Chương 72: Something New

The tunnel quickly narrowed. Within moments of leaving the main cavern, Enzo could reach out and touch both walls, and the ceiling came down low enough that they had to duck in some places. Val was having an easier time of it, being shorter, but even she was forced to duck occasionally. She led the way, a small amount of fire mana continuously released from her palm, casting extra light ahead of her. Between them, Sam angled his spear to avoid both scraping the walls and stabbing Val in the backside.

He glanced at the webs strung across the ceiling, then back over his shoulder.

"High Magus, aren't you worried about the monsters?"

"Just Enzo, Sam."

"Right. Sorry." He paused.

"Aren't you worried about the monsters though?"

"Not really."

"How come?"

"Based on how rifts work, I'm pretty sure this one only has one mana type. Which means every construct in here is made entirely of arcane mana." He ducked under a low section where the ceiling dipped sharply.

"Arcane is brittle. One solid hit should break the construct apart. We fought things like that in a different rift." Sam was quiet for a few steps.

"Oh."

"Don't misunderstand. They're still dangerous. Teeth and claws do what teeth and claws do regardless of what they're made from. But they can't take a beating unless the mana is being sustained somehow."

"Kinda like an illusion?" Enzo considered that.

"Maybe. As long as you respect that this type of illusion can still kill you if you're not careful." He glanced at the webs overhead.

"Or if it gets the drop on you." Sam followed his gaze upward and adjusted his grip on the spear. Val slowed at a corner and raised a hand.

"There's a mana crystal ahead." Enzo followed her and Sam around the bend. A purple crystal, roughly the size of his fist, jutted from the rock at shoulder height. It reflected the light from his Orb and Val's flame, casting prismatic shapes across every surface. Sam leaned in closer, examining the crystal with obvious fascination.

"So you can just... eat this for more mana or something?" He looked back at Enzo.

"That's what the entry said, right?" Enzo shrugged.

"I don't know. We only had a few shards from the first rift, so we didn't try." Val tilted her head.

"Maybe you need to grind it up and snort it." Sam's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh. Like cocaine." He paused, then nodded slowly.

"Or maybe you melt it down and inject it. Like heroin." Val grinned and pointed at him.

"See? He gets it." Enzo narrowed his eyes at his sister.

"Do you want to tell me something?"

"Oh please, like I've ever had the chance to."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

"Yeah? Well, the world has basically ended, so if we find a bunch of cocaine, maybe I will. Maybe I won't." She shrugged.

"Get over it. Or I won't share any of my drugs with you." Enzo pinched the bridge of his nose. Sam looked between the two of them, then back at the crystal, apparently deciding the best course of action was to ignore the Locke siblings.

"So how do we get it out of the wall?" he asked.

"Just hit it?" He raised his spear, angling the butt toward the crystal.

"No. Please don't. Let me try something first." Enzo held out a hand.

"Sword." The textured hilt materialized in his palm first, and his fingers closed around it as the rest of the blade formed outward from the crossguard. An arcane core shimmering purple, with darker metal edges running from guard to tip. It was heavier than the pure arcane version he'd created in the first rift, but far less brittle. The trade-off was a higher up-front mana cost, offset by requiring less to maintain during use. Metal was resilient, unlike arcane. He held his cane out to Sam.

"Hold this." Sam took it and stepped back, giving him room. Enzo shifted his weight onto his left leg, only resting enough on his right to keep his balance. He adjusted his grip on the sword, angled the point toward the rock beside the crystal, and drove it into the wall. The blade slid halfway into the stone before the resistance caught up with it. He blinked. He hadn't expected it to go that deep.

"What the hell, Enzo?" Val asked, leaning around Sam to stare at him.

"Have you been practicing your wall stabbing technique or something?" Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Enzo slid the sword free of the wall and turned it over, studying the tip.

"I upgraded the spell and added a few sharpness concepts, but I haven't had a chance to test it before now."

"Well, be careful." She pulled Sam away another few steps.

"We're going to wait over here." Enzo hefted the sword, took aim, and stabbed. Once again the blade slid deep into the stone, but he'd missed the mark by almost two inches.

"Nice aim." He ignored her and tried again. This time the blade connected the two cuts, forming a small corner section around the crystal. He kept stabbing, angling the blade to cut away at the space behind the crystal, while joining the slices bit by bit to form a circular pattern. The drain was steady, but minimal and mostly metal mana. A couple minutes later, he released the sword and wiggled the crystal free. Part of it was still wrapped in stone, but the whole thing was lighter than he'd expected.

Sam stepped closer and poked it with a finger.

"Doesn't look like much."

"Yeah. But it may just be one of the most important resources in the world now."

"Should we head back?" Val asked.

"It's been a few minutes at least." Enzo took his cane from Sam's outstretched hand, glanced in both directions, then shook his head.

"Let's keep going. We've still got some time." Val nodded, then took point again.

"Do you really think the rift can stop people awakening?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"I hope so," Enzo said.

"The only other option is to create a container like the Riders did, except with enchantments to drain mana from people instead. But we don't know what side effects that might have." He paused.

