Their group was scanned severally through the portal, but each scan showed that only ten members were in there.
The automated voice was shut down, and the portal finally closed, allowing them to carry on.
Through the portal, they were in an old stone tower that was covered in red dust and cobwebs. The air felt thick and heavy, a wet type of heat, but it did not matter now.
The walls carried ancient engravings and marks that talked of power going back to the time of the supremes, from long before Dogan existed.
'This must be the place of the weapon refinement.' Minerva noted.
"Minerva!" Merva called. "Don't go too far from me. What if that invisible force attacks you again?" She said in agitation.
"I hear you." Minerva said, looking through the large windows.
There were one to many replicas of the same tower all at distant ranges that looked intentional. Each tower shaped like an obelisk, with their pyramidal tops piercing through the sky.
Minerva marveled at such ancient architecture in a deserted and dry looking place.
Minerva stood back, moving closer to Merva. She did not know why, but she felt that there was something sinister about this place.
"Should we explore the tower?" Merva asked, looking at the old wooden door in front of them.
TEN HOURS LEFT UNTIL FORCED EVICTION
A voice sounded, reminding them that they had limited time.
"Ten hours?" Merva exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do with ten hours?"
"Is it oo small?" Minerva asked.
"Yes." Merva answered.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going."
They took the stairs down, hopping down as fast as they could till they got out of the tower.
They walked through dry grass land, Minerva separated from Merva kept lagging behind.
'Minerva, hurry up.' Merva said in her head to avoid being suspected by anyone who was around them.
Minerva caught up to Merva, looking back one last time. She shook her head, and walked near Merva, her heart deeply unsettled. 'There is something really eerie about the towers and their formation.'
And Merva agreed. 'They look like monoliths.' She added. Like receptors of some sort.
The dense heat was a problem now that they had been walking for more than an hour. Merva kept pulling at her clothes which kept hugging her skin uncomfortably.
It felt like ages had gone by, dust rising and pouring on them like offerings.
Merva kept coughing as they walked, her elbows over her nose to reduce the effect, but Minerva was not moved. She had not yet attained a human form that could be affected by such.
'How could they not have provided a means of transportation.' Merva fumed as she coughed once again. The red dust was unbearable, and combined with the heat, it felt like a punishment.
Minerva turned to Merva in confusion. 'What do you mean they did not provide a means of transportation? I thought you just wanted us to walk.'
Minerva showed her the cable for cable cars in the air, looking at her with a clueless expression.
'Seriously? How could you not inform me? And I thought all this was part of the weapon manifestation trials or something.'
They turned back, walking to the station so they can get in.
Merva trudged ahead, murmuring angrily as they went. She turned and glanced at Minerva furiously, wanting to say something hurtful but she just exhaled and moved on.
Her feet was off the floor before she even knew it. Minerva was flying her to the station. She wanted to protest, but Minerva reassured her of their safety.
'They can't see me.' Her voice came into Merva's mind. 'And if you are worried about the invisible force, remember that I am holding you. That's also close I think.'
It was not a long flight, and they got into one of the capsules, the sound of an automated voice welcoming them.
They settled into the comfortable seats, the cable car going smoothly and faster than normal.
It stopped at the foot of a mountain in a matter of minutes, and the door's unlocked.
They both got down and walked in through the hole at entrance. Merva grabbed onto a cart with some tools as they made their way in. They were going to find the needed materials themselves and forge their weapon inside the tower.
The tunnel leading into the mountain was very dark with little light, and the air was damp and filled with the sound of water dripping.
Minerva made a fire ball to aid as they went deeper.
"ARGH" Someone screamed from somewhere deep in the tunnels.
Merva felt apprehension, as if this was some sort of thriller or horror movie.
'I don't think there is anything to be scared of.' She heard Minerva say in her mind.
She glanced at Minerva for a moment, as 'Shh' rang loudly in her mind.
As they ventured deeper, taking corners, the sound of dripping water and falling stones increased.
Merva and Minerva walked side by side, the flame in Minerva's palm flickering.
The flame in Minerva's palm illuminated a patch of ore that shined dully .
'This is it.' Merva said as she paused.
'It's embedded in quartz.'
She picked up a toll, her hand brushing against the rocky surface before she started working on prying it loose.
'Isn't this too much stress?' Minerva asked. She wanted to use her power and get them out.
'No. I am not supposed to have that much power. Have you forgotten that, and what if someone sees us?.'
Minerva was past caring about that. She put out the flame in her palm and heightened her eye sight, using her power to carve the needed amount out. Merva watched both sides in paranoia, afraid of someone catching them.
'What if they see us?'
But Minerva pulled her to help. 'You can always saythat its a case of the madness that clouds the mind. Besides who will be willing to believe that we are two?'
They worked together, their powers assisting them in prying several precious stones and minerals out.
'This will be a nice addition to a weapon won't it?'
They walked deeper into the mountain as they went, the sound of carts being drawn through different tunnels loud.
'How many tunnels are in this mountain?' Minerva asked rhetorically in confused wonder.
'What do you think that is?' Minerva asked, looking at the shimmering mist up ahead.
'It must be a place of rarer stones, or materials.' Merva answered.
They walked quickly, trying to get there faster when a horde of undead came out of the mist.
'Maybe we should just go back.' Merva said, pulling at Minerva with a hand. 'We already have more than enough, and we don't even know which ones we will use and whether we will exhaust it all.'
They should have left immediately, but Minerva was too curious to leave, she walked towards them, using her shadow powers to kill anyone that attacked her.
Their bodies dissolved into nothing, leaving behind only little wisps of their core that thanked her for freeing them, and begged to leave with her.
'Minerva, thats enough.' Merva called, but she did not listen.
'Do you not hear for how long they have been trapped here?' She reasoned.
She gave all of the ones she saw the mercy they thanked her for, and then walked into a part of the mountain that was covered in rare crystals.
'They are beautiful.'
They both thought simultaneously, looking at each other with smiles.
'Let's get to work.'
They got enough and turned to leave, Minerva gathering the wisp cores of the undead into a globe that floated behind them and they made their way back to the tunnel opening.
Their cart collided with another, it was the guy with the shifting fringe.
He looked at the cart, trying his best to disguise his greed.
"Wow. How were you able to make it past those undead?" He asked, his eyes glued to them.
"They are not that harmful." Merva answered, putting on an air of effortless ability. "I mean, they are not frightening."
"Really?"
'We have to leave, we don't know how much time we have left.' Minerva reminded Merva glaring at the guy suspiciously.
"My name is Tane." He added.
Merva began pushing the cart again. "I am sorry, but I don't have the time for a chat, and neither do you."
He tried to walk by her side, but Minerva kept holding back his cart, and pushing him back.
'Minerva!' Merva called in her mind. 'Just leave him alone, let's go.'
She listened, and the Game resumed, trying so hard to distract Merva as he picked out a few of their find without Merva noticing.
He screamed in horror as the ones he piked floated through the air, and placed themselves back into her cart, his hands twisting painfully behind his back as he cried in pain.
Merva held back her laugh, pushing out the cart while Minerva handled him.
He asked for it.
As she got out of the mountain tunnel, she saw a light going up to the sky from afar, and called Minerva.
'Let's go, the refinement has begun, and I think we are quite late already.'