Li waited. And then waited a bit more. And then she left Aira for her meditation and moved on to do some chores. She ed the dishes and started gathering their stuff to prepare for a new day of trekking through the mysterious city.

  Over the past months, Li has gotteo Aira's strange mental absence during these mediation sessions. It seemed like Aira was out of this world, somewhere far away, for at least some time she spent eg with her magic. Or, at least, that was what Aira told Li what she was doing.

  Ohing Li easily uood was how not to break someone's tratiohey were focused on something. Everything else? Even after seeing Aira's powers in a, it was still hard to her head around the reality of magic.

  But now, it arent that both of them ime to recover. It was just that the process was a bit different. For Li, it was sleep, food, and ptioiful and mind-bending views like what she experienced right now, looking out of the broken window frames, also fit her process perfectly. Even while they were at least a little bit disturbing. Bringing forward too many questions.

  For Aira... Well, yes, it was meditation and… more meditation? The undead woman was definitely focused on her goal. But at the same time, it felt like she was lost. Struggling to make her step and bring herself out of the fort zohey had created for themselves at the a facility.

  At least that was decided for them. Now, they didn't have any other choice but to move forward. Into the unknown. Into the frightening embrace of the other undead.

  With all of these plications: magic, 'the System,' transformation into an undead, and probably many other things, Li had yet to fully grasp what was happening to the person who became the most unlikely friend she ever had.

  So, was Aira right that the undead had a civilization? And that they were able to perform magic?

  The first went against all the indoation humans had i few turies. They've based their safety on the premise that the undead were mindless beasts that must be dealt with. And even with the ges promoted by Elder Jorin, the old ways didn't die easy.

  As all of the Elders had an unpleasant opportunity to learn.

  What also rubbed Li the wrong way was that a civilized unity had to care about their safety. Acc to Aira's ents, they'd reached well into the territory trolled by this mass of people she sensed somewhere ahead. But they had yet to meet any kind of patrol or any defeructures.

  That went against everything Li knew as a ranger. As a person charged with proteg a humalement.

  But the sed Aira's theory was even more outndish. Magic existed in this world. Even while Li still struggled to internalize that, she wouldn't deny it. It was impossible to pretend it wasn't real, being so close to Aira. But magid the undead?

  If that was true, and if their powers were parable to Aira's, why didn't they wipe out all the humans? Humanity hated them so much. The most human way was always to destroy what you don't uand and hate. Supposedly, the undead should hate them at least as much. Maybe even more if the human legends had at least some truth in them.

  Or was it possible that the undead moved forward that much from the old preceptions of their aors?

  Li's train of thought was interrupted when Aira shifted. The undead ened her strange eyes, filled with the glow of green and blue energy, and looked around. It took a few seds for her to focus on their surroundings as if she was returning to her body from a faraway nd.

  "Good m!" Li said with a warm smile. "Catg a leaf yet? Got things feeling clearer now?"

  "Yes. It's getting stronger," Aira replied. "We were moving in the right dire, that was obvious even before. But I think I pinpoint the exact location now."

  ***

  Aira woke up from her meditation feeling stronger. She replenished her energy reserves that were used up by the exploration and asd of the previous day. Too many times, she had to protect Li and prevent the fragile structure from hurting her green-haired human panion. But now, she couldn't think of doing that any other way.

  She checked Li's energy signature and, with a smile, reized that the human had also rested well this night despite her being tucked into a precarious position in one of the inner ers of a half-ruined floor.

  Aira walked to the edge of the floor and peered out through the empty window frame, just where Li stood moments before. The vastness under her was nerve-wrag, but she strengthened herself and tio focus on her magises.

  "There," she said, pointing towards a rge greeangle in the middle of the a city. "Do you see that forest?"

  Li squinted, her eyes trag the line of Aira's finger.

  "A forest?!? Yes, I see it!" Li said. "By the bark, that's massive! It's wild seeing all that green sma the middle of all this stone. How in the roots did we miss it before?"

  "It's impossible to see it from the ground level," Aira said. "These a building surround it and hide it from the outside view. And even when we went higher yesterday, it wasn't high enough."

  "Looks like these old buildings were built to cradle this patch of green. What a view!" excimed Li. "And those closer to the forest? Solid as oak pared to the rest. What's your call—was this forest part of the city back then, or is it something the undead cooked up?"

  Aira gnced in the distance again, pting the question and the view.

