Chương 162: The Dungeon Didn’t Respect Explosives

The demolition workers wasted no time once everyone confirmed the trapped expedition had retreated from the collapse. They unpacked the charges carefully, wedging each bundle between selected stones and reinforcing the placements with wooden braces. The arrangement looked crude compared with runic engineering, but Sieghart could see the logic. Rather than blasting the entire obstruction indiscriminately, the charges targeted several compressed sections where releasing pressure should loosen the surrounding rubble.

Morran remained close to the narrow communication gap while the final explosive was positioned, occasionally calling through the opening to confirm that Lysa and everyone else had moved far enough away. Sieghart kept Magic Vision active. Mana continued shifting throughout the surrounding stone. Most disturbances came from deeper passages, but several smaller concentrations had begun approaching their position again, following the vibration produced by workers hammering the charges into place. That was inconvenient.

"Done!" One demolition worker backed away from the rubble.

"Everyone clear!" The group immediately retreated down the passage while Morran remained behind beside the ignition line, crouching near the simple fuse assembly connected to several charges. Sieghart walked perhaps twenty meters before noticing movement inside the wall beside Morran. Three distortions. Fast.

"Morran." Morran turned. The wall exploded outward. A pale earthworm burst through loose stone directly beside him, followed by another smaller creature forcing itself through the same opening with its circular mouth already spreading wide. Morran jumped backward and reached for the short sword at his waist, though Sieghart could immediately tell he would not draw it before the first worm reached him. Two Wind Blades crossed the passage.

The first sliced vertically through the larger worm from mouth to tail, opening its body before both halves struck opposite sides of the tunnel. The second blade cut through the smaller creature immediately afterward, sending two twitching sections sliding across the ground beside Morran's boots. A third worm pushed through the damaged wall. Sieghart flicked another Wind Blade toward it. The creature separated before fully emerging. Morran looked between the corpses and the ignition line. Then toward Sieghart.

"Right." Sieghart walked back toward him while keeping Magic Vision focused on the walls. More movement remained nearby, though nothing appeared close enough to break through immediately. Leaving Morran alone beside several explosives suddenly seemed unnecessarily stupid. Sieghart crouched beside one severed worm and reached into the dark tissue near its center, searching until his fingers touched something hard beneath the muscle. He pulled free a muddy mana core roughly the size of a large marble.

Unlike corrupted cores, its coloration looked ordinary. Earthy brown mana circulated inside it in slow, dense currents. Sieghart pocketed the core. Morran noticed.

"You are going to collect those now?"

"Yeah."

"You're going to sell it?"

"Maybe." That was easier than explaining that Sieghart might eventually absorb it directly into his body to see whether an earthworm possessed anything interesting enough for the System to interpret. He looked toward the explosives again.

"I'll ignite them." Morran frowned.

"From here?"

"From farther away." Sieghart pointed down the tunnel.

"Move." Morran looked toward the fuse, then toward Sieghart's hands. Recognition appeared almost immediately.

"Fire Magic."

"Yes." Morran nodded and retreated without arguing, apparently deciding that letting the actual mage ignite explosives remotely was preferable to crouching beside them while more worms attacked through walls. Everyone gathered around the next bend in the tunnel, using thick stone as partial cover while Sieghart remained where he could still see the charges. He raised one hand. A tiny Fireball formed above his palm. Compared with his usual attacks, it looked almost insulting.

The sphere was barely larger than an apple, carrying only enough concentrated heat to ignite the exposed fuse without accidentally detonating everything immediately. Sieghart launched it. The Fireball crossed the passage and struck the ignition line. Flame spread instantly across the treated cord. Sieghart turned around.

"Ten seconds." Morran stared.

"You counted the fuse?"

"Just a guess." Morran's expression changed. Sieghart started walking faster.

"Probably ten." Everyone moved. Nine seconds later, the passage behind them erupted. The blast struck like a giant hammer. The entire tunnel trembled violently while dust exploded around the corner in a dense cloud, swallowing lantern light and carrying tiny fragments of stone through the air. Sieghart instinctively reinforced Protection across his body. Several miners covered their faces while Morran ducked behind one arm, coughing as the dust reached them despite the distance. The shockwave passed quickly.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The dust did not. For nearly a minute, nobody could see farther than several meters. Lantern flames became blurry yellow points while fine gray particles coated clothing, hair, armor, and exposed skin. Sieghart activated Breeze and pushed air slowly through the passage.

A stronger Wind spell could clear everything faster, but throwing dust directly into someone's lungs seemed like an inefficient method of improving visibility. Gradually, the cloud thinned. Everyone moved toward the collapse again. The explosion had definitely changed the obstruction. Several large stones had shifted inward while entire sections of packed rubble collapsed into newly created gaps, leaving jagged openings between the remaining blocks. Unfortunately, the passage was nowhere near open.

Sieghart stared at the result.

"That's it?" One demolition worker looked equally annoyed.

"That should've removed twice that much." Morran approached the largest opening and looked through it. The hole was perhaps thirty centimeters wide, enough for light and sound to pass clearly but nowhere near enough for people carrying injured companions. Then fighting erupted beyond the rubble. Something heavy slammed against stone. Someone shouted. Metal struck flesh. A spell flashed briefly through one opening before another voice cursed loudly. Morran moved closer.

"Lysa!" A girl's voice answered almost immediately.

"Uncle?" Sieghart glanced toward Morran. Uncle. That explained quite a bit.

"Where's our exit?" Another crash echoed behind her.

"Were those explosives that weak?" Morran looked toward the demolition workers.

"No!" He sounded personally offended by the accusation.

"They weren't weak."

"Then where's the hole?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out!" A scream interrupted the conversation. Not human. Something wet slammed into the ground beyond the obstruction. Lysa spoke again immediately afterward.

