Buried Secret I

"This technology is very similar to ours," Arc commented. It might have only been Kies's imagination since Arc didn't seem to have heard anything. But whatever the case was, he needed to be careful in this place.

Ignoring what he thought he heard, Kies also thought the same thing as Arc. The doors and the walls in this place were nearly identical to that of the ruins and archive. Kies had suspicions that this place had some sort of connection with the Aeos. If so, maybe he could find some useful information here.

Kies walked into the passageway which was lit up by the glowing carvings on either side of the walls. The passageway led to a massive room that had multiple floors. There was a spiral staircase in the middle of the room going up and down into darkness. The floor he was on was designed in such a way that it looked like an indoor balcony. Other than that, there was nothing else on this floor.

Kies walked over to the railing and peered down. He couldn't see much with how dark everything was but he was able to see two floors down from where he was. "Aeronite," Arc suddenly randomly said out loud.

"What?"

"Look at the railing you are placing your hand on." Kies lifted his hand and looked to see what Arc was talking about. The color of the material blended in perfectly with the darkness. It didn't take Kies even a second to recognize where he had seen this before.

"May I as to inquire where we are right now?" Arc asked Kies.

"We're in... the undead forest?" Kies answered. He didn't know what the name of this forest was. "We're really deep down underground as well," he added.

"That is very strange... I do not know why something like this would be here..." Arc said while Kies began to ascend the stairs. If there was an exit in here, it was most likely up. As interested as he was in exploring this place, it will have to wait till later. He couldn't exactly just spend his time looking around this place while everyone else was fighting.

Kies didn't notice before, but the entire place was a little slanted. He had to be careful when climbing the stairs since the steps were angled in such a way that one slip would cause him to slide down the stairs. It was a good thing that there were railings for Kies to hold onto or else it wouldn't have been possible for him to go up at all. "Though it is plausible that when Skyland was destroyed, a fragment of it fell here. But I do not recall there being such a place like this existing on the island," Arc continued.

"Skyland? Is that the name of the floating island that the Aeos lived on?" Kies asked.

"Yes, and as much as I want to study this place and find out about its origins, it does not seem possible as you look like you are in a rush right now," Arc observed as Kies continued up the stairs.

"Yeah sorry," Kies apologized to Arc. "But we can come back to this place later to explore it," he suggested. They couldn't do it right now but they could always come back here later once everything is settled.

"I guess that that is an option."

After walking for about two minutes, Kies finally reached the next floor. If the steps weren't slanted it would've only have taken him a couple of seconds, but because they were, Kies had to be slow with his steps. Unlike the floor under where he just came from, this floor was packed with things. In one corner of the room was what looked like an anvil and a pile of blacksmithing tools. In the two corners adjacent to it were piles of weapons and tools that were made out of Aeronite.

A bright ray of light shot out of Kies's bracelet, surprising him as Arc scanned the room. After finishing, Arc announced his findings with Kies. "This room is not in any of the records either. How strange."

"Are you going to do this with every floor as we move up?" Kies asked Arc.

"Yes, and before you move on, why not take a look at the items on this floor. You might find one that catches your eye," Arc suggested to Kies as he was just about to continue going up.

"I guess I can," Kies took up Arc's suggestion. He walked over to one of the piles and looked through them. He didn't know what exactly he was looking for since he didn't have a preference for what he wanted as a weapon. But if possible, Kies wanted a short sword or dagger, something small, easy to use, and also easy to carry around. He wasn't skilled in using weapons and though he could always learn how to use them, he already had his hand full with learning magic.

After going through the pile, Kies wasn't able to find anything that fitted his conditions. Most of the weapons were too big or heavy for his tastes. There were a few lighter weapons but they were all ranged ones, which were useless to him as he could use magic.

The second pile of weapons wasn't much different from the first pile, and once again, Kies couldn't find anything that he liked, though there was one that caught his attention, it was in a really strange shape. One side of the short sword was twice as long as the other, making it look like a weapon that was primarily used for stabbing, or so that was what he thought. Kies couldn't figure out how exactly the weapon was to be used but what he did know was that it definitely was not what he was looking for. "There isn't anything else," Kies told Arc as he started walking back to the stairs.

"So there is nothing here to your liking?"

"No."

"Before you go, why not take a look at that one in the far corner. I sense a faint magic aura coming from it."

"What?" Kies turned to see what Arc was talking about. He didn't see it the first time but in the opposite corner of the room, away from the blacksmithing area was a single object lying against the wall. It was messily wrapped in bandages that had turned gray and falling apart from accumulating so much time and dust. It was faint, but just as Arc said, Kies could feel a small amount of magic emitting from it.

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