Now that the nuisance pursuers were dealt with, Alex sent thest remaining Sri back to the Fracture so that his message could reach the higher up''s ears before the guy bled out.

    The molten in was quiet once more… well, where the sounds of fighting were concerned.

    The environment itself was still roaring with sound constantly.

    Alex stood amidst the consequences of his battle. The several dozen kilometre deep crater left behind by those two ranged warrior''sbined attack was quickly filling up with a newly formedke of magma.

    His Phoenix mes had dissipated at hismand, with thendscape no longer being lit by the signature red tint of the powerful mes.

    He rolled his neck once. In truth, the fight had barely taxed him, and that was telling enough of the difference in strength between him and those Sri.

    ''Man, the difference between King ss and Variant ss… It''s just too unreal.''

    Alex was at the same rank as them, but he wiped the floor of them – literally – when strength was concerned.

    This only made him all the more eager to reach Ancient ss – to experience the level of power he''d have.

    But that was for the future.

    Now came the real challenge.

    Finding Mikhai''s forge, or rather the sealed realm associated with it.

    He knew the basics from his research in the Sri archives, such as that Mikhail himself might even be sealed in there.

    Possibly alive…

    However, while he stood there, silently contemting to himself, something tugged at his side.

    He ignored it at first, but it continued, forcing him to ce his attention on it.

    ''Virtue''s Edge… It''s vibrating.''

    The source of the tugging quickly became clear to him, and his mind lit up light a light bulb.

    ''That''s right! I''d already theorised that Virtue''s Edge might be the key to unlocking this sealed realm! But that was just a hypothesis, I didn''t expect it to actually be the case!''

    Of course, it was still uncertain whether that was the case or not, but Alex was quickly bing more and more sure it was.

    It just had to be.

    All the stars were aligning.

    Virtue''s Edge was Mikhail''s greatest creation, which for a legendary smith, was a monumental title to behold.

    Not to mention that it was unfinished!

    And the fact that it all started with that dream… or vision Alex had of Mikhail appearing, asking him to find the forge. Toplete this iplete final, greatest creation of his.

    If Virtue''s Edge wasn''t the key to the realm, then nothing could be.

    Nothing deserved to be reunited with its birthce… and birthgiver, than Virtue''s Edge did.

    Alex furrowed his brow and looked down at the… excited sword. The vibrations hadn''t stopped, they were constant.

    He pulled the de from its sheath.

    The instant it was fully drawn, the vibrations intensified.

    Not just aimless buzzing, either. It pulsed, once per second, which might seem rather slow and meaningless to others.

    But Alex noticed it.

    It pulsed exactly once per second, no more, no less.

    There was no variation between each pulse.

    Then, he shifted his body, and the frequency of pulses changed.

    It only took a moment for Alex to figure out that the frequency of pulses changed depending on which direction he was facing.

    Alex slowly began turning in ce, sweeping the sword in a wide arc.

    The vibrations fluctuate constantly, increasing and decreasing subtly as he moved.

    He was looking for the perfect moment. The moment where the frequency of vibrations were at their highest, not lowest. It was clear as day that the faster it pulsed, the more ''excited'' it was.

    It wouldn''t vibrate so fast if it faced a direction it wasn''t ''excited'' by.

    Then — there it was.

    When the tip of Virtue''s Edge faced southwest, toward a jagged ridge of obsidian and steaming crevices, the vibrations intensified dramatically.

    The hilt itself seemed to hum in his grip.

    "...You''re leading me somewhere, aren''t you." Alex murmured.

    He tested the theory again, shifting the sword''s direction in all imaginable directions, but it never vibrated as frequently as it did when facing southwest.

    There was no denying it now.

    The de was reacting to something.

    Perhaps some signal.

    Who knows what.

    What Alex did know though, was that he should follow it.

    With how certain he was that Virtue''s Edge was leading him to somewhere very important, likely rted to this sealed realm, he would be stupid not to follow this lead.

    Without another word, he leapt forward.

    The ground beneath his feet trembled as he spared no strength in speeding across the broken terrain, following the pull Virtue''s Edge felt towards the southwest direction.

    As expected, Virtue''s Edge pulsed even faster as he ran closer to the obsidian ridge in the distance.

    Soon enough, he passed the ridge and the jagged ins gave way to an unnaturally smooth basin.

    Even the heat had changed to something less oppressive, more focused, like tehnd itself had been forged under… unnatural conditions.

    Of course, the whole realm was created unnaturally, since it was left behind in the wake of the destruction of an entire advanced civilisation.

    But this basin… was just different.

    Alex slowed to a walk.

    The vibrations were nearly constant now. If Alex weren''t as powerful as he was, his whole body might have been shaken apart, down to its atoms, by now.

    The wind dropped away entirely, as if the environment itself was deliberately making sure that this specific area was to be left untouched, undisturbed.

    Then he saw… nothing.

    At the bottom of the basin, there was nothing.

    It just looked the same all over.

    But confusion or disappointment didn''t even show itself in Alex.

    He was expecting something like this.

    It wasn''t like there was going to be a huge door at the bottom with the words ''Mikhail''s Forge ahead'' stered at the top.

    It would have already been found, and researched to all the extremes, if it was.

    No, Alex suspected that he''d only see some sort of reaction when Virtue''s Edge reached teh bottom of the basin.