Chapter 1 - Part 3: The Descent

"Did you sleep well?" Natalee greeted Sanya in a hushed voice when they met in the hallway leading to the dining hall. She acted aloof, only glancing at the green-haired girl from the corner of her eyes.

"Yes, everything went well," she whispered, looking ahead where Mistress Patch was taking count of the children passing by her with a hawkish glare.

After joining the orphanage, Sanya had received food, a tour of the building and grounds, and a quick explanation regarding her job going forward. She had been put in a room with only one other inhabitant, a black-haired girl with clearly foreign features. Before sleep, she had been taught how to use the climbing tools required for their job.

Sanya's roommate quietly watched the muted interaction between her and the children of room twelve from underneath her long bangs. She glanced at Mistress Patch as they approached her, then at the five in front of her again, who acted like they did not know each other. Raising an eyebrow, she grasped what was going on.

They all naturally sat together in the dining hall, acting as if they were only now getting acquainted. The black-haired girl sat at the fringes of the group to listen in on their conversation. Everybody in the orphanage knew about the inhabitants of room twelve. How did the new girl become acquainted with them so quickly?

"Oh, right. This is Yang, my roommate," but to the girl's surprise, Sanya grabbed her arm and pulled her closer for an introduction. The four stared at the girl named Yang with a hint of apprehension. They and the other children had an unspoken agreement to keep a distance from each other.

"Hello, Yang," Natalee greeted her nervously. Sanya raised an eyebrow at their behavior, then looked at Yang, who averted her gaze.

"What's going on?" she wondered, unable to sense the insurmountable wall between Yang and her four saviors.

"We'll tell you later," Kilian said with a glance around. Some of the other orphans watched the situation with suspicious eyes, and Yang noticed it.

"Excuse me," she pulled away from Sanya and stood up with her tray to find a different seat. The green-haired girl stared at her back as she walked toward the other end of the long table.

"You shouldn't associate with them," Dyanna asserted, speaking loudly enough for everybody to overhear, "they're petty and jeal-"

Allen cut her off by stuffing a piece of bread in her mouth. Dyanna pulled it out and jumped up to hit him, but Natalee intervened. Sanya turned to Kilian, who watched Yang take her seat elsewhere with a worried gaze.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, confused.

"We should have told you. We're kind of outcasts," Kilian explained as they made their way toward the Skypiercer at the very back of the column. Sanya had difficulties listening to him since her eyes were glued to the massive tower before them.

"It's really stupid. They're only jealous of us still having living family members," Dyanna deliberately raised her voice again. The children in front of them glanced back with frowns but did not speak up.

"Why are you at the orphanage, then?" Sanya wondered with both eyebrows raised. Even though she had no memories of her past, she understood most of the complex concepts she had encountered since she woke up in room twelve two nights ago. Orphans had nobody to take care of them, so they had to live in one of Base Camp's many institutions.

"Because our families are up there. For example, my parents are members of the Thorn Crew," Allen pointed up at the Skypiercer and spoke dispassionately, "they're made up of eight Claimant-ranked Aspirants working together. They only come down when they make some big new discovery. The last one was four years ago."

"My father is a Claimant-ranked Aspirant under Alice the Wonder," Natalee added with a wry smile, "last time I heard anything from him was two years ago when a message arrived at the Association saying they were going to challenge the thirteen-thousand-meter mark. But he was last in Base Camp three years ago."

"I haven't seen my grandmother in five years," Kilian said with a proud smile. His grandmother was Margritte the Relentless, an Ascendant-ranked Aspirant with over forty years of experience under her belt. Surely, the next time she returned from the Skypiercer would be when she had found a new divine-grade fragment.

"My mother came to visit last year. But that was the fifth time in my entire life that I met her," Dyanna asserted with a shrug. Her mother was not famous like the other three's families or their groups, but she was a successful Claimant-ranked Solo-Aspirant nonetheless.

