CHAPTER 162

Everlyn smiled proudly at the plan. There was more to it he knew but the basics of it were solid.

“Sounds great. Now… let me.”

Tom lifted a hand to place it on the roof and focused. His awareness spread through the rock and then up to the outside. Half of him wanted to create a cave in, that would fill part of the space they were in and provide an exit to the surface but too many people were directly above him and while Everlyn and he knew who the killers were no one else had that information.

Tensions, by definition, would be high.

Instead of the fast dramatic option, he focused on the section he had sealed after they had got into his cave. At his command, his power flexed and the stone he had drawn in to seal the exit rolled back to where it had come from. A volume equivalent to a bath tub flowed into the cave they were in.

“It’s like lava.”

“Put your hand on it…. Evie it’s safe.” Tom laughed at her expression. “I’m not going to encourage you to burn you hands to a crisp on goddamn lava as a practical joke.”

Belatedly, she placed her palm firmly on the rock.

The tension vanished from her body. “You’re correct. There’s no heat.” She tried to dig her fingers into the moving stone, but made no progress. It was rock, after all. “Incredible, with the way it moves…”

“Magic right. Practically it’s my title at work. It probably cheats with some entropy thing, loosening chemical bonds like what happens with magma, but without actually supplying the heat.”

“Yes, Mr Professor.”

“I’m not.”

“You talk like you are a lot.”

Tom laughed. “I guess I do. It’s always been a bad habit. It’s one thing I appreciate about Existentia. No one can pull out their phone and fact check me by googling and proving me wrong.”

“That’s terrible. You know your statement is inaccurate and what? You say it, anyway?”

“Nah, it’s not like that. There’s nothing predetermined. My mouth just runs before my brain engages.”

“I’ll be watching it from now on. You know.”

Tom shrugged. “You would have anyway, but you don’t have a phone, so I’m safe.”

The tunnel he was creating finished, and they wriggled out all the way to the surface.

The normal outdoor kitchen was running, and they helped themselves to breakfast. No one complained about them using community resources and Everlyn chatted contentedly with everyone one. Tom partially pretended to be engrossed in the massive rib bone he had grabbed. It wasn’t much of an act because it tasted damn good.

“Tom.” Everlyn said sharply. “I’m going to brief Harry on the ritual. Can you stand watch.”

“Definitely.”

Everlyn seized Harry’s hand and immediately both of them when slack jawed.

Tom had stood, bone discarded to his storage, and his spear held lightly in his hand. While defending them, he quietly kept track of their three targets. As far as he was concerned, they were the only real danger. They had been in the territory long enough that they knew the local monster life, so he didn’t expect an attack from anyone else. All in all, sentry duty was easy. Not that he slacked off in the slightest. He was a survivor of forty years in the tutorial and he understood how many monsters out there specialised in ambush, stealth, and stalking stationary prey. His years of hunting experience meant that it was trivial to keep tabs on the murderers while not directly looking at them. Lots of people and creatures had skills to warn them if something was watching them too closely. He monitored the killers while searching for any other threat that might be approaching. Memorising an area then glancing away before cycling his gaze back to make sure nothing had shifted.

Everlyn finished with Harry, and the ritualist departed with a worried look.

They moved on. Michael got briefed and left almost radiating fury. He might be a doctor, but his acting skills were either lacking or the anger he felt was so intense that it couldn’t be suppressed.

Rahmat was his usual relaxed self through Tom noticed he gripped his spear a little tighter than typical.

Thor had a reaction between those of Michael and Harry.

Jingyi was unfortunately unavailable. The scout because he was currently on shift while Toni was involved with cooking the food. They would need to engage them later. But seven on three or most likely seven on one was odds he was confident of. Especially as excluding Harry and Michael none of them were slouches when it came to fighting and both of them were pretty good as well.

The six of them gathered. “Are you excited Tom.” Everlyn said loudly.

“What?”

“Because you get to do the ritual.” She winked at him.

Ah, Tom thought to himself. It was like that; she wanted a show. “Yeah. I’ve bought it. All that is left is to find a site to cast it. Preferably private.”

“What does the ritual do?” Michael asked curiously.

“I’m not talking specifics.” Tom said immediately. “This is the first step in a complicated plan that will be earning millions of ranking points.”

“Bullshit,” one of Legen’s cronies, who had been clearly eavesdropping, scoffed.

“It has the potential for that much.” Tom shot back without hesitation. “Though I doubt we’ll get anywhere near that number.” Tom shrugged. “At the very least, it’s worth trying.”

