Boom~ Boom~ Boom~
Rumble~Rumble~Rumble~
The mountain shook and a harsh sound followed the intense rocking. For a moment the trembling got so fierce it felt like the mountain would cave in. Sline could not even stand while the ground beneath her feet swayed, as though she was not standing on solid ground but on top of the water, leaving her no other choice but to anchor the armor to the tunnel wall.
‘What happened? What was that sound?’
She thought as the bolts retracted into the armor.
The shaking had just subsided but a cry dripping in anger blasted through the tunnels, a cry so powerful it blasted air out of the numerous tunnels existing on the face of the mountain. She paled, a thought passing through her mind.
‘Worms have been provoked!’
These worms were usually not as aggressive compared to the other species that lived and thrived in this frozen world. They would ignore the harvesters most of the time but once they became angry they were one of the worst monsters she had read about. Their massive size imbued them with terrible raw power and equally great Qi reserve. These two qualities allowed the worms to crush anything that irritated them.
She ground her teeth and ran through the tunnels at full speed, choosing among the forked paths with a decisive purpose. It was like she knew where he was heading. She had an inkling of the cause of it all and if it truly was the harvester Inero-ie, she had to at least bring him out before he was killed.
Following the map, she quickly ran towards Inero-ie, her armor already picking up signs of intense vibration that seemed to be approaching from all sides. The thrusters propelled the armor with full force.
‘I have to get there quickly.’
Agitated worms were the relentless incarnation of destruction, crushing and devouring anything that appeared within their senses. This was why these tunnels were empty, the aura that filled the tunnels made any other monster too afraid to even enter.
The only silver lining in this mess was the map her armor had generated when the explosion had momentarily disrupted the aura that covered the tunnels. It allowed her to head straight to the source of the explosion.
She kept thinking while going deeper into the mountain. he was supposed to be a veteran. As a harvester who performed solo expeditions, he of all people should have been aware of the danger of what he had just done.
‘Does he not want to work for us? Was he brought to the capital forcefully? But that should not be the case with how Lord Knrama handles things. He has already been provided the citizenship of the capital too, so why?’
It was a reckless act and she could not think of any reason behind it.
‘It would have been an understandable mistake if made by a rookie but not a seasoned harvester like him.’
He had been given whole seven days to gather fluids, and though the time was tight, from what she had understood about him during the journey to this place, he was more than capable of completing the task, and easily at that.
***
Retreating to avoid the falling debris, he was surprised at the lackluster result. A single refined core had enough energy to make his armor work for a whole month even if he constantly engaged in fights. A raw core had at the very least, twice the amount of Qi compared to a refined core and he had exploded dozens fully expecting the tunnel to cave in.
The only sign of an explosion was a set of massive scars throughout the tunnel but that was it. Qi threads inspected the tunnels and he could not help but marvel at the blue-colored, frozen fluid. Even though the aura filling the tunnel now had massive chunks ripped out, it was still holding, allowing the tunnel to remain safe and stable.
The dust had just started settling but a powerful roar sent it flying once again. Bolts anchored the armor to the wall as a powerful blast of wind passed through the tunnel.
Gooooooooo~
Gooooooooo~
Gooooooooo~
A powerful menacing aura filled the tunnels.
‘It seems like they decided to accept my invitation.’
He looked around for a place to hide, selecting a massive crater left on the tunnel ceiling. He ran, then jumped, settling inside the hole created by the falling debris. It was massive, with plenty of space remaining even after he positioned himself.
It was dangerous, he would die if he was detected but this was the only way if he wanted to return on time. He had already spent a day wandering inside these tunnels and it would take another two days on the return trip leaving him with only one day’s worth of leeway.
A familiar aura appeared one that had been following him since he had left the capital.
[Quick! Come down! You are going to be sealed alive in that hole once they excrete their fluids on you.]
The roars became clearer and clearer.
[Come down!]
‘Is that possible? But there was no information about that?’
All he desired was a simple and quick death. A death where there would be no drama and life would drain out of his body and he would finally be able to rest eternally so he dreaded the thought of being stuck in a situation with no control, a situation where all he could do was wait for his death. So he jumped down.
‘I failed… so no way to get into the Frozen Sea? No. At least the barrier they have created should extend to the Outer Barrier at most. Then the next expedition is set. I will just have to exit the Grand Formation and then enter the forbidden zone from there.’
[Speed up! It is getting nearer!]
Gooooooooo~
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
He could feel a tangible pressure approaching from the back, its intensity hammering in one fact, he would have no possibility of fighting against that thing inside these tunnels even if he was in his best condition.
They charged through the tunnels rapidly advancing towards the exit when Sline was forced to stop once again. She turned towards Inero-ie who had stopped moving.
[What are you doing? Let’s go.]
[No. Fluid harvest.]
[Are you insane or did you not feel their aura? And why did you even cause this whole mess when you have seven whole days to gather the fluids? Are you really a veteran harvester? How can you be so impatient when you are capable of easily completing the task within a week!]
[Seven? No. Three days.]
[What?]
[Remaining.]