"I suppose we have no idea what side effects the rift draining them will have either."

"You mages have different manas, right?" Sam asked, turning and walking backward for a moment.

"If the rift drains those manas, does that mean it will be able to use it to make fire monsters or something?"

"Don't jinx us, Sam," Val said. Enzo frowned.

"I think that's a reasonable assumption. The thing that's been bugging me is that it made water and rock using nothing but arcane." Val glanced back.

"Maybe rifts can convert mana?" Enzo shook his head.

"Everything we know says mana conversion requires conscious intent. Even the mana batteries do, though it's woven into the enchantment." He pulled up the entry on rifts.

"The Guide says creatures occupying the rift cause conversion based on their natural affinities, which may alter the type of crystals over time."

"Exactly. Crystals take time to form, but the mana can change immediately. I don't see the problem."

"Hmm. Maybe." They continued in silence for a few moments, then Val raised her hand with the flame.

"Another mana crystal ahead. It looks high up." Enzo looked up just in time to see hundreds, maybe even thousands, of tiny purple lights rain from the ceiling of the tunnel in front of Val. Then the skittering started. The tiny purple lights blanketed the ground, pressing toward them in a wave that was rapidly spreading up the sides of the tunnel. More came from the ceiling, hanging upside down, likewise rushing toward a very stunned Val. Enzo grabbed Sam by the shoulder and hauled him backward.

"Val, fall back." His mind was already running through options. Shockwave might work best, but he wasn't sure that it would destroy the creatures. And he couldn't stop it from hitting Val and Sam. Jet was another option, but it wasn't enough to sweep the entire swarm at once. Val screamed. In the tight confines of the tunnel, the sound was ear-splitting, bouncing off the walls. He hobbled forward, reaching for her, but before he could close the distance, Val drew back her right hand, fingers closing into a fist.

Fire erupted from her knuckles, spreading across her hand and up her wrist. Then she punched. Fire roared from her fist in a cone that filled the tunnel from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Enzo threw up an arm to shield his eyes from the wave of heat that washed backward over him. He heard Sam grunt behind him. Val's dark hair blew in every direction as air rushed past, sucked forward into the inferno as the flames consumed the oxygen ahead of them. The wave of fire tore through the swarm.

The tiny purple lights vanished by the hundreds, winking out as the constructs disintegrated. Val kept punching. Another blast. Another. Again and again. Each one accompanied by the same continuous scream. The tunnel lit up white and orange, shadows racing backward with each eruption. Enzo grabbed her shoulder. Val jumped. The fire cut out instantly, plunging the tunnel back into the dim glow of his Light Orb. She spun, wild-eyed, and threw herself at him, grabbing fistfuls of his jacket.

"Get them off! Get them off!" Enzo stood there for a moment, arms out to the sides, his sister clinging to him. Then he patted her on the back.

"Uh. You already killed them all." Val didn't let go.

"Are you sure?" He looked past her down the tunnel. The walls were blackened and still radiating heat. Thin wisps of smoke curled from the scorched stone. Other than a single mana crystal jutting from the ceiling ahead, not a single purple light remained.

"Yeah. I'm sure." Behind him, Sam lowered his arm from his eyes. He stared at the charred tunnel, then at Val. But he didn't say anything. Val turned to look down the tunnel.

"Oh. Good. Yeah. That's good." She let go of Enzo's jacket and started patting at her hair.

"I thought I felt them crawling on my head." Enzo fought back a laugh.

"None of them got close. Your um… impressive display of fire made your hair go everywhere. Maybe that was it." Val blinked at him. She slowly turned a deeper shade of red.

"Oh." She glanced back down the tunnel, then at Sam, before finally turning back to Enzo.

"Can we not tell anyone about this?" Sam held up a hand.

"I won't tell a soul. Honest to God." Enzo did laugh at that. He'd sounded so earnest it almost seemed like he was afraid. Val glared at him.

"Oh, fine. I won't tell anyone." She squinted at him.

"You promise?" Enzo sighed.

"I promise." Val continued staring at him for a moment, then her face lit up with a smile. She gave Enzo a hug.

"Thank you! You're the best brother ever."

"I'm your only brother," Enzo said almost automatically, heading for the mana crystal.

"Let's harvest this and head back." A few awkward minutes of carving into the tunnel ceiling later, they were making their way back. Enzo walked with two crystals sheathed in rock tucked under one arm, the cane finding its rhythm in the other. Val was checking the ceiling every few seconds, even though they'd just passed this way. Enzo checked his mana reserves, curious about how much the rift had drained before he'd entered. He'd been too distracted by everything to think about it until now.

His mind reservoir was only a little lower than expected after casting Sword and Light Orb, which had been hovering at his shoulder since entering the rift. And Light Orb drew mana from his heart reservoir automatically to maintain itself, tethered by the single thread of body mana, which explained why it was also a little less than full. But that wasn't what made him slow to a stop. Automatic Conversion had been hard at work.

More than half of the arcane in his heart reservoir had already been converted into crystal, metal, and light mana types. Along with something else. Something new.