Freefall was a disturbing experience for the core. It had fallen out of a soldier’s pack once, but that was nothing compared to falling through the air for about five entire seconds.

The core had ample time before impact to examine its situation and see what it had not taken into account that had caused such a predicament.

Luckily, despite having no understanding of the dangers of a violent impact, the core fell into simple soil. The dirt and stone that had previously existed in the recently opened chamber had not been moved, but rather transformed and caused to simply vanish.

Part of what the core had come to understand while breaking down the earth mana manipulation technique it had learned was that it was possible to move anything with earth affinity to and from some sort of alternate location. The core had no understanding of alternate realms or planes of existence, but had realized that some of the effects it had observed while developing the earth manipulation technique was that there was no absolute requirement to have stone or earth present, as it could be brought into existence. Following that logic and continuing the analysis had allowed for the core to realize that it was similarly possible to send such substances back to that same place, which was exactly what it had done.

The core had simply vastly underestimated just how much earth it was capable of moving…

Upon landing, the core quickly took stock of its current location and situation. It had opened a massive spherical hole in the ground, and already parts were crumbling due to not being reinforced.

That was easy enough to fix, as the core had already done the same with the rest of its nest, and it simply replicated the process.

It took only a few minutes for things to stabilize, and the core began observing its new location and how to take advantage of it. The invaders who had attacked last time had been too large to enter the core’s tunnels, and had instead tried to crush the tunnels. In that case, was the core deep enough to be out of their reach? There was no telling, as the core only had its own range to judge by, and it had access to far, far deeper than just 350 meters into the earth.

That possibility would need to be readdressed, but for the time being, the core had a new thought; unlike what it had previously believed, other creatures were able to manipulate mana as well, and they seemed to understand things much better than the core. It had already learned from them once, and it might be possible to do so again.

However, could it be possible to pass such mana manipulation on to the core’s creatures? After all, that invader had used mana and manipulated earth, and the core had learned the process as well, could it be possible to grant that knowledge or ability to its creatures?

The best test subjects for this would be the beetles, as they had the physical form closest to the core’s own, and thus would require much fewer alterations.

Unfortunately, the core had already realized that the creatures had absolutely no intelligence. They could be ordered about, and would act on their instincts, but it had quickly become clear that the creatures from the forest that had fallen under the core’s influence were far, far more intelligent than the creatures it had grown and raised from underground.

This would also need to be examined more carefully. Could the core make the ability to manipulate mana an instinct? That might be possible.

As the core was considering new paths and options that had opened up, it became distracted by a very important development on the surface.

The invaders had returned.

While the core had been working on replicating the earth mana technique, weeks had gone by, and the humans had returned. This time, they brought far greater numbers, though there was something different. The core could see a few of the armored invaders with the sharp sticks that did not seem to be wood or stone, but it could also see at least a dozen individuals with impressive amounts of mana and none of the hard bits to them that most of the first invaders had possessed. These individuals looked a great deal like the invader who had almost harmed the core.

Instantly, the core grew wary, as these creatures potentially posed a threat to it. Also, while the core had managed to replenish its number of ants, beetles, centipedes, and other subterranean creatures, it had only managed to acquire a few of the forest creatures, so its forces were still greatly depleted.

As for the humans, Aaron and Simon had returned to Guilone and delivered reports of what they had encountered. It had quickly been agreed that more mage priests would be sent, and they would finish crushing whatever it was that was hidden in the ground.

The mage priests would be accompanied by soldiers for protection, but it was quite clear that the true threat was not a physical one. After all, not one of the soldiers had even been injured, while Aaron had been left incapacitated and internally wounded.

In the end, ten mage priests were dispatched, along with twenty soldiers. All of the mage priests possessed an earth affinity, and had experienced actual combat before.

Aaron led the mage priests, while Simon was reassigned to other tasks. A task as simple as protection detail did not warrant the use of the Shadow Guard.

Edward alone had been temporarily taken from Simon’s command in order to guide the mage priests and their escort through the forest. The journey took longer than anticipated, as the mage priests were not accustomed to such conditions.

It had taken more than a week for the thirty people to complete the return journey, and as soon as they arrived at the source of the pure mana, the mage priests had started taking action.

They attempted to probe the earth and find the source of the strangeness, only to find that there was something present that blocked their probes and senses. It was clear there was something down there, but they could not begin to guess at what it might be.

The mage priests were led by a single high priest, and he quickly organized matters. Regardless of what was in the ground, they just needed to crush and destroy it.

The mage priests divided into two groups which would coordinate to create a metaphorical hammer and anvil to crush whatever lay deep in the earth.

The high priest led the four other mage priests who would work together to form the hammer that would deliver the finishing blow.

