Zeke's eyes widened. "What are they?"
The Dragon glanced at him through the corners of its eyes. "Do you know how essence crystals are formed?"
Zeke nodded hesitantly. After the earlier revelation, he wasn't as confident in his fundamental knowledge anymore. "They form when the concentration of Mana exceeds a certain level, right?"
The Dragon bobbed its head. "Correct. But you probably don't know that this is only one of the possible thresholds."
Zeke waited for the Dragon's explanation, a twinkle in his eyes. It seemed today was his lucky day with all the teachings he received.
"The next threshold is reached when the purity of ambient Mana reaches a level where it can form its own consciousness," the Dragon explained.
"What!?" Zeke couldn't help but call out. He had wanted to let the Dragon talk, but this information was too shocking. "Something like that is possible?"
Instead of getting annoyed, the Dragon seemed to enjoy Zeke's dramatic reaction. "Calm down, whelp. It's a pretty common occurrence. The creatures born from this phenomenon are called Elementals."
"How dangerous are they?" Zeke asked, already dreading the answer.
To his surprise, the Dragon didn't show the slightest bit of tension. "Not very. They will usually leave you alone unless you attack them first."
Zeke furrowed his brows upon hearing this. "That's very different from the story the patriarch told."
The Dragon exhaled harshly, releasing a burst of hot air from its tiny nostrils. "That threw me off as well. However, after seeing the fountain, I finally understood."
Zeke looked at the fountain once more. However, he wasn't able to comprehend what the Dragon meant. "What did you understand?"
"I said that Elementals would usually leave you alone, right?"
Zeke nodded.
"One of the rare exceptions is when you touch their source," the Dragon explained. "Normally, this black metal isn't a strong enough amplifier to produce Elementals, but this vein is exceptionally pure. I am almost certain that they were born from it. The Elementals most likely attacked those fleshlings because they were trying to steal their source. "
"But aren't we here to take their source as well?" Zeke interjected.
The Dragon's maw opened slightly, and its scaly lips curved into the approximation of a smile, showing rows of razor-sharp teeth. "Indeed."
Zeke stared at the Dragon in disbelief. What was this? Why did he suddenly feel like the Dragon had become a second Leo?
"Then what was the point of saying they weren't dangerous?" Zeke asked accusingly, "Aren't they gonna attack us as well?"
The Dragon chuckled lightly. "Calm down, whelp. They will not attack us just yet. Therefore, we should be able to explore the mine without any problems."
He finally understood what the Dragon was getting at. "We can stay here without the fear of getting attacked until we actually make a move on the source."
The Dragon nodded.
"If that is so, I think our best strategy is to get a clear picture of the situation before we do anything else." Zeke was already beginning to form a plan in his mind. However, there was something else he needed to know.
He sized up the fountain before him with a critical look. Estimating how much liquid was circulating through it wasn't easy, but Zeke figured it actually wasn't all that much. "Say, how much of this metal do I actually need?"
The Dragon shot him an annoyed glance, unwilling to answer such a vague question.
Zeke thought for a moment before rephrasing his question. "If I want enough reserves to bring Leo and me to the peak of Grand Mage, how much would I need?"
The Dragon shot the fountain a glance before falling into deep thought. "That's not a simple question," it said eventually. "There isn't much in this fountain, but it would easily be enough to bring the two of you to the peak of Grand Mage…" Zeke perked up. He might not even have to explore the mine if that was true. However, his good cheer was short-lived as the Dragon continued to speak, "…but it wouldn't be all that fast."
"What do you mean?"
"As I said, it's not that simple," the Dragon explained. "As you know, this black liquid powers the Mana purifying device. This also means the output is directly linked to the quality of the fuel."
Zeke nodded. So far, this was all within his expectations.
"However, the fuel degrades with use. And it is not a linear decline either."
Zeke's face finally changed. Depending on how fast the quality declined from its peak, he needed more of the material if he wanted to advance quickly. "How fast is the decline?"
"It declines rapidly at the start and then flattens out toward the bottom," the Dragon explained.
Zeke remained quiet, confident the Dragon wasn't done with its explanation. He was proven right as the Dragon continued to speak after contemplating the matter for a while. "You have consumed quite a few essence crystals, yes?"
Zeke nodded.
"Directly absorbing from an essence crystal happens at the highest speed a Core can endure," the Dragon explained. "Let's call that 100%."
Zeke nodded again.
"With the quality of fuel we have here, the Mana purifying device will start at around 70%."
[Notice]
If the device were able to supply pure Mana at the rate of 70% of an essence crystal, then it would take Host about three weeks to reach the threshold of the Grand Mage level.
Zeke took in this information without a change in expression. Of course, reaching that level in only three weeks would be amazing. However, the Dragon had already told him the fuel declined quickly. Now, the only question was how quickly.
Seeing the anticipation in his eyes, the Dragon began to explain. "After about an hour of use, its efficiency will have split in half. Then, after a day, it would have halved again. From there, the deterioration would slow down dramatically until it eventually bottoms out at about 1% of its original efficiency."
Zeke didn't need Akasha to understand what that meant. At 1% of its initial potency, it would take him almost six years instead of three weeks to reach the threshold of the Grand Mage level. He now also understood the point the Dragon was making.
"So…" he said eventually. "I will advance faster the more of this fuel I have?"
The Dragon nodded.
Zeke glanced at the fountain once more before sighing. "I guess we are going underground."
***
A couple of hours later, Zeke, Gravitas, Vulcanos, and the Dragon found themselves in front of the collapsed mine shaft.
The group had spent this time scouring the castle for hidden dangers or valuables. However, they had come up empty-handed on both fronts. It seemed the Gemkar family had been quite thorough when they left this place. Except for the fountain, they had taken everything of value.