"Figure it out faster!" Morran looked around helplessly. Sieghart already had an idea. Magic Vision showed enormous quantities of mana saturating the rubble around the collapse. The concentration was far greater than anything found near the surface. That mana was not simply floating through empty space. It permeated the stone itself. Sieghart approached the blockage and pressed one hand against a fractured rock. The stone felt ordinary. Magically, it was not.

Dungeon mana circulated throughout the material, reinforcing structures in subtle ways that ordinary miners probably could not perceive without specialized spells. The nearby monsters likely contributed as well. Earthworms constantly moved mana through tunnels while burrowing, leaving surrounding stone denser and more magically saturated than equivalent material outside the dungeon. That would explain the explosives. Their physical force remained the same. The target was different.

"Dungeon stone is reinforced." One demolition worker looked toward Sieghart.

"By what?"

"Mana." Morran frowned. Sieghart shrugged. He had no idea whether this behavior applied to every dungeon or only this particular environment, but the explanation fit what Magic Vision showed. Sieghart stepped toward one large block.

"Move back." The workers obeyed immediately this time. He raised one hand. Water gathered above his palm before compressing into a narrow, violently spinning stream. Water Jet fired. The concentrated line struck the largest exposed stone. Normally, the spell could cut ordinary rock quickly. Here, resistance became obvious immediately. The water carved into the surface but slowed after several centimeters, spraying fragments and mist across the obstruction while mana around the stone distorted beneath the pressure.

Sieghart narrowed his eyes.

"So that's annoying." He increased output. More mana entered the spell. The jet became thinner. Faster. The sound changed into a high-pitched scream as water pressure increased beyond anything he normally maintained during casual training. The stone finally split. A deep line cut through its center before cracks spread outward. Sieghart shifted the Water Jet horizontally. The entire upper section separated and crashed downward. Several miners stepped back. Morran stared.

"You said you knew a bit of magic."

"I do."

"That isn't a bit." Sieghart ignored him. Another large block remained wedged across the opening. He fired again. The second stone resisted even more strongly. Magic Vision showed denser mana flowing through that section, almost as though the dungeon itself had reinforced the material after the collapse. Sieghart increased power again. The Water Jet brightened beneath the lantern light. Stone began disappearing faster. That confirmed his suspicion. His spells were not weaker.

The environment simply demanded more power. For most mages, that distinction would probably become a problem because increasing output meant burning through limited mana reserves much faster. Sieghart did not have that problem. He smiled slightly. The Water Jet sliced completely through the second block. Sieghart stopped the spell and immediately switched to Telekinesis. He gripped the separated stone mentally. The block weighed several hundred kilograms.

Normally that would exceed what his low-level Telekinesis could manipulate comfortably. Here, Sieghart did not attempt lifting everything at once. He pulled sideways while several miners pushed from the opposite direction. The stone shifted. Once momentum started, gravity helped. It fell from the obstruction and crashed onto the tunnel floor. A much larger opening appeared. Cold air rushed through it. So did the smell of blood. Morran leaned toward the gap.

"Lysa!"

"We're here!"

"Move toward us!"

"We're trying!" Another impact shook the far passage. Sieghart immediately returned to work. Water Jet carved through smaller supporting rocks while Earth Creation stabilized dangerous cracks above the new opening. Whenever loosened debris threatened to fall inward, Telekinesis redirected it enough for miners to drag it away. The combination worked far better than explosives alone. Sieghart began seeing why specialization existed. Physical explosives loosened the obstruction. Water Jet cut resistant stone.

Telekinesis moved debris. Earth Creation reinforced unstable sections. Wind cleared dust. Each method solved something the others handled poorly. Perhaps collecting more magic was not excessive. It was preparation. Sieghart liked that interpretation. Within several minutes, the opening became wide enough for one person to crawl through. Then two. The miners attacked the remaining edges with pickaxes while Sieghart cut another stone blocking the lower section.

A final block remained suspended awkwardly near the ceiling. Magic Vision showed too much pressure resting upon it. Sieghart stopped.

"Don't touch that." One miner froze with his pickaxe raised.

"Why?"

"It's holding something." He studied the mana distribution. Several tons of rubble above the tunnel pressed through that single piece. Removing it normally would probably cause another collapse. Sieghart created stone instead. Earth Creation spread around the surrounding ceiling, forming two thick support pillars against stable sections before connecting them through an arched brace. Mana flowed continuously through the new material until the structure hardened. The miners stared.

Sieghart tested it with Telekinesis. Stable enough.

"Now." Water Jet severed the dangerous block. Nothing collapsed. The remaining rubble shifted slightly, then settled against Sieghart's artificial supports instead of burying everyone again. The miners immediately widened the opening. A minute later, a person could walk through while crouching. Morran pushed forward.

"Lysa!"

"Uncle!" The girl's voice sounded much closer now. Several exhausted faces appeared beyond the broken barrier. Some were covered in blood. Others carried makeshift weapons. All of them looked past Morran toward something deeper inside the passage. Another roar shook the dungeon. Sieghart saw mana moving violently beyond them. Large signatures. Several. Morran extended one hand through the opening.

"Come on!" The first trapped miner squeezed through. Then another. A wounded guard followed with one arm hanging uselessly beside him. More people approached behind them. But nobody relaxed. The fight beyond the rubble had not stopped. Sieghart looked through the opening while keeping Magic Vision active. Something enormous moved beneath the floor behind the trapped expedition. Then another shape approached through the wall. And another.

The smaller worms they had encountered during the descent suddenly seemed considerably less interesting. Morran shouted through the opening again.

"Everyone out! Move!" Sieghart raised both hands. Wind mana gathered around him. Apparently opening the exit had only solved half the problem.