The Mysterious Technologies of the Past
"Woah..."
Illuminated by a source of light, the room revealed its secrets to the young man.
In the center of the room stood a large circular table with bizarre objects sticking out of the center.
They were very peculiar objects. They seemed strange mechanisms composed of long metal arms with different tools at the ends.
Looking closely at that place, the room seemed similar to a research laboratory.
Of course, Atlas did not just observe the instruments from a distance but tried to move them to understand their function.
Unfortunately, those strange arms were blocked in place, and even using all his physical force was useless. Incredibly, he could not even bend those long mechanical arms slightly.
"Hmm... Perhaps too much time has passed, and the materials have been ruined. But the parts still seem to be in excellent condition. How strange..."
Atlas did not let the unexpected findings get him down and instead continued to rummage through the other things all around, looking for a possible answer.
And it was under a thick blanket of dust that the young man found a giant scroll filled with incomprehensible symbols and detailed drawings of the objects in the room.
"What is this?... It must be very ancient... it seems a kind of language but made entirely of runes..."
In one corner, Atlas looked at the scroll and noticed a symbol that reminded him of something...
"This... Hmm... This is very similar to a Chaos Rune... But it is much more complex and elaborate. What is its purpose?"
The young man tried to move the scroll, but it was bound to the table by a strange power as if glued to its surface.
He tried to decipher the symbols but got nothing out of them.
The only thing he could tell from the drawings was that the black crystals acted as a source of energy, just as he had previously observed.
Helpless in the face of that complicated puzzle, Atlas left the table demoralized and began to look around. Yet, other than a few empty shelves, there was nothing else around.
"There must be an exit somewhere... that damned hole can't be the only passageway...."
The room was very intriguing, but the objects were unusable, so he looked for a way back to the stronghold, which was probably right above him.
The room was well-lit, but the walls were smooth and had no discrepancies.
The young man focused on the one side of the room where the celestial veins or those strange stones were not present, but even that part was clean.
"Impossible... the entrance must be here! Maybe it is hidden behind the stone..."
Atlas had worked as a miner, and destroying things had become almost a hobby for him, so he gripped his faithful companion, and without thinking further, he struck the wall hard.
The point of the pick, sharp as a dragon's tooth, struck the wall, but there was no change.
In fact, the pickaxe did not even leave a faint mark on the wall...
"Impossible! Even metal is not that strong..."
Shocked by the unexpected situation, Atlas struck the wall repeatedly.
DING!
DING!
DING!
But nothing...
The wall remained spotless, stunning the young adventurer.
"Preposterous! The surface looks like rock, but... in fact, the wall is composed entirely of a solid material... Almost impenetrable. Certainly, I'm not the strongest being in the world, but after two years of breaking rocks, I understand some of it..."
Atlas stared dumbfounded at the wall but did not continue hitting it and instead lay on the ground with a downcast expression.
"I really need to get out of here... But the steep wall back there is too dangerous... What can I do?"
The young man lay motionless on the ground for a while, thinking of an alternative, but the wall previously scourged by the pickaxe changed at some point.
Strange symbols, written in the same color as the celestial veins, appeared at a certain height. The wall slowly lit up until a peculiar noise shook the room.
Clang!
Clang!
The sound of creaking wood followed the first sound, and subsequently, the wall began to rise.
"What's going on?"
At first, the wall moved very slowly, but the motion became smoother and faster.
Clang!
Clang!
The wall vanished, and a new, much smaller area appeared before the young adventurer's incredulous eyes...
"Hmm... I don't know what happened, but the story is getting exciting."
Atlas did not leap stupidly into the new room but observed it carefully before entering.
The new area was nothing special.
It was a circular room with a radius of fifteen feet and was empty.
The only peculiar thing about the room was a pole in the center. It was covered with the same incomprehensible runic symbols found on the parchment.
The rod's body was clearly made of wood, but on the top was embedded a black crystal similar to the spherical crystal found earlier.
"Surely, it needs a power source... but why? For what purpose?"
If there was a way out, this was indeed the only way, so Atlas held the crystal and let it drain Chaos Energy from his body.
