Basement

Theron's family managed to recover most of the important things, Theron checked his ring to see that it was already 11 PM. Theron excused himself and went outside the house to look for any metal they could be of use.

"Demian, I need to ask you something."

Theron picked up anything that may be of use, like pieces of metal sticks, raw metals, and some chunks of raw iron ores. 

[What is it?]

"Do I have to make them? Or do you have some sort of machine that will do it for me instead?"

[There's a machine in the ship which is a drone that builds anything with enough materials.]

"Oh! That's great, how many materials do I need to create enough solar panels?"

[Just enough.]

"Can you specify how many exactly?"

[Like a house worth of Silicon, Aluminum, Copper, Glass, Cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium selenide, or amorphous silicon, and a substitute for plastic. Maybe rubber would also be good, but you need a durable cover for the wires.]

"Why does it need so many?"

[Mass production, did you really think you'll only be making one solar panel?]

Theron was flabbergasted after hearing that he needed a lot of raw materials to be able to make the solar panels, he thought it was as easy as finding a rock and completing the task.

"Are solar panels really necessary for my progress?"

[Yes, the solar panels can provide you with a stable energy source that will allow you to go to the next level of energy harvesting.]

"Which is?"

[Nuclear.]

"W-What!? N-Nuclear??"

[Nuclear Energy is one of the greatest steps for humanity, it has the least drawbacks while providing the most benefits.]

"How am I supposed to do that!? I don't the people in this world have discovered uranium!" Since Terra was a world which relied on magic, there was no need to discover nuclear fission since it was time consuming and potentially unnecessary for the people that use magic. It makes sense really, why bother trying to collect energy from other sources when you have a stable energy source that can be recycled via mana.

[Figure it out yourself.]

"Wow, thanks. That's very helpful…"

Theron gave up trying to reason with Demian, since it was unreasonably harsh and direct towards Theron. Theron took a stroll in the village which the houses and taverns as well as the shops were either heavily damaged or was destroyed completely, since there were no people yet. Theron decided to loot- I mean, kindly borrow some things from the houses. Since the owners of the houses will come back sooner or later now that the storm has ended.

Theron entered a broken house, that was made out of cement and wood. It used to be a shop that sells armors and weapons, before the owner of the establishment left most of the things and left with the most valuable things they had.

All that was left were dull metal swords, damaged gears, and rusty metals that were left lying around on the wooden ground. Theron picked a rusty dagger and inspected it.

"Demian, is it possible to use these for the solar panels?"

[Unfortunately, no. They are impure, which will cause variables within the solar panels.]

Theron dropped the rusty dagger on the floor and checked the other things in the shop, there were several scattered parts of armors that were barely damaged. Its condition may not be in pristine condition but it was good enough for Theron's standards, Theron took a barely damaged shoulder plate and attached it on his left shoulder, he then ripped out a pair of metal gauntlets and wore them which were a bit too big for Theron.

[Don't discard them, they seem to be in good condition. We can use them for other things that the drones can make.]

Listening to Demian's advice, Theron held onto the pair of gauntlets and continued to see if there was anything useful. While walking around the shop, Theron's ring shined brightly which kept flickering back and forth when he went on a specific spot on the floor.

"What's happening?"

[The ring has detected a large empty space nearby.]

"It can do that?"

[Under certain circumstances, it's mostly just a feature to protect the user of the ring from falling down a pitiful death.]

"Where is it located?"

[I can't tell, all I know that it's nearby and below you.]

Theron's eyes widened in curiosity and quickly grabbed a nearby rusty sword. Theron raised the sword and penetrated the wooden floor, the floor cracked and a layer of cement appeared. Theron tried to penetrate the layer of cement with the rusty sword but it snapped in half.

Without any options, Theron commanded his wings to appear. The massive pairs of wings went through the walls and the roof due to how big it was, Theron raised his arm which he was about to slash. But Theron wanted to pierce through the ground in a less destructive way as he didn't want to fall straight into the empty space beneath him, like a sword that goes through stone.

Similar to that of a sharp needle which pierces cloth in a smooth and safe way.

"A needle… like an injection shot!"

Theron, who was raising his right arm as well as his right middle wing, pierced through the ground which revealed a layer of cement that was slashed by the wing. But there still was a deep layer of cement that was still present underneath the wooden floor.

'Wait, I haven't tested the thermal feature of the wings.'

"Demian, how do I use the thermal feature?"

[Ah that, just command "Angel, Illuminate."]

"Angel, Illuminate!" Theron's wings began to glow a yellow light subtly with a comfortable warmth, but soon rapidly turned into a blindingly bright white light that outshined the entire room. Making the shop covered with bright light, Theron who was in the center of the light was forced to close his eyes as the wings were as bright as the sun itself.

"Why didn't you tell me it was THIS bright!?"

[That's just how it is when you activate a source of light in the MIDDLE OF A DARK ROOM???]

Theron had no idea where to look as his vision was just a pure white light, he tried to walk around but ended up just standing still.

