They chuckled lightly and walked towards the opening entrance together, keeping their eyes open for any signs of danger. Behind the grand gate, they found a spacious chamber with a high ceiling. Everything had even more detail and artistic patterns involving snakes, staves, wings, and people. Pleasant, golden orbs illuminated the room, either attached to the columns running by the walls or hanging from the ceiling.

  “It’s not the one from your memory, right, my Lord?” Selene asked as they examined the long chamber with a lot of metal beds.

  “I’m certain this isn’t where the fabled healing array is located,” Bryn replied. “This looks more like a quick-response or first-contact facility. Placing it right in front of the door would be a smart move. The injured could be brought in and set on these beds for the stationed healers to try and stabilize their condition as soon as possible while assessing their situation before deciding what to do next.”

  “Or to signal the more advanced healers to prepare that miraculous device,” Grea added. “I agree. There seem to be a lot of medical supplies on the shelves and I bet that the cabinets and drawers are full of tools and medications too. Though, I would expect at least half of them to have expired after so long.”

  “You might both be right. It’s not like every single wound needs such special treatment.” Silvia nodded softly. “Should we try to find the room from Ast’s flashback?”

  Everyone agreed to her suggestion and they began exploring the medical facility. It was much bigger than they had expected, but they realized that their expectations were a bit too low considering the fact that numerous warriors had to be treated here and not just those with critical injuries or terminal diseases.

  Therefore, they walked through many clean corridors leading to different sections of the underground facility. They found resting rooms for the patients, dormitories for the staff, a kitchen and mess area, and plenty of chambers most likely meant for treatment purposes. Almost every room had some supplies stored in chests, cabinets, and drawers, but the bigger storages were evenly spread throughout the compound.

  As they were walking down one of the corridors, Miria noticed that Asterios slowed down a little. She turned around and the others followed.

  “Are you alright, Master?” she asked with visible concern.

  “It’s the same hallway,” he replied.

  “From the memory?” Selene looked around with more attention.

  “Yeah. That flashback started somewhere here. I can feel it, even though this hallway isn’t that much different from the other ones,” Asterios explained and pointed ahead. “The device is in the chamber past that archway.”

  Tina slowly trotted closer to him and took Ast’s hand into hers. “Just so you know, no matter what we discover here or anywhere in the Spire, we will always be with you.”

  The girls nodded to her words and sent Asterios warm smiles. He chuckled quietly and brushed Tina’s cheek with his free hand.

  “I know. And I will always be with you regardless of all the things connected to my existence.” He leaned forward to place a gentle peck on her forehead. “So let’s go and get another piece of the puzzle.”

  Miria cheered while jumping into the air and everyone chuckled together. They waited for Asterios to catch up to them and crossed the empty archway at the same time, directing their gazes everywhere. Just as they remembered from Ast’s memories, a massive chamber with a high ceiling in the shape of a dome greeted them. The golden globes continued to illuminate the interiors as in the previous facilities.

  Besides plenty of shelves and cabinets holding supplies and tools, they spotted many bookcases filled with scrolls, texts, books, and various other literary works. A bunch of beds were placed by two opposite walls but their number was incomparable to the first room they’d visited. Most of the space was empty and for a good reason.

  A large magical array had been set up in the very middle of the chamber, right under the impressive dome. It was an unbelievably complex formation with countless shapes, patterns, rings, and circles. When looked at from way on the side, they all seemed to blend together and create an image of some exotic flower. Similar lines were carved on the inner side of the dome, clearly belonging to one single magical device.

  And, just like in the flashback, there was a raised, golden foundation tall and wide enough to support a single person in the very center of the formation. Asterios stared right at the waist-high slab of metal and started unhurriedly heading its way. The girls kept their eyes open for any danger since he seemed to be entranced by the foundation.

  He stopped right before the raised platform with his hand hanging over its surface. “This feels so weird…”

  “What does?” Miria asked curiously.

  “When you know that something had an enormous effect on you, and feel a deep familiarity with it, but at the same time it’s like you are seeing it for the first time. It’s hard to explain,” he answered while deep in thought.

  Before anyone could say anything else, Asterios rested his palm on the metal and sudden dizziness hit him immediately. Selene and Silvia supported his body to keep him from falling as he used the other hand to rub his eyes. Miria held herself back from shouting as she wasn’t sure if he was in pain and didn’t want to make the situation worse.

  After Asterios regained stability and took a deep breath, Grea put her palm against his forehead and looked deeply into his crimson irises. “Are you alright? What happened?”

  “Yeah… I’m fine…” He showed a weak smile. “Not sure… My locked memories might have stirred when I touched this thing or something… I feel like I remember a little more from the operation… Previously, the flashback ended when Red thrust his claws into me but I can remember some tidbits of the device doing its job as he worked on whatever he was doing…”

  “Did the seal get pushed back?” Tina glanced at him hopefully.

  “I don’t think so.” Asterios shook his head. “I’m just aware of a few more details from that day. Including the fact that the formation wasn’t able to completely reduce all the pain coming from the operation. Whatever Red did to my source, the Dragon’s Heart, it hurt like hell, most likely far more than the array could handle.”

