Chapter 82 - 80: We Came for Stone, Not a Family

Chapter 82: Chapter 80: We Came for Stone, Not a Family

The first stabilization pylon lasted eleven seconds.

Arin watched the forty-tonne structure sink into the mountainside, unfold six anchoring arms, and drive them deep into the fractured basalt.

For a brief moment, the geological projection turned green.

Then the Ironback Behemoth hit it.

The pylon disappeared.

Not broke.

Disappeared.

One moment it stood twenty meters tall.

The next, five thousand tonnes of terrified monster slammed into it and sent the entire structure tumbling down the slope.

Lucan watched it bounce twice before vanishing into the forest.

He slowly turned toward Arin.

"Expensive?"

Arin stared after it.

"Very."

Lucan nodded.

"I won’t mention that to your council."

"Appreciated."

The Behemoth roared.

Arin looked back toward the ravine.

Three juvenile heat signatures remained beneath the fractured northern slope.

One was moving.

Two barely were.

Worse, the rock above them had shifted another fourteen centimeters.

EVE projected the estimate.

NEST CHAMBER STRUCTURAL FAILURE:

ESTIMATED:

2 HOURS 41 MINUTES

Lucan’s humor disappeared.

"That fast?"

"The Behemoth’s movements are accelerating the collapse."

Arin watched the enormous creature pacing between them and the ravine.

That was the problem.

They could stabilize the mountain.

They could excavate a new chamber.

They could probably move the juveniles.

But none of that mattered if their mother treated every construction machine as a threat.

A-01 flexed his new arm.

"Recommend immobilization."

"Nonlethal?"

"Yes."

Lucan looked toward the Behemoth.

"Can we nonlethally immobilize that?"

Arin opened inventory.

"Probably."

Lucan frowned.

"I dislike the word probably."

"Then don’t ask uncertain questions."

The second attempt used distance.

EVE deployed four drones carrying compact stabilization charges.

They approached from above.

The Behemoth noticed immediately.

It raised its armored head.

Orange light gathered between the plates around its throat.

EVE said:

"That was not included in the Guild report."

Lucan drew his sword.

"Arin."

"I see it."

The Behemoth exhaled.

A wave of compressed mana ripped across the sky.

Two drones vanished.

A third spun into the forest.

The fourth survived long enough to deploy its charge.

It struck the cliff.

Activated.

And stabilized approximately three percent of the failing section.

Lucan looked toward Arin.

"Progress."

"Three percent."

"Still progress."

Arin hated when other people used his logic against him.

EVE displayed another scan.

The juveniles were clustered inside a natural chamber approximately thirty meters beneath the surface.

One had a trapped rear limb.

Another appeared unconscious.

The third was pressed against it.

The adult had likely attempted to excavate them herself.

That explained the damage.

Claw marks covered the ravine.

She had been trying to save them for months.

Every attempt made the slope worse.

Then Hunters arrived.

She drove them away.

More came.

She attacked those too.

From her perspective, the entire world kept approaching her trapped young with weapons.

Arin understood why diplomacy had failed.

Nobody had attempted any.

"Can it understand language?" he asked.

EVE answered:

"Unknown."

"Intelligence?"

"Higher than standard beasts of comparable classification."

Lucan glanced over.

"You’re not planning to talk to it."

Arin started removing his weapons.

Lucan stared.

"Arin."

Sword into inventory.

Sidearm.

Construction launcher.

Everything obvious.

"Arin."

He removed his coat because several Elysium defensive modules were integrated into it.

Lucan stepped in front of him.

"No."

Arin raised an eyebrow.

"No?"

"You are not walking unarmed toward a Catastrophe-tier monster."

"I won’t be unarmed."

"You just removed your weapons."

"I still have inventory."

"That’s cheating."

"Yes."

Lucan rubbed his face.

"At least take A-01."

"The thing sees him as armored."

"I am armored," A-01 confirmed.

"Not helping."

EVE stepped forward.

"I will accompany you."

Arin looked at her body.

"No."

