More plans had to be made now. Sitting around and waiting for the enemy to come to me was no longer an option. Besides, it also was pretty boring. And now a whole new puzzle got thrown into this mix, and I had to figure out what it meant. How was I supposed to know what that wheel meant? How was I going to find out? Did I want to even risk telling this to messengers from the Silvera region? No way; that would be far too risky; I had to figure out what the hell the wheel meant first. The base of it was practically fused into the ground, and the tall trapezoid-shaped wedges were locked into the slots so perfectly that there was no logical way I could even start to lift out any of them. In other words, this was pretty much stuck here. There was significance to this place now - however, I had to leave it soon anyways.
Along with the goal of trying to figure out what the wheel was for, I also needed the Diamond Wind repaired. That sword had lasted for years through ordeals and swung thousands of times by both the old man and me. It was probably me that damaged it more, because I kept smacking it on the ground accidentally or slamming it into a large tree when young. At this point its efectiveness wasn't any better than that of a metal stick. A wimpy metal stick. It needed to be sharpened, tempered, and generally fixed up by somebody. My plan was to kill multiple birds with a single stone and also take the sword somewhere to be repaired.
Only a few days after the insignificant attack, a messenger from the Silvera region came asking if anything had happened. I told him everything that happened and that nothing was damaged or stolen. I also told him to report back saying that I was temporarily not staying at that defense shelter any longer and that they no longer had to deliver rations or materials. I would go somewhere else the next day and take the sword with me, hidden in a bag also full of the about 8000 Coins I had stashed (?). What I did not say was that there was a secret I had just discovered when I accidentally blew up a wall. For now I wanted to be the only one that knew where that was. The reason couldn't just leave immeditately was that I also requested a few more defensive auto-guns to be attached to the top of the hill, along with a hovering panel I could use to move along the land faster. These panels glided a safe distance above the ground making things much easier than walking. They were controlled by how far I lean to any certain side. What they couldn't do was move onto mountains, hills, or any kind of slopes, because I'd fall off if I tried. I would have also asked for some kind of weapon, but didn't want to raise suspicions. With the money I had I could easily just purchase one.
That morning, I prepared to leave the moment light crossed my eyes. The white sun in the sky actually did not change position much... it merely darkened and brightened again when hit with streams of power that were somewhere distant in the sky. At night it got masked by other things such as glowing objects in the sky, some rumored to represent things from Entria directly. It was mysterious how there are said to be millions of sections within Entria, yet people could only survive in less than 20 of them.
With my bag filled with Coins, extra clothing, and the beat-up sword, I set up the panel and started gliding away from the buried fort towards the Star region. I moved a secret rock a small distance away to arm the traps so that nobody would find either the sword that wasn't there or the wheel. I knew where to go - there was a research center in the Star region to the east. It would take a while to get there even with the speed of the panel, and there was no real rush, so I took things easy on my way there. I saw various houses and people along the fields and small roads on the way there, but nobody paid any real attention to me. I mostly stared straight ahead anyways. Few of the roads were actually covered in concrete; the world creatures would destroy most of them if anyone tried.
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The trek to where I wanted to go was relatively tame, and most of it flew by without me even thinking much. My guess was that by the afternoon I would already reach where I needed to go. Before that, one thing caught my attention. I crossed through a part of the region that was more populated and had defined roads mostly constructed with hard dirt and the help of some giant flat rocks. People must have been inside their homes or away, because there were not too many doing anything outside of the houses. Only a single thing really caught my attention - I saw a trio of workers carrying a large part somewhere. I'd never seen any part like that before. Actually, there were a whole bunch of things I most likely had not seen yet, but something about that part seemed interesting. It was solid black on every side, and had three sharp edges, almost like a giant triangle. One side was curved inwards just barely, and in the bright afternoon the darkness of that part would distract anybody.
I slowly followed where they were taking it, and when they stopped, I stepped off the panel of mine and shoved it into my bag. Like a little kid I went over to the... object and stared at it from many angles by walking around and titling my head. One of the guys that set the part down on a large table outside was giving me an interesting look, wondering why I was so curious. He looked strong physically, and was definitely skillful as well. He didn't have hair, and he had on light clothing since he probably had to transport around lots of things that day. "Hey, you like that thing?" he adressed to me.
After staring back for a few moments, I asked "Well, what is it?"
"Heh. This..." he motioned with his hands across it to glorify it more, "this is just one of the many things that will soon be installed in a powerful vehicle."
"Like a tank or something?"
"No, it'll fly when it's ready. And not only will it fly, it will also soar across the skies faster than any previous invention or even any bird." The advances of knowledge in the Star region always amazed people with all its new concepts or upgrades to previous ones.
"Where'd this idea come from?" I inquired. Even the most brilliant minds would have a hard time coming up with a plan like that out of nowhere.
