Chapter 76 - The Makerdrives (Patreon)

[???: (Tier ?) ???]

[???: (Tier 6) ???]

A tier six and probably a seven. What can I do against that? No way I can kill them but maybe I can slow them down long enough for some people to escape.

Fifteen percent of his mana was consumed by True Origin of Ice. It slogged through the channel in his chest, forming a purple circle that glowed through his skin. Eighty percent was crammed into his arms, filling each to his shoulders. The skin all over his body began to grow frosty and his clothes crackled from the influx of blistering cold energy.

This isn’t going to be enough. Not even close.

Good thing I know a place I can get a lot more. If she’s going to pump me full of mana, I’m damn well going to take it as my own!

Jiran pulled on his soul and the gate responded with a shudder before its doors spun open. He ordered the galaxy of mana within to heed his commands and a small portion detached to answer his call.

I only have six mana, and that’s probably the equivalent of twenty thousand. That’s way too much!

The mana flooded out of his soul and across his aura. His manabody spread out as wide as it would go and absorbed as much as possible but he still felt like his body was about to explode from the impossible influx of energy. The air around him began to oscillate between frigid ice and blistering vapor multiple times per second while the ground beneath him rumbled and loose brush and rocks began lifting into the air.

Two house-sized heads swiveled in his direction and their reptilian, slitted eyes widened. The smaller one immediately beat its wings to bring it closer to Jiran. However, the bigger one, with an intelligent gleam in its eyes, snapped its jaws around the other’s neck to hold it back. Even their casual movements were so quick it made his stomach flip. If they decided to eat someone, nobody would even see them move until it was too late.

The restrained beast immediately submitted as the crest of its head tilted back to further bear its throat. The larger one let go and once more turned its full attention on Jiran. The edge of the beast’s mouth dripped blood as it curled into an eerily familiar expression.

Since when can a wyvern smirk?!

Foresight blared a warning just before the huge beast’s jaw unhinged. From deep within its throat, a blue light blossomed and a solid beam of lightning ten meters thick blasted out from between jagged teeth. The ground was torn asunder, sending rocks and dirt flying as the energy sliced through the air.

With less than a second to respond, Jiran acted on instinct. He threw every ounce of his collected mana forward and up. The force of his frigid attack blasted him down just as the wyvern’s beam devoured his and Madra’s mana. The lightning continued toward the ocean where it exploded, annihilating a wave the size of a hill. The smell of ozone polluted the air and arcs of electricity jumped randomly with crackling snaps. Jiran crashed through trees and hit the ground hard with a grunt.

Damnit, I’m no match for them. I can’t just watch as they eat everyone, I have to do something!

Through a break in the trees, he watched as the two alphas turned back toward the town. They repeatedly took gulping bites out of the air as if it were a solid meal. Massive wings beat to keep their bodies airborne, sending waves of pressure down onto buildings that shook precariously but held together.

Why aren't they getting any closer?

As suddenly as Jiran had arrived, the alphas turned and left. They flew high into the air in seconds, each beat of their wings cracking the air and releasing whirlwinds that raged across the ground.

They're leaving? Just like that? It must be the makerdrives! Mayalyn told me they could appease the Alphas. Is this what she meant? I should have had her explain how they worked before I left.

Jiran rushed to Azurelight, praying everyone was okay as a wild storm rampaged the island.

People were picking themselves up and running around but not in a panic. Their movements were purposeful and determined. The ground shook again as Adelphoros spewed another geyser of lava into the air. Lightning sparked in the sky and thunder boomed. A building collapsed nearby and Jiran saw through his aura that two people were trapped inside. He tore open the wall that had fallen on them and pulled them from the rubble.

The two wore matching smiles as they dusted the debris from their clothes after Jiran set them down. They looked completely unharmed, a reminder to Jiran that regular adults at tier three were not much weaker than himself. “Wow! What a rush. Thanks for the save, head disciple,” The gazelleman bowed.

“I want a bigger kitchen when we rebuild this time!” His bondmate piped in, ignoring Jiran completely.

