With trembling hands, he pulled the contents out of the chest.
'A sword.'
A weapon still hidden inside its scabbard. It had the shape of a thick cat's claw, about a meter long and roughly nine centimeters wide. The hilt was small, but it had a guard shaped like the pupil of a feline's eye.
The scabbard shared the same design, and on top of that, it had old straps meant to be worn at the waist.
'Amazing. I finally have something to defend myself with.'
Impatient, he drew the sword. Surprisingly, it wasn't rusty or dull. Well, this place was far too dry—it made sense that it hadn't rusted. Besides, the sword had been protected under this roof, inside the chest, for who knew how many thousands of years.
"Could there be more stuff?"
Happy like a thief who had just found a gold bar, Nova ran through every house he could, searching for anything of value.
It took him several hours to loot everything his hands could carry.
In the end, all he obtained was a large amount of fabric identical to his cloak and another sword—this one broken. It wasn't much, but it was undoubtedly extremely useful.
Since arriving in this desert, this had been the best day of his life. Now he was sitting in what seemed to be a plaza at the center of the city, where the largest building stood.
The structure had the shape of a sandstone dome supported by many ancient pillars—some broken, some barely standing, and others in nearly perfect condition.
This was the last place he could visit, as the houses all seemed to contain the same things, and carrying more than he could store wasn't sensible.
With the sword hanging behind his waist, the yellowish cloak draped over his shoulders, and many pieces of fabric inside his improvised backpack, he was ready to continue his journey.
'Just this place left. Hopefully there's something better.'
He passed through the massive doorway. The interior opened up into a vast hall filled with ancient columns, carved with inscriptions in an illegible language, but all of them shared a strange drawing.
At the end of a torn, corroded carpet that stretched from the entrance toward the center, lay a black stone pedestal, surrounded by six distinct pillars.
Each pillar bore a symbol that Nova could understand, as every drawing represented something he already knew.
Arranged around the pedestal, as if each symbol stood for something, the pillars displayed:
❖ Broken Crown: It didn't truly resemble a crown, but it was close. A golden ring with three spikes rising from its surface, wrapped in twisted, sorrowful thorns…
❖ Hourglass: Drawn in a way that made its edges look rusted. The glass was broken, and the sand seemed to be spilling out.
❖ Black Hole: Perfectly drawn as a circle with a ring. The circle was painted pitch black, and the area around it looked as if it had exploded into sand.
❖ Empty Circle: That was it—simply that. Empty. A circle with nothing special about it, yet somehow it evoked a dark, ominous mysticism.
❖ Crescent Moon: The only symbol that wasn't drawn. Someone had simply broken a glowing stone into that shape and affixed it to the pillar.
❖ Broken Sword: It had the same shape as Nova's sword. Split in half, with black blood dripping down the pillar until it reached the floor.
Nova ran his fingers over the symbols. For the first time since arriving here, he had found something he could understand.
Not knowing what these symbols meant, he looked at the pedestal in silence.
'What is this?'
There was another carving on the pedestal. It was far more detailed than the others, like a true work of art etched into stone, waiting for whoever might discover this ruined city.
The symbol was:
❖ Endless — Represented by a draconic serpent devouring itself. Its body formed the shape of the infinity symbol.
He moved his fingers closer to feel the carving, but a deep, chilling hiss echoed behind him.
Hisss… Scraaape…
He immediately looked back.
He heard something slithering outside, through the streets.
'Another Aberration…'
Exactly. Thinking about it now, the tunnels that had led him to the city didn't seem to have been built by humans or similar creatures. The stone was always torn into jagged spikes, as if something had crawled through, forcing the rock forward.
So, what kind of creature could do something like that?
'Shit!'
The hissing grew louder. Whatever was crawling was outside, searching for something. With no time to think, Nova hid behind the pedestal. He gripped his staff with all his strength and stayed as still as possible, his back pressed against the cold stone.
'If it's worse than the octopus, I'm definitely dead. Even if I use the seeds, I'll miss when I throw them.'
Fighting with the handicap of one eye was absurd. Nova's depth perception had been damaged because of it. If it turned into close combat, it would be suicide.
Hisss…
The hissing entered the hall. The sound of something dragging itself intensified, echoing violently against the empty walls of the building. Judging by the noise, the Aberration was so heavy it had to crawl to move—but it did so quickly and agilely.
A deep, gloomy energy filled the air.
At that moment, Nova felt a chill run down his spine. To avoid drawing the Aberration's attention, he covered his mouth and held his breath. His heart began to pound faster in rhythm with the scraping sound.
'What's happening to me?'
This feeling—the most primitive, instinctive emotion of humankind. Could it be…
Scrape… Hisss…
The dragging sound stopped. The hissing echoed above the pedestal.
The Aberration was right in front of it.
Unconsciously, Nova closed his eye. When he opened it again, a strange coldness took hold of him. His heart slowed. His breathing became steady. The chill vanished, and determination etched itself onto his face.
'I see. If I have to fight, then I have no other choice,' he thought, as a faint golden light illuminated his single eye.
Slowly, he moved his hand toward the sword's hilt, ready to draw and strike. He waited patiently and glanced upward to make sure the beast wasn't looking at him.
His eye widened when he saw a small portion of the Aberration's head, staring curiously at the wall.
It was only the tip of its mouth, but it was massive. Its scaly skin looked like broken sandstone formed into jagged spikes. Its small, elongated tongue—split in two at the tip—flicked out and back in, accompanying the eerie hiss.
'Is it… a serpent?'
Unaffected by fear, Nova relaxed, still gripping his sword.
'We have those in my world too.'
After a few seconds, the Aberration seemed to find nothing of interest. It turned around and slithered back across the ground, leaving the building.
Its hissing faded into the distance. When the scraping sound finally vanished as well, Nova let out a sigh of relief. The light returned to his eye.
'Damn it… why is this world full of horrible monsters?'
It was supposed to be something worth reflecting on.