  "I don't even know how to make an educated guess," she said. "I mean, there are rge parks iies of my world. But nothing as grand as this. The city itself is quite impossible in its size and scope, my head starts spinning when I try to create its pn in my mind. As for the forest, robably see only a small fra from here. Just something that peeks out between the buildings."

  "Right as rain, you've got a point," Li said and shrugged. "If the buildings get better closer to the ter, maybe we'll have an easier time cutting through the city today"

  "Who knows," said Aira. "Still, we o get closer first. There's plenty of rubble on our way before that. Let's not waste any more time. And thanks for breaking the camp. I didn't even have a ce to help you."

  "Ah, don't even flick the light on that!" said Li. "But while we're at it, why do you think we've seen no patrols? No defenses? We're shadowfooting right by their ; there ought to be something out here!"

  "We discussed this person who lead us here," said Aira. "Now I'm even more sure that they did it on purpose. They want us to e. And they wait for us. I'm not sure about any defenses, but patrols? There are patrols, for sure. I sehem. They just make a point of not crossing their paths with us."

  "Huh?" said Li. "Got your roots showing there, Aira. You sure pressing forward's the sharpest move?"

  "Even if it wasn't," answered Aira. "It may be a bit too te to be afraid of that."

  Aira smiled and gave Li a pat on her back.

  "Hey, don't worry!" she said. "I'm with you. Everything will be fine!"

  After that, Aira nodded as if reassuring herself as well. Her heart pounded with anticipation.

  The forest was an anomaly amid the urban ruins, occupying at least several blocks. It was a mystery whether the buildings were destroyed there to clear the space frowth or never existed in the first pce. The trees were far away, and it was still hard to see, but the amount of greenery hi was an area with dense foliage. A green sea in the heart of the desote city.

  When they were ready to start their dest, Li g Aira, her eyes filled with a mix of excitement and .

  "I just have to ask it one more time," she said. "Are we barking up the wrong root heading in there, or is this as safe as we're gon?"

  "I'd like to reassure you," said Aira and ruffled Li's green hair, which got a bit longer siheir first meeting. "But I just don't know. And I don't want to lie to you. We have to go there and find that out."

  "Clear as a mountain stream, I get it," said Li.

  "There should be ahere. Something to expin the e I'm feeling," Aira said. "And I think I'll be able to protect you from most of the things we meet anywhere in your world. At least, I'll probably feel if we are in danger and we turn back. Also, and I'm not saying that to scare you, I think they know we are here."

  "My world," said Li. "By the roots, we've been chasing this idea for weeks, and it still feels like trying to catch a leaf in the wind…"

  ***

  Their path down was uful aively fast. The remaining distao the tral forest was simir to what they had already walked from the city's outskirts. So, they hoped to get there in half a day or so. And as they moved further, Li's hopes came true. The path was being clearer and easier to traverse with each kilometer.

  As they approached the forest, the air grew cooler, with a faint st of damp earth and foliage. Even with all the foliage that covered the ruireets of the a city, they walked through during the past two days, the difference was astonishing.

  When they finally stepped in, the dense opy above blocked out much of the sunlight immediately, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The arees stood like sileinels, their thick trunks ed in vines and their leaves rustling softly in the breeze. The trast between the vibrant life of the forest and the deg, skeletal remains of the city around it was stark and almost surreal, a testament to the passage of time and nature's attempts at recmation of the old humaory.

  For Aira, the difference was even more pronouhan for Li. If the huma like she was being immersed in a humid juer spending a day in a desert, Aira was bsted away by the energy hidden within the greenery.

  During their hike, Aira used the power of the city's foliage to boost her energy reserves at any opportunity because there just wasn't enough of it. But now, she was momentarily overwhelmed by the power of the arees. It was like feeling the full strength of a powerful waterfall after drinking from a small brook. The vital energies of the local pnts were like nothing Aira had ever felt in this world. Nothing like she had ever felt in any world.

  She paused, not yet ready to walk too far away from the edge of the forest, still uhe fresh impression. She took Li's hand to ground herself. And theook a deep breath.

  "Feels like ghosts ireeline—what’s got you so still, Aira?" Li asked, worry in her voice. "Everything solid as oak?"

  "This is it," Aira said, her voice steady. "Now I know why I couldn't distinguish and separate any distinergy signatures before. This forest just overwhelms your senses."

  Aira paused, surveying the area. And then she nodded, having made a decision. "Let's find out what's inside."

