The sun looks just ours, he said. All of this looks like it could just be on Earth. He frowned, then. I’m not just… on Earth, am I?

  He began diving toward the ground below, searching the air with his magical senses to see if he could sense any strange mana—anything that would indicate he’d teleported above another buried silver disk like the one that had led him here.

  The Circles of Hell are all made of realms that were once other worlds, said Ashtoreth.

  We’re still pretty sure that humanity evolved on Earth, said Frost. If the ancient humans took any extra worlds, they’d probably take a place that suited them.

  Hunter landed on the ground, then reached out and touched a blue-colored flower. Idly, he wondered if he was the first person to step foot on this world in thousands of years. The bison, though, he said. Everything here looks like it evolved on Earth. I can hear birds, insects—there’s trees in the distance along the river.

  Huh, said Ashtoreth. Sounds like they found a nice goldilocks planet somewhere and aggressively terraformed it. If we got some scientists in here, I bet they’d know how to check.

  Hunter peered at one of the bison he’d seen from above. Now that he was closer, he could easily tag it.

  {Bison — Level 4}

  The wildlife is initialized, he said. But the ambient mana doesn’t look anything like earth’s. It’s barely here, and its spread evenly.

  Civilization seems less likely, then, Ashtoreth said. Dang. Empty wilderness is hardly much help to us—we need to either find something interesting, or find the rune sequences to the rest of the realms if this one isn’t important.

  Hunter beat his wings and rose into the air again, then set out toward the river, reasoning that if he follow it, he’d be most likely to find civilization.

  How could it be unimportant? he asked. It’s called Core.

  Guys, said Kylie. We’re talking about a place that’s been potentially abandoned for… what? At least six thousand or more years? If there aren’t any people here, then I don’t think it will matter much what they left behind. You’re less likely to find a ruined city than you are an almost unnoticeable lump where a city used to be.

  So… where do I start looking for lumps, then?

  I have no idea, said Kylie. I’d say to look for naturally defensible harbours… but if this place was terraformed, then colonized by a united civilization of magical humans, I’m not sure that our own history’s rules of where people settle are going to apply.

  I’m still going to follow the river, Hunter said. But all I can really do here is fly around and look for mana.

  The bossmen probably found more than one of those discs, Ashtoreth said. Seems more likely than that the only one they found was conveniently in one of the most remote places on Earth. There might be more conduits where you are, Hunter… but if they’re buried, it’s going to be a problem.

  I checked the ground below where I came in, he said. But I didn’t sense anything. Honestly, I’m not sure I’m sensitive enough to detect one of those things if it’s buried and shielded as deep as the one in Siberia was.

  Yeah, they probably had top people for that, said Ashtoreth.

  There’s spells we could use, said Kylie. Something to zero in on any warp-affected mana that might be bleeding off the discs. Of course, we’d still have to deal with the fact that they’re buried so deep that the bedrock is superheated. I could ghost my way down there and get a read on any disc… but I’m the last person we want hopping realms.

  Why’s that? Sadie asked. Uh… if you guys don’t mind me asking.

  You’re in the chat for a reason, Sadie! said Ashtoreth. And Kylie loses her minions when she swaps worlds. Right now, her specters are a real scary deterrent.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Heh, Kylie said. My specters are what they’ll be ready for. I’ve got a deadvault in Southern Chad that I don’t think the Defense Alliance knows about. You know, in case I need to switch to more physical enemies.

  After a moment’s pause, Ashtoreth said, You know something, Kylie? You’d make a good archfiend.

  I’ll take that as a compliment.

  I meant it as a compliment!

  Great, Kylie continued, but we still have to deal with the fact that I’m the best person to search Core—and if I leave Earth, it’s going to very, very obvious to the EDA.

  Hold up, said Hunter. That… might not be necessary. He’d been gaining altitude as he followed the river, taking a high vantage point so that he could see more of the world below him, but staying low enough that he’d be able to make out any artificial structure the size of a house.

  Find something? Ashtoreth asked eagerly.

  One sec, he said, peering into the distance. Far away, the river met a lake, and the surface of the lake glowed with the scattered reflection of the light of the sun… twice. He beat his wings and flew closer, eyes fixed on the bright light that was out of line with the sun. I think I found something. Just a glow—I’m getting closer.

  Good, said Kylie. It makes a certain amount of sense, too. Dazel put the conduits deep in the Earth because he knew he wanted them hidden from us until Earth was initialized once again. But if he knew that thousands of years would pass between now and the reopening of Core, he’d have been sure to leave crucial infrastructure intact.

  He definitely had access to the magic to protect them from the elements, said Hunter.

  Be careful, Ashtoreth said as he sped toward the light. I give it good odds that whatever is down there is guarded by a construct that attacks you because you’re not its boss.

  Agreed, Hunter said.

  The closer he got, the more he saw that the light was most definitely unnatural. He dropped into the shadows of the trees surrounding the lake so that his stealth would be more effective, then drifted forward toward the water.

  Did anything happen yet? Ashtoreth said.

  Patience.

  He reached the edge of the lake. The light shining from beneath the surface hadn’t changed or moved in any way, and the mana in the air around him was only slightly denser above the glow. Sucking in a breath, he floated above the water and then slipped below the surface.

  Strangely, as he moved forward and his eyes cut through the murk of the lakewater, he saw that the glow came from an incredibly bright flare of light that seemed to hover many meters above the kelp-strewn lakebed. A dense line of mana connected it to the ground beneath it.

  Something underground is projecting a very bright flare of light into the middle of a lake, Hunter said. Looking closer, he noticed that the lakebed under the flare was more elevated than the lakebed around it. There’s a lump.

  You think we need me after all? Kylie asked.

  One sec, he said. Then, in case his teleportation would draw the attention of any defenses, he warped into the air above the surface of the lake and waited for a minute or so.

  Did anything happen yet? Ashtoreth asked.

  Patience, Houston, Hunter told her. He slipped back into the water, then reached down through the lakebed with his magical senses, finding what he thought might be a slight variance in the movement of the mana below him.

  Forcing himself into solid rock wasn’t exactly harmless, but Hunter was strong enough that he’d survive it. He braced himself, then warped into the space beneath him.

  He emerged into warm, dry air, then conjured a tuft of white shadowflame to light his way.

  The walls, floor, and ceiling around him were made of what looked like brushed steel. As if in response to his own light, lines of glass that had been set into grooves in the metal began to glow with a soft white light. The room was perfectly circular, with a stairway leading downward wrapping its outer edge.

  Some of the lights, the ones that glowed brightest, were simple, thick lines that ran the length of the room. Others were thinner, faintly colored, and formed diagrams that decorated the curved wall.

  Whatever we were looking for, Hunter thought, looking at the diagrams, I think this is it. I think this place was meant for someone like us to find, one day.

  Hunter, you are killing me, Ashtoreth said. You realize I’m trying to contain myself around the eggheads right now, right?

  He gave a noncommital shrug. You realize that I’m looking at the long-lost legacy of my species, right? He asked. Give me a moment. It’s not all about you.

  …Hmph!

  He swept his gaze over the diagrams—five vaguely circular drawings, three of them labelled with a sequence of runes, were followed by a diagram that seemed to contain all of them.

  Cradle, Orchard, Core, Diadem, and Pinnacle, he said, reading each of the diagrams. Judging by the rune sequence, Cradle is Earth. He smiled to himself. I suppose you want the sequence for Orchard?