Seed Of Speed

The next few days passed without incident. The Telryn miners worked in the first untouched cavern that Diego and his group had found that first night, but to this point, they have only harvested about eighty percent of the room. The black stone was exceptionally hard and would only chip away in small bits while the elemental crystals, in turn, were rather fragile. The large the crystal, the more value it had, but a single careless strike from a pickaxe could shatter a crystal. Although they still had value as shards, the price significantly dropped.

Diego had Toba and Catro work with the miners to come up with shifts for the guards when the miners were working while Diego took his band of warrior to explore. They had discovered another twenty chambers filled with crystals, the quality slowly getting better the further in they explored, but they still had not seen a trace of the Langu Clan. Although that bothered Diego, no one else seemed fazed by it, including Toba. His response had been that they were likely trying to harvest as much as they could before the Void Passage collapsed.

After eight days of exploring and the only danger they had come across were some poisonous bugs, even the veterans' guard was starting to relax, say nothing for the three brothers and the young shaman. Tovao and Peyni had grown bored of the cave system as everything they had passed looked much the same as the other places. Rainshower's excitement had yet to fade, although it had calm down some. With each new chamber, she would examine the largest of the elemental crystals while Diego marked the spot on his map.

"Listen," Diego said, motioning for the others to stop.

*Drip* *Drip* *Drip* The echoing sound of dripping water could just be made out from deeper within the tunnel they were in.

"Water!" Rainshower exclaimed after a moment then started to walked forward, towards the sound.

Diego reached out and grabbed her by the hand then pulled her back. "We don't know what dangers could be ahead! You can't go first."

"Young lord, we both know I am the strongest one here," Rainshower sighed.

"I don't care. I'm in charge of yours, and everyone else's safety. You will stay with the group," Diego said with a forceful tone in his voice.

Rainshower blushed lightly as she nodded her head and allowed herself to be pulled back into the group. Diego pulled his spear from its holder and stepped forward. The other warriors readied their weapons and followed after him.

When they made it to the end of the tunnel, it opened up to a large cavern even bigger than the one they had entered into first. Although there were a number of crystals in the floor and walls, it was one specific massive blue crystal hanging from the ceiling that was the source of the dripping.

"An Earth-grade water crystal?!?" Rainshower gasped.

"What? The leaking crystal?" Tovao asked.

"It's not leaking, it is gathering the natural water mana in the air and condensing it into mana-filled water! Young lord, we must collect as much of this water as possible! Mana-water is very valuable to any shamans with water affinities!" Rainshower exclaimed.

"Like you and Moonwater?" Diego asked with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't dare ask for this! This small pool is worth the entire clan taxes for the year!" Rainshower said quickly, but her eyes betrayed her d.e.s.i.r.e.

"You and your mother are true-blooded members of the Telryn Clan. I may not be able to give you the whole pool, but you both can have a portion. After all, your strength is our strength," Diego replied.

"I…" Rainshower started with a complicated expression on her face, but with Diego shaking his head in reply, she could only sigh then smile at him and say, "Thank you, junior-apprentice brother."

Diego grinned then turned to the others. "Spread out and look for anything out of place. I refuse to believe that an Earth-grade water crystal appeared alone," Diego ordered.

"Yes, young lord," the warriors said in unison.

The warriors broke apart as they began searching the chamber. Diego and Rainshower walked over to the pool of water and, not that he was close, he could see the faint blueish glow of the water. She reached out a hand and wiggled her fingers as a thin trickle of water slowly rose up and floated over to her hand.

"Catch," she laughed as she tossed the ball of mana-water at him.

Diego raised a hand as he channeled his [Water Ball] spell to catch the water. He had gone through similar training with Firesand and Rainshower before, tossing water balls or fire balls back and forth, so he knew what to expect, or so he thought. As soon as his mana touched the mana-water, it suddenly doubled in size that would have caused it to crash into him if Rainshower did not throw her mana back into the globe of water to help control it while she laughed at his shocked face. She pulled the mana-water back under her control and split it in half, but one had the faint glow of mana while the other did not.

"Mana-water needs very little mana to control it, and if you channel water-mana into it, it will draw in the same amount of water out of the air," Rainshower explained.

"Amazing," Diego breathed in wonder.

Rainshower chuckled as she tossed the normal water to the side then returned the mana-water to the pool. "We should head back to camp and gather some containers for this water. The other clans won't be willing to share something so value."

"Yeah, we are lucky that we're the only ones exploring so deeply into the cave system. Let's…" Diego was cut-off mid-sentence by a loud rumbling sound. "Form up!" Diego shout at the top of his lungs, although it was unnecessary as the trained warriors immediately flocked back to Diego's side.

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

Something ripped itself out of the far black stone wall. The stone seemed to come alive on its own as it assembled itself into the vague shape of a person with a massive green crystal in its c.h.e.s.t that was quickly covered in a layer of black stone. The 'creature' had a pair of squat legs and its two arms were so long that they rested on the ground, giving the whole thing a shape closer to a gorilla than a person.

"A Heaven-grade earth crystal?!? How is that even possibly?!?" Rainshower exclaimed.

"What is that thing, Rainshower?" Diego asked.

"It's an Earth Golem! It can only be created by a Heaven-grade earth crystal! We need to run, now!" she said.

"You heard her! Move," Diego said, pointing his spear in the direction they had come from.

No one argued as they literally started running, but before they could escape, the entrance of the tunnel seemed to turn into a liquid as it sealed the hole. Diego did not hesitate and turned towards another tunnel, but the same thing happened to that one as the first when he stepped in that direction. The last remaining tunnel sealed itself a moment later and the brutish figure took a step forward. The entire chamber trembled under the weight of the golem's foot, but the creature had no fear of a cave-in as it took another then another.

"Running is no longer an option. How do we fight that thing?" Diego asked.

"The only way to stop it is to crack the crystal in its c.h.e.s.t, but the black stone is far too strong with the crystal reinforcing it to allow any physical attacks to hit it!" Rainshower replied.

::Actually, your [Ten Strikes, One Thrust] can pierce the stone as it is a Heaven-ranked skill, but you will have to perfectly layer your three strikes to have a chance. Your only other option is magic, but your spell repertoire is abysmal::

(Not the time for insults, Kat!) Diego complained in his mind. "Everyone, spread out and stay away from it! None of you can help us against this thing! Rainshower, I need you to use your strongest spells," Diego ordered aloud as he took a step forward.

"Young lord! It too dangerous for you to engage it!" one of the warriors cried out in shock.

"He's right, junior-apprentice brother!" Rainshower agreed.

"Do you have a spell that can break through that rock easily?" he asked in reply.

"Not easily, but you don't have any!"

"I might not have any spells, but I have a Heaven-ranked technique, remember? No more talking! Carry out my orders!" Diego demanded.

No one complained this time as the warriors spread out. Rainshower began summoning all of her mana as she prepared her spells as Diego moved to block the giant stone golem, the ground quaking with each of its steps.