Similarly, there was no trace of the creatures that had driven them out all those years ago. The Dragon was confident they were Elementals, but Zeke still insisted on making sure nothing else was lurking about. After all, this would be their only path of retreat once they entered the mine.
Zeke eyed the giant boulders that blocked their way with apprehension. It had clearly been an impulsive decision to close the mine. Otherwise, they wouldn't have done such a shoddy job of it. The question was, how was he supposed to clear their path without risking a total collapse of the shaft?
He glanced at Vulcanos for a moment, considering. "Are you confident in melting those rocks?" he asked aloud. Now that he was sure they were alone, his [Telepathy] was no longer needed.
Vulcanos didn't even need to think about it before a wide grin spread across his face. "Of course, Master. They are no different from putty in my hands."
Zeke nodded, an idea forming in his mind. "Then do it."
Without another word, Vulcanos extended both of his hands and aimed them at the sealed entrance. The red lines crisscrossing his entire body started to light up and bathed the dim surroundings in a firey glow.
Nothing happened for a moment, but then the rocks' color changed. From a dull gray, they turned red, orange, yellow, and eventually almost pure white. At this point, the boulders began to melt like snowballs under the hot summer sun.
Zeke glanced at Vulcanos in astonishment. It had only taken him a few moments to melt a sizeable chunk out of the wall. This was going a lot faster than he had expected. Without another word, he created a [Spatial Barrier] along the ceiling of the newly opened shaft to prevent a collapse.
"Push the molten stone to either side," he instructed Gravitas.
The Chimeroi nodded and did as she was told. However, Zeke felt her momentarily examine the barrier he had created. After all, this was the first time he had displayed his Space affinity. It was no wonder she was interested.
The three worked in tandem as they slowly advanced through the rapidly cooling entrance. Overall, their rate of progress could be called incredible. Even so, Zeke was sweating buckets by the time they emerged on the other side. The heat the molten stone was giving off had been stifling.
Zeke looked back at the tunnel they had dug, and a broad smile spread across his face. The stone comprising the ceiling had hardened in a perfectly straight line along his invisible barrier. It could not have been done more perfectly by a master craftsman.
The walls were also fairly uniform, bearing testimony to the level of control Gravitas had over her innate Magic. It was far more challenging to apply equal pressure by controlling gravitation than to create a barrier the way he had done. Overall, he was very impressed with both of the Chimeroi.
He briefly glanced at the collars around their necks. Now that he was aware of how capable they were, it started to dawn on him how absurd it was that he had been able to buy them for some gold coins. Even in the empire, famed for its militaristic power, both Gravitas and Vulcanos would have been able to make a name for themselves, given their talents. However, now wasn't the right time to think about this.
Turning back to the tunnel, Zeke was faced with an endless abyss. The light that had been present throughout the castle didn't reach down here. The only source of light were the faintly glowing lines across Vulcanos' skin.
"[Light ball]," Zeke murmured as he completed the Spellform for the first cantrip he had ever learned. Moments later, a glowing orb of light formed above his palm, illuminating the mine shaft for dozens of steps in both directions.
However, before they could relax, a flicker of movement drew everyone's attention. Zeke squinted his eyes, trying to peer through the darkness. He took a few careful steps forward, trying to shed light on whatever was hiding there. The shadows retreated in tandem with his steps — until they didn't.
Suddenly, Zeke found himself face to face with something he had never seen before. The creature stood in the middle of the mine shaft, staring back at him. At least, Zeke thought it did. He couldn't be entirely sure because it didn't have a face, eyes, or anything else resembling human anatomy. Instead, it was morphing and shifting according to the ebb and flow of the light. Its body seemed to be made of a smoky darkness, neither wholly ethereal nor corporeal.
"That's an elemental," he heard the Dragon's voice in his mind.
Zeke nodded wordlessly, not taking his eyes off the strange being. "Don't attack unless I order you to," he instructed the Chimeroi mentally. In his sphere of awareness, he saw them fidgeting. It was clear that this strange creature made them nervous. He added, "This thing is most likely not hostile to us."
Unfortunately, his words didn't manage to ease their nerves. Even so, Zeke was pretty confident in his conjecture. This was undoubtedly one of the creatures that had attacked the Gemkar family. From the stories he had heard, they were assassins. The mere fact that the Elemental was showing itself so openly suggested that it had no hostile intentions.
"Stay back," he commanded mentally.
Zeke took a single step toward the Elemental. It didn't move. Emboldened by the lack of reaction, he started to walk toward it with careful steps. Even though he was confident in his assumptions, he still prepared himself to [Teleport] away if the creature turned hostile. However, his precautions turned out to be unnecessary, as he arrived in front of the Elemental without incident.
Now that he was standing right before it, he noticed how short the Elemental was. Of course, its exact shape was impossible to pin down, given its erratic nature. But even so, the thing was roughly half his size. Contrary to his expectation, the Elemental didn't seem to fear the light source in his hand at all. In fact, the opposite appeared to be the case, as the shadow making up its body got even darker under the bright light.
They remained there for a moment, neither moving from their spot. Then, Zeke turned toward his group. "See? I told you there was nothing to fear." The Chimeroi finally relaxed as they realized that the creature really didn't intend to attack them. They slowly approached his location.
Finally, the shadow moved, causing their entire group to tense up. It didn't move to attack them, however. Its movements were languid and led the Elemental in the opposite direction.
Zeke traced the shadow's path with his eyes. The creature didn't appear to wander about aimlessly and seemed to have a specific destination in mind. Zeke had a good guess as to where the thing was headed.
"Let's follow it," he said, taking a few quick steps to catch up.