Chapter 7 – Keep Walking
With no sun, moon, or stars to measure time, Nolen relied on Romy's internal chronometers. Seven hours of rest — that was what his body needed to recover enough to move again. The ash-choked sky remained dim and unmoving, offering no hint of morning or night. Only the steady glow of the magma river provided a constant.
He stretched his arms, rolled his stiff shoulders, and cracked his back. His body felt marginally better — not healed, but functional. The nanites were doing their work.
He strapped on his shark-leather armor, fastened the improvised packs, and secured the Leiomano sword and axe.
"Anything interesting happen while I was out?" he asked.
Romy's voice flowed through the mental link, steady and attentive.
"As expected of a Guardian Intelligence, I monitored the environment while repairing my systems. No threats approached. The magma river remained calm."
"That's good. Think we'll be stuck here for a while?"
"Possibly. This world is still unfamiliar to us." Romy then paused as if she was processing something. "It is strange how much life exists here, plants, predators, insects, and all adapted to survive this level of heat and toxicity. It resembles the fantasy literature you enjoyed on Earth."
Nolen chuckled softly.
"Absolutely. Games and novels from Earth often feature places like this, fiery landscapes and volcanic regions. Even most creatures found by Solarai explorers don't typically develop in such harsh conditions; life tends to stick to familiar patterns. But what we see here feels more like something out of a fantasy story than real biology."
"An unexplored world," Romy agreed. "A first-contact scenario. This could be a significant discovery."
"More than that," Nolen said as he tightened the straps on his pack. "Imagine the resources. The minerals. The biological samples. The sheer value added to the Commonwealth."
Romy's tone sharpened.
"Glad you're still thinking of that, but focus, Nolen. Survival first. Commonwealth ambitions later. That is your priority until we return to Earth."
He lifted a brow. "Yes, I know. Survive now, glory later."
"Correct. Now let us begin another cycle of exploration."
"Let's go."
As they walked, Romy scanned the land, processing data and repairing corrupted subsystems.
"This region is volcanic," she reported. "Ash plains, magma rivers, sparse vegetation. Numerous organisms dwell within the molten flow — far more than expected."
Nolen nodded. "Good. I don't want to die from dehydration or suffocation out here. Put those at the top of the priority list."
"The world seems determined to kill anything unprepared," Romy agreed.
Nolen grunted at that.
Before the summoning, he had been a different being entirely.
He could fly and project energy. Superhuman strength, reflexes, and resilience.
A superhero among superheroes on earth— Dawnbringer.
Now? He couldn't fly. His strength was a fraction of normal. He was vulnerable.
His recovery would take months, maybe a year or even more, without an external assistance source.
For now, he relied on the tools his Solarai family provided him before he left home for his mission.
Nanites, a common technology among the Solarai people, passed down through the generations of noble families, passed down through the family, and Romy, the advanced Guardian Intelligence unit his mother entrusted to him before he went to Earth, along with his vessel. His most powerful tools… now crippled by the summoning.
And its other functions are locked behind Romy's disabled core systems.
"Well," Nolen said, adjusting his gear, "we got here somehow. Might as well explore. Maybe we'll find something useful to speed up recovery."
"A reasonable approach," Romy said. "Proceed."
Nolen exhaled slowly, then kept walking, boots sinking into the warm, ashen soil with each step.
The world was hostile.
But he moved forward anyway.