“Do you need help?” Legen asked suddenly ignoring the man who had mocked them.

Tom shook his head. “Only a couple of people are required, and Harry and Thor have already agreed to be point for the ritual.”

“You said you had to select a site.” Harry stated. “That choice is important for most rituals. What conditions will optimise it? If you don’t know, you can share the ritual, and I can recommend somewhere.”

For a moment, Tom panicked. There was no ritual. How did he know what it needed? Then he realised the point of Harry’s question. “A sense of permanency.”

“That’s hard to find around here.” Harry said immediately.

Stolen story; please report.

“Something that’s seen death as well. It’s a seeking spell so—”

“Stop.” Harry interrupted. “There’s no need to list anything more.” He shook his head. “Privacy and permanency the only spot that gets close is our old fortifications. Everything else is new land.”

“The poison?”

Harry shrugged. “We can get Toni to blow it away.”

“Won’t be necessary,” Legen said. He had been actively following their conversation. “I went and checked it earlier. The wyvern’s mist has mostly dissipated.”

“Great.” Tom said while shooting Everlyn an annoyed glance. At the least she could have warned him.

“Do you need any other help?”

He looked at Michael who had asked the question. Another soft ball thrown by Everlyn he guessed. “Yes, it will be useful. The ritual should be stable, but they go wrong every now and again. Having some healers as backup will be vital. You, and I’ll probably see if Clare’s available as well.”

“I can help too.” Toni volunteered from where she was pulling the last of the food off the fire.

“I’ll organise everything. Give me ten minutes.” Everlyn said, beaming at him and giving him a big thumbs up. The rumour mill was very active in their small camp and their targets would know of their plan before they left to start their entrapment.

“Legen.” Tom blurted. “You’re running your own mini scouting operation, right?”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

The tank shrugged. “I have friends amongst the scouts. Speaking of them, I have a bone to pick with you about Jingyi.”

“We needed another scout.”

Legen laughed at that excuse. “I’m sure you did, but that’s not why you chose him.”

“Everlyn recruited him, not me.”

The tank rolled his eyes. “I’ve got a bone to pick with Everlyn then. Surely Jingyi’s skills are better with the large group.”

“He was the second scout I asked,” Everlyn interrupted. “And putting aside his trial sensing ability he is the best we have. Given we’re travelling fast through hostile territory the quality of our scouts is critical.”

“True. It’s just.”

“Legen.” Tom cut off. “Jingyi’s made up his own mind. It’s not up to the council or you to order him about. We have more important things to discuss anyway like the ritual I’m going to do.”

The tank went from his joking posture to a serious one instantly. “What about it?”

“It’s not dangerous,” Tom clarified hurriedly. “But it needs to remain a secret. An oracle question confirmed that.”

Legen nodded. “I’ll put the word out. No one will bother you and my people will help enforce that.”

“Thank you. I don’t want to lower the chances of this working because someone spied on me.”

“Tom. We’re all on the same side.” He sighed heavily and looked pensive. “My fiancé and I were going to marry in six months’ times when it happened.”

“I’m sorry.” Tom said instinctively. It was clear Legen would never see his fiancé again, and it was a common story. Most people had a romantic partner that they would never see again.

“Me too. Samantha might be lost, but I had two daughters with her. I’m doing this for them and her. They were who got me up each day in the tutorial. If I can do enough for them to get a good start together, that is more than enough for me.”

“Thank you for sharing.”

“And you Tom. You were what nineteen when the event occurred?”

“Twenty.”

“Who are you doing it for?”

“My family. Both my parents and younger siblings. Em was only eight.”

“That’s excellent motivation.”

“I think we’re all in the same…” Tom started.

“Yes, we are,” Legen interrupted him with a gentle smile. “Which is why, once we tell everyone to give you space, you’ll get it.”

Tom sighed. “I know, but with the killer… With them doing that I forget sometimes.”

Legen frowned. “Yep, they shook me too.”

“When are we doing this?” Toni asked finally free from her cooking duties.

“Everlyn has a diagram in her system room that makes it easier to explain.” Tom said generously.

Everlyn responded by frowning at him but patted the spot next to her and Toni sat down.

They became dolls briefly, and a minute later Toni came out with a fragile smile. She looked like she wanted to burst into tears. Tom was not surprised by that reaction. He had been warned that she had a thing for Sven to the point she had been considering staying in the main group because of it.

There was nothing like being told, ‘that the man you’re crushing on is a psychopath, and oh later today you’re going to help us enslave them,’ to put a frown on your face in the morning.

