Running through the primordial jungle with a pack of unseen beasts on your tail is its own special kind of terror. The air was thick with bestial roars and the crash of things moving through crystal undergrowth. Arlan's burned arm throbbed with every step, but the Amethyst Voidfire in his core was working, slowly knitting the worst of the damage and feeding him a trickle of energy.
"Left!" he yelled, his Spatial Sense mapping the quickest path that avoided the largest clusters of life-signatures. "There's a choke point ahead—a narrow canyon! We can defend there if we have to!"
They burst from the fungal forest into a ravine of jagged, blue crystal. The path was only wide enough for two people abreast, with sheer walls thirty feet high. It was a death trap if something got behind them, but it meant they could only be attacked from the front or rear.
"Rook, seal the rear!" Arlan ordered.
The earth-affinity boy nodded, slamming his hands against the crystal walls at the ravine entrance. Stone-Shaping: Barricade. The crystal and stone flowed like mud, rising to form a rough, thick wall blocking the way they'd come. It wouldn't hold against something truly powerful, but it would slow down the smaller pursuers.
They ran down the canyon, their footsteps echoing. After a few hundred yards, it opened into a circular dead-end—a small arena with a single, towering crystal spire in the center. No other exit.
"Great. A bowl," Enya panted, leaning on her knees.
"We make our stand here," Arlan said, turning to face the canyon entrance. "Lia, can you put a shield over the entrance?"
The water-girl, pale and sweating, nodded. She wove her hands, and a shimmering, translucent wall of swirling water formed across the canyon mouth. Aqua Barrier. "It'll stop physical attacks and weaken energy-based ones, but it drains me fast."
"It'll have to do," Selene said. She was checking her bone-daggers, her expression grim. "How many are coming?"
Arlan focused his senses. "A lot. But most are smaller—3rd Order pests. Two big signatures. One is... familiar. The other is new."
As he spoke, the first creatures hit Lia's water barrier. They were Crystalback Lurkers, three of them, smaller than the first they'd fought. They slammed into the watery wall, their claws scrabbling. The barrier held, but Lia winced, her mana draining visibly.
Then the "familiar" signature arrived. It was another Magma-Shell Tortoise, smaller than the flame-bearing one, but still massive. It didn't have a Heavenly Flame, just normal magma. It slammed into the water barrier. Steam exploded with a hiss. Lia cried out, the barrier flickering.
"It's breaking!" she gasped.
"Enya, harry the big one! Rook, reinforce the wall! Selene, take out the lurkers if they get through! I'll handle the breach!" Arlan's commands were crisp. The cold focus of the pit was back, overriding pain and fatigue.
The water barrier shattered. The smaller tortoise barged through, followed by the three lurkers and a skittering horde of crab-like Ore-Scuttlers.
Chaos erupted.
Enya danced around the tortoise, her wind-blades leaving shallow scores on its hot shell, drawing its attention. Rook roared, punching the ground, causing stalagmites to erupt around the lurkers, impaling one. Selene became a whirlwind of crimson and shadow, her Sanguine Edge daggers cutting through scuttler shells with sickening crunches.
Arlan faced the magma tortoise. It was slower without the Heavenly Flame, but its heat aura was stifling. It opened its mouth to spew molten rock.
Arlan didn't dodge. He raised his burned hand, the one now thrumming with enhanced Voidfire. He focused, not on negating, but on consuming.
Voidfire Ignition: Devouring Palm.
A vortex of amethyst fire erupted from his palm. It met the stream of molten rock. Instead of clashing, the purple fire ate the magma, converting its heat and mass into pure energy that flowed back into Arlan, cooling the rock into harmless slag. It was a desperate, hungry technique, and it strained his core, but it worked.
The tortoise looked confused. Arlan pressed the advantage. He Shadow-Slipped, appearing directly beside the beast's head. His other hand glowed silver.
Spatial Shear: Focused.
He placed his hand on the tortoise's neck and unleashed the spatial distortion at point-blank range. There was a horrific crunch-grind as the space around the beast's neck folded in on itself. The head popped off like a cork, rolling away, magma-blood fountaining.
The body collapsed. The remaining beasts, seeing their biggest ally fall, hesitated.
That's when the "new" big signature arrived.
It didn't walk. It flowed.