Her expression immediately changed.

"Why?"

"Because that body isn’t combat-rated."

"I know."

"And?"

"You just explained that the objective is not combat."

Arin paused.

Annoying.

Lucan smiled.

"She got you."

Arin looked toward EVE.

"If it charges—"

"I disconnect."

"The body might be destroyed."

"It is mine."

There it was.

Arin sighed.

"Fine."

They walked together.

The Behemoth noticed them after thirty meters.

Its entire body shifted.

Armored plates rose.

A growl rolled through the ground.

Arin stopped.

EVE stopped beside him.

No drones.

No weapons.

No construction equipment.

The Behemoth lowered its head.

Arin slowly placed one hand against the ground.

Then opened a projection.

Not toward himself.

Toward the monster.

A simple image formed in light.

Mountain.

Three small shapes inside.

One large shape outside.

The Behemoth’s growl changed.

Arin added another image.

Rock falling.

Small shapes crushed.

Then:

Large shape digging.

More rock falling.

The creature roared.

Arin did not move.

EVE whispered:

"It understands the representation."

Good.

Arin changed it.

Large creature stopped digging.

Small machines entered from the opposite side.

Rock stabilized.

Three small shapes emerged.

The Behemoth stared.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then it struck the projection with one claw.

Lucan shouted from behind them.

Arin remained still.

The projection shattered.

The Behemoth roared directly into his face from twenty meters away.

EVE’s hair whipped backward.

Arin’s ears rang.

Then the creature turned.

Walked toward the ravine.

And stopped.

It looked back.

EVE whispered:

"I believe that’s permission."

"Maybe."

"Your standards for consent have become concerning."

Arin almost laughed.

"Fair."

He projected the plan again.

This time the Behemoth did not destroy it.

Construction began eight hundred meters away.

That distance was deliberate.

Arin’s first priority wasn’t the basalt.

It was a replacement nest.

The geological scan found a natural cavern beneath the eastern ridge.

Stable.

Dry.

Large enough for an adult Behemoth and three juveniles.

It only needed widening.

Arin deployed excavation machines.

The Behemoth immediately became agitated.

He stopped them.

Waited.

Restarted one.

The creature watched.

No attack.

Second machine.

Still nothing.

By the sixth, it seemed to understand that the machines were not approaching the trapped juveniles.

Lucan stood beside Arin.

"You know what bothers me?"

"Many things."

"Royal Guild lost four Hunters trying to remove this creature."

Arin’s expression flattened.

"Yes."

"And we’re building it a house."

"Also yes."

Lucan looked toward the enormous cavern entrance.

"That’s going to become a story."

"Don’t tell anyone."

"There are twenty Hunters at the checkpoint."

"Bribe them."

Lucan laughed.

"Your new Civic Council would love that."

Arin sighed.

"Fine. Don’t bribe them."

"Character development."

The replacement chamber took fifty-eight minutes.

The rescue tunnel was harder.

They couldn’t enter from above.

They couldn’t excavate beneath the juveniles.

So Arin chose sideways.

EVE mapped every fracture.

A-01 deployed route-insulated stabilization anchors.

His replacement arm proved useful immediately.

Each anchor operated independently.

No shared control chain.

No single failure could propagate through the entire network.

Arin noticed.

A-01 noticed him noticing.

"Improved."

Arin smiled.

"Very."

The tiny blue star near A-01’s wrist was covered in dust.

Somehow that made Arin smile more.

They reached the outer wall of the nest with fifty-three minutes remaining.

Then the scanner updated.

JUVENILE ONE:

STABLE.

JUVENILE TWO:

CRITICAL.

JUVENILE THREE:

CRITICAL.

Lucan cursed.

"Why?"

EVE enlarged the scan.

A fractured basalt slab had shifted.

It was pressing against both trapped juveniles.

Arin checked the tunnel.

Too narrow for heavy equipment.

"Manual extraction."

Lucan looked at him.

"I knew you were going to say that."

"You can stay."

Lucan drew his sword.

"Stop offering."

