From the thicket in front of us emerged… a wall covered in moss.

  Yep. That was it. At least what was visible from this side.

  It was not even remotely possible to tell what kind of building this used to be. Brick one? Probably. I’d have to break the wall to check…

  Why not, I guess?

  I was about to push him away and blast a hole in the wall before he just sprang up and literally sprinted past the wall, disappearing behind it.

  -What the hell?

  I didn’t feel any mana or anything else that could indicate an attack, or anything irregular either, so I just shrugged and went to check what exactly happened for him to react like that.

  But, I couldn’t find a thing.

  When I entered the “building”, or rather just walked past the ruined wall, he was just kneeling on the mossy grass, mumbling something to himself.

  -What got into you? - I asked, trying to look past his shoulder. - You found something?

  -I thought I heard something!

  -Heard?

  That was unexpected.

  Out of all the things, he chased after a sound?

  -You didn’t notice?

  -Err… no? What was that?

  -I swear I heard a voice.

  -I can’t feel any presence.

  -You don’t…?

  -What, you felt something?

  -No… It’s just… I thought you were more proficient… and if you can’t feel it either…

  -That either means nothing’s here.

  -Or that someone is really good at hiding! - he announced loudly, as if he was expecting for someone to jump out of the bushes, startled.

  I just gazed around, lazily.

  -Look, I know you want to find… Well, something, here, but I doubt that’s going to happen.

  -...

  -It’s literally impossible for me to not notice someone. If it lives, it has mana, and if it has mana, I can sense it. So can you. The only difference is the distance.

  -Don’t be so sure of yourself.

  -Mhm…

  I am not sure if he was just delusional or really was onto something, but I guess being more vigilant wouldn’t hurt.

  But, I didn’t have to announce that out loud.

  -Sure, sure… Anyway, we are here.

  -And…?

  -And? I should be the one asking that. You were the one who chased after this pile of rubble so hard that you teleported us in the middle of the air.

  -This… this is it…?

  I sighed.

  -That’s why I told you to wait for a moment before you acted.

  -I know there’s something here! I just… can’t pinpoint it.

  -Can’t pinpoint? You mean the sound you thought you heard before? I told you, there’s no one…

  -No that! The mana is… weird here.

  -Weird? Ah. You mean the basement.

  -Basement?!

  -What, you’re telling me you didn’t notice? I wouldn’t even come near here if the singular wall was what I felt. Come on, you’re not that blind, it’s…

  But, he was not listening. He already was focused on the ground under our feet, or rather the overgrown floor.

  He raised his hand and I could tell he was about to try and cast something at his feet, but he froze.

  I was about to jump back, but realizing that he stopped, I figured I didn’t have to run away.

  At least he was clear-minded enough for him to not destroy the whole underground with a spell.

  -Can you be the one to do it?

  -Huh?

  -Break the floor. Can you do it? Your crystal is going to burst through this with no issue, right?

  Well, that was true. But I didn’t like the idea of breaking the floor under my feet.

  -I mean… I’d rather do it differently, you know…

  -What?

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  -Just… come on…

  I gestured for him to follow.

  He didn’t move, was just looking at me with confusion.

  Sighing, I resigned and just walked away towards where the wall was.

  -Where are you going!?

  Completely ignoring him, I inspected the wall.

  Even from up close, I couldn’t tell what it was made out of. The layer of moss was too thick.

  But, not too thick for my crystal. I just had to stop suppressing myself a little bit, and in a split second the greenery wilted as the mana from the plants was drawn towards me, leaving only dust around.

  I quickly contained myself, not to drain too much, the effect was enough. The ruin was clearly visible: a wall was pretty well-preserved. Same with the floor.

  -Concrete…? With writing…

  -It seems like it - I nodded, confirming. - Can’t read that any more, though.

  -Yeah… I guess that’s what prevented this from decaying further…?

  -Maybe. Here. That’s what I was looking for.

  -A hatch…?

  -Something like that. Let’s see…

  It was open.

  If there was any lock or another mechanism that blocked it, it was long gone.

  -Nice. Let’s go.

  -Ah… Sure.

  I was about to say something, but I guess that was pointless.

  Seeing is probably better than feeling… Nah, I don’t know.

  The hatch led directly downstairs via a spiral staircase.

