253. Impact Gardening

253. Impact Gardening

Year 254, Part 2

The Comet is big. It goes without saying that all the bombs we gathered so far, would not be enough if we tried to blow it up from the surface.

My own scientists estimated the bombs we gathered would probably be enough to create a relatively large tunnel to the core, but nowhere near enough to shatter this Comet. Therefore, the way we used our bombs needed to be quite strategic, and we really needed to hit certain parts of the comet. Places where the magic from the core of the comet holds the entire thing together.

Gravity. Its not exactly gravity that holds this rock together, but magic. That is expected for objects such as this, it wasnt created naturally through-

Actually, what is a normal process in this world of magic? Why shouldnt I consider things that are created by magic as natural?

Anyway, my Valthorn observed that there are areas within the Comet that were weaker, and likely more vulnerable to our explosive devices. Based on their estimates, it should significantly weaken the structure of the Comet.

Alternatively, my domain holders suggested weakening the structure of the Comet itself by taking out the eight nodes, or modifying them such that they destroy the comet itself.

I thought it was a genius idea. The Comet fed these eight nodes, and these eight nodes flared on a daily basis to purge the surface of invaders like myself. It was clearly powerful, as it is able to create a flare that covered the bulk of the surface.

If we could turn the Comet Cores energy against itself, it would significantly accelerate the process of destroying the Comet.

This meant I needed to seize control of these nodes with my clone, or find ways to hijack the energy flows coming from the core, and through meddling with energy flows, alter how those nodes behave.

***

Man, how much deeper do we have to go? One of the Valthorns was a strength-focused barbarian-type. In order to protect him from the flares, he constantly carried a set of magical artifacts that protected him from magical attacks. He, and about ten others were the tip of our small digging force.

Each of them were level 125-140, so when they attacked, the ground gave way. Physical force was far more effective on the crystals than magic, and each slam of their skill-enhanced pickaxes, the crystals crumbled.

Another Valthorn looked at the data. Probably another two more months.

The barbarian rolled his eyes. This is just as bad as camping in the dungeons for months.

Id say its worse. The Valthorns chuckled. Theres no underground town to relax and unwind.

Theyve been digging for months, and about three months in, we noticed the flares were weaker, and less frequent. Its likely that the nodes were designed only to purge the surface, and not this deep into the Comet.

It didnt get hotter underground. The core didnt release any heat, even if we felt stronger magical turbulence.

According to our sensors, there were subterranean tunnels that crisscrossed the Comet, not by design, but by accident. These were created likely due to how the entire comet was cobbled together, and naturally there were pockets of space that just didnt line up correctly.

My Valthorns theorized that the Comet was essentially a bunch of different rocks stitched together through the magic from the core, because there were segments where the type of crystal, sand and rocks had slightly different mixture in them.

If the demons have the ability to construct the Sun-Rings, it is not beyond them to construct something like a Comet. In every way the Sun-Rings were just bigger, more sophisticated and more powerful.

On the other hand, the demonic energies found in this Comet clearly suggested this was meant to be a seeding pool. Perhaps there was a time when the demons just flung them in random distances and hoped they crashed into a world. Then, the remains from the Comet would act like a big flare that marked the existence of a world.

Theres just a lot of daemolite on this damned rock.

***

The drill slammed into the wall and it collapsed. The group was instantly assaulted by a wave of heat and magic that rushed in.

We hit another of those chambers.

On the surface, the spawning pools respawned even after we destroyed them. The demonic mana flare-ups just regenerated everything we destroyed, and even created new spawning pools. At some point, it certainly felt like destroying the demons were pointless, because they just respawned.

Down there, hundreds of miles below and months from the surface, some of the chambers were filled with demons in spawning pools, but here in the depths, the demons take a different form. They resembled more like golems made of crystals, rather than the normal, usual demonic form out on the surface.

Thats the sixth one. How big is this one? Edna looked around, as Lumoof extended his senses. I felt it too. This one stretched quite wide. The Valthorns took out the golem-demons easily, and here, this deep in, theres no flares to respawn the golem-demons.

At least, not any weve seen.

Its entirely possible the core itself could release a flare.

