Aster's team gradually headed deeper. The cave was just that: a simple limestone cave with an uneven floor, walls, and ceiling. Furthermore, it was just one path curving now and then, meaning, they at least wouldn't get lost.
Gradually, the floor started to change.
Your journey continues on m v|l--NovelFire
Broken pieces of cement slabs started to appear buried on the cave's floor, and the gaps between each slab decreased the further they ventured in.
"This is..."
Soon enough, they reached the end of the road. The floor and walls turned from the limestone cave into a well-shaped rectangular passage made of cement slabs. It was, without a doubt, manmade, and not something that naturally came to be!
The walls were clean, with not even a single scratch on them, but the floor had signs of wear and tear, indicating that it had been used regularly in the past.
"What a big door!" Cassy commented, seeing what was blocking their path forward.
The path ahead was blocked by large, double doors that were about ten meters tall and three meters wide. On its surface were some indecipherable symbols and characters, adding a hint of mystery to it.
"Hnnnngh!" Liz tried to push it open but quickly gave up. "It won't budge. It's locked tight!"
"I can try to destroy the doors, but..." Aster muttered, before shaking his head. "I'm getting a weird sense of dread after thinking that, so let's just figure out how to enter properly."
He pulled out his Holo tablet and took pictures of the door. He captured all corners of it, from all angles, before trying to reverse search its images from the large amount of data he borrowed from the Archives. It still hadn't expired yet, after all.
However, he was soon disappointed with the result. "Hmm? Weird, there's no match."
"We have another idiot here," Kali exclaimed while planting a hand in her face. "Didn't you realize how we got here? You think someone else would be brave enough to rappel the face of a deadly cliff to find such an entrance?"
"I know, but I was thinking maybe there's a similar door somewhere or something that was already discovered," Aster replied with a faint smile.
Recalling how she was studying about his disease, he quickly got his hopes up as he received the call.
{Good evening, Aster.}
As soon as the call was accepted, a video feed started to show on the screen.
On it was the figure of Vanessa Ross, covered in a lab coat... wearing the very same attire she wore after the attack by the Anti-Human Movement. In short, she was still wearing nothing but her panties, and barely covering the important parts!
Aster, however, didn't even flinch at her appearance. He simply greeted her back with a smile. "Good evening to you too, Doctor Vanessa. Did you perhaps not sleep? You have bags under your eyes."
{Haha, don't worry about me. Pulling all-nighters is the one thing I enjoy the most, especially when I have an interesting subject at hand.}
"I see. But please don't push yourself too much. If your health failed, then it'd be a disaster." He continued. "And? What's the reason for this call?"
{Oh, right, right.}
While muttering gibberish to herself, she pulled out several holograms in the air before her, showing complex symbols.
{I've been working on your disease, thinking it was something like a virus or a bacteria that hasn't been discovered yet, but I realized that my angle was wrong.}
"..."
Aster agreed with that. During his parents' time, that was also the first thing they researched about his disease. After all, most unknown diseases come from those two sources.
{But then, I discovered something curious.}
She took a deep breath while emphasizing one of the diagrams, which looked like a complicated magic circle.
{Listen closely and don't be surprised, Aster.} She explained. {Your disease isn't really a disease, but rather a blessing.}