shifted like rattled gears over the turies. We might not even find crossings where the map cims they are, and that could mean hours—roots, maybe days—of detours."

  "So, what are you ?" asked Aira." We are not staying here. We are going, that's decided. Let's choose some oints that had less ce to vanish from the face of the world during these past turies. And we'll check our locatiurly to be sure we are on the right track," Aira said, trag a path on the map. "It won't be easy, but we do it.

  "I'm heading so far out of season here, Aira. You get that, right?" Li said, with a nervous ugh. "I've never gohis far from the known trails. Never even stepped foot in one of the Old Cities—heck, most folks would call me moonblind for even thinking about it. And it's not like I know anyone who's been there and e back to tell the tale."

  Aira touched Li's hand, showing that she uood her s. "I know it's hard for you," she said. "But you just told me you wao explore. Here's your ce!"

  "Dammit to the underbrush!" Li excimed, throwing her hands in the air. "I want to, but roots and rivers, it's harder than hauling a boulder uphill to take that first step!"

  "Well, it's too te to be afraid of the first step," said Aira. "You've made it ba Mountain View, during that mess of the exeaybe even earlier, when you decided to teach me yuage."

  "Ah, bark and roots, you're right," Li admitted with a sigh, her shoulders slumping before she straightened up. "I've already broken so many rules that adding 'visiting an undead city' to the list won't mean a thing. If we eve out of there alive, that is. Shadow and sap, Aira, I really hope this wild pn is worth it."