The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family-Chapter 371: Straight Lines in a Crooked World (3)

—[Feral Ignis—Level 485]—

—[Feral Ignis—Level 482]—

—[Feral Ignis—Level 473]—

He saw them walk past the crate and ordered the Vorathid Sky-Hunters to lure the monsters as far away as possible.

Reidar waited 10 minutes after the last of the monsters' footsteps faded before allowing himself to move.

<Too close. Way too close.>

He stayed behind the crates for another ten minutes, listening. The plaza was silent except for the distant howl of wind outside, but at that point Reidar understood it was covering the noise made by the monsters.

Finally, he stood and looked around the space properly for the first time.

The plaza was massive—easily the size of an aircraft hangar. But that was not what really stood out to Reidar. No, it was something else.

<Human footprints!>

Reidar climbed out from the crates and approached the footprints, which led inside a warehouse. Kneeling beside the marks to examine them, before looking up into the dark abyss where monsters might be lurking.

<No, since the Vorathid Sky-Hunters made too much noise, I bet that every monster in the city is chasing them right now.>

However, he knew that distraction wasn't going to last for long because his summons were too weak compared to the monsters, which meant that even if he summoned an army, it wouldn't make a difference and might actually worsen the situation.

Besides, Reidar couldn't summon anything too massive since the risk of destroying the city was high, and if that happened, his only chance to find Mara would vanish. So, he went inside, reaching an area filled with crates, shelves, and…

<Chalk?>

Lines had been drawn on the ground in chalk.

The lines were precise and drawn with confidence, forming a pattern that, while similar to the teleportation circle he'd seen Mara use before, was more complex.

<This is without doubt a portal opening circle, which proves that Mara was here…>

The design incorporated conductor lines meant to guide mana flow and anchor points for stabilizing materials, alongside specific slots for catalysts, positions for power sources, and a central activation node.

However, the circle was incomplete because several of the conductor lines ended abruptly as if Mara had stopped mid-preparation; the anchor points remained empty with neither materials nor catalysts put in, and worst of all, there were scorch marks around the edges.

<So that was what the creatures were searching for. It was Mara! She was here; she made too much noise and wasn't even able to test the materials because of the Ignis!>

He stood and looked around the warehouse with new eyes. The empty shelves. The scattered equipment… But there were no salvageable materials here.

Mara had come here looking for what she needed: materials. But she found nothing of acceptable quality, most likely because of the monsters.

Besides, there wasn't much in this place anyway. If this was a military or industrial complex, it was the first target for anyone trying to survive.

<The warehouse had been stripped clean long ago, either by the original inhabitants fleeing the apocalypse or by something else.>

Reidar walked the perimeter of the failed circle to check the materials used, and he noticed the conductors turned out to be common while the anchor points were only fragments of low-grade bones.

<Since she needs better materials like purer conductors and stronger catalysts, if this industrial outpost didn't have them, I have to wonder where she would go next.>

He pulled up his map and marked the warehouse location, deducing that this city—the First City he had visited—was clearly a place where laborers lived and worked at some point, despite looking industrial or military.

<These guys didn't have the money to get better stuff, most likely.>

But if there was a city here, there had to be something else. Logic dictated there had to be a capital or a center of government where higher-quality materials would be stored.

<Ah… I get it.>

It was simple in hindsight because the best place to find those items would be a capital or a sanctuary where the Ignis survivors gathered after the apocalypse began.

This made perfect sense, as every civilization had a hierarchy; while workers lived in places like this, surrounded by functional but basic stuff, the elite lived elsewhere in structures built with the finest resources available.

If Mara wanted materials powerful enough for a world-opening portal, she'd need to find that place.

And so would Reidar.

<Let me see if she got some hints about where to go.>

But honestly speaking, if there had been a map here, what were the chances that she left it here to rot?

<No, most likely she brought it with her, just for the sake of not leaving anything behind in case I arrived here.>

Yet Reidar examined the warehouse more, looking for anything Mara might have left behind or overlooked. His eyes swept across the empty shelves, the scattered debris, the—

<Wait.>

There in the corner near where the failed circle sat was a stack of crates that looked different from the others. Cleaner. Less dusty.

Reidar approached to examine the crates, noting that they had been recently moved, opened, searched, and then stacked again.

When he pried one open, he found it partially empty because Mara had obviously taken what she could carry and left the rest.

Although most of the other crates were empty or had materials too heavy to transport without an inventory—which she lacked since she didn't have the System—one crate tucked in the back held something intriguing.

<A map? This doesn't make sense. Why would she leave it here?>

It was printed on a durable material that looked like plastic but felt like metal, displaying a regional layout with the First City marked as a small dot in the lower-left corner while three other locations were distinguished by larger symbols, presumably cities based on their size and prominence.

One label was written in a script Reidar couldn't read, but the System interface quickly provided a translation overlay.

[Vor'kthia Industrial Nexus]

[Zhen'daar Administrative Spire]

[Kael'seth Research Sanctum]

<What names are these? Well, the naming sense must have been different. Strangely enough, the weapons are not too different from human ones. I guess war is kind of universal.>

Regardless, these were three targets. Three places where better materials might exist.

Reidar folded the map and stored it in his inventory. This was exactly what he needed. Mara would be heading to one of these locations, and now he had the same information she did.

The question was which one she'd chosen and, most importantly, why she didn't take the map?

But then he understood why.

It looked like Reidar wasn't alone in that warehouse, as he had hoped.