285 Red rock
The group stood at a distance of 15 metres (49 feet) away from the rocks for coming any closer would make the heat unbearable. Considering the immense amount of heat wafting from the rock, it was actually quite strange that it had not turned to magma. But then again, that is probably what made it so special.
Just because every living thing in this dimension had its level reduced to the Neophyte level did not mean that the materials here were any less valuable. Each and everything here, from the air to the water to the grass, nurtured Mystic level beings and above. Nothing could be taken lightly.
Gideon summoned his blades, which were hidden in pockets around the armour he was wearing, and used one of them to slash at a small protrusion in the rocks, yet the blade only produced sparks, not even leaving a scratch on the rocks.
Gideon frowned, and attacked again, this time aiming for an even smaller piece of rock. This time, when the blade hit, there was finally a small scratch on the red rock. Now aware that the rock could be cut there, Gideon sent all twelve of his blades, systematically attacking that one spot, one after another.
Yet as the rock began to cut, so too did Gideons blades begin to turn red from the heat. At first Nero was not too concerned about it, till he noticed Gideons expression. He looked extremely stressed, and his face began to pale at a noticeable pace.
But fortunately, the rock eventually broke before Gideon was forced to give up. Using his blades as tongs, Gideon lifted the broken piece and brought it forward to the group.
A quick glance made the piece of broken rock look like it was around 10 cm (3.9 inches), and though it produced enough heat to cause the group to begin sweating, it was still tolerable.
Noman stepped forward and studied the rock for a while, before turning to Mel.
"I'm going to need a Recovery token," he said, and she handed one over.
Though her ability allowed her to create Recovery tokens, it was not as easy as everyone seemed to think. The amount of aether used to create the token was always more than the amount in the actual token itself. This meant that for the tokens she had been giving the group, she had taken hours to recover after making them.
She could also make Recovery tokens with smaller amounts of aether, but it was hardly convenient or necessary. But what she could do was store any premade tokens with herself so that they don't lose efficiency.
Combined with her extreme diligence in constantly producing Recovery tokens in all her free time, it was unknown just how many tokens she had stored within her body at any given time.
Nero studied Noman as he consumed the Recovery token and began to seal the tiny red rock. The fact that he needed to consume a Recovery token to simply seal such a small sample was both a good thing and a bad thing.
It was bad, because that meant they wouldn't be able to bring any larger samples with them. It was good because that probably meant that the sample was of extremely great value.
The amount of string that Noman wrapped around the stone was immense, and only after several layers of strings covered it did he stop, allowing the stone to be converted into a card.
The heat finally vanished, allowing most of the group to breathe easy. But they were not done just yet.
"Do you think you can cut another piece?" Vanessa asked Gideon, who was panting on the side.
"No, the damage to my blades is too severe," he said weakly. "I'm going to need to spend some time nurturing them once more before I can use them effectively."
She only nodded, and turned to Nero.
"Do you think you can go and break off a sample? Do not let your flames touch the rock, or even absorb too much of their heat. We don't know what that could do to the sample."
"Shouldn't be a problem," Nero said, and turned to the outcrop, looking for where to strike. Eventually he found a protruding corner of the rock, where the rock itself was thin enough for him to potentially break.
Nero summoned a thin layer of blue flames over his chest, and rushed towards the rock, extinguishing it as he approached close enough to the outcrop.
Even though Nero was strongly resistant to temperature, he could feel his skin burning as the skintight armour he was wearing heated up to an unbelievable amount. Yet that did not stop him as he thrust his spear forward with all his might, piercing through the rock and breaking off a small chunk.
Using his spear as a golf stick, Nero hit the broken piece of rock back towards his group as he quickly retreated, once more covering his chest, as well as the rest of his body, with his flames.
"I was wrong, that was a serious problem," Nero suddenly said, falling to his knees as he returned. By now his flames had cooled him and his suit back down, but his condition was far from great.
"What's wrong?" Daisy asked as she rushed to his side, and channelled her ability into his body.
"That was way too hot. My protective suit began to melt, and I'm pretty sure it burned and fused with my skin as I cooled myself down."
His voice was clear, but even then it was strained, an indication of the amount of pain Nero was in.The whole group froze, as that did not sound pleasant.
They all looked towards the red rock Nero had thrown towards them, and took a step back.
"Can you walk? Will you be able to return without issue?" Vanessa asked, genuine concern in her voice.
"I think… a couple of minutes of Daisy's handywork, and I'll be good to continue with the mission," he said between clenched teeth.
The group fell silent, and waited for Daisy to heal him, though even healing would do nothing for the suit that had merged with his skin. Only returning back to base and getting proper treatment would fix that.
But Nero did not complain, and true to his words, got back up on his feet with a simple grunt.
"Can you cool down the rock with your flame?" Vanessa asked once he was doing better. "I want to see if it can be transported while cool. "Liam, would you put up a barrier around the rock, just to be safe."
Liam erected a transparent barrier, so they all could see what was happening, and Nero sent his flame towards the red rock. His flame greedily absorbed its heat, rapidly turning a deeper shade of blue, and for the first time ever, even reaching a hint of navy.
But the change happened too suddenly. The rock exploded, and the explosion was not in any way mild or managable. Liam's barrier barely held on for a moment before giving way, and the shockwave of the explosion launched everyone off their feet, throwing them back.
Small bits of red rock, still radiating a massive amount of heat, shot out of the explosion like shrapnel.
Nero, even blown back, barely maintained enough self awareness to block a couple pieces of the flying rock using his spear, yet not everyone was so lucky. Two of the researchers were struck by the rock, which not only tore through their body, it also cauterised the wounds.
Daisy, Dave, Liam and Clarissa were also all hit in various parts, suffering various amounts of injuries. Bael was also hurt, but he was already healing at a rapid pace.
Fortunately, none of them seemed to be mortally wounded, yet Dave's reaction was severe.
"We need to get out of here!" he screamed, mostly because his hearing was affected from the blast. Even so, the others heard him, and turned to look towards him.
"There's something extremely dangerous heading our way. We need to leave now or we're all dead!"
No one doubted him, mostly because there was no need to doubt him. The explosion was loud enough to have attracted a lot of attention, and let alone serious dangers, they weren't even in the condition to fight off normal dangers as they were.
Nero picked up one of the injured researchers and threw him over his own shoulder.
"Follow me, we're rushing out!" Nero exclaimed as he covered his spear in bright blue flames.
The others also helped those who couldn't move on their own, and began their journey back. The issue was that their movement speed was already compromised, the journey back was not simple, and more enemies were closing in from all sides.
This would be the first, true test of their teamwork. Fortunately, none of the others were amateurs. Daisy was already busy healing herself while Mel gave everyone Recovery tokens. The others also got in positions to fight, and Nero noticed that Gideon pulled out three blades that hadn't been harmed by the red rock.
They would carve their way out, one way or another.
"Guys, Liam is not waking up," Noman said. "Someone is going to have to carry him."
December release schedule