Chapter 478 - The pain... it’s unbearable.

After getting stomped by that demon, I remain sitting, replaying our fight and even take some notes onto the mana stone I have with me. Some of these things will be very useful for my minion.

While doing this, I reflect on our situation, trying to recall and visualize all those rivers of molten material in. There is a suspicion I have and if I'm right, there are big channels in the rock around us through which this molten river or rivers flow. I also have confirmed that some of them are thicker, others a bit smaller, and some even moving at different speeds. It’s still a mystery to me what actually makes them constantly move, but I think they are akin to inscriptions.

Molten material flows at high speeds, generating a field that merges with those from other channels moving at varying speeds, combining into a unique effect. The scale of such a formation would have to be massive, and I can't even fathom the effort required to create something like that so deep underground, at such a size, and to maintain it for what’s likely hundreds of years.

We’ve already walked for days, yet the number of rivers we’ve crossed has not decreased.

Such a fascinating theory. Knowing what to look for, I will try to check for it more.

Is it possible acid rivers are also a part of that, or maybe even veins of metals going through the rock?

(Nat,) Lily warns me.

(I know,) I send back and focus back on my surroundings, watching the Witch and Mais, also called Spinecrusher, moving closer.

With curiosity, I look at thylarin woman. Curious about how she decided and curious about what she wants with the likely prisoner she is communicating with.

The one to talk is Mais. “We will be splitting from the rest of the group and continuing deeper in a smaller group.”

While we talk, Lily is already standing by my side, and I notice the twins already back, standing a bit behind the duo.

Ignoring Mais, I turn to the Witch. “Is it the prisoner you are after?”

She doesn’t let any surprise show, nor does she even try to hide it. “You may say prisoner, but the being trapped down there is more than that—a great presence, suffering and confined for millennia.”

“And you will save it?”

“Whatever I want to do is my business, human,” she says with disdain. “Shall you and your healer go with us, I can promise there will be material rewards along the way. Enough to satisfy even the biggest greed. I do not care for any of these things.”

“Sounds good. When are we leaving?”

“Five minutes.” With the last look, she turns around and leaves with her bodyguard following her.

Little does she know I would head there even if she turned away and left back to the city. Even if there was no Containment Cell in the end.

***

We leave quickly, through the tunnel she creates, leaving the rest of the group behind. I’m sure most of them can get back the way we came. There are some people who can do similar things to the stone the Witch did, they just didn’t bother with her around. Or maybe they will try to move deeper to get more riches. It’s their life and their decision.

Our new group is only around twenty people. The Witch, Mais, and even Babyface are here, with multiple stronger members, some of them carrying interesting things in their backpacks.

I shrug a bit as Biscuit’s whiskers tickle me on my neck and put the corgi down. He sniffs towards where we are heading with such interest that he doesn’t even mind and keeps running by our side to keep up with our walking speed on his short legs.

As our group is much smaller now, the fights become more difficult. I was also wrong. The acid attacks don’t stop in exchange for more monsters attacking. We get both.

The most common are constant Rotlings, who now send half a dozen creatires at every single member. After killing them, the Witch has to block attempts to cave us in or for to pour the acid through the ceiling at us.

Sometimes they even combine multiple streams and try to fill the entire tunnel, forcing us to dig through the wall, thankful that the stone seems to be capable of resisting that green liquid.

One of the guys gets trapped behind us as the small river of acid washes over the wall the Witch uses to block the tunnel. There is no regret or pity on her face, just for a moment she stares toward the wall, her mana senses reaching through it.

When the man’s mana signature disappears, she turns around and we head in again where another group of Rotlings waits.

Lily rushes in first, her axe slashing in a big sweeping movement, cutting multiple monsters.

A few of them jump towards her, but the twins are already there, cutting into a few and easily dodging the monsters, which are terrible at seeing through their illusions.

I, meanwhile, move into one of the side tunnels and stand there, waiting.

Preemptively, I create a small crater in front of me, and soon after, a dozen or so Rotlings fill the tunnel, their legs piercing through the walls they use to climb on.

All of them freeze and stop moving. Some mid-air, others during their attack. Their tiny bodies fight against the hold I have on them, and more and more kinetic energy flows through me the more they try to move.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

I concentrate, and my heartbeat changes to a more erratic and unpredictable pattern as I swap stance to Needle Point, one of the stances I consider more difficult.

