Chapter 440 - Arrival at the destination

Looking at these two, I take a step and grab one of my manabloc chairs. Lately, I have been testing longer-lasting mana constructs and quite successfully. The chair still holds strong even after a few days.

There are just small pieces missing on the legs. As if something took a few snake-mouth sized bites.

I plop into the chair, cross my legs, and look at the duo. What should I do with them? I promised Tess to hold her promise but I could probably beat them up a bit. The way they act somehow pisses me off.

“Who is that prisoner?” Tess asks instead, and I decide to just lean back and listen.

Meanwhile, I connect to the anchor I left in the core and send bits of my mana into it. I was able to connect the anchor with some controls, but it's an extremely weak connection even after hours I spent on it. Just enough for me to take care of some less important stuff.

“It's a thylarin Champion they threw here. We used to be candidates to become his disciples so he will recognize us.”

“You surely realize that it will be better to keep us alive,” his brother joins in.

They both have very similar voices, and even their bearing is similar. I can also sense they have a bit of mana. It somehow replenished slightly during the time they are here.

There is no way they are able to ignore whatever makes us unable to regenerate mana here. If it's true and it all serves to trap the Champion, what chance would I or these two have to ignore it?

“I think you overestimate yourself and the Champion as well. He is most likely left here without any mana and unable to restore it and unable to leave for some reason,” Tess doesn't let them just go away with it.

“That much is true, but our intention is to leave this moon, and people like that Champion might be our only choice. Surely such a person wouldn't be unthankful if...”

“What is he here for?” Tess interrupts him without a blink.

“He is here just because he got too much into experimentation.” Dravos waves it off.

“Imprisoning people for their desire to gain knowledge shouldn't be the punishment. But why do you care, lightning human? You are here as well for a reason, the same goes for your group and crazed human over there.” Drekar points at me.

“I did nothing,” I defend myself.

“Sure, none of us did, crazy human, we just were all unlucky. So to skip the chase, what do you say lightning human? The place where the Champion is imprisoned is hidden but we know the way.”

Drekar points towards where the storm is coming from, “Going inside will allow us to outlast that storm but we need to get there before it reaches us.”

That part he says louder than the ones before. The intention of it all clear. He just wants to make sure as many passengers can hear it as possible to put pressure on us if needed.

Well, that’s kind of pointless. I would rather throw all the passengers one after another into that white sand than let them decide my fate.

“So what was the plan? Shortly.” I ask.

“We befriended that one guide.”

“The one you killed, crazy human, he was a nice guy we met in Last Rest.”

“He also had that interesting monster from Mana Desert as his pet. Cute but deadly thing.”

“You could say it all came together. Him and us meeting…”

They continue to talk, one filling for the other while keeping the same bearing they had before. The duo also seem to be a bit twisted in their heads.

“The guide, the same as us, was always intrigued by the secrets of Mana Desert and rumors about the trapped Champion. You could say he was obsessed with it.”

“He was a bit crazy, but a fine guy, he paid for the drinks once, do you remember brother?”

“Yes, he did. So we found the coordinates. A message in a bottle thrown into the world by that Champion.”

“He was always a smart guy. A terrifying guy.”

“He was indeed. The finest Champion. He is also trapped there for a hundred years, enough time to start corroding the locks of his prison. The pet of our guide friend was one of the proofs.” Dravos gestures at the corpse of the monster, “each monster from the area where he is seems to have coordinates hidden in their bodies.”

"A message in a bottle."

“What a monster, that guy.”

“Indeed, brother. What a monster.”

“If he could get out of the solitary confinement, how difficult would it be for him to get out of this Prison given enough time?”

“Just the knowledge he possesses. The possibility of us becoming his disciples, the possibility of being declared Champion Candidates. Oh, crazed human, I believe you understand.”

And I do, maybe even more than they would expect. But I stay quiet, gesturing at the talkative brothers to continue.

“Brother, I think he understands, even if he doesn't say anything. Maybe we made a mistake, we could have befriended crazy human as well. It would have made things easier.”

“It's too late now, but let us continue. We killed the guides who gradually came to notice we messed with navigation. They weren't willing to cooperate. They were weak and lazy.”

“Some people from the central region are also like that. Too used to their comfy spots after years here and unwilling to try to escape their cage.”

“Pathetic.”

“Yes, pathetic.”

“So the SDAT heads towards the prison cell. The storm is something we didn't expect, but such is fate. Nothing is ever perfect.”

That's when Tess interrupts again, “You seemed to be able to go there on your own, why did you point the SDAT there?”

Dravos smiles, “Extra mana reserves, lightning human. Mana batteries on people, mana in their bodies. Something the Champion would surely be able to use, as you can imagine.”

“And fodder against the monsters, traps and defenses we might encounter.”

“We also know some interesting inscriptions that could help but that require… sacrifices.” He says, unbothered by people the around him who would have been these sacrifices.

“Well, I think that's pretty much enough.” I use a bit of mana to create a barrier around them making it opaque and soundproof.

Turning to Tess, “So…”

“You want to go to that place and to see the Champion,” grabbing one of the manabloc chairs she sits on it.

