"I know, I know…" said Aira. "I wasn't even sure how it would work. Or whether it would work at all. But in the end, it answered my ands and brought you out on the ice."

  "By the roots, where is it now?" asked Li. "Why didn't I catch a leaf of it?"

  "Ah… I had to kill it, to take all its energy, and…" said Aira. "Tra least a part of it to revive you."

  Aira cautiously g Li as if afraid the human would be offended by that.

  "Boughs and brahat's grim," Li murmured. "But does that mean you rustle the leaves with other animals too? Maybe use them as helpers?"

  "Probably…" said Aira hesitantly. "I mean, I do that. But I'm not sure I like the implications of my as. These animals won't be the same anymore. And they don't seem to be indepe after I turn them. I have to trol their as. And all of that just seems cruel."

  She looked away as if searg for an answer deep within the forest.

  "I don't like this skill," Aira said a moment ter. "What I did there was that I did it only because I didn't see any other options. And I had to act fast to save you. And even that doesn't vince me I did the right thing."

  She g Li again and raised her palms in front of her.

  "Don't get me wrong," Aira said. "I wao save you. I don't want to lose you. But…"

  "I uand," said Li. "I know what you mean."

  ***

  As they traveled further from the river, the ndscape began to ge. The trees thinned out, repced by crumbling structures and rown roads. At first, it reminded Aira of the initial hours after she was transported to this world. The moment when she found a mysterious abandoned settlement in the woods.

  Then, it was absolutely unthinkable for her to see anything like that. Why would people leave a pce that still bore the signs of fort and good pnning even after all these years of ? But now, she k least a bit of this world's history and uood that the demand for towns and cities was much lower than during the peak of human civilizatiht before the Fall.

  The a city began to gradually show itself. It was as if the buildings started growing out of the earth, leaving less and less space for trees. Still, the foliage was everywhere. In some pces, it was hard to distinguish the old structures under yers of greenery.

  But that was the goal of their journey. Aira and Li exged gnces, not really believing they'd gotten there. To the outskirts of the mysterious and probably quite dangerous a city.

  There was a name for it on the old map. The a writing pced it as Wentouk. However, nothing helped the two women figure out if it bore any meaning.

  The ruins loomed ahead, dark and foreboding against the setting sun. Aira felt a shiver of anticipation and fear. There was no doubt that the mysterious observer came here. And there were natures Aira could read with her skill—somewhere further iy. This was it, this tration of energy, their destination. The pce where they would hopefully find the ahey sought.

  "Elder's breath, here we are," whispered Li, awe and fear in her voice. "The old city."

  Li was visibly trembling. She fell on her knees in an almost mystical fervor.

  "This is the shadowline, Aira. The forbidden nd," said Li. "No humans are allowed here. None e back alive. By the twisted brahis pce feels cursed."

  She looked at Aira.

  "Are you sure we should bite this bramble, Aira?" Li asked, her voice faint and uain. "Feels like the shadows are holding their breath. It doesn't seem they have noticed us. We could still fox-tail it out of here."

  Aira nodded, feeling a strange mix of excitement and foreboding. "I feel danger," she said. "But I don't think we should e back. There's no other pce we could get any answers. Humans know nothing about magic or the undead. We have to… We just have to explore this lead further. Let's move carefully."

  "I've heard so many taales about this pce," said Li. "Spirits in the shadows, I just hope we're sharp as thorns for whatever's waiting. I hope we survive the enter with the undead. Wouldn't want this to be the end of our trail."

  "I'm sure I deal with anything they throw at us," said Aira, her voice resolute. She looked at Li, her eyes softening. "I promise, I'll protect you. We're in this together, and I won't let anything happen to you. And this undead we followed. Of course it could be a trap. But I don't think so. My guess is that they want to meet us."

  They made their way through the outer ruins, stepping over broken pavement and weaving through the skeletal remains of structures. Their progress was much slower than even during their hike in the mountaihe a facility. The city was a byrinth of colpsed buildings, sinkholes and dark pits looming uheir feet, and wild rowth that reigned nowadays over this old gem of human civilization.

  Streets were covered in rubble and mounds of broken stone aal. Trees and foliage had taken over, making the surface even trickier to navigate. Every step had to be checked.

  Aira's enhanced agility proved invaluable once again. She moved with a fluid grace, her steps light and precise as she led the way. Li followed closely, her raraining allowio match Aira's pace despite the challenging terrain.

  If the city was still in its pristiate, Aira wasn't sure that she'd have enough sources to replenish her energy reserves. But as it was now, there lenty of life force present around them to i with. Plenty of energy to boost her reserves.

