Chapter 117: The First Map

Morning arrived above the ruined western territory, but deep beneath the earth, the ancient facility remained illuminated by a soft silver glow.

Raviah stood before the central platform, her eyes scanning the three holographic messages suspended in the air. The bright letters had hung unchanged for hours, warning of the Source awakening once more.

Whatever intelligence had constructed this facility had clearly anticipated the event long ago. More unsettling, however, was the system’s silent recognition of her presence, as if her arrival had been preordained long before her birth.

She tapped her communication device to reach the team outside. "Elias, can you access the facility’s records from your end?"

"I’m attempting to establish a connection with the holographic interface, but the system isn’t accepting external commands," Elias replied through the sound. "Every time I analyze its data, the energy readings redirect back toward your position."

Raviah glanced back at the glowing circular platform and made her decision. "Then we should stop trying to force access."

Rhyder stood beside her, his broad shoulders squared and arms crossed over his chest. His elite soldiers had already established a tight defensive perimeter along the entrance corridor while remote scanners monitored the surrounding terrain.

"You haven’t slept," he observed, his low voice breaking the ambient noise of the machinery.

She met his gaze steadily. "Neither have you."

"I’m accustomed to long military operations," he countered.

"And I’m accustomed to working through the night," she said gently.

His expression remained stern as he looked down at her. "That doesn’t make either of us invulnerable."

Raviah gave him a brief, soft smile before turning back toward the platform. "Let’s discover what this place was built to show us, and then we can consider resting."

Rhyder shook his head at her stubbornness, but he didn’t argue further.

She stepped toward the central sphere and extended a thin, shimmering strand of her root energy toward the console.

The facility responded instantly to her touch.

The floating messages dissolved into dust, replaced by a vast, intricate web of luminous lines. Concentric rings around the platform began rotating in opposite directions, sending a deep vibration thrumming through the metallic floor.

A massive sphere materialized above the pedestal, casting a cool light over their faces.

Blue and white clouds swirled across its curving surface as dark landmasses emerged beneath them. Oceans, jagged mountain ranges, and the unmistakable outlines of continents slowly resolved into view.

Raviah caught her breath as she stared at the display. "That’s Earth."

The holographic sphere expanded until its outer boundary occupied nearly the entire chamber. Lines of silver energy spread across the globe, tracing paths through continents and plunging deep into subterranean geological faults.

Then, the first enormous zone ignited with blinding light.

A crimson region flared beneath a distant mountain range, its energy pulsing rhythmically like a heartbeat beneath the crust.

A second zone emerged deep within an oceanic trench, glowing with a restless violet light.

A third region spread across an immense, mutated forest, casting an emerald sheen across the platform.

Within seconds, dozens of illuminated territories appeared across the surface of the globe.

Each territory was marked by a distinct concentration of elemental energy. Some overlapping zones formed complex, radiant networks that spanned entire continents.

Inside her spatial dimension, the mysterious crystal trembled in response. A faint pulse traveled out from her hidden storage space, racing along the bond connecting her root to the Primordial Source.

She immediately recognized the pattern. "This isn’t an ordinary geographical map," she murmured, leaning closer. "It’s showing the distribution of elemental energy throughout the entire planet."

Rhyder took a step forward, his shadow stretching across the glowing continent. "Can you identify the locations?"

"Some of them," she answered, tracing a finger near the air.

She studied the terrain carefully, matching recognizable coastlines and mountain formations against her memory of the world before the apocalypse.

The nearest illuminated region lay buried beneath the mountains far beyond Sol Haven’s northern territory. Others were scattered across vast plains, thick forests, and long-abandoned urban ruins.

One particularly massive zone extended beneath a huge swath of land far past their current defensive line.

"Those regions could contain enormous energy reserves," Rhyder said, his military instincts kicking in.

"Possibly," Raviah agreed, keeping her eyes fixed on the display. "But the map doesn’t tell us whether they’re stable, inhabited, or dangerous."

He nodded gravely. "Which means we cannot send an expedition without further reconnaissance."

"Agreed," she replied softly.

Raviah slowly rotated the giant hologram, examining the energy signatures on the far side of the globe.

As the sphere turned, small points of light flared into existence around the larger regions. They connected through faint, delicate lines that strongly resembled the root networks cultivating inside her spatial dimension.

She leaned closer, her pulse quickening. "Wait."

One of the glowing lines pulsed directly beneath a sprawling urban area.

Unlike the other regions, this zone was encircled by a ring of dark, shifting symbols. The energy concentration beneath it was immense, far outshining every other location displayed on the map.

Raviah recognized the city’s ruined outline instantly.

Before the apocalypse, it had been one of the continent’s most prosperous metropolitan centers. Now, its districts lay abandoned, its infrastructure devastated, and its surviving population unknown.

"Rhyder, look at this," she said, pointing toward the highlighted ruins.

He leaned in to study the area, his expression hardening. "Is that city still standing?"

"I don’t know," she admitted. "We haven’t received reliable communications from that sector since the collapse."

She extended a strand of root energy toward the city on the hologram.

The map reacted instantly, zooming inward with precision.

The city’s surface blurred away to reveal the deep layers of earth beneath its concrete foundations. Silver lines converged toward a colossal subterranean structure, surrounding an energy signature that pulsed with unsettling regularity.

A harsh warning banner materialized above the subterranean site.

[PRIMORDIAL ENERGY CONCENTRATION: EXTREME.]

[SUBTERRANEAN STRUCTURE: DETECTED.]

A final crimson line of text materialized beneath the warning.

[AWAKENING STATUS: ACTIVE.]

Inside Raviah’s chest, her core struck a resonant, echoing beat.

Deep beneath the abandoned city, something had already awakened.

And whatever it was, the facility had marked it as their next destination.