The Last Step had taken as long to descend as the underground river. Cira could finally see light from below, and a re few hundred feet below there was an opening at last. They slid down the vines for the last stretch and into an open drop to the cave floor below. Cira winced as she entered the massive chamber and light assaulted her eyes.
They dangled in the air before a shining city built of stone. On closer inspection the ground and ceiling were both covered in stone as well. Now that they were beyond the Last Step there wasn't a speck of salt in sight.
"They really didn't skimp on lights down here," The edges of every building seed engraved to produce light. So buildings towered half as tall as Pappy's silo and stood like a beacon, limited only by the ceiling. It was dayti, but the sun shone various colors and there was no sky. It took her breath away for a mont. It was far beyond any beauty she expected to find this deep in the salt mine.
Cira soaked the vista up in her mind as they approached the ground, making sure she'd never forget it. No matter what she found or who she t in this city, this sight would at least remain.
Cira's feet touched the ground and the vines withered away. Suddenly, she had to shield her eyes again as a spotlight blasted her retinas.
"Halt! State your business!" A serious sounding woman yelled from sowhere in the light.
"It's Lomp, cut it out!" Cira's guide cried out desperately and the light disappeared.
Cira turned to the source of the light with fury in her eyes and they t a small man holding a light artifact who stumbled back at her glare.
"Hmm?" That's not her…
"Are you supposed to be one of the new recruits or sothing?" Cira whipped her glare around to see a girl around her age holding a tallic staff and wearing light gray brown robes with a hat, point sticking straight up.
"I beg your pardon?" She answered, "And just what are you supposed to be?"
At the sa ti Lomp threw himself to his knees, "M-madam witch! Please excuse my companion, we were unaware you were on the island!"
"Shut up, Lomp. Don't excuse ." She turned to the rude witch, "I am the sorcerer, Cira. Who are you?"
She looked at Cira, dumbstruck, "Sorcerer? Who calls themselves that anymore?"
Cira squinted her eyes for a few seconds and the witch laughed, "Well, whatever. I'm glad you're here. At least soone up there is listening to my complaints, I've been asking for months!"
Now Cira was dumbstruck, and she looked to Lomp for guidance. His face was tense, and he strained his eyebrows trying to signal for her to play along, his survival instincts winning out over duty. This witch was rude in the beginning but opened up when she mistook Cira for a colleague. It was irritating to no end but she had to admit this was a good opportunity.
No, I'm looking at this wrong. This is a great opportunity for . Lomp ruined my initial adventure plans, but this could be a fun turn of events. She clearly needs help with sothing, so this could be a chance to cast so rare magic and learn about these shady Earth Vein fellows at the sa ti. Cira mainly intended to size up the witches.
"Well, Sorcerer Cira, we should hurry. I'll show you what I've been working on!" She had silver hair and a bright smile. Cira couldn't help but have a good impression of her after she made a point to get her title right.
Dammit, I can't let my guard down. "Very well, but Lomp cos with . He's serving as my squire."
The squire looked at Cira, baffled. She returned the sa eyebrow gestures to get him to play along.
The witch looked at him, seeming to have not recognized him like the short man with the light had. "If he's your servant it should be fine. He wouldn't be here if it weren't, I suppose. You sure talk funny though, and I like it!" Gah! While Cira had a winning smile of her own, she was remarkably susceptible to them.
"Who'd you think we were? I have to say that was quite the rough reception." She replied.
"Smugglers are the only things that pop out of that hole these days. Got a few locked up right now but I was just passing by when they said they heard strange noises from above. We want to seal the passage up, but the spirits keep getting in the way. They stopped trying after Elaine went missing a few years back, but you heard about that much, right?"
"Ah, yes. I believe I did." Want to know where her body is? She gave lomp a knowing glance, which confused him to no end and she realized she neglected to tell him.
Lomp followed behind them like a flounder as the witch brought them to the city gates which was a bright artifact in the symbol of an island with only a mountain atop it. Cira thought it was probably Earth Vein's insignia.
"I'm Nanri, the Titan Witch," She introduced herself, "Apprentice to the great Silver Witch!"
Never heard of her! Cira couldn't say that, of course, "My, how impressive. What's a titan do?"
Nanri gave a sheepish grin, "It's short for titanium…" before waving at the gate. It opened at her beckon and revealed the shining city ahead. It was truly a spectacle from the gates. The cracks between bricks in the road all glowed and there wasn't a shadow in sight.
The people in the streets walked around either wearing clothes of fine make and important airs about them or whatever the opposite of fineries was—overalls and sothing coarse like wool. There was a blatant dichotomy of the citizens here between the upper class and the working class.
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Not just the buildings and streets, but the sidewalks were even separated with glimring handrails, "Is it always this bright?" Cira asked.
Nanri chuckled, "Oh, heavens no. The lights go off at night and the ceiling lights up like stars."
Cira couldn't wait to see it, "What ti is it anyway?"
"The sun just rose outside." Cira groaned inwardly at this revelation, "So tell about yourself, sorcerer. What's your specialty?"
"My specialty, huh…?" This was a tough question to answer. Specialties were for half-rate sorcerers, or so said Gazen. "If I had to choose, I suppose I would have to say light sorcery, but I do enjoy geomancy."
Light sorcery—not to be confused with holy magic though the visuals may often seem similar. It was great as a utility but its most powerful applications seldom presented themselves.
"Two elents?" Nanri whistled, "Now that's impressive. Looks like you'll be so help too. Who is your master?"
"My father taught everything I know." Specialist mages weren't uncommon, so she didn't judge the witch.