The couple turned toward the destroyed house and started bickering back and forth about which rooms were more worthy of a remodel.

Aren’t they taking this a bit lightly?

A familiar figure entered his range and Jiran hopped over to land in front of the panther who was a member of Bron’s party. He was leaning heavily on a broken beam of wood with a bleeding wound in his leg. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, this? Yeah I’ll be fine. Luckily, us hunters don't have to donate mana so I’ll be right as sunshine in a few hours. I gotta check on my kids. If you have any mana to spare, you should head to the makerdrives and donate. Two alphas at once must have been a pretty big drain.” He hobbled away from Jiran, heading down the street with a wave.

The world is falling apart all around us and he just limps off without a care. These people are crazy. Well, if they don’t think the world is ending, then I should probably calm down. Better make sure nobody else is trapped or dying while I look for Mayalyn.

Jiran spent thirty seconds circling around town. He pulled several more people free with his aura and was relieved to find all the children huddled beneath the Aahmra’s estate, guarded by the two hunters who had kidnapped Mayalyn. He also noticed the doors to the Maker’s bunker were wide open and the usual cloth coverings of the makerdrives had been removed.

The two monuments to the Maker’s genius looked just as cool as Jiran remembered from his first glance at them. The futuristic turrets were made of interlocking metal plates. Wires and pipes exuded from every surface all the way up their four-meter height. They rested on thick concrete platforms, their barrels facing the skies. A line of people stood before each machine. One at a time, they stepped forward and placed both hands on familiar wire-wound grips.

As he flew toward them, he noticed someone had pulled a panel off one of the drives and their torso was buried inside, leaving their legs kicking the air as they squirmed. Jiran recognized Mayalyn’s butt right away and released a sigh of relief at finally seeing her unharmed. He would have considered stopping to appreciate the scenery for a few moments but Pepa stood next to her. He smiled brightly and waved when he saw Jiran approaching.

“Hello again, Jiran of Feylon. Fine day we’re having, eh?” The mouse laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his head.

“Mr. Aloyhee,” Jiran extended his hand.

The man leaned forward and examined Jiran’s hand while humming to himself. Meanwhile, Mayalyn’s legs thrashed as she worked her way out of the drive’s guts. “Ouch!” She smacked her head against something hard, sending a reverberation through the turret as she pulled herself free. “Pepa! You are supposed to shake it,” Mayalyn’s shout sent the man lurching back a step as his head spun back and forth between the two of them.

“Oh, uhm, sorry-sorry.” He grabbed Jiran’s hand gently and shook it left to right with a nervous laugh and too-wide eyes.

“Peeepaaa,” Mayalyn’s drawn-out growl made the man jump and release Jiran’s hand.

“Would you look at all that lava over there, I better go take a closer look. Okay, bye!” He was already running before he finished speaking.

“Sorry about that. My parents are so weird,” Mayalyn sighed while looking down at the grass.

"I'm glad you're okay." Jiran wrapped her in a tight hug, forcing a grunt out of her. He whispered in her ear, “I think we were wrong about the Aahmra being the disaster.”

“What makes you say that, and what did you find at the node?” She pulled back, placing her greasy hands on her hips.

Jiran double checked the hard covering on his aura before explaining. “When the node turned on, it caused Adelphoros to erupt. All of this,” He motioned at the skies, ”is because of what I did. Shouldn’t people be freaking out about the massive waves, the ground shakes, and all this lightning?" Before he finished speaking, Jiran remembered that beastmen get stronger when struck by lightning so it made sense for them to not be overly concerned with the storm at least.

“If you think this is bad, wait until you see Stormergravve, the season of storms. The waters and land become turbulent during the spewing as well. I have only lived long enough to see it twice, and both times, it was a blessing when the season passed. This is no eruption, if Adelphoros truly chooses to vent his fury at your node turning on within his belly, you will know it. Now I am curious, does your empire not have seasons like ours?"

"We definitely do,” Jiran mumbled while gazing up at Adelphoros with newfound appreciation for the calm, peaceful days he’d spent on the island.