Arin glanced over.

Lucan’s expression was serious.

"I missed enough."

That caught Arin.

Neither spoke.

Lucan looked away first.

"Let’s move."

The tunnel was barely three meters high.

That sounded large until they reached the juvenile.

The smallest Ironback was the size of a carriage.

Its scales had not yet hardened into the dark armor of its mother.

Grey plates covered its back.

One rear leg was trapped beneath stone.

It snapped weakly when Arin approached.

"Definitely related."

Lucan crouched beside the slab.

"How heavy?"

EVE answered through Arin’s communicator.

"Approximately seventy tonnes."

Lucan stared.

"Of course."

Arin placed both hands beneath one edge.

Lucan looked at him.

"You aren’t lifting that."

Arin activated reinforcement through his equipment.

"Not alone."

A-01 entered behind them.

His new arm locked beneath another section.

Lucan sighed.

Then sheathed his sword and joined them.

"On three?"

Arin nodded.

"Three."

Lucan stared.

"You skipped—"

They lifted.

The slab moved.

Lucan swore.

"YOU ALWAYS DO THAT!"

"Focus."

The juvenile screamed.

A-01 pulled its leg free.

Arin lowered the slab.

The mountain groaned.

EVE’s voice sharpened.

"Twenty-eight minutes."

They moved deeper.

The second juvenile was unconscious.

The third refused to leave it.

Arin approached.

It hissed.

"Move."

It hissed again.

Lucan looked at him.

"Excellent diplomacy."

Arin reached toward the unconscious juvenile.

The conscious one bit his arm.

Its teeth closed over Elysium reinforcement.

Arin looked at it.

It looked at him.

"Done?"

It growled.

Lucan laughed.

Arin lifted the unconscious juvenile.

The other immediately followed.

Problem solved.

The adult was waiting outside.

That created a new problem.

Arin emerged carrying her unconscious young.

The Behemoth went completely still.

Lucan whispered:

"This may have been a mistake."

Arin agreed internally.

The adult lowered its head.

One step.

The earth shook.

Another.

Arin did not move.

The juvenile in his arms breathed.

Weakly.

But breathing.

The mother’s enormous face stopped less than five meters away.

She sniffed.

Then carefully touched the juvenile with the side of her snout.

A sound came from her throat.

Not a roar.

Low.

Almost trembling.

The conscious juvenile ran past Arin.

The rescued one limped behind.

The adult looked at Arin.

Then at the new cavern.

Arin projected the route.

She understood.

Slowly, the Behemoth nudged the unconscious juvenile.

Arin carried it.

Together they walked.

Lucan followed several meters behind.

He leaned toward EVE.

"Please tell me you’re recording this."

"Yes."

"Send it to me."

"No."

"Why?"

"Arin will complain."

"I will."

Lucan sighed.

"Families."

The new nest accepted its occupants.

EVE deployed a medical drone near the entrance.

The mother growled.

Arin stopped it.

Instead he placed a container of regenerative compound outside.

Whether the Behemoth used it was her decision.

Then they withdrew.

Twenty minutes later, the mother sniffed the compound.

Five minutes after that, she pushed it toward the injured juvenile.

EVE smiled.

"Accepted."

Good.

Only then did Arin look toward the northern slope.

Their basalt.

Lucan noticed.

"You remembered the actual mission."

"I never forgot."

"You absolutely forgot."

Arin opened the extraction model.

Now that the nest was empty, they could reinforce the old chamber and mine from beneath without destabilizing the mountain.

Estimated yield:

Two hundred thirty thousand tonnes.

More than enough.

Estimated extraction time:

Three days.

Lucan stared.

"Three days?"

"Automated."

"That’s disgusting."

Arin smiled.

"Technology."

They established camp near the extraction site.

By sunset, the first mining machines were running.

Basalt entered processing containers.

The mountain remained stable.

The Behemoth watched from the eastern ridge.

It did not attack.

Lucan sat beside the campfire.

Arin sat opposite him.

For once, nobody else was talking.

