Chapter 135: Mana Larva

Gray stared at the tunnel for a long moment, his blade-tentacles twitching with anticipation. The passage was dark, its walls lined with faint veins of violet mana that pulsed like slow, sleeping heartbeats.

’Cindy would kill me if she knew I was thinking about going in there alone,’ he muttered.

He activated Phantom Cloak and dissolved into the darkness. The tunnel swallowed him whole.

The passage twisted downward, narrowing in places until his bell scraped against the rock, then widening again into small chambers filled with glittering mineral deposits. The violet veins grew brighter the deeper he went, their light casting strange, shifting shadows across the stone.

’This place is saturated with mana,’ he thought. ’No wonder that Tunneler was mutated. It probably lived here for years, feeding on the deposits.’

The tunnel opened into a vast underground cavern.

Gray emerged from the passage and hovered at the edge of the chamber, his senses sweeping the space. The cavern was enormous, easily a hundred meters across, its ceiling lost in darkness. The walls were covered in the same violet mana veins, but here they were thicker, pulsing with a slow, rhythmic light that illuminated the entire space.

In the center of the cavern, a massive crystal formation rose from the floor. It was easily twenty feet tall, its surface faceted and gleaming, its core burning with a deep, violet radiance that made Gray’s mana sense tingle.

[LOCATION DISCOVERED: MANA HEART CAVERN]

« Analysis »

A rare underground cavern formed around a concentrated mana crystal. The crystal acts as a natural amplifier, drawing ambient mana from the surrounding rock and radiating it outward. Creatures that dwell in this cavern for extended periods undergo accelerated mutation and growth.

Warning: The Mana Heart Crystal is highly unstable. Damaging it may trigger a catastrophic mana discharge.

Gray drifted closer, studying the crystal. It was beautiful in a terrible way, its light shifting through shades of violet and deep purple, its surface humming with contained power.

’That thing is a mutation engine,’ he thought. ’The Tunneler, the Loricati, maybe even the egg... they’re all connected to mana deposits like this.’

His senses caught something else.

At the base of the crystal, several shapes stirred. They were small, no larger than his bell, their bodies translucent and worm-like, their segmented forms pulsing with the same violet light as the crystal. They were feeding on the crystal’s surface, their tiny mouths scraping at the faceted edges.

[Mana Larva — Level 8]

HP: 40 / 40

Count: 6

Threat Level: LOW

« Analysis »

Juvenile Mana-Saturated Tunnelers. They feed on the Mana Heart Crystal, absorbing its energy to fuel their growth. Individually weak, but their presence indicates the crystal has been active for a long time.

’Larvae,’ Gray said. ’If I leave them alone, they’ll grow into more Tunnelers. And they’ll keep spreading the mutation.’

He drifted closer, but the larvae didn’t react. They were too focused on feeding.

’Nothing personal.’

He fired a single Needle Storm.

The paralytic needles shot through the water and struck the larvae. Each needle embedded itself in a translucent body, and this time, the secondary effect triggered. The needles exploded into crescent blades, slicing through the larvae in a single, synchronized burst.

[NEEDLE STORM — 72 DAMAGE]

[NEEDLE STORM — 68 DAMAGE]

[NEEDLE STORM — 70 DAMAGE]

[NEEDLE STORM — 66 DAMAGE]

[NEEDLE STORM — 74 DAMAGE]

[NEEDLE STORM — 68 DAMAGE]

[Mana Larva DEFEATED — 40 EXP]

[Mana Larva DEFEATED — 40 EXP]

[Mana Larva DEFEATED — 40 EXP]

[Mana Larva DEFEATED — 40 EXP]

[Mana Larva DEFEATED — 40 EXP]

[Mana Larva DEFEATED — 40 EXP]

The larvae dissolved into clouds of violet particles, their bodies absorbed back into the crystal’s glow.

[TRAIT FRAGMENT ACQUIRED: "Mana-Saturated Carapace" (2/5)]

’Good. That’s one more fragment.’

Gray drifted toward the crystal, studying its surface. The violet veins pulsed steadily, feeding mana into the surrounding rock. If he left it alone, it would spawn more mutated creatures.

If he destroyed it, the discharge might collapse the entire cavern.

’There has to be a middle ground.’

He extended his senses, feeling for the crystal’s mana flow. It was coming from below, a deep vein of mana that fed into the crystal from the seafloor. The crystal wasn’t the source. It was just a conduit.

’If I cut off the flow, the crystal will eventually dim.’

He circled the crystal, looking for the point where the mana vein entered it. The connection was at the base, where the crystal met the rock. A narrow channel, barely wide enough for his tentacles.

’I can disrupt it with Arcane Burst. Sever the connection without shattering the crystal.’

He positioned himself at the base of the crystal, his blade-tentacles spreading wide. The violet light pulsed around him, warm and heavy, pulsing against his carapace.

’One shot. Make it count.’

He activated Arcane Burst.

The pulse of disruptive mana erupted from his body and slammed into the base of the crystal. The violet veins flickered, warped, and the channel connecting the crystal to the deep mana vein snapped. The crystal’s glow dimmed, its light fading from brilliant violet to a dull, sleepy purple.

[MANA HEART CRYSTAL — CONNECTION SEVERED]

[Crystal will fully deactivate in approximately 72 hours.]

’That should stop the mutations,’ Gray said. ’At least in this chamber.’

He turned away from the crystal, his senses sweeping the cavern one last time.But he felt that there was nothing interesting anymore.

He was about to leave when his senses caught something deeper in the cavern. A vibration, faint but steady, coming from behind a cluster of rock formations at the far wall.

’...There’s something else here.’

He drifted toward the vibration, behind the rock formations, a narrow passage led deeper into the dark. The vibration was coming from inside.

Gray stared at the passage for a long moment.

’Cindy’s going to be so mad at me.’

He swam into the passage anyway.

The passage twisted downward, growing narrower and darker with every pulse. The violet light faded behind him, replaced by absolute black. His electroreception painted the walls in faint outlines, and his vibration sense mapped every contour of the stone.

The passage opened into a small chamber. It was barely ten feet across, its walls rough and unpolished. In the center of the chamber, half-buried in the seafloor, was a creature.

The creature was serpentine, its body coiled upon itself like a knot of living shadow. Its scales were a deep, absolute black, drinking in what little light remained in the chamber until it seemed less like a creature and more like a hole in the world shaped like a snake. Veins of faint crimson pulsed beneath its hide, running along its flanks like the embers of a dying fire.

Its fins were blades. There was no other way to describe them. They jutted from its spine and flanks in serrated rows, each one curved and gleaming with a dark, metallic sheen.

Its head was long and narrow, crowned with a pair of horns that swept backward like broken swords. Its eyes were closed, but even shut, they burned. Twin points of crimson light seeped through the lids, pulsing in a slow, rhythmic beat that matched the crystal’s fading glow.

Its mouth was slightly open, revealing rows of teeth that were too long.They jutted at irregular angles, crowding its jaws like a forest of black needles.

[THALASSARCH — Level 45] (Juveline)