Not so far from us, down the corridor on a path we did not take, I saw more ruins. Similar architecture. Stone made buildings with wood, old style.

  Maybe a section of the same were our clan took home?

  But there was one building in particular that called my attention. It was made of marble, with a symbol of a moon with an eye in front of it, and a sword piercing the celestial object, right in the big double door.

  It was intact, at least from outside, as if time had not touched it.

  I tried to peek inside, when.

  [[Warning! Scrying spell detected! Cannot look inside!]]

  [Huh?! What was that?!]

  “Huh?”

  Even Erika was surprised about that warning?

  [I did not do that! The System reacted to the building when you tried to look into it… hold on… wait! I know that building. It is important we approach!]

  “What? Why?” I asked.

  “Huh? Who are you talking to?” Aspen tilted her head and lifted her face.

  “W-wait! I will explain it!” I focused on Erika, “what is that building? What is important about it?”

  [That is an important building. I am surprised it is even here. That is a meeting point for an important Guild called the Seekers. My creator, Marbos III was a member of it!]

  “What? What is a building like that doing here?”

  The building was big, I could only guess how important the guild called the Seekers was important to have such a big headquarters.

  Guilds were groups of adventurers or craftsmen that joined together to achieve a common objective. With a name as Seekers, and such an ominous symbol in the front door, made me think it was something like an important group that dealt with secrets or something similar.

  There were groups like that on earth, so the idea was not that alien.

  “Seriously,” Aspen got up, “Who are you talking to? Agh!”

  She coughed, and spit blood.

  “Ah! Aspen! Are you okay?!” I asked.

  [Warning! Aspen's vitals are starting to deteriorate. She might be getting worse by the second.]

  “I’m fine! I need to rest and I will… ugh… agh!” She coughed again. Blood stained the floor.

  “Stop lying! You are clearly in pain and bleeding internally! Why didn’t you tell me sooner you were that injured.”

  “I will be fine! Those mushrooms will keep me safe… I just need to rest.” She got on the ground again.

  [Aspen is right that the mushroom and herbs will help. They have healing properties, but they won’t be enough. They will just keep her alive for longer.]

  Then, all they were doing was winning us time. If I did nothing she would be dead anyway.

  She should have told me she did not feel well, Why did she need to be that stubborn?

  I did not want to let a friend die like that.

  But what could I do?

  The odd building was staring back at me.

  “Erika, what is inside that building?”

  [I think I know what you are thinking. There is a chance you can find healing items and more. Even weapons and useful equipment. Seekers were adventurers that helped each other, and the buildings held items they needed.]

  “Then I need to find how to enter.”

  [Yes, which might be a problem. Only members are allowed, but permission can be achieved. Let’s get closer and see what I can do.]

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  “Aspen…” I turned to her.

  I was not comfortable leaving her alone. She could die at any point.

  [Ether stones don’t allow for casting healing spells, either. So even refined ones won’t help.]

  That one might be out only choice.

  “What?” Aspen, grunting and with heavy breathing, stared at me.

  “Please… hold on! I think I found something and I need to go find it.”

  “What? How? You are acting weird.”

  “I will explain it soon! But please, I will be back, hold on!”

  She growled… and then let out a sigh.

  “F-Fine… but return quickly… please…” she admitted with her ears flattened.

  “Don’t worry, I will.” I nodded.

  I flew as fast as I could.

  }------------------------------------------o~o------------------------------------------{

  It was not that far away, it took me only a couple of minutes to reach the building, and Aspen seemed to be fine.

  [I will keep checking on her vitals. The medicinal herbs and mushrooms seem to be keeping her almost stable for the moment, but doesn't seem to be improving. We don’t have much time.]

  We had to race against time and what we were doing was a gamble.

  Running with the life of someone in line only to hope the coin falls heads is a bad situation to be in.

  The structure stood in front of me, big, imposing and ominous. The eye, large and vigilant, seemed to stare directly at me.

  Whatever it represented, it seemed to be big. But I had no time to ask Erika, we needed to move.

  [The magic inside the structure seems to be still working. I need you to touch and I will try to get us permission to enter]

  Okay, time to see if the bet worked. I had to trust Erika

  When I touched the marble door, the structure reacted. I heard stones that had not moved in years grind against each other, and a slight blue royal hue light came through the crevices.

