The energy supply to the other floors was cut off, but not physically. It was more because the breakers for the said floors tripped, stopping the flow of electricity toward them. Thankfully, Aster knew where the breaker box was, and moved toward it.
As they moved as one big group, Mistelle started to mutter something to herself.
"Amazing... It's my first time seeing such a long-lasting Preservation Magic applied to an entire facility."
Aster couldn't help but be curious about her words. "Preservation Magic? What's that?"
Aster was new to the concept of magic and skills; as such, it was normal that he didn't know it. However, even Cassy and Kali didn't look like they knew about it.
"Preservation magic is a spell that's used to let an object retain its physical state for as long as the spell's effect lasts," Mistelle explained while looking around.
"Usually, it would lose effect in a decade or so, but... this place is 2,500+ years old, right? The longest duration of preservation magic recorded in history was just 100 years, and that's done with the help of all level 1,000 mages in their generation working in tandem until they fainted of mana depletion."
"..."
Hearing this, Aster quickly found what was "amazing" about the preservation magic in this laboratory. First of all, it lasted not just a hundred, but over a thousand years, breaking the record a couple dozen times over. Referencing it with what Mistelle said, this feat would be impossible without about 25 generations' worth of hard work!
As they were discussing things about magic, they soon reached the breakers. Aster quickly moved forward and checked all of it, before flipping the ones for the 10th underground floor's computers and lights.
With just a few seconds' delay, the lights all turned on, lighting up the entire core room. It was so bright that their shadows were barely visible now.
"Good, it's still working." Aster smiled.
He was worried that the bulbs had already burned out ages ago, but there didn't seem to be any problems.
"Then, let's split up and check the computers scattered all over this floor," Helvetica commanded, splitting up the job equally among everyone.
Other than Aster, who already had an idea where to look, the rest divided the sections to themselves and began checking the computers that finished booting.
If that wasn't possible, they could also try to move the pod to the 10th floor instead, so that it wouldn't deteriorate at all.
"No, stop..."
Aster shook his head, chasing such thoughts away. He came here to find answers, not to look for more questions! After that, he checked out the first few logs until he found what he was looking for—a clue.
{
December 15, 2051 19:57:11.97
We have discovered that Aster Mistral's Nameless Disease is caused by a blessing from -$@------ beyond the observable universe. However, we have deemed that it would be impossible for him to survive until he could gain the right to claim the said blessing.
*#(@(------12lgida__192837-- ----------- -til we find a way to solve it, we need to extend his life for as long as possible. For the detailed plan, we have created a special databank protected with a time-lock spell to prevent deterioration.
Aster, my son. If you're reading this, then that means our plan succeeded. Survive, and never give up. Just like you promised.
}
Aster paused for a bit. Other than the corrupted sections of the log, he did gain more than enough information.
"Mother and Father... they did realize the truth about my disease."
He felt a sense of pride welling up from deep in his heart. His parents, as expected, were the best!
He quickly wiped the tears, threatening to drip down the corner of his eyes, before taking on a serious expression. Then, he honed in on a part of the log and muttered to himself. "Databank..."
He started to look around, looking for anything that was inconspicuous, but stood out at the same time. Such a location would be the first choice of Aster's father if he were to hide something important, after all.
After looking around, Aster found the control podium for the Nuclear reactor, quickly ran for it, and cracked open the podium's stand. Inside it, other than the few wires for the controls, was a single block, an obsidian-colored cube, resting on top of a small glass case.
"This is..." Aster stared at the item, before carefully lifting it to his hands. "A Cube Storage?"