Initially, the energy was consumed very quickly, but in the long run, it was reduced to negligible.
Atlas stood still and let the power drain from him, but he noticed that no light had formed within it at some point.
"Something doesn't add up..."
Involuntarily, Atlas moved his arm, and surprisingly, the bar tilted in the same direction.
"Can it move?"
Surprised by the affair, Atlas pushed the rod in the same direction and suddenly felt his body lighten for a brief moment.
"What a strange feeling... but it feels very familiar..."
Only after a brief moment did Atlas return the rod to its original position, but turning toward the only exit, he noticed something frightening.
"Shit... where... where's the exit!!!"
Atlas hurled himself against the smooth wall that had replaced the opening, but it was useless because the small circular room was sealed off.
"How is this possible? I didn't hear anything..."
The situation put the young man under great stress, but slowly, he thought back to what had happened earlier.
"The rod! The movement of the rod caused something... Moreover, that strange force... Hmm... it was very similar to what I felt before, falling inside that damn abyss. Wait... maybe... no, no, that's impossible..."
Atlas reasoned for a moment, and an inconceivable idea leaped into his mind.
One so absurd that it was hard to believe.
"Maybe... it's some kind of lifter that works with energy! But in such a confined space... Can it be feasible?"
Atlas was shocked even by his words, but this was the only possibility given the strange events.
"First, I pushed the lever forward, causing the room to move, so logically, if I want to go back to where I was before, I have to pull the lever back..."
Atlas did not linger any longer and pulled the rod back after recovering enough energy. This time, however, he stared carefully at where the exit used to be.
The strange force appeared again, but Atlas felt his body being pushed down this time. What was happening was surprising, but the young man ignored everything and stared intently at that spot, searching for an answer.
Just as before, the small room was completely silent, but Atlas sensed his body moving at a moderate speed.
"Unbelievable... In some books, I read that the expert creators, the dwarves, made a device that allows you to reach great heights in a short time, but it was well specified that the noise of the gears was deafening and unpleasant. If this strange room can perform the same actions as that dwarven lift, then the creator of such a portentous object is an undisputed genius. Well... given the condition of this place, it is better to say that ... he was an undisputed genius ..."
"... It is a pity. Such advanced technology could bring many benefits to the world. Especially those strange black crystals. Who knows who the creator behind it all is?"
The room continued to move until the exit appeared from the top of the rock wall.
"I'm back! Amazing, this room is certainly a lift!" Atlas exulted in wonder and then thought of his next destination: "If I keep going up, I can certainly reach the exit. But since I'm here, maybe I'd better check if there are any other rooms. I might find something useful..."
Atlas pushed the lever forward and began to descend with the magic lift.
Even after using up all his energy, Atlas found nothing.
"Impossible... if this tunnel is so deep, there must be at least one other room. Otherwise, what would be the point of digging so deep... I must continue!"
The young man pushed the lever forward until the room suddenly stopped, accompanied by a loud bang.
Bang!
"I have reached the deepest point... But why have these strange symbols turned red?"
Indeed, Atlas had only now noticed that the symbols had changed, perhaps because he was too focused on observing the exit.
"Damn! Who knows what their meaning is... Why don't I see any opening, though?"
Atlas left the lever and approached the wall, meticulously feeling the cold rock.
But just as before, the wall was smooth and without any imperfection...
"This is not natural... There is definitely something beyond this wall! Maybe I have to wait..."
Atlas thought about what had happened earlier inside the room and decided to wait for a while, hoping the wall would move.
A couple of minutes passed, but nothing changed.
So Atlas gripped the pickaxe and began to pound the wall.
"Maybe the gears need a little help..."
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Alas, exactly as before, the wall emerged immaculate from the frenzied battle.
"Hard as diamond... what a strange material!"
Indeed, if the young man could understand that ancient runic language, everything would be clear, but for now, all he could do was wait.
More time passed, but the wall remained unchanged, leaving the young man only a possible path...
"I am sure the only one who has discovered this place in recent years... I will return here after gaining a better understanding of those runes..."
Disappointed by the bitter discovery, Atlas pulled the lever back and let the incredible lift carry him to the upper level...