Kaito's joyous laughter faded, replaced by the heavy reality of the situation. The sun had returned, but it was only a temporary reprieve. He gazed up at the clear blue sky, which felt like a beautiful clock counting down to his inevitable doom.
"Alright, Auri. The fun is over," he said, his tone serious. "We need to leave."
Auri landed gently on his shoulder and chirped in agreement. Kaito closed his eyes, blocking out the vibrant world around him to concentrate. "LuminaDrive," he thought, focusing intently. "Show me the map. Show me Lumenreach."
A translucent map materialized in his mind, depicting the desolate landscape in three dimensions. A pulsating dot indicated their current location at the Day-Pyramid. Far to the east, a larger cluster of structures shimmered, labeled "LUMENREACH." A glowing path automatically traced across the map, winding through the ruins of cities and barren plains.
Kaito's heart sank as he zoomed in on the route. It was long—too long.
"This isn't happening," he grumbled, opening his eyes in disbelief. "That's at least a hundred kilometers. On foot, it'll take us two days at a minimum. We have no time for that."
He stared at the sun, already high in the sky. They had at most sixteen to eighteen hours of daylight left. It seemed impossible.
"We need to move faster," he told Auri, his mind racing. "We need a ride."
Following the glowing route in his mind, they set off. Up close, the world was even more breathtaking. Life flourished everywhere, with herds of elk-like Lumenkins featuring crystalline antlers grazing on glowing moss, and schools of fish-like creatures soaring through the air in dazzling formations. It was a vibrant, reborn world.
Yet it was also a ravaged one. They passed by the corroded remains of a massive sky-train, with its cars laid open as if crushed. They stepped through a crater where a building had once stood, the ground fused into glass. The Black Sprawl had shown no mercy.
As they progressed, Kaito noticed a creature catching his attention. It was a mole-like Lumenkin, its bioluminescent claws busily digging in the soil.
"Whoa, wait a minute," he said, halting. He concentrated on the creature. "LuminaDrive, analyze."
[SPECIES: BURROWEN]
[LEVEL: 8]
[TYPE: EARTH]
[HP: 95/95]
[STA: 60/60]
[STR: 22]
[AGI: 6]
[DEX: 8]
[END: 25]
[LUM: 8]
[COR: 3%]
Its statistics were impressive—a high-HP, high-strength tank that would be a valuable addition to his team. His immediate instinct was to set up a binding ritual and start looking for materials to create a lure. But then he paused, remembering.
"Damn it," he murmured, patting his empty pockets. "I need a Callstone." He only had one, which was now intrinsically linked to Auri. Without a new Callstone, capturing another Lumenkin was out of the question. He was a one-man team.
The frustration hit hard, but he pushed it aside. There was no time for that; he had to find a way to travel.
Continuing along the Sunway for another hour, they finally arrived at the remnants of a vast transport hub. Abandoned trains and odd, single-person vehicles lay in rusted heaps, most little more than scrap.
Then he spotted it. Hidden in a corner beneath a partially collapsed roof was a unique vehicle. It resembled a mechanical ostrich, with powerful legs and a sleek body. Its back boasted cracked yet mostly intact solar panels, with a faded logo that read "SUN-STRIDER."
Kaito's face lit up with a grin. "Hello, gorgeous."
He approached it cautiously. Time had not been kind; after years of neglect, it showed signs of decay. The tires were flat and worn, but the chassis appeared sturdy. Climbing into the single-person cockpit, he noted the controls were simple and almost intuitive: a throttle, a steering yoke, and a power gauge that, predictably, was dead.
"Alright, let's see what we can do," he muttered, opening a maintenance panel to reveal tangled wires and crystalline conduits. He traced the power line from the solar panels to the ignition, only to find a crucial component was fried—an important crystal fuse shattered into fragments.
He couldn't fix it with what he had. But he didn't need to. He had something even better.
"Auri," he called, "I need your assistance. Come here."
Auri hopped up onto the console, eyeing the chaotic mess of wires with curiosity.
"Can you see the red wire?" Kaito asked. "I need you to give it a tiny spark. Just a little one, okay?"
Auri chirped in affirmation. 'Small spark? Yes.'
She concentrated, and a tiny bead of light emerged from her beak, which she pressed against the red wire.
There was a fizz as the power gauge flickered back to life, rising from 0% to 5%. The solar panels were already channeling energy.
"Yes!" Kaito exclaimed, his excitement echoing in the deserted hub. "You're brilliant, you know that?"
He closed the maintenance panel and gripped the throttle. The engine hummed to life, a soft, electrical whir. The Sun-Strider lifted slightly on its hydraulic legs, primed for action.
He pulled up the LuminaDrive map one last time. The route to Lumenreach was clear. Glancing at the sun, which had started its slow descent toward the horizon, he knew they were in a race against time.
"Hold on tight," he instructed Auri.
Then he pushed the throttle forward. The Sun-Strider lurched and then leaped into motion, its long legs covering the ground quickly. They burst forth from the transport hub and onto the decaying streets, a solitary rider racing against the fading light.