Chapter 11 - Foremans Fury

The construct closest to him was less than ten metres away. Barrier in one hand and his projectile rune in the other, Nate leaned around the corner, took aim, and started feeding mana to the projectile rune through his core. Focusing on his Runic Intent skill, he changed the speed and chose the direction he wanted the projectile to release. Counting out the seconds in his head he got to five before the rune was charged enough to fire. The ensuing piece of earth looked like a piece of rounded stone, like a ball the size of his fist. It shot out of the rune with the speed of a thrown tennis ball which impressed Nate given it probably weighed forty to fifty times as much.

The resulting impact as it blasted into the constructs leg echoed through the entire production room. Instantly all the constructs began to turn towards Nate, their fingers flexing as they reached for tools on their benches. Hammers and picks mostly from what he could see. That might make this a bit easier if they didn’t have runes to fire earthen projectiles at him. The thought crossed his mind as he surveyed the damage he’d done to the construct. Its leg was still attached but it was clearly hanging on by a thread as the thing struggled to balance.

Keeping his aim on it he began charging another projectile as the constructs began to move towards him. Five seconds later a second collision sent another burst of sound through the room. The construct proceeded to topple over and fall to the ground. Nate was about to crow in victory when the larger construct at the end of the room turned and began walking towards him.

He felt a wave of fear pass through him at the speed it moved. It might not be able to match him at a sprint, but it was definitely close to a jog. Worse, he could see that while it had something like four fingers on one hand, the other ended in a cannon-like opening. He would bet a gold bar that the thing had runes in there. As it passed the halfway mark of the room Nate tried Identification on it for the second time.

Earthen Runeworker Mana Construct: Level 20
Identification – Runic Level 3 > 4

Debating whether to stay or run he quickly decided that if this thing intended to give chase it was better if he fought it on its own.

Turning and sprinting back down the corridor he kept glancing back. Doing so saved him as he saw the Runeworker round the corner and raise its cannon arm in his direction. Swinging his left arm behind him he put his barrier between himself and the cannon as light bloomed in its cavity a second before a beam of white hot fire shot at him. Nate felt the barrier begin to fail almost instantly and desperately poured mana into it to keep it up from dissapating. It was a losing battle and Nate threw himself to the ground in a roll as the beam of fire shot over his head.

He wasn’t sure but he thought he could smell burnt hair. As the construct lowered its arm the beam vanished, and Nate breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing back as he got up, he could see the cannon arm was super-heated around the end, glowing red in the dim corridor. Even as he watched, the red hot glow was fading, the heat leaving the stone. Nate bet that the moment it had cooled enough it would fire again and so resumed his sprint for the antechamber.

Nate’s mind worked rapidly, his enhanced intellect working through possible plans and options. He could run to the forest but that posed the problem of some of the boars interfering in the battle. That ignored the fact that the constructs fire beam would easily burn through trees and while it did offer options for breaking line of sight it didn’t really give him cover. The benefit was that it was wide and open and far enough away from the other constructs that there was no way they would catch up before the battle was decided one way or the other.

The lake could work but posed the same problems with the boars and Nate doubted he could lure the construct into the water. That was ignoring the giant crustacean living in the lake which could be as dangerous to Nate as to the construct. That left one option.

The antechamber had everything Nate needed. The pillars were stone and could break line of sight giving him cover beyond just his barrier which could clearly not compete with the firepower of the fire beam cannon. Griping to himself, Nate spoke out loud for the first time that day “Never have enough stats. I bet if I had a higher Channelling Speed I could match the mana required to keep my barrier up.”

Sprinting into the antechamber Nate turned at the door and stepped to the side, aiming his projectile rune back down the hallway as the Runeworker construct jogged in pursuit, its cannon arm almost completely cooled if the lack of red in the darkness was anything to go by. The stone projectile launched down the hallway but Nate's aim was off on the moving target, blasting it in the upper part of its chest instead of at a joint. The stone barely even slowed the thing down and Nate felt another wave of fear pass through him coupled with adrenaline. He was going to have to get closer or pray that this thing ran out of mana.

Seeing that it was almost to the antechamber Nate turned and ran back over behind one of the pillars and started charging up another projectile. As the construct entered the room it turned its head back and forth, clearly trying to detect him. It noticed him the same time as his rune finished charging, another piece of solid earth blasting into it with a loud crack. Nate's aim was better this close to his opponent, and it rocked the constructs head back.

