Kaden watched the group of people make their way towards the area where the ‘creepy hole’ was, but then they decided to stop. He thought first it was that they would take a rest before continuing. It was getting dark after all and unless you know what you are doing, the forest is more dangerous during night. Instead they started arguing with each other.

It became clear that they knew only generally where to go.

“The information we have points around here”, said one of them as Kaden listened and watched from distance. “The place should be somewhere around these hills.”

“We will have to comb the area”, said another. “I’d have thought this a fools errand, if it wasn’t that Trohin’s hideout.”

“Which is why we are willing to work with you”, replied yet another person. “We are still in agreement on distribution of loot, yes?”

“Of course”, said the first person who seemed to be leader of one of the groups to the another leader. “That is, if you are able to do what you said you would. Trohin came originally from your school until you kicked him out.”

“Do not worry about us. We were the ones to hunt him down to begin with. If it wasn’t that this information was being sold by the merchant priests, we would have never agreed to this deal! Too many people found out. We had to kill other groups already. We get what we want and you get what you want. No interference!”

Kaden listened them bicker for quite a while until he decided he had heard enough. The boar had said a human had lived in the ‘creepy hole’ for a long time, apparently named Trohin. As for why these people were so interested in him did not come up.

One thing did come up during their hurls of insults that gave Kaden a slight shock. It was about the nature of the so called ‘creepy hole’. Sometimes known as remnants. Remnants of the ancients. Sometimes known as dungeons, specially bigger ones.

These were the things in stories told to children about brave heroes delving deep into remnants. There they would fight unspeakable things and then return with treasures.

The remnants or dungeons, were places left over since times of the cataclysm! Whatever they were during the times of ancients did not matter. They might have been homes, factories, parts of sevage systems or any miscellaneous place that was too full of mana. They could be almost anything. Why they had survived intact so long time and were so special was because, during the cataclyms, mana for some reason happened to gather in them. Made them durable. Changed them.

Remnants were thick with mana. Strange things would happen in them. Yet some guy had decided to build a hideout inside one? You couldn’t even cultivate inside. Mana was dense and completely stale.

But yeah, technically, if you could deal with it all and found a slightly less dense area, you might have a pretty good hideout. This Trohin must have had things he really did not want others to see.

Kaden was quite curious about it. Ancients had lived in almost every part of the world. Even these days, it was not impossible to find a remnant. It was exactly for that reason why those stories that a hero finds one and conquers it are so interesting!

Feeling slight excitement Kaden decided to leave the people to fight among themselves. He wanted to see an actual remnant, even if it was not unexplored one.

Leaving behind as little signs as possible, he proceeded towards the hills. It was getting darker. That was good for Kaden since it would hide him better and he did see in darkness. He didn’t have a way to kill the people from Saint Empire so he wanted to be a bit more careful.

Kaden found that the boar’s information was a bit too old. The territory had changed probably a few times. There was a dire beast, but it only threatened him as he passed through its territory.

One interesting thing ended up being complete accurate about the area, though.

No beasts lived around the remnant entrance. Kaden could easily tell why. While he still did not see the entrance, he could feel mana become denser, yet its usability kept dropping due to being increasingly stale. In the remnant it would be barely possible to regain used mana, but it would take effort. Someone much stronger might be able to stir the mana enough to make use of it, but not someone like Kaden.

The whole atmosphere did indeed turn creepy. Shadows seemed to extend unnaturally far. If Kaden listened, he could hear something that resembled whispering chatter, but no source could be identified. Despite him always feeling that nice warmth, he started feeling shudders.

Remnants were similar only in one way. Strange things happen around them and too much mana. Remnants were usually quite unique. He wondered what had caused this specific one be so… creepy.

Then he saw it. The name truly was apt. Literally a hole in the ground. A dark gloomy hole. He could feel cold wind blow towards him from it.

“It sure is a ‘creepy hole’”, Kaden muttered and looked inside.

It was only a short drop and then there were… stairs? Quite worn down and cracked, but still identifiable. They were made from rock that didn’t seem natural to Kaden. He jumped down and listened. Only the everpresent whispers could be heard.

Kaden needed no light, but that glow his in his sight that allowed him to see in dark was turning gray. Everything looked completely grayscale. As he continued down the stairs, there were many collapsed pathways on his sides and many other stairways, but only the one he was on was intact.

He eventually reached an area that was relatively open. Across the area there were several lowered sections that seemed to extend into tunnels. He noticed some metal tracks at the bottom of these lower sections. What had been the purpose of this place? The entire area had been constructed by the ancients a long time ago. Just how long were these tunnels?