  “That’s insane…” Bryn whispered. “This formation is supposed to bring people from the brink of death. What could he have been aiming for?”

  “Whatever it was, we know from Ast’s fight with the Dragon woman that a Dragon’s Heart is an extremely important and sensitive organ for True Dragons,” Silvia said calmly. “Asterios didn’t do that much to her and she was practically screaming in pain at the top of her lungs. Especially when he crushed her Heart.”

  “I can’t believe he did something like that to Master!” Miria growled while stomping her foot on the metal ground. “Master was basically a newborn at that time! He could have died from just the pain alone, not to mention being injured so much that he is now half alive! If I’m ever going to meet that guy—”

  Asterios caught Miria’s fists and stepped closer to her. She ceased her angry swinging and glanced up at his face. He brought her hands between them and gently held them together while joining their lips in a delicate kiss. Miria purred lovingly while pursuing his mouth back until Asterios withdrew himself first.

  “I love how much you care for me but promise that you won’t recklessly throw yourself at a powerful True Dragon just to beat the shit out of them in my stead, alright?” He smiled at her warmly.

  A fervent blush colored Miria’s cheeks and she giggled meekly. “Alright. I won’t. I’ll wait for Master to beat them up first and then give them a good smack.”

  Shaking his head, he placed one more kiss on her sweet lips and they separated.

  “What do we do now?” Selene asked, trying to pinpoint anything interesting in the miraculous chamber.

  “If this thing is as powerful as the legends say, why not try to activate it and see if it can heal Asterios from whatever was done to him?” Grea suggested, raising a brow at everyone.

  “Wouldn’t it have done that after the operation?” Tina wondered out loud.

  “Maybe Red didn’t wait for it to finish its job. We don’t know what exactly happened during their entire stay here,” Silvia offered.

  “They left quite quickly though I’m not sure if anything would change even if they remained here for longer,” Asterios said. “But, I think it’s worth a try, at least. I’m pretty sure I know where to turn it on.”

  He walked to the side and found a panel with several sigils. Trying to remember which ones Red pressed by judging the position of the man’s fingers through the movements Asterios had caught in the memory, he tapped the possibly correct tiles. Something flashed behind his back and a few gasps belonging to the girls reached his ears so he turned around.

  The formation came to life and multiple magical rings and circles of every possible color and size floated above the metal foundation at various angles. They emanated different noises and sounds, but all of them gave off pleasant and calming vibes. The golden patterns and sigils glowed with warm, sunny light.

  Asterios returned to the raised slab and placed a hand on it, glancing at the girls. “This might take a moment so you are free to look around in the meantime.”

  “I’ll stay with Master,” Miria suggested. “There are much smarter people who can do better at figuring things out.”

  He shook his head with a small smile and sat on the tough bed, choosing not to argue with the enthusiastic panthergirl. They both knew that she wasn’t behind anyone on their team. But, Miria needed an excuse to stay by his side and no one could deny her request now without engaging in a battle of words with her.

  As Asterios set himself on his back on the platform, the others spread out to browse through the documents. The floating circles descended from the ceiling and began orbiting his body while Miria stood slightly on the side and kept a watchful eye on her beloved master. Asterios nodded at her and closed his eyes.

  Minutes passed and the circular arrays shone at Asterios one by one. Sometimes, they joined together or split into multiple circles, changing colors during that action. Miria had no idea what each of them did but Asterios looked fine so it couldn’t be anything bad. Selene, Tina, Silvia, and Grea did their best to examine the books and look out for any hints about any possible secret compartments, passages, or entire chambers. Bryn remained by the control panel just in case, watching it intently. They had gained at least a bit of knowledge about the device from Red’s notes and their research.

  After about a quarter of an hour passed, the flashing subsided and they gathered around the central bed again. Asterios opened his eyes and sat up, glancing over his arms and body.

  “Did it work?” Miria asked, following his gaze with her eyes.

  “I don’t feel particularly different, besides being refreshed and revitalized,” he replied, causing Miria’s expression to fall a little. “There are no spiritual changes to my sources, circuits, or mana pool. I don’t feel any stronger either.”

  “But didn’t we come here just so that you can be healed?” Miria whined quietly. “What’s the point of this thing if it can’t do anything about your condition…”

  Jumping off the metal platform, Asterios brushed through her black hair, caressing her ears gently. “We came here to find answers, and we are going to find them. We weren’t sure if this thing could heal me so that’s okay. We’ll figure out a way. Don’t let it put you down. Red specifically told us to come here so there must be a reason for that.”

  She lifted her face and nodded lightly. “Sorry… I should be the one consoling you, Master, not the other way around… What kind of a mate am I even…”

  “The best one.” He pulled her into a hug. “Now, let’s see if others managed to find anything.”

  “Quite a lot,” Grea replied, dropping a stack of books onto the metal bed. “I don’t think we will find a hidden chamber here. Draconic texts are literally mixed with the local ones.”