Allen was fourteen, Natalee was fifteen, Kilian had turned sixteen only two months ago, and Dyanna's fifteenth birthday was coming up in a few weeks. They met their families once in several years and only for a few days each time. It was no different from being an orphan. But to those children who truly had nobody in this world, it was too much to accept.

"I don't understand," Sanya admitted with a shake of her head. She could not remember her parents or any other family, but she did not feel lonely for some reason. Perhaps she already considered the children of room twelve her family.

"It's alright. That's just how the world works," Kilian spoke in a resigned tone and tilted his head to the side with a sigh. The orphans of Base Camp were generally accepting of anybody as long as they fulfilled their arbitrary requirements. It was only these four because they stood out with their famous family, or in Dyanna's case, with her abrasive personality.

"I just hope Yang is alright," Natalee looked ahead with a worried expression. Sanya stared at her in surprise, compelling her to elaborate, "those that approach us are usually bullied by the others into staying away."

The green-haired girl's expression crumbled into shock. She had thought that these four children were representative of Base Camp's orphans. That they were all friendly and helpful even when they had nothing themselves. But it would appear that was not the case. Children were innocently cruel because they did not know how to hold back their emotions.

"Hurry it up. The shift is starting!" the stout-bodied and hook-nosed dredge leader used the Opera Box fragment to rush the children along. His voice was amplified by the large featureless black cube hanging in front of his chest and echoed across the entire column. Everybody sped up their steps toward the tunnel opening.

"Where are we going?" Sanya wondered when she looked up and then back down at the dark tunnel into which the children marched unflinchingly. They were still a distance away from the Skypiercer's base.

"That leads to the Skypiercer's depths. It's separate from the main entrance on the eastern side," Kilian explained while putting on his black hard hat with the inbuilt lamp. The other children did the same, and Sanya quickly followed their example. It was oversized for her, and the leather band under her chin was coarse from age. As with all tools at the orphanage, she had received hand-me-downs.

"Less chatter, more walking!" the dredge leader singled out the five of them and clapped his hands to hurry them along, "fragments are waiting to be dug up! Make your parents in the sky proud!"

Sanya mused that his words could be taken either way. She looked up one last time at the Skypiercer, now close enough to take up her entire field of view, before the tunnel ceiling cut it off.

The musty smell of the tunnels soon faded into the background for Sanya since she became fully engrossed in the children's explanations while they headed deeper into the dark. She learned that the Skypiercer's underground featured challenges comparable to ascending the tower. That was why the orphans did not complain about this unpaid job; it came with the invaluable experience needed to pass the Aspirant exam.

According to the last depth survey from about a century ago, the cave system extended over a thousand meters deep and widened to four kilometers across. It was as circular as the visible portion of the Skypiercer, showing that the buried part was the base on which the massive tower stood.

Before long, they reached the first place where they had to climb. The tunnel they had followed, along with over a dozen other children from various orphanages, abruptly ended in a vertical shaft. Half a dozen thick ropes dangled down from a beam that appeared to be cut directly from the surrounding rock. It was clear from the thick layer of dust on top of the rope that this was a permanent arrangement.

The other children took hold of the ropes one after the other and began sliding them down using one of the most important tools in their arsenal of climbing gear. They maintained the self-belay made from metal the most religiously out of all their tools. After all, it was absolutely essential for entering and leaving the Skypiercer's underground within the workday.

"How far down does it go?" Sanya peeked over the edge and saw only a dark shaft illuminated by the helmet lamps of the children on their way down. They slid down quickly and were soon only visible from the moving lights.

"About a hundred meters," Allen answered, tightening the homemade safety chord of his glasses against the back of his head. From here on out, he could no longer afford to adjust them with his hands, and if he dropped them during any climb, they would most likely shatter irreparably.

"If we had a Distant Echo, we could measure it exactly, but those are quite expensive," Dyanna hooked herself in on the rope with her self-belay and leaned over the shaft's edge fearlessly.

