After the warmth of Grak's forge, the first breath in the steam tunnels felt like a shock. It wasn't just hot; it was a heavy, wet heat that seeped through their clothes and clung to their skin. The smell of molten metal was still there, but it was mixed with the strange scent of rust, stagnant water, and centuries-old dust.
"From here on, watch every step," Grak said, his deep voice echoing off the narrow walls. He pulled an Aether-lantern from his belt. With a flick, the crystal inside produced a soft, yellow light that cut a small path through the darkness ahead.
Before them was a spiral iron staircase, leading down into what looked like a black well.
"There are three rules," Grak said before starting down, his voice now completely serious. "First: stay quiet. Sound travels far down here. Second: always stay behind me. I know these tunnels better than the lines on my own palm. Third, and most important: do not touch any pipe or valve unless I say so. Some pipes are cold, but others carry steam hot enough to melt your bones."
No one said a word. There was a look of determination on every face. Kael signaled to go first, right behind Grak. He held both his swords. Mara kept her steam-gun ready, her eyes scanning every shadow. Liora and Aarav were in the middle.
The stairs were old and creaked with every step. As they descended, the sounds of the world above faded away, replaced by the strange symphony of the tunnels—the 'drip-drip' of water from a distant leak, the faint 'hiss' of steam moving through pipes, and the 'thump-thump' of their own hearts.
At the bottom, they were in a world not meant for humans. It was a network of the city's metallic veins. Large iron pipes ran along the walls and ceiling in every direction. Some were rusted, others were covered in green moss. The floor was a metal grate, and dirty water flowed beneath it.
"We go this way," Grak said, pointing towards a large, main tunnel.
They began to move forward in a single file line. Grak's lantern danced ahead of them, its light casting their long shadows on the walls like monsters. The atmosphere was so heavy that Aarav felt like he was breathing thick syrup instead of air. He tried to shake the image of Rohan's lifeless eyes from his mind, but the shadow was still there.
"Are you okay?" Liora whispered softly in his ear. Her face was full of concern.
Aarav looked at her. In the yellow light of the lantern, the worry in Liora's eyes gave him a strange sense of comfort. Knowing that someone in this darkness cared about him boosted his courage.
"I'm not okay," he answered honestly. "But I'm not going to stop."
Liora gave a small nod, her eyes full of understanding.
"Quiet!"
Kael's voice cut through the silence like a knife. Everyone froze. Kael's entire body was tense, his head tilted slightly, as if he were trying to hear something.
Everyone held their breath.
"What is it?" Mara whispered.
"...Nothing," Kael said after a few moments. "Probably just the pipes. But stay alert."
They moved on. After walking for about twenty minutes, they reached a dead end. A huge, round, iron door stood before them, like one from a bank vault. It was covered in rust.
"What is this?" Aarav asked.
"A pressure control gate," Grak said, tapping on the door. "In the old days, when the volcano was more active, they used this to control the steam pressure. It's been sealed for years."
"So now what? We go back?" Mara asked, a little frustration in her voice.
"There's no going back," Grak said, pointing to five different colored valves next to the door. "There's only one way to open it. We have to turn these valves in the right sequence to equalize the pressure. If we turn even one wrong valve, the whole system will overload, and this tunnel will fill with enough steam to boil us alive."
"And what is the 'right sequence'?" Liora asked nervously.
"That's the problem," Grak said, scratching his beard. "Only the old engineers knew the sequence. And they're all dead now."
Everyone stared at the puzzle. Above each valve, there was a strange symbol.
"Wait," Aarav stepped forward. He gestured for Grak to bring the lantern closer. "These symbols... they're not random."
He pointed to an old pressure gauge on the wall. "Look. Each symbol represents a metal. Copper, Iron, Brass, Silver, and Gold. And the same symbols are on the gauge."
"So?" Mara asked.
"So it's not a sequence puzzle, it's a balancing act," Aarav explained. His mind was now working quickly, just like when he solved difficult physics problems. "We have to open them based on the thermal conductivity of the metals. From lowest to highest. We're not trying to release the pressure; we're trying to *balance* it."
