The Cog Master didn't waste a second. He turned toward a low archway at the edge of the courtyard, his movements fluid and purposeful. The entrance was dark, a jagged mouth leading into the foundations of the university, but he stepped into the shadows without a hint of hesitation
"Quick. Follow me, and stay close," he commanded. The words weren't a request; they were a tactical order that cut through the fading adrenaline in Amir's veins.
They plunged into the tunnels. If the University was a body, these were its veins dark, damp, and smelling of ancient brass and pressurized steam. It was a suffocating maze of intersecting pipes and rusted metal. The air here was heavy, vibrating with the low-frequency hum of the university's heart. At every junction, five or six different tunnels branched off into the gloom. Some vented scalding air that shrieked like a dying animal, while others dripped with a thick, white oily water that pooled between the floor-slats.
The Cog Master moved with terrifying confidence. he didn't even slow down to even look at the walls. He took turns at a full stride, his leather coat snapping behind him, navigating the dark as if he had a blueprint of the entire district burned into his brain. He knew exactly which pipe to duck under and which corridor led to a dead end before they even reached them.
Amir scrambled to keep up, his lungs burning from the soot-heavy air. His arms felt like they were being pulled from their sockets as he adjusted his grip on the girl. He watched the cog master's back, specifically the way the mechanical arm caught the dim light, its internal plates shifting and clicking rhythmically.
The silence between them was heavy, broken only by the sound of their boots and the distant, rhythmic thrumming of the warning lattice. Finally, the question burst out of Amir, born from sheer disbelief.
How... how did you do that?
The question echoed down the long, narrow tunnel. Amir was thinking of the twelve men, the blur of violence, the way the air had seemed to ignite when the Cog Master moved.
The Cog Master didn't answer. He didn't even turn his head. He just kept moving, his mechanical arm clicking softly with every step he took, a sound like a clock counting down to an inevitable conclusion.
Amir went quiet, understanding the grim reality of their situation. He looked down at the girl he was holding. Her head was against his shoulder, her face a mask of pale exhaustion. What could have happened to this girl that she thought of jumping? he wondered, a cold knot forming in his stomach. What kind of nightmare is she running from? And why is the Principal—a man of his status—personally hunting her with mercenaries?
He glanced at the cog master's rigid, unyielding silhouette. The man moved with a familiarity that was impossible for a regular detective. Wait, how does the Cog Master know this place so well? Amir thought, his eyes widening. Every turn, every hidden valve... he knows them before he even sees them. Could it be that he...?
After wandering through the dark for what felt like an eternity—passing through steam-valves that could melt skin and crossing narrow bridges over boiling coolant pits—they reached a vertical shaft. It was a massive chimney, its interior lined with iron rungs that disappeared into the darkness above.
The Cog Master muttered something which amir was unable to hear.
He scaled the rungs first, his mechanical fingers digging into the metal with terrifying force. Once he reached the ledge above, he reached back down. The mechanical arm extended, the pistons hissing as it lowered toward Amir
The girl. Carefully he ordered.
Amir hoisted her up, and the Cog Master took her weight with a single, effortless pull. Then, the metal hand reached back down for Amir. As Amir grabbed those cold, iron fingers, he felt the raw power vibrating through the limb
They emerged into the heart of The Faculty of Alchemical Engineering.
The laboratory was a cathedral of glass and copper, soaring high into the shadows. Amir looked around in a mixture of awe and bone-deep fear. Different types of machines were humming loudly, spinning with a force that made the air shimmer. Strange chemicals lay scattered across laboratory benches in lead-lined beakers, some bubbling without a heat source, others emitting a faint, sickly green glow.
The warning lattice was still active, sending a deep, resonant thrumming through the walls. It was a rhythmic pulse that felt like the building's heartbeat. Because of the lockdown, the labs were ghost-towns. There were no professors no students only the machines working away in the dark.
As they stepped out of the lab's heavy iron doors, Amir saw it a long hallway stretching out forever in front of them. It was a corridor of polished stone and brass filigree, its ceiling lost in the gloom. The Aether lamps cast long, distorted shadows against the walls.
The Cog Master started walking immediately, his boots striking the floor with a hollow, echoing thud. Amir followed silently, dwarfed by the scale of the architecture. Every door they passed was marked with symbols of high-level research.
The hallway of the Faculty of Alchemical Engineering felt like it was stretching into infinity. It was a long, suffocating passage of cold stone that seemed to suck the very air out of Amir's lungs. Every step he took was a battle against his own body. His boots dragged heavily against the floor the rhythmic scuff-thud echoing off the metallic walls like a heartbeat. He was drenched in sweat it ran in salty rivers down his forehead, stinging his eyes and dripping off his chin, but he couldn't move a finger to wipe it away.
His arms were arching in a sharp, stabbing pain that felt like white-hot needles being driven into his joints. The girl was a leaden, unresponsive weight in his grip. Her body pulled at his shoulders and strained the muscles in his neck until he felt like he was being crushed under the weight of a mountain. His forearms throbbed with a dull, heavy heat, and his fingers were beginning to go numb, losing their sensation as they cramped around the fabric of her clothes. He was beyond exhausted, his breathing coming in jagged, desperate hitches, but the fear of dropping her kept his grip locked tight.