Lucan stared into the flames.

Then said:

"I should have come back sooner."

Arin looked up.

There it was.

The conversation both had avoided.

"You were busy."

"That’s a polite answer."

"It’s true."

"Still polite."

Arin waited.

Lucan rubbed his hands together.

"I didn’t know where I fit."

Arin said nothing.

"Valerius isn’t what it was."

"No."

"Father spends half his time trying to repair things he should’ve never broken."

Arin’s expression remained neutral.

Lucan continued.

"Elara complicated everything."

Understatement.

"Then I came here and..."

He gestured around them.

"Elysium already had a family."

Arin frowned.

"So?"

Lucan laughed quietly.

"Easy for you."

"Probably."

"You have Lyra."

"Yes."

"Luna."

"Yes."

"EVE somehow became your sarcastic older sister."

EVE’s voice immediately came through the communicator.

"I heard that."

Lucan looked at Arin.

"You see?"

Arin smiled.

Lucan continued.

"Zero. A-01. Everyone else."

"And?"

Lucan looked at the fire.

"I didn’t know whether there was space left."

Arin stared at him.

Then reached beside himself.

Picked up a stick.

Threw it.

Lucan caught it automatically.

He stared at the stick.

"What was that?"

"You’re stupid."

Lucan’s mouth opened.

Arin continued.

"Family isn’t a room with limited chairs."

Lucan looked at him.

"If you want to come home, come home."

Silence.

Lucan’s expression changed.

Small.

But real.

"Home."

Arin shrugged.

"Elysium."

Lucan looked back at the fire.

After several seconds:

"You’re terrible at emotional conversations."

"So are you."

"Fair."

EVE’s voice came through.

"Both of you are terrible."

Arin and Lucan said together:

"Go away."

EVE laughed.

The first extraction container reached capacity shortly before midnight.

HIGH-DENSITY MANA-STABLE BASALT:

ACQUIRED:

8,400 TONNES

Then another notification appeared.

DEEP RESERVE:

MATERIAL THRESHOLD 1 ACHIEVED.

NEW CONSTRUCTION OPTION AVAILABLE:

EMERGENCY RESOURCE VAULT

Arin’s eyes brightened.

There.

Progress.

Real progression.

Not free.

Not because some ancient System decided he deserved another reward.

They needed something.

They found the material.

They solved the problem.

Now Elysium could build something it couldn’t yesterday.

Lucan looked at his expression.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"That’s the face."

"What face?"

"The one you make when Elysium gives you a new construction project."

Arin ignored him and opened the blueprint.

EMERGENCY RESOURCE VAULT

CAPACITY:

90 DAYS / 10,000 RESIDENTS

INDEPENDENT POWER

WATER PURIFICATION

FOOD PRESERVATION

MEDICAL STORAGE

LOCAL FABRICATION

NETWORK-INDEPENDENT CONTROL

Lucan read over his shoulder.

"Useful."

"Very."

"You’re building it immediately."

"Yes."

"Of course."

Then EVE interrupted.

"Arin."

He looked up.

The Behemoth stood at the edge of camp.

Lucan immediately rose.

A-01 turned.

Nobody drew weapons.

The massive creature walked forward.

Slowly.

Then stopped.

Something hung from its jaws.

It dropped the object.

The ground shook.

The Behemoth turned and walked away.

Everyone stared.

Lucan approached carefully.

"What is that?"

Arin scanned it.

A huge chunk of dark mineral.

Not basalt.

Something else.

Dense.

Mana-rich.

Valuable.

EVE completed the analysis.

TITANITE ORE.

HIGH-GRADE.

ESTIMATED MASS:

3.2 TONNES.

Lucan stared toward the departing Behemoth.

"Did the monster just pay us?"

Arin looked at the ore.

Then toward the new nest.

Then back at the ore.

"Maybe."

Lucan started laughing.

Arin smiled.

They had come for stone.

They had rescued a family.

And somehow, they had acquired a customer.

For once, Arin had absolutely no complaint about how the mission had gone.

Chapter End