The border between the Silver Woods and the Dead-Zone was a line drawn in salt and bone. As Solan stepped across, the vibrant, dangerous bioluminescence of the forest vanished, replaced by a flat, grey expanse of cracked earth. Here, the mana was "static"—dry, thin, and utterly silent.
[WARNING: AMBIENT MANA DEPLETION] [INTERNAL RESERVES: 84% — DECREASING]
"So this is where the stars don't shine," Solan muttered.
The Dead-Zone was a graveyard of history, a buffer created by the Twelve to ensure no "impurities" ever reached the holy outskirts of the capital. Huge, rusted skeletons of ancient war-machines—remnants of a forgotten age of technology—littered the horizon like the ribcages of metal giants.
Solan trudged through the knee-deep ash, his Void Sight flickering. Without ambient mana to feed on, his own core was starting to feel like a heavy, cold stone in his chest.
Clang. Scrape.
The sound of metal on stone echoed from behind a collapsed iron hull. Solan immediately lowered his center of gravity, the Fang of Ophiuchus manifesting in his hand, its crimson glow muted by the grey fog.
"If you're a Star-Knight, you're early," Solan called out, his voice echoing in the hollow machine. "And if you're a scavenger, you're in the wrong place."
From the shadows of a rusted turbine, a small, hunched figure emerged. It wasn't a knight. It was a girl, no older than sixteen, wearing a patchwork cloak made of mana-insulating fabric. Her skin was covered in soot, but her eyes—a bright, electric yellow—were sharp with intelligence.
She held a strange, brass-rimmed device that hummed as it pointed toward Solan's chest.
"A 13th..." she whispered, her voice trembling not with fear, but with a terrifying kind of excitement. "The readings... they're off the charts. You're the one who crashed the Pegasus-Riders."
Solan didn't lower his blade. "Who are you?"
"My name is Mina," she said, lowering her device. "I'm a 'Junker'. My people live in the seams of this world—the places the Constellations forgot. We've been waiting for a ripple like you."
"I'm not looking for allies, Mina. I'm looking for a way into the city that doesn't involve fighting an army."
Mina laughed, a dry, metallic sound. "The Aegis of the Twelve is a perfect filter, Solan Vantex. It scans for your 'Star-Signature'. If you walk up to those gates with that Void-heart, you'll be vaporized before you can blink."
She stepped closer, tapping her brass device. "But the Aegis has a flaw. It's built on the logic of the twelve. It can't see what it doesn't believe in. I can get you through the Under-Veins—the ancient sewage and mana-runoff pipes that lead directly into the Academy's basement."
Solan's eyes narrowed. "And the price? No one helps a Class S fugitive for free."
Mina's smile faded, replaced by a cold, hard stare. She pulled back her sleeve to reveal a brand on her forearm: a Canceled Star.
"My family was wiped out because my father tried to document the pre-Covenant history. They turned us into 'Nulls' by force," she spat. "I don't want your money. I want you to get into that Library and find the Star-Map of the Abyss. I want you to prove that the Twelve are liars."
[SYSTEM ALERT: HIDDEN QUEST TRIGGERED] [OBJECTIVE: INFILTRATE VIA THE UNDER-VEINS] [REWARD: UNDETECTED ENTRY / ANCIENT MAP FRAGMENT]
Solan looked at the distant, shimmering white walls of Olympos. He could feel the heavy presence of a Star-Knight approaching from the rear—a massive golden pressure on the horizon.
"The Hunt is closing in," Solan said, sheathing his blade. "Lead the way, Junker."
Mina nodded and kicked a rusted plate on the floor. A hidden hatch creaked open, revealing a dark, slime-covered tunnel that smelled of old copper and ozone.
"Welcome to the Under-Veins," she said, sliding down into the dark. "Try not to touch the walls. The runoff is acidic to anyone with... sensitive skin."
Solan looked back at the Dead-Zone one last time. The golden dawn was being eclipsed by a gathering storm of purple lightning. The First Star-Knight had arrived at the edge of the wasteland.
Too late, Solan thought, and vanished into the dark.