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Chapter 236: A Look Below
🕑 Added 2023-06-10 06:13:30 +0000 UTC-
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No Cliff.
AN: Got some editing suggestions? Suggest it on the Google Docs here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yOiEd1fKsPaaoCdky0--QMYw_yNaiueB4SGY6hggUNs/edit?usp=sharing
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I am not a strategist, nor do I know of the abilities of any of the Oathbound, so I mostly just listen to them discuss their plans. This also isn’t my fight; the Emperor and Oathbound never included me in their plans, and besides, the only help I can really offer is with my Bond, which is nowhere near as strong as it needs to be, and my perception which can’t do any damage.
I wonder what’s below the Dwarves? They are really far underground; I barely saw them. Why not go deeper? Are there monsters? Or maybe there’s the world’s mantle below? There was a lot of fire mana, and they were sweating, so that must be it.
I wonder if there’s some way we can leverage that? If I recall correctly, the mantle isn’t exactly liquid; at least, it won’t be for a long distance. Then again, that assumption could be wrong. Volcanoes are apparently caused by Fire Elementals, and this world is impossibly large for an Earth-like environment.
“I am curious too,” Yrania’s thoughts flow to me. “Almost no one delves so deep into the earth.”
The Humans broke the link, but Yrania never did; I guess she is interested in seeing the events unfold.
Come to think of it; I never thought to even look downward. I just assumed this world was like Earth, so there shouldn’t be anything interesting after reaching the mantle. It’s not entirely without reason, too, there could be powerful Mind-Mage beings down there, but with Yrania here, it should be safe enough.
I look deeper, and magma soon fills my entire vision. There are several Fire Elementals, but that is expected, considering how much fire mana there is. I expand my perceptive area, and soon a sea of magma comes into view. It stretches a hundred thirty kilometers down in some places but seems to be a thousand kilometers wide and even longer in length.
“It’s an Elemental breeding ground,” Yrania explains. “Elementals are born from high concentrations of mana, so when enough gathers, the conditions for more to spawn are abundant.”
There must be over a thousand Fire Elementals, and that’s not all. Tens of thousands, if not a hundred thousand, other fire and fire-related beings swim in the Magma Sea. I notice strong mana currents, even forming an underground, mini Nexus, although this one seems to only have fire mana flowing through it.
Now that I think about it, where does all that mana even go?
“You’d be one of the very few to know that answer,” Yrania says, but I can feel her eagerness to find out.
This is the first time Yrania has shown interest in something other than minds and psychology, but I suppose she’d be one of, if not the only Dragon to see so far underground.
“Of course I am excited! Almost no one has this opportunity!” Yrania defends herself.
I continue down, following where the Magma Sea Nexus is flowing down, and suddenly the ground opens into a colossal cavern, a thousand kilometers below the surface. A gargantuan city of what looks to be crystalline people roam around, doing their business. They are not Golems, but individual beings made of crystals and gems!
The vast majority of them have earth and earth-related mana, such as ruby, and iron essence. The flow of fire mana cuts right through their city, creating a pillar of obsidian-encased magma. There is no one around the obsidian pillar for at least a dozen kilometers as currents of fire and fire-adjacent mana flow into the pillar of sinking fire mana, creating a zone of intolerably high concentration of mana.
“Are we witnessing the birth of a new Nexus?” I can’t help but ask.
Fire repels water and ice mana, but attracts air and light mana, which in turn attracts lightning mana, which in turn attracts water mana which then attracts ice mana. The sheer amount of fire mana looks to be the start, and if the Fire Elementals abandon their breeding ground, then that will allow other mana to finally start flowing through the mini Nexus, and it may grow stronger and into a proper Nexus. Is that how my home became a Nexus? It once was an Elemental breeding ground?
“I don’t know; you are the expert.” Yrania shrugs and flicks her tail.
Looking even farther down, I see more large caverns, many of which have tunnels connecting them. Some of the tunnels look like lava tubes, but most seem to be dug out. Many different kinds of people live in these caverns, from rock people, to aquatic fish people living in flooded caverns. I don’t map anything out since I want to see where all this mana is going.
It is interesting that despite being over ten thousand kilometers below the surface, there is no mantle; however, by twenty thousand kilometers, I start to notice an MM force get stronger and stronger the farther down I go. By thirty thousand kilometers, the distance from my Nexus to the Human lands, it got to the point that even the ambient mana is being repelled by it. The mini Nexus flow punches right through it. I start seeing many mana crystals, some that are even the size of buildings, before seeing veins of solid mana, even pillars of mana not unlike what I am following right now.
Soon enough, I come upon a shell of solid mana, and a kilometer below that, a vast sea of liquid mana, the local area being mostly liquid fire mana that is sucking up the flow from the mini Nexus.
“I see. All this liquid mana is full of all kinds of mana. This would create a repelling force that repels all mana. But it’s not all equal. Places where there is more of one kind of mana may create weak spots where a Nexus can finally form. A budding Nexus may even create weak spots. If all this fire mana sinks until it can’t anymore and builds up, it will eventually build up enough that the pressure creates liquid mana, which can finally break through the MM field and create a feedback loop. More fire mana in one area draws in more of the same and adjacent types of mana. If the Fire Elementals eventually abandon the breeding ground, then this would allow all types of mana to be pulled in, creating a true Nexus.”
“There looks to be remnants of old Nexuses, too,” Yrania points out. “Nexuses may not last forever. What does this say about your own Nexus? The Mana Arc is funneling all that mana to the dungeon, won’t that weaken the flow of mana, eventually killing it?”