  -Cement…?

  -Seems like it - I nodded. - With a hint of mana.

  -Probably added some “bonus” to prevent decay…

  -Don’t know about the decay… - I mumbled. - But more like to help propagate whatever spell was cast on this place.

  -Maybe. Doesn’t matter. It’s gone now.

  -True that.

  Whatever the magic permeating this place was, it was long disabled, or just straight up decayed.

  -A bit strange that this place was left to rot like this… The place is good and full of mana…

  -Hm.

  I was not going to comment on that.

  The place was maybe good now, but…

  -Finally! Something!

  The stair led us to a basement of some sort. Decay was still present, but was not as bad as upstairs. For example, there was no sign of moss or other plants trying to take over the spot, which was honestly impressive, judging by the main floor, or rather the lack of it.

  -What was this, a bunker? - he said, half-joking.

  But he wasn’t that far off from the truth. At least from what it looked like on the first glance.

  The inside of the room was barren.

  And I don’t mean as in abandoned, or destroyed, no. It looked like it was left like that on purpose, no signs of even old paint or a hole in the wall from where the shelf used to be.

  On the ceiling though, still intact, was a set of tube lights. Judging by the look, very old. Hell, the stupid switch looked like it was from another planet, more like a knob. And next the knob…

  -A crystal… It is not…

  -No. Not one of ours - I shook my head. - That’s one of the older ones. Still has some mana in it, though.

  -You don’t suppose…

  -Well…

  No point in hesitating, I grabbed the knob and turned it clockwise. I wanted to be careful, to not accidentally break it, but it was surprisingly sturdy.

  And working.

  A click, followed by a loud buzz and a light.

  -Well I’ll be damned. This thing still works.

  -Yep.

  Whatever was remaining inside that crystal had enough power to light up the whole room and, while the light was dim and flickering now and again, it stood the test of time well enough.

  That also finally made him realize what else was in the room.

  -Oh. Fuck.

  That’s one way to react.

  It was a skeleton.

  -Oh. That’s why it smells in here…

  -Huh.

  I just realized that I didn’t notice. Wait… I couldn’t smell a thing.

  I never really paid attention to that, but I guess I couldn’t any more…

  But wait, he could and it didn’t occur to him that there’s a BODY with us? A rotting corpse is pretty fucking hard to miss…

  Then again, this was a skeleton. It barely had anything on it, some scraps that probably were clothes a long time ago.

  Yeah… about that…

  -How long did this poor guy sit here…? - I asked out loud.

  -Actually… that’s a good question. It’s…

  He approached the pile of bones and touched its clothes.

  Just a light touch was enough for it to turn to dust.

  -Ah. That means “a long time” - he mumbled, looking at the pile of dust that was just a moment ago a sleeve.

  -Careful, or the whole thing will crumble.

  -I believe I am. What, you want a go?

  I just raised my hands.

  -For once, I believe for this task your fleshy body is a lot better. I break walls with those, Imagine what would happen with this.

  -Ha. Right…

  He turned back his focus to the skeleton.

  -Any spells… would help…

  -Spells? Doubt it. Just look for something more permanent.

  -Like what?

  -Dunno. Jewelry? I would say ID but I don’t think their wallet survived.

  -Funny. And how would a piece of metal help in this instance?

  -Don’t know until you don’t find it.

  He grumbled something under his breath, but slowly started patting the clothes.

  Sure, he was turning them into dust, but if anything else was remaining, we’d know immediately.

  But, sadly, after a full inspection, the only thing that was left was a pile of dust and a pile of bones that was falling apart.

  -Well fuck.

  -Yeah, there goes your idea - he mumbled.

  -At least I am trying. And it’s not like it hurt.

  -Eh. Sure. But still, even with this, we know nothing.

  -Well, we know that this place is very old. Same with the person.

  -Doesn’t tell us much. Kind of hard to not notice after seeing the ruins.

  -Yes. I wish we knew where we were…

  -I thought I did… - he sighed. - But with this… I am so confused. Could you…

  -What, you want me to make another scout?

  -Well…

  -Pff. And you’ll destroy it the moment we spot a broken shack?

  -I’ll try and contain myself.

  -You better.

  The truth was, I was already planning on doing so the moment he used the first one to teleport. I just was being irritated with him.