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Golem howled, punched pillar in fury, dislodging ceiling chunks. Kai found cover as stalactites rained. Dust clouded, reducing golem’s vision. Kai sprinted through smoke, climbed a fallen column to the height of the core cavity then jumped. He landed on the chest slab. He hammered the knife into the crack, pried. Plate broke open, exposing a glowing quartz heart.
He plunged the spear straight into the core. Light exploded, throwing him back. He hit the floor hard; HP ‑90. Golem froze mid‑roar, fractures racing across body, then it collapsed, shattering into gem‑filled rubble.
Silence heavy as a tomb.
[Ding! System notifications-
Sandshard Golem (3★ Alpha) defeated.
EXP +400
Large Mineral Core ×1]
Kai’s chest heaved. Victory high washed fatigue momentarily. He picked shards, pried the baseball‑sized core free. Its ridges pulsed with earthy energy prime feast.
But first he listened for brood guardians. None. He knelt behind a boulder, bit into fractured facet, triggered Essence Eater.
Rich iron‑earth flavour flooded senses, gritty yet sweet. Heat flowed to limbs, thick as syrup.
[System notifications-
Essence consumed.
Stat Points +5]
Kai exhaled. Stats now 4+5 = 9 unallocated. He returned through tunnels, marking the path by carving on the rocks.
[Ding! System notifications: Level Up!
Kai is now Level 27
EXP reset: 0 / 1 000]
"Time to check on Mia." Kai murmured.
A few moments later, Mia had woken, her senses tense. When Kai emerged dusty, she rushed.
"You... you’re hurt!" She pointed at cracked plating.
"Golem, a maw‑bat, serpent. Nothing serious," he said with grin that morphed into grimace.
She sighed, pressed a palm to his chest, channelling minor healing aura. Warmth knit cracks. "I depend on you too much to let you die scouting."
He chuckled softly. "I saved you earlier. We’re even."
He handed her three star cores saying, "Weapon‑smith could mount these. Light, but cut like desire."
Her eyes widened. "You risked your life for this?"
"Gift for my princess," he said lightly, but heat flushed his mandibles remembering her naked bath silhouette. His face turned slightly red.
She accepted, sliding them into the pouch. "Thank you, Kai."
Her eyebrows rose. "You became stronger, I can feel your aura is much more refined, almost like... Kai, at this rate you’ll be three stars in a few days."
"I need some big cores," he said, thinking of Darius.
Mia’s face hardened. "We must stop Darius before he destabilises the ruler’s nest. But I am too drained to challenge him now." She produced a small satchel. "Aura sap biscuits. It can help regenerate aura faster. Restore your aura."
They split provisions, then planned: Kai’s scouted ramp spiralled toward surface fissure; they’d use that after resting few more hours. Mia would stand watch and Kai would meditate to reduce skill fatigue and restore his aura.
Kai sat cross‑legged inside the alcove, letting the aura sap biscuit sink in, a hum at the fringe of sense.
He drifted into light rest. Some memories of Renna in healer hall, Vexor’s loyalty, Lomar’s essence strengthening his heart. He pictured Darius’s smirk cracking under the final blow. He pictured Mia’s soft sigh when he thanked her.
A tremor nudged him awake after unknown time. Mia crouched near entrance, blade ready.
"Darius returning?" he asked.
"Footsteps yes, but not his stride. Heavier."
They rose. Out of the tunnel lumbered two Crystal‑Maul Crabs, likely drawn by golem’s death energy, each sporting meteorite ore on claws. Only two-star, but together lethal to exhausted ants. They had six legs and sharp claws. Their body colour was brown with rock buds all over them.
Kai whispered, "I’ll flank left; you take the right pincer then we swap."
Battle quick but intense: crabs clicked, swung claws like wrecking balls. Kai parried with spear butt, dashed along shell ridge, stabbing ventilation gap. Mia sliced tendon on other beast, dodged hammer pinch. They swapped, crossing attacks in synchronous ballet. Minutes later both crabs lay twitching.
[Ding! System notifications-
Twin Crystal‑Mauls defeated.
EXP +200
Cores ×2]
"I heard crabs taste very good. Let me try them." Kai wanted to use his skills so he made a reason so that Mia wouldn’t doubt anything.
"Really, then give me one. I want to see. I never ate roasted crab meat." Mia replied.
Kai used his Essence Eater on one; Mia claimed the other for research. Kai gained Stats +3.
They cleaned weapons, hearts still syncing from adrenaline. Mia smiled faintly. "We fight well together."
Kai’s antennae flushed warm. "Teamwork is the key to survival."
She sheathed her blade, gaze lingering on him a breath too long, then turned away.
With fatigue climbing, they elected to press toward the ramp while adrenaline lasted. Tunnel slanted upward, lined by ruler worm chitin that hummed with geothermal force. Twice they hid as they saw a huge group of beasts.
Kai estimated they were 500-600 metres below dune sea. The ramp forked; he chose left by sniffing a cooler breeze.
Suddenly roof debris showered as another minor quake rippled. They hurried, emerging onto a balcony of rock that overlooked the second chamber, inside Darius’s pillaged mine.
Dozens of star‑crystal pillars toppled; largest central obelisk half‑hewn, its glow dimming. Darius knelt before it, aura blazing silver-white, cores orbiting him like comets as he absorbed energy. His muscles twitched; cracks of power spidered across the floor. He is trying to push five stars within days.
Mia whispered, "We can’t let him finish. But not tonight. We need to wait. I promise you once I fully recover, I will finish him for you."
Kai replied, "No Princess, when the right opportunity comes I will deal with him. I don’t need your help. I will take my own revenge."
She touched his forearm. "Your courage... Your bravery gives me hope." Impression +1. (Mia’s Total impression points: 28)
They pulled back into the ramp. After another hour, a breech vent opened to the night air. Stars twinkled beyond the ragged hole.
Kai boosted Mia upward a rock; she pulled him through. Hot desert wind kissed their faces.
Behind them, the labyrinth still rumbled with dying ruler breath. Ahead, dawn’s first grey brushed dune crests. Kai exhaled, scenting the horizon. "Level 27, my level is rising, some star cores are secured, and the princess is alive. Darius... bastard your countdown begins."