Ahead of him, the Cog Master walked with a steady, mechanical grace. He didn't look back, and he certainly didn't slow down. His head was bare, his hair messy from the chaos behind them, and his long coat snapped with every sharp stride. He moved like a man who didn't know the meaning of fatigue. It was only when the hallway finally began to open up that he cast a brief, sideways glance at the struggling young man behind him.
The Cog Master's voice was flat, cutting through Amir's heavy breathing. "Are you getting tired?"
Amir grunted, his jaw clenched so hard it felt like his teeth might crack. He forced himself to hitch the girl up higher a movement that sent a fresh wave of agony through his biceps. No... it's nothing. She's just...
"Unconscious" the Cog Master finished for him, his eyes already snapping back to the front. A dead weight is always heavier than a living one. Strengthen your resolve, Mr. Zen we have a great deal of ground to cover.
They reached the end of the hallway, and the walls suddenly fell away as they stepped out into a vast, empty field. The change in atmosphere was instant; the air was thinner here, filled with the biting scent of soot and cold stone. The sun had dropped low, bleeding into a smog-choked sky that had turned a deep, bruised purple. The light was thick and coppery, a heavy, suffocating color that only settled over the university grounds at this time of day, making the world look like it had been dipped in rusted wine. The atmosphere felt thick and heavy, the kind of foul, beautiful twilight that only appeared over the university when the coal fires of the city reached their height
Amir looked at the field with awe. Towering out of the grey expanse were massive stone figures, rising like silent sentinels from the earth. To Amir, they were just giants...nameless imposing shapes of men and women carved from expensive stone their eyes staring out into the purple gloom. He looked at a statue nearby a random scientist holding a strange, complex piece of machinery that Amir didn't recognize. He stared at the craftsmanship, the sheer scale of the monuments making him feel small and insignificant.
The Cog Master stopped and turned his head to look at Amir. The purple light of the sky cast deep shadows across the cog master's face.
We are at THE MEMORIAL STATUE OF GREAT SCHOLARS of steelhaven university cog master said. He looked dead at Amir, his gaze cold and judgmental Hmmm You never been to university, did you? Well, fair enough. Higher education is quite expensive for a commoner like you Mr. Amir Zen
He gestured with a sharp movement toward the statues they had just passed. "You see that statue? He was the inventor of steam engines he created very first concepts for steam wagon
amir looked at the statue with awe and respect.
Anyways, quick. Follow me. We dont have time to waste. TIME IS QUITE VALUABLE I respect the fact that you know its values.
Amir gave a slight, tired nod. The pain in his arms was a constant scream now, but he forced himself to move. Thank you, sir.
There is no need for thanking each other, the Cog Master replied, his voice devoid of emotion. The girl's life is still in danger
They continued walking toward the center of the field. The silence of the field was heavy, broken only by the sound of their boots on the grass. As they moved further into the middle of the open expanse, a statue appeared that was significantly bigger than all the others. It was a massive monolith made from a dark, expensive material that seemed to shimmer with an oily, iridescent light under the coppery sky. Amir squinted at it as they drew closer, looking for a name or a title, but there was nothing. The base was completely blank.
Amir stopped for a heartbeat, his breath catching in his throat. He looked at the towering figure and quietly whispered to himself This one is quite bigger than others....HOLD ON Is this... wait, is this statue belongs to GEORGE THE GREAT KNOWLEDGER? according to the Aether print on the book it looks like him its got to be him.
The Cog Master stopped dead. He spun around with a suddenness that made Amir flinch. He looked at Amir with a sharp, piercing intensity
You know him?
Amir felt a surge of shock at the sudden question. He adjusted his hold on the girl, his muscles trembling. Yeah.....i do I read about him from the Aetherspire archives in the Harmonic inquisition.
I see the Cog Master replied. His expression didn't change, but there was a new weight to his silence. He turned and started walking again.
Amir built up his courage, his voice shaky as he followed. "According to the book... he was from a different world? An outsider, perhaps?
The Cog Master walked for a long time without saying a word. The wind whistled between the stone scholars, carrying the scent of rain and ash. Finally, his voice came back, low and steady.
First of all, not everyone knows about George the knowledger. Even there are a lot of students in this university that dont know about him. And the fact he is an outsider? very few people know. Although i dont know much about it, I think its more likely a myth. That man was one of the most talented people in the entire Echogard every single nation has his memorial statue
He didn't slow down, his eyes scanning the empty expanse of the field as the shadows lengthened. There are a lot of conspiracy about him...that he is from a different world.....but there is no such solid proof. As the language we are talking now Anglish...this language was also invented by him. But recently, from quite some time, his name has been removed from maximum books of steelhaven because of conspiracy. A lot of people from the new generation doesnt even know him.
The Cog Master stopped and looked back at Amir his expression as cold as the stone statues surrounding them. Since you know about him....either you are one of the few to know about him or rustof knows something about you which i dont know.
The Cog Master started walking again immediately, giving Amir no time to reply or defend himself. Amir stood there for a second, his throat tight with a sudden, sharp anxiety. He gulped down a breath of the soot-filled air as he thought to himself, crap... I should be careful about this type of questions or I might get caught.
.