[By the way, don't touch your wings if you use the thermal feature of the wings. The wings at maximum energy usage will reach 10,000 degrees Celsius, dare to touch it and your hands will literally melt. It also rapidly uses the energy source of the ship, so use it while you can.]

After hearing what Demian had said about the temperature of the wings, Theron was frightened and kept his arms away from the wings. Luckily, the wings itself don't emit heat otherwise Theron would have died just from being near it. The white wings were the heat itself; it didn't leak out and stayed within the boundaries of the wings.

Theron's right middle wing was in the cement itself, which caused the surrounding cement to melt as if it was jelly. Theron carved a massive hole using his wing, which caused the cement in front of him to fall on the ground inside the empty space.

The wing had opened a hole in the ground, Theron who was suspicious of what happened looked in the hole to see what was inside. Theron picked a nearby rusty sword and dropped it down the hole, the sound of it was touching the ground was heard as it echoed in the small hole.

[I suggest you deactivate the heat of the wings now; it drains the energy capacity at a rapid speed.]

"How do I deactivate it?"

[Just command "Angel, darken"]

"Angel, darken!" The massive bright wings gradually lost its light and returned back to normal, the heat of the wings was now back to normal. Theron continued looking in the hole, decided whether to investigate what was below or to ignore it.

'Of course I'm going to investigate.'

Theron covered his body with his arms, which the middle wings soon followed as he jumped in the hole and landed on the ground safely. The ground was made of cement and so are the walls around him, when Theron got up, he created a dent on the ground.

In the dark hole, was a basement with no light. There were several vaults that appeared to be emptied, needless to say there was nothing valuable in the basement.

'It must have been the owner's most valuable items, that would make sense.'

Theron was saddened to see that there was nothing, he expected a rare valuable item to appear. Theron checked the vaults itself to see if there was anything that the owner had left behind, he found nothing.

As Theron was about to give up and return to the surface, he saw a single vault that was left untouched. Unlike the other vaults which needed a key to access, this vault needed a mark of some sort. Which the owner seemed to not have access to, which made Theron interested in the vault.

Since Theron didn't have the means to access the closed vault, he decided to open it by force using his wings. But Theron didn't want to damage what was inside, he instead placed the tip of the middle wings on the sides of the vault.

"Angel, illuminate."

The middle wings turned into a bright white light once again, temporarily blinding Theron in the process as well as causing the entire basement to be pure white. The middle wings slowly went inside the border of the vault as the wings melted the walls itself.

After creating two holes on the vault, Theron carefully sliced the door of the vault, his arms were shaking as he focused on slicing the door of the vault. The door of the vault fell on the floor as it revealed what was inside. Theron deactivated the heat of the wings and checked what was inside of the vault, it was a pure white mask with no features.

A pure white mask, with no observable features, not even any spaces for the eyes to see. Theron picked up the mask and had mixed feelings about the mask, he didn't know how to feel.

[Detected abnormalities within the item.]

"What?"

[There's a strange energy coming from the mask.]

"Like, magic?"

[84% Probability that it is magic, 16% It is something else…]

"What else could it be?"

[According to the database, it could be a lot actually. I'll have to sample the mask once you have access to the drone feature.]

"Is it dangerous?"

[…]

"Hey?"

[…No, probably.]

"What do you mean 'probably'???"

[I'm simply saying I don't know. Try it out.]

"What if I die?"

[¯\_(ツ)_/]

"You- "

Theron was holding the mask in his hand; it was firm and light. The mask was shiny as it was pure white, the mask itself was made of a metal which he didn't know about. After hearing what Demian had said, he was both curious and worried about the mask, he didn't want to die a pathetic death just by wearing a mask.

'What if the mask can grant me a useful ability?' He thought about it carefully as his life was on the line, he wanted to make the right choice.

After some thinking, he decided to wear the mask and risk it all. Theron attached the mask to his face which perfectly matched his facial structure, or more like the mask itself adapted to Theron's face.

After a few minutes had passed, nothing had happened. Theron was waiting to die a brutal death by being consumed by the mask, or the mask piercing his face and turning him into a host for a parasite. It felt like he was just wearing a normal mask, the only difference is that it had no support for his head.

'Was I overthinking?' Theron walked around the basement to see if there was a vault that was left untouched, all there was left were dust and ashes.

[Theron! There's a strange energy going inside your body as we are speaking!] Demian, who usually had spoken in a monotone and casual tone had a panicked tone in its voice.

[Theron! Do you feel anything in your body? The strange energy is going in your spinal cord right now!]

"No? I don't feel anything" Theron, who had no idea what was happening was confused towards Demian's worries. He didn't feel anything happening to his body.

[The strange energy has reached your brain! Do you really feel nothing!?]

"I don't?"

[Huh? Maybe it was a false alarm, yeah.]

Theron found a stairway that led up the surface and entered there. Theron opened a metal door and exited out of the basement; he appeared behind the broken shop which was hidden on a patch of dirt.