15 Rabi Desert
On the next day, in the middle of the city streets, Alex could be seen wearing all black clothing and a cloak that covered his face, with a Erica wrapped around his arm.
He had come to the market with Lexi, who was dressed similarly to hide her face while exploring the market and introducing Erica to human settlements.
While this type of outfit may have raised suspicion in other countries, many adventurers in Sandora followed a similar attire to conceal their identities, especially women, due to the power held by slave traders in the area.
Beautiful girls were particularly vulnerable to enslavement, so they took extra precautions to remain anonymous.
Alex, who was handsome and physically imposing, also needed to wear this attire to avoid the attention of slave traders, who could cause him unnecessary trouble.
As they made their way through the streets, Erica, who was coiled around Alex's hand, couldn't help but express her thoughts through their telepathic link. "Such a depressing atmosphere," she murmured.
Alex had to agree. Despite the throngs of people in the streets, there was a palpable sense of despair.
Finally, they arrived at the adventurers guild. Upon entering, Alex and Lexi went straight to the quest board, where they perused the available tasks.
The guild offered a variety of quests, including monster subjugation, guarding, escorting traders and merchants, and catching thieves.
After some consideration, Alex decided to take on a monster subjugation quest that would give him enough experience to rank up from purple to green.
Lexi, who was already a blue-ranking adventurer, didn't find any quests that interested her, so she opted to accompany Alex on his mission.
***
(Rabi Desert)
Burst forth, Fire! Crimson Eruption: [Explosion]
shouted Lexi as she unleashed her spell. The ground shook and a deafening 'BOOM' echoed through the desert as an explosion erupted from the chant.
Standing on top of a sand dune, Lexi gazed down at the large crater her spell had created. All around it, burnt flesh and blood stained the sand.
Alex, who had been hunting for golden camels to sell their meat, looked at the giant crater with dissatisfaction. "God, can't you go easy on it? We could have earned so much if we sold its carcass."
Lexi apologized, "Sorry, it was just really disgusting to look at, so I didn't think about it." She shuddered at the memory of the grotesque worm-like monster she had just killed.
Chuckling, Alex surveyed the surroundings. He had used his enchanted smartphone to search for the location of the golden camels and had teleported to the spot using a teleportation spell after memorizing the coordinates.
However, the worm-like beast had suddenly appeared near their location, prompting Lexi to blow it up in a burst of flames.
As Alex surveyed the surroundings, he noticed a rocky structure protruding from the ground. "What's that?" he muttered, gazing at the structure that was buried in the middle of the desert. He walked towards the area, and Lexi and Erica followed him.
Lexi, with stars in her eyes, asked, "What is this? Is this a hidden ruin?"
"Maybe," Alex replied, hearing the phrase "hidden ruin" causing his mind to recall a certain event in the novel.
As Lexi became excited and began to chant the wind spell, invoking magic to clear the sand and expose the ruins.
"The ruin to Babylon's workshop...."
Alex finally remembered the events of the novel where Touya discovered the second ruin of Babylon.
The tornado sucked up all the sand, whirling it into the skies, revealing a considerably huge dome made of stone or concrete. The ruin had a single door-like structure as its entrance.
As Lexi examined the ruin by touching the gate, Alex walked towards the door, put his hands on it, and passed through the gate.
"Alex?!" Lexi cried out in worry as she watched him disappear.
Alex found himself inside the ruins where the six pillars stood at the centre illuminated by a faint light.
Alex looked at the wall he had entered from and touched it. Unlike how he was able to enter he wasn't able to exit in the same way.
He tried invoking gate and teleport but all of it failed.
Finally he was able to come in contact with Erica through the telepathic link between them and send Lexi a message through her telling her not to be worried about him.
"Well.. now if I'm not wrong then this teleportation circle activates after I channel my magic filling it according to the elements"
Alex muttered to himself as he placed his hands on the middle stone and set forth his magic filling up all six pillars.
The teleportation circle lit up and Alex disappeared from the place he stood.
***
(Alex's POV)
As my vision cleared, I found myself inside a dome made of glass-like structures that offered a breathtaking view of the surrounding clouds amidst which the island floated.
As I walked down the path towards the giant pure white cube-like structure, a girl suddenly jumped in front of me, blocking my way.
"Stop right there, yessir!" She held up her right hand, halting me in my tracks. The girl had orange hair tied into buns on either side, neatly wrapped under chignon covers with ribbons trailing off them. Her fair skin and golden eyes were striking.
"Welcome to the Babylon Workshop. I am High Rosetta, the Terminal Gynoid tasked with managing this facility. I'm a nice enough guy, so I will be kind enough to allow you to call me Rosetta, Yessir"
