By the time Sam reached the cavern, the obelisk had receded into the
distance. There was barely any distortion in reality at this point, just a
few odd whorls in spacetime here and there. In Sam's immediate
vicinity, his own elemental mastery was more than sufficient to
obliterate them.
Peering at the warp and weft of the local elemental plane, Sam
saw sparks of black and yellow war for dominance. The yellow sparks,
representing his own elemental mastery, vastly outnumbered the Dark
attuned iotas of elemental power. They danced around him like tiny
stars, destroying one another in their primal dance. Sam let his eyes
flicker around, watching as new sparks were birthed into being every
now and then, engaging in a war of attrition that would never end.
Some day, when Sam had months, or perhaps even years on his
hands, he would simply watch his Dao and element interact with the
world around him, and find greater insights into their nature. For now,
though, he had more pressing concerns.
Feeling the cavern extending beneath him with Worldsense,
Sam teleported into it, letting gravity take him down the last few
hundred feet. He landed between two squat earthen huts, bending
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
knees. Rather than trying to preserve his body, he was instead trying
to save the road beneath him from cracking. With E Rank stats, and
the third threshold of Resilience crossed, he was more durable than
almost any mundane substance. It would be like dropping an anvil
onto a sheet of ice.
A few of the Gemstone Spirits wandered around nearby, talking
animatedly about their elemental cultivation. One of them was
bouncing an orb of condensed Earth elemental energy in her hand,
seemingly showing it off to her companions.
“Is the Matriarch back in her chamber?” Sam called out, startling
the much smaller elementals.
“Oh!” The speaker said, her sphere of elemental energy dropping
to the side. “It’s you. Yes, the Matriarch is in her dwelling. She’s been
waiting for you.”
Sam nodded his thanks, and strode off, hearing the others
tittering behind his back. Something about him, no doubt. He could
have easily listened in with his highly advanced hearing, but he wasn’t
interested.A few moments later, Sam strode into the large dome at the
center of the village, finding the Matriarch sitting in silent
contemplation.
“A successful mission, I take it?” She said without opening her
eyes.
“It was. All of the elementals are dead, save for the Shadow
Raven itself.” Sam frowned. “I still have six more quests left, and even
if upgrading my Dao is one of them, what about the other five?”
“I’m not sure what the Prime Crystal has tasked you with, but
there is something that needs your attention.”
As in many of the other multiverses Sam had visited, well, one
other if he was being honest, the locals had a different name for the
System.
“And that being?” Sam pressed.
“Your arrival weakened the dimensional boundaries of this
realm,” the Matriarch explained. “A few hours ago, a group of
prospectors entered in search of minerals.” She shuddered. “Well, to
be blunt, in search of us. Gemstone Spirits are hunted down in
the outside world for an easy source of higher Rank gemstones. Invaders
have come before, but not this often.”
“That’s horrible!” Sam explained. “To kill your enemies is one
thing, but to hunt down sapients for their body parts?” He shook his
head. “Pure evil. I assume you want me to deal with them?”
The Matriarch smiled. “I do. Kill them all. Without mercy.”
Sam nodded. “You know, if not for the situation, you might have
given me the wrong sort of impression. I get it though. It’s an
existential threat.”
“It is. Now, you have your task, and I assume you wish to start as
quickly as possible.” The Matriarch gestured towards the ceiling of her
dome. “Have a good hunt.”
Sam gave the Matriarch a single nod, and then teleported away,
appearing on the surface of the elemental plane. He had no idea
where the intruders were, but he could find them easily enough with
his senses.