The bald guy interestingly said "Research from other portals in Entria revealed aircraft like this. People here are trying to perfect their own version of a "jet" to be a step up in defenses. The ideal part is that a vehicle can't be beaten and torn up by creatures on or under the ground if it's flying in the air."
"Wow." I examined the piece a little while longer until satisfied, and then I asked the bald guy to point which way the research center was. He listened, pointed east, and I took off fairly quickly.
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Around halfway to the research building I made a second stop at a supply shop. It was positioned about half a kilometer past another group of small houses that stretched out in a very long line. It was constructed with lumber and metals and didn't stand out much besides the sign hanging from the roof which said "Weapons, rings, and thingies". Most noticably, it was almost insignificantly small. I went inside to hopefully repair and temper the Diamond Wind I was carrying around.
Inside, there was just one room in which I could look around at stuff, probably the same size as the largest room back in the Crystal area's shelter. However, there still was a large selection of "thingies" arranged neatly behind the counter, on the walls, and inside displays covered with glass. Numerous types of weapons and materials were displayed, including arrows that automatically caught on fire, laser shooters that looked exactly like writing implements, and a hammer that self-destructs. All of them cost a lot, though, and I wanted to conserve my money for more crucial situations.
Nobody seemed to be around... on the counter there was a yellow button unguarded. Of course, all brightly-colored buttons just sitting there deserved to be pressed, so I gently pressed it with my finger. A harmonious "ping" sound echoed throughout the building, and from a locked door, a girl's voice said "Oh! I'll be right out!" Apparently the button was used to get somebody's attention.
The girl opened the door and walked towards the counter, sweetly saying "Yes? You need anything?"
"Hey. Who are you?"
"I own and run this shop. Sorry if you had to wait."
"You run this place? Alone?" She couldn't have been much older than me.
"Pretty much. I bought and opened this place a little over a year ago. The money I get is enough to cover all costs."
For a little while I forgot what I was going to ask. As I was staring blankly she waved her hand in front of me to snap me out of it. "Oh, do you repair weapons at all?"
"I can do that. What do you need mended?"
I pulled out the beat up sword from my bag and lifted it onto the counter. "What would it cost to fix this?"
She examined it for a few seconds, touched the tips, and looked at what material was used to make the designs. After a little more interrogation she told me "Don't worry about the cost now. I'll see what I can do and tell you later, if that's alright with you."
"That's fine. I'll come back soon anyways. I'm just heading east."
"East? How are you getting there?" she asked with some concern.
"Riding on a transparent panel there. Why?"
"There's no real clear roads further east. You could get attacked pretty quickly. Do you have anything else to defend yourself with?"
"No, not really."
"You should at least have one of these lasers..." She quickly walked to one wall, pulled something off it, went back to the counter and placed it in front of me... it looked like a pen. "This should be enough to protect yourself. Press the end of it and it will shoot out a concentrated beam from the tip. It gets weaker if you press it repeatedly; it needs some time to charge up again."
This could really help me until I got my own sword back. "Thanks, this should do."
"The switch near the end controls how much the energy is concentrated. You can stun or even kill small creatures this way." She entered something into a screen on the corner of the counter. "That'll be 280 Coins."
I noticed something... off. "Hey, doesn't the tag over by those things say that this costs 320?"
"Well, technically... just take it for a little less, alright? It doesn't matter that much to me."
I took out 280 coins and handed it to her, asking "Are you sure you make enough profit?"
"I'm fine for now. Oh, I need your name for the sword you asked me to fix up."
"...Jet." That's what I decided since the only thing the old man called me was "trainee" or "kid", and in formal letters the ruler of the Silvera region called me "Crystal defender". I'd go by that from now on, unless there was an occasion I'd want to disguise my name.
"Alright, see you soon," she cheerfully said while I walked out.
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Silence followed for the remainder of the short journey. There wasn't one village or house or convenient stop in my path. Grass was the only real thing to stare at, with patches of blue and red flowers in some places, or large trees which seemed to catch noises and echoes. Tiny creatures that didn't care about me were either prowling through the ground or zipping through the air around me, and there weren't too many problems. This noise was what I was used to... calmness and wind.
The laser was useful to me once between the shop and the center. When I was going through one open field something shot out of the ground after sensing my approach. It was either a large snake-like creature or an underground vine of some kind. Either way, it tried to grab the panel, and I fell off it. Before it could get away with it I took the new laser out of my pocket and fired at it a few times while still laying on the ground. It reacted to the blast by flinching and retreating into the ground. I didn't encounter it again, luckily.
Eventually, I found another dirt road, which turned into a concrete road, which led me to the research center. It took slightly longer than I expected, but I still made good time. Now I could hopefully learn more about the wheel and its meaning... as well as this world itself.
