Chapter 77 - Where’s A Dwarf When You Need One? (Patreon)

“Your mana will not work. The makerdrives were designed to work with the people’s mana. No, wait! You can inject it directly into the filter! I will need to adjust the input valve and detach the grant tube,” Mayalyn was waist-deep inside the turret before she finished speaking. “Hand me the fixed spanner and the shears,” A delicate hand coated in grease popped out of the machine's guts and Jiran handed her the two tools that looked closest to their names.

More of the alphas descended from far above, they snapped and snarled at each other, each movement sending out waves of pressure that slammed into the ground. Jiran watched their every move while his aura protected Mayalyn and the nearby people.

He took a small measure of relief that those same waves of pressure were pushing away the lava rain, keeping it from destroying the town immediately and giving them time to put out some of the fires.

Within minutes, Mayalyn climbed out of the turret and nodded to him while pointing to a specific part. “That is the filter. See this part here? Pour your mana into that. Slowly! The filter can only handle so much at once,” Jiran placed his hand on the piece she indicated and pushed a trickle of mana into it.

Mayalyn inhaled sharply when she saw the four massive beasts surrounding the town. They dwarfed the buildings and moved with terrifying speed as they bit into the mana suffusing the air. She turned away from them with short breaths and dilated eyes as she monitored a needle twitching inside a glass dial. With soft commands, she guided Jiran until he had a grasp of the right amount of mana to feed into the filter.

“Okay, I think I’ve got it,” Jiran spun his gate much slower than he had before. A crack opened in his soulwall and just a sliver of Madra's mana poured out. For the first time, he allowed it to go through his body instead of his aura. It tore down his neck and into his stomach where it bucked and thrashed, destroying everything it came into contact with.

He doubled over and puked blood onto the ground as the mana ran its course through his system. He heard screaming and shouting, but his perceptions were a fuzzy mess as his vision trembled.

Restoration!

Waves of healing swept through him, draining nearly forty percent of his mana before he was finally able to take a breath and think again.

“Jiran! Jiran!” Mayalyn shouted while rocking his head on her lap.

“I’m okay, everything’s fine.”

“What?! What do you mean everything is fine? What just happened?”

“I’ll explain later, I need to focus.”

Jiran closed his eyes, his head still cradled in her lap. The alphas snapped and the ground shook as they tore at the dwindling mana supply from the makerdrives. He reached out with his aura and latched onto the filter. Once more, he guided Madra’s mana out of his gate, this time being very careful that none of it touched his physical body.

“It’s working now, I had to do it through my aura. If you want to adjust the other makerdrive too, I’ll feed both of them for as long as it takes.”

“As long as it takes? How is that possible?” Mayalyn narrowed her eyes at him while she searched his face for answers.

“It’s a long story. I promise I’ll explain once these beasts are gone.”

“Good. I do not care for the secrets between us. I… We will talk soon, now is not the time.” She promised before standing up and heading to the other makerdrive.

A few minutes later, Jiran’s aura was hooked up to both machines. He sat on the ground with his eyes closed, completely focused. He eased Madra’s mana through the gate and down two ephemeral arms of aura into the delicate devices while letting any excess pool across his thickened manabody.

Breathe, pull, breathe, push.

Mayalyn dashed between both machines, checking dials and testing for excess heat with her bare hands. A tigerwoman who was the spitting image of an older Mayalyn grabbed her by the shoulders, halting her frenzied scurrying. “This isn’t going to work for long, Maymay,” The woman’s voice was smooth and lacked the lilt that Pepa and Mayalyn spoke with.

“I know, Mathra, but what can we do?”

“We dig,” Jiran interrupted them.

“What?” They both spoke in unison.

“If you gather everyone into the bunker, I can dig us off the island until things calm down. I’ll need food. Lots of food.”

One of the makerdrives began to gush black smoke as he lost focus and fed it too much mana. Mayalyn panicked, jumping onto it from a run and pulled off a panel with brute force before shoving her head into the smoking hole. The tigerwoman was gone a few seconds later. He vaguely registered shouting, the stomping of feet, and the banging of metal on metal as he lost himself to the flow of Madra’s mana.

Sometime later, Pepa’s hand landed on his shoulder. The man stood above him with a stern frown. “Thank you. You can stop now, everyone still alive is gathered below.”

Still alive? How many have died already because I turned on that fucking node? The town destroyed, the island uninhabitable. Now isn’t the time, I need to save as many as I can.

Seeing the look in Jiran’s eyes, Pepa nodded and walked into the bunker leaving him alone, save for Mayalyn who was running back and forth between the two makerdrives. While he was focusing, new alphas had replaced the original four who rested nearby with bulging bellies.

Two of the beasts took to the skies, instantly replaced by two more. These arrivals were not as meticulous with their landings. Their wings beat furiously as huge bodies impacted the ground causing the town to shake and turning some of the last buildings into rubble.

“Mayalyn! It’s time to go!” Jiran dared to glance up and saw another twelve of the beasts circling in the air, waiting for their turn at the banquet.

Mayalyn spun away from one turret toward the other so he scooped her into the air and dragged her along behind him as he dashed to the bunker's doors. “How long before the drives run out of mana?” He asked as calmly as he could.

Her struggles ceased almost instantly as she fell limp inside his aura. “Fifteen minutes, so long as nothing else breaks.”

