Chapter 445 - Stranded (Patreon)

The way across the bridge is the same as before - an uneasy feeling and darkness below, with something touching our feet. This time, no one dies, having experienced it before helps. It doesn’t change the fact that when we cross, everyone exhales, clothes sticking to their bodies, covered in cold sweat.

We reach SDAT and on our way there, we kill a few monsters. Mostly these spiders who make such thin yet powerful threads. Most of them are well into the 200s and seem to be the sneaky type who likes to trap their opponents. Their main weapon is their web and multiple types of threads.

The ones that can cut you apart just as you walk into it and that are extremely tough but weak against fire.

The ones with terrible toxin that, if it touches your skin, makes you start rotting at the place of contact.

And rarely, the thicker thread that is just extremely sticky and impossible to get off you without cutting off the clothes and tearing them out with the skin. The sticky ones also are usually the longest and most free-hanging, making you entangle yourself as you try to get out.

[You have defeated Grymlok Spider - lvl 261]

[You have defeated Grymlok Spider - lvl 269]

[You have defeated Grymlok Spider - lvl 233]

[You have defeated Grymlok Spider - lvl 241]

[Lvl 260 > Lvl 261]

For me, they are not such a big trouble, and after locating a few early on, I know what to look for and can snipe them down quite easily.

The webs are different. I and everyone else still have trouble locating them as all the threads are transparent, there is no mana in them, and they are very thin.

Sophie is working on improvements to her web that should make it easy to find them, and I watch the progress, ready to steal ideas and try to implement it into my detections.

So we find a few bodies, either cut apart or rotted down, a few even tangled in the web, sticking against the stone, still alive but unable to move.

The web is strongly holding onto everything, and pulling it down tears pieces of flesh; burning it causes even more damage. There seems to be something that gets released when this kind of web burns, causing extreme pain.

It's a very nasty thing, and even with our expertise and high levels, we don't come up with an easy way to take it down without causing too much harm.

The man we free dies on our way back from the wounds and the pain and likely some toxin from the thread as well.

We could have Lily heal him; Lily could use [Disintegration] and destroy the web only at the high cost of her mana. It's possible I could do something with my [Resonance] or Izzy with her flame combined with subclass, making them not burn the man and only the thread.

Yet we didn't.

We leave the body behind for the monsters to eat. But we don't forget to poison it with a skill of one of Famir's men in hopes the monsters will still eat it and die from the poison.

***

A few hours later, we are set up and I'm after another round of beating from Maya, the twins, even Tess getting a few hits in.

It might be me, but they are getting bored of it, well, maybe with the exception of Maya, who seems to be interested and tries multiple ways of hitting me, asking which one gets me the most mana.

I oblige, and she keeps changing her stance, and I notice a slight difference in her attacks. She still only uses the pure strength of her body. Sometimes she also asks me to stand up and tries to attack different parts of me.

Seeing the progress, I think some of these attacks would cause damage if she uses her mana, and if she used her [Boost], she could probably hurt me. Her [Boost] in combination with her [Focus] seems to be a nice combo, not just for massive armors.

We have also warned people not to fall asleep, but some did before we came, and we weren't able to wake them up. They seem to be sleeping, but creepily so. They do not shift, they breathe extremely calmly, and they do not react even to the pain or Sophie's mind-blendering.

The reason for such a state is a mystery; not a single hint we could find.

There also aren't that many passengers anymore. I think there were around 200 of us in total when we got here, and now it's closer to 100.

Yes, some went to explore underground before our small expedition headed there, but not as many as are missing. They have disappeared, no one knowing where they went, no one brave or curious enough to look for them.

Deathtrap is their safe haven. The old rusty Sand-Defensive Air Transport, fallen to its side with a big hole in it. Just laying there in the huge cavern that we can't even light fully and no one bothers or is willing to waste mana that way.

So it's dark in here.

With the help of the guide called Kallus, we reactivate some of Deathtrap's systems and check the storm. There are some calculations going, I think, a huge amount of data in one of the mana stones, data about the previous storms Deathtrap collected, compared to the current one, and then Kallus does some calculations as well. Something they taught them in Guide kindergarten or who knows where.

The storm will last at least for a week with a possibility of it lasting over one month.

I don't think people are that happy about it, and when we tell them, plenty of them scream and shout, their faces pale. They are terrified and don't want to stay here.

Some try to force us to fly away, some even come in front of me and beg and cry, offer their items or their bodies to me to save them, knowing I'm probably the one with the highest mana and have powered Deathtrap before.

I leave, and when they try to stop me, I shove them against the walls using a bit of kinetic energy to do so. One of them shouts after me that I will die here together with them. A voice full of spite.

Heading out of Deathtrap, I think about these words.

How would I feel if I died down here?

I’d like to think it would happen only after I used all my options, after I gave it my all, and tried everything I could. I’d also like to think I would die satisfied, knowing there was nothing more I could have done.

Would I regret not making different decisions? Maybe not heading here at all? Storing more mana or acting differently to avoid whatever would make me die?

I think I would probably blame my past self a bit, but that's it.

These are just my thoughts based on how well I know myself, so I can't be completely sure yet. But I was close to experiencing something like that, so it probably isn't too far off.

And I'm sure I wouldn't go down easily - I'd be spitting, scratching, crawling, and biting until the very end, probably missing my left arm with my organs spilling out.

I reach Sophie and squat next to her, her item lighting the small area around us. Some small floating cube, powered by a small mana stone that serves as a mana battery. It's quite a cool item, and it can change the focus of the light, making it weaker but lighting a bigger area or more concentrated light onto a smaller area. It can also shine into the distance or closer.