‘Ah, it makes sense if he thought that way…’
[Anyway, your time starts from the moment you reach these mountains so please take it easy. You will have plenty of time to complete the task so for now let's go out until things get settled down.]
It was a small conversation during a small pause but it messed up everything. No matter which path they choose, they were blasted with the aura of worms forcing them to enter the tunnels that sent them further away from the exit.
[Dammit. Do you have any idea? If it continues this way we will soon go out the map my armor had generated.]
[That problem? Why not keep running until worms calm down?]
[Do you have the confidence to keep running without being caught for days?]
[Yes]
Nine threads dissipated leaving behind only one. He willed and it started lengthening and then he started practicing with it. It had been more than a year since he had used the threads to their full potential but now he felt excited just like when he had been chased by that army of monsters for nearly a week. That had been in a wide and open plane but he had still not made it easy for them. Compared to that this felt easy. There would be a few worms at most and the tunnels restricted their ability to move freely.
The thread spun and a wave of information rushed into his head, categorized by the spell formula. It was unaffected by the aura, unaffected by nearly a hundred meters of rocks allowing him to glimpse into the surrounding tunnels.
[Follow]
The thread acted as a tripwire, allowing him to sense the presence of the worms in the surrounding tunnels and so the game of hide and seek started.
***
“That concludes the report.”
“Opinions?”
“Harvester Inero-ie is an exceptional fighter and his ability to control the armor suit is not something I have seen even among the senior harvester. The way he repeatedly executed those advanced maneuvers while being ganged up by dozens of monsters made it look less of a fight and more like he was playing.
This brings up another important point I would like to highlight, we will have to be careful how we express the mission content. This time he thought he had to go to the mountains, harvest, and then bring back the fluids, all within seven days. For other harvesters, they would not have this misunderstanding because harvesters usually take the official paths and just that would take more than a week but he just carved a path straight through the monster habitats.
Also, he is reckless. Very reckless.”
“Humm… and his ability as a harvester?”
“He did harvest the fluids without any problem but we will have to test him with other material, though considering that he only performed solo operations, he should be capable enough, and even if he is not we should not let him go. Despite being injured, he is such a capable fighter, what more will he be able to do once he fully recovers?”
“What do you mean? Is he not healthy?”
“Please see this.”
As Cile went through reports present inside the data stone she could not help but ask.
“How did they let him go?”
“His expeditions are all multiple cycles long and because of that, I think not many remember him though I have to add, Lord Knrama may have used his authority as the Lord Representative to make the process easier.”
“If he can perform such long solo expeditions then he must have some ability as a harvester. Sline, have that checked. If he is not capable enough then have him trained as soon as possible. We will need him to bring the rarer materials. I want to finish this project, it has been going on for too long.”
“You already ran the experiments with the new batch?”
“Yes and still no result. The structure did not persist at the nanoscale no matter what I did. Now I think maybe we have been looking at the problem with the wrong lens.”
“Maybe the problem is not due to the materials? Why not use an external lab like I said last time?”
“But theoretically it should have been a success… but… maybe you were right. Let's do that if these new set of experiments I devised also fail.”
“As you wish, my lady.”
***
“How did it go?”
“Un..know.n”
“Did you complete the test?”
Nod.
“Within the set constraints?”
Nod.
“What do you think, did you do your best?”
Nod.
“Well, you did all you could then to the best of your abilities within the set constraints so there should be no need to worry. They would do everything they could to get you, you are that useful. Anyway, how is the prototype working? You still haven’t given me any reports?”
Fria-al caught the data stone.
“Good good. Despite all the headaches and worries you create for me, at least you do this thing correctly. Thanks and look forward to your new armor, it will surprise you.”
“Ca..tch.”
The temperature dropped the moment he took out the raw cores from the dimensional storage, throwing them towards Fria-al.
“What for?”
“Wea..pons.”
“Leave behind the details of what you want and I will have it made. And what about the remaining money, should I transfer it to your account?”
Nod.
Leaving the mansion, Ineor-ie wandered through the forest.
Surrounded by the rustling leaves, swaying grass, and flowing water, Inero-ie sat crosslegged in a secluded spot deep inside one of the forests. In his hand was a refined core, shining a soft and enchanting light. He extracted a wisp of Qi from the core. Slowly it circulated through the Qi circuits, little bits being absorbed with each circulation until the already pure Qi became even purer and he then moved it inside his heart. The minuscule Qi that remained enveloped the cracked core under his will, he let go of his control allowing the core to absorb the Qi and mend itself.
It was inherently a slow process. Whenever he had used A Way Through before, he would have to take complete rest for months to recover from a few hours of abuse but this time he had fully expected to die so he had abused his body, especially his core, as he had never before. It surprised him that he was still alive.
‘What was the reason? Law? No, that is not it…’
Gaining enlightenment of the Law did not affect the body, it would have been understandable if he had undergone the major metamorphosis by performing the shedding but he still had not done so.
The thought would not leave his mind so he started reviewing everything that had happened from the moment he had executed the technique. Ten threads were conjured into existence and started inspecting every inch of his body.
‘Nothing?’
The only thing he had found was the mark that had appeared after his meeting with the snake. They were completely natural like they had always been a part of his body.