They spent over an hour on the underside, walking the full length of the suspended pathway. The deeper they went, the more surreal it became.
At one section, the walkway passed through a hollow in the island's base where crystals grew in clusters, humming at a frequency that Aegon could feel in his chest.
Elara pressed her palm against one. "It's warm," she said, a little surprised.
"The guidebook said these crystals store ambient mana from the atmosphere. Decades of accumulation, and then it takes different forms depending on some Affinities and stuff."
She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you weren't theorizing today."
He threw his hands in the air. "That wasn't a theory. It's a fact. There's a difference, a big one."
"Sure there is."
They emerged back on the topside around midday, squinting against the sudden brightness. The sun was directly overhead now, and the settlement had grown busier. More tourists had arrived, and the market stalls were packed.
