Not so far from us, down the corridor on a path we did not take, I saw more ruins. Simir architecture. Stone made buildings with wood, old style.

  It was like another town, or maybe a section of the same we found on the West Cn.

  But there was one building in particur that called my attention. It was made of marble, it had the symbol of a moon with an eye in front of it, and a sword piercing the celestial object, right in the big double door.

  It was intact, at least from outside, as if time had not touched it.

  I tried to peek inside, when.

  [[Warning! Scrying spell detected! Cannot peek inside!]]

  [Huh?! What was that?!]

  “Huh?” I wondered.

  Even Erika was surprised about that warning?

  [I did not do that! The System reacted to the building when you tried to look into it… hold on… wait! I know that building. It is important we approach!]

  “What? Why?” I asked.

  “Huh? Who are you talking to?” Aspen asked.

  “W-wait! I will expin it!” I focused on Erkia, “what is that building? What is important about it?”

  [That is an important building. I am surprised it is even here. That is a meeting point for an important Guild called the Seekers. My creator, Marbos III was a member of it!]

  “What? What is a building like that doing here?”

  The building was big, I could only guess how important the guild called the Seekers was important to have such a big headquarters. The structure was made of white marble, and seemed to be intact compared to the rest of the structures around us.

  From what she knew, Guilds were groups of adventurers or craftsmen that joined together to achieve a common objective. With a name as Seekers, and such an ominous symbol in the front door, it seemed like an important group that dealt with secrets or something simir.

  There were groups like that on earth, so the idea was not that alien.

  “Seriously,” Aspen asked and got up, “who are you talking to? Agh!”

  She coughed, and spit blood.

  “Ah! Aspen! Are you okay?!” I asked.

  [Aspen’s vitals are critical. She might be getting worse by the second]

  “I’m fine! I need to rest and I will… ugh… agh!” She coughed again.

  “Stop lying! You are clearly in pain and bleeding internally! Why didn’t you tell me sooner you were that injured.” I said.

  “I will be fine! Those mushrooms will keep me safe… I just need to rest.” She got on the ground again.

  [Aspen is right that the mushroom and herbs will help. They have healing properties, but they won’t be enough. They will just keep her alive for longer]

  They were better used as first aid before getting actual help. And even with that wolves didn’t know how to do surgery, even less I. Many died because of that.

  Aspen was on the line to die because of that, and her own pride. Maybe she didn’t want me to worry about her, but seeing her suffer and slowly die made the contrary.

  Why did she need to be that stubborn?

  I did not want to let a friend die like that.

  But what could I do?

  That building was staring me back, in a manner of speech.

  “Erika, what is inside that building?”

  [I think I know what you are thinking. There is a chance you can find healing items and more. Even weapons and useful equipment. Seekers were adventurers that helped each other, and the buildings held items they needed]

  “Then I need to find how to enter.”

  [Yes, which might be a problem. Only members are allowed, but permission can be achieved. Let’s get closer and see what I can do]

  “Aspen…” I said.

  I was not comfortable leaving her alone. She could die at any point.

  [Ether stones don’t allow for casting healing spells, either. So even refined ones won’t help]

  Then that was our only chance.

  “What?” Aspen asked.

  “Please… hold on! I think I found something and I need to go find it.”

  “What? How? You are acting weird.”

  “I will expin it soon! But please, I will be back, hold on!” I said.

  She growled… and then sighed.

  She was doubting because I suddenly began to speak directly to Erika in front of her, and maybe dying alone was not what she wanted.

  “Fine… but return quickly… please…” she finally admitted.

  “Don’t worry, I will.” I said.

  And I flew as fast as I could.

  }------------------------------------------o~o------------------------------------------{

  It was not that far away, it took me a few minutes to reach the building, and Aspen seemed to be fine.

  [I will keep checking on her vitals. The medicinal herbs and mushrooms seem to be keeping her stable for the moment, but doesn't seem to be improving. We don’t have much time]

  We had to race against time and what we were doing was a gamble.

  Running with the life of someone in line only to hope the coin falls heads is a bad situation to be in.

  The structure stood in front of me, big, imponent and ominous. The eye, rge and vigint, seemed to stare directly at me.

  Whatever it represented, it seemed to be big. But I had no time to ask Erika, we needed to move.

