Side passageways were anything and everything. Right now the passageway they had gotten in to lead to a small round room attached to multiple other passageways. Unfortunately two of them had already collapsed and would need care and time to fix enough to investigate. The other passages were different.

Two more didn't have an air flow so Walker warned everyone that there was no chance that they could make it through. Even if there was a door or something, he felt that the air wasn't moving at all, proving that it had collapsed somewhere down the line and it wasn't just a closed door. The others that he had noticed due to the rats were smaller rooms since one had shown them fight to what was once a rat nest but only had bits of metal and used shards of mana crystals. another , he was starting to look at now since this small room might have something interesting attached.

"I would guess this is used for mostly storage. That's why the oil fur rats have so many nests here." He sighed and watched at Midnight defeating another of the small pests while the light from Alice's song purified the residue left on her clawed hands. "But this next is larger…" He trial doffed while he used some of the light mana and also used his white purifying flames skill.

While it was a skill better suited for undead, Alice could change that by making the light mana mixing with his fire mana in to an overall purifying effect. This was more about the ambient mana around him rather than her manipulation of the light mana itself. Regardless, the oily black goo and decaying scraps started to be burned to dust leaving a larger piece of metal.

'Copper rune rod

This is a copper rod with various runes carved in to it. Surprisingly resistant to manas due to the method of forging and the layered rune carving, this is a key and also a centerpiece for multiple rune formations. The ancient angel race had trouble memorizing and identifying every single rune after several layers were created to identify a formation. This excessive layering caused many issues and to interact safely this pool was also used.

The resistance of mana by this copper rune rod allowed for some formations to be halted for a moment while adjusted. Others would activate beneath whatever layer was being adjusted. However, as a key, this also allows access in to control areas with higher rune formation security. For some rune carvers, being handed one of these rods was considered the greatest honor since they would be working on the most important aspects of their home…'

"So the angels of today and the ancient angels had this difference. I never heard anything about how the angels needed to use copper rune rods as keys or to activate any of the runes in the currently working floating cities." Su was looking at Walker for an answer.

"I would assume all of the copper rune rods would be inserted and the angels wouldn't remove them because they don't know how to utilize them properly any more. They lost a lot of their important knowledge while fighting. Everyone nowadays researching their own city would see the rods as anchors rather than keys or tools. I would think that too without taking thee time to analyze everything more carefully. I don't even know if my appraisal would tell me it was a copper rune rod if it was mixed in to the center of multiple layers of rune formations."

"This does explain some things though. It tells me why there are so many issues with the floating cities and the repair rates. There are too many rune formations layered on top. If even the ancient angels got themselves in to problems memorizing it all, how can our people make sense of it? They could be finding different runes and mixing layers up. Or they could just be looking at a mess of ropes all tied together without any sense."

He sighed loudly as he understood the issues that they would face. Even if they started to change the layers of the rune formation in the functioning floating cities, they were not forced to deal with the fact that those floating cities might not be able to be properly repaired. It was a flawed system from the start.

The ancient angels were geniuses in carving runes. However, they had done so over the top of other rune formations as they advanced. They hadn't replaced or repaired the materials, just added another layer over and over. And while layering some formations could strengthen equipment, it might not be the best decision for every single aspect of a city carrying its people.

"So the city can't be rebuilt? No, the two cities will fall?" Su and Alice had both spoken at the same time realizing that Walker might be warning them of something even worse than they had expected.

"I think the two cities need to be grounded to be repaired safely now. I just need the research from everyone here to prove it so that everything can be done safely. But if we can break down which layers and formations are responsible for spreading and countersign the natural gravitational effects of the stone and everything, we might be able to make the islands and use the same ideas we work with on the floating ships for small greenhouse islands and maybe small village and town islands."

It was hard to theorize now. Walker could tell there was a lot he had just learned but even more he didn't even scratch the surface of. "I think we need to consider that the researchers will be busy for even longer and might be better adapting and testing what we know now as they learn what used to be." This seemed to be the most efficient way to Walker. It would allow for them to alter things as they studied and understood certain smaller aspects of the ancient rune formations and layering techniques.

"It sounds like it will be a frustrating puzzle. I prefer helping to heal people than this." Alice had an expression that told everyone the runes were just a mess of lines and mystery to her. To be fair, she had a focus on the body and how to heal it safely and quickly. To her, the rune formations were some crazy form of art that she couldn't use but would enjoy having if it was on equipment that enhanced her natural abilities.

"That's more or less what they are doing. The ancient angel race messed up by rushing their rune formation. They put everything right on top of one thing or another. Yes they were in battle or war constantly, but they left problems for their descendants." Since Su was judging the ancient angels, it was hard to argue against her. She gave them credit for what they had managed at the time, but now with more information and insight about the state of the rune formations at the time and now, it was clear that there was a lot of oversight in terms of designs and functionality.

"For now, we can take the copper rune rod and bring it with us. Some of the doors are still properly working. We might even be able to use this to get closer to the central rooms for controlling this fallen city." Walker was also using more of his mana sense now. He was also utilizing his eternal codex and a small mapping orb to enhance the speed of mapping the dead ends and following toward where he knew more mana was gathered.

While everyone might believe that mana has been dissipated enough in these ruins to keep everything dark and dim in terms of functionality, Walker had sharper mana senses than just about anyone. Meaning he could follow along enough toward the smallest bits of residual mana that might have been places fueling the entire city when it had once floated.

This was also taking in to terms the fact that some of the rune formations had been to direct and gather mana. Meaning that his mana he let free roam around the passageways was also swept up by the few active rune formations and brought toward the same locations. He could feel small crystals and orbs trapping mana in the walls, they were small and not worth looking in to. It was the larger presence he followed that made him more curious.

"It smells wrong." Everyone took the time to smell the air and understood what Midnight meant. The air felt damp and heavy. It also prickled their noses making it feel like the air had something toxic in it. With alice's skills they could safely travel here, but anyone else might be in trouble.

.…

….

….

Please say no to piracy! Don't take part in crime! Don't patronize thieves!

Repent now and go here, http://wbnv.in/a/ccfhAus

Drop those golden tickets!