Jiran descended the stairs in a single leap to land amidst a sea of terrified faces. A group of tier fours, led by two familiar tier five hunters, were already hard at work on the back wall. They tore out dirt with bare hands like they were swimming while auras shoved it to the side. His nose found a bag stuffed with food and he crammed several mouthfuls of whatever was in easy reach down his throat before moving to join them. Mayalyn leaped from his grasp to join Mathra and Pepa in gathering as much of the Maker’s legacy as they could in the few minutes they had remaining.

Coating slid through the ground and Metal Manipulation did its job of converting everything within range into loose dirt that was easily thrown by many sets of super-powered hands. Jiran’s aura was hard at work pulling dirt while he repeatedly carved their way forward and down. He was so caught up in his digging that it took him until Mayalyn rejoined him ten minutes later to realize he had no idea what direction they were going.

“Does anyone know which way will take us to the Mettlerise?”

[New quest acquired!]

[Sorry: Rescue citizens by following the quest marker to the teleportation node]

[Citizens rescued 0/345]

Unbelievable. Sorry? SORRY?!

“Never mind, I figured it out,” Jiran spat through clenched teeth before taking out his fury upon the rock and soil in their way.

“The Mettlerise? But what of the Aahmra?” Mayalyn hissed, her arms buried to the elbows in dirt.

“My aura isn’t the same as it was before. I’d like to see him try to stop me now.”

He changed directions by thirty degrees to line up with the new quest marker and kept on digging. Occasionally, their tunnel rumbled dangerously and he, along with the two tier five hunters, would support it with their manabodies. Twenty minutes after their journey underground began, The tigerwoman, Mathra, found him as he was creating an air hole through the rock and dirt above.

“What is your plan, child? You are strong and the hunters respect you, so none have questioned your orders yet. But you should not expect that to last after things have calmed down.” Her whisper was quiet enough not to be heard by everyone, but plenty of nearby faces turned in their direction until Jiran’s aura cut off their conversation.

“My plan was to take everyone to the Aahmra and let you sort out what happens next amongst yourselves.”

“I do not understand, why would the Aahmra be at the Mettlerise?”

Instead of answering, Jiran gave Mayalyn a nod and went back to what he was doing while she explained to her mother about the portal and the empire beyond. They found him again several minutes later as he was spreading out and flattening loose dirt from the front of the tunnel.

Mayalyn handed him a satchel full of fruit and she talked while he ate. “Mathra has given your plan her support. Gourga, Rakech, and the rest of the hunters have stated they will side with you as well. Auntie Viyolla is not happy about leaving Azurelight behind. She thinks we should go back when the alphas calm down.”

Jiran remembered the woman trying to humiliate Mayalyn at the feast. and felt his lip begin to curl into a snarl. He stowed his frustration, giving mayalyn a look that perfectly described how stupid he thought the woman’s plan was. “That’s insanity. Without the drives, the alphas will kill anyone who returns. I’m not against helping people come back in the future to recover anything they had to leave behind, but turning back any time soon is suicide.”

Mayalyn’s gaze fell further with each point he made, her response came out as a pained mumble. “It is not me that needs convincing.”

At least wait until everyone is safe before you start causing trouble!

“Do I need to deal with her?” Jiran growled.

“Calm yourself,” Mayalyn rose onto her toes to put her nose to his, locking their eyes. Exhaustion, adrenaline, and repeated injuries without any real rest had worn him down to a state of instinctual reaction without thought. The longer he stared into her dazzling, honey-colored eyes, the more the stress and danger of the situation fell away into a gentle background buzz.

Jiran recognized his head nodding on autopilot before she spoke again. “I only wanted to keep you informed. No more secrets. Please, leave these matters to Mathra and me,” Then she turned and was gone, leaving Jiran with his mouth hanging open.

That girl is dangerous.

Jiran cleared his head with a shake and checked his quest marker before sliding into place alongside the other diggers. One of them nudged him in the side. “Why don’t we check the surface? We should be far enough from Azurelight to avoid the alphas.” Together, they looked back at the mothers and children huddled in the dark. “Nevermind,” The man said with a frown before sinking his claws back into the dirt.

. . .

He had no way of knowing how long it took, but based on the amount of food he consumed and converted, it had to be the end of the next day, or maybe the morning after, when the mettlerise was finally directly above them. His butt crashed to the floor. He leaned against fresh dirt that felt like the softest pillow to his exhausted body.

The ground still shook, though it was more sedate and infrequent. They had all become used to the sweltering heat of the tunnel and for some time, there had been no crying from the children. Twice, magma veins had shifted from ground shakes and attempted to flood their tunnel. Both times, the two tier five hunters, Gourga and Rakech had saved them all with their auras. As tired as he was, Jiran nearly broke down thinking how close he had come to killing them. He swore to never again consider killing a person before they had proven beyond all doubt that they were unworthy of living.

“We’re here. It’s straight above us now,” His words caused his fellow diggers to drop like stones. Their groans somehow made him feel the smallest bit better. It had been nice working as part of a team, even if it was only temporary.

A chorus of quiet yowls and yips filled the constricted space as husbands and wives rushed forward to pass out food and drink. Mathra found him and stood over him with a complicated expression.

“You did well bringing us this far. Your people’s ability to convert food to mana so quickly has me concerned for our future, if we are to live amongst your kind.”

“That’s not really a ‘my people’ thing. As far as I know, I’m the only one who can do that. No, my cousin can too, and probably my old mentor. They should have taught a few others by now, I don’t know. I haven't seen any of them in a long time.”

“This is something that can be taught?!” She hissed.

“I don’t know if the People can learn it. Your cores might interfere, I’m not really sure. I’d be happy to show you after I get a short nap.” He yawned before his eyes closed of their own accord and long-denied exhaustion claimed his consciousness.