The place Aulus indicated was about twelve kilometers away (7,5 miles).
Normally, Awakened like us could cover this distance in less than one hour. But the circumstances of this world made the time needed to reach the destination much longer.
We were forced to move slowly, take detours, and hide several times to avoid the specters wandering across the land. The trip of one hour extended to almost six.
Fortunately, the trip was relatively danger-free, with the most dangerous situation being when we failed to notice three small specters hiding inside a rock and they lunged out, almost biting Hela.
After six hours and when we were starting to feel fatigued, we finally reached the meeting point.
The place where the celers were waiting for us was at the foot of a mountain. It had several dying trees that provided a bit of coverage so the passing specters could not locate the group easily.
There was also a small creek with crystal clear water nearby. It seemed that water would not be much of a trouble.
At the very least, we did not need to worry about dying of thirst.
When we arrived, we were surprised to find that the celers were not the only ones there.
There were also two eblors plus nine humans, including Jazmine and Professor Sol.
I hurriedly looked around to see if I could find Ley, but there wasn't any sign of her.
I could not find Sylvia or Andrew either.
"You are finally here." Aulus 25 approached us.
"Aulus, I'm glad you are alright. What about the others?" K'erta asked.
Aulus pointed to a corner where two celers were seated.
"Follow me. I need to discuss something with you."
K'erta smiled and followed Aulus after smiling apologetically at me.
When the two celers left, Jazmine and Professor Sol came over.
"Jane, are you alright?" Jazmine asked while checking to see if I was injured.
I nodded.
I then explained to them what we experienced after the warp.
"By the way, does any of you know something about my sister?" I asked.
Jazmine and Professor Sol looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Actually, most of us appeared here. You are the second group that regroups with us." Professor Sol replied with a frustrated expression.
According to her, they found themselves here after the spatial fault happened.
They did not understand what had happened at the start, but not long after they appeared, they were attacked by a group of specters.
Fortunately, the specters were not very strong so they managed to repel them, but during the battle, some of the students were injured.
I looked at where she was pointing and saw three students sleeping on a makeshift blanket with pale faces.
"They felt unconscious after failing to avoid the attacks of the specters. One of the celers checked on them and said that their souls were injured but it was not grave. They should wake up in a few hours." Professor Sol explained.
I furrowed my brows.
"Do you know how many people were brought to this place?" I asked.
"Let me reply to that question." Aulus 25 walked over at that moment, followed by the rest of the celers and the two eblors, Hyacinth and Arche. "Duin managed to see how many people were swallowed by the spatial fault. According to him, a total of 29 people fell into this world, five celers, five eblors, and nineteen humans."
"29?" Professor Sol frowned. "There are seventeen people here. So we are still missing twelve, huh."
Aulus 25 nodded.
"Exactly. One celer, three eblors, and eight humans. We believe that all of them should have fallen nearby, at most a few kilometers away."
"Is there any way to locate them?" I asked.
"I sent several of my beetles to scout, and Duin is using his mental power to look around, but we have not found anyone else," K'erta replied.
"However, there is a place where we could find some of them." Aulus continued.
"Right, you mentioned a ruin belonging to the civilization that inhabited this planet. Is it related?"
Aulus looked at me and nodded.
"Yes, you are the second group to regroup with us. Before you, Itrudura and the secretary found us after coming out of the ruin." He said while looking at Jazmine.
Jazmine confirmed the words of Aulus.
"That's true, however, we did not find any signs of other people inside. Why do you think there are others in there?"
"Because the signal of Starlight is coming from inside."
"I can also feel my sister inside, but something is interfering with my tracking spell, so I can't find her exact location."
Aulus and Hyacinth stated.
"Where are these ruins?" I asked after thinking for a while.
"Follow me."
Aulus then led us inside a cave at the foot of the mountain. The cave was completely dark, but K'erta manipulated her nanobots to create a source of light.
The walls of the cave were noticeably smooth, not like something naturally formed.
After walking inside the cave for almost two minutes, we reached the ruins.
At that moment, I was astonished.
"This is…"
A giant open space appeared in front of us, filled with destroyed houses and buildings that extended until the end of my sight.
The place was mostly dark, but occasionally, light flashed in the distance like flashes of lightning.
It was not lightning, though, but specters wandering around in search of food.
"A subterranean city." I muttered.
Aulus 25 nodded.
"This should be one of the shelters of the civilization destroyed by the specters. Perhaps one of the last traces left by that civilization before they were completely destroyed."