In response the construct raised its cannon and Nate quickly ducked behind the pillar. The heat washed over him even from the other side as Nate fed whatever mana he could manage from the mana gem in his pocket into his barrier rune, restoring it to full strength. It might only hold for a second but that second could save his life or at the very least a limb. He knew he had no way to heal himself so any injury he took could be the end of him.

As the fire beam ceased and heat dimmed Nate stepped out from behind the pillar, launching another projectile he had been charging. Blasting the construct in the head seemed to have as little effect as the first time. He spotted the damage from the constructs cannon and could see it had carved a hole almost a third of the way through the pillar. That didn’t bode well for him. It meant that at best, Nate could use the pillars to defend against the beam a total of twelve times. Twelve times and so far he wasn’t even sure he’d scratched the thing. He got off another three projectiles as the cannon arm cooled and the construct pursued him around the antechamber. This was not working.

Nate's mind worked frantically as he tried to come up with another plan. His earthen projectile rune wasn’t going to cover it against this thing. At least not with only two Runic Intents working on it. That meant the only other weapon he had in his arsenal. The mana flow rune. But the Runeworker’s turning speed was too fast to dance with it up close like he had done with the regular mana constructs.

A plan formed in Nate’s mind, and he swallowed his fear. Ducking behind the next pillar as the construct raised its cannon arm, he began testing to make sure he could get the barrier rune to do what he wanted it to. It worked well enough, and Nate began charging the projectile rune. This is it. Make or break, Nate thought. As soon as he felt the heat decrease, he charged around the pillar towards the Runeworker. Just as he was about to reach it he released the projectile, blasting it in the head once more, rocking it back. As its head went back Nate doubled down, putting his barrier between him and the Runeworker before crashing into it.

The Runeworker toppled backwards as Nate fell on top of it, his face smashing into his own barrier from the other side. Tasting blood in his mouth Nate climbed to his feet as quickly as he could. Shoving his projectile rune into his hoodie pocket he pulled out a piece of charcoal. Keeping his barrier rune in his left hand he managed to draw half a circle on its abdomen before the Runeworker started trying to stand. Implementing the second part of his plan, Nate started modifying the Runic Intent he was applying to the barrier, changing its position from just in front of his hand to starting over a metre from the rune and back again. The second Intent was speed. The rate at which it moved from one position to the next. A notification flashed in the corner of his vision but he ignored it, focusing on the task at hand.

The force was enough to knock the Runeworker over again before it could get to his feet and he dashed forward, drawing more of the mana exclusion rune. Nate continued the sequence another three times before the Runeworker, while lying on the stone floor, raised its cannon towards him. Holding his barrier behind him he ran for the nearest pillar. The barrier held long enough for Nate to reach the stone monolith, noting as he dove past it that it was one that had already been burned by the cannon.

As the heat washed around the pillar and Nate refilled the barrier rune, he struggled for breath. All the stone being burned was giving him less oxygen to inhale and the heat was making it hard to breathe. With a dry mouth he felt the heat start to dissipate and glanced around the edge of the pillar, planning to charge the Runeworker again. What he saw sent a wave of hopelessness through him. The construct, using its superheated cannon arm, was removing the charcoal he’d manage to apply to its abdomen.

His thoughts ran wild. He was going to die here if he didn’t do something. He might have to risk the lake after all. Thinking through his options Nate’s eyes alighted on the pillar, now two thirds burned through. One last chance then, before he resorted to the suicide mission that was the lake. The pillar was clearly already unbalanced. The next one would be the last cannon beam it could take. He just had to make it fall in the right direction.

Waiting patiently, he kept circling the pillar, moving up and down the steps to keep the same pillar between himself and the Runeworker. As its arm finally cooled enough, it raised its cannon to aim at Nate again. Keeping the pillar once more between himself and the construct Nate began charging and firing earthen projectiles as quickly as he could, imbuing them with speed and direction as he fired at the top of the pillar.

With a groan the pillar began to teeter, and Nate stopped firing to run forward and lean against it. The stone was incredibly hot, and he could feel it partially melting his hoodie. As it began to rock back towards him he leaned back before throwing his weight at it as it rocked the other way. The lean this time was too much for it to maintain its precarious balance and it began to fall away from Nate as he jumped back, landing on his ass on one of the steps.

