Prologue
He snuck into the chilling maze of a facility entirely on his own. If only he had chosen a better time to be curious than now. The swordsman knew the Imperial Knights would not investigate the building without a warrant, or even come in anything less than a long time. The current Commandant, Flynn Scifo, possibly would, if he followed some of the examples his childhood friend Yuri Lowell showed. Though he really didn't have much reason to dislike him or the Knights. The Empire and the guilds were both rebuilding their entire civilization in a few ways to become accustomed to a life without blastia. Yet something here struck him in the back of his open mind as odd.
He had just happed to find the out-of-place stone building while passing through the freezing darkness of the Weasand of Cados, cautiously avoiding any monsters he happened to see, and eventually explored one of the gnarly and winding tunnels of the cave. The swordsman was by his solemn self, hoping to reach Nordopolica by the rise of night, but something outright compelled him to explore an added part of scenery. Upon reaching the end of the shadowed tunnel, the mysterious building caught his sights. Towering high enough to the point one could not see the top after the cave's natural darkness consumed it. Not to his surprise, it also seemed to just be carved from the
Anyone would know that it was an unsanctioned building in the first place, and it made him feel uneasy deep inside himself. The guards around the building were most certainly neither from the Knights or any guild he'd seen. Even doubted they could be from a guild. Their drab uniforms resembled that of the Knights, but it was more of a mix of noble and commoner clothing with bits of light armor plastered here and there. This gave him the impression that they either had money, or they resulted in stealing from other people, sickening him to think about the citizens who can barely get by, be robbed. It took all his will to keep down his anger so he wouldn't run in screaming.
The would-be guards at the door would not pose much of a threat to him, but there was around ten of them keeping watch. Plus there also was the possibility of an alarm there. They also had better weapons, which resulted in him sneaking in. The only way in he could see were a few nooks in the cave wall leading up to a ledge. The rock looked brittle and flaky at first glance, yet to his utter amazement, the rock was much sturdier than it seemed, and supported his weight. It was exhilarating to him; the coolness of the rock radiating into his palms as he reveled in the thrill of the small climb. Quickly ascending the wall, he reached what seemed to him as an open window. Or, at least, where a window should be.
Gently lowering himself down from the withering wooden ledge to the balcony, so his leather boots wouldn't make any noise, he climbed in. The permanently open window must have been for ventilation. A nice view would be out of the question. The room was semi-plain. It looked like an office with a stack of papers on the desk, inkwell, lamp, decorated oak bookshelf stuffed to the brim with books, and a green chalkboard with sketches of formulas. The formulas were new to him, so he naturally looked a short while. Then his eyes were diverted to the drawings next to the formulas, which were what seemed to be blueprints to a contraption he'd never seen, nor hoped to see. It looked to him as a large machine; lots of meaningless pieces parts to him. Yet there was outstanding detail on a few other parts, including an odd sphere to the far right of the blueprint. It actually kind of looked like a blastia core.
Either way, it didn't matter to his current situation. For a strange reason, he'd been feeling a little faded since he got here. It wasn't the nostalgic feeling of the room with the only source of light coming from the lamp and dark wall color. He felt....distant from himself, and slightly sick. Feeling vaguely reminiscent to how he had felt around the time the Adephagos appeared. This deeply concerned him. He'd hated the Adephagos, and everyone knew that Duke, war hero from the Great War, had tried to trade human life for the Adephagos's defeat, and he hated Duke for what he did. If he hadn't done it, they would still be alive.
His immersing emerald green eyes scanned the inside the room as his heart sank. The building looked like a factory on the inside. Not a usual sight anywhere on Terca Lumereis. There were a few lines in the wall that mirrored a teal-pulsing gem vein. He quietly sighed to himself as he saw even more guards brandishing halberds and broadswords lining all the corridors that he could see. Yet he wasn't ready to turn back yet. There was something here he needed to know about.