Chapter 169: Avoiding visitors.

Chapter 169: Avoiding visitors.

I breathed in deeply, taking stock of my situation. I hadnt much time. Even if these newcomers, who had gotten their hands on the key, supposedly, took their time exploring this little village as I had, there was no assurance they wouldnt happen across me by accident. Furthermore, I couldnt estimate their tier from this distance, which made the threat they represented unknowable.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

That left me with two options. Either A: I booked it out of here as fast as possible and snuck back around to the exit or B: I explored the central spire first, before leaving. Sneaking up on these intruders was also possible, but a risk I didnt need to take. Besides, even if I took them out, more would come now that the gate was open. This had turned into a race and I couldnt help but blame myself for taking so much time initially, thinking I had plenty of time.

After a moment of consideration, I decided to raid the central spire after all. Treasure called. With my mind made up, I rushed over to the stone chest I had left behind moments earlier. I kicked the stone tablet that functioned as a lid off and stored all of the gems inside my spatial pouch. They hummed with mana as I picked them up, but didnt react otherwise. My pouch was starting to fill up though, so I took some old-looking nutrition pills and placed them where the crystals had been before. Hopefully, these could buy me some time.

Now, I needed an exit. The front gate of the warehouse was visible from afar, there was no way to use it without being spotted. I took a quick scan of the rest of the warehouse, but found no other way out.

Making a quick decision, I went over to the back wall, drew my sword, and cut out a rectangle hole, before gently dropping the stone wall to the floor. I stuck my head outside, finding myself in a deserted alley. Above the roof of a nearby house, I could see the central spire rise to the roof of the cavern. It took a few more zigzagging alleyways before I found myself staring at its large entrance, a stone gate that had been carved into the stalagmite, but it was closed. I guessed that the gate would still be slightly visible from the cobblestone path at the side of the cavern wall, too. Instead, I decided on taking another way in. I had noticed the villages buildings, including the stalagmite, to be dotted with small windows. They started appearing on the spire at about thirty meters up and from this distance, I couldnt reach them. If I climbed up from the back, however Yes, that could work.

I stuck to what little shadow the small nearby houses provided to circle around to the back of the spire, where the other intruders couldnt see me, and attempted to climb to the nearest window. I wasnt close enough to visualise where I was trying to apparate to, so I wanted to get a better view. Strangely, though, the stone spire had no holds for me to climb with, and my fingers refused to sink into the stone itself, no matter how much strength I used. Meanwhile, the other stone buildings crumbled when I so much as clenched my hand while pressing it onto their stone walls.

Clearly, this wasnt just a spire that had been dug into. It had been reinforced somehow. Thankfully, I had options. Clenching the muscles in my legs, I crouched slightly, before catapulting myself into the air, giving me a clear view of the spires inside. Through the small window, I could see a winding staircase leading up, with green crystals carved into the wall to keep the place illuminated. I stopped hesitating and decided to apparate inside, my form shifting into one of smoke. My vision switched as my body reappeared inside of the spire, looking out of the window this time. I had just enough time to notice a green glow appear around the window, but not enough to dodge. Thankfully, the unexpected green bolt passed through my body, as the intangibility hadnt worn off yet. Instead, it harmlessly hit a piece of the wall behind me.

I heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the system for my luck, while cursing myself for not expecting such strong defences a second time. Even worse, I didnt have the time to carefully tread this time, I had to rush before they got here.

No follow-up attacks activated after the initial curse, so I advanced, determined to see this through to the end. The spiral staircase I had found myself on continued scaling upward, winding around its own axis all the while. It took a while before I reached the top, even while sprinting as fast as my stats allowed me to, but when I did, I concluded that this risk had been worth it.

Near the top of the spire, the staircase ended, revealing a circular chamber carved within the spire. Green crystal ran across its walls, domed roof and floor, acting and looking like veins. The thin crystal trails spread and split at various points, as if to replicate the branches of a tree or, more accurately, veins of blood. They pulsed rhythmically, making the similarity even more striking.

Then, I noticed something strange. The veins below my feet were still pulsing, but the crystal trails closest to me had darkened a little. They were now a deeper green than the rest of the web

I created some more overloaded mana and hovered the formless cloud over the crystals, laying it on top of them like a blanket. Sure enough, when the crystals pulsed again and pulled some glints of light in, they were turning darker.

I repeated the process a few more times and watched the veins noticeably change color. More and more of my mana made its way into the barrier and, presumably, inside the crystal orb I was trying to get my hands on. This change was slow, though. At this rate, it would take at least ten minutes before the veins were entirely black and I wasnt sure if I had that much time but I had to try.

I sat down in the lotus position on top of the crystals and started producing as much mana as I could, watching my skin tear near my veins and black tufts of smoke emanate from the wounds, slowly forming clouds of mana. I then slowly coaxed the mana into the crystal veins from every angle, determined to make this crystal mine.

Coordinating all of this was taking all of my concentration, though. To get it over with more quickly, I closed my eyes and focused on mentally repeating the same movements.

After about ten minutes of this routine, I opened my eyes, only to find a pitch-black crystal hovering in the space where, previously, a green one had been. Success!

Now all I had to do was

My thought was interrupted by a sudden lurch that threw me back against the wall. This time, however, I hung in place, my feet not touching the ground. A stern-looking man stepped out of the corner of my eye. One hand behind his arched back, another directed at me in a grasping motion. His grey hair lay parted sideways on his head, his clean-shaven chin showing a sharp jaw, which twisted into a small sneer.

I felt a non-existent hand around my throat.

I suppose I should thank you for your work. It seems that whatever you did to the core released it from its formation, therefore no longer fuelling its own defences. Unfortunately, my thanks will remain strictly verbal and mostly insincere, as I dont see the need to let you live he drawled monotonously, as if he was a teacher reprimanding a student.