We slowly started walking down towards this ruined city. If it could even be called that. It was just a single house now. One mansion that, even though everything else around it was completely obliterated, remained standing. It was almost impossible to tell where one house ended and the next one started. Even the streets were gone. We could try to understand and make educated guesses about where the concrete should be.
But it was one thing to have an idea of what a city should look like, another to actually know how this place was supposed to be. How were we supposed to justify concrete everywhere? On top of some trees. Trees that, just like everything else, had been destroyed. Just broken stumps that were trying to grow but either only started now. Or, almost half a century later, were forming small twigs to sprout once again.
It was very strange because, on the one hand, this looked like a city from the old world. A place where a battle happened that could not have happened after humans lost the war against the Eaters. There were signs of craters, cannon shells, bullet holes, bullet casings, metal doors, and all sorts of twisted metallic devices in the middle of all this destruction. But from the looks of it, it seemed like nature had only just started reclaiming the place.
The vegetation wasn't completely wild, already turning this into a new part of the forest. It was still very much a city that was slowly being taken over. But the speed just didn't make any sense.
And there was this house. This mansion. Full of sharp edges and a look that made it feel modern. Even from this distance, I could tell that there were some windows that, once upon a time, were made out of glass. But now, only some shattered pieces remained. But even then, the house was fine. Compared to everything around it, hell, even compared to some of the other buildings that we saw in other villages, the place looked good.
After removing some of the weeds that were on the outside walls, and cleaning up some of the dust and rubble in the front, it should be a nice place to live. But the problem was how. How this place came to be. How everything else was destroyed and this one house remained unbothered by anything.
We were quietly discussing the options as we slowly approached the mansion. All around us was a sight of complete destruction.
"Maybe it was built after this city was destroyed?" Michael suggested.
But I shook my head at that idea.
"I don't think so. Look at that on the side. You see how there's this mark on the ground that keeps going and follows the outside wall? I think that happened during this battle. Otherwise, why would it happen later?"
"The markings that you're pointing to feel very similar to the ones we see everywhere else. So it makes sense that they happened at the same time," Riley added.
"Maybe built sturdy?" Astrid suggested.
That was a possibility. Maybe it was made to be stronger, but the materials used to create that house were solid in the rescue, but it really didn't seem to be the same. At least not from a little distance. I was pretty positive that house was not created after the old world was destroyed. Which could only mean that the materials were not enchanted by the System. There were no particles attached to those slabs of concrete.
But maybe the old world had made something sturdier than everything else. People back then were always coming up with new inventions and new ways to do things. That could be why this house survived, but even then I wasn't entirely sure if that was the case.
Still, there was a part of me waiting for the System to let us know that we had just entered a dungeon. That this was, in fact, something that existed only thanks to its help. But that didn't happen. Even when we arrived at the front yard of the mansion. Everything was just normal.
We took this moment to take a better look at the house and confirm some of the things that we had already suspected. Yes, there were large glass windows or walls spread around the house that were completely destroyed now. There were gashes on the side, and then other marks. Maybe this building was still here when this destruction happened. And the front gate, which somehow still remained intact, was custom-made wrought iron with dark metal forming an interesting, almost flower-like pattern until it showed the very rich middle where the letters J and K were in full display.
This was the type of thing that only very rich people used to have in the old world. Maybe it was more common in the old, old world, but in the modern old world, this shouldn't be that common. At least not according to everything I knew about the time. It wasn't like Pops was someone who got involved with the absolutely rich, so maybe the one thing we knew wasn't as precise as it could have been. We kept staring at that gate, which right now seemed to be almost a joke. The stone walls on both sides were completely gone, but the area holding the gate was still standing.
"Weird," Astrid said.
"I don't get why they made this," Riley shrugged.
"Some people like seeing their names on things," I replied, but before I was able to say anything, I felt Michael's feet touching mine and a message came through the System.
Michael: Those letters are L and K, right?
Cassandra: Actually, J and a K. J points to the left, while L to the right.
I made sure not to look in his direction when I was replying since he was making a point of not asking things out loud. I was going to respect his wishes and follow along.
"Listen," Astrid spoke up, causing all of us to turn towards her.
"What?" Michael asked, but she just shook her head.
"Listen."
We all kept quiet for a moment and tried to listen to what she was saying. But there was nothing. I couldn't hear any sounds. I couldn't hear anything that could indicate that there was something inside that mansion or getting close to us.