From the shadows of the canyon entrance oozed a creature of living shadow and silver metal. It had the basic shape of a large wolf, but it was made of shifting darkness and gleaming metallic sinew. Its eyes were points of cold blue light. A Shadow-Forged Stalker—a construct, not a natural beast. 4th Order, Rank 8. And it was looking right at Arlan.
Before it could attack, a voice echoed down the canyon, young and annoyed.
"Rust and ruin! I told you the control rune was unstable, you gear-brained lummox!"
A figure sprinted into the arena. It was a girl, probably their age, with grease-smudged cheeks, wild red hair tied in a messy bun with what looked like copper wire, and goggles pushed up on her forehead. She wore a leather apron over practical clothes, and she was holding a complex, multi-lensed device that was sparking.
Status Check - Tink (Short for Tinker?)
Race: Dwarf-Human Hybrid
Age: 16
Order: 3rd
Rank: 9
Class: Artificer Apprentice
Aura: Energetic Tinkering - passively enhances understanding and repair of mechanical/mana-tech devices.
Emotional Aura: Frustrated/Excited/Afraid.
Behind her, a huge shape lumbered into view. It was a young man, easily seven feet tall, with broad shoulders and skin the color of weathered bronze. He had kind, worried eyes and carried a massive, simple hammer over one shoulder. He looked more like a friendly giant than a fighter.
Status Check - Boulder (Nickname?)
Race: Full Dwarf
Age: 18
Order: 4th
Rank: 3
Class: Rune-Smith
Aura: Unshakable Foundation - grants minor resistance to physical and mental displacement.
Emotional Aura: Concerned/Apologetic/Protective.
"Sorry, Tink!" the giant dwarf rumbled, his voice like stones grinding together. "The resonance crystal must have overloaded when it sensed the big heat-signature!"
The Shadow-Forged Stalker, ignoring the remaining beasts, turned its blue eyes on the newcomers and let out a silent snarl.
"Oh, scrap," Tink said, fumbling with her device. "It's targeting us now!"
The Stalker lunged at Tink. Boulder moved with surprising speed, interposing himself. His hammer came down on the construct's head with a sound like a gong. The Stalker staggered, darkness dispersing and reforming.
Arlan saw the situation instantly. The construct was a rogue artifact. These two were its creators, or at least its handlers, and it had broken free. It was a threat to everyone.
"Enya, clear the small ones! Selene, with me! If you want to live, help us kill your pet!" he shouted looking towards Tink and Boulder.
Tink blinked, then her eyes lit up with recognition. "You're the spatial guy! The one who stole the Emberheart token! I read the bulletins! This is so much cooler in person!"
"Less talking, more destruction!" Selene yelled, diving at the Stalker's flank. Her daggers, infused with her blood-sun energy, left glowing trails in the construct's shadow-flesh.
The Stalker was fast and tough. It could phase through physical attacks briefly and its claws could cut through stone. Boulder traded heavy blows with it, his hammer ringing against its metallic core. Tink fiddled with her device, firing weak mana-pulses that seemed to disrupt its reformation sequences.
Arlan analyzed it with his Eyes of Finality. It wasn't a living thing. Its endpoint was... a core. A complex rune-cluster in its chest, powering it. To negate the whole thing would be a huge drain. But to disrupt the core...
"Dwarf girl! Can you overload its core if I get you a clear shot?" he yelled.
"Can I? It's my design! Of course I can! But it's shielded!" she yelled back, dodging a shadowy claw.
"I'll handle the shield. Boulder, hold it! Selene, on my mark, go for its legs!"
Boulder roared, grabbing the Stalker in a bear-hug, his Unshakable Foundation aura flaring as he rooted himself to the ground. The construct thrashed, shadow-claws raking his back, but he held.
"Now, Selene!"
Selene dropped low, her daggers flashing. Crimson Weave: Tendon-Sever. Her blades didn't just cut; they left behind threads of cursed blood-energy that unraveled the magical bindings holding the Stalker's legs together. The legs gave out, and the construct crashed to its knees, still held by Boulder.
Arlan stepped in. He didn't use negation. He used space. He focused on the shielding around the core—a layered, complex barrier of condensed shadow. He placed his hands on the air in front of the Stalker's chest.