“That’s true… but on the surface, the flow doesn’t change; only what’s below does. Besides, there are underground leylines, currents of mana, so it should still be there, and if not, I have the power to restart the Nexus.”
That’s an interesting point, now that I think of it. I can create Nexuses anywhere I want. Of course, it’s not always a good thing, since that may disrupt the leylines and make things worse, but it’s a possibility.
The next obvious question is, what lies at the center of the world? I can investigate that later, when there isn’t an impending war to worry about. Besides, I do still want to check under my Nexus, so I can do that then.
Back on topic, how can I use the information about the Magma Sea to help? It really isn’t my problem, but the looming threat of the Calamity Egg may make it my problem.
Can the Oathbound somehow blast a hole and make magma rise up? No, the Earth Elementals will be able to cover any hole made and stop any environmental hazards. What about attracting the Fire Elementals? That may backfire if the Dwarves can enslave it… This is hard. I’ll tell them what I saw and let them discuss it.
“I have some more information to add; I scouted around the Dwarves further to see if there might be anything we can use,” I say when there is a pause in the discussions. I tell them about the Magma Sea, and the Fire Elementals, but I don’t bring up the mini Nexus or anything further below.
“Could we try to attract the Fire Elementals with Bond resonance?” one of the new Oathbound asks.
“Risky, but if more than one comes, it might even the odds,” a veteran Oathbound answers.
“High risk, high reward, so let's consider it a plan B,” Jordan says.
“Could we use the Pained Ones somehow?” another Oathbound asks.
“Maybe, it’s another equalizer, but it’s just as risky as using Fire Elementals.”
“I don’t like that idea, but we don’t have many options,” the Emperor says. “and we need everything we can use. Using both ideas is our best option for defeating the Soul Lords. We only need to slay the Soul Lords after all; by freeing the Earth Elementals, they will wreak havoc upon the rest of the armies, and we can let the Elementals and Cursed Beings kill each other.”
“Emperor, how do you plan on getting the Pained Ones to the battlefield?” one of the Oathbound asks.
“We’ll open a portal. The Pain Master can usher them through. Once at the battlefield, they will attack anything in sight.”
“Will it be enough, though?”
“No,” the Emperor shakes his head. “Pained Ones are as weak as we can make them while still giving a Legendary point for killing them. A single Pained One should be an even match for a Soul Lord, considering Soul Lords are specialized in souls, which Cursed Beings lack. However, there are twice as many Soul Lords than Pained Ones, so the most we can expect is to divide their attention while we try to slay either the Soul Lords or the Earth Elementals.”
“Cursed Beings will also attack each other,” Jordan adds. “Pained Ones are no exception, so it will be a free for all once we drop them in.”
“What if this plan fails?” another Oathbound asks.
“Then we’ll have an even harder fight ahead of us,” Jordan replies. “Unless anyone else has a better plan.” He meets the eyes of everyone one by one, but no one speaks up.
“Do you have any items or weapons that can contribute significantly to the battle?” I ask.
“No,” the Emperor responds. “Unless it’s a sword or armor that my Knights use, we don’t have anything that can help in this situation.”
“Then why not use my airships?” I offer. “They should be equal to Heroic or Exalted tier, and I can always make more. They are quite durable, have plenty of ammunition, and if you’re willing to wait a few hours, I might be able to send the entire fleet here if one of you can teleport them once they are out of range from the teleportation anchors.”
The ammunition is made of solid spell mana, and if I can empower them with magic from [Manipulate Magic], they should be even stronger. Being made of super-solid mana, they should be able to withstand a hit or two from a weaker Legendary being. The only problem would be the Cursed Beings being able to use that mana and easily destroy them that way.
“How many do you have? It won’t be worth the effort to teleport them from so far away for just one or two.”
“I have ten, including the one already here, and they should be able to take a couple of hits from even Legendary beings, so if anything, you can use them as shields.”
“Who’s going to pilot them? We don’t have anyone trained to fly them.”
“I will. My clones can easily handle this task, and they, like the airships, are expendable.”
“This isn’t your fight,” the Emperor shakes his head. “I do not want to drag you into our affairs any more than I already have.”
“And normally, I’d agree, but I can't risk the miasma egg hatching into a world-ending Cursed Being. I live in this world, and there is a real risk that if you lose, it could affect my people and home.”
“Emperor, we need all the help we can get,” Ryan, the captain of intelligence, says.
“Sometimes we need to rely on our allies, Emperor, especially when help is being offered,” Jordan supports Ryan.
“Yeah! Plus, if they can take a couple of hits, the Squires will have a better chance of living through this!” Elizabeth jumps in. “It’s not just about surviving this battle; it’s also about surviving the next, which will be easier with more of us!”
“I can teleport the airships,” Lin declares. “It will exhaust me, but I can only use my minds in this fight so I won’t be entirely out of commission.” He then turns toward me. “We will need to relink so I can teleport them here; it’s impossible to do so otherwise.”
“That’s fine.” I nod.
“Very well,” The Emperor sighs. “I welcome your help, but I will have to insist on repaying you for your aid.”
After discussing a few more details, like how long it can be expected for the airships to arrive, it is decided that they will set out as soon as the battle briefing ends. They will try to attract Fire Elementals and portal the Cursed Beings to the battle, and Lin will teleport the airships to the battle as soon as he can.
I get the airships ready, empower the ammo with magic, and set sail with the nine airships moving at their top speeds. In a few hours, we will be confronting the Dwarf army.
Comments
garlic
range of manipulate magic too short and she is in lunaley land (or whatever it was called)
Malchome
queue the Wagner
ShotoGun
Can’t she enchant a vacuum sealed container and fill it with anti-matter for a bomb?