As Kaden was marveling over everything, he started hearing sounds.

They seemed to come somewhere above him from the ceiling. It was almost a mechanical voice, like an announcement.

Kaden wasn’t sure what was happening, he jumped on top of one of the pilars supporting the area and turned to watch an incomprehensible scene. Cold terror crept up his spine.

A white, translucent, machine came from the tunnels silently along the metal tracks he had seen earlier. Like many carriages attached together in a long line. Kaden could see pale human figures stand inside it. Their eyes big round and dark, mouths hanging slightly open and similarly dark. Otherwise they were translucent and glowing just like the machine. Its doors opened and the ‘humans’ stepped out of it and continued walking out into the stairways that Kaden had come from just a while ago. He could see them just disapear after they had taken a few steps along the stairs.

All the while new ones appeared and came from the stairs and entered the machine. Then they stood there in line as the doors closed yet again and left.

“What did I just witness”, Kaden thought as he calmed down. The ‘humans’ looked beyond creepy. Their shape was human in general, but their proportions, like their eyes and mouth, had been just wrong. Kaden could see them walk, but they almost floated across the area in complete silence.

“Ghosts?” Kaden thought. “Anuu said that ghosts are just imprints in local mana. I don’t know if they are dangerous. The machine came when there was that announcement, so I better pay attention to that.”

Kaden went to explore one of the tunnels, the one where the machine had come from, but just a bit further in the tunnel, he found the pathway collapsed. That ghost machine had to have appeared from nothingness. He made his way back just before next announcement came. He hid up in the ceiling once again as the same scene repeated itself.

As Kaden was looking for a way to explore to, he found that other machines appeared in the other tracks too. Timing was relatively predictable. Relying on that knowledge, he searched the tunnels. Most of them were collapsed, but then he noticed one from which came wind of cold air.

Around that time he also heard noises coming from the stairs. This time it was not the ghosts.

It was dark so Kaden did not expect to be seen at the very least, but he could be heard, if he was careless.

“Shit, this remnant sure is eerie”, said one voice.

“Be alert at all times!” Said another voice. “There is no telling what is in here!”

Kaden watched the group of people, as far as he could tell, most of them, if not all, slowly walk down to stairs. They had balls of light float around them. As soon as they got into the open area the orbs of light spread a bit further.

Luckily Kaden was out of their range. He gave a quick look towards the tunnel where he was intending to go in. He would be able to get in there with ease as long as one of those ghostly machines was not coming. By his count, one should appear after some time. He decided to wait.

There was then another annoucement. The people who just came down the stairs took defensive positions, not understanding either what was happening. One of the machines came out of the closest tunnel to the stair. It was not the one that Kaden was waiting to pass, but the next should be.

The saints at the stairs started to freak out once the machine stopped and the ghosts started to walk out in silence.

One of the people actually cast a spell at one of the ghosts. Kaden noted that these people had access to such skills. As for the ghost, at the moment the spell was cast, it stopped and turned to look at the caster. Its face twisted into form of terror and fear, like it was experiencing the most horrifying thing possible. It seemed to scream soundlessly and rushed towards the caster. The fireball passed through it like it was just thin air.

The caster pulled out a sword to defend himself, but even the sword passed through the ghost. Before anyone could do anything, the ghost grabbed the horrified man and soundlessly screamed at his face. It was as if the ghost was begging for something in terror. The man began screaming and scream he did. Similar way to the ghost, it seemed the caster of the fireball was experiencing that same terror the ghost was.

Another spell was cast at the ghost by someone else in thoughtless attempt to help. Another ghost seemingly triggered and attacked that person too!

“Do not use magic!!” Shouted the leader. “Do not touch them!”

As for the first person, he was still screaming in soul rending terror and was becoming thinner. Kaden watched as the person was slowly being dried up and mummified on the spot. Yet the screaming did not stop until the dry husk finally began to crumble into dust like a collapsing sand castle.

Then the ghost stopped. It returned to its previous calm state and continued to walk towards the stairs. Soon after the other victim died the same way and the ghost responsible of that acted the same way as the first one. Only two piles of dry matter was left behind.

Kaden calmly watched. It seemed mana triggered the ghosts. He decided to get into the tunnel and if he ran into any of the ghosts, he should be still and do nothing. Spells and swords just passed through the ghosts and there was no way to fight against them.

Then another annoucement and machine silently came from the tunnel Kaden had been waiting. The humans at the entrance were still in state of shock and trying to comprehend the situation. Kaden expected them to realize the timing pattern soon and only then continue forward. He had the lead for now.