I also know Sophie would like to make an item like that that would be useful for Izzy and her fire. It's a good idea, and I'm already taking some notes from that curious item for use of my thermal energy.

“You wanted to say something, but then you didn't and got enamored with that cheap Light Box instead.” she says so rudely.

“Enamored is too strong a word, but it's a cool thing.”

“Yes, it is.” With that, she points at a small pile of white sand that is at a safe distance from us. “Golem Heart can't control it, unfortunately. If the item was fixed and modified? Maybe it could.”

“I think it makes sense if the sand has to fight against the Champion, it might be too much even for a fully restored Golem Heart. It's just an arcane item, most likely low arcane before damaged.”

“Only arcane,” she giggles. “I disagree here, I think it would be capable of containing a few dozen grains of sand, maybe a few hundred or even more if combined with my skills.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I have a suspicion that each grain of sand might be a separate construct just too intricate for us to examine currently, but I think given a few months I could do some changes to Golem Heart and 'steal' some sand for my own use.”

“The problem is how to store it. Min-Jae's idea? We take some protective plating from Deathtrap, twist it, add some mana battery to constantly power it, and store the sand inside?” I ask.

Sophie nods, “I think it could work, but maybe double layers and some backup power sources? If the white sand got out by a mistake, it could end terribly.”

“Triple layers and we might not even need mana to power it if they are sealed properly. And at least three containers: one bigger and better sealed, one for you to experiment on with a small number of grains, and an even smaller one for me to examine, as I only want to play with it.”

“That could work, what do you want to use it for?”

“My bones? My heart? Maybe to develop a new skill or improve some existing one. It could also help with my crafting. Also, in a day or two, I want to try melting some sand. It might be possible to form it into the shape of a weapon, and in that solid state, it wouldn’t be able to move and attack you. If its properties don’t change much, you might even be able to use your mana to charge it.”

“Wasn't that Kim's idea?”

“Nope, I thought of that even before him.”

“I… I see.”

“Yup, so I will either make these blue brothers prepare some forms for me and move it, or I ask them to tell me how to get mana off my clothes and do it on my own, but that would cost me some mana I would need to use to stabilize my crown and leave it behind.”

“Let me know, I would love to see how they did that.”

“No problem.” I nod.

Sophie then continues to stare at the small piles of white sand while absentmindedly playing with the piece of clay that is Golem Heart.

“Nat,” she calls quietly after a while.

“Yes?”

“We shouldn’t go back to that Champion. Maybe we could destroy the bridge so no one can talk to him. Izzy is terrified of him, and she feels like there’s something else here with us.”

“I partially agree with you. But let's keep the bridge for now, just talk to Tess to have someone guard the way to him.”

“I will do so. Thank you.”

***

Two days pass and no one goes too far away from Deathtrap, and that might be the reason why no one dies. Well, other than the ones who fell asleep. The ones with the lowest levels die in their sleep we weren't able to wake them from. The cause of death is unknown.

There are also more and more monsters crawling in the darkness around Deathtrap. Dozens and hundreds of monsters in groups. Grymlok Spiders place their threads all over the place. The smaller monsters keep releasing poisonous smoke.

As much as we can, we are avoiding using mana. Plenty of people with higher physical stats just throw rocks at the monsters, it often being enough to kill them or seriously wound them.

For some reason, I find it funny how effective yet primitive it is.

I also keep getting my daily dose of beating. At this point, I think most of the passengers at least suspect what it is for, but the mana I'm getting outweighs that risk of them knowing.

And now, me, Sophie, Dravos, Drekar, Izzy, Min-Jae, twins, noodle, and Biscuit are grouped, a nice amount of distance away from the mold we have prepared and filled with white sand.

The mold is something Min-Jae and Tess made using their skills. A formed and bent piece of metal. There are also a few wires of mana-conductive metal placed in between the sand that fills the form. The wires have some basic inscriptions on them, but we don't know how much of them will stay after melting.

The weapon we came up with is a spear, a long inscribed metal rod I made. At the end of that rod, there is a mold filled with sand and inscribed wire, with the intention to make a blade of the spear out of the melted white sand.

It's the first attempt, so I don't expect it to end well; there are also some haters who, if they could, would scream at us for doing this in the situation we are currently in. They can screw off.

I let out the concentrated stream of golden thermal energy and point it at the mold.

As before, the white sand doesn't react to primordial energy, and I gradually, over minutes, narrow the stream and increase the heat.

The white sand starts heating up and even glowing bright red, but it takes longer than expected till it starts melting. It takes quite a bit of thermal energy, but it got to the point where it's too late to stop.

So I continue, and over the following minutes, the sand starts melting when it reaches a white-hot glow. The texture of the sand changes from gritty and granular to more viscous and glass-like. Small bubbles form and pop as the trapped air escapes, and more than anything, it now reminds me of glowing lava.

My golden flames light up the area, and the heat can be felt even from this distance.

The final result is a pool of molten glowing liquid glass that shimmers in yellow and white colors. I stop the flames, and the area darkens again without the light they were adding, just the molten sand glowing and Sophie's light box.

Melted white sand in the form solidifies into glass as it cools down, its surface rough and irregular. To be honest, it's ugly as hell.

Mana-Reactive Spear (Upper Epic) - This spear ignores mana-based defenses and absorbs mana on impact, sharpening its edge against physical armor and barriers. It becomes progressively more effective with each mana absorption, but if pushed too far, it shatters explosively, scattering fine, cutting particles that can cause significant harm in the area.

But as I look at the finished weapon, I also think. What would happen if I stabbed the champion with it? Would the melted sand it contains activate the trapping mechanism?

***

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