“It's not like we can change the direction where we are heading. Do we even want to with the storm approaching?”

“Okay, so how about we skip visiting the guy who could kill us all as if it's nothing. Wait out the storm and then head to the central region?” I can almost hear the frustration from Sophie’s voice.

“Not enough mana.”

“Are you sure, Nat, there is no way for us to have enough mana to return after the storm?” Tess’s eyes pierce through me.

“Okay, there might be a small chance.” I acknowledge.

I won't say it in front of others, but I think I could abuse my unique passive to get enough mana for us to reach the central region. There is also the option of modifying the shiptrain flying thing, such as putting all people on deck and turning off defenses everywhere else. Or even getting rid of other passengers and using just a small part of the ship where we would need defenses.

“Famir, can you take others out and share the information we just got? I want to talk to my group,” Tess turns to the guy with the concentration skill and black chainmail.

“Ten minutes and then we bring others in to talk about what we will do?” he asks.

“Sure.”

With a nod, he then leaves, and even though complaining, the room clears out, leaving only group 4 inside and two thylarin confined in my barrier.

“How much mana do you have?”

“I was storing it over two weeks so quite a bit, but I'm already using bits of it to feed Deathtrap. Even as we are talking, I do it. The wind already started hitting us, and it sends more sand into the air that also crashes against the field. If it becomes much worse, it should be enough for a few days at most.”

“And your passive?”

“You know how it works, right? I told you already. Do you want to beat me up that much?”

“It said something about external force, right?”

Just in case, I read the description again.

Mana-Kinetic Conversion Reservoir (Unique Epic) - The user's body passively channels mana from the reservoir into their kinetic responses, creating a feedback loop that adapts to physical impacts or nearby bursts of kinetic energy. When struck or near a powerful source of it, their body can absorb the kinetic energy and store it as mana.

“It says that, but I didn't get it to work yet. If it activated during the thunderstorm, it could end up badly for all of us without the field of Deathtrap.”

“Well, in the worst case, we will be beating you for a few days.” Maya smiles.

Tsk. I knew she still holds against me the way I treated her during the 1st floor. I bet she would love to “help out” with my passive that way.

“With the amount of mana we need, you would need to beat me for weeks. Sorry to disappoint.”

Actually, that might not be disappointing for them.

“Could that prisoner really help? If we shared mana with him?” turning away from my barrier he was examining, Min-Jae looks at me.

Sophie answers instead, “Are we sure we want to be left at his mercy?”

I can see that Tess, the same as everyone else, is in deep thought. She also plays with her own hair, the finger coiling it around it before letting go and then doing it again. She always did that, the same is with her absent-minded expression when she is seriously pondering about something.

In the end, she stands up, coming up with a decision, “We don't have many options. We will survive the storm first. We can't dodge it so we will let Deathtrap land at the palace where the Champion is. Then we will try to gain a bit more information to think it over before we decide if we want to make contact with the guy.”

“Got it. I will head to the backup core.” Leaving the rest to them, I take my mana back from the barrier and leave the room.

***

Thirty minutes pass as I get deeper into the control systems of Deathtrap, the guide helping me as much as he can without going kaboom. All while the horizon becomes darker, and more sand keeps crashing against the ship. White grains of sand hitting the field and the metal plates.

At another time, it could look pretty, but I know how deadly they can be.

A few parts of the ship are evacuated and I redirect the reserves into other parts where the passengers group with the help of the guide who is in control of mana. Then I add more of it into the engines as we fight to reach that place sooner than the storm hits us.

The other guide who is in charge of defenses barely has any time, constantly locked in his own control room to keep the field active.

As the edge of the storm hits us and starts shaking the ship, I can only keep the defenses and engines supplied. I even send some of my mana in addition to the amount contained in the core.

The guide in charge of defenses sets them to their maximum, mentioning something about that we won't be able to survive if the storm hits us at its full force. He says it through the communication the control panel offers. A worse version of what Sophie can do.

As the ship tilts even more, the rust keeps falling off its metal walls. It tilts noticeably and the creaking is akin to someone squeezing an empty can.

Then the guide in control of defenses dies.

His last scream was recorded into the control panel connection, his guards most likely meeting the same fate as the man.

The guess of a reason for his death comes to my mind, and I can't help but chuckle. This surprises the Vyssari who is still in the room with me, along with a few of his men - the same number of guards that the now-dead guide had.

Deathtrap then nosedives, the people and furniture in the rooms flying all over the place. Creaking increases and the storm raging outside is now much more audible and the sky dark, but also a light shines through by trillions of grains of white sand reflecting the light.

Like a waterfall, sand washes over Deathtrap and then even that little light disappears, replaced by pure darkness.

Darkness and quiet.

The sounds of the storm disappears as if it never existed and then Deathtrap hits the ground, its metal plates screeching against the rock covering it until it crashes again against something, coming to a full stop.

Then the engines turn off, the vibrations and sound of them that were so ever-present wane off replaced by silence while Deathtrap creaks deafeningly and tilts over, falling to its side with a loud thump that shakes its entirety.

All movement stops.

We have arrived at our destination.

***

Next Chapter