CHAPTER 31: Crystal Oasis and an Interesting Conversation

We entered Silas's office straight from the dirty street of the Lower City. The doors opened with a hollow creak. Inside smelled of old tobacco and dusty parchment. The merchant sat behind the oak counter. He scratched with a quill in a thick ledger.

"From the eleventh floor," I cut off shortly. I leaned against the doorframe with Brazen chill. I shooed away an intrusive fly with my hand. "And do not ask about the details. It stinks worse there than in a gutter after a week of heat. Listen carefully. This stone is your new capital. You are to go with it to the western guild of armorers. You will not ask them for discounts. You will not negotiate with them. You are to simply buy them".

Silas opened his mouth wide. He caught a massive lag. His merchant mind tried to digest this abstract scale. He probably wanted to start his typical speech about risk and aristocracy.

Shnee stood right behind my shoulder. Her frosty aura caused the sweat on Silas's forehead to instantly turn into frost.

"Dave is right," the elf interjected coldly. "Pure logic dictates simple logic. If they start barking, tell them that next time I will visit them. Without a core. But with a rapier".

Silas swallowed his saliva loudly. He nodded feverishly.

It was a lightning-fast economic blitzkrieg. In ten minutes we established hard guidelines for taking over the entire steel market. We left the merchant with his own terror and giant capital. Oakhaven was basically our private backyard, and I needed to return to the dungeon. My engine demanded the next difficulty level.

"We are going back down," I threw coldly, turning on my heel.

We left the pale Silas with his new emerald problem. Capital started working on the surface, but my engine demanded further burning. We returned to the dungeon by the shortest route. The Sapphire Prism pulled us in with a quiet hiss and spat us out deep underground.

The descent to the twelfth floor was like entering a giant aquarium. The previous levels still stuck to some architectural frames. Here the dungeon rules completely flew off towards a mutated jungle. Purple moss covered everything. Pulsating veins writhed on the walls. Acid constantly dripped from those cursed calyxes under the ceiling. The stench of sulfur was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Pure logic suggested simple math. Every second spent in this biome meant the slow digestion of our armors and lungs.

"Constantly on the move, Shnee. Do not stand still, or it will dissolve your boots," I threw firmly, adjusting my coat collar.

In my head, I switched to a murderous speedrun mode. There was no point in playing stealth, checking corners, or gathering trash mana stones. We had capital. Now only the pace mattered. I saw those mutated wolves lurking in the shadows - a grotesque mass of muscles, bones, and sick spores.

I ignored drawing my weapon. The first mutt jumped from the side, aiming straight for my throat. I did not slow my pace. I simply extended my hand and snapped my fingers. A dry snap echoed in the air. Pure physical force hit him like a freight train. The carcass weighing several hundred kilograms slammed into the purple mycelium with a hollow smack, turning into pulp.

Shnee did not fall behind. Her crystalline rapier flickered in the dark like lightning, cutting toxic spores in flight before they could even splash us with acid. She used raw frost. Her cold mana froze the moisture in the corridors, freezing plant tentacles and monster joints before they managed to execute any attack. She moved with assassin precision, being the perfect extension of my will.

We fell into this biological labyrinth like a steamroller. We flew through the thirteenth and fourteenth floors in a frenzy of destruction. I gave up on finesse. When mutated insects tried to crawl out of the mud, I simply hit the floor with a wave of telekinesis, tearing meat from below. My will choked every resistance, and Lightning burned the vines before they managed to drop a load of acid on us. Telekinesis brutally tore the mutated carcasses, and we ran deeper, leaving behind only smoking remains and a layer of frozen dust. No stops. No hesitation.

We conquered three levels in a time that would break the mind of any official guild in Oakhaven. My pulse did not even accelerate, and the engine in my chest purred quietly, satisfied with the proper burn. We stopped before a massive gate grown into the floor. It closed off the fourteenth floor with a solid wall of hardened roots. I did not look for any hidden levers or locks. Pure logic suggested the simplest of possible solutions. I rested my right hand against the rough wood surface. I compressed a hard load of pure physical force directly in my wrist. A short push. The gate exploded inward with a deafening roar. The hard roots turned into a hail of sharp splinters, opening a wide passage before us.

We crossed the threshold. The stench of sulfur, acid, and rotting mycelium disappeared, as if someone simply closed a tight valve. Instead of another murderous biome, the dungeon threw an anomaly at our feet. A classic Easter Egg. We were in a giant cave. The walls were covered with thick moss, which cast a soothing light onto the floor. The air here was completely clean and crisp. Right in the center of this hidden grotto, in a natural depression made of smooth stone, was a vast hot spring. Thick steam hovered over the crystalline water.

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My mind instantly scanned the surroundings. Zero hidden monsters. Zero traps. A complete safe zone. I took a deep breath. I looked at my boots and coat edges. The material smoked slightly, and the leather on Shnee's armor hissed quietly. Rot and corrosive acid from the previous floors were slowly digesting our equipment.

"End of the marathon," I threw calmly, resting my hands on my hips. "I decree a halt".

Shnee lowered her rapier. Her breath slowly returned to normal, and the icy mask of combat readiness began to melt in this safe light. She looked at the steaming spring.