Lumoof looked around. Here in the depths, the crystals released a strange faint glow. It would have been pitch black without their reddish glow. Yet, it wasnt hot. There was no heat in this place. No air, either. The only reason the Valthorns could exist was because of our equipment.

The demons clearly did not expect company. Not on their Comet.

It was a massive, pillar-like structure that extended from the core itself, and up to the node. Huge quantities of magic flowed through it, and transformed the rocks and crystals along its path into a glowing, reddish, highly-dense crystal structure.

Some of that mana leaked out, but most of it flowed through the pillar.

There should be seven other such pillars.

You think well shatter the Comet if we blow up all these pillars? Lumoof asked.

Alka shook his head. Not if we dont disrupt the magical flow. These pillars merely exist as a byproduct of the flow of energy from the core to the eight nodes. They are not the cause, and destroying them wouldnt change anything. I think it would even regenerate itself. Alka said as he tried to chip away at the highly dense crystal structure.

It was incredibly hard, and any chip seemingly repaired itself before their eyes.

You know, it feels quite shit that we made all those bombs only for them to be useless. Lumoof said.

Not exactly. We can use it to blow up the source. The core. The demon kings. Anyway, boys, time to dig upwards. We need to get to the nodes.

Got it. The Valthorns answered.

***

Back on Treehome, Snek looked at an upset Ken.

Colette wants to suppress her hero class, to see what was before all of this. Ken answered. Unlike the rest of the heroes, Ken actually remembers what life was like before they were selected to be a hero vividly. He has seen how the rest forgot so much about their past, the effects of the hero class meddling with their memory.

Suppressed. Faded.

The effects of it on the heroes were insidious, as if it was subtly molding the person into this person focused on the demons. It stripped out the memories over time, while trying its best to retain the qualities it desired of the heroes. Yet, it couldnt just delete it.

Was it because the gods protected the heros memories while they were sent to another world, and the hero class stood on top of it? Therefore, if the gods removed the memories, they essentially destroyed the foundation on which the hero class stood on, and the heroes would develop in a way different from what they wanted?

In Kens case, once the hero class was not there, he could freely access that memory. But for the heroes, it was like there was a concrete floor that hid all that memory, and as the hero class got stronger, that concrete floor got bigger and wider, and eventually, they couldnt even see what was underneath anymore.

Prabu, naturally, was afraid. He wasnt sure what Colette would do if she could remember. But he couldnt tell her no.

Dont you want to remember, Prabu? About life before all of this? About our parents, our family. Our old friends, all back home. Even if you dont want to remember, why dont you let me remember? We are not complete, Prabu. This is just a part of us. The part the gods want to keep, so that we serve as their tools. Hafiz is free. I want to be free, too.

But-

I want Rohana to see her mother completely. Not just this aspect of us. She needs a mother, and increasingly, I fear that this class prevents me from being a good one. A complete person. I want to know.

Prabu had no answer for her, and all he could do was ask for some time. Time Colette gladly gave, since there were still many things for them to do.

***

Do you think we should use the hero class? Snek asked. I have it, and I initially intended to use it to save my world. But now I realized there are ways to achieve my true goals without it.

Ken looked at the little Snek. Snek held the [hero] class, stored in his soul. The one Ken gave up. -wait. Whats the catch?

Ken may have spent forever with his little Snek companion, but the [hero] class was always Sneks prize.

I am willing to trade the [hero] class for Aeons clone. Convince Aeon to deploy a clone permanently on Ulara, and be our gateway. My people will benefit from access to the wider world.

You know that he refused to do that before.

I know, which is why Im willing to trade the class for it.

-we dont even know whats the conditions to use that [hero] class. No one has ever tried to create a hero from a hero class seed. There may be conditions to that class that we are not aware about.

In fact, its entirely possible for the [hero] class to turn out to be a dud. I could therefore see why Snek would offer it in exchange for permanent access and connection to the wider world.

But, I may not want it either. What was I to do with a hero class, anyway? Do I even want to create another hero?

My clones are genuinely in short supply. Its already hard to level up, and even if I do gain more clones, each additional clone is further away.

There are so many worlds, and I need to use them wisely.

***