Thor followed Shaquille into the underground level of the Academy of Practice.
Beneath both the Academy of Practice and the Academy of Knowledge were conduits extending from the Mechanical Heart.
In fact, several of Sky City's most important areas were connected to the Mechanical Heart.
These areas also had passageways leading into the Mechanical Heart, but most of the time, those passageways were sealed. Ophelia entered only through a spatial transfer array, minimizing wear and tear on the Mechanical Heart.
But the spatial transfer array that had once been in White Glaze Castle had disappeared. Spatial arrays produced almost no Magic Power fluctuations when not in use, so no one knew where Ophelia had moved the external array.
That left Thor with no choice but to try entering the Mechanical Heart through one of the connecting conduits.
Following Shaquille's directions, he found a conduit hidden among the other vents, then sent his Fate Line inside first.
The passage was hollow, and the conduits that twisted and folded within it had no effect on the Fate Line.
But after it had descended to a certain depth, the air grew hazy and viscous, as if the conduit were filled with steam.
Thor's Fate Line continued deeper.
The walls of the conduit grew blurry and rough, covered in desiccated fragments.
They seemed to be the remains of some creature, but they were too small to identify with the naked eye.
There was no way to tell whether they belonged to the low-rank Wizards sacrificed to nourish Sky City, either.
Thor's Mental Power continued downward without meeting the slightest resistance.
Then things that were half liquid and half solid began to appear inside the conduit. The unidentified substance had almost merged with the conduit, gently swelling and contracting at the steady rhythm of a