Everlyn squeezed her hand, and they got up to leave.

It was like everyone had been given that as a signal.

Michael made a beeline for Clare.

Tom loitered to listen in.

“Hey Clare, can you do one last favour for me?”

“What? I’m not happy with you. Do you know how much administrative crap you’re dumping on me by leaving like this.”

Michael’s face was inexpressive. “Tom needs some help to run a ritual. It’s for a secret ranking point plan. If everything goes well, you and I won’t see a thing. If it screws up, we’ll be there for emergency healing.”

Clare looked like she wanted to say no.

“Come on Clare. You owe me, and you definitely owe Tom. He saved your life.”

Tom felt a twinge of guilt at that reminder. If he had let both Clare and Sven die, Gita would be alive. Then he internally shook his head. Taking responsibility for shit like that was ridiculous.

She swallowed. “I guess I have nothing better to do.”

The four of them, Everlyn, him, Michael and Clare approached the fortification in quiet reflection with the others having already gone ahead.

“It’s hard leaving like this isn’t it.” Michael said finally. “I know it’s been less than two months, but it feels much longer.”

Clare shrugged. “We’ve come a long way since the first day. Especially him.” She pointed at Tom.

“I warned you all back then. That I’ll grow strong.” Tom said into the awkward silence. Even though they wanted to act normal, none of them were up to conversing lightly with one of the killers.

“I doubt you thought you would get this strong that quickly.” Michael said.

“There’s lots of things I never expected from Existentia.” Tom answered even as they entered the fortifications with the unmanned murder holes above them.

“There’s still some poison in the air.” Clare warned as she paused in the middle of the murder hole tunnel. It was only four metres long, but when you were in it, you felt it. Especially the twist that made you feel briefly enclosed.

“I know,” Tom told her. “But it’s low level and part of the reason you’re here. This, unfortunately, was the best site for my ritual.” He was sure Clare already knew that. “With us having lived here and all the energies released by the longjoules and the wyvern it’s the closest to a spot of power anywhere near us.”

“Especially one attuned to humans.” Michael volunteered.

“Fine.” Clare said and stalked forward.

Tom made a point of walking at her shoulder. They both felt it when they took the final step into the fortifications and the ritual that Harry and inscribed took hold.

Zap!

Tom unleashed with all of his non crystal mana immediately after stepping into the rituals range.

Beside him Clare crackled with electricity and her jaw clenched and she went as straight as a rod. Tom pushed her, so she fell into the circle fully. The last thing he wanted was to prolong the fight, which might happen if she collapsed outside the ritual.

Despite having expunged most of his mana, he could feel the ritual tugging at his core and trying to drain more. It was unpleasant but nowhere near as bad as it would be if he had a full core. At his feet Clare clenched, thrashed still caught by the aftereffects of the massive electricity pulse he had struck her with. Between the need to heal that and the disruption caused by the ritual, she was helpless.

He dropped beside her and noticed both the burns across her arm and the bloody saliva leaking from her mouth probably a consequence of her biting herself rather than an injury created by the fall.

From outside the circle, Thor handed him one of the three sets of manacles they had purchased for such moments. They were cheap, but with a guard and a mana sapping ritual restricting them the chains would be more than sufficient to hold them.

Next to him the electricity was fading from her body and he used his power to push it away from her arms completely and then grabbed both of her wrists. He twisted them harshly behind her back.

She grunted in pain.

Tom ignored her and focused on tightening the slider and then snapped the lock into place. It was less a lock and more of a simple engineered overlapped piece of metal that needed a tool to leverage open once it had clicked shut.

The operation went smoothly.

“Got her.” He declared.

Clare was whimpering in pain and part of him regretted his massive attack at the start that had created visible burn marks. Third, fourth degree burns, he didn’t know the definitions, but on Earth it would have been fatal. Here between her healing and the elevated speed of everyone she was surviving.

Another whimper escaped her lips.

She looked like pieces of her skin and muscles would fall off if he tugged at them. That much mana directed through Spark was devastating. Unfortunately, her cursed bloodline meant that they hadn’t known how strong she was, so he had gone hard initially. Better to kill her than to risk her killing one of them.

“God Tom. What were you thinking?” Michael complained, kneeling outside the ritual, but as close to Clare as possible. “That’s overkill. You almost fried her. Can I heal her?”

Tom nodded and healing magic splashed into her. Some was negated by the anti-magic chains and a bit more by the ritual, but enough hit her that the terrible burns receded.

Clare spat out a mouthful of blood. “What’s happening? Are you… Are you the killers?”