It was several hours later when Cypher finally awoke and Alex had started a small fire as the sun had reached its highest point in the sky. “W-what happened?” Cypher asked. Alex smiled and offered him a cooked chunk of some small animal.
“Looks like you just exhausted yourself. I gotta admit, I’ve never seen someone cast as many spells in quick succession like that before. The amount of control you must have needed is astounding. Really Cyph’ it’s no wonder you passed out like that.” Cypher took the chunk and began to eat it with ravenous delight.
He was starving and his body was calling out for sustenance. His mental energy had refilled itself to over half full, and his Orrium was half full as well. His Ark was hot against his skin and had clearly been working overtime to refill his Orrium.
“Why are we out in the open like this? Isn’t it dangerous to be eating in a place like this? Also, what about that berserker? Where did he even come from?” Cypher once again rattled off a stream of questions and Alex smiled.
“Well as far as I can tell, that guy was just a guard. He was stationed in the wall over there and was less of a man, and more of a puppet-type being. That said, I’m sure he was still partially human, he certainly seemed to get upset toward the end there. As for the safety of this area? Well, It seems like Finn’s Deep extends deep into the ground.”
“I doubt that anyone inside heard our little struggle. Still, just to be safe, I ran a short reconnaissance mission inside. They seem to be using some kind of machine to dig deeper into the ruin. That noise should have kept us off their radar, at least for now. We should be okay since I didn’t see or hear anyone moving around, but I’m glad you woke up because we should really get inside and get to the bottom of this.”
Cypher nodded as Alex finished and grabbed another piece of the cooked animal. After finishing a bit more of his little meal, he felt much better and could already feel his energy returning to its peak. The battle had improved his Conduction level as well.
He could tell that his mental energy had increased a little from such quick calculations and manipulations of the laws of the world, and his body had grown more powerful from the constant infusion of physical energy into his Orrium. It wouldn’t be long now until his body broke into the second Rank
Cypher struggled to his feet and walked over to the massive chunk of obsidian.
He tapped a finger firmly against it, and a small crack appeared on its surface but nothing else happened. At that moment, Alex walked over and joined him. “This is really impressive Cyph’. I mean, not only did you manage to stop him, but you finished him off completely. I mean, I helped, but still, good job man.”
Cypher nodded slowly and punched the obsidian as hard as he could.
“CRRRAAACK!!”
A loud crack followed by the sounds of shattering glass filled the area, and the outer layer of Obsidian shattered and fell all around him. A gust of wind shot past the both of them as the inner structure was revealed and both of them gasped in shock.
Inside, the berserker had been not only killed but also completely converted into a glass-covered diamond. Between the immense pressure, heat, and quick cooling, the body of the berserker had been transformed, and nothing remained of his mortal form.
His body was compressed into the last pose he had been in before the barrage of spells had landed. Despite the immense pressure he must have been under, he hadn’t been completely crushed into a pulp. This of course spoke volumes about the effectiveness of such a durable body.
The light of the sun radiated off of the diamond structure, and a rainbow of colors shone all around them, dancing across the ground in various hues.
Alex tossed him his cracked ring, and Cypher put it back on. He lamented the damage that had been done to it, but it wouldn’t be too difficult to replace it later on. He quickly extended a hand, pulling the diamondized berserker inside his dimensional pocket.
Cypher wasn’t sure what he would do with it, but leaving it here would be a wasteful shame. He figured he would simply sell it, split the profits with Alex, and use those funds to replenish the resources they would use from here on out.
Besides its obviously high value, it could serve as a reminder of what his power could really do, and it made him feel proud that he had managed to defeat such an opponent. He and Alex really made quite a good team when their backs were pressed against the wall.
The two then returned to the fire and finished the rest of the small meal. Afterward, they spent some time refilling their Orriums with their Arks, and they then prepared to head inside the ruin. The entrance was a smooth rectangular opening and neither had to struggle to get inside.
Small torches were lit along the several corridors, and they provided a meager light as they descended further in. The opening chamber was bare and only contained a few support pillars. All of the initial wealth was no doubt already claimed by those who had come before.
Of course, with several paths to choose from, they had a decision on their hands. None of them were marked, and they only knew that they needed to head further underground. An hour was spent exploring three of the pathways. One led down to a dead-end chamber that had already been plundered.
Another pathway led to a bubbling pit of some strange corrosive liquid. The smell inside had almost caused the two of them to throw up but they managed to keep their composure. There were also rails for a mining cart leading all the way to the edge of the pit and it was safe to assume that this was here to remove the mined debris and displaced stone.
The final pathway they hadn’t explored led to a massive room with heavy machines that were digging through the tougher layers of stone. Several bandits roamed the area and kept a close watch over the machines as they worked. In the distance away from the mining, a large iron cage was packed full of people.
There was barely even any room to lie down and so they seemed to take turns sleeping. Some were slumped against the bars, while others stood leaning with depressed looks on their faces. All of them were wearing shabby clothes and some even had bleeding hands or other open wounds.
Cypher and Alex made quick work of the roaming bandits, killing them quickly so they didn’t have a chance to take hostages. The machines ground to a halt as their operators abandoned them to join the fighting. There was even a Wild Conductor here overseeing everything.
Cypher took care of him all on his own, but it hadn’t been an easy fight. The Wild Conductor had a few tricky spells waiting for him, but Cypher was able to pull through and fight him off through sheer skill alone. Cypher had only taken superficial damage, as none of the Wild Conductor’s attacks landed properly.
After killing all the bandits of Zealot’s Ring, and releasing the enslaved villagers who were forced to excavate this ruin, they returned to the main chamber and made sure they all got out safely. Once that was taken care of, they headed down the last corridor and noticed a quick incline in the terrain. This was obviously the way down, and so they steeled themselves and moved at a quick, but stealthy pace.
As they traveled deeper, they began to notice burial nooks filled with corpses. Each body was ceremoniously preserved and some of them had yet to deteriorate into full skeletons. However, these bodies had also been robbed of any precious items they may have once held. Cypher could see broken fingers and tattered or ripped clothes that had been torn open in search of further riches.
He grimaced at the level of disrespect that these bodies had been shown. It was uncalled for and made him sick to his stomach. Everyone deserved to rest in peace once they had shuffled off this mortal coil. Those who had gone to such great lengths to entomb these people had left their loved ones with precious parting gifts, and it was clear that the Kingdom hadn’t been responsible for looting them.
The kingdom took great care when excavating or exploring ruins, and often, the bodies themselves were left alone, while only the material goods laying about were cataloged and collected. This made Cypher detest these bandits of Zealot’s Ring even more.
