The Deep Assassin kept searching, and Ren hung between two dilemmas: the predator that couldn’t see him, and the hydra that defied everything he thought he knew about the beast egg cycle.
With careful movements, Ren extracted the flask with the potion Zhao had given him.
The green liquid glowed softly as he uncorked it. It was his last defense against mana overload.
The taste was bitter and metallic, but the effect was immediate. The crushing pressure of mana receded, as if a window had been opened in a suffocating room.
It wouldn’t last long, but it would have to be enough.
The Deep Assassin finally lost interest in its search. Its sensors detected no more movement, and the paralyzed worm promised a feast it didn’t want to waste. The beast returned to its prey, its proboscis sinking back into the liquefied flesh.
‘Now or never,’ thought Ren as he began descending the thread.
He descended with extreme care and retrieved the stone that had betrayed him. He was now meters from the predator that had returned to the tunnel entrance…
He would deal with that obstacle at the exit later.
First he had to take advantage of his luck…
It was a unique opportunity, a miracle of the cycle that wouldn’t repeat for centuries.
Or so he thought.
The chamber opened below him, the massive crystal dominating the space with its pulsing light. The hydra dozed around the egg, apparently exhausted by the effort of existing at this depth.
He still had to move with perfect caution. One sound, one sudden movement, and all would be lost. If the Assassin didn’t kill him, the hydra certainly would.
Ren studied the crystalline formation more carefully. The enormous crystal formed a natural bowl, its facets creating levels and ledges that could serve for a safer approach.
‘I don’t need to get all the way there,’ he thought while pulling out more weaver’s thread. ‘I just need the right position.’
The bowl’s edge offered a perfect spot. From there he could manipulate the thread without exposing himself too much to the geyser or the hydra.
His fingers worked quickly preparing a knot while evaluating angles.
The mantis core would also need pure mana. The solution was elegant: he could leave it suspended near the geyser, allowing the flow to saturate it naturally. In ten days it would have absorbed enough to begin its transformation.
But for that to happen, he needed the hydra to stop feeding from the geyser’s mana.
The hydra remained motionless, its two heads resting near the egg.
‘Not really its child,’ he reflected while tying the mantis core to leave it suspended. The egg contained another hydra’s core, yes, but it was another that had somehow not completed the cycle and ascended here.
It was more like an evolutionary sibling, part of the same line but not direct offspring.
Ren liked to think it was a species with “parental care” but was it more like a strong siblinghood?
Perhaps that’s why the hydra protected it, not from maternal instinct, but from lineage recognition. A siscon hydra? Ren shook his head at his own silly joke and continued working, perhaps nervousness was making him think foolish things…
But the dilemma was clear, he needed the hydra to leave.
And if the egg disappeared… what reason would it have to remain in this small, limiting vein?
His feet touched a ledge. Pure mana flowed in the chamber, not at silver ring level but triple the normal at this depth. Even with the potion still in effect, Ren could feel the energy trying to saturate his system.
The bug egg was closer. It would be easier to reach first, safer. But the hydra egg… the chance to understand such a rare evolutionary line…
Ren took a step toward the ‘better’ egg. The rock under his feet was strangely slippery, polished by years of exposure to pure mana. Each movement required total concentration, a slip here would be fatal.
Another step. The hydra breathed deeply, its body moving in a slow but steady rhythm. Ren wondered how long it spent like this, conserving energy between feedings, trapped in this endless cycle of minimal survival.
The egg was within reach of his thread now. Its surface gleamed with the same tone as its sister’s scales, as if already containing the promise of what it could become.
A sound from above, the Assassin moving its prey. Ren froze, but the beast was just repositioning itself above the worm for better access.
The potion still kept the mana at bay, but Ren could feel its effect beginning to diminish. Time was running out.
The first throw had to be perfect. Ren breathed deeply. The knot swayed gently as he positioned it.
The thread flew silently, settling right over the egg. With a soft but firm pull, the loop closed around his prize.
Ren waited a moment.
The hydra didn’t move.
With infinite care, Ren began lifting the egg. Each centimeter was an eternity, the dead weight making the thread creak almost imperceptibly.
When the egg was secure, Ren extracted the thread for a second throw.
Was it greedy? Maybe, but he wouldn’t waste an opportunity like this.
The bug’s egg ended up in his hands a few seconds later.
The core was left floating in the energy flow, immediately beginning to absorb pure mana when the hydra would leave. In 10 days… maybe he could come in 11 or 12 as he didn’t know when the hydra would wake… With luck it would be ready then.
The hydra moved slightly, one of its heads adjusting in sleep. Without the egg next to it, how long would it take to notice its absence?
With nothing to protect, instinct would push it to seek areas with more mana, to reunite with others of its kind. This small vein would no longer have purpose for it.
Ren carefully stored the second egg in his backpack too, now he had to get out of here.
He began his careful ascent toward the cave entrance, toward the Assassin.
The potion was losing effect, he needed to get out of here before mana saturated his system again.
One last look at the magnificent creature. Part of him felt guilty for stealing something it had been protecting, but another part knew he might be doing it a favor.
The hydra was too powerful a beast to be limited to this low-power existence.
‘We’ll meet in the depths,’ he thought while beginning the final ascent. ‘When we’re both stronger.’
Ren extracted the small stone from his pocket, the same one that had revealed his presence before. The traitorous stone would now save him. The irony wasn’t lost on him as he calculated the throwing angle.
‘Simple,’ he thought, feeling the eggs’ weight on his back. ‘The Assassin investigates the noise, I run through the tunnel. With luck, its prey will keep it close and it won’t follow me for long.’
But a voice in his head whispered that he should have left the second egg.
Fifteen minutes of potion wasn’t much time to ascend three hundred meters, especially if he had to move stealthily.
An encounter with any beast would be disastrous.
‘Too late for doubts,’ he told himself while tensing his arm. The Assassin remained focused on its feast, its proboscis buried deeply in the worm.
The stone flew in a perfect arc… until it hit a ledge Ren hadn’t noticed.
The impact sound was like thunder in the silence. Instantly, the Assassin launched toward it and Ren advanced to the entrance still silently, he had to let the Assassin move a bit further until…
The stone bounced, its trajectory altered sending it directly toward the crystalline chamber.
Ren watched in horror as the traitor stone rolled down the bowl, the sound amplified by the crystalline formation. Each bounce was louder than the previous one, creating a cascade of echoes that filled the tunnel.
The Assassin turned instantly toward the noise and froze for a moment.
The hydra awoke.