Zaro materialized beside Ezra in Galahad's training grounds, the void's embrace fading like morning mist. Her startled expression quickly turned to amusement as she watched him pat himself down, checking that all his parts had made the journey.
(System alert)
New ability test successful. All limbs accounted for. Mostly.
After gathering the others, they claimed a private corner of the grounds. Zaro detailed the legacy trials while Chad took notes in a journal that seemed to appear from nowhere. The mage's quill paused when Zaro described the void redirect construct.
“Shadow portals that size?” Chad adjusted his hat thoughtfully. “The energy requirements alone should be impossible.”
Ezra's eyes lit up at the description of her ability's advanced form. “Just imagine the tactical advantages”, she mused, already plotting new combat maneuvers.
When Zaro mentioned Cemí and the dark void users, Chad's expression darkened beneath his hat brim. His quill stopped completely.
“Time to test the new toy”, Ramrod declared, clearly more interested in action than history. The big warrior focused intensely, void energy swirling around him like a purple tornado. The air crackled with power as he attempted to teleport.
He managed to disappear successfully. Reappearing, however, proved more challenging. They found him stuck halfway between locations, his upper body floating three feet to the left of his legs. He looked like someone had poorly edited him into reality.
“I can leave to myself!”, Ramrod said enthusiastically, watching his disconnected hands wave.
It took them an hour to get everyone practicing void convergence properly. Everyone but Ramrod mastered it quickly. The Orc's attempts kept producing increasingly improbable spatial accidents. His final try somehow left him speaking in reverse for five minutes.
Later that night, while the others slept, Zaro checked his system notifications. The legacy trials had pushed his abilities further than he'd realized.
(System alert)
Multiple skill advancements detected. Your murder-hobo tendencies have paid off.
Void Skin had reached level 4, adding retractable spikes to its defensive capabilities.
Void Step hit level 3, reducing both cost and cooldown.
Void Drain, Double Tap, and Void Duplicate showed similar improvements. All that fighting had accelerated his growth more than expected.
Tomorrow they would investigate the corrupted mines. But tonight, Zaro couldn't help grinning as he imagined Ramrod's next teleportation attempt. The big warrior's determination was admirable, even if his execution needed work.
The system chimed one last time: At least he didn't teleport into any walls. Yet.
Morning in Galahad painted the city in crystal-scattered light. Unlike Everlight's elegant spires, this was a city built for function. The town rose in terraced layers carved directly into the mountainside, each level dedicated to different stages of processing the mountain's bounty.
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The lowest tier housed the foundries, their chimneys breathing multicolored smoke as they refined raw ore. The smoke shifted between deep blues and vibrant purples - a sign of crystal dust in the furnaces. Workers moved with practiced efficiency, their reinforced protective gear marking them as crystal handlers.
(System alert)
Industrial zone detected. Warning - crystal refinement facilities may cause unexpected mutations, random bursts of magic, or spontaneous tap dancing.
The middle layers contained warehouses and workshops where craftsmen worked their trades. The constant ring of hammers mixed with the hum of crystal-powered machinery. Conveyor systems, powered by refined crystal shards, moved materials between levels like mechanical veins feeding the city's industrial heart.
But it was the crystal refinement facility that dominated the upper tier. The building resembled a cross between a cathedral and a forge, its walls inlaid with stabilizing runes that pulsed in rhythm with the work within. Through void sense, Zaro could see the complex network of energy flowing through the structure - a testament to the power they processed here.
Teams of workers moved in careful patterns, their movements suggesting years of handling volatile materials. Each crystal batch passed through multiple refinement stages, the raw stones slowly transformed into the pure power sources that fed everything from the city's lights to its defensive systems.
The city wall itself incorporated refined crystals, creating a barrier that was as much energy as stone. Through void sense, the entire city blazed with overlapping layers of power - raw crystal energy mixing with the corrupted void seeping up from the mines below.
(System)
Mining town aesthetic on point. Though someone should really look into that corruption situation.