"A hundred meters..." the green-haired girl inched away from the edge again. She had no memories, but she somehow understood these measurements and the implication of such a height.

"Let's go. We don't get paid by the hour, after all," Natalee commented before jumping down. The sound of the self-belay locking up rang out, and she planted her feet against the wall before beginning her descent.

"Then again, we don't get paid at all," Dyanna shrugged and followed after her with a laugh. That appeared to be her kind of humor, but it was a terrible thing to Sanya.

"Here, let me show you how to use this," Kilian offered the green-haired girl.

"I can do it," she responded while watching Allen climb down with practiced movements. Holding the self-belay exactly the same way as the other children, she hooked herself in and made sure to hear the same clicking sound from her tool. Pulling on it with one hand to test that it was secure, she turned to Kilian and smiled, "thank you for always looking out for me."

"No problem. But be careful. It's dark down there," nodding, the red-headed boy took the rope beside hers. With this, they began climbing down together.

As Kilian had said, the shaft was completely dark save for the circle of light on the wall wherever their helmets pointed. While walking a hundred meters on even ground was trivial, belaying the same distance into utter darkness was a daunting task. Sanya felt disoriented after only a short while, unsure how far down she had already gone.

When she looked up, she could no longer see the stone beam to which her rope was tied. Her helmet lamp was not strong enough to pierce through the dust dancing in the air. But when she looked down, she could only see the children climbing far below her. There was no indication where this shaft would end.

"Are you alright?" Kilian put a hand on her shoulder and asked. She turned around and shone her light directly in his face. Squinting his eyes, he gave her a reassuring smile, "I know how you feel. It was the same for me the first time. You'll get used to it."

"I'm not sure anybody should get used to this," she only muttered in response.

"You got that right," he laughed. His voice echoed down the shaft, causing those below to look up in surprise. Laughter was rarely heard in the depths of the Skypiercer. After all, even if the children discovered something of value, they had to hand it over to the orphanage. Thus, there were few reasons for such expressions of joy here.

With the weight on her spirit lifted somewhat, Sanya continued climbing. As she grew tired from the exertion, she increasingly relied on her gauntlet. It felt like her entire body benefited from its strange power. She would have to test it out more whenever she had the chance.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the shaft. The pile of sand directly below the ropes seemed to be a half-hearted attempt at creating a cushion in case somebody fell. But there was no work safety here; each child had to look out for themselves.

"Is this going to be our entire day, then?" Sanya asked as she looked around at the naked stone walls and found several paths, each leading deeper into the darkness. The children from the other groups were already walking down some of them.

"And our next day, and the day after. Until next month, when we get a free day again," Dyanna replied with a self-deprecating grin.

"Don't worry. It's not going to be just this," Allen pushed past the brown-haired girl and led the way toward one tunnel where nobody else was headed. Otherwise, they would not be as hopeful in their futures as they were - was what he left unspoken.

"I've heard of the working conditions in coal mines. Compared to that, this job is actually fun," Natalee added and followed their youngest. Sanya did not know what coal mines were, but it sounded bad when working in utter darkness every day could be considered fun in comparison.

She followed the four children down the straight tunnel, counting her steps as they went as a pastime. The walls around them remained the same throughout, causing their footsteps to echo as they walked. Time seemed to stand still in this world far removed from the city above. Surely, she would have lost her mind if she had been alone.

"We'll be there soon," Kilian seemed to notice Sanya's mental state and spoke reassuringly. She turned around and stared at him, and he smiled, "we told you that it's not just this. But I was the same when I came down here the first time."

Gathering her resolve, the green-haired girl continued to set one foot in front of the other. Her climbing gear weighed her down, and she became uncomfortably aware of her gauntlet's unwieldiness. The air was stagnant and growing increasingly muggy, and she could tell she was not the only one affected by it judging by the others' labored breaths.

"We're here," Allen suddenly announced, causing Sanya to look up in surprise. They had reached a dead end, with a naked stone wall blocking their path. She looked left and right, but it was well and truly the end of the tunnel.