"He must have been quite skilled—ahh, let's turn here." They were deep in the city of light. Each district they passed had a different hue, and it ford a gradient as they approached the outer wall.
"How far are we going?" Cira yawned.
"How thoughtless of ! You must have had a long journey." Nanri's concern seed sincere, "Since we're already here, I'll show you the first project then take you to a place you can sleep if that's alright. We'll go visit the salt nymphs tomorrow."
Sleep. What a pleasant word… Yeah, I'm ready. Salt nymphs tomorrow, sleep today. Just perfect. I really should have figured out during the elevator ride that this would be no quick trip.
They reached the wall of stone and Nanri opened a door. A sleek tal hallway t them, lacking the aesthetic of the city. Continuing down the hallway, their steps began to clink with a hollow sound as if there were more beneath them. Soon, the path turned inward and one wall was bare salt, covered in glowing salt moss.
"I-isn't this," Lomp took his steps nervously, "outside the island?"
"That's right!" Nanri smiled, "Welco to the New Shore District. Nymphus is going to need a lot more space soon, so they're expanding. This place can house five hundred workers on a single floor!"
They continued walking down the hall against the side of the island to the dull green glow of moss, passing a litany of doors that opened up into small rooms, each with a stacked set of two beds on either side of the room. Lomp peered into the cramped cells and looked between them and the witch with a pale expression.
Can this still be considered Nymphus? It bore a striking resemblance to the lower district but with the ominous addition of edible lighting. The scope of such a project was disturbing to Cira, especially with such a witch at the head. She seed altogether oblivious, showing this all off like she was proud of it and nothing more. It was just her work.
Sure, miners or sothing would fill it up later, but she didn't see anything wrong with that. That ant she did a good job. She had an innocent look in her eyes that gave Cira the impression she had no concept of the type of living conditions she was serving to create.
Cira asked, "Won't all this just rust like the surface?"
"I've never seen titanium rust." The witch replied, chuckling, "That's why they sent ."
Dammit I knew that! What a stupid question.
"It seems like you have the building taken care of. What do you need my help for?"
"Expansion, of course. It's too much for little old ," Nanri feigned tears, "What manner of geomancy do you usually perform?"
"Rocks, I guess… but anything really." Cira tried probing for information, "How soon are you trying to have this place up and running?"
"The first wave should be moving in early next year, but we have to finish up down below first." Nanri groaned, "It all depends on those damn nymphs."
They descended a staircase at the end of the very long hallway, and there was an open room with a canal coming from the wall, molded from tal. It fed a reservoir in the center of the room that was full of water. They had a room like this at the end of each staircase for the future residents to get water from.
Each floor looked exactly the sa and Cira counted ten of them. Soon they made it to the bottom floor of the structure to the last reservoir, and Nanri led them to a door at the back. Cira had seen one on every floor and been curious about them. When Nanri opened it, a blast of wind whipped Cira in the face and the long-lost warmth of sunlight touched her skin. She stepped outside and gazed out at the open sky. They stood on a large tal platform and clouds littered the sky with nothing else in sight. Behind them the platform had a staircase that crawled all the way up to the others at each floor, and a pathway in the middle that skirted the whole galithic complex to the other side.
"Amazing…" What a remarkable amount of materials. Cira was otherwise wordless and Lomp just stood there with a sense of foreboding across his face.
"This is where they bring in all my tal." Of course, Earth Vein would have loads of titanium.
Cira recharged on sunlight and let out another big yawn, forcing Nanri to speak up, "Dear, you look like you're about to fall over! Pick literally any other place on the island." She laughed. "I've dragged you around long enough. Let's go find you a bed.
They climbed the multitude of stairs and reentered the city, which burned Cira's eyes more than it had before. Nanri took them to a tall building in the middle of town that was lined with balconies on every side. When they entered the person at the desk greeted the witch like her boss.
"Lady Nanri, it's so good to see you! Whatever has brought you in today?" It was a young woman and she looked stressed at the unexpected encounter.
"I'll need one room for my cohort here. Make it a nice one."
"M-madam witch!" the girl straightened up, looking at Cira, "What a pleasure it is to make your acquaintance!"
"Sorcerer. And make it two rooms." After receiving a key she said good night to the actual witch and started clomping up the hard stone steps.
"It's actually still morning!" The cheery witch's voice trailed behind Cira as she continued undaunted. She didn't even spare Lomp a glance.
At last, she made it to the third floor and found the right keyhole. Inside was a sizable room with a rug covering the floor. To her left she spied a kitchen which begged investigation, but her heart was calling out to the right. A big fluffy bed with red linens sat in the center of the room with a single window. Unlike the rest of the city, this space was considerately dim, but that didn't stop the lights from charging in ceaselessly.
Aquon didn't respond but Cira held out the sa hand, "Window, begone!" The stone casing the window grew thin and stretched out to cover the whole opening. When she closed the door, the room beca as dark as a cave should be. She jumped on the bed and was asleep before making contact.
___
Cira awoke so ti later to the sounds of muffled screams outside. She rolled out of bed startled and right onto the cold stone floor.
"Gah," She groaned, "Window!"
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she watched the opening in the wall return and she reeled back from the light. Fighting the retinal tornt as she adjusted to the lack of darkness, she crawled over to the window and hung her face out.
People were running through the streets, shouting in fear and stumbling over themselves. Cira heard what sounded like the countless fluttering of wings and in her unfocused eyes she saw orbs of light flying around the city. Are those auras? No, that's not right… She rubbed her eyes so more.
"They're here!" One woman's panicked yelp filled the street.
Another man let out a blood curdling cry, "Ruuuuun! It's a stampede!"
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