Spatial Rend: Layered Pierce.
He didn't try to cut. He tried to separate. To create a microscopic, temporary gap between the layers of the shield. It was like performing surgery with a sledgehammer, using only his will. His spatial energy screamed in protest, his mana plummeting.
A hairline fracture, invisible to the eye, appeared in the multi-layered shadow-shield.
"Tink! NOW!"
Tink whooped, aiming her sparking device. She pressed a button. A precise, humming bolt of golden energy shot out—a Rune-Disruption Charge.
It flew through the microscopic gap Arlan had made and struck the Stalker's core.
For a second, nothing happened. Then blue light erupted from the construct's eyes and mouth. It froze. The shadows composing its body began to unravel, flowing away like smoke. The metal framework clattered to the ground, inert.
Silence, again.
Boulder released the now-empty metal skeleton, breathing heavily, his back bleeding. Tink rushed over, patting the broken device. "My baby! You sacrificed yourself for science!"
Enya, Rook, and Lia had finished off the last of the beasts. They stood panting, staring at the newcomers.
The red-haired girl looked up, beaming. "That was amazing! The spatial manipulation to create a perfect resonance fault-line! And you!" She pointed at Selene. "Blood-weaving with solar infusion? That's not in any of the texts! I need to take notes!"
Arlan just stared at her. "Who are you?"
"Oh! Right! I'm Tink. This is Boulder. We're from the Deep-Crust Dwarven Enclave under Sky-Crest. We're here on an... unofficial field trip. Our master said the Labyrinth was a great place to find rare materials and test prototypes." She gestured at the broken Stalker. "That was Prototype Sigma. It got a bit... enthusiastic."
Boulder gave a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head. "My fault. I used a sub-par stabilizer crystal."
Arlan processed this. Dwarves. Artificers. In the Labyrinth. It was so bizarre it looped back to making sense. "You're not with the Dynasties."
Tink snorted. "Those stuffy lightning-rods? Please. They think magic is only about fancy auras and big explosions. Real power is in the craft. In making things. They look down on artificers. Say it's 'derivative.' Pah!"
Selene eyed them curiously. "You're not afraid of us? The bulletins probably say we're dangerous criminals."
Boulder shrugged. "You fight well. You protect your group. And you helped us with our... problem. That's what matters in the deeps. Not what some paper says."
It was a refreshingly simple worldview.
Arlan thought silently, "Even though they had weird names, they were... interesting and could potentially be useful in the future especially with their craftsmanship. Dwarven artificers had access to knowledge and resources the surface world didn't.
Tink was already poking at Arlan's Sky-Fracture Bracer. "Ooh, this is nice work! Progenitor-grade, but the synergy enchantment is crude. I could probably tweak it for a 15% efficiency boost. For a fee, of course. Or for a sample of that nifty purple fire of yours. Is that a Heavenly Flame? It is, isn't it? I've only ever read about them!"
Arlan pulled his arm back. "Later. We need to get out of this chamber. The exit should activate now that we have the crystal."
As if on cue, a doorway of solid light appeared in the arena wall.
But before they could move, a system notification popped up for Arlan alone.
Unique Encounter: 'Artificer's Curiosity'
Potential Long-Term Allies Identified: Tink (Artificer), Boulder (Rune-Smith).
Dwarven Enclaves possess knowledge of ancient systems, structural magic, and Soul-Forge techniques. Relationship recommended.
Quest Offered: 'A Trade of Secrets'
- Share basic data on Voidfire properties (non-core secrets).
- Receive a minor artifact tune-up and a Dwarven Token of Favor.
- Opens future collaboration options.
Accept? (Y/N)
Arlan looked at the eager, grease-smudged girl and the gentle giant. They were odd. They were unpredictable. But they felt... real. In a world of Dynastic plots and Accord schemes, that was rare.
He selected Y.
"Alright, Tink. We'll talk about the flame. After we're not in a monster-infested death-trap."
Tink's grin could have powered a city. "Deal!"
As the group—now seven strong—limped toward the exit, Arlan allowed himself a moment of dark amusement. His list of allies now included a wind duelist, an earth-mason, a water-shielder, a vampire-witch, a mad artificer, and a dwarven rune-smith. It was the most bizarre, least likely "group" imaginable.