  “That could explain how some of them found their way into the ancient archives.” Bryn rubbed her chin. “If that Red was able to study the device and the heart before the Cataclysm and used this facility as his workshop, it wouldn’t be surprising that one or two of his notebooks were taken out by accident when the ARKs launched.”

  “It’s a quite logical assumption.” Tina nodded. “He would have a hard time going around and researching stuff with the lockdown active and all those monsters lurking behind every corner. Even if they weren’t really a threat to him, that would have been utterly annoying for sure.”

  “Yeah. And it would explain how he has access to these facilities. He must have been granted it a long time ago, perhaps even having some input in their development or construction, just like in the Demon Continent,” Bryn added.

  “These are all the books and notebooks written in a draconic script that we could find.” Grea patted the medium-sized stack. “We took a peek inside and I bet a few of them treat on Healing Magic. Bryn recognized a bunch of spells and sigils in there.”

  “Let’s see, then.” Asterios picked up the first one and started reading.

  The girls focused on their deep bonds with him and followed his thoughts through it, skipping the process of Asterios explaining every little bit to them afterward, or while making breaks in the middle of his reading. Unfortunately, while Bryn could do that to some extent too, it still wasn’t on the same level as the other women could achieve, and she was well aware of that fact. Some details escaped her attention while she tried to keep up with the speed of their thoughts.

  Asterios went from one book to another, briefly scanning through their contents. Some quiet ooh’s and ahh’s escaped the girls’ lips now and then whenever he moved through an interesting section or one that was connected to their issues. In about an hour, he finished all of them and closed the last book the girls had found.

  “So… That’s a lot to take in…” He took a deep breath.

  “The most important thing is that we still have a chance!” Miria threw her fists into the air.

  “Could I bother you… to fill me in a bit more?” Bryn asked a little hesitantly.

  “Of course. There’s no need to feel anxious.” Asterios smiled at her. “First, a few of these books are connected to his research of Healing Magic, just as we expected. It does try to figure out if draconic qualities have any effect on it like with the other fields, but there’s a lot of standalone information on the spells and techniques too. I believe that they would be very useful to you and other healers after I transcribe those notes.”

  “Many notebooks are written in a journal format,” Tina continued after him. “They note down the use of this magical healing device by the valkyrjas, including the initial state of the patient, the circles that glowed during the treatment, and what was the result. Red describes the knowledge they shared with him but also writes down his own insights and observations into the inner workings of the arrays, trying to gauge its capabilities and limits.”

  “Then, some of the documents describe his findings about the Spire’s Heart,” Silvia picked up the explanation next. “And we think this is the most important part. Supposedly, because of all the defensive systems that are running during the lockdown, a lot of its energy is redirected to the barriers between the floors and around the shaft. The healing room can’t work at full power. It should be different without the lockdown or with the Aegis active since it surrounds the entire area with a protective dome rather than powering countless pieces of sectional layers over all the levels.”

  “We need to reach the Core Chamber and deactivate the lockdown, turning the Aegis on,” Selene suggested. “From what he wrote, that’s the only place where you can do both those things. Then, the recovery arrays might actually do anything to Master. We also hope that the energy surrounding the Heart can be beneficial to him since Red mentions it a lot in all the books.”

  “That’s great.” Bryn’s face brightened up. “I’m glad we have a lead, both about Asterios and Tyr’s Aegis.”

  “Ah, yeah, I think we also might know why it wasn’t activated during the Cataclysm,” Asterios added.

  “Oh? What was the reason, then? Will we be able to activate it?” She held her breath while waiting for his answer.

  “The Aegis was created by the gods, and many immensely powerful materials were used in its creation. That includes the Heart of the World’s Serpent, which might have been partially related to Dragons. To start it up, one basically needs to… awaken the heart. It’s done by injecting it with powerful spiritual essence and energy. So powerful that the valkyrjas might not have been able to achieve it just on their own, even if they redirected some of the power from the core,” he explained.

  “I see. If the gods left early, there was no one around who could easily do that.” Bryn nodded to herself, rubbing her chin. “Red might have been able to since he is an ancient, powerful True Dragon, and the Serpent’s heart might have reacted to his mana signature, but if he had already left the realm too, they couldn’t ask for his help.”

  “Exactly! But!” Miria beamed at her. “We have Master with us so he should be able to do it!”

  “What can’t this Dragon hottie do?” Grea grinned at Asterios, running her finger over his jawline. “It’s going to be a piece of cake for our powerful boyfriend. It’s time to earn a huge favor from thousands of winged beauties.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Bryn chuckled lightly. “Are we departing for the Heart right away?”

  Asterios shook his head. “No. I think we should take a rest here. There’s no doubt that the challenges on the lower floors will be more intense. This facility is somewhat safe so we can take a quick nap before moving on. We aren’t in a rush to reach it in some record time. I'd suggest looking around a little more.”

  Everyone nodded to his words, including Bryn. She didn’t mind staying in the medical compound for a bit longer either. The thought of succeeding in activating the Aegis tempted her to continue but it wasn’t that hard to fight it down. Besides, a short break at the current moment was more than perfect.