"We are entering the water. Take off your armor, Shnee," I ordered coldly, unfastening the heavy buckles of my coat. "Pure logic speaks clearly. We need to wash this toxic dirt off ourselves. The acid eats the straps. If we do not rinse this off, in an hour this sludge will burn our clothes down to bare skin".

The elf asked no questions. With full pragmatism she unfastened the belt with her new weapon. She threw aside the damaged covers and leather elements. Both of us, without a shadow of false shame or cheap hesitation, got rid of our clothes. We were a hard team, and this was a pure biological reset after a murderous fight with acid.

I entered the hot spring. The water was perfect. The hit of heat instantly relaxed my tense muscles. I submerged up to my chest, resting my back against the smooth stone. Shnee entered right behind me. The white-haired elf submerged in the steaming water, and drops of moisture immediately settled on her flawlessly fair skin. She sat a short distance away, washing the remnants of purple dust from the dungeon off her shoulders. The heat of the spring caused a sincere smile to appear on her face for the first time since entering the twelfth floor.

She moved slowly through the water, closing the distance. She stopped at arm's length. I saw an intense thought process turning in her head.

"Dave..." she began quietly. Her voice was fragile, devoid of its official tone. "I was wondering..." she paused for a fraction of a second, and then took a deep breath, looking straight into my eyes. "Do you think it is even possible... for you to feel something more for me in the future?" she asked. Her hands nervously intertwined under the water. She feared rejection. She was afraid that I treated her solely as the First Pillar of my structure and nothing else.

I did not laugh at her, nor did I try to throw cheap confessions. Instead, I raised my left hand, grabbed my chin, and supported my elbow with my right arm. My Brazen chill still dominated, but I combined this quiet thought process with hard honesty.

"Based on logic, you can never rule anything out, Shnee," I answered with a calm voice. "You are important to me, and I feel great in your company. But I will tell you straight: I am in no rush."

I tilted my head, looking at her reaction.

"I am a partial perfectionist. I like when certain things are arranged ideally," I continued with a warm smile on my lips. "I do not intend to rush anything by force. I will wait for the perfect moment. And when it finally comes, you can be absolutely sure that our relationship will move forward. Until then, you just have to arm yourself with patience. It will take a while."

Silence fell in the cave, interrupted only by the quiet splash of hot water. The tension that choked the elf's shoulders suddenly evaporated. Her diamond eyes widened, and a sincere smile of relief bloomed on her face. She did not get rejected. She received an iron promise of the future from someone she trusted limitlessly. She understood that she was something much more than just a tool.

With a joyful sigh, she dove lightly in the water, moved closer to me, and simply threw her arms around my neck. She buried her face in my shoulder, hugging me with possessive force.

"I will wait, Dave. Even if it takes years," she murmured with deep satisfaction, closing her eyes and drawing heat from my Vessel.

"Since I am in no rush, it will probably take that long, but rest assured, you will live to see it," I replied with a smile, placing a heavy hand on her wet hair and stroking her slowly.

The base gained its final foundation. We rested in silence, gathering strength for the rest of this hostile labyrinth. The water in the Crystal Oasis slowly lost its heat. The rest time was coming to an end. Our organisms regenerated their strength in a clean environment, and the emotional foundation of the base was cemented with a hard promise.

I stepped out of the hot spring onto a stone illuminated by blue moss. Shnee followed right behind me. Water drops flowed down her pale skin. There was no longer a gram of slavish fear in the elf's diamond eyes. Predatory readiness for action and absolute trust radiated from them.

I looked at the shore. Our old equipment lay on the ground as smoking scrap. I raised my left hand. I grabbed my chin with my hand, and supported my elbow with the right one, thinking over our situation. On logic, returning to Oakhaven in such rags would completely ruin our image of predators.

"Leave this burned trash," I said calmly, seeing the elf instinctively reach for her destroyed belt. "We will do this cleanly."

I opened the valves in the weaves. Sapphire Slime flowed from my pores with a quiet hiss. I focused my will on its matter. Instead of forming destructive blades, I began to spin the energy directly in the cool air of the cave. The blue mercury instantly changed shape, adjusting to my thoughts. I wove black pants, a vest, and a coat out of dense mana for myself.

Then I shifted my gaze to Shnee. I focused my intention and formed a new combat uniform around her body. The deep black of the material was broken by sharp accents of frost. Shnee looked at her new clothes. She touched the smooth material. Her lips curled into a predatory smile.

"We look as we should," I assessed coldly. I checked the bottomless pouch at my belt. Inside, the powerful core of the Toxic King pulsed safely. My main capital.

"What now, Dave?" she asked, attaching her crystalline rapier to her belt. She was compact and ready for slaughter.

"We return to the surface," I answered with Brazen chill, turning towards the Sapphire Prism levitating at the end of the Oasis. "Silas is probably sitting on pins and needles. We will drop this stone on his table, and then we will enter that western guild of armorers without a gram of mercy. Starting tomorrow, this city forges steel on our terms."

We approached the pedestal. I placed my hand on the cool surface of the return crystal. Shnee stood nearby and rested her hand next to mine. Her arm firmly brushed against mine. The space around us flickered and folded inward. The sterile light of the Crystal Oasis faded. After a moment, we returned to the stifling dark of the Lower City of Oakhaven.

The play down below had come to an end. It was time to plow through the local economy.