Unlike when Aaron had tried to attack the anomaly beneath the earth, the high priest’s voice did not rise and fall as he chanted, but instead rose and then continued to rise ever higher until the man was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Deep underground, the core observed everything. This time, it was taking the cautious approach and holding its creatures back. It did not want to pointlessly lose more of its forces.

The core watched, carefully observing everything the invaders did with their mana and movements, still completely ignoring the chants that rang out through the air. The core felt two massive amounts of tainted mana gathering, but could not understand the purpose of either. One felt immovable and steady, like the earth itself, while the other felt both mobile and hard, which was an odd combination to the core.

The observation continued, as the core felt safe in the bowels of the earth.

Then, everything changed.

The steady, immovable mana did move. It shifted downwards, forcing its way into the earth through the core’s area of control and into its very nest. At this point in time, it was still just mana, and there was no physical aspect to the spell, but it still felt incredibly invasive to the core. It felt like something was reaching into its very being and moving around. The core instinctively wanted to resist, but held itself back. The last time it had retaliated against these invaders, they had returned in much greater strength. If they did so yet again… The core could feel fear, even if it had no concept of an end to its existence or an existential crisis. In a sense, the core felt more of a revulsion towards the idea that it could be helpless against an invader, and so it forced itself to remain passive.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The humans’ confidence grew as time passed and nothing happened. They could feel that there was something in the earth once their mana had forced its way down, though they were unclear on what it was or where it was.

The high priest had far better mana senses, and he directed the “anvil” into position while preparing the “hammer.” Once everything was in place, the high priest released the full fury of the spell with everything he had.

The core felt a spike of a crisis. The moment the “hammer” had condensed in place, the core realized what was happening. These invaders wanted to crack the core’s nest like a seed between two teeth!

The core took action instantly, and targeted the greater threat: the descending “hammer.”

Mana formed a spike, but the core did not target the hammer, and instead lashed out at the one controlling the hammer: the high priest.

The core proved faster, and the high priest was struck with the equivalent of backlash from a spell powered by five mages. Mana flooded the man’s body, overflowing his own reserves and burning through him. He was dead before anyone noticed a thing.

Deprived of the vast majority of its power and direction, the “hammer” crashed into the core’s nest and impacted the “anvil.” The core was fine, as it had subtly shifted the point of impact away.

On a sudden inspiration, the core abruptly dropped all of its defenses outside of its immediate surroundings, which allowed the invaders to freely move their mana through the ground and the core’s nest.

The core had once observed an animal in the forest pretend to be dead after being attacked, and the attacker had soon given up and moved on.

The mage priests instantly noticed that they were able to manipulate the earth once more, and even probe the depths of the ground. They quickly grew excited at their success, only to be startled by something falling behind them. The mage priests spun around, as did the soldiers who had been keeping an eye on the edge of the forest.

The falling object had been the high priest’s corpse.

The other mage priests hurried over, tripping over each other and shouting frantically. The soldiers were instantly on guard, and they started circling around the mage priests while searching for any sign of an attacker.

Aaron had been closest to the high priest, and naturally reached the man first. A single touch told Aaron that the high priest was dead, burnt from the inside by mana.

“The spell consumed him. He gave his life to end this threat,” Aaron’s analysis was simple, but it also perfectly matched what could be sensed inside the high priest’s body. There was no trace of any spell, and no one had sensed any mana manipulation in the surroundings other than their own. Given the situation, it was impossible for a foreign spell to have killed the high priest, which pointed to his own spell having been the culprit.

The soldiers relaxed upon learning there was no external threat nearby, but the mage priests went stiff with shock. The high priest had fully deserved his position, as he had been far more capable than any of the mage priests. None of the mage priests had sensed any sort of mana fluctuation, nor issue with either of the spells, so they struggled to accept the high priest’s death. Why had he died? Had he made some sort of mistake? Had he been foolish enough to overexert himself while casting the spell?

No one had an explanation, but they could not sense any sort of foul play. There was simply nothing at all to rouse any suspicions.

Aaron glanced back at the ground. “We should check again to verify our success. With High Priest Avery now dead, we need to be absolutely certain that there has not been anything overlooked. A high priest cannot be allowed to sacrifice themselves in vain.”

There was a unanimous consensus, as no one wanted to be held even partially accountable for a high priest’s death. The mage priests quickly organized themselves, and this time Aaron led one of the two groups. They still acted in two different teams in order to divide their efforts and confirm the other’s results.

Two massive waves of mana swept through the ground, but again, there was no resistance. There was nothing at all to be felt, aside from some animal tunnels. They seemed to continue quite deep, but that was not terribly unusual.

After a few minutes, the mage priests were all sweating and shaking. However, it was clear to all of them that they had succeeded.

