If he's truly being honest, Ashton has no idea where he's going...
Sure, he had the rough location of where the ruins of City M ended up on the map and he had the general direction for where the Last Bastion is...that being said, the map they had isn't complete nor reliable.
See, there's no way he could just follow one direction and hope for the best. Sooner or later, he'll come up with something that would force him to find another way which would also de-rail him from his destination.
And in this particular scenario, it was sooner than he would've liked...
Around...10 or 11 kilometers away from the ruins of the city, Ashton encountered his first environmental challenge in navigating this unknown and incredibly dangerous world.
As it turns out, the location where the ruins end up happened to be on top of an elevated island.
No, not floating, just really elevated...
He should've noticed this sooner. He should've suspected it when he saw that the clouds looked close whenever he looks up.
Ashton is at the island's edge. He's so far up that he felt nauseous from looking down. The land below him looked like a zoomed-out picture, it's honestly terrifying.
Now, this begs the question...how the hell does he go down then?
Moreover, why the hell did nobody think to write this down when they reached this place?
Cause remember humans had been here before, on this same elevated island. Ashton and Aria found records of it in the books they gathered at the library. They've read those like their life depended on it, so they wouldn't miss any important notes about it, therefore he's pretty confident that he had never noticed anything about the place being like this.
But yeah...how is he supposed to go down from here? Flight?
'Flight might work, but it's incredibly dangerous.' Ashton mused to himself as he surveyed the edge of the island. He leveled his gaze and saw the fumes covering the atmosphere, he could also make out a few shadows lurking behind those fumes.
They're swift and loud at the same time. Ashton wouldn't be surprised if those turned out to be Avian-type Demons.
He just walked out from a massacre, he's not really in the mood for some more right now. He then looked down and paid attention to the stiff and jagged edges of the elevated island.
'Climbing down is also risky and scary.'
Ashton doesn't have a fear of heights but considering where he's at right now. He wouldn't be surprised if he learns that there are demons who lurk at the cliff's edge too.
Plus, this elevated island curves down for some reason. The curve isn't so subtle too, it's a sharp curve.
This place is a big middle finger to logic but hey, Magic is a thing and in this situation, it might as well be the cause of this.
Anyhow, this is another problem. And sadly, this stops him cold on his tracks.
So, it might be counter-productive, but he had no other choice than to go back in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go.
He's once again, at the ruins of City M, which is still burning from the fire by the way.
Ashton felt quite embarrassed to return here after bidding it farewell but hey, at least nobody's there to judge him.
Right?
He once again returned to his underground bunker, which is still intact. Once he was there, he disappeared and entered the Grand Library.
Aria was in the labs and Jerry was repairing the books.
He collapsed on the couch and closed his eyes. His mind went to work as he tried to deduce solutions for his current predicament.
'An elevated island... its edges are curving downwards.'
'Judging from the curve the shape...looking at the bigger picture...this place would be like an acorn with a buried tip. I guess that would explain why it's stable despite its shape.'
'Flying down or climbing down are options to leave but it's risky. There might be demons with wings who won't hesitate to attack me if I fly. If I climbed down, I might encounter critter demons who liked having their nests at cliffsides...'
'Now that I say that...this place is under demonic territory isn't it?'
'It wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that there are hordes of critters or lizard-type demons here.'
'And if there are nests...'
'There must be an underground network here!!' Ashton's eyes snapped wide open.
'An acorn that is filled with holes...those holes can represent the nests. If we break the acorn in half, there should a network of tunnels inside, which would make sense.'
'And now that I think about it...'
'Maybe the explorers who arrived here never reached the top of the island.'
'The records say that they were running from hordes of demons when they reached this place, it is only through finding an empty cave that they managed to lose them and rest.'
'Then they saw that the cave turns out of the tunnel that leads deeper to somewhere.'
'The group decided to venture deeper but the records didn't detail what experience inside, it just said that they called the mission off and decided to return home from the expedition.'
'Only one of them managed to return, that person didn't last upon returning home either. They died shortly after.'
'The cave they encountered might've been the entrance to the tunnel system of this elevated island!'
'Since they were being chased when they got here, it would make sense for them to not notice the fact that the landmass in front of them was oddly-shaped. And since they didn't notice it, of course, they wouldn't write it down either.'
'Their encounter within the tunnels aren't recorded but it is said that one from their group died there. These people are a group of Sorcerers, that means that the demons lurking inside this series of tunnels are that strong or they experienced a nasty ambush.'
'Either way, this works for me.'
Ashton rested his back on the couch and massaged his temples.
'I'll have to dig down I assume.' He mused to himself, 'just until I encounter the underground network that demons use to get around.'
'That's scary though.'
'I'm like...inside an ant's nest.' He shivered, 'If I provoked any demons living down there, I'd face an endless hoard of them.'
'Plus, I wouldn't be able to tell when I'll be discovered. Who knows when they decide to dig new tunnels and end up at the same location as I am? I'd be lucky enough to have time to run, not to mention dealing with endless hordes.'
'I'll have to be extremely careful then...'
'But before I start digging down, I should at least roam the island. Maybe I can find something around that could be useful or helpful in this endeavor.'
Sighing to himself, Ashton opened his eyes and was surprised to see Aria sitting beside him.
"Oh, hey. Sorry, I didn't notice you soon." Ashton smiled apologetically and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I didn't disturb you cause you seemed to be in deep thought and stressed." She stated, "What's the problem?"
Ashton sighed and began telling her their current predicament. Aria listened to him intently and held his hand.
"...well, that's about it. I just need to be careful I think. Don't worry, I'll survey the island first before digging. Who knows? Maybe I'll find an elevator that leads directly down to the base."
That last part was a little bit of his wishful thinking.
"Yeah, who knows. Maybe those do exist and you might find one?" Aria smiled comfortingly. "In anyways, just take your time and prioritize your safety. We're in no rush."
"Right." Ashton smiled and kissed her. He then inspected her and noticed that she was looking a bit different today.
"Are you wearing make-up today? Also, you're hair's braided. What is the occasion? Is it your birthday today!?" Ashton's eyes widened as he asked the last question.
"It's not, silly." Aria chuckled. "My birthday's at every start of the year, I thought I told you that?"
"No?" Ashton frowned and shook his head, "Well, you did now."
"Is that so?" Aria shrugged, "Well, now you now. And relax, I don't celebrate birthdays. I mildly dreaded them."
"I get it." Ashton nodded, he didn't need to say more since that topic isn't really good for the both of them. "But yeah, what's with the make-up then?"
"Jerry." Aria said, she laughed when she saw Ashton's baffled face, "Yes, apparently he not only knows how to braid my hair, he also knows how to apply make-up on someone."
"...I, that wasn't included in the upgrades I added on him, so it must've been on his base programming already."
"Yeah, that's what I also thought." Aria agreed, "But how about it? What do you think?"
"He did well." Ashton nodded, "You look pretty in them."
"Awesome!" Aria giggled and kissed him.
"But knowing you, you'd probably forget to wipe that off before you sleep. Make sure to remind Jerry to notify you. I don't want you to damage your skin with them."
"Yes, love. I would." She cheekily said, "Anyways, come! It's lunchtime. Jerry made us pizza."
"Oh, hell yeah."