  [The magic inside the structure seems to be still working. I need you to touch and I will try to get us permission to enter]

  Okay, time to see if the bet worked. I had to trust Erika

  When I touched the marble door, the structure reacted. I heard stones that had not moved in years grind against each other, and a slight blue royal hue light came through the crevices.

  [Okay, not let me-]

  [[Matching identity detected. Welcome, Seeker]]

  “Ah?!” I asked.

  [What? How? You are not a seeker!]

  “That is what I want to know!” I asked.

  The door opened outwards, slowly and loudly. Dirt fell as it gave way in.

  Inside, was a dark void. I could not see, as the building was not allowing me to observe with [Soul Sense] inside.

  I prayed it would work inside.

  But I could not understand. It said my identity matched with a member… but how? That was impossible!

  Except for…

  “El… you were a Seeker?” I asked.

  I did not get an answer from her that time, vut that was the answer. My soul and hers combined, so I got part of her Ether in me.

  [The chance that the System recognized El’s soul on you, and she was a Seeker, is a pusible answer]

  “Yeah, that must be it.” I said, “let’s go in.”

  I metaphorically swallowed saliva, templed myself, and floated inside the building.

  Inside, [Soul Sense] worked, but I could not see outside, and only in the room I was in. Whatever magic was taking pce in there, was not allowing my skill to go forward.

  The door closed behind me once I went in.

  “Shit, I cannot see Aspen.”

  [We still have direct observation of her vitals]

  “Does that mean you can tell how the rest is doing?”

  [Yes, but only Luna and Fir. I cannot see what is happening with the rest of the wolves]

  Useful. That way we could know if they were in danger while we were there.

  The inside seemed like a reception. A very old abandoned reception. Stools, chairs and tables broken and thrown around, pnt pots abandoned of their care.

  Two stairs went up into a second floor, where two corridors began. Under them, was a dipidated reception.

  There were 4 other corridors around us, two of them were blocked by debris.

  The whole pce was filled with ivy all over the pce, a full invasion of pnts.

  [Dammit. I tried to enter the database, but it seems to be corrupted, all the files are giving me errors. It is a miracle we could access the structure]

  “Well, right now we need to find anything that could heal Aspen.”

  [And that database held the map of the structure, storage room and items contained. We will need to find it without it]

  “Okay… then let's not lose time.”

  Having to find the storage area manually was going to make me waste more time.

  That pce was made for secrecy. I could not look inside the rooms, I had to go in to see what was inside. It is like each pce was made so no one could peek, not even when allowed inside of the building.

  Dark voids until I dared to go in them, each one littered with broken furniture, bent metals, withered books.

  [Seekers dealt with secrets. Often, clients of the guild were people that needed help and felt they were in danger to ask for it]

  Being inside those halls, lost to time, felt like being watched by something that was not there.

  I went down one of the corridors, and it revealed itself once I crossed the threshold, the hall behind me turning dark.

  “You are mapping this pce, right?”

  [Affirmative]

  Erika showed me the map, showing the main hall and the corridor in a 3d projection in front of me that I could move around.

  Up, and keeping it close.

  As I moved, I saw a few doorways. I inspected each, and they all were offices.

  They all had the debris of what used to be a desk, with bookshelves and books to boot, all covered in overgrown pnts.

  The st one I saw I decided to move in and check it, out of curiosity. Who knows, maybe I could find some evidence or a nap.

  [All these books, they all have information gathered by the Guild]

  She meant the ones scattered in the ground.

  I went in to check one. The way it was made, a hard cover, glued and sewed, with a beautiful finish and design, told me that the print was already invented. The quality was too good.

  Oddly enough, no title, although the book looked like a cssic encyclopedia, with golden ridges and dark leather bound.

  I opened and…

  “It’s empty,” I said, “no words.”

  I opened another book, it was the same. None had letters or anything written on them.

  [Odd, normally these offices have books full of information. It is strange to find books with nothing on them]

  “This pce just keeps giving me the creeps… huh?”

  As I moved out, I thought I saw something move by the door, but I could see nothing there.

  Maybe I was getting paranoid, but I could not shake the sensation that I was being observed.

  “Let’s go.”

  With haste, I pushed back into the corridor, trying to catch whatever I saw move.

  Nothing.

  There was no one or nothing in there.

  No movement either.

  Although hesitant, I moved to the end of the corridor, where a stairs down to the darker lower level descended into.

  SoullessDiaz