Aaron subtly took charge of the group. He was the most senior of the mage priests, and this was his second time visiting this clearing in the forest. There was a new opening for someone to be promoted to become a high priest, and Aaron intended to seize it for himself. Given his age, if he did not advance soon, he would stagnate where he was and be surpassed by his juniors. That was simply unacceptable.

“Lieutenant, have your men make camp here. We’ve removed the threats, so this should be the safest location in the forest for the time being. We all require rest to recover from our efforts, and we can leave in the morning.”

Turning to his fellow mage priests and future subordinates, Aaron had already come up with a ploy to help him stabilize his bid for the high priest position even further. “We must prepare High Priest Avery’s body for our return. Also, his sacrifice deserves to be commemorated at the sight of his passing. We need to send back artisans who can leave a record of the high priest’s deeds here, and I believe making a carving from the stone that was used to seal the abomination in the ground before we destroyed it with the high priest’s final efforts would only be appropriate. I ask for your support when submitting this proposal at our return.”

A few of the more savvy mage priests exchanged glances, as they understood Aaron’s intentions. However, while a bit arrogant, Aaron was much preferred to most of the other senior clergy, as he was not completely unbearable, and he was at least fair in his dealings with others, and more importantly, he was absolutely willing to work hard and not force his labors onto others.

An unspoken acceptance was exchanged with those few glances, and Aaron soon received several nods.

Despite their exhaustion, none of the mage priests even considered allowing the soldiers to touch or move the high priest’s body. There were standards that needed to be upheld, and while soldiers had their place, it was decidedly beneath that of the mage priests. No mage priest would be willing to accept seeing one of their own disgraced by being handled by any other than themselves.

Cloth was wrapped around the high priest’s body as tents were erected for the camp. Aaron offered to stand vigil for the high priest while the others rested, and due to their exhaustion, no one protested at all.

Night passed quietly. Nothing disturbed the human’s camp, though it was closely watched by one individual.

When morning broke, the camp was packed up, and all of the humans had left before the sun had fully risen.

Four of the mage priests carried the high priest’s body, giving the departed a proper honor guard to the afterlife.

***

Deep in the ground, far beneath the area that the mage priests had examined with their mana, the core was practically quivering with excitement. Its gains from the invader’s death had been so shockingly astronomical that the core had almost given itself away to the invaders. It would take time to sort through everything, but if the core was even partially correct in what had just happened, then its future prospects were far, far grander than it had ever imagined.

***

Far away from the clearing in the forest, much more distant than the underground chamber housing the core, or even the Farun capital Guilone, another individual was intrigued by the recent events that had played out.

In a location that was only partially physical, as it was much more divine in nature, Hidde himself had sat up to pay attention.

Twice. Twice within just a few days someone had tried to steal from the god of battle. Who was it? No human was capable of such, and what had nearly been stolen was nothing that would interest a dragon or any other creature of similar power. After all, what had been nearly stolen from Hidde had first been a prayer, and then a soul that belonged to him.

Who cared about a soul? Souls passed through the gods’ care, but the gods gained little from them. No, handling souls was nothing more to the gods than a fulfillment of an agreement. Mortals provided the gods with faith and worship, strengthening the god and providing them with power, and the gods passed mortal souls along to the mysterious other side while occasionally providing a few other benefits along the way.

Souls were worthless, as there was nothing that could be done with them or gained from them, so why would one be stolen?

Hidde had only resisted the theft out of principle, as well as the fact that Hidde was the god of battle. How could he ever say no to a challenge?

The first theft attempt had been even more strange, as Hidde had felt an attempt to pray to him, though the attempt had been lost among countless other such failed prayers. After the attempted theft, Hidde had examined what had happened, and had discovered that this mysterious individual had tried to pray to him to be granted earth manipulation—one of dozens of common prayers the mortals believed to be spells—yet had failed at the oddest portions of the prayer, and then begun to alter the prayer.

Even stranger, the prayer had no words.

How?

All human prayers and associated magic required prayers to the gods to allow the humans to connect to the mana of the world, and thereby enact their magic, so how had a prayer been offered to Hidde without the words?

Finally, the supplicant had tried to wrest the prayer away from Hidde by making itself the target of the prayer! The god had ended that attempt before it gained any traction at all.

Blocked in stealing the prayer, the unknown individual had actually removed the prayer aspect entirely, creating a true spell that bypassed the gods and allowed for mana to be manipulated in a manner similar to the instincts of a beast or the authority of a dragon.

The worst part was that Hidde had not been able to find any living creature in the area where he had sensed the attempted theft taking place. In fact, all that he had found was a rather large area filled with oddly pure mana.

Was there a connection?

All that the great god of battle knew was that things were becoming interesting.