  [Okay, now let me-]

  [[Matching identity detected. Welcome, Seeker]]

  “Ah?!” I asked.

  [What? How? You are not a seeker!]

  “That is what I want to know!”

  The door opened outwards, slowly and loudly, letting dirt fall as it gave me the way in.

  Inside, was a dark void. I could not see, as the building was not allowing me to observe with [Soul Sense] inside.

  I prayed it would work inside.

  But I could not understand. It said my identity matched with a member… but how? That was impossible!

  Except for…

  “Ella… were you a Seeker?”

  I did not get an answer from her that time, bit that had to be the answer. My soul and hers combined, so I got part of her Ether in me.

  [The chance that the System recognized Ella’s soul on you, and she was a Seeker, is a plausible answer.]

  “Yeah, that must be it.” I relaxed, “Let’s go in.”

  I metaphorically swallowed saliva, prepared myself mentally, and floated inside the building.

  Inside, [Soul Sense] worked, but I could not see outside, and only in the room I was in. Whatever magic was taking place in there, was not allowing my skill to go forward.

  The door closed behind me once I went in.

  “Shit, I cannot see Aspen.”

  [We still have direct observation of her vitals.]

  “Does that mean you can tell how the rest is doing?”

  [Yes, but only Luna and Fir. I cannot see what is happening with the rest of the wolves.]

  Useful. That way we could know if they were in danger.

  The inside was a reception. A very old abandoned reception. Stools, chairs and tables broken and thrown around, plant pots abandoned of their care.

  Two stairs went up into a second floor, where two corridors began. Under them, was a dilapidated reception.

  There were 4 other corridors around us, two of them were blocked by debris on our sides.

  The whole place was filled with ivy all over the place, a full invasion of plants.

  [Dammit. I tried to enter the database, but it seems to be corrupted, all the files are giving me errors. It is a miracle we could access the structure.]

  “Well, right now we need to find anything that could heal Aspen.”

  [And that database held the map of the structure, storage room and items contained. We will need to find it without it.]

  “Okay… then let's not waste time.”

  Having to find the storage area manually was going to make me waste more time.

  That place was made for secrecy. I could not look inside the rooms, I had to go in to see what was inside. It is like each place was made so no one could peek, not even when allowed inside of the building.

  Dark voids until I dared to go in them, each one littered with broken furniture, bent metals, withered books.

  [Seekers dealt with secrets. Often, clients of the guild were people that needed help and felt they were in danger to ask for it.]

  Being inside those halls, lost to time, felt like being watched by something that was not there.

  I went down one of the corridors, and it revealed itself once I crossed the threshold, the hall behind me turning dark.

  “You are mapping this place, right?”

  [Affirmative.]

  Erika showed me the map, showing the main hall and the corridor in a 3d projection in front of me that I could move around.

  Up, and keeping it close.

  As I moved, I saw a few doorways. I inspected each, and they all were offices.

  They all had the debris of what used to be a desk, with bookshelves and books scattered all over the floor, all covered in overgrown plants.

  The last one I saw I decided to move in and check it, out of curiosity. Who knows, maybe I could find some evidence or a nap.

  [All these books, they all have information gathered by the Guild.]

  I went in to check one. The way it was made, a hard cover, glued and sewed, with a beautiful finish and design, told me that the print was already invented. The quality was too good.

  Oddly enough, no title, although the book looked like a classic encyclopedia, with golden ridges and dark leather bound.

  I opened it and…

  “It’s empty, no words.”

  I opened another book, it was the same. None had letters or anything written on them.

  [Odd, normally these offices have books full of information. It is strange to find books with nothing on them.]

  “This place just keeps giving me the creeps… huh?”

  As I moved out, I thought I saw something move by the door, but I could see nothing there.

  Maybe I was getting paranoid, but I could not shake the sensation that I was being observed.

  “Let’s go.”

  With haste, I pushed back into the corridor, trying to catch whatever I saw move.

  Nothing.

  There was no one or nothing in there.

  No movement either.

  Although hesitant, I moved to the end of the corridor, where a stairs down to the darker lower level descended into.