  "Not sure if you've caught this," said Li. "But by the twisted branches, it's i's still spring, right? Back by the facility, trees were just waking up, snow was everywhere, i the river... But here? Feels like winter fot to stop by! Is that magic or what?"

  "I guess so," said Aira. "The energy of these trees is much strohan anything I felt in the mundane forests of your world. I only pare it to what I felt within humans. That endless source of energy. And it may be even more powerful than that."

  She took a few steps and touched the ree.

  "It's a special forest," Aira whispered. "No doubt about that."

  They tiheir walk uhe green opy, guessing when would they see aient beings. The world around them shifted as they moved from the urban ruins into this natural sanctuary. The sounds of the dead city faded, repced by the gentle rustling of leaves and the distant calls of birds. The path before them was rown but disible, leading deeper into the heart of the green expanse.

  Aira felt the e growing stronger with each step, guiding them forward. She reached out with her Neunion skill, trying to better uand what awaited them.

  The presence she had sensed earlier was closer now, more defined. Surprisingly, the forest wasn't obsg her sehat muymore. If anything, it amplified them. And as they moved deeper into the forest, Aira felt other presences as well—tens, or even hundreds of souls lingering just beyond her reach.

  All her s about dealing with ic magic prevented Aira from experimenting with her Neunion skill earlier. And that was crippling her now. Her mastery of the skill wasn't advanced enough to make the picture clear, even if she se better now.

  But then, she had few opportuo test it on anyone besides that elusive spy and the gnarling. Unless she went on a rampage of reanimating animals in the forest.

  And now, that presence was overwhelming. It was as if the forest was alive with the echoes of the past, a silent chorus of beings amplified by the ambient magic.

  "They're everywhere," Aira murmured, Li's radio transferring the awe and unease of Aira's voice. "So many souls, so muergy."

  There was no denying that they were allowed to witness what was happening in this forest and that they could venture deeper into it only because their hosts wahem there.

  Li shivered, gng around warily. "Feels like shadows creeping all around, even if I 't sense what you do," she said. "You're sharp as frost, right? Extra alert for us both?"

  Finally, after walking for an hour, they emerged inte clearing. It was te afternoon already, and the evening was getting closer. The spring was only beginning, and the days weren't long. But then, they saw it. Bright, almost surreal light was cast over the se before them. In the ter of the gde, a huge otion was taking pce—a ritual involving scores of figures.

  Aira and Li paused at the edge of the clearing, taking in the sight. The partits were arranged in a rough circle, their movements synized and purposeful. But unlike any human happenings, this se was pletely silent. Making it unfortable and even menag.

  In the ter of the circle stood a tall, imposing figure with an aura of authority and power that set it apart. As all the others, this person had their eyes shut.

  Aira's heart pounded as she watched the ritual unfold. The leader raised their arms, and the movements became faster and more intense. Suddenly, it gave Aira fshbacks of that fateful se in the dungeon. And unsciously, she made a few steps back, only to be stopped by Li's strong hand.

  Energy crackled in the air, a tangible force that made the hairs on the back of Aira's neck stand on end.

  "What ihorny thicket are they up to?" Li whispered, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and fasation.

  "I don't know," Aira replied, her voice barely ing through Li's portable radio. "But it's something serious. Something signifit. Powerful magic is involved here. I 't uand it yet; I o focus more on it."

  As they watched, Aira tried to s the tral figure with her Neunion skill, fog all her energy oablishing tact. The e wavered, then solidified, and Aira felt a surge of awareness.

  --- Character Status and Skill Overview —Name: AinorrhRace: EnlightenedCss: Enlightened ShamanLevel: 43

  The leader of the… Enlightened snapped out of their trance, opening their eyes and log their gaze on Aira. For a moment, the world seemed to stand still. Aira felt a flood of emotions—curiosity, reition, and a hint of something darker. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to e.

  "We have to approach... the shaman," she said to Li, her voice steady despite the adrenaline c through her veins. "It's too te to pretend they don't know we're here."

  Li nodded, balling her hands. "Bite the bramble if we must, but watch the shadows every step of the way."

  "Don't worry," said Aira. "There are many of them here, but I think I am stronger."

  They stepped out from the woods, entering the clearing, and moved slowly and deliberately.

  Now, all the movement faltered as everyoiced the newers, their eyes turning towards Aira and Li. The eyes were full of energy, the same way Aira's eyes were. Only in a multitude of different colors and shades.

  The leader lowered their arms, and the energy in the air dissipated as the person took a step toward the newers.