The three Saints of the Moon Goddess Temple. They hold extraordinary positions in the elfish society. Representing the will of the moon goddess they are said to read the moon and the stars, guarding the destiny of all elves, and wielding the ability to see into the future. Indeed, they were quite fitting as symbols for an observatory.
Reading those three names Liam was finally able to connect the dots. Quite literally…
With a thought the subordinate eye was dispelled. Liam put away the Eye of Vaunorah and placed his attention back on the console. There was still the symbol of a thin ring at the upper left corner of the console. But now Liam realized why this symbol seemed so familiar. Because it was the symbol of Cannewriohl, Saintess of the New Moon.
Other than their representing symbols, each of the three saints were known for their resplendent star and moon robes, which were black robes decorated with a beautiful star constellation. The constellation worn by the Saintess of the New Moon resembled a curled-up cat.
Recalling all this information Liam was finally confident that he could open the door. He stared at the console again. There was a single dot of light which was slightly brighter than the others. Using this dot as a start Liam was able to deduce the pattern. He tapped on a row of stars. They lit up and a connection formed between them. After about 20 stars, a constellation could be seen, which was exactly the same as the constellation worn by the Saintess of the New Moon.
At that moment there was a change to the console. The image of a cute, snow-white care overlaid with the constellation. It raised its head, silently meowed, and the entire console changed. Now apart from a new cloud of stars there was also a small half-moon in the corner of the console.
"Did it…"
Liam let out a sigh of relief. With one success the rest was not difficult. The star constellation representing the Saintess of the Half Moon was an elegant harp, while a clock symbolised the Saintess of the Full Moon. After completing the process two additional times, the console finally turned completely white. A light sound could be heard as the door slid to the side. The observatory could be entered!
Grinning brightly Liam stepped through the door. Even before he entered, he noticed something extraordinary. There was a transparent barrier at the entrance which could keep the void fog away. It was probably also this barrier which barred his Eye of Vaunorah earlier.
This barrier alone already held considerable research value. In contrast to the barrier, the rest of the observatory seemed rather simple. It was a single big, circular room. There was a platform at the centre, connected to a single chair. Along the walls were multiple desks but all were empty. Other than the desks there were also some plain, white cabinets and some strange, black tanks.
Liam took everything in before starting his search. As the door behind him closed he approached the first cabinet and took a look inside only to end up disappointed. The cabinet was empty. As were all the others. It seemed that the observatory hadn't been abandoned in chaos. Someone tidied up and took everything with them before leaving.
Since the desks were obviously nothing special Liam turned towards the strange black tanks. There were four of them. Liam only stared at them for a short time and instantly felt that they looked extremely familiar. These tanks resembled the gaming cabins of his past life!
This was an unexpected discovery. In Liam's past life those gaming cabins allowed one to take a comfortable position while gaming. Furthermore, they stabilized the body's needs, supporting gaming sessions of up to 36 hours. However, in this new life the gaming cabin seemed rather irrelevant. The game wasn't even online 36 hours at once. Thus, the only use of a cabinet would be to provide a little bit of comfort.
While still in doubt Liam reached out with his hand. He didn't discover some obvious button to open the cabin. But as soon as he touched it, C's voice came from the console he wore.
"Immersive Cabin detected. Player, do you want to connect?"
"Can I cancel the connection afterwards?"
"You can cancel the connection at any time, player. Connection will also be cancelled automatically if the distance between cabin and player is too far. Do you want to connect, player?"
"Sure."
Suddenly lights lit up on the cabin as it came to life. A screen appeared, showing some basic information like Liam's name, the character's name and level, and the time he spent in the cabin, which was obviously zero at the moment. Liam also could change some options on the screen but for now he wasn't interested and instead told C to open the door.
The inside of the cabin was filled with fancy red cushion. Only at the height of his shoulders there were two black metal plates. As he was already familiar with gaming cabins, Liam wasn't afraid of testing it out. He stepped into the cabin and relaxed his body. A light noise came from his back, and he could feel that the console was connected to the cabin at the height of his shoulders. Next, the cushions moved and perfectly adjusted to his body, holding him tightly but comfortably. The cabin's door closed and… nothing.
"Fate of Crunaboul is currently on a break. Please try again later, player."
After C's announcement all the previous steps were reverted and the cabin door opened again, indicating for Liam to leave. The young man chuckled to himself as he stepped out of the console and cancelled the connection. Although he wasn't able to enter Crunaboul, he had confirmed that the cabin was working. Perhaps he could get some rewards from the army.
After his brief test Liam had only one place left to explore. He approached the centre of the observatory and took some short stairs up an elevated platform. The ground beneath his feet showed some ring patterns like the lens of a camera. Liam figured that they could be moved and perhaps extended. And in the centre of the patterns was a single chair, unadorned and inconspicuous.
Liam hesitated for a bit, but he figured that there should be no danger in an observatory. He took a few steps and sat down on the chair. Instantly he felt a light pull as the chair seemed to connect with the console not unlike the cabin just now.
"Do you want to activate Merrathi Observatory?"
"… activate."
As soon as Liam gave the command, the platform erupted into movement. His chair drew a large curve and stopped at the edge of the platform. Hatches opened on the floor and multiple screens appeared in front of him. Simultaneously the platform rotated as it extended in multiple steps like the lens of a camera.
A part of the ceiling opened, revealing the dense void energy outside which was held back by the transparent barrier. The platform below Liam's feet, now a small tower, pushed through the ceiling. Instantly the void energy was about to engulf it. A low alarm sounded, and the transparent barrier extended to cover the platform.
Finally, the platform stopped rising. Liam was a few meters above the town but unfortunately he couldn't see the ground through the violet fog. At that moment a hole opened at the centre of the platform. A swarm of drones flew out of the hole. Brimming with starlight energy they positioned themselves in rings at ascending heights, vaguely resembling a telescope in form. Runes lit up on their shells and the drones connected through silver ribbons of starlight like the tails of shooting stars. It was similar to magic circles in Fate of Crunaboul but more like a modern, more refined version.
Liam watched everything happening with bated breath and amazement in his eyes. He had never seen anything similar before. It was like a beautiful blend of magic and technology. If this was devised be Dr. Merrathi then she was indeed an incredible genius. And Liam wasn't the only one watching as the starlight pierced through the void energy, alarming the small group of soldiers stationed outside.
However, only because something looked beautiful didn't mean it would be functional. Liam reigned in his thoughts and looked at the screens in front of him. All kinds of data were projected making him dizzy. Not only were the readings extremely complicated but there was nothing Liam could use as reference. For example, Falva Star certainly had a different name during the time of the ancient civilization.
Thus, Liam directly ignored the complicated stuff and focused on the main screen in front of him. It showed an extremely dazzling view of the starry sky. With a mere thought from him the drones moved to the left, as did the scene shown on the screen. Another thought, they turned to the right. Another thought and the starlight shone brightly as the scene zoomed into the vest universe.