An entire season of that thing ‘spewing,’ constantly? That sounds like the Madra I know. Maybe there’s no such thing as a peaceful place to live on this planet.

“So, these really can fend off the alphas. I had to see it to believe it. You never told me how they work." Jiran tactfully changed the subject.

"Amazing, are they not?!" As usual, she began bouncing on her toes the instant he mentioned her Great- grandfather's achievements. “They fill the air with nasty-tasting mana attuned to the alphas. Once they are full, they leave. Since it is not a great meal, they do not often come to eat it. The sudden weather must have spooked those two."

“What kept them from flattening the town and just eating everyone? Why would they settle for a little mana?”

"Several things: We are all low tier so we would be very gross to eat. I doubt they even find the beta’s very appetizing. The drives also create a barrier around the town that the alphas do not like to touch. Although the notes detailing the drives were lost, Grandmother told me that the closer the alphas get to the drives, the worse they feel. It has something to do with noise and maybe some vibrations in the air? The drives are not perfect though, a couple times the alphas actually landed in the town. It is the Aahmra’s job to pull people to safety when that happens, then it is only a matter of rebuilding the damage."

“So, there’s nothing that actually stops them from killing everyone? I don’t get it, that just doesn’t fit with what I know about beasts. None of the beasts I’ve fought would stop killing just because something makes them feel bad.”

“Beasts become much more intelligent at higher tiers and all of the alphas are old. They know we are a free source of food, and if they do not kill us, they can come down for a snack whenev—”

Suddenly, a massive explosion blasted from the tip of Adelphoros. A kilometer-high geyser of ash, rock, and acrid green smoke filled the sky as holes at the base of the mountain spewed jets of lava. A shockwave swept across the surface of the entire island, flattening the jungle. Screams filled the air from the gathered people as Jiran leaped between the drives and the oncoming wave of energy. His aura rippled but held firm as he protected them all.

Adelphoros shuddered as more vents of lava blasted from higher up its side. The jets crept toward the peak as the pressure within the mountain built to a breaking point despite the hundreds of outlets releasing its fury. Not a single inhabitant of Azurelight released a breath as they watched the catastrophe unfold before their eyes. Finally, the jets reached the very top and a river of lava erupted from Adelphoros’s tip, turning the world scarlet.

All across the mountain, movement coalesced into the beating of a hundred thousand wings as betas leapt from its surface to flee the island. They screeched their anger at a world that had lost all sense of serenity as they passed overhead. As the first beta descended upon Azurelights stricken people, a beam of fire from Jiran’s channels sliced it in half. The people finally snapped out of their daze. Shouts erupted as they took off in every direction to fight the fires and the beasts that fell upon them in equal measure.

Jiran turned to find Mayalyn pointing at the sky full of boiling lava that would soon be descending upon them in tsunamis of scorching rain. Suddenly, she clasped her hands over her ears and her tail shot straight up to quiver in the air. A second later, the sound reached a decibel that registered with Jiran’s ears and he filled them with Coating before they started to bleed. The screeching was so loud that the air quaked and splintered, threatening to crack apart as reality began to fray at the seams. More buildings collapsed under the vibrations and people fell to their knees one after another.

Silhouetted against the crimson-filled sky were dozens of alphas. The flock's voices united to vent their displeasure upon their island. Four descended, heading straight toward Azurelight with their mouths wide open.

The screeches stopped and Jiran was able to hear the pained grunts from the collapsed people nearby. Their moans quickly turned to terrified screams and sobbing as the beasts touched down on the four corners of the burning town. They tore at the air, swallowing chunks of mana at a speed impossible to track with the naked eye.

Mayalyn gasped beside him as Restoration healed her destroyed ears. Her hand found his in a squeeze so tight he felt her claws pierce his skin. His blood flowed down their skin to trickle from their fingers.

“We don’t have enough mana to sate four of them at once. Not even close! W-what are we going to do?”

Jiran met the eyes of the largest alpha, his voice quivering with an unbreakable determination, “You need mana? I’ve got plenty.”