Moving kinetic energy as was shown to me so many times, I shoot the first projectile. It’s not perfectly smooth and is thicker than a finger, but it reaches the monster, and instead of piercing through its body, it hits its leg.

Using kinetic energy attacks like these at such a long distance still proves to be difficult. Arm’s reach, or even a few steps in from me is fine, its something I was capable of doing for a while. But at such long distance? Its not there yet, but it’s much better than just a few weeks ago.

“Still avoiding killing too many monsters?” Lily stops by my side, axe resting along her body, her movements still energized from the fight she just went through.

“Yup, want them?”

“Sure, why not.”

As she says so, I release the monsters, and after waiting a few seconds to minimize my assistance, Lily rushes at them.

***

An hour later, I think we are getting closer. The fights are more frequent, there are even smaller streams of molten metal rushing through the wall, and the Witch starts saving up more of her mana, as if there is a certain level stored in the crown she doesn’t want to go under.

Certain amount of mana she needs to do something.

The field surrounding us is growing stronger, and some of the weaker members struggle to use mana for their skills due to the disruption. It’s fascinating, as I’m certain this field isn’t even directed at us but is concentrated elsewhere. I gather this mostly from mapping the three-dimensional network of rivers and streams around us and examining the structure in my mind.

The inscriptions are fairly simple, so I can guess their purpose even without a complete picture. The power source behind all of this is a mystery to me, but then again, my passive skill’s mana reservoir is also stored who knows where, outside my body but connected to it. I can easily imagine someone doing something similar, actively concealing the power source in the same way.

Obviously, it annoys me that I’m unable to locate it.

“Nice eyes you have. Is it a trait?” Babyface, seeing he had no luck with getting Lily to join his group again, decides to bother me.

“Yes.”

“Look, I hope you don’t mind I talked to your healer and tried to get her to join my group,” he smiles, that act somehow making his face even more ugly.

“It’s fine. If she wants, she can join you.”

“Oh, how reasonable. The problem is that she doesn’t want to. Healers as powerful as her are very rare. To be honest, I’m surprised these mind manipulator dickheads didn’t snatch her yet, or some other powerful group. You guys must be quite new here.”

“Yes, just a few months.”

“I guess that’s why. What have you done to get thrown here?”

Continuing to examine the structure in my mind, I think for a moment before just shrugging and staying quiet.

“It’s fine, friend, you don’t have to tell me,” he smiles. The entire time, even though he comes off rough and like someone that would be impulsive or aggressive, he controls himself very well.

Izzy could probably be able to tell me his real feelings, but to me, he looks like a reasonable person currently. He talks with an easygoing voice, gestures in no threatening manner, and doesn’t even come close nor use too much mana to come off as aggressive.

Of course, I’ve already seen his behavior in fights and how he treats weaker members, so it’s a bit late to act like that.

Coming to the conclusion, I ask, “How much did Mais tell you about me?”

With amusement, I watch a flicker of hesitation before he masks it with a smile. “Sharp, aren’t you?”

I don’t even think something like that deserves a compliment, but I see it as yet another communication strategy. Everyone likes compliments, even if they’re empty.

His voice turns to a whisper. “Tell me, how the hell did you kill that guy? That maniac was someone even The Witch didn’t want to mess with.”

Annoyed with the exchange I tell him, “Not your problem. But there is one thing that annoys me.” I reduce my voice to a whisper and step closer. “My healer turned you down three times already, made it clear she’s not interested in joining your shitty group.So don’t bother her again, and don’t even give her a look I might not like. Got it, friend?”

I lower my voice even further. “I won’t even waste my time dealing with you myself—I’ll just ask her to get rid of you. Now screw off; I have work to do.”

“No problem. Sorry for bothering you… Nathaniel,” he says with a smile. Taking a few steps back while still facing me, he leaves.

Before continuing with my work, I think if it’s normal to have expeditions like we have and how much more different it feels when it’s Group 4 only and even if it was in Beyond with people from Earth only.

I would like to think it’s often the system that pushes these fakes, natives, to deal with attendees with the purpose of speeding up our growth, but I knew far too many people to think it’s just that.

Especially here within Astral Prison, which some prisoners call “the trashcan,” joking that it’s where people are thrown when no one wants to deal with them.

***

A day passes, and even I’m forced to fight, even though it’s as support only, keeping my assistance as low as possible and often just holding the waves of monsters from moving and releasing them one after another.