Grak looked at Aarav in surprise. "The boy's got a brain."
"So what's the order?" Kael asked directly.
"Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass... and finally, Iron," Aarav said without hesitation.
"If you're wrong..." Grak warned.
"Then we all get boiled," Aarav finished for him. "But if we do nothing, we'll die anyway. We have to do this."
Grak looked into his eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. Let's bet on the boy."
One by one, they began to turn the valves. With each turn, a heavy *clunk* sound echoed, and the pipes trembled. The whole tunnel seemed to come alive.
Gold... Silver... Copper... Brass...
As Grak turned the final, iron valve, everything went silent for a moment.
And then, with a loud *KRRRR-AAAAANK*, the heavy, round door slowly began to open inwards.
"You did it!" Liora said happily, grabbing Aarav's hand.
But their joy didn't last long.
The sound the door made was as loud as a bomb blast.
"Quick!" Grak yelled. "Before someone gets here!"
They all rushed through the door. But it was too late. As the door closed behind them, they heard noises from the other end of the tunnel—the sound of metal boots and angry voices.
"Check over there! The noise came from here!"
They had escaped. But now, the enemy knew that someone had breached their territory.
In this new section, the lighting was a little better. Red emergency crystals were mounted on the walls, casting a bloody glow on everything.
"They'll be right behind us," Mara said. "We have to move fast."
They started running now. The sound of their boots mixed with the sounds of their enemies. It was a race.
Suddenly, Kael, who was running in the front, stopped dead. He raised his hand, signaling for everyone to halt.
Ahead, at a crossroads, stood three guards. They wore the black, faceless helmets of the Shadow Syndicate. They were standing with their backs to them, probably checking the path ahead.
It was impossible to sneak past them.
Kael looked at Mara and Grak. He gestured with his fingers. *One, two, three.* Three enemies.
Mara and Grak nodded.
Kael looked at Aarav and whispered. "Remember what I taught you. Balance."
Aarav gripped his wooden sword tightly. His heart was fluttering in his chest like a caged bird.
And then, Kael moved forward like a shadow.
His footsteps made no sound. Before the first guard could even realize what was happening, Kael was behind him. In an instant, the guard's neck twisted at an unnatural angle, and he fell without a sound.
The other two guards turned, but by then, Grak had descended on them like a mountain. His hammer crashed into one guard's chest, and his armor tore like paper.
The third guard, who looked like the newest recruit, panicked. He drew his sword and charged at Aarav, screaming.
Everything happened so fast. Aarav didn't have years of training like Kael. He only had a few weeks of hard work.
He didn't block the guard's sword with his wooden one. He knew it would break. Instead, he sidestepped, just as Kael had taught him. The guard's attack missed, and he stumbled forward.
But the guard quickly recovered and turned to strike again.
This time, Aarav didn't block the sword, he just redirected it with his own. There was a soft clink of metal against wood. He used the guard's own momentum to push him to the side.
The guard crashed right into a hot steam pipe on the wall.
He screamed in pain as his skin burned, and he dropped his sword. Before he could do anything else, Mara struck him from behind, and he fell unconscious.
The fight was over. In less than five seconds.
"Not bad," Kael said, and for Aarav, it was better than any medal.
"We need to move," Mara said, "Get these bodies out of the way!"
As Grak was dragging one of the bodies, a small, rolled-up piece of paper fell out of its pocket.
Liora picked it up. "What's this?"
She unrolled it. It was a map of the tunnels. But it had something that Grak's map didn't. A new path, leading to a room right below the Heart-Forge. And there was something written on it.
Kael took it from her hand and read it in the red light.
"Work is proceeding quickly. Secondary conduit is almost ready. Prepare to divert power from the Heart-Forge. The Master's influence grows with every cycle."
They all looked at each other. A new wave of cold fear washed over them.
"What... what does this mean?" Aarav asked.
"It means our enemy isn't just trying to stop us," Mara said in a grave voice. "He's trying to steal the power of this place. He's trying to steal its very heart."
Their mission was no longer just about fixing their compass.
It had now become a battle to save the heart of Iron Reef itself.