"This is it? Are we digging here?" her appalled expression caused Dyanna to burst out into laughter. Even Natalee turned away to chuckle, trying not to appear as if she was making fun of Sanya.

"Look down," Kilian pointed at the ground before them. She did as she was told, and her light cone illuminated a black spoked metal wheel attached to a large circular hatch made of the same material. The dirt and gravel around it had been cleared, revealing a hinge attached to more metal buried in the ground.

"Try opening it with that gauntlet of yours," Allen suggested with a glint of anticipation in his eyes.

"You shouldn't make a lady do such hard work alone, even if she has that gauntlet," Natalee chastised him, "it takes Kilian and me to open this."

"Let me try," but to the black-haired girl's surprise, Sanya approached the wheel and gauged it with a tilt of her head. She understood how to open it without instructions. Perhaps, this, too, was something that had come to her naturally before she lost her memories.

She turned the wheel using both hands, and it gave way surprisingly easily. It was well-oiled despite its ancient look and turned even without her using her gauntlet. But when she tried to lift the hatch, it was incredibly heavy. Still, that sensation lasted but a moment before the power in her gauntlet activated automatically. She immediately threw the hatch open single-handedly.

A gust of fresh air blew into Sanya's face, followed by a steady wind carrying the smell of clean water and moss to her nostrils. She was momentarily overwhelmed by this sensation and closed her eyes to breathe in deeply. After walking through the stagnant air of this dark tunnel, it was a truly life-affirming experience.

Finally, she peeked into the hole to find a metal ladder leading down into a waterway. It was overgrown with light-blue glowing moss, and a small stream ran from left to right. She was about to stick her head down to see where it would go but stopped to glance at her companions.

"You can go ahead," Kilian said with a smile. The others gave her encouraging nods as well. Sanya looked at them curiously for a moment, then returned the smile and nodded with determination.

It was only a short way down, so she did not need to use her climbing gear. Putting one foot below the other carefully and holding on well, she began climbing down the ladder. As she made it below the threshold, she could see that she descended into a large circular pipe. It was about three meters across, and a gangway made from planks led in the direction the water flowed. The fresh air came from there.

The glowing moss appeared to react to her helmet lamp and increased their luminosity in response. She looked around in silent appreciation as the other four climbed down to join her. As they closed the hatch above, the wind died down a little.

"That way," Allen said and pointed ahead, gesturing for Sanya to lead the way. She glanced at each of their faces, noticing the varying degrees of success at which they were hiding their anticipation. Clearly, they wanted her to see something first.

Following the waterway carefully to avoid slipping on the wet gravel and moss, Sanya walked before the others. The pipe soon entered a left bend, limiting her range of view. The wind grew stronger with every step, indicating they were approaching the end of the tunnel.

The glowing moss soon stopped growing, but she was approaching another light source. As she stepped around the bend, the pipe ahead of her was basked in an overwhelming brightness. After she had become accustomed to the gently glowing moss earlier, this light now assaulted her eyes. She shielded them as she continued to walk forward.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. As her eyes adjusted, she found herself standing at the edge of the pipe, which had ended abruptly. And beyond the precipice was a drop the earlier shaft could not hope to compare to.

But her eyes were glued on the sight before her. It was the underground caverns of the Skypiercer, a massive landscape filled with jagged shapes and crumbled structures. They looked unnatural, but they could not have been manmade, either. It appeared to be a metal forest filled with trees far larger than any she had ever seen.

Massive organic-looking pillars held up the ceiling, from which light shone down on the landscape. It did not come through windows, nor was it sunlight, but something else entirely. The pillars grew wider at their base, with gnarled shapes resembling roots, and appeared to be made from metal and stone.

It all felt so familiar to Sanya as she took it all in with wide-open eyes. Even if she had not stumbled through the darkness for who knows how long before reaching this place, it would have spellbound her all the same.

"Welcome to the Roots of the World Tree," Allen announced beside her in a proud tone.