The mining district sprawled across Galahad's northern edge, a maze of equipment and scaffolding leading to multiple tunnel entrances. Most bustled with activity, but one section stood conspicuously empty. Even from a distance, something felt wrong about it.
(System alert)
Corrupted location detected
Coordinates: Northern Mine Complex, Shaft 13
Current Status: Sealed by guild order
Quest Updated: Investigate source of corruption
Warning: Bring snacks. This might take a while.
Void sense painted a troubling picture as they approached. Unlike the clean energy signatures of normal crystal deposits, this area writhed with darkness. What worried Zaro most were the blank spots - perfect voids in his perception that even his enhanced senses couldn't penetrate.
Those are new, Ezra muttered, her own shadow abilities recoiling from the corruption.
Chad's hat twitched as he studied the sealed entrance. He conjured magical instruments, which whirred and clicked, each reading apparently worse than the last. “The void corruption is concentrated but... wrong somehow. Like it's been twisted.” He reported.
Ramrod stepped closer, his usually boisterous manner subdued. “Makes my teeth itch, he growled.”
The whispers started subtle, just on the edge of hearing murmurs that seemed to leak from the earth itself. But they grew stronger as they neared the entrance, carrying a weight of emotion that pressed against Zaro's mind. Grief, despair, loneliness, each whisper dragged dark memories to the surface.
His shoulders slumped as the weight settled deeper. Every rejection, every failure, every moment of doubt suddenly felt fresh and raw. The void energy wasn't just corrupted, it was corrupting, turning his own power against his emotions.
“Hey youngin, yer lookin a bit sad boy there”, Ramrod's voice cut through the gloom. The big warrior's concern was obvious even through his attempt at humor.
Zaro caught himself, recognizing the external influence. He settled into the breathing pattern that had served him through the legacy trials. Five counts in, hold for five, five counts out. Each breath pushed back against the darkness, creating space for clearer thought.
(System)
Emotional manipulation detected. Recommended countermeasures include: meditation, positive thinking, or punching things really hard.
The whispers still pulled at him, but the breathing helped maintain distance between their influence and his core. Whatever waited in those mines had learned to weaponize emotion itself. They would need to be careful.
Through void sense, Zaro watched more shadows gather around the entrance, like ink spreading through water. The blank spots in his perception seemed to pulse in rhythm with the whispers, suggesting a pattern he couldn't quite grasp.
The guilds outpost near the sealed mine entrance looked exactly like you'd expect a building next to a corrupted hellhole to look. Half the windows were boarded up and someone had carved protection runes into every surface. The door hinges screamed like dying cats when they entered.
Inside a harried looking guild officer sat behind a desk covered in reports. His eye twitched when he saw them. “The last three teams I sent in there either quit or went insane.” His gaze settled on Ramrod's larger than required weapons. “Though you lot might actually fit right in.”
The officer spread out a crude map of the mine system. “Three main shafts but the corruption started in the eastern tunnel. The crystal veins went bad first then the miners started hearing voices. When the shadows began eating people we sealed it off.”
Chad examined the map while his hat performed what looked like interpretive dance. “The corruption patterns suggest a central source. Probably near this large chamber here.” He traced around a cavern on the map with his pinkie.
Ramrod squinted at the mark. “Why does that chamber have a skull drawn next to it?”
The officer shrugged. “Seemed appropriate. The last team leader who made it back kept screaming about dancing shadows and void crystals that sang funeral hymns.”
(System alert)
Quest location has appropriate ambiance. 9/10 on the doom scale. Could use more ominous lightning though.
The whispers grew stronger as they approached the sealed entrance. Emergency barriers thrummed with containment runes but void sense showed the corruption leaking through anyway. The darkness felt almost gleeful.
Ezra moved closer to the barrier. “It's like looking into a mirror that's gone wrong. The shadows in there, they move like they're alive.”
Zaro activated void skin as Chad began dismantling the barrier seals. The system helpfully highlighted all the ways this could go horribly wrong. But hey at least the pay was good.