The ensuing crash as the pillar fell into the floor left Nate partially deaf and he shielded his eyes from all the dust in the air. The pillar had broken up on impact and the pieces rolled slightly across the floor before running out of momentum on the uneven stone tiles. In the corner of his eye Nate could see the flashing that indicated messages from The System. But he didn’t need the messages to know he’d won as he felt mana flowing into him. It did nothing for the slight burns on his hands and he looked down to survey the melted lines of his hoodie. It was all that had kept him from burning half his body.

Looking down Nate grimaced at the burned through pocket of his pants. Thankfully it hadn’t destroyed the pocket at the front of his hoodie, else Nate would’ve been down to one remaining pocket in his pants to carry all his ‘tools’. Walking over to the remains of what was once the Runeworker, he could feel his hearing returning. The Runeworker was now just a pile of red and yellow dust, much like the other constructs. Searching through its remains he quickly found a large tile, white in the shape of a diamond. Shoving it into his pocket he glanced over at the corridor. He could see the closest construct was already three quarters of the way down the corridor.

Nate flicked his eyes to The System message.

Accrued Mana applied to Primary Class.
Level up…
Level up…

Stats adjusted: +4 Dexterity, +2 Endurance, +4 Intellect, +4 Creativity, +2 Perception, +4 Mana Reserve, +10 Free Stats

Nate focused and applied all his Free Stats to Channelling Speed without a second thought. Standing up he brushed some dust and stone fragments out of his once blonde, now stained red hair. It was time to finish off this lot of constructs, and with his newly minted thirty intellect he had just the method.

Walking forward he extracted mana from the mana gem and flowed it into his barrier. It refilled twice as quickly, and Nate smiled. He hadn’t been sure, but he had suspected that doubling the stat would double the speed. Going from ten to twenty in Channelling Speed was going to let him shoot the earthen projectiles once every two seconds and the additional modification he could make with Runic Intent would let him add density to the speed and aim.

Raising the projectile rune, the fist-sized piece of stone blasted across the room two seconds later, right as the first construct exited the corridor. The rock hit it in the leg, blowing it clean off. The construct toppled over a moment later. Nate smiled in relief as he began to methodically pick off each of the constructs until they were all rolling on the ground unable to stand, missing at least one leg and arm each they looked like misshapen crabs as they struggled to stand.

He wasn’t sure he could’ve done this if they’d been living things. It was one thing to kill for food, but quite another to see things alive and scrabbling fruitlessly. But they weren’t. They were machines. Machines made of stone and mana that had tried to kill him. Those were his thoughts as he moved from one construct to the next, scribbling the mana flow rune onto their torsos. The stone was too thick to blast a hole in easily and get to the internal workings of them, so this was his best method of ending them.

As he moved through them he could feel the mana flowing into him. It felt like it was taking more and more mana to fill his core. Previously it had only taken two of the constructs to fill the ball in his chest where his Class lay. However, it took eight before he could see The System message pinging him in the corner of his vision. Is it diminishing returns for defeating the same enemy or does it take more and more mana to advance as I go up in level? He wondered. A while later, after he had finished drawing runes on the struggling constructs and the last of them had ceased moving, Nate finally gave his attention to The System message trying to get his attention.

Accrued Mana applied to Primary Class.
Level up…
Level up…

Stats adjusted: +4 Dexterity, +2 Endurance, +4 Intellect, +4 Creativity, +2 Perception, +4 Mana Reserve, +10 Free Stats

Runic Intent Level 1 > 2

Looking at his ten Free Stats he knew he should probably show patience, but he could just think of so many uses to having more Intents to work with and put four of his stats into Intelligence taking him to forty. With the remaining six he quickly invested four in Mana Absorption and the last two in Magic Control. Satisfied with his choices he glanced back to The System messages to see there was more this time than just levels.

You have completed a Dungeon challenge!
Dungeon: The Temple of Q’ival
Challenge: Defeat all enemies in the Mana Construct production facility.
Challenge (Special): Defeat all enemies in the Mana Construct production facility as a party of one.

As a reward for completing a Challenge (Special) all reward options are enhanced.

Challenge Rewards (Select One):
1. Power
2. Wealth
3. Assistance

Please select your reward.

Nate looked over the options in confusion. Seriously, that’s all the details I get? he thought.