Most of the time, it’s Lily who takes them on then. When she clashes against the monsters she can’t cut, she uses the axe still the same, just the blade used as a hammer instead, squashing monsters against the ground with great force.

A few more guys die. One to acid, another to a cave-in, and a third one just gets pulled away to the tunnels full of Rotlings. I’m not trying to save my body mana, as it regenerates quickly enough to not have to use my Reservoir and help everywhere I can.

Pushing monsters away, crushing them against the wall, holding them with kinetic energy.

The entire time I have my eyes activated and my senses shooting into the area, and I have been doing so since the start. A constant wave after wave of my [Perception] shooting outward and me ready to teleport my group away.

Not even once have I underestimated the danger of this place, still remembering how dangerous Caius was, even crippled and imprisoned within the Mana Desert.

Lily fights well, the twins as well—often alone, without cooperating, using even this as practice. And Biscuit… well, he waits, rarely jumping in, saving his energy for something.

As for the rest of the group, The Witch constantly communicates with that presence I start sensing on my “radar,” her expression changing from that cold look to a look of hope, anger, sadness, and desperation. All in that twisted mix.

Mais keeps near her, the four swords he holds vibrating with kinetic energy, and his movement reminiscent of Pulser Stance.

Other than him, Babyface is the strongest, no longer bothering us and staying close to the mentioned duo, his face sometimes showing that weird expression so similar to the Witch's. It makes me wonder what originally brought him down here. Is it greed? A purpose similar to the Witch’s?

We stop by the small outpost, nestled against the wall with veins of metals going through it. The place is dark and eerily quiet, small streams of acid all over, and the air full of toxic vapor.

As far as I understand, this is the furthest any expedition ever got, never reaching this place before, dangers always stopping them, lack of mana, inexperience, but mostly the confusing layout sending them wandering for days under constant attacks. But this time, unlike in previous expeditions, the Witch is following the connection she has and leading us directly towards it.

The materials we find down here are well worth the effort. Metals up to arcane grade, pieces of amazing crystals capable of enduring the pressure of incredibly dense and power-hungry inscriptions.

There’s a huge smithy carved into the wall, with an anvil as big as a car in the center and a piston-style hammer above it, both made from material that partially reflects mana—so tough that even Lily can’t damage them with a weaker version of [Disintegration] as she tries sneakily.

Pieces of chains of golden color nearby are of similar material, but differently colored and with additional effects because of inscriptions somehow etched into them. These pieces of chains are massive, each piece as big as my torso and all are very heavy.

Everyone takes some materials from the storage, careful to make it valuable enough but still possible to carry, and when they are done, I step towards the anvil, activating [Ley Line].

The entirety of my body mana disappears, and the anvil as well.

A third of my Reservoir disappears, and the hammer with it.

Two remaining thirds of my Reservoir disappear, and pieces of golden chains too.

Using the bits of remaining mana, I touch a certain Ley Line, and within a flash, my [Mana Crown] appears over my head. The exact same design as the Witch’s, just a different color.

My mana seeps into my body, filling it, and then the reservoir as well, and I continue to send all the materials I can away, totally emptying the storage.

[Ley Line - lvl 38 > Ley Line - lvl 39]

My crown then disappears as well, returning back to float over the bust far away and I face the shocked members of the expedition.

***

POV The Witch

Impossible. The space here is too unstable for long-range teleportation, yet he managed it. Even after the activation, I couldn’t trace where he sent the materials.

And that crown too, it’s filled way more than I expected when I sensed that familiar skill on him.

(Underestimate humans, Melel, and they’ll surprise you. Always have.)

(I apologize.)

(No need. But please hurry. The pain... it’s unbearable.)

(I will. Forgive me.)

The voice, echoing like a distant memory of my mother, murmurs, (Use that human and the weapon he holds. It can free me.)

(As we planned. I’ve marked it. He’s still unaware.)

(You’ve always had a gift for this, my child. But beware of the small creature with him—don’t let it near me. Eliminate it if necessary.)

The pain surges again. Turning from Mais, I grit my teeth, fist clenched, waiting for the wave to pass.

(I'm sorry, dear Melel.)

(It’s fine. It’s my weakness for not being able to bear our connection.)

(Please hurry. It hurts.)

Her gentle voice fades into silence as I channel more mana to keep my body from fracturing, forcing myself into composure before turning back to give the next set of commands.

***

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