  "Watch your step," Aira cautioned as they walked through a particurly unstable-looking structure trying to get to a different street. "These buildings look like they won't survive for long."

  The floorboards creaked ominously uheir feet, each step a gamble against the forces of decay. The air was thick with the musty st of fotten memories and hidden dangers.

  "Yes, watch out for those loose pnks…" Li started saying. "...whoa!" She stumbled, falling down as the flave way beh her.

  For Aira, time froze for a moment. It was as if the ret se on the ice was reenacted in a differeing. She felt her Energy Manipution skill waking up from passive mode and grasping every shred of energy she could sense in the area. Foliage started drying up around her, and her agility was momentarily boosted.

  A message fshed out in her vision:

  Agility: ??? + 32.3 [(Base Stat + Level) / 3]

  Aira covered the distan one jump and caught Li's hand: "I won't let you go down once again!" she excimed. "Got you! This pce is a death trap. We don't have any bizarre beavers to rely on over here. Let me help you get out of this hole!"

  Li was breathless for a moment. She looked into the opening, the bottom was too far away for them to see, lost in shadows. "Roots and rivers, Aira, that was close!" she said. "But how in the forest's name did you move so fast?"

  "I'm not… sure," Aira answered. "Training aation?"

  But even for Li, it is evident that it wasn't a statement. It wasn't even an educated guess.

  Aira's mind was rag. She wasn't expeg this prompt rea either. And her skill boosted her so powerfully. Surprisingly powerfully.

  During the past two days she repyed the moment when Li went down uhe surface of the iany times. And tried to figure out how to react if a simir situation had happeo them again. But even now, she wasn't sure what the answer was. Just sug all avaible ambient energy and boosting her base stats?

  Was there a limit? Was there any danger in overcharging herself?

  She still had to learn so much about her new abilities and the aspects of iion with the System in this world, it made her head spin.

  Aira took an uain step back, and Li had to catch her before she was in danger of falling into the same bottomless pit.

  "Whoa, hold your branches, Aira!" Li excimed, grabbing her arm. "I'm all for stig like vine, but let's not start a trend of falling into every trap we cross!"

  "Well, look who's talking," said Aira.

  She looked around her, assessing the space again. "I've caught whispers about spots like this," said Li. "But bones and bark, seeing it in person is something else. 't say I've met anyone who's ventured here and lived to tell the tale. Even my grandfather. Araveled far! Or maybe those people just kept their roots covered."

  ***

  The deeper they ventured into the city, the more treacherous the path became. They entered streets entirely blocked by fallen buildings, f them to find alternative routes through alleyways and abaructures. What plicated the matters even more, was that it seemed that the a buildings grew rger as the distance from the edge of the city increased. At least the stumps of these a structures were higher and higher. With some buildings appearing to be almost intact, pierg the evening sky with their pointy spires.

  Each step had to be taken with caution, the threat of colpse ever-present. The probability of an ambush also was looming over the two women. While Aira didn't sense anyone approag them or hiding in any of the ruins, she remembered quite well how easily that person who ying on them avoided her senses.

  Still, their cealment probably won't be perfect. And on no occasion, Aira sensed anyone even moving in their dire. In trast, she sensed plenty of signatures at the ter of this fotten city.

  At one point, they reached a massive pile of rubble blog their path. Aira, without breakiride, began to climb, her enhanced agility allowio scale the debris with ease. Li followed, her movements careful but fident.

  "Almost there," Aira said, pausing at the top of the rubble to offer Li a hand. "Just a little further. We o find a vantage point. Let me get on top of this heap and hopefully I'd be able to find a better location for us. I feel the dire in which we o go, but it would be o have a look around."

  "Look there," Li whispered as soon as she caught up with Aira. She poio a high structure that seemed retively intact. It was a tall building, some of its upper floors colpsed, making it impossible to guess its inal stature, but dozens of lower levels appeared accessible. "By the frost on the pine, I've never seen a building that tall," Li breathed, her eyes wide with awe. "How in the shadow of the old pines did they pull that off? It's, what, ten times the height of the town hall? No, twenty! Wilder than a briar patch, that's what it is."

  Aira nodded, her eyes narrowing as she examihe building. "In my world, I'd say it was magic. I've seen even higher structures during my travels," she said. "But you are right, the teology of the old world was quite amazing. I wish we had more opportuo learn from their knowledge."

  She paused for a moment and then tinued. "That could be a good pce to have a look around," Aira said. "Let's check it out a's hope that it won't crumble while we are inside."