Slowly my eyes went wide as I really understood what she was talking about. It wasn't just the lack of sounds coming from the mansion. But it was the lack of sound coming from anywhere. I could hear the wind and some small pieces of rock being tossed here and there by it. Tiny pebbles that might be falling from one place or another. And in the distance, maybe there was a river. Or a creek. Something related to water. But aside from that, there was nothing. Not a bird chirping. Not a fly buzzing. Not an animal roaming about. Absolutely nothing. Almost as if any living thing was making a point of staying far away from this place.
We all gazed at each other, understanding the same thing.
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Michael asked.
Rex looked at the building and back at us.
"Rex don't think so. But still wants to go."
"Why?" Michael threw his hands up.
"Curious about building. Maybe help Rex subclass."
Hearing that, we all glanced at each other again, and Michael, who was clearly the only one who wanted to leave, gave up. It was very hard to tell someone to ignore something like that, especially considering that Rex had just gotten his sub class.
I shook my head. "Come on. Let's go."
"But this place is haunted!" Michael tried one last thing to stop us.
"Ghosts aren't real," I quickly dismissed his worry.
"Are you sure?" Michael asked. "Because a couple weeks ago, if you asked me if giant crabs were real, I would say no. Hell, if you asked me if talking rats," he turned to Rex, "I mean Rodenti, were real, I would tell you, you're crazy."
"Yeah, but there's one very big difference between those things."
"What's that?" he asked with an annoyed expression.
"Those things have bodies. They're physical things. I don't see how a ghost can exist since they can't house particles. If you're saying that's an illusion of someone who is trying to scare us. Then maybe I'd say that it's possible. But ghosts? Not the type of thing that would exist. You should know that."
Riley kept staring at me with a confused expression. "You know, considering everything we know that can exist, I find your dismissal kind of worrying. What if there is something that took the System and gained the skills to become ethereal?"
"Maybe, but even then it wouldn't be a ghost. It would be some sort of wind version of a creature. Because you can't have particles if you don't have anything to latch on to them. And ghosts don't have particles. They don't show up as beings on the material plane or whatever."
"But what if they are real?" Michael tried again.
"We also have magic powers. If we need, we can literally toss fireballs. We should probably be able to take them no matter what," I shrugged.
"Those are famous last words," Michael rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come on. Are you scared of something that doesn't even exist? That you don't even know exists? Were you scared of Rodenti before you even met them?" I protested, turning to face the archer.
While Michael and I were arguing about the possible existence of ghosts, Rex, Riley, and Astrid slowly walked into the mansion. Going around the gates not to disturb them. We did the same. After all, messing with that kind of thing felt strange somehow.
The outside of the house was very unique. It wasn't another square or rectangular shape that one would expect, but instead it was irregular with a wide front, short sides, and then an extra wing coming from the middle to have another area pointing to the left in the back. Almost like it was a giant number one when seen from above.
Between the gate and the front of the mansion was a large garden with a single tree with yellow flowers that seemed to be perfectly stable despite how the vegetation outside looked. And on the opposite side was a large pool that was currently empty, but even then, the pool itself wasn't dirty. There wasn't any debris, or dirt, or anything. There was a layer of dust, but it was the only thing that could be considered out of place, but even that was just unbelievable.
"The more I look at this place, the stranger it gets," Riley spoke up.
"Yeah, I still don't really get it. How is this place like this," I looked around.
"Can ghosts clean?" Astrid asked, making Michael jump.
"Don't say that!"
We all laughed at his reaction but still took a few moments of conversation to decide if we were going to walk into the building or not. Sure, this was very weird, but so far, the System had not told us that we were going inside a dungeon. Which likely meant that things were okay. Or as okay as they could be.
But instead of going through the main door, we decided to take one of the already open entrances. Namely, the glass wall that was now broken. Although maybe in the old world they considered these windows instead of walls. We walked into the mansion through the corridor between the two wings. And saw the remnants of various paintings, canvases that were long eroded and destroyed due to the battering of the elements. As it was pretty obvious that when it rained, it also fell into the house. We were feeling the wind coming from behind us even though the day itself wasn't as windy.
Unlike what was outside, here things were clearly different. They were not as pristine and well-kept. Instead, there were signs of wear and tear. Not just that, but we could also see some claw marks and signs of animals who came and dropped by. It was really strange to see that difference. Maybe there was something here that was able to protect the outside but not the inside? That was the only possible reason I could come up with for this.
No one was saying anything while we started this exploration, most out of worry that we would warn whatever was inside of our presence. Even though our footsteps should be more than enough to do so. We walked in the direction of the main house, hoping that there was something there to explain why this place was like this. But just as we passed by a tiny room, which seemed to be a closet, we saw the bones of a human. It had been picked clean and now had vines growing around it. The skeleton propped against the wall, standing up as if whoever died wasn't able to fall down, and almost half a century later, was still there.