The system alert came before dawn.
[Ding! — Quest Update: Signal Beacon Reactivation Required]
[New Objective: Locate Local Ashlight Node – Estimated Radius: 1.4km]
Seren blinked the sleep from her eyes as the message faded across her vision. Ashlight Node? That was new. She opened the full quest log.
[The Ember Path: Step Two – Reconnect local relay network to access second Harmonic Relay.]
[Status: Relay 1 of 6 activated]
[Task: Locate and reactivate Ashlight Node to triangulate signal grid.]
She sat up slowly, joints stiff from sleeping too close to the shelter wall. The fire had died sometime during the night, but the kiln still held a low, steady heat. She reached for her cloak and journal, then packed a small bag with food, water, and a replacement torch.
The world was calling again.
She stepped out into the pale grey light of early morning, ash crunching beneath her boots. The sky showed no signs of a true sun, just a dull brightness spreading across the clouds. It was enough.
The map update glowed faintly, displaying a semi-transparent dome over the region—a suggested search area based on topographical data. According to the overlay, the Ashlight Node could be buried, elevated, or partially exposed depending on environmental drift.
In other words, she'd be guessing.
But Seren didn't mind.
She liked puzzles.
She set off to the northwest, following the edge of the broken aqueduct she'd passed during her first supply run. The structure was elevated in places, wide enough to walk along, and crumbled just enough to give her partial cover from above.
Birds didn't fly in this world. But things watched.
After twenty minutes of walking, the system pinged.
[Trace Signal Detected – Source Faint – Elevation Advantage Recommended]
She scrambled up the side of the aqueduct, gripping old stone bricks and using exposed root systems like handholds. From the top, the world widened.
Ahead, the terrain sloped into a half-collapsed valley—pale green moss covering fractured ground. At its center, something glinted beneath a fallen pillar.
Her system blinked.
[Proximity Alert – Possible Ashlight Signature Detected]
She smiled.
Found it.
Seren descended the slope cautiously, one hand gripping her torch while the other hovered near the blade tucked into her belt. The moss here was damp, clinging to her boots, muting each step with eerie softness.
The fallen pillar was larger up close—almost like part of a spire, hollowed in the center. Just beneath its base, a narrow tunnel had formed where the ground had eroded. The glint came from inside.
She crouched and peered in.
There it was.
A low pedestal made of a dark, glassy stone, half-buried in rubble. Faint lines of blue light pulsed across its surface like veins. At its center sat a shallow bowl filled with ash and what looked like a single fractured crystal shard.
[Node Confirmed: Ashlight Beacon – Status: Inert]
[System Notice: This node requires ignition via calibrated torch flame.]
She checked her inventory. The torch she carried still burned low. Not enough heat. But the resin she'd gathered last night might amplify the flame.
She pulled out the pitch jar and coated the torch's head with a thin layer, then lit it again. The fire flared, hotter and steadier.
She lowered it toward the bowl.
The ash inside hissed, recoiling like a living thing. The crystal shard pulsed once, twice—
Then ignited.
Light surged up the pedestal, flowing along the ancient etchings. A tower of light rose ten feet into the air before bending sideways, forming a beam that pointed northeast.
The system responded instantly.
[Ding! — Ashlight Node Activated]
[Map Update: Relay Beacon Two Estimated Location: 5.3km Northeast]
[Objective Updated: Reach Relay Two – Warning: Environmental Instability Detected]
Seren stepped back and shielded her eyes.
The beam began to pulse, like a heartbeat.
It wasn't just marking the path—it was synchronizing something.
[Local Grid Online – Regional Ruins Now Trackable – Passive Energy Network Enabled]
She turned slowly, watching as fragments of the landscape beyond the valley began to shimmer. Buildings that had once been hidden by camouflage tech or decayed so far into the earth that they'd vanished from sight now glowed faintly in the system's augmented view.
Not ruins.
A network.
Hidden.
Dormant.
Until now.
She tapped into the map again and saw at least three new nodes appear in succession—vaults, towers, a collapsed transport bridge. All aligned along the beam's path.
And at the very edge—
[Relay Two – Status: Unknown – Terrain: Volcanic Impact Zone]
She blinked.
Volcanic?
That meant heat, unstable terrain, and possibly... remnants of older systems.
It would be dangerous.
But this was the path. And she had chosen it.
She took one last look at the glowing Ashlight Node, now stabilized and anchored into the relay grid, and whispered,
"One down. Five to go."
Then she turned north, toward the smoke-dark edge of the horizon.
The return journey was quieter.
Seren moved with a steadiness born of purpose, following the path of the beam as it cut through the sky like a celestial compass needle. She glanced up at it occasionally—its presence comforting, like a thread tying her to something greater.
Back at the shelter, she immediately placed her pack down and checked her system for relay data.
[Relay Two – Hazard Level: High]
[Suggested Preparation: Heat-Resistant Gear, Multi-Tier Shelter, Extended Food Supply]
It wouldn't be a quick trip. The volcanic zone was beyond anything she'd encountered. Temperatures unstable. Ground possibly cracked or chemically altered. If she went in unprepared, she might not come back out.
She drafted a checklist in her notebook:
- Clay-sealed water jugs (minimum 3)
- Resin-wrapped foot gear
- Vent-filter mask
- Temperature-hardened torch
Most of these she could craft using blueprints from the kiln tree. Others… might need scavenging.
She spent the evening organizing materials, checking the integrity of her walls, and crafting her first hardened water jug. It was crude but functional—sealed with pitch and baked into a double-walled shell. Tomorrow, she'd attempt the mask.
Her system pinged softly as she worked.
[Settlement Tier: Upgraded – Classification: Outpost]
[New Feature: Passive Energy Collection Enabled via Active Kiln]
The kiln glowed faintly in response. Not just a tool now—part of a network.
Seren looked around her small domain. A shelter. A kiln. A signal beam rising in the distance.
And a map that no longer ended in grey.
She sat beside the fire that night, adding notes to her growing archive.
Mission logs. Material lists. Sketches of relay geometry. Traces of the symbols she'd seen glowing in the ashlight.
A web was forming. A shape.
She didn't know yet what it meant.
But she was going to find out.
And when she did, this